Marvel Studios' Moon Knight vowed to be different from other content in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it succeeded at being mostly disconnected. Executive producer and head writer Jeremy Slater has now explained why the series avoided the plots of the more popular MCU projects and steered clear of the Avengers and the Multiverse, which has been the main focus of Phase 4.
Moon Knight focused on Oscar Isaac's titular character and his multiple alter egos, including Marc Spector, Steven Grant, and Jake Lockley, as he suffered from dissociative identity disorder. There were many instances where Marvel Studios could have referred to other projects or heroes, but the studio chose to keep the latest Disney Plus series completely standalone. It wasn’t a coincidence that there was never any mention of the Blip, it was instead a conscious decision, Slater confirmed.
During an interview with The Direct, Slater revealed that there were “certain territories and topics” that the team was asked to “steer clear” of. The studio didn’t want to repeat the same concepts and terms in another one of their projects, and instead wanted to find “new corners of the universe to explore.” The Blip, for example, has been mentioned in many of the MCU projects, including the Disney Plus series WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Hawkeye. So, Moon Knight avoided it entirely.
The Multiverse has been the key focus of Phase 4 of the MCU. It all began when WandaVision premiered in January 2021, but it became a much bigger reality in Loki in the summer of the same year. Ever since the Multiverse has been established, fans have seen multiple variants of their favorite heroes, with the latest Marvel Studios offering Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness revolving around its existence. Moon Knight creators were asked to avoid discussing the Multiverse in the series’ plot and focus on different areas instead. Slater said they were asked to “keep [their] little corner very separate than that, so it doesn’t start to feel like everything is a Multiverse story.”
Moon Knight did in fact feel like it was set in an entirely different universe. It was the first project in Phase 4 of the MCU that didn’t feature a crossover from one of the other members of the Avengers or make a detailed reference to one. It was true to the comics, where Spector's story revolves around him, his alter egos, and Khonshu.
Moon Knight is streaming on Disney Plus.
Source: The Direct