The wait is finally over for Marvel fans as the characterMoon Knightfinally made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut last week with the release of the first episode of his new series starring Oscar Isaac as Steve Grant/Marc Spector/Moon Knight. Even before the first episode of the series had been officially released, however,reviewers were already singing praisesfor the show’s brutality, its unique and interesting setting, and its handling of the character Steve Grant/Marc Spector/Moon Knight.
One particular note of praise for the series that has been coming from the mouths of reviewers since their thoughts went live was that the show feels “disconnected” from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and that this actually works out very well forMoon Knight, as it allows the show to focus on building a mythos for their new character and lets fans, old and new, really get to know him without any unneeded distractions from all the other things going on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the moment. The fact thatMoon Knightmay be “disconnected” at all from the rest of theMCUis in and of itself neither a good nor a bad thing, but something worth noting about it is what this sort of “disconnection” means for any future Marvel Studios projects ifMoon Knightturns out to beas successful as all the critics are saying it will be.
As fans young and old know very well by this point, theMarvel universe is home to many whacky and bizarre costumed heroes and villains, and each of them have their own mythos that they stick to. Part of what makes it work as well as it does is the melding together of so many of these different characters, each with their own backgrounds and types of enemies that they are used to fighting, into one single, shared universe where all of it somehow makes sense. While this may not have been much to write home about in the beginning, with each new installment into the MCU that has since been released onto the silver screen and Disney+, so many new characters have been added, each with their own stories and villains, and each with their own unique way in which their abilities work.
It has since gotten to the point where certain fans almost expect one character or event to connect to others as one looks toward the future.MCU theory blogs and YouTube channelshave popped up all over the place since the firstAvengersmovie in 2012. However, because fans have come to expect it, it has sometimes led to sacrifices being made for certain characters or plot lines, so some toning back would be good for a relatively unknown character likeMoon Knight.
Less is More
Back when in 2008, when the firstIron Manmovie was released, Disney and Marvel Studios had absolutely no idea at the time whether their concept of a shared movie universe of heroes would even work at all. As a result, to play it safe, the entire movie was spent building up only Iron Man’s mythos and cast of characters and didn’t allude to their planned future at all, with the exception of one (and the first of many) post-credits scenes. This ended up working in the movie’s favor as fans, new and old alike, were able to get their first real introduction to the character Tony Stark, who would become a central character to the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for many years to come, and didn’t need to focus on anything else or look for anything superfluous.
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It wasn’t until the film’s sequel in 2010 that Disney and Marvel Studios started dropping hints of the larger universe and the other characters that would come into play later (anyone else remember Captain America’s shield and Thor’s hammer?). In the end, because there wasn’t anything else that fans needed to look for, it allowed them to focus all of their attention on Tony Stark and, as a result, grow to love him as a character.
More is Less
Since the advent of the firstAvengersmovie in 2012, however, practically every major film put out by Marvel Studios since has been laced with hints, references, and little hidden previews for what is or may be to come. At least, this is how some fans feel, and there is a reasonable basis for thinking this.Captain America: Civil War,for instance, regarded as one of the best movies in theMarvel Cinematic Universethat isn’t called “Avengers,” had hints for the future in practically every scene. The movie introduced Black Panther and Spider-Man, showed the burgeoning relationship between Wanda Maximoff (aka the Scarlet Witch) and Vision, broke up the Avengers team, and in the process, set up the stage for the events ofAvengers: Infinity War. With so much happening at one time in one movie, it can be easy to see how some fans have simply become accustomed to looking for hints for the future where none may exist and why others may feel that it is simply too much.
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A shared universe of characters works when the characters are established, and fans know what they need to know about them. However, when they don’t, perhaps being part of a shared universe of characters is not the best thing for that character, especially to a character like Moon Knight, who is relatively unknown outside of old school Marvel fans. So perhaps being “disconnected” from a shared universe of characters may be a way to introduce new ones without unnecessary filler.
