Moon Knight is an American television series developed by Jeremy Slater for the Disney+ streaming service. It is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Moon Knight aired on March 30, 2022, and lasted six episodes until ending on May 4, 2022. It is a component of the MCU’s Phase Four.
The series has received great reviews. It is particular acclaim for Isaac’s and Hawke’s performances, as well as the darker tone than past MCU productions.
Aside from the series’ remarkable protagonist. Marvel Studios’ first 2022 project was notable for its lack of ties to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That’s unusual in today’s MCU; one of Moon Knight’s few references to the outer Marvel world was a mention of Mandripoor.
Two Marvel crossovers were recently found to have been deleted from early draughts of Moon Knight’s script. Jeremy Slater, the show’s lead writer. It has now disclosed a major Marvel appearance. He had to cut for the sake of the show: the Eternals.
Moon Knight Removed An Eternals Scene?
Moon Knight head writer and executive producer Jeremy Slater discussed the Eternals’ discarded appearances from an early draught. The Moon Knight’s script in an exclusive interview with The Direct’s Russ Milheim.
Slater disclosed that “[he] tried very hard to get the Eternals’ particularly Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo, into a flashback scene set in Ancient Egypt. As per Slater, “3 or 4 of the Eternals” would’ve taken part in a “big action sequence.”
It also included one of Khonshu’s Avatars, but still, the “massively expensive” notion was the main reason for its removal.
“I tried very hard to get the Eternals into the show, just because I’m buddies with Kumail Nanjiani… I want[ed] some Kingo. At one point, there was a flashback on the page that sort of showed one of Khonshu’s Avatars back in ancient Egypt, sort of dealing with Ammit being locked away, and Alexander the Great, and all of that stuff.
You sort of saw this Avatar team-up with the Eternals. It was a really fun scene, but again, it was so massively expensive to recreate Ancient Egypt, to sort of bring in 3 or 4 of the Eternals to have this big action sequence.”
Slater Commented On The Eternal Scenes
The Eternals would have been the “cold open of one of the episodes.” While Slater admitted that it was “a very fun scene,” he felt that cutting it “was also the right thing to do for the show,”, particularly the show’s VFX-heavy finale:
“It was one of those things where it was a very fun scene, and it would have been a great cold open to one of the episodes, but it also would have had to come out of our budget somewhere else, and probably would have hurt our finale along the way.
So, that was the cameo I had to cut. It hurt, but it was also the right thing to do for the show, and I think everyone sort of collectively agreed. There’s plenty of time in the future to team this guy up with other characters in the MCU and start building these connections; let’s not force something just because the other shows have all had it.”
Why Did Marvel Cut the Eternals’ Cameo?
This Moon Knight and Eternals crossover would’ve been incredible. Its huge scale might easily have made it one of the most well-received scenes in all of Marvel Studios Disney+ material to date.
Imagine watching an old Khonshu Avatar fighting alongside four Eternals against a Kaiju-sized crocodile God—it would be a once-in-a-lifetime encounter.
Who would have joined in the fun, though? Aside from Kingo, the group’s combatants, such as Gilgamesh played by Don Lee, and Makkari played by Lauren Ridloff, would have been the most obvious options.
Due to the actors’ schedules and compensation demands. Ikaris and Thena, played by Richard Madden and Angelina Jolie may have been too difficult or expensive to include.
It’s quite apparent why it was removed. Budget-wise, it would have easily depleted most of their reserves. The climax that spectators just witnessed clearly required every penny available. That one potential moment, in fact, would have blown the entire last episode out of the water in terms of grand scale.
Even while the show’s separation from the MCU is one of its best qualities. It would have been good to have a major tie-in at some point throughout the six-episode run. The link could have been established through the appearance of a major character or by more broad references to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Regardless of how well Eternals did, fans would have been happy to see the characters appear in another project, even if only for a scene.
Moon Knight is now available to watch on Disney+.
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