Jeremy Slater, head writer of Marvel’s Moon Knight for Disney Plus, has revealed that the series almost included cameos from the Eternals.
Moon Knight concluded with the release of its sixth episode earlier this week on Disney Plus. The Oscar Isaac-led series distinguished itself from the majority of MCU projects in just how standalone it was, with very few direct connections to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the production team seem to have agreed this was the best way to establish Moon Knight in the MCU, it wasn’t always the plan.
The head writer of Moon Knight, Jeremy Slater has revealed that earlier versions of the series included cameos from the Eternals. Slater cited his friendship with Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani as part of the reason for wanting the characters in the show. In an interview with The Direct, Slater explained that the Eternals would have appeared in a flashback, which saw them team up with one of Khonshu’s avatars in Ancient Egypt. Ultimately, though, the scene was cut for budget reasons:
“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 also revealed the scene would have been a cold open to one of Moon Knight‘s episodes and teased the possibility of seeing Moon Knight cross paths with other MCU characters in the future:
“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.”
Moon Knight was able to demonstrate that an MCU project doesn’t need to rely on crossovers and cameos in order to succeed, so it was probably the right decision to cut this Eternals moment. While a second season of Moon Knight has not yet been confirmed, Slater seems to suggest there could be a future for the character in the MCU and if this is the case, then there could be plenty of better opportunities for crossovers between Oscar Isaac’s avatar of Khonshu and his MCU compatriots.
Here is the synopsis for Moon Knight:
The series follows Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, who becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of another life. Steven discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt.
Created by Jeremy Slater, the Disney Plus series stars Oscar Isaac, May Calamawy, Karim El Hakim, F. Murray Abraham, Ethan Hawke, Ann Akinjirin, David Ganly, Khalid Abdalla, Gaspard Ulliel, Antonia Salib, Fernanda Andrade, Rey Lucas, Sofia Danu, and Saba Mubarak.
Moon Knight is now steaming on Disney Plus. Stay tuned for all the latest news surrounding the future of the series and the MCU and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.
Source: The Direct
