Here’s some behind-the-scenes from Geek History Lesson HQ: Moon Knight is our most requested episode.
We keep a living document of all podcast topic requests. At the time of this blog being uploaded we have over 400 episode suggestions. A huge section of one of these pages is a paragraph of requests from listeners for a Moon Knight episode. For years we have beens saying,
“When the show comes out we’ll do The Moon Knight episode!”
Fun fact: we almost recorded the Moon Knight episode last year merely based on the popularity of the request. To be sitting here writing this blog post for you now, I have admit I’m pleased we saved it for the swirling #MoonKnight of it all and excitement across the internet.
Students, the trailer dropped yesterday:
… so, here is your official early announcement: The Moon Knight episode is coming to Geek History Lesson!
In the meantime, we’re here to breakdown the trailer for your, encourage you to crack open Warren Ellis and Decland Shalvey’s Moon Knight series and keep your eyes peeled for Easter Eggs!
The opening of the trailer features series star and Star Wars icon, Oscar Isaac, examining the opposition of the day and the night, the light and the dark, while holding a Rubik’s cube. Comic book readers will be tickled by the fracturing imagery and descriptions of opposition. Moon Knight famously has a personality disorder. While a deadly vigilante, he lives fractured lives. This being comic books Moon Knight’s personalities often appear on-panel with names, accents/dialects, and tricks up their sleeves not always available when a different persona takes over. This opening is subtle, but it’s letting the keen viewer know complexities lie just beneath the surface.
Heck, the trailer even plays Kid Cudi’s Day N Nite leaning very much into theme.
When Marc Spector, the man behind the Moon Knight, gets out of bed his floor is covered in sand. Sure, it’s a striking design choice, but there is much to be mined here. Sand and the Sandman (we know, we know, that’s a DC property), have been tied to the idea of sleep since before comic books were even a thing. Is it all a dream? Is Marc awake? Is Moon Knight awake? Is this a reference to the time Marc Spector spent in Sudan in the comics? Time will tell!
A morning commute. The British museum. In comic book fandom there’s bee swirling debate about whether or not all of Marc’s personalities have the same accent. The fan theory of an English person has existed for years. Could this be the “dominant personality” for Moon Knight on Disney+? For the pilot? We do think it’s likely! This leads into the “Stevie” vs. “Steven” exchange with his co-worker. Selfishly, we do hope your minds went to Stevie and Clea - more likely this is a nod to the Steven Grant personality.
Was he ever Marc Spector up to this point in the trailer? Or had we simply assumed so because we’ve read some Marvel comic books in our time?
Inside the museum the Egyptian God Khonshu is revealed. Another comic book reference who has “played God” in reviving Marc Spector more than once in his time. Is Khonshu actually going to be a living being in the series? We think not. The trailer, and presumably the series, is as interested in exploring waking-versus-sleeping as Moon Knight books tend to be.
Next Moon Knight picks up a Razr (shout out to Motorola and to Ashley’s first ever cell phone), and the ensuing conversation echoes the question we asked above - has this man been Marc Spector at any point in the trailer thus far?
Ethan Hawke steps into the trailer in his full cult leader glory (giving mad Wild Wild Country wardrobe vibes), named Arthur Harrow who channels his inner Loki demanding all present “kneel”. Harrow is a strictly one-appearance-only Marvel Comics character with ties back to the Nazis. He’s a scientist who explores pain - a classic comic book villain compulsions at both Marvel and DC Comics, if we are being fair. As the MCU is want to do this is probably a name lift only.
When the Moon Knight costume is finally put on (or perhaps more accurately, takes over Marc Spector’s body), it gives full Egyptian-curse, we’re about to fight possibly Anubis, still looking like the comic costume realness. In fairness, Moon Knight’s costume has changed very little over the decades. Unlike Batman there’s not going to be a ton of fertile ground in debating Which Moon Knight Costume is Best? or How Panel Accurate is this? For the sake of chatting about the costume, because we’re geeks, thus, contractually obligated to do so: the cape is definitely taking on the personality and charisma artist Declan Shalvey imbued it with during his tenure drawing the book.
Moon Knight hits Disney+ on Wednesday, March 30th, 2022.