Moon Knight stars Oscar Isaac in the roles of Steven Grant, and Marc in the Marvel film; Credits: National World

Moon Knight is a Marvel production like no other. Impressively novel in its trope, setup, and storyline, the film is the first Disney plus series from the Marvel Cinematic Universe but does not refer to any other established heroes of the Studio. 

If Anything, Moon Knight itself does not feature an established hero and simply refuses to refer to any of the top-tier Marvel characters that have shaped the Studio for over decades. The series has nothing to do with infinity stones or multiverse tropes like that of Spider-Man and does not incline towards glory worshiping either the Avengers or the Eternals. 

Needless to say, the series is all about the Moon Knight, and you will not find any surprise visits by multiverse travelers like Doctor Strange or Marvel witches like Maximoff. In fact, there is not even the mention of Marvel legend, the Iron-Man. 

The story of the conflicted hero, Moon Knight begins with the introduction of Oscar Issac as Steven Grant, A London museum gift shop employee, Grant is submissive and silent most of the time but is now finding himself in places and has no idea how he reached them. 

Soon enough, he realizes that he is housing a completely antagonistic personality inside him. The other person, also played by Oscar Issac, is Marc Spector and is bold, aggressive, and opposite of everything that Grant is. But not only is Spector living inside of Grant, but there is also the voice of Egyptian god Khonshu, F. Murray Abraham, inside of his head.

Putting things at an even more interesting tilt, Marc and Khonshu do not go well together and are conflicted when it comes to Arthur Harrow, a religious cult leader played by Ethan Hawke. While the two personalities inside him fight over their own agenda, Steven Grant is left wanting control of his own body. 

Explaining why Moon Knight has no apparent connection with the other Marvel heroes or storylines or shows any references to the popular heroes, the series director Mohamed Diab and Oscar Isaac shared that the story is so complex that they could not squeeze in much Marvel content. 

The head writer of the series, Jeremy Slater, known for The Umbrella Academy, realized that the story of Steven Grant is exceptionally complex and psychologically challenging, given the three distinct thought lines running in his head. Hence, the MCU had no space to occupy in his brain or the Disney+ series. 

Diab also shared that the series is phenomenally strong in its own portrayal of the storyline. In such a case, there was no need to use Marvel heroes as propellers to boost the story or the narration. 

The main focus of Moon Knight is narrowed to depicting the complicated psychological plight of Grant, and hence, other subplots did not fit into the storytelling experience. The emotions of the main character are the paramount point of highlight in Grant's journey. 

Moon Knight hence is not a tentpole character, ultimately tying back to the Marvel Comics, but an individual narration that has its own potential of creating a fanbase. Not bringing the popular marquee heroes of the franchise into the play allows the series its own freedom of expression. 

Apart from refusing to acknowledge Marvel, Moon Knight also broke the tradition of the conventional use of Greek mythology when creating characters or bringing forward their backgrounds. Instead, Moon Knight stepped into the unexplored territory of Egyptian Mythology, which was yet not employed in Studio productions. 

Khonshu is the Egyptian God in Moon Knight who speaks in Grant's head; Credits: Nerdist

The myths of the culture play an important role while depicting the inner conflict of Steven and Marc as the lead hero suffers from his dissociative identity disorder. Needless to say, the unknown Egyptian Lore only adds more mystery and thrill to the dark narration of the story. 

The actor and his team in the series do realize that breaking out of Marvel rules could be a big risk for them. Yet they also realize that Moon Knight is a distinctive series, and they are finally creating a different and revitalized concept in the superhero franchise.

Here are a few more distinctive features that set the series as a confusing yet captivating retelling of events:-

Mohamed Diab, who grew up in Egypt, was a big fan of big-name Marvel heroes like Spider-Man and Batman. However, he had never heard of Mokon Knight. But when he moved to Los Angeles and heard that the Marvel Studio chief Kevin Fiege has announced a Moon Knight project as of 2019, he decided that he would want to do it. 

Diab and his wife, Sarah Goher, who also happens to be his producing partner, narrowed down the project. With Diab already having considerable directing credits for films and series like Cairo 678 and Amira, he knew it was his opportunity to launch into the directing field in Hollywood with the Disney Plus series. 

The series features just all the aspects of thrill, horror, drama, and comedy that he wishes to include in his work. Hence, he partnered with his wife to create 200 pages of a pitch for the film and its production. He was so dedicated to the project that he was sure his pitch would pass through, and he would receive the project. 

When he finally got control of the series, he decided to break the traditional stereotypes that people associate with the Egyptian people and get the representation of the Arabs just right. 

Therefore, Diab chose to break the public perception of the pyramids being in the middle of a lonely desert, like all the pictures that ever showcase them, and allowed the world to see that the pyramids are almost in the middle of the city. 

Many such points help set apart Moon Knight from the typical Marvel production. The production is available to stream at Disney plus.