Moon Knight proved to be surprisingly hit and miss, but regardless of how you felt about the series, something that surprised pretty much everyone is just how standalone the show was. It had little to no ties to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe, and by the time we reached the finale, it still wasn't clear what Marc Spector/Steven Grant's role in this world will be.
During a recent interview with Discussing Film, Moon Knight Head Writer Jeremy Slater was asked about the lack of MCU references (beyond a quick Madripoor mention in episode three). With that, he elaborated on scrapped plans for a number of big name cameos.
"What happens if we try to get Chris Evans back as old Captain America? You know, you sit there and play that 'what if' game among your writers," he explains. "The only two that we seriously discussed? Dane Whitman from Eternals of course, because at the time Steven Grant was going to be working at the same museum. But there was never any logical reason for him to be in the show. As a Marvel fan, I would be frustrated if Dane showed up for another cameo and it didn’t progress his story or give us any teasers for the Black Knight."
"Then we also talked about including the Eternals, specifically Kingo and Makkari," Slater continued. "We were originally planning to show the original fall of Ammit and the death of Alexander the Great in a flashback sequence, and that seemed like it could naturally dovetail with an appearance from the Eternals."
The writer would go on to explain that cameos like those cost money and it didn't seem productive to sacrifice some of Moon Knight's biggest set pieces just to throw in some familiar faces. Slater also received some words of wisdom from Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige.
"Kevin comes to us and says, 'You know what, guys? I know everyone loves the cameos. Everyone gets excited about it. But I really think your story is standing on its own two feet right now.' Then it almost feels like shoehorning in an unnecessary cameo," Slater concludes. "Suddenly War Machine happens to be visiting Cairo at that time or something like that. It feels like it would have just jerked out of the story and really taken the focus away from the character journey that we were on between Marc and Steven."
While throwing the Eternals into the mix would have been fun, it's perfectly understandable why Moon Knight ultimately went in a different direction. We'll no doubt see them and Dane again soon, though the fact their movie underperformed has left their future somewhat up in the air (Black Knight, however, is expected to factor into the upcoming Blade reboot).
All six episodes of Moon Knight are now streaming on Disney+.