There’s been plenty of hype surrounding the upcomingMoon Knightseries that was released just recently, and this latest little wrinkle should only add to it. Head writer Jeremy Slater recently came out saying that two of the show’s primary influences wereGhostbustersandIndiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Moon Knightoffers MCU fans a unique story and experience compared to pastMarvel Studiosprojects, which is not an easy feat for a series involving a character who is frequently compared to DC’s Batman. Slater cited the originalGhostbustersandIndiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Arkas big inspirations for the series, among others, in part because he didn’t want the character to be a carbon copy of Batman.
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“I came in saying, ‘Look, people are sort of expecting Batman in a white palette swap, sort of beating up muggers in an alley…’ To me, it was sort of the least interesting version, because we’ve seen it so many times,” Slater said to Variety at theMoon Knightpremiere. “So I came in, and I was really pitching, ‘I want to see someRaiders of the Lost Ark. I want to see someGhostbusters.'” Slater later elaborated that he wanted to bring a darker tone to the family-friendly MCU franchise, which Marvel Studios head guru Kevin Feige was more than supportive of, and then some. “I wanted to bring some horror into the MCU, some scary monsters and really sort of push that envelope as far as we can. Kevin and Marvel were so supportive of that… At every turn, he really sort of pushed us to tell the best story, don’t worry about… pulling your punches. It’s definitely still appropriate for all ages… but I was like ‘let’s get as PG-13 as we possibly can.'”
Being influenced by theIndiana JonesandGhostbustersfranchises shouldn’t surprise anyoneat this point given that their popularity is still strong enough these days to warrant modern and future sequels. Both franchises have provided the template for how to construct a fun adventure for their audiences and characters they could root for. And of course, they also provide some good comedy while they were at it. It’s easy to see why Marvel Studios would look to them for ideas for a series likeMoon Knightas they expand their cinematic universe.
However, just because the property is influenced by such popular classic franchises does not mean that all will go well in the execution of their own stories. Whenever a popular franchise comes out that resonates with audiences, we see other franchises come out shortly thereafter that clearly cite them as inspiration, sure, but also to the point where it’s practically an imitation. Even worse,a pretty poor imitation.They do this because the formula has worked in the past, so why not repeat it? Marvel should know this first-hand given that Warner Brothers andSony are essentially copying what the MCU has done.
That’s also why it is so refreshing to see that even thoughMoon Knightis receiving the hype it gets in part because it promises to be darker than the average Marvel property, those behind the show don’t want to repeat what audiences have already seen in the past. Marvel’s biggest sin has been repeating the same formula. It hasn’t been a problem in the past because fans still tuned in any way. While it’s difficult to tell from just one episode,maybeMoon Knightis the true signthat they are going to change things up a bit.
