Marvel Studios Reportedly Moving Away From MCU Projects Set in New York City
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a massive place, with stories taking place on Earth, other alien planets, and even on the Quantum Realm. However, the central hub is New York City, home to several heroes like the Avengers and Spider-Man. The Avengers even famously assembled for the very first time in the Battle of New York. Moon Knight, who is about to debut in his self-titled Disney+ series, typically patrols the streets of New York City in the comics. However, he will take his special brand of vigilantism on a global adventure later this month. Oscar Isaac revealed the reason Moon Knight doesn't take place in NYC is that the location has become overcrowded with superheroes.
Isaac was a part of the virtual press conference for Moon Knight (via The Direct). It's here that the star brought up how Marvel Studios decided to shake things up with the new show by taking Moon Knight on a global adventure: "I don't know… well, it was set in London and when I asked why, it was like, 'We just have too many characters in New York…' So, it seems like, let's just change it up… I mean, I love English humor, like The Office and Stath Lets Flats… There's just so much of that humor that I find so funny, and I thought, 'There's an opportunity here to maybe make something… what if we make him English?' I was like, 'What if Peter Sellers was approached for with a Marvel project? What would he do?' So I started thinking about that, and that led me to Karl Pilkington from An Idiot Abroad. And not so much for the accent, but just for his sense of humor where he doesn't know that he's being funny."
The site goes on to list all 12 of the Marvel Studios projects that have taken place in New York: The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man 2, Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. This also doesn't take into account the Marvel Netflix series like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, The Defenders, and The Punisher, which have all recently been added to Disney+. Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio's Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, respectively, have all been reintroduced to the MCU, so those are two more heroes and villains calling the Big Apple home.
By allowing Moon Knight to take place in other countries, it allows the MCU to keep spreading its net wider and wider while making each new project different from the next. Oscar Isaac will also take on different accents for Stephen Grant and Marc Spector, two personalities of Moon Knight.
Is it a good idea to make future Marvel Studios projects take place outside New York City? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!