Marvel's Moon Knight Trends But Not for the Reason You Think

Fans have heard it all before when it comes to "brutal" Marvel television series.

By Nicole Drum

It's been over two years since Marvel's Moon Knight debuted on Disney+, and fans have wondered ever since if the Oscar Issac-starring series will get a second season and, every so often, the character trends on social media as fans speculate and hope. On Tuesday, Moon Knight started trending on social media once again — but this time it wasn't because of fan speculation about the character's future. Instead, Moon Knight started trending again because of the character — or more accurately, the series' — past all because of comments made by head of Marvel television Brad Winderbaum about another, eagerly anticipated series, Daredevil: Born Again.

In a recent interview, Winderbaum spoke about the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again and commented about the action the series would feature. Specifically, Winderbaum said that the series would have "some of the most brutal action we've ever brought to the screen". And while the comments certainly do make sense for a Daredevil series, especially since we've seen set photos that lend to the idea that the show will have some serious violence, the comments sounded an awful lot like something they'd heard before about Moon Knight.

"So did Moon Knight," @primegundam wrote in response to the assertion about Daredevil: Born Again's brutal action. Others were a bit more critical of the comments with @batmanderiv writing "I wouldn't believe a word of it until I see it for myself when the series comes out. We were made the same promises with Moon Knight (rip) and we got screwed. On the other hand, I know that it sells less but what we want above all is good writing, otherwise it sucks."

Fans Have Heard It Before About Both Moon Knight and Echo

Fans aren't exactly wrong in terms of having heard the "brutal" comments before when it comes to Marvel Television. Back in 2022, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige referred to Moon Knight as "brutal" and spoke about the tonal shift of the series.

"He's brutal," Feige said at the time. "It's been fun to work with Disney+ and see the boundaries shifting on what we're able to do."

He continued, "There are moments [in the series] when Moon Knight is wailing on another character, and it is loud and brutal, and the knee-jerk reaction is, 'We're gonna pull back on this, right?" No. We're not pulling back. There's a tonal shift. This is a different thing. This is Moon Knight."

Similar comments were also made about Echo. Winderbaum described Echo as being on the "grittier side" while series director Sydney Freeland spoke about how the show would "lean into the TV-MA aspect" of things.

"Because we're dealing with a story that is more street-level, itis a little more grounded and a little more visceral," Freeland said at the time. "We're leaning into the TV-MA aspect of it. One of the big things when I first came on was talking to Marvel and saying, 'Well, she's a villain in Hawkeye, and to me that's the most interesting thing about. her.' And their response was, 'Let's lean into that, let's explore that.'"

"As we progressed through the production, I had the chance to say, 'Okay so what if this guy gets his head smashed onto the table, and actually loses a couple of teeth?'" Freeland would add. "That's the character and that's the world: She's a criminal and she's a villain, she's killing people. And the response was, 'Yeah, let's try it!'" 

Will Daredevil: Born Again Live Up to the Hype?

While fans are skeptical of Winderbaum's comments, it is likely that Daredevil: Born Again will have some pretty brutal action. As fans recall, the Netflix Daredevil series had some intense action and Daredevil: Born Again star Vincent D'Onofrio has previously said that the new series will push those boundaries even further.

"There are some things in this show that we go much further with than on the original show," D'Onofrio said earlier this year. "There's one thing in particular, that my character does, that I can't believe made it into the cut."

Related:

What Do We Know About Daredevil: Born Again?

Charlie Cox returns as Matt Murdock / Daredevil and he'll be joined by Vincent D'Onofrio (Wilson Fisk / Kingpin), Jon Bernthal (Frank Castle / Punisher), Wilson Bethel (Benjamin Poindexter / Bullseye), Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson), Ayelet Zurer (Vanessa Fisk), Margarita Levieva, Michael Gandolfini, Genneya Walton, and Arty Froushan. It's unclear if Sandrine Holt, Nikki M. James, Clark Johnson, Michael Gaston, and Harris Yulin will remain in the series after the aforementioned creative overhaul.

Daredevil: Born Again is expected to be released on Disney+ starting March 2025.

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