These Two Moon Knight Characters Almost Had A Game-Changing Costume Swap
Keeping the Marvel Cinematic Universe's presence on Disney+ alive, "Moon Knight" premiered on March 30, 2022, and is already turning heads. The show stars Oscar Isaac as the titular vigilante, who has taken it upon himself to do the bidding of the Egyptian god Khonshu (F. Murray Abraham). His latest task is to save the world from a villainous and dangerously powerful cult leader named Dr. Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), though he'll have to regain control of his own mind should he hope to have even a shadow of a chance.
No matter how you slice it, "Moon Knight" is a much different animal than your typical MCU entry. It tells its story in a very disjointed way, it doesn't seem too interested in connecting itself to the franchise around it, and it's not going out of its way to hide its slightly edgier violence. At the same time, it's far from a total rejection of its Marvel Studios label or Marvel Comics roots, as evidenced by Moon Knight's costumes alone, which look as though they're lifted straight from the source material with little alteration to speak of.
On the subject of costumes, as "Moon Knight" prepares to drop its second episode, director Mohamed Diab has pulled back the curtain and revealed that two key characters nearly swapped outfits — a move that could've totally changed the series as we know it.
Marc Spector and Steven Grant nearly traded suits
Aside from the threat of Arthur Harrow and the foreboding presence of Khonshu, "Moon Knight" spends a lot of time on the conflict between Marc Spector and Steven Grant. One is a rugged, seasoned antihero, and the other is a timid yet knowledgeable pacifist. The problem? They are two personalities stuck in the same body, meaning they have to find some common ground if they hope to stop Harrow. In doing so, they'll both have to spring into action sometimes, equipped with unique superhero suits to keep them from being harmed or worse. Although, surprisingly, their respective designs were swapped early on in development.
"We started with Steven having Moon Knight and Marc having Mr. Knight," revealed Mohamed Diab to Collider in April of 2022, explaining why the initial idea wound up binned. Diab states that "the suit is inspired by who you are, or what you love, or what's your imagination of a suit," so while Marc opts for the mysterious and ideal for combat Moon Knight suit, Steven goes for the more stylish yet equally effective Mr. Knight threads. Diab adds that this overall concept took time to develop organically on its own, and he and his team gave particular attention to the design of Moon Knight as opposed to Mr. Knight.
Knowing what we do about Marc Spector and Steven Grant, Mohamed Diab and the "Moon Knight" crew's logic makes a ton of sense. The Moon Knight and Mr. Knight costumes are now definitely attached to the right personalities, and it'll be interesting to see them both in action as the program continues its six-episode run.