Moon Knight boss explains why there were no MCU crossovers

These days, it’s common practice for movies and shows set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to link to other movies and shows in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sometimes the connections are strong, other times it’s merely a cameo or a reference. But in the latest Disney+ MCU series, Moon Knight, there was nary a crossover to be seen.

For the most part, Moon Knight was set in its own little bubble in England and later Egypt. Whereas a show like Hawkeye was bursting with MCU crossovers — it’s Yelena! it’s Kingpin! — the story is totally self-contained.

However, at one point the writers had two crossovers ready to go: one at the beginning of the show and another at the end. “We had the freedom to place it whenever,” director Mohamed Diab told Variety. “I want to tell you the very first scene, there was a crossover, and the very end scene, there was a crossover. But as the story developed and we kept changing the scripts, we felt like, ‘We don’t need that.’ All of us. It was a collective decision.”

"I kept thinking: It’s a rule. There has to be a scene at the end that connects us to the MCU…You know what, the surprise is that there isn’t [a crossover]."

While we didn’t see any familiar faces, we did get a few references to stuff we’ve seen elsewhere in the franchise. For instance, the hippo-goddess Taweret references the Ancestral Plane, which is seen in Black Panther when T’Challa takes the Heart-Shaped Herb that allows him to talk with his dead father, T’Chaka.

This being Marvel, we’ll undoubtedly see Moon Knight meet other characters within the universe (or multiverse) at some point. Perhaps we’ll see him team up with Spider-Man; they make a great team in the comics.

Who was initially going to appear in Moon Knight? 

So with that in mind, who was going to be involved in these mysterious crossover? According to writer Jeremy Slater, former Tracksuit Mafia commander Echo (Alaqua Cox) was set to be a potential love interest for Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac). “At the time, Echo was going to be our love interest, solely based on the fact that they knew Marvel liked the character of Echo and was trying to find a show to put her in,” Slater told the House of R podcast.

For the record, Echo is officially getting her own show in 2023. All six episodes of Moon Knight are currently streaming on Disney+.

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