Season 1 of Moon Knight ended on May 3 on Disney+. Perhaps the most surprising thing about Jeremy Slater’s show is his desire to be as disconnected from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as possible. It is thus in this logic that the series makes no reference to the other productions of the license. It is surely in this logic also that this reference to Kang, the big villain of the series Loki, was erased during editing.
Moon Knight: the series is over
Of March 30 to May 3, 2022MCU fans had an appointment every Wednesday on Disney + to discover their new episode of Moon Knight. Created by Jeremy Slater, led by Mohamed Diab and worn by Oscar Isaac, the series tells the adventures of a brand new hero in the MCU: Moon Knight. This complex and ambiguous character is very famous among comic book readers. Mark Spector has dissociative identity disorder and must manage between several individuals. In parallel, he is the avenging point of Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the Moon.
The series met, like any production of Marvel Studios, a certain enthusiasm. Jeremy Slater, however, insisted that the show is entirely disconnected from the rest of the MCU. References to the global Marvel universe are extremely rare and very discreet. This is the first time since the beginning of the MCU that a production has been as much next to the overall continuity of the license. It is in this logic that this reference to Kang was deleted in the edit.
A reference to Kang deleted in the edit
As explained in the series finale Loki, Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors, is the creator of the Time Variance Authority. He created and ran the TVA from the shadows to prevent a universal war that put the entire multiverse in jeopardy. Long story short, he’s the big boss of the multiverse (and yet he’s absent from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). At the end of Loki, Sylvie murders this version of Kang, leaving all of her other, much less reasoned variants free to move.
In a recent interview with The DirectJeremy Slater revealed that at one point, in Moon Knight, Rama-Tut was to be referenced in one of the series episodes. Rama-Tut is one of Kang’s many nicknames. Indeed, the latter, who is a high-flying time traveler, has known many eras and therefore had many names. Jeremy Slater explains that there was a line of dialogue in which Steven Grant was talking about Egyptian history and quoting Rama-Tut. But this replica was not kept in the final cut:
There was a line in the script, and I don’t know if it survived. I do not remember. But there was a line where Steven is talking about Egyptian history and where he mentions Rama-Tut. I don’t remember if that scene, if that line is still in the show or not. But it was so small, it was him mentioning a list of famous pharaohs or something. But it was Nick Pepin, one of our executives at Marvel, it was his idea to slip this in like a fun ester egg.
However, episode 3 of Moon Knightentitled “The Friendly Type”, featured an easter egg referencing Kang. At the start of the scene, Marc Spector is fighting against several worshipers of Ammit. One of them carries a denim jacket with a Kang symbol on the back. Kang should in any case very soon be talking about him again. We know it will be the great antagonist of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It should logically be mentioned and referenced in other upcoming MCU productions.
