Why Moon Knight Looks So Much Like Batman In The Super Bowl Trailer

The Moon Knight’s March 30 release date, relatively little has been seen of the character. The new elements revealed in the Super Bowl Moon Knight trailer give a greater glimpse of how the MCU is adapting this complicated Marvel character.

The Super Bowl Moon Knight trailer is only 30 seconds long and shows some darker elements of Marc Spector’s (Oscar Isaac) character interspliced with conversations between Moon Knight and Ethan Hawke’s Arthur Harrow. As Moon Knight jumps towards men shooting at him with machine guns, he stretches his arms wide to reveal a large white cape that billows behind him. A moment later, while standing in front of a church at night, Marc Spector catches a curved blade boomerang before leaping between rooftops at night.

Batman’s inner turmoil more regularly resembles the extremes of Marc Spector’s mental struggles. While the Moon Knight trailer might appear similar to Batman in many ways, it is not that the MCU is copying DC, but rather a symptom of the longstanding back and forth that has gone on between Marvel and DC’s comics for decades.

Moon Knight Super Bowl Trailer Cape Boomerang

It is easy to see the Moon Knight trailer leaning into a darker and grittier tone as the MCU marching into DC’s turf, as DC is well established in the tone through the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy and the Snyderverse movies. However, this choice is a larger indication of the way that both the MCU and the DCEU are expanding. Moon Knight is taking on a darker tone in contrast to much of what Marvel has done before and helps to set up the disturbing style that the Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness Super Bowl trailer establishes. Likewise, with James Gunn at the helm of The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker in the DCEU, the other franchise is sometimes taking on the more irreverent tone that had for a while been the hallmark of the MCU.

Of course, there is an element to the Moon Knight trailer that hints that some of the similarities between this adaptation of Marc Spector and Batman might be driving a more intentional rivalry. Moon Knight will release directly on streaming on March 30 on Disney+. Meanwhile, DC’s gritty new take on Bruce Wayne, DC and Marvel must have been aware that comparisons would be drawn with questions over who handled the dark and morally gray heroes better.

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