Marvel is often criticized for a somewhat formulaic approach, but in truth, they're a lot more diverse in tone and style than many realize. In part, this is because Marvel tends to blend superheroes with other genres: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness seems to be a step towards horror. WandaVision was a superhero sitcom, self-consciously drawing on all the best tropes from that genre. However much Paul Bettany suggested WandaVision was a six-hour movie, it didn't feel that way; rather, it felt like a promise from Marvel that they would and could adapt to the new medium they were exploring. Unfortunately, it's a promise the MCU has failed to keep; nothing since WandaVision has been quite so fresh, creative or exploratory.

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Fortunately, Moon Knight promises to be a step in the right direction. The Moon Knight suggests this will be a dark psychological adventure, with a level of violence and brutality unseen in the mainstream MCU to date. The focus is clearly on the exploration of Marc Spector's troubled mind, as he struggles with his Dissociative Identity Disorder—a condition that, in the comics, has only been worsened because he's been in "brain-to-brain with a god." There's even a shot of Khonshu himself in the trailer, suggesting Marvel is going to tell this comic-book-accurate tale.

It's easy to criticize Marvel for producing a raft of similar, relatively "safe" content, but there's a reason they did so. Marvel Studios is relatively new to making TV shows, and they signed off on an entire slate of them at once; WandaVision may have been the first, but all of 2021's other MCU Disney+ TV series were already in various stages of production when it released. The superhero sitcom was a risk that paid off, but Marvel wisely chose not to conduct a course correction partway through production, instead focusing on ensuring they'd learned lessons in time for 2022. Moon Knight's trailer is, therefore, a welcome sign that things are headed in the right direction.

The change in approach is a timely one. WandaVision generally seems to be considered the best MCU Disney+ TV series to date, and its performance was boosted by circumstance; it launched after a drought of Marvel content due to the pandemic, after all. While there's no evidence of superhero fatigue, none of the subsequent MCU TV shows seem to be having the cultural impact of WandaVision, and there's even evidence performance is beginning to suffer; the Hawkeye premiere was the least-watched live-action show by Marvel Studios to date. Hopefully, Moon Knight will generate enough buzz to turn things around.

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