Moon Knight is an American television miniseries created by Jeremy Slater for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name.

Marc Spector, a mercenary who has dissociative identity disorder (DID), is drawn into a deadly mystery involving Egyptian gods with his multiple alters, such as Steven Grant.

Diab and his writer-producer wife Sarah Goher put together a 200-page document outlining their vision for the series, which included their intention to depict Egypt and Egyptian people in a more positive way than they felt had been done in previous Hollywood productions.

Diab elaborated that American films and series often used Orientalist stereotypes such as portraying Egyptian people as exotic "guides and desert wanderers" or ignoring the fact that the Giza pyramids are beside Cairo, a modern city.

[56] By November 2020, director duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead were asked to create a pitch for the series, after previously having had discussions with Marvel Studios about finding a project to work on together.

[68] Feige likened the series to the Indiana Jones franchise while exploring Egyptology,[3] two aspects that were a large part of Slater's pitch given that he wanted to tell a "dark, complex story" mixed with "big, fun, supernatural, Amblin-style magic".

[68] Slater said he wanted the series to have a similar tone to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Ghostbusters (1984), and bring some horror aspects and monsters to the MCU.

Isaac believed the series would be "experiential" for viewers to connect with "the psychological horror of not knowing what's happening and the slow revelations of the truth" that came with portraying the character's DID.

Slater noted that all of the creatives worked to find the proper balance of how many overt hints to leave regarding Lockley, deciding to focus on viewers unfamiliar with the character from the comics and creating a satisfying mystery for them.

However, when trying to include the character in the series, Slater only saw him as "a guy with a gun, which made him too dangerous to go up against Steven Grant" and to solve that, they would need to give him superpowers; this also proved challenging because Slater could not find "enough real estate" to make Bushman have "an actual emotional connection to the story" while also avoiding the racist tropes the character presented over the year,[18] and because he felt too similar to Black Panther (2018) villain N'Jadaka / Erik "Killmonger" Stevens.

[84][85] There were also discussions regarding including Dane Whitman, with Steven Grant working at the same museum as him, but Slater stated there was "never any logical reason for him to be in the show" as it would not have progressed his Black Knight storyline.

[88] Isaac was initially hesitant to join the series, as he was wary of being in another franchise after experiencing how much time and effort was required to film the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

[94] F. Murray Abraham was revealed to be voicing Khonshu in February 2022,[27] having been approached for the role;[26] Karim El Hakim provided the on-set performance of the character.

[97] Stefania Cella serves as the production designer,[13]: 8  working with Egyptologists and an Egyptian supervising art director to ensure historical accuracy in her sets.

[102] Moon Knight's costume consists of armor and Ancient Egyptian bandages, with hieroglyphic-like symbols on his cape,[11][9][13]: 12  which feature Khonshu's oath and are in a repeating pattern on the underlining in a foil-like fabric.

[103] The moon crest on his chest, from which he spawns his crescent darts, also contains the oath of Khonshu, while additional hieroglyphs on his pants that state "Rise and live again as my fist of vengeance.

The company sought inspiration from ancient Egyptian artifacts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, working with Curtis in crafting a sequence which focused on the series' dark and mysterious tone.

[118] Isaac said filming felt "handmade",[5] with Diab bringing local authenticity and attention to the smallest details such as including the correct text of a prayer over a shop.

[76] He, Isaac, and Hawke attributed this to the large amount of rehearsing and discussing that they did before filming each episode, including regular Sunday brunches with the main cast and crew.

[28] Marvel Music and Hollywood Records released the first episode's end-credit track from Nazih, "Moon Knight", as a digital single on March 30, 2022,[125] followed by the series' soundtrack album on April 27.

[127][128] A trailer was then released on January 17, 2022, during the 2021–22 NFL playoffs,[129] with James Whitbrook at Gizmodo noting that it gave a full look at the character following the brief Disney+ Day footage.

[130] Richard Newby at The Hollywood Reporter felt the trailer was "relish[ing]" in the general audience's lack of knowledge about the character by maintaining a sense of mystery.

[131] An additional trailer aired during Super Bowl LVI on February 13,[132] which continued to keep the series mysterious while depicting its "darker sensibilities", according to Screen Rant's Rachel Labonte.

[136][137] Also in April, Marvel and National Geographic released a featurette exploring how the series approached and researched all of the Ancient Egyptian iconography for the sets and story.

[138] QR codes were included in the first two and final two episodes linking viewers to a website to access free digital comics featuring Moon Knight that updated weekly.

Vary of Variety called the initiative "a savvy way to expand viewers' comic book knowledge" for the more obscure character of Moon Knight.

Bonus features include the featurette "Egyptology"; deleted scenes; a gag reel; and the Marvel Studios: Assembled documentary special "The Making of Moon Knight".

The website's critics consensus reads, "Its entertainment value may wax and wane a bit, but Moon Knight ultimately settles into a mostly enjoyable—and refreshingly weird—spot in the MCU firmament.

[159] Giving the first four episodes of the series four out of five stars, James Dyer wrote in his review for Empire that Moon Knight was "a boldly bonkers affair that manages to capture the same giddy joy imbued in Hawkeye and Loki", delivering "something that feels genuinely different from any corner of the MCU yet explored".

[175] Diab stated in March 2022 that he felt the character would be part of the MCU for the next ten years and expressed his hope that Moon Knight would eventually get his own feature film.