‘Moon Knight’ producer aiming for less Batman, more ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’

Jeremy Slater has already attempted to distance himself from the Batman comparisons, but the Moon Knight lead writer and executive producer will be fully aware that they’re going to be made regardless of what he says.

The similarities between the two costumed crimefighters with a penchant for lurking in the shadows are almost entirely superficial, but at least Moon Knight has the benefit of arriving with a completely clean slate. The Dark Knight is about to make his eleventh live-action appearance on the big screen, with The Flash and Batgirl on the way, while Marc Spector’s many alter egos are arriving with no baggage whatsoever.

The fan favorite antihero’s origins and powers are deeply connected to Ancient Egypt, so it’s no surprise that Slater revealed to Empire he’s seeking to “De-Wayne” Moon Knight, while glancing towards all-time classic Raiders of the Lost Ark for a touch of inspiration.

“There’s all this amazing stuff from Egyptology in the comics. Raiders of the Lost Ark was actually a big reference when I first pitched. How can we tell this dark, complex story but also inject some big, fun, supernatural, Amblin-style magic at the same time? He told us all these crazy details. Like, inside the Great Pyramid of Giza there’s a chamber that’s inaccessible, but large enough to contain the Statue of Liberty. And no-one knows what’s in it. Those kinds of wild, real-life facts informed everything we wrote.”

We’re less than six weeks away from Moon Knight premiering on Disney Plus, and having been promised something completely different to anything else that exists as part of Marvel Cinematic Universe canon, audiences are going in with very high hopes that the six-episode series will deliver the goods.