Moon Knight May Be Headed to Netflix for Supernatural Series

Marvel Comics has launched YET ANOTHER new series featuring Moon Knight.

That is not the big news though. The real big news is the rumors about Netflix launching a Moon Knight television series are not 100% rumor. The streaming service is having such massive success so far Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, and Blade are all in development. ScreenRant has the whole story so far.

All three heroes have something in common: they have a supernatural twist to them. Of the three, Ghost Rider and Blade were featured in hit movie franchises. Moon Knight never had the chance because he is - mostly - a B character.

Moon Knight's Identity Crisis

Marvel's resident Batman Redux has had several different comic book series published featuring him and, while some were uneven, most were actually quite good. The very best Moon Knight tales - IMHO - were published in The Hulk Magazine in the late 1970's/early 1980's. Moon Knight's solo series in the early 1980's was quite good, but did not sell well. Ditto for the cancelled 1990's series. Moon Knight returned in many forms in short-lived and decently written books. The problem with Moon Knight was (and is) the character was way too close to Batman to really stand out on his own.

To separate Moon Knight from Batman, they tweaked his alter ego and gave him three alter egos. In addition to being a reclusive billionaire Steve Grant, the man behind the cape and cowl was also mercenary Marc Spector and a cab driver Jake Lockley.

What is the root of all this alter ego mania? You see, Moon Knight has a split personality disorder. On top of that, he talks to Khonshu, an Egyptian Moon God who grants him special powers. Or Moon Knight could be mentally disturbed and thinks he is talking to Khonshu.

Which Moon Knight though? In addition to "Batman Moon Knight", there is a different Moon Knight who dresses more dapper and has an arrogant personality far removed from the original version of the character.

A lot of game playing with Moon Knight's identity really created a convoluted character with limited sales potential. Moon Knight has a cult following though and Marvel enjoys revisiting the character.

Hopefully, Marvel Studios and Netflix will keep things focused on the early Marc Spector mercenary version of Moon Knight and avoid any Steve Grant/Bruce Wayne/Batman comparisons.

Better yet, Marvel could play up Moon Knight's very early supernatural traits and set the stage for the debut of.......Werewolf by Night. Wishful thinking!

Moon Knight Debuts

Moon Knight's first appearance was in the excellent 1970's Marvel horror comic Werewolf by Knight. The two-part tale (issues #32 and #33) dealt with Moon Knight trying to capture the lycanthrope on behalf of an evil syndicate. A Werewolf by Night movie was planned and, surprisingly, promotional materials were produced announcing the film but nothing came about. Why not bring The Werewolf to Netflix?

During his battle with the werewolf, Moon Knight was scratched (not bitten, scratched) and this led to Moon Knight gaining power and strength proportionate with the cycles of the moon. All that ended up being dropped over time.

Marvel and Netflix could - and should - bring it back for the streaming series because Moon Knight's greatest appeal would be turning him into a hero that walks the tightrope between traditional heroes and traditional horror tales. Ghost Rider and Blade do this to great success.

The Horror Spin

Marvel has created a host of horror and supernatural characters throughout the course of its publishing history. Superheroes are always going to be Marvel's top attractions, but the horror and supernatural characters could be successful if marketed to the right niche.

Netflix has carved out a niche with "earthen" heroes who deal with gritty, real-life problems. Daredevil, The Punisher, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage are not out to save the world. They deal with the microcosm of crime on the harsh street level. Adding MORE characters who do the same thing would risk oversaturation. The impending arrivals of Iron Fist and Shang Chi show Netflix and Marvel understand this. These two heroes represent pure martial arts fantasy, and a move away from Hell's Kitchen.

Opening a new "fan front" with supernatural heroes (and villains) absolutely would be a good move.

The new Moon Knight comic series debuted issue one in April. Sales were in the 67,000 copies range.

Negan's Notorius Debut On The Walking Dead

Negan arrives. Results mixed.

Sorry for the long delay, but non-blog duties do take me away from making my originally planned twice-weekly updates. News flies so quickly in the massive world of comic book-inspired television and movie world so staying on top of things is pretty tough.

Besides, everyone already knows the big news. I'd like to focus on picking one bit of news and then expanding on it from an interesting angle. Or at least I try to make things interesting.

One thing I have been formulating in my head has been the debut of the nefarious, notorious Negan at the season finale of The Walking Dead.

By now, we all know a great deal of the reaction to the finale and the entire season has been somewhat negative. Viewer and critical complaints about the finale - and the season in general - focused on the slow pace of the series and the (supposedly) underwhelming debut of Negan. The complaints due have some merit since ratings for the season finale's ending were down. Fans were turned off upon discovering the reveal of who Negan killed would be delayed until next season. Viewers feel they are being milked for ratings. The tragic irony is the ratings have gone down. Viewers departed rather than experienced being taken advantage of.

That said.....The season as NOT bad and neither was the debut of Negan. I really though the season was quite good and Jeffrey Dean Morgan did make a great Negan. 

The issue with Negan is he is always going to be compared with The Governor. In the comic book, Negan debuted - seemingly - as a redux of The Governor. The redux was just The Governor with a different personality.

And then several months of monthly Walking Dead comic books featuring Negan, readers quickly discovered the personality of Negan is a lot different and far more engaging than The Governor. Negan is not "yet another antagonist" for The Walking Dead crew to deal with. He is a psychopath with a strange moral code that is the yang to the yin of his hideous immoral nature.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan mixed Negan's strange sense of humor, violent sadism, and technocratic free market pragmatiism to great effect. Perhaps it was a bit overwhelming for viewers not familiar with the character. In time, as the character of Negan is revealed through the course of the next season, viewers are going to see he is far different from the other antagonists that have appeared on the program. The interactions between Negan, Carl, and Rick further establish he is a different kind of villain. The amoral nature of Negan plays against Rick's own decent into violent authoritarianism.

Remember, Rick's plan was to kill Negan and all his gang. The purpose was to - in essence - set up his own protection racket, one no different than Negan's. The only thing that put a stop to Rick's own violent rampage was Negan had greater numbers and organization.

The entire fiasco was Rick's fault. A confrontation with Negan could have been avoided. The life of the (so far unrevealed) character would not have been lost.

Therein lies the ironic dynamic between Negan and Rick. Calling Negan a villain is difficult after Rick crossed a serious moral divide. And he did so long ago.

Punisher Series Is Greenlit By Netflix

No one should be surprised Netflix has opted to turn The Punisher into a weekly series. Jon Bernthal's performance as Frank Castle during season two of Daredevil clearly impressed fans. A Punisher series was considered even before season two was filmed. Netflix has a ton of Marvel-related ideas in various stages of development including even a possible Moon Knight series. Read the whole story at Entertainment Weekly.


The Punisher may appear on the upcoming Defenders ensemble special series.