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Why Moon Knight Cut More Egyptian Gods
Moon Knight director Mohamed Diab revealed that the MCU television series was originally planned to include more Ancient Egyptian Gods.

The MCU television series Moon Knight was originally planned to include more Egyptian gods. The latest Disney+ superhero show stars Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector, a former U.S. Marine-turned-mercenary who wrestles with dissociative identity disorder (DID), a complex psychological condition that can causes him to have multiple, distinct identities. Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the Moon, uses Marc as his avatar to enact his will of punishment on those he thinks deserving. Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) serves Ammit, the feared Egyptian Devourer of the Dead who would eat the souls of those unworthy to pass into the afterlife.

The series explores Ancient Egyptian theology over the course of the six-episode series. First through the eyes of a Steven Grant, one of Marc’s identities, a gift shop attendant at the British Museum in London who is well-versed in the mythology. Then as both Marc and Steven as they are pulled into a mission to stop Harrow from resurrecting Ammit. In episode 3, “The Friendly Type,” Khonshu feels that all hope in stopping Harrow is lost and he summons a council of gods to warn them of the villain’s plans. There, only the gods Osiris, Horus, Hathor, and Tefnut, through their avatars, take part in the meeting although there were plans for more.

ComicBook caught up with Mohamed Diab, one of the directors of Moon Knight, who revealed that initially more Egyptian gods were to be included in the series. Diab explains that early in production more than just Khonshu and Ammit were to appear in their original forms. Also, the director explained that nearly all of the gods of the council of Ennead was set to appear as well. Read what Diab said below.

“Most of the gods, at some point, were about to appear in the flesh, but we felt we don’t have enough development for them. So it’s better to keep them [minimal] for better story. While developing it, sometimes you think of something for a reason and then it develops into something even better. For example, I love actually the idea of the avatars inside the chamber of the gods.”

As with many film and television productions, initial concepts for a project can be grand, but as development continues, the scale is pared down to its basics to tell the most efficient and powerful story possible. Diab explains that when developing the council scenes at the chamber of the gods, the actual gods would themselves appear, as did Ammit by the end of the series. But he found that using the avatar was a stronger idea for the interaction between the gods. Having avatars speak for the gods created a strange division  Having rather unassuming humans — Osiris was dressed in a modern suit — speak with powerful voices of the gods, created a strange between the visual and auditory experience in that scene. Producer Grant Davis added that once they realized that the heart of the story was the character study of Marc and Steven, they found that removing focus from Khonshu and shift attention to the central character created a stronger narrative more in-line with overall MCU vision.

Although only three gods appeared in the flesh (Khonshu, Ammit, and Taweret) and four appeared via their avatars, there was an opportunity to further increase the amount of gods in the series. Diab referenced the Ennead, an Ancient Egyptian council of nine gods. Marvel adapted this concept for their comics, giving the gods an extra-dimensional origin and housing them in a Ceslestial city. Expanding the council would open the door for gods like Anubis, Set, and Isis. Although Moon Knight has reportedly been concluded, if Marvel decides to continue the series, there is plenty of room to expand the pantheon of gods.