Jeremy Slater and Melissa Russell
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Jeremy Slater, one of the minds behind Netflix’s adaptation of the comic book ‘The Umbrella Academy’, has been tapped to bring another comic property to streaming– Marvel Studios’ ‘Moon Knight’ which is set to arrive on Disney+, most likely in 2022.  Slater developed ‘The Umbrella Academy’ with Steve Blackman, and wrote the pilot episode, but Slater did not pen any additional Season 1 scripts and Blackman acted as showrunner solo, so it doesn’t appear that Slater was involved past the early stages.  Slater previously worked on another Marvel adaptation, the 2015 ‘Fantastic Four’ movie.  That was a huge disappointment, but reportedly Slater’s approach was much closer to the actual comics, and his work was discarded before the film began production.  (He is still credited as writer, however.)

 

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Prior to that, Slater wrote the movies ‘The Lazarus Effect’ and ‘Death Note’ and he created the TV series based on ‘The Exorcist’ which aired on FOX during the 2016-17 season.  In August, he was announced as penning the screenplay for the Stephen King adaptation ‘The Tommyknockers’.  He will develop ‘Moon Knight’ and lead the writing team.

Marvel Comics

‘Moon Knight’ was announced in August at the D23 Expo as part of the second wave of Marvel Studios shows coming to Disney+, along with ‘Ms. Marvel’ and ‘She-Hulk’.  Unlike the first batch, which will focus on characters and stars from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, these three shows will obviously introduce new characters.

 

RELATED:  RUMOR MILL: Stained Glass Scarlet Is Reportedly The Villain Of Disney+’s ‘Moon Knight’

 

Moon Knight is a mysterious character in the comics, a mercenary named Mark Spectre with a supernatural edge and who seems to have multiple personalities.  Reportedly, the studio is seeking a “Jewish Zac Efron type” to play him.

It has also been rumored that Marvel is seeking to cast Jack Russell, the lycanthropic star of the comic book ‘Werewolf by Night’.  It was in the pages of that series that Moon Knight made his debut, so if Marvel is looking to bring that character to life, this would be a logical venue.

Another character that is said to be in the works for ‘Moon Knight’ is the ex-nun-turned-vigilante, Stained Glass Scarlet.  But Moon Knight’s arch-nemesis from the comics is Spectre’s fellow mercenary Raoul (sometimes Roald) Bushman.  So fans are hoping that character factors in at some point.

Moon Knight is probably the grittiest character that has been announced for the MCU, whether it’s on TV or in a film (aside from the Netflix shows, since… they don’t count), so it remains to be seen how Slater and Marvel Studios approach him to make him work in the family-friendly world of Disney+.

 

Source: The Hollywood Reporter