Moon Knight Title Design

Steven Grant lives a quiet life in London, while Marc Spector lives an adventurous life serving as the avatar of the Egyptian god, Khonshu. These concepts provided a strong basis to crafting this sequence. We worked closely with Moon Knight Executive Producer, Grant Curtis, to help build the sequence and refine our designs.

Some of the major aspects we explored were the ideas of multiples and reflections. Reflections serve a huge role in Moon Knight. It’s the main way that Marc and Steven communicate with each other and get to learn more about one another.

In addition to reflections, we also picked out elements that were crucial to the story and to both Steven and Marc. We wanted to tie Steven and Marc together while also showing their differences and oppositions. One frame that utilizes all of these aspects is the skyline shot. In the skyline, we see famous buildings in London, but the reflection of the water shows Cairo, Egypt instead. This shot shows the two main settings of the story and symbolizes the differences in Steven and Marc’s roots while also tying them together in the reflection. London being the prominent skyline while Egypt is in the reflection also is a nod towards Steven being in control of the body that episode.

To create something “elegantly unsettling” that was based in both sophistication and psychological thriller themes, we explored how scenery could morph and blend together in a way that was visually potent and beautiful, but also dark and eerie. The constant morphing and blending not only represents Steven and Marc’s dynamic, but also how both the characters and the audience can’t grasp onto any one thing. Everything is constantly shifting and moving, and everything is a mystery, and that unsettling fact helped bring out the darker elements from the show in this sequence.

After receiving the suit model, we began rebuilding the suit piece by piece, draping the strips of cloth on the suit’s sleeve to simulate how the cloth would move and rest on Moon Knight’s body. After studying its movements, we used Houdini’s toolset Vellum to create the ripping and movement of the costume’s cloth in the sequence.

Shortly after this boulder shot, we see a collection of the Egyptian gods’ ushabtis. Upon first viewing, the audience may recognize these ushabtis as something that could be found in Steven’s gift shop. However, after episode 3, the audience understands that these ushabtis were foreshadowing to Khonshu’s imprisonment inside of an ushabti – and perhaps the imprisonment of other Egyptian gods as well.

Throughout the sequence, the number three plays a large role. In particular, in Oscar Isaac’s credit frame, Isaac’s face can be seen separating into 3 identical copies. This indicates that Isaac is playing Steven, Marc, and maybe even someone else, hinting that there could be a third alter appearing at some point in the series.

In episode 1, a shot of Moon Knight opening his eyes precedes the end title card. However, after his introduction in episode 2, Mr. Knight is added to this final shot of the sequence. This shot of Moon Knight and Mr. Knight carry on through the final episode.

Along with the addition of Mr. Knight, the skyline shot of London with Egypt being reflected in the water shifts as the series progresses. The skyline changes depending on where the story is currently taking place that episode. As the story becomes more based in Cairo, the skyline begins to show Egyptian architecture rather than buildings from London.

One of the most prominent changes of the sequence is the phase of the moon. While the moon starts as a waxing crescent in the first episode and becomes a full moon by episode 6, its phase progression is not linear. Certain episodes include a moon that is closer to a full moon than others. The phase of the moon reflects the rise and fall of the story, as well as the connection between Marc and Steven, and the emotional weight of their journey.

We developed and animated the main title with movements that mimic the way shadows move over the moon.