'Moon Knight' scrapped a plan to crossover with 'Eternals' for a flashback to Ancient Egypt

The Moon Knight TV series on Disney+ (now streaming) is only vaguely connected to the wider MCU, but it wasn't always going to be that way. Director Mohamed Diab — who oversaw four out of the show's six episodes — teased a pair of "crossover" moments that were pitched, but never never shot. While he didn't go into any specific details, we don't have to engage in much speculation on what might have been. 

That's because head writer/executive producer Jeremy Slater (Death Note), recently dished on one of the scrapped cameo ideas while speaking to The Direct. In particular, he revealed the idea for a cold open flashback to Ancient Egypt featuring Phase 4 characters who have been on Earth for several thousand years.

"I tried very hard to get the Eternals into the show, just because I’m buddies with Kumail Nanjiani… I want[ed] some Kingo," Slater admitted. "At one point, there was a flashback on the page that sort of showed one of Khonshu’s Avatars back in ancient Egypt, sort of dealing with Ammit being locked away, and Alexander the Great, and all of that stuff. You sort of saw this Avatar team-up with the Eternals. It was a really fun scene, but again, it was so massively expensive to recreate Ancient Egypt, to sort of bring in 3 or 4 of the Eternals to have this big action sequence."

Despite being "a very fun scene" in concept, there just wasn't enough money to make it a reality. "It ... would have had to come out of our budget somewhere else, and probably would have hurt our finale along the way," he explained. "So, that was the cameo I had to cut. It hurt, but it was also the right thing to do for the show, and I think everyone sort of collectively agreed. There’s plenty of time in the future to team this guy up with other characters in the MCU and start building these connections; let's not force something just because the other shows have all had it."

At the end of the day, Slater and his production team opted for a more self-contained narrative that placed Marc Spector and Steven Grant (both played by Oscar Isaac) at the forefront. The overt lack of cameos and ties to the wider universe means "you can land into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Moon Knight as your first entry point," Slater told Entertainment Weekly. "I think that was a blessing in disguise, to not have that connectivity and to really have an organic story that does take place within the MCU but is more contained than most."

Eternals and all six episodes of Moon Knight are now available to stream on Disney+.

Looking for more content concerning Ancient Egypt? DreamWorks Animation's The Prince of Egypt is currently available on Peacock. There's also a full slate of fantasy films if you're wanting to channel those Eternals vibes.