Moon Knight’s Bloody Prison Break is Too R-Rated For The MCU

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Devil’s Reign: Moon Knight #1

In the wake of Kingpin’s assault on the superheroes of Marvel Comics, Moon Knight finds himself in prison where he unleashes the full might of his disturbing brutality, a display that is way too R-rated for the MCU. Moon Knight is getting his own adaptation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by way of a Disney+ series, one which promises to be just as dark and gritty as the comic book it is based on. However, with Moon Knight’s latest act of violence, the MCU may have to skip over some pages in the source material. 

In Devil’s Reign: Moon Knight #1 by Jed MacKay and Federico Sabbatini, Moon Knight finds himself in prison after the Kingpin has him arrested for being a vigilante. During his sentence, Moon Knight sticks up for his cellmate, a villain known as 8-Ball, after he was being tormented by another group of prisoners. In retaliation for his meddling, the crew of inmates decide to gang up on Moon Knight in a secluded area of the prison, which turned out to be the worst decision they ever made in their lives. 

When the criminals came at Moon Knight with deadly weapons and sheer numbers, the vigilante brutally dispatched the crew until there was nothing left of them but their blood on his clothes. While readers didn’t witness the act of intense violence, the outcome was more than enough to make the scene unsuitable for younger audiences if it were to receive a live action adaptation. The MCU has been very careful not to show explicit gore despite a fair amount of violence throughout the cinematic universe. This issue shows only the gore and is easily way too intense for the MCU. 

The only caveat is the inclusion of the Netflix/Marvel universe into the MCU, which has shows that are just as bloody as this issue of Moon Knight. In fact, in Daredevil season 2, the Punisher displayed almost the exact same level of violence (if not more so) when he was stuck in prison just as Moon Knight was in Devil’s Reign: Moon Knight #1. In the Daredevil episode titled “Seven Minutes In Heaven,” the Kingpin sends the Punisher to kill a man he needs dead by telling Frank that the prisoner had a hand in the murder of his family. Afterwards, Kingpin sends in an army of inmates to kill the Punisher, but Frank doesn’t go down so easily. The Punisher brutally kills every single person who comes after him, and once the slaughter is finished, he is left standing over their corpses, drenched in their blood. 

If the Moon Knight series will be anything like the Netflix/Marvel shows then this latest issue is ripe and ready for a panel-by-panel adaptation. However, if Moon Knight is to be done like every other main Marvel Studios property thus far, then his latest bloody prison fight scene is too R-rated for the MCU.

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