Marvel fans have been waiting for the arrival of Moon Knight, the new Disney+ miniseries, for a very long time. And after that unsettling premiere that dropped on March 30, 2022, it looks like the show was definitely worth the hype. Created by Jeremy Slater, who's known for his work on Fantastic Four and the TV series The Umbrella Academy, Moon Knight follows the twisted adventures of Marc Spector.
Spector, played by Oscar Isaac of Dune and the Star Wars sequel trilogy, is a U.S. marine whose daily life is distressed by his dissociative identity disorder. To make matters more complicated, he soon finds himself gifted with the powers of the ancient Egyptian god, Khonshu (F. Murray Abraham), and on a mission of vigilantism and ruthless justice.
The 6-episode series follows Spector’s journey as he discovers his new powers and they, unfortunately, disrupt his life further. And if you're looking for more shows like Moon Knight, fans can explore the following list of other TV series that exhibit flawed leads, bloody heroism, and mysterious forces of magic.
Daredevil
The 2015 three-season Netflix show, Daredevil, was created by Drew Goddard and followed the blind vigilante, Matt Murdock. Murdock, played by Charlie Cox, is a lawyer who lost his eyesight as a child in a tragic accident. Losing his sight enhanced his other senses, granting him superpowers. In the cover of night, he takes on his alter-ego of the masked Daredevil, a crime-fighting vigilante who’s out to clean up Hell’s Kitchen. This show and the next two on our list have left Netflix, as Disney has rights to the Marvel shows, and is now available on Disney+.
The Punisher
A Daredevil spinoff series, The Punisher, was released in 2017 and created by Steve Lightfoot for Netflix. The Marvel vigilante known as The Punisher appeared in Daredevil Season 2, played by Jon Bernthal. Bernthal reprised his role in The Punisher TV series for two seasons. The show follows the U.S. Marine Frank Castle who seeks a violent revenge on those who killed his family, thereby earning himself his superhero name. Unlike Daredevil, he doesn’t possess superhuman powers, but that doesn’t make him any less deadly.
Jessica Jones
This show follows Jessica Jones, played by Krysten Ritter, who starts the series as a retired superhero with PTSD. She runs a business as a private investigator in Hell’s Kitchen to make herself a living, while continuously battling the demons of her past. Yet when one of those demons, Kilgrave (David Tennant), turns up alive, threatening to hurt people like they hurt her, she grows determined to make him suffer for it. Melissa Rosenberg created Jessica Jones for Netflix, and it ran for three seasons. Jessica Jones also appears in the crossover series, The Defenders, alongside Daredevil and two other vigilantes.
Watchmen
Taking place in the DC universe, Watchmen is a one-season HBO show that takes place 34 years after the original comics’ events. Regina King stars as Detective Angela Abar in an alternate version of the United States. In this universe, the police force actively makes changes toward racial justice, and the Seventh Kalvary white supremacist group isn’t happy about it. After a violent attack from the Kalvary, where the police and their families are targets, Abar and her colleagues don masks to conceal their identities. Nine episodes explore layers of racism, the lines between law enforcement and vigilantism, and infamous characters from the DC Comics.
Mr. Robot
Elliot (Rami Malek) of Mr. Robot, like Moon Knight’s Marc Spector, suffers from debilitating mental illnesses. Coping with disorders through his drug addiction, Elliot works as a cyber-security engineer and in his off hours, he’s a vigilante hacker. When Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) approaches Elliot with the opportunity to join in a cyber-driven revolution and rebellion against the corporation hogging the world’s wealth, Elliot agrees. Mr. Robot, created by Sam Esmail, saw for four seasons, all of which are available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Arrow
Arrow began the CW’s universe, or Arrowverse, of DC superhero shows, starting with eight seasons that feature Green Arrow from the DC Comics. Stephen Amell plays wealthy playboy Oliver Queen, who returns to Starling City after having been presumed dead from a shipwreck. Arrow follows Queen as he returns to his home and uses his resources, and surprising fighting and archery skills, to become the vigilante known as The Hood. Similar to Mr. Robot’s Elliot, Queen’s questionable pursuits of justice largely have to do with taking down the corrupt power-holders in society.
Cloak & Dagger
Created for Freeform by Joe Pokaski, Cloak & Dagger is a two-season Marvel series inspired by the comics. Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph star as teenagers Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson, respectively, who are strangers from entirely different worlds until they discover they have superpowers. As they navigate these abilities, realizing their powers are enhanced by their proximity, their friendship grows and with it, the realization that they are not the strangers to each other they thought they were. Cloak & Dagger follows these teen superheroes-in-training as they become vigilantes with a mission to right some wrongs.
WandaVision
The first non-vigilante show on our list, WandaVision is the one-season Marvel Disney+ show, created by Jac Schaeffer, that began Phase Four of the MCU. The show follows Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) as they appear to live a pleasant, suburban life together in a town called Westview, apparently having no memory of the events of Avengers: Infinity War. Yet as life in sitcom-inspired Westview jumps the decades in terms of fashion, technology, and even color, Wanda and Vision start to question their happy town, especially when they realize they have no recollection of how they got there. With no way to explain this show’s connection to themes in Moon Knight without spoiling the show’s twist, there’s only one thing left to say: Watch it.
The Protector
The Protector stands as the only non-DC and non-Marvel show on the list. The Turkish series, created by Binnur Karaevli, ran for four seasons and is available for streaming on Netflix. Çağatay Ulusoy plays Hakan Demir, whose father is murdered by mysterious men. This sets in motion the reveal of his father’s true identity: The Protector, a secret superhero tasked with destroying the evil Immortals and protecting Istanbul. With his father dead, Demir takes up his father’s torch with the help of the Loyal Ones, people dedicated to helping the Protector.