"Moon Knight"'s Limited Series Order Was Always Part of the Plan

When "Moon Knight," the latest Marvel series to stream on Disney+, was revealed to be submitted for Emmys consideration in the limited series categories, rumours began to swirl that the series had been cancelled before its first season even finished airing. While it's true that there are currently no plans for a second season, that has nothing to do with the show being cancelled. This was the creators' intention all along.

From the very beginning, "Moon Knight" was meant to be a six-part miniseries, and the creators have never been shy about pointing that out. Even star Oscar Isaac, in an interview with Variety, referred to the show as a "limited series." According to the official Emmys rules, a series can be submitted in the limited series categories if it has "two (2) or more episodes with a total running time of at least 150 program minutes that tells a complete, non-recurring story. The story arc must be completely resolved within its season, with no on-going storyline and/or main characters in subsequent seasons."

In other words, a "limited series" could, technically, have another season, but under very limited circumstances that would make it more of an anthology, rather than an ongoing story. In practice, this means that shows are only submitted in the limited series category if they were always intended to be one-and-done. Marvel has gone this route before. "WandaVision," the first of the Disney+ Marvel shows, was nominated in the limited series categories for 23 Emmys last year, winning three trophies. This year, "Moon Knight" will join "Hawkeye" in the limited series categories. The other major Marvel show, "Loki," is ineligible in those categories because a second season has already been announced.

While "Moon Knight" won't be back for a season two, that doesn't mean we'll never see Marc Spector, Steven Grant, and other characters from the show ever again. This is the MCU, after all — characters disappear and reappear all the time. It seems unlikely that Marvel would spend all this time setting up a new hero, only to have fans never hear from him again. We'll just have to wait a little while to find out when and where Moon Knight will reemerge.