Moon Knight: Disney+ Marvel series getting review bombed for mentioning the Armenian Genocide

Moon Knight has been greeted with solid reviews from critics and it’s already a hit Disney+ after scoring solid numbers in its first five days, but if you notice the IMDB rating getting lower, there’s a reason and it’s a troubling one. In a recent report, The Gamer revealed that Moon Knight is being review bombed for mentioning the Armenian Genocide, with it now swarmed with one-star reviews, which has happened before to movies and TV shows mentioning this tragic event.

In the show, Ethan Hawke’s villainous character, Arthur Harrow, has a large following in his cult that worships the Egyptian deity Ammit. The mythological God believed in judging people for their crimes before they actually commit them. While explaining the legend of Ammit, Harrow made a reference to various historical events that included Hitler’s regime, the Armenian Genocide, and more. As it turns out, mentioning the Armenian Genocide in the series is what has led to the show being review bombed on IMDB . The reference has seen its user rating experience a decline as the rating currently stands at 7.5/10.

The Armenian genocide is a tragic historical event that’s illegal to acknowlege in Turkey. The Gamer report explains that this “is commonly seen as a breach of Turkey’s article 301, which makes it an offence to “publicly denigrate” the country of Turkey, its government, the judicial system, the military, and the police,” a tactic that has been used to silence anyone seeking to discuss the event. The genocide involved the killing and deportation of the Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I from 1915 to 1917. The death toll was said to be between 600,000 and 1.5 million, but the Turkish government calls the deportation of the Armenians a legitimate action that they do not consider genocide. The character of Arthur Harrow references it by saying, “Had Ammit been free, she would have prevented Hitler and the destruction he wrought. Nero, the Armenian Genocide, Pol Pot.”

The IMDB review bombers showed their disdain for the reference with their one-star reviews with one user writing, ‘there is no Armenian Genocide”. Another reviewer called Moon Knight “expensive crappy propaganda garbage” and even suggested that viewers “watch something else.” More harsh reviews can be found just by exploring the user comments and they all seem to have the same bent.

That said, many are also praising the show for acknowledging this tragic event:

MARVEL’s New “Moon Knight” Series Recognizes The Armenian Genocide In First Episode pic.twitter.com/77Vrg0Cvz8

— Zartonk Media (@ZartonkMedia) March 30, 2022

@MarvelStudios recognizes the Armenian Genocide in first episode of #MoonKnight

Thank you for standing on the right side of history!

(Video from @armenianfilms ) pic.twitter.com/QeGTXLD6PC

— anahit kirakosian(@anahitkirakosia) March 30, 2022

Oscar Isaac was the star of The Promise which depicts the Armenian Genocide, and he’s executive producer of Moon Knight. He put it in intentionally no doubt, and he knows Turkish extremism so this man has balls and courage. Absolutely amazing show we’ve been given

— ma (@spiceymamama) April 2, 2022

For more info on how the show is being review-bombed, consider this IMDB graph:

As you can see, it shows that a lot of reviews are favorable with 15,148 users currently giving the show a ten-star rating. That being said, there are 5,151 users are rating the series one star. Could it be that people just don’t like it? Nope – that’s classic review bombing.

Oscar Isaac has been involved with a project that has gone through this before. Back in 2017, Isaac starred in the Open Road Films’ release, The Promise, alongside Christian Bale. The $100 million love story was set against the Armenian genocide of World War I and it too dealt with trolling and review bombing on IMDB from Armenian genocide deniers that attacked the movie with one-star ratings on the service. More than 60,000 online accounts gave The Promise the lowest score possible the day after it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. At the time, the only people that saw the movie were in the festival audience and they reportedly gave the film a standing ovation.

Per the official synopsis for the show, “The series follows Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, who becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of another life. Steven discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt.” 

We at JoBlo commend Disney for their bravery in acknowledging this tragic event. What are YOUR thoughts on Moon Knight being review bombed?