Moon Knight (TV)
As Marvel begins to develop their farm system, as it were, risks are going to have to be taken if the fan base is going to be sustained. To some, I’m sure Marc Spector, a mercenary who has dissociative identity disorder, feels like a natural choice to bring up early- after all, it’s a compelling idea- but with mental illness as so fundamental to the character, there are risks that come with it, as well. The six-episode series we’ve gotten is as messy as its protagonist’s life, but- thanks in particular to some gonzo acting by Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke- “Moon Knight” asserts itself as one of the richest of the MCU shows to date.
We don’t begin with Marc, however, but Steven Grant. Steven is a British employee at a museum gift shop who chains himself to the bed at night so he doesn’t drift too far. He isn’t quite sure why, but when a golden scarab comes into his possession, his life becomes even more complicated, and Marc starts to come out. When that happens, so does the Moon Knight, an avatar for the Egyptian moon God, Khonshu (who also appears, and who’s voiced by F. Murray Abraham). When Steven takes over, his persona is Mr. Knight, a well-dressed doppelganger with the same abilities. The tension between the two is compounded by a cult leader, Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), looking to purify humanity.
Among the MCU shows to date, “Moon Knight” is the most isolated, in its own world, away from any inter-connectivity to the rest of the Marvel ‘Verse. That works immensely to this show’s advantage, as it is allowed to operate on its own, without having to work in references to things like The Snap and Avengers. That allows show creator Jeremy Slater and co. to center in on the struggle Steven and Marc face. Much of the show is about the psychological battle for supremacy between the two personalities, and as the show progresses, we learn a lot about both sides, and it’s beautifully played by Isaac. In the second half of the show, the big adventure aspect of the season involves Egyptian Gods, and while there are stunning sights to be seen, what we care about is the attempts of Steven and Marc to find balance, especially in the fifth episode, which takes this idea into a fantasy realm that is a combination of “12 Monkeys” dark humor and “What Dreams May Come” fantasy. How it all builds to the season’s climax makes this one of the most satisfying efforts of the MCU shows to date.
The two other central characters are Harrow and Layla (May Calamawy), Marc’s wife. In a way, the nature of identity is a big part of their characters, as well, and seeing how that plays out in the series is interesting. Like Spector, his identity is defined by his relationship to the Egyptian gods, and in particular, Ammitt, whom he is collecting souls for. His devotion to Ammitt through his sociopathic behavior is what has thrown his being out of balance, and it’s interesting to see Hawke play the character in a variety of ways. It takes the series a few episodes before Layla is given anything of substance to do, but when she is, it leads to some freeing of the character from her relationship with Marc, giving us some glimpses of whom she could become moving forward.
There are some structural issues that have come with each of these 6-episode series’s Marvel has delivered- save for “Loki”- but because it has, at its core, an emphasis on character and ideas over spectacle, the result is one of my favorite narratives we’ve gotten from the MCU yet. I hope this isn’t the end of the road for us and Moon Knight- I’m excited about the possibilities that await him in the future.
