by Alice-Ginevra Micheli, Contributing Writer
Ancient Egypt, mental health, enthralling violence: these are all things that Moon Knight not only dives into, but explores thoroughly.
As with any MCU property, there’s a lot of anticipation that comes before its release, more so when it promises to introduce a new character. This is then only elevated by the fact that Moon Knight in particular comes with many levels of emotional damage and historical precedence.
Before we get into its quality, let’s try to break down what this (potentially) limited series is about. Starring Oscar Isaac as our titular superhero, Moon Knight follows museum worker Steven Grant and mercenary Marc Spector as they investigate the mysteries of the Egyptian gods. The only thing is, they’re doing it from inside the same body.
We were promised a few things from this series, namely accurate representation of its diverse background and characters, as well as Marvel’s first foray into horror. These are two pretty big elements for them to deliver successfully. Not to mention that all of this is to be intertwined in and around our main character living with Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Getting back to the initial question, I’m happy to report that not only does this new Marvel enterprise succeed in its endeavors, but it does so in a way that exceeds expectations. Every one of these six episodes manages to entertain, intrigue, and evoke very real emotion from its viewers. It manages to expertly navigate the mythology for the history nerd that lies in many of us, whether it’s overt or not. On top of that, it also invites viewers into a thread of creepy, eerie horror-adjacent themes that begin to explore the true scary within the wider Marvel universe.
Getting back to the historical aspect, the excitement I had from all the different references and interweaving of Ancient Egyptian mythology had me hooked from the get go. The fact that this was all interwoven within one of Marvel’s most human stories to date is just testament to its quality.
Isaac’s performance as Marc Spector/Steven Grant/Moon Knight is one that stands head and shoulders above most other superhero portrayals. His ability to keep an uneasy balance between the inherent joyfulness of Grant and the tortured introspection of Spector, as well as the ability to deliver some excellent action scenes makes him a fine addition to the current oeuvre of superheroes. Having said that, all of that is almost outshone by his partner-in-adventure, Layla El-Faouly, played expertly by newcomer May Calamawy.
Chock-full of personality, and incredibly well-rounded, Calamawy brings another dimension to the show that helps fully realize the character growth of our leading character. Having someone on the outside of Grant, Spector — not to mention Egyptian God Khonshu’s, internal battle allows the audience to witness the internal challenge externally, as well as not keep it so singularly focused as this could have been.
Let’s also not forget to mention Ethan Hawke’s Arthur Harrow, a servant of judgment God Ammit who wishes to bring balance to the world by punishing evil-doers, who haven’t yet done so — it brings to mind the much argued time-philosophy question, “if you could go back in time and kill baby Hitler, would you?” His portrayal is evocative and unnervingly charismatic, making it quite believable that this pseudo cult-leader has managed to get as far as he has when he’s met in episode one.
However, if I had a qualm with this series, its one that has been felt with previous MCU television series as a result of its short episodic outline. That is, it doesn’t quite feel that there was enough time to fully play out all storylines to a satisfactory level. Now that would be fine if there was a season two coming, denoting that those storylines have been left unexplored for good reason. However Marvel certainly hasn’t tipped their hands in that direction as yet, so we shall have to wait and see.
That does call to question what the next plan is for Moon Knight. After all, this show opens up a whole new world of mythology, character, and storytelling. Add to that where our newest characters end up, and there are a lot of very important details left unfulfilled, making me hope that there certainly are plans for this arc in the future.
All in all, Moon Knight was a triumph, not just for the relatively new venture of MCU television series, but of origin stories in general. There are moments of humor, despair, and true entertainment that manage to make this as compelling of a watch as you could possibly hope for.
In terms of ranking, there’d need to be a little more time required to pass before confirmation was possible, but while it might not quite edge out WandaVision as the best so far, it certainly rivals it for equal first.
Score: 9/10
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