Moon Knight

Despite the centrality of a mental break to its proceedings, Marvel's 'Moon Knight' largely pretends at psychological depth. Read our review.

As such, Moon Knight quickly loses sight of the personal, concerning itself with the fate of the world rather than the lives of its denizens—becoming less interesting, less human, as the conflict escalates. Despite the centrality of a mental break to its proceedings, Moon Knight largely pretends at psychological depth. At others, the physical environment elucidates the psyches of the two personalities, like when their eye contact through the blade of a knife captures Steven’s dumbfounded fear in the face of violence. But their interactions grow tiresome due to Marc’s overwhelming blandness, as he’s confined to the familiar mold of the tough, emotionally withholding alpha. Marc reluctantly loops Steven in on Khonshu’s latest directive: to smite Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), the prophet of a cult attempting to resurrect a goddess whose return would, for murky reasons, spell catastrophe. The funny, odd, and touching first episode of the Marvel Studios original series Moon Knight homes in on its central character’s eccentricity.

With the premiere of Marvel's Moon Knight on Disney+, fans will at last get a chance to see the first live-action iteration of a Marvel Comics character who ...

I think he blends in nicely with the rest of the MCU. As a fanboy, I can’t wait to see where he lands next.” I don’t think there’s too many corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that Moon Knight could not touch if that’s where he goes next. While we haven’t seen the full slate of episodes yet, it doesn’t seem likely that Spector is going to page any Avengers who happen to be around for help.

Next, to our hero, Steven Grant, who clearly suffers from some sort of disruptive sleep disorder, to the point that he straps himself in to bed each night and ...

In what was almost a one-man show, the success of this first episode boiled down to whether you believe the professionally good-looking, charismatic A-lister as a slightly pathetic, friendless mess of a man. Tie-ins with Doctor Strange, given that it’s the next Marvel film on the slate, and Blade seem most likely. The closing moments of the episode, with Steven alone in an empty museum save for a rampaging hell hound, were equally jumpy. Unremarkable for the first episode of a new character’s series, perhaps, but given MCU bossKevin Feige’s comments about Moon Knight sticking aroundto cross over into other films and series, that will definitely change before the season is out. I even stopped thinking about his ropey accent as the episode went on, although I had to laugh when Layla bellowed “What is with this accent?” down the phone, and I still can’t quite get Paul Rudd in Forgetting Sarah Marshall out of my head when I hear Steven talk. I jest, of course.

Beyond the opening Marvel Studios credits, Episode 1 doesn't offer much in terms of how its new superhero, Steven Grant aka Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac), is ...

Executive producer Grant Curtis confirmed to Inverse that the show is “very much in the MCU.” Hawkeye and the ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home both take place around the holiday season in 2024. With the introduction of the multiverse in Loki, almost anything goes at this point. Episode 1 may not answer this looming question, but a trailer for Moon Knight reveals one substantial piece of evidence that points us in the right direction. But more so, it’s very unclear about where Moon Knight actually takes place in the MCU’s timeline. The London streets seem to carry few clues with nary a Rogers the Musical poster in sight.

Much of the pre-release publicity about Moon Knight focused on the heightened brutality of the new MCU on Disney+ series. In doing so, all involved failed to ...

Diab directs four of the six, including two of the episodes given to critics. For viewers who have increasingly complained that the MCU plays it too safe, too rarely risks going big and weird, Moon Knight may provide some of what they want. Finally, Abraham does a lot with a little, making Khonshu seem violent, cruel, selfish, and intensely lonely with limited lines and an evolving tone of voice. With less than two hours left, the show has several pieces in play but none particularly close to resolution. When they don’t in episode two, viewers end up back in the realm of the goofy. The fourth episode suggests a certain awareness of this necessity. Mohamed Diab and the team of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead split directing duties on the series. It’s not so much inaccurate about DID as it is the same old visual language. Scenes of the god’s giant skeletal bird body wandering through a well-attended bazaar or relaxing against a car are strong mergers of the bizarre and benign. Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke)—the series villain—has a far less eye-catching but nonetheless appropriate look. At its best, it demonstrates how quickly and easily the diagnosis can get you marginalized. In doing so, all involved failed to mention how much stranger it would be than the average MCU streamer.

But is it possible that Moon Knight is actually using Grant's bad accent to make a broader comment on the MCU? Let's take a closer look. Why does Oscar Isaac ...

Notably, the comic book version of Steven Grant is not British, but in the Moon Knight show, he is. In interviews, Isaac says he made the decision because he wanted to inject the Marvel Cinematic Universe with something new, citing Peter Sellers, Russell Brand, and Karl Pilkington as his inspiration. But when audiences meet Steven Grant in Episode 1 of the new Marvel show, he’s speaking in a questionable cockney dialect.

The ending of Moon Knight's season premiere raised many questions about where the show is heading.

The weighing of the heart that Harrow performs is usually a duty that Anubis takes on, so Ammit may have enforced Harrow in his place. It is unclear how the coveted scarab could fit into all of this, but perhaps it could allow Ammit to extend her plans to a global reach. Steven does seem to be leaving voicemails for a mother that won't answer, so perhaps he receives no response because this maternal figure doesn't exist – at least, not in the way he thinks she does. This is the first display of another identity present in Steven Grant's mind, a symptom of his dissociate identity disorder. Another mystery lies in the killer monster in hot pursuit of Steven in the final moments. With another identity thrown into the mix, this raises questions as to who else Steven Grant will be grappling with in his mind. It's unclear how many other personas are present in Steven Grant's mind, but the mirror reflections that choose not to follow Steven as he roams the museum could be a hint at more. Perhaps Marc is able to take charge when he and Steven are on the same page, as both of them are intent on getting out of their precarious situation during the car chase. Before Steven turns into Moon Knight in Episode 1's final moments, he is forced to give up autonomy of his body to Marc Spector, the other identity bouncing around his brain. As Steven continues to investigate the origins of the snarling, he soon comes to realize that he is way in over his head. Other footage has also provided a glimpse at the rest of Moon Knight's repertoire, including his crescent-shaped boomerangs and lunar-themed cape that grants Grant the ability to briefly glide. While he attempts to hide from the beast before him, a voiceover from Arthur Harrow booms over the speakers with a simple request:

Moon Knight's opening scene gives us an unsettling look at its lead villain – and we've learned actor Ethan Hawke came up with it himself.

He operates in a different lane […] This is something else, this is more of a nuanced character. He’s seemingly a man of devotion who truly believes he’s doing the right thing, and that makes him far more dangerous than your typical out-and-out villain. “Moon Knight doesn’t have a definitive, archetypal villain,” said Hawke. “And I kept trying to think of who this guy would be and if it wasn’t a comic book, what would be his portrait? He’s a prophet that is in the wrong, but he’s a prophet. “I asked him to sign the project based on a pitch that I gave him that didn’t exist, of the villain [...] I knew that someone like Ethan Hawke wants to work in an environment [where] he can be part of the creation of the character. “The one who came up with it was Ethan,” Diab said.

The MCU has revealed some of Moon Knight's alter egos, but not all of them. Who's the missing third personality?

Shang-Chi hardly resembles his original comic book counterpart, and now Moon Knight is in the same position. Just as it has Steve Grant and Marc Spector, it’s a sure bet that Moon Knight will change Jake Lockley, too. Moon Knight has already diverted from the comics by changing Steven Grant from an American millionaire to an English nobody grinding out a minimum wage job. This is when Moon Knight became a de facto figure for DID and mental illness in mainstream superhero comics, albeit an imperfect one that tends to traffic in harmful stereotypes. The real identity of Moon Knight was Marc Spector, who came up with other identities to infiltrate different aspects of society on his superhero missions. For most of Moon Knight’s comic book history, these alternate identities were just cover stories for Marc to operate as a superhero.

What they said: Executive producer Grant Curtis told Inverse that “Moon Knight” is a show within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even though it takes place in ...

So it wouldn’t be surprising to see him show up in future crossover films. - “‘Moon Knight’ is very much in the MCU,” Grant Curtis toldInverse. “The observant viewer is going to hear and see those Easter eggs we drop that do explain that and confirm that.” An executive producer for Marvel’s “Moon Knight” confirmed that the upcoming Disney+ series takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that there are plans to expand the character’s role in the MCU.

Unlike other Marvel stars whose contracts specify they must return for future projects, Oscar Isaac is free to leave Moon Knight behind after a single ...

But after learning more about the character and developing the Steven Grant accent, Isaac decided to give it a shot — provided they could meet his terms.universe, Isaac first turned down the opportunity to play Moon Knight and his other identities. But after learning more about the character and developing the Steven Grant accent, Isaac decided to give it a shot — provided they could meet his terms. Based on the first episode, we see that the series will bring in aspects of past Moon Knight arcs, while also blazing its own path.