Soft Spoiler Alert! But there are only six episodes so you can play catch up pretty easily. Spoliers also refer to child abuse so TW.
DC Fangirl Giving Opinions On Marvel Content Alert!
Disney+ added some gold to their growing Marvel collection this month with Moon Knight, the sixth instalment in the MCU’s series franchise. The series follows Marc Spector (internet boyfriend Oscar Isaac), who has dissociative identity disorder (DID), in his employment by an Egyptian god to carry out an order of justice. Accompanying Marc’s body is Steven Grant (also Isaac), an alter personality who is characterised as a mild-mannered British museum worker (with a questionable accent but that comes to make sense later) who captured “comfort character” status in fans after seconds of screentime. The two personalities find themselves in combat against Ethan Hawke’s Arthur, a cult leader on a quest to wipe out a fraction of humanity in order to cleanse the universe…
…wait this sounds familiar….I feel there’s another Marvel villain he would be great pals with!
One area of praise I hold towards the show is its fresh blend of genres, themes and tones, stemming from its diverse subject matter. Jeremy Slater’s writing involves elements of the fantasy genre, however, it explores the codes of the psychological. Mohammed Diab has directed a superhero action show with some hints of a love story between Marc and his estranged wife Layla (Palestinian- Egyptian actress May Calamawy). I loved how the show featured your standard superhero fight scenes alongside issues of identity and evaluation of our own memories. During one episode I was chuckling at Steven’s charming and innocent nature. A few episodes down I was failing to hold back tears from Marc’s backstory.
A further hook of the show is how it shows Egyptian mythology being incorporated into a superhero action story. This emphasis on Egyptian Gods, settings and rituals provided audiences with some beautiful visuals such as Khonshu shifting a night sky backwards in time, unique characters of hippo goddesses of fertility helping our protagonists, and interesting topics on the correct way to carry out justice. It would be impossible to not finish Moon Knight with a sudden interest can in this topic area if you didn’t already have one.
Now for the emotional punch. Episode 5 of Moon Knight provided powerful handling of child abuse, grief, guilt, mental health and coping with trauma. Marc’s backstory is revealed to involve the tragic death of his young brother, something Marc feels responsible for due to showing him the cave where the accident happened. These feelings of guilt and blame are endorsed by Marc’s mother, who doesn’t hide away from emotionally abusing an already fragile Marc into believing he is the reason his brother is dead, something she claims is the result of alleged jealousy on Marc’s part. This display of awful emotional abuse moves into a physical realm, as adults Marc and Steven are forced to observe how Marc’s mother started to beat him as an outlet for her misplaced rage. These violent acts are revealed the be the cause of Marc’s DID, as he came to create the personality of Steven as escapism from his mother’s abuse. The reveal is brutal, harrowing and difficult to watch. The sight of Marc, terrified of what’s to come as you hear his angry mother approach, switching to a naive Steven right before his mother bursts in with her belt is one of the most difficult things Marvel has had me watch. It didn’t even feel like Marvel to me, more like something in a bleak addition to the extreme cinema iceberg. Iron Man’s death doesn’t compare to the visceral reaction this stirred up in me. It gave Moon Knight and Marvel something deeper than just caped crusaders flying around throwing punches (sorry Scorsese).
This is only taken further when we then see the aftermath of Marc’s mother’s death, something Marc struggles to come to terms with. Isaac delivers a brilliant performance of the hell that is confused grief, he storms away from the Shiva in a combination of rage and tears, before crumbling to the floor in painful sobs. Another kick in the viewer’s stomach is brought with the switch to Steven, who innocently concludes he is lost as he doesn’t recognise where he is and so calls his mother as Marc has allowed Steven to believe she is alive and loving. This episode serves as the elevation of the emotional impact of Moon Knight’s storytelling, carried by Isaac’s award-deserving performance.
Despite an overall positive reception among fans, there came criticism of the way Marc’s Jewish identity and faith were presented. Unless you started the show knowing a fair amount about the comics, you wouldn't know Marc is Jewish until episode 5, where we see him partake in Jewish festivals and wear the religious dress during his pre-Moon Knight days. This episode really generated disapproval in fans, who proposed Marc’s faith wasn’t represented well, such as in the shallow to the non-existent exploration of his personal faith experiences and the mistreatment of his kippah which he rips off and pounds against the concrete of a street. Fans also criticised the neglect the show had towards Marc’s full origin story in the original comics, as Antisemitism plays more of a part than the series adaptation would have non-comic fans believe. As I’m not Jewish, I’ll reframe from an overstepping in my response, however, there are several insightful articles and reactions on Twitter from Jewish fans that provide more fitting interpretations of this.
As previously mentioned, Moon Knight gave some fresh air to the Marvel universe by exploring psychological thriller/horror tropes. The series craftily played with viewers in a consistent manipulation and questioning of reality. Episode 4 involves the plot twist of Marc being held in a psych ward, with the characters we previously saw in the superhero story being fellow patients or doctors treating Marc. Viewers come to ask if the journey we’ve been following Marc and Steven on is real or just Marc’s fractured psyche creating escapism?. To me, this part of the story was reminiscent of some of my favourite psychological thrillers that also blur reality and illusion, such as Perfect Blue (1997), Existenz (1999) and Donnie Darko (2001). It kept viewers on their toes and on the lookout for clues which could confirm what was truly happening or what was just reality being tampered with, elevating the spectatorial experience.
To conclude, I’ll take the time to highlight and praise Oscar Isaac’s performance in Moon Knight, something I would personally brand as the show’s core. I already had some solid knowledge of Isaac’s skills in his craft, having been made very uncomfortable by his character in Ex Machina (2015) but then also trying to connect with what Star Wars were attempting to do with him. However, his performance in this show reveals what he can do. I and several other viewers were amazed by his ability to portray three distinct characters, mastering the range of traits, mannerisms and attitudes of each one in the same show. The way he would switch between them multiple times highlights how Isaac is one of the best yet rare character actors we watch today. From the way he had me laughing, loving and crying, I would propose Isaac’s performance gave us some of the rawest characterisation in Marvel.
Moon Knight is available to stream on Disney+