Moon Knight
- Movie Name:Moon Knight
- Release Date: March 30, 2022
- Director: Mohamed Diab, Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead
- Genre: Action-adventure, Psychological horror, Superhero
Moon Knight, the latest Marvel Studios TV show on Disney+ Hotstar is its most unique outing to date. It manages to keep a safe distance from the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It brings together two of the most sought after actors in the business, Oscar Issac playing the titular character(s) along with Ethan Hawke who embodies Arthur Harrow, the leader of a cult that worships an Egyptian goddess. The first four episodes of Moon Knight were made available for a preview out of its six-episode limited run and it’ll be safe to say that Kevin Feige and Co have hedged their bets on the right kind of exposition required to bring such a complex character to life.
The first episode sets a darker tone that’s only a foretaste of the things to come. We are introduced to Steven Grant, an alter personality of mercenary Marc Spector, who works at a gift shop in a museum.
The opening of the episode also brings in Arthur Harrow in the backdrop of Bob Dylan’s Every Grain of Sand performing a spine-chilling ritual. However, it isn’t implied that he’s suffering from trigeminal neuralgia like his comic book counterpart. He worships the goddess Ammit who is a devourer of unworthy souls judged by the scales of justice. Harrow has some twisted ideas about justice and Grant doesn’t shy away from calling him and his followers out.
Ethan Hawke in Moon Knight
When we meet Grant, he’s coming to terms with a “sleep disorder” which sees him restraining himself to his bed every night. The scene is set to the tune of Engelbert Humperdinck’s A Man Without Love and establishes Grant’s loneliness and his yearning for love. The show gets into his persona pretty well. It shows us his insecurities, innocence and penchant for Egyptian iconography.
We discover that Grant has Dissociative Identity Sisorder (DID) and Issac plays it out with utmost respect to the character and the condition. It’s heartbreaking in one of the scenes where Grant finds out that what he perceived as dreams were real-life instances and here you see him at his most vulnerable.
Oscar Issac in Moon Knight
Over the course of four episodes, Spector gives Grant some understanding of what he’s experiencing but it’s never revealed just how long Spector has been aware of his DID or how he developed it. Although we do get answers to all the burning questions regarding this, his connection with the Moon God Khonshu and his other alters.
The show starts with a little bit of worldbuilding for Egyptian mythos and dials it to a T by introducing the Ennead, the gods of Egypt. There’s an underlying mystery about the existence of these gods that may or may not get an explanation by the end of the series, especially since the MCU loves tying loose ends down the line.
We are introduced to Layla, played by the refreshing May Calamawy, who helps Grant find his place in this thrilling ride that gives you a part Indiana Jones and part The Mummy vibes. Grant immediately develops a soft corner for Layla and they bond over Egyptian hieroglyphs like total nerds.
Issac brings his A-game to Moon Knight. he appears to be in the service of the character while Hawke wipes the floor with his ominous presence in all his scenes. It’s also more brutal than all the other Disney+ outings so far but doesn’t top Jon Bernthal’s The Punisher, at least in the first four episodes. Having hired a certified psychiatrist onboard for consultation, Moon Knight depicts DID properly making sure not to go overboard with a serious mental illness, something fans will surely appreciate.
This action-packed and mind-bending series introduces us to an all-new kind of 'inner-drama' in the most unexpected way. Marvel Studios, which is home to some of the most significant action movie masterpieces, is taking its fandom on a journey of mystery, secrets and chaos with its latest hero, Moon Knight.
