Moon Knight
Year: 2022
Created by: Jeremy Slater
Starring: May Calamawy, Ethan Hawke, Oscar Isaac & F. Murray Abraham
Episodes: 6
BBFC: 15
Published: 05/05/22
Created by: Jeremy Slater
Starring: May Calamawy, Ethan Hawke, Oscar Isaac & F. Murray Abraham
Episodes: 6
BBFC: 15
Published: 05/05/22
It’s been a refreshing hot minute since we’ve had any new Marvel content and believe me, I was glad to have a break because Phase Four so far has been massively underwhelming in my opinion. Aside from WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home, the MCU has been shuffling out mediocre or straight up bad TV and film all of last year. Could 2022 be the year for Marvel to get its groove back? Well first out the gate is a new hero and a new darker side of the MCU, with Moon Knight.
Stephen Grant (Oscar Isaac) is a gift shop worker living in London that has a habit of sleepwalking. But when he starts to be followed by some rather unsavoury looking folks led by Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) and questioned about the whereabouts of a golden scarab, Stephen finds himself embroiled in an evil scheme to resurrect the Egyptian Goddess Ammit (Sofia Danu & Saba Mubarak). That is until his alter ego, Mark Spector, reveals himself to Stephen. Mark is an avatar of the God Konshu (Karim El Hakim & F. Murray Abraham), who grants him the powers of the Moon Knight to do his bidding. When Mark’s wife Layla (May Calamawy) enters the picture, life for Stephen becomes even more difficult as he and Mark fight over the possession of their body, and Harrow begins to exploit this rift between them.
Stephen Grant (Oscar Isaac) is a gift shop worker living in London that has a habit of sleepwalking. But when he starts to be followed by some rather unsavoury looking folks led by Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) and questioned about the whereabouts of a golden scarab, Stephen finds himself embroiled in an evil scheme to resurrect the Egyptian Goddess Ammit (Sofia Danu & Saba Mubarak). That is until his alter ego, Mark Spector, reveals himself to Stephen. Mark is an avatar of the God Konshu (Karim El Hakim & F. Murray Abraham), who grants him the powers of the Moon Knight to do his bidding. When Mark’s wife Layla (May Calamawy) enters the picture, life for Stephen becomes even more difficult as he and Mark fight over the possession of their body, and Harrow begins to exploit this rift between them.
I couldn’t really wrap my head around Moon Knight at first. The first episode is designed to leave you confused and disorientated and from there it just thrusts you into this high octane archaeological adventure akin to The Mummy before throwing some major curveballs at you in the final two episodes. It’s short, coming it at just six episodes long, and the breakneck pace makes me wonder whether it may have benefited from having an extra episode or two. However, I did also enjoy how relentless the show was, often leaving you just as unprepared for what was going on as Stephen was.
Oscar Isaac is the main reason to watch the show though, his performance of both Stephen and Mark are both superb. It’s hard not to see Stephen as comic relief because he’s just so perpetually confused and unprepared, whereas Mark is the typical leading man you would expect in a Marvel story. But Isaac commands attention in both roles, and when the series delves into some considerably darker elements in the final episodes, he manages to balance the two characters really well and draw out both the vulnerability and power of each of them.
I had hoped that Ethan Hawke would be more than just the grumbly and gravel voiced antagonist with delusions of world domination but unfortunately that would have been a step too far for Moon Knight. Alas Hawke is perfectly fine in the role, but I feel like an actor of his calibre is wasted on a role like this.
May Calamawy is good as Layla, but she doesn’t really get her own moment to shine. The show is so tightly focused on Stephen/Mark that Layla rarely has a moment where she can have the spotlight to herself and the result means that despite offering a good performance I can’t say the character was overly memorable. Considering how the show ends I hope to see more of her in the future, and even in a larger capacity.
Oscar Isaac is the main reason to watch the show though, his performance of both Stephen and Mark are both superb. It’s hard not to see Stephen as comic relief because he’s just so perpetually confused and unprepared, whereas Mark is the typical leading man you would expect in a Marvel story. But Isaac commands attention in both roles, and when the series delves into some considerably darker elements in the final episodes, he manages to balance the two characters really well and draw out both the vulnerability and power of each of them.
I had hoped that Ethan Hawke would be more than just the grumbly and gravel voiced antagonist with delusions of world domination but unfortunately that would have been a step too far for Moon Knight. Alas Hawke is perfectly fine in the role, but I feel like an actor of his calibre is wasted on a role like this.
May Calamawy is good as Layla, but she doesn’t really get her own moment to shine. The show is so tightly focused on Stephen/Mark that Layla rarely has a moment where she can have the spotlight to herself and the result means that despite offering a good performance I can’t say the character was overly memorable. Considering how the show ends I hope to see more of her in the future, and even in a larger capacity.
The only area of Moon Knight I was outright disappointed with was the CGI. Marvel has for a number of years now rested on their laurels with CGI and in the last year or so it’s starting to become painfully obvious that they aren’t improving the technology they use to make it. Moon Knight’s CGI is horrendously rubbery and fake looking in a number of places, often not reacting naturally to light and shadow, as well as often moving in ways that are obviously unnatural. There are some areas where effort has been put in to make the effects look good, but there are a greater number of places where its clearly not had the same attention to detail put in.
Moon Knight is fun and even more importantly it’s somewhat fresh for Marvel. Sure, it still devolves into a big punch up for the finale, but it does lay the groundwork for more mature, and even horror related themes heading forward (just in time for Multiverse of Madness no doubt). I liked spending time with Stephen and Mark, and I enjoyed the Egyptian based lore, and it never felt like it was stalling for time. Moon Knight is a strong start to the 2022 line up of Marvel offerings and one of the better Disney+ shows the studio has created, probably on par with the likes of Hawkeye. Now let’s hope they can keep it up.
Moon Knight is fun and even more importantly it’s somewhat fresh for Marvel. Sure, it still devolves into a big punch up for the finale, but it does lay the groundwork for more mature, and even horror related themes heading forward (just in time for Multiverse of Madness no doubt). I liked spending time with Stephen and Mark, and I enjoyed the Egyptian based lore, and it never felt like it was stalling for time. Moon Knight is a strong start to the 2022 line up of Marvel offerings and one of the better Disney+ shows the studio has created, probably on par with the likes of Hawkeye. Now let’s hope they can keep it up.