Moon Knight is a six episode show set in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It follows a lesser known hero, being Steven Grant, who works as the gift shop cashier at the museum. He’s into Egyptian history and culture, and is a well-mannered, albeit timid, person. He does have some unusual habits, including one where he has to chain himself to bed when he goes to sleep for fear of turning up somewhere random the next morning. Obviously, this is a big red flag and is pretty much the gimmick to this character.
Going straight to the point, Steven is Moon Knight, but he doesn’t know it. You see, he has dissociative identity disorder and so has several identities within himself. That’s why he doesn’t remember what happens at times, and the show uses abrupt camera cuts to illustrate this effect. He does manage to live quite a normal life thus far, although quite unlucky in the romance department. The whole thing kicks off when Steven wakes up one morning in somewhere random, discovering he had a golden scarab in his possession. He had seemingly stolen it and the ones he stole it from wants it back.
The show has slow pacing throughout the whole season. You learn more from the show’s promotional summary than you do in the first episode. It keeps Steven’s situation as a mystery for most of the season. You know something is up, but it refuses to tell you what it is and that can be frustrating as there seems to be little reason to withhold it for so long. This continues even after Steven transforms into the Moon Knight, and after Steven’s other identity comes forward. Moon Knight’s design looks great but is obviously CGI, which can become distracting.
There are a few neat things about the show that sets it apart from most of the MCU’s offerings, adding to its mystique. The tone and direction is different, with several scenes leaning towards horror. It’s mostly serious but there are some places where it has the MCU’s trademark lighthearted moments and unexpected humor, that dissolves all tension in the scene. It also doesn’t take place in America, but mostly in England and Egypt. Steven has a nice English accent, complete with slang. The villains and monsters are inspired by Egyptian mythology, allowing for some familiar, yet still strange, designs.
Steven and his other identities have a natural tendency to fight for control over the body. It’s usually not as easy as forcing one identity away from another, but the one currently in control needs to relinquish their control. Some moments of the show will play into this, where one identity will reluctantly concede to the other since their skills are required for that particular situation. This adds another dynamic into the mix.
The last part of the season has a big focus on the reconciliation of Steven’s two identities. His situation and past are laid bare where we get to understand how it all came to be. Having the two identities talk it out and then work together like they’re brothers work extremely well, creating an uplifting and rousing atmosphere. That said, having Moon Knight swap forms doesn’t quite work as we don’t see each form having distinctive enough abilities to justify swapping between them so fast.
The ending has the customary big climatic fight, with an interesting setting. The battle was epic in terms of scale and power, although this was at the expense of several characters. Nevertheless, it had all the elements of a typical MCU climax. The ending and the mid-credits scene were both worth waiting for, leaving for a nice twist ending, even if the ending felt like it wrapped things up a bit too quickly.
Overall, Moon Knight is slow for most of the season despite its interesting premise. Having the hero with a mental disorder, setting it mostly in London and Egypt, and having Egyptian mythology in the mix creates a unique tone and atmosphere that helps carry the season. It relies heavily on keeping the viewers in the dark most of the time, and you’ll probably be as confused as Steven at what is happening. However, the payoff was worth it in the finale and secures Moon Knight as a cool hero that you’d want to see more of.
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