Moon Knight

Disney Plus' new Moon Knight series starring Oscar Isaac takes a familiar Marvel approach to revitalizing the image of a lesser-known Marvel hero.

Moon Knight’s focus on a suited-up brawler using his fists to battle squads of ghouls and criminals sometimes makes the show feel a bit more like the Netflix-produced series that recently made the move over to Disney Plus. But unlike Daredevil and the rest of the Defenders’ respective character studies, which each had distinct sets of themes that informed their approaches to storytelling, Moon Knight plays more like an older Marvel Studios production where the main goal is really to rehabilitate its hero’s brand. Moon Knight’s quite clear about what Steven’s actual powers are as he battles against Harrow’s goons in fights that leave him with wounds that would kill him were it not for Konshu’s magical healing granted to him through his Moon Knight suit. At the same time that Moon Knight first establishes Steven’s connection to Marc and their shared link with Khonshu, the series also begins laying how Harrow and his disciples are on the hunt for an ancient relic necessary to help him usher in a new world order defined by his extreme sense of right and wrong. As Moon Knight begins to bring all of its central characters together, you can quickly see the degree to which the series directors Mohamed Diab, Justin Benson, and Aaron Moorhead really committed to shaking up the traditional Marvel formula as opposed to putting a shiny new coat of paint on a familiar narrative. As organized as Steven tries to be about his time, he frequently loses significant chunks of it along with any memories about what happens whenever he slips into one of his mysterious fugue states. The show’s execution of that idea suffers, though, as it quickly shifts gears in order to fast-track its way to looking and feeling like an action-packed Marvel feature that’d been paused for a tangent into Steven’s life.

The Oscar-Isaac-starring Disney+ series was supposed to introduce a brand new superhero to the MCU, but 'Moon Knight' fumbles hard with poor ...

Unfortunately, while pacing like that may work for the Netflix binge model, Moon Knight is a weekly release, and fans will need to wait almost a month to reach some form of payoff. The iconic Moon Knight and Mr. Knight costumes seen in the posters and trailers aren’t used nearly as much as they should have, possibly due to CGI budget constraints. While Marvel devotees will probably tune into this series, don’t expect it to thoroughly shake up the MCU like Loki or WandaVision did. Hawke and Isaac also clearly enjoy working together, and some of the best scenes pit the two actors against one another other in non-violent struggle. Harrow is like a cross between David Koresh and Jim Jones, believing he alone has the blueprint for utopia. Moon Knight starts out boring and doesn’t pick up until more than halfway through. Moon Knight’s split personalities have some interesting Jekyll-and-Hyde implications, but the show is unwilling and unequppied to explore its protagonist’s mental health with any real care. Steven also lacks the desire to move Moon Knight’s plot forward. But Marc isn’t the only alter ego not given enough screentime. Bad pacing, repeated story beats, and a depiction of mental health that’s dubious at best all hold the show back from greatness. It’s a confounding choice, given that Steven is not the one with the combat skills or the connection to Khonshu, the Egyptian God that bestowed Marc with powers and to whom he serves. For the audience, the Spector-Grant dynamic also means the show frequently skips over what could have been many exciting action sequences.

Here's everything you need to know about Moon Knight, the next Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) instalment; including who Moon Knight is.

So, it will be interesting to see which direction the MCU version takes; especially considering the MCU has some films that are firmly grounded in reality but others that are pure fantasy. “A former U.S. marine, struggling with dissociative identity disorder, is granted the powers of an Egyptian moon god. Spector, or Moon Knight, has only one special or supernatural ability, which is ‘mystical insight’, so he also uses his intelligence, combat skills, and technology (gained from his previous job’s training) to be a superhero. In Moon Knight’s origin story, Spector is a former Marine and CIA agent who then becomes a mercenary. Moon Knight is commonly described as Marvel’s version of Batman, one of DC’s most famous comic book heroes, as both characters are essentially vigilantes who fight crime. This naturally begs the question: who is Moon Knight?

Based on the original Marvel comic book character Moon Knight, the miniseries will launch only on streaming service Disney+.

Is Moon Knight part of the MCU? Full Moon Knight cast Marvel's Moon Knight on Disney+: Full cast and release date for series

Starring Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke, the new Marvel series follows a troubled, crime-fighting caped crusader. But don't mistake him for Batman.

The producers also worked with mental health experts to make sure they were sensitive to one of the other major traits that separates Moon Knight from Batman and other heroes: his struggles with dissociative identity disorder. So our approach in the writers’ room was to push the boundaries of how weird we can make it.” (The other two are directed by the indie horror duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead because, according to Curtis, “Nobody does ‘bump in the night’ better.”) That’s partly why Slater said he leaned away from that side of the character in his pitch to Marvel. Curtis said that maintaining the “fallibility” of Moon Knight was essential. The early Moon Knight stories introduced a cast of characters who in the many different iterations have generally stuck around. The Moench and Sienkiewicz run on Moon Knight was notable for its noir-influenced visual style and tone, thick with long shadows and moral ambiguity. Created by the writer Doug Moench and the artist Don Perlin, Moon Knight debuted in a 1975 issue of the horror-adventure comic Werewolf by Night as a mercenary out to capture the series’s title monster. They fleshed out the origin story, establishing a lot of the lore that has survived through decades of reboots and retcons. “Anytime a character is getting turned into Legos and Funkos, there are going to be a lot of people weighing in,” Slater said. In recent video calls, we spoke with Slater and a “Moon Knight” executive producer, Grant Curtis, about the choices they made and about the history of one of Marvel Comics’s most unusual creations. “But we really had a lot of latitude with Moon Knight.”

The series premieres in Australia on Wednesday, 30 March. We're expecting Moon Knight to be available in Australia from 6pm AEDT, as Disney Plus titles usually ...

Or to get learn more about the service see our review of Disney Plus. That being said, the series is still set in the present-day MCU, so there will probably be Easter eggs here and there that franchise fans will appreciate. The series sets out to tell Moon Knight's origin story, which is based in Egyptology, while also taking viewers on an adventure around the globe. We really think the fans are going to enjoy it," executive producer Grant Curtis said in a statement. Based on the trailer, at least, fans are in for an epic ride. Subscriptions to Disney Plus in Australia cost $11.99 a month or $119.99 annually.

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.

The newest Marvel TV show spotlights one of the most versatile garments around.

Steven’s signature look is a bit dorky, but in a good way, and that’s part of the appeal of the chore coat—it’s unpretentious, a bit too earnest, and, ultimately, charming. The chore coat has been around for a while as a practical layer typically relied on by carpenters and painters, but in the past few years, it’s had a breakthrough. In other words, there’s a lot going on.

In doing so, all involved failed to mention how much stranger it would be than the average MCU streamer. When that strangeness works, it gives the show an enjoyably off-kilter edge. The more Moon Knight's god/mean daddy boss Khonshu (body by ...

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.

Well, we get precisely zero Batman vibes in this first episode of the new Disney+ show, where we meet the painfully uncool Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac in his ...

I will say it is refreshing to watch an ambitious Marvel show that isn’t filled with Easter eggs (for comics fans, there’s a quick glimpse of the name “Duchamp” on Marc’s flip phone) or in-universe call-backs: Moon Knight doesn’t have to concern itself with dropping breadcrumbs, and can just get on with telling its own story from the ground up. Although Isaac’s British accent is likely a rollercoaster for anyone who lives in the UK – sometimes he sounds bang on the money and others not – hints are dropped that we will get more of American Marc in the next episode. Casting F. Murray Abraham as the voice of the moon god is a masterstroke. In fact, there’s a lot of really cool stuff in this episode that ends up a little smudged by either its underwhelming CG or Isaac’s quirky central performance as the flappable Steven, which is unfortunate. Steven is passionate about ancient Egypt, and seems to be by all accounts a lovely man on the verge of starting a romance with a beautiful co-worker who he doesn’t even remember asking out. Well, we get precisely zero Batman vibes in this first episode of the new Disney+ show, where we meet the painfully uncool Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac in his element), a timid British museum gift shop employee who thinks he has a sleep disorder.

The Marvel TV show's premiere episode finds an ace Oscar Isaac in capital-L loser mode.

Clearly tapping into a supernatural force (his scales tattoo can channel the goddess Ammit , we learn), Arthur is a welcome foil for Steven. It was only once I saw the two come face to face at the museum in the premiere’s third act that I realized Moon Knight was already gifting us two things plenty of MCU properties have struggled with: thrilling, enticing villains (Loki and Hela aside, naturally) and leads who are as exciting as their caped alter characters. If you’ve watched him dance inEx-Machinaor stroll with confidence in the latest Star Wars trilogy, you know Oscar knows how best to deploy a weighted physicality in every one of his roles. As Dylan sings, I want to find myself trusting this story so I can similarly claim, “I’m hanging in the balance of a perfect finished plan.” The joy of this pilot is how Grant’s bumbling persona becomes our introduction to the occult world of Moon Knight. Like Jason Bourne, it’s clear that Grant is more than meets the eye. Something is clearly going awry and by god(s) we need to figure out what it is that’s happening soon, lest we lose the plot. But in leaning into being an exercise in withholding, the blood-splattering fights that happen whenever Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac) loses consciousness and finds himself in danger are left to our imaginations.

The series premiere of Moon Knight features jump scares, Egyptian gods walking among humans, jackals, dead bodies, and even an Avatar: The Last Airbender ...

After Steven wakes up outside London with the scarab in his pocket, he tries to hide in a crowd gathered in a nearby village to witness Harrow carry out Ammit’s judgment. While Harrow was a character who first appeared in Moon Knight comics in the ’80s, the Disney+ series appears to have completely rewritten him in all but name. When he meets Steven later in the episode, the glass is still audibly crunching with his every step as Harrow moves among a mass of people like a messianic figure, his followers bowing in his presence. Just as Steven is beginning to realize that Marc is sharing his body, his apartment starts to shake, and the lights flicker all around him. While not every episode will necessarily contain enough horror elements to require a dedicated examination, “The Goldfish Problem” features a fun, creepy sequence that had been teased in the lead-up to Moon Knight. For as much talk as there is about Ammit in the premiere, she, unlike Khonshu, is nowhere to be seen. As Khonshu continues to berate Steven for being weak and stupid, the question of who’s “in control” of Steven’s body becomes a recurring dilemma, as Khonshu, Steven, and Marc fight to take it over. And though from one moment to the next he alternates between reading up on the Egyptian gods in the Ennead (which he knows a lot about) and fiddling with a Rubik’s Cube, Steven suddenly wakes up outside of his room—far beyond the city limits of London—with his jaw jacked up, a gold-plated scarab in his pocket, and gun-toting men chasing after him. Marc summons the suit and it wraps around his body, before Moon Knight begins to pummel the jackal on the bathroom floor. Though Marc would physically put on the Moon Knight costume in the comics, the TV series has made his connection to the suit something supernatural. Marc Spector, the alternate personality with whom Steven shares his mind, appears to him but can’t be seen except when Steven sees and talks to him(self) in mirrors, like Norman Osborn as he discovers the duality of his identity in Spider-Man. And Moon Knight gets less screen time than a security guard who has a fondness for otter videos. Grant may be the protagonist of Moon Knight, but he isn’t the only one living in his body.

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In fact, the most intrigue Moon Knight is able to gin up during this first episode is in its final moments, when Steven Grant finally yields control and Oscar Isaac becomes someone else. Arthur wants a scarab artifact that Steven inexplicably has, and the person sharing his body doesn’t want him to give it up. That’s not to say it’s bad that Moon Knight is starting off in parts unknown to comic fans. As with a lot of modern shows, Moon Knight’s writers are keeping their cards close to their chest. Because of this, he chains his ankle to his bed, tapes his door (which is locked with multiple deadbolts and chains), and surrounds his bed with sand, all to keep his unconscious body from wandering out at night or at least let him know if he tried. In a lot of ways, the first episode of Moon Knight is everything I’ve wanted from a Marvel Cinematic Universe show since they kicked off on Disney Plus with WandaVision a little over a year ago.

Oscar Isaac multitasks in a Marvel series about a superhero who answers to an ancient Egyptian god and struggles with dissociative identity disorder.

It’s characteristic of the Marvel Disney+ shows that the ability of the performers exceeds the inventiveness of the crew — writers and directors seem to be hired for competence rather than distinctive vision. There are a lot of issues swimming around in “Moon Knight,” including its treatment of ancient Egyptian culture, its presentation of its Middle Eastern milieu and its depiction of its hero’s mental health issues. And while it’s unfair to wish that every desert or jungle adventure could be directed by Steven Spielberg (or Robert Zemeckis, or J.J. Abrams), “Moon Knight” won’t stop you from doing so. But onscreen, presenting Cairo in a new light ( in interviews, Diab has said this was a priority) seems to consist of making it look like every other world capital. But the show generates most of its drama and humor, and a number of its visual effects, from their inability to coexist. As they try to stop a sanctimonious bad guy from resurrecting a rival Egyptian deity, enduring chases, desert treks and crunchingly violent battles, they grudgingly trade off possession of their shared body.

This witty Marvel spin-off sees an oddly-accented Isaac have great fun playing a mild-mannered gift shop assistant who – unbeknown to him – is also an ...

One night, during a museum inventory check, Ethan Hawke appears to Grant, sucking in his cheeks and doing that thing where he stares implacably. That said, Grant’s veganism, presented here as typifying his wimpishness, is a misstep: every vegan I know would go fist of Khonshu on the ass of any barista who put cow milk in their cortado. He has no memory of being a mercenary, nor of his role in the historic struggle between ancient Egyptian deities. Each day, before his first coffee, he wakes up to an existential crisis akin to those of The Metamorphosis’s Gregor Samsa, Phil Connors in Groundhog Day and Leonard Shelby in Memento. The son of a rabbi, Marc Spector was a CIA-agent-cum-mercenary who was mortally wounded, then brought back to life by Khonshu to battle the bird-skulled Egyptian moon god’s no less freaky nemesis, Ammit. She, as you may recall from your primary school ancient Egypt project, has a hippo’s hindquarters, a lion’s forequarters and the head of a crocodile, making her, if not a looker in the conventional sense, quite the formidable foe. (Just one of the reasons why he doesn’t cycle to work.)

Today's the day Marvel's newest series Moon Knight officially premieres on Disney+. Last night, show creator Jeremy Slater did a Twitter question and answer ...

In the comics, Moon Knight is quite bloody. — Jeremy Slater (@jerslater)March 29, 2022 Looks like the show’s creator is a fan of Amadeus. — Jeremy Slater (@jerslater)March 29, 2022 Because his only recognizable villain was Bushman, who just felt too close to Black Panther's Erik Killmonger. So we decided to invent a villain instead. — Jeremy Slater (@jerslater)March 29, 2022 According to Slater, they had a “real-life Egyptian archaeologist on speed-dial.” — Jeremy Slater (@jerslater)March 29, 2022 — Jeremy Slater (@jerslater)March 29, 2022 After that general meeting, Slater started working with Marvel creative executives Grant Curtis and Nick Pepin in July or August of 2019 to develop a pitch for the show. — Jeremy Slater (@jerslater)March 29, 2022 Once I saw Moon Knight's name on there, I was all in.https://t.co/mGrWgUdghH

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.

Oscar Isaac pulls double duty in Disney+'s Moon Knight. As Marc, he's a superhero, but he's the audience surrogate as Steven. A recap of episode 1 of the ...

Marc calmly and cooly tells Steven that this is real, this is happening, and to give him control so he can get them out of there safely. Second of all, the “chaos” in Steven feels a bit more serious than the way the very online use it to describe Mercury retrograde and Netflix’s Is It Cake. Steven tries to go back to work, but the lights go out, and Steven is attacked by wolves that resemble Egyptian jackals. He finds refuge in a bathroom and sees Marc Spector clearly in mirrors on either side of him for the first time. Speaking of the accent, it’s at this moment that a voice, recognizable as Oscar Isaac’s American accent, speaks to Steven. This, as far as we know, is Marc Spector. Marc warns Steven to stop before he gets himself in trouble. Once again, he blacks out and wakes up somewhere else, this time on the bus outside of Tottenham Court Road Station and once again pursued by Arthur Darrow. Steven makes it to the museum, but Arthur is right behind him and is allowed in by the various followers on the museum staff. Comic readers know that this is Konshu, the Egyptian god of the Moon who Marc has entangled with, as well as the character voiced by F. Murray Abraham. But to Steven, he’s another thing that goes bump in the night. As Steven could probably tell you, Ammit was an Egyptian deity known as the “Devourer of the Dead.” Arthur uses his cane to judge Steven, but Ammit does not give a definitive reading. Back at his flat, he pokes around and finds a secret compartment with the key to a storage unit and a flip phone with missed calls from a woman named Layla. She calls again, and when Steven answers, Layla (May Calamawy) claims that she has been trying to reach him for months. The cold open introduced us to Arthur in the middle of a self-flagellation ritual that ended with him putting glass shards in his sandals. As Marc Spector, Isaac gets to be the badass mercenary and superhero Moon Knight. But as Steven Grant, one of Marc’s alternate personalities, Isaac gets to be the audience surrogate. The surname “Grant” is fitting for this particular alter, as the gift-shop employee and Egypt enthusiast Isaac plays is less Raiders of the Lost Arc and more Four Weddings and a Funeral (as in Hugh Grant). He’s always running late. Arthur’s guards inform him that they were ambushed and lost the scarab, which leads him to discover Steven in the crowd, who he believes to be the “mercenary.” Steven doesn’t want trouble and tries to give the scarab to Arthur, his body resists.

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