Marvel’s Moon Knight: TV series review
Moon Knight is a television series based on Marvel Comics. It is a part of Marvel Phase 4 after the events of Avengers: Endgame.
Starring Oscar Isaac, it follows the story of Steven Grant who found out that he’s just an alter of Marc Spector’s mind. Inside the same body, they switch control from time to time. Their mission is to help the Egyptian god Khonshu stop the release of another god that can kill millions of people. In exchange, Khonshu gives them powers that made them the Moon Knight.
It’s outside the box
If you’ve read the source material. Moon Knight’s story is different from what the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has built. Moon Knight has a more serious theme as it tackles issues about mental health, and childhood trauma, and has gruesome visuals. That’s why many fans were excited to see how a kid-friendly MCU will introduce this dark character.
All I can say is that the creators delivered. The beauty of Moon Knight is that it doesn’t force itself to expand MCU. This series can stand on its own. It throws a few MCU-like moments with silly punchlines and hero shots but doesn’t dwell much on it.
What makes this series unique from others is that Moon Knight is a tragic hero story. He is being used and lied to by Khonshu. Marc doesn’t choose to be a hero, he just wanted to live and start again. That’s why Khonshu took advantage of Marc’s fragile mind and make him his pawn. That’s why Marc is not that type of hero kids will desire to be, more or less we will have compassion for him.
Oscar Isaac’s Performance
Oscar Isaac’s acting is one of the best I’ve seen in the MCU. He portrayed two (three by the end of the series) entirely different characters flawlessly. He smoothly switches between Marc and Steven, not just how different these two speak but also their facial expression and actions. His English accent was criticized by the English fans but for a non-English speaker, it’s well done.
By the second half of the series, it shows Oscar’s true talent in acting. Marc can explain to the audience surrogate Steven what’s happening but Oscar’s actions and emotions add subtext to the story.
Marc is supposed to be the terrible husband who only focuses on his mission but Oscar made the audience empathize with this miserable character.
The Message
If you’ve been a fan of MCU, you know that there are hundreds of easter eggs all over the series or movie. Everything makes sense and is connected to the bigger universe. However, Moon Knight, as I said, is outside of this MCU box. It doesn’t shove fan service to its audience that he’ll team up with other heroes, or a bigger villain is coming. Moon Knight’s most important message is to understand a mentally unwell person.
We saw a god enslaving a mentally-ill man out of his own volition. Khonshu may have granted Marc powers but he’s still a villain for using Marc’s weakness. Till the end, Khonshu lies to Marc and still keeps him as his pawn.
In the second half of the series, the story analyses Marc’s psyche to make himself whole again. They gave us glimpses of Marc’s traumatic past. Instead of seeing his dissociative identity disorder as a curse, he accepted that it was a part of him. The series is telling us that we shouldn’t be afraid of looking back at our problem’s roots as it will be our guide to fix it.
Marc’s story also tells us to listen to those seeking help. We saw Steven living a normal life but later we found out that he’s a product of pain and trauma. None of the people around him knew about this. Similar to Marc, maybe the people around us or even ourselves, are in constant battle. And all they need is someone to listen and understand.
Best MCU TV series
So far, this is the best series MCU has ever made. Loki and WandaVision are also notable series but it focuses on building up the the bigger story while Moon Knight is on character.
Moon Knight series is available on Disney+ along with other MCU movies and series.
