Courtesy of Marvel Studios
The highly anticipated Marvel series Moon Knight has finally premiered on Disney+. Moon Knight is a new character introduced to the MCU. Fans have been anticipating the show's arrival for months and have wondered the character's direction. After the trailer and the first look, fans were even more excited. The question everyone has on their minds: Is Moon Knight the next big MCU hit? Let's break it down.
First we take a look at Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), the antagonist of Moon Knight. This one minute introduction to the character lets the viewer know exactly who he is. We then cut to Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac), who is a bit of an odd man as well. He has some sort of sleep disorder where he has to put chains around legs and put tape on the door to prevent it from opening. He has a nice little museum job where he works in the gift shop. He even appears to be going on a date with a tour guide. Steven appears to have a good thing going for him until one night he goes to sleep.
Steven wakes up in a new environment and is chased by members of Arthur's cult because they believe he has stolen the Scarab. The Scarab belongs to the Egyptian God Ammit who Arthur and his cult follow. Steven escapes the men and blends into the crowd to watch Arthur's show. Arthur has a tattoo on his arm of a scale that can tell if a person has a good soul or not. Arthur asks people to get their souls checked. A man comes up and gets his soul checked and it is revealed he has a good soul. An old woman comes up next to get her soul checked and is revealed she has a bad soul. She pleads for her life and Arthur hugs her and she immediately dies.
Moments after some of Arthur's men tell him the Scarab has been stolen. Arthur says something everyone in the cult knows and they immediately kneel except for Steven. Arthur demands the Scarab back from Steven but Steven won't give it to him. It's like Steven is being controlled by something else. Suddenly Steven blacks out and wakes up to have Arthur's associate's bodies next to him. Steven has all blood on him and he has no idea how it happened.
Other men from Arthur's cult get into a nice chase sequence with Steven. Steven still has no idea what's happening with his body but every time he's in danger, he does damage to Arthur's men. Steven eventually kills all of Arthur's men and wakes up back in his bed. Steven notices something strange and that his goldfish has two fins now instead of one. He takes it to the pet store to see what's going on and notices everyone acting strange around them. He then sees the time and notices he is late for his date. He arrives at his date at the steakhouse and is waiting and waiting and finally decides to call his date. His date is mad and tells him their date was for Friday not Sunday. Steven says that it is Friday but it is not, it's Sunday. Steven is now confused, sad and lonely. He goes back to his flat and finds something strange in the wall. It's flip phone and someone is calling the phone. Steven answers and it's a woman named Layla and she is upset that Steven didn't let her know he was safe. But Layla thinks the man on the phone is a man named Marc and she is confused by Steven's accent as well. Steven remembers hearing the name Marc when he was with Arthur. Steven is confused by all of this as well.
Layla hangs up on Steven and weird things start happening in his flat. The lights flicker, things are breaking, and chaos is happening. Steven decides to go into the elevator where he is chased by this big creature running towards him. He sits in the elevator thinking he's going to die when he suddenly realizes it's an old lady. They have funny banter in the elevator and she arrives on her floor. Steven sees the creature again and then suddenly wakes up on a bus headed to work. Steven sees Arthur Harrow on the bus and realizes he is a real person. Steven heads to his job and sees Arthur. Arthur confronts him looking for the Scarab. Arthur checks Steven's soul but it's revealed that Steven is neither good or bad. Arthur says there's chaos in Steven and lets him go.
It's the end of the day and Steven is on his way out of work when he suddenly hears a strange noise. He then hears Arthur's voice telling him to give him the Scarab. The creature is back again and this time it's real. Steven hides in the bathroom and "Marc" talks to Steven. It was really cool how they shot this with Oscar Isaac basically talking to himself. "Marc" tells Steven to let him help and take control. Steven is confused but finally gives in and we finally see Moon Knight. Moon Knight does damage and kills the creature. The final shot is of Moon Knight looking directly into the camera like a badass.
The premiere of Moon Knight was awesome. It's going to be interesting to see the balance of Steven and Marc and why this is happening. Ethan Hawke's character looks to be interesting and I am excited to see more of him. I am also curious to see Layla and how she ties into this story. The MCU has another hit in Moon Knight.
What did you think of episode 1 of Moon Knight? Leave it in the comments below.
Grade: A-