Moon Knight Season 1 Review – Gods, Men, Madness and Faith

The Disney+ shows have very much been a mixed bag (to me at least) in terms of quality. WandaVision started strong, but ended weirdly (and was then basically ignored for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki really stood out to me for what they did, What If…? had its high spots, and low spots, and then Hawkeye was…well it was Hawkeye. So when Moon Knight, the first “truly new” character to headline a Disney+ show got done with its first season, I was curious about how I would like it. And as this Moon Knight Season 1 review hopefully shows…sometimes something weird and different is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Moon Knight is the story of Steven Grant, Marc Spector, and then Grant, and then Spector again. Because as you know by now, “Steven Grant” is a person with split personalities, but as episode one showcases, he doesn’t realize that until he’s in unexpected places and situations and thus is left reeling and just trying to understand what’s going on. He finds out that “his body” is inhabited by another personality named Marc Spector, who is a mercenary, and as Grant find out later on, the “avatar” for the Egyptian God known as Khonshu. They’re put on a quest to try and stop the sun god of Ammit from rendering her judgment on the world, and figuring out their own mental state in the process.

At first, this would seem like a rather odd way to do a show, especially with all the “mind switching” that ends up going on. But, ironically, it does work, mainly because of lead actor Oscar Isaac literally doing everything he can in the best way possible to differentiate Steven and Marc and showing their different skills. For example, while Marc is the better fighter, Steven is brilliant and uses his knowledge of Ancient Egypt and astronomy to help them more times over. The two have to work out their “trust issues” with one another, and by the time we get to the end, it’s honestly fun to see them work together as a well oiled machine.

Furthermore, they embrace the differences between the two also in how Moon Knight as a whole is presented. Because at first, we see the “classic outfit” as Marc takes control, but when Steven summons the suit, he becomes “Mr. Knight”, and it’s actually a rather fun twist on the formula, and yet doesn’t feel ridiculous given the minds at play here.

And then, there’s Khonshu. I’ll admit, in episode one, I didn’t like how Khonshu sounded as we just heard his disembodied voice. But as time went on, and I heard him more, and they expanded upon the kind of god he was and wasn’t, they really did a great job with demonstrating why this is such a key character in not just Marc’s life, but in the world, as we know it.

That’s another key thing that Moon Knight does really well, making us understand and believe in the Egyptian pantheon. This may sound odd because of the Thor franchise, but Moon Knight really sets up and enforces the various properties of this pantheon in a short amount of time and makes you see their true awe and wonder. We learn about the Avatars, how they’re connected to the gods, why Khonshu was banished, why he hates them as a result, and on and on it goes. To the point that when you meet a hippo goddess named Taweret, you honestly don’t flinch that much, because it feels par for the course.

And that brings us to Layla. A character that could’ve very easily been nothing more than the “love interest” character, and be relegated to simple stuff. But instead, she was a vital part of the story, and by the last episode, became her own hero (thanks to a hippo goddess!). It was fun to see her interact with both Marc and Steven and come to accept how different they were.

Then, there’s Arthur Harrow, the avatar of Ammit, who is very different from every single MCU villain we’ve seen so far…and that’s saying something at this point. He’s the embodiment of having “true faith” in the god he believes in, and goes to incredible lengths to see Ammit’s will done. But it’s not a zealot kind of faith as you’d think — you can tell that at his core, he does want a better world. Including one key scene where he’s showing Steven around his cult and how they all came together to make each other better. Or how when he finds a good soul via his power, he’s happy to see them and “set them free.” He’s even willing to let himself die in the final episode because his “scales weren’t balanced” as he had hoped. He had so much dedication that even death would’ve been a good thing for him so long as he was serving his god. And it didn’t come off as cheesy, which is hard to do with things like this.

Speaking of, their talk about mental health and how Steven/Marc’s condition was a point of contention throughout the show was well handled most of the time. Including in my personal favorite episode, “Asylum”, where the two had to wade through their own memories to learn the truth and it was some brutal truth. Yet in the end, Moon Knight honestly made more sense. Mostly, there were a few bits that still didn’t make sense as I’ll explain in a sec.

One final thing I want to praise were the looks of the characters and the fight scenes. The various Moon Knight costumes were awesome to see in action, and the action they were in was great. Between the two versions of Moon Knight, Layla, Harrow, and so on, there was some really great action scenes that put the MCU on notice for how much fun they can be. We even get to see a Kaiju-sized battle of the gods, and it was awesome.

That all being said, this wouldn’t be a review without a few sticking points, would it?

For example, while I liked the dynamic between Steven/Marc, it did take some time to warm up to a level that wasn’t annoying. Especially with Steven’s voice being what it was. It also felt a bit awkward that Steven fell for Layla even though he know she was Marc’s wife. Though Steven getting control long enough to punch Marc in the face? That was pure comedy.

Speaking of their dynamic, one part of the season I am still confused on is the question of the fake asylum. In episodes 4, 5, and 6, we get a “vision” of an insane asylum where the two are being held and we’re apparently supposed to question whether they dreamed it all up or if this was their reality. It was a really odd play, especially since we the viewers know the truth, and we’d like to think that Steven/Marc were smart enough to see something was off given all they were picturing. Then, at the end, they just…ended the “illusion”. So why did they need to go back to it in the first place?

And while it’s true that the larger MCU doesn’t factor into this series, it’s fine because it doesn’t need it. BUT…much like Eternals, there were some “world-breaking” events that the Avengers (no matter whom you deem is “left in the ranks”) would’ve noticed and wanted to investigate. But they didn’t, and it came off as odd.

Finally, while I liked the character of Harrow, there were a few key talking points they glanced over with his character, such as why Khonshu abandoned him as his avatar. Or how he became the avatar of Ammit despite her being sealed away in stone. And how he grew his cult, and so on. It didn’t help that in episode six he/Ammit go from being “bonded” together to suddenly they’re in their own asylum. How did they get there? What happened to Marc and Layla after the climatic battle? We don’t know! All we know is of Khonshu’s ace in the hole via Jake Lockley (which got many fans excited when he finally arrived) via the mid-credits scene. Which was a great scene, but it did feel disjointed from what had just happened.

Believe me when I say I wasn’t sure if I’d like Moon Knight at all, but after binging the whole season, I was pleasantly surprised by all that happened and very much liked learning more about this character I had barely touched before. If Season 2 does come? Or if Moon Knight arrives in the grander MCU later on? I look forward to seeing what they do with the character.