Review: Marvel’s ‘Moon Knight’ interesting, but not compelling

I was able to preview four of the six episodes of Marvel’s “Moon Knight”, coming to Disney+, and although I enjoyed each one, they weren’t as compelling as past Marvel Disney+ shows. Here’s my spoiler-free review:

Moon Knight

I didn’t know much about the Moon Knight character going into the show. I had heard the name from the comics while growing up (The character first appeared in 1975.), and knew from the show’s previews that Oscar Isaac’s character has dissociative identity disorder and one of his identities is Marc Spector, who turns into Moon Knight.

In addition to Moon Knight and Marc, another identity Isaac plays is Steven Grant, a meek museum gift shop employee who goes to bed in his apartment and wakes up somewhere else, with no idea how he got there. He just thinks he sleepwalks, but we can see he transforms into the mercenary Mr. Knight. But there’s not just Mr. Knight; he also hears voices and sometimes sees an otherworldly Egyptian moon god named Khonshu, who gives him his powers. 

It’s this god who leads Steven and Marc, and their superhero versions, Mr. Knight and Moon Knight, (and another identity?) on a quest to keep another Egyptian god from being resurrected by a cult leader named Arthur Harrow, played by Ethan Hawke. Our heroes are joined by Layla El-Faouly, played by May Calamawy.

Even though it’s all a bit complicated with all of the characters, and Isaac playing many of them, it’s not too hard to follow. But that comes at a price, as the show is a bit slow going while explaining everything to the audience. It’s slow building episode to episode.  

Although Moon Knight is a Marvel superhero, It’s really a stand-alone tale (at least in the four episodes I saw). There’s no indication of when the story is taking place within the Marvel Universe, and there’s no mention of other superheroes or appearances by anyone you may know from other Marvels movies or shows.

I’m not sure what the show is rated, but I found parts to be pretty violent compared to the average Marvel movie or Disney+ show. But Disney+ is also now streaming the very violent Marvel shows that originally aired on Netflix. So maybe they feel they can be a bit more graphic.

All of the actors are great, and the show is interesting. I also enjoyed the modern take on Middle Eastern/Egyptian music throughout the episodes. My recommendation is to watch it, but there are no major surprises that are going to make you want to make sure you watch each episode as soon as it’s released, except for maybe the fourth episode. No spoilers, but that’s when it really starts to get interesting. With a character who has an identity disorder, just about anything is possible.

“Moon Knight” stars Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke, and May Calamawy. Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Grant Curtis, Brad Winderbaum, Oscar Isaac, Mohamed Diab and Jeremy Slater are the executive producers, with Trevor Waterson and Rebecca Kirsch serving as co-executive producers. Jeremy Slater is the head writer. It debuts exclusively on Disney+ tomorrow, March 30, 2022.

In The Parks

We haven’t seen any sign of Moon Knight in the theme parks or resort stores yet. There’s one Moon Knight shirt available on ShopDisney.com which is part of the 80th anniversary of Captain America.

UPDATE: The Disney Parks TikTok is reporting Moon Knight has been spotted in Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure.

@disneyparks

Chaos has arrived 🌙  There have been reported #MoonKnight sightings at #AvengersCampus in DisneyCaliforniaAdventure. Stream #MoonKnight on @Disney+ now!

♬ original sound – Disney Parks

Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight | Official Trailer | Disney+
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