Title: Moon Knight
Release Date: March 30 – May 4, 2022
Creator/Head Writer/Showrunner: Jeremy Slater
Episodes: 6
Production Company: Marvel Studios
Summary/Review:
Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac) is a shy and awkward employee of the British Museum gift shop who has an encyclopedic knowledge of Ancient Egypt, but is unable to get a job as a museum guide. (Is nerdy guy who’s too much of a loser to lead museum tours a trope now, because that’s also how Dan Lewis was introduced in Doctor Who last year). Among his many problems is severe sleepwalking, and upon waking up in the Swiss Alps, he begins to discover that his body is sometimes controlled by another identity, and American mercenary named Marc Spector.
Turns out that Mark is also the avatar for the Egyptian moon god, Khonshu. The show features a terrific bird skeleton creature for Khonshu that is performed by Karim El Hakim with F. Murray Abraham providing Khonshu’s wonderfully sardonic voice. Marc, Khonshu, and now Steven are being pursued by Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) a creepy cult leader serving the outcast goddess of justice Ammit, who has plans to exterminate a large portion of humanity for sins that they have not yet committed. If that’s not complicated enough, Marc is also married and they are soon joined by his estranged wife Layla El-Faouly (May Calamawy), who turns out to be the real action hero of the series.
Steven/Mark/Khonshu and Layla travel to Egypt for a series of adventures to try to stop Harrow/Ammit and discover the secrets of Steven and Mark’s past. The series makes a lot of interesting left turns and is a surprisingly good metaphor for trauma and mental illness. I also love the appearance of the goddess Taweret (Antonia Salib). Isaac really makes the show work with his dual performance as Steven and Marc. Hawke is unnerving as the calmly evil Harrow. And Calamawy may just be the break-out actor of the series.
Hopefully, we’ll see more of these characters in the future but for now this may be my favorite of the Disney+ Marvel series after WandaVision.
MASTER LIST OF MCU REVIEWS
- Iron Man – *
- The Incredible Hulk – **
- Iron Man 2 – **
- Thor – **
- Captain America: The First Avenger – ***
- Marvel’s The Avengers – ***
- Iron Man 3 – **
- Thor: The Dark World – **1/2
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier – **1/2
- Guardians of the Galaxy – ***
- Avengers: Age of Ultron – ***1/2
- Ant-Man – ***1/2
- Captain America: Civil War – ***
- Doctor Strange – **1/2
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – ***1/2
- Spider-Man: Homecoming – ****
- Thor: Ragnarok – ****
- Black Panther – ****1/2
- Avengers: Infinity War – ***1/2
- Ant-Man and the Wasp – ***1/2
- Captain Marvel – ****
- Avengers: Endgame – ****
- Spider-Man: Far From Home – ***1/2
- Black Widow – ***
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – ***1/2
- The Eternals – ***
- Spider-Man: No Way Home – ****
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – ***
- Thor: Love and Thunder – ***1/2
Panorama of the Mountains 