Moon Knight, is in my mind. It is the sixth television series in the MCU, yes the sixth one, after Loki, Wandavision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, What If and Hawkeye and I am just sitting at the edge of my seat for each of them every time. The show opens with an ordinary Steven Grant, a gift shop employee working in the British Museum, complete with a dodgy working-class English accent set to Bob Dylan’s born-again anthem, ‘Every Grain of Sand’. As a grain of sand falls to the ground, so does the counterculture icon sings, “Sometimes I turn, there’s someone there, at times it’s only me,” it serves as a theme song for the protagonist, who suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) ( a rare psychological disorder in which two or more personalities with distinct memories and behaviour patterns apparently exist in one individual.)
Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada or Oscar Isaac as he is known in Hollywood plays the role of Marc Spector, a bloodthirsty mercenary who is forced by circumstances to be Moon Knight( protector of the night gods ), as the avatar of Egyptian moon god Khonshu (Karim El Hakim and F. Murray Abraham). While he presumes the identity of Marc, he can draw on his mercenary training and cool white sharp suit to do many acts of any facing immense danger that scare the beezus out of Steven. But you will witness the tables turn in an epic manner in the season finale.
Moon Knight is a rather un-MCU show. While having the requisite running and jumping with the picturesque beauty of a clear moon and big bangs, the mini-series works wonderfully well as a psychological thriller and metaphysical meditation of the mind-boggle.
A internally sad Steven sleeps with his ankles chained to the bedpost so that he does not wake up in strange lands fighting fires and smacking on his face like Marc. Adventurer and archaeologist Layla (May Calamawy) who is Marc’s wife and is initially surprised with her husband refuses to recognise her and speaks to her in a weird accent.
The strangely charismatic and cultish leader Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) happened to be Khonshu’s earlier avatar. Clad with a thick stick with an interesting crocodile head as he has since moved over to the dark side to awaken the crocodile goddess, Ammit (Sofia Danu and Saba Mubarak), intent on dispensing her brand of justice of not letting anyone commit the evil they will in the future by punishing them at the moment upon the whole world. Steven’s knowledge of ancient Egypt goes a long way in defeating Harrow’s cunning conniving plans.
Layla becomes a temporary avatar of sweet Taweret (Antonia Salib), the hippopotamus-faced goddess of childbirth and fertility in a fabulous costume which was teased throughout the whole show. Easter Eggs are everywhere in everything.
While the finale has enough pyrotechnics to keep action fans amused, Moon Knight’s strength lies in its performances and genre-bending approach. There is a cleverness tempered with dry wit (“I’ll throw us off the cliff”) that ensures it is a riveting watch.
With ancient Egyptian gods in a power struggle for the ultimate control over the universe, it makes sense for director Mohammed Diab to go against Hollywood stereotypes and show Egyptians as what he describes as “normal people” and Egypt as a normal place. That is not to say that there is no magic; that is always simmering just beneath the surface.
Diab has said though every attempt has been made to treat DID respectfully — a board-certified psychiatrist served as a consultant — Moon Knight still exists in a fantasy world and should be perceived as such.
The mental leaps required in a world are inspired by the mystery that archaeologist explorers feel with each excavation. It is one of the many joys of the show. Other jolly joys include the first Egyptian superhero, a darker edgier gritty take, a sympathetic look at mental illness, and setting an action sequence to Wham!’s ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’.
Tawaret as the sweetest hippo in any realm, flicking her delightful pink little ears at ancient invisible flies is the cherry on this gorgeous cake...
Moon Knight is now streaming on Disney+.