Two episodes in, Moon Knight has already doubled Oscar Isaac’s roles from two to four. The debut ended with a very brief glimpse of the titular superhero in action (killing a pack of zombie jackals in a public toilet), but this week gives us the hooded badass in full – plus more of Isaac’s disassociated identities Marc Spector, Steven Grant and “Mr Knight”.
Waking up chained to his bed again, gift shop employee Steven heads back to the museum to find the bathroom roped off but without trace of any dead Egyptian demon dogs (phew!) When he checks the security footage of their attack last episode, he just watches himself sobbing in a corner before running away from something invisible. It’s clear now that cult leader Harrow (Ethan Hawke) has the power to summon up horrors that only exist in his plane of reality.
Getting fired (and referred to a psychologist), Steven sobs some more before remembering the weird key he found in his flat last week. Using the logo on the fob to hunt down a storage locker, he finds Marc’s secret stash of weapons, military gear, fake passports and foreign currency, as well as the scarab ornament that everyone seems to be looking for.
Next Marc pops up in the shiny metal walls and gives Isaac his first chance to start properly arguing with himself (“I don’t care how bloody handsome you are… tell me what it is you are!”) – setting up the dynamic that looks set to carry the multiple personalities through the rest of the series. Mark and Steven have to fight over the same physical body – getting trapped in any reflective surfaces if they’re not driving – with each being able to summon a different form of Moon when they need a superhero.
More importantly, all versions of the same character are avatars of the ancient Egyptian god of the moon, Khonshu, seen here as the bird-headed skull monster (voiced by F. Murray Abraham) who chases Steven right into the arms of Layla (May Calamawy), who also happens to be Marc’s almost ex-wife. Confused?
By the time Steven has sort of convinced Layla that he’s not technically the same angry American mercenary she fell in love with, the police have turned up and arrested him. Because this is Moon Knight though, the police aren’t police at all, and Steven finds himself dumped at the glass-filled feet of Harrow in the middle of a backstreet hippy cult.
This, then, is Harrow’s own congregation – a tribe of devotees who sit around watching BBC Earth documentaries, making vegan street food and worshiping an ancient evil crocodile God. Ammit (another Ancient god) is to Harrow as Khonshu is to Marc/Steven, and the two gods start duking it out through their avatars as the scarab gets lost in the scramble. Harrow summons another invisible zombie jackal and Steven does his best to summon Moon Knight, ending up with Mr Knight instead – a less-than-capable super in a white three-piece and a silk balaclava.
Ending up handing the body over to Marc so he can finish the job, Moon takes over from Mr and the episode ends with a proper battle on the London rooftops. Now with the keys to Oscar Isaac, Marc takes over from Steven and heads off to Egypt. We know the scarab is a compass that points towards Ammit’s tomb, so the question now is who’s going to get there first? Harrow, Layla, or Marc? Or Steven. Or Moon Knight. Or Mr Knight…
Extra reflections
- Look out for the GRC bus ad for that offers to “reunite you with your better half” in a nod to Steven’s internal struggles. More importantly, the existence of the post-blip Global Repatriation Council is the first sign of anything relating to the wider MCU in Moon Knight.
- This is the first appearance of Bobbi (I May Destroy You’s Ann Akinjirin) and Billy (David Ganly) as Harrow’s fake-cop cultists. Expect to see more of both as he brings his army with him to Egypt.
- Moon Knight uses his two chest-mounted moon blades to fight off the jackal, but we also see Steven puzzle over Moon’s truncheon – the character’s other trademark weapon from the comics.
‘Moon Knight’ airs every Wednesday on Disney+