Why Moon Knight Episode 1 Isn't The Brutal MCU Show Kevin Feige Promised
Warning: SPOILERS for Moon Knight episode 1
“The Goldfish Problem, episode 1 of Disney+’s Moon Knight, lacks the hallmarks of the brutal MCU show promised by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige. Based on the Marvel comics of the same name, the series stars Oscar Isaac as the mild-mannered Steven Grant. Discovering that he has two other personalities, Steven must come to terms with his dissociative identity disorder while battling evil as skilled mercenary Marc Spector and Moon Knight, a costumed vigilante imbued with the powers of an Egyptian god.
The series has been promoted as having a darker, more adult sensibility than many of the MCU’s other titles. Tackling themes of faith, mythology and mental health, Kevin Feige and Oscar Isaac have repeatedly talked in interviews about how brutal and gory Moon Knight is. From the evidence of the first episode, however, there’s a feeling of business as usual.
Moon Knight episode 1 introduces Steven Grant, a museum gift shop assistant who is experiencing strange dreams and blackouts. Regularly coming to in life-threatening situations, Steven must relinquish control to the more capable Marc Spector to deal with gun-toting henchmen and terrifying monsters. The audience only sees the after-effects of Marc’s violence – the broken jaw and broken sinks, the blood and the cake frosting. This narrative conceit may feel like a cop out to those bloodthirsty fans keen to see grittier MCU fare in the vein of Marvel's Defenders shows for Netflix. However, it’s a necessary bridge between the more palatable and accessible MCU template and the darker direction in which the series is heading.
Unlike the MCU’s previous Disney+ series, Moon Knight has no obvious ties to the larger Marvel Studios canon. It’s the first of the streamer's shows not to be led by a former character from the Avengers movies and therefore acts as a much-needed soft reboot for the MCU. To immediately throw in a dark and brooding tone alongside brutal violent sequences would undermine this, appearing as a facile attempt to reductively market the series as “not your little brother’s Marvel Cinematic Universe." Instead, it gradually augments a familiar structure with darker elements.
Moon Knight’s first episode recognizes what originally made the MCU, and Marvel comics in general, so fresh and enticing for audiences. Steven Grant is an immediately relatable and likable character; he’s shy and struggles to form connections with other people. The scene where he bears his soul to a living statue street performer while breaking to snap photos of happy couples is a warm moment that never ridicules the character’s loneliness. Marvel has always excelled at creating charismatic protagonists, and this has been reflected in the MCU’s exemplary casting. It’s clear that Feige and Marvel are banking on Oscar Isaac and, indeed, Ethan Hawke’s involvement as Moon Knight villain Arthur Harrow, to intrigue MCU-critical outsiders. The strength of the material in this opening episode is a clear indicator of what attracted the actors to the series.
Steven's regular blackouts and the resulting disorientation are expertly deployed by writer Jeremy Slater for comedy, drama, and pathos. Blacking out as he's about to be attacked by one of Arthur Harrow's henchmen, Steven awakens to find the henchman hunched in the back of the van covered in blood and cake frosting. Another scene finds Steven so devastated by the fact that one of his dissociative fugues has ruined his romantic chances with a colleague that he rejects his veganism and orders a steak. Rather than conveniently side-stepping the violence that may not feel at home in an MCU series on Disney+, writer Jeremy Slater uses these blackouts to build to the visceral reveal in the closing moments. Far from failing to deliver on Feige's promises, Moon Knight's opening episode re-establishes the ground that this unique MCU show is set to break.
Moon Knight releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.