By Liv Durr

Moon Knight is Marvel’s newest Disney Plus show, starring Oscar Issac as the protagonist. We see Issac play Steve Grant, a normal person who must learn about the visitor he has in his body in order to take control. The story is based on the original comics, Moon Knight, written by Doug Moenech, and art by Don Perlin, and published by Marvel Comics. The show intertwines Egyptian practices, mental health, and crime-fighting. It’s out of the box for Marvel and does not disappoint. 

The first episode follows Steve Grant and his ordinary day-to-day life. A few strange things happen where he forgets something he did or did not do. He seems to have a sleeping disorder where he’ll wake up in unknown places or with injuries. Sometimes it will be days later, and he’ll be left with a mess he knows nothing about. The audience follows him, as they know little about him or why things keep happening. Similar to Marvel’s Disney Plus production Wanda Vision, where the viewers uncover what’s happening after each episode. In Moon Knight, they know as much as Steve does. This provides an opportunity for the viewers to create conspiracies or predictions causing them to continue to watch, which is a great way to keep an audience involved.

As the episode goes on Steve hears voices and wakes up in a far-off place, someone is talking to him who isn’t really there. That voice is the visitor in his body, he shares a body with Marc Spector, an Egyptian God. This is a type of magic they have yet to tamper in, and it intrigues the audience because they want to know what the God wants with such an ordinary person like Steve. I think the representation of mythical Egyptian practice is a new twist that adds some diversity to the characters powers instead of the usual science experiment gone wrong trope. And other than Marvel’s other characters Thor and Loki, we haven’t seen much of Gods in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so I love where the show is headed.

Not only does Steve share a body with a God he deals with Dissociative Identity Disorder and childhood trauma. Moon Knight is our first real look at Marvel tackling mental health in an authentic way. Not in the way we saw Thor in a depressive state in Marvel’s Avengers Endgame where his state of mind was brushed over, not giving an audience a true lens at what mental health looks like. But Moon Knight does that for the audience. We completely get to see the emotional confusing side of Dissociative Identity Disorder. In the first episode we see Steve Grant shed a tear creating an emotional bond with the audience. This was because his overwhelming and frustrated feelings caused the voices he’s hearing and the supernatural things he sees. I like that Marvel is educating the viewers on Mental Health, and giving people something to relate to. 

Moon Knight has yet to be connected with the rest of the Marvel Universe which gives the creators a whole lot of freedom to do whatever they wish with the character. He’s a new direction for Marvel and I think fans will eat it up. The executive producer, Grant Curtus, compares the story build up to Marvel’s production, Iron Man, how that started from the ground and grew into the super hero we all know and love. The marvel team’s goal is to pay homage to the comics, they want to relish in the Egyptian supernaturals and create something comic fans will love. I think it’s great that Marvel is catering to the original comic fans and diving deep into a world yet to be explored.

Overall, the show leaves a lot to the imagination so far, but it’s headed in a great direction with authenticity, action, and captivating visuals. This isn’t typical Marvel so I’m excited to see what else is in store for Moon Knight. I will definitely be following Steve Grant on his journey.