Minor spoilers to follow.
Oscar Isaacs as Moon Knight
Now that all six episodes of Marvel’s Moon Knight have premiered on Disney+, we would like to take the time to dissect what it is that went wrong with a show that had plenty of potential to provide fans with a fresh new superhero to root for. Let’s be real about this; there are many inconsistencies to discuss in regards to this show. However, one of the biggest letdowns, from our perspective, has to do with the character of Moon Knight himself.
Although the show proudly proclaimed itself to be a story about the titular Moon Knight, in reality, the series attempted to subvert audiences’ expectations by placing greater focus on the superhero’s real identities (plural, because Marc Spector has a dissociative personality disorder) as opposed to showing us much of the superhero instead. Many fans have expressed their displeasure at how in six 30-minute episodes, we only ever see Moon Knight appear in full costume for a total of less than 20-minutes.
This is a rather disappointing aspect of the show that could have been handled better in order to create a unique experience for the fans. Instead, the show opted to make the character of Moon Knight play second fiddle to his inexplicably more adept and worthy wife, Layla. Her ability to play the part of a superhero without any backstory is rife throughout the show's six episodes.
To put it simply, the show felt like it was intending to tell the origin story of Layla rather than give the audience a worthy origin for Moon Knight, who is shown fumbling and constantly getting knocked down. There is even several instances whereby Layla is shown to come to the rescue of Moon Knight and Marc Spector/Stephen Grant, making her the more viable hero of the show rather than the titular character himself.
This sort of bait and switch has been a recurring theme in Marvel productions as of late, whereby the male protagonist is often dumbed down in order to elevate the female supporting characters. We have witnessed this sort of switch up in most of the MCU phase four films, barring Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The thing is, it is not that we do not like the character of Marc Spector/Stephen Grant, but the show’s very name is Moon Knight, which promises a wholly different series altogether. It is certainly this point that we believe has undermined the show and, therefore, relegated it to being yet another mediocre entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The show does end on a satisfying cliffhanger, however, with the introduction of yet another personality of Marc Spector’s being revealed to us, but even that is not enough to save this show from the dark pit of forgettable Marvel offerings.
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