“Moon Knight” excels above the other Marvel Cinematic Universe shows in a variety of ways. Not only is the cinematography superb, but the soundtrack, writing and acting are all incredible. Something that makes this show stand out is its isolation from the rest of the MCU projects. If not all, most MCU movies and shows reference one another. Oftentimes watchers need to have watched every film in the franchise to understand niche references in the new shows. “Moon Knight” is different in this way.
“Moon Knight” also stands out due to the subject matter. While it does contain engaging fight scenes, it is very character-driven, which is why I love the MCU so much. Along with that, many of the MCU’s recent projects prioritize making their new shows as “big” as possible. Instead of street-level fighting, the central conflict usually threatens the existence of life as we know it. However, while “Moon Knight” outlines serious consequences if the protagonist doesn’t win, the show does not focus on them. The majority of the fight scenes consist of hand-to-hand combat because Moon Knight’s powers are healing-based.
The audience becomes invested in the life of Steven and Marc — two personalities that share the same body — as a result of their characterization. . The choice of the showmakers to open with Steven presented as “the original” was different from any other representation of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) . This show dealt with very serious topics, such as mental illness and abuse, but handled it with grace. While they differed from the original comic, I particularly enjoyed the changes to Steven and Marc’s characters. In the comics, Marc is the focal point; by making Steven a whole character of his own and treating the two personalities as separate entities, the writers did them both justice.
Though the story and the representation of the characters differed from most of the comics in certain ways, they stayed true to many of the important aspects of them. Attention was paid to Moon Knight’s disorder and his ethnicity. In the comics, Marc’s Judaism plays a much bigger role in the development of his DID. Despite the difference in what caused the formation of his disorder, this complex relationship with his religion is represented in the show. While not the focus of the plot, it’s nice to see Jewish superheros represented in the MCU. Many have noted that it was not shown enough in the show, but I thought it was perfect; it was realistic and subtle rather than forceful for the sake of representation.
The incredible attention to the characters is really what made this show for me — not just the writing, but also the acting done by Oscar Isaac. He clearly put a lot of care into his portrayal of all the characters he played. What amazed me was his ability to differentiate the two main characters he played, Steven and Marc, based on physicality alone. One could discern who was present based solely on body language despite the two characters being played by the same actor. This is no easy feat, but Isaac did a wonderful job. He created very distinct characters with their own quirks, views, backgrounds and thought processes.
The development of the characters was great as well. When we are first introduced to Steven, he is very lonesome, quiet and insecure. Marc is distant, alone, angry and hopeless. By the end of the show, they both realize they are more than what they thought. Steven’s confidence grows; he realizes he isn’t helpless and he’s brave. Marc realizes he isn’t just a killer, he isn’t alone and he doesn’t have to be scared of vulnerability. Steven was left in the dark his whole life, not knowing the truth about a number of things, but he and Marc work together to combine their abilities and piece together the world around them.
“Moon Knight” was a breath of fresh air for the MCU, which was seemingly stuck in a rut by trying to usher in a new era of superheros. “Moon Knight” stands out in its focus on quality, attention and time spent on each aspect of the show. Its seclusion from the rest of the MCU allowed it to develop and focus on its own world. It told the story of a very underrated and interesting person by bringing new life to his original comic character.