Moon Knight is Nothing like Anything the MCU has Seen Before

Moon Knight, Marvel's latest TV show, stars Oscar Isaac who plays a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder who is also an avatar for Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon. The show starts by introducing the audience to Steven Grant, a British Egyptian mythology enthusiast who works in a museum gift shop. Later, we are introduced to Marc Spector, who is a mercenary. The show takes the audience through Marc and Steven's emotional journey with D.I.D., and also on an action-packed adventure in service of Khonshu with the goal to stop Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) from resurrecting Ammit, a god who kills individuals based on her judgments of their past and future.

This show is unlike any MCU project we've seen before. For a superhero show, we got little action sequences compared to others. Instead, we got a trippy look into the way one instant from an individual's past can fracture a mind.

**THIS IS YOUR LAST SPOILER WARNING FOR ALL 6 EPISODES**

The Mental Health Journey

This is part of what makes this show unique. The story's focus is on how Marc and Steven's mental health can affect the way they accomplish their goals.

In most hero stories, we see characters go through depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, PTSD, and other difficult mental struggles that could temporarily block the hero from winning. An example is Thor in Avengers: Infinity War, becoming his peak self in order to defeat Thanos after losing everything he loves. Another example is Wanda Maximoff and her journey in becoming the Scarlet Witch. Or, Bucky Barnes in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier dealing with his past.

This story is different in the way it handles mental health, and not just in the fact that it handles D.I.D. instead of the more commonly discussed mental health struggles listed above. In this story, we get a deep look into Marc's childhood, the death of his brother, his abusive mother, the fracturing of his family, and ultimately the fracturing of his mind as we get to see Steven front for the first time in episode 5.

In this episode, we see how Khonshu takes advantage of Marc and Steven's "broken mind" (as he put it) in order to have an avatar. Once sensing how "broken" their mind is, Khonshu claims that Marc is a worthy candidate to be his avatar. This just shows how Khonshu chose them as his avatar to take advantage of his skills. Not only was Marc a trained mercenary, but he was already dying and would've without Khonshu. As he watches this, Steven says "he's been manipulating you from the start."

Part of the mental health journey that makes it so unique is how once Marc loses Steven in the sands of the Duat, his heart becomes balanced to make it to the Field of Reeds. This scene implicates that Steven, and ultimately having D.I.D., was preventing him from reaching his full potential. In the next episode, Marc doesn't feel right about that implication and abandons The Field of Reeds to join Steven in the Duat. Here, we see Marc embrace Steven in a way he hadn't before. In the past, he was always constantly trying to suppress him, but after they come back to life, we see how much more harmoniously they live when they embrace each other. That's what makes the story so much more unique.

Comparatively, it is similar to how Bruce Banner and The Hulk became harmonious in the sense that over time, they've learned to have better control over one another. Banner's "I'm always angry" in The Avengers does imply he's got better control over it, but in Thor: Ragnarok we see that it isn't the case. He's got a long way to go. The Hulk is a very different character, in the sense that becoming The Hulk isn't a real thing that can happen to people. What makes Moon Knight so special is that D.I.D. is a real thing that people have, and showing their journey outside of their supernatural abilities through Khonshu is what makes the story even more special.

The story has two perfectly executed synonymous plots of hero-villain battles and the self-journey is what makes this show so good.

The Villain

Arthur Harrow is a very unique villain. Being Khonshu's past avatar, he understands our protagonist's journey. Instead of using brute force himself, Harrow spends the majority of the show using words and manipulation to get what he wants. As a cult leader, he is very good at manipulation.

His crew usually are the ones acting violently, and he is just there for the ride. We see this in episode 2 when they kidnap Steven and bring him to their village. We see this when they are summoned to the pyramid and convince the gods that he is doing nothing wrong. We see this with Layla in episode 4. Then, his first act of violence occurs when he shoots and kills Marc and Steven. Even then, he doesn't say anything with malicious intent. He has simply just been asking for them to get out of his way the whole time.

The final episode is when he breaks this act because he has already gotten what he wanted: to release Ammit from her tomb. Now, he knows he doesn't have to try to convince Marc or Steven of anything.

Had Ammit been allowed to rule, young Randall's life would have been saved! Your family would have been happy! We need only remove one weed from the garden: you!

He is defeated when they imprison Ammit within Harrow's badly injured body. When Marc is about to kill him, Layla convinces them to stop. Marc asks to be freed from Khonshu and he does as asked.

However, unlike any hero stories where they refuse to kill the villain, the end credit reveals that not only is there a third alter who still works for Khonshu, but they also do end up killing Harrow.

Overall...

What makes this story so great is that it has a large focus on the character's pasts, and why they are the way they are. Sure, it focuses on new concepts, like Egyptian mythology. However, the way the story is told alongside Marc and Steven's mental health with a villain who manipulates his way to his goal is what makes this show so great.

This is by far, my favorite of the Disney+ released MCU shows so far.

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