Moon Knight episode 1 review: Oscar Issac shines in the MCU series as Disney broadens its horizons

Rating: 3.5/5

Story:
Steven Grant (Oscar Issac), a mild-mannered Museum gift shop employee, wakes up in the Alps surrounded by gun-wielding men after him, with no recollection of how he got there. He soon discovers that a cult leader (Ethan Hawke) is the one responsible for the men chasing him. But when insurmountable odds stack up against him, he loses consciousness and wakes up in London a few days later, unscathed.

Review:
The announcement of former Netflix original Marvel shows such as Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Defenders, and The Punisher moving to Disney+ was met with scepticism, considering that Disney has generally aimed at keeping its superhero content family-friendly, while the aforementioned series is aimed at mature audiences. And the scepticism was further validated after Disney was accused of editing out ‘bloody’ scenes from Falcon and the Winter Soldier recently. However, Daredevil and the other shows have not been edited on the platform and Moon Knight appears to have followed the same route as Daredevil and the rest.

Moon Knight is a departure from what one would call a typical ‘MCU product’, both in terms of visuals and themes. While shows such as WandaVision and Loki did offer fresh takes, they ultimately followed several of the traits one would normally associate with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Moon Knight is a breath of fresh air and it delivers a fast-paced pilot episode that will have the audience hooked from start to finish. The manner in which some of the scenes are edited makes for smooth viewing, as there are several ways they could’ve gone wrong. These are essentially narrative tools to highlight Grant’s split personality.

The writers have taken a few liberties with the origin story, and considering Moon Knight is a relatively obscure character from the comics, not many would find it too problematic. It is also interesting to note that the real alter ego of Moon Knight, Marc Spector, is not introduced in the series at first. Instead, they have opted for an altered version of the Stephen Grant persona. While it is obvious that Stephen Grant does suffer from a form of split personality disorder, it has not been explicitly mentioned in the series so far. It certainly does add plenty of intrigue and mystery to the character and the narrative, especially for those newly introduced to the lore of Moon Knight.

Ethan Hawke essays the mystical cult leader Arthur Harrow with nuance and is likely to be the main villain of the story, whereas Oscar Issac delivers an excellent performance as the vulnerable Stephen Grant with a fairly decent attempt at a cockney accent. The narrative has scraped the surface of Egyptian mythology within the story’s lore, but the Moon-God Khonshu is yet to be directly referenced.

The episode could’ve avoided the abrupt cliffhanger ending, as it risks killing the momentum of the storyline. But it certainly does keep the audience wanting more. It remains to be seen how the rest of the season pans out.

Verdict:
The pilot episode is a fantastic start to the series. It has set the stage for an exciting TV show with compelling characters and a fast-paced narrative.