Oscar Isaac is Steven Grant, a museum shop worker with a huge interest in Egyptology. By day, he’s an awkward, friendless, clumsy mess, struggling with normal daily tasks, work colleagues who see him as odd, and dealing with signs that he might be mentally ill. By night, he’s even weirder, strapping himself by the ankles to his bedposts, sealing his flat door with tape, dreaming realistic visions like memories of someone else’s life.
And that’s because Oscar Issac also stars as Marc Spector, a mercenary who is the opposite of Steven; confident, heroic, and on a mission. Steven’s dissociative identity disorder isn’t something that’s just in his head and, as a rattlingly good first episode reveals, both men occupy the same body. It’s soon revealed that Steven’s visions stem from the fact that powerful Egyptian gods are keen to make a comeback into the world, with help from the enigmatic, guru-like Arthur Harrow, played by Ethan Hawke. Good job he works in a museum gift shop and knows a lot about the subject!
So, that’s the setup and Moon Knight wastes no time in getting us to a point where, by the end of Episode Two, we know exactly what’s going on and the chaos so far, mirroring that inside Steven’s head, starts to make sense.
As an opening pair of episodes go, this is as good as anything Marvel has so far produced on the small screen. Characters arrive fully formed, with both Isaac and Hawke providing real depth to their roles. Hawke’s cult leader, outwardly benevolent whilst inwardly plotting terrible things, is beautifully played and this particular piece of casting is superb. There’s a great combination of action and humour, a real sense of danger, some wonderful set pieces and, by the end of the second episode, just enough of the Moon Knight himself to keep you wanting more.
Some of the series is directed by genre indie favourites Benson and Moorhead (Spring, Endless, Synchronic), and it’s great to see them doing so well with all of the benefits that a Marvel budget affords them.
Ultimately, the series depends on Isaac’s portrayal of a man coming to terms of the different personalities living inside him. And whilst Marvel are keep suggesting there’s a deeper look at mental illness going on here, it’s best to see that for what it is, tenuous, and just enjoy Isaac doing a fantastic job at all of the characters he’s playing here. Moon Knight, so far at least, could well eclipse some of Marvel’s recent output. We’ll have to wait and see.
Moon Knight streams on Disney+ from March 30th, with new episodes every Wednesday.