Shattered Glass
Episode 1 of Moon Knight begins with a strange, shadowy man shattering a glass inside a cloth. Those shards of glass are emptied into his shoes, which he proceeds to put on and walk across the room. This scene eventually paves way for us being introduced to our protagonist, Steven. A former U.S. Marine, Steven lives alone and chains himself to the bed every night, complete with sand on the floor. His only company comes from a one-finned goldfish called Gus and he works at the British History Museum. He wants to be a tour guide but his constant tardiness and erratic demeanour is doing him no favours. He’s an outsider, but he knows a lot about Egypt (that’ll be important later) but he’s largely overlooked in his role. Something is going on with Steven, and that much is especially apparent when he suddenly awakens in the middle of a big field. A strange voice asks him to “let Marc take control” as he’s soon shot at by strange men. In the nearby town, that long-haired man with glass in his shoes walks past. This is Arthur, their sort of spiritual leader, and he greets the villagers, telling the gathering crowd that he intends to make this place as much like Heaven as it can… and then murders a woman. Arthur lays his eyes on Steven and demands he hand over the strange Egyptian scarab in his possession. Surrounded by guards, there’s another blackout, a moment for Marc Spector to take control. Next thing you know, a car chase ensues, as Steven takes a cupcake van and charges down the road away from a whole bunch of black vans in pursuit. There’s a really slick scene that cuts back and forth between Steven blacking out and these soldiers being dispatched, eventually leading to Steven waking up back in his apartment… two days later. Gus now has two fins for some reason and his date with Dylan has gone completely awry, given it was two days back. Steven notices scratches on the living room floor, leading to a hidden area holding a phone inside. Numerous missed calls from someone called Layla (and one from Duchamp) seems to hint that he’s living a double life. A strange echoing voice bleeds through, as Marc – Steven’s alter-ego of sorts – begins to speak. He warns Steven to stop looking but it’s no good. Steven is seeing Egyptian Gods everywhere and these blackouts are getting worse. Not only that, Arthur is on the hunt too. Arthur knows about Steven’s plight, seemingly knowing all about the voices inside his head. As he looks deep into Steven’s eyes and places that familiar hammer down between his forearms, Arthur comments that there’s “chaos in you.” Arthur waits until after-hours, where a strange jackal comes to life and begins chasing Steven, snarling and growling. Arthur wants the scarab but as Steven locks himself in the bathroom, it seems there’s no way out. Through his reflection though, Marc urges Steven to let him take control. And with the jackal banging against the metal, Steven does just that, as he turns into Moon Knight. In doing so, we get our first glance of Moon Knight, complete with glowing white eyes and a white robe.
The Episode Review
So Marvel continues to deliver more superhero shows and this time it falls to Moon Knight, a character enveloped in Egyptian culture and with plenty of hallmarks for this genre. Oscar Isaac is great in this role and he helps to elevate this series, with a solid opening chapter that sets things up nicely for the season ahead. The blackout moments, with slick edits to show the aftermath of bloody action, is a nice way to introduce the alter-ego of Marc and one of the more creative elements of this show. Beyond that, this is pretty standard superhero fare, with the tone being the biggest deterrent thus far. There’s a lot of comedy and typical Marvel hallmarks, which feels in direct contrast to moments involving blood and crunching in glass-shoes. This isn’t going to entertain fans looking for another Punisher or Daredevil, but those looking for more of the same when it comes to Marvel, they’re bound to enjoy Moon Knight. For everyone else though, we’ll have to wait and see what the coming chapters have in store for us.
