On Disney+, Moon Knight episode 6 delivers a strange and chaotic Marvel ending.
It’s odd being a Moon Knight fan while seeing Marvel’s Moon Knight. Several times during this book, I wished I hadn’t been warned of the possible twists and turns ahead. I went into this knowing Marc Spector had DID, that he was Khonshu’s avatar, that he was at least partially responsible for Abdullah El-death, Faouly’s that he could wake up in a psychiatric hospital and have to come to terms with what “reality” really means, and that he was likely hiding a much murkier third identity inside him: Jake Lockley. Everything is in the Moon Knight comics. As someone entrusted with assessing these episodes, I believed it would have benefited me to be absolutely unaware of Marc Spector’s tale. After all, wouldn’t it have increased the drama of the show? Weirder? Wilder? I checked at the comments from time to time, and seeing that others weren’t as disappointed by the first four episodes as I was, I want to be as enthralled with Moon Knight as they were. Mostly, I was astonished and happy that ol’ Moonie-K had his own show, given how complicated the character is. Eventually, I had to accept that this series wouldn’t be able to give me an entirely new mystery story, but rather one that had been recreated for the MCU to convey the notion of Moon Knight to a new generation of Marvel fans. That is exactly as it should be! I was never really fond of Moon Knight; I just hoped I knew less about him.
As a result, the sections that were fresh or reinvented here piqued my curiosity the most. Arthur Harrow in a new light. Layla El-Faouly plays an indistinguishable Marlene Alraune. A new background for Marc Spector. Steven Grant’s perplexing Englishness, as well as his connection with Marc. Ammit as an MCU antagonist. With my attention directed more to those elements, Moon Knight provided a terrific ending full of surprising vistas in “Gods and Monsters.” Did I go into the sixth episode anticipating a full-fledged kaiju battle between Ammit and Khonshu? Nope. Did I anticipate Layla to become Taweret’s avatar? Nope. Did I anticipate Harrow to be the one locked up in a mental facility in the post-credits scene? Nope. Did I anticipate the uber-violent Jake to be shown to be in cahoots with Khonshu the whole time? Nope. Did I expect to see the Moon Knight limo with its unique SPKTR license plate? That’s a no-brainer. But seeing all of these things made me pleased and astonished!
Moon Knight as a whole was not without flaws. It was uneven in tone, the CG was questionable at best, and it attempted to squeeze much too much plot into six episodes. It was a shambles, but at least it provided us with something actually exciting to watch every week, and the climax had some fantastic sequences. It was fun to see Khonshu and Ammit go head-to-head, and I probably cheered a bit when Layla rejected Khonshu. Layla’s Taweret outfit was also really fantastic. Her indestructible golden wings gave me some serious Wonder Woman 1984 thoughts, but I’ll let it go.
What does the future hold for Moon Knight now that Marc and Steven believe they are “free” of Khonshu? He could stay as hidden as he has throughout the first three phases of the MCU, dishing out vengeance as Khonshu’s avatar in the form of Jake Lockley, but I’d like to see what happens when Marc and Steven realize they’re missing that time, and what it means for them to realize Jake is now a part of them. I appreciated how the series’ last minutes doubled down on how dangerous Marc Spector genuinely is; it didn’t let us go without reaffirming how much of a wild card the character is.
As far as we know, there are no plans for a Season 2 of Moon Knight at Marvel Studios, but with a new Blade and a Werewolf By Night special on the way (rumored to introduce Elsa Bloodstone to the MCU), a Daredevil reboot reportedly in the works for Disney+, Doctor Strange delving into the Multiverse of Madness, Agatha Harkness getting her own spinoff, and Dane Whitman’s Black Knight about to grasp the Ebon
The unique horrors that Marvel Comics has to offer are just just getting started.
