Weekend Watch - Moon knight (episodes 1-3)
Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week, we do a brief exploration of a new piece of media – film, television, and apparently sometimes video games. This week, we’ll be taking a look at the first half of Marvel’s latest small-screen outing, Moon Knight, whose first three episodes are now available to stream on Disney+.
Letter Grade: B+ with a potential to become an A or a C depending on how they close out the back half
Should you Watch This Show? It’s a must-watch for people looking to stay updated on the MCU and Oscar Isaac fans; right now there’s nothing making it unwatchable but also nothing to say anyone else has to watch it.
Why?
Moon Knight is the latest of Marvel’s television shows that have released on Disney’s streaming platform. It follows WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and Hawkeye, focusing on a lesser-known Marvel property and, probably, testing their wider marketability. Moon Knight is also unique thus far, in the fact that it contains no pre-existing MCU characters through its first three episodes, at least not explicitly. Even referentially, the only overt reference made to outside events, locations, and characters has been the mention of the criminal island of Madripoor from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and this came only in passing during the third episode. In its newness, Moon Knight is a refreshing deviation from typical MCU properties of late, but it also begs the question of why this show exists. It is fine as a character study and even has moments of comedy and is flirting with some potential romance, but none of those are what the show bills itself as. Its trailers presented something trippy, mystical, violent, and at times even terrifying. Thus far, there hasn’t been much delivery on any of those fronts. There has been some scratching of the surface of each of those content pieces, but if you were hoping for a full-on deviation from the light-hearted flavor of the MCU, then you will most likely be at least a little bit disappointed with the first half of this season. Honestly, the biggest factor that keeps this show watchable is its central character’s actor Oscar Isaac. Isaac portrays (so far) the two characters inside the head of one body that operates as the titular Moon Knight – marine turned mercenary Marc Spector and mild-mannered museum worker Steven Grant. His turn as both characters is the heart and soul of the show that has kept me coming back week after week, even if his British accent for Steven leaves something to be desired. There is a lot of potential in the threads of character development and story lines that have been opened in the show that we have yet to see played out all the way. Knowing Marvel, it should finish in a fairly satisfying way that also connects the character more deeply to the wider MCU, so if those are things that you are looking forward to, check this show out.
