I don’t read comics, it’s just not my thing. So I’m one of those people who don’t care at all when MCU properties deviate from the source material. I have no expectations, I just appreciate the ride, and all Marvel’s stuff is so perfectly cast that it’s usually a great ride. I suspect this might be why I’m so in love with Moon Knight while some other people basically hate it. I went into the show never having heard of the character, let alone knowing anything about his personalities. And while I had zero idea what was going on for the first few episodes, I was riveted the entire time. So for heathens like me, here is a list of the most loveable and amazing things about Moon Knight.
SPOILERS!! Turn back now if you haven’t watched all of Moon Knight.
1. Steven Grant’s Ludicrous British Accent
Oscar Isaac can do no wrong, but when you first hear him as Steven, you…wonder. Someone on the internet told me there does exist a British accent as silly as Steven’s, so it must be true, but if so I don’t know how any of them get through the day. I’d be laughing from dawn to dusk.
2. Taweret’s Sweet Hippo Face
She looks like a character in a children’s book about a nanny who teaches you to love yourself and just happens to be a hippopotamus. She sounds like one, too. As a side note, actual hippos are vicious creatures rightfully feared in Ancient Egyptian mythology, but I don’t care. Taweret is the best and I would gladly watch a spin-off about the adventures of the Hippo Goddess and her avatar the Egyptian superhero.
3. Steven and Marc’s Reaction to Taweret’s Sweet Hippo Face
Technically it’s more a reaction to her voice. But it’s still pure gold.
4. Ethan Hawke
Hawke’s Harrow is equally scary as a crazed cult leader and as a possibly sadistic psychiatrist. It’s hard to tell which version of the character is the real one, which leads viewers to the uncomfortable question of: What’s more terrifying, a therapist who believes in a cult? Or a cult leader who can correctly psychoanalyze you?
5. The First Time Steven Hears Konshu
It is baffling and disorienting and scary, and then it is instantly hilarious. It reminds me of the first time you realize Venom is funny.
6. The Rest of Steven’s First Time with Konshu
Honestly, watch the whole sequence, but in particular the car chase is ART.
7. May Calamawy as Layla
Just everything about her. May Calamawy is a revelation. This little moment had such a huge impact, but it doesn’t feel gratuitous or tacked on just to claim representation. It’s the culmination of Layla’s entire story and all of Calamawy’s work. Being an “Egyptian superhero” in one way or another is what Layla was always destined for, but it’s only in that moment that she herself realizes it. Her acceptance, pride, and happiness are all earned.
8. Egypt
It’s such a relief to see an Egypt filled with regular people doing regular things (when they’re not being subjected to supernatural violence by ancient gods) and existing in an Egypt where they take jeeps into the desert, not camels. Plus, no yellow “sand” filter over every scene. It’s almost like Egyptians are regular 21st century humans and not weirdly fetishized Oriental stereotypes!
9. Archeology, Raiders-Style
Layla’s dad is a dead, famous archeologist. She’s basically Marion Ravenwood! She knows all kinds of stuff from, presumably, being dragged all over this earth looking for his little bits of junk. They–and Marc, Steven, and Harrow–practice the kind of Hollywood archeology that includes digging easily into undisturbed Ancient Egyptian tombs a short drive from Cairo and unearthing literal gods. I love that kind of archeology! In college I interned for an anthropologist who had us painstakingly cataloging every scrap of trash found in an outhouse hole beneath a colonial-era demolished building in Manhattan. That’s what real archeology is like. Give me a globetrotting adventure any day of the week.
10. Oscar Isaac
DAMN. We all knew the man could act, but wow. He did Tatiana Maslany-level lifting here, and he was riveting. This bonkers show simply does not work without a performance like Isaac’s to anchor it–there’s too much swirling confusion and nowhere solid to land. Isaac just goes with that, taking us along on Marc Spector’s ride into his own mind and/or a universe of gods. Along the way, he manages to be hilarious, heartbreaking, and just pure fun.
