Moon Knight review: This could be the best Marvel's best Disney+ outing so far, if you can get past the accent
31.03.2022 - 15:05
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
As a long-term Marvel fan I've been a bit conflicted by the Disney+ TV shows. All in all, barring Hawkeye which might now top my list of essential run-up-to-Christmas geek viewing, I've found them a mixed bag with moments of brilliance but a lot of issues around pacing, canon and general tone. I hate to say it but Disney+ has never really hit the mark with me for Marvel TV in the way the Netflix shows, particularly Daredevil and The Punisher, did.
So when Moon Knight was announced I was pretty underwhelmed. He's a little known character and, while that doesn't always mean an uninteresting one, that paired with the darker, more horror-ish tone meant it was nowhere near the top of my to-watch list, even with always-solid Oscar Isaac in the lead.
But, if episode one, which launched on Disney+ yesterday, is anything to go by, I am cautiously hopeful.
Moon Knight was fun. Really fun. And also a bit of a breath of fresh air.
In case you're not au fait with the comics (and no-one would blame you), Moon Knight is Marc Spector, a mercenary mortally wounded and brought back to life by Khonshu to battle his archenemy, the goddess Ammit. But in the TV version everything starts with Steven Grant, a mild-mannered almost Mr Bean-esque bumbling museum gift shop assistant in London who has an elaborate ritual to tie himself down every night because he's worried about what happens once he falls asleep.
We get a hint as to what this might be when Steven has a 'dream' that sees him in foreign climes taking on Arthur Harrow (a wonderfully smarmy Ethan Hawke) who, along with his accolytes, is very keen to snatch a golden scarab beetle icon from Grant's hands. After a stuttery series of almost-fight scenes Grant is ankle deep in dead