Moon Knight episode 1 review: Where’s Oscar Isaac’s Marvel show going?

The first episode of Moon Knight is everything I’ve wanted from a Marvel Cinematic Universe show since they kicked off on Disney Plus with WandaVisionThis was a little more than a year ago. This episode introduces us to an intriguing character, which is possible set in the MCU. However, it’s not dependent on it. Except for some hinting clues that will be helpful to keen fans, this episode is actually the very first of Moon Knight barely indicates that it’s set in the same world as EternalsOr Doctor Strange. Perhaps The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, thanks to the common thread of “Europe.”

What is the solution? Moon Knight We are presented with. Well, like its protagonist, that’s messy. Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac), is the epitome of milquetoast. Grant is a stoic, witty museum employee who lives in London. He speaks with a nasal accent and has a constant hunch. He loves Egyptian history and talking about it, which unfortunately doesn’t fall under his job. And he’s got what he thinks is a sleep disorder. To keep his mind from wandering at night, he attaches his ankle to his mattress, taps the door, and covers it with sand. Unfortunately for Steven, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

As with many modern TV shows, Moon Knight’s writers are keeping their cards close to their chest. If you’re a fan of the Marvel Comics character created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin, you may have an idea of what’s going on, but the adaptation here is a loose one — in the comic books, this character is never introduced to us as Steven Grant, and when he is, he’s a very different person.

Photo: Marvel Studios

That’s not to say it’s bad that Moon Knightis starting in places that are unfamiliar to comic readers. As one of Marvel’s lesser-known characters (one that has plenty of dated baggage in need of updating), Moon Knight has a lot of flexibility to make something new here for the character’s MCU introduction, and the result is fascinating. Part MementoPart Night at MuseumThe first episode Moon KnightSteven Grant’s journey as he learns that not only is he in charge of his body but that there is a vision that an entity supernatural that only he sees is following him.

Most of Moon Knight’s premiere is a fun 45-minute escapade with Steven winking in and out of consciousness as he and whoever he’s sharing his mind with hold a tug-of-war over his body after Steven wakes up with a dislocated jaw somewhere in Europe. Here Steven meets the series’ villain, Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), a cult leader who claims to serve the Egyptian god Ammit, a crocodile-faced being associated with judgment, and thus he (rudely) makes judging people his whole (lethal) thing.

Arthur wants a scarab artifact that Steven inexplicably has, and the person sharing his body doesn’t want him to give it up. As the two fight for control, Steven finds his consciousness winking in and out to find himself in increasingly impossible situations — mercenaries dead around him, a gun in his hand, escaping in a cupcake truck driving backwards, that sort of thing.

Photo: Marvel Studios

Overall, the first act feels good and is a decent introduction to an entertaining movie. But it also feels incomplete. There’s nothing wrong with a show withholding some explanation, especially when viewers know up front that at six episodes in length, they won’t be waiting long. However Moon Knight doesn’t particularly give audiences much to wait For. How much the premiere will have its hooks in you largely depends on how compelling you find Oscar Isaac’s performance as the lead(s). Luckily, he’s excellent — fully embracing the physical comedy and bewilderment of Steven’s situation even as he makes one of the strangest choices (that accent!) Marvel has yet to see him in this role.

Unfortunately, he’s more or less the only reason to watch so far. Outside of a handful of friendly but distant co-workers and an army of goons trying to kill him, Steven doesn’t seriously interact with anyone not in his own head, which means that Isaac has to bench what’s arguably his greatest talent — his palpable and unmatched person-to-person charisma.

The most intriguing thing about it all? Moon KnightThe only time Oscar Isaac can gin up in this episode’s first episode, is when Steven Grant gives up control. We won’t get to meet him until next week though. Let’s hope he doesn’t disappoint.

Moon Knight’s first episode is now streaming on Disney PlusCatch up on the latest episodes of, which airs Wednesdays.