Moon Knight episode 2: What’s the deal with that suit?

Even though episode 2 is not yet out Moon KnightThe series, just like the premiere, remains frustratingly unclear about its plot. However, it is gradually showing more compelling colors to its protagonist.

The second episode, “Summon the Suit,” tells us a little more about the voices in Steven Grant’s (Oscar Isaac) head: there’s Marc Spector, who serves the Egyptian moon god Khonshu (who also has a presence in Steven’s mind) and that service involves a white superhero costume that magically appears when Marc does vigilante business. However, this week’s Moon Knight once again shows Steven resisting Marc’s presence. So when Steven tries to summon his alter’s powerful suit, it looks quite different, and like an actual suit. It’s a good joke, yet I am outraged.

First, let’s talk about why the joke is good. As far as Marvel Comics characters go, Moon Knight is complicated even by the medium’s generous standards. Over the years the character has gone by various outfits and personas as he’s gone from one creative team to the next. Moon Knight’s TV show version has many knotty stories to draw from. It is best to laugh at the history and just move on. It’s classic MCU.

This is why the new suit can be seen as a gag. Steven Grant never saw Marc Spector’s suit while fighting Ethan Hawke (supernatural jackal) monsters. So he just conjures up a dapper suit that, in keeping with Khonshu’s consistent brand identity, is all white and comes with a hood.

Image: Marvel Studios

The problem — and again, this is a fannish indulgence — is that what it’s slyly joking at is so goddamn cool. Cool in a way that might make the show struggle to improve.

Some history: Moon Knight’s three-piece look first appeared in 2011’s Secret Avengers Warren Ellis and Michael Lark, #19 Secret AvengersUnder Ellis was a spy novel, Moon Knight was on Bond-esque missions, so he donned a suit and a mask to hide his identity. It was a fun, silly idea, and didn’t really amount to anything afterward.

Flash forward to 2014, and Ellis was in charge of revamping Moon Knight’s solo comic along with artist Declan Shalvey and colorist Jordie Bellaire. Across six issues, the trio completely revamped the character, giving him a mission statement (“the protector of those who travel at night”) and an M.O. The Moon Knight’s superhero identity was revealed in a variety of ways.

This is where the suit returns: as “Mr. Knight,” the persona Moon Knight adopts when acting as a protector of night travelers. It’s who he is when he has to talk to cops.

Image: Declan Shalvey, Jordie Bellaire/Marvel Comics

Oder, when you like in Moon Knight #5A group of gangsters has forced him to save a young girl.

Image: Declan Shalvey, Jordie Bellaire/Marvel Comics

In terms of action comics, Moon Knight #5 is a masterwork. It’s Raid in 20 pages, with Shalvey and Bellaire pulling out all the stops, depicting Mr. Knight with his sleeves up and batons out (a look this week’s Moon KnightEpisode directly refers to) him Clean your houseThis is a nearly wordless issue. And yes, while it’s always best for new adaptations to deliver their own spin on their source material, a baller fight sequence is the sort of thing that would only be better on screen.

Image: Declan Shalvey, Jordie Bellaire/Marvel Comics

What we get in “Summon the Suit” is a little more generic. Steven is now aware of Marc — and, to a lesser extent, Khonshu — but in denial of their existence. This episode leans on the Memento Energy of the first with Steven and the audience not knowing the whole picture. Marc forced them to the margins. Does know what’s going on. Arthur, in the absence of Steven, tells Arthur his tale after the kidnapping by his goons. He’s built a commune for the disenfranchised where folks help each other turn their lives around, and it all seems quite nice until Steven finds out they all ascribe to a Minority ReportApproach to justice

All of them get along, because Arthur in his devotion and love for Ammit has judged each one for the past crimes they have committed Future and now. Steven, who rejects it as madness in a tremendous moment, must fight another jackal monster for his life and eventually summons the suit.

Image: Marvel Studios

It’s not nearly as cool as the comic book fight in that suit, mostly because Steven is incompetent and pretty trash at fighting. It’s another stalling tactic, one that’s eventually futile because Steven eventually has to let Marc take over (in the proper Moon Knight costume) to make quick work of the jackal.

Maybe there’s hope for some good action on this show (Moon Knight Does impale a jackal on a spike in this episode) but there’s no telling where the line is for violence in the Disney Plus era of Marvel TV. Moon Knight’s structure, while clever and fun, also makes it hard to have faith (in Khonshu) in this regard. While Steven’s rejection of Marc is understandable on a story level, two episodes in I’m hoping we’re mostly done with being limited to his perspective. I want to have faith in Khonshu, but it’s hard when Moon KnightEvery time the protagonist is about make something great, it keeps cutting.