Moon Knight Comes Out On Top

When Marvel announced it was going to start making TV shows for Disney+ back in 2019 before the streaming platform had even launched, I was excited but skeptical. I hadn’t been a fan of the Netflix series when they had first come out and was frustrated with the lack of clarity on whether or not they were a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite the fact that these shows would be focusing on characters established in the MCU, I found myself with the same concerns.

Then the pandemic hit and we were all thrown for a loop. These shows were pushed back and shuffled around until the timeline announced at D23 was completely inapplicable. Now, in May 2022, we’ve had six Marvel TV shows fully released on Disney+. My concerns have been assuaged and I’m confident how these shows tie into the MCU. One week removed from the season finale of Moon Knight, the latest entry sits comfortably as my favorite of the shows so far.

I’m doing my best not to be a prisoner to the moment, but this finale delivered the payoff that the other episodes had been building to. Let’s dive into why I loved Moon Knight so much. Then, we’ll also take a look at where the other MCU shows fell short to help explain why it ended as my favorite of the bunch. Spoilers ahead for Moon Knight and the other Disney+ shows.

Moon Knight

I liked Steven Grant. Sure he was a little goofy at times and not every moment that he appeared landed for me, but I can appreciate how this character might react to the situation he was in. His quirky humor was fun and how can you not like the Mr. Knight outfit he sports. I love that he was told to put on a suit and he manifested an actual suit – that’s great! The way he interacted with Arthur Harrow in Episode 2 was great as he pieced together Harrow’s mindset and pushed back on his blind commitment to his whole pre-judgment schtick, despite being afraid and confused.

I thought that the first episode being from his point of view was a great choice as it allowed him to act in place of the audience as the mystery began to surface. Cutting out the action scenes was an interesting choice, but I like that it allowed us to be as confused as Steven. Then the showed made him and his dynamic with Marc more interesting by highlighting the importance of his knowledge of Ancient Egypt and Egyptian mythology.

Going off that, I loved the way every character interacted with each other. Khonshu and Marc’s stand-offish tension, Harrow’s calm demeanor that he displayed at all times, and Layla’s different but familiar interactions with Marc and Steven. I could understand the way each character viewed the others and almost feel the history between them on-screen.

The music was great. It was whatever the show needed it to be – weird, intense, exciting. I was listening to an interview with the composer of the show, Hesham Nazih, and it was really interesting to see how he went about writing the music. The way he pulled in instruments from different eras of Egyptian music and the influences the culture had on his score. If you want to listen to the interview you can find it here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ez9czEvpsKaXlltJCPbPt?si=7c401ea3b18d4f9e

That podcast also has an interview with the cinematography, Gregory Middleton. He gives some insight into his approach and what it was like to get to shoot on location for a lot of these scenes. The cinematography was another great part of this show for me so that was also interesting to hear about.

This show wasn’t without flaws. While it’s my favorite of the MCU shows so far, it still could’ve been better. As with most of the Disney+ shows, it’s constrained by its episode count. A six-episode run is simply not enough to tell a story without feeling like you’re cramming some of it in. I would’ve liked to have seen Harrow’s backstory with Khonshu and his track to becoming Ammit’s priest/cult leader. He was an interesting character that I didn’t get enough information about to understand his viewpoints.

What made Killmonger from Black Panther such a great villain was that audiences could see where he was coming from and even sympathize with what he was trying to do. We could’ve had that with Harrow here – see what made him feel the need for early judgment, why he felt so jaded toward society, or why he felt Khonshu’s vengeance wasn’t enough. One or two more episodes would’ve given that to us and I think that’s a big error on both the production and storytelling fronts.

As an aside, some of the stuff with Layla felt forced, but I really like her as a character and I’m excited to see where they take her next. The fact that they threw in the “Are you an Egyptian superhero line?” means she’ll be back sometime in the future, which is great. (I do understand why Mohammad Diab felt the importance of that line, I just think it was a little awkward and that there was probably a better way to execute it.)

Oscar Isaac delivered an awesome performance as both Marc Spector and Steven Grant (and the brief minute of Jake Lockley too). It was clear that he embraced the role and took the time to understand the character. I’m looking forward to seeing where he takes the character in season 2 and wherever else Moon Knight might show up in the MCU.

WandaVision

WandaVision was fantastic. The story was something new that we hadn’t seen from Marvel before, which was refreshing after 13 years and 23 movies that all were based in the typical superhero action genre. It was bizarre and confusing but held my attention like nothing else. I was fascinated by the mysteries throughout the small town. The storytelling format was one of the best in itself. Jumping from decade to decade between episodes was awesome, especially when the audience had no idea what was going on. I really loved this show.

The problem was that it overpromised and underdelivered. In marketing promotions and character dialogue, audiences were led to expect some big cameos that just never amounted to much. Monica Rambeau hinted at an expert physicist that turned out to be… nobody noteworthy. Paul Bettany talked about a huge surprise character that turned out to be… himself. The one cameo that came through was Evan Peters as Quicksilver, but even that was downplayed by a cheap joke when he was revealed to really be Ralph Boner. Despite having the longest run of any of these shows at 9 episodes, I think it also fell victim to having to condense its story. The finale felt rushed, as if it were missing a couple pieces to the larger puzzle. All in all, this is where the show fell short for me.

Loki

Loki was, in a word, excellent. This is the show that was dethroned by Moon Knight. The highlight of the show was truly the dialogue. Every scene, every conversation was filled with interesting story that never felt like an exposition dump. While the action often took a backseat, those action-filled moments made it feel like any other entry to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Finally, how could I go without mentioning the music? Natalie Holt delivered an excellent score for the title theme that sticks in my head even today almost a year later. (The Friends From Work podcast, which I linked above, also has a great interview with her.) Suffice to say, I’m very excited for season two.

Where it falls short is the character progression. Loki, in the show, is taken from 2012 right after the Battle of New York (the big fight scene in the original Avengers). However, the problem is that the Loki character had gone through a huge character arc across multiple films since then, ending with his death at the start of Avengers: Infinity War. So, to catch this early Loki up to all of that, the story has him watch a projector montage of his life – just like that he’s back to where he was at the end of Thor: Ragnarok.

This didn’t bother me at first but in subsequent rewatches, it has stood out to me as a bit of a cheap to the story. It would have been much more interesting to see Loki go on that journey to good in a new way, proving that it wasn’t any sort of fluke or adherence to the Sacred Timeline the first go around. It would show that he was more than the TVA labeled him to be and give a deeper meaning to the ultimate decision Kang/He Who Remains offers Loki and Sylvie at the end. This is really another knock against the episode constraint as well, as a few more episodes could’ve allowed for that character progression instead of rushing it at the start.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and What If…?

This show tackled the fallout of Steve Rogers handing off the shield to Sam in a great way. The dynamics between Sam, Bucky, and Isaiah Bradley were excellent, and the way the show justified all their perspectives was fantastic. I also thought Wyatt Russell played a solid antagonist in the U.S. Agent. Unfortunately, that’s all the good I have to say about this show. It is by far the weakest of any so far. The villain was not at all compelling, Sharon Carter being the Power Broker didn’t make sense, and the show lacked any sense of true stakes. Moving on.

I thought What If…? was a perfectly fun show, nothing too special. It’s hard to rank it because a) it’s the only animated show, and b) I’m not sure how it ties into the larger MCU yet, although it is confirmed to be canon. Where it falls short, though, is the anthology style of storytelling it takes on for the bulk of the show. It was hard to get invested in these characters when I only spent about 35 minutes with them and then was left on a cliffhanger until the season finale. We shall see what season two brings.

Hawkeye

Oh man, for the majority of this show, I was positive it was going to be my favorite. I loved the street-level story and the dynamic between Clint Barton and Kate Bishop. Then when they brought in Yelena (Florence Pugh, Black Widow) and showed me her dynamic with Kate and teased Kingpin, I was ready to lock it in.

Then I watched the finale, and I walked away somewhat disappointed. It was fine but too crowded for the runtime it had and the amount of story it needed to wrap up. Even with these problems, it spent time on some goofy side characters that didn’t need more screen time at the end. It also had probably my least favorite post-credit scene in a Marvel project, but that’s beside the point. It was just another to fall victim to the constraint of a six-episode run and my heart is broken. Hopefully, we get a season 2 and they can redeem it.

Final Thoughts

Marvel, block your shows with more episodes. PLEASE!

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