So far, in our journey through the plethora of MCU streaming series offerings that Disney has generously bestowed upon us, we’ve only been given expansions. Expansions of characters that have already been established within the films of the MCU, that definitely deserved a bit more material…(or a respectful exit in some cases.) And of course I’m wildly grateful for all of these, as they’ve all been wildly satisfying for me…more so than some of the film sequels some of the more “mainstream” avengers have been getting. It actually took way too long for me to realize that they had yet to introduce an entirely new hero to the mix via any of these series. The plan seems solid. New heroes get movies. Audience interest for something new is better drummed up on the big screen, right?

But now, the game has been changed with the entrance of Moon Knight, our first MCU series that has nothing to do with any other universe plot line (so far.) Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac), a mild-mannered British museum gift shop employee and Egyptophile, deals with his almost nightly black-outs and sleepwalking. After waking up in a strange land, people start trying to murder him for reasons he does not know. He runs into Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), a cult leader who claims to be the scales of justice of future crimes for the Egyptian god Ammit. He realizes that, in his blackouts, he has killed multiple people and has stolen the golden scarab used to find the lost tomb of Ammit. In an attempt to find reasons for his black-outs, he realizes that he is one of many personalities of Marc Spector (also played by Oscar Isaac) who is the avatar for the moon god Khonshu (voiced by F. Murray Abraham). Khonshu uses him to exact vengeance on wrongdoers by summoning the suit of Moon Knight with the promise of releasing him from his servitude after Harrow is finished. Meanwhile, Marc Spector theorizes that Khonshu is using him to get to the person he really wants to be his avatar, his ex-wife Layla El-Faouly (May Calamawy).

There are so many ways this series might not have worked out as well as it did. For starters, if even a slightly lesser actor than Oscar Isaac had been cast as the main, the magic would have not been there. He played both Steven and Marc so seamlessly as separate characters, that I literally forgot he was the same actor, in the same outfit, with the same makeup. I absolutely give credit to the brilliant performances of previous actors such as Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings) and James McAvoy (Split) for their portrayals of dissociative identity disorder. But Oscar Isaac proved to be not only on the same level as them, but dare I say even better than them. I think the main difference is that Isaac approached this from a completely sympathetic and charming angle. I never felt like Steven nor Marc were deranged or unsettling for being two entirely different people occupying the same body. I just, saw them as they were: two entirely different people. Might I add, Steven Grant to me is one of the most lovable characters I’ve been introduced to in recent memory. I literally want to adopt him and protect him at all costs.

Of course, the other actors in this series were equally impressive. Ethan Hawke just plays a damn good villain, what can I say. And while he play’s Marvel’s favorite villain trope: the morally justified kind, he does it with such skill that I hope he doesn’t actually start his own cult one day. And I can’t not give a shoutout to F. Murray Abraham’s voice as Khonshu. His performance was, how do I put it..old school voiceover legendary. Like you’re watching a the old 1986 Transformers animated film and you hear Orson Wells as Unicron. Unlike Wells, I’m pretty sure Abraham had a much better idea of the part he was playing, as Khonshu is simultaneously regal and hilariously snarky.

One flaw some may find in this series, (though it didn’t really bother me much), is it’s almost disorienting editing. There’s a lot of jumps, wether it be time, personalities, dimensions, or even perceptions of reality. And unlike the very masterfully done multiverse works I’ve had the privilege to review recently, the show doesn’t want everything to be clear to the audience…at least not for a long time. I actually appreciate it, because we really go through a similar journey as poor Steven goes through — just constantly asking ourselves wtf? And while most of the plot becomes more or less clear by the end, it still leaves us with many unanswered questions, and no plans in sight currently for a second season to answer them.

Because of its initial lack of ties with anything else in the MCU (again, so far), I actually felt like Moon Knight was a breath of fresh air. For once, I didn’t have to make sure I remembered every tiny side character, artifact, nor organization from 28 different films and however many shows we’re counting. While I know it’s our job as comic nerds to keep track of all of these connections, I rather liked just focusing on this story and these characters. A personal bonus for me is that because much like Steven, I’m a Egyptophile, so this subject matter is particularly appealing to me. Not only do I get my typical superhero action satisfaction, but the ancient lore and adventure type content I’ve loved since I was a kid.

All that being said, I can’t wait for Moon Knight to become integrated with the rest of the MCU. As far superheroes go, he kicks some serious ass, without crossing the border of becoming boringly over-powered.    In my humble opinion, the Moon Knight costume is one of the best executed comic to film designs to date. I love that they are becoming less and less afraid to give comic book heroes the suits they deserve. As I’ve mentioned, there sadly doesn’t seem to be any plans for a second Moon Knight season any time soon. I’ll just have to pray to the Disney gods to bless us with more Moon Knight content.  It definitely deserves it.