The Marvel Universe is a big place.
In the comic books, there’s always been certain titles, usually in “The Avengers” series, that tell the story that the braintrust at Marvel Comics has decided on for the line at that given moment.
And then there are quirky titles off to the side, that kind of just do their own thing and tell their own stories and aren’t pressured to interact with the Marvel Universe as a whole.
These sort of titles often allow the creators to be more experimental and do things that the more mainstream titles can’t do, and they often develop intense cult followings.
As strange as it might be to think now, there was a time when this described “The X-Men” line, particularly during the ‘80s heyday of legendary creator Chris Claremont, as well as various runs on the character Daredevil.
The “Moon Knight” line of books has always fit squarely into this lineage. And so far that’s been the case for the “Moon Knight” series on “Disney+” (DIS) that will finish its first season next week.
Moon Knight Just Does Its Own Thing
Moon Knight was created in 1975 by Doug Moench and Don Perlin, and he’s always been an odd duck.
On one hand, he’s long operated as Marvel’s analogue to Batman, a cape-wearing, street-level adventurer who uses his fists and gadgets to solve crimes.
But he also has a wild backstory and a variety of story elements: He’s a former mercenary named Marc Spector, who’s also a millionaire, who was resurrected by the Egyptian God Khonshu in order to become his instrument of justice.
But he also has dissociative disorder that results in him having multiple personalities, and it’s often implied that the whole “Egyptian God” thing is a delusion. He’s also of Jewish lineage, and many writers have used that to tell stories about Jewish identity and generational trauma.
So Moon Knight is just a lot, and because Marvel will allow more creative freedom with their lesser-known characters, he’s been reinterpreted (and his character’s backstory has been rebooted) many times of the years.
Head writer and producer Jeremy Slater has said that he and his team took ideas from various runs on the character, keeping what worked and discarding some of the more outdated ideas.
The character’s love interest, played by May Calamawy, is much less passive than she was in the original books.
Disney+’s streaming shows have allowed for Marvel to highlight various secondary characters, like The Scarlet Witch in “WandaVision” and The Falcon in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” that don’t get too much screen time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It’s also allowed Marvel to take some bold creative swings, without the pressure of having to make it all fit the broader MCU.
Marvel gets to have content more or less all-year round. The week that "Moon Knight" end Marvel's latest film "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" premieres.
When “Moon Knight” first debuted, critics and fans were mostly pleased.
Plenty of people enjoyed the horror movie and “Indiana Jones” style global adventure the series brought to the superhero genre, though some critics found it all a bit confusing, considering the character’s strange backstory.
Some people complained that it didn't seem to intersect with the great MCU, but other fans liked that it was doing it’s own thing.
But nearly everyone loved Oscar Isaac's performance as the hard-as-nails Spector as well as the sweetly stammering alternate personality Steven Grant.
The series so far hasn’t been announced for a second season, but Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has indicated he wants to incorporate him into the larger MCU’s films.
Disney
How Does Twitter Feel About “Moon Knight” Now?
Now that the season is almost over, it’s time to check in and see how everyone is feeling about it.
While The Ringer's recap thinks the plot can be a bit of a mess, Daniel Chin appreciates that they've deepened the character as the season goes along.
The Mary Sue appreciated the most recent episode exploring the trauma that drives Moon Knight.
Fans of the show are also shocked by some of the twists of the past two episodes, which we won't spoil here.
Everyone Loves Isaac
The only real major sticking point people seem to have is that, like in the comics, Spector is Jewish, a point the show recently confirmed.
While everyone agrees that Isaac is incredible in the role, there are some people who wish a Jewish actor would have been cast, even as they're glad this leads to greater representation for Jewish people in the MCU overall.
A thoughtful post from The Mary Sue broke down how it's possible to have all of those thoughts simultaneously, because people are allowed to have complex, contradictory feelings.
In the post by Julia Glassman, she outlined that Jewish cultural identity, and how it's defined in the modern day, doesn't necessarily always intersect with Judaism as a religion.
Ultimately, she concludes it's just an extremely complicated issue with no clear-cut consensus, and Isaac's casting (and the fact that the character is depicted as rejecting the Jewish faith) raises a lot of questions about which there are no easy answers.
