Moon Knight raises the bar of Marvel’s acting

Moon Knight Poster – Marvel Studios

Marvel has come out with its sixth and most entertaining show. Moon Knight explores a new type of comedy for Marvel, while introducing characters with multiple layers and increased depth.

    Moon Knight follows Steven Grant, played by Oscar Isaac, as he struggles with his own identity, as someone else lives inside of his head. The show dives into Egyptian mythology and lore, expertly introducing background information without directly telling the audience what is happening. Egyptian gods play a major role. The antagonist is one of the gods’ devoted followers who has essentially gone crazy. With forty-minute episodes, the show tells everything at a slow pace instead of shoving the necessary information down our throats.

Moon Knight’s style of fighting is unique and so are his enemies’. 

Oscar Isaac faces a difficult task: to play a collection of characters without changing his appearance. We quickly learn that Isaac’s character has multiple personalities, and watching Isaac seamlessly change from person to person is amazing—his acting is truly beyond what anyone would expect from a Marvel production. The company’s content clearly extends beyond fight scenes.

That being said, the fight scenes in the show are phenomenal. Moon Knight’s style of fighting is unique and so are his enemies’. 

The show also draws attention to character detail, such as in the way that Moon Knight’s white costume both blends in with and contrasts the night sky.

This boom of new heroes is certainly incredible to watch, but if they don’t stop making new heroes and start connecting the existing ones, Marvel may be going downhill.

The acting is magnificent, but much praise must go to the writers. In the first episode of the series, Marvel takes a new, comedic approach to their writing. While the production value is elevated, the actual humor is similar to that of comedies like The Office. Awkwardness makes things funny. It is refreshing to see this new approach from Marvel and a relief to watch them step away from their predictable witty commentary.

With six episodes set to come out, the show should only improve. Still, it begs the question: what direction is Marvel going? Recently, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced many new characters, including Moon Knight, the Eternals, and Shang-Chi, among others. With all of these new characters, the novelty of the Marvel Universe is starting to disappear. The thing that kept people coming back to every Marvel movie was that they were all connected. Things that happened in Thor affected things that happened in the Avengers movies. This was true of every character, and it gave a sense that everything mattered. This boom of new heroes is certainly incredible to watch, but if they don’t stop making new heroes and start connecting the existing ones, Marvel may be going downhill.

Moon Knight is certainly worth a watch. You don’t need any prior knowledge of the Marvel Universe to enjoy it, and the acting is the best of the Marvel franchise. There is something for everyone in Moon Knight—but let’s hope that we will get to see him working with more of our favorite heroes.

Author: Connor Pinsk '23

Managing Editor Connor Pinsk joined The Index in the fall of 2019. He previously served as Neighborhood Editor.