Moon Knight - Disney+ (***Spoilers***)

You know that the Boston Red Sox can still knock it out of the park etc. after losing a bad game, or even a bad season, right? They come back next season, and the season after that. Like how marvel is knocking it out of the park with Dr. Strange, Spidersmen, Thor, Moon Knight etc. and might not have, with Black Widow etc.

Konshu can feel your pain about the Sequel Trilogy. Konshu feels all of our pain about the Sequel Trilogy. But you gotta let it go, Konshu isn't going to have anyone killed, least of all Kathleen Kennedy. Mando moved on. Mando carried the Franchise AND Disney+ on his back BOTH. It looked a lot like this actually

Disney felt your pain, my pain, everyone's pain, as if the force suddenly all at once cried in agony. they learned some things, clearly, and we've turned a page since a while ago. and if BOBF is the main irk (it's 4 stars, from me), I refuse to buy in, they didn't produce Mando S1/S2 over Zoom (filming wrapped days before Pandemic declaration in March 2020), they produced BOBF over Zoom. I have mad respect for the work they accomplished during Covid, especially in a germaphobe state like California. Do you remember experiencing feelings of sadness, depression, anxiety, unwellness etc. during Covid or have a loved one die, etc. etc. well... I'm sure that applies to the creative geniuses at Disney, too. Add to that filming on BOBF ran straight on from Mando s2 - from November 2020 to June 2021. Between their day job... Covid... the 2020 Summer of George Floyd... the 2020 Winter of Donald Trump... the January 6 Insurrection.... can any of us cast the first stone for accusing them of not being able to put out their apex quality of work? Gina Carano was a high profile firing but it should evidence for folks how tense, in general, life had gotten in the subsequent time since Mando wrapped and Covid began. Giancarlo Esposito, similarly, had put people on blast publicly for having disagreements about complying with covid safety (on the set of Breaking Bad).

I'm confidently assuming that there were a lot of mental health and Family or Medical Leave days taken by any number of staff, same as any other industry at the time. I'm equally confident people on set had a lot of real-world distractions, and there may have been plenty of disagreement between people on those issues. If a posh campy bike gangster doing a twirl before he takes a shot is the biggest consequence of that on the end product, then so be it. /rant.

Except it's part of it, the series didn't pull punches.

Moon Knight: great, 4 stars, already ran through it twice, the psych ward scenes are still a bit of a mindfuck but it works (Harrow & Marc on the same astral plane at points?) and I think a season 2 works better for him, than his own movie or being plugged into a bigger one. The CGI didn't look that good on my 1080p PC screen, but when watched on 4K they definitely looked much more believable and less like Adobe effects (particularly his CGI suit). There's still always going to be an uncanny valley to a Hippo Lady and a talking bird skull though. This shot in particular, didn't quite make it across the valley:

Maybe you could edit it down into a movie but it does well the way its structured and I feel like they'd gut too much breathing room to make something like that work. They used the right amount of superpowers I think here, just enough that folks still want more of him right away. I could do with a lot more Mr. Knight myself just clubbing folks (or more banter in the mirror eg. "Psycho Col. Sanders"). The way they transitioned during the fights was thoughtful and cracking, a 3-way choreography with Jake Lockley in the mix will be ... better, I can only assume at this point.

Best Lead Actor: Oscar Isaac

Best Supporting Actor: Oscar Isaac

Everyone did great though, wonderful cast.

General reference to the ire the internet has expressed toward her. Thanks for ignoring everything else I said though and just deflecting to a response to tone.

People obviously don't want them killed, they have morals. They will however never stop lamenting the Sequel Trilogy, in particular, putting out propaganda to get the likes of Kathleen Kennedy fired from Star Wars altogether (unlikely) my point is everything that needs to be said about the trilogy has been said, we've moved on, and since moving on, Disney+ has crushed it with the straight to streaming content.

Take away the Ennead, and one of the focal points of his backstory? Jake Lockley killed her dad and getting himself nearly killed in the process is how he met Konshu. She is the backstory.

I feel like unless Harrow was a protagonist then we don’t really need his life story, he’s our villain and we know plenty about him just from Marc’s experiences and a few cutaways to him. Ethan Hawke played him well. We really didn’t need a backstory either for Thanos etc they just worked

I don’t think it’s sloppy writing that Marc didn’t let Jake out. He still had little idea where he was. Even if he suspected it was another Alter he and Steven could both guess that alter was darker and more violent than they were already (ep2). It’s really only Marc being judged by the scales anyway. The good of Mark and Steven outweighing the bad of Jake and whoever else. I think if they had resolved the Jake Lockley questions in 6 episodes there would never be a 7th. The way the story unfolds I think is more rewarding, with Konshu “freeing” Marc and Steven but remaining bound with Jake, may make for some interesting deal with the devil shenanigans.

The Ennead were pointless though, they served zero purpose here. Now if they showed up in the last episode for the Kaiju fight it would have made sense why they were there.

As for Layla, why did she need to become an avatar too (never mind knowing how to use her abilities instantly, something Steven had problems with earlier with Mr Knight) and also outshining Moon Knight on his own show.

It just feels like this was not a Moon Knight show at all, due to the lack of Moon Knight on screen.

Why is it Marc that's only being judged? if Marc doesn't know Jake as the other alter, does that not mean that Jake created Marc akin to Marc creating Steven. It just seems to be convenient to leave Jake out of the balancing part in order to have the reveal later in the credits, that's my take.

Edit---

Just to add, I did think Ethan, Oscar and May put in a good performance but the show dropped in quality after episode 1.

I mean to each their own, I thought the Ennead scenes were great, we met Hathors avatar, we saw a neat trial by Gods (not the most judicious or impartial branch of government I've ever seen, quite arrogant really). We got some neat ancient egyption marvel worldbuilding. I get what you mean, about their lack of involvement though clearly the other Gods take gumption with Konshu's 'theatrics' and 'flashy weapons.' They're also non-intervionalists. It's close to as much screen time as say, many Gods got on Clash or Wrath of the Titans. It does confuse us as to where Hippo Lady sits with the Ennead, and her flashy new avatar.

Steven is an Alter to a dissociative identity disorder. Marc Spector (SPEKTR...) is the main man, it's he who made the pact with Konshu. Ultimately, Marc knows how to use the suit, should know everything that happens with his body but he doesn't, amnesia between alters is a real thing. And Konshu wasn't exactly super helpful to "Worm." The whole scene where Steven and Marc discuss why Steven is Psycho Colonel Sanders, for example, works well, Marc's alter ego and himself coming to grips with how this power should work for his alter.

Layla, having no personality disorders to speak of, and already knowing intently what Marc is capable of with the power of an Avatar, likely made her transition a lot easier. They already foreshadow her in the series as an effectual and capable fighter/tomb-raider. Her weaponized necklace and the way she stabs that security guard at the black market deal was a nice little foreshadow of her future self and her ability to stabby stab.

I think what's happening most here then, with why many folks have expressed it's not enough Moon Knight/Action, is because of how they portrayed the DID, blacking out both Marc/Steven and the Audience from action beats to drive it forward in jumps - it puts it front and center that you've been deprived of something as an audience member (but for cause).

I think there was just the right amount of Moon Knight on screen to leave people wanting more. Konshu's imprisonment from the Ennead is an important story beat, and so is for most heroes, the trope that they do some deep character exploration without leaning on fancy powers or gadgets (Iron Man 3, Spiderman: Homecoming, Raimi's Spiderman 2, Thor: Ragnarok, etc.) and even a lot of really good singleplayer videogames take a similar beat, parts of the story where you are stripped of everything you have earned to prove what you have learned (Half-Life, Breath of the Wild, Tomb Raider, the list is miles long). It helpfully establishes that the protagonist is worthy of the abilities they have been granted by the story, nobody watches a heroes journey that lacks pitfall or sacrifice.

I believe from the Mom flashbacks we learn Marc is the primary identity, Jake and Steven are alters/guardian personalities. He made Steven as a child to endure his mothers physical abuse. He apparently concocted Jake Lockley later on in life in relation to him being a mercenary - the partner who "got greedy" while Marc was in a fugue state (Episode 5). Jake Lockley only appears when Marc cannot manage a physical threat seemingly (also true of Steven but for child abuse). The walls between Marc and Steven broke down from his Mothers funeral, which is seemingly when Steven begins to manifest so strongly he starts leading his own life working at a museum gift shop, with Marc so emotionally broken by his grief for over his mom (and her abuse) that he recedes long into the background of the DID. The Season is set up so the viewer initially assumes Steven is the primary, so it may be confusing initially on a first or weekly viewing.

Oh I went in knowing nothing, I know nothing about the character except what little that viral memes had gleaned. I wasn't square on everything that happened on the show when I watched weekly, in my office, with 2 screens and the sunlight blaring; it's when I watched a 2nd time with the missus, as a whole saturday night in 4K that those pieces started to get picked up by myself :p

Wake me up before you go-go

Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo

There's one big problem with that....can Moon Knight actually be Moon Knight during the day 😂

*Actually genuinely thought of that the other day and still not sure if Moon Knight can Moon (K)Day

Sunday was yesterday.

I wondered too. But there’s a shot of him after his revival walking outside of that location to talk with and bargain with Konshu before he manipulates the wind to send them flying off to Cairo to catch up to Ammit. This scene happens during the late afternoon at that location (Ammit’s tomb, in the deep desert)

Khonshu also casts a solar eclipse to signal an audience with the Ennead. That’s in broad daylight but we don’t see Marc use the suit in that situation.

While not confusing, I thought they missed out on something by not clearing up the missing memory sections. We had Steven with his missed memories, then we had Marc with his missed memories and it hinted that there was a third person but we never got to see that character filling in those missed memories.....in fact not even showing the existence of this third character until the mid credits scene, to me seemed like too big a reveal to drop in such an odd way.

How was it scattered?

obviously by scattered you meant all over the place - that is what scatters means - but saying other people have said it isn’t an answer.

How was it all over the place?

the story was incredibly simple and we were spoon fed everything - it doesn’t take long to realise he has a split personality, or which is the original and they beat us over the head with there being third identity. Harrow lays out the villain scheme in the first episode.

The only think not explained is why Spector/Grant didn’t realise someone other than them has been out and about in Cairo.

That is a lot of time to devote to something you say you don’t care about.

“Just because” is not answer.

i was genuinely interested in hearing what is confusing to people but you are clearly not the person to have that chat with.

Why ? If you don’t like like something why not stop and watch and do something else?

I cannot imagine devoting hours to something that I don’t enjoy or find interesting.