**Spoiler warning for Moon Knight episode 2**
The second episode of Marvel’s Moon Knight has arrived on Disney Plus, revealing more details about Oscar Isaac’s troubled Steven Grant/Marc Spector and the deal he cut with Egyptian God Khonshu.
And as more of Marc/Steven’s backstory is revealed, the show is delving ever-deeper into the comic-book source material that Moon Knight is based on – and it’s made a few intriguing changes.
Finally, a face is also put to the mysterious ‘Layla’ that rang Marc’s phone in the debut – it’s none other than Marc’s wife.
It appears that May Calamawy’s Layla El-Faouly is a reinterpretation of Marc’s comic book love interest Marlene Alraune, which hints at a darkly complicated relationship between the pair as the series progresses.
In this episode it’s clear that Marc is a very different man to Steven, with his morally grey mercenary past referenced during the car ride to Harrow’s ‘haven’, growing those seeds of his past with Raul Bushman and their confrontation in the desert, a prolific event referenced across multiple Moon Knight runs.
When Steven ‘summons the suit’ as per the panicked request of Layla, we find rather he emerges not in the typical ancient garb of Moon Knight, but in a surprisingly sharp, all-white smart suit.
Moon Knight episode 2 contains big comic book callback
Comic book fans will recognize the similarity of the appearance to another character from Warren Ellis’ run: Mr Knight.
In the comics, Mr Knight is Marc’s more approachable street-level investigative persona unlike his ancient, mummified counterpart, blending in with local society easier, allowing him to help the police and people find criminals in order to feed his bloodlust (basically, imagine if Jessica Jones loved her job).
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This time, he appears less like an entirely separate personality and more like an aesthetic choice. The show has cleverly tweaked the purpose of Mr Knight (pictured above) to reflect Steven’s interpretation of the Moon Knight suit as a humorous differentiation between Steven and Marc’s self-perceptions; Steven is the politer, more approachable figure whereas Marc is the aggressive, dominant soldier that Khonshu relies on.
Steven’s embodiment of the super-powered figure may prove a little controversial for some fans, nonetheless, the look itself is an impressively comic book-accurate adaptation.
Taking once more from Lemire’s run, there’s clearly a great power struggle and uneasy relationship between Marc and Khonshu – in Lemire’s run, Khonshu desires to fully control Marc’s body as his own, whilst Marc attempts to retain his autonomy; it’s clear through Steven and Marc’s conversations that a similar kind of deal was struck.
Overall, it’s clear that the show is attempting to depict Khosnhu as more an opportunistic parasite rather than the god-like figure he once was – he’s hungry for a vessel, and while we don’t know the full details of his and Marc’s deal yet, it’s not unlikely to believe he’s seeking a full-time vessel to operate. Looks like both Marc and Steven are in for a bit of a struggle in the weeks ahead…
Moon Knight is streaming on Disney Plus, with new episodes available on Wednesdays. Check out more of our Sci-Fi and Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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