It’s once again Marvel Wednesday and, like every week, we’re here to talk about Moon Knight – Spoilers ahead for episode 3 “The Friendly Type”!
What was it about?
Marc Spector is currently in charge of the body and under strict orders from Khonshu to find Arthur Harrow in Cairo.
My thoughts?
As far as the storytelling structure goes, I can see this unravel similarly to the previous Disney+ Marvel shows and wrap up semi-neatly by the time the 6th episode rolls around. It’s kind of hard to believe that we’re already halfway through the story, even though we’ve just met and gotten know the majority of the characters, but it didn’t feel as rushed as other stories still. Let’s break down where we are now:
- Marc Spector, seemingly in control of the body, is in Cairo to find Arthur Harrow before he can resurrect and free Ammit. As he tracks down some leads, we see what I’ve been predicting in the previous review – there’s another personality slumbering somewhere in there, although we don’t get to meet them. We just see a bloodbath that neither Marc nor Steven feel responsible for. Seen as he is a more violent personality, my guess is it’s Jake Lockley, but there’s no confirmation for that.
- We also get some background information on Layla. Apparently she had burned some bridges before leaving Egypt and her interest for artifacts stems from her (murdered?) archaeologist father. It was suggested that Marc had something to do with that, but I really hope he didn’t …
- In addition to that, we meet the avatars of the other remaining gods and the gods themselves and … they frustrated me? Yes, Khonshu seems overly theatrical, but they didn’t even investigate the claims against Arthur Harrow and just believed what he said. I don’t quite understand why they didn’t dig at least a little deeper or why Marc/Khonshu didn’t even mention the scarab, the cane or what they witnessed in Germany? Their accusations were super vague and that could have gone a lot better.
- Tying this show to the rest of the Marvel universe, we get a brief mention of Layla having been to Madripoor, which makes sense, since she deals with stolen artifacts. There she met Anton Mogart (portrayed by Gaspard Ulliel, who unfortunately passed away earlier this year) and thinks he can now help her and Marc with their quest, even though it soon becomes clear she betrayed his trust in the past.
Side note on Anton Mogart: I don’t know how Marvel/Moon Knight will handle this, but Anton Mogart is The Midnight Man in the comics. They have vastly different backgrounds and he hasn’t even donned his suit at all, but his bodyguard Bek could be another hint at Kareesh-Bek, a member of the Slayers Elite. Both were antagonists to Moon Knight, however, Anton Mogart was hurt off-screen by Marc on the show and I 1. don’t know what that means for the character and 2. cannot see them recasting the actor. This might have been an avenue for a future villain, but I, personally, don’t think it will go anywhere now.
- Layla and Marc can salvage some hints to Ammit’s tomb from their fatal encounter with Anton and his men, but need Steven to put the clues together. Those were honestly some of the best scenes for me. The Marc and Steven duality, the way Layla clearly cares about both men and acknowledges them as different people – a thing of beauty. Also, there’s the way Steven is all heart eyes and crushes on Layla, while she is super soft with him – I love to see it. And then it’s just kind of funny to me that Steven’s suit is never the ceremonial Moon Knight suit, but instead the Mr. Knight one.
- Ultimately, Khonshu sacrifices himself – helping turn back the night sky to how it was the day Ammit was entombed and getting turned into stone for it. The gods even let Arthur talk to him, which just feels ludicrous to me. Why do they trust Harrow so much?
- Now that Khonshu’s powers are more or less stripped, I’m intrigued as to how that will affect Marc/Steven and if it will make them more vulnerable. At the end of the episode, they were unconscious in Layla’s arms. (Khonshu did instruct Steven to tell Marc he should come to free him.)
I generally like the pace at which we’re progressing, but I’m still unsure as to whether this is a self-contained story that will end after the six episodes have aired, or if it is supposed to fit into a bigger something. Someone suggested that Moon Knight may be the one to initiate the Midnight Sons (which would include Blade, for example), but I’ve seen no evidence of that. I can’t really form many theories beyond simply wanting see more of the Marc/Layla/Steven dynamic and finding out more about the personalities we’ve yet to encounter.
So, this may not have been very insightful today, but I genuinely wouldn’t know what more to tell you …
Life and Other Disasters 
I’m with you, the Mark/Stephen/Layla thing is done very well.
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I hope we get heaps more of it in the final 3 episodes. They’re what’s keeping me interested in the show.
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I liked the episode, as well as how it hinted that there’s a deeper side to Khonshu. I wonder what’ll happen next week. And what Ammit will look like when she’s resurrected (because you know it’s going to happen).
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If she doesn’t look like her mythological description, I will be disappointed.
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That, or she’s created with really bad CGI.
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Well she would have to be created through CGI, because her mythological description describes her with the forequarters of a lion, the hindquarters of a hippopotamus, and the head of a crocodile.
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Yeah, but even though Khonshu is clearly CGI, he looks badass and you could almost imagine him being real. I’m worried that Ammit will look like Malebolgia in the awful Spawn movie (Google it, even for its time, it’s bad).
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I don’t actually agree on Khonshu being done that well. Every time he moves, I can see it’s not real and he just looks too … I don’t know the word. It’s like too clean of a look to be real. But I don’t imagine Ammit to be this huge presence and more human sized.
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