From the very first trailer I was excited for Moon Knight. I thought they managed casting perfectly, and I was really intrigued to see how they dealt with a superhero with a bunch of mental health issues. The answer: pretty damn well. I do wonder whether the whole "schizophrenia was my only true superpower" angle is really that beneficial, but otherwise I thought they treated the duality of Marc/Steven really well. I certainly think the character's introduction was the most interesting in the MCU for some time, keeping the audience on their toes trying to work out what was going on, and Oscar Isaac's performance is just fantastic throughout. I don't think I could have ever hoped for Moon Knight to have been done this well, but here we are 👍

Some elements left me a little dissatisfied. I thought they handled the alternate alternates well, and that made for a fun end-credits reveal, but the death/dream/institution sequence never felt entirely explained. Similarly, I thought Harrow was a great villain, with a lot of really interesting nuance, but I do wish they'd tried to make the nature of the Egyptian gods a little clearer. We may be getting something about that in the upcoming Thor sequel, as it looks like that will dip in the Greek or Roman pantheons, but it's a little unclear how Moon Knight fits into the wider MCU. At least a namecheck for Dr. Strange, or a brief mention of Asgard, or some small aside on what the gods actually are (I'm assuming not literal gods, though the whole afterlife sequence is hard to parse if that's not the case), anything really, would have been helpful to understand what we're dealing with and the wider implications. Also, I don't really understand why Layla gets eagle powers from a Hippo god?

That said, these are minor quibbles amidst a show which kept itself inventive, entertaining, and intriguing throughout. The action is surprisingly sparse, but when it does happen the choreography is great and the design of Moon Knight is so very good – that cape is just such a great design! The CGI is solid, too, and that's no mean feat given the otherworldly nature of several characters; the whole Field of Reeds sequence was particularly well done. I mean, the show ends with a fight between a giant human-crocodile hybrid and a robed god with a bird's skull for a head, and it looked just as good as any MCU movie.

The result is a show that sits on equal footing with the likes of Loki or Wandavision in terms of Marvel properties, but does so without any reliance on big names or existing lore, which feels somehow even more impressive. I cannot wait to see what happens to these characters next!