The trailers for Marvel Studios’ next Disney+ series, Moon Knight, have shown the many different sides of Marc Spector, which include his alters Steven Grant and Jake Lockley. Each of these distinct personalities has their own life, job, and behaviors.
The character of Moon Knight in general deals with a lot of mental health issues that many comics try to avoid. Where others shy away, Moon Knight leans in. And from what we have seen in the trailers, the small screen adaptation looks like it will lean into that topic as well.
So, what is it about Moon Knight that blends it so well with mental health representation? Well, quite a lot. Avoiding the origin story as it will probably be a good part of the upcoming show, let’s focus on how Moon Knight goes about being a superhero. Unlike most people with multiple personalities, he uses this to his advantage.
The personality of Jake Lockley, the cab driver, was created so he could have an eye on the street at all times. Marc Spector is the CIA and Army-trained assassin and fighter, while Steven Grant is the rich personality that operates in society. It’s a very fluid situation, but he maneuvers between the personalities with the precision one would expect of a superhero.
Then there’s the conversation to be had about Khonshu, the Egyptian God of the Night. This is the being that makes a deal with a dying Spector to keep him alive in exchange for being his avatar of justice on Earth. In other words, he has a God in his head that only he can see telling him what to do and who to kill – right alongside his Dissociative identity disorder. We get a glimpse of this being in the trailers, with actor extraordinaire Oscar Isaac hauling as much butt as he can to run from it.
As shown already, our protagonist has some stuff going on. Hopefully, viewers don’t need too much more proof to determine if this guy has mental health issues, but fans will surely get it throughout the show if they do happen to need it. And it seems odd to be saying this, but I’m actually excited about that.
Mental health is a really tough topic, and it’s only been recently that we as a society have really leaned into understanding people with mental health issues. Having one of the largest studios in Hollywood use the biggest and most profitable franchise in cinematic history to explore these issues means that it’s actually being taken seriously. We’re not going to just skirt this stuff any more, Moon Knight is going to place it front and center.
The continual battle between the different personalities of Moon Knight makes him one of the more intriguing characters that the MCU will be adding. Because these personalities are so distinct, each one has the potential to offer something different to the show. A day in Jake Lockley’s life will be much different than a night at a philanthropy event with Steven Grant or a flashback into the days of Spector’s mercenary and CIA duties. There are various avenues and interactions to explore, and each person provides a different set of relationships and bonds.
It’s these bonds that are central to the character of Moon Knight. Whether it’s Frenchie or Bertrand Crawley, each of these sidekicks only reveals themselves to the distinct personalities of Moon Knight. Crawley is Jake Lockley’s go-to guy for information, whereas Frenchie, AKA Jean-Paul Duchamp, is Marc Spector’s trusty pilot and confidant. Each of these people understands a different side of Moon Knight, and it’s the different tapestries they’ll weave that will create the cloth that is Moon Knight on Disney+. Mental health is an extremely imperative issue, and kudos to Marvel and Disney for being brave enough to take it head-on and make it part of the fabric of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Moon Knight is sure to bring a flavor similar to The Punisher or even some of the darker Batman stuff. It’s a comic for people who love vengeance. There will be multiple stories to follow, and Marvel may opt for the confusing path before tying everything together in the end. Moon Knight is a character many have been waiting for a long time to see in the Marvel Cinematic Universe because he fits in so well with what they are already doing.
The fact that they’re adding mental health only makes it that much better, which will make Moon Knight an important series to tune in for on March 30th.