The terrible tragedy that happened in the childhood of Mark Spector, and the subsequent events associated with it, led to the emergence of an alternative personality – Stephen Grant, who helped Mark survive the most difficult moments. Despite the humor, adventure aspect and fantasy that harmoniously combine in the Jeremy Slater series, in terms of the human drama, Moon Knight is one of the most serious, dark and heavy film projects of Marvel.
Episode 5 subtly reveals the tragedy of Mark, the 6th shows the final moment of his adoption of the identity of Stephen Grant. These episodes bring a powerful end to Moon Knight, a fully self-contained story within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The famously twisted personal drama of the protagonist in symbiosis with a fantastic adventure story about the confrontation between the ancient Egyptian gods and their supporters makes Moon Knight an original franchise project that deserves the attention of fans of such spectacles. The magnificent performance of the many-sided Oscar Isaac adorns the series.
The fate of Arthur Harrow and the goddess Amat
After rescuing Amat, Arthur Harrow agrees to become her avatar, but before uniting, they enter into an intense battle with Khonsu, Mark and Layla. As a result, Spector and Layla still defeat Harrow. They perform a special ceremony and place Amat in Arthur’s body by force, thereby depriving her of the ability to control power. Mark refuses to kill Harrow on the orders of Khonsu, as he no longer wants to cross the line at the whim of the insidious god. Later, Harrow himself ends up in a psychiatric hospital with Amat imprisoned in his body. It is there that Khonsu finds Arthur and with the hands of his ruthless mysterious assistant – which we will talk about later – kills the former leader of the cult. Most likely, Harrow himself is finished with this. However, the fate of Amat remains in question,
The strong bond between Mark and Steven
In the afterlife, Mark gets the opportunity to find the long-awaited peace of mind. However, he refuses to bury Steven’s identity and associated memories and goes to his aid. Rescuing Grant, Spector finds unity with his inner companion. This unity is also demonstrated in the scene of Spector’s battle with Harrow and his subordinates: Moon Knight instantly turns into Mister Knight and back.
Khonsu’s evil plan and who is Jake Lockley from the post-credits scene?
Returning to the world of the living, Moon Knight enters into a pact with Khonsu: he promises to let Mark and Steven go when they deal with Amat. The protagonist and Layla engage in battle with Harrow and his associates, but are close to defeat. Then once again in the mind of Mark there is a memory failure, after which he is the winner of the fight with Arthur. Most likely, at this moment and in previous similar situations, Jake Lockley, Mark’s most rigid and uncompromising personality, which Spector himself did not know, entered into action. Another personality was hinted at by Mark’s abrupt appearance in certain scenes of an accent in the original soundtrack, as well as small details like a triple reflection in a mirror. Apparently, Lockley is able to take control of Mark’s body and mind, after which he begins to bloodthirsty crack down on his opponents. It looks like Jake’s Moon Knight has powerful abilities, as after his invisible appearance in the scene of the final battle with Harrow, noticeable destruction appeared on the battlefield.
Having placed Amat in Harrow’s body, Mark refuses to kill him on the orders of Khonsu, who cannot personally take a person’s life. The Egyptian deity releases Mark and Stephen, but they do not even know about the third person, who is still subordinate to Khonsu. It is Jake Lockley who, in the post-credits scene, kills Harrow, after brutally cracking down on some of the hospital workers.
Khonsu – Mark Spector’s new opponent?
It seems that in future projects about the Moon Knight, Khonsu himself may become the main villain, and Jake Lockley will act as his ally. Now that the other deities have lost their avatars and their place in the world of the living, Khonsu may try to gain power and influence through the hands of Lockley, who is ready to go to extremes. In this situation, only Mark and Steven, who are not yet aware that Khonsu is still using their body, with the support of Layla, can stop the third person and his patron. In any case, putting the protagonist and antagonist in the body of one person and their confrontation with switching between several personalities is an interesting concept for the next story about Moon Knight.
Khonsu guilty of Mark’s tragedy?
It is worth noting that in the comics, Hounsou has been watching Mark since childhood. It is possible that in the series, it was the Egyptian god who was behind the murder of Spector’s brother, which led to the splitting of the boy’s personality. This is also hinted at by the scene where Stephen got acquainted with the tragic memories of Mark and accidentally stepped on a small skeleton that looks like Khonsu.
Sons of Midnight and Raoul Bushman
In future projects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Moon Knight may become part of the mystical team of defenders of humanity, the Midnight Sons or the Midnight Sons. This team, according to the plot of the comics, included Doctor Strange and Blade. Another scenario for the continuation of the adventures of Moon Knight could be a confrontation with Raoul Bushman, who was his partner during his work as a mercenary. It was the cruel psychopath Bushman who killed Leyla’s father and became the main reason why Mark made a pact with Khonsu.
Layla and the Scarlet Scarab
In an attempt to stop Harrow, Layla meets the goddess Taurt, who is the guide to the underworld in the series. Leila soon realizes that she cannot help Mark alone. The girl agrees to the proposal of the goddess and temporarily becomes her avatar, gaining superpowers. Even though Layla refused to enter into a long-term alliance with Tawart, this does not at all prevent her from reuniting with a powerful patroness in future projects involving Moon Knight. So, Jeremy Slater seems to be hinting that Mae Calamawi’s character could be the comic book version of the Scarlet Scarab, the protector of Egypt. This is hinted at not only by similar names (Leila El-Faoli and Abdul El-Faol) and the nickname “scarab”, which Leila’s father called his daughter, but also by the design of the heroine’s costume with a small scarlet scarab on her chest,
A curious reference to Kang the Conqueror
In the final episode, in the scene after the short credits, a poster with a QR code appears in the frame. It leads to a comic about Kang the Conqueror’s confrontation with Moon Knights from different times. Such a scenario for the development of the history of Mark Spector would be extremely curious. Kang’s important role in the MCU has already been confirmed, so why shouldn’t Moon Knight take on a powerful villain?
Scene after credits
After the battle with the Knight, Arthur Harrow ends up in a psychiatric hospital. One day, he is picked up by a stranger and put into a white limousine where Khonsu is.
God talks about Spector and admits that he never planned to make his wife Layla his avatar, as the hero suspected. Khonsu adds that Mark never realized how sick he really was.
It immediately turns out who took Harrow from the hospital: the stranger turns out to be Jake Lockley – the third and, apparently, the most cruel personality of Spector, who, moreover, speaks Spanish. He shoots Arthur and the heroes leave.
In the last frames, it is noticeable that instead of a license plate, the letters SPKTR flaunt on it. Apparently it’s Spector’s limousine, and Khonsu is using Jake without Mark or Steven knowing. The main personalities of the Moon Knight, apparently, are not yet aware of the actions of the malevolent “neighbor”.
Will there be a season 2 of Moon Knight?
The director of “Moon Knight” Mohamed Diab admitted that the 2nd season of the show is still in doubt. Despite this, the director noted that the hero will return in future projects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – we are waiting for new adventures of Mark Spector and his alternative personalities.
Main differences from comics
- In the comics, Stephen Grant is Moon Knight’s richest personality. He made a fortune gambling and selling artifacts, and then began sponsoring Spector’s superhero investigations. In the original source, Grant is quite sociable, but in the series, Stephen is unsociable and not very rich: Spector mainly earns a living.
- Jake Lockley also exists in the original. There, he usually drives taxis and gathers information on the night streets undercover: the comic version of Lockley is definitely not cruel. Unlike Spector and Grant, Jake wears a mustache.
- The trio have been collaborating in the comics for a long time. However, in some stories, hints can be seen that a cruel fourth person lives inside the Knight.
- In the comics, Moon Knight’s costumes are not tied to Spector’s personalities. For example, Mr. Knight, who wears a formal suit, is associated with the modest Steven in the series, which does not match the original. In the comics, Knight is a self-confident detective and often cooperates with the police.
- The serial Arthur Harrow is not at all like his prototype. The character appeared in the comics only once and acted as a scientist who conducted illegal experiments on people. Also, the original Arthur suffers from trigeminal neuralgia and is not related to the Egyptian gods.
- However, in the comics, there is Dr. Emmett , who ran the psychiatric hospital where Spector was at one time incarcerated, and briefly served as Amat’s avatar. Apparently, the authors of the series created a sort of collective image.
- In the comics, Hounsou and Spector also have a rocky relationship. So, the Moon God once locked Mark in a psychiatric hospital so that he would completely go crazy, and Khonsu could take his body. You can read about it in the wound , written by Jeff Lemire.
- Layla was invented specifically for the series. However, in the comics, the Knight also had a lover: her name was Marlene, and the couple even had a child.
- Layla’s alter ego in the series is called the Scarlet Scarab, a character that exists in the comics as well. So Abdul Faul first called himself , and then his son. The character is known for fighting for the independence of Egypt in the 1940s. Abdul crossed paths with famous superheroes of those years: for example, Namor and the first Human Torch.
