One of the interesting things about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is how they haven’t just stuck to the well-known characters. Sure, we’ve seen a lot of Spider-Man, The Hulk, and Captain America, but we’ve also had adventures with such relatively lesser known characters as The Winter Solider, Ms. Marvel, and the Guardians Of The Galaxy.
Which brings me to Moon Knight, or rather, to the Disney+ show Moon Knight — and, more specifically, the 4K and Blu-ray versions of Moon Knight: The Complete First Season — in which this somewhat unknown Marvel anti-hero is getting his time in the sun. Well, moon.
In Moon Knight,
a guy named Steve Grant (Dune‘s Oscar Isaac) who works at the British museum starts suffering from blackouts, only to learn he has dissociative identity disorder, and that one of his alters is a former mercenary named Marc Spector who serves Konshu, the Egyptian moon god (voiced by F. Murray Abraham).
But he’s not the only one in service of an Egyptian deity, as he — or should that be, they — learns after running into a cult leader (played by a creepy Ethan Hawke), who used to work for Konshu but now serves his competitor, Ammit.
Now,
what comes of this confrontation is not the best Marvel show we’ve gotten on Disney+, though it’s also not the worst (I’m looking at you, Secret Invasion). It starts out somewhat slow, and doesn’t have the situational humor that makes the MCU shows WandaVision and She-Hulk so much fun.
But it gets better as it progresses, thanks to an uptick in the pace, the action, and, well, the weirdness. It’s easily the oddest of the live action MCU shows, as its later episodes have a surreal quality that rivals Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness.
Moon Knight also benefits from having a rather excellent cast. Oscar Isaac is as good here as he was in Dune and the Star Wars movies, while F. Murray Abraham has the gravitas of a god as the voice of Konshu.
But the real highlight — if only because we know Isaac and Abraham will be good — is May Calamawy, who plays Marc’s ex-wife Layla on what seems like a rather taxing adventure…but one that pays off in spades at the end (and, I hope, will again in the future).
Unsurprisingly,
like other Marvel shows that Disney have released on 4K and Blu-ray — i.e. WandaVision and Loki — the episodes of the show look and sound pristine on Moon Knight: The Complete First Season.
More importantly, they come without any of the digital glitches you sometimes get when you stream something, while rewinding and fast forwarding is way easier as well (the former of which is essential in a show in which your mind may be playing tricks on you).
Along with its six episodes, the Moon Knight: The Complete First Season 4K and Blu-ray collections also have some fun, if typical, special features.
For starters, it has the informative “Assembled: The Making Of Moon Knight” hour-long making-of special from Disney+.
Next, the 4K and Blu-ray versions of Moon Knight has a second featurette called “Egyptology,” in which Egyptologist Ramy Romany, members of the cast, and director Mohamed Diab discuss the Egyptian mythology that informed this show.
The Moon Knight 4K and Blu-ray discs…
also includes a pair of fun deleted scenes, as well as a gag reel that, like all gag reels, is funny footage of people screwing up and then cracking up.
What the Moon Knight 4K and Blu-ray doesn’t have, but should, are the original trailers for the show, as well as a featurette in the mold of “Egyptology” about dissociative identity disorder.
It also needs some context for the deleted scenes, something that explains why they were cut, while “Assembled: The Making Of Moon Knight” should’ve been on the second disc instead of the first, given how it spoils almost everything, and thus should be watched after you’ve seen the episodes on disc two.
But these are minor quibbles;
if you enjoyed Moon Knight on Disney+, then you should absolutely get Moon Knight: The Complete First Season on 4K or Blu-ray. You wouldn’t want to make some Gods angry…
SCORE: 8.0/10
