The Moon Knight finale was unlike Disney+ MCU season finale for two very distinct reasons.
The first is obvious — there was no greater connection to the greater MCU. There was no end credit scene or cameo tying it to something much larger. In WandaVision we got the Skrulls and Wanda searching the multiverse. Falcon and the Winter and Hawkeye lead to new characters taking up famous mantles while Loki puts into question the fate of the multiverse.
Moon Knight did none of this. It’s now been reported via an interview with series producer and director Mohammed Diab that MCU crossovers involving Mandripoor and Kingo from The Eternals were scrapped. The reasons for these cuts seem to be both artistic and financial, so the lack of any MCU involvement is both bold and divisive (as bold decisions often are).
We’ve been conditioned to expect everything in Marvel to tie together. Granted, these connections sometimes felt extremely shoe-horned in like the introduction of the Infinity Stones at the end of Thor: The Dark World or the “I’ll do it myself” line from Thanos at the end of Age of Ultron. The argument here can be made (and you can hear my co-host on Socially Distanced Al Mannarino make this point) that this is the first “new” Marvel character to be introduced to the MCU without being tied to anything else in quite some time. So why not let Moon Knight stand on its own without tying him to The Eternals or Blade or Werewolf by Night or Gore the God Butcher or Wolverine, Ghost Rider or insert Marvel character here.
It’s a jarring moment to not have anything relating back to the MCU and it can definitely leave the audience let down. But should we be?
It’s been forever since an MCU property hasn’t been tied directly to another property, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. We need to realize Marvel (read: Kevin Feige) always has a plan, so maybe let’s trust his process. Moon Knight is going to be in the MCU on a larger scheme — he wouldn’t get his own show if he wasn’t going to. So with this knowledge in hand, maybe upon a rewatch of the series this won’t (or shouldn’t) have the initial sting it had as the credits ended upon first viewing of the finale.
Yet, The second difference between the Moon Knight Finale and the rest of the MCU finales is the most important to this reviewer — there was no big emotional moment in the finale.
WandaVision ended with an amazing sense of sorrow. In Falcon, there’s a feeling of hope at the sight of a new Captain America. In Loki, it’s absolute terror and dread that everything is going wrong. In Hawkeye, it’s that wonderful Christmas feeling of family, love and hope.
In Moon Knight it’s…confusion?
The final scene we see of Moon Knight is Khonshu, dressed like Mr. Knight, confronting Harrow (Ethan Hawke), and Jake — the third persona of Marc Spector — executing him. It’s supposed to be a cliffhanger and a big “a-ha!” moment, but the moment came off as just another question for a series that left its audience in the dark for the majority of the season.
The five previous episodes of Moon Knight kept piling question on top of question and it was maddening. We could not get an answer to question #1 before a series of other confounding questions were shoveled onto it. The appeal of being in the dark like Steven Grant got old quickly. The series didn’t need to handhold the audience and spoon feed them the answers to all the questions right away, but it would’ve worked nicely if anything was answered before the penultimate episode. There are such things as patience and payoffs, but it felt like the writers were more concerned with being clever than anything else.
In many ways, Moon Knight feels like Westworld. The world-building is terrific, the performances are phenomenal, the action is excellent and yet the story frustrates the hell out of you. Moon Knight, like Westworld, is obsessed with the mystery box concept and that’s problematic if you draw the mystery out too much, which is what both series have done. While Westworld had some wildly dramatic payoffs in their season finales, Moon Knight really didn’t. We do get Jake, which is a cool reveal, but that’s all that it is, a cool reveal. There’s no emotional connection. There’s no feeling here. It’s disappointing because the penultimate episode was so impactful and emotional, and even in this finale the reunion of Steven and Marc is great, but that final note of the season rings flat. Maybe this is because there’s no greater tie to the MCU or because we have no idea if there’s going to be a second season. Whatever the case, this ending, while a surprise, is not the best ending we’ve seen in this era of MCU series.
To be fair, the Moon Knight finale did have a lot of good in it. Layla’s reveal as the Scarlet Scarab was excellent. The effects work on her armor was some of the best in the series and it’s refreshing to know we could see her around in the future in the MCU. The huge kaiju battle between Amitt and Khonshu was a lot of fun, and Ethan Hawke delivered three terrific versions of Harrow. Oh, and of course Oscar Isaac was utterly brilliant (as he has been throughout the series). There was so much that went right in the episode, it’s just a shame they didn’t stick the landing.
The Moon Knight finale was messy, it was spectacular and despite all its faults it left us wanting more. Time, a rewatch and Moon Knight’s inclusion in the larger MCU may change this reviewer’s opinion on the finale, but right now this was a let down and one of the weaker endings to the new phase of the MCU.
The Moon Knight Finale (and the entire series) can be streamed on Disney+
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