The premiere ofMoon Knightincluded lots of dizzying shots, moments of lost time for the new hero, and replaced most of the action sequences with alarming confusion for protagonist Steven Grant. Initially chalking up his issues to nothing more than sleep walking, the series offers plenty of psychological turmoil for both the characters and viewers alike.
Moon Knight didn’t even appear until the very end of the episode, so there’s surely going to be a lot of explaining for him to do next week when episode 2 hits small screens everywhere. So far, the show is pretty detached from the rest of theMarvel Cinematic Universe, but there’s still a number of references to other projects, characters, and even Moon Knight’s comic book origins.
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Steven With A “V”
For MCU fans who have taken a liking to Captain America, the name Steven Grant should sound familiar. AlthoughMoon Knightis best known as Marc Spector (the name his mysterious caller refers to him as), Steven currently has no idea who this Marc person is.
Captain America’s full name is Steven Grant Rogers, which is why Moon Knight’s alias rings a few bells. Steven also makes a point to say that his name is spelled with a “v” rather than a “ph,” which could have been a loose reference to another Marvel hero, AKADoctor Stephen Strange.
Leave Us Be, Parasite
During one of his dissociative episodes, Steven hears two voices in his head arguing over what they should do to avoid danger. One of the voices orders Steve to leave them be, then refers to the confused museum worker as a parasite.
Although it might be a bit of a stretch, the scene appears to be a callback to MCU newcomer, Venom. In the original 2016Venomfilm, fans saw Eddie Brock struggle to live life with the symbiote inhabiting his body and brain, and Eddie often refers to Venom as a parasite when explaining his “condition” to others. The joke was loved by viewers and with Marvel setting up a Venom story through theirSpider-Man: No Way Homepost credit scenes, it appears as ifMoon Knightis putting an alternative spin on the alien-inhabitant and human-host tale.
Avatar
In a tense interaction between the series protagonist and Arthur Harrow, the villain mentions Egyptian Avatars. Steven’s mind immediately goes to theAvatarmovie, which is the only film in history to have grossed more at the box office thanAvengers: Endgame.Steven also mentions the hitAvatar: The Last Airbenderanimated series, confirming both lovable projects of the same name exist within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Donna and Crawley The Living Statue
Steven’s boss Donna and his unmoving friend named Crawley are both characters taken from issues of the Moon Knight comic series. TheMoon Knightadaptations of these characters are much different from how they were written in the comics, but is surely a nod to the story’s literary origins.
Missed Call From Duchamp
Speaking of comic book characters, Steven had a number of missed calls on his secret cellphone from a woman named Layla. Amongst the hundreds of notifications displaying her name, Steven briefly pauses on the name Duchamp, indicating someone with that name was trying to reach him.
In the comics, Moon Knight worked closely with a man namedJean-Paul Duchamp, hinting that the relationship between the two will play a part in the new series. Fans are also suspecting that Layla is supposed to be the live-action version of comic book character Marlene Alraune, an archeologist and Marc’s romantic partner.
Chaos In Steven
After putting Steven to the test, Arthur says that Steven “has chaos in him,” which apparently made Steven unworthy of death by magic tattoo. Arthur’s tattooed scales are what he used to decipher whether or not someone is a good person. As seen early on in the episode, Arthur uses his magic fromthe god Ammitto kill those he and the gods deem to be bad people, yet Steven was allowed to live.
This could be due to one of two things. First, perhaps Arthur let Steven go, although this doesn’t make much sense because he allowed a monster to attack him shortly after putting Steven’s soul on trial. Second, perhaps Arthur’s magic doesn’t work on Steven, because of said chaos within him.
The only other MCU character to have a complicated origin story and a lack of understanding about her own powers isWanda Maximoff, who is said to be born of chaos magic. Who knows whether or not the power she has bears any semblance to the magic Steven and his other inhabitants possess, but when it comes to Marvel, anything is possible.
New episodes ofMoon Knightare currently streaming every Wednesday on Disney Plus.
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