Moon Knight Episode 6 Finale Review: Gods and Monsters

This review contains Moon Knight spoilers

It’s strange to be a Moon Knight fan watching Marvel’s Moon Knight. At several points throughout this series, there have been moments where I wished I wasn’t already aware of the potential twists and turns ahead. I went into this knowing that Marc Spector had DID, that he was the avatar of Khonshu, that he was at least partially responsible for the death of Abdullah El-Faouly, that he could wake up in a psychiatric hospital and have to come to terms with what “reality” really means, and that he would likely be hiding a much murkier third identity inside him: Jake Lockley. It’s all in the Moon Knight comics.

I thought, as someone tasked with reviewing these episodes, it would actually have paid dividends to be completely ignorant of Marc Spector’s story. After all, wouldn’t that have made the show more exciting? Weirder? Wilder? I occasionally glanced at the comments, and seeing that others weren’t as underwhelmed by the first four episodes, longed to be as thrilled by Moon Knight as they were. Mostly, I was just still surprised and delighted that ol’ Moonie-K had gotten his own show, considering how complex the character is.

Eventually, I had to come to terms with the fact that this series wouldn’t really be able to tell me a completely new tale full of mystery, only one that had been reimagined for the MCU to introduce the concept of Moon Knight to a swathe of intrigued Marvel fans. Which is how it should be! I was never precious about Moon Knight, I just wished I knew less about him.

Consequently, the parts that were new or reimagined here were the ones that interested me the most. A fresh take on Arthur Harrow. Layla El-Faouly as an unrecognizable version of Marlene Alraune. A revised Marc Spector backstory. Steven Grant’s baffling Englishness, and his relationship with Marc. Ammit as an MCU villain. Having had more of my focus drawn toward those aspects, Moon Knight delivered a solid finale full of unexpected sights in “Gods and Monsters”.

Did I head into the sixth episode expecting to see a full-on kaiju fight between Ammit and Khonshu? Nope. Did I expect to see Layla become the avatar of Taweret? Nope. Did I expect to see Harrow be the one confined to a psychiatric hospital in the post-credits scene? Nope. Did I expect to see the uber-violent Jake revealed to be in cahoots with Khonshu the entire time? Nope. Did I expect to see the Moon Knight limo, complete with its personalized SPKTR number plate? Uhhh, definitely not. But I was happy and surprised to see all of these things!

Moon Knight as a whole certainly had its issues. It was tonally inconsistent, the CG was largely dubious at best, and it tried to cram way too much story into six episodes. It was a hot mess, but at least it gave us something genuinely interesting to feast on every week, and this finale contained some wonderful scenes. Seeing Khonshu and Ammit go head-to-head was a joy, and I definitely cheered a little when Layla rejected Khonshu. Layla’s Taweret costume was pretty cool, too. I got some pretty heavy Wonder Woman 1984 vibes from her bulletproof golden wings, but I’ll allow it.

With Marc and Steven now imagining they are “free” of Khonshu, what does the future hold for Moon Knight? Well, he could stay as hidden as he has throughout the first three phases of the MCU, dishing out vengeance in the guise of Jake Lockley as Khonshu’s avatar, but I would like to see what happens when Marc and Steven realize they’re missing that time, and what it means for them to discover that Jake is a part of them now. I liked that the final moments of the series doubled down on how dangerous Marc Spector truly is; it didn’t let us move on without confirming how much of a wild card the character continues to be.

As far as we know, there’s no Season 2 of Moon Knight in the works at Marvel Studios, but with a new Blade and a Werewolf By Night special on the way (rumored to introduce Elsa Bloodstone to the MCU), a Daredevil reboot reportedly being cooked up for Disney+, Doctor Strange delving into the Multiverse of Madness, Agatha Harkness getting her own spinoff, and Dane Whitman’s Black Knight about to grasp the Ebony Blade, I’d say there’s definitely room for Moon Knight to return to the screen in this darker Phase 4.

Those unique horrors that Marvel Comics have to offer are only just beginning to unfold.