Before Disney’s new show “Moon Knight” premiered, many fans began to speculate how a relatively kid-friendly studio would handle such a violent and serious character. “Moon Knight” is the first Disney show to introduce a new character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Oscar Isaac will be portraying the dark vigilante. Many fans have no prior knowledge of who Moon Knight is or who the character is. Because of this, “Moon Knight” has its work cut out for it.

“I had honestly never heard of who Moon Knight was, but I’m definitely excited to see where they go with this new character,” said Mathew Boodram, a junior at Cypress Creek High School.

Moon Knight made his first appearance in “Werewolf by Night”, issue 32, in 1975. Because of Moon Knight’s debut date, Moon Knight is a relatively new character compared to other heroes. Moon Knight’s secret identity, Marc Spector, worked as a C.I.A operative and mercenary before becoming Moon Knight. During a mission in Sudan, Spector witnessed fellow mercenary Raoul Bushman murder a man in front of his child.

A battle shortly ensued, which resulted in Spector being left for dead. After this, Marc Spector seemingly died but was revived when he was placed next to a statue of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu. Soon after this, Spector began operating as the “Fist of Khonshu.” In later comics, it was revealed that Spector has Dissociative identity Disorder (DID), which Spector developed during his early childhood and which worsened when he was revived.

DID is a mental health condition that typically occurs with young children who have suffered a traumatic event, and DID allows them to dissociate themselves from reality by allowing their other identity to take over. According to Cleveland Clinic, DID is often defined as split aspects of one’s personality developing until they become their own separate identities to help cope with trauma.

Spector has a total of four identities including Marc Spector/Moon Knight, taxicab driver Jake Lockley, billionaire Steven Grant, and consultant Mr. Knight.

This is where the show appears to differ from the source material. In episode one, titled “The Goldfish Problem,” it is revealed that Steven Grant is not a billionaire but instead works in a museum gift shop.  So far, viewers have only been introduced to the two identities of Spector and Grant. For many fans who had a general idea of who Moon Knight is, the episode might have felt a little unfocused because in the comics, Marc Spector is the host body.

Throughout the episode, Grant struggles to try to live his life while unaware he has another personality within himself. During the episode, Grant wakes up in the middle of a field in an unknown town with armed gunmen chasing him and with a voice in his head telling him to run. The voice tells Grant to give the body back to Marc, which only adds to the confusion Grant felt. While he manages to escape, he sneaks off into a small town square where the show’s main antagonist Arthur Harrow, portrayed by Ethan Hawke, is revered as a priest and authority figure. In “Moon Knight,”,Harrow serves the Egyption goddess Ammit who – according to Harrow – is the goddess of judgment.

During this moment, Grant switches between his personality as Marc Spector and Steven Grant as he is chased by members of Harrow’s cult. After blacking out one final time after the final gunmen are crushed by falling logs, Grant wakes up back in home seemingly having dreamt the whole ordeal. However, Grant begins to suspect it was not a dream as he finds a hidden wall in his apartment where the golden scarab is hidden, along with what appears to be a burner phone. At this point, Spector seemingly appears in a mirror’s reflection and tells Grant to stop looking for things that do not concern him, which leads to Grant panicking and running away.

Once Grant reaches the museum, he attempts to go on about his day in denial as if nothing happened until Harrow appears to attempt to regain the golden scarab. While Grant attempts to run away, Harrow sends an Egyptian jackal to seemingly kill Grant or to retrieve the scarab. As Grant locks himself in the bathroom, Spector appears once more and urges Grant to give him control  in order to save them. Once Spector takes control, the jackal breaks in and attacks Spector, but Spector is able to defeat him.

Needless to say, the “Moon Knight” premiere has set the tone of a more serious and mature superhero show. “Moon Knight” has shown that it is ready to usher in a new genre into the MCU. With Marvel shows now being added to Disney+ rumors of Deadpool joining the MCU in the upcoming Doctor Strange movie, the release of “Moon Knight” was well-timed.

Fans can watch “Moon Knight” on Disney+, and new episodes are released every Wednesday.