‘Moon Knight’ Episode 5 REVIEW: The Heartbreaking Truth of Marvel’s Most Interesting Character

by Josh Ramos · April 27, 2022

For an episode that basically starts with a giant talking hippopotamus, Moon Knight Episode 5 is the series’ most heartbreaking entry and explores the truth behind the series’ eponymous character.

There is no understating the reality that Moon Knight Episode 5 is among the most tragic tales that Marvel has ever told throughout its decade-plus history.

Source: Marvel Studios

In a series that begins with the Taweret and the characters seeming imprisonment in this white-clad mental institution, what viewers find at every corner of this installment is answers.

Combining Egyptian mythology with the pursuit of truth, the fifth episode takes the audience into the mind of Marc Spector and Steven Grant; and brings forth the horrors of the character that were so well hidden until now.

Source: Marvel Studios

We wrote on our belief that the most tragic realities of Moon Knight were still to come in the series’ final two episodes, and we ended up being proven right, as the story of Marc Spector that is explored in this entry is as tragic as any Marvel character yet.

Exploring the reasoning for Steven- or Marc’s- existence, and touching on the childhood that preceded the character’s current state, the series doesn’t pull punches in truly exploring the trauma that ensued during his younger life.

Source: Marvel Studios

What has become a trend in the series, the backstory for Marc Spector takes some liberties with the source material, but it feels like every change was necessary; crafting a character that perhaps feels more real and nuanced than the one that exists on the pages of many Moon Knight comics.

What cannot be mentioned enough is the completely heartbreaking performance of Oscar Isaac; a performance that truly feels like it stands among some of the best of this year.

Source: Marvel Studios

Isaac’s portrayal of Marc Spector and Steven Grant is easily the greatest acting job of any Marvel film or series, but it begins to rival anything that the veteran performer has done in his vast career.

Moon Knight’s episode 5 sets up an action-packed series finale but also presents a character so unique to the MCU, that he may stand alone as one of the greatest creations in the studio’s history.