“Laters, ‘gators.” With the final two words of his first scene in Moon Knight – Marvel Studios’ new Disney+ streaming series – Oscar Isaac confirmed that casting him as the MCU’s latest hero was a piece of pure genius. While Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark was an instant hit right from the first Iron Man, it wasn’t until that film’s final mic-drop moment (“I am Iron Man”) that he clinched his place in cinema history. But here, Isaac managed a similar feat in a matter of minutes – not with a grandstanding declaration, or some kind of epic monologue, but with an adorably daffy phrase so distinctly un-Oscar Isaac that hearing it escape his lips felt both entirely odd and utterly captivating. Goodbye Duke Leto, stoic leader of House Atreides. Hello Steven Grant, shambling, sleep-deprived, gift shop employee.
Right from the very first Moon Knight trailer, there was scepticism around Isaac’s choice to give one of the title character’s many personalities – Grant, or, Marc Spector, has Dissociative Identity Disorder, aka DID – a softly-spoken Landan accent. “I can’t tell the difference between moi wakin’ loif, an’ dweems,” he admitted in said trailer – a phrase that instantly drew chuckles not only from the internet at large, but also the Empire team (yes, we’ve all been talking in this voice for weeks now), and even Isaac himself, who poked fun at it in a trailer reaction video. Perhaps the actor knew that the best thing to do would be to laugh along – because soon, he’d be laughing at us when we’d become obsessed with Steven Grant’s every utterance. It might have seemed like the wildest choice in Phase 4 so far (even more ambitious than opening up the multiverse, crossing the streams with non-MCU movies, or trying to make Clint Barton a fun character to spend six hours with; all successes so far), but already it couldn’t be clearer: Steven Grant, disarming accent and all, is an instant MCU winner.
Sure, the jackal-dog chase sequence features some impressive CGI, but Oscar Isaac’s performance is the real special effect here.
For one, Grant is a personality unlike any other in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – he’s generally a normal guy, an unassuming Egyptian history nerd who legs it for the bus, doesn’t know anything about steak, and talks to his pet goldfish (calling Gus his “little one-finned wonder” earns an instant ‘aww’). By necessity, even the most fallible superheroes tend to still be ultra-capable – it’s basically their whole deal, whether they’re Norse gods, African warrior kings, or genius billionaire playboy philanthropists. Steven Grant, bless him, has none of these qualities. He’s a shy, slightly pathetic, but utterly loveable loner who talks to living statues, suffers the disdain of museum boss Donna, and calls the security guy “bruv”. He’s not a capable guy at all – he just happens to share a body with someone else who is. And since this first episode situates us with Grant more or less the whole way, he proves a charming, affable, and entirely surprising way into this story.
So much of what works about Grant is in the way Isaac plays him. It is a brilliant performance – especially since Grant’s whole persona is entirely incongruous with Isaac’s general image. You’d struggle to find a more polar opposite to the dashing, square-jawed Poe Dameron than this guy. We’ve known for years now that Isaac has incredible range – whether he’s drowning in self-loathing as Llewyn Davis or radiating creepy tech-dude vibes in Ex Machina. But there’s range, and then there’s being an all-out A-list Hollywood actor who can somehow transform into a person you wouldn’t look twice at on the Tube, or who says things like “Someone’s ‘avin a larf”, and who feeds chocolate sprinkles to his goldfish. The voice (Isaac’s own idea, he told Empire) is only the half of it – it’s also the way he hunches his shoulders in, that ambling walk he does. Even the shape of his face seems to change. Sure, the jackal-dog chase sequence features some impressive CGI, but Isaac’s performance is the real special effect here.
Even just in this first episode of Moon Knight, Steven Grant feels like the MVP of the show – spending time with him is a blast. In every scene, you’re desperate to hear what unexpected thing he’ll say next. (“I’m not a mercenary, I’m a gift shop-ist!”) And there’s real pathos to him too. As chucklesome as it is to see him order “the best bit” of a steak on a date gone disastrously wrong, his dejection in that sequence is heartbreaking too – Isaac totally sells the distress and disorientation of Grant’s life, losing days, hearing voices, left in total confusion, and unable to unburden it on anyone except a guy slathered in gold paint. Across 45 minutes, the show endears you to this sweet, simple guy, before plunging him into dizzying action sequences and making your heart break for him. Mission accomplished. Steven ‘Stevie’ Grant is the Marvel hero we didn’t know we wanted, and probably still don’t deserve; our normcore king. We already can’t wait to catch up with him in Episode 2. Or, as he’d say: “See you on the flip-flop.”
Moon Knight is streaming now on Disney+. Listen to the Empire Spoiler Special Podcast team break down each episode weekly – head here for more information.