WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Moon Knight Episode 1, “The Goldfish Problem,” now streaming on Disney+.
In the comics, readers follow Marc Spector’s journey as the crimefighting mercenary known as Moon Knight. Things are a little different in Disney+’s Moon Knight by having the audience sympathize with a very different version of one of Marc’s personalities, Steven Grant.
“The Goldfish Problem” establishes right off the bat that Steven is painfully uncool. He hates his job as a museum gift shop employee, where he gets to only dream of being a tour guide, and his co-workers have little to no respect for him. The security guard can’t even remember his name, making Steven think he is a nobody. He believes he has a sleep disorder and chains himself to the bed at night to prevent him from walking around the streets of London, but at least he’s accompanied by a little goldfish. His troubles at night prevent him from having a girlfriend, and he has trouble holding a steady conversation with people.
Steven suffers from classic Steve Rogers and Peter Parker-syndrome. He’s a mild-mannered guy who is just trying to get by in life and would be the last person to think of being an intensely brutal mercenary. It’s unclear how long he and Marc have been fighting for control over his body. It seems as though Marc has been letting Steven live his normal everyday life in the daytime and does his own business at night, but something gets mixed up to where Steven starts uncovering that the truth. But unlike the comics, where Steven is a confident billionaire movie producer, Marc seems to be the one succeeding in life.
A woman at the museum approaches Steven as if the two have been hitting it off for quite some time. In fact, one of Steven’s personalities already asked her out on a date. Even though Steven doesn’t know this woman and is going to a steak restaurant as a vegan, he is ready to start a relationship. Unfortunately, Steven can’t help but see this as an opportunity to make a self-deprecating joke. Talking to a statue, he claims that wearing ankle chains is probably a red flag in a relationship and that one day he’ll have to learn to cope with his sleeping disorder. Nonetheless, Steven shows up to the date… two days late. Marc got a little busy fighting crime and ruined what could’ve been a nice relationship for Steven. A heartbroken Steven lies to his mother that his date went well, throwing away flowers and saving the box of chocolates for himself.
It’s quite a change for Moon Knight to choose Steven as the point-of-view identity in his story, but it works for what the studio is trying to achieve. Marvel has a lot of wiggle room to do whatever it wants with Moon Knight, given he’s pretty fresh to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While it would have been a different experience to watch Marc’s story from the get-go, Steven holds the relatability factor for the audience. He represents anyone who finds themselves in imminent danger that they’re not equipped to handle. The panic and confusion adds to the mystery of Steven’s situation and builds a level of suspense that will settle in later episodes.
Though a nasally accent and falling asleep on strangers isn’t the best first impression of the alter ego Moon Knight, it’s a solid introduction to Steven and his story. The conversation with Marc at the end of the episode is arguably the stand-out scene of the episode, having the polar opposites converse with each other while a giant mythical dog is ready to pounce on Steven. Even if the Egyptian god Khonshu claims Steven is the “idiot” of the personalities, Steven is by far the more likable and appropriate personality to start off the show.
To see Steven awkwardly fumble through his adventures, watch new episodes of Moon Knight every Wednesday on Disney+.
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