Last Wednesday, Marvel Studios released the first episode of the new Disney+ series “Moon Knight.” The series follows Steven Grant, a museum gift shop clerk with strange night time habits and an affinity for Egyptian history. Grant thinks of himself as a chronic sleepwalker, constantly waking up in random places with no memory of how he got there. The reality, however, is that Steven has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), sharing his body with a mercenary and a mysterious Egyptian specter.

The highlight of Moon Knight’s first episode is Steven Grant, expertly played by Oscar Isaac. With limited supporting characters, the audience’s main focus is on Steven. Isaac plays him expertly. Steven is just an ordinary guy– awkward, endearing, and quirky– who finds himself in a bizarre supernatural and psychological situation.

The series also shines a light on mental illness in the MCU. Since 2021’s “Wandavisio,” Marvel has made an important effort to explore the mental health of its heroes. Steven Grant suffers from DID (often called Multiple Personality Disorder). The quality of Marvel’s representation has yet to be seen, but a protagonist with DID is groundbreaking on its own. DID has often been demonized in media, with films like “Split” reinforcing harmful stereotypes about the disorder. Oscar Isaac himself also confirmed that Steven Grant is on the autism spectrum, making him the first canonically autistic character in the MCU.

The series also explores Egyptian culture and mythology. Screenwriter Mohamed Diab says,”As an Egyptian, we always see us depicted or the Middle East depicted in a way that is—we call it orientalism, when you see us as exotic and dehumanized…” The MCU has explored mythology before, most notably Norse, but with several inconsistencies. With an Egyptian screenwriter on the team, I have high hopes for how “Moon Knight” will depict both ancient and present-day Egyptian culture.

I would give “Moon Knight” episode one four out of five stars. I recommend this series to fans of the MCU, or any mythology buffs out there. I am excited to see what Marvel does with this character and his fascinating lore!