‘Moon Knight’ Episode 1 Contains an Oscar Isaac Easter Egg
Although Moon Knight seems like it could be a standalone Marvel series, it still very much takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So there are bound to be plenty of MCU Easter eggs throughout Moon Knight. Unfortunately, the first episode didn’t contain any, but the hour featured a nod to its star, Oscar Isaac.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from Moon Knight Episode 1, “The Goldfish Problem.”]
A recap of the ‘Moon Knight’ series premiere
Oscar Isaac plays multiple characters in Moon Knight due to the titular superhero’s dissociative identity disorder. But the series starts with him as Steven Grant, an introverted museum gift shop worker. Oblivious to the other personalities living inside his head, Steven has sleep problems. He constantly blacks out and forgets things he did, like asking out his coworker.
The audience quickly learns that his sleep problems are thanks to Marc Spector, one of his identities. Marc is a mercenary who is a conduit for the Egyptian moon god, Khonshu. And one day, Steven wakes up in a field with no memory of how he got there. He hears Khonshu in his head complaining that Steven is in control, and the god tells Steven to give power back to Marc.
After being chased by guards with guns, Steven runs into a cult led by Arthur Harrow. Arthur has a special connection to the goddess Ammit, who judges the goodness of humans. Arthur demands that Steven give him a scarab that he somehow has in his possession. Steven continues to blackout as Marc takes control and fights off the guards.
Steven later wakes up in his room, believing that he was dreaming. However, two days have passed without his knowledge. And Steven finds a ringing cell phone hidden in his apartment. He picks it up, and a woman, Layla, is on the other end trying to get in contact with Marc.
The following day, Arthur tracks down Steven at the museum and sends a monster after him for stealing the scarab. Thankfully, Steven relinquishes control of his body to Marc, who turns into Moon Knight and kills the monster.
The ‘Moon Knight’ series premiere features an easy-to-miss Easter egg
While many fans were likely on the lookout for MCU Easter eggs in Moon Knight Episode 1, some may have missed a nod to Oscar Isaac’s past filmography.
When Arthur confronts Steven at the museum, he tells him, “Consider this, had Ammit been free, she would have prevented Hitler and the destruction he wrought. Nero, the Armenian genocide, Pol Pot.” And Steven responds, “Not nice people.”
Oscar Isaac starred in the film The Promise in 2016, which took place during the Armenian genocide. So Arthur’s comments in Moon Knight Episode 1 could have been an Easter egg that alluded to Isaac’s previous film.
What other Easter eggs are in ‘Moon Knight’ Episode 1?
Unfortunately, there weren’t many Marvel Easter eggs in the Moon Knight premiere. But there was a big one that eagle-eyed viewers managed to catch. Steven scrolled through the missed calls on the cell phone that he found in his apartment in one scene. Most of them are from a woman named Layla, but one is from DuChamp.
“DuChamp” likely refers to Jean-Paul DuChamp, or “Frenchie,” as Marc liked to call him. Frenchie is often associated with Moon Knight in Marvel comics as his sidekick. It’s unclear whether or not Frenchie will appear in Moon Knight or if his name on the cell phone was just a fun Easter egg. Thankfully, there are still five episodes left in the series, so anything is possible. And there is plenty of time for more MCU Easter eggs.
“Moon Knight is very much in the MCU,” executive producer Grant Curtis told Inverse. “The observant viewer is going to hear and see those Easter eggs we drop that do explain that and confirm that.”
Moon Knight airs Wednesdays on Disney+.
