Is Marvel’s Moon Knight Invincible? How He Survived The Fall
Warning: SPOILERS for Moon Knight episode 1
Oscar Isaac's character survives an incredible fall in Moon Knight episode 1, as the show teases he could be invincible. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is finally using Disney+ to focus on a brand new character, and that means delivering an unexpected introduction to Moon Knight. The episode devotes most of its runtime to the Steven Grant personality instead of Marc Spector, who is the personality that works with Khonshu. This means Moon Knight episode 1 mostly gets by without showing any action scenes with its titular hero, but that doesn't stop it from dropping some significant teases about his power levels.
The MCU has made audiences quite familiar with powerful beings, especially in Phase 4. Scarlet Witch's power increased to new heights in WandaVision as her Chaos Magic was unleashed, while Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings gave Shang-Chi Avengers-level powers with the Ten Rings. Marvel Studios also introduced the all-powerful group of Eternals, which included an exploration of Celestials, who just might be the most powerful beings in the universe. Moon Knight's use of Egyptian gods gives the show some significant power, as teased through Arthur Harrow's connection to Ammit in episode 1. While the series makes sure to keep Moon Knight's actions hidden until the very end, it is through the secrecy that the series might be teasing Marc Spector's immortality.
Despite hiding the real Moon Knight until the end of Moon Knight episode 1, the aftermath of his fights is typically shown once Steven Grant regains control. It is through a few moments of Steven's life that the show appears to tease that Moon Knight is invincible. The quick references might not seem like much on their own, but together they hint at Khonshu's control over Steven/Marc's body and the incredible power they have as a result of being connected to the Egyptian moon god.
One of Moon Knight episode 1's strangest moments comes when Steven Grant regains control of the body after a Marc Spector adventure. He regains consciousness lying on the ground with a dislocated jaw. As he attempts to figure out where he is, Steven soon realizes that there is a big castle behind him. The broken window above and glass on the ground around him indicates that he jumped out the window to get away from Arthur Harrow's gunmen. Moon Knight episode 1 moves past this moment rather quickly as Steven begins running for his life, but it raises a massive question about how he survived falling from the tower - and only had a dislocated jaw and bloody mouth to show for it.
The explanation for Moon Knight surviving this fall is the result of the powers he has from Khonshu. This isn't a focus of the first episode, but Moon Knight's powers and his suit come from the Egyptian moon god. Since Moon Knight episode 1 shies away from showing Marc Spector in control of the body and fully suited up in the Moon Knight costume, that meant not letting audiences see this moment. However, the best explanation is that Marc jumped out of the window while in the full Moon Knight suit, which helped protect him a bit. If the all-white costume didn't do the trick, then Khonshu himself could've helped protect Marc/Steven as he fell out of the tower.
Even after Moon Knight improbably survived the tower fall, viewers could further question his invincibility after watching him snap his jaw back into place. Steven is initially a bit horrified by the state of his jaw, but he doesn't appear to be in too much pain after he moves it back to its rightful position. This could get viewers wondering if Moon Knight's brutality means he is invincible, especially after the tease that tumbling tree trunks crashed into Steven's car while driving down a mountain.
As long as everything presented in Moon Knight episode 1 actually happened and isn't in Steven Grant's head, the show might be teasing that Marc Spector is, in fact, invincible. This could be one way the MCU's Moon Knight is staying true to the comics, as the character does have a certain level of immortality in the source material. Moon Knight's immortality comes from his connection to Khonshu, who has the ability to revive Marc Spector. Khonshu can heal Moon Knight even before he dies, though, which grants him a certain level of invincibility in terms of his opponent not being able to kill him.
Moon Knight episode 1 includes another hint that Marc Spector is immortal, as the show sets up that Moon Knight died before. This comes when Steven Grant begins explaining Egyptian mythology to a girl at the museum. He explains that Egyptians believed that when you died on Earth, there was a chance to live on after passing through the Field of Reeds if the gods reward you for how you lived your life. As Steven is in the middle of this explanation, the girl interrupts him to ask if he was disappointed when the gods rejected him from the Field of Reeds after he died. This causes Steven to become confused as he says he hasn't died before briefly questioning his own mortality.
The tease that Moon Knight died before is likely an early sign of the MCU's origin story for Oscar Isaac's character. In the comics, Marc Spector is a mercenary who nearly dies during a mission in Egypt. It is after being shot by his boss that Spector's body is left to die when Khonshu discovers him. The moon god elects to make Marc Spector his new avatar on Earth, which results in him coming back to life. Moon Knight has died two other times in the comics, but his origin being tied to a near-death experience is likely what the show is referring to here. How this young girl at the museum knows about Steven's past death as Marc is a mystery in and of itself, but it provides some basis early on that Moon Knight is invincible in the MCU thanks to Khonshu. That should be to Marc Spector's benefit as his vigilante ways continue in Moon Knight and beyond.
Moon Knight releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.