The Pivotal Moon Knight Episode 1 Scene That Was Almost Cut
"Moon Knight" has finally premiered on Disney+ on Wednesday, March 30, and it's generating all kinds of talk across the internet. From Oscar Isaac's fake British accent to fans expressing their love for the "Avatar" and "Avatar: The Last Airbender" references, "Moon Knight" is just the latest MCU property to become an instantly buzzy offering from Marvel Studios. The show is winning over critics, too. While it initially received more of a mixed-to-positive response, "Moon Knight" now sits at a solid 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, with many critics praising both the weirdness and Isaac's committed performance as Marc Spector and Steven Grant.
There are many big moments in the first episode of "Moon Knight," which is titled "The Goldfish Problem," and the show took its time in setting up Marc's dissociative identity disorder. It mainly achieved this by having the perspective of the episode be told from one of his alters, Steven Grant, a British gift shop museum worker who finds himself entangled in Marc's battle against Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) as well as the machinations of ancient Egyptian deities. However, there was one pivotal scene in the first episode that almost didn't make the final cut.
Moon Knight director Mohamed Diab fought to keep Steven's failed date scene
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mohamed Diab, who directed the first episode, revealed that he had to fight to keep one particular scene in the finished product involving Steven Grant ordering a steak. The scene comes midway through the episode, where Steven slowly understands that he's lost time and has accidentally missed a date with one of his co-workers. The loss of time is due to his other personality, Marc Spector, gaining control of their body. As he tries to keep it together and process the heartbreaking revelation, a comical moment follows as he tries to order a steak (despite being a vegan) and ends up letting the waitstaff make the decisions over what kind and how it's cooked.
While this scene is played for laughs to a degree, it also illustrates Steven's confusion and sadness as he grapples with what we soon learn is his dissociative identity disorder. Keeping this scene in Episode 1 was deliberate on Diab's part. While speaking to THR, he said that he insisted on the scene's inclusion for the following reason: "To me, it was very important to find something to express that DID is not just blackouts, and then his life is fine and normal. It's such a black comedy kind of moment, but it's the moment that the audience can connect to Steven."
The scene in question is one that really sells the struggles that Steven has been going through. Also, it arguably makes the final confrontation with Harrow in Episode 1 all the more suspenseful because he has been developed so quickly into a character that audiences care about. It's a small scene, but it's almost impossible to imagine the episode without it.