Marvel Studios
“This guy’s story is definitely not done.”
'Moon Knight' writer: Season 2 is an "open book" for new characters
Two major characters made their debuts in the finale of Marvel's 'Moon Knight' on Disney+. What's in store for them should the show return for a second season?
by Eric FranciscoAs is the case for all stories set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the story of Moon Knight isn’t over. Spoilers for Moon Knight Season 1 ahead.
At the end of Moon Knight’s first season on Disney+, Marc Spector and his alternate personality, Steven Grant (both played by Oscar Isaac), learn how to live with each other in Steven’s dumpy — though enviably spacious — London apartment. Meanwhile, Marc’s ex-wife Layla El-Faouly (May Calamawy) has become an avatar herself for the Egyptian goddess Taweret, with potentially huge consequences.
But little do Steven and Marc know, there’s another who lives inside them. And that personality is still serving as the avatar of Khonshu, dispatching the god’s vengeance on Earth.
In an interview with Inverse, series head writer Jeremy Slater unpacks the two biggest surprises of the Moon Knight finale as they relate to what’s to come in a possible Season 2.
Meet the Scarlet Scarab
In the finale of Moon Knight, Layla (May Calamawy) became the avatar of another Egyptian god, adopting the name “Scarlet Scarab.”
In the finale of Moon Knight Season 1, Layla becomes the avatar for Tawaret and gains superpowers. Not only that, but she is the first Egyptian superhero in the MCU.
After the season finale began streaming on Disney+, Marvel.com officially confirmed Layla's superhero name is Scarlet Scarab, a name lifted from another Egyptian superhero who made their debut in 1977 in issue #23 of The Invaders.
It’s rare for the MCU to introduce a new superhero and let them vanish without a trace. So will Layla ever return to our screens soon as Scarlet Scarab?
“She always started as a sort of Marion Ravenwood counterpoint to our Indiana Jones lead.”
Moon Knight series head writer Jeremy Slater says it’s not necessarily his decision. “All those things are up to [Marvel Studios president] Kevin [Feige], ultimately,” Slater tells Inverse. He adds that he hopes it’s sooner than later “because she’s awesome.”
“She always started as a sort of Marion Ravenwood counterpoint to our Indiana Jones lead,” Slater explains, referencing the iconic Indiana Jones franchise and Harrison Ford’s romantic interest, played by Karen Allen.
“But once we got the idea of giving her powers and making her the sort of first Egyptian superhero in the MCU by the end of it, we got the idea from our creative executive Nick Pepin to tie it into the Scarlet Scarab. All the pieces lined up in a really fun way. [Calamawy] came to me as an incredible actor, and she brought her to life. I can't wait to see more,” Slater says.
Scarlet Scarab is part of a new era for the MCU, in which other countries will soon see the rise of their own superheroes. But will Scarlet Scarab appear again in the future of? And if so, when?
One of the most incredible moments for representation in Moon Knight was when a young girl saved by Scarlet Scarab asks, “Are you an Egyptian superhero?” Slater says he wrote the line, sharing that it was important to the show’s diverse team of writers and directors, including lead director Mohamed Diab.
“When Mohamed Diab and his wife came on board, they pushed for even more Egyptian inclusion and representation,” he says. “I don’t want to take credit for anything because it was very much a collaborative effort on everyone’s part to expand the MCU. Like, let’s start giving countries their own heroes and their own legends, and different places to go in the future and spin off.”
Meet Jake Lockley
In the credits scene of Moon Knight, a third personality makes himself known: Jake Lockley (Oscar Isaac), a more brutal and even darker ego than either Marc Spector or Steven Grant. Who is Jake, really?
“Why would I ever need anybody else, when he has no idea how troubled he truly is?” With a tap on the window with his gloved fingers, a sharp-dressed Khonshu reveals his most faithful avatar to a doomed Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke).
His name is Jake Lockley, a Spanish-speaking driver who is all-too comfortable with dishing out violent acts. The series hinted at Jake several times, notably in several scenes where Marc and Steven black out, and neither recall laying out the dead bodies surrounding them.
“Is he good? Is he evil?”
As we’ve mentioned before, Jake Lockley is the third personality of Moon Knight. In the comics, Marc donned the cover identity of Jake Lockley as a New York taxi driver when his investigations led him to the seedier parts of society. But now, in the MCU, Jake is a buried third personality who is fully capable of murder and all too loyal to Khonshu.
Moon Knight series writer Jeremy Slater confirms, like Marc Spector and Steven Grant, Jake Lockley has undergone a bit of a character transformation from the comics to the MCU.
“He’s definitely not the same Jake from the comics,” Slater tells Inverse.
In the original Moon Knight comics, Moon Knight’s personalities were anchored by Marc Spector, his true identity, and two other alter egos that were simply cover stories for Marc’s investigations. Years later, they were reinterpreted as evidence of Moon Knight’s dissociative identity disorder.
Slater adds that Jake Lockley is still an “open book,” despite the show's hints at his darkness.
“Marc and Steven are still totally unaware of his existence,” Slater says. “We don’t necessarily know, is he good? Is he evil? We know he’s working for Khonshu. We know he has some sort of arrangement. And we know he is definitely more on board with Khonshu’s worldview in terms of punishing evildoers.”
Moon Knight has not been renewed for Season 2 as of this writing, and Slater doesn’t quite confirm if he’s committed to working on a second season. But he does think there is plenty left to tell of Moon Knight’s story.
“Everything is in service of the greater good. But is he going to be a friend? Is he an enemy? I think all those are really exciting questions for whoever takes up the reins. Whoever gets to tell the next Moon Knight story, whether that’s me or someone else, that is an exciting promise,” Slater says. “This guy’s story is definitely not done.”
Moon Knight Season 1 is streaming now on Disney+.
