Relationship Spotlight: Marc Spector, Layla El-Faouly & Steven Grant (Moon Knight)

*Spoilers.*

For me, Moon Knight is all about characters and relationships. Now, plenty of that happens within the DID system of the protagonist, and I’ve already talked at length about Steven, Marc, and their relationship. But when you add Layla into the mix, the whole thing levels up even further. These three, separately and together, are why I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll get a season 2, or some other continuation of Moon Knight’s story.

Even though Layla is Marc’s wife, we’re actually introduced to her when she’s meeting Steven for the first time. She doesn’t know that Marc has DID—she’s confused by the British accent her husband is “putting on” and is first annoyed, then alarmed, when he insists that he doesn’t know her. Their early scenes together are marked by Layla’s conviction that Marc is working undercover and refusing to drop the act even in front of her. It’s not until they have a dangerous run-in with Harrow and she sees Steven flounder that she realizes she’s dealing with something much deeper than she thought.

Steven, meanwhile, is instantly taken with Layla. They share a love of Egyptian history and antiquities, and they even have the same favorite poet. Much of what’s going on in his life is massively confusing at present—he’s only barely started to grasp the fact that he has DID—and this woman who’s come along calling him Marc and saying that they’re married confuses him too, but rather than being frightened, this is a confusion that Steven will gladly put up with to be around her.

As they get more involved in their mission against Harrow and Layla gains a greater understanding of what’s going on with Marc and Steven, she adjusts really well to this very unexpected turn of events. She and Marc do the undercover/more dangerous stuff, while she urges Marc to let Steven front during the brainy Egyptology-related stuff. It doesn’t take long before she’s treating them like separate people.

An additional complicating factor is that Marc and Layla were estranged at the start of the series. Marc has disappeared on her—unbeknownst to her, he left because he thinks Khonshu wants her for his new avatar and wants to keep him away from her—and when Layla initially comes across Steven, it’s because she has divorce papers for Marc. But Marc never stopped loving her, he just has a really clumsy/kind of paternalistic way of trying to protect her, and so it angers him to see her getting friendly with Steven. At different times when Steven is fronting, Marc warns him not to close too cozy with Layla, and after Layla and Steven share a kiss, Marc manages to take control of their hand so he can sucker-punch Steven.

But for all that Steven is falling for Layla, he’s also kind of advocating for Marc? As the more emotionally-open of the two, he’s able to bridge the communication gap between Marc and Layla. He tells Layla things that Marc has kept from her, and even though Layla is angry at Marc’s “I kept secrets for your own good” attitude, it does give her more insight into his actions and where his head is at.

I get that it’s the MCU and Disney is pretty vanilla, but honestly, the best resolution for me is for Layla to date both of them. They both like her and she likes them, and they have the same body. This seems to be the least messy way to go about it, though there’s no evidence yet on what Jake thinks of Layla, or how she’ll react when she meets him. All of this is just further proof of why we need a season 2.

A Few Thoughts on DID Representation in Moon Knight

*Spoilers.*

Before I get into it, I want to disclaim that I have no lived experience and pretty little knowledge of Dissociative Identity Disorder. Most of what I know came out of my interest in learning more about it before Moon Knight premiered, so I’ve been watching videos from the YouTube channel The Rings System and listening to the podcast System Speak. What I’m saying is purely my opinion of how the show handled this topic, based on my own scant knowledge.

Before Moon Knight came out, I learned just enough to feel apprehensive about how the show would address the main character’s DID, but by the end of the season, I could say I came away with an overall positive opinion of it. First and foremost, the show absolutely treats Marc and Steven as two separate characters. Over the course of the series, we get invested in both of them and their growing relationship with other. Each has a connected but individual relationship with Layla.

When it looks like Steven has been consumed by the sands of the Duat, it’s heartbreaking, for Marc as well as the viewers. Steven isn’t just “a part” of Marc that Marc “no longer needs” after finding “healing.” Steven is his own character, his own person, and Marc risks death himself to go back and save Steven. The season resolves, not by Steven being integrated into/subsumed by Marc, but by the two of them learning to collaborate and work together, switching as needed while the other remains co-conscious.

I appreciate that. Even though there’s some noise in episode 5 about Marc being the “original,” the show never treats Steven like “just the alter.” In fact, the narrative often centers Steven’s perspective and journey, emphasizing that he’s just as valid as Marc is. And while the “original vs. alter” thing is frustrating, it seems rooted in some clear internalized ableism on Marc’s part. While Steven has only just learned that he’s part of a DID system, this is something that Marc has known and been dealing with for years, but while that gives him practical knowledge, it hasn’t really helped him accept himself, or Steven as a part of his life, prior of the events of the series.

When Marc becomes Khonshu’s avatar, he assures the Egyptian god that Steven won’t be “a problem.” He never tells Layla about Steven, and when she asks how she could’ve gone through their whole marriage without knowing, Marc explains that he used to have “a better handle” on things, i.e. on Steven. This suggests that he was “dealing” with his DID by forcing Steven into dormancy, essentially trying to manage his headmate away so he could live as a neurotypical person. Once Layla learns about Steven, however, and it becomes clear that they need his help to stop Harrow, Marc is initially very reluctant to switch in front of Layla. When he needs to let Steven front, he walks away from her or waits for her to step back before switching. He doesn’t dispute Harrow’s statement that he’s “a deeply troubled man,” and when he and Steven perceive the afterlife as an asylum, Marc is quick to take that as evidence that he’s “crazy.”

The fact that they see the afterlife as an asylum, which perplexes Steven, suggests that Marc has had experience in mental health facilities, and probably not good experiences. We’re not really shown anything of what Marc’s mental health journey has been like, but given that his previous M.O. was to push Steven down and try to keep him from presenting, I’d bet that any therapy he’s had wasn’t focused on communicating with his alter and using their connection to start processing his trauma. As such, he has a fairly unhealthy view of himself, Steven, and their disorder. He thinks less of himself for having DID, and he at times tries to control Steven, wanting to limit Steven to his “function” of being the part of their psyche that’s shielded from the trauma and abuse they’ve survived.

None of that is helpful, but it is understandable, especially if Marc has had harmful experiences with therapy in the past. Part of his journey on the show, with Steven’s help, is to start processing some of the shame and guilt he feels over his past, and if we see more of Moon Knight in the future, I feel confident that we’ll see Marc in a better place in that regard.

Now, before I go, what about Jake? The third alter that neither Steven nor Marc know about, we see infrequent evidence of Jake throughout the series and only one clear-cut glimpse, during a post-credits scene. Every clue we’re given of Jake is squarely associated with serious violence: Marc or Steven black out, and when they come to, they’re surrounded by bodies. Any survivors are terrified, either running away or pleading for mercy. The only time we see Jake onscreen is when, at Khonshu’s behest, he shoots Harrow in cold blood, after Steven and Marc decided to let him live.

All of that seems to fit in with reductive “evil alter” tropes, which is definitely troubling. Because Jake only appears in a post-credits teaser, he feels like less of a person than Marc or Steven do. I have no context for anything he’s about, other than killing people. At the same time, though, Jake only seems to push himself to the front when Marc and Steven are in serious danger, and there’s an argument to be made that he’s just doing whatever it takes to protect them. I really hope that, if we get more Moon Knight, Jake proves to be a troubled, complicated guy who’s experienced and done brutal things but who would be capable of channeling his protective instincts differently with the help of his headmates and/or therapy.

Relationship Spotlight: Steven Grant & Marc Spector (Moon Knight)

*Spoilers aplenty.*

Okay, so now that we’ve laid the groundwork discussing the heroes of Moon Knight, it’s high time we start talking about them together. And at the top of the list is absolutely Marc and Steven. These two are so interesting to watch together that I sometimes get distracted from how great other things about the show are because I’m just focused on these two.

Quick note before we get started: while I have some thoughts about Jake that I’ll discuss later, this post is just going to be about Steven and Marc, for the simple reason that they don’t appear to have a relationship with Jake yet. It seems neither of them know about him, and from what little we’ve seen of him, we don’t have much context about his feelings towards either of them.

Steven’s introduction to the Moon Knight activities of his headmate, along with the fact that he even has headmates, is rough. He wakes up in a foreign country with his jaw dislocated, soon finds himself knee-deep in a crowd of cultists, and proceeds to black out several times, continuing to wake up in increasingly-frantic situations. And all the while, he has Khonshu in his head, grumbling that Steven is “an idiot” and ordering him to “surrender the body.”

It’s notable then, that when he officially meets Marc (in the middle of another incredibly-dangerous situation,) Marc is actually really gentle and patient with Steven. There’s a jackal beast trying to bust the door down and the only way for them to survive is for Marc to front and don the Moon Knight suit, so time is decidedly of the essence. But Marc doesn’t insult Steven or yell at him. He explains, as calmly and succinctly as he can, that he can protect them both.

That’s because, between the two of them, Steven’s always been the innocent one, the naïve one. While it seems Marc took their mother’s abuse when they were children, Steven got to have a happy, unfearful childhood. Many of Marc’s actions are to shield Steven, both physically and emotionally, and he doesn’t realize that that’s actually kind of patronizing.

Once Steven starts to learn about Marc, however, he’s not content to go back to ignorance. He wants to be involved. He and Marc jockey over control of the body, with Marc arguing that he has the skills and the temperament to get them through the fight with Harrow and Steven protesting that he doesn’t want Marc using the body to hurt people. They bicker and snipe at each other, and whenever one is in control of the body, he doesn’t relinquish it easily. Even though Layla is an invaluable ally in Egypt, her presence also complicates things between them further, because Steven is immediately taken with Layla and Marc doesn’t want him having anything to do with his ex-wife (shout-out to the moment in episode 4 where Marc takes control of their hand while Steven is fronting and sucker punches them, hee!)

Ultimately, though, they’re clearly better together. Marc is handier in a fight and a better strategist, but Steven’s knowledge of ancient Egypt is critical, as is his knack for solving puzzles. The both learn, albeit with Layla’s urging, that neither of them can accomplish their mission without the other, and they need to take turns with the body as the ever-evolving situation demands.

Their relationship makes its biggest leap forward when they’re shot by Harrow and wind up in the afterlife. Through their perspective, it looks like an asylum, and they’re forced to relive/witness a number of traumatic memories to get through it. I love that both of them have a body in the asylum and that the first thing they do when they find each other is hug. As painful as it is, I understand why Marc doesn’t want Steven to see all the horrors he’s suffered, and it’s beautiful when Steven gently insists to Marc that his little brother’s death wasn’t Marc’s fault. I like how they try to protect each other sailing across the Duat, and when Steven is knocked overboard and taken by the sands, I love that Marc goes back for him, saying, “You’re the only real superpower I ever had.” When they make it back to Earth and the body, they’re so much more at peace with themselves and in-sync with each other. Whereas before, Marc would walk a little apart from Layla before ceding the front to Steven, not wanting her to see, they now switch with abandon, helping each other out and having each other’s back in the final fight.

The overall plot of the show can get a little jumbled at times, but when it comes to the throughline of Marc and Steven’s relationship with each other, the series consistently knocks it right out of the park.

Favorite Characters: Layla El-Faouly (Moon Knight)

*Layla-related spoilers.*

Still on Moon Knight characters, although we’re going outside the main system today. Layla is a new character created for the show, and while there’s a lot of love about her relationships with both Marc and Steven, she’s also just fantastic in her own right.

When Steven discovers a phone hidden in his flat, he’s perplexed when a woman named Layla answers, one who seems to know him but thinks his British accent is fake. When she points out that they’re married, he goes from perplexed to gobsmacked. But of course, Layla is married to Marc, not Steven, and she isn’t even aware of Steven’s existence until the events of the series. When she comes to London looking for Marc and finds Steven instead, she’s in for quite an eye-opener.

That right there is a point in Layla’s favor, that she can learn such a remarkable thing about her husband, without warning, at a time when a ton of shit is going down, and she basically rolls with it and learns as she goes. Granted, at this point, Layla already knows about the Moon Knight suit and Marc being Khonshu’s avatar, so she’s no stranger to the unexpected, but it takes her some time to wrap her head around the fact that her husband is part of a DID system and she never knew about it.

But enough about Steven and Marc. Although I love them, this post is about Layla, who comes all in with these righteous Egyptian Indiana Jones vibes. Her passion is stealing Egyptian antiquities out under from the imperialists and collectors who stole them in the first place, returning artifacts to where they belong. She’s smart, tough, and swashbuckling as hell, and it’s no wonder both Marc and Steven wind up in love with her. When she learns about Marc’s Moon Knight mission to Egypt, her connections and knowhow prove invaluable and she saves Marc and Steven’s ass more than once.

In short, she’s amazing and I love her, but what I especially love about her is that she’s not some kind of superwoman. She makes mistakes, she’s vulnerable, and she’s not perpetually unflappable. When she and Steven get separated in Ammit’s tomb, there’s a fantastic scene where she’s attacked by a mummified sentry. They scuffle at the edge of a steep drop-off and it’s genuinely touch and go, with Layla fighting with all she’s got to stay alive. She finally manages to knock it into the ravine, calling on a last reserve of strength to keep herself from falling in too. Dragging herself back up onto the ledge, she flops onto the ground and just screams, releasing her pent-up terror and adrenaline. I adore that moment so much, that after being such a badass she needs to take a moment to gather herself and vocalize how very not-okay she is.

I also appreciate that, by end of the season, Steven and Marc aren’t the only ones imbued with power by an Egyptian god. In the finale, Layla semi-reluctantly accepts the offer to become Taweret’s avatar, though she’s careful not to sign her freedom away. She enters the climactic fight as the Scarlet Scarab, a fierce heroine whose suit features a wicked pair of burnished wings.

Layla didn’t need to become Taweret’s avatar. She was already crucial to the story without powers, and she held her own just fine. I know that not every Marvel character needs to be “super.” But I do love that Layla gets to be the Scarlet Scarab. When she shields civilians during the fighting and a young Egyptian girl sees her in action, I teared up at the sheer beauty of her strength and power. When, a few seconds later, the girl asks in amazement if Layla is “an Egyptian superhero,” it’s almost unnecessary—the look in the girl’s eyes already told me everything I needed to know about how Layla being a hero matters.