In the lead-up toMoon Knight’srelease, one of the biggest draws for the series was the opportunity to see Oscar Isaac play several characters simultaneously. This was something the actor himself highlighted as a celebration of the human mind, to see the psyche of aMarvelsuperhero shattered into pieces, and not just two because the MCU is definitely of the opinion that more is always better.
In this case,Moon Knight’slatest episodehas brought forward a whole new facet to Marc Spector and Steven Grant’s story by apparently introducing another personality. See, while he may be easy to miss due to not being directly referenced by anyone, there are more than a few clues pointing at the lesser-known fragment of the Moon Knight slowly taking over Konshu’s host body, and it looks like this version of Jake Lockley is not pulling any punches.
RELATED:Moon Knight: Arthur Harrow Fits The Typical Marvel Mold
Who is Jake Lockley?
Jake Lockley is mostly the third side toMoon Knightwho sticks to, well, moonlighting. In Marvel Comics, Jake works as a cab driver in order to use said job as a means to gather valuable information on differentunderworld personalities and villains they’re hunting down, given that people often get a little talkative with their drivers. He is the last alter ego to form inside Marc’s head when he’s growing up, and as such, the one with the least amount of control most of the time.
Lockley is not particularly violent, cruel or unlikable, he’s just a different detective figure in the comics, but considering how many changes Marc and Steven received as part of their MCU transition, it’s clear fans shouldn’t be caught off-guard by a shift in personality. This Steven Grant is definitely no playboy billionaire like Bruce Wayne is, instead, he’s a humble and socially awkward gift shop employee; on the other hand, the mercenary skills displayed by Marc Spector do pay respects to the character’s origins as a former marine and CIA operative.
When accounting for his late-bloomer status in the comics, it makes perfect sense to keep Lockley as a hidden ace of sorts, especially for a show that’s eager to useMoon Knight as an unreliable narratorthat boosts the story’s potential. Whereas in other Marvel films certain plot twists can feel cheap, when the main character isn’t really there, it opens up the doors for some pretty sudden shock moments.
So how isMoon Knightteasing Lockley? Well, contrary to first impressions, those times when Steven lost his consciousness and suddenly found themselves waking up in the middle of a bloody mess, the culprit could have been Lockley and not Marc. Despite being a huge deviation from the comics, said choice would ultimately help audiences draw an even bigger and clearer line betweenMoon Knight’spersonalities so that the actions of Lockley remain separated from the other two more relatable heroes.
The MCU’s Jake Lockley
One of the biggest signs that Lockley is indeed in charge of the avatar’s consciousnesses at times, is the scene where they’refighting Arthur Harrow’sgoonson El Cairo’s rooftops. During the scuffle, Steven and Mark have a small argument over who was actually doing all this stabbing and beating up these criminals so brutally and they both deny their involvement but it’s obvious someone is landing these killer blows.
To accentuate this even further, the scene that follows is presented with an abrupt cutoff right when Marc has his blade sticking pretty close to one of the criminal’s necks, and among all places, he suddenly finds himself in a cab where previous directions to the local driver were given in English as he tries to make sense of the entire situation as the sole Arabic-speaking part of Moon Knight.
These are the more obvious waysMoon Knightis hinting at another character pulling the strings at time, but one more subtle clue is delivered when “Marc” meets up with Layla. As the market scene plays out, “Marc” is wearing a Chicago Bears cap, and while the character was supposed to be raised in Chicago, this sartorial choice would go perfectly in hand with Lockley’s signature paper boy hat from the comics.
Couple this with the more dismissive and aggressive attitude that “Marc” shows towards his spouse, and it’s almost as if the director and writers want the audience to think that this is an entirely different character. As a bonus, do keep in mind thatOscar Isaac’s heavily criticized English accentsounds somewhat off at times in this week’s episode, which could be another indicator that Lockley is posing as both Marc and Steven at any given moment.
At this point, it would befairly weird forMoon Knightto actually leave out Jake Lockley as all signs point to the character being the one to blame for the bloodier scenes shown. It really wouldn’t be much of a surprise if, at some point when he finally comes clean to the other two guys, the audience is taken back to all those fight scenes, where Steven suddenly found himself surrounded by a bunch of defeated enemies.
The beauty in all of this is thatIsaac’s performancecan be used to trick those watching into believing something that’s not real, nevertheless, if the tables are turned, it won’t be the product of lazy or uninspired writing but rather just proper payoff to the actor’s multifaceted performance.
MORE:Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Could Make Good Use of Infamous' Karma System
