‘Moon Knight: The Complete First Season, Collector’s Edition’ 4K Ultra HD review

One of my favorite comic book characters from the 1970s, primarily due to a cool costume and a mythos slathered in Egyptian mysticism, was granted access to the Marvel Cinematic Universe last year in an inaugural season on the Disney Plus streaming service.

The six-episode series Moon Knight: The Complete First Season, Collector’s Edition (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, rated TV-14, 288 minutes, 2.39:1 aspect ratio, $54.99) arrives in an ultra-high definition disc format packaged in a metallic case to present a very adapted origin story about sad sack museum gift shop employee Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac), a man afflicted with dissociative identity disorder.

After struggling through a series of blackouts with flashes of another life, Grant realizes he has multiple personalities tied at first to mercenary Marc Spector, and both are empowered as avatars to the Egyptian moon god Khonshu.

Conflict occurs when Khonshu wants his avatars to stop a previous avatar, cult leader Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), from acquiring a mechanical scarab that will reveal the tomb of Egyptian goddess Ammit.

Mr. Harrow plans to resurrect the female god and purge the planet of evil by killing anyone who has committed crimes against humanity or will in the future.

With not only a head-spinning spiral into a satisfying conclusion that also introduces the Scarlet Scarab (May Calamawy), the series mainly highlights a complex and very entertaining performance by Mr. Isaac, eventually bringing three separate characters to the screen, all with distinct accents and personalities.

And, as I hoped, viewers get some extreme action scenes and get to appreciate the great-looking Moon Knight costumes — which include the three-piece-suited Mr. Knight, each outfit authentic (and even improved upon) to the comics — as well as a serious dose of Egyptian mythology.

4K in action: The high dynamic tweaks and 4K clarity really bring the show to life focusing on moments such as Khonshu and Mr. Knight looking at a rotating star field while drenched in a purple glow; a visually stunning trip through the Egyptian Underworld with the hippopotamus-headed Egyptian goddess Taweret aboard a boat traveling through an ocean of sand; or a golden field of reeds shimmering from the screen.

Details to examine include the textures on the Moon Knight costume with golden crescent moon blades embedded in his chest and hieroglyphs up and down his thigh sheaths; or Harrow sucking the translucent purplish souls from evil humans; and the battle between a kaiju-sized falcon-skull-headed Khonshu and crocodile-headed Ammit.

Best extras: Disney assembles quite the potent package for fans, starting with recycling the hourlong documentary that appeared on its channel that covers the full production of the series.

Highlights include segments of a roundtable featuring directors Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson and team leader Mohamed Diab and plenty of examples of Moon Knight sequential art released over the years showcasing the talents of Steve McNiven, Don Perlin, Bill Sienkiewicz, Pasqual Ferry, Frank Miller and Gil Kane, to name a few.

Next, viewers get a paltry six minutes on the real Egyptian mythology from the series as discussed with historian and series consultant Egyptologist Ramy Romany.

Now let’s savor the packaging with a striking SteelBook design featuring a front cover of Moon Knight wearing his mask, a flowing cape and white wrappings; his alter version in a three-piece suit standing in front of him; and gold Egyptian hieroglyphs on either side.

The back features Khonshu with a falcon skull in flowing body wrap and holding his staff with more hieroglyphs along the side.

The interior case’s right side has Khonshu and the suited Moon Knight outside and raising their hands to the sky above.

Finally, the package also contains three illustrated, postcard-sized pieces of art highlighting Ammit fighting Khonshu; Moon Knight looking like the Dark Knight with the moon behind him; and the winged hero the Scarlet Scarab (with a definite Hawkwoman vibe).