The following contains spoilers for Moon Knight Episode 5, "Asylum," now streaming on Disney+.
Moon Knight's fifth episode "Asylum" finally focuses on Marc Spector. In doing so, the series finally lets viewers in on Marc's childhood trauma, which might sound familiar. It's a much more refined version of Christopher Smith's tragic backstory from the hit HBO Max series Peacemaker.
At first glance, it's exhausting for Moon Knight to take on the trend of superheroes developing their sense of self after a traumatic event in their childhood. Almost every hero is defined by a moment as a young child that informs their own origin story. But with dozens upon dozens of superhero films and television shows being thrown into the universe, the formulaic pattern is practically a requirement. Yes, it's unoriginal and worthy of a good old-fashioned eye-roll, but it's not going away anytime soon.
With a show like Moon Knight, which is desperately trying to be the needle in a haystack of superhero programming, it's odd to change Marc Spector's original childhood story into a much more traumatic variant of Peacemaker's. Peacemaker detailed Chris's brother dying from a seizure after their father forced them to fight one another. Their father blamed Chris up until adulthood, leaving an emotional scar that Chris felt only could be healed if he endlessly tried to please his father.
In Moon Knight Episode 5, "Asylum," Steven finally learns of Marc's childhood trauma that he's been suppressing for so many years. As children, Marc took his brother to a cave that would unknowingly be flooded by a storm, and his brother died. While it was a devastating event that Marc never forgave himself for, it wasn't the event that developed his Dissociative Identity Disorder. Rather, the tragedy was the root of the emotional and physical abuse he suffered from his mother, who blamed him for the death.
Marc's fear of his mother led him to create Steven as an escapism from the abuse, which Steven angrily refers to as being Marc's "stress ball." Steven was all the things that Marc wanted to be -- brave and free-spirited like the Indiana Jones-esque explorer he admired as a child. Steven also adopted his brother's catchphrase "Later gators" (which was once believed to be hinting at a mythological secret), and it's now a heartbreaking detail rather than an adorable personality quirk.
It's unfair to compare the trauma both men suffered as children, and both shows handle the matter in a sensitive manner that can only be praised for its emotional depth. However, Moon Knight's backstory is subtly defined by the subject of mental illness and loneliness. Whereas Peacemaker eventually had his team to express his guilt to, Marc hid the truth from Steven for many years and there's still an underlying tone of loneliness when Steven uncovers the truth.
Marc's father tried to comfort rather than antagonize him, but that was meaningless when he knew the abuse Marc suffered through and didn't do anything to stop it. Marc's feeling of isolation in his own home is what created Steven, who was blissfully unaware of the tragedy he was living in. Finally, when Marc grew of age, he left his home to serve in the military -- even though his father begged him to stay.
Despite the tonal issues Moon Knight has had throughout its first four episodes, "Asylum" proves that the show succeeds when giving Oscar Isaac the reins of the storytelling. While John Cena did well with the emotional package he was given, Isaac is the reason Moon Knight's backstory is stronger than Peacemaker's. Marc's resistance to bear his emotions throughout this episode, contrasted against Steven's innocent curiosity, explicitly presents the duality of the title character. "Asylum" finally allows a stoic Marc to finally break down his walls and let his inner child grieve the suffering he endured, and it's an outstanding piece of character development.
New episodes of Moon Knight release every Wednesday on Disney+.