Dream Journal: ‘Moon Knight’ Gives Us a New Lovable Cinnamon Roll to Protect in Steven Grant
Marvel’s Moon Knight is finally here, and in season 1, episode 1, titled “The Goldfish Problem,” we’re introduced to Steven Grant first and foremost. The museum shop worker is mocked throughout most of the episode by his coworkers, by Moon god Khonshu, and by anyone who comes in contact to him despite him seemingly being a genuinely nice person who is just a bit nerdy.
So, while we get a great look into how the show as a whole is going to function with Moon Knight as a character, and between Marc Spector and Steven Grant and their dissociative identity disorder, this first episode also gave us a new favorite character to look after.
**Spoilers for Moon Knight season 1 episode 1 “The Goldfish Problem” lie ahead.**
It seems as if Steven Grant’s life is simple. He wakes up, calls his mom while he’s feeding his one-finned fish, and goes to work at a gift shop in a museum. His boss, Donna, clearly hates him, and even though Steven knows a lot about the exhibit he works for, he’s just constantly put down and told he’s not going to go anywhere.
My favorite moment also shows just how much Steven knows about ancient Egypt and its history. He’s talking to Donna about posters he has to sell and correcting them even though she doesn’t seem to care.
If that wasn’t cute enough, Steven also just wants to go on a date. He thinks he’s getting asked on a date to a steak house (as a vegan), when in reality, he asked his coworker out and he goes on to talk to his one friend (a man in the park who dresses in gold to take pictures with tourists) about it and talks about how he has to figure out his dream situation because bringing a girl home with an ankle harness has to be a huge red flag.
Even when he learns about Khonshu and Marc, he’s still more concerned with his dating prospects and getting a girlfriend than anything else, and it shows how lonely Steven Grant is—further cementing my need to protect him with every fiber of my being.
Steven in contrast to Khonshu
Khonshu makes it clear that he hates Steven. He calls him a worm, mocks him the entire time that Steven is in control of their body, and is furious that he’s not giving the body back to Marc. But Steven’s confusion and gentleness is a great contrast to that of Khonshu’s request of violence from Marc. He might be a “bumbling fool” to those around him, but Steven is genuinely a gentle person and it is, at least to me, why, when Harrow goes to judge Steven using the powers that Ammit gave to him, he sees the conflict there within him.
Steven isn’t perfect, but this first episode shows us the simple things that he wants. He wants a girlfriend, wants to figure out what’s going on with his dreams, and wants to live his life at the museum even if everyone there is incredibly mean to him.
It’s going to be interesting to see how Steven Grant grows as a character throughout the run of Moon Knight. From what I’ve seen of the show, he is a character who is so incredibly smart but alone in his life, and seeing how he grows and understands himself is going to be fascinating.
(image: Marvel Entertainment)
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