The following contains spoilers for Marvel’sMoon Knight.Marvel’s latest Disney Plus series,Moon Knight, concludes its first seasonwith six episodes. While the season finale gives a satisfying conclusion to its big conflict, it does leave plenty of story threads open for the future. Fans are likely going to be wanting a second season, or at the very least, to see the characters again in another capacity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to satisfy those loose threads.
One character in particular that the audience is going to want to see more of is May Calamawy’s Layla El-Faouly. Created for the series, but inspired by Marc Spector’s comic book love interest Marlene Alraune, Layla becomes a big part of the Disney Plus show. It’s not incorrect to call her an equal protagonist in the events of the series to Steven Grant and Marc Spector. Unfortunately, the season finale forgot to give Layla a satisfying conclusion.
RELATED:Moon Knight Episode 5 Easter Eggs
Moon Knight Builds Layla Up For 5 Episodes
The audience might not actually meet Layla in theseries premiere ofMoon Knight,but her existence is teased in a pretty great way in that episode. Her name appears over and over again in the call log of a secret phone in Steven Grant’s apartment, intriguing the audience right off the bat before she makes her appearance in Episode 2.
From there, Layla appears as a confident and capable counterpart to Marc Spector. She’s there to help Steven through what he believes is him going mad, and she acceptshis expertise in Egyptian historydespite Marc not wanting them to even know one another. Layla proves herself just as capable in the field as both Marc and Steven very quickly, repeatedly saving their lives, holding her own against Arthur Harrow’s people, and having enough Egyptian knowledge to understand how difficult the search for Ammit’s tomb is going to be.
Layla’s family history is parsed out over the course of five episodes. As the audience learns about Layla and her father’s relationship, as well as her relationship with Marc, the story never shelves her as solely a love interest. She’s an equal partner in the quest to save the world, and even willingly takes over the quest when she believes Marc is dead. Layla is fully committed. It’s a shame then, that the season finale really drops the ball with her.
Moon Knight Episode 6 Lets The Audience Down
In “Gods and Monsters,” all of the teasesabout Layla being her father’s “little scarab”pay off as she becomes a superhero herself. She agrees to be Tawaret’s temporary avatar in order to have more power in the fight against Ammit, and with that agreement, she gains a superhero costume with a scarab on her chest to match Tawaret’s own fashion. While this is a great way to rewrite the classic Scarlet Scarab Egyptian hero from Marvel Comics, it’s also incredibly short-lived.
Layla is a commanding presence in the fightagainst Arthur Harrow and Ammit, learning how to use her abilities incredibly quickly, saving people’s lives, and literally flying into battle. When the battle is done, however, the audience sees nothing of her. The audience is taken right back to Steven’s flat in London to see that Marc and Steven are living together in - if not perfect, then something close to it - harmony. A third alter is revealed in Jake Lockley, but Layla doesn’t even warrant a mention?
It’s certainly a let-down for the audience and leaves what’s next for Layla a mystery. There’s no indication of whether she and Marc reconciled their differences, whether she decided to stay in Egypt, or whether she and Tawaret maintain contact. Nothing at all.
Will The Audience See Layla Again
Considering what a hard time theMCU has had with its female characters in the past, Layla is a character that can give the audience hope for the future despite the season finale letting them down. IfMoon Knightgets a second season, her story will certainly have to be addressed. Even if it doesn’t, her story should be addressed in the larger MCU.
There are no other Egyptian superheroes in the MCU, and Layla being the first is even addressed in the series by the young girl that she saves. Though Layla makes a point that she doesn’t want to be enslaved to a deity as their avatar, it’s also clear that Tawaret is someone who will never take away Layla’s choice in the matter.She’s not like Khonshu, who manipulates his avatars into doing what he wants.
Exploring a partnership between Layla and Tawaret is a must for the MCU as there relationship would be vastly different than anything the audience has seen so far. Let’s hope the MCU has every intention of doing that in the future.
