DC’s Doom Patrol show also has a superhero with multiple personalities, and each personality has a different superpower.
I guess for me as a view, as long as they stay within a certain range of “oh this is part of the superpower schtick” then I’m OK with touching on themes of mental conditions, etc. I even think “laughing at the human condition” type mockery is OK, up to a point. There’s a line there so we’ll see how Moon Knight handles these issues.
I’m curious as to what people think of the portrayal of Jane in Doom Patrol.
Marvel’s sort of claim to fame is taking everyday reality such as a personality disorder (alcoholism, family dysfunction, teen responsibility, etc.) and portraying it through the lens of a superhero comic. They’ve always done a pretty good job of that, which is why they’re so successful.
Probably best to wait a few episodes before being too concerned.
Also I don’t think it is the disorder that gives rise to the superpowers. What I gathered from watching is there is some form of supernatural/ ancient power fight, and Steven has been granted powers by that, and it is those powers giving rise to the personality disorder.
Also worth pointing out that his personality disorder is not really good for his personal life. See the missed date with the woman he was clearly interested in, but couldn’t remember to have arranged a date with, and then missed the date. Also his fear of falling asleep, and the extreme lengths he goes to in order to avoid it. The personality disorder seems more like a curse than anything else.
Not to mention that his superpowers are supernatural in nature and not driven by his mental disorder. If he did not have these issues before his run in with an ancient Egyptian god, then they are most likely caused by having your mind and body invaded by a being of incredible power. So I dont see his personalities as superpowers as much as I seem them as the result of a very fractured mind desperately trying to protect itself.
I don’t think he even really has superpowers in the comics. Like, is a very proficient fighter, yes, and wealthy, but actual superhuman stuff not so much. No idea whether that will be the case in the MCU.
Unless I’m completely wrong, I think you mean “multiple personality disorder”. Borderline personality disorder is something completely different.
I disagree that Feige “knows” that. And I will fight anyone who says that Hawkeye and Black Widow suck as characters because they don’t have superpowers.
I haven’t followed closely, I got the impression that for a while he didn’t have superpowers in the comics (you know, in the comic book way where everyone’s still unrealistically capable/strong/fast/etc., so he was still running around doing Batman-ish vigilantism), and that he was hallucinating/imagining the supernatural elements of it all, but that later in the comics they decided the supernatural stuff was going to be a real part of the character after all.
It could be interesting if the show went that route, and technically we haven’t seen anything supernatural from anyone other than Steven’s perspective (right?), but I think it’s unlikely.
Yes. Although Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Neither are personality disorders (Axis 2 in the DSM), unlike Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), which is. And also none of these are schizophrenia, which is what Moon Knight’s original writers mistakenly called it. That’s a psychotic disorder, characterized by hallucinations or delusions amongst the positive (does not mean good in this context) symptoms. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia include withdrawal from social contacts and psychomotor slowing.
Sorry if this is confusing. There’s a reason why there are mandatory bachelors and graduate level psychopathology courses required to be a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist (who can formally diagnose these things).
I’ve always wondered that. Does the “curse” cause the DID appearing symptoms, or was he someone with DID who was chosen by Khonshu, perhaps because of his disorder?
I don’t believe this is completely correct, although I haven’t read the more recent series for comparison. In the second Moon Knight series from 1985, he receives mental messages telling him to go to Egypt, where he finds a hidden tomb and meets the three Priests of Khonshu who give him a new outfit. From then on, he receives messages from them telling him where to go next, and his strength increases to match the phases of the moon. There are definitely explicit supernatural elements and powers.
It seems to vary. The ones I read, by Warren Ellis, Brian Michael Bendis, and Jeff Lemire, respectively, I never saw any explicit confirmation Khonshu wasn’t just him hallucinating, I don’t think? And he definitely didn’t have anything that would qualify as superpowers. But I think at least some of the time that’s not been the case.
I really would not expect comic book canon to provide anything but the broadest strokes of what this MCU Moon Knight is. Especially since the character itself is ill defined and altered often in the comic universe. You’re probably better off just seeing where the series takes this and not dwell too much on whether he is powered or not based on comic book lore.
Sure, but if there was some precedent for an “is he imagining this?” twist in the comics (which maybe I misunderstood and there isn’t exactly), that’s still relevant to speculating about how it’s adapted in the MCU. The broadest strokes are exactly what I’m considering.
