It will be no surprise that I
also think we need more Moon Knight content.
Besides Jake, obviously, the post-credits had a couple of things I found interesting.
First, Jake drives the limo that Mr. Knight uses in the comics. Wonder where he got the funding for that or whether Khonshu helped him get it or something?
Secondly, we see Khonshu rockin' his suit, rather than his ancient look. This is also in the comics. Since it's implied that Steven is the first one to wear a modern suit here, I like to imagine that Steven inspired Khonshu in this case.
Thirdly, everyone was saying that Jake should be a New Yorker, but I think making him lean more into Oscar Isaac being Latino (Guatemalan, with a Cuban father) is a very interesting choice. I think that sets him aside from Marc more than if he had been a New Yorker, and it may lend to more opportunity for Latino superhero representation.
I don't think Layla's in the comics (at least not the ones I read), so her getting to suit up as well was a nice surprise.
She's a amalgamation of two characters I think, one of which is very minor.
The first one as many probably already know is Marlene Alraune, Moon Knight's usual girlfriend. Layla and Marlene share a relationship with Marc as well as the fact that their father was the lead archeologist that got killed because of Bushman on the mission to the ancient tomb where Marc would first become Moon Knight.
The second one is Mehemet Faoul. Or really the whole Faoul family. Layla's father in the show was named Abdallah El-Faouly. In the comics Abdul Faoul was a character that during the WWII period worked to rid Egypt of British colonial rule and influences. Because of this he initially allied with the Germans against the British. When the Invaders appeared to help the Allied forces, El-Faouly tricked them in giving him access to a tomb where he would obtain the scarlet scarab, an artifact that would give him superpowers which he used to fight against the Invaders as "The Scarlet Scarab". Eventually he saw that the Nazis treated the Egyptians just as badly and they would betray him, so he helped the Invaders fight against the Nazis, though he still disliked that foreign powers were meddling in Egypt and would still dislike Invaders member Union Jack in particular. He'd go on to protect Egypt until his death, after which his son Mehemet Faoul would go on a search to find the scarlet scarab to follow in his father's footsteps, which he eventually succeeded in. These are minor characters in the comics, but also note how Layla's father notably wore red scarf with a scarab pattern and called Layla his "little beetle". I hope that we see Layla's costume to be updated to incorporate a bit more red or magenta, given the name and its inspirations.
So now that we know Layla becomes the Scarlet Scarab as avatar for Taweret in the show, I feel like it would've made a lot more sense to have a different god either take Taweret's place in the show or appear in addition to her. Don't get me wrong, I really liked Taweret, but Layla's suit and powers as the Scarlet Scarab don't really seem to match Taweret's divine domain or her hippo-ness. Khonshu the moon god has a moon knight, but Taweret who was named as goddess of women and children has a flying scarab knight?
Who I think would've made more sense is Khepri, Scarab god of creation, protection, rebirth and sunrise.
Egyptian scarabs are thought to be related to Khepri, being an amulet associated with protection and regeneration, so it would make sense why a scarab themed hero would be affiliated with the scarab god.
Khepri's design is something I think would really mesh well with the weirdness inherent to the Moon Knight franchise, because he's a dude who has a beetle in place of a head. That design would fit right in with birdskull Khonshu.
His domain has some interesting parallels and contrasts with Khonshu's:
Where Khonshu in Marvel is vengeance against the wicked, Khepri could be the protection of the innocent (which could also fit well with the Scarlet Scarab's origins as a protector of Egypt against colonial forces).
Khepri as the rising sun could be a fitting counterpart to Khonshu as the moon travelling the night sky.
Plus, if they had Khepri I think MK's resurrection would make a bit more sense. The way they revived I feel like more powerful and influential gods like Osiris and Horus should have been able to work some stuff to revive their avatars in the same way. Marc and Steven gaining a favor from Khepri, the god of rebirth, could've fit really well into this storyline to explain their resurrection.
I think the only major demerit of Khepri would be that they might not want Layla to essentially be a servant to a man (a male god, but still) so they went with a goddess for that reason.
