Every Time Jake Lockley Was Hinted At In Moon Knight
Surprise! Moon Knight has another alter ego. As if two personalities weren't enough...
Jake Lockley will be familiar to anyone who's read the "Moon Knight" comic books, but fans of the TV show may be left scratching their heads. Who is this guy? And where have we seen him before?
Marc Spector's struggle with dissociative identity disorder drove much of the "Moon Knight" plot, with both Marc and Steven Grant struggling for control ... before eventually coming to terms with the fact that they're two sides of the same coin. But now it seems there's a third personality in the mix, and he's a bit of a scary one.
Jake is a cab driver, but "Moon Knight" clearly depicts him as an alter ego even more brutal and furious than Marc. He's the darkness within Moon Knight, and as the season 1 ending revealed, he also remains in the service of Khonshu – whether Marc knows it or not.
It's a bit of a departure from the comic book version of Jake, a cab driver with his finger on the pulse of the criminal underworld. But his appearance in the "Moon Knight" finale has been coming for a while...
There have been numerous hints that a third alter ego existed within Marc Spector, with teases dropped throughout the series. "We knew right from the beginning that fans were going to be on the lookout for references and clues that Jake Lockley is going to appear in the show," said writer Jeremy Slater in an interview with Marvel.com.
And with that in mind, there are a ton of nods toward Jake Lockley throughout the show.
Hello, man in the mirror
As surprising as it sounds, we actually got a glimpse of Jake Lockley way back in Episode 1: "The Goldfish Problem." That's right — Jake has actually been hiding there in the shadows all along.
During a scene in Steven's apartment, we get a fleeting glimpse of Jake in the mirror. It's right after Steven wakes up following the cupcake car chase when he confronts himself head-on with a long hard look in the mirror. We actually see several reflections — the third is none other than Jake Lockley.
"There's a shot of a [split] of mirrors and there's this barely third reflection," said cinematographer Gregory Middleton.
Hiding in plain sight seems to be what Lockley does best, a hint towards his later appearance and his life as a cabbie. But he actually makes several more appearances throughout "Moon Knight," and it was a delicate balance to make sure it wasn't too much, said Middleton.
"It was really just a balancing act that definitely involved my team of writers. But also involved the directors, the executives, and ultimately, all the way up to Kevin Feige, in terms of how many breadcrumbs are we dropping? Is this a satisfying reveal? Are we telegraphing it too much? Or are we not telegraphing enough?"
Ultimately, the creative team dropped numerous breadcrumbs throughout — from full-face glimpses like the one above, to slightly more subtle hints...
Another Egyptian connection...
Episode 2: Summon the Suit gives us a far more subtle hint about Jake Lockley.
Indeed, rather than shining a spotlight on the dangerously scary alter ego, we get a glimpse of what he represents for Marc ... and it's certainly not good.
"When [Marc] is talking to himself in the pyramid at the end of the episode, you'll notice it's actually a three-sided pyramid that are progressively more and more broken," explained director Aaron Moorhead. "Third side represents his rage. The one that he kicks out and smashes is actually a tiny, tiny little clue to look out for three instead of two."
That's right — the three sides of the pyramid represent the three facets of Marc Spector.
Interestingly, it doesn't just hint that there's a third personality, it also teases what we should expect from Jake Lockley himself. The third side is smashed and broken, busted up beyond repair by Marc himself. That's a neat metaphor for Lockley, who seems to represent Spector's rage.
But we'll get to that later, gators.
Looking at how Marc created Steven Grant as a separate identity to contain the goodness in his life, it seems as though Lockley is at the opposite end of the spectrum. It's likely that Marc created Jake as a container for his anger and rage — setting Lockley down a path where he takes on the worst evils in Spector's life, the things even the seasoned mercenary doesn't want to face. Chilling.
And that leads us to Lockley's first major "Moon Knight" appearance...
You're the one going on a killing spree
What happens when neither Marc nor Steven can remember what happened?
From the very first episode of "Moon Knight," we've seen Steven Grant black out whenever Marc Spector takes over. It's one of the more interesting mechanics of the show, depicting Steven's fragile memory while he relinquishes control of his body to his other personality. It's all very reminiscent of M. Knight Shyamalan's "Split" and it's used to great effect ... but there soon comes a moment when neither of them remembers what happened. And that's even more troubling.
Episode 3: The Friendly Type sees Marc and Steven scrambling across Egypt in search of Ammit's tomb ... but they soon find themselves surrounded by Harrow's men. Suddenly, they both black out.
"What the hell's wrong with you, Steven?" asks Marc, clearly shocked by the brutal carnage that has unfolded around them. But you see, it wasn't Steven at all.
"Mohamed really wanted it to be the Jake of it all, like, who did this other crime?" explained Middleton. "This guy is obviously brutal."
So brutal, in fact, that even Marc is disgusted by what has unfolded. The critical point is that neither of them has any idea who did this ... and so neither of them is at all aware that Jake Lockley exists. At least, for now.
Wow, these meds are really amazing
It's not long before Marc finds himself checked into a psychiatric hospital ... but this one is a bit different.
Episode 4: The Tomb sees Marc and Steven separated at last, as they blunder around Putnam Psychiatric hospital — an entirely fictitious place created by Spector in his own personal afterlife. It's actually a construct overseen by the goddess Tawaret who is ushering Marc and Steven toward the Field of Reeds — the Egyptian version of paradise. The psychiatric hospital is where Marc and Steven must reconcile themselves.
But there's someone else there, too. Jake Lockley doesn't appear in the flesh, but his presence is certainly felt. At one point, an Egyptian sarcophagus can be seen in a side room in the hospital. It seems that Lockley is trapped inside the sarcophagus and he's trying to break out.
Marc and Steven steer clear of it, for good reason...
"When you see the coffin, there's that the movement and sound coming from it that may even feel like something supernatural or demonic," said director Justin Benson.
"While also trying to ride this line that it's not literally going to be a creature from the descent popping out. It's going to be a person later. But trying to make it feel so dangerous; just a beat, a feeling there's something extraordinarily dangerous."
That something is Jake Lockley ... and as we now know, he's very dangerous indeed.
Your scales lack balance
Even in the "Moon Knight" season finale, there's a hint at what's to come. Episode 6: Gods and Monsters sees Marc Spector finally go face to face with Arthur Harrow while Ammit and Khonshu slug it out over the streets of Egypt, kaiju style. It's the final battle we've all been waiting for ... until Marc and Steven black out. When they awake, they find that Harrow is near death. And they've no idea how.
"That wasn't you, was it, Steven?" asks Mark.
"Not a chance, mate," Steven replies ... and as he looks around at the carnage that has unfolded, he looks worried. But this time, someone else saw what happened.
"Marc? What the hell was that?" asks Layla.
Obviously, Marc has no idea ... and neither does Steven. But it looks as though unleashing his rage in the form of Jake Lockley allowed them to turn the tide of this fight. Unfortunately, it's unclear quite how Lockley managed it.
But I can't help wondering whether Lockley has his own version of Moon Knight, much like Steven. Either way, it sets the stage for the big reveal, when Jake Lockley appears in the flesh during a post-credit scene.
And things aren't looking good for Harrow. Middleton explained:
"When we did the shot in the bingo room, as [Jake] comes in, we filmed it so you sort of almost see him — but then you don't. Then his hands come in. Even his hand gestures are kind of sinister, and as he goes away, we push the camera through into the glass. You can't quite see him, it's all deliberately to stretch it out. If you were worried or hoping for Jake, hopefully, you're cheering and pounding the whole way through."
What happens next is anyone's guess ... but it looks as though Marc and Steven aren't quite out of Khonshu's grasp. At least, not yet.