Moon Knight: All the Suspected Jake Lockley Appearances

It’s been over a week now since the first (and only?) season of Moon Knight ended, but the surprises don’t stop coming. Executive Producer Grant Curtis has confirmed something we’ve suspected: Jake Lockley has been there from episode one.

Moon Knight has raised the bar for me for MCU projects. It’s probably going to be on top of my favorites list for quite a while. The only thing I could think of that could be better is a second season. Oscar Isaac’s ability to create three completely different characters so thoroughly with his performance alone is a large part of why I love it so much. There are so many subtle nuances to his performances that you can tell the characters apart before they even have a chance to speak.

Jake was technically only introduced in the end credits scene, with a few blackouts being attributed to him at various points in the show. However, when you look at Oscar Isaac’s performance in certain scenes, you start to wonder if maybe we’d actually seen him a few times before that. Some clothing choices and behavior patterns that get established for each character also make some things questionable. I’m starting to think we’ve been tricked a few times.

I want to break down every moment where I think we encountered Jake Lockley in the show, because I’ve been thinking about it a little too hard. I’ve counted at least five that I’m confident on, with an additional seven that may be up for debate. That’s a total of possibly twelve Jake moments in the show. These moments are a mix of scenes where I believe Jake is either physically present, or he’s represented via blackouts. 

I fully admit some of them may be a reach, and my confidence in them is a bit shaky. So let’s break it down. You may or may not agree.

Moon Knight Episode 1: The Goldfish Problem

The interview with Executive Producer Grant Curtis makes me believe Jake has an actual presence in this episode somehow. I believe he’s likely represented through blackouts that we assumed were caused by Marc. None of Oscar Isaac’s acting choices in this episode make me think any actual moment on screen is Jake, though. I think we just see his aftermath.

“Jake appearing in episode six at the very end was not the first time Jake appeared in our narrative, and I’ll let people take that for whatever it means. But that was not his introduction. He was in the show from episode one.”

It’s easy for neither of them to notice at this point that there’s a third person responsible here. Marc and Steven are very much struggling for control of the body and would likely blame these blackouts on each other. Like Steven, we believe that these are all Marc because we just don’t know anything else yet. They are brushed aside as typical, if not a bit bloodier, by both Steven and the audience alike.  

Blackout 1: Deaths in the Alps

At this point, we have no point of reference for Marc’s brutality. However, after watching what he’s done during the full six episodes of Moon Knight, this doesn’t feel like his style. Marc kills people when he needs to, but ‘waking up surrounded by bodies’ very quickly gets established as Jake’s thing. He does this a couple of times with later, more indisputable blackouts.

This also seems far bloodier than what Marc would usually do. Later in ‘The Friendly Type,’ we see him sparing lives where he can. He even resorts to an open-handed slap on a kid instead of punching him. If there’s another way out besides killing, Marc seems like the type to try that first. This was a mass homicide event in a relatively short amount of time. It just doesn’t fit.

Another reason I don’t believe this is Marc’s doing is because of the body count. In the episode ‘Asylum,’ we see Marc’s full body count, and it’s maybe a couple dozen people. It’s impossible to count them accurately as the full room is never shown all at once, but that’s the range that I feel is probably close to accurate. If this type of mass killing was his typical style, his room would feel a lot bigger.

I know my reasons rely on a lot of assumptions on my part. It’s very possible none of the blackouts in this episode are him. That said, if what Grant Curtis said is true, he’s in this episode somewhere. If I had to choose only one place for it, it’s this one.

Blackouts 2: Shooting in the Cupcake Van

The second blackout occurs when they are driving in the cupcake van. Steven is about to be defeated by Harrow’s men at any second, but he blacks out. He then wakes up with a gun in his hand and no recollection of how it got there. 

I’m less certain on this one than I am on the first blackout. This was a lot more straightforward of a self-defense kill. With the first blackout, we only saw them trying to get the scarab. They may have attempted to kill him at some point, but we didn’t see that explicitly on screen. However, with this one, we see these people directly trying to kill him. It feels more excusable and thus very possibly Marc.

Blackouts 3: Wild Driving Skills in the Cupcake Van

The third blackout doesn’t seem to have a body count at all. Whoever saved Steven then – whether Marc or Jake – just saved him via some incredibly impressive driving. I could see this being either of them, too. If you want to take a logical leap, Jake is a driver by profession. That’s probably a bit of a stretch, though. 

I feel like whoever did the second blackout likely did the third as well, though. They were in pretty rapid succession.  

Moon Knight Episode 3: The Friendly Type

I believe Jake shows up in this episode four times. I think we have two actual visual appearances, and then two mystery blackouts that are directly caused by him. More interestingly, I believe we’re shown Jake pretending to be Marc, largely successfully. This episode is an interesting one for sure. Let’s break these down.

Appearance 1: Running Across the Rooftops

This one is a bit of a stretch, but stick with me for a moment. On its own, I acknowledge that this argument is very weak. It’ll make a lot more sense after I explain the second appearance more thoroughly in a bit, though.

When ‘Marc’ is first running across the rooftop, he’s wearing a hat. It quickly gets knocked off his head when he ducks under a clothesline. I believe that hat is supposed to be a signal that he was Jake there. This is based on him wearing one in what I believe is his second appearance, and the fact that he is known for wearing one in the comics. Granted, this is a baseball cap, not a newsboy cap, but a hat is a hat. 

Sit tight. We’ll talk bout the hat again very soon. I promise.

Blackout 4: Jake Saves Marc on the Rooftop

When Steven distracts Marc with the knife, Marc’s pushed into another blackout. At first, we are supposed to assume it’s Steven. I don’t know how he was supposed to get out of such a dicey situation, but whoever put them in that cab wanted to leave. They were headed to the airport. That feels like a Steven thing to do.

The two men Marc confronts on the sidewalk seem way too scared of him, though. Nothing that Steven could possibly do at this point would cause that kind of reaction. I believe Jake likely fronted and killed the other people that were on that roof. Something had to scare them. It was probably that.

Besides, how the heck would Steven have gotten off that roof? Talking it out didn’t work in the Alps. It wouldn’t work here. I’m pretty sure this one was Jake, even if it wasn’t explicitly spelled out. Too much about it doesn’t make sense if it was Steven.

Blackout 5: Jake Stabs a Guy

When Marc gets distracted by Steven in the mirror, he lets his guard down and gets clocked on the head. He blacks out and wakes up on a cliff surrounded by dead men while holding a bloody knife. 

He immediately assumes it must have been Steven again, since that’s the only alter he knows about. However, Steven is insistent that this wasn’t him either. Despite how ridiculous it is to imagine Steven being capable of any of that, Marc just brushes this off and gets on with the rest of his task. 

I can only assume he ignores it because he doesn’t want to deal with the idea of having another alter at the moment. Honestly, that’s very in-character for Marc. Not wanting to deal with things is sort of central to who he is as a character. I think both of these blackouts were clearly Jake. Marc just isn’t ready for that yet.

Appearance 2: Jake Talks to Layla

The fourth Jake moment of the episode occurs when the person we assume to be Marc is trying to find Senfu’s sarcophagus. He asks a street vendor where it is with no success. His accent during this encounter seems a bit off, and his jaw is clenched in a way that Marc usually does not clench it. His frown just isn’t quite the same, either. These are things we associate with Jake later when he’s formerly introduced. I believe these are deliberate acting choices from Oscar Isaac.

Additionally, the hat is back. I truly believe the hat was used here as a clue, even though it’s a baseball cap and not the newsboy cap fans are more familiar with. That would also mean the previous appearance with the hat was likely him, as well. How much stock you put into my hat theory is entirely up to you. I admit it’s sort of silly. Still, it’s fun.

But there’s even more here. When he first addresses Layla, he starts to speak with his unfamiliar accent again. He pauses after the second word, then seems to force himself to sound more like Marc for the remainder of the sentence. 

An alternative take on this scene is that Marc is trying to act casual and just coming off as awkward. That’s what we’re supposed to believe, almost certainly. Besides, why would Jake front here? How is this an immediate threat? The accent, facial expressions, and the hat make me feel pretty confident that this is Jake, though. Feel free to disagree.

Moon Knight Episode 4: The Tomb

This episode is largely Steven and Marc, but I believe Jake is present in the afterlife too for at least one brief moment. We don’t actually see him, but it’s a pretty logical conclusion to take away from the scene.

Appearance 3: Second Sarcophagus 

When Marc breaks out of Doctor Harrow’s office he goes running through the halls of the asylum. When he hides out in one of the rooms, he finds a sarcophagus with Steven inside. This establishes that alters seem to be stored in sarcophagi here for whatever reason. Marc was never in one. He immediately woke up in Doctor Harrow’s office. There’s clearly a difference between them.

When the two go looking through the hospital together later, they pass by a room with another sarcophagus. Logically, Jake is inside that one. If Steven had to be busted out of one, so would Jake. Neither of them bothers to free him, though, so our dude is sort of stuck there. I do, however, think he gets out at some point. But more on that later.

One has to wonder if their scales would have balanced if Jake’s heart was included. An interesting thing to think about. I’m sure someone has already written fanfic with that exact premise. I’m almost certain.

Moon Knight Episode 5: Asylum

I think a lot of people feel they actually see Jake for the first time in this episode. If you disagree with my reading of the rooftop scene and/or the Senfu scene in ‘The Friendly Type,’ you may be correct. Additionally, we didn’t actually see him in the sarcophagus, even though I’m counting it as an ‘appearance’ for the sake of the list. 

Depending on what you believe based on the previous moments, and whether or not you count the sarcophagus, this is either his first, second, third, or fourth appearance. I’m going with fourth, personally.

Appearance 4: Jake Meets Doctor Harrow

I firmly believe the entire opening scene, which we are led to believe is an encounter between Marc and Doctor Harrow, is actually Jake ‘pretending’ to be Marc. Or, at the very least he doesn’t dispute that he is Marc when Harrow refers to him as such. I feel like Jake does this type of pretending a lot. If my reading of the Senfu scene is correct, this is the second time he’s done it in the show itself.

His accent is very clearly different from Marc’s and he has an obvious injury on his nose that neither Marc or Steven have. His violent impulses seem to be just a bit more brutal than Marc’s, too. He grabbed the glass pyramid off Harrow’s desk and seemed to be perfectly willing to stab him with it. Marc seems to choose the flight response. He used his strength in the previous episode on just trying to escape. It’s two incredibly different reactions to Doctor Harrow.

The strange part of this, however, is that Marc senses Jake had been injected with something in the neck. It’s unclear if he just feels the prick, or has some sort of memory bleed between them. Then again, we could be wrong. Maybe this was Marc after all. (It was totally Jake, though, I swear).

Moon Knight Episode 6: Gods and Monsters

Jake makes a very obvious and straightforward appearance in the end credits scenes for this episode. However, I believe he was in this episode not once, but twice before this. One was a blackout, and one was a physical appearance.

Blackout 6: Jake Defeats Harrow

This one is a pretty straightforward Jake Lockley moment. Harrow is about to kill Marc while Layla is cornered by men with machine guns. Then Marc blacks out and wakes up with a battered Harrow in his hands. 

This leads to one of my favorite moments from the whole show. Steven and Marc smoothly transition back and forth, talking to one another about how neither of them did this. I’ve watched this scene so many times. It’s incredibly well done. It’s also the first time I think they both indisputably realize there’s a third person present. They can no longer blame each other because they are incredibly close now. When one says they didn’t do this, the other believes him.

Appearance 5: Jake Confronts Harrow

There’s another moment with Harrow that I think may actually be Jake pretending to be Marc. Marc and Steven are openly communicating as they figure out what’s happening, but Marc’s voice is much more reminiscent of the Jake accent we heard previously. 

His mannerisms are also quite different. He’s a lot more confrontational with Doctor Harrow and far more sure of himself, like how Jake was in his previous Doctor Harrow scene. Jake’s reaction to Doctor Harrow has been established as manipulation and violence, which is closer to what plays out here.

I noticed something else that may indicate this isn’t actually Steven either. I watch every show with subtitles, and the subtitles state that these lines are “as Marc” and “as Steven.” In previous episodes, they were just referred to as “Marc” and “Steven” without the “as” qualifier. However, later in the episode, “as Steven” is used again in a scene I’m fairly certain is actually him. This could be meaningless. It could just be an inconsistency. 

There’s also no physical indicators of a transition between them, though. While they’ve admittedly become much better at it, they still physically change how they hold themselves. There is simply no physical reaction for most of these switches. There’s also a brief moment where ‘Steven’ smirks that just doesn’t feel right. Oscar Isaac’s acting choices in this scene are weird, and I believe they are that way intentionally.

I’m not entirely sure if Steven is actually Steven here, and I kind of hope that his last “later gators” was truly him. I am, however, thoroughly convinced that it’s Jake in this scene and not Marc. I will die on that hill.

The End Credit Scene: Meet Jake Lockley

There’s no ‘suspecting’ that the end credit scene is Jake Lockley. He’s introduced as such quite clearly. That said, it’s his only confirmed physical appearance. The three previous moments – two with Doctor Harrow and one with Layla – are just suspicions. As far as we know for sure, this is Jake’s only scene. Obviously, I disagree with that assumption! But there you have it.

Other Mentions of Jake Lockley

There are two moments from Marc’s past that are mentioned, but not shown, that I believe could have been Jake. As they aren’t shown at all, I’m not including them in the ‘appearances’ from above, but they are worth noting.

I know it may be tempting to go back to the comics for reference with either of these moments, but the MCU has taken many liberties with them, so it may not matter much. For the sake of discussion, please refrain from throwing a ‘well, ackshually‘ at these theories. These are based on what’s in the MCU alone.

Fugue State

There’s a moment in Asylum when Marc mentions that he went into a fugue state. These are essentially blackouts, or moments of dissociation. The most famous example of a fugue state is from Agatha Christie, who disappeared for 11 days and went under an assumed name. There’s a lot of debate about whether this was an actual fugue state or not. Either way, it’s one of the most famous incidents.

I think it’s clear that Marc’s incident was actually Jake fronting. If there’s another season or even a movie, I would love to know more about this moment in particular. Was this his first emergence? What happened to cause him to come forward? I need to know.

Expedition Execution

I believe there’s more to the incident with Bushman that got Layla’s father killed. No, I don’t think Jake killed him. A lot of people think he did, but I’ve become a rabid Jake Lockley enthusiast and I’m going to shake my finger at you with a firm “NO” about that theory. I do, however, believe Jake may have fronted here in an attempt to save Marc. 

I don’t have any evidence besides a gut feeling, though. With literally everything else on this list, I’ve tried to provide some solid reasoning. I don’t have that here. It’s very much a ‘just trust me bro’ theory. If you don’t trust me, bro, that’s fine too. But, like, trust me, bro.

Did You Spot Others?

I’ve watched this show all the way through more times than is strictly necessary. It’s just so good though! That said, I absolutely may have missed some things, despite clearly having gone over it with a fine-toothed comb. 

Please do drop any other moments you noticed that could possibly be Jake. If you dispute one of these moments, feel free to tell me that (politely) too! This is a very fun topic of discussion. Tell me more!

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary

Do not copy our content in whole to other websites. If you are reading this anywhere besides TheGeekiary.com, it has been stolen.
Read our policies before commenting. Be kind to each other.