This past week has been owned by scarlet-themed Marvel superheroes. Just a couple of days before Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch tore through reality in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Disney Plus released the last episode of Moon Knight, which introduced a different crimson costumed crusader into the MCU. Namely, the Scarlet Scarab, the powered-up form of Layla El-Faouly (May Calamawy).
While Wanda Maximoff is getting most of the attention online, then, Marvel Studios is making sure people don’t forget about Layla by celebrating her rise to superheroism on Twitter. “Meet [Scarlet Scarab] in the finale episode of Marvel Studios’ [Moon Knight],” wrote the House of Ideas’ official account, along with a GIF of Layla’s triumphant costume reveal. “All episodes are now streaming on [Disney Plus].”
In the comics, the Scarlet Scarab is an extremely minor male character, so the screen version is basically a completely fresh concept. Layla became the Scarlet Scarab after agreeing to serve as the avatar of hippo goddess Tawaret once she needed to stop Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) on her own following the supposed death of her husband, Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac). With Marc — and Steven, yay! — being resurrected, though, the Spectors now join the ranks of the MCU’s many power couples.
Director Mohamed Diab has singled out Layla’s transformation as the most powerful moment in the whole show, seeing as Calamawy stands as the franchise’s first Egyptian superhero. But will we see her again in the MCU? Note that Marvel’s tweet refers to the “finale episode”, neatly skirting the question of whether it’s a season or series finale. That could definitely be an indication that Marvel is leaving the door open for another run of the show — although fans are also tempted by the idea of a movie.
Like the tweet says, all six episodes of Moon Knight (so far) are available to stream on Disney Plus.