Oscar Isaac is no stranger to starring in blockbuster franchises after playing roles in theStar Warssequel trilogy and inX-Men: Apocalypse. Now gearing up to star in Marvel Studios’Moon Knightseries, a project based on the comic book hero who first debuted back in 1975, Marvel boss Kevin Feige believed Isaac to be the perfect fit to bring the character to life, as he has now shared how he convinced Isaac to join the exciting MCU project.
Isaac will make hisMCUdebut as Marc Spector, a mercenary who embodies the complicated vigilante Moon Knight and suffers from a dissociative identity disorder. Spector was a former US marine facing death before his life fell inthe hands of Khonshu, the ancient Egyptian god of the Moon, for whom he has now become a conduit. The multiple identities of Moon Knight fight for control of his body amid a war against the backdrop of modern and Ancient Egypt.
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While Isaac knew very little about the character, Feige shared with Empire magazine in their newMoon Knightissue how he approached the actor and why he believed him to be right for the role. “We’ve always loved Moon Knight… he always fascinated us as something we hadn’t seen before, [so] when the Disney Plus idea came up, it quickly became one of the first things we wanted to do, because we loved the story," Feige recalled. “We’d always liked [Isaac]… and he clearly likes this world –Star Wars,X-Men– but we hadn’t found the right thing, necessarily. We started talking, and he had a couple of outside-the-box ideas that we were like, ‘Maybe this could work…: And spoiler alert: they do.”
After his blockbuster success, Isaac also shared with Empire in the same issue that he was craving roles in much smaller, indie-type projects. According to Isaac,Moon Knightoffers the first true character studyin the MCU sinceIron Man. It was that, and the sense that Moon Knight had a “handmade” feeling to it, that helped Isaac believe he could contribute something “nutty” to the role and series.
It was also crucial for Isaac to bring his own ideas to the story rather than just being there to fill a costume and do whatever the Marvel Studios creatives tell him. “In a way it was a test. Do they want me to bring my creativity to this, or do they want a company man who will do whatever they say?” Isaac added. Based on Isaac’s comments about the creative freedom he was granted on set and how the writers seem to be more focused on writing compelling characters, it appears fans are in store for one epic andmemorable story withMoon Knight.
Created by Jeremy Slater in what will be the sixth MCU series,Moon Knightwill consist of six 40-50 minute episodes, with Mohamed Diab directing four episodes andduo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorheaddirecting the other two. The series will also star Ethan Hawke as Arthur Harrow, the series' main antagonist, Gaspard Ulliel as Anton Mogart/Midnight Man, Lucy Thackeray as Donna, and May Calamawy in an undisclosed role.
