Marvel Villains Ethan Hawke Could Be Playing In Moon Knight
Ethan Hawke is joining the MCU in the upcoming Moon Knight Disney+ series - but which Marvel villain is he playing? The MCU is expanding beyond the big screen in a range of live-action TV shows that stream exclusively on Disney+. Although the first Disney+ series focus on already-established heroes in the MCU - including Scarlet Witch, Vision, Falcon, and the Winter Soldier - it won't be long before the medium is used to add some brand new characters into the shared universe. One of the most exciting is Moon Knight, starring Oscar Isaac as the titular hero.
Ethan Hawke has signed up as Moon Knight's main villain, an exciting casting decision that means the show will certainly not be short of star power. Although Hawke is an accomplished action actor, this is actually his first foray into a comic book adaptation - a genre he's historically been critical of. Still, as the first two episodes of WandaVision proved, the MCU's Disney+ TV shows are hardly your typical superhero adventures. Marvel's movies have often been criticized for being fairly formulaic, with a distinct "House Style," but the studio is taking advantage of this new medium to be a lot more experimental. That approach may well have been what attracted Hawke as an actor.
The first reports are silent as to just who Hawke could be playing, although naturally, the internet is abuzz with speculation. Here are some of the most likely candidates, who could work well as the main antagonist of Moon Knight.
Moon Knight is typically described as Marvel's answer to Batman, but in reality he's far more. Although there are similarities, Marc Spector suffers from a form of dissociative identity disorder that means he often struggles to correctly interpret reality. Making matters worse, Moon Knight was resurrected by the Egyptian Moon God Khonshu, who chose him as his agent and avatar on Earth; Spector's relationship with Khonshu has only worsened the fracturing of his psyche. And Khonshu has an agenda all of his own, one that is sometimes far more villainous than Moon Knight realized. Jason Aaron's current Avengers run, for example, saw Khonshu launch an attack on Earth's defenders in order to acquire their powers for a war in heaven he believed was coming; in the end Moon Knight was forced to turn against his master.
It will certainly be interesting to see whether Marvel presents Khonshu as a force for good or evil, or potentially even morally ambiguous. At the same time, though, the studio would probably be wiser to seed a potential villain plot for the Moon God in Moon Knight season 1, and then develop it further in season 2. Thus, while Ethan Hawke would certainly have the gravitas to play Khonshu, the Moon God is unlikely to be described as the main villain of the first season.
Marvel villains are traditionally twisted mirror images of the heroes, which raises the possibility Ethan Hawke could actually be playing the Sun King. Like Moon Knight, the Sun King was a man whose grasp of reality had fractured; in find, he wound up becoming an inmate of the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane. While there, he became fascinated with the legends of the Egyptian gods, and came to consider himself the avatar of the Sun God Ra. The Sun King is utterly obsessed with Moon Knight because of the legendary rivalry between Khonshu and Ra, and he is willing to go to any lengths to kill Marc Spector.
It's not hard to imagine Hawke playing a version of the Sun King, who has even rocked a look similar to Hawke on occasion. Thematically, he'd be a fascinating first villain, plunging Spector into a confusing world where it's not clear if he's dealing with Egyptian gods, or simply with two people unable to separate truth and fiction.
Ethan Hawke has a big enough profile to play a major role in the future in the MCU. Step forward Mephisto, Marvel's version of the Devil, a ruthless corrupting force. Mephisto's upcoming MCU debut was teased in a trailer for Loki, and there's been some speculation he could actually be involved in WandaVision as well. Even more intriguingly, a number of upcoming movies feature heroes who have wound up going against Mephisto on occasion - notably Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and even Thor.
What's more, Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson has suggested the MCU's Multiverse is loosely based on ideas outlined in Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #21, which included specific reference to Mephisto's Hell Dimension - meaning he could well have a role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, too. This is an intriguing possibility because it would essentially mean Ethan Hawke isn't just the main villain of Moon Knight - he's also a potential Thanos-level threat, a demonic figure who desires to see all reality consumed in Hellfire.
So far, the villains in this list have all been rooted in the supernatural. But the initial reports of Ethan Hawke's casting suggest he is actually playing the part of Bushman, one of Moon Knight's more grounded bad guys. Bushman was the one who left Marc Spector for dead in an ancient Egyptian tomb, leading to his transformation into Moon Knight. Although he doesn't posses any super-powers, Bushman is a master of guerrilla warfare and a skilled tactician, and he became Spector's greatest nemesis. There's a sort of Batman/Joker dynamic between Moon Knight and Bushman, although in this case Moon Knight ultimately broke any no-kill rule, using one of his crescent darts to kill him.
It would certainly make sense for Bushman to appear in Moon Knight, simply because the first season is presumably an origin story. A conventional villain would allow Marvel to balance the plot and avoid delving too deeply into the magic and mysticism, thereby leaving viewers unsure whether Moon Knight actually had been visited by Khonshu - or whether it was all in his head. And Hawke certainly has both the acting chops and the action skills to play this part.
Finally, it's possible Ethan Hawke is actually playing Werewolf By Night. In the comics, Jack Russell is a man who inherited the curse of lycanthropy from his father, and has consistently attempted to use that power for good. There have long been rumors the MCU's Werewolf By Night will appear in Moon Knight, which makes sense because Marc Spector was actually introduced as a villain in Werewolf By Night’s comic series. It's possible the MCU will turn this upside-down by having Werewolf By Night introduced as a bad guy in Moon Knight, which wouldn't rule out a redemption story that turned the lycanthrope into a hero by the end of the show. Again, Hawke would certainly be able to pull off Werewolf By Night's Jack Russell, and Marvel would no doubt use CGI for the wolf version.
The pieces are falling into place for Marvel's Moon Knight, and the casting of Ethan Hawke as the main villain is an exciting development. Given Moon Knight is a less well-established Marvel hero, with significantly less presence in popular culture, the show is likely to introduce villains who likewise have never been seen on the screen before. Whether this is Khonshu or Mephisto, Bushman or Werewolf By Night, that prospect is thrilling. Hopefully it won't be long before Marvel reveals the truth - and give viewers a lot better sense of what to expect from Moon Knight.