Moon Knight: 8 Things You Didn't Know About The New Disney+ MCU Series
Marvel Studio’s newest superhero series Moon Knight has finally launched on Disney+. Being one of Marvel’s older characters yet to receive the live-action treatment (first appearing in 1975), Moon Knight’s arrival in the MCU has been a while in the making. Starring Oscar Isaac in the central role of Marc Spector/Moon Knight and Ethan Hawke as the villainous Arthur Harrow, Moon Knight is an integral part of the MCU’s gradual foray into the supernatural.
The supernatural side of the MCU has only been hinted towards thus far, with Doctor Strange and Wandavision being the only MCU properties to acknowledge mystical elements of the MCU. With six episodes set to arrive on Disney+ in the coming weeks, learn more about the journey to bring Marvel’s newest hero to the streaming platform.
When the first trailers for Moon Knight dropped, fans were almost universally positive about the footage shown. The transition of Moon Knight from the ink and paper of comic books to live-action has been flawless. Issac's Moon Knight costume is perfect, and the trailers captured an eeriness and darkness not yet seen in an MCU property. One noticeable thing that stood out to fans though was Oscar Issac's bizarre English accent.
In the immediate aftermath of the initial footage dropping, comparisons to Dick Van Dyke's infamously atrocious cockney accent in Mary Poppins were abound (often considered the benchmark for bad British accents in movies). In defense of Isaac, he acknowledges that the accent is not meant to be perfect. In an interview with Empire, Isaac stated “That voice is about where Steven’s from, where he’s living now, and some of his believed heritage...It’s not an idea of what Brits actually sound like.” Isaac's character has DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), and one part of his character is Steven Grant, a worker in the British museum in London, which probably explains the stereotypical nature of the accent.
Hollywood, throughout its long history, has had a murky and sketchy relationship with foreign cultures and countries. Early Hollywood movies often featured tropes and stereotypes of foreign cultures that were downright offensive in severe cases, and unintentionally offensive in others. While modern Hollywood productions are often not as obviously racially and culturally insensitive as their predecessors, they often fall into the same tropes and clichés of depicting non-Western cultures as "the other."
Moon Knight director Mohamed Diab highlighted this fact during the press tour for the show (via Deadline), highlighting Wonder Woman 1984 as a recent example of a recent Hollywood production that used lazy stereotyped ideas of Egypt in its depiction of the country. Diab, who is Egyptian, wanted to portray the long and illustrious history of his native country in a more accurate way with Moon Knight.
The iconic Ethan Hawke has appeared in some top-quality movies during his accomplished Hollywood career, including Academy Award-nominated movies, such as Training Day and Boyhood. Hawke has, throughout his career, largely stayed away from popcorn blockbusters and superhero tentpoles. That all changed with Moon Knight, which marks Hawke's first foray into the superhero world.
In an interview to promote the launch of Moon Knight (via SlashFilm), director Mohamed Diab highlighted how Hawke signed on to appear in the show without reading the script, something the actor had never done in his 35-year career. Hawke went on to add how the collaborative nature of the project, coupled with the lack of expectations considering the huge budget, added to his positive experience working on the show.
In Moon Knight, Ethan Hawke takes on the villainous role of Arthur Harrow, the religious zealot and cultist leader obsessed with Egyptian mythology. For inspiration in his villainous turn, Hawke looked to infamous American cult leader David Koresh.
In an interview for Late Night with Seth Meyers (via Youtube), Hawke acknowledged that he based his character on the cultist leader and self-proclaimed prophet David Koresh. Koresh and his following (known as the Branch Davidians) came into conflict with the US government over stockpiling firearms in 1993, which led to the infamous Waco siege.
Despite words from Egyptian director Mohamed Diab, who helmed four of the show's six episodes, regarding the accurate portrayal of Egypt and Egyptian culture on the show. Nothing in Moon Knight was actually shot on location in Egypt.
It was shot on location in a number of different countries, including England, Budapest, and Jordan, the latter of which doubled for Egypt. Production for Moon Knight took the creative team to Wadi Rum, in the Jordanian desert (via TheDirect). The unstable political situation in Egypt, along with heavy government censorship, is most likely the reason behind the inability of Marvel Studios and Disney to shoot on location in Egypt.
Hannibal Rising actor Gaspard Ulliel stars in Moon Knight as Anton Mogart/Midnight Man. Tragically, the French actor died in a skiing accident in January 2022, mere months before the show launched on Disney+.
Unusually for Marvel Studios and Disney, little has been made of Ulliel's untimely passing in the press tour for Moon Knight. An acknowledgment of the star's death was also absent from the recent 94th Academy Awards In Memorandum yearly tribute section (via WeGotThisCovered)
The character of Moon Knight has the reputation, for better or worse, of being Marvel's version of Batman. Marvel and DC have a long and well-documented history of "borrowing" character designs and abilities from one another. Look to characters like Flash/Quicksilver, Deathstroke/Deadpool, Superman/Ikaris, etc... for the clear influence the publishers have had on one another. When the time came to pitch a Moon Knight television show to Marvel Studios, head writer Jeremy Slater avoided pitching a white-costumed version of Batman, and instead chose to focus on different inspirations.
In an interview on the Moon Knight red carpet (via Youtube), Slater revealed that his initial pitch for Moon Knight to Marvel Studios focused on timeless action masterpieces like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Ghostbusters as touchstones for what his version of Moon Knight would be. His pitch was successful, and he would go on to serve as the head writer for the show.
The journey to bring Moon Knight to the MCU has been a lengthy one. Although Oscar Isaac is the first actor to don the white cowl of Moon Knight, had other plans come to fruition, he may not have been the actor to do so.
Over the years there have been many different creators and directors attached to various different Moon Knight projects, including television series and movies. James Gunn famously tweeted his desire to helm a Moon Knight project in 2017. Another series starring the character was in development around 2006 (via Variety) but never entered production.