The character “Moon Knight” should only be known to true comics fans yet. Marvel now wants to cast an unusual hero with a mental disorder in a new series on the Disney+ streaming service.
In addition to Marvel comics about popular superheroes like “Spider-Man”, “The Incredible Hulk” or “Captain America”, Moon Knight has been living in the shadows since the 1970s.
Before Oscar Isaac takes the lead in the new broadcast series Disney + Taking matters into his own hands, he had no idea who or what the “Moon Knight” was either. “Zero! I didn’t know anything,” says Isaac in an interview with dpa, with a smile. “Then I took a quick look and was like, OK, a superhero with dissociative identity disorder who’s Jewish but enslaved by an Egyptian god! Yeah, there’s a lot out there.” The series begins on Wednesday.
Stephen Grant (Oscar Isaac) lives a low-key life in London. He works in the British Museum’s souvenir shop, is largely ignored by colleagues, and has little success with the women. But Stephen has a dark side that he needs to understand first. Time and time again he suffers a strange blackout in which he loses control of himself, hears a strange sound, and sometimes becomes violent. Before he fell asleep, he tied himself to the bed.
After a particularly bizarre experience, where he meets the mysterious Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) and the startling revelation that he’s married to Laila El Foley (Mae Kalamawi), Steve begins to come to terms with dissociative identity disorder. Because the Briton (Isaac originally with a trained accent) shares the body with American mercenary Mark Spector. As a moon knight, he follows the orders of Konso, the Egyptian god of the moon and revenge.
So far so crazy. The first part of the six-part Marvel series is a powerful tour full of adventure and excitement. The creators manage to balance silly humor with exciting and sometimes scary moments. Action scenes at the cinema level.
The Marvel comic series about the hero in white, who first appeared in the 1975 comic “Werewolf By Night”, has changed radically over and over again. “I saw an opportunity there,” Isaac says. Because in order to fill the character of the series with life, Marvel boss Kevin Feige has given him a lot of creative freedom.
The 43-year-old, known among other things from the recent “Star Wars” trilogy and the sci-fi epic “Dune”, outdoes himself in a double role. “For the first few months, I shot Stephen, to live in and settle in this world,” says the 43-year-old. “The longer we are, the more you master this character, the better you will be able to jump between characters.”
Playing someone with DID who in the past has spoken of multiple personalities was especially challenging. “But that’s what I found very exciting about it,” Isaac says. A psychiatrist was hired as a consultant for the series. “In order to address this issue, and the impact it has on someone, on a stage as massive as the Marvel series, this was a real opportunity for us to use this great comic book adaptation to talk about something real, based on experience.”
It is not yet clear where Stephen and Mark’s journey will lead and what role Lily and Arthur will play in it. It’s entirely possible, as in the previous Marvel series, that other popular Marvel characters will appear on the Disney+ streaming service, such as “WandaVision” or “Hawkeye”. It’s safe to say that Oscar Isaac is a new star in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At first glance, “Moon Knight” is an original, exciting and entertaining series that can finally end the mysterious existence of its main character.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 220331-99-740503 / 2 (to Philip Dithelvesdpa)
