Know Your Marvels: ‘Moon Knight’
Welcome back to our series as we catch you up on your favorite marvel character; this time, it’s the vigilante known as Moon Knight
Long before Marvel Comics was a twinkle in Stan Lee’s eye, DC Comics had already created Batman.
The Dark Knight’s impact caused profound ripple effects in Marvel’s precursor and eventually the comic book publisher itself.
Source: Marvel Studios
For many years, Marvel mined the Batman archetype to create its own characters, ones that were legally different but spiritually similar.
Perhaps the most famous example is Tony Stark, a billionaire playboy who fights crime in his spare time.
However, Marvel fans will tell you that the best example is Marc Spector, the chosen knight of the Moon God, Khonshu.
MOON KNIGHT (2021) #1. Photo: Marvel
Oh yes, this is a real thing, and it’s about to arrive on Disney+ later this month. Let’s talk about Moon Knight, the tale of a crazed superhero with multiple personalities.
Who Is Moon Knight?
Source: Marvel Studios
In the comics, a former Marine and CIA operative turns rogue and works as a mercenary.
This particular violent ex-soldier maintains some of his scruples, though. When a different mercenary kills a woman, the two men split ideologically.
They become mortal enemies, with Marc Spector losing a fight and, thereby, his life.
Moon Knight #2. Photo: Marvel
Khonshu, the Moon God, brings Spector back to life and gives him a new purpose. Spector is now quite literally the Moon’s Knight.
I struggle to take this seriously since it feels like the character’s creators scratched out the word dark in Dark Knight and changed it to Moon Knight instead.
Photo: Marvel
While fighting crime, Spector’s character wears a bright cowl and a Moon insignia.
In other words, he’s like a color-swapped Batman with the moon as his symbol rather than a bat. So yeah, it’s shameless copyright infringement.
As a character, Marc Spector is more interesting than that, though. And that’s especially true in the upcoming Disney+ series.
Source: Marvel Studios
In this version, Spector works at a museum gift shop…some of the time. He suffers from dissociative identity disorder.
So, when Spector isn’t a store merchant, he’s a renowned Egyptologist who is wealthy and brilliant.
How much of that is real, and how much of it stems from his imagination? Nobody can say right now.
Source: Marvel Studios
What we do know is that Marc Spector appears to possess powers of a supernatural origin. And he’s bug-nuts insane.
The Plan for Moon Knight
Source: Marvel Studios
Obviously, Marvel wants to expand the MCU, but the plan here seems more ambitious than that.
Kevin Feige loves telling stories that explore uncharted territories. Have you ever watched anything with a multiple personality superhero? Of course not.
Source: Marvel Studios
This is fertile territory for a Marvel series. Plus, Moon Knight can function as Marvel’s Batman, albeit somehow more violent and less stable.
So, the plan here is to create the most buzzworthy MCU series since WandaVision, something that keeps the audience guessing the whole time.
What is real, and what is part of Spector’s fantasy world? Marvel will string viewers along with that premise the whole time.
Source: Marvel Studios
The story will even lean heavily into Spector’s confusion by introducing a cult leader of sorts as the antagonist.
This individual will manipulate Spector into acting against his own best interests, a fertile idea that seems particularly relevant today.
Along the way, we’ll fall in love with the mysticism and absurdity of Moon Knight. That’s the plan anyway.
Source: Marvel Studios
As much as any Marvel story of the past decade, Moon Knight seems risky and unsure to succeed.
The only other project that’s even close is Eternals, and, well, you know how that turned out.
About the Cast: The Leads
Source: Marvel Studios
Oscar Isaac stars as Marc Spector, and his presence is notable for several reasons.
We’re not that far removed from Isaac being one of the three main leads in the latest Star Wars trilogy. So it’s a massive get for him to anchor a Disney+ series.
Also, Isaac’s resume glistens with excellence. First, he earned a Golden Globe for his remarkable performance in Inside Llewyn Davis. He later won one for Scenes from a Marriage.
Source: Marvel Studios
Isaac also grabbed tons of attention for Ex Machina and recently appeared in the awards season contender, Dune.
Along the way, Isaac dabbled in superhero cinema with his turn as Apocalypse in X-Men: Age of Apocalypse. He has also voiced a character in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Source: Marvel Studios
Isaac comes with A-list credentials AND indie film credibility. He’s an actor’s actor who can balance big-budget blockbusters with Coen Brothers and Alex Garland films.
Simply stated, Oscar Isaac appears like perfect casting, at least on paper.
About the Cast: The Co-Stars
Source: Marvel Studios
Here’s the funny thing about really good actors. Talent tends to cluster. In fact, Isaac is good friends with Ethan Hawke.
The two celebrities bumped into one another at a coffeehouse in New York and proceeded to talk shop.
Hawke, who has been nominated for an Academy Award as an actor AND writer, casually mentioned that they should work on a project together.
Source: Marvel Studios
Isaac suddenly recognized that Hawke would be the ideal choice for the cult leader role in Moon Knight.
Conversations like this rarely go anywhere in Hollywood, but this one somehow did. Now, the friends have worked together as hero and villain in Moon Knight.
Hawke is one of the few people in the industry whose resume dwarfs Isaac’s.
Source: Marvel Studios
The elder actor has worked since he was 15 and was already famous when Dead Poet’s Society debuted in 1989.
By 1995, Hawke had starred in one of the seminal romantic comedies of the era, Before Sunrise.
Then, he did something unprecedented by creating two sequels to it…nine years apart.
Source: Miramax
Hawke has earned a reputation as the thinking person’s actor, a compliment that Isaac receives as well.
Frankly, I haven’t been this excited about a hero/villain pairing since the fall of Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts.
Final Thoughts
Moon Knight does NOT lack for ambition. You can watch the trailer to see for yourself:
The central premise resounds with those of us who have lucid dreams, only Spector never quite knows whether he’s dreaming.
A superhero walking a fine line between sanity and delusion is an irresistible proposition.
Marvel will have its biggest hit show in a calendar year if it works. If not, well, nobody can say that they played it safe.
Source: Marvel Studios
