Superhero fatigue at this stage of our modern culture is quite understandable. After all, there’s only so many crossovers, spin-offs, and reboots you can ask people to give a shit about before they start looking for the door. But before you retire from the Marvel Cinematic Universe for good, you might want to check out Disney+’s first official Moon Knight trailer starring Oscar Isacc and Ethan Hawke.
Suffice it to say, this ain’t your regular MCU series. Setting aside the source material for a second, based on the footage provided today, it’s clear the six-episode affair is slightly darker in direction compared to Disney+’s other serialised Phase Four properties – i.e. Hawkeye, WandaVision, Loki – and far more anxiety-ridden. And while the action teased thus far hasn’t exactly been plentiful, what little we’ve previewed already promises to shirk the oft-lighthearted reputation actively being fostered by Kevin Feige & Co.
The upcoming miniseries focuses on Isaac’s Marc Spector – a former mercenary with a profound case of dissociative identity disorder (commonly referred to as multiple personality disorder), who accidentally becomes the conduit for an ancient Egyptian moon god named Khonshu. In broad daylight, Marc Spector manifests other distinct personalities, like the mild-mannered gift shop employee Steven Grant. In the shadows, the eponymous Moon Knight takes over, violently playing vigilante while imbued with extraordinary abilities. As you can imagine, the character has perenially drawn comparisons to DC’s Batman since its print debut back in 1975.
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The marketing has been intentionally vague to conceal the main conflict Oscar Isaac will face as Marc Spector / Moon Knight. What we do know, however, involves Ethan Hawke’s Arthur Harrow – a cult leader based on the real-life David Koresh who apparently encourages Marc to “embrace his inner darkness” and unleash the chaos from within. So it’s safe to assume a decent bulk of the story ahead vaguely involves keeping said inner darkness + chaos under wraps, and dealing with the aftermath when Marc fails to rein in his spiritual roommate.
Moon Knight has been developed for screens by Jeremy Slater, who has previously served as a writer for the disastrous attempt at Fantastic Four witnessed in 2015 – don’t hold that against him – as well as The Exorcist, and Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy. The majority of episodes have been directed by Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Diab, while the remaining two instalments have been helmed by creative duo Justin Benson and Aaron Scott Moorhead (V/H/S: Viral, Synchronic).
Moon Knight starring Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke premieres on Disney+ March 30th of 2022 – watch the first official trailer above.
