MOON KNIGHT. New Marvel superhero, new series on Disney+. Moon Knight offers subscribers to the platform to discover Oscar Isaac in a series on a very special character. Its director, Mohamed Diab, tells us about the creation of this series.
[Mis à jour le 30 mars 2022 à 9h00] This is the event series of Disney++ at the end of March, Moon Knight is the new production of Marvel Studios. Bringing the comic book superhero to the screen, the six-episode series focuses on Steven Grant, an employee of a London museum who lives a fairly flat life except for one detail: he is a sleepwalker and, at night, he dreams that he is an over-trained soldier. Very quickly, he realizes that he is not quite the only master of his body envelope, which he shares with a certain Mark Spector, whose identity he will have to discover but also the past through the series. . Because Mark Spector is struggling with supernatural forces dating back to ancient Egypt.
Mohamed Diab, Egyptian director of drama films, was responsible for the production of four of the six episodes of the series. We had the opportunity to ask him a few questions ahead of the broadcast of the series on Disney+. He describes for us behind the scenes of this series, which tries new things compared to the cinematographic universe Marvel while introducing a new character still unknown to the general public.
Moon Knight looks very different from other MCU superheroes. How did you transfer it from comics to screen?
Marvel’s recipe for success is that they are constantly reinventing themselves. After introducing so many superheroes, they chose this dark character, and giving it to someone like me, who’s done dark movies, meant they wanted to go in a new direction. I immediately wanted to push the dramatic side even further. We had to make the series darker, for the visuals to be different. They accepted that I write my own draft to push the series even further. And then we also recruited actors who could actually help me in that direction, Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke, May Calamawy… people who are really known for their work in the drama genre. So all together, we pushed a bit and that’s why the show looks different. But Marvel is smart enough to let us do that because they know it’s necessary. Once in a while they need to do something different. As for the comics itself, I didn’t know anything about it, but I think it’s an advantage. I didn’t have the weight of anything from the comics. All I cared about was making it a good story. For example, with my wife Sarah, we pitched the idea of a new villain who only exists in the comics by name. In our series, he does something completely new and very close to our culture and Egyptian mythology.
Disney+ seems to be where the MCU tries new things. Do you think directing a Marvel series gave you more freedom than directing a Marvel movie?
I can’t compare because I didn’t make a film for them so I don’t know their artistic freedom but I can tell you one thing. Every time we do a TV series, it means we have more time so we can usually use it for the characters, to understand them and to love them. I love it, especially when it comes to introducing a character. In a way, what Marvel did with Captain America in three films, we are able to do in a TV series. If all goes well, the next time you see Moon Knight in a movie or another series, you might think, “I’ve spent time with him. I know him very well, enough to go on an emotional adventure. with him now.”
There are many ideas to represent the fact that Steven Grant is not alone in his body. How did you work on the visual staging of his dissociative identity disorder in the series?
Speaking from my point of view, everything that is known about dissociative identity disorder comes from the movies. It was called multiple identity disorder. We’ve always seen it like that in movies with a good person and a bad person. But I think it’s much deeper than that. I learned a lot about the issue during the creation of the series. I wanted to share this thought with everyone because this one-dimensional view hurts people who suffer from this disorder. When you see the rest of the series, you will understand this idea even better. From the start, Sarah and I decided that we wanted to use visual themes to represent it. You will see a lot of reflections, shadows to stage duality and multiple characters. It’s an integral part of our series and it’s not forced. We see a lot of the character trapped or in places that look like cages. It’s not a gimmick, it’s our story. We tried to use these visual themes in almost every shot.
The series owes a lot to Oscar Isaac, who plays both Steven Grant and Mark Spector. Can you tell us about your collaboration on Moon Knight?
At first, Oscar was just coming out of big projects like Star Wars, X-Men and Dune and he just wanted to make small movies. The first thing he said to me after seeing my films was “What the hell are you doing here?” I replied that I still wanted to tell my intimate stories with Moon Knight, the only difference is that there is more budget. You can tell intimate stories without having a small budget. I presented to him how I saw the series and he agreed to be part of it. He wasn’t just curious about the Marvel experience of “I want to get paid and I want to be a superhero.” He wanted to make a good series. Same thing for Ethan Hawke. Every day, I had two very intelligent actors who questioned me, who wondered about every scene. It pushed me a lot to work. When you’re directing actors of this caliber, you have so many options because they’re awesome. But it was behind the scenes, before the cameras were rolling, that we worked a lot together.
What was your approach so that the viewer immediately recognizes Mark Spector and Steven Grant?
It required a lot of work and collaboration. We all had ideas: Oscar, Kevin Feige, Sarah, Grant Curtis, the screenwriters… But it’s obviously Oscar who contributed the most to all of this. The actor is the best defender of his character. It was Oscar who came up with the idea of different accents, which is a great way to recognize them instantly. Then we found them a different haircut, a different posture and attitude. Again, it’s all lyrics. Oscar makes all the difference. When he plays Steven, he is somebody. When he’s Mark, he’s someone else. It’s all theory until Oscar plays and that’s the most important thing. He was brilliant. I keep telling him he’s going to win it all. I don’t know what he will win but he is a genius. He found the right tone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKaUa5FcuxI
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Synopsis – Marc Spector is a veteran who suffers from sleep disorders and personality disorders. After the moon god Khonsu bestows his powers on him, he becomes a vigilante who goes by the name of Moon Knight. The series is inspired by the comic book character created in 1975 by Doug Moench and Don Perlin.
Long announced for 2022 without further details, Moon Knight is finally entitled to a release date. The Marvel series will be available to stream from March 30, 2022. Like the platform’s other productions, we can expect episodes to be released in dribs and drabs week after week: the first two on the day of the outing, then one every Wednesday.
- Oscar IsaacMarc Spector/Moon Knight
- Ethan HawkeDr. Arthur Harrow
- Gaspard Ulliel: Anton Mogart / Midnight Man
- Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter
- May Calamawy: role to be confirmed
Moon Knight is to be discovered from Wednesday March 30, 2022, with one episode each week. The Marvel series will be available on this date only for streaming on the Disney+ platform, like the studio’s other productions. No TV broadcast is planned.