Moon Knight Was The 'Most Challenging' Shoot Oscar Isaac Has Done Yet
Imagine life as a very famous and in-demand actor, if you will. As viewers, all we tend to focus on are the glamorous and internet-breaking photoshoots; the award-worthy performances; the exotic locales that their job allows them to visit on a regular basis. You know, the good stuff!
The part I have some empathy for, meanwhile, is the public relations and marketing side of the gig, which sometimes necessitates that actors say things like calling their latest superhero performance the "most challenging" thing they've ever done before in their entire career ... even in the face of some of their most impressive and complicated work yet, like Oscar Isaac in Paul Schrader's "The Card Counter" or the HBO series "Scenes From a Marriage." Is it a common enough refrain that perhaps fails to measure up to reality more often than not? Probably. Is it still worth reporting when someone like Isaac specifically says that about a project as exciting as "Moon Knight" appears to be? You bet.
The Oscar Isaac Effect
Maybe we shouldn't even be surprised by now, but Marvel's "Moon Knight" series for Disney+ has quickly turned from a niche comic-reader talking point to one of the superhero studio's most fascinating projects currently in-development. Describing the series as something that "doesn't follow the same ... logic of what a lot of superhero films do" was already enough to get full marks in my book, but the inspired casting of Oscar Isaac to star as the unstable superhero dealing with dissociative identity disorder while bringing along an actor like Ethan Hawke, of all people, to play the villain also helps! During an appearance on an episode of Variety's Awards Circuit Podcast (via Comic Book), Isaac got to talking about his experience on the recently-wrapped production of "Moon Knight."
"Speaking with Kevin [Feige], I told him I'm going to come in with these big ideas, and if you don't like them, that's fair. And immediately, we saw it all. I found so much room to do things that I've never done before and had been curious about and wanting to do. I could not wait to get to set, and it was the biggest workload I've ever had in my career and most challenging; by the sheer amount of stuff we had to do in eight months, and even yet, I couldn't wait to get to set and work."
As much as I'd like to call out hyperbole when I see it, it's actually quite believable that a Disney+ Marvel series production stretched out over the better part of a year would end up posing a unique challenge. The common thread throughout Isaac's insights on "Moon Knight" to this point has been his visible enthusiasm over the role. For instance, Hawke previously called Isaac's performance "absolutely phenomenal" and has also admitted that he owes his own appearance in the series to Isaac himself. If/when "Moon Knight" turns out to be the next big thing upon release, it sounds like Marvel will need to make sure they send Oscar Isaac a very nice "Thank You" gift in the mail. Ideally in the form of a massive check or two.
"Moon Knight" drops on Disney+ on a to-be-announced date in 2022.