Moon Knight Directors Benson & Moorhead Have Been Trying To Work With Marvel For A Long Time
Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are two of the most exciting filmmakers working today, with their films exuding originality and ideas with very small budgets, even building an extended cinematic universe of its own.
Now, they are joining the biggest cinematic universe around with "Moon Knight," the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe show, which follows a man with dissociative identity disorder who also seems to have the powers of an ancient Egyptian god.
The weirdness of "Moon Knight" and how the show uses that weirdness to complement a very intimate story about identity feels right at home with the duo's filmography. It makes for a perfect match and a great entry into the Marvel machine for the directors. But this is far from the first project they've met with Marvel for.
'It's so similar to the kind of thing that we do, and that was a blessing'
We've heard before that Benson and Moorhead were in the running for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" before Sam Raimi came along. Naturally, during an upcoming interview with /Film about their work on "Moon Knight," the duo talked about their Marvel projects that almost were.
"Well, it's funny, we've been going into Marvel, pitching on a lot of stuff, and trying to work on something with Marvel forever," Benson said. "As independent filmmakers, there's this temptation that if Marvel comes knocking, you might just want to take what it is, do your absolute best, and try to get it."
Now, this is not that surprising. For one thing, Marvel has been consistently tapping into the indie filmmaking sphere for helming their tentpole films. But it's Marvel's recent focus on exploring the weirder aspects of comics, the cosmic, the magic, the multiversal, that screams Benson and Moorhead, so it's actually surprising it took this long for the duo to collaborate with the house of ideas. Benson continued:
"We just couldn't believe that 'Moon Knight' actually was so much within our wheelhouse. It's so similar to the kind of thing that we do, and that was a blessing, because you want so badly to be part of the great American myth that is Marvel. And that it's actually a myth that you're able to tell very well, or feel like you can, is a blessing."
Indeed, anyone who has seen one of the duo's films, especially "Resolution," can see the connection to "Moon Knight." The larger, sci-fi elements, the cosmic horror... They are all just gorgeous and thrilling window dressing that aids a story that is intimate and heavy with pathos, like that of Oscar Isaac's Steven Grant.
So, did Marvel approach Benson and Moorhead with a list of projects, or did the duo come in ready with pitches? According to Benson: "Honestly, there's not one answer. So there's so many ways these things happen and that they come to be."
Meanwhile, Moorhead had a delightful reply: "Also, full disclosure, the last decade is kind of a blur of extraordinarily long complicated pitches. And then oftentimes not getting the job that we pitched for."
"Moon Knight" premieres on Disney+ on March 30, 2022. Meanwhile, Benson and Moorhead will return to the MCU when they direct season 2 of "Loki."