Moon Knight Writer Reveals The Inspirations For Oscar Isaac's Costume
Warning: contains mild spoilers for the first two episodes of "Moon Knight."
"Moon Knight" hive, please assemble! With episode 2 of the Disney+ series having dropped today, "Moon Knight" head writer Jeremy Slater has revealed the inspirations behind Oscar Isaac's superhero costume. Slater took to Twitter to explain how their creative team landed on the idea for the classic Moon Knight suit, which needed to come together in a way that was "supernatural":
My very first idea for the show was a scene where Steven was trapped in a bathroom by a monster, only to be saved by the man in the mirror.
So right from the beginning, I knew his suit would need to be supernatural. 2/8
— Jeremy Slater (@jerslater) April 6, 2022
Slater goes on to explain how the conjuration of the suit needed to be seamless, given the context of the moment when it is first donned by Marc, and the idea of the current version of the suit was inspired by the "UNIVERSE X" version of "Moon Knight", originally created by Alex Ross, Doug Braithwaite and Jim Krueger.
Becoming the knight of the moon
"Moon Knight" is already markedly different from other MCU superhero introductions in subject matter, the treatment of the characters, and the way in which the narrative is allowed to unfold without being a run-of-the-mill superhero origin story. Slater's reveal of the costume inspirations cements how the show delves into the comics' roots while coming up with a version that works well with the story:
"We realized if the suit was conjured into existence *like the bandages on a mummy,* it would feel visually distinct from all the Stark/nanotech suits that currently populate the MCU. We pitched the 'summoning' idea to Kevin Feige using the Universe X costume as a visual aid. He loved it... but wanted us to take it a step further. It was Kevin's idea to combine the modern Moon Knight look with the Universe X mummy bandages.
The end result is one of the coolest costumes we've ever seen in the MCU, brought to brilliant life by Marvel's team of artists and designers. And it all started with a 20-year-old piece of comic art pinned to a whiteboard."
The suit design melds in brilliantly with the show's narrative focus, as the mummy-like bandages echo the show's focus on Egyptian mythology and lore, which is an integral part of Marc/Steven's arc and Dr. Harrow's (Ethan Hawke) motivations. The practicality of the design works well too, given that Steven has to switch alters at the drop of a hat sometimes, and summoning the suit can be an easy process when it comes together seamlessly out of thin air.
The series has already provided a glimpse into the alternate Mr. Knight costume, which can be seen in episode 2 at a certain point during a tense fight sequence. As costuming is an integral part of a character's presence on-screen, the "Moon Knight" team has surely done a commendable job of integrating a suit that helps distinguish between the alters and set the tone of certain scenes which require Marc or Steven to suit up.
The first two episodes of "Moon Knight" are currently streaming on Disney+.