The Specific Reason Justin Benson And Aaron Moorhead Directed Moon Knight Episodes 2 And 4
Say what you will about Kevin Feige (he's probably heard it all), but he and the other head honchos at Marvel Studios have a knack for pairing directors with the right project. It's hard to imagine anyone other than Taika Waititi making the vibrant, irreverent "Thor: Ragnarok" such a blast, just like it's hard to envision someone other than Chloé Zhao daring to mess with the Marvel Cinematic Universe formula the way she did with "Eternals." And let's not forget James Gunn, whose offbeat sense of humor and love of misfits made him the perfect choice for the "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies.
The same could be said for filmmaking duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. With acclaimed low-budget movies like the body horror-romance "Spring" and mind-bending sci-fi thriller "Synchronic" under their belts, the pair made the jump to the MCU for "Moon Knight," a show about a superhero (Oscar Isaac) with dissociative identity disorder. They've already proven to be an excellent fit for the series, itself the most character and acting-driven MCU project in quite some time (on top of being refreshingly stand-alone in its ties to the greater MCU, or lack thereof).
Indeed, "Moon Knight" episode 2, "Summon the Suit," is well-served by their ingenuity. As /Film's Vanessa Armstrong noted in her review, Benson and Moorhead thread a tricky needle in the way they show the titular character's identities speaking to one another — namely, by having them "talk with each other via reflections without it becoming hokey." The ironic part? It was only really a happy accident that Benson and Moorhead directed this and episode 4 to begin with.
'Each episode has its own voice'
Most of "Moon Knight" was directed by Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Diab, with Benson and Moorhead helming episodes 2 and 4 only. In an interview with Collider, Moorhead admitted he and Benson were already up to their knees in the MCU when they thought to ask why they'd been assigned these specific episodes:
"... You know what's funny? We were already deep in the production when we talked to Mohamed. We're like, 'Why do we have [episodes] 2 and 4?' We were just presented with [episodes] 2 and 4. Honestly, the answer is very, very boring. There was like kind of logistical calendar reasons and all of that and because... Have you've seen the episodes? Okay. So without giving things away for people who haven't, but [episode] 4 is, in many ways location-wise, it's very much its own thing."
Again, though, "Moon Knight" episode 2 was a great match for Benson and Moorhead. Much like the mild-mannered Steven Grant (one of Moon Knight's identities), episode 1 throws the audience right into the deep end, barely pausing to explain what's happening. Episode 2, on the other hand, is far more dialogue-driven, with characters delivering exposition and going on about their lives and personal beliefs for much of its runtime. Luckily, having people talk non-stop and making it visually interesting is something the directors know how to do quite well.
If anything, though, it sounds like "Moon Knight" episode 4 will give the duo a chance to change things up once again. Moorhead explained:
"So [episode 4] was able to be something that we were able to cordon off a little bit. Episodes 1 and 2 talk to each other a little bit more. But that was kind of as we were figuring out the production. Again, you'll see with [episodes] 5 and 6, again, very much their own voice from each other and from the rest of the episodes. So that was pretty much why, is that each episode has its own voice and we were handed [episodes] 2 and 4."
New episodes of "Moon Knight" release Wednesdays on Disney+.