Yesterday, “Moon Knight” started trending on social media, which I figured was either something to do with Marvel, or NASA had announced the intention of forming a band of chivalrous knights to patrol the moon against possible moon monsters (anything feels possible these days). Fortunately, it was the former and not the insane-but-not-unlikely-in-the-current-climate latter—the moon has wasted enough of our time this week. Moon Knight trended because Oscar Isaac is in talks to play the Moon Knight, aka Marc Spector, for Marvel in a Disney+ series.
As we learned with Tatiana Maslany, we shouldn’t count our chickens before they hatch, but I do love this choice for Moon Knight. This is one of the wackier characters off the Marvel bench, a former soldier who embodies the Egyptian god of the moon and sometimes fights werewolves and is also a detective. It seems like the weirder the character is, the more Marvel wants to cast widely renowned actors of great repute, all the better if they have classical training (see also: Tom Hiddleston/Loki, Benedict Cumberbatch/Doctor Strange, Kit Harington/Black Knight). Isaac, widely regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, is also classically trained, having studied at Julliard. He completely fits the bill of the type of actor Marvels likes for roles like this.
He’s also not opposed to franchise work, having starred in Star Wars, although that didn’t really work out for anyone but Adam Driver, and X-Men: Apocalypse (not to mention Dune, which could launch a franchise, whenever it comes out). At least this time around, he’ll get to work with the most functional, least dramatic division of Disney, and he’ll get to play a really fun character. My biggest question for Moon Knight is which version do we see, the relatively normal, noir-ish detective version, or the full-on freaky monster-hunting version? Either way, Oscar Isaac will look hot doing it.
