Moon Knightpremieres at the end of the month on Disney+. Ahead of that, a new featurette hit the internet yesterday, with series stars Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke talking up their mystical mythology superhero show. According to Isaac, “it’s a real, legitimate character study”. Actors best known for serious dramatic work, like Isaac, always say stuff like that to justify their involvement with the tights and capes set, butMoon Knightis supposed to be darker in tone than anything Disney+ has done yet in the MCU. And the lead character, played by Isaac, does have dissociative identity disorder, and Isaac is also promising the show is going to “take the mental health aspect incredibly seriously”. We’ll see how much of a “character study” it ends up being, but I do thinkMoon Knightis going to have a different feel from the other Disney+ stuff.
Which is completely deliberate on Marvel and Disney’s part. They’re trying to make room for Deadpool, a franchise that has excelled as R-rated action comedy, but R-rated is not Disney’s brand. But they’ve got to figure out how something likeDeadpool—and, eventually,Blade—fits into Marvel’s home on Disney+ first, as it is the eventual roosting place of all Marvel things (they could just put all the R-rated stuff on Hulu, but whatever). All the Netflix-Marvel shows recently relocated to Disney+ (which prompted the Parents Television Council to warn Disney that these more violent series will “destroy your brand”, adding to Disney’sterrible, horrible, no good,very bad week), along withincreased parental controlson the platform, another step toward making space for more violent and foul-mouthed characters and stories.
As forMoon Knight, as good as Oscar Isaac’s hair looks—the degree of dishevelment of the curls relative to the length—I will NEVER forgive whoever made Isaac dye his beautiful silver fox hair. We could’ve had it all!
