Moon Knight: The Troublesome Casting For Oscar Isaac

Oscar Isaac is in talks to play Marvels Moon knight in the upcoming Disney + series, but there are some potential issues with this casting choice. This isn’t the first time the Golden Globe nominated actor has stepped into the blockbuster realm and played both ace pilot Poe Dameron in the world war of stars Continued trilogy, as well as the infamous title villain in X-Men: Apocalypse. At the end of 2018 he also had a surprise appearance Spider-Man: In den Spider-Vers as none other than Spider-Man 2099, a role many fans hope will return as in the sequel.

This time around, reports suggest he will slip into the role of Marc Spector aka Moon Knight, a former mercenary who became a vigilante after a near death experience and makes contact with the ancient Egyptian moon god Khonshu. The character’s storylines are eclectic, allowing him to fend off werewolves and supernatural threats, as well as taking on the seedy criminal element in Marvel’s stories at the street level. Another notable element of Moon Knight as a character is his struggles with dissociative identity disorders that manifest in several different personalities that fade in and out over the years due to different writers and creative teams.

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Since the character’s Disney + series was announced, there have been heated discussions about who should take on the coat, from fan favorites like Shia LaBeouf to more recent rumors like Daveed Diggs. While Oscar Isaac is certainly a good choice, there are some concerns that are emerging about the potential for casting.

Oscar Isaac is too famous to play Moon Knight

While Oscar Isaac is a truly phenomenal actor, he’s also easy to spot considering how many films he’s made over the past few years. Roles like In Llewyn Davis, Star Wars, and the ones to be released soon Yesterday have made him a household name with a recognizable stage presence. His online status as a “friend of the Internet” made him even more remarkable and set him apart from the more cautious casting decisions of the MCU.

When actors like Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth were cast in their roles, they weren’t the instantly recognizable superstars they are now, which gave the audience time to watch them blend into their roles and grow into the characters that the audience fell in love with. Arguably the biggest star in the MCU during the Phase One era was Robert Downey Jr., but his career was on the brink recently and it was his own personality that made him as headstrong as Tony Stark. Isaac is a phenomenal performer, but with a character like Moon Knight, who isn’t as well known to the public as Spider-Man or Wolverine, the cast of such an actor on the A-list could make fans see less of Marc Spector and more by Oscar Isaac.

Moon Knight is different from Oscar Isaac’s other roles

Marc Spector was always a tough cast from day one as he was a little awkward and manic as a superhero. His DID makes him very difficult to identify as different comic runs have approached the character in a variety of ways, each with different and unique personalities that will either help or hinder him depending on his state of sanity. While Oscar Isaac will undoubtedly have no problem delving into such a complex role, for him it will be the first of its kind.

Isaac has quite a diverse filmography as an actor, but many of his roles fall into the category of the quiet, introspective loner or polite Debonair villains like Poe Dameron. In general, a lot of his performances are pretty muted and subtle, while a character like Marc Spector is just the opposite. As the Moon Knight and truly all of his alternate personalities, Spector is animated and hectic, especially in newer runs that really delve into the severity of his potential neuroses. To really get into the role, we need to see Isaac step out of his comfort zone into a role with more tangibility than he sometimes did before.

Disney should have cast a Jewish actor for Moon Knight

Much like Daredevil and his relationship with Catholicism, Marc Spector has a very important relationship with his faith as a Jewish man and how it is directly related to his experiences as a crimefighter. One of his first comic book series reveals that Moon Knight’s father was a rabbi, which deeply rooted him in the Jewish faith growing up. However, it is also shown that Marc did not grow into his beliefs in a particularly easy way, and as he got older he essentially began to lead a publicly faithful life while internally struggling with the tenets of his belief. It is this dichotomy that most likely resulted in Marc’s psyche being so rooted in duality and leading multiple lives.

This is a defining trait of him as a character, and many fans assumed Disney would use this to cast a Jewish actor in the role. In fact, many of the rumored auditions were actors who were either observant or culturally Jewish, right down to the fancier picks like Nick Kroll. While Oscar Isaac has indicated that his surname on his father’s side came from Jewish relationships, there is evidence that he grew up in an Evangelical Protestant household, which has shaped his adult experience. This is by no means a deal breaker as actors have to play roles and experiences outside of their own every day, but an actor who grew up in a mindful Jewish household would give them a special glimpse into Marc Spector’s duality and his own broken one Relationship to his faith. Even so, Oscar Isaac is a bold and exciting choice for Moon knight, A character who has a complex and nuanced relationship with their own mental health needs an actor who is known for taking on daring and unique roles.

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