While we are only one episode in as of the time of this writing (and probably two episodes by the time you’re reading this), audiences everywhere are raving about Marvel Studios’ latest Disney+ superhero streaming series Moon Knight (2022). While the character has been a fan favorite to comic book readers for years, he has never really made a big impact in popular culture outside the printed medium until now. It probably helps that genre favorite actor Oscar Isaac is starring in the series’ titular role, but could his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe be short-lived?
Moon Knight (2022) tells the story of Marc Spector, a masked vigilante who has a dissociative identity disorder and shares his body with a mild-mannered gift shop employee named Steven Grant. Steven is completely oblivious to Marc’s extracurricular activities, other than knowing he often finds himself waking up in strange places in a lot of pain with no memory of how he got there. The blackouts in his memory are seemingly getting longer, now with days going missing in between. It also doesn’t help that Steven is having these fantastical dreams that feel just a little too real.
Making Sure He Was The “Right Fit”
Series star Oscar Isaac is no stranger to working in top-tier franchise films, having been one of the three heroic leads in Disney’s recent Star Wars sequel trilogy and a brief stint in Fox’s X-Men universe as the villainous Apocalypse. But with this experience comes the actor’s hesitation to join future franchise endeavors.
While he was largely considered one of the best parts of the franchise, Isaac had a famously horrible time working in a galaxy far, far away and struggled to deal with the additional attention that his role brought him from a toxic fanbase. His time among Fox’s merry band of mutants also didn’t give him much satisfaction as X-Men: Apocalypse is often viewed as a low point in the franchise. His performance was much maligned after years of fans anticipating the character.
So what exactly gave Isaac the courage to sign on to a leading role in the massively popular Marvel Cinematic Universe? It’s quite simple – he didn’t have to commit.
In a discussion with Variety, Isaac confirmed that he was able to join the MCU on a per diem basis. Unlike most of the Marvel Studios’ stars, he was not required to sign a massive multi-project contract and could bow out at any time he wanted. His hesitance seems to have bought him a length of freedom that many of Marvel’s stars never get, along with plenty of creative freedom when it came time to develop the Moon Knight character and bring him to life.
Isaac said:
I was in a position – because I wasn’t actively looking to get back into something this big – to say, ‘This is how I see it, and if you guys don’t see it that way, that’s totally okay, but then maybe it’s not the right fit,’. And so I wasn’t afraid that I was going to do the wrong thing. I had heard of the golden handcuffs. That was something that I was reticent about. And luckily, we all agreed that this [show] is what we’re going to focus on. This is the story. And if there’s any kind of future, I think it just depends on if people like it, if people want to see more, and if we find a story that’s worth telling.
Is This Really Just a One And Done Deal?
While this is fantastic news for the actor, it is perhaps a little disappointing for fans as that means that Moon Knight (2022) could be a one-and-done series. We may never see Isaac reprise the role in further seasons or other Marvel projects. That said, it doesn’t seem like the star isn’t interested in returning, more so that he wants to have the option not to if he doesn’t like where it is going, which sounds fairly reasonable.
Thankfully, as reviews come in, most MCU fans are loving everything that the Moon Knight team is doing! The show is off to a strong start and while Oscar Isaac isn’t guaranteed to return for future MCU projects, there isn’t any real reason to believe that he wouldn’t reprise the role again. The star is a big enough name that he could easily become one of Marvel’s new mainstays as many of their other actors phase out of their leading roles. We just have to hope that they keep treating him right. At this time, he seems to have had a great experience working on the Moon Knight, so let’s hope we get a few more appearances out of him before he truly moves on!
Have you been enjoying Moon Knight (2022) so far? Do you think Oscar Isaac is doing the character justice, or would Marvel have been better off going in another direction? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section down below! Be sure to stick around Geek Anything for even more Moon Knight updates!
