Psychiatrist Hired To Help Depict Mental Health Issues In 'Moon Knight'

Oscar Isaac, the star of Marvel’s upcoming series Moon Knight, has shared a lot recently about the series and the effort he and the production team put into the show. It was recently revealed that the show’s creators hired a psychiatrist to work on the show.

Marvel hired the psychiatrist to ensure that they accurately depicted the mental health conditions that the main character suffers in the series. The creators were determined to create a great superhero story that also broke the stigmas of mental health. Read on to find out more about how they accomplished this.

"Moon Knight" revolves around a new Marvel hero, Steven Grant, aka Moon Knight (played by Isaac). In the series, he has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and grapples with his multiple identities while investigating the mysteries of the old Egyptian gods.

To ensure they accurately depicted the condition and intricacies of mental health issues, the show’s creators hired a psychiatrist to work on the film. The Moon Knight is a crescent-wielding superhero who receives superhuman powers from the Egyptian god of the moon, Khonshu.

From what fans have seen in the trailer, Grant grapples with his identity as a museum employee and as mercenary Marc Spector while they learn more about the power Khonshu gifts him.

Mental health is a highly sensitive societal issue that filmmakers are careful to display in films. It needs to be approached and portrayed carefully so that it doesn’t derail the film and open it up to backlash and negative criticism from fans and film critics.

With how famous Marvel and the Marvel Cinematic Universe are, this level of care is critical. There will be a lot of pressure and anticipation to see how "Moon Knight" features a main character with DID.

There is even more pressure because the success or failure of the series will determine how much the MCU can open up to a greater representation of mental health issues. This is why Marvel put in the effort to ensure the depiction of DID was as accurate as possible.

During the production of "Moon Knight," as per The Direct, Marvel hired a professional psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Puri, to work with the cast and the production team to ensure the depiction of DID was as accurate and objective as possible.

Puri is currently a clinical assistant professor at the University of California (UCLA) and is no newbie in the entertainment industry. He is also a TV writer and has worked as a consultant for filmmakers on several film projects.

He has served severally as a subject-matter expert for news bodies, where he analyzes several mental health topics as they were depicted in characters in popular shows like Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad.

Marvel’s efforts and approach in "Moon Knight" is a refreshing change in the film industry, mainly because mental health conditions, DID in particular, have been portrayed many times in a villainous light or as a joke.

The series is an illustration to other filmmakers that they need to view mental health illnesses with a more serious and sensitive lens. However, it is too early to say whether Marvel’s efforts were successful, despite early positive reviews. The series will premiere on Disney plus on March 30th.