Actor Oscar Isaac is beloved by fans for appearing in some of the most popular blockbusters of the decade.
He has appeared in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy as Resistance pilot Poe Dameron. He appeared in 2021’s “Dune” and had a role as the villain in 2016’s “X-Men Apocalypse.”
But the “Scenes From A Marriage” actor has been vocal about his love for playing character-driven roles, which is why some were surprised to hear that he had taken on the role of the titular superhero “Moon Knight” in the latest Marvel comic book superhero live-action series.
In an interview with E! News, Isaac explains why he took the role and compared fans from the different franchises he’s been a part of over the years.
Oscar Isaac Says ‘Star Wars’ Fan Reaction Was ‘Like A Religious Frenzy’
The “Ex Machina” actor told the outlet that “Star Wars” fans were “particularly frenzied,” although he noted that some of the intense reaction was due to the franchise being absent in the media for so long.
“It was bringing back the story,” he admitted. “It had been a while. It was a whole new chapter in the saga. That was like a religious frenzy that was happening there.”
He compared “Dune” to “Lord of the Rings” and how both were popular movies based on a book series.
“Dune is much more akin to Lord of the Rings, very literally,” he shared. “People have lived with those books for a long time, so those are fascinating conversations.”
Oscar Isaac Talks ‘Moon Knight’ And His ‘Little Known Character’
Although fans are very familiar with Captain America and Thor by now, Isaac admitted that “Moon Knight” hasn’t been well-represented outside of the comic book series, most likely due to the difficulties of playing a character with a dissociative identity disorder that is also the human avatar for the ancient Egyptian moon god Khonshu.
“With the MCU, what’s exciting is that it’s a little known character,” Isaac explained. “Definitely there are some people who have been fans of it for a long time—he’s been around since 1975. But still, it’s a relatively obscure character. So the opportunity to introduce him into the world, and to a whole set of new fans, that’s also one of the most exciting parts of this whole thing.”
Although there have been some changes from the comic book character to the big screen (for example, the character is Jewish whereas Isaac is not), Isaac admitted that he “took inspiration” from the comic books in his portrayal.
“I certainly went back to the comics and looked through them,” he said. “I took inspiration from them.”
“I had the art department give me a bunch of different covers and photos from the comics and I had them all around my trailer, so at every moment I was immersed in the aesthetic that is Moon Knight,” he added.
Oscar Isaac Describes The ‘Surprise’ He Experienced On The ‘Moon Knight’ Set
Although Oscar Isaac was concerned about filming a large-scale Marvel production, Isaac said that he was surprised by their wiliness to collaborate.
“My reservations were about whether there was really going to be room to create and collaborate, and having a voice in forming the story and the character and the journey of the whole thing,” Isaac told the outlet. “To my wonderful surprise, it ended up being one of the most creatively collaborative, fulfilling experiences that I’ve had.”
Isaac recently echoed this in a separate interview with Entertainment Weekly, where he shared a tradition that he started on set.
Isaac and costar Ethan Hawke, who plays his nemesis Arthur Harrow, began the tradition of bringing all of the actors, directors, and key crew members together for brunch every Sunday. As a team, they would run through each sequence that they needed to film in the upcoming week and adjust scenes as they felt necessary.
“What I didn’t expect was that it was going to be such a collaborative experience,” Isaac shared. “Not only for me, but everyone involved. There was so much freedom to fail, to try stuff. You only get a good idea by saying a lot of dumb ideas first, generally. There was a lot of trust in that process. I think that was a big surprise.”
New episodes of “Moon Knight” drop every Wednesday on Disney+.
