News of productions and casting for various Marvel Studios shows has been pouring out over the past few weeks. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and Loki are seemingly all rolling cameras again, and even Hawkeye has their ball rolling with casting calls for its villains and underlings. However, the one show that has seen the least amount of traction since being announced last year is Moon Knight.
The last thing fans have heard about Moon Knight, regarding its casting at least, was last year when Marvel Studios was rumored to be looking for a Jewish “Zac Efron-type,” of Jewish descent for Marc Spector. However, two days ago, Charles Murphy mentioned on his podcast, Murphy's Law, that, like Kamala Khan, the character of Marc Spector has been cast and is just waiting to be announced.
Now, Marvel Studios is beginning to build their Moon Knight supporting cast around their Marc Spector.
NEWS
The Direct has exclusively learned that Marvel Studios is casting for two main roles for their Moon Knight series.
While it's not yet confirmed who these two characters are, our sources tell us that one character the studio is casting for is Jean-Paul DuChamp (aka "Frenchie"), the best friend of Marc Spector.
20-40 (years old), White male. A stereotypical good looking, overly enthusiastic, less intelligent than average but still lovable. Actor must be fluent in French.
The second role is for a character who is likely Marlene Alraune - a love interest of Marc Spector.
20-35 (years old), all ethnicities, female. A manipulative operative in a secret organization, capable of going from cool and tough to warm and friendly in a heartbeat.
WHAT THIS MEANS
The first casting call specifically requiring an actor who speaks fluent French is just one big blue, white, and red French flag that the character is Frenchie. In the comics, he is the partner and best friend of Marc Spector, even before he became Moon Knight. Once Marc started fighting crime as the Crescent Crusader, Frenchie acted as his personal pilot during missions and outings.
While the majority of the description for the character seems to fit, what sticks out is that Marvel is looking for someone to portray Frenchie as "less intelligent than average." While Frenchie wasn't a tech whiz by any means in the comics, he certainly wasn't dumb either. Marvel Studios may be making Frenchie a more comedic or light-hearted character to add levity to what could be a show filled with heavy topics like Spector's mental issues.
As for the role of the female main character, everything about the character description does fit Marlene, as she would often assist Marc and Frenchie on various missions, going undercover and even manipulating targets. Although Marlene never had a prominent role in any "secret organization" in the comics, it's very possible that, like with Frenchie, Marvel Studios will be altering her character and backstory slightly to fit the story they want to tell.
Production schedules for Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and Hawkeye have been reported in the last several weeks, but fans still don't know when Moon Knight will shoot. Originally, before the pandemic, it was reported that production for Moon Knight would begin in Pinewood U.K, during the first half of this year. Another, less reliable report, from Production Weekly reported that filming would begin this November, which does not seem to be the case.
However, with this casting news, along with the role of Marc Spector being filled, it's entirely likely that fans will hear about a more concrete filming date - hopefully before the end of the year.
