Marvel Studios is only a few days away from kicking off its slate of Phase 4 content in 2022 with Oscar Isaac's Moon Knight, set to debut on Disney+. The MCU newcomer will be one of the franchise's most unique characters to date in a series that looks to make its own special mark on the growing narrative. Fans have already seen some of what filming delivered, and the reviews are quite favorable thus far.
Filming for the series started nearly a year ago in Budapest, lasting for the better part of 2021 before post-production added the effects and post-production work needed for the supernatural story. Fans have already gotten a taste of just how wild this series will be thanks to material with Egyptian gods and a clip featuring demons coming out of the ground.
Although Moon Knight experienced the same delays for filming that every other MCU project did, production went fairly smoothly for the show as it worked toward its early 2022 release date. Things were so smooth, in fact, that the show's director laid claim to Moon Knight holding a unique record compared to its Marvel Studios counterparts.
Moon Knight Director on Rehearsals & Reshoots
During the virtual press conference for Marvel Studios' Moon Knight, director Mohamed Diab revealed that the series set a unique MCU record in terms of filming.
While praising the team behind the show for adding so much soul to the end result, Diab shared that Moon Knight set the record for "having the least additional photography" in Marvel Studios history. Diab attributed this to the cast and crew having rehearsed the material so thoroughly ahead of time, leading to the smallest number of reshoots on any MCU project ever:
Diab: “I have to thank Marvel for giving us the chance to play… I think [Marvel producer Grant Curtis] gave us the chance to develop this show, when you gave us the chance to have those table reads. Everyone who’s sitting here added his soul to that project. And I have to say that we hold the record of having the least additional photography in the history of Marvel, because we rehearsed a lot.”
Stars Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke reflected on how calm and easy shooting was, sharing that they would chat about their work on their own and as a part of what Diab brought to the table too:
Isaac: “Even when we were shooting, we’d sit around a table and have like a Sunday Brunch...”
Hawke: “And we’d all just talk about the episodes. We’d talk about the show… ‘What would that mean? Would that be more interesting?’ And it brought our collective imagination into one thing. And that made it easier, when we’d be directed by you vs. you, it was always part of the same team. The same imaginative force behind it was the same.”
Moon Knight Getting the Job Done
Every major movie or TV show accounts for having to reshoot material due to natural human error. This happens despite these teams being the best professional filmmakers in the business. This applies to the MCU as well, in which every project has a fairly lengthy production schedule, although the Moon Knight team didn't have any issues whatsoever in that regard.
Isaac and Hawke have both had considerable experience working on high-profile Hollywood stories, particularly with Isaac's time playing Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. But considering how quickly and efficiently they got their work done on the set of Moon Knight, this should bode well for the anticipation this series is building.
Early reviews are praising Moon Knight as one of Marvel's best new projects to date - an impressive feat after award-winning shows like WandaVision led the way in 2022. This news only adds to the excitement that's already in place for this dark hero's debut as fans look forward to seeing Isaac and Hawke nail their on-screen MCU debuts.
Moon Knight will begin streaming on Disney+ on March 30.
