Way back in 2017, Ethan Hawke made waves by blasting the then-recent Logan as just a “great superhero movie” but not a “great movie” in general, indicating that he wasn’t much of a fan of the genre. Fast forward to now, however, and the Before Sunset star is about to join the MCU himself in Marvel’s upcoming TV series Moon Knight. So what made Hawke do a 180-degree turn on the whole superhero scene?
While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Hawke admitted that, though he was a comic book fan as a kid, he’s been “apprehensive” about dipping into that world as an actor. However, he was convinced to do Moon Knight after his friend Oscar Isaac — who stars in the title role — reached out to him. Hawke’s faith in Isaac and the draw of working with the show’s directors was enough to get him over his skepticism.
“The comic book world meant a lot to me when I was younger…I was always a little apprehensive; there’s a certain kind of actor that really excels in that universe, and I’m still not sure I’m one of them,” Hawke said. “But then Oscar asked me, and I really respect him. And I knew that if he went in, he was going to go all in, and it’s fun to do any genre with people who are all in. Mohamed Diab, I really like his films, he’s a special director. So it just became about the project, and it wasn’t an intellectual decision at all; it was like, ‘Oh, let’s do something cool with these guys.'”
Hawke is playing Arthur Harrow, the series’ main villain. A very minor player from the comics — he only appeared in a single issue — the original Harrow was a former Nazi scientist. For the MCU, he’s been reimagined as a creepy cult leader, with Hawke basing his portrayal on real-life figure David Koresh, who has some kind of history with Isaac’s Marc Spector. That’s about all we know for now, so there’s probably some further revelations to come about the character that Marvel doesn’t want to spoil right now.
If Hawke’s worried about becoming too attached to the MCU, then maybe he doesn’t have to fear that after fans hilariously didn’t recognize him in the Moon Knight trailer. Folks were convinced that he was was actually Kevin Bacon donning the character’s lustrous wig when the trailer dropped, so if he ever needs someone to take over the role, he knows who to call. But despite his previous attitudes, Ethan Hawke really is boarding the Marvel universe. Catch him in action when Moon Knight hits Disney Plus on March 30.