Oscar Isaac’s performance in Moon Knight is going to turn heads next week. The MCU’s newest hero suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, which as the series portrays it, means he has to deal with multiple personalities vying for control of his body. That’d be a tricky enough situation on its own, but he also has ancient Egyptian god of vengeance Khonshu choosing him as his avatar of justice.
As such, there are multiple scenes of Isaac’s character talking to himself, as the Steven Grant and Marc Spector personalities square off against one another. We Got This Covered just attended the Moon Knight press conference, where Isaac revealed that he rehearsed these scenes with the help of his brother:
The first step was to hire my brother Michael Hernandez to come in and be the other me. He’s the closest thing to another me there is. So he came in and he could play either Steven or Marc, he even did both accents. So that was really helpful to have someone that’s not only a great actor but shares my DNA to play off of.
Isaac then went into detail on how tough it is to play two characters sharing the same body:
That was something I didn’t anticipate – how technically demanding it would be. I’d show up and decide which character I was going to play first and then try to block that out and give my brother notes, and then switch characters. One of the fun things about acting is acting opposite somebody and letting something spontaneous happen that you don’t expect. But here there wasn’t really an opportunity to do that. So that was challenging.
Next week you’ll get to decide for yourself whether Isaac pulled it off. Marvel Studios have sent us the first four episodes, and while I won’t spoil anything that happens in the show, I will say that Isaac’s hero genuinely is like nothing else the MCU has ever seen before, combining crazy supernatural abilities and intense vulnerability. Let’s just say this isn’t your usual superhero power fantasy.
Moon Knight premieres next Wednesday, March 30, with the first season consisting of six episodes. Beyond that, we don’t know how the character will fit into the wider Marvel universe, though star Ethan Hawke has already hinted that further seasons could be in the cards.