The MCU is about to get its first Jewish super hero in the form of Marc Spector/ Moon Knight. The hero has been set to join the MCU via a Disney+ series for a while now, but today Deadline is reporting that the studio seems to have cast Star Wars star Oscar Isaac in the role.
Adding excitement to the upcoming series is the fact that it is being developed and written by Jeremy Slater, who also adapted the Umbrella Academy for Netflix.
Isaac joins a growing slate of MCU series on Disney + including Wandavision starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, Falcon and Winter Soldier starring Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan, Loki starring Tom Hiddleston, She-Hulk starring Tatiana Maslani, and Ms. Marvel starring Iman Vellani. The series will serve as a new destination for telling stories that can’t be told in a 2 hour film in standard Marvel movies as well as a way to introduce new heroes and villains that will one day be seen on the big screen.
If you aren’t familiar with Moon Knight, here’s his origin, as described by Wikipedia:
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Marc Spector is a Jewish-American rabbi’s wayward son. As an adult, Spector had been a heavyweight boxer before becoming a U.S. Marine serving in Force Recon, afterward, he left the Marines to become a mercenary occasionally doing work for the CIA. As a mercenary he befriends the French pilot Jean-Paul DuChamp, whom he affectionately calls “Frenchie”. While working for the African mercenary Raoul Bushman in Egypt, the group stumbles upon an archaeological dig whose crew includes Dr. Peter Alraune and his daughter Marlene Alraune. The dig had uncovered an ancient temple where artifacts included a statue of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu. Intent on looting the dig, Bushman kills Dr. Alraune. In response to Alraune’s murder, Spector challenges Bushman to personal combat and is defeated by Bushman and left to die in the sub-zero temperatures of the desert night. The Egyptians who worship the ancient gods find Spector and carry him to their temple. Helpless before the statue of Khonshu, Spector’s heart stops. Khonshu appears to him in a vision, offering Spector a second chance at life if he becomes the god’s avatar on Earth. Spector awakens, wraps himself in the silver shroud that covers Khonshu’s statue, and again confronts Bushman. He defeats Bushman and returns to America with Marlene, Frenchie, and the statue of Khonshu. Deciding to become a crimefighter, Spector creates a silver cloaked costume, based on the silver shroud, and becomes Moon Knight aka “The Fist of Khonshu”.
After his return to the United States, Spector invests the money that he had accumulated as a mercenary and develops a small fortune. To distance himself from his mercenary past, he creates the identity of millionaire entrepreneur Steven Grant, using this identity to purchase a spacious estate. To remain in contact with the street and criminal element, he also creates the identity of taxicab driver Jake Lockley and has acquired civilian allies such as Bertrand Crawley, Gena Landers, and her sons
In the meantime, Isaac is hoping his role in Dune doesn’t get pushed back any further.