Every now and then I come across some information the veracity of which can be confirmed by a second source. What happens FAR more often is that I come across some information that while believable and from trustworthy sources, cannot be confirmed by other sources for various reasons. For instance, on February 19th, I wrote this piece relaying some rumors I’d heard about Marvel Studios updating its Disney Plus slate; the next day, the news broke that a special Disney Plus event would be held in London on March 5th where it is expected that Marvel Studios and Star Wars slates will be updated. I also shared information about Peyton Reed directing episodes of season 2 of The Mandalorian months before he made it official. With productions either underway or ramping up, information is starting to come back in and this time I heard something incredibly interesting about Marvel Studios Moon Knight.
While rumors have persisted that Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Moon Knight will begin production in 2020, it seems like it’s destined to begin filming in early 2021 alongside She-Hulk. Like She-Hulk, however, it’s also been rumored for some time that the studio has settled on their lead actor. I heard whispers as far back as August that the studio had found their Marc Spector and have done everything I could to try to uncover the identity of the actor but ran into roadblocks at every turn. This weekend, however, a very trusted source shared a couple of names with me that he had heard associated with the role. To be clear, there is no evidence that one of these actors has landed the role and I was unable to confirm with a second source that these two actors were in the mix; however, with the absence of news about who Marvel Studios has chosen, I believe sharing some info about names they MAY have considered could generate some interesting discussion. According to the source, Marvel Studios showed interest in actors Daveed Diggs and Nick Kroll for the role of Marc Spector!
Diggs and Kroll both fit the mold while breaking it at the same time. Given the prominent role that Spector’s Jewish background plays in the comics (his father is a rabbi), it’s been the popular opinion that Marvel Studios would seek out a Jewish actor to portray Spector and both Diggs and Kroll fit the bill there. On the other hand, Kroll is known as more of a comedian and it’s been Diggs’ vocal talents that have helped propel him towards stardom, though both actors have moved outside their comfort zones in their recent work. Kroll displayed his dramatic chops in 2018’s Operation Finale and Diggs received rave reviews for his role in the uber smash hit Hamilton, 2018’s Blindspotting, and more recently in the Snowpiercer series, a role in which he’s delved not only into some big-time action sequences but also into a world of loss and violence not altogether different from the one inhabited by Marc Spector.
Again, there’s no indication that either actor sat down and had discussions with Marvel Studios about the role, much less signed on for it. Realistically, unless one of these actors gets the role, there’ll never be a way to “prove” they ever considered; however, if they were in fact on “the list”, it shows an impressive amount of non-paradigmatic thinking on the part of the Kevin Feige’s trusted casting crew led by Sarah Finn. While I’ve been on board the Shia LeBeouf for Spector hype train (I may have built it, if we’re being honest) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen is a popular fan cast, it seems the studio is at least considering some more “off-beat” actors rather than the “edgy” types we’ve all had in mind. The potential interest in the two also offers a little clarity on an age range for Spector and, like the two actors, it’s a little different than what I was thinking. I was surprised to see that Diggs is 38 (would be 39 by the time production ramped up) and Kroll is 42, so while we’re certainly going to see an origin story, we’re also definitely getting a Moon Knight who has served his time as both a Marine and a merc and who has been through the ringer a bit. With all that in mind, I’m even more excited than ever to find out who Marvel Studios has chosen for the role as my mind has suddenly been opened up to a whole lot more options that I was previously considering!
Marvel Studios Moon Knight is headed to Disney Plus (eventually).
