Tag: Moon Knight

May Calamawy on Her Dream MCU Team-Up

With the final episode of Moon Knight, May Calamawy‘s Layla El-Faouly became the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first Egyptian superhero: Scarlet Scarab. Since the character’s debut, fans have been wondering what future awaits the Scarlet Scarab, and whether or not we’ll get to see her sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen what plans Marvel Studios has in store for the character, but Calamawy has some ideas of where she’d like to take the character.

In an interview with Inverse, the actress revealed that, while she has yet to hear of the character’s on-screen future, she has ideas of characters she’d like her to meet. “I love Dr. Strange, that would be cool,” she said. “Blade would be cool because I’ve worked with Mahershala Ali and I think he’s so wonderful. And then, I love all the women. I love Agatha. I feel like in the beginning, I used to love anyone that was kind of a villain like Nebula. I found them so complex. But honestly, it really depends on the story. I kind of want to be with all of them.”

For Calamawy, while she doesn’t know if Layla will get to join any of those heroes on the big screen, she is thrilled just to be able to portray the Egyptian hero. While she knows the hero might not be as important to everyone, Calamawy hopes fans can at least recognize what Layla stands for. “To really step into what’s true for me has taken a lot of courage. And, I know not everyone is going to look at Layla and go, I relate to that woman, but what I hope is that she becomes a testament of being true to you. Because that’s going to always be every single person’s superpower.”

All episodes of Moon Knight are now streaming on Disney+.

Source: Inverse.

May 10, 2022
F. Murray Abraham on Khonshu and ‘Moon Knight’

While Oscar Isaac is the star of Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight, there’s no denying how well F. Murray Abraham does at injecting life into the god Khonshu. In a brand new interview with Marvel, the Academy Award-winning actor discusses what it was like to bring the character to life and how he became involved with the project. Per Abraham, he was approached by Marvel Studios directly to voice the character, which was a pleasant surprise for the legendary actor.

“They approached me, they called me. I don’t know how they got around to it, but I was delighted because I thought it was fun.” Abraham went on to explain what caused him to ultimately take the role, noting he loved the surprises it offered. “The idea that these creatures that keep appearing out of mythology seem absolutely plausible. I think that’s part of the magic of the piece. It’s all vaguely possible. Going to Egypt and going to the tombs and to the pyramids, it makes it kind of a reality, I think. What do you think?”

The actor, who came onto the project late, also revealed Marvel hadn’t told him much about the character when he was approached. Instead, the studio opted to show him some of what they’d done already and asked if he’d be able to come up with a voice for the character of Khonshu. “It’s an outrageous character as far as I’m concerned. I hate to say this, because, well, it’s an actor’s ego, but I think he’s just one of the very loveliest characters in the whole piece.”

For the actor, the most exciting part of it all was that he got to play around with the voicework. He was able to provide feedback and rerecord if they felt there was a better way to approach some of the lines. It was an overall very collaborative process that he was glad to be a part of.

While a second season hasn’t been announced, Abraham is more than ready to return to the character should more seasons occur. For him, he views Moon Knight – and super heroes – as a glimmer of hope in an often less than hopeful world. “In this poor old world that we’re living in, finally there are truly Super Heroes. To use that old expression in other, modern terms, these Super Heroes really are trying to accomplish good. That’s so important. I can’t tell you how important that is. It makes things a little more hopeful. And we could surely use some hope these days, don’t you think?”

All six episodes of Moon Knight are now streaming on Disney+.

Source: Marvel.

May 9, 2022
How ‘Moon Knight’ Sets Up a Potential Scarlet Scarab-Focused Disney+ Series

Moon Knight‘s finale has introduced us to a new hero, Scarlet Scarab. Layla El-Faouly, who is played by the wonderful May Calawamy, becomes the Avatar of the Egyptian goddess Taweret. Her new heroic alter-ego is strongly inspired by the name her father gave to her, we get introduced to the MCU’s first Egyptian superhero. While the series remained focused on its main hero, it left a lot of questions open on what exactly the future has in store for Layla moving forward. There actually is a storyline that could be used to continue her own story in a Disney+ spinoff.

Some may complain that too many characters are getting their own series, which is understandable given the surprising announcement for Echo and Agatha: House of Harkness. Yet, that’s the potential behind Disney+ to give smaller characters their potential to explore stories that would otherwise be relegated to off-screen. Plus, it gives new creatives and talents to tell a story that otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to. While Mohamed Diab pointed out he’d love to tackle a Moon Knight film next, I do believe there’s a lot here that he could build upon to further explore Scarlet Scarab’s place in the bigger MCU.

The Egyptian pantheon has lost its control, as their Avatars have been killed by Arthur Harrow’s hands to unleash Ammit. While they manage to subjugate him and God, their actions still left behind quite a dangerous power vacuum. They no longer have any Avatars to keep an eye on Earth, and the fact that they literally fell for Harrow’s mischief might have left a rather sour taste in their mouths. That’s not all though, we’ve seen quite a few gods were trapped in a similar way to Khonshu, and with the destruction of their holy place, who knows what may have found its way out of its imprisonment.

There are many moving pieces at play that could put Layla at a rather questionable place, as she was quite reluctant to even become an Avatar, it opens her up to facing an unlikely challenge. The desire to simply give it all back isn’t as simple, something we’ve clearly seen with Khonshu’s hold over Marc Spector. While Taweret isn’t shown to be someone that is self-centered, she may be desperate to somehow keep order with them being the only remaining Avatar for the Egyptian pantheon–not knowing that Khonshu still holding a grip over Marc through another alter.

A conflict of duty and freedom may create a rift between Layla and Taweret, as she becomes unwillingly pulled into a role she never asked for. Her line with the little girl about being an Egyptian superhero had a much bigger weight on her future than she may have bargained for. Yet, it may also help her find a place in the world that she wouldn’t have considered, while also getting a chance of closure with her father, especially as Taweret teased she had talked to him.

Diab’s work in Moon Knight gave us glimpses of the beauty of Egypt, which felt like we’ve only scratched the surface. As Spector returned to London, it would be a shame not to further explore the country and its culture through the eyes of Layla. As great as Marc Spector’s time in that country was, he has a very different connection to it. He was more a gateway than a full embrace, which gave us Layla’s transformation into the Scarlet Scarab, perfectly setting her up as the person to further explore that corner of the MCU.

May 9, 2022
‘Moon Knight’ From Page to Screen: Episode 6

Over the past few weeks, we’ve delved into how Moon Knight show has continuously referenced a number of comic runs either within its greater storyline or with small details that helped make the show so rewarding when familiar with the source material. Following Episode 1, we looked at how the show explored Marc Spector’s dissociative identity disorder compared to the comics. In Episode 2 Mr. Knight was introduced through a rather different take than in the comics and in Episode 3 Layla’s backstory, along with her dad’s, was approached and so we delved deep into how those same events were presented in both the original Moon Knight comic run and the more recent Lemire/Smallwood one. After the twist ending of Episode 4, we again looked at the ways that the series was inspired by the psych ward introduced in that latter run something that continued into episode 5 with Marc becoming Moon Knight.

As for episode 6, finding a specific moment that was worth exploring in terms of its comic counterpart became an issue in and of itself. With Marvel Studios so keen on being as unpredictable as possible when it comes to its storylines, especially its third acts (that obviously also include all series/season finales), the comics end up being referenced in a less obvious way. The thematic correlation is still there, and so being that’s perhaps the way to go about it: Focusing on what the show is trying to do that the comics already did—albeit in different ways—, and what that might hint towards the future of these characters.

Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight Episode 6

Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight Episode 6

Two of the major takeaways from the latest Moon Knight episode were presented in the post-credit scene. There, we found out that despite Marc deciding to go against Khonshu’s will towards killing Harrow, the God of the Moon and the Night Sky was still very much determined to keep his body as his earthly vessel. And with that in mind, his third alter was finally revealed with Jake Lockley making this on-screen debut, showing himself to be the most unhinged and violence-prone of the identities sharing said body. Both these particulars seem to hint at a larger story being told, more connected to Marc’s dissociative identity disorder (DID) than to his superhero endeavors.

Moon Knight #9 (2016)

The relationship between Marc and Khonshu never seemed to be one based on mutual interests, and so this abuse is sure to strain it even further leading to greater altercations down the line. As we watched throughout the show, Marc’s motivations for going along with Khonshu’s greater plan were basically attached to concerns over Layla’s well-being. Even with his prominent sense of duty, the deal he made with Khonshu that led to him becoming his Fist of Vengeance did not seem worth keeping, as death was something Marc welcomed in order to escape his fate. Unless, of course, that meant that Layla would then have to endure his burden. Much as in the aforementioned Lemire/Smallwood run, Marc ends up understanding that a rejection of Khonshu’s ways was absolutely necessary in order for him, even with the other identities, to ever feel comfortable in his own skin.

Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight Episode 6

Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight Episode 6

But this wasn’t always the case as Marc at times determined that the other identities were the issue. It wouldn’t be until later on that he understood that each personality was but a piece of the tapestry that made him whole and that Khonshu was the unnecessary appendage that only kept him down. This is somewhat similar to what we got to see in the show, as the initial confrontations between Marc and Steven then led to one of the best scenes in the entire show when both understood that they were so much less when trying to reject and keep each other at bay. Jake’s introduction will serve the purpose of giving the plot an extra layer of complexity as Marc and Steven will have not only external but also internal threats they must overcome.

Moon Knight #14 (2017)

Khonshu is then proving himself to be, if not the main villain in the series we just watched, the antagonist that will prove the biggest adversary for Marc, Steven, and possibly even Jake. Much as in the comics the several personalities ended up working together in order to obliterate Khonshu’s influence over their shared body, and so too it seems that this might be the way to go in future storylines on future live-action Moon Knight projects.

Moon Knight #14 (2017)

Moon Knight is now streaming, in its entirety, only on Disney+.

May 9, 2022
Earlier ‘Moon Knight’ Drafts Referenced ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’s Gorr the God Butcher

With a series in development based on Moon Knight and his connection to the Egyptian pantheon, as well as the arrival of Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder seemed like the perfect time to set up his arrival. Yet, the Disney+ series surprisingly remained self-contained and didn’t include any references to Christian Bale’s upcoming god-slaying character. Yet, Moon Knight head writer Jeremy Slater revealed that earlier drafts of the script did, in fact, include references to Gorr. In an interview with The Direct, he talks about

Both a lot and a little. But the reality is that we had no idea—when we started working on the show, we didn’t know when we were debuting. We always sort of assumed it would be later down the road, and we would sort of be coming out in fall of 2022, and we thought we would probably be following Thor [Love and Thunder]. But at that time, Thor didn’t necessarily have a concrete release date either, everything was sort of up in the air, and it’s like we might be ahead of Thor, or we might be finishing up. So there were different versions of the script where the Gods would sort of talk about, ‘This thing with Gorr the God Butcher just happened, and now we’ve got this new problem.’ And then there were other versions of the script where they sort of talked about, ‘We’re hearing rumors [that] Gods are dying, this is not the right time to get involved.’ Like we tried to have our cake and eat it too
Jeremy Slater

The meeting of the gods referencing the looming threat would’ve made sense, but it does seem like the uncertainty of some productions has added a new layer of challenge, especially with how the pandemic shifted their projects around. It also would’ve been confusing for some viewers to hear references to Gorr, especially if they potentially retcon his backstory and his activities at a later date. He goes on to highlight that they were aware of the “general beats” of Love and Thunder, but Marvel supported them in not forcing in the reference.

We knew the general beats of what would happen in Thor: Love and Thunder, so that we wouldn’t be contradicting anything. But we had versions of the story that sort of teased Gorr’s arrival, and [ones] that were sort of taking place in the aftermath of that movie. Ultimately at some point, Marvel just made the creative decision, ‘You know what, we don’t necessarily need this.’ The way that Ennead scene ultimately panned out in Episode 3, it didn’t feel like there was an organic place to sort of drop-in, like, ‘Oh, and by the way, this has nothing to do with the story we’re currently telling, but there’s a thing happening over here.’ I think Marvel is getting very smart about how they sort of work in those references and cameos, and they’ll do it if it makes sense. [They won’t] do it if they hurt the story, [so] they don’t do it just for the sake of doing it. I think that was a time where they felt like, ‘We’re stretching to make this connection, we don’t really need it
Jeremy Slater

Moon Knight is in a better place for remaining within its own pocket of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While some hoped the post-credit sequence might introduce Gorr, it would’ve been confusing for many, especially if they wanted to keep the door open for further exploration of its main character rather than him being overshadowed by Gorr. We’ll see if the Egyptians might have a potential appearance in Love and Thunder once it hits theaters in July..

Source: The Direct

May 9, 2022
Taweret Originally Had a Bigger Role in the ‘Moon Knight’ Finale

Moon Knight introduced us to the Egyptian pantheon of gods and the concept of Avatars. While it’s uncertain if the concept will be further explored in the future, it did set up the introduction of Moon Knight and the latest MCU hero, Scarlet Scarab. May Calawamy‘s Layla El-Faouly takes on the new heroic alter-ego after becoming Tawaret’s Avatar. While she reluctantly agreed after somebody take-over shenanigans, it seems that wasn’t always the plan.

You know, I found out that I had to do it 30 minutes before we did it. Because initially, Antonia Salib, who plays Taweret, was on set. She was going to be in the chamber with Layla. And then Mohamed Diab comes to me in the trailer while I’m getting ready, and he’s like, ‘You know, I thought about it, and actually, she has to come through you.’ And I really didn’t know what that meant. I was like ‘You want me to mimic, like, suddenly be possessed by Taweret?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, cool,’ and he leaves me.
May Calamawy

It definitely sounds like a challenge for her to suddenly change the way she takes on the role, but it did add a fun twist. We did get some moments of Taweret using dead bodies to communicate with her before they would unite. While it would’ve been great to have her on-screen again, it does seem like they also wanted to potentially avoid ballooning their budget due to the already extensive Kaiju-esque battle in the finale.

Source: The Wrap

May 8, 2022
Mohamed Diab Reveals Cut ‘Moon Knight’ Scene That was “Oscar-Worthy”

Sadly, not everything makes it into a final cut of a project due to pacing issues or something just doesn’t work as well as planned. In an interview with The Hollywood reporter, Moon Knight director Mohamed Diab talks about that exact kind of scene which sadly ended up on the cutting room floor, which he believes includes an “Oscar-worthy performance” by lead Oscar Isaac.

I think he would say that I was just encouraging him, but I always tell him, ‘You’re going to win everything,’ because he is always great. He’s a genius actor. The irony is that my favorite scene of his got cut. It was in episode six. As great as everything else was, he actually topped it with something even better. He confronted his mom in a white void, and he was going back and forth between Marc and Steven. And oh my god. That scene by itself is an Oscar-worthy performance. Hopefully, Marvel releases that scene one day because Oscar was a genius.
Mohamed Diab

Considering how heartbreaking the moments were between Steven and Marc, especially when it came to their mother, it definitely would’ve been a powerful moment to see them confront their mother. The praise that Oscar Isaac is getting is also a great showcase of just how involved he was with the project and the investment he gave going in.

Here’s still hoping that he’ll return for a second season to build upon the mystery from the post-credit sequence, which would give him even more possibility to show off his acting skills. The finale showed the actor easily swapping between his different DID alters, which was quite impressive from an acting perspective and also highlights what drew him to tackle this project from the get-go.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

May 8, 2022
Unused Designs of ‘Moon Knight’s Mr. Knight Find its Way Online

It’s not uncommon that Marvel Studios’ projects go through various stages of production, and also many versions of designs are played around with before they end up with the design we see in the final series. It looks like Moon Knight had gone through quite a few stages, as artist Raphael Imhotep shared a few designs from Mr. Knigh that he was involved in within its earliest stages of production.

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He goes on to share that he was influenced by the anime Naruto when adding some additional details to the suit, especially in how it ties to visualize Khonshu “binding” him to the design.

View this post on Instagram

He did praise the work that went into the version that would find its way to Disney+, but highlights that he wasn’t credited for his work yet was at least paid. Considering he was in the earlier stages of its development, that may be the reason why he didn’t get any direct credit.

They seemingly used elements from his design but added even more details, such as the crack on the mask and the detailing on the shirt. It’s always fascinating to get ta look at just how many different versions these designs go through, though it’s a shame w lost the hoodie which would’ve added a nice charm to his look.

Source: Instagram

May 8, 2022
‘Moon Knight’ Almost Featured Two Classic Comic Villains Besides Arthur Harrow

Marvel Studios’ projects go through many changes, as they try to find the right way to pull some concepts together and create a cohesive story. We’ve heard in the past that bushman was almost featured in the Disney+ Moon Knight series, but they decided to move away from him due to too many comparisons to other characters. In an interview with The Direct, he goes on to highlight how the decision came to be, as well as the support that Marvel Studios gave them when moving away from the classic comic origin.

I mean Bushman was in my first couple versions of the script for sure, and we tried to have several different versions of him. Ultimately, I was the one to make the decision to ax Bushman. I went to Marvel and said I’m not comfortable with this, can we take him out and talk about different versions, and they were always really supportive.
Jeremy Slater

He highlights that it was his decision to not include the character, especially due to him believing he hasn’t aged well. In some regards, he’s a bit of a racial caricature. Not only that but to make him a formidable force, they considered turning him into an Avatar which could’ve complicated the story even more. Yet, they also considered adding other villains with powers at one point, such as Stained Glass Carlet and Zodiac.

And we really looked at all of the sort of classic villains. There was a couple that we talked about; Stained Glass Scarlet, and you know, Zodiac, and different characters like that. No one really kind of fit the parameters of the story we were telling, so we were just like, ‘You know what, can we just introduce a guy, and we’ll grab a name from some’—you know, they gave me a list of [like] every villain whose ever appeared in a Moon Knight comic. I just went through and went like, ‘Arthur Harrow, that sounds like a cool villain name, let’s go with that.’
Jeremy Slater

He goes on to highlight how supportive Marvel Studios was in letting them choose their villains and how to map out the story. So, they weren’t forced into a corner or had to abide by specific rule sets when tackling their adaptation of Moon Knight.

Marvel was really supportive about like, let’s figure out a villain that makes sense for the journey this character is on, and not try to shoehorn Bushman in, which would have very quickly turned the entire thing into sort of a revenge story. And it wasn’t a story that we were necessarily interested in telling.
Jeremy Slater

We definitely got an interesting villain with Harrow, which gave them an opportunity to also dive deep into the Egyptian mythology that made the character stand out in the first place, in addition to the complex character arc through his DID. While we don’t know what the future has in store, there’s some excitement to see what the future has in store fo the Fist of Khonshu.

Source: The Direct

May 6, 2022
‘Moon Knight’s Designer Shares What Her Biggest Concern Was Tackling Mr. Knight’s Design

No matter what one takes away from the Disney+ series Moon Knight, the costumes are definitely a memorable addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Be it Marc Spector’s mummy-inspired costume that is closer to the 616’s design or Steven Grant’s Mr. Knight suit. Add in the fact that they can seamlessly switch between them for whatever the situation desires, it creates a rather unique situation where the different suit designs become an organic aspect of the character’s fighting style. In an interview with The Direct, designer Meghan Kasperlik offered some insight into how they approached the designs.

First off, she talked about how the mummy inspiration was pushed by Mohamed Diab. The Egyptian director wanted to have aspects of his culture inspire the costumes, which added this unique aspect of texture, and even created a stronger binding to how Khonshu views a “strong suit.” It brings together many aspects from across the comic history with a new culturally-relevant update.

Just like any type of superhero thing, there’s lots of iterations of the same suit. Mohamed Diab is one of the directors, and he’s Egyptian. He really wanted to focus on the mummy aspect of it, and being really Egyptian. So it was more about incorporating the strength of the armor and also the mummy aspect. But I think it was a beautiful bridge because it brings in Khonshu from thousands of years ago to what we would probably think of today as being a very strong suit. So I think it was an amazing blend because there is that [part of] both worlds. Like you have kind of that old world, but you also have the new…
Meghan Kasperlik

Yet, there was one big issue she was facing with the design of Mr. Knight’s costume. While the white three-piece suit is quite an iconic addition, there was a different issue at hand. In the comics it’s a pure white suit and as a drawing doesn’t require any details, especially given how it plays with shadows from an artist’s standpoint. Yet, if we’re talking live-action and the influence of lighting, it becomes a different problem altogether.

When I came on, I was a little bit concerned about the three-piece suit because it can go so flat. So my team searched far and wide for a fabric that could give—that had a little texture to it. I love to put a lot of texture to any of the designs I do. So, there’s texture in it, and it’s actually an upholstery fabric because I knew that we would be outside with it, and the costume would be getting dirty and we would need to keep it clean and keep that freshness.
Meghan Kasperlik

To avoid this issue, it seems they found a way to weave silver lemay into the fabric to make it pop when light hits it. She highlights a certain “luminescence” which has the added bonus of making the suit not only pop but add to its otherworldliness.

So between the texture in there, the upholstery fabric giving it a little extra help—there’s also a silver lemay that is woven into the fabric, so when the light hits it, it doesn’t just go flat. There’s a little luminescence that comes off of it, so that was really important. We kept that texture going in the waistcoat, and then there’s a texture on the tie and everything. So [along with] having a lot of texture on the mask it just really helps the character.
Meghan Kasperlik

They are definitely some of the best-designed suits in the MCU, and with Lockley’s arrival, we may even have a chance for a third addition moving forward. It’s unclear what the future has in store for these characters, but there’s a lot of excitement moving forward on what they might do next, especially as it’s common for these costumes to get some updates throughout their appearances moving forward and a potential third additional suit.

Source: The Direct

May 6, 2022