Concluding on May 4 and available to stream on Disney+, Moon Knight is Marvel Studios’ sixth and latest television series offering. Receiving universal acclaim and keeping viewers glued to the edge of their seats, this Phase Four MCU show takes audiences into darker territory, less often experienced within the Marvel Cinematic Universe and people were loving it. Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke received particular praise for their portrayals of Moon Knight and Dr. Arthur Harrow, respectively. The show follows Steven Grant, a local ‘every man’, who becomes haunted by blackouts and memories of another life. It soon becomes apparent that he suffers from dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with crime-fighting mercenary superhero Marc Spector.
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Utilizing a combination of familiar Hollywood faces, international acting talent, and relative newcomers, many viewers may have been racking their brains trying to recall where they might have seen the cast elsewhere. Below we take a look at the main cast members, Oscar Issac, Gaspard Ulliel, Ethan Hawke, May Calamawy, and F. Murray Abraham, and explore other roles you might have seen them play.
Oscar Isaac
Disney Platform Distribution
The Moon Knight cast is led by Oscar Isaac as the titular superhero. He plays all the character’s multiple identities, with Steven Grant and Marc Spector being the most prominent ones. Early in his career, he had numerous parts in stages shows, a brief appearance on Law and Order: Criminal Intent, and a role in the biblical epic The Nativity Story. His major breakthrough came in 2011 when he appeared in both the Madonna-helmed historical drama W.E. and in the stylish crime caper Drive alongside Ryan Gosling.
Since then, his career has gone from high to high. Isaac has appeared in international blockbusters including the recently released Dune and a role as the X-Wing Pilot, Poe Dameron, in all three of the Star Wars sequel trilogy movies. He’s received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Nathan Hamlet Bateman in Ex Machina and Nick Wasicsko in HBO miniseries Show Me a Hero. He’s also no stranger to the works of Marvel having appeared as Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse and Miguel O’Hara / Spider-Man 2099 in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
His career shows no sign of slowing either: following the success of Moon Knight, he’s set to appear in London directed by Ben Stiller, the big screen adaptation of the video game Metal Gear Solid, and a yet-to-be-titled project alongside Hollywood heavyweights Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell. It’s no surprise he’s found himself in The New York Times list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century and Time’s list of the most influential people in the world (as reported by Bustle).
Gaspard Ulliel
Marvel Studios
A hero in his native France and an actor on the cusp of super-stardom, Gaspard Ulliel, who plays elusive jewel thief Midnight Man in Moon Knight, died tragically earlier this year in a skiing accident. He’s appeared in dozens of French movies, but outside of France, most would have probably first encountered his work through his portrayal of the young Hannibal Lector in Hannibal Rising. Ulliel later went on to receive universal critical acclaim as the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent in the 2014 biopic Saint Laurent. Fans of the actor may find some tiny comfort in that there are two movies he finished before his untimely death, Coma and More Than Ever, that are both slated for release later this year.
Ethan Hawke
Four-time Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke has been a Hollywood mainstay for over three decades now and looks to be it in it for the long run with several high-profile projects in the works. He shot to fame in 1989’s Robin Williams-led Dead Poets Society and continued his success throughout the 90,s establishing himself as both a heartthrob and a highly respected acting talent with hits like Reality Bites, Gattaca and Training Day. Never slowing his pace, Hawke has continued to work steadily with notable success, with the epic coming-of-age drama Boyhood written and directed by Richard Linklater and the mega franchise spawning horror thriller The Purge. In Moon Knight, he has been cast as the scientist (and religious zealot and cult leader) Dr. Arthur Harrow. Fans of Hawke can look forward to his upcoming appearance in Knives Out 2 as well as a pandemic-based movie titled Leave The World Behind.
May Calamawy
Egyptian-Palestinian actress, May Calamawy was born in Bahrain and moved to the States at a young age, dreaming of becoming a star from a young age. After a string of lesser-known movies, she was cast in a supporting role in Djinn, a 2013 supernatural horror film set in the United Arab Emirates from iconic horror director Tobe Hooper (of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Poltergeist fame). It wasn’t until 2019, though, that she really had her big break with Hulu’s original comedy drama series Ramy in which she plays the lead protagonist Ramy’s sister Dena. The show, which focuses on Muslim Americans navigating day to day life in New Jersey, has been a huge hit with fans and critics alike, and is returning for a third season in the near future. In the meantime, fans can catch her playing Layla, Marc Spector’s wife, in Moon Knight.
F. Murray Abraham
Probably one of the most celebrated and respected actors of a generation, Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham provides the voice of Khonshu, the ancient Egyptian god of the moon, who grants Marc Spector his ‘superpowers’ and uses him as an avatar on Earth (the physical performance is delivered by Karim El Hakim). Abraham has worked with a who’s-who of legendary Hollywood directors, including Brian De Palma in Scarface, The Coen Brothers in Inside Llewyn Davis and Wes Anderson in The Grand Budapest Hotel. Other notable works include a part in 1976’s All The President’s Men and an Oscar-winning outing as Mozart in 1984’s Amadeus. Fans of television shows might also recognize him from his stint on Homeland for which he earned two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
