Ethan Hawke (Jake, Training Day) recently elaborated on what convinced him to join Disney+ new original Moon Knight series, according to ComicBook. As production is about to begin on Moon Knight, Hawke has revealed that both the lesser-known character Moon Knight and the leading actor Oscar Isaac (Poe, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) played a major role in his decision. Disney has not announced exactly who Hawke will play yet, but it has been confirmed he will play a villain for the series.
Fans of Hawke were confused at first because he made statement concerning the superhero genre back in 2018 that highlighted his criticism of the genre as a whole. “I went to see Logan cause everyone was like, ‘This is a great movie’ and I was like, ‘Really? No, this is a fine superhero movie.’ There’s a difference but big business doesn’t think there’s a difference. Big business wants you to think that this is a great film because they wanna make money off of it,” Hawke stated back in 2018 according to ComicBook.
Fans have speculated that the reason Hawke didn’t want to jump on the hype train for superhero movies was due to his passion and love for smaller independent titles. Moon Knight is a smaller story revolving around a character that the general audience haven’t met yet, which is one of the reasons Hawke was drawn to this series as well. “A lot of it, to be honest, I love the fact that Moon Knight is a lesser-known story and allows more creative freedom,” Hawke explained according to ComicBook.
Hawke also cited Oscar Isaac as a reason he joined the series, “I find him to be a very exciting player in my field. I like what he’s doing with his life. He reminds me of the actors, when I first arrived at New York, that I looked up to,” Hawke announced according to ComicBook.
Hawke’s love for the subtleties in small scale narratives have pushed him away from superhero movies in the past but as talented actors such as Oscar Isaac join the ranks, there may be more room for independent artists to join the great big world of superheroes. Moon Knight will be airing exclusively on Disney+ and is expected to be released on an unannounced date in 2022.