Marvel's 'Moon Knight': Ethan Hawke Tapped By Marvel To Play A Villain In The Disney+ Series

Marvel‘s Disney+ limited series “Moon Knight” series has landed its first actor in a villain role. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed veteran actor Ethan Hawke will play the series villain, however, Marvel’s not disclosing what exactly his role will be. There are seemingly two strong possibilities here as the outlet teases Raoul Bushman as an option, but there is Moon Knight’s brother Randall Spector, aka Shadow Knight, that is just as likely as he also has supernatural powers.

Hawke is likely best known to audiences for his co-starring role in the Oscar-winning Los Angeles police action drama “Training Day” opposite Denzel Washington, the sci-fi thriller “Gattaca,” “Dead Poet’s Society,” “Boyhood,”, and Richard Linklater‘s ‘Before‘ trilogy (read Ethan Hawke’s Essential Roles here). He recently worked on Robert Eggers’ Viking epic “The Northman” and the abolitionist Showtime miniseries “The Good Lord Bird.”

The actor joins Oscar Isaac, who will play Marc Spector, aka Moon Knight and it was recently reported that “Ramy” star May Calamawy has been hired for the female lead.

The character, Marc Spector, a mercenary and former professional boxer, is bestowed supernatural powers by the Egyptian moon god Khonshu turning him into Moon Knight, aka Mr. Knight. Suffering from a split personality disorder in some iterations of the comics, he sometimes has other personalities such as the millionaire playboy Steven Grant and New York City cabbie Jake Lockley.

Filming on the Marvel Studios series is said to begin this March in Budapest, Hungary with other filming pre-pandemic locations expected to include the United Kingdom and the United States. Spector’s main stomping ground in the comics has been New York City, not unlike characters such as Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Daredevil.

Directing the Marvel series will be Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Diab alongside the newly announced indie duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. “Moon Knight” is expected to air on Disney+ in 2022 and is said to have six episodes just like other shows such as “Loki” and “The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. “