There’s no shortage of high-profile genre TV premieres this spring, but “moon knight” could be the most anticipated show of the season. The Marvel character is so dark that even the star oscar isaac I hadn’t heard of him before he was offered the part, but the promise of seeing Isaac play a man with dissociative identity disorder who is given the powers of an Egyptian god was enough to make even the most skeptical of Marvel fans. To join.
Isaac has not been shy about the series experimental styleand Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige called the show “brutal” push the limits than is allowed on Disney+. Now, the cast and crew have given fans their best look yet at how the show will handle Moon Knight’s mental illness.
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in a new article in USA Today, Isaac and the show’s producers insisted that Moon Knight’s dissociative identity disorder is far from a gimmick. Mental illness is an essential part of the show, with Isaac saying that the series is “pretty true to the psychological horror of not knowing what’s going on and the slow reveals of the truth.”
“It’s amazing that the brain has this survival mechanism, this way of coping,” Isaac said. “At a very young age, if you’re going through sustained horrific trauma and abuse, one thing that can happen for one to survive is that the brain splits into an alternate personality that has no idea what’s going on. Otherwise, you die because it’s so horrible. And that’s his amazing and beautiful superpower.”
The character’s mental illness “makes him much more than some sort of palette-swapped Batman clone,” executive producer Jeremy Slater said. “A lot of superheroes are defined by their villains (but) Moon Knight is their biggest enemy in a lot of ways.”
While the character’s dissociative identity disorder should give an actor of Isaac’s caliber plenty to work with, the creative team is aware of its obligation to portray the condition responsibly. “Whatever we’re putting out in-universe has to be ultimately good and uplifting and have a positive message about mental health,” Slater said.
“Moon Knight” begins streaming on Disney+ on March 30.
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