Ethan Hawke calls Oscar Isaac's performance as Moon Knight "absolutely phenomenal"

Moon Knight
(Image credit: Chiabella James/Warner Bros)

Moon Knight star Ethan Hawke has praised Oscar Isaac's performance in the series.

"Oscar is giving an absolutely phenomenal performance, and it feels exciting to be a part of it with him," the actor told TheWrap. Isaac stars as the titular vigilante, also known as Marc Spector, while Hawke is set to play a mystery character.

"I'm really fortunate because we're dealing with a story that doesn't have a lot of ancillary baggage," Hawke said of his experience on the series. "If you play Spider-Man or Batman, they've got so much baggage and the audience have such expectations. It's like playing Hamlet – you can't play it in a vacuum. You're playing it in relationship to the other Hamlets. Whereas with Moon Knight, people don't know much about it. It doesn't have a lot of baggage."

Hawke couldn't give too much away, however: "[Marvel is] very secretive about it. They like to create a lot of anticipation. But I understand why people love working for them. They're extremely active, friendly. They do good world-building and create space for actors. If you want to play, they want you to play."

Plot details for Moon Knight are still being kept tightly under wraps, but Isaac did recently talk to our sister publication Total Film about why he chose to take the lead role. "I love the people involved. I thought there was an incredibly unusual story to tell within the world of, you know, the superhero language," he explained. "But we're making something that's quite different, and that doesn't follow the same... not necessarily even logic of what a lot of superhero films do."

Moon Knight is expected to arrive in 2022. Until then, check out our guide to Marvel Phase 4 to see everything else the MCU has in store for us.

Molly Edwards
Entertainment Writer

I'm an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.