The Moon Knight television series had a challenging task: Introduce audiences to the mythology of Moon Knight, while also exploring two completely different sides of its protagonist: Marc Spector and Steven Grant.
Delving into these complex characters in a satisfactory way takes a great deal of work. Case in point, as revealed in Marvel Studios' Assembled: The Making of 'Moon Knight,' handling Spector — the darker (but not darkest, of course, given Jake Lockley) side of the hero — was particularly tricky.
In the episode, Moon Knight co-director Mohamed Diab revealed that the creative team struggled to connect with Marc, given that he was the complete opposite of Steven. Starting at the 22:00 mark, series co-helmer Justin Benson said that he saw Moon Knight as Marc's more savage side: "You can describe Moon Knight as being almost Marc's id. Him in his most unleashed, his most unfeeling. His most violent, his most vengeful."
Diab then stated that the show's creatives faced issues when bringing Marc to life. As he explained, they were concerned viewers would see him as too grim and not as likable as Steven Grant (at minute 22:11):
"I think we struggled with Marc. We struggled to find him on the page. Steven is very easy to digest. Right away, you fall in love with him — from the third scene, or something. And I was so scared from Episode 3 that people just don't connect to Marc. Who is he? He's not as fun, he's not as sympathetic, he's not."
Co-director Aaron Moorhead chimed in, stating that the atmosphere on set changed from fun to serious once Oscar Isaac first embodied Marc: "I mean, the first time we ever met Marc on set, it was like the air came out of the room, 'cause he was in this — not Oscar [Isaac]. Marc in the scene was in this horrible mood. And so, the whole mood changed from bubbly, fun Steven to, 'All right. Time to focus, everybody.'"
Keep in mind, the struggle that Diab opened up about doesn't mean the show failed to properly handle its protagonist. Challenges like that one are commonplace in movies and shows. They're especially likely when adapting a character with decades' worth of backstory. As such, this was just one creative hurdle (among, we assume, many others) in bringing Moon Knight to live-action.
Nonetheless, it is interesting to delve into the creatives' mindset when putting the series together. It's also worth wondering whether their journey with Marc is what influenced putting so much focus on Steven Grant and his realization that he was an alternate personality.
As an aside, Marc Spector can sometimes be as serious as his live-action counterpart. He is quite fun when the situation calls for it (see Jed Mackay and Alessandro Cappuccino's "Moon Knight" Vol. 1: "The Midnight Mission"), but the former mercenary has his fair share of existential issues and crises, (which comes with the territory of being the servant of an often-power-hungry god, after all).
While it could be argued that Spector's darkness was heightened for the show, we've seen how important taking liberties can be when adapting superhero stories for live-action (especially when it fits the plot and tone of the movie or series). In the case of Moon Knight, Spector's seriousness served to illustrate his disillusionment, childhood trauma and desperation to free himself from Khonshu.
Marvel Studios' Assembled: The Making of 'Moon Knight,' is streaming on Disney+. All episodes of Moon Knight are also exclusively available on the streaming platform.