Moon Knight has finally arrived, and we caught up with Executive Producer Grant Curtis, who originally got his start as Sam Raimi's assistant before serving as a producer on the original Spider-Man trilogy, to speak with him about the latest offering from Marvel Studios.
While we steered clear of any major spoilers, he was generous enough to share details on what attracted Oscar Isaac to the project, whether or not we could potentially meet Jake Lockley this season, why Arthur Harrow was the perfect choice for the villain and more.
Since he also had ample experience on the Spidey films, we were also able to get his insight on how superhero movie making has evolved over the course of the past twenty years, as well as his thoughts on the renewed possibility of Spider-Man 4 becoming a reality with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire.
Check out the full video interview below, and keep scrolling for the transcript!
ROHAN: Through the first four episodes, we get well-acquainted with Marc Spector, Steven Grant, Moon Knight, and Mr. Knight, but there's one personality we have yet to meet: Jake Lockley. Do you have any plans to introduce him or is that someone you're saving for a future season or another project?
GRANT: I can't give you any spoilers, but what I can tell you is in these six episodes, we keep the audience guessing from frame one to the final frame. I think the future of Moon Knight is wide open and who we may or may not meet in our series, or in the future is a great question. Some of that will be answered in these episodes and then, some of that is for filmmakers and storytellers to tell in the future. But, I do think when you see what Oscar Isaac brings to the table in this series, you're going to see that guy read the phone book, do whatever is out there in Marc Spector/Moon Knight/Steven Grant’s world and what Oscar brings to the table opens up the Marvel Cinematic Universe and this character in amazing ways.
ROHAN: Having already worked on another live-action Marvel project, X-Men: Apocalypse, where it doesn't seem like he had the experience he was hoping for, what were your initial conversations with Oscar Isaac when he signed on for Moon Knight and what he hoped to achieve with this series?
GRANT: One thing about Marvel movies, I think sometimes people forget because you get this amazing spectacle and these amazing journeys that the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes you on, that sometimes you forget that all the Marvel stories start with character, character, character. When you start with that as your North Star and that is your compass, I think that's why you get great actors like Oscar Isaac, or Ethan Hawke, or May Calamawy coming aboard, because they realize, yes, this is a globe-trotting adventure, this is an amazing spectacle that's going to be told in the Moon Knight pages, but really, what you're dealing with are characters dealing with very real, and supernatural issues that do play out on a grander scale.
I do think when you focus on the character, it gets their taste buds and their creative juices salivating and I think it becomes a very natural conversation to have somebody like Oscar Isaac come into the Marvel Cinematic Universe when, yes, he's got so much experience doing these movies, but I do think that's what makes these stories unique.
ROHAN: Just like the Spider-Man films you worked on, Moon Knight doesn't seem to be tied to any preexisting stories in the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. It really feels like its own little subsection of the MCU. Did that freedom allow you to take more creative risks with the series?
GRANT: I don't know if it really allowed us to take more creative risks, but allowed us to get more creative with the characters. Undoubtedly, because we weren't tied to any other narrative. This was Marc Spector, Steven Grant, Moon Knight, Khonshu’s original offering to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it did free us up. We were able to use every frame of our six episodes, telling the story of Moon Knight and it's what we got invigorated by in the writer’s room, led by Jeremy Slater, and it's what we got invigorated by on the set, day-in and day-out, being directed by Mohammed Diab and Justin Benson and Aaron Morehead and that was really cool. Just presenting this character to the audience. Look, let's be honest, a lot of the audience are going to be introduced to Moon Knight for the first time on the Disney+ offering and we took that opportunity very seriously, but it also excited us day-in and day-out. I gotta be honest with you.
ROHAN: Moon Knight is such a unique character with these incredible abilities, but he finds himself squaring off against a fairly grounded villain in Arthur Harrow, played masterfully by Ethan Hawke - did you ever discuss featuring a more supernatural villain, or did you always want to find a bad guy that would present more of a challenge to Marc/Steven rather than Moon Knight?
GRANT: Absolutely! Really, where Harrow came from, there was a lot of, honestly, amazing input from Ethan, but really, also looking at the Marc Spector/Steven Grant/Moon Knight that was emerging from the writers room, and what was the best B-side of telling the A-side of Marc Spector and what he was going through emotionally? What made the best - I don't want to say foil to that - but what really fueled that character study the most and really, what came out of it was the Harrow that you saw from episodes one through four and that the audience is going to see on March 30th in the episodes. It really came about from what's the best villain to play against this incredible character that's coming out of the writers room.
ROHAN: With Tobey Maguire returning for Spider-Man: No Way Home and Sam Raimi returning for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it really feels like what's old is new again - did you draw any inspiration from your time working with Sam and Tobey to this project?
GRANT: Well, I'll remind my wife tonight that what's old is new again and that'll be great. *laughs*
In all honesty, when you work with Sam, and you work with Tobey, it's really a lot like working with Mohamed and Justin and Aaron and Oscar and Ethan, it truly is about the character. So, whether what’s old is new again, that's obviously true, but also, I think great storytelling really starts with character. All these names that were mentioned right now are storytellers at the top of their game, Sam's amazing, Tobey's amazing, Oscar, Ethan, Mohamed, Justin, Aaron - and there's just that commonality of storytelling that I don't think ever gets old or new.
If you're telling good stories, it's just part of the plan. So yes, there's going to be those natural crossovers. I do think Moon Knight has a lot of similarities to the Spider Man movies, but absolutely, there's so many unique aspects to Moon Knight that I think whether you're a fan of Spider Man, whether you're a fan of Guardians of the Galaxy, or any of the other great storytellers that have been working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you're going to enjoy where you've been, but you're also going to enjoy where you're going with this product.
ROHAN: I'll kick myself if I don't ask you this, but have you had any conversations with Sam and Tobey about getting the band back together for a potential Spider-Man 4 or any other continuation?
GRANT: It's a great question for Kevin Feige and the team at Sony. It's such an amazing property that's been directed amazingly by Jon Watts. I'm in love with that property. I was in love with it from 2000 when we started the Spider Man movies, I am to this day, I'm a fan now. I just want to see where that story keeps continuing to be told.
ROHAN: Having worked on the original Spider-Man and now, Moon Knight, how would you say superhero movie making has evolved over the past twenty years?
GRANT: I don't know if it's evolved, per se, believe me, as you can imagine, a lot of the tricks and toys that we have to play with just continue to naturally evolve, whether it's CG, all those aspects continue to be honed and getting just incredibly mind popping, the worlds and adventures that we can take the audience on. But really, again, it goes back to story and that's really the commonality, again, when you have stories like Moon Knight 1975, when you've got Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Captain America that go way back beyond that, and you realize the power of narrative.
That's really what we focus on and so, I don't know if it's really different or evolving, because when you have narratives that stand the test of time, and we're talking to, you know, decades, there's something special that originated in the Stan Lee world and that continues, that torch continues to be carried by Kevin Feige and Louis D'Esposito and Victoria Alonso and Brad Winterbottom and all the other great storytellers at Marvel and beyond. It's really just embracing what was created decades ago.
ROHAN: I know we can't get into any spoilers, but where could we see Moon Knight pop up next? Have you talked about doing a second season or will we see him in a movie next?
GRANT: Where Moon Knight goes from here is a great question for Kevin Feige, the master of it all, but I can tell you is there's so many different aspects. There's so many different canvases we paint on in our series, whether it's action-adventure, whether it's the character, story, whether it's comedy, in all honesty, there's a lot of funny aspects of this. I think this character is teed up amazingly, to appear in the MCU wherever he goes next.
When Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of another life, he discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt.
Moon Knight is now streaming!