Ahead of tomorrow's series premiere of Moon Knight, we were able to sit down with executive producer Grant Curtis - who also served as a producer on the original Spider-Man trilogy - to talk about the eagerly-awaited Marvel Studios series starring Oscar Isaac in the title role.
Having started his career as Sam Raimi's assistant, Curtis was able to gain valuable experience in the art of superhero movie making in the early 2000s working with Raimi and star Tobey Maguire on the original trilogy of Spidey films. Considering his close connection with the director, we were curious to learn more about Raimi's potential influence on Moon Knight as well as on the future of Phase 4.
"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 are 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."
Having worked on the original Spider-Man trilogy, which essentially kickstarted the superhero movie boom, he explained that while technical advances have certainly made their jobs easier in a number of ways, the core element of filmmaking and effective storytelling remains the same from Spider-Man to Moon Knight.
"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."
With Raimi set to return with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness next month and Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker formally joining the MCU in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it's fair to wonder whether we could ever see the pair reunite for a potential Spider-Man 4 or maybe another continuation. While Curtis didn't divulge anything on that front, he seemed more than happy to just enjoy the new batch of Spidey movies, leaving the big decisions up to Kevin Feige and Sony.
"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."
Moon Knight starts streaming March 30!
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