Marvel’s latest series, Moon Knight, is set to be its darkest yet, with a mindbending aged-up plot touching on themes of identity, mystery, and revenge — the lunar-vigilante is empowered by the Ancient Egyptian God of Vengeance, Khnoshu.
The miniseries “follows Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, who becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of another life”. Steven goes on to discover that he has dissociative disorder and isn’t the only one in control of his body — he’s sharing it with ruthless 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.”
The man tasked with steering the ship of Marvel’s grittiest instalment yet is Egyptian director Mohamed Diab — a man who’s had quite the journey from facing backlash for his acclaimed Cannes-bowing political thriller ‘Clash‘ in Egypt, to hitting the big time with an “out of the blue” invitation from Marvel to direct Moon Knight.
Moon Knight will see Diab traversing uncharted territory. The writer-director is currently known for his hard-hitting dramatic political thrillers which mainly centre on pressing issues concerning Egyptian society. This will not only be his first brush with big-budget superhero Hollywood, but will also mark his English-language debut, making Diab the first Middle Eastern filmmaker to be given the reins of a major Marvel project.
“Definitely, when you see this you will not recognize that it’s me directing it,” he recently told The Hollywood Reporter. “But I’m so proud of it. I always love to have a new challenge.”
Diab first rose to prominence with his 2010 directorial debut movie, Cairo 678 — an Egyptian political thriller released just one month before the Egyptian revolution that proved one of the catalysts for the Arab Spring. The film was widely acclaimed, picking Best Narrative Feature at the 2012 Heartland Film Festival and winning the Audience Award at the 2012 African Film Festival of Cordoba.
His next major work, 2016’s Eshtebak (Clash), was shot entirely within the confines of a police riot van and was initially intended to depict the rise of the Egyptian revolution, but eventually morphed into one about the fall of the revolution instead. The drama was widely praised and even received accolades from Tom Hanks. It went on to be an official selection at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
Following the film’s success, Diab received pushback in Egypt, with accusations of “being a spy and a supporter of terrorism, the Muslim Brotherhood and Zionism — all on national TV,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
As pressure mounted in Egypt, Diab and his wife, writer and producer Sarah Goher (who’s worked with him on all his projects) made the decision to expand their horizons beyond Egypt. They packed their things and made a bold move to Michigan, USA.
Diab had family there, so the move made sense. But it wasn’t easy. “For three years, every week it would be, ‘OK, next week we’re shooting,’” Diab told the Hollywood Reporter. “And your money’s attached to that. So every week, it was: Next week, next week, next week. And then the pandemic hit, and all the doors closed.”
Just when things were looking bleak, Marvel came calling — inviting him to apply for Moon Knight. So Diab and Goher put their heads down and got to work creating what would ultimately be the winning 200-page pitch. By October 2020, Diab was officially part of the Marvel family.
Joining Diab on the Moon Knight roster will be Oscar Isaac, who will take on the lead role of Moon Knight, while his nemesis and series antagonist, Arthur Harrow, will be played by the masterful Ethan Hawke.
Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight is now streaming exclusively on Disney+.
