Moon Knight Director Explains Why the Series Opens With Steven Instead of Marc

03/30/2022 08:26 pm EDT

Marvel's new Moon Knight series has finally arrived on Disney+, and longtime fans of the comic character may be surprised to learn that Marc Spector is hardly in the episode at all. Spector is the personality most often associated with Moon Knight, but the character suffers from Dissociative Personality Disorder and there are multiple people living within the same body. Most of the premiere episode is spent with Steven Grant, a timid museum gift shop employee in London who is just finding out about Marc and Moon Knight for the first time.

Unlike Marc, who has been Moon Knight for quite a while, Steven is dropped into this situation and has no idea what's going on, much like the audience. Director Mohamed Diab recently spoke with Uproxx and explained that Steven's lack of Moon Knight knowledge made him the ideal character to begin the show with, as viewers could join him on his journey and share in his confusion.

"That was intentional. There's so much to unfold, so much to talk about," Diab said. "So if the two of you, I mean the audience and the character, are having that journey? We can understand or actually wait and understand with him. And I think one of the most brilliant things from Marvel and Jeremy was grounding Steven into an everyday guy, because usually he isn't. He's actually a rich guy in the comics. Grounding him into an everyday guy and discovering, seeing things through his eyes and then discovering that he has another identity and going through that. I love that. I love that about it."

Diab went on to address Steven's accent, which was the subject of quite a bit of criticism when the first trailers were released. Steven has an English accent, while Marc is from the United States. 

"Well, in everything you do, you worry about how people are going to receive it. Because I was working closely with Oscar, I have absolute trust in what he's doing," the director explained. "By the way, he's the one who came up with this accent. And I thought it was such a brilliant add to the story because it immediately distinguished between the two of them. But I would say that what really makes the difference between them is his acting. He becomes each one of them. I always tell him, you get taller when you are Mark. You see the demeanor changes."

What did you think of Moon Knight's premiere episode? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: ComicBook is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.

Latest News