The first (but hopefully not only) season of Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight debuted earlier this spring, showcasing an entirely new corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The show chronicled the adventures of Marc Spector / Steven Grant / Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac), and their journey to protect the world from an ancient threat. From beginning to end, the series was filled with stylish and surprising flourishes that were relatively new to the larger franchise, all helping to craft an emotional story. That was true down to the series’ music, which was composed by veteran Egyptian composer Hesham Nazih, known for his work on The Blue Elephant and The Covenant.
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In celebration of Moon Knight‘s recent Season 1 finale, ComicBook.com got a chance to chat with Nazih about his work on the series. We spoke about crafting the various (and varied) themes for the series’ ensemble of characters, balancing the series’ different genres of music, and so much more!
Beginnings
ComicBook.com: How did you get signed on to the job?
Hesham Nazih: Yeah, it all started by receiving an email from Marvel asking me to send them some of my work and my demo reel. They were specific about what they wanted to listen to, in terms of the genre and the types of music. And then after a few meetings with them, I discovered that they wanted me for Moon Knight. This is where I knew that this is Mohamed Diab’s Moon Knight. I did not know Mohamed Diab and never met him before, never worked with him before. So it was a very pleasant surprise for me, because I was really happy with the project, first thing, and working with Diab was another pleasure. And I realized then that he first recommended me to Marvel, and then they made the contact afterwards.
Story
What specifically drew you to Moon Knight? What was it about the project that made you realize that you wanted to be a part of it?
So many things, really. The story is incredible. It’s fantastic, and I would definitely have loved the story if I wasn’t Egyptian, and even if it’s not happening in Egypt, because it’s a beautiful story. And [I love] what an amazing character Marc Spector is. He’s an incredibly rich, dramatically rich character, through his childhood trauma and everything else. There were so many things that excited me about this show and that were driving me in all aspects, musically and artistically, in so many ways.
Research
I was reading that your son was a huge fan of Moon Knight. What was your research process like? Were there any comics that you read or researched in the lead up to the show?
No comic books, although I could have asked my son, but I wasn’t allowed to. It’s funny thing. No, what I did was some research I found online about Moon Knight, Marc Spector, Mr. Knight, Steven Grant and so on. And Khonshu as well. But it didn’t take me long until I received the scripts and I started to read the episodes. And by the time I arrived on the show, by the time I was onboarded, they already had been edited the preliminary cut for the first and second episodes. So it didn’t take me long. They didn’t leave me long in the darkness. I was brought on the show very soon.
Character Themes
You mentioned all of the different characters of the show. I was wondering if you could speak about your approach to the different character themes.
The first thing I started with, while writing the score, is the main theme for Moon Knight. Because Moon Knight, to me, he is the sum of Marc everything that’s around him and Khonshu. I needed to make the sum of the power bestowed on Marc from Khonshu, and all the background of Marc and his grief, his anger, his childhood trauma, and his disorder, of course. I wanted to bring all this in one musical theme. I would call it a theme, because when I watch the episode, the moment that Marc puts on the suit, it’s not just the moment of heroism, or moment of victory or triumph or that. There’s a weight to it. There’s a human weight to it. It comes with a toll, this suit. It doesn’t come easily. And the relationship between Khonshu and Marc, how complex it is and how multi-layered it is. I wanted to summon all that into this main theme.
Regarding all the other characters like Arthur Harrow and Layla, of course, they each have a theme. We saw that, before long, because Arthur Harrow is not a typical villain — he’s not one of those just bad guys here to do bad things. No, no, no, no, just not bad. He has a belief. He’s pursuing what he believes in. He has a principle in his head. That doesn’t make it right, no, but he’s someone with a belief. He more of a cultish person, not just a villain. And from that point, I had to build his musical theme or the melody for Arthur Harrow.
I was curious about Layla’s theme, because it is awesome, especially in the moment when she becomes a superhero in the finale.
Layla was the first Egyptian superhero, and the moment the reveal of her [costume and her] wings — the figure of the female deity, the goddess, the female spiritual power in the Egyptian beliefs is huge. So many are female figures. You might be familiar with Ma’at, you might be familiar with Isis, you might be familiar with so many those deity figures. So this was a very special moment in the story, where her theme had to be Egyptian in essence.
And also, throughout the whole episodes, whenever we saw the scarab, I played some or even all of her theme, as if this was always her destiny, the scarab was following her and she was trying to find the scarab. They were tied to each other, up until this moment in the reveal of the Scarlet Scarab, which is the Egyptian superhero.
Balance
I was curious about the balance between the very Egyptian music and the more adventure Indiana Jones type of music, because I feel like your score strikes a balance between the two in a really interesting way.
Usually, I do not pay much attention to where the events are taking place, or where is the story’s taking place. But in this specific show, the Egyptian aspect of the music was of some necessity or some importance. Delivering this spirit of the Egyptian, and the feel of the Egyptian and of Egypt in the score was important.
Yes, it was fun bringing these two types of music all together, opposed to each other, and sometimes in going hand-in-hand. In times they were opposing each other, and in some other times they were going in accord with each other. I wanted the Egyptian feel to be in the orchestra lines, the strings, the brass, the winds, not just with the local Egyptian instrument. Of course, I used those as well, but when I wanted to bring the Egyptian sense to the music. I brought it through all the elements, not just the Egyptian ones.
Favorites
What would you say was your favorite moment in the show to create the music for?
There are countless. The very first moment when I started writing. The very first moment when I saw in my studio, my monitors, the very first was an unforgettable moment and blast. And countless moments within the show. It’s a massive show. It’s fantastic. Brilliant performances by everyone. So it’s difficult to pick just one moment. But the very first moment, to me, while writing was really special. It’s like starting a new life. Everything was fresh. So it’s so hard. I’m trying to think, to come up with something. It’s so hard to pick one moment in the show and say, “This is my favorite,” because there really are too many.
Surprises
What would you say was the most surprising aspect of working on the show?
There were so some unusual things that happened to me while working on this show. Things that I used to believe they are easy to do, I discovered they are so hard to do. For instance, writing a big heroic theme or main theme for a superhero, to be recognizable and to be memorable and so on, is not an easy thing. I used to believe, “Oh, all righty. With all the time, it must be easy.” No, it’s not easy, because the easiest thing is to go naive, to go shallow, to go repetitive, to go revised. But to come up with something unique to the show, it was the most surprisingly challenging for me.
This show is so dynamic in its way of storytelling. For one moment, you find yourself in a very tragic moment. And suddenly, everything break into a comic relief. And then afterwards, we go into a big moment of adventure, and then we go, slightly, into a very spooky moment. And then all of a sudden, we go back to the highly dramatic bit. So keeping the momentum of the show, keeping the dynamism of its style of storytelling was challenging, and fun as well.
Each time, each session of work, I used to think that, “Oh, I watch a sequence of ten minutes or so.” And then I would [say] “Okay, I don’t know how I’m going to do this. I’m going to do this here and this there and this over there.” And then when I start, everything sounds awful. These things in my head, I believe they might work in the way, but in practice or while applying them, no. This show dictates its own way of writing music.
So many surprising things to me, to myself, and in writing, as well. For instance, I did not intend to use all these choirs, all these massive choirs and all these vocals. What I had in mind was to use them in a very minimal way, in some points and bits. I ended up using them almost everywhere, because I was keeping the flow. I was keeping the music calm, and then I was just following the flow.
MCU
So now that you have written a superhero theme, is there another Marvel character or some sci-fi character that you would love to tackle after Moon Knight?
Oh yeah. Most of them, if not all of them. It’s a fantastic universe, the MCU, isn’t it?
Advice
Do you have any advice to aspiring composers who want to get into this space?
Oh, absolutely. To all of you young fellows, all around the globe, be greedy in your dreams. Never stop dreaming. Be greedy. Never stop exercising, and never stop trying to outdo yourself. Try to be better and learn more. Never shy away of asking. Never stop asking around and asking for help, asking for piece of information also. And go ahead. Your time will come. Your moment will definitely come. So be prepared. It’s waiting for you as much as you’re waiting for it. It will come, just be prepared.
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All episodes of Moon Knight are now streaming exclusively on Disney+.
