Ethan Hawke is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Friday afternoon, news surfaced suggesting the Oscar-nominated actor is finally picking up a Marvel role, except one thing happened to be missing from the news. Nowhere in the initial report was the actor attached to an exact role. Rather, Hawke was simply revealed as the show’s lead villain. Naturally, the biggest question surrounding the production is now, “Who the heck is Ethan Hawke playing?”
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Luckily for you, we’ve got some ideas from the super obvious, to complete long-shots.
Right out of the gates, one has to admit — Hawke has some pretty serious werewolf vibes, right? Due to the nature of Moon Knight and rumors suggesting Jack Russell could be showing up in the series, it’s pretty easy to connect the dots here, should they exist. Longtime fans of the Fist of Khonshu will remember Marc Spector’s first appearance actually came in Werewolf By Night #32, so it’s only fitting the character would appear.
But a character like Werewolf By Night would likely require a fair share of visual effects, and maybe Hawke isn’t willing to don the CGI suits required of those roles.
Enter, Dracula.
Another character that could be showing up in the immediate future of the MCU, Hawke as Dracula would be fit, largely because the character’s likely more than a one-project role. With Mahershala Ali’s Blade also on the horizon, there’s been some speculation Moon Knight and Blade could go hand-in-hand. Should that be the case, Dracula would fit both properties, and it’d be enough of a role to net Hawke a healthy payday.
Outside of those two — what are the other options? After all, Marvel Studios is known for going to the unconventional route. Remember, Kevin Feige and his team have turned the Guardians of the Galaxy into a household name, and are bringing The Eternals to life this November.
Maybe he’ll be Khonshu — the puppet master behind the entire Moon Knight mythos. Again, this would be another CGI role, but it’d keep him to just the Moon Knight series and wouldn’t be a major time-suck. Then there’s the chance Mohamed Diab, Jeremy Slater, and the team on Moon Knight choose to go with a lesser-known antagonist (even though nobody in Spector’s rogue’s gallery is an A-lister).
On that front, Hawke also seems to fit in line with characters like Black Spectre — a street-level vigilante that’s come toe-to-toe on more than one occasion. Though Hawke and Oscar Isaac don’t look too similar, the actor could also play Spector’s brother Randall, the supervillain that often goes by Shadow Knight.
Moon Knight has yet to set a release date.
Who do you think Hawke is playing? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter!
