The Marvel Cinematic Universe is getting bigger and bigger thanks to Disney+ and its slew of upcoming superhero TV shows, and now Training Day and The Purge star Ethan Hawke has signed on. The veteran actor isn't playing a superhero, however. Prepare to see Hawke playing a villain on Disney+'s Moon Knight!
Ethan Hawke has reportedly signed a deal to play the villain in Moon Knight for Disney+, according to THR in citing sources. Although the identity of the villain has not been revealed at the time of writing, Hawke is said to be playing the lead villain, which both suggests that viewers will see a lot of Hawke in the series and that there could be multiple villains on the way.
As the Moon Knight villain, Ethan Hawke will go up against Star Wars veteran Oscar Isaac who plays the titular Moon Knight, known in his civilian (and mercenary) life as Marc Spector. Interestingly, it was not Disney but rather a cinematographer who ultimately confirmed Isaac's casting. Marvel's Marc Spector as Moon Knight has been compared to DC's Batman. May Calamawy of Ramy fame is on board as well, although her role hasn't been revealed yet either.
Moon Knight was not among the upcoming MCU series that were given premiere windows at the Disney Investor Day back in December, but it is looking to begin production in Budapest in March, which could mean a 2022 premiere. If so, that would place its debut behind at least WandaVision (which just released its first two episodes), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in March, Loki in May, What If...? in summer 2021, Ms. Marvel in late 2021, and Hawkeye in late 2021.
Other notable MCU TV series that are on the way include She-Hulk, Secret Invasion, Ironheart, and Armor Wars, all of which are in the same boat as Moon Knight in not yet receiving premiere dates or windows. While this does presumably mean that MCU fans won't get to see Ethan Hawke going full villain for Moon Knight any time soon, the wait does mean that there's plenty of time to speculate about who he'll be playing from the pages of Marvel Comics, assuming his character is being pulled from the source material.
Moon Knight's archnemesis from the comics is known as Bushman, a fellow mercenary who ultimately betrayed Moon Knight. Bushman would make sense as the villain for the show if it runs as a limited series not intended to last beyond one season, but I could see Moon Knight going for a villain other than the archnemesis to start and building to the Bushman reveal in a second season or beyond.
That said, Ethan Hawke would be a big name to cast as somebody other than an archnemesis, so I wouldn't be surprised if news breaks (or is spoiled) that Hawke will play the mercenary-turned-nemesis. For now, we can only wait and hope for details.
The good news at the moment is that the wait can be packed with Marvel content after the MCU wound up taking 2020 off when it comes to movies. You can catch new episodes of WandaVision releasing Fridays on Disney+ starting on January 15, and 2021 winter and spring premiere schedule can't point you toward some alternate options.
