Ethan Hawke joined the MCU earlier this year when he played the villainous Arthur Harrow in Moon Knight. His involvement in the franchise surprised a lot of fans as he previously criticized the comic genre in the past. The Oscar nominee's performance in the series became one of its highlights and brought a lot of gravitas to the story.
In a recent interview with IndieWire, Hawke was asked about his experience in doing Moon Knight where he admitted that he had a great time and called Marvel "extremely actor-friendly" although he also said that it might not be the case for the directors that they're working with.
"That group of people is extremely actor-friendly," Hawke said. "They might not be director-friendly, and that could be what [Martin] Scorsese and [Francis Ford] Coppola are talking about. But they love actors. I think Kevin Feige had a great thing happen with Robert Downey Jr. and he understood that Downey’s passion was a large part of the success."
He continued, "When actors are excited by a part, audiences get excited about watching them. Feige understood the algorithm there, so they’re extremely respectful toward the process. The best thing about Moon Knight for me was Oscar [Isaac]’s performance. It’s a gonzo thing that happens to have a giant budget — a pretty out-there performance."
It's not surprising to hear Hawke saying that Marvel "might not be director-friendly." While the directors were given some freedom by the studio to do their vision for the projects, they still have to play with the sandbox since it is part of a continuity that the franchise is telling. In the end, what matters is that they will have a good working relationship throughout the process.
It's also great to hear that the studio is "extremely" friendly to the actors which is already evident since a lot of actors have been involved in the franchise for a long time now and managed to commit to doing their respective roles in multiple projects. Based on Hawke's comment, it looks like he really had a great experience working in the series and contributing to the franchise.
Also Read: Moon Knight Receives Eight Nominations for the 2022 Emmy Awards
All episodes of Moon Knight are streaming on Disney+.