Moon Knight’s Oscar Isaac loves that audiences are as confused as his character

Don’t worry about trying to work out what’s going on, we’re not supposed to know yet.

Moon Knight is a Marvel Studios streaming series. Picture: Gabor Kotschy/Marvel Studios

If you’re feeling discombobulated by Marvel’s latest series, Moon Knight, that’s supposed to happen.

The story about an American mercenary with dissociative identity disorder and the booming voice of an Egyptian god inside his head can be confusing but that’s because its lead character (or should that be characters?) is confused.

The fierce and formidable Marc sometimes becomes Steven, a mild-mannered East Londoner who is as excited about Egyptian history as he is socially awkward. And then both of them are the avatar for Khonshu, the Egyptian moon god whose powers they can draw on in his name.

Star Wars, Dune and Ex Machina star Oscar Isaac has the fun of playing Marc and Steven, two roles that represent the fractured mind of a man dealing with trauma, and it’s Marc and Steven’s experience that Isaac wants to audience to feel.

“The thing I get excited about – and this was absolutely the goal – is that people feel the way that Steven and Marc feel, just as disoriented and from his point of view,” Isaac told news.com.au.

A mirror has two faces. Picture: Csaba Aknay/Marvel Studios

“I thought that was one of the most special things about the show, it’s that it’s more outside of it and you get to watch the action happen, that you actually get to feel like you’re living his life.

“The reactions after this last episode were really fun.”

His co-star May Calamawy agreed: “I’m getting hyped off everyone’s reaction to it, it’s like I’m watching it for the first time.

“Seeing it is so different to when you’re doing it. I’m realising things I didn’t even see just based on what they’re getting excited about.”

Four weeks in and with two to go, the most recent Moon Knight episode really did throw a curve ball or 12.

[SPOILERS AHEAD FOR MOON KNIGHT EPISODE FOUR, “THE TOMB”]

After Steven/Marc and Layla’s (May Calamawy) Indiana Jones-esque quest ends in what seems like a fatal shooting, Steven/Marc and the audience is transported to a mental health facility.

Is it a dream? Were we there all along and Steven/Marc is the ultimate unreliable narrator? Or is this a trick in a series with supernatural elements? The sanitised white walls of the facility yield few clues as to what is reality.

Moon Knight is streaming on Disney+. Picture: Csaba Aknay/Marvel Studios

It’s a cliffhanger ending, spawning theories to tie fans over until the next episode. But it’s also the perfect point to pivot to what is at the core of Moon Knight – a series that deals in entertainment and wild adventures but also in mental health and trauma.

“One of the most important parts of the whole process was to make sure we delved into the experience of living with dissociative identity disorder and trauma in a very truthful way, not shying away from it,” Isaac continued.

The actor was hinting at what to expect for the final two episodes of the six-part miniseries while the news of actor Rey Lucas as Marc’s father suggested that there will be a flashback to an event during Marc’s childhood which caused his identity to splinter.

For Isaac, the characterisation of a hero with trauma and mental health challenges is a flip on the norm and an opportunity to tell a different kind of superhero story.

“The hero is the one suffering from [dissociative identity disorder and trauma],” he said. “Usually it’s the villain who’s the ‘crazy’ one. We actually have a villain who is incredibly calm and ‘sane’ and saying all the right things and the hero’s journey is the one that’s dealing with this trauma that’s created this disorder.

“It’s really powerful and I’m excited for people to see where it goes because ultimately, I think it is a story about hope and healing.”

New episodes of Moon Knight is available on Disney+ from Wednesdays at 5pm AEST