Marvel’s Moon Knight undoubtedly deserves its place among the range of MCU series that have found success of late. Released in March 2022, the 6-episode strong introduced Oscar Isaac as the titular superhero who suffered from Dissociative identity disorder, as fans got to appreciate the character’s personalities, portrayed expertly by the actor.
However, when Isaac was first revealed as Moon Knight via the trailer, fans had a range of understandable questions. The doubt most prominently resonated from the kind of squeamish, almost idiotic accent that Moon Knight showed off, uttering phrases such as “aye, aye cap’n,” and “bloody hell.’
Fans saw the accent as over-pronounced, and thought that Isaac’s portrayal of Steven Grant, one of Moon Knight’s identities, might simply come across as childish. However, the accent in itself was a pre-determined move from Oscar Isaac, who wanted to confuse fans and temper their expectations for his then highly-anticipated portrayal.
Oscar Isaac’s hilarious trailer accent was a calculated move
However, the over-exaggerated way in which he uttered things in the trailer was merely a false start. And while there were scenes when his portrayal of Steven Grant came across as whimsical as in the trailer, it fell perfectly in line with the incredibly confused and struggling with 3 identities superhero that Isaac brought to life. Grant was only one of the 3 identities Isaac played in the series, with his portrayal of Jake Lockley and Marc Spector resulting in two very different personalities.
Hence, the scenes featured in the trailer deliberately included only his time as Steven Grant, leading to some obvious doubt from fans. The reasons were explained by the actor himself (Slash Film):
I stand by the sound of Steven 100 percent … that voice is about where Steven’s from, where he’s living now, and some of his believed heritage. It’s not an idea of what the Brits actually sound like.
Hence, while fans were undoubtedly stunned when they first came across the accent, the scenes were added in the trailer deliberately, in a bid to confuse them.
Fans were disappointed with initial trailers released for Moon Knight
Regardless, the actual release of the series immediately quelled these doubts, as while Isaac did sound like a coy British tour-guide as Steven Grant, the rest of his portrayals were on-point, and in line with what the likes of Marc Specter and Jake Lockley required.
Of course, the series also brought to light Isaac’s incredible acting range. Introduced as a timid, socially awkward gift shop worker at a London Museum, Isaac argued that his decisions with respect to Grant were well in line with what the character stood for. Considering the positive reviews, and the overall 7.3 rating that Moon Knight boasts of on IMDB, the actor appears to have done nothing wrong.
Moon Knight is currently available to be viewed on Disney+.
