Ethan Hawke has addressed his past apprehension about working with Marvel Studios, as much-anticipated superhero drama Moon Knight prepares to drop on Disney Plus.
The series sees Hawke playing mysterious cult leader Arthur Harrow, who becomes a nemesis of Oscar Isaac’s troubled crusader Moon Knight (also known by the civilian names Marc Spector and Steven Grant).
The casting of the Training Day actor came as a surprise to some fans, who noted comments he made in 2015 which suggested Marvel movies were “business” rather than art and saddled with a “tremendous amount of salesmanship” (via MTV’s Happy Sad Confused).
In a new interview with RadioTimes.com, Hawke elaborated on what he meant by those comments and explained why he ultimately took the high-profile Moon Knight gig.
“I think a lot of people don’t understand that when you have apprehension as an actor about being in the Marvel movies, it’s not that you don’t love the Marvel movies,” he began.
“It’s that they’re so successful and you’re going to be famous for it in some way – and the expectations are going to be so high that you want to be proud of it.”
With a few notable exceptions, Hawke has largely stayed away from blockbuster fare during his career to date, being best known to cinephiles for his indie collaborations with director Richard Linklater (including the Before trilogy and Boyhood).
“There’s nothing [that] makes actors crazier than being famous for something you’re not proud of and doesn’t feel personal to you,” he added.
“So we both wanted to make sure that this is something we could stand on your programme and talk about and feel proud of ourselves and stand behind.”
This won’t be Hawke’s last role in a comic book project, as he is also set to provide the voice of Bruce Wayne, AKA Batman, in an upcoming animated series titled Batwheels (coming soon to Cartoon Network and HBO Max).
Additional reporting by Huw Fullerton.
Moon Knight premieres on Disney Plus on Wednesday 30th March 2022. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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