Oscar Isaac Teases More Moon Knight and Sets the Record Straight on Pedro Pascal at New York Comic Con

The Oscar Isaac Cinematic Universe recently expanded with the addition of Moon Knight.

The Marvel limited series allowed the award-winning actor and franchise king to flex his skills by tackling a different kind of superhero story, all while juggling multiple personas and accents.

Isaac stopped by New York Comic Con for a spotlight panel, where he teased the return of Moon Knight, discussed the process of portraying Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) on screen, and finally set the record straight on his bromance with Pedro Pascal.

Isaac originally signed onto Moon Knight as lead actor, but he soon found himself a producer as he delved into his character.

“I didn’t sign on that way, but I became obsessed with the show and what it could be — obsessed with figuring out the story and continuing to dig deeper,” Isaac explained. “It happened quite organically. They came to me and said, ‘You’re basically producing it, would you like to do it officially?’ and I said sure.”

However, he admitted there were concerns the project wouldn’t be capable of rising to the occasion. “At first, I didn’t want to be a producer on Moon Knight, in case it stunk. But I got so into it and excited by what it could be that I couldn’t help but pour everything into it.”

“I saw an opportunity to talk about something that is very difficult to talk about. But to be able to use the language of the comic book myth and the Egyptian deities to talk about the underworld of the human psyche was great.”

More Moon Knight

When asked what project in his ever-expanding career has stayed with him, Isaac confirmed his Marvel series has been hard to shake.

“I really loved doing Moon Knight so much. I think it was just such a surprise that I was going to love it as much as I did,” the actor revealed. “I had so much fun being Steven, I miss Steven. He’s so funny, honest, and authentically himself. I just loved how he is in the world, how he relates to people without that filter of judgment.”

And in true Steven Grant style, the inspiration for Isaac’s British accent will make you laugh.

“Ricky Gervais was my coach. I watched a lot of The Office throughout my life, and I feel like I learned a lot of it through osmosis. The accent made me laugh so much and gave me so much joy that I started doing the voice for my kids, and they really loved it. I just kept going down that road.”

With so much love for Moon Knight and a killer series cliffhanger, surely this isn’t the last we will see of the character. Isaac, looking over his shoulder, reluctantly agreed. “All I can say is it’s not the last we’ve heard of the system that is Moon Knight.”

A Team Effort

Playing three different personas in one show is no easy feat, and for Isaac, it required a team of family stand-ins and masterful wardrobe designers to pull off.

“That was a lot of hard work,” he confirmed. “My brother was there on set, Mike Benjamin Hernandez, and because he’s a great actor, we would rehearse the scenes together. So we would take turns playing the different parts, I would have to remember what he did, then I would have my lines fed into my ear and act to nothing. It was a technical mind puzzle to do.”

However, the flourishes helped put Marc and Steven’s differences into perspective enough to take the transitions to the next level.

“Physicality, the costumes really helped when I started finding them. We found Steven’s wardrobe and started to imagine what he stood like. I imagined he was a really tall person that always wants to seem smaller than he was, always collapsing in on himself a little bit. And then how Marc stands differently,” Isaac recalled.

“So, as I got comfortable with the characters, I started to get more flexible with being able to switch between the two of them. And by the end, we were doing it sometimes line to line.”

The Making of Marc’s System

For Isaac and Moon Knight fans, Marc Spector’s Dissociative Identity Disorder was crucial to the show’s existence.

“That, for me, was the most important part. If it wasn’t about us committing 100% to what that is and delving into it in an authentic way, there was no point in doing this thing,” Isaac said.

“For me, it became a lot of researching and talking to therapists that dealt with it. There was one book in particular by Robert Oxnam that was like my bible. He talked about his journey with DID and how, when he found out, he was well into his forties. It went into such harrowing detail about his journey of discovering it was a system and what that meant to him.”

“So that started a process of working with Marvel, with the writers, and delving into it in an empathetic, truthful way to discuss what that trauma is like,” the actor noted. “We wanted to make this a story about that realization. That line where Marc says, “You’re the only superpower that I have ever had,” that was something that came out of these conversations, and that was the line I brought because I feel it is the point of the whole thing.”

Drag & Pedro Pascal

Besides being Moon Knight‘s biggest fan, Isaac also enjoys a good drag. So when asked if he would ever accept an invitation to participate in RuPaul’s Drag Race, he didn’t hesitate. “Yes and yes! I was doing drag at a very early age, and my sister named me Raisin, so I feel like I need to stick with it.”

Fans closed the panel by asking Isaac if the iconic friendship between him and The Mandalorian‘s Pedro Pascal would ever see a third wheel introduced to the mix. It’s safe to say we weren’t ready for his answer.

“Pedro’s such a slut he would just go for anybody. For me, I am ride or die for him, but he’s loosey-goosey.”

Thus the bromance lives on, as does Moon Knight.

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