Moon Knight: Everything To Know About Oscar Isaac's Disney+ Series, Including How It Connects To The Larger MCU

Oscar Isaac makes his formal entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Wednesday when Moon Knight premieres on Disney+, but there are a few things you should know before diving headfirst into what is unquestionably the MCU's wildest series yet.

What's it about? How does it connect to the MCU at large? And why did it take so long for this character, who has existed in comic form since 1975, to make it to the screen? These simple questions become considerably less so for a show like Moon Knight, which you'll see as we break down its themes of Egyptian mythology and mental illness, among others.

And lest you doubt how much of a departure Moon Knight is from typical Marvel fare, executive producer and director Mohamed Diab tells TVLine, "A lot of people are telling me that if there was no MCU logo at the beginning of Episode 1, no one would know that it was a Marvel project."

Read on for a quick list of what you should know before jumping into Marvel's latest (and very different) creation, then drop a comment with your thoughts.

Playing someone with dissociative identity disorder, Isaac finds himself wearing multiple masks — both literally and figuratively — in this series.

When we meet his character, he believes that he's a mild-mannered museum gift shop employee named Steven Grant, but he soon learns that he shares a body with a mercenary named Marc Spector. "As Steven and Marc's enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt," per the show's official logline.

Marc is all business, while Steven is more likely to make you laugh... whether he means to or not.

"I thought it was a different kind of humor to bring into the MCU," Isaac tells TVLine, adding that he based Steven's very specific accent on the work of British comedian Karl Pilkington (An Idiot Abroad). "Robert Downey Jr. came in [as Tony Stark/Iron Man] and did the whole self-aware thing just so well. He did it so brilliantly. And it feels like that culminated with Deadpool having the ultimate self-awareness. It felt like we couldn't keep repeating that, so how about we go back to this idea of this character who doesn't know he's being funny?"

Oh, you didn't think this was going to become more complicated? Buckle up.

With the power of Egyptian moon god Khonsu (voiced by F. Murray Abraham) on his side, Marc has the ability to summon a powerful suit and transform into Moon Knight. There's also Mr. Knight, who operates a little differently for... reasons that will be clear upon viewing.

Isaac recalls feeling "very powerful" the first time he wore the Moon Knight costume, telling TVLine that it's "amazing that they constructed this incredible suit that's able to be worn and moved in. The craftsmanship of the people involved in making this show is next level. As far as feeling like a superhero, that Moon Knight suit is pretty intense, but I also love the character that came out of the Mr. Knight suit. That was kind of our own creation, the character that embodies Mr. Knight."

Because every complex Marvel hero needs a formidable foe, enter Ethan Hawke as Arthur Harrow, a religious leader who seeks to cleanse the world by channeling the power of the Egyptian goddess Ammit.

"I try to see him as a saint," Hawke tells TVLine of his new persona. "I try to see him as the opposite of a villain. He's trying to heal the world. The trouble with people who try to heal the world is that they often end up killing a lot of people while they do it. I really believe that he saw himself as the superhero. He thought he was the best one."

Among other cult leaders, Hawke says he based his performance on David Koresh, famous for his involvement in the 1993 Waco massacre.

Besides being an adventurer with connections to Steven, there isn't much we can say about Layla just yet... so let's check in with her portrayer to see how this whole experience unfolded.

"I had many moments where I was crying in my trailer, because it was very challenging," Calamawy, previously known for her work on Hulu's Ramy, tells TVLine. "I didn't want to let anyone down, I was working with very experienced people, this is relatively new for me, and I had a lot to learn. So there were a lot of uncomfortable moments, but I had so much support around me. As we moved on and I really started to feel who [Layla] was, I got much more comfortable."

Fans of this relatively obscure (in Marvel terms) character have rallied to get live-action Moon Knight content produced, either in the form of a TV show or movie, for years. So, why the sudden interest in giving him his own series as part of the MCU's fourth phase?

"One of the great things that the Disney+ platform allows [is for] you to tell stories with a broader scope," executive producer Grant Curtis tells TVLine. "Moon Knight first appeared in 1975 in Werewolf By Night, and then he spent another five years bouncing around in some other Marvel IP before he finally got his own comic in 1980. When you look at the decades of stories that have been told since then, and they are great stories, you do realize it needed a canvas like Disney+ to properly tell Moon Knight's story and Marc's story and Steven's story. That answers the 'why now.' What an incredible opportunity for Disney+."

The first episode of Moon Knight hits Disney+ on Wednesday, March 30. The remaining five episodes will roll out weekly over subsequent Wednesdays — April 6, April 13, April 20, April 27 and May 4.

The short answer is that it doesn't... yet.

Unlike previous Marvel shows on Disney+ like Hawkeye or The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (pictured), Moon Knight centers around a set of characters never before seen in the MCU as it exists now. Though he is expected to appear in future Marvel films down the road, Moon Knight's story is his own.

"Moon Knight is very much a standalone character with little sprinkles [of MCU connections] here and there if you're really paying attention," executive producer Grant Curtis tells TVLine. "What makes this character very unique is that you're not directly feeling those other tendrils of the MCU in this narrative. [All MCU properties are] special, but I do think this one has a slightly different groove."

But according to director/EP Mohamed Diab, Moon Knight's solo standing "wasn't decided from the get go."

"There were some Easter eggs and crossovers," Diab says of the original plan. "As a show develops, it grows like a human being. Once we started seeing it come together, everybody started cutting stuff and everyone felt that we don't even need to put anything in this. It's a standalone project. It's going to join the MCU one day, but it stands on its own legs. People usually love crossovers because of the surprises, but maybe the surprise this time is that it's a standalone project."