Ramy star May Calamawy is to star in Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight series.
Star Wars actor Oscar Isaac has already been cast as the titular superhero in the Marvel series, and The Hollywood Reporter writes that he will now be joined by Calamawy, with the show due to begin production in March in Budapest.
It has not been confirmed which character Calamawy – who is known for playing Dena Hassan in Hulu comedy-drama Ramy – will play in the series.
Moon Knight was announced during Disney’s D23 expo in August 2019 by Marvel boss Kevin Feige, with Jeremy Slater set to lead the writing team. Slater developed Netflix’s adaptation of The Umbrella Academy and he also co-wrote 2015’s Fantastic Four reboot movie, so he is no stranger to a comic-book adaptation.
Moon Knight has often been described as Marvel’s Batman – although a lot less well-known – and he has a very unusual origin story, even for a superhero.
Born as Marc Spector, he is the son of a rabbi who escaped from the Nazis. As a child he finds out that a family friend is a secret Nazi serial killer, and is so traumatised that he develops a dissociative personality disorder.
The character, who has a past as a mercenary and CIA operative among other ventures, has an encounter with an Egyptian god called Khonshu, who offers him a second chance at life when he comes close to death.
He then takes on the alternate personalities of a millionaire playboy named Steven Grant and a taxi driver called Jake Lockley, both of whom are key to Moon Knight’s success thanks to their individual ventures.
It has not yet been confirmed when Moon Knight might arrive on Disney+ but with a host of other superhero shows on their way to the streaming service, including Loki, Ms Marvel and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to name a few, we’ll certainly not be short of Marvel action while we’re waiting.
In fact, Marvel’s first Disney+ series WandaVision makes its debut tomorrow (January 15), with Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany reprising their respective roles as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision.