Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight streaming series was met with mixed reviews from critics. Some aspects of the show were praised, like the psychological thrills, gonzo visuals, and mind-bending twists, but other parts were criticized, like the intermittent action, the Jake Lockley tease, and the straightforward final battle.
One thing that was universally acclaimed was Oscar Isaac’s performance as the titular antihero, challenging Marvel’s clear-cut view of good and evil. The actor managed to create two distinctive characters trapped in the same disturbed mind. Isaac’s breathtaking turn was one of the highlights of Moon Knight, but the actor’s résumé is filled with great performances competing for the title of his best work.
Moon Knight Is The Best
Moon Knight Is Three Performances Rolled Into One
Isaac is the only leading man on television who could snag two Outstanding Lead Actor nominations at the Emmys, because this performance in the title role of Moon Knight is really three performances rolled into one.
For the majority of the series, Isaac plays two distinctive personalities battling over control of the same mind – and, in the mid-credits scene, he introduces a third personality.
Isaac Subverted Expectations In A Franchise With Little Room For Subversion
The MCU usually tells standard archetypal stories centered around standard archetypal heroes, with a black-and-white view of the struggle between good and evil. Moon Knight is one of the few exceptions, exploring a moral gray area that Marvel rarely even touches on.
There are plenty of twists and turns in the first season of Moon Knight and the series has a complex ethical viewpoint: is it okay to kill bad people before they do bad things?
He Nails The Blend Of Comedy And Tragedy
Marvel projects tend to mix comedy and drama within the familiar superhero genre, but Moon Knight goes the extra mile: its humor is particularly wacky and its drama is particularly harrowing.
Isaac nails both the pitch-perfect timing of the cringe comedy in his Steven persona and the heart-wrenching tragedy of Marc’s trauma, rage issues, and fractured psyche (and his brutal backstory).
Moon Knight Is The MCU’s First True Antihero
The MCU has toyed with the notion of an antihero in the past. Tony Stark was far from perfect, Wanda Maximoff held a whole town hostage, and Loki was a villain for a decade before leading his own streaming show, but all of these characters eventually emerged as straightforward protagonists.
The titular god-powered ass-kicker in Moon Knight is easily the MCU’s darkest hero to date. Isaac had a lot of fun with Marvel’s most brutal superhero, enjoying the chance to dig into darker impulses than the average Avenger.
Isaac Got To Explore The Whole Spectrum Of Human Emotion In This Role
In the role of Moon Knight, Isaac got a chance to explore every facet of humanity’s complicated emotional spectrum. Steven is very warm and bubbly and optimistic, Marc is cold and ruthless and pessimistic, and Jake is even more brutal than Marc and so callous that the prospect of pessimism doesn’t even cross his mind.
Isaac took full advantage of the opportunity to flit between two extremes, exploring the full spectrum of human emotion within the same character.
Alternatives
Nathan Bateman In Ex Machina
One of the roles that put Isaac on the map was Nathan Bateman in Ex Machina. Nathan is a reclusive tech mogul who invites a random employee out to his remote cabin in the woods for what seems to be a chill hangout.
This hangout actually turns out to be a Turing test determining the effectiveness of the A.I. he’s been working on. Isaac’s star-making turn as a super-rich tycoon who lives removed from civilized society is appropriately eccentric.
Poe Dameron In The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Isaac’s first major blockbuster role as maverick Resistance pilot Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequel trilogy was let down by an insubstantial, unplanned character arc. Despite this misconceived character development, Isaac’s performance as Poe is still one of the saving graces of the sequels.
The actor’s effortless charisma (not dissimilar to that of Harrison Ford) was a perfect fit for the pulpy Star Wars universe. Isaac’s take on Poe combines the ice-coolness of Han Solo with the unwavering nobility of Luke Skywalker.
Nick Wasicsko In Show Me A Hero
Moon Knight isn’t the first big-time TV role that Isaac has taken on. He previously played Yonkers mayor Nick Wasicsko in the limited series Show Me a Hero, adapted from the 1999 nonfiction book of the same name by ex-New York Times reporter Lisa Belkin.
Wasicsko was the youngest ever mayor of Yonkers, who fought for the desegregation of public housing, and Isaac’s performance in the acclaimed miniseries offers a well-rounded portrayal of this historic figure.
Duke Leto Atreides In Dune
It was inevitable that Denis Villeneuve’s re-adaptation of Dune would be compared to David Lynch’s version from the 1980s. One of the areas in which Villeneuve’s interpretation undeniably improves on Lynch’s is that the acting is much more nuanced and naturalistic, creating the illusion that these are real people inhabiting a real world.
Isaac gives one of the film’s most memorable turns as Duke Leto Atreides, Paul’s father who takes over the spice-mining operation on Arrakis and slowly comes to the horrifying realization that the Emperor has set him up to fail.
Llewyn Davis In Inside Llewyn Davis
The role that put Isaac on the map was the eponymous Dylan-esque folk singer in the Coen brothers’ ‘60s-set masterpiece Inside Llewyn Davis. The movie is more of a loosely structured character study than a traditional plot, which puts a spotlight squarely on Isaac’s performance.
Isaac effortlessly carries the movie with plenty of pathos. His performance is both dryly hilarious and deeply moving, perfectly striking the idiosyncratic tragicomic tone of the Coens’ storytelling.