The breeze that you’re feeling isn’t a storm headed your way. No, it’s a sign that the rumor mill is churning once again, delivering to us an interesting bit of speculation about the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
A recent report by We Got This Covered claims that Marvel Studios is looking to bring the superhero Moon Knight to the screen, and is eyeing a former Spider-Man star to portray him.
Citing an unidentified source, the outlet contends that Moon Knight will likely get his own movie in the MCU, and that he could be played by Andrew Garfield, who embodied the web-slinging vigilante in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man and its ill-fated 2014 follow-up The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
We Got This Covered alleges in another report that Marvel wants a movie focused on Moon Knight rather than a series that would end up on Disney+. The company is also reportedly aiming to get a Jewish actor to play the role of the nocturnal hero, who has Jewish heritage, with a father who’s a Rabbi.
Moon Knight’s alter ego is a man named Marc Spector who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. While many people regard him as being simply crazy, he also becomes the emissary of the Egyptian God Khonshu, gaining supernatural powers and stylizing himself as a caped crime-fighter.
While the rumor hasn’t been substantiated outside of WGTC, Garfield would fit the bill of what Marvel is reportedly looking for. The actor is known to have Polish-Jewish ancestry, his family surname is said to have originally been “Garfinkel,” and his paternal grandparents were part of Jewish immigrant families. While Garfield has described himself as religiously being more of an agnostic, he does identify as Jewish and is proud of his Jewish heritage.
The idea of Garfield joining the MCU in his post-Spider-Man days to become Moon Knight is pretty mind-boggling, but, truth be told, this rumor is very thin. The famously secretive Marvel Studios hasn’t said a peep about whether a movie or series about Moon Knight is even a possibility.
Studio president Kevin Feige has been known to keep a zipped lip on details about future projects, but he did loosen up a great deal during 2019’s San Diego Comic-Con. At the event, Marvel held its hotly-anticipated presentation at which the complete slate of films and TV series that will comprise Phase 4 of the MCU was announced.
Feige even revealed that a Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali was in the works, and confirmed that Black Panther 2, Captain Marvel 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a Fantastic Four movie, and a film about the X-Men were all underway at Marvel. There wasn’t a word about Moon Knight – not for the far-off, unannounced Phase 5, and certainly not for Phase 4.
Now, just because Feige and his fellow Marvel executives haven’t said anything about developing a movie centered on Moon Knight doesn’t mean that it won’t ever happen in the future. But there’s no solid information to suggest that this rumor is true.
And though We Got This Covered notes that the intel about Garfield being eyed to play Marvel’s Moon Knight comes from a source with a, quote, “pretty strong track record” – the same source that leaked the info about the post-credits scene in the Avengers: Endgame re-release, plus the news about the real Mandarin appearing in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – it’s just not possible to say with any certainty how true this report really is.
Another thing complicating the idea that Garfield will portray Moon Knight in an upcoming Marvel movie is the fact that he isn’t the only person said to be on Marvel’s wishlist. He’s apparently only one of several names Marvel is reportedly considering for the role, and may have major competition in another actor well-versed in the comic book movie world.
We Got This Covered, citing the very same source that’s evidently a bottomless well of Marvel-related information, has also claimed that the studio is eyeing Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the man behind police officer John Blake in The Dark Knight Rises. Like Garfield, Gordon-Levitt is Jewish, meaning there’s a chance that Marvel does have him on its wishlist, if the outlet’s other report is to be believed.
As we’ve said, this is all speculation for now. Only time will tell if Marvel hands Moon Knight the greatest gift of all – a solo movie – and whether or not Garfield will be the lucky guy to take the lead.
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