Following his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in the Disney+ miniseries Moon Knight, Ethan Hawke has revealed that Marvel Studios' non-disclosure agreements are so strict, he can't even talk about what it's like to work with the company.
During a recent interview with IndieWire, Hawke was asked if he worried about being "sucked into" the MCU on a long-term basis. "I'm not supposed to talk about it," the actor replied. "I had to sign an NDA about dealing with [Marvel], but I'm not interested in long-term commitments. I protected myself because I didn't know what it was going to be. I just wanted to know what the sandbox was like."
Despite being a Marvel Studios production, Disney+'s Moon Knight is primarily a standalone story, with very few references to the larger MCU. Furthermore, Hawke's character, Arthur Harrow, was seemingly killed off in the final episode, which would ostensibly disqualify him from future Marvel projects.
At any rate, Hawke has made his feelings on the MCU partially known, explaining that he thinks the films and television shows are very actor-friendly -- just not necessarily director-friendly. "They might not be director-friendly," he said, "and that could be what [Martin] Scorsese and [Francis Ford] Coppola are talking about. But they love actors." Hawke refers to a New York Times piece written by Goodfellas director Martin Scorsese critiquing the MCU. Scorsese explained that what he considers "cinema" is "as far from the Marvel universe as we on Earth are from Alpha Centauri."
Moon Knight follows a character played by Oscar Isaac, who has multiple personalities, including a mercenary/superhero called Marc Spector, a British gift-shop employee named Steven Grant and an assassin named Jake Lockley. These characters become involved in a mystery that revolves around Egyptian gods. Hawke plays Harrow, a religious leader who runs a cult based on the Egyptian goddess Ammit.
While future Marvel projects likely won't involve Hawke, Moon Knight's head writer, Jeremy Slater, has said that fans can likely expect to see more of Isaac in the MCU. "Is he going to be a friend?" Slater asked, referring to Jake Lockley, a character still shrouded in mystery. "Is he an enemy? I think all those are really exciting questions for whoever takes up the reins."
While Hawke appears to be steering clear of the MCU for the time being, that doesn't mean his plate isn't full with other projects. His upcoming films include the sequel to Rian Johnson's Knives Out, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and a family drama called Leave the World Behind.
Moon Knight is currently available to stream on Disney+.
Source: IndieWire