Oscar Isaac Reveals Why His Moon Knight Character Is English

Oscar Isaac reveals why he made the decision to make Moon Knight's Steven Grant English, as well as how he shaped his accent around the character.

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Moon Knight episode 6.

Oscar Isaac reveals why he made his Moon Knight character, Steven Grant, English. The latest Marvel series wrapped up its six-episode run on May 4 with an epic conclusion. It followed Steven Grant and Marc Spector, a museum worker and a mercenary who share a body in a Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) system. They serve the Egyptian god Khonshu as his avatar, which grants them the powers to become the nighttime vigilante Moon Knight. The journey is one of self-acceptance and strength, as Steven and Marc learn to live with each other to serve the greater good.

With the story drawing much of its inspiration straight from the comics, Moon Knight includes the alters Marc, Steven, and his third alter Jake Lockley, the latter of whom is still mysterious to both the audience and Marc and Steven themselves. Steven in the comics is rich and suave, while the Steven that Moon Knight viewers meet onscreen is humble and a little rough around the edges. This was a change Isaac and the Moon Knight crew decided to make for the series, which helped to establish Steven as a kind-hearted and relatable protagonist early on. His humor and genuine nature — as well as his opening song “A Man Without Love” by Engelbert Humperdinck, thanks to TikTok — captivated audiences from his very first appearance in Moon Knight episode 1.

There is, however, another major character change for MCU Steven that Isaac himself pushed for. The actor revealed during an appearance on D23‘s Inside Disney podcast that the idea to make Steven English stemmed from the location of the series: London. Isaac revealed that he questioned Moon Knight‘s London setting, and learned that it was only to expand the MCU worldview outside of New York. Deciding to take it further, Isaac suggest making Steven English as the “Peter Sellers” of the MCU, and become more relatable and entertaining. See everything Isaac had to say about Steven below:

“[Moon Knight] was set in London, I asked why it was set in London, and the answer wasn’t one that made it… it was kinda semi-arbitrary, you know. It was just to get away from New York, ‘cause so many things are already taking place in New York in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You wanna feel the world’s a little bigger than just New York. So, when I saw it was set in London even though the character wasn’t English, I thought, ‘Well, what if we make him English? What if… imagine Peter Sellers was in a Marvel movie, you know? What would he do?’ And so I just sorta started going down that road and finding a character that would just make me laugh and gave me joy to do and gave my family joy to listen to and I kinda went from there. And then as I did that, you know, I’ve played English in a lot of movies, but this was a much more specific one that, in a way, it was less about the specific place of the accent which, for me, it was more North London, but it was more about the personality that is connected to the way this person speaks that also happens to have this accent.”

Isaac’s decision yielded great results, as Moon Knight viewers have come to love Steven the Marvel series’ adaptation of the comic book character. From his excited “Wagwan!” to his iconic “Laters gators,” the English part of Steven has become an important part of him and what he means to the story. London has become important to their system in the same way that Cairo is important to Marc and his wife Layla El-Faouly (May Calamawy). Rather than being just another location, the city is both a home and the setting for many significant events, which could very well be why Marc’s and Steven’s story both started and ended in London.

What’s next for Steven, Marc, and Moon Knight is still as of yet unknown. The Moon Knight credits scene of Khonshu and Jake seemed to hint towards more for their story, but nothing is confirmed. Isaac has expressed his openness to returning to the MCU in the future, and with related characters such as Black Knight also being set up, it’s possible Moon Knight could return in a larger team-up that hits the theaters rather than just Disney+. The biggest relief for many viewers was Steven’s return in Moon Knight episode 6, as Isaac’s convincing and emotional portrayal of the character, and his endearing English accent, has captured the hearts of many viewers for a long time to come.