Moon Knight star Ethan Hawke says Marvel Studios is 'Actor Friendly' but not 'Director Friendly'

Ethan Hawke played the role of Arthur Harrow, the charismatic leader of the cult of Ammit and the main villain of the first season.

Moon Knight which was released earlier this year was well received by fans and critics for its darker tone compared to other MCU series.

Ethan Hake has enjoyed a prolific career acting in award-winning movies like Dead Poets Society, Boy Hood, and Before sunrise and it was a pleasant surprise to see the actor in the MCU.

Normally the actor is known for staying away from big-budget movies and instead acts in smaller productions.

In a recent interview with Indiewire, the actor revealed that is was his daughter Stranger Things star Maya Hawke who convinced him to join the MCU.

"Maya would say to me, 'Why are you sitting on the outside and telling everyone their sandbox is bad? Why don't you go into their sandbox, play with them, and show them what you have to offer?' I said to Oscar Isaac, 'We've got to go play in Marvel 's sandbox and try to do what we do. We don't have to change Marvel. We just want to show them what we're capable of doing and see if they find it interesting.'"

And while the actor enjoyed his time working on the show mainly because Marvel is very accommodating of actors however because of the wider universe that each project is a part of, he doesn't believe directors get the same level of freedom.

"That group is extremely actor-friendly. They might not be director-friendly, and that could be what [Martin] Scorsese and [Francis Ford] Coppola are talking about. But they love actors. I think Kevin Feige had a great thing happen with Robert Downey Jr. and he understood that Downey's passion was a large part of the success. When actors are excited by a part, audiences get excited about watching them. Feige understood the algorithm there, so they're extremely respectful toward the process."

This could explain why many famous directors have called about the studio and its movies in the past, with most saying that the movies lack individuality

This also explains why a lot of directors have walked away from projects like Patty Jenkins who was supposed to direct Thor; Dark World and others left after just one movie like Scott Derrickson who left after directing Doctor Strange in 2016.

But plenty of other directors have been able to work within the Marvel framework and express their own visions, the most famous examples being James Gunn with Guardians of the Galaxy and Taika Waititi with Thor.

And while it is true that the studio does exert control over its directors, the studio has been more than willing to let directors find their voice within the MCU.

Moon Knight is currently streaming on Disney +