If recent reports are to be believed, Jake Gyllenhaal is first in line to replace Ben Affleck as Batman if the actor decides to hang up his cowl. However, let’s imagine for a moment that Gyllenhaal was actually up for playing Marvel’s very own nocturnal caped crusader, Moon Knight.
Granted, there’s been absolutely no chatter of such a thing happening, but digital artist Boss Logic has designed a new piece this week which places Gyllenhaal under the silver cloak of the vigilante. Apart from the great likeness of the actor himself, Boss Logic’s costume design is spot-on here. It retains the recognizable hood but matches it with an armoured bodysuit, in line with most superhero movie outfits.
For those who don’t know, Moon Knight AKA Marc Spector is a former US Marine turned mercenary who was granted superhuman powers by the Egyptian god Khonshu. His abilities – the usual enhanced strength, reflexes and agility – are dependent on the phases of the moon. Fans have long called for the character to enter the MCU, most likely via The Defenders – though we doubt anyone would mind if Marvel made a big-budget Moon Knight movie instead.
If you look beneath the superhero aspect, which might put some actors off, Moon Knight is actually a very meaty and challenging role to play. Unlike most vigilantes, Marc Spector keeps up several different identities in order to ensure that his crime-fighting actives stay secret. Recent interpretations have even explored the character’s dissociative personality disorder that has arisen from his many lives.
Though there’s nothing to connect Gyllenhaal with Moon Knight at the moment, one Marvel director has made clear that he would be interested in making a movie based on the character. That’d be Guardians of the Galaxy’s James Gunn, while Daredevil‘s Vincent D’Onofrio has said that he would love to star in a Gunn-helmed Moon Knight film. All in all, then, the character’s arrival in the MCU seems more like a question of when and not if at this point, wouldn’t you say?