has revealed the advice that MCU icon gave him before he took on the role of , explaining that they were ‘already friends’ in real life.
This week, the was released on Plus, introducing viewers across the world to a character who is a conduit for the Egyptian moon god , using his role as the deity’s avatar to fight injustice.
While Oscar has played a couple of Marvel roles in the past – portraying the titular villain in X-Men: Apocalypse and Spider-Man 2099 in the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (which he’s going to reprise in this year’s sequel) – this is the first time he has officially become a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
During a recent interview, the 43-year-old was asked if he reached out to any other actors who have played superheroes in the franchise for advice, as he revealed he’s been in touch with Iron Man himself, Robert.
‘I did talk to Robert Downey quite a bit. I talked to him a lot. He’s a friend already, and so just talking to him about it and just what his sense of it is and how his process has been,’ he told .
‘He was just such a great person to talk to, obviously, about the whole thing. And also for me the biggest inspiration, because to this day still that first Iron Man movie is just so good.’
When probed to share what Robert’s number one tip had been, the Star Wars actor revealed that his Hollywood peer advised him to not hold back from giving his opinion on Moon Knight to Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige.
‘I think the thing is he really said that Kevin Feige, he’s a genius and he’s a collaborator and so don’t be afraid to come in and give your ideas and give your thoughts and to be bold with your choices,’ he said.
In Moon Knight, Oscar’s character, Marc Spector has dissociative identity disorder, and so he also adopts the persona of a British museum gift shop worker called Steven Grant.
During a press event ahead of the series launch, the actor admitted that when working out how to perform Steven’s British mannerisms.
‘I love English humour, like The Office and Stath Lets Flats, and there’s so much of that humour that I find so funny and I thought there’s an opportunity here to maybe make something,’ he said.
‘What if we make him English, what if Peter Sellers was approached with a Marvel project, what would he do?’
Moon Knight is available to watch on Disney Plus with new episodes released on Wednesdays.
