Moon Knight star May Calamawy has expressed her hope that the series will educate viewers on Egyptian culture, revealing that she herself was ‘taken aback’ by the mythology she discovered.
The new Marvel show, which premieres on Disney Plus this month, stars Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector, a mercenary with dissociative identity disorder who is a conduit for the Egyptian moon god Khonshu.
Very little is currently known about May’s character, Layla El-Faouly, other than the fact that she has a link to Marc’s past.
While speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, the Egyptian-Palestinian actor shared how proud she feels that Egypt has been ‘respresented in a modern light in a very authentic way’ in Moon Knight.
‘I have high hopes for how it can educate Egyptians. We forget the beauty of our country and the mythology… I was taken aback by that, I was like woah,’ she said.
‘Because I’m not someone who’s gone into it myself, so that was fun to be like, “Wow, that came from Egypt?”’
May, who previously starred in comedy-drama Ramy as the titular character’s sister Dena Hassan, continued: ‘Egypt being represented in this modern light in a very authentic way is so exciting, again for the world to see it for the representation, and also for that pride for Arabs.
‘I hope all Arabs feel that and not just Egyptians. I think that’s going to be great.’While Marvel fans will undoubtedly have lots of questions going into Moon Knight before learning the ins and outs of the intricate plot, one of the biggest question marks rests on Layla and how she fits into the narrative. (Metro)