Directing duo Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson explain Moon Knight episode 4's Indiana Jones ripoff and the oddity of filming it.
Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS lie ahead for Moon Knight episode 4, "The Tomb"
Directing duo Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson explain Moon Knight episode 4's Indiana Jones ripoff and the oddity of filming it. Prior to stepping behind the helm for the Marvel Cinematic Universe series, Benson and Moorhead made a name for themselves in the indie horror and sci-fi genres, with their acclaimed works including Resolution, Spring and The Endless. The duo would team with an MCU star for their most recent effort, the festival hit sci-fi horror film Synchronic starring Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan as paramedics who investigate a series of deaths connected to a new designer drug in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Moon Knight marks the MCU debuts of Benson, Moorhead, Mohamed Diab and star Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector, a mercenary living with dissociative identity disorder who becomes the human avatar for the Egyptian moon god Khonshu. Marc and his various personalities, including mild-mannered gift shop employee Steven Grant, find themselves pulled into a globe-trotting adventure in the hopes of stopping Ethan Hawke's religious zealot Arthur Harrow from utilizing the Egyptian goddess Ammit to cleanse the world. Moon Knight has received largely positive reviews across its run thus far and with episode 4 introducing a game-changing twist to the series, those behind it are offering some insight for one of its key details.
In anticipation of its premiere on Disney+, Entertainment Weekly spoke with directors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson to discuss Moon Knight episode 4. When asked about its Indiana Jones ripoff entitled Tomb Buster, the two described shifting from a glossy Marvel production to the old-fashioned nature of its in-universe VHS tape to be an odd experience. See what the directing duo shared below:
Moorhead: Production on that was really interesting because you're working on a Marvel show with literally the greatest filmmaking technicians in the world, and now you're asking everyone to intentionally make something that looks like it was made with toothpicks and papier-mache. That was a very interesting experience. Everyone had a lot of good laughs that morning. Everybody was just having an absolute blast, being as cheesy as we possibly could. We realized that we didn't know if we would see the TV again [later in the episode]. So we actually asked the writers to write an extra minute of the scene so that it could play in the background as needed. We actually got to shoot twice as much of that. Now we want to make a whole series of it. It has some of the most ridiculous dialogue that they could come up with.
Benson: It was essentially someone sharing way too much information about their parental relationships for way too long.
The Indiana Jones ripoff, Tomb Buster, is introduced in Moon Knight episode 4 as Isaac's Marc wakes up in a psychiatric hospital run by Harrow after being fatally shot by Hawke's villain in Ammit's tomb, surrounded by crazed versions of those he's encountered in the series thus far. The video sees an archaeologist named Dr. Steven Grant as he investigates a jungle-set location with his young partner, a ripoff of Jonathan Ke Quan's Short Round, and discovering the skeleton of a dead rival adventurer. In his meeting with Harrow, who is said to be the head therapist of the hospital, it's said that Marc brought the tape to the facility and is alluded to that it has inspired delusions regarding a moon god and his being an adventurer.
As the directors note, Moon Knight episode 4's Indiana Jones ripoff is an interesting and jarring moment for the MCU series as it begins right after Isaac's Marc Spector has seemingly been shot and killed. Given the duo went from a sleek Marvel production to an old-fashioned VHS adventure, it's understandable they describe it as an "interesting experience," though should come as a charming story to hear they and the rest of the cast and crew had "an absolute blast" filming the purposely campy video. Audiences can catch up with the first four episodes of Moon Knight streaming on Disney+ now.
Source: EW
