Moon Knight director criticizes depiction of Egypt in Wonder Woman 1984, says it was a shame.
With Moon Knight from Disney+, Egyptian director Mohamed Diab hopes to bring a well-deserved correct portrayal of ancient Egyptian mythology to the Marvel Universe. With this, he hopes to change Hollywood’s perception of Egypt, which he says has disappointed him, especially when it comes to some superhero blockbusters.
Recently, he criticized the representation or rather the lack of proper depiction of Egypt in the upcoming film Black Adam. Now, it’s another DC movie he’s reviewing: Wonder Woman 1984.
“I remember seeing Wonder Woman 1984 and there was a big sequence in Egypt and it was a shame for us”Diab, who made his directorial debut with the political thriller Cairo 678 in 2010, recently told SFX Magazine. “There was a sheik, it makes no sense to us. Egypt looked like a country of the Middle Ages. She looked like the desert. »
In the scene Diab is referring to, antagonist Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) travels to Egypt with a stolen magical artifact and is chased by Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) and Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) in one of the most great action sequences from the movie.
“You never see Cairo. You still see Jordan filmed [pour la faire passer] for Cairo, Morocco instead of Cairo, sometimes Spain instead of Cairo,” Diab said in the interview. “It really makes us angry. »
He then explained how his frustration fueled him while working on Moon Knight. “There was a big part of Egypt and how it’s been portrayed inauthentically throughout Hollywood history,” Diab said. “It’s always exotic – we call it ‘Orientalism’. It dehumanizes us. We’re still naked, we’re still sexy, we’re still mean, we’re still over the top. »
Regarding the place of Egypt in Moon Knight, he confides: “It’s part of the show because it’s part of the comics. It’s part of how he gets his powers. It’s rooted in it.” did he declare. “There was certainly room to play, but while keeping it as authentic as possible in the realm of fantasy. Even in the original comics, they did a great job of researching trying to make Egypt feel authentic. »
Moon Knight starts March 30 on Disney+
Source: SFX Magazine / Credit ©Disney/Warner Bros.
