'Moon Knight' Composer Hesham Nazih On Scoring The Opportunity To Bring Egyptian Heroes To Life
Last week, the nominees for the 74th annual Emmy Awards were announced. Although Marvel didn’t nab nominations in any of the major categories (such as Outstanding Actor or Outstanding Limited Series), the studio scored in many of the technical ones. For example, Loki was recognized for its production design, Hawkeye was recognized for its stunt coordination, and Moon Knight was recognized for its costumes.
The latter series, which just managed to squeeze into the race before preliminary ballots closed in May, was also recognized for its spellbinding score. Of Marvel’s numerous streaming nominations, it’s one that I think is the most-deserved.
Moon Knight was composer Hesham Nazih’s first full English language project. The pressure of working for one of the biggest movie studios in the world aside, he effortlessly created an aesthetic that paid homage to Egyptian culture and that breathed new life into a genre plagued by clichés.
In an exclusive interview with FilmSpeak, Nazih spoke about how he got involved in the project, how it felt to compose a piece for the world’s first live-action Egyptian superhero, whether or not early concepts conflicted with his score, and much more!
DEMPSEY PILLOT: So this is your first English language project, right?
HESHAM NAZIH: Yes and no because I've scored a feature called Born a King, which was about the impossible life of a Saudi Arabian prince. It was a Spanish and English and Saudi [Arabian] production. Half of it was in English because, of course, the English and the British side of the story was important, and part of it was in Arabic. So yes, because this is the first entirely English speaking language that I ever worked on.
DP: I gotta ask, how did you get picked for this? I have to imagine that 1) It's competitive for a Marvel project in any capacity and 2) There probably aren't a lot of Egyptian composers out there. So how did you end up as a part of this project?
HN: Well, Mohammed [Diab], the director of the show had recommended me to do this to Marvel, and then they contacted me. And then they listen to my demo reel and some of my music. And then we had another meeting where we discussed ‘this’ and ‘that.’ That's how it all happened.
DP: I wanted to tell you - and I'm glad I'm speaking about this with you - this is my favorite score from a Marvel series so far.
HN: Oh, wow.
DP: Yeah, I know that's crazy. I would say it’s probably tie with WandaVision, but I don't think WandaVision counts because a lot of it was like TV show jingles that was like the whole thing of the series. But this is by far like my favorite. And I like it because the music aligns with both the Egyptian culture and then as the series progresses, it becomes a little bit more modern, even with the music that’s not necessarily a part of the score. Was that your idea? Did you have any say in that process of how the other music was chosen?
HN: Not all of those songs or all of the little drops on the show. They were absolutely the director's choice, and most of these songs were placed before I was [involved] with the project.
DP: What? Really? Well, you should take credit because I think all the music's great.
HN: Oh, thank you. Thank you. I agree that they were great songs and some very clever choices.
DP: So let me ask you this. Coming onboard after some of the music was already chose, did that influence any of your musical decisions? Did hearing any of those or seeing any of those beforehand give you a better idea of how you wanted to score the series?
HN: Not really. But the technique and technical terms, I would have to work my way around them. I built the style of the music based on the story, and then the nature of the characters and their backgrounds.
DP: Speaking of characters, obviously you knew about the Scarlet Scarab, right? That's like the biggest thing to come out of the finale. And she has kind of her own bed of music. Am I wrong?
HN: Yeah, she had her [own] theme. The theme that exploded at the big reveal when she spread her wings in this beautiful shape of an Egyptian superhero.
DP: She's the first female Egyptian superhero, which is so awesome. Did you feel any pressure coming up with that? I mean, you're literally composing history.
HN: No. You know, I would have loved her even if I wasn't Egyptian. She’s a beautiful character. I would still have the same feeling towards the character and towards the story and the development because we have been following this character throughout the episodes up until [that] very moment. I don't think the fact that we both are Egyptians has an effect on it either. While working, I don't keep this much in mind.
DP: Now, a lot that's come out since the show ended. It was revealed that there were not deleted scenes, but concepts that were abandoned early on. There was an Eternals cameo that was planned. And I think there was another cameo that I can’t recall right now - they talked about it, but it never happened. That in mind, were there any musical concepts that you kind of wanted to do but ended up just abandoning for one reason or another?
HN: No, no, no, no, no, no, especially not for those kinds of purposes. And none of those deleted scenes and sequences that you mentioned that did not affect my core in any way either. It's just that in the beginning, you sometimes think ‘That's alright. I'll use this kind of music, this movement, this motif.’ So, I had so many ideas before, but I only used a few of them. For instance, I started writing the main theme. I came up with this first idea I had in mind and then I said, ‘Okay, I will change it. I altered it for like three weeks, maybe four weeks and then I got back to the first idea, which was the one released. So yes, I discarded so many musical ideas, but not because of the because of the delicacies.
DP: Were there any ideas that were rejected? Other than like the ones that you personally rejected? Were there any things that you brought to Marvel, and they said, ‘Maybe we'll hang onto that for later,’ or were you given free range to do whatever you wanted?
HN: We discussed the style of the music so long. We had discussions in regards to the style of the music, the overall feel that we needed to have, and I think we managed to find that my way was the way. I wouldn't call them rejection, they were just discussions. [They would say] ‘You know, this might be a little of an overtone. This is a little heavy handed. This moment hit hard.’
DP: What is your favorite piece from the show?
HN: Oh wow, I don’t know. It's hard for me to pick one piece I'm in love with. The main theme, I mean, each time I listen to it I think it suits Mark’s [character] and Moon Knight. It speaks to his background and the pain that he carries and everything that he carries on his shoulders. It's the sum of a huge playground and character history and so many painful routes he had to go through. So yeah, I don't know. I'm just speaking my mind because this is the first time anyone asked me, which is my favorite piece I don't know.
DP: Really? I mean, it's I think it's a good thing if you can't pick one because that means you just so really love your work. Let me ask you this. Was Moon Knight the one character that you always wanted to score music for? Or is there another character that you would like to do music for?
HN: I didn't know about Moon Knight before the show. I didn't know because I am familiar only familiar with the Marvel movies pictures. When I found who he was I felt really lucky that I was given the chance to write the score for him.
DP: That’s awesome! Is there another character that you would like to score music for in the future? Or maybe a project in the future that you hope that you get asked to return to?
HN: All of them. I would love to write music for all of them. I mean, they’re all fantastic heroes and characters: Tony Stark, Peter Parker. I think they’re fantastic.
DP: This goes into my next question. You probably know this. A lot of people who work with Marvel once usually get poached to do other stuff. Have you been approached to work on anything else in the future?
HN: No, not yet. No, nothing. I'm just now taking the time reflecting on what happened and the experience, having much needed time with my family for the next couple of weeks, and then I'll be up and running for business again afterwards. So I'm just reflecting and relaxing.
DP: And it’s well-deserved. Now, just a couple more questions. One of the biggest questions out of the ending of Moon Knight is that it looks like there's gonna be more. There's obviously more to the story. I doubt we've seen the last of Mark Spector or Steven Grant or Jake Lockley. Have you heard anything about a second season? Do you know how we’ll continue to see the story unfold?
HN: Absolutely nothing. I know nothing about season two. Truly, nothing. Honestly.
DP: But if there's a season two, would you return in a heartbeat?
HN: Absolutely. In a split second. Yeah. I'd love to go back to this story. This was something I always wanted to work on.
DP: Hesham, thank you so much for your time! Where can we see you or hear you next? What else do you have cooking?
HN: Like I just said I'm just having this break. And I don't know. I haven't decided yet what's next, but I believe you will probably be hearing from me soon, but I'm still not decided yet.
Be sure to tune into the 74th annual Emmy Awards in September to find out whether or not he Hesham takes home the gold.