WATCH: Oscar Isaac on the powerful message at the centre of Moon Knight

"Are we just trying to cover our asses so that we don't get called out?"

The first episode of Marvel's new series Moon Knight (review here) dropped this week, and it represents a lot of firsts for the MCU. For example, it is the first time that a character has headlined a show or movie that hadn't already appeared in another show or movie. It also actively deals with a character - in this case Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac) – who is suffering from a mental disorder, in this case dissociative identity disorder. At the end of the episode, this title card appears on-screen for viewers, proving that the makers of the show are taking the topic very seriously: Ahead of the release of the show's release, JOE sat down with Oscar Isaac and his co-star May Calamawy to chat about their roles in the series. Check out that interview in full right here: During the chat, we asked Isaac about the thought process behind how everyone involved – from writers to actors – were going to handle this sensitive subject. Isaac told us the following: "That was something that I really pushed for, to be honest. But we were talking about the representation of mental illness and what the responsibilities are there. "And sometimes you can get into the weeds of the actual narrative storytelling, where we're just like 'Okay, are we just trying to cover our asses so that we don't get called out? Or are we actually caring about somebody watching this who might be suffering as well?' "And then when we started talking about it that way, then if we really are caring about somebody that is watching, and somebody is having these questions, then we should say something at the end. "That if you are somebody who is having a problem, then there is help out there that you can call this line," Isaac adds. "So yeah, I think even before that decision was made, before even the cameras starting rolling, making sure that we're not exploiting this thing and using it as a backstory or using it as a plot device. "But actually orientating the entire thing around, even the style of film-making, so that it is about dealing with this disorder and trying to heal from trauma." The first episode of Moon Knight is available to watch on Disney+ right now, with the rest of the season arriving each Wednesday for the next five weeks. Clips via Disney Ireland