The recent Marvel mini-series Moon Knight released on Disney Plus earlier this month with seemingly a “mostly positive” reception according to most outlets. The series starred Oscar Isaac as the titular hero with multiple personalities fighting Arthur Harrow (Played by: Ethan Hawke) in a battle between Egyptian Gods.
In addition to Moon Knight another hero appeared in the series, one that many were not expecting to see; That being Scarlet Scarab (Played by: May Calamawy).
In the comics Scarlet Scarab was a male villain named Abdul Faoul, first appearing in The Invaders #23 in 1977. 
But this version for the show, Layla El-Faouly, was made up specifically for the show. But funny enough she wasn’t originally planed for the show. In a recent interview the series’ director, Mohamed Diab, stated that she wasn’t originally planned when they were conceiving the show:
“The show didn’t start with the Scarlet Scarab, but seeing May and developing her as an Egyptian character, step-by-step, the idea like, came up: ‘Let’s make her into a superhero.‘”
“Right now, Marvel is the world to a lot of people. Kids, teens. To be part of that world, it means that you exist. Representation, really I know this word now has been thrown right and left, but having someone like this on screen, defending good, that’s the kind of story that brings people together.“
Marvel Studios producer Grant Curtis also charmed in, saying that they wanted a native Egyptian hero:
“We zeroed in on an Egyptian superhero in the Marvel universe named the Scarlet Scarab. Traditionally it’s a male character who goes and re-appropriates Egyptian artifacts from people who have stolen or gotten them by ill means and returns them to the rightful owners, and we thought, ’Man, the way our narrative is teeing up, that lines up with exactly what we needed for our show.“
The decision to change the character from male to female follows a recent trend in Marvel films/shows taking traditionally male heroes and replacing them with gender/race swapped versions, most notably in The Eternals.
How did you feel about Scarlet Scarab’s inclusion in the series? Was it welcomed or did it distract from the show?
Source: Bounding Into Comics
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