After Oscar Isaac plays Spider-Man 2099 in the sequel Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse this summer, the Moon Knight star is already signed up for his next animation project.
According to Deadline, Isaac is teaming up with Israeli filmmaker Gidi Dar (Ushpizin) to dub the 2021 animated film Legend of Destruction for English-speaking audiences. The animation incorporates 1,500 original paintings by David Polonsky and Michael Faust, the artists behind the 2008 Oscar-winning animated film Waltz with Bashir.
Deadline reports that Legend of Destruction edits the images of the paintings together to “produce an innovative cinematic language” as the backdrop to an epic war film. Joining Isaac on the project is Oscar-nominee Elliott Gould (Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice), Evangeline Lilly (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), and Billy Zane (Titanic).
“This story is at the core of Jewish existence,” Dar told Deadline. “It is one of the darkest moments of my people, yet few know it. I felt compelled to tell it.”
Set between 66 and 70 AD, Legend of Destruction tells the story of a Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire, which leads to a civil war and the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Thus, begins the “2,000-year exile of the Jewish People.” Isaac plays Ben Batich, “a good-hearted, naïve young man who becomes a hardened zealot” who follows a rebel leader.
“It is a story that has great historical sweep, but also is very intimate,” Isaac told Deadline. “It is about a personal relation between the lead character and God.”
Isaac added: “I couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea that it was going to be told using just still images. I started watching it and suddenly, within minutes, I was completely transported, and swept up into an epic story. I felt like I was watching Gladiator.”
In 2021, Legend of Destruction was nominated for seven Israeli Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.
