Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Charles Murphy

  • Disney+’s ‘Wonder Man’ Logline Hints at Show’s Intended Tone & Time Frame

    Disney+’s ‘Wonder Man’ Logline Hints at Show’s Intended Tone & Time Frame

    While word of a slowdown of the big Marvel Studios machine continues to spread, the company continues to prep several projects for production over the next several months. Among them is the streaming series Wonder Man, created and overseen by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty director Destin Daniel Cretton.

    The show has been on a bit of a fast track since being revealed in a trade report last June; in fact, despite not being part of either of Marvel Studios’ big Summer con presentations (SDCC and D23), Wonder Man is tentatively set to begin principal photography in late March or early April. As such, the series has made quite a bit of news lately as the cast begins to shape up and it’s in the news again now as insider Daniel RPK has unveiled a potential logline for the project

    Wonder Man has been described as a Hollywood satire and the new information from RPK does seem to fall in line with that.

    Based on the character of Wonder Man, one of Marvel’s oldest characters, first introduced in 1964 in the pages of Avengers No 9. Known as Simon Williams, a celebrity actor and stuntman. In a nutshell, it is a story of two actors struggling to make it in the Hollywood of the MCU, [asking] the big question what does Hollywood look like in a world where super heroes are real?

    Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is set to bring Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man, to life and will share the screen with Ben Kingsley who will reprise the role of Trevor Slattery (likely the other struggling actor) in the project. If Slattery is the other struggling actor, it calls into question just where on the MCU timeline it will fall. When last seen, Slattery seemed to have chosen to stay in Ta Lo with fuzzy bestie Morris after having spent the better part of a decade either in prison or as a prisoner of Wenwu after portraying the Mandarin at the behest of Aldrich Killian. However, before taking that job, Slattery was indeed a struggling actor doing things…no two ways about it…in the street that a man shouldn’t do.

    Could part of Wonder Man be set during the Infinity Saga? There’s no reason it couldn’t be and it actually lines up with part of Williams’ villain origin story. In the comics, Simon’s father, Sanford, developed a munitions factory named Williams Innovations. After Sanford’s death, Simon ran the company into the ground as competitors like Stark Industries took its business. Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes put an interesting spin on that part of the story by having Tony Stark buy the company much to the disgust of Simon. In either version, the downfall of Williams Innovations drove Simon down the road toward becoming a super-powered villain. This could easily be adapted to the MCU without Robert Downey Jr. needing to appear; on the other hand, Marvel Studios could choose to skip this part of Simon’s story entirely and set it entirely in the present day.

    Whatever the case, MCU fans will have at least a couple of years to wait before they’ll find out. With Marvel Studios looking to spread out their streaming series a bit more, Wonder Man likely won’t hit Disney Plus until early 2025.

    Source: Patreon

  • ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 Debut Sets the Stage for Fan-Favorite Pirate

    ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 Debut Sets the Stage for Fan-Favorite Pirate

    So close, yet so far! That’s how Star Wars fans are feeling after the Season 3 debut of The Mandalorian which tantalized fans before letting them down. Chapter 17 of the series brought a new kind of trouble into Din Djarin’s path in the form of pirates. For longtime fans of Star Wars, especially those of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, the appearance of the pirates most likely brought to mind the premiere pirate in the galaxy, Hondo Ohnaka. You’d be forgiven for thinking that, at any point during the tense standoff between Greef Karga, Mando and the band of thirsty pirates, Hondo was going to walk around the corner and help cooler heads prevail. Alas, the old Weequay outlaw was nowhere to be found, but that certainly doesn’t mean he won’t make an appearance sooner or later.

    Theories about a potential live-action debut for Hondo aren’t anything new. In fact, they date back well over two years when it was revealed that Season 3 of The Mandalorian was filming under the working title “Buccaneer.” The Mandalorian co-creator Dave Filoni created Hondo for Star Wars: The Clone Wars and has never been shy about his love for the pirate; as he and Jon Favreau continue to find ways to bring fan (and creator) favorite characters into their expanding live-action universe it would be shocking if Hondo didn’t eventually make the jump and the events of the episode of The Mandalorian, The Apostate, seem to hint at that possibility becoming very real very soon.

    Though it jumped around a bit, The Apostate was primarily set on the Outer Rim planet of Nevarro. The Outer Rim Territories have always been a wild place full of pirates, slavers and outlaws of all sorts, so it’s unsurprising that the gang of pirates, run by newcomer to the franchise Gorian Shard, found their way into the episode. Though Din Djarin made short work of Vane and the rest of Shard’s nameless gang, he certainly left a score to settle with the pirate king when he escaped after briefly squaring off. Past seasons of The Mandalorian have given enough reason to presume that Shard will come back into play at some point in Season 3, most likely at a very inopportune time for Din Djarin and Grogu, and when he does it might just open the door for another chapter in the legend of Hondo to be written.

    Presumably, no pirate roams the Outer Rim Territories without having a shared history with its most famous–at least in his own mind–outlaw. Hondo is known to be alive and well during this New Republic era and while he turned in his pirate hat to help the Rebellion during the rise of the Empire, it’s possible he’s found his way back to his favorite past time. Hondo’s appearances in Filoni’s stories have almost always served the same purpose: to bail the good guys out of a jam and with Shard on the hunt for Mando, an appearance by Hondo to help out a new hero seems all but a sure thing. Oh, the stories he could tell…so many of them true!

  • REVIEW: ‘The Mandalorian’ Reminds Us What’s Out There in the Galaxy Far, Far Away

    REVIEW: ‘The Mandalorian’ Reminds Us What’s Out There in the Galaxy Far, Far Away

    The Mandalorian has never been in hurry. For the most part, concerns about the pacing of the series have died down a bit over the years as fans seem to be able to accept it for what it is. Part of that acceptance has likely come from the fact that “filler episodes” have often turned out to be more than filler an episode or two down the road. With Chapter 17 of the series, The Apostate, it seems as though Jon Favreau and Rick Famuyia chose to kick off the third season of The Mandalorian with what feels like a “filler episode” but also feels like something a bit more.

    From start to finish The Apostate seems hellbent on reminding us (both directly and indirectly) of what’s out there in the vastness of the galaxy. The Watch. Greef Karga. Kowakian monkey-lizards. Pirates. IG-11. A host of Anzellans. Bo-Katan. We’ve seen it all before; however, as they hopscotched around the galaxy and caught up with familiar faces from their own story, Din Djarin and Grogu’s adventures almost certainly led fans astray on more than one occasion. As they journeyed through hyperspace Grogu’s first encounter with Purrgil reminded Star Wars fans that there are other stories left to be finished in the Filoni-verse. And certainly, no Star Wars fan worth their weight in credits didn’t wonder for a beat or two when Hondo was going to walk around the corner during the dispute on Nevarro. The decision to intentionally and indirectly bring Ezra Bridger’s ongoing narrative to mind in the season opener of The Mandalorian seems a fairly clear indicator of just how central the series is to the New Republic universe that Favreau and Dave Filoni are building but it also makes the galaxy far, far away feel a bit smaller than it probably should, even if for only a few moments.

    So while it’s a little awkward to kick off a fresh new season in first gear–indeed neither The Mando nor Grogu was much changed by the events of The Apostate–and fans of the series probably feel a bit indifferent about bits and pieces of the episode (did we really really need an update on Cara Dune?), the episode does provide plenty of opportunity for contemplation about just how important the story of Din Djarin and Grogu truly is in this New Republic Era. In fact, the episode is filled with an almost overwhelming amount of small and important details buried in exposition. So while The Apostate feels familiar and sluggish as it retreads old ground, it seems to be laying the foundation for an entire suite of New Republic adventures coming to Disney Plus this year. And, if past precedent for the series is to be followed, Chapter 18 will turn on the jets anyway.

  • Disney’s ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ Streaming Debut Date Revealed

    Disney’s ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ Streaming Debut Date Revealed

    Disney’s Peter Pan & Wendy has been set for a 2023 release for some time but had not been given a firm release date as of the studio’s latest slate update. Now the studio has revealed the release date for the live-action film along with the first trailer for the project.

    Peter Pan & Wendy, directed by David Lowery, is set to debut on April 28th on Disney Plus!

    Disney revealed a synopsis for the film via an official release:

    “Peter Pan & Wendy” introduces Wendy Darling, a young girl afraid to leave her childhood home behind, who meets Peter Pan, a boy who refuses to grow up. Alongside her brothers and a tiny fairy, Tinker Bell, she travels with Peter to the magical world of Neverland. There, she encounters an evil pirate captain, Captain Hook, and embarks on a thrilling and dangerous adventure that will change her life forever. The film stars Jude Law (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”), Alexander Molony (“The Reluctant Landlord”), Ever Anderson (“Resident Evil: The Final Chapter”), Yara Shahidi (“Grown-ish”), Alyssa Wapanatâhk, Joshua Pickering (“A Discovery of Witches”), Jacobi Jupe, Molly Parker (“House of Cards”), Alan Tudyk (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”), and Jim Gaffigan (“The Jim Gaffigan Show”). “Peter Pan and Wendy” is directed by David Lowery from a screenplay by David Lowery & Toby Halbrooks (“The Green Knight”) based on the novel by J. M. Barrie and the animated film “Peter Pan.” The producer is Jim Whitaker (“Pete’s Dragon”), with Adam Borba (“A Wrinkle in Time”), Thomas M. Hammel (“Thor: Ragnarok”), and Toby Halbrooks serving as executive producers.

  • Universal Makes a Late Change to the Release Date of ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’

    Universal Makes a Late Change to the Release Date of ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’

    The next couple of months are going to be exciting for fans as a near-constant stream of high-profile films will be releasing in theaters. Starting with March 3rd’s Creed III and continuing almost non-stop until May 5th’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, each week will see a new major release. Scream VI, Shazam: Fury of the Gods and John Wick 4 all follow Creed III and they are followed by Universal’s animated The Super Mario Bros. Movie which, according to a new trade report, will now be in theaters a tiny bit sooner than expected.

    The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which stars Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario, Charlie Day as his brother, Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach and Jack Black as Bowser, was originally scheduled for an April 7th release but has now moved up to April 5th. The move is likely intended to take advantage of long, Easter weekend that often coincides with U.S. schools either taking their Spring Break or providing days off for travel.

    This is the second shuffle for the film which was originally intended to hit theaters in December of 2022. Produced by Universal under their Illumination banner, The Super Mario Bros. Movie may spawn a Mario-verse with a potential sequel, an adaptation of Luigi’s Mansion and a Donkey Kong spinoff all rumored to have been discussed at some point.

    Source: Variety

  • Marvel Studios Is Far Less Worried about ‘Quantumania’ Than You Are

    Marvel Studios Is Far Less Worried about ‘Quantumania’ Than You Are

    The second lowest-rated Marvel Studios film on Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer. The second lowest Cinemascore of any Marvel Studios film. The largest second-weekend drop of any Marvel Studios film. An endless onslaught of complaints on social media. Things seem pretty bleak for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania everywhere you look. But Marvel Studios isn’t anywhere near as worried about things as you are.

    According to Deadline, a Marvel Studios insider who was described as being “close to the film“, isn’t worried at all about the critical reception or box office receipts. In fact, while the insider knows there’s something to be learned from Quantumania, they suggest Marvel is “proud of the film.”

    Marvel takes something away from movie including Black Panther, including Avengers. I can say we’re incredibly proud of the film, Jonathan Majors does a fantastic job as Kang. It’s the movie we wanted to make. Box office is what it is. But it’s not going to stop people from going back to the theaters.

    Anonymous Marvel Studios Insider

    The reality of the whole situation is that in another week, Quantumania won’t even be a talking point as March comes loaded with major films. However, the last statement from the insider will be one to watch as Marvel Studios next project, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, starts its big marketing push ahead of its May 5th release. Should that project somehow fall short of expectations at the box office and be equally poorly received by critics, it’s possible Marvel may take a step back for deeper reflection on the performance of its Multiverse Saga.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Captain America 4’ Executive Producer Confirms Production Timeline

    ‘Captain America 4’ Executive Producer Confirms Production Timeline

    As Marvel Studios first 2023, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania film works through a rough second weekend in theaters, the company’s first 2024 film is gearing up to begin production. Captain America: New World Order, which will see Anthony Mackie‘s Sam Wilson step into the lead role previously held by Chris Evans‘ Steve Rogers, is slated to hit theaters on May 3rd, 2024 and rumors about its production schedule have been making the rounds over the past few months. Fortunately, Executive Producer Nate Moore put an end to any debate about when cameras will roll on the film.

    While attending the Producers Guild if America Awards in Beverly Hills, Moore revealed that principal photography on Cap 4 is expected to kick off in “3 weeks.”

    That timeline puts New World Order on Pace to begin filming after St. Patrick’s Day with Monday, March 20th looking like a good bet. That means the film’s stars, including Mackie, Harrison Ford and Tim Blake Nelson, could start arriving in Atlanta any day now to prep for shooting for the Phase 5 film.

  • ‘Quantumania’ Director Confirms the Identity of the Triumvirate of Mid-Credit Kangs

    ‘Quantumania’ Director Confirms the Identity of the Triumvirate of Mid-Credit Kangs

    To date, Marvel Studios’ most off-the-wall mid-credit scene came attached to Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. The scene introduced a thousand or so Kang Variants, most of which were shown so quickly that they were fairly hard to identify; however, three of the Variants had a little more screentime, making it clear they were the first among equals of this Council of Kangs. Two of the three seemed to be pretty one-to-one and obvious adaptations of different Kangs from the comics, but the third one caused some confusion even among comic book fans.

    Thankfully, director Peyton Reed took the time to identify the key Variants in an interview with ET. Though he looked a bit Robocop, fans easily identified the Variant known as Rama-Tut, about who Reed said “we sort of bent [him] up a little bit and made him this very strange sort of bionic variant of Rama-Tut.” Like Rama-Tut, Immortus, too, was pretty easily recognizable; however, the third member of the group didn’t really have much in common, at least aesthetically, with any of Kang’s comic book selves. And so while fans assumed he was probably a version of the Scarlet Centurion, the next most prominent version of Kang from the comics, uncertainty lingered until Reed came to the rescue.

    We knew we wanted to sort of just give a tiny taste of the potential of what some of these Kang variants are and brief nods to [Pharaoh] Rama-Tut, [Scarlet] Centurion, Immortus.

    Peyton Reed

    Scarlet Centurion it is! Of course, while they are all Variants of the Prime Kang (have we met him yet?), each of these Variants has different experiences and often different goals in the comics. Despite all that, they seem to be working together, at least to some extent and are very concerned about the fact that more and more heroes are discovering the Multiverse. While there will certainly be more time spent with these Variants soon, they are shaping up to be quite a force to be reckoned with in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

    Source: ET

  • ‘Wonder Man’ Reportedly Adds Lauren Glazier, Werner Herzog to Growing Cast

    ‘Wonder Man’ Reportedly Adds Lauren Glazier, Werner Herzog to Growing Cast

    As Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Wonder Man prepares to enter production over the coming months, the cast is beginning to round out. Just days after reporting that Demetrius Grosse had signed on, industry insider Daniel RPK broke the news on a pair of castings. According to RPK, Lauren Glazier (Takes of the Walking Dead) and Werner Herzog (The Mandalorian) have joined the cast.

    No details were given concerning the roles either actor would fill, Glazier does seem to fit a the bill for the female lead of the project. While it’s possible Herzog could have been cast in a role that was previously rumored to be offered to Bob Odenkirk, the former is significantly out of the age range Marvel Studios was reported to have identified for the role.

    The project, written by Andrew Guest and created by Destin Daniel Cretton, is set to enter into production in April. Wonder Man will introduce long-time Avenger Simon Williams, played by Yaha Abdul-Mateen II, to the MCU and is said to be a Hollywood satire. Given the mandate by Bob Iger that Marvel Studios slow the wheels on its production machine, it seems unlikely that Wonder Man will be headed to the streaming service any time soon, with eyes on a possible late 2024 or early 2025 release.

  • Jeff Loveness Confirms Major Changes to ‘Quantumania’ Ending; Promises Kang Will “Bring the Heat” in ‘The Kang Dynasty’

    Jeff Loveness Confirms Major Changes to ‘Quantumania’ Ending; Promises Kang Will “Bring the Heat” in ‘The Kang Dynasty’

    A common criticism of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania has come from the perceived lack of a true threat posed by Jonathan Majors‘ Kang. After being billed as the big bad of the Multiverse Saga, Kang the Conqueror was defeated by the Ant-Family who escaped the Quantum Realm and their encounter with Kang relatively intact. In fact, the film ends, for the most part, on a rather upbeat note given what the Langs and the Pym van Dynes had gone through. However, it turns out that wasn’t always the case.

    In an interview with Comic Book, writer Jeff Loveness confirmed some fairly major changes were made to the ending. While the film ends with the whole family having returned home from the Quantum Realm, it turns out it wasn’t always that way as Loveness confirms that one potential ending had Scott and Hope stuck in the Quantum Realm. Ultimately, given the similarity to the ending of Ant-Man and The Wasp, that ending was removed from the film.

    Yeah, I mean, certainly in these Marvel rooms and all that, you certainly game out all these stories and you pitch them out, you write them out, and you’re trying to land the best puzzle piece because there’s so many characters in the ensemble. Certainly, you see what people are saying online. But on paper, and then just in your heart, as much as you can see that point about stranding Scott and Hope down there or whatever, at the end of the day, it is just repeating the same beat from the second movie. That just was a hurdle that you couldn’t eventually get over. And then also, it kind of affects Avengers in the same way of, well, then you’re just doing the same exact beat from Endgame as well, getting out of the Quantum Realm and I don’t think that would be a satisfying finale that people maybe think it would be.

    Jeff Loveness

    Online criticism of the film has also centered on the fact that none of the story’s protagonists died despite going up against Kang. At one point, rumors swirled that Michael Douglas‘ Hank Pym might be a casualty of the Quantum Realm, something Loveness seemed to acknowledge when describing the tone he ultimately chose for the film.

    But certainly, you go through all these permutations and then at the end of the day though, I think … I don’t want to kill Michael Douglas! At a certain point, it feels expected to kill someone in the third movie and I actually felt the joy of this movie was having a bit of a joyful adventure. Fellowship of the Ring, only one guy died. He kind of deserved it. But you’re not killing off Pippin. Killing off Pippin in Return of the King would’ve just bummed everybody out, man. If Gimli gets his head ripped off by a troll, that’s not going to be great.

    For fans who want to see Kang rack up a body count, however, Loveness has good news in the way of a thousand or so Kangs who are capable of doing plenty of damage when they show up again in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which he’s writing as well.

    But certainly, it’s up in the air but I think for these bloodthirsty fans, there’s a little movie called, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, I think he’ll bring the heat.

    Jeff Loveness

    Rumors have already suggested a trio of Avengers who might fall at the hands of Kang(s) in that film but whether those are true or not, it certainly seems as though there will be blood down the road.

    Source: Comic Book