Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Charles Murphy

  • Marvel Studios Reportedly Shifts Gears in Development of ‘Nova’ Project

    Marvel Studios Reportedly Shifts Gears in Development of ‘Nova’ Project

    Marvel Studios is developing a Nova project, of this we can be sure. Originally thought to be a steaming series written by Moon Knight’s Sabir Pirzada, online chatter of it being developed as a Special Presentation in the mold of Werewolf By Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special emerged a few months ago. To make sure all the bases are covered, a new rumor has the project now being developed as a feature film.

    According to MyTimeToShine, Marvel Studios is keen on bringing the adventures of the Human Rocket to the big screen.

    Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter how the studio brings the character into the shared cinematic universe, only that they do. With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 set to be the final chapter for that particular iteration of Cosmic heroes, the MCU will need a new Cosmic champion and nobody from their expansive roster of comic book characters fits the bill better than Richard Rider.

  • 12 Days of X-Mas: Day 3, Polaris

    12 Days of X-Mas: Day 3, Polaris

    The X-Men are coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel Studios has no small task ahead of them in making sure that the iconic team can lead the franchise in Phase 7 and beyond. Marvel Studios is also sure to make every effort to separate their adaptation of the team(s) from what came before. To celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas, we’ve decided to put together a list of which characters might play a key role and how Marvel Studios can ensure nobody will confuse them with their Fox counterparts.

    The Mistress of Magnetism

    As is the case with a lot of female characters written in the 60s, 70s and 80s, there are some parts of Lorna Dane’s comic book history that would be better off left in those pages and left out of any adaptation of the character into the MCU; however, Fox made a poor decision by leaving Lorna out of their live-action films entirely. Though not one of the original five members of the X-Men, Lorna was brought on board in the first wave of recruits beyond the five giving her a longer history with the team than Wolverine, Storm, Rogue and Kitty Pryde. Fox may have stayed away from Lorna because of the identity of her father: Magneto. That’s a mistake Marvel Studios should actively seek not to replicate.

    While Scott Summers and Jean Grey are the foremost mutant power couple, Alex Summers and Lorna Dane aren’t far behind. Focusing on Alex and Lorna, both individually and as a couple, allows Marvel Studios to explore all sorts of fascinating parallels and differences between them and their more famous family members. Though she’s the daughter of a terrorist and one of Marvel’s most compelling and complex villains, Lorna grew up free of his influence (indeed she didn’t know he was her father until later in life) and is one of the X-Men’s great leaders and heroes.

    Lorna and Alex are to X-Factor and Jean and Scott are to the X-Men and Marvel Studios will almost certainly allow multiple mutant teams to exist simultaneously within the MCU. Beyond X-Factor, however, Lorna played a major role on the mutant paradise of Genosha, the House of M and one other part of the X-Men mythology that Fox completely ignored: Shi’ar space! Along with Havok, Lorna had a major arc in The Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire and War of Kings as a new recruit of the Starjammers, led by the father of Scott and Alex Summers and involving the third Summers brother, Gabriel.

    Given the scope of Lorna’s history in the comics and the fact that Fox left her sidelined, she seems as good a bet as any to not only join the ranks of the mutants in the MCU, but become a leader and key player as they expand beyond Earth-bound stories. Of course, there’s also plenty to explore with her parentage and plenty of built-in drama once she learns who her father is. Come to think of it, Marvel Studios could probably get a lot of mileage out of the children of Magneto and Xavier, mileage that Fox chose to ignore entirely.

  • Chloe Zhao Rumored to be Out as Marvel Studios Charts New Course for ‘Eternals 2’

    Chloe Zhao Rumored to be Out as Marvel Studios Charts New Course for ‘Eternals 2’

    Eternals was neither the critical nor financial success Marvel Studios hoped for when they began developing the project several years ago but it has begun to grow on audiences after making its way to Disney Plus and other streaming services. The events of the film’s big finale, which were briefly referenced in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, are rumored to set the stage for a pair of 2024 films in Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts as the Celestial Tiamut will become the focal point of a global conflict when the rare and valuable Adamantium is discovered on his corpse. Now, amid all the attention on the film, comes a coincidentally timed rumor about a potential sequel.

    MyTimeToShineHello recently took to Twitter to share both a potential comic book influence for the film and to point out that director Chloe Zhao is currently not attached to the project and may not end up helming it at all.

    The claim that the sequel will “be Judgment Day” is a reference to the recent Marvel Comics event series of the same name that saw the X-Men, Eternals and Avengers square off against each other and the Celestials to hold off the destruction of Earth. An adaptation of the event would fall neatly in line with the Prime Celestial Arishem the Judge’s final words in Eternals and could serve as way to tie the characters from the film into the larger MCU. Of course, the studio has absolutely no interest in a straight page-to-screen adaptation but Eternals: Judgment Day does have a nice ring to it.

    Marvel Studios has given no indication that a sequel to the film is officially in the works nor that Zhao wouldn’t be attached to direct. Until that time comes, rumors are all well and good for generating speculation and discussion but given the full slate of films and the studio’s well-documented history of ever-evolving ideas, this one may never come to fruition at all much less as described in this rumor.

  • Danai Gurira Reveals Ryan Coogler’s ‘Kung-Fu’ Plan for Okoye’s Post-‘Wakanda Forever’ Future

    Danai Gurira Reveals Ryan Coogler’s ‘Kung-Fu’ Plan for Okoye’s Post-‘Wakanda Forever’ Future

    Danai Gurira ‘s Okoye’s journey through the MCU has been as rough as anyone’s. Following T’Chaka’s death in Captain America: Civil War Okoye was present for T’Challa’s defeat at the hands of Killmonger in Black Panther. She then found herself on opposite sides of her husband in the fight for the throne. Thanos’ snap took another Wakandan King from the Dora Milaje General and though the Avengers’ battle against the Mad Titan resulted in T’Challa’s return, fate cruelly took him again, this time permanently, prior to the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. T’Challa’s death was followed by the abduction of Princess Shuri which led to Okoye’s dismissal as General at the command of Queen Ramonda who was killed by Namor a short time later.

    With little left to lose, Okoye rolled the dice and wore one of a pair of prototype Midnight Angel armors created by Shuri to aid in the battle against Talokan. As Wakanda Forever came to a close, Okoye used the armor to help free Everett Ross from custody, indicating that whatever the future holds for Okoye, it’s likely going to be tied to the powerful suit. That nebulous future might have something to do with one of the World of Wakanda spinoffs reportedly in the works. It’s long been thought that Gurira’s character would be the focus of one of those spinoffs and according to the actress, Okoye’s arc in Wakanda Forever originally ended in a way that set her character up to go on a journey of self-discovery.

    During a round of 20 questions with Deadline, Gurira told the outlet Okoye’s final moments in Wakanda Forever were meant to set her off to walk the Earth like David Carradine‘s Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s TV series Kung Fu. Gurira relayed that the original ending of the film saw Okoye in Haiti with Nakia, T’Challa II and Shuri. As Okoye parted ways with the group, Shuri inquired about her future asking, “Are you going back to the Dora?” “My character says no.” continued Gurira, “and [Shuri] said, ‘Where are you going to go?’ and I was like, ‘Wherever my blue suit takes me,’ and she just walks off.” Gurira called the scene between Shuri and Okoye a “beautiful moment” and went on to describe director Ryan Coogler’s vision of what the future holds for the character.

    [Coogler] was saying it’s like that kung fu show, where the guy just walked the earth. She just walks off. We don’t know where Okoye’s going. And she’s sort of letting go. She was fighting to keep that position, and then she lets it go. That’s kind of her arc, that she lets go. And we don’t know where that leads to.

    Danai Gurira

    Whatever the MCU future for Okoye turns out to be, it may be some time before fans see it. Executive Producer Nate Moore revealed that the Wakandan spinoff series is “probably not as far along as people want it to be” and Gurira has a full slate of Walking Dead-related projects ahead over the next few years. However, given Coogler’s passion for developing the World of Wakanda, there will certainly be more adventures including its characters while fans wait for the return of Okoye and her “blue suit.”

  • ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ on Pace to Challenge ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ for Best Box Office of 2022

    ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ on Pace to Challenge ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ for Best Box Office of 2022

    The box office undoubtedly belonged to sequels fans waited far too long for in 2022. As it stands now, Top Gun: Maverick, which originally released in May, sits the global box office throne having taken in $1,488,732,821 in total. However, the Tom Cruise-led sequel’s reign may be just about over.

    After taking in $64M and remaining the #1 film in the U.S. over the Christmas weekend, Avatar: The Way of Water now has a global box office total of $855.4M and, according to Fandango’s Erik Davis, will cross the $1B mark on Wednesday. When it does, it will move into the top 3 totals of 2022 and put Maverick firmly on its sights.

    It seems likely that The Way of Water will ultimately fly right on by Maverick, but it’ll still have an incredible amount of work to do to catch up to its predecessor in the Avatar franchise. 2009’s Avatar sits at #1 on the all-time box office list just shy of $3B ($2.9B). That film only opened to about half of The Way of Water’ s first weekend haul, but had the benefit of multiple rereleases over the years.

  • 12 Days of X-Mas: Day 2, Havok

    12 Days of X-Mas: Day 2, Havok

    The X-Men are coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel Studios has no small task ahead of them in making sure that the iconic team can lead the franchise in Phase 7 and beyond. Marvel Studios is also sure to make every effort to separate their adaptation of the team(s) from what came before. To celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas, we’ve decided to put together a list of which characters might play a key role and how Marvel Studios can ensure nobody will confuse them with their Fox counterparts.

    The X-Factor

    One of Fox’s most mysterious decisions in rebooting their own X-Men franchise in 2011’s X-Men: First Class was the choice to make Alex Summers the older brother of Scott and a member of Xavier’s first team of X-Men only to sideline him fairly quickly. Without being able to access the depths of Simon Kinberg’s mind, it’s impossible to know why Alex was underutilized but it really just seemed like Fox didn’t have a long-term plan for him. That’s good news for Marvel Studios because it allows them to make the easy choice to introduce Alex alongside Scott and then set him on his own path; a path that sets him on course to become the leader of his own team: X-Factor.

    Telling the best version of Alex’s story means having him separated from Scott. Rather than being given the advantages provided to Scott by Xavier, Alex’s struggles with his self-confidence and his emerging powers result in an alpha-level mutant whose lack of control makes him fairly dangerous. Ultimately though, like Scott, Alex is a born leader and allowing him to grow into his powers and then put together his own team would be a fantastic way to set him apart from Lucas Till’s forgettable version.

    Among its many failures, foremost of Fox’s foul-ups was that it never allowed its X-Men universe to grow and evolve beyond the core X-Men teams. The comics are loaded with mutant teams outside of the X-Men: X-Force, Excalibur, Generation X, hell even X-Statix all exist. Other than the brief assemblage of X-Force in Deadpool 2 and the ill-fated New Mutants, Fox stayed away from these teams. That means Marvel Studios can (and almost certainly will) dive headlong into developing them and Havok’s X-Factor should be one of the first and most important. While the team was originally just Scott’s X-Men working with the government, Alex put his own squad together and that squad is among the most memorable and powerful versions of X-Factor to have existed.

    Marvel Studios would be wise to let Alex grow into a leader of X-Factor and ultimately come into opposition to his brother and his more authoritarian approach to leadership. Though the brothers can’t harm one another with their powers, they could certainly go toe-to-toe and break out the fisticuffs should Havok still be around long enough to see his brother cause a schism among mutantkind. Marvel Studios certainly loves brother vs. brother drama. Beyond that, a Havok-led X-Factor team provides a fantastic way to grow the mutant-corner of the MCU beyond the adventures of the core and introduce some other incredibly important characters who were criminally underused by Fox: Polaris and Jamie Madrox. Whatever it is Marvel Studios has planned for the mutants, they should certainly make room for a proper portrayal of Alex Summers.

  • Murphy’s Team-Up Volume 28: Marvel’s Most Wanted 2023

    Murphy’s Team-Up Volume 28: Marvel’s Most Wanted 2023

    Marvel Studios 2022 slate was as uneven as any the studio has put out in some time. Strong streaming offerings such as Ms. Marvel and Werewolf by Night gave in-home entertainment a boost while theatrically Marvel put out one of its biggest duds in Thor: Love and Thunder. Will 2023 be a stronger year? Like 2022, all of the studio’s films are sequels but unlike 2022 none of the streaming series will add new heroes to the MCU. For 2023 to be a success, Marvel Studios had better have some good stories ready to roll!

    Which stories are the members of Team MM looking forward to the most? We ranked them by most anticipated movie, most anticipated series and most anticipated overall…and asked our Twitter followers to do the same! Here’s what we found out…

    Charles Murphy

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Ironheart
    • Secret Invasion
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Loki, Season 2
    • The Marvels
    • Ironheart
    • Secret Invasion
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

    Torbjorn Frazier

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Secret Invasion
    • The Marvels
    • Ironheart

    Meghan Hall

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart

    Brandi Blahnik

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    • Loki, Season 2
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Loki, Season 2

    Darian Scalamoni

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Ironheart
    • The Marvels

    Joao Roque Pinto

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Secret Invasion
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Ironheart
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    • Secret Invasion
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Ironheart

    Shashwat

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • The Marvels
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • The Marvels
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart

    Anthony Canton III

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • The Marvels
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    • The Marvels

    Hunter Radesi

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    • The Marvels

    Dalbin Osorio

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    • Loki, Season 2
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    • The Marvels
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Loki, Season 2

    Jeffrey Peterson

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • The Marvels
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Secret Invasion
    • The Marvels
    • Ironheart

    MTF III

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • The Marvels
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Secret Invasion
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Ironheart
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Secret Invasion
    • Loki, Season 2
    • The Marvels
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Ironheart

    Jared Kirschenbaum

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Loki, Season 2Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    • Secret Invasion
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Loki, Season 2
    • The Marvels
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Ironheart
    • Secret Invasion

    Lanfranco

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • The Marvels
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Secret Invasion
    • Ironheart
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Secret Invasion
    • The Marvels
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • Ironheart

    Mary Rowe

    Most Anticipated Movie
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    Most Anticipated Series
    • Secret Invasion
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Ironheart
    Most Anticipated Project
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
    • The Marvels
    • Secret Invasion
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Loki, Season 2
    • Ironheart

    MM Twitter Followers

    Over the course of the week, we ran 3 different polls asking our followers to vote on the same 3 categories. Here are the results…

    Most Anticipated Movie (4,930 votes)
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (38.8%)
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (37.4%)
    • The Marvels (23.8%)
    Most Anticipated Series (1,873 votes)
    • Loki, Season 2 (54%)
    • Secret Invasion (40.3%)
    • Ironheart (5.7%)
    Most Anticipated Project (3,983 votes)
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (35.3%)
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (34%)
    • Loki, Season 2 (16.1%)
    • Secret Invasion (14.6%)
  • 12 Days of X-Mas: Day 1, Cyclops

    12 Days of X-Mas: Day 1, Cyclops

    The X-Men are coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel Studios has no small task ahead of them in making sure that the iconic team can lead the franchise in Phase 7 and beyond. Marvel Studios is also sure to make every effort to separate their adaptation of the team(s) from what came before. To celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas, we’ve decided to put together a list of which characters might play a key role and how Marvel Studios can ensure nobody will confuse them with their Fox counterparts.

    The First X-Man

    No character took it on the chin harder during Fox’s reign of terror with the X-Men than Scott Summers. The original trilogy sideline James Marsden‘s version and the Simon Kinberg films reduced him to a guy who just screamed an awful lot. A properly planned out X-Men franchise within a franchise should take Scott Summers on a 10-year arc from Xavier’s yes-man to a controversial mutant revolutionary. Anything less is doing the character yet another disservice.

    One of the easiest ways for Marvel Studios to set their vision for the X-Men apart from Fox’s is to put Scott, in fact, the entire Summers family, at the center of it. One way to ensure the Summers become integral to the future of the X-Men in the MCU is by introducing them and telling their story through a Starjammers trilogy. The first film could introduce Christopher and Katherine Sommers and their two, young sons, Scott and Alex, tell the tragic story of their separation, and tell parallel stories in space and on Earth. On Earth, Scott and Alex end up in an orphanage and come under the care of Doctor Essex, setting up a villain in Mister Sinister that Fox failed to capitalize on.

    In the comics, Sinister took a great interest in Scott Sommers and believed that the child of Scott and Jean Grey would perhaps be one of the most powerful mutants to ever live. Starting Scott’s MCU story at a young age and including the connection to Sinister would put the spotlight on the Sommers’ line and set up an ongoing antagonist who could cause all sorts of problems over a decade of X-Men stories. Of course, that’s only a part of Scott’s potential MCU story.

    The real work ahead for Kevin Feige and the Marvel Studios Parliament is to find a way to evolve Scott over the course of 6 or so films. Cyclops is a divisive character in the comics and while they certainly won’t go beat for beat in adapting him to the MCU, they should certainly take inspiration from his journey over the years. Introducing Scott as a strong, young leader of the X-Men who whole-heartedly believes in Charles Xavier’s dream and then setting him on a path to develop his own, radical ideas about what Xavier’s dream really should be and ultimately rebel against Xavier would present a compelling character arc. After doing so much to save humanity time and time again, Cyclops became convinced that humanity would never accept them. It’s a lost opportunity for the MCU if at some point in time in Cyclops’ story, they don’t find a way to work in one of the most popular Marvel Comics memes ever: Cyclops was right!

  • Hugh Jackman Reveals Timeframe, Teases Plot of ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ Film

    Hugh Jackman Reveals Timeframe, Teases Plot of ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ Film

    It’s Christmas time and as far as information about the third film in the Deadpool franchise is concerned, Hugh Jackman is the gift that keeps on giving. Details about upcoming Marvel Studios projects are usually closely guarded secrets as the actors involved with those projects are coached up on what not to say. It looks like Jackman either skipped the training or doesn’t really care about norms, because he’s already let a couple of details about the Deadpool and Wolverine film slip and he’s just done it again.

    As a guest on episode #546 of the Empire Film Podcast, Jackman let a pair of juicy details loose that can be extrapolated into some potentially important details. Fans have wondered how the Deadpool and Wolverine team-up would work given Wolverine died in 2017’s Logan. According to Jackman, the events of the new MCU film will take place before Logan. With Marvel Studios in the middle of their Multiverse Saga, that’s no small spoiler and actually leaves quite a bit to unpack. As Jackman let slip recently, Deadpool 3 will involve time travel which means it’s possible that Deadpool will go back in time before Wolverine’s death and pluck him out of the timeline for their adventure. Such a choice might possibly be a Nexus Event and create a branch from the timeline. Even if Logan returns to his timeline, the adventure he and Wade go on in Deadpool 3 might end up causing a cascade of Nexus Events.

    Jackman‘s description of that adventure makes the Deadpool and Wolverine film sound an awful lot like a classic buddy cop film with the focus on just how annoying Wade is to Logan.

    Logan’s frustrated by him, wants to be a million miles away from him or wants to punch him in the head. Unfortunately, he can’t be a million miles away from him so I’m probably going to punch him in the head a lot.

    Hugh Jackman

    Of course, seeing Logan’s patience with Wade wear thin over the course of the film won’t necessarily be a surprise; Wade wears on everyone. However, it also opens up ample opportunities for Logan to punch, stab, dismember and otherwise hurt Wade which should make for some potentially memorable violence that should make fans of the R-rated Fox Deadpool and Logan films happy.

    Jackman’s comments also confirm that whatever the plot of the film is (one popular theory is that it will be an adaptation of Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe in which Deadpool and Logan visit the universes of non-Marvel Studios Marvel projects and kill off the characters), he and Ryan Reynold’s Merc with a Mouth will be making their way through it together. Just how that might play out is unknown, but if Deadpool needed someone to help him kill off dozens of heroes, he’d certainly at least try to reach out to Logan who is, of course, the best he is at what he does.

    With nearly two years before the release of the currently untitled film, there’s plenty of time left for Jackman to continue to feed the audience little tidbits about the film. Despite Marvel Studio’s strict policy around allowing any details about future projects out, details like what Jackman has been revealing often do nothing other than increase hype for those projects. Maybe the studio could learn a thing or two from how leaks built hype for Spider-Man: No Way Home and let Jackman work as a one-man hype crew for the film.

    Source: Empire Podcast

  • The Hypothetical 2025 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V2

    The Hypothetical 2025 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V2

    Trying to predict what 2025 might look like when changes to 2023 are still happening is just ridiculous! But here we go…

    *NOTE* we are no longer tracking animated projects nor including them on the hypothetical calendars.

    Though this has not been officially announced by Marvel Studios, rumors suggest that this is in the works and that it will stream on Disney Plus ahead of Fantastic Four. For now, Fantastic Four is slated for Valentine’s Day so giving the Sentinel of the Spaceways his own project a month or so out would allow plenty of time for audiences to get to know him.

    Fantastic Four was shuffled into 2025 since our last update, but with Matt Shakman on board to direct based on a script from Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer, it seems like things are headed in the right direction! Fans are understandably hungry for this movie and by the time it releases, nearly 6 years will have passed since Kevin Feige announced it at SDCC ’19!

    Nova has a writer and is rumored to be a project that’s destined to become a Special Presentation. It’s time for The Man Called Nova to enter the MCU.

    Reiterating old news here, but way back in the day the word was that the studio expected whoever it was that ultimately took on the role of Kamala Khan to shoot Season 1, a movie and Season 2 all in a fairly short amount of time. Iman Vellani is that actress and she’s going to be pretty busy as it’s expected she’ll play a rather vital role in the overall story of the Multiverse Saga, too.

    This is one of the bolder moves on the calendar, but since it’s hypothetical, it doesn’t really matter. I know absolutely nothing about the plot of this movie and the only thing I’ve ever heard was that it would arrive before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Until I know something else, I’ll stick with that nugget. That means shuffling around the slate a bit and bumping The Kang Dynasty to a new spot even though Marvel Studios has it slated for May 2nd.

    Oscar Isaac and Mohamed Diab seem to want everyone to know a second season of Moon Knight is in the works and we believe it is. Logistically, placing it on the slate before The Kang Dynasty makes quite a bit of sense as it would allow the character to emerge from his own shadowy world into the larger shared universe and help audiences understand how he might get involved with the Avengers.

    Tom Holland will have a new deal with Sony and Marvel Studios. Spider-Man 4 is happening and some rumors suggest it could happen as soon as 2024. However, if it really will involved Daredevil and Kingpin, it will have to happen after Daredevil: Born Again streams on Disney Plus and as indicated in version 4 of our 2024 hypothetical calendar, that series may not roll out until mid-2024 and that would have a domino effect on this film. Sony’s done the July 4th long-weekend release before with Spider-Man: Far From Home, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see them do it again. Of course, if they do release it then Marvel Studios would have to shuffle one of their release dates just a tad.

    Originally intended to be the May 2025 film, we’ve moved Avengers: The Kang Dynasty down the road a piece as a result of the shuffling of other projects. As it currently stands, August 1st isn’t even on the slate, but if Spidey 4 does drop in early July, Marvel Studios could push the July 25th date a week to let Spidey 4 do its thing before dropping the fifth Avengers film. One would think Spidey will certainly be in it, so having his story first is fine and all nonsense aside, it doesn’t matter when Marvel Studios releases this film. It’s going to make its money in any month on the calendar.

    As of our last update, this project was totally unknown, but given the rush to put together a writer’s room for it before the end of 2022, it would seem like a project that could easily stream on Disney Plus in 2025. We like to think of this one as a little Young Avengers, a little West Coast Avengers and a little “let’s keep Paul Bettany around because he’s that good.”

    This wasn’t even a film the last time we ran this exercise! As far as we know, the story of Armor Wars has always had a role in the Multiverse Saga so until we hear otherwise, the project will stay part of it even as the winds have shifted. Its connection to the events of Secret Invasion also helps us place it here, where it’s not too far away from the 2023 streaming series.