Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Charles Murphy

  • Major X-Men Location Rumored to Already Exist in the MCU, Serve as Key Setting for Upcoming Films

    Major X-Men Location Rumored to Already Exist in the MCU, Serve as Key Setting for Upcoming Films

    Marvel Studios has owned the live-action rights to the X-Men for over three years and while they haven’t chosen to introduce any of the major characters associated with the team into the MCU, they have started to sprinkle in some bits and pieces that are connected. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier introduced the lawless location of Madripoor to the MCU, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness featured a Multiversal Variant of Charles Xavier, Kamala Khan’s powers in Ms. Marvel were discovered to be the result of a mutation and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduced Namor, the MCU’s first mutant (at least for now). Now, a fascinating new rumor suggests they slipped another mutant-related breadcrumb into the MCU without anyone noticing and may change the way audiences look at Eternals.

    New information from insider Daniel RPK suggests that a major mutant location already exists in the MCU and will serve as a key setting in two 2024 films. The new rumor claims that the corpse of the Celestial Tiamut has become an island called Genosha and will be featured in Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts.

    Fans of X-Men comics will recognize Genosha immediately and likely have a visceral response. Located in the Indian Ocean, Genosha played a major role in the comics for well over a decade, first as an island full of mutant slaves, then as the first attempt at a mutant nation on Earth and ultimately as the site of the massacre which killed 16.5 million mutant inhabitants of the island.

    Rumors point to Tiamut’s corpse/Genosha, which is indeed located in the Indian Ocean, serving a key role in Captain America: New World Order as governments of the world learn of the presence of Adamantium in or on the island. Then, in Thunderbolts, the titular team will be sent to Genosha to procure the precious metal. The Thunderbolts going in after Adamantium lines up with CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’s obsession with Vibranium, as seen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and establishing Tiamut/Genosha as a geopolitical hotspot due to its natural resources sets it up to be a key locale in the future of the MCU. Other rumors point to Thunderbolts also serving to show that Super Soldier research is ongoing and it becomes fairly easy to connect the dots from Super Solider research to Adamantium to Weapon X down the road.

  • ‘Black Panther’ Star Believes a Recast of T’Challa is Inevitable

    ‘Black Panther’ Star Believes a Recast of T’Challa is Inevitable

    As Black Panther: Wakanda Forever approaches the end of its exclusive theatrical window, those who persevered in making the film despite the loss of Chadwick Boseman have continued to share their thoughts on how the film evolved following the actor’s death. Winston Duke, whose M’Baku grew to be a close and trusted ally of Boseman‘s T’Challa, has emerged as a rising star in Hollywood and the conclusion of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever leaves his character in an incredibly important position: as the new King of Wakanda. While M’Baku holds the throne, for now, Duke isn’t afraid to peer pragmatically into the future.

    In an interview with Esquire, Duke talked in depth about the passing of his friend, how it shaped the sequel and what he believes the future of the character to be. In Duke‘s mind, it’s not a matter of if Marvel Studios will recast the role of T’Challa, made famous by Boseman, it’s a matter of when.

    There’s no way they’ll never remake Black Panther in the future. There’s no way that the saga and interpretation of T’Challa, King of Wakanda, will end. He is canon. So trust that it’ll come. But allow this to be a human experience.

    Winston Duke

    While the near future of the cinematic iteration of the World of Wakanda would seem to be prepared to focus on former Dora Milaje General Okoye and the son of T’Challa and heir to the throne of Wakanda introduced in Wakanda Forever, Duke‘s comments are likely in line with some longer-term plans of Marvel Studios. The Multiverse Saga is currently set to wrap up in 2026 with Avengers: Secret Wars, a film that will almost certainly involve familiar heroes from different timelines who may, in some cases, be portrayed by unfamiliar actors. Given that possibility, it’s not hard to imagine Marvel Studios taking the opportunity to cast another actor as T’Challa, a move that would, in a way, not strictly be a recast but still provide the opportunity for more stories about one of Marvel Comics most well-developed characters to be told. Future stories in the MCU could see T’Challa interacting with Reed Richards, Storm and Namor, characters with whom a rich comic book history as been developed. As Duke said, T’Challa “is canon”, but allowing Boseman’s friends and family to go through their own “human experience” rightly took precedent over cinematic stories.

    Source: Esquire

  • The Hypothetical 2024 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V4

    The Hypothetical 2024 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V4

    Just ahead of September’s D23, we rolled out V3 of The Hypothetical 2024 Marvel Studios Release Calendar. Kevin Feige did nothing to change the outlook during D23, but quite a bit of shuffling has gone on since then that needs to be accounted for and so we present V4!

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

    Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, but showrunner Marion Dayre took away your Christmas present when she confirmed that Echo was moving from its Spring 2023 slot. We’ve heard “early 2024” and Dayre’s comments that the show would be out “about a year from December 2022” are close enough to that for a hypothetical calendar Assuming the series keeps what’s currently a very deep connection to the events of Daredevil: Born Again, moving it to 2024 would allow the two series to stream fairly close together.

    Recent reports suggest that Wonder Man may have been bumped up in the queue and take the place of Agatha: Coven of Chaos as the late 2023/early 2024 release. This potential news doesn’t spell doom and gloom for Kathryn Hahn‘s series, however (more on that later). Wonder Man isn’t set to complete filming until August, so an early 2024 start seems much more likely than late 2023, which is why it finds itself here, starting what currently looks like a 10-episode run in mid-March.

    Though it didn’t get a new date at D23, Captain America: New World Order was a big newsmaker at the event. The film will feature the return of Tim Blake Nelson as The Leader and see Harrison Ford replace the late William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross who is rumored to not only be the President of the United States in the film but also make his long-awaited transformation into Red Hulk. The plot is one of the crazier ones Marvel Studios has put together recent memory and is going to tie into several projects both past and future. My most anticipated project of 2024.

    If Echo keeps the relevant plot threads and moves to 2024, Daredevil: Born Again will have to get bumped down the road a bit from the original “Spring” window and from where we slotted in V3. There’s still absolutely no information on how Marvel Studios plans to roll this 18-episode monster out, but we’ll throw a mid-June through an early-October run out there for now.

    Another big newsmaker at D23, Thunderbolts is shaping up to be a Super Soldier-gone-wrong film that’s now rumored to feature an “evil Superman” character that’s widely believed to be Sentry. The events of Captain America: New World Order allegedly play a part in setting up Thunderbolts, making the 2024 slate look like it’ll have a couple of continuous stories being told between projects both theatrical and streaming.

    With Daredevil: Born Again taking over Disney Plus for several months, it will end up bridging the gap from Thunderbolts to Blade. Blade has had a rough start but seems headed in the right direction with a new creative team on board. The multiple reshufflings of this project should actually stand out as an indication of how the release date some projects (perhaps like Agatha: Coven of Chaos) don’t really influence the release of others while other projects (perhaps like Echo and Wonder Man) do.

    Through no fault of its own, Agatha: Coven of Chaos may end up getting bumped down the road a bit and, as it turns out, that’s ok because it could end up kicking off right around Halloween. It’s reportedly a nine-episode series, so a late October start would run it right up until Christmas 2024. Of course, it could also start a little later and end up having some episodes stream in 2025, but this is all hypothetical and likely to change multiple times anyway, so we dropped it right here for now.

    Originally slated for February 2024 (as per V3), this one has gotten a whole lot more interesting since then! Hugh Jackman’s return for what sounds like an adaptation of Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe sounds pretty wild and something that might make the film something that even those who weren’t fans of the first two Deadpool films might look forward to.


  • ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Has a Big Advantage Over Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’

    ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Has a Big Advantage Over Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’

    As Charlie Cox makes the media rounds to hype his upcoming Netflix spy thriller, Treason, he’s spending quite a bit of time answering questions all about another project of his: Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Daredevil: Born Again. The highly-anticipated and ambitious 18-episode series will see Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil take the lead in a project for the first time since bringing the character to the MCU and for the first time since Netflix’s Daredevil was canceled following its third season.

    In the months since the new series was announced, Cox has made it clear that Born Again won’t be a continuation of the Netflix series, calling it a “whole new deal“ and indicating that Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, “has been very clear about it being Season 1, not a Season 4.” He’s also made it clear that fans should expect the Disney Plus series to “tell some of the stories over and over again, in the same way that they do in the comics,” including, potentially, the character’s origin story making it very clear that Marvel Studios has plans to put their own, distinct mark on the character in order to set it apart from the Netflix series that was made without input from them.

    While speaking to Metro UK, Cox related that one big advantage the Disney Plus series will have over the Netflix one is that by being set within the MCU, it has “opened to door” for potential appearances of literally thousands of comic book characters that could never have appeared on Daredevil.

    I don’t know anything. I haven’t read anything from any scripts. So I don’t know. I have no idea. But the only thing that’s fun going forward for the Daredevil show is that of course when we were on Netflix, we didn’t have the opportunity to really have the crossovers other than the characters that we knew we had in that Netflix Marvel world.

    Charlie Cox

    For Cox, the possibility of characters crossing over into Daredevil: Born Again carries a lot of excitement with it because it brings the experience of the show closer to that of reading Daredevil comics, of which Cox is a big fan.

    Now that door is wide open to all sorts of possibilities and that, for me, as someone who’s become a great fan of the comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s really exciting that that door is open and that we can have cameos from other characters that we couldn’t before.

    Charlie Cox

    Of course, unlike the Netflix series, Daredevil comics aren’t all dark, bloody and brooding. In fact, in the comics, Daredevil often finds himself squaring off with ridiculous villains with ridiculous gimmicks. As it turns out, one such character, who Cox refers to as a “ludicrous villain”, is high on the actor’s wishlist to appear in Born Again.

    The one I occasionally joke about – but I probably shouldn’t, because I don’t envision a world where it’s actually realistic that he shows up in our show – but I’ve always thought it’d be funny if Stilt-Man showed up. It’s such a ludicrous superhero, such a ludicrous villain that I just think it’d be funny if we found a way of doing that without it massively denting our credibility as an authentic truthful superhero show.

    Charlie Cox

    Should Cox’s advocacy for Stilt-Man result in the character actually appearing in Daredevil: Born Again, the beloved actor will have played a major role in fulfilling the childhood dreams of many a fan of Daredevil comics. Charlie Cox, Man of the People.

    Source: Metro

  • Charlie Cox Ready for More Fun with She-Hulk in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’

    Charlie Cox Ready for More Fun with She-Hulk in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’

    Charlie Cox‘s work as Matt Murdock and Daredevil in the Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law put an all-new, all-different spin on the character. For fans of the Netflix show, the carefree and funny Daredevil was a far cry from the morosity of the character in that series that they didn’t readily accept; for Cox, it was an enjoyable turn and one, it seems, he might like to revisit again.

    Following his brief appearance in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Murdock is expected to next show up in Echo before getting back in the business of being the main focus of a series in Daredevil: Born Again, currently set to stream in 2024. Born Again, which was announced as one, 18-episode series starts production in February 2023 and is rumored to have its fair share of cameos and guest stars. In a new interview with Metro UK, Cox revealed that one guest star he’d like to see make the cut is She-Hulk star Tatiana Maslany.

    “I’ve made it no secret that I’m a huge fan of Tatiana’s and the fun we had on She-Hulk was some of the best fun I’ve had as that character,” said Cox. “I thought she was amazing as Jennifer Walters,” he continued, “and I would be a huge… certainly an advocate of her showing up in our show if she’s free and available and willing and all of those things. So I would love for that to happen. I have no idea if that is possible.”

    The two certainly shared a fun, onscreen chemistry in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and seeing Jen step into Murdock’s world of Hell’s Kitchen would present the opportunity for an intriguing contrast to their time together in San Francisco. As Cox points out, the possibility of such an appearance isn’t really up to him and while Maslany’s future in the MCU isn’t in question when her character appears next absolutely is. However, with Born Again filming for the majority of 2023, maybe the actress can find some time in her schedule to fit a few days of filming in.

    Source: Metro UK

  • ‘The Bad Batch’ Season 2 Release Schedule, Episode Titles Officially Released

    ‘The Bad Batch’ Season 2 Release Schedule, Episode Titles Officially Released

    The first season of the animated series The Bad Batch told the story of the ongoing adventures of Clone Force 99. The special forces squad first appeared in an unfinished episode of Season 7 of The Clone Wars that was shown exclusively at 2015’s Star Wars Celebration before the finished version streamed on Disney Plus when Season 7 was completed. Shortly after, a series focused on the Batchers was greenlit and Season 1 streamed in 2021. The Season 2 debut of The Bad Batch is just around the corner and now Disney Plus has officially given fans an idea of what to expect.

    Season 2 of The Bad Batch will debut on January 4th with a two-episode streaming premiere. Season 1 ended with a two-part event that took the team back to Kamino where they learned the truth about Omega and squared off with former Clone Force 99 member Crosshair before leaving him behind. The newest trailer for Season 2 shows the team right back up against it in the premiere.

    The 16-episode season has some interestingly titled episodes, most notably the double dip of episodes set to stream on February 8th which may follow up on the events of the Season 1 finale.

  • Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s ‘Ahsoka’ Role Reportedly Revealed

    Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s ‘Ahsoka’ Role Reportedly Revealed

    In January of 2022, Mary Elizabeth Winstead was reported to have joined the cast of the upcoming Star Wars streaming series Ahsoka. At the time of the report, Winstead’s role was unknown and has been kept a secret as the series went through production. Now a new report claims to have revealed who Winstead is playing and it’s a MAJOR character from a fan-favorite animated series making her live-action debut.

    According to Bespin Bulletin, Winstead is playing Twi’lek General Hera Syndulla. One of the lead characters of Star Wars Rebels, Syndulla was one of the leaders of the Rebellion in it’s early days and one if its great heroes. Ahsoka is set 5 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, which places it roughly 14 years after Hera’s first appearance in Rebels.

    Ahsoka will find the titular Jedi reunited with the surviving members of the crew of Syndulla’s ghost as they search for Grand Admiral Thrawn and their friend Ezra Bridger. The series is currently set to stream on Disney Plus sometime in 2023.

    Source: Bespin Bulletin

  • The Hypothetical 2023 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V5

    The Hypothetical 2023 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V5

    Following July’s pre-SDCC update to the hypothetical calendar, we thought we were done in 2023, yet here we are with another updated version which will definitely be the last one…right? But as you’ll see, Marvel Studios’ 2023 slate looks quite a bit different than it did pre-SDCC.

    With Blade bringing on a new writer and then another new writer (who is reportedly completely rewriting the script) and finding a new director, the film was pushed to 2024. And that may not be the only project that finds itself pushed into 2024…


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

    This project went from “it may never get made” to “it’s a D+ project” to being the project that kicks off Phase 5 for Marvel Studios and introduces the Multiverse Saga’s big bad in Jonathan Major‘s Kang the Conqueror. Or at least one version of him. “One of the best scripts Marvel’s ever had.” “A huge movie for the saga.” Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania looks likely to catch the majority of even the most hardcore Marvel Studios’ fans by surprise and as predicted in the last version, Marvel is hyping this one up well ahead of schedule.

    We’d previously thought Secret Invasion might kickoff 2023 and Phase 5, but Kevin Feige slated this one for “Spring” at SDCC ’22 and we’re not arguing with the One-Above-All. The paranoia-heavy spy thriller is being labeled as a “crossover event” by Marvel Studios and is supposed to lay the groundwork for Don Cheadle‘s Armor War film which is currently undated.

    A first look at the film finally arrived and the trailer has fans wondering which characters are going to survive the emotionally-charged final film in James Gunn‘s Guardians trilogy. While it’s the end of this group’s journey, we actually expect most of the team to come out alive, but permanently changed.

    The second season of Loki is shaping up to be nearly as wild of a ride as the first. Some fairly major spoilers have, unfortunately, made their way around the internet but fortunately (and as is often the case) they lack context and completeness so there’s still plenty to be surprised by when this one streams on D+ next Summer.

    Footage of The Marvels was shown exclusively to D23 and it looked like an absolute trip! Tonally, The Marvels seems as different as The Winter Soldier was from The First Avenger or as Ragnarok was from The Dark World. Both of those tonal shifts resulted in incredibly successful sequels and this film really looks to have a chance to follow that trend.

    Like The Marvels, footage from Ironheart screened at D23 and it looked fantastic. All the rumors of the science vs. magic showdown of Riri Williams and The Hood turned out to be true and the decision to involve Riri in the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever means audiences will be much more likely to tune in for the next chapter of her story.

  • Charlie Cox Has Disappointing News for Fans of Netflix’s Broody, Bloody ‘Daredevil’

    Charlie Cox Has Disappointing News for Fans of Netflix’s Broody, Bloody ‘Daredevil’

    Charlie Cox couldn’t be more excited about continuing to portray Matt Murdock and Daredevil in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After bringing the dual personalities to life in 2015 on the Netflix streaming series Daredevil, which was canceled after 3 seasons, Cox was given new life as the character when Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, reached out ahead of production on 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.

    “Kevin Feige called and said, ‘We’d like to bring you into the MCU’”, said Cox of the fateful call in an interview with NME. “I was over the moon,” said the star. “I love this character.” That call ended with Cox agreeing to cameos in No Way Home and the 2022 streaming series She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. Beyond that, Cox’s future as the character was undefined. That’s all changed now as Cox is scheduled for a fairly large role in the Disney Plus streaming series Echo ahead of starring alongside Vincent D’Onofrio in the 18-episode streamer, Daredevil: Born Again.

    Cox’s appearance in She-Hulk, where he played the character as “quick-witted and funny and charismatic and carefree at times“, according to Cox, probably isn’t the template for the character going forward. Cox knows that fans of Netflix’s Daredevil loved the brooding, bloody and brutal tone of the show, but he also knows this new series is headed for Disney Plus. “My opinion is this character works best when he’s geared toward a slightly more mature audience,” said Cox, while cautioning, “my instinct is that on Disney+ it will be dark but it probably won’t be as gory.” So what exactly is Daredevil: Born Again going to shape up to be?

    Cox has gone on record before, calling Daredevil: Born Again a “whole new deal“, a sentiment he reiterated to NME. “This has to be a reincarnation,” said Cox of Born Again. “It has to be different, otherwise why are we doing it?” So what should the fans who fell in love with the iteration of the character whose story was told over 3 seasons on Netflix? “I would say to those people, we’ve done that. Let’s take the things that really worked, but can we broaden? Can we appeal to a slightly younger audience without losing what we’ve learned about what works?”

    That’s not exactly encouraging news for fans of the TV-MA version of the character; however, it’s consistent with what Cox has been saying all along.

    Source: NME

  • AMC’s Second Season of ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Production, Release Updates

    AMC’s Second Season of ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Production, Release Updates

    Season 1 of AMC’s Interview with the Vampire, which fascinatingly served as a sequel to and a reboot of the 1994 film, was overwhelmingly well-received by critics, notching a 99% Fresh Rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metascore of 81 on Metacritic. The first season focused on the love-hate relationship between Jacob Anderson‘s Louis de Pointe du Lac and Sam Reid‘s Lestat de Lioncourt and the discord sewn into it by Louis decision to give Bailey Bass‘s Claudia the Dark Gift to save her life. The season finale saw Louis and Claudia hatch a plot to kill Lestat and ended with the revelation that Louis’s sometimes servant/feeding trough, Rashid, was actually the vampire Armand. Armand’s appearance had fans speculating about the premise of Season 2 and now a new interview with the series’ producer Adam O’Byrne and writer Hannah Moscovitch has confirmed fans’ suspicions and given an idea of when they can expect the second season to stream.

    In an interview with the Toronto Sun, Moscovitch confirmed that Season 2 of Interview with the Vampire will adapt the second half of Anne Rice‘s novel of the same name, picking up in 1940 and following Louis and Claudia as they head to Paris. Fans of the novel know what’s waiting for them there and how Armand’s story is tied to it. As Moscovitch says, “The first half of the book is all setup. And then the second half is all payoff.”

    That payoff comes in the form of Louis and Claudia meeting with just the type of vampires Lestat warned them about over the course of the first season: a coven of Parisian vampires who operate the Théâtre des Vampires who live under a very different set of rules and guidelines than the ones Louis and Claudia know. According to O’Byrne, production on Season 2 will predominantly take place in Prague, which will double as Paris.

    O’Byrne has some unfortunate news for fans, however. Production for the second season won’t get underway until April 2023 and is expected to last around four months which means it almost certainly won’t follow in the footsteps of Season 1 and release in October. “My guess is we won’t make that window,” said O’Byrne, while adding, “that is an AMC call.” It looks like fans will have to wait until late 2023 or early 2024 to see where the show takes the vampires next.

    Source: Toronto Sun