Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Charles Murphy

  • Murphy’s Team-Up Volume 27: Marvel’s Best Streaming Series of 2022

    Murphy’s Team-Up Volume 27: Marvel’s Best Streaming Series of 2022

    With the conclusion of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law’s nine-episode run came the end of Marvel Studios’ streaming series for 2022. The year kicked off in March with a six-episode journey into the mind of Marc Spector in Moon Knight, starring Oscar Isaac; continued in June with Ms. Marvel, which also ran for six episodes and introduced Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan to MCU; and concluded with Tatiana Maslany’s fourth-wall-breaking Jennifer Walters. Each series certainly had its own, distinct flavor and, as with all things, didn’t satisfy the palates of all fans. Team MM watched and covered them all, so with them now behind us, we thought we’d share which series were to our taste in the return of the Team-Up!

    Joao Pinto

    Moon Knight might not be the MCU series that better managed to stick its landing—especially not when compared to Loki, Ms. Marvel, or She-Hulk—but its build-up was indeed special. The character work developed by Oscar Isaac is likely to still be unparalleled in the MCU, and the psychological components made for an incredibly compelling experience ahead of the lackluster and uninspired finale. The weeks while the show was airing were incredibly stimulating both as an audience member and as someone who got to write about the show, perhaps in a way that I hadn’t yet felt, and likely haven’t since, when it comes to Marvel Studios Disney+ series.

    Being a fan of Jeff Lemire’s Moon Knight run it was wonderful to see so many elements from it being adapted to the small screen, as well as witnessing the unfolding of the future of the Gods in the MCU, with established connections to both Thor: Love and Thunder and the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The somewhat tedious series finale is unlikely to remain as the final Moon Knight chapter in the MCU. So being, the amazing work developed in the first five episodes will still surely be given a proper climax, one that highlights just how impressive the show really was…if you leave out the finale.

    Mary Rowe

    She-Hulk is my favorite MCU series of Phase Four. It introduced a main character that represented a very down-to-Earth person, whose super adventures only added to the baseline personal story. It was hilarious, the final two episodes were absolutely phenomenal and memorable, and Marvel seemed unworried about portraying very real women and not shying away from important topics and concepts that are often ignored because they shine a bad light on (a) reality for women, and (b) the “fandom” and general internet’s misogyny. But even without that, it was the most enjoyable show by far, and I can’t wait to see more of this kind of comedy and creative approach in the MCU going forward.

    Torbjorn Frazier

    My favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe series from Disney+ this year was She-Hulk: Attorney at Law with a bullet. While Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel both had fantastic high points, the latest series from Marvel Studios was most consistent with its high quality. Led by a phenomenal performance from Tatiana Maslany, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law felt like the first MCU project to fully embrace its status as a television series within the greater universe. The stakes weren’t as catastrophic as many of Phase Four’s contemporaries, but they were very much real and resonate in the modern world (it truly was a marvel to watch the show so accurately predict the bad faith negative commentary that would come from toxic corners of the internet). And then of course, the back two episodes of the series provided Marvel’s creative high points of the year thus far. Daredevil had a natural transition from Netflix to the MCU-proper, and then the creative team provided a masterful adaptation of fourth-wall shattering akin to many seminal She-Hulk comic runs.

  • ‘Black Adam’ Opens as The Rock’s Best Feature Film to Date

    ‘Black Adam’ Opens as The Rock’s Best Feature Film to Date

    Box office estimates are in and it looks like Black Adam’s opening night take came in as the best ever for Dwayne Johnson. Reports have the film raking in $26.8M on its first Friday, which as Erik Davis of Fandango pointed out, puts it on track for over $60M this weekend. That total would make it the 2nd biggest DC Films opening that didn’t star one of the studio’s top Justice League stars.

    Though it hasn’t been warmly received by film critics, Black Adam has been a hit with fans, garnering a B+ Cinemascore. The film looks to have about a three-week run ahead of it before Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever takes over the box office, so it’s possible that good word of mouth from opening weekend could stretch Black Adam’s box office legs into the next two weekends.

    The $60M total opening weekend would have Black Adam come in at about half of what DC’s last theatrical release, The Batman, opened to in March. The Matt Reeves‘ directed film, which opened in nearly the same number of theaters, hauled in just over $134M over its first 3 days. However, Black Adam is hardly one of DC’s most well-known characters, so it faces a little tougher challenge, but it seems Johnson’s charisma and star power are the driving force for audiences this weekend.

  • ‘Black Adam’ Cinemascore Revealed

    ‘Black Adam’ Cinemascore Revealed

    If you haven’t heard, the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change. Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam finally hit theaters after 15 years in development and while its reaction with critics has been mixed, that doesn’t seem to be the case with fans. Following its Thursday and Friday night showings, the superhero film is boasting some pretty impressive fan metrics.

    Cinemascore, which polls movie audiences following their opening night experiences, has reported a B+ score for Black Adam while Rotten Tomatoes audience score is at an 89%, which is a stark contrast to the “rotten” 42% critics’ score. While we wait for Friday’s official box office numbers to come in (the film made $7.6M during its Thursday night preview screenings), it’s clear that audiences are enjoying the action-packed film.

    The B+ Cinemascore for Black Adam is very much in line with the last two theatrical releases for Warner Bros. DC films. Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which opened in March of 2022, was given an A- Cinemascore by moviegoers and James Gunn’s 2021 The Suicide Squad received the same B+ Cinemascore as Black Adam. Fans who enjoyed the direction of those projects have quite a bit to look forward to as a Black Adam sequel is expected to happen fairly quickly, Reeves is developing a whole universe of Gotham-based projects and Gunn has at least one new DC trick up his sleeve.

    Read our full review of Black Adam here.

  • Thursday Previews Box Office for ‘Black Adam’ Hint at a Disappointing Opening Weekend

    Thursday Previews Box Office for ‘Black Adam’ Hint at a Disappointing Opening Weekend

    Black Adam’s projected opening weekend domestic box office numbers continue along a disappointing downward trend. Dwayne Johnson’s anti-hero film, which has been in development for 15 years, was originally predicted to pull in $65M+ with some estimates as high as $75-80M. Now, after the numbers from the Thursday previews have arrived, it looks like it would take a pretty serious course correction to get to $60M.

    Gitesh Pandya of Box Office Guru shared the official box office take from Thursday’s showings which came in just under $8M.

    As Pandya points out, the Tom Hardy-led Venom films took in $10M and $11.6M, respectively, ahead of $80M and $90M opening weekends. DC’s last theatrical release, The Batman, opened to $134M when it opened in March of 2022.

    As of now, it looks like Black Adam’s box office has fallen victim to mixed reviews from the initial wave or critics who screened the film ahead of its wide release. Given Johnson’s star power and the less-than-secret return of Henry Cavill as Superman in a post-credit scene, it’s likely that DC Films was hoping the film would open between $80-100M. With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever set to follow Black Adam into theaters in just three weeks, it’s unlikely the latter will have legs making the first two weekends more significant than normal.

  • ‘She-Hulk’ Director on the Decision Behind a 9-Episode Season

    ‘She-Hulk’ Director on the Decision Behind a 9-Episode Season

    Before principal photography on She-Hulk: Attorney At Law ever got underway, rumors had the legal comedy pegged for a 10-episode first season. Similar rumors hovered around Marvel Studios’ first streaming effort, WandaVision, which like She-Hulk, ultimately consisted of nine episodes. With most of Marvel Studios’ streaming series consisting of 6 episodes, these two stand as outliers. So what determines just how many episodes will comprise each series? According to director Kat Coiro, the episode count for She-Hulk wasn’t something that was predetermined by Marvel Studios.

    Talking with The Direct, Coiro explained that She-Hulk was fairly deep into development before the number of episodes started to come into focus.

    One of the most amazing experiences I’ve had as a creator and as an artist is Marvel is not bound by the same rules as, you know, other TV shows that have to be 22 minutes. And the story really dictated the length of the season. And so as the story came into focus and as we started putting the pieces together, it landed at nine. It could’ve been eight, it could’ve been eleven. And it’s the same with the length of the episodes. There isn’t a number you have to hit. It really is, ‘What’s best for this episode,’ which, in my opinion, is how it should be.

    Kat Coiro

    One of the benefits of owning your own streaming series is being able to play a little fast and loose with things like runtime and episode count. And while that may seem obvious, it’s something that Marvel Studios has struggled with throughout their first round of streaming series. Criticisms of rushed or crammed finale have been levied against series like The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Hawkeye. On the other hand, Loki’s total runtime seemed just right. Perhaps as Marvel Studios continues to evolve as a “television studio”, they’ll continue to learn the right lessons and let the story dictate the runtime, not let the runtime dictate the story.

    Source: The Direct

  • ‘She-Hulk’ Director Kat Coiro on How the “Wongers” Post-Credit Scene Came to Be

    ‘She-Hulk’ Director Kat Coiro on How the “Wongers” Post-Credit Scene Came to Be

    Of all the obscure comic book characters introduced over the 9-episode run of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, it was an original character developed for the show that captured the hearts of fans. Patty Guggenheim’s Madisynn was undoubtedly the surprise star of her time on the show. Her “bestie” relationship with Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, Wong, played by MCU vet Benedict Wong, played out wonderfully throughout Episode 4, “Is This Not Real Magic”, and continued on into a hilarious post-credit scene. As it turns out, while She-Hulk featured several scripted post-credit scenes, Madisynn’s “Wongers” scene wasn’t one of them.

    According to director Kat Coiro, the idea for the scene developed as the crew delighted in the on-set chemistry between Wong and Guggenheim.

    You know, when Wong and Madisynn have their little moment, that was not scripted but they had such incredible comedic chemistry that, at the end of the day, I had them sit on the couch, and threw a couple cameras on them and said, ‘Go. Go forth and make comedy.’ And they sure did. So, part of what was amazing about this process was the collaboration and really leaning into the strengths of our actors. And part of the secret of comedy is letting people get loose, and have fun, and play around. And so, whenever we had the opportunity to do that we would.

    Kat Coiro

    It’s great to see that the creative team of She-Hulk was able to recognize the comedic gold they had on their hands in Madisynn. Noboy’s asking for a Mr. Immortal spinoff, but MCU fans are definitely wondering when they might see Madisynn again!

    Source: The Direct

  • Four Characters That Would Be Fantastic for Adam Driver

    Four Characters That Would Be Fantastic for Adam Driver

    News of Adam Driver taking a meeting with Marvel Studios to discuss an unknown role in Fantastic Four generated some crazy buzz when it broke. While there’s absolutely no guarantee that Driver will show up in the film, which is currently set to hit theaters on February 14th, 2025, there’s no doubt that the actor, who has two Oscar nominations to his credit, is incredibly talented and has shown a great deal of range over the course of his career. With that in mind, we take a look at four characters that would be a fantastic fit for the star and to nobody’s surprise, they are all over the map!

    The Maker

    Marvel Studios Fantastic Four will kick off Phase 6 of their Multiverse Saga, so it’s hard to imagine that some multiversal shenanigans won’t be in play. One fascinating option that could tie into a simplified version of Jonathan Hickman’s 2015 event Secret Wars, which is expected to be a primary source of inspiration for Marvel Studios’ 2026 film Avengers: Secret Wars, would be to use Fantastic Four to introduce the Reed Richards of Earth-1610. In the comics, 1610 is known as the Ultimate Universe and its Richards isn’t the hero he is on Earth-616. 1610’s Richards went a bit off the deep end following Sue Storm’s rejection of his marriage proposal. Truly a character worthy of his own story in the MCU, The Maker would prove to be a fascinating character study, something Driver’s been drawn to in the recent past.

    Silver Surfer

    Certainly a role coveted by many in Hollywood, the Silver Surfer’s pathos seems to fall in line with Driver’s resume. Granted there’s no guarantee that Norin Radd will show up in Fantastic Four but he’s as connected to the property as any. In truth, Radd’s origin story as the Sentinel of the Spaceways is as deserving of its own project as that of any hero in Marvel’s vast stable, something that could interest Driver if he were looking for something more than a supporting role. That origin, which features Mephisto, a character reported to be entering the MCU played by Sacha Baron Cohen, begins a story of torment unlike any other in the history of Marvel Comics and Driver can certainly do “tormented.”

    Molecule Man

    Over the years, Jonathan Hickman has shown a knack for reimagining and reinventing characters. Perhaps no character was as well-served by this as Owen Reece, the Molecule Man. While he always possessed great powers, it wasn’t until Hickman’s work on Avengers and Secret Wars that Reece’s full potential as a reality warper was unlocked making him one of the most powerful and important beings in the Multiverse. Hickman also portrayed Reece as a bit unstable, disturbed and aloof. Reece’s characterization under Hickman’s watch is a combo right in Driver’s sweet spot.

    Psycho-Man

    If you were waiting to find Victor Von Doom on this list, you’re crazy. And speaking of crazy…it’s Psycho-Man. If you’ve seen Driver in Annette, you’ve seen where the inspiration for him as Psycho-Man is rooted. Though he rules over an empire in the Microverse (the comic’s version of the Quantum Realm), he’s a major threat. The idea of a deadpan Driver walking around holding a box that controls the emotions of those around him is pretty appealing, to me at least.

    With no guarantee that Driver will join the MCU at all, much less Fantastic Four, it’s all just fun and games. But with an actor as talented as Driver, it’s hard not to consider what he’d bring to the table.

  • Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Trilogy Timeline Remains a Mystery

    Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Trilogy Timeline Remains a Mystery

    Rian Johnson made one of the most divisive projects in the history of Star Wars in 2017’s The Last Jedi. Even so, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy signed Johnson to a deal that allowed him to create a trilogy of films that would exist outside the Skywalker saga and explore all new parts of the galaxy. Even as Lucasfilm continues to develop and produce new projects for Disney Plus and plan new theatrical releases, any advancement on Johnson’s trilogy has stayed out of the news.

    Johnson has stayed plenty busy, writing and directing 2019’s Knives Out and its sequel, The Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which will premiere on Netflix this December. In speaking with Variety, it seems clear that developing more stories around Knives Out star Daniel Craig’s clever detective Benoit Blanc is his top priority.

    If each one of these [Knives Out sequels] can really be what Agatha Christie did, if it can be not just in a totally new location and a new cast, but also trying something exciting, I’ll keep doing it as long as Daniel [Craig] and I are having a good time. I’ll keep making these as long as they let me.

    Rian Johnson

    If the Knives Out franchise is at the forefront of Johnson’s work, where does that leave Star Wars? Lucasfilm has untitled Star Wars releases scheduled for 2025 and 2027, but it doesn’t sound like fans should expect either of those to be one of Johnson’s projects. When asked when fans could expect to see his Star Wars trilogy take off, the writer/director was pretty candid about the prospects.

    I have talked to [Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy] about it and we’re still talking about it. I had such an amazing experience making The Last Jedi. It’s entirely a matter of scheduling. For me, putting this [Glass Onion] out and making the next one of these [Knives Out sequels]…the answer is I don’t know.

    Rian Johnson

    When pushed a bit further by Variety about whether or not the trilogy will happen at all, Johnson simply said, “God I hope so.“

    Not exactly a vote of confidence by Johnson, but it isn’t a death knell either. While Johnson’s Star Wars films may never hit the screen, Lucasfilm seems to have found its sweet spot on Disney Plus, giving fans plenty of Star Wars content to look forward to for years to come.

    Source: Variety

  • SPOILERS: Dwayne Johnson Discusses a Major DC Cameo in ‘Black Adam’

    SPOILERS: Dwayne Johnson Discusses a Major DC Cameo in ‘Black Adam’

    If you somehow haven’t heard just yet (that’d be pretty impressive because Dwayne Johnson’s been shouting it from the rooftops every chance he’s had), turn back now and give yourself a chance to be surprised.

    While post-credit scenes have come to be known as a Marvel Studios tradition, they certainly didn’t invent them and no matter what studio uses them, they often serve as less of a promise and more a tease of potential future ideas. To that end, Johnson and the leadership of Seven Bucks Productions have given DC fans an epic tease that, for the time being, comes without a promise as DC Films looks for new leadership. After years away from the role, Henry Cavill returns to the DC Universe as Superman in Black Adam.

    How The Rock Got His Supes Back

    While the future for Cavill’s Kal-El is just starting to unfold, his return has proven exciting for fans and Johnson took the time to explain how it came about while talking with ComicBook.com:

    Well, I’ve known Henry for a long time. We’re buddies. My longtime business partner, Dany Garcia, she has been a big advocate for Henry. She’s managed Henry’s career over the years. It came down to, dude, we love Superman. There is new leadership about to happen in Warner Brothers. Here’s an opportunity. On our end of Black Adam, we will do everything we can to pay homage and respect to the mythology of Black Adam and build him as being the most powerful and unstoppable force on this planet. And if we do our job right, at the end of the movie, then in comes not only the most powerful and unstoppable force in the entire universe in Superman, but also the one that the fans want.

    Dwayne Johnson

    Even in the world of superhero films, it turns out it’s who you know. Johnson continued to discuss Cavill’s return and the part that fans of the DC Universe had in making it happen.

    And that’s the difference. And that’s the new era I’m talking about. This new era in the DC universe is we listen, man. We listen to the fans. We may not be able to do every single thing that they want, but they’re going to know that they’re not ignored because they’ve been ignored for so long. But we’re going to listen to them, man.

    Dwayen Johnson

    Of course just having Johnson and the fans willing to make it happen would have meant nothing had Cavill not wanted to return as the Big Blue Boy Scout. Thankfully he did, because according to Johnson, there’s nobody better for the role.

    So in presenting that to Henry, he also… Man, when it comes to Superman, I don’t know if there’s any other person on the planet who loves and embodies the mythology, the ethos, and everything of Superman than Henry. And so I’m so happy that it all came together. I’m so happy the fans are losing their minds over it. And I’m so happy that there is a new shift in this DC universe. And Superman is back.

    Dwayne Johnson

    What’s Next for Superman and Black Adam

    The post-credit scene simply introduces the two characters to one another and while tensions seem high, there’s no battle of the titans. According to Black Adam producer Hiram Garcia, that’s all the production team ever hoped to accomplish, leaving plenty of room to develop “great stories” coming out of the meeting.

    What we really want to establish is that Superman exists in the same world as Black Adam. Both those guys exist in the same universe and that’s important for us. It’s in the universe where our JSA is and so forth, but we really wanted the world to know that these guys are going to cross paths. How we do it we’re still working on it, we don’t want to give that away, I will say that it’s much bigger than what people think. We want to do long-form storytelling, we’re not looking for a quick one-off or something like that. These guys exist in the same universe and there’s a lot of fun to be had when you have basically the two most powerful beings in the universe on opposite sides, but also have some very interesting similarities to them. For us there’s a lot of opportunities to tell some great stories around (that).

    Hiram Garcia

    As the film’s first weekend unfolds, it’ll be worth tracking how fans across the world respond to Cavill’s return. The actor has had a lengthy break from the role and recent rumors had him being courted by Marvel Studios for a major role in their DC Universe. However, now that he’s back, a Man of Steel sequel is in development and a Black Adam sequel isn’t too far off, there might be plenty of chances to see Superman and Teth-Adam duke it out in the near future.

    Source: ComicBook.com

  • Turnaround to the ‘Black Adam’ Sequel “Will Be Fast”

    Turnaround to the ‘Black Adam’ Sequel “Will Be Fast”

    Black Adam hasn’t even fully opened in theaters across North America yet, but two of the DC Comics’ film’s producers already have their sights set on getting the sequel in theaters. Hiram Garcia, President of Production of Seven Bucks Productions, and Beau Flynn, who has worked as a producer on Black Adam star Dwayne Johnson’s films dating back to 2012’s Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, are ready to get to work on a follow-up.

    Speaking to Comic Book about the timeline for a potential sequel, Garcia said, “It’s not going to take that long. I can promise you that. We always hope the first domino’s the easy one. We’ll get cooking on it fast, that’s for sure.” As is often the case, it’s possible that plenty of ideas were tossed around for a sequel during development and production on the first film. Johnson is keen on seeing his character square off with Henry Cavill’s Superman, so keen in fact that he chose to spoil the character’s post-credit scene appearance a week before the film premiered.

    Whether the script features Superman, Shazam or something else entirely, Flynn backed up Garcia’s promise. “Don’t worry. This one will be fast,” said Flynn. “We will open up the magic wagon, we’ll have the script ready, pretty fast,” added the producer. Of course, a script doesn’t necessarily mean the film will be given the green light by Warner Bros. The company is still searching for a new figure atop DC Films following the exit of Walter Hamada and the projected box office for Black Adam slipped a bit this past week following a mixed reaction in its initial wave of reviews. However, with Johnson leading the charge to make Black Adam a key character in the future of the DC Universe, it’s hard to imagine he’ll be denied a sequel.

    Black Adam is now in theaters.

    Source: ComicBook.com