Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Charles Murphy

  • ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ Rumored to Feature a Classic Marvel Comics’ Odd Couple in the Lead

    ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ Rumored to Feature a Classic Marvel Comics’ Odd Couple in the Lead

    Despite being two of Marvel’s most popular icons, Spider-Man and Wolverine spent the first few decades of their history largely avoiding each other. The pair finally met in 1982’s Marvel Team-Up #117 and then in 2005, Brian Michael Bendis struck gold when he added both characters to the roster of his New Avengers.

    Living together in Avengers Tower, the two quickly developed into the publishing house’s premier “odd couple” with Spider-Man as the talkative, moral optimist and Wolverine as the silent, lethal cynic. Eventually, Wolverine admitted that he respects Peter Parker more than almost anyone because of his unwavering moral compass, telling his fellow heroes that he believed Parker to be “the best of us.” Now it looks as though Marvel Studios is looking to tap into that magic in Avengers: Secret Wars.

    Following up on a report by industry insider Daniel Richtman that claimed Hugh Jackman and Tobey Maguire were set to play major roles alongside Tom Holland in Avengers: Secret Wars, social media scooper My Time To Shine Hello has now claimed that Jackman and Maguire are set up to be the leads of the final film of the Multiverse Saga.

    According to MTTSH, “The end of Doomsday set up Tobey [Maguire] and Hugh Jackman as the leads of Secret Wars.” Prior reports have indicated that the two heroes will square off in the final act of Avengers: Doomsday before making nice and FINALLY teaming up on the big screen. With reports that Marvel Studios is prepping a new, Hugh Jackman-less Wolverine project, it sounds as though the studio is willimg to give Jackman and Maguire‘s heroes a fitting send off as a thank you for starting the ball rolling on the modern CBM genre in 2000 and 2002, respectively.

  • Marvel Studios Reportedly Developing Additional X-Men Related Projects Including a New Take on the Canucklehead

    Even as Avengers: Doomsday will take fans on a nostalgic trip through time as Fox’s original X-Men get to shine one last time, Marvel Studios is preparing an all-new, all-different take on the mutant heroes. Kevin Feige has made no secret of the fact that “having the X-Men back” is “one of those dreams come true” for him and he’s also made it clear that once the Multiverse Saga comes to a close, the X-Men will take center stage in the studio’s plans, which currently extends out to 2032.

    The whole story of Secret Wars really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men.

    -Kevin Feige

    Jake Schreier‘s youth-focused X-Men film is expected to kick off the Marvel Mutant era in 2028 but it sounds as though the studio is so confident in the drawing power of the characters acquired from 20th Century Studios in 2019 that work has begun on several other projects as well.

    According to industry insider Daniel Richtman, “Marvel is developing a Wolverine project and multiple mutant-focused projects for the next saga, not just an X-Men reboot.”

    Though rumors swirled following his return to the character in Deadpool & Wolverine that Hugh Jackman would continue to portray Wolverine in 2028 and beyond, more recent rumblings indicate that the star may step aside…again…with Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars serving as his swan songs. While it’s no surprise that Marvel Studios would be developing a Wolverine project, any actor other than Jackman that takes on the role will have to win fans over. However, keeping an aged Jackaman on as Logan, no matter how beloved his portrayal has been, is not exactly congruent with the studio’s plans for a young X-Men cast.

    As comic readers know, there have been various and very, very different versions of these characters over the decades. It would be fun to explore different ones someday down the line. Again, we don’t have immediate plans by any means. But in the decades to come, I think it’s inevitable. If that happens, it would have to be a very different and bold reinterpretation of [the character] because no one will be as great as Hugh Jackman at doing his version of Wolverine.

    -Kevin Feige

    As for the other projects in development, Richtman’s report didn’t contain specifics though there’s no shortage of characters and teams that never saw the screen under Fox who would make for compelling films and series. In the past, Feige’s interest in Alpha Flight, the Starjammers and the Shi’ar has been reported and any or all of those may be among the ideas percolating at Marvel Studios. And of course, X-Force, X-Factor, Generation X and on and on and on…

  • Rumors Suggest the Russos Brothers May Have Cleverly Sown Chaos into the Mix in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    Rumors Suggest the Russos Brothers May Have Cleverly Sown Chaos into the Mix in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    Slowly but surely, fans are starting to believe that Avengers: Doomsday might not be so bad after all. Teaser trailers featuring Steve Rogers, Thor, Magneto, Charles Xavier and Cyclops have all generated significant buzz and it sounds as though the studio plans on keeping the momentum going with additional teasers yet to come.

    The marketing for the film has cleverly appealed to multiple different demographics but there’s one large sect of the fandom that hasn’t had reason to be excited just yet. However, a new rumor may be about to change that and get the Wandas back in the game.

    John “The Outlaw” Rocha shared an update on an old rumor about Avengers: Doomsday featuring multiple Doctors Doom. According to Rocha’s source, “Doom has a female sidekick [who] also has a mask. This person thinks it is a female Doom. You’ll get a male and female Doom team.”

    A “female Doom” is interesting enough on its own but it’s also not something that would seem to serve the story well when there are so many other options available to the Russo brothers that would.

    As Rocha’s news makes its way around the usual spots, social media scoopers and leakers and bullshitters have begun chiming in about the true identity of Doom’s masked “sidekick.” While some have suggested it’ll be Lucia Von Bardas–Latveria’s Prime Minister in the comics–her inclusion wouldn’t really move the needle for fans. However, another rumor about who is behind the mask that seems to be gaining traction would indeed move the needle, perhaps to 11: Wanda Maximoff.

    There really is so much more to explore. We still haven’t touched on many of her core storylines from the comics. I don’t know that we saw her under rubble? I saw a tower coming down, and a little red flash. I don’t know what that means.

    -Kevin Feige

    Though Elizabeth Olsen has denied her involvement with the project, Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, previously made it clear that there Marvel would always bring her back for more and that there is “so much more to explore” with the Scarlet Witch. Adding her to the mix in Avengers: Doomsday as the mysterious masked counterpart of Doom might just be the best option as it would not only tie up several threads left hanging over the course of the Multiverse Saga but allow for an adaptation of a comic project that has long been rumored to be on Marvel Studios radar.

    Prior to Bob Iger’s return to Disney, Olsen was rumored to be at the center of a pair of projects: an adaptation of Alan Heinberg’s limited series, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade, and a Scarlet Witch solo film.

    On the surface, adapting The Children’s Crusade provides the perfect opportunity to continue the story of Wanda Maximoff in the MCU. Following her multi-year arc as a villain which concluded in House of M, Wanda Maximoff lived powerlessly and without her memories for years. It wasn’t until her son, Billy Maximoff, aka Wiccan, began to lose control of his own immense powers that a search began for her in earnest.

    While it’s hardly the same sequence of events, Wanda’s heel-turn as the Scarlet Witch over the course of WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and her apparent death in the final act of the latter provide the opportunity for a similar story to be told within the shared tapestry of the MCU,. especially once Billy and Tommy are reunited, presumably by the conclusion of Marvel Television’s upcoming D+ streaming series VisionQuest.

    Revealing the “female Doom” an amnesiac Wanda would retcon Doctor Doom’s presence in the MCU back to the conclusion of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, provide a reason for the Young Avengers/Champions to become involved in the plot(s) of Avengers: Doomsday and/or Avengers: Secret Wars and get one Marvel’s most talented stars involved in the two biggest projects of the decade. Obviously it’s nothing more than a barely-sourced rumor (and likely just a guess) at this point but it makes more sense than any other option in terms of the story-telling possibilities it opens up.

    Source: The Hot Mic

  • Get Out! New Report Claims Recent Rumors Teasing Us about an Academy Award-Winning Director Teaming Up with Marvel Studios Project Are a Nope

    Get Out! New Report Claims Recent Rumors Teasing Us about an Academy Award-Winning Director Teaming Up with Marvel Studios Project Are a Nope

    24 hours after a report from a trusted industry insider generated some serious hype, another report from another insider has shut it down. Following the news that Jordan Peele and Marvel Studios had met over the possibility of Peele leading an MCU film—and the subsequent social media reaction to the news from Peele’s production company–it’s beginning to sound as though it’s all just old news.

    According to Jeff “Th In” Sneider, it is true that Marvel is interested in Peele helming an MCU flick.

    Nope – It was the emoji seen around the world… A pair of eyes tweeted from the official account of Jordan Peele’s production company, hovering over a report from noted-yet-somehow-faceless scooper DanielRPK that suggested Marvel wants Peele to direct a movie for the studio. Here’s a news flash for ya – l said that last year. Peele did, in fact, take a meeting with Marvel Studios.

    -Jeff “The In” Sneider

    However, according to Sneider, “Peeley is not directing a Marvel movie as of now” and is “still hard at work…at whatever he’s working

    So what? That’s what Marvel Studios does – it takes meetings with the town’s best and brightest filmmakers. So while I’m sure Marvel would love to work with Jordan Peele one day – it’s true!!! – I can assure you that Peele is not directing a Marvel movie as of now. Not Blade or Midnight Sons or Doctor Strange 3, or anything else that Kevin Feige & Co. are cooking up in Burbank. I get that it’s fun to speculate, and meetings can be tempting to report on, but there simply is no story here. It’s pure vapor that came out of thin air. Maybe next time, we shouldn’t Jump to conclusions based on emojis, eh, folks? Peele is still hard at work on… whatever he’s working on… which could be ready as soon as 2027. Stay tuned!

    -Jeff “The In” Sneider

    And so, for Blade, it seems it’s back to the drawing board; and as for Midnight Sons, plenty of rumblings about the film have emerged without an official peep from Marvel Studios.

    Source: The Insneider

  • Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions Responds to Rumors Marvel Is Interested in Working with the ‘Get Out’ Director

    Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions Responds to Rumors Marvel Is Interested in Working with the ‘Get Out’ Director

    After passing on directing Marvel Studios highly-anticipated X-Men film, expected to hit theaters in 2028, Jordan Peele has reportedly found himself the apple of Kevin Feige’s eye once again. Industry insider Daniel Richtman shared the news that Marvel had circled back to the Academy Award-winning creative to helm an as yet unnamed Phase 7 project and while these types of stories usually come and go without hearing from the parties involved, the cookie seems to have crumbled a little differently this time around.

    In response to a post on X which shared the news about Marvel’s interest in teaming up with Peele, Monkeypaw Productions, founded by the creative in 2012, reshared the tweet with the eyes emoji.

    While it certainly can’t be counted as any type of confirmation–nor can it be certain that Peele is behind the social media post–it is absolutely one of the most interesting things going on today.

    The news comes after Peele‘s next project, originally planned for a 2024 release, was removed from Universal Pictures’ 2026 slate earlier this year.

  • ‘Avengers: Doomsday’: Tom Hiddleston Teases Loki’s Role and Hypes the Film’s “Monumental” Story

    ‘Avengers: Doomsday’: Tom Hiddleston Teases Loki’s Role and Hypes the Film’s “Monumental” Story

    Marvel Studios certainly had its fair share of missteps during the Multiverse Saga; however, nobody counts the two seasons of Loki–ironically a project directly at the center of the Multiverse plot–among them.

    For as complicated as the sci-fi weirdness of the show seemed to be, in the end, Loki remained a fairly straightforward character study of one of the MCU’s greatest characters. And powered by one of the MCU’s greatest talents in Tom Hiddleston, Loki became the warm light for all mankind to share in what became the MCU’s “Breaking Good.” As it concluded, Loki found himself making a choice that nobody, including him, could have ever predicted. No longer the conqueror or mischief maker, Loki reanimated the dead branches of reality and set himself about the endless task of giving life to others at the expense of his own freedom. Free will outside of the boundaries set by He Who Remains, Loki became the God of Stories.

    In that role, Loki will certainly find himself face-to-face with Doctor Doom as the villain unleashes “a cascading crisis across the entire multiverse” in Avengers: Doomsday. While some.fans have bemoaned the inclusion of Chris Evans in the 2026 film, it’s hard to find anyone too upset about Hiddleston stepping back into the horns again, though plenty of theories about his role in the film have been crafted over the past year.

    Whatever that role might ultimately be, Hiddleston–as veteran of an MCU actor that exists–is not ready to share it; he is, however, very ready to let everyone know that they’re in for something “brilliant” in Avengers: Doomsday.

    Speaking to GQ, Hiddleston confirmed that while there’s scheduled additional photography for the project, he has completed his “contribution” to Avengers: Doomsday, which he hyped as something “monumental” and “surprising” while insisting the film’s story is something that “just has never been done before.”

    My contribution has been contributed. It is monumental. The centre of the story is absolutely brilliant, and was so surprising when I read it. It just has never been done before.

    –Tom Hiddleston on Avengers: Doomsday

    Its no small praise coming from Hiddleston. For over a decade, the star has remained devoted to curating and protecting the legacy of Loki in the MCU, making it unlikely he’s return simply for a payday nor to slather praise over a story that didn’t do his character’s arc justice. Now the author of not only his own story but also those of the entire Multiverse, Loki is a true hero, fulfilled in his quest for glorious purpose and the timeline–his timeline–won’t fall without a fight.

    Source: GQ

  • Marvel Studios Circling Back to Academy Award-Winning Creative for Phase 7 Project

    Marvel Studios Circling Back to Academy Award-Winning Creative for Phase 7 Project

    With a pretty clear path established to the end of the Multiverse Saga, Marvel Studios has begun the brick-by-brick process of building its post-Secret Wars slate. As it stands, a sequel to Fantastic Four: First Steps, Black Panther 3—to be written and directed by Ryan Coogler–and an X-Men film directed by Jake Schreier are believed to be among the studio’s first theatrical projects in Phase 7. That’s a pretty robust start to the MCU’s new saga; however, the studio currently has dates set aside for four films in 2028 and a new report has shed some light on who the studio may want to bring it to the big screen.

    According to industry insider Daniel Richtman, Marvel Studios has circled back to Jordan Peele, who they originally approached to direct X-Men, to direct an unknown Phase 7 project.

    Though he’s only directed four projects to date, Peele boasts and incredibly impressive resume as a screenwriter, with an Academy Award for his screenplay for Get Out, which he also helmed. Peele also wrote the screenplay for Nope, 2021’s Candyman, 20 episodes of Paramount+’s The Twilight Zone and Us, which he also directed. With that horror-heavy filmography, it would seem as though Marvel may be looking to Peele to take the reigns of the long-delayed Blade film or perhaps the rumored Midnight Sons team-up film, which would reportedly see Sacha Baron Cohen reprise his role as Mephisto.

    You can start and have a good script and make it a great script through production, but we didn’t feel confident we could do that on Blade. We didn’t want to do that to Mahershala and didn’t want to do that to us. We didn’t want to put a leather outfit on [Ali] and have him start killing vampires. [We] landed on modern day and that’s what we’re focusing on.

    -Kevin Feige on Blade

    However, even as synonymous with horror as Peele‘s name has become, Marvel’s interest in having him direct its X-Men film would seem to indicate they haven’t pigeonholed the talented creative. Reports indicated that Peele and Marvel Studios cordially parted ways on X-Men over the dormer’s desire to both write and direct the project. Perhaps Peele and Marvel have found a project–whether it be Blade, Midnight Sons or something else entirely–on which Peele can have more of the creative control he’s accustomed to.

  • As Teasers Continue to Leak, Marvel Studios Plans for a Full ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Trailer Are Revealed

    As Teasers Continue to Leak, Marvel Studios Plans for a Full ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Trailer Are Revealed

    It was one inevitable. Just as Marvel got around to officially releasing the Steve Rogers-centric teaser for Avengers: Doomsday, low quality leaks of the third and fourth teasers–featuring characters from the worlds of the X-Men and Wakanda, respectively–have begun to make their way online. Though the fourth teaser hasn’t circulated quite as freely as the third just yet, excitement has begun to build with each teaser but with a year before the release of the film, it seemed like the growing momentum was about to come to a halt. That no longer seems to be the case.

    According to Trailer Track, long a solid source for legitimate information about trailers, Marvel Studios has no intention of letting the momentum run out and is rather allowing to build to an early February crescendo. Trailer Track is reporting that a full trailer for Avengers: Doomsday “will debut during the Super Bowl” and “will be a MASSIVE event.”

    Disney is no stranger to Super Bowl marketing and Marvel has used the “Big Game” to debut trailers for Thunderbolts* and Deadpool & Wolverine the past two years. Reaching further into the past, the studio has used the Super Bowl to promote each of its previous four Avengers films, making this report all but a certainty.

    Given the focus of the teasers on the film’s returning heroes, it seems logical to wonder if the Big Game spot won’t focus on the film’s title character, Victor Von Doom, played by Robert Downey Jr. Word has circulated that Downey’s look as Doom took inspiration from “classic Universal monster movies,” calling to mind his appearance in Jonathan Hickman‘s Secret Wars.

  • Marvel Television Reportedly Resurrecting (Un)Dead Streaming Project with a New Writer

    Marvel Television Reportedly Resurrecting (Un)Dead Streaming Project with a New Writer

    Though Marvel never officially addressed the project, a streaming project inspired by Marvel Comics Strange Academy has been rumored to be in development for nearly three years. In January 2023, word emerged that the studio was considering using the project as a vehicle for Benedict Wong‘s Wong and Xochitl Gomez‘s America Chavez, following them after their adventures in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

    Almost two years passed before news about the project popped up again, with insider Daniel Richtman reporting that the newly branded Marvel Television was moving ahead with the adaptation. However, just a few months later, Deadline reported that the studio had paused development on Strange Academy, as well as Nova and Terror Inc. amid its shifting priorities, aka the Netflixification of its streaming service. Now, as 2025 comes to a close, it seems as though the studio may be looking to resurrect Strange Academy.

    According to Richtman, Marvel Television has expressed renewed interest in developing Strange Academy and is currently looking for a new writer to take over the project.

    Its unclear just how far into development the project ever made it during its first go around, but Echo scribe Amy Rardin was reported to have been working on it before Marvel pumped the brakes.

    Created by Skottie Young and Humberto Ramos, Marvel Comics Strange Academy debuted in 2020 and focused on a new generation of magic users being trained in the mystic arts at a Hogwarts-esque school opened by Stephen Strange. Classes at Strange Academy were led by an array of Marvel mages including Doctor Voodoo, Wanda Maximoff, Wong, Magik and Agatha Harkness and covered a range of topics from astral projections to interdimensional geography to xenoanatomy.

    Should the series make it out of development, it’s possible that Regan Aliyah‘s Zelma Stanton, who played a critical role in Marvel Television’s Ironheart, might have a featured role in the project as is the case in the comic.

  • New Report Lists Three Multiversal Heroes Set to Star Alongside Tom Holland’s Spidey in ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’

    New Report Lists Three Multiversal Heroes Set to Star Alongside Tom Holland’s Spidey in ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’

    For Marvel Studios, the beginning of the end of the Multiverse Saga is almost here. In just a few months, cameras are scheduled to roll on Avengers: Secret Wars, the final film in the Multiverse Saga. While the film’s script has certainly undergone some changes since its inception–especially with Stephen McFeely returning to work with Anthony and Joe Russo–it is still largely believed to feature Battleworld, a patchwork reality created by Victor Von Doom by assembling fragments of other realities destroyed by incursions into a kingdom ruled over by him as its God Emperor.

    Stephen McFeely is writing the script. We are right in the middle of the writing process. We’ve always worked very closely with Markus and McFeely through all the work that we’ve done together. It’s a little bit like getting back on a bike. We have a really codified process that we all work together through… It’s very complicated to iron out a story of this scale.

    -Joe Russo

    As in Marvel Comics 2015’s Secret Wars, the patchwork nature of Battleworld should allow for Avengers: Secret Wars to feature plenty of interesting Variants pulled from throughout the Multiverse. And according to a new report, a trio of familiar heroes will be among them.

    According to industry insider Daniel Richtman, Hugh Jackman‘s Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds Deadpool and Tobey Maguire‘s Spider-Man will have major roles in Avengers: Secret Wars, as will Tom Holland as the MCU’s Spider-Man.

    Though this is certainly not the first time these heroes have been mentioned, recent comments by Jackman and Maguire and rumored plans by Reynolds to remain involved with the MCU as it moves into its next saga certainly seem to reinforce the possibility that these stars will help close out the Multiverse Saga and launch the studio’s continuity reset. Additionally, rumors have the trio playing some role in the final act of Avengers: Doomsday, making their return for Avengers: Secret Wars a necessity.