Premiere: February 18, 2028
Cast
Author: Charles Murphy
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Murphy’s Multiverse: 2021’s Most Anticipated Projects
After Birds of Prey released in early February, fans went through most of 2020 without a major Star Wars, DC or Marvel Studios project hitting theaters (New Mutants happened and Wonder Woman 1984 came in just in time to save fans from being shut out entirely). Some great films came home via PVOD and streaming services delivered some great content as well but…we are ALL looking forward to the bounty promised by 2021. Here’s what each of us is most excited to see!
Joao Pinto
HBO’s The Last of Us’ adaptation. I distinctly remember playing The Last Us for the first time in 2013 and feeling a bit underwhelmed, perhaps because I wasn’t patient enough to let the game hit its stride. When I gave it the time it needed, it became one of my favorite videogame/cinematic experiences ever. The Last of Us: Part II doubled down on it and has now been thoroughly recognized as the masterpiece it is. With Neil Druckmann (writer) and Gustavo Santaolalla (composer) being back for the TV adaptation, I cannot wait to see what they have to offer this time around.
Julia Delbel
The thing I’m most excited about in 2021 is the MCU’s streaming series debut. It’s so exciting to me that the franchise has gotten big enough to expand to give characters who may have gotten lesser time in the movies their own chance to shine, and I’m looking forward to seeing some new ones in action. The styles and genres they’re playing around with as well are very exciting to me, and the two shows I’m most excited for right now are WandaVision and Loki.
Joseph “The Machine” Aberl
I think I am just really excited for some Marvel Studios content again. The fact we could get up to six shows is just insane. The first trailers have teased so much that I am definitely looking forward to seeing this franchise expand into long-form storytelling. I am surprised how much the trailer for Loki also surprised me, so it might become my personal most anticipated series for next year.
Lizzie Hill
I am excited the most about the prospect of finally having some solid MCU content and seeing how some of these projects I’ve been following filming this year come out!
Edward Rose
I can’t wait to see the Multiverse Arc and Phase 4 essentially kick off in January. There are so many possibilities that the future of Marvel holds in store for us and I can’t wait to theorize about all of it.
Arlyn Murphy
Charles Murphy
I’ve been looking forward to seeing Shang-Chi join the MCU as long as there has been an MCU. As a kid, the Master of Kung-Fu comics filled my head with kung-fu wisdom and took me on pulpy adventures that rivaled Star Wars and Indiana Jones. I don’t know if Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings will adapt those things to the screen, but Shang-Chi has long been one of my favorite Marvel heroes and I can’t wait to see Simu Liu bring him to life.
Charles Villanueva
I’m looking forward to seeing how all the upcoming MCU properties intersect with one another. I wanna see how all these properites manage to relate to one another, be it precisely or loosely, and how their threads connect to the next. Also, Loki looks fucking sick so it’s the single property I’m looking forward to the most. Coming from someone who thought was going to be jackshit, this is big.
Dalbin Osorio
Black Widow, hands down. If you trust Kevin Feige, you know that there is a reason Marvel hasn’t released their next film entry into the MCU. With Marvel committed to telling smaller arcs across different mediums, the easy choice would’ve been to release it already. However, Feige has always stuck to his plan and with us now under a month away from WandaVision and 3 months away from Clarence from 8 Mile and Andrew from Black Swan give us the buddy comedy we deserve, it seems like Black Widow may move forward one of those smaller arcs we mentioned. With us knowing Nat died already, there is less suspense but there was less suspense with Civil War too and we saw how great that was. Black Widow will not disappoint.
John Sabato
The Suicide Squad is by far one of my most anticipated projects for 2021. With James Gunn behind the project, I’m sure it’ll have his signature charm with an already interesting roster of characters and the freedom of content that a Suicide Squad film deserves.
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What I Heard This Week: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
As has always been the case, “What I Heard This Week” pieces should never be taken as more than rumors until they’re proven true or false.
Hollywood has gone on holiday and as is the case every year, the information stream has slowed to a trickle. New is always slow this time of year and while I don’t have any solid news to share with you, there is one really fun rumor that might get fans buzzing and generate some interesting conversation. Again, this is only an unsubstantiated rumor at this time, not some fuego scoopage. If it turns out to be true, however, it could lead to Marvel Studios collaborating with a big-time, fan-favorite talent down the road. So before going any further, adjust your expectations because this one tidbit comes without context.
Early on Christmas morning, I was notified that the uber-talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt had recently been in contact with at least one of the creatives at Marvel Studios. Unfortunately, as the kids say: “That’s it. That’s the tweet.” Given the lack of specific context here, “contact” could mean a lot of things. He could have bumped into someone at a coffee shop; he could have had a meeting with Kevin Feige; he could have sent a “Happy Holidays” text to a producer buddy of his. We just don’t know, which is why I cautioned you to adjust your expectations; however, there’s no point in being a fan if you don’t speculate wildly about what this COULD mean.
In an industry loaded with talent, JGL stands out as uniquely talented. The 39-year old has been acting since he was 7 and has also branched out into writing, directing, producing and even composing film scores. Therefore, being in contact with the studio doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to see Gordon-Levitt bring a hero or villain to life on the screen. It’s just as likely that, if he were to join the team at Marvel Studios, that his contributions come off-screen.
Gordon-Levitt was frequently fancast as Marc Spector, the vigilante hero that the trades have reported is set to be played by Oscar Isaac in Moon Knight, but that doesn’t mean that JGL couldn’t still contribute to the series in some way. The Jewish-American actor could easily be brought in to work with the writers to contribute to the authenticity of the script, have another role in the series (perhaps he could play Marc’s father, Elias, for instance) or simply be consulting on the project in some other way.
Of course, the more tantalizing potential here is that JGL met with Marvel Studios to discuss the role of Reed Richards in Marvel Studios Fantastic Four, set to be directed by Jon Watts. After spending a couple of years away from acting following the birth of his children, Gordon-Levitt has worked on only a couple of projects per year the last two years and could be compelled to throw his hat in the ring for the role of Richards, one that will likely secure a decade’s worth of work as Mr. Fantastic is sure to become one of the MCU’s prominent characters in 2023 and beyond. JGL is among the most popular fan choices for the character, but keep in mind that this is nothing but sexy speculation here since we do not know the nature of the interaction he had with the Marvel Studios creative.
Going even further down the rabbit hole, Gordon-Levitt, who would be a very young-looking 40 or 41 by the time Fantastic Four went into production, resembles the Ultimate Reed Richards far more than he does the 616 version of the character. While I am not a fan of taking Richards down that road in the MCU, there is at least some physical similarity there; however, if Feige and Watts want to make sure their Fantastic Four stands apart from the previous versions, taking Richards down the road to becoming the Maker would do it.
Alternatively, JGL could also prove an interesting choice for another member of Marvel’s First Family: Ben Grimm. Before being exposed to cosmic rays and turning into the giant, orange Thing, Grimm was a handsome, athletic and highly intelligent guy who grew up on Yancy Street in a Jewish family. While he’s been portrayed as less than intelligent in some mediums, Grimm was an Air Force pilot and astronaut and far from a bumbling fool. Whether via flashbacks or due to the “human once a year serum” developed by Reed, we could see a human Grimm in the film played by Gordon-Levitt who could also do the motion-capture performance of the Thing. Again, it’s all just speculation at the moment, but that’s part of the fun of being a fan.
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Deep Thoughts: One Hypothetical Marvel Studios 2021 Release Calendar
Marvel Studios sat out 2020 much to the despair of MCU fans; however, one possible timeline for the studio’s release pattern in 2021 could mean we’d only have just a few content-less Friday’s in the next year!
Last night, Edward Rose noticed that the official Disney Latino page listed WandaVision, Marvel Studios’ first Disney Plus streaming series, as having an 8-week run. That news got the wheels spinning and resulted in a hypothetical release schedule that would leave fans hanging on only 2 weekends. The underlying idea of this hypothetical scenario is putting new Marvel Studios content on as many Fridays as possible.
2021 will kick off with the first episode of Marvel Studios Legends on January 8th, catching fans up on the adventures of Wanda, Vision and maybe the rest of the returning cast members. The following week, WandaVision would begin its 8-week run (which does not necessarily mean 8 episodes and that really shouldn’t be that controversial of a statement) which would conclude on March 5th. Additionally, we’ll almost certainly get our first look at Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings during this time, with the February 7th Super Bowl being on likely opportunity.
While we have no confirmation of a Marvel Studios Legends episode for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, it seems like a safe bet and if we bet on it happening, March 12th, pinned between the end of WandaVision and the beginning of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, seems like a pretty safe date. So March 12th recaps the zany adventures of Sam, Bucky, Zemo, Sharon and crew and then The Falcon and The Winter Solider would follow, beginning on March 19th and running for six weeks (this was CONFIRMED in the Disney Investor Day Fact Sheet), concluding its run on April 23rd.
Apri 30th would be a great time to tell the story of Natasha Romanoff with a Marvel Studios Legends episode dedicated to the Black Widow. While this is a Disney Plus series, there’s been no indication that the series will only tell the tales of the characters appearing in the Disney Plus series and in Nat’s case, there’s plenty to tell. This would give old fans and new viewers alike the opportunity to be prepped and ready for Black Widow when it FINALLY hits theaters on May 7th. Black Widow also provides Marvel Studios the opportunity to push out the first look at Eternals. Expect a trailer for the project a week or two before Black Widow’s May 7th release. ***NOTE*** Should Marvel Studios films open overseas earlier than in the U.S. date, this part of the hypothetical schedule hits a bit of a speed bump.
The Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series, Loki, is next up. Loki is set to release in May, meaning Marvel Studios will have two projects out at the same time and as long as Black Widow remains a theatrical release, they’ll want as many butts in seats as possible. To that end, they’ll definitely give Black Widow a little room to breathe. Theatrical releases often make 50% or more of their total box office on the first weekend and rarely do “big money” after the second weekend. With this in mind, they might look to release a Loki-centric episode of Marvel Studios Legends on May 14th (there’s certainly a LOT to tell) and debut the first episode of Loki Season One the following Friday, May 21st. All indications at this point are that the Hiddleston-led streamer will run for 6 episodes, meaning it’ll wrap up on June 25th.
At this point, it looks like Marvel Studios could realistically release new content EVERY Friday for the first six months of the year save New Year’s Day…and then comes July 2nd, which will launch the 4th of July holiday weekend in the United States. It’s possible that the studio takes the weekend off, has something special in the works for the Fourth (it is Steve Rogers birthday, after all) or, I suppose they could release an episode of Marvel Studios Legends dedicated to the MCU’s brief and confusing history of the Mandarin and the Ten Rings. The last one makes a bit of sense because, on July 9th, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is going to rewrite that history when it debuts in theaters.
The further down the road and into 2021 this hypothetical schedule goes, the harder it is to predict, but why stop now? Next up for Marvel Studios is What If…?, their first animated project. The only available info on the project is that it’s set to be released next Summer and, according to several reports, is expected to consist of 10 episodes. Placing it on the schedule under the assumptions that they’ll give a theatrical film at least one weekend all to itself and that they’ll release What If…? one episode at a time as well, the animated series could debut on July 16th and conclude on September 17th.
In thinking ahead, that long gap serves a fairly important purpose if the goal is to provide new content every Friday: it allows Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye to “catch up.” The starts of both of those series were severely delayed by the pandemic and are currently scheduled for “late Fall.” If production continues without delays and the calendar fills out as predicted above, the two series could stream on either side of Eternals.
According to the Disney Investor Day Fact Sheet, Ms. Marvel comes first and could start its six-episode run on September 24th. It’s possible that the studio could push out a Marvel Studios Legends episode about Captain Marvel given the connection between Kamala Khan and her, but it’s also possible they just start right up. If they do, the Season One finale of Ms. Marvel would stream on October 29th.
One week later, on November 5th, Eternals would make its LONG awaited degut in theaters. By introducing an entirely new group of characters, Eternals seems unlikely to be preceded by an episode of Marvel Studios Legends, though anything and anyone could show up in the film.
***NOTE*** after finding some new evidence, this paragraph was changed to reflect Hawkeye as a 6-episode series, so it would end on Christmas Eve.
Following the pattern previously laid out around theatrical releases, November 12th could be a nice Friday for the Clint Barton episode of Marvel Studios Legends. Set photos have indicated that Hawkeye, the studio’s final 2021 project, takes place during the holidays so kicking it off on November 19th would give fans episodes on the day after Thanksgiving and on Christmas Ever. All signs point to this one being a 6-episode season, meaning we’d wrap up before the calendar turns over to 2022. Assuming no production delays, Marvel Studios would have the opportunity to jump right into She-Hulk and continue taking over the world of entertainment.
Currently set to release on December 17th, 2021, Spider-Man 3 (which is scheduled by Sony and NOT Marvel Studios) throws a monkey wrench into the thought process of not having a film premier compete with an episode of a streaming series, but there are so many workarounds for that issue (Hawkeye taking a week off, the release date for the film being moved since production got off to a late start, Hawkeye not even starting until after Spider-Man 3) that it really becomes a non-issue.
While the chances of this hypothetical release calendar coming to fruition are approximately 3,720 to 1, the point of this wasn’t to plant a flag so we can do some chest-pounding later, but to extrapolate one possible release schedule based on the idea of having new Marvel Studios content on as many 2021 Fridays as possible. Right or wrong (and let’s be honest, this is almost certainly wrong), an exercise like this makes visible the scale of the studio’s plans and the role that Disney Plus plays in them: Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios will own at least a portion of the news cycle nearly every weekend for the foreseeable future.
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New ‘WANDAVISION’ Teaser Features An Interesting New Detail
We are just 3 weeks away from the first episode(s) of WandaVision streaming into our homes and this morning Marvel Studios gave fans a little present with a new look at the show during Disney’s Christmas celebration. Check out the new teaser below!
This one definitely adds to the mystery of what exactly is going on in WestView, especially the scene where Agnes essentially wants to take the scene from the top after flubbing her lines. You can check out everything we know about the series, which kicks off Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, here. WandaVision begins streaming on January 15th, exclusively on Disney Plus.
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The Case for Marvel Studios ‘BLADE’ as the Fifth 2022 Film
Like every other studio in the business, Marvel Studios reshuffled its 2020 and 2021 film slates more than once as the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted every aspect of production. Two weeks ago, at Disney’s Investor Day, the studio revealed the latest (and hopefully final) plan that saw it’s 2022 slate rearranged, moving Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther II and Captain Marvel 2 a spreading the release dates of its four films (Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness is still set for a March 2022 release) a little more evenly throughout the year. Interestingly enough, the studio did NOT place a film on the October 7, 2022 date that they reserved late last year. That date has remained open, but reserved for a Marvel Studios film, though for many fans, it’s become increasingly hard to believe Kevin Feige would release a film on that date as it would mean going head-to-head with Sony’s animated Spider-Verse sequel, which was moved from April to October of 2022 during the pandemic. And while that logic holds up, an official Investor’s Day fact sheet presents the possibility that Marvel Studios may be at least thinking about dropping Blade, a FIFTH feature film, in 2022 and that October date makes sense for a lot of reasons.
As you can see in the first image, the fact sheet indicates that the projects are listed in chronological order. The second image then lists Blade between Black Panther II’s July 8th release and Captain Marvel 2’s November 11th date. A quick check of the calendar shows that October 7th happens to fall in between those other two dates. An October 7th date would also put Blade, a film set to reintroduce Marvel’s premier vampire hunter, in theaters during the time of year when audiences are in the mood to watch films about such things. So while it’s a little hard to see Marvel Studios putting out 5 films in one year, the evidence is all there staring us in the face…how we chose to interpret it is up to us.
Of course, there are quite a few obstacles in the way of Blade making that October 2022 release. Fiege did tease upcoming news about the project during the Investor Day presentation, but as of now, the only thing we know about the project is that Mahershala Ali will star in it. As far as we know, the film doesn’t have a creative team behind it at the moment, and Marvel Studios has historically liked to give the team about a year to work together before filming. They also tend to film about 12-16 months before release, which means they’d like to begin production on the film sometime between June and October of 2021. Now there are certainly exceptions to those rules on either side: sometimes the teams are together longer, sometimes shorter; sometimes films get started closer to expected release, sometimes further out (especially now with all the uncertainty). For example, Destin Daniel Cretton was brought on board to direct Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings just 10 months before filming was scheduled to begin. If Marvel Studios has a good idea of where the film is going and maybe an in-house outline of the script, it’s not impossible to believe that the film could be ready for an October start of production if they were able to get a team together sometime early next month. If such an announcement comes in early January, it could provide a couple more data points to help us make a decision. Of course, the best data point would be an official announcement and in these crazy times it’s best for all of us (even me!) to wait on one of those. But at this point, we cannot say with any certainty that we will not see Ali as Blade in the Fall of 2022.
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Murphy’s Multiverse: The Best of 2020
As we get closer and closer to putting 2020 in our rear-view mirror, it’s easy to lash out at everything that was taken away from us all in the long, worldwide nightmare we’ve all been living. What’s a little tougher to do is see beyond it and find the things for which we are all grateful…but that’s what we did!
Here are our best memories of the year that was:
Joao Pinto
Without a shadow of a doubt it was season 2 of The Mandalorian. I can’t say I liked the way the Skywalker Saga ended, as The Rise of Skywalker is probably my least favorite Star Wars movie ever, and it bummed me out how, to a degree, it made less of the ones I do love. But with The Mandalorian’s second season, which was nothing short of a resounding success, I felt like I was falling in love with Star Wars all over again.
Julia Delbel
My favorite entertainment/fandom thing in 2020 was getting to watch the DC Fandome and Disney Investor Day presentations with everyone. There was so much exciting news on all fronts and the format made the usual divide during con season disappear with everyone getting to watch and get hyped together. I especially loved the portions of those events focused on The Suicide Squad, Pixar, and Marvel Studios.
Joseph “The Machine” Aberl
2020 has been a crazy year with many ups and downs. Even still, it is difficult to pinpoint what was the thing that stood out to me all year. On the one hand, I got to cover so many different topics that I am qutie proud of stories coming together the way they did, may it be Marvel’s Avengers or even just the Disney+ Star story. In the end, I have to say my favorite thing of 2020 was being able to join Charles’ site and offer my contribution to help it grow.
Lizzie Hill
Obviously, it’s been a tough year, but my favorite thing in 2020 is Wonder Woman 1984 set to release on HBO max as well as theaters on Christmas day! Thank you Patty Jenkins, Gal Gadot, WB, DC, and HBO!
Edward Rose
It’ll sound sappy but joining the team at Murphy’s Multiverse was my favorite part of 2020. Being given a platform for which to voice my theories, pitches and ideas on a weekly basis truly has been a blessing and it’s even more so when you have a wonderful group of people that provide you with feedback, ideas and overall a wonderful time. And also getting the opportunity to interact with the people who support us and just talking with them is just one hell of a fun time.
Arlyn Murphy
Charles Murphy
I’m so grateful to be at a place in my life where I’m able to share my passion with so many people and easily the best thing about the past year was being able to assemble the team at Murphy’s Multiverse. I know most folks still think of this as a “Marvel scoops site”, but it’s become so much more in the past year and that’s 100% due to the incredibly diverse and talented team members we have here.
Outside of that, my favorite Murphy’s Multiverse-related thing from 2020 was being able to absolutely fall in love with the Dawn of X comics and watching Jonathan Hickman turn Apocalypse into arguably the MOST interesting character in Marvel Comics. Hickman’s work is ALWAYS sci-fi heavy and cinematic, but he and the creative pushed their own limits with his recreation of Apocalypse, the incredible expansion of Otherworld and the reintroduction of S.W.O.R.D. (Al Ewing’s #1 was an amazing read and promises big things for 2021). Well done, X-team of writers!
Charles Villanueva
It’s hard to think of a favorite thing this year when it’s been real shitty but as I mentioned in our latest podcast, 2020 is the year I returned to my gaming roots. Gaming has always been a huge part of my life growing up and that slowly went away as I hit adulthood. Now that I’m back at it and catching up on all the good games and franchises I missed, it’s been a total blast.
Dalbin Osorio
In a year that has been crazier than most, folks have found solace in some really great television and video games. The internet is riddled with Mandalorian and Call of Duty memes: I have a folder dedicated to them. My favorite thing from 2020, nerd-related, was Stargirl. The Arrowverse has expanded into what folks hoped the DCEU would be: let’s face it, even the Fast & Furious movies do a better job of world building than DC has done. As the Arrowverse ended its signature show, i wondered what would ride up in its stead. Black Lightning was incredible, Batwoman had an excellent season one, but the best new show from DC this year was Stargirl. A rocky start couldn’t hinder an inspired cast, and season one ended on a high note. I can’t wait for season two.
John Sabato
Birds Of Prey was by far my favorite movie I saw this year. While it was one of the only movies I saw this year, it was a great departure from CBM norms and introduced some fantastic and unique characters to the DCEU. Can’t forget to mention the film’s astounding soundtrack as well.
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Murphy’s Law: Episode 75
Charles and Charles are joined by Arlyn Murphy in the last podcast of 2020. The trio review the season finale of The Mandalorian and then the Charleses talk the rest of the minor Marvel Studios news bits and recap the shitty year that was. Eat shit, 2020!
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Jon Favreau Confirms Season 3 of ‘THE MANDALORIAN’ Will Follow ‘THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT’
During an interview this morning with Good Morning America, Jon Favreau put a lot of minds at ease when he confirmed that the newly announced series, The Book of Boba Fett, which was revealed in a post credit scene of the season finale of The Mandalorian, is its own entity and separate from Season 3 of The Mandalorian.
Fans found themselves a little confused in the days since the season finale aired as misinformation framed as facts made its way around social media. Favreau reiterated that The Book of Boba Fett, which is in production now, will air in December of 2021 and that production on Season 3 of The Mandalorian would begin shortly after production on Boba’s solo series ends.
