Author: Charles Murphy

Christian Bale Confirmed as Gorr for ‘THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER’

Since the moment he was cast in Thor: Love and Thunder, fans pegged Academy Award Winner Christian Bale as Gorr, the God Butcher. Today, Marvel Studios made us all THRILLED when they announced Bale in that role during the Disney Investor Day.

Academy Award-winning actor Christian Bale will join the cast of Thor: Love and Thunder as the villain Gorr the God Butcher. In theaters May 6, 2022. ⚡ pic.twitter.com/fWS4UuP2oM

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) December 11, 2020

While the role has been shrouded in secrecy, we at Murphy’s Multiverse did hear LONG AGO that is was going to be a mo-cap heavy role. Nobody here is playing games and pretending we knew it was Gorr, but it’s good to know our source wasn’t TOTALLY off base. Gorr first appeared in 2012 in Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder #2 and proved to be one of Thor’s most capable enemies.

Thor: Love and Thunder is set to hit theaters May 6, 2022.

December 10, 2020
Jon Watts to Helm Marvel Studios ‘FANTASTIC FOUR’

During tonight’s Disney Investor’s Day presentation, The-One-Above-All himself announced that Jon Watts would helm the MCU reboot of Fantastic Four.

Jon Watts will direct the new feature film for Marvel's First Family, Fantastic Four! pic.twitter.com/Eu26ghxbGT

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) December 11, 2020

First announced at last year’s SDCC, Fantastic Four will the first MCU film to fully incorporate Disney’s newly acquired characters which were once owned by Fox. The last Fantastic Four film released in 2015.

December 10, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: Marvel HQ to Premiere Kids-Targeted ‘ETERNALS’ Animated Series in 2021

Murphy’s Multiverse has learned that Star India’s Marvel HQ is planning to release an Eternals animated series early in 2021. While we can’t confirm it for a U.S. release, Marvel HQ’s content often mirrors that of Disney XD.

Marvel loves its corporate synergy and is getting the Eternals into the limelight. A Kieron Gillen scribed Eternals comic book is set to debut in January of 2021 and will be shortly followed by the new animated series which looks to introduce younger audiences to the MCU’s version of the Eternals ahead of next year’s Marvel Studios feature film, currently set to hit theaters on November 5th, 2021.

December 10, 2020
Ahead of Investor Day, Marvel Studios Green Lights AT LEAST One New Project
Disney’s 4-hour Investor Day presentation today is expected, among other things, reveal plans for a “significant expansion of the Star Wars universe”, unveil which of Disney’s feature films will head directly to Disney Plus and, most relevant to this piece, unleash a few new Marvel Studios projects. Ahead of today’s meeting, we have identified a new production company associated with Marvel Studios: Frequent Productions.

The creation of production companies is one of the earliest signs that movement has begun on new projects. Each project is assigned its own company and then work on the projects begin in earnest under those banners. At the moment, there are 3 production companies we are 100% sure are associated with Marvel Studios:
- Solve Everything (almost certainly the Fantastic Four film)
- Grass-Fed (we have no idea, but have a lot of guesses)
- Frequent (see some guesses below)
There are also 3 other production companies, uncovered earlier by Arlyn Murphy, that have been created and COULD be associated with Marvel Studios but, as of now, there’s not enough evidence to make the call; however, should they be associated with Marvel Studios, they’d represent another 3 projects which have been green lit:
- Blueberry Waffles
- Log Jam
- Standoffish
Based on what we know, the most logical assumption we can make is that Frequent Productions is related to the Nick Fury-centric series being developed by Kyle Bradstreet. That series (which I am increasingly more convinced is a Secret Warriors adaptation), would seemingly be the furthest along in development and “ready” to move into the earliest stages of “pre-production” in order to prepare to film next Spring. We’ve heard the studio hopes to film it in the Spring and is looking at Atlanta’s Tyler Perry Studios, which is currently being used by Marvel Studios to film Hawkeye, and Frequent Productions will be operating out of Atlanta.

Going into today’s Investor presentation with the knowledge that Solve Everything is likely to be Fantastic Four and Frequent could maybe possibly be the Nick Fury series, we can generate some realistic expectations about what projects the studio may “announce.” Keep in mind that as far as official Marvel Studios announcements go, the Nick Fury series and Deadpool 3 don’t “OFFICIALLY” exist yet, so out of these 2 “sure thing” companies (Grass-Fed and Frequent) and 3 “50/50” companies (Blueberry Waffles, Log Jam and Standoffish) we could guess that 2 of them belong to those 2 projects. That gives us 3 other “possible” projects that MIGHT POSSIBLY BUT WE CAN’T BE CERTAIN be announced. Among those most likely to match up with these production companies are Ironheart, Young Avengers, Ghost Rider, Secret Invasion and The Illuminati, all projects which were in the earliest stages of development earlier this year. It’s also possible that some other projects have moved up in order and we just don’t know about them yet.

On the film side of things, the slate through 2023 seems pretty firm with Thor: Love and Thunder, Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness, Captain Marvel 2, Black Panther 2, Ant-Man 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 all either currently shooting or scheduled to shoot and Fantastic Four, Blade and Deadpool 3 seemingly “next up.” Of that list, only Blade and Deadpool 3 aren’t yet known to be tied to any production companies, so they might occupy 2 of those as well. Of course, Marvel Studios could add to their upcoming film slate in a surprising way today as well, but extending it much beyond 2023 given the current environment might be an unnecessary risk.

So truly out of the 5 unoccupied production companies, 3 of them might belong to projects we already know about in Blade, Deadpool 3 and the Fury series. Still, that leaves 2 “surprises” should Marvel Studios choose to reveal them. Personally, I look forward to getting some interesting updates and finding out about the new D+ series they plan to produce in 2021, but am always willing to be surprised! For now, we can say with certainty that Frequent Productions belongs to one of these upcoming Marvel Studios projects but since we don’t know, we’re asking you guys to vote on it over at @MultiverseMurph!
December 10, 2020
Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock CONFIRMED for ‘SPIDER-MAN 3’

Just last week, GWW reported that Alfred Molina had been spotted on the set of the untitled Spider-Man sequel which is currently filming in Atlanta. Today, we got what’s as close to confirmation from Marvel Studios that we’ll get as THR confirmed that Molina is on set to reprise his role as Doctor Otto Octavius, a role he first played in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 in 2004.

Molina’s return is another data point pointing towards the film looking more and more like a live-action iteration of the Spider-Verse in which the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield films will somehow find themselves in a shared web with the current Tom Holland films. Plot details have been kept sealed up tightly, but rumors continue to swirl and we’ve seen and heard plenty to make us at Murphy’s Multiverse believe.

Spider-Man 3 is due to hit theaters on December 17th, 2021.

December 8, 2020
Murphy’s Law Podcast: Episode 73

Encouraged by the information that a lot of people spend a lot of time listening to us talk, Charles and Charles decided to record another episode! Here we talk all about Hawkeye, which recently started filming in NYC, what Hailee Steinfeld means for the future of the MCU, Boba’s badassery in the latest episode of The Mandalorian and more!

December 7, 2020
‘THE MANDALORIAN’: Boba’s Back and He Ain’t No Joke(er)

Season 2 of The Mandalorian came out swinging when, at the end of Chapter 9, the show’s creators revealed that the Star Wars Universe’s biggest man of mystery, Boba Fett, was “back from the dead.” Maybe more like revealed he was still alive than back from the dead, but by putting the legendary bounty hunter back into play, they were walking a fine line, one that I mentioned briefly here. It was obvious that Temura Morrison’s Boba has seen some shit since we saw him fall into the Sarlaac Pit in Return of the Jedi, but he survived, got himself some weapons and was after his old armor. It was also obvious that we weren’t just getting a fan-service look at the character because as we learn each week, almost every character we’ve met along the way comes back into play at some point, so why would Boba be any different?

As it turns out, Boba did come back and he came big in a big way. Robert Rodriguez’s chapter of The Mandalorianshowed us a side of Boba that we had only ever had a chance to imagine as fans. In fact, as many have said, from the minute we saw Slave I entering the atmosphere of Tython, we were treated to what is almost inarguably the best 10 minutes or so of Boba’s screen time in the Star Wars Universe. Boba showed himself to be an imposing physical threat capable of taking out a platoon of Stormtrooper (yeah, I know they’re just Stormtroopers) with extreme prejudice. Boba also showed himself to be, much like Din Djarin, a man bound by a code of honor, the same code of honor that binds Din.

To me, Rodriguez masterfully walked the line between revealing too much about Boba’s past, giving us just enough to explain his presence in the series without going too far. Boba’s mysterious nature has always been one of the best things about the character; even though we did get some filler info in The Clone Wars, we don’t really know how Boba came to be the kind of guy with enough of a rep to end up sharing space with Darth Vader and it might have been a disservice to the character to get into details about how he escaped the Sarlaac. Instead, we got all we needed, we got just enough and what little we got enriched the character in a major way; in fact, by not going too far and just letting the character be, this episode made good on everything fans ever thought Boba was in the first place.

To Rodriguez’s credit, it’s hard to resist the urge to go too far, to take away all the mystery, and in doing so, do more harm to the character than good. Todd Phillips’ Joker highlights the dangers in taking one of the most complicated and mysterious characters in all of fiction and overexplaining his origins and motivations to fans. Now I don’t but the “he’s A Joker, not THE Joker” crap no do I buy the “unreliable narrator” crap. There’s no reason to make a movie called Joker and not make it about the Clown Prince of Crime. With that out of the way, what we are left with is a fairly pathetic attempt to explain how a down-on-his-luck guy named Arthur Fleck could somehow be put on a path that would allow him to stand toe-to-toe with Batman. And this guy, this Fleck, based on the story we were given, there’s just no way he could ever do that. We know too much about him now to ever believe he could last more than 30 seconds in a fight with the Dark Knight much less concoct evil schemes that allow him to be two steps ahead of the World’s Greatest Detective. Because of this, Fleck’s story was one that ultimately was better off never being told. By taking away the mystery of what made the Joker into the Joker, the film did a disservice to the character.

Rodriguez, on the other hand, did just the opposite. He avoided the pitfall of telling us how Boba crawled from the depths of the Sarlaac Pit. He avoided telling us the long story that would, for all intents and purposes, serve as the origin story of the Boba Fett from The Empire Strikes Back. Instead, he kept those things shrouded in mystery, where they belong, because it’s the mystery of the man that has ALWAYS made him so great. With characters like these, there’s almost no way that one director’s vision of the origin story or the big missing pieces could ever live up to what fans have built up in their minds; it’s safer to leave them untold and find other ways to advance the character in the present, which is exactly what Rodriguez did.

I hated Boba Fett when he delivered Han to Jabba and even though he’s always been one of my favorite Star Wars characters, he’s always been a bad guy. But now that we see how his father Jango’s life may have paralleled Din Djarin’s, we can see things from the other side of the coin and believably accept Boba. As Zangief reminds us, just because Boba is a bad guy does not mean he is a bad guy. Maybe he’s just a good guy willing to crush a few Stormtrooper’s skulls sparrow’s eggs if it’s for his cause. Either way, by leaving out the details and letting us make our own choices, Rodriguez has made the return of fan-favorite character that much better. by letting Boba be Boba and keeping us in the dark.

December 7, 2020
New Set Video of Alaqua Cox’s Echo in ‘HAWKEYE’

The other day we were able to get the first look at Alaqua Cox’s Maya Lopez/Echo during a rehearsal and between takes of scenes for the upcoming Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Hawkeye. Those videos showed Cox using sign language to communicate with crew members and the lead up to a scene involving her father, William, played by Zahn McLarnon.

This new video shows what we are told is one of the takes of the full scene. While we are fully aware that is doesn’t reveal much given that it is shot from behind the scene, it should still be pretty cool to see the scene in Hawkeye knowing you had a glimpse at it first!

December 6, 2020
FIRST LOOK: Clint Barton’s 70’s Era Muscle Car from the Set of “HAWKEYE”

Filming on the upcoming Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Hawkeye got underway in Brookly this week and, from what we’ve seen, it is evident that the show is heavily influenced by the Matt Fraction and David Aja run that began in 2012. While we’ve known this to be the case for some time now, I think the set photos we’ve seen so far may indicate a more direct visual adaptation than many fans were expecting and now we’ve got an exclusive first look at something else than fans of the run are sure to recognize even if it does look a bit different: Clint’s 70’s era muscle car!

Edward Baker was able to locate this 70’s Buick Gran Sport sneakily parked around the corner from where filming was taking place on Wednesday. During his time there, he also overheard the crew discussing how they had hoped to procure a more comic-accurate 70’s era Challenger, but ended up with this GS. So no, this isn’t just some car that happened to be parked on set and, to be honest, when I heard the scene that was being shot I asked Baker to snoop around and see if he could find a 70’s Challenger and moments later, he found this GS.

Clint’s car is part of one of the most exciting issues of Fraction’s run. In issue #3, Clint buys a 70’s Challenger from a woman he just met (and may have slept with) and then immediately proceeds to have it stolen by the tracksuit mafia, get it back by having Kate crash her car into it, and then demolish it over the course of a wild high-speed chase through NYC in which he manages to deploy pretty much every one of his “trick” arrows.

Should Marvel Studios plan to recreate this crazy car chase, it wouldn’t necessarily have to do so over the course of the next week, but that would certainly make things more NYC authentic. The car chase culminates on what I think is the George Washington Bridge (I’m not a New Yorker, I’m just guessing here!), so while the streets of Georgia could easily be used for a car chase, it would be hard to replicate the bridge. We’ll keep an eye out for you and see if they are in fact going for the big time car chase in the series.

UPDATE: David Aja has clarified it was in fact the GWB.

https://twitter.com/davaja/status/1335296015105220609

December 5, 2020
UNBOXING Marvel Collector Corps’ Infinity Saga End Credits Scenes

You may have noticed us branching out on the site more and more over recent months. Today, we are putting out the first of what we hope to be MANY unboxing/opening videos! As many of you know, I am an over-zealous collector so we decided it would be pretty easy to share with you all.

As you’ll see, Charles V., who edited the video, put a couple of his own touches on the video below. I was lucky enough to get Arlyn Murphy to help me out with this one and I hope that, over time, she takes over the narration. Enjoy and please give your respectful criticisms so we can improve the process.

December 5, 2020