Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Charles Murphy

  • Marvel Studios ‘LOKI’ Confirmed to Feature the TVA’s Minutemen

    Though production on the series is currently delayed, we’ve still got an interesting piece of news. IMDB shows (and for those that doubt it, I can confirm its accuracy) that the Minutemen, essentially the police force of the TVA, will have a presence in Loki with Marvel Studios stunt guru Chris Brewster portraying one of them!

    Image result for marvel comics minutemen

    First appearing in Fantastic Four #352, the Minutemen are an armored corps of robots, clones and cyborgs used by the TVA to police the Timestream. Tasked with securing TVA headquarters and apprehending delinquents who are messing with timelines, the Minutemen have, on occasion, led by Justice Peace. For the purposes of Loki, you might be able to think of them as red shirts on an episode of Star Trek. As it stand now, Brewster will be joined by Isabelle Fretheim as Minutemen in Episode 2 of the series.

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    Stay tuned to Murphy’s Multiverse for further coverage of Loki!

  • Richard E. Grant Joins the Cast of ‘LOKI’ in Mystery Role

    Academy Award Nominated actor Richard E. Grant has joined the cast of the upcoming Disney Plus Marvel Studios streaming series Loki. Grant’s involvement in the production, which was first reported by Discussing Film, is reportedly a minimal time-maximum impact role with the actor on board for just one episode of the series’ first season.

    Image result for richard e grant villain

    Curiously, the news of Grant’s casting comes shortly after rumors began to swirl that one of Marvel Comics greatest villains, Kang the Conqueror, would make his MCU debut in Loki. Over the years, Kang has appeared in many forms, but one quite suits Grant’s age and demeanor: Immortus. An older, more experienced version of Kang, Immortus first appeared in Avengers #10 as the Lord of Limbo whose main goal was the preservation of alternate timelines rather than conquering them (which was always his goal as Kang). In the long and twisted history of Kang, Immortus is sort of the final evolution of the character, even though he co-existed with, sided with and came into conflict with other versions of his younger self.

    Image result for marvel comics immortus

    Casting Grant as Immortus would be a brilliant move by Marvel Studios. An actor of his caliber would not only bring the necessary gravitas to the character, but also leave the door open to casting another, younger actor as Kang, should the studio have longer term plans for the character.

  • Connecting Imaginary Dots: The Taskmaster(s), The Dark Room and The Future of the ‘BLACK WIDOW’ Franchise

    If you’ve never read an installment of Connecting Imaginary Dots, allow me to explain the idea. Connecting Imaginary Dots was the title I came up with for my speculation pieces when I was writing at MCU Exchange. These types of pieces basically allow me to unload a bunch of junk that’s circulating in my brain in a way that should never be confused for things I actually expect to happen. I basically take a bunch of facts that are almost always entirely unrelated and do my best to connect the dots with by stretching my imagination. In the past these types of pieces have resulted in me theorizing that the Spider-Man sequel which became Far From Home might end up being a team-up outing of Spidey and Hulk in the Savage Land; however, I also wrote one theorizing that Sterling K. Brown would be playing the father of Erik Killmonger in Black Panther LOOOOOONG before anyone else was considering it and one in which I theorized that Annette Bening was actually Mar-Vell when everyone else still thought Jude Law was playing the character. The bottom line is this: these are fun spec pieces that allow me to just be a fan. With that out of the way…

    This piece is probably as convoluted and out there as any Connecting The Imaginary Dots piece I’ve done since I decided that Spidey and Hulk were headed to the Savage Land, but it’s in my head and I’m going to get it out.

    Family. The less than subtle theme of this May’s Black Widow has been built up through the trailers and has led us to believe that Nat’s reunion with her Russian family will take her on a bit of a redemptive arc. The film is also setting up Taskmaster as the main antagonist and, often times in film, the antagonist’s arc is a dark reflection of the hero’s. I’m beginning to wonder that as Nat’s reunion redeems her, if we might see a family separated and out for revenge.

    There are a lot of dots here, so I’ll lay them out now:

    • Last March, I revealed that Ned Benson’s script work on Black Widow introduced a new character to the mix. The studio was searching for a “diverse female” to play a small supporting role. A number of actresses ranging from Storm Reid (15 years old at the time) to Hannah Quinlivan (25 at the time) were up from the role.
    • 16 year old Liani Samuels was cast in Black Widow as Anya. I believe, but cannot confirm, that she appeared in yesterday’s final trailer.
    Is that Samuels front and center? I don’t know.
    • The final trailer revealed that Taskmaster is now in charge of the Red Room and training an entirely new kind of Widow who have no control over their actions. He is essentially the Headmaster of the Red Room.
    • Mark Waid’s run on Black Widow, which began in 2016, introduced the Headmistress. The Headmistress oversaw the Red Room when Natasha was trained. With the help of her daughter, known as Recluse, she has developed the Dark Room: a new, more violent Red Room that would train child assassins and would have no ties to any country. The Headmistress ultimately killed herself, leaving her daughter to become the new Headmistress and out for revenge against Natasha.
    Image result for marvel dark room academy
    • Marvel Studios filmed part of Black Widow on location in Norway. I believe a shot of the landscape appeared in yesterdays final trailer:
    • Avengers Academy #1 introduced a character known as Finesse. Over time and because of her abilities as a polymath, she became suspicious that her father was Taskmaster. This has never been confirmed or denied.
    • This is a big one that has to be marked as a rumor: I was told that Black Widow would feature two Taskmasters: the first one male and the second one a female. This is an unconfirmed rumor and only here because it supports my wild speculation.

    With the dots all laid out, here’s what I’m staring at:

    Samuels’ Anya is Taskmaster’s daughter. Marvel Studios specifically wanted a non-white actress for the role because they were casting her as the daughter of Fagbenle’s Mason/Tasky. Her character is is an amalgamation of Recluse and Finesse. Marvel Studios has a lot of great characters and they’re not going to get to them all, so they’ve brought the two together to make an intriguing new character. Recluse is part of the Dark Room Academy where she is trained by her father. At some point during the climax of the film, her father is killed by Nat, or maybe Yelena. When she find out, she swears revenge, becomes the new Taskmaster and will be the face under the mask going forward. Anya’s loss sets her on the very path Nat is trying to step off of. Of course that means she’s not going to get revenge on Nat so, like I said, maybe Yelena…but you guys all think she’s dead! Which is really weird because this series of screenshots pulled from the trailers tells a really different story: one in which she is alive (note she is wearing the same white outfit without the vest when she’s on the table) and being prepped for some sort of medical procedure:

    But all that is another story…

    The bottom line is this: I look forward to more Tasky shenanigans and a couple more Black Widow solo films starring Florence Pugh.

    How crazy and convoluted is this conjecture? Let me know in the comments!!

  • EXCLUSIVE: New ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Set Photos Tease a Big Project by Samson Development

    In December, I wrote a piece about how The Falcon and The Winter Soldier would explore some of the efforts to rebuild the world after the Blip. A big part of that rebuilding process seems to be the ever-present Samson Development Company whose motto, conveniently, is “Rebuilding Your City After the Blip.” While we don’t know what role Samson Development will have in the series (Will the company be in the background? Is it somehow related to Doctor Leonard Samson? Is the company somehow integral to the plot?), a new series of set photos from out friend @loburger indicates that as the series comes to a close, Samson Development is working on a pretty big project that could hint at something major coming down the road (it also could be hinting at nothing).

    @loburger recently went down to get a closer look at the area where our exclusive set videos were shot and got us not only a good look at the signage indicating a large undertaking by Samson Development, but also some information about the production timeline of the series as well. As you can see in the photos below, Samson Development is building a massive tower located on Broad Street.

    The identity of this mysterious new tower is sure to cause a stir. Could it be the Baxter Building? Possible, but unlikely as the Baxter Building is located at 42nd and Madison Ave. and very near the UN building. Oscorp? Again, possible but unlikely. As much as we’d love for it to be one of those great landmarks, at this point we do not have the evidence to support those ideas.

    In addition to the interesting new tower going up on Broad Street, a closer look at one of the set photos shows a curious logo that calls back to some graffiti seen in earlier set photos.

    Those set photos, which can be seen here, have fueled speculation of Captain America villain Flag-Smasher showing up in the series and this sticker might well be connected to the same perpetrators of that graffiti. While we have no context for why this logo is here or what to expect, it’s consistent with things we’ve seen before.

    A final note of interest: according to @loburger’s conversation with set security, it appears that The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, which is now filming in the Czech Republic, is scheduled to return to Atlanta for additional filming “at the end of the month.” Hopefully we are able to gather some more photos then and continue to get an idea of what to expect from the series!

  • New ‘SHANG-CHI’ Description May Lend Further Credibility to the “Tournament” Leak

    Several months ago, an alleged leak of the plot of the upcoming Marvel Studios feature film, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings, indicated that the titular character would enter into an underground Kung Fu tournament in order to try to win the legendary Ten Rings. The leak can be found at the bottom of the page.

    Over the past several months, I’ve been able to uncover evidence, in the form of casting calls, that might support that leak. First, a call went out for a ringside fight announcer which was followed by a call for actors with martial arts experience and professional wrestlers. Now, a third new character description has surfaced that seems to follow the trend.

    Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is looking for a male to film a one scene cameo in which he will livestream the film’s main characters as they enter into what is described as a large scale fight. The character, named “KANE”, is traveling with the main characters on a bus when the fight occurs. Could this bus trip be taking the characters to a location for the underground tournament? We’ll have to wait and see, but one thing we can say for sure is we have not seen any evidence to suggest the tournament leak is purely fan fiction. If you haven’t read it, check out the original leak below. Make sure to let us know your thoughts on the tournament in the comments!

    An alien spaceship landed in China hundreds of years ago. The ship was powered by the Ten Rings, magical relics that all serve a different purpose. The rings were looted by a secret society known as the Avatars, which is led by a wise martial artist simply called the Ancestor. The Ancestor wore the rings and used them to become an expert fighter.

    The Mandarin grew up hearing about the ancestor’s story and was fascinated by it, despite everyone else believing it was just a myth. He began to idolize the Ancestor, and devoted his life to finding the rings. This inspired him to form his own mafia, which is the Ten Rings gang. Basically, the point of the gang is look for the rings all around the world. He adopted his niece, Fah Lo Suee (Awkwafina) and taught her martial arts.

    After years of investigation, he discovers that the legend of the ten rings are real, and that the Ancestor is dying. There was a leak a little while back that Shang-Chi is a tournament film, and that’s actually true. When the Ancestor dies, the Avatars will run a secret tournament/kung-fu trial in which the winner will be granted the rings. The Mandarin is too old to compete, and he doesn’t want to risk Fah Lo Suee’s life. That’s where Shang-Chi is going to come in.

    Shang is a street urchin who meets the Mandarin after he starts dating Fah. The Mandarin takes a liking in Shang and starts training him as his apprentice. His first task, as an act of gang initiation, is to kill Trevor for impersonating the Mandarin. People speculated that they would be related, but it will be more of a Walter White/Jesse Pinkman dynamic.

    When the tournament begins, the Mandarin will send Shang to win and get the rings for him. That’ll be the basic gist of the film pretty much. I know that defeating Fin Fang Foom will be an obstacle. Leiko Wu and Clive Reston will be in the movie as SHIELD agents who are investigating the Ten Rings gang. Shang-Chi will obviously betray the Mandarin and become a hero over the course of the film. He will get the ability to create multiple duplicates of himself. It will be an ‘Orphan Black’ situation, where each clone of himself has their own personality. So the fights will obviously be insane to witness.

    Marvel is casting Shang’s enemies in the tournament, and one of them will be a character named Chao.

  • Wunmi Mosaku Joins the Cast of ‘LOKI’

    Actress Wunmi Mosaku has joined the cast of the upcoming Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Loki.

    Set photos of Mosaku, which can be seen at Just Jared, show her interacting with Sophia Di Martino who, depending on which speculation you subscribe to, is playing either Lady Loki or the Enchantress. While the role of Mosaku is yet to be determined, it appears that she is working with the Time Variance Authority, possibly as one of the Justices employed by the organization.

    Mosaku’s star has been on the rise as the 32-year old since winning a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress in 2017. She has since appeared in Season 5 of Luther and will lead Jordan Peele’s upcoming HBO series, Lovecraft Country.

  • Disney Plus European Launch Event Cancelled Amid Coronavirus Concerns

    Disney has cancelled its European Launch event, originally scheduled to take place on Thursday and Friday of this week, in response to the rapid spread of the coronavirus through Europe. News of the cancellation came in a press release via THR:

    Due to a number of media attendee cancellations and increasing concerns at the prospect of traveling internationally at this time, we have decided to cancel our Disney+ launch events scheduled to take place on Thursday and Friday.

    The 2 day event was set to feature a Thursday launch followed by a Friday press conference and several panel discussions (Star Wars and Marvel Studios almost certainly among them). Disney now plans to deliver the press briefing next week via webcast and promised to find other ways to make the talent expected at the event available to the press.

    Stay tuned to Murphy’s Multiverse as this story develops.

  • New Video Gives A Clearer Look at Sam and Bucky On Set in Atlanta

    Over the weekend, multiple set videos and photos emerged of what appears to be a major battle sequence from Marvel Studios The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Today, courtesy of this Facebook page, gives us a clearer look. Warning, the video may be considered spoilery.

    In the video we can clearly see Wyatt Russell’s Captain America (boooo!) taking on a group of folks while Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes works to free what seem to be some hostages from a vehicle.

    Previous footage seemed to indicate that Walker and Bucky were working on opposite sides here, so there’s no reason to think they’re on the same side now and given Walker’s history of instability in the comics, it’s been expected that he’d come to blows with the good guys at some point.

    What’s your take on the new clip? Let me know in the comments.

  • What I Heard This Week: ‘THE MANDALORIAN’ Season 2 Gets a New MCU Director

    Every now and then I come across some information the veracity of which can be confirmed by a second source. What happens FAR more often is that I come across some information that while believable and from trustworthy sources, cannot be confirmed by other sources for various reasons. Typically, when the second scenario occurs, I move on and forget about the information unless, in rare instances, it turns out to be proven true somewhere down the road. For instance, on February 19th, I wrote this piece relaying some rumors I’d heard about Marvel Studios updating its Disney Plus slate; the next day, the news broke that a special Disney Plus event would be held in London on March 5th where it is expected that Marvel Studios and Star Wars slates will be updated.

    It’s not very often something Star Wars related comes my way. There are several incredible Star Wars sites out there that do a great job covering the news and breaking it themselves, so I’m very excited to share this information with you. Before I share the information, I have to stress that as of now, this information is unconfirmed which, in my case, means I was unable to corroborate the information with a second source. However, this information came from a source who provided accurate information in the past (about a Marvel Studios project), so while I am wholly inclined to believe the source, I want to be up front with readers about the scenario. That having been said, here you go: Peyton Reed is set to direct 2 episodes of the second season of the Disney Plus streaming series, The Mandalorian and Taikia Waititi is once again contributing to the series!

    Fans of the series will recall that in addition to voicing the rewired bounty hunting droid, IG-11, in season 1 of The Mandalorian, Waititi also directed the finale, bringing his signature wit to the series. While it is unclear whether or not Waititi will be directing an episode, helping to produce or coming back to voice another character, the message was clear: he’s been working with show runner Jon Favreau on the second season.

    For Reed’s part, the seeds for his potential involvement may go as far back as November of 2018 when he, along with Waititi and Joe and Anthony Russo visited Favreau on the set during production of the shows’ first season, pictured below.

    Image result for peyton reed mandalorian set

    Favreau and Reed have a working relationship dating as far back as 2006 when the former co-starred in Reed’s comedy, The Break-Up, and have certainly had a chance to exchange notes given their ongoing relationships with Marvel Studios. Last season, 3 directors (Deborah Chow, Rick Famuywia and Dave Filoni) helmed two shows each, so it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibilities that Reed could fit into that same mold.

    This news comes at a time when James Mangold publicly denied that he’d be involved with the show after a recent rumor surfaced, so it’s a scary time to put this out there. However, with Disney Plus holding an launch event this Thursday in the UK (as I first reported here) where they are expected to make some announcements and update the slates for their major properties, it was time to share this info.

  • Mark Ruffalo Confirms Negotiations for ‘SHE-HULK’ Appearance

    In news that will surprise few and delight many, Mark Ruffalo confirmed that negotiations have begun to see him return as the Hulk in the Disney Plus streaming series, She-Hulk.

    According to ComicBook.com, Ruffalo announced the news at this weekend’s C2E2 event in Chicago. His return makes an unbelievable amount of sense given how integral Bruce Banner is to the story of his cousin, Jennifer Walters, becoming She-Hulk. With the news that he’s almost certainly going to return, we can now hope to see his character take some new paths down the road as well.