Author: Charles Murphy

EXCLUSIVE: Marvel Studios ‘HAWKEYE’ Takes Aim at a New Start Date

In early January, I broke the news that start of production on the Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Hawkeye had been delayed indefinitely from it’s original July start. You can read the original, unaltered report in the link above, but I’ve cut and pasted the relevant parts below:

Production on Marvel Studios planned Disney Plus series, Hawkeye, has been postponed indefinitely. Originally scheduled to begin production this July, the series has now been removed from the studio’s 2020 production schedule.
While the news is sure to disappoint fans, the signs have been pointing towards a possible delay over the past several weeks. The studio has moved Ms. Marvel into an April start of production and is already casting for Moon Knight and She-Hulk, both of which will film ahead of Hawkeye, meaning that while we might not see the Avenging Archer when we thought we would, the big production wheel keeps on turning.

We’ve seen plenty of evidence to suggest that the still young Disney Plus service is a little more fluid in it’s scheduling than we first thought. We’ve seen WandaVision moved into a 2020 release window, Ms. Marvel production shifted to August, a lot of back and forth on the Obi-Wan Kenobi series and now, the reintegration of production on Hawkeye into 2020. I have learned that Marvel Studios hopes to begin production on Hawkeye in September of 2020, after production begins on Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk and Moon Knight. Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk and Hawkeye are all expected to film primarily in Atlanta

I will caution that, at this time, there is no specific date in September on which production is slated to begin and that the studio is open to sliding Hawkeye even a bit further down to road, but still hoping to begin production before the end of this calendar year. The studio has not yet agreed to terms with an actress for the role of Kate Bishop, though they are still hopeful they can find a way to work it out with Hailee Steinfeld.

In this case, I want to make it very clear that the evidence for everything production related is something that is 100% verifiable by other sources and I expect that to happen very, very soon.

So, there it is…Hawkeye’s indefinite delay looks to have become a little more definite and it has been pushed down the list a bit in terms of when it starts production. I’d also like to point out that a September start of production, if they do in fact make that timeline, could allow Hawkeye to air in the Fall of 2021, as first revealed at SDCC and that at no point did the original article about the indefinite delay on start of production make any claims about an altered release date.

Stay tuned to Murphy’s Multiverse for the most accurate and up to date information on this situation.

February 13, 2020
What I Heard This Week: ‘STRANGER THINGS’ Season 4

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.

As I reported in early January, production on the fourth season of Stranger Things kicked off last week in Lithuania. Filming was set to take place in and around the Lukiskes prison before moving back to its more familiar home in Atlanta. The Lithuanian prison setting has generated no shortage of fan theories as to just what to expect in Season 4 and the bit of info I heard this week will no doubt add to them…

A thing I heard this week: Winona Ryder joined David Harbour on location in Lithuania last week.

As is often the case (and to be expected with filming taking place overseas) I don’t have any context to add to what I heard. However, given that we know we will meet two new Russian characters, both of whom are fluent in English and at least one of whom is a smuggler, it’s possible that either Hopper has found some way to contact Joyce or Joyce has found some evidence of Hopper’s location and a “rescue mission” is underway!

From here on out, I prefer to leave the speculation to the more hardcore Stranger Things fans out there, but I know that this little piece of information will definitely drive some discussion out there. Please feel free to have it in the comments so I can get an idea of what you guys are thinking!

February 11, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: Netflix Developing Hamish Steele’s ‘DeadEndia’ as Animated Series

Streaming giant Netflix is developing DeadEndia, a series of graphic novels by Hamish Steele, as an animated series. The studio is currently casting for voice actors to portray leads, Barney and Norma, and is eyeing a June start of production.

Blink Industries is taking the lead on producing the series (as seen above in a screenshot from their website), but until now it was not know where the series would stream.

DeadEndia tells the story of two friends, Barney and Norma, who are employees at a haunted house at Dead End theme park which also appears to be a portal to Hell. The series has been lauded for its representation of diversity as Barney is a transgender male and Norma Khan is of Southeast Asian descent.

I’ve also heard that creator Hamish Steele is working with Netflix to develop the series but I was unable to get confirmation from him before publishing this piece.

February 10, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: New ‘STRANGER THINGS’ Characters Shed Some Light on Season 4 Mysteries

Over the past week I’ve been fortunate to come across plenty of interesting information about the Netflix streaming sensation, Stranger Things. In addition to learning that the series will continue in a 5th season, I also uncovered some details about the fresh batch of high schoolers set to meet the gang over the course of Season 4. Today, I have one last bit of info for the rabid fans and it includes some information that not only ties into the biggest mystery of Season 4 (what is going on with Hopper?) but also indicates that one of the cast may be in some trouble of their own…

In addition to the large group of teens joining the Season 4 cast, I’ve learned of 4 additional recurring roles, described below:

Dimitri

One of two new Russian characters, Dimitri will be seen often in Season 4. The casting directors were searching for someone fluent in Russian and English, so we can probably expect to see Dimitri interact frequently with Hopper

Yuri

A “seedy” Russian smuggler, Yuri’s erratic behavior is belied by his belief that he’s two-steps ahead of everyone else around him. Like Dimitri, the studio was adamant the actor be fluent in both Russian and English.

Lieutenant Colonel Sullivan

Intimidating and intelligent, Sullivan is military lifer a “no-nonsene” type who believes that he can brute force his way to victory in any given scenario.

Warden Hatch

Hatch, described as “smug” and “pretentious”, is the head of a psychiatric hospital.

While there’s not much to go on, it certainly seems that Dimitri and Yuri are going to play a key role in helping to reunite Hopper with Eleven and the gang. Whether that means smuggling Hopper out or smuggling the kids in remains to be seen, but these two Russians are going to make the most of their screen time.

As for Sullivan and Hatch, we’ll have to wait and see what new doomsday scenario requires a U.S. Military presence and which of the characters finds him/herself institutionalized; however, they do provide interesting food for thought as production on Season 4 kicks off!

February 7, 2020
Connecting Imaginary Dots: Evidence for Kraven as the Villain in ‘Spider-Man 3’

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…

Plenty of people have written up plenty of spec pieces on how and why Kraven is the perfect villain to take on the Web Slinger in the upcoming MCU Spidey film. I’m not here to rehash all that because, for the most part, I agree. I’m here to discuss one SMALL piece of information that may have, to this point, have been overlooked.

The recent report from The Illuminerdi indicated that Sony’s plans for a Kraven solo film revealed that Sony was reimagining the character as a “Bourne-like bounty hunter.” That’s a great take. Sounds tough. But one detail that stands out to me is that as of last Spring Sony had hoped to get production on Kraven rolling no later than the 2nd quarter of this year. That means that their original plans were to begin filming by June…which as of today is just 4 months away. And Sony REALLY wanted to get this film going, but there’s no record anywhere of it being close to filming. So unless Sony is going all JJ Abrams on this production and hiding everything, Kraven isn’t filming any time soon.

It’s the fact that Kraven-a film Sony was so eager to get moving at one point that they had started trying to line up some big name directors (Antoine Fuqua comes to mind)-is NOT filming in June which I find interesting. I find it even more interesting because in addition to Kraven not filming this summer, the third Spider-Man film is.

So, connecting the dots here, I think it’s highly likely that Sony’s plans for a Kraven solo were derailed when they went back to the bargaining table with Disney, at which point the Hunter became the villain of Spidey 3. To me, the nearly year-long lack of any movement on Kraven is as good of an indicator as any of what we can expect to see when Spidey 3 hits theaters in 2021.

Now, as to what role he’ll play and if he’ll be the only villain in the film, I’d say that’s a discussion for another time…

February 7, 2020
Connecting Imaginary Dots: Another Potential Addition to ‘SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS’

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…

Last week I was able to get my hands on some Shang-Chi info. As you probably know by now, I was able to confirm that Leiko Wu, Clive Reston and Black Jack Tarr, allies of the Master of Kung Fu, were all in the script. For the last week, I’ve been doing some thinking about another character and I think I may have figured it out.

I’m writing this as sort of retelling of my thought process and I also want to be clear that the best I’ve been able to do here is connect some dots using my pre-existing knowledge of Shang-Chi comics and the info I was able to get last week.

Here we go…

In addition to the characters mentioned above, the studio was also casting for a character named “YAEKIO.” Now there is no Marvel Comics character of whom I am aware named Yaekio. There’s a Yukio and I’m sure a lot of people would have made the jump to this being that character, but there’s more to the story: they’re open to any ethnicity for this AMERICAN character and, as you know, Yukio’s Japanese origins are crucial to developing that character. None of that is really the important information here, but it is background info that will help fill out the rest of the story. The important information is that Yaekio is described as the partner of a character referred to as Su-Mi.

I spent a few days doing some thinking that kept taking me down the same path. Between Yaekio sounding like Yukio and Su-Mi being similarly constructed to Shang-Chi, I was sure that these were Asian characters who were just codenamed and I was just not thinking of the right ones. Then, I started to go down an different path, focusing more on the “American” and “partner” aspects of the casting and it was down that path that I found the character who I think makes the most sense. Rufus Carter, aka Super-Midnight!

Rufus Carter is a CIA agent who first appeared in Master of Kung Fu #96 who met Shang-Chi and Leiko Wu when their separate missions intersected on a mission in London. Shang-Chi and Wu were already left MI-6 at the time and were working for the private consulting firm known as Freelance Restorations (the name of this film’s production company). Carter left the CIA and continued to occasionally cross paths with the gang from Freelance Restorations and was an ally to Shang-Chi in the way the Felix Leiter often was to James Bond.

For those reasons alone, Carter makes a lot of sense for Su-Mi, but there’s one more thing about Carter that really helps push me closer to believing it’s him. Carter is an elite fighter, skilled in both kickboxing and martial arts. If this “tournament” leak is true and the Ten Rings are the prize, you can be sure that the CIA would do what they could to send an undercover agent in to fight for the prize. If we connect ALL THOSE DOTS, and to be sure that’s all this is, some really crazy guess work, Super-Midnight is the guy! 15 Likes

February 6, 2020
Sam Raimi in Talks to Lead Doctor Strange into the Multiverse of Madness

Director Sam Raimi is in talks to board Marvel Studios Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness, according to a trade report.

Raimi, who directed Sony’s 00’s Spider-Man trilogy, would replace Scott Derrickson who left the project after developing it for the past several years. The sequel is expected to have horror elements and Raimi has a long history working in the horror genre dating back to his 1978 short film, Within the Woods, which he later remade into the horror classic The Evil Dead.

Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness is set to begin production this Spring (I’m hearing an April start is possible) and will appear in theaters May 7, 2021.

February 6, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: Details on Some New Faces Set to Appear Around Hawkins High in ‘STRANGER THINGS’ Season 4

Last October, TV Line reported on a handful of new characters set to appear in the upcoming 4th season of Stranger Things. I’ve been able to not only dig up some more details on those characters, but also discover a few more key new faces we should expect to see around Hawkins High School when Season 4 streams in 2021.

The vast majority of Season 3 took place in the gang’s last summer before entering high school and Season 4 seems primed to pick up right where that story ended and to introduce the kids to the whole range of high school archetypes from “the Jock” to the “Queen Bee” to the “Stoner” and more! Have a look below to meet the high school students set to interact with the heroes in Season 4.

“Angela” and “Jake”:

The power couple of the school, “Angela” and “Jake” seemed destined to cause problems for our friends at Hawkins High. Angela is the stereotypical queen bee, out to bully and demean anyone not on her level. That likely includes her boyfriend, Jake, who is certainly not going to stand on equal intellectual ground with too many people, but isn’t afraid to show those same people just how tough he is.

“Argyle”:

“Argyle” is the Spicoli-esque character described in the TV Line report. Described as having a “deeply chill” and “philosophical” vibe, “Argyle” is expected to play a fairly major role in the events of Season 4.

“Vickie”:

The stereotypical alt-girl whose unapproachable appearance belies her light-heartedness. It seems like Vickie might prove as an ally to the gang as the season develops.

“Chrissy”:

At first glance, “Chrissy” is your typical super popular cheerleader type; upon closer inspection, we’ll learn that she’s holding onto a deep-rooted darkness as she suffers under her mother’s emotional abuse

“Jason”:

The guy we thought Steve was going to be before we all fell in love with him, “Jason” is the rich, preppy jock whose mouth never quite shuts.

“Eddie”:

Another potential ally to our heroes, “Eddie” is an 80’s metalhead who is into Metallica, but also loves D&D.

“Fred”:

“Fred” checks all the boxes of the stereotypical 80’s nerd. The bespectacled “Fred”, despite being nerdy, is clever and is pursuing his passion: journalism. Given all the strange events that have taken place in Hawkins and the proximity of the series leads to all of them, we’ll see if “Fred” does more harm than good once he starts digging around.

“Mrs. Kelley”:

What high school would be complete without the guidance counselor? “Mrs. Kelley” is new to Hawkins High, meaning she might not be aware of all the crazy events. She is, however, a kind and caring soul who wears her heart on her sleeve and is out for the best interest of her students.

Given the size of the roles described above, it seems that Season 4 will spend quite a bit of time in and around Hawkins High. If there’s anything we can expect, it’s that not all of these new characters will be exactly who we think they are, but they all seem like they have their parts to play as we move towards the Season 5 denouement.

Stay tuned to Murphy’s Multiverse for more on Stranger Things!

February 4, 2020
What I Heard This Week: ‘LOKI’

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.

A thing I heard this week: actress Angelica Ross was up for a role in the Disney Plus Marvel Studios series Loki.

The nature of the role is interesting as it is said to be a strong supporting role (aka the actor/actress who landed it will be in every episode) and because the studio was open to having either a male or female in the role, which is described as a “strong leader.”

The thing that I can’t be clear on is exactly what role it is. Earlier this week, a report indicated that Loki would feature Sera, a transgender angel associated primarily with Thor’s sister Angela. Given that Angelica Ross is a transgender actress, it’s easy to make the jump that this is the role she was up for, but there is no evidence to support such a conclusion at this time. Earlier this week, I reached out to representation for Ross to inquire about her association with this project, but at the time of publication, no response had been received.

As for Ross, her Instagram stories indicate that she has landed a physically demanding role as she has been working overtime with a personal trainer. However, while filming on Loki has been ongoing for a couple of weeks, Ross has not been in Atlanta, casting a shadow on any suspicions that she did land the role given the fact that she should appear in every episode. That said, it takes several weeks to film one episode, so there’s still a chance Ross can show up on time.

February 2, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: Stranger Things Season 5 Plans Revealed

As the start of production on the fourth season of the wildly popular Netflix original, Stranger Things, draws near, fans are nervously speculating that it might also be the final season. Fear not, fans; I can confirm that there are solid plans in place for a fifth, and likely final, season.

The confirmation comes by way of a description of a key new character set to join the series in Season 4. Season 4 will introduce a new series regular, “Ashe.” The studio is searching for a mid-20s American male of any ethnicity to play the role which comes with a 2 season deal, meaning the character’s arc, described as integral to the new season, will not be resolved until Season 5!

The Duffers have always been evasive when discussing just how long the show will run, but this information cements their plans for an additional season beyond this one. As for when we might expect Season 4 of Stranger Things to stream, it looks like we’ll have to wait until 2021. Though production is kicking off soon, the series is scheduled to film through November, making it highly unlikely we’ll see it in 2020.

February 1, 2020