Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Charles Murphy

  • 3 Villains for Tramell Tillman to Play in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    3 Villains for Tramell Tillman to Play in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    An already stellar cast got better when Emmy-nominated Tramell Tillman joined Spider-Man: Brand New Day as a mysterious villain. Though classic Spidey villain Tombstone is believed to be one of the film’s baddies, it doesn’t sound as if that’s the role Tillman will fill. Fortunately, there are plenty of other options from Spidey’s Rogues Gallery who fit what we know about the storyline of Brand New Day and who could stick around in the MCU for some time.

    Moses Magnum

    With Stark Industries stepping back from the munitions business and Hammer Industries a little less reputable than before, the door is wide open for Moses Magnum and his Deterrence Research Corporation or Magnum Munitions to enter the MCU. Magnum has tangled with Spidey and Frank Castle in the comics and his history with both the X-Men and Black Panther would allow Tramell to stick with the character for multiple appearances if an Adamantium/Vibranium war ever heated up.

    Hammerhead

    Assuming that Wilson Fisk’s time as Mayor Kingpin will come to an end in Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again, plenty of bad guys will be looking to fill the void. Longtime Maggia enforcer and all-around tough guy Hammerhead did exactly that in the comics following the superhero Civil War. The kind of villain who never goes away, Hammerhead could stick around or a while, giving Tramell the opportunity to develop the character over time.

    Miles Warren

    Tom Holland‘s time as Spidey is certainly coming to an end but should be be down for another trilogy, it’s possible that Marvel and Sony could roll the dice and adapt one of the most controversial Spidey stories of all time: The Clone Saga! Should they chose to go that route, introducing Miles Warren is a must and Tillman would bring something interesting to that role. He could be introduced in Brand New Day as he was in the comics, as Peter’s professor at Empire State University, before evolving into a more sinister villain over time, The Jackal!

  • ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Adds ‘Severance’ Star Tramell Tillman as a Mystery Villain

    ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Adds ‘Severance’ Star Tramell Tillman as a Mystery Villain

    Sony and Marvel Studios are holding nothing back in their combined efforts to ensure that Spider-Man: Brand New Day absolutely slaps. Following the news that Florence Pugh had joined the ensemble cast, Variety has learned that Emmy-nominated actor Tramell Tillman has also boarded the 2026 film.

    While adding an actor of Tillman‘s caliber is exciting enough, the news brings to mind a rumor from earlier this year that the actor had agreed to replace Jonathan Majors as Kang.

    According to a February report from Jeff “The In” Sneider, Marvel had landed on Tillman as it’s new Kang as part of a plan to “deal with” the original villain of the Multiverse Saga.

    I’m told that Marvel has a plan to say goodbye to Kang. They’re going to wrap him up. I think they want to give him the boot just to put to bed any…I think they’re going to deal with Kang somehow. A small little thing… probably in one of the Avengers movies. I’ve heard Doctor Doom could be the one who kills him.

    -Jeff “The In” Sneider

    Should Sneider’s information ring true, Spider-Man: Brand New Day should be the first of at least a pair of projects in which Tillman will appear. Of course, there’s another option available in which the talented Tillman is playing ANYONE else in the field–perhaps even T’Challa–pening the door for a longer term engagement for the star.

    Source: Variety

  • James Gunn Reveals the Number of Films in His Planned Superman Saga

    James Gunn Reveals the Number of Films in His Planned Superman Saga

    Who needs conventions?! Like Marvel Studios, DC Studios sat out SDCC ’25, leaving a pair of enormous holes in Hall H. Skipping the big show hasn’t slowed the momentum gathering at DC Studios, however, as Superman director James Gunn has used nearly every opportunity available to build hype around his Superman Saga.

    Following Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav‘s reveal that Gunn was set to direct a follow-up to Superman, Gunn opened up about his plans to curate what he called a Superman Saga. Spinning out of Superman, the next film in the saga will, according to Gunn, head into production “much sooner rather than later,” and will feature “the group of characters we’ve already met.” And though fans believe they have cracked what the story for the next film in the saga might be, nobody was quite sure just how many films would comprise the Superman Saga…until now.

    In an interview with Nick Viall, Gunn revealed that his plans are to produce a four-film Superman Saga set within the DCU.

    Supposing that Supergirl and the “Justice Gang” star alongside David Corenswet‘s Superman in the next film, it is incredibly interesting to think that Gunn has the next two films in the saga outlined in some way. Outside of Lex Luthor and Zod, the vast majority of Superman’s Rogues Gallery has never been adapted into theatrical projects, giving Gunn the opportunity to bring a number of Superman’s baddies such as Brainiac and Mongul into the DCU.

    Source: The Viall Files

  • Florence Pugh Joins ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    Florence Pugh Joins ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    After years of rumors of what Spider-Man: Brand New Day might be, it turns out it may be better than anyone imagined. The cast of Destin Daniel Cretton‘s upcoming film was already talent-rich and the rich just got richer.

    According to MCU insider Daniel Richtman, Florence Pugh has joined the cast of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

    With The Punisher was exacting vigilante justice on the streets of New York and a showdown between Spidey and a rampaging Hulk rumored to take center stage, it certainly stands to reason that Yelana Belova, the leader of the New Avengers, might check in.

    Pugh Joins fellow MCU vets Tom Holland, Jon Bernthal, Mark Ruffalo, Zendaya and Michael Mando and newcomer Sadie Sink for what might well be Marvel’s strongest non-Avengers ensemble cast.

  • James Gunn Teases the Cast of Characters in the Next in Film His Superman Saga

    James Gunn Teases the Cast of Characters in the Next in Film His Superman Saga

    Following Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav‘s proclamation that the DCU vision was clear and that a James Gunn-directed “Super-Family” film was making its way through the pipeline, Gunn wasted no time letting fans know that the film was the next story in his Superman Saga and that it was much further ahead in development than expected. “I’ve already finished the treatment for the next story in what I’ll call the Superman Saga,” Gunn said during the August 13th red carpet event for Season 2 of Peacemaker. “The treatment’s done–which means a very, very worked out and I’m hopefully going into production on that  treatment–and I’m working on that not too far away from today,” he explained, opening the possibility of the Superman follow-up landing in theaters as soon as 2027.

    I’m totally done with the treatment. My treatments are incredibly intense. They’re not regular treatments. They’re 60-page treatments with dialogue and everything. And so, now I’m just turning that into a script. We’re planning out when we’re going to shoot that. It’s going to be much sooner rather than later.

    Just a couple of days later, Gunn explained just how intensive his treatments are without divulging any new details about the project. But now in a new interview, Gunn has teased the film’s cast of characters for the first time.

    “It’s within the group of characters we’ve already met, and Superman’s an important element of it. So, that’s what I’ll say, but like that movie, that treatment is done,” Gunn told Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro. Given there’s been just one film in the DCU, it would seem as though Gunn is teasing the inclusion of Maxwell Lord’s “Justice Gang” and, hopefully, Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, in the new film.

    In a separate interview with Chris Hardwick, Gunn cotinued to tease just how quickly the project has come together, saying it may be the next movie to go into production. “I can say that probably the next movie we’re gonna be making is the follow-up to Superman, which I don’t want to get in too much detail on, but like that’s what’s probably the next film we’re making, I think,” Gunn said before adjusting his comments. “Well, hopefully we’re making [‘The Batman Part 2’] before that, and then I think it’s [the ‘Superman’ follow-up],” he said before adding a tease about an upcoming streaming series. “And then we have another TV show, which nobody knows about, which is going next.“

    With that, it certainly sounds as though DC Studios intends to have a House of El film in theaters in each of its first three years, something not many would have predicted just a few years ago. While Gunn continues to try to bring Batman and Wonder Woman up to speed, it looks as though Superman will carry the studio’s hopes for the foreseeable future.

    Sources: Deadline, I Think You’re Overthinking It

  • ‘Andor’ Creator Comment Sparks Canon Controversy

    ‘Andor’ Creator Comment Sparks Canon Controversy

    Tony Gilroy unquestionably created something singular and exceptional in Andor. Only after watching both seasons in their entirety  can the full weight of what Andor truly is be felt: it is the most important project in the overall mythos of the Star Wars universe. And by and large, it stands as one of the most well-received projects in the expansive Star Wars universe; however, there’s nothing a growing sect of Star Wars fans hate more than Star Wars–especially if it’s made by Disney–and that even applies to something otherwise universally recognized as epic as Andor.

    Following a set-up in Season 1, the sophomore season of Andor dove deep into the canonically pre-established Ghorman Massacre. During a top secret Imperial retreat at the Maltheen Divide, Ben Mendelssohn‘s Orson Krennic lays bare the Empire’s plan to destabilize Ghorman through any means necessary to allow Emperor Palpatine to establish energy independence. As is Gilroy’s way, some of the time spent on Ghorman also serves to establish the planet’s culture, including the ghorlectipod silk industry that allowed it to become the center of the Galaxy’s fabric and fashion industries. The investment into details about the planet’s history and its people by Gilroy made the massacre by the Empire that much more impactful and in a new interview with Titan Magazine’s Star Wars Insider, Gilroy revealed another such detail that amplifies the evil of the Emperor.

    Tony Gilroy and Genevieve O’Reilly on the set of Lucasfilm’s ANDOR Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    According to Gilroy, after eventually strip mining Ghorman and turning it into a virtual hellscape, Sleepy Sheev Palpatine had his black robes made of Ghorman twill. It’s a small detail, to be sure, but a disgustingly evil one. And it riled up some fans.

    After Star Wars Holocron shared the detail on X, fans expressed their problems with the new detail. The gist of the grief seems to stem from the obviously incredibly well-known fact that Palpatine’s robes were made from Zeyd cloth and/or that someone other than George Lucas dared to make an official statement about something in the Star Wars universe.

    https://twitter.com/LocalElfKiller/status/1958073289005293954?t=XmkR9Nss2pTBhfwMQRUjjg&s=19

    Concerning himself with Palpatine’s robes is the kind of thinking that allowed Gilroy to make Andor into foundational Star Wars. Even if his statement retcons the fabric from which the Emperor’s new clothes are made, it isn’t as if Lucas himself hasn’t retconned countless things for far less interesting reasons. But, as they say, haters gonna hate…hate…hate…hate.

  • ‘The Batman-Part II’ Rumored to Be Moving Ahead without One Major Star

    ‘The Batman-Part II’ Rumored to Be Moving Ahead without One Major Star

    Just as fans finally received a positive update about the highly-anticipated sequel to 2022’s The Batman, along comes a potential downer. With Matt Reeves‘ script having been completed and approved for production by DC Studios co-chairs James Gunn and Peter Safran, production on the film was confirmed to begin in Spring 2026 ahead of its October 2027 release. However, a new rumor suggests that one key cast member from the first film won’t be on set.

    According to Jeff “The In” Sneider, Zoe Kravitz, who played Bruce Wayne’s love interest, Selena Kyle/Catwoman in 2022′ The Batman, will not be in the sequel.

    “At last week’s Caught Stealing junket, journalists were asked by publicists not to ask Zoe Kravitz any questions about The Batman Part II because ‘she’s not in it and doesn’t know anything,’ per a source,” said Sneider.

    Sneider went on to caution that the rumor should not be taken as gospel given theeas-than-honest reputation of publicists. “No word on whether that’s true, as we all know publicists lie, but that’s the word on the street. Just saying! Don’t shoot the messenger.”

    While Sneider’s warning does ring true, in this particular instance, a publicist lying about an actress returning for a sequel seems like overkill. Given the size of her role in The Batman and the reminder of her character’s importance to Gotham in The Penguin, it would seem as though her return would be LESS surprising than her absence.

  • Ray Winstone Blames Marvel Reshoots for His Sleepy ‘Black Widow’ Performance

    Ray Winstone Blames Marvel Reshoots for His Sleepy ‘Black Widow’ Performance

    It doesn’t take a well-trained eye to notice that reshoots took a toll on Black Widow. Despite strong performances across the board and a thrilling first two acts, a “poorly staged, plotted, and executed” third act  kept it from realizing its potential as a truly great spy film.

    Part of the problem came by way of the film’s big bad, General Dreykov, the worst villain in the studio’s Phase 4 and, perhaps, the entire body of work that makes up the MCU. Played with big grandpa-fell-asleep-on-the-toilet-again energy by Ray Winstone, a potentially great villain who should have felt like evil incarnate came across as a flatline. And now we know why Winstone grumbled his way through his scenes.

    In an interview with Variety, Winstone explained that after filming his scenes–whichnbe called “the best thing” he had “done for a really long time“–director Cate Shortland (almost certainly at the behest of Marvel), had him reshoot his entire performance.

    “I worked with this amazing director, Cate Shortland, and we worked on what my character was going to be,” started Winstone. “He was like a pedophile running around all these girls, and they’d become black widows. We used to get applauded on set. It was probably the best thing I’ve done for a really long time,” said the actor of his time on set during principal photography.

    “Then I come home after finishing the job and get a call saying we need to do some reshoots,” continued Winstone. “I say: how many scenes? [Cate] says ‘all of them.’ So I said she should recast [the role], but I was contracted, so I had to do it. I go back, they do my hair all nice, put me in the suit, and I couldn’t do it. I’d already done it. I thought, ‘I’m not doing it now. I’ve done it. That’s how it’s going to be.’ That’s rejection, you know? There’s nothing worse than doing something, leaving it on the floor, and then being told it’s not right.”

    It certainly sounds like Winstone had a miserable experience and it showed as he was barely coherent as Dreykov during Black Widow‘s third act which was a sloppy, VFX tragedy. While it’s clear there was an entirely different version of the film which included an entirely different version of Dreykov, it’s unlikely that fans will ever hear about it, much less see it.

    Source: Variety

  • Wyatt Russell Joins the Cast of Another MCU Project

    Wyatt Russell Joins the Cast of Another MCU Project

    After debuting as an antagonistic force in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Wyatt Russell‘s John Walker has becoming an increasingly sympathetic character as he’s worked through a redemptive arc. His rough persona made him the perfect foil to Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova in Thunderbolts* and now, as part of the New Avengers, he’ll help Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as they attempt to save the Multiverse in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. However, fans will have another chance to catch Russell’s U.S. Agent before he hits the big screen again in 2026.

    According to a recently updated project profile for Marvel Animation’s Marvel Zombies, Russell will voice (presumably) Walker in the four-episode mini-event.

    Debuting on D+ on September 24th, the TV-MA series spins out of the ending of Episode 1.01 of What If…?, “What If…Zombies?”, and sees the survivors of a zombie plague search for answers to their survival.

    After the Avengers are overtaken by a zombie plague, a desperate group of survivors discover the key to bringing an end to the super-powered undead, racing across a dystopian landscape and risking life and limb to save their world.

    -Official Synopsis for Marvel Animation’s Marvel Zombies

    Whether Walker finds himself among the infected or not is unclear; however, given that David Harbour and Florence Pugh are also among the announced cast members, it is possible an alternate reality version of the Thunderbolts could be on display in the series.

  • ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Will Feature a “Changed” Sue Storm

    ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Will Feature a “Changed” Sue Storm

    Vanessa Kirby has been widely and roundly praised for her work as Marvel Studios Sue Storm in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. After sacrificing herself to save Earth-828 from Galactus, Sue was brought back to life by her immensely powerful son, Franklin and while the fallout of that wasn’t addressed in the film, Kirby recently made it clear it will have an impact on her character going forward.

    In an interview with Movie Web, Kirby–who has been in production on Avengers: Doomsday since March–gave some insight into why she’s excited to continue on with the character and teased a potential dark twist spinning out of her  death and rebirth.

    “I love that I get to continue with Sue because it’s so interesting,” said Kirby who said her character’s experience with death has been heavy on her mind.

    I’ve been thinking a lot doing Avengers and stuff about how someone that’s been through, in the space of basically a week, someone who has given birth and has died and come back to life… how a death experience like that would change you.

    -Vanessa Kirby

    And she’s been doing more than just thinking about it as it sounds as though in preparation for Doomsday, Kirby has been doing some research into how near-death experiences can change a person. “I’ve been listening to a lot of people that have had those kind of experiences and what they learn, and therefore how different they are after they come back from that,” said Kirby. But how big of a change could it be?

    If Marvel Studios followed one particular path from the pages of Marvel Comics, Sue’s return from the other side could be used to introduce Malice, a manifestation of the darkness inside the character. As wild as a direct adaptation of Malice into the MCU might be, some version of the character might be in the cards, especially since Kirby recently revealed her desire to explore an entirely different side of Sue than has been done in any other big screen iteration.

    I’m dying to do Malice. She’s come from a really tough background. She lost her mother in a car crash. Her dad tried to save her mother. He couldn’t. He then spiraled, became an alcoholic, got locked up in prison for murdering a loan shark, and then died. Sue had to become a mother to Johnny. They were orphans. They had to fight for themselves. What I loved about her was that she chose a path that was inherently a positive one. She chose to keep her heart open and to stay warm. The Future Foundation, for me, wasn’t a noble political act, but it seemed to me that it’s Sue’s nature.

    -Vanessa Kirby, Variety

    Of course, Kirby’s interest in exploring that particular direction does not necessarily mean Malice will ever appear in the MCU; however, with the First Family set for appearances in a pair of Avengers films ahead of a likely sequel, there’s plenty of narrative runway to let Kirby take Sue down that road.

    Sources: Movie Web, Variety