Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Charles Murphy

  • Jude Law Teases a “Glorious Ending” to ‘Skeleton Crew’

    Jude Law Teases a “Glorious Ending” to ‘Skeleton Crew’

    Lucasfilm’s upcoming Star Wars streaming series, Skeleton Crew, sets out to do something that’s rarely been done in nearly 50 years of storytelling set in a galaxy far, far away: chronicle an adventure from the perspective of a child. Outside of the exploration of Anakin Skywalker’s youth in Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace, live-action Star Wars projects have always been about adults. Given that The Creator has said that he developed Star Wars FOR kids, it’s especially strange that more projects haven’t featured them.

    It was supposed to be a kid’s movie for 12-year-olds that were going through puberty, who don’t know what they’re doing, and are asking all the big questions: “What should I be worried about? What’s important in life?” And Star Wars has all those things in there. They’re buried in there but you definitely get it, especially if you’re young.

    -George Lucas

    According to star Jude Law, part of the charm of the eight-episode series is seeing the four young leads exploring that “Star Wars environment.” Skeleton Crew co-creators Jon Watts and Christopher Ford have built out a corner of the Star Wars galaxy that star Law calls “a fun place to be” as well as “thrilling and very, very unique” while also honoring the projects that came before. And it sounds as though before the series finale hits, part of the homage to George Lucas‘ original work is a heavy dose of surprising revelations.

    In an interview with Collider, Law teased that his character, Jod Na Nawood, is a bit of a mystery and one that Watts and Ford were in no hurry to unravel. In fact, according to Law, the true nature of his character isn’t revealed until the penultimate episode, which he calls his favorite.

    “I’ve only seen them through once, so that’s quite a hard question for me,” said Law when asked by Collider which episode he enjoyed the most. “I think it’s [Episode] 7 because so much comes to a head, and you find out an awful lot very quickly about my character.”

    “It’s not that it’s all about me, but, by doing that, it pushes the relationship with the kids to a whole new level,” said Law of impact the reveal of his character’s true identity will have.

    Star Wars: Skeleton Crew follows the journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home—and meeting unlikely allies and enemies—will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.

    -Official Synopsis for Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew

    Set during the same New Republic time period as The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, it’s still unclear just how big of an impact Skeleton Crew will have on the overarching narrative those projects share. Whether the events of the project will lead to a second season or will have a major impact on Dave Filoni‘s New Republic era film isn’t clear at this point; however, Law is confident that fans will like what they see when the series debuts on December 2nd.

    “They’ll want more. That’s what they’ll say,” said Law of his expectations of how fans will receive the series. “They’ll say, ‘When can I get more of this?’ I think they’ll be confounded, and kind of, I hope, a little bit upset. But it’s also obviously got a kind of Star Wars glorious ending to it, too. But there are layers. A lot happens and a lot is revealed.”

    Sources: Collider, THR

  • Moon Knight Rumored Set to Return for a Trio of Upcoming Marvel Studios Projects

    Moon Knight Rumored Set to Return for a Trio of Upcoming Marvel Studios Projects

    From the time the first trailer for Marvel Studios Moon Knight debuted to a whooping 75 million views in its first 24 hours online, it was clear that the ambitious Oscar Isaac-les streaming series was going to make a major splash. Indeed, when its six-episode run was finished, it was one of the studio’s most-watched series with its finale being its most-watched episode, bucking a trend most TV series battle. However, over two years later, none of Isacc’s characters have made their way back into a Marvel Studios project. Despite obvious interest from the creative team, Isaac and the fans, a second season doesn’t seem to be in the cards just yet.

    Of course, the lack of movement on Season 2 of Moon Knight doesn’t mean Isaac won’t suit back up. Director Destin Daniel Cretton‘s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was rumored to feature the character, along with Hulk, She-Hulk and Shang-Chi as members of a team of New Avengers that set out to take on the titular villain; however, with Marvel going back to the drawing board for Avengers 5, Moon Knight’s future remains uncertain…or does it?

    moon knight costume

    According to a new tidbit shared by frequent social media rumor monger My Time To Shine Hello, Marvel Studios may have outlined Moon Knight’s next steps in the Multiverse Saga. Should the information prove accurate, Isaac will find himself a busy man over the next few years as the rumor has him potentially suiting back up for both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Additionally, MTTSH reports that Moon Knight is also expected to be a part of the team of heroes who assemble to tackle supernatural threats in Midnight Sons, a film which has not yet been confirmed to be in development by the studio but around which quite a bit of talk has buzz has been generated over the last year.

    Both Avengers films are expected to sport massive character rosters and Isaac is among the biggest stars in Marvel Studios’ impressive stable, so one or both of the films does feel like a safe place to see the return of not only Moon Knight but other Multiverse Saga heroes who have been hiatus such as She-Hulk and Shang-Chi. In the case of Midnight Sons, Loonie Moonie’s inclusion on the team is all but a sure thing…if the project ever makes its way to theaters.

  • The Ultimate List of What to Watch Before ‘Creature Commandos’

    The Ultimate List of What to Watch Before ‘Creature Commandos’

    The all-new DCU kicks off on December 5th when DC Studios’ animated streaming series, Creature Commandos, debuts on Max with a two-episode premiere. Created by DC Studios’ co-chair James Gunn, the series tracks a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. The seven-episode series stars Indira Varma as The Bride, Zoe Chao as Nina Mazursky, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., Alan Tudyk as Dr. Phosphorus, Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana, Anya Chalotra as Circe,  Sean Gunn as GI Robot & Weasel, David Harbour as Frankenstein and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. 

    Even though it’s the first project of the new DCU, recent comments by Gunn have made it clear that a pair of projects he created and directed prior to the birth of DC Studios are also canon to the new continuity…at least kind of.

    “I think of [The] Suicide Squad and Peacemaker as pretty unreliable memories of what happened in the DCU.”

    “Well, it’s whatever we mention in anything,” said Gunn while explaining what events from his DCEU projects should be considered canon to the DCU. “Listen, Peacemaker is pretty easy. Peacemaker season 1 is basically canon outside of the appearance of the Justice League at the end, which you’ll see something about that in Peacemaker season 2. [The] Suicide Squad is probably a little bit looser. We know that Rick Flag Sr. is angry because his son was killed by Peacemaker, so we know that situation happened in the past, we have something to refer to to think of what it might be like that that happened, but that exists as canon because it was mentioned in Creature Commandos, not necessarily because it existed in [The] Suicide Squad.”

    Though it may be a bit confusing, certainly nobody has thought about it more than Gunn and we’re willing to roll with the looseness for now. To that end, it sounds as though there’s a little homework to do before jumping into Creature Commandos. Even though the two-episode premiere is just a week away, you still have time to prepare by checking out the projects included in THE ULTIMATE LIST OF WHAT TO WATCH BEFORE CREATURE COMMANDOS!

    Tier One

    Tier One projects are the bare minimum, non-negotiable prep you’ll need to do to fully enjoy the latest, greatest project you’re going to watch. In this case, there are none of those.

    Tier Two

    The Suicide Squad (2021)

    Gunn’s first project for Warner Bros. Discovery, The Suicide Squad was released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO in 2021 while theaters were still bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s unfortunate that more people didn’t see it in theaters, or at all, because it’s a damn good movie despite working with a roster of characters most people hadn’t heard of before the film came out and probably still don’t know.

    As Gunn pointed out, Frank Grillo‘s Rick Flag Sr. has a massive chip on his shoulder as a result of the events in this film. There are also plenty of other references to The Suicide Squad in Creature Commandos and at least one other member of the squad may make a surprise appearance at some point. However, there’s enough exposition in Creature Commandos to help catch up the uninitiated which means The Suicide Squad is not a must watch…just a should watch.

    Peacemaker, Season 1 (2022)

    Spinning out of the events of The Suicide Squad, Season 1 of Peacemaker picks up right where the film left off. Recovering from injuries that should have killed him, John Cena‘s Christopher Smith finds himself working against his will for Amanda Waller’s A.R.G.U.S.. While the series will be (mostly) canon to the DCU, it’s hardly required viewing to enjoy and understand Creature Commandos. Outside of a brief appearance by series regular John Economos, voiced by Steve Agee, and a reference or two to the events of Season 1, Peacemaker is really just going to help you understand Amanda Waller a bit more and why A.R.G.U.S. is in the position it’s in.

    Source: Collider

  • James Gunn Addresses DC Studios’ Delayed ‘The Brave and the Bold’

    James Gunn Addresses DC Studios’ Delayed ‘The Brave and the Bold’

    Leading off an ambitious effort to create an ongoing shared cinematic universe with an animated series about a group of monsters that are certainly not anyone’s favorite DC Comics characters proves that DC Studios will not be fully dependent on DC’s Trinity. However, as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman go, so too, ultimately, will the DCU. And to that end, DC Studio’s co-CEOs, James Gunn and Peter Safran, also made sure to include projects featuring Superman and Batman and one that at the very least is adjacent to Wonder Woman when they revealed 10 of the projects that will be part of the first wave of DC Studio’s new era of storytelling.

    Nearly two years after rolling out a peek at Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, things seem to be moving along smoothly. Creature Commandos will debut on December 5th, Superman will hit theaters next summer and both Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and the HBO streaming series Lanterns are set to kick off production in early 2025. However, despite reportedly having landed a director in Andy Muschetti, development on the studio’s Batman and Robin vehicle, The Brave and the Bold, remains static. Recently, Gunn has made it clear that the 10 projects he and Safran revealed were not necessarily the first 10 that fans would see, explaining that the slate is far more fluid and flexible and that projects that were not announced are far closer to beginning production than some of those that were. In an interview with Collider, Gunn took the time to give deeper insight into the studio’s process behind the scenes, explaining why cameras won’t be rolling on The Brave and the Bold any time soon.

    “There’s no set timeline for anything,” said Gunn when asked when The Brave and the Bold might hit theaters. “The one thing that I’ve tried to make clear to people from the beginning, and the way that I hope we’re different, is that everything in DC is gonna be based on the writers. Until we have a screenplay that I’m totally happy with, that movie is not going to get made, no matter what it is.” One doesn’t have to be an expert at reading between the lines to understand why Bruce and Damian Wayne swinging into theaters together in 2025.

    Gunn went on to explain that a pair of projects, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and Lanterns, were able to move ahead in the queue because their scripts, written by Ana Nogueira and the team of Tom King, Damon Lindelof and Chris Mundy, respectively, came together quickly and wowed him. “We have been really fortunate with some screenplays,” Gunn explained. “Supergirl came in, and just, wow, Ana did such an amazing job. The Lanterns pilot came in, and now the whole Lantern series came in, and it’s like, ‘Wow, that’s wonderful, wonderful work.’”

    While The Brave and the Bold was never given a release date, its inclusion in the initial slate reveal did give the impression that it would be making its way into theaters relatively quickly. As projects from the initial slate and others like Luca Guadagnino‘s Sgt. Rock, which DC Studios has not officially announced, start to move toward casting and production, the perception is that The Brave and the Bold might be in trouble; however, without naming any specific projects, Gunn reiterated that the reason some move ahead and other don’t is simply because the scripts aren’t where he believes they need to be to make a good film. “There are a couple of other things that people don’t know about. There are a couple of movies and TV shows that are green-lit or near-green-lit,” teased Gunn. “But it’s going to be based, always, on the story because, at the end of the day, if we’re happy with the story that we’re telling, that’s what matters most. And once Brave and the Bold gets to that point, then we’ll make the movie. That’s really all it is.“

    Source: Collider

  • DC Studios Streaming Project Gets Frustrating Update

    DC Studios Streaming Project Gets Frustrating Update

    Over the past several weeks, DC Studios co-chair James Gunn has made it clear that the relatively newly formed production company has one very important guiding principle: no DCU project is given the green light until a finished script has been turned in. As a result, some projects that were not part of the studio’s original list of upcoming projects have moved ahead of those that were. For example, Luca Guadagnino‘s Sgt. Rock film seems to have far more momentum at the moment than the studio’s first Batman and Robin story, The Brave and the Bold.

    Whether it’s a lesson learned from his time at Marvel Studios, one he’s learned since announcing a slate of 10 DCU projects that has already seen it’s order rearranged or a combination of the two, it’s something that’s clearly important to Gunn and will ultimately cause less consternation and confusion among fans.

    Perhaps the best example of how quickly even the best laid plans can change is the Viola Davis-led streaming series, Waller. Originally announced as the project set to follow Creature Commandos and planned to take place between Seasons 1 and 2 of Peacemaker, progress on Waller was slowed significantly in 2023 by a pair of protracted work stoppages in Hollywood. As a result, Season 2 of Peacemaker, which recently completed principal photography, jumped up in line while work continued on Waller.

    Like Peacemaker, the idea of Waller, a spinoff of Gunn’s 2021 film The Suicide Squad, predates the existence of the all-new DCU. In development since 2022, Waller is being written by Christal Henry (Watchmen) and Jeremy Carver (Supernatural, Doom Patrol). Gunn has said the series “won’t be as much a comedy as Peacemaker” while adding that it is “really fantastic and HBO loves it.”

    While the series obviously hasn’t been completely cast with no firm production start innsight, a few key characters will make their returns beside Davis’ Amanda Waller. One of those will be Steve Agee‘s A.R.G.U.S. agent John Economos, who played a key role in Season 1 of Peacemaker and will make an appearance in Creature Commandos. While promoting the latter in an interview with Screen Rant, Agee updated the progress on Waller.

    “I think they’re still doing scripts, so there’s no set time yet, and James won’t start something until he’s absolutely happy with the scripts and they’re they’re ready to go,” explained Agee. “So once they’re ready, I’m sure he’ll announce a start time – as an actor who loves to work, it can’t happen soon enough, though, for me!“

    And so a project once on track for a 2025 release date is currently undated and, as of now, still being written. While there’s no doubt that Waller will eventually make its way to HBO, it stands as a great example of why, moving forward, Gunn has decided to keep projects under wraps, at least officially, until they’re ready to roll.

    Source: Screen Rant

  • Lucasfilm’s ‘Skeleton Crew’ Gets New Premiere Date

    Lucasfilm’s ‘Skeleton Crew’ Gets New Premiere Date

    Disney has been working hard to promote Lucasfilm’s latest Star Wars streaming series, Skeleton Crew. Starring Jude Law, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kyriana Kratter, Robert Timothy Smith, Tunde Adebimpe, Kerry Condon and Nick Frost, the new series has been compared to classic Amblin Entertainment films such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and The Goonies and footage from the show certainly gives off a much different vibe than any other Star Wars project to date.

    Originally intended to debut on Disney Plus in 2023, Skeleton Crew was eventually slated for a 2024 holiday release with a two-episode premiere scheduled for December 3rd. Now, just a week away from its debut, the series has gotten a new release date.

    According to an official press release from Disney, the first two episodes of Skeleton Crew will now debut on Disney Plus at 6:00 PM PST/9:00 PM EST on Monday, December 2nd.

    Star Wars: Skeleton Crew follows the journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home—and meeting unlikely allies and enemies—will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.

    -Official Synopsis for Skeleton Crew

    Co-created by MCU Spider-Man trilogy director Jon Watts and and Spider-Man: Homecoming writer Christopher Ford, the new eight-episode series is set in the same New Republic era as Ahsoka, The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian. According to Law, Skeleton Crew will leverage the audience’s familiarity with that time period. “There are great references to old films and recent episodes and series,” said Law, adding “there’s a lot of originality and I hope that will bring the feeling of fun to those who watch it.”

    OPart of that originality is seeing the galaxy far, far away through the eyes of children, which Law said helps Skeleton Crew stand apart. “It is a fun place to be, the universe of Star Wars,” said Law. “Seeing children in that environment in a Star Wars environment is thrilling and very, very unique.”

    Following the two-episode debut on Monday, December 2nd, the remaining six episodes will premiere on Tuesdays with the finale set for January 14, 2025.

  • We Have a Hulk: Marvel Studios Reportedly Developing a Potentially Epic Project for the Jade Giant

    We Have a Hulk: Marvel Studios Reportedly Developing a Potentially Epic Project for the Jade Giant

    In 2008, The Incredible Hulk followed Iron Man into theaters in the earliest days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For years, fans debated if the film, which was distributed by Universal, was truly part of the MCU. Fortunately, those concerns were cast aside as, slowly but surely, other characters from the film found their way back into other stories. Like Bruce Banner, Thunderbolt Ross, Abomination, and soon, Betty Ross and Samuel Sterns, all have found further roles to play but because of complicated rights issues, they’re always roles in someone else’s stories. However, a new rumor points toward Marvel Studios having found a way to circumvent those issues to an extent while giving the people exactly what they want.

    According to scooper My Time To Shine Hello, perhaps inspired by the brief tease of a battle between the two in Deadpool & Wolverine, the Marvel Parliament has begun development on a Wolverine vs. Hulk film.

    If the rumor pans out, it’s both a bold and nimble navigation of the rights issues that have forced Hulk’s ongoing arc in the MCU to be told over the course of several films on which he was a supporting character. With Hugh Jackman believed to be staying on as Wolverine for the foreseeable future, the Parliament may have devised a way to make Hulk the co-lead/antagonist of a “solo Wolverine film.” It may be a bit disingenuous for Marvel to set Hulk up as the co-lead of a Wolverine film that will be known as Wolverine vs. Hulk no matter what it’s title is…but hey, that’s showbusiness.

    Of course, this isn’t the first time rumors of a Hulk project have made the rounds. After legitimate reports of a World War Hulk circulated for years, it’s begun to look like the meat of that project may have been butchered up and tossed into other projects. And even if the rumor of a Hulk vs. Wolverine project being in development at Marvel Studios is true, it’s probably fairly important to keep in mind that Marvel Parliament member Brad Winderbaum recently made it clear that the studio is developing more projects than they’ll ever produce. So while the idea of seeing the conclusion of that brief tease in Deadpool & Wolverine might have you excited, it’s best not to hold your breath. Don’t go penciling this one into an open spot just yet.

  • DC Studios Reportedly Making a Major Change to One Project from Its Originally Announced Slate

    DC Studios Reportedly Making a Major Change to One Project from Its Originally Announced Slate

    While it included projects set to introduce DC mainstays such as Superman, Batman and Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart, the initial DC Studios’ slate revealed in early 2023 also showed that studio co-chairs James Gunn and Peter Safran were embracing lesser known characters as well. By kicking off the all-new DCU with the animated Creature Commandos and prepping projects featuring non-household names such as Booster Gold and The Authority, the studio is starkly setting itself apart from the Snyderverse’s dependence on the Trinity plus one.

    As projects are added to the original list, it’s clear that Gunn and Safran are committed to exploring all genres, corners and eras of the expansive DC Comics universe. Luca Guadagnino‘s Sgt. Rock film will reportedly be set during World War II, Booster Gold will be set, at least in part, in the future and James Mangold‘s Swamp Thing will be a “tonally different” film that will “investigate the dark origins” of the Avatar of the Green. And, as proven with Creature Commandos, the studio has no reservations about telling stories vital to the continuity through animation or via streaming and now it seems as though a change of plans behind the scenes might mean one of the originally announced projects is headed in a different direction.

    According to social media scooper Apocalyptic Horseman, DC Studios has decided to move forward with The Authority as an animated feature film.

    The Authority was created as part of Jim Lee’s WildStorm universe which was eventually purchased by DC comics and, during the New 52 publishing initiative, integrated into the mainstream continuity. The super team, once described as the Anti-Justice League for their lack of a moral compass, is hardly among the most popular group of DC comic book characters but look to play a big part in the overarching narrative of the DCU and will be introduced in Superman via their leader, The Engineer, who will serve as one of the piece’s villains.

    Fans may not be quite familiar with the team, which Safran compared to Jack Nicholson’s Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men saying, “they know that you want them on the wall, or at least they believe that.” Gunn gave a little more detail of what to expect from this win-at-all-costs group.

    They are basically good-intentioned, but they think that the world is completely broken and the only way to fix it is to take things into their own hands, whether that means killing people, destroying heads of state, changing governments—basically, whatever they want to do to make the world better. We’ll see how that journey goes for them. There are morally gray characters (in our DCU), of which these are.

    -James Gunn on the members of The Authority

    Though no writer for the film has ever been revealed, Gunn outlined the plot. In early 2023, Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn was rumored to be in line to direct the project. While that’s never been confirmed, neither Vaughn nor Gunn, who is often quick to shoot down false rumors, have denied the veracity of that rumor.

    The Authority has no scheduled release date at the moment but should the report about the studio developing it as an animated feature film be accurate, it is worth questioning whether it will release in theaters or on HBO where it could find an audience over time without a snap judgement made about the box office take of a project full of unknown characters.

  • DC Studios ‘Teen Titans’ Roster Reportedly Revealed

    DC Studios ‘Teen Titans’ Roster Reportedly Revealed

    DC’s Teen Titans are foundational pieces of Gen Z’s superhero love. That connection comes from the frenetic and beloved animated series, Teen Titans Go!, which kicked off its eight-season run on Cartoon Network in 2013. To an entire generation–and maybe even a second–Robin, Raven, Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy were more than a gateway to superhero fare, they were the alpha and omega of it. Go ahead and try to watch just one episode… impossible. Despite 4 seasons of the dour and brooding HBO streaming series, Titans, stripping away everything fans loved about the characters, the teen heroes remain a major IP for DC Comics and, soon, for DC Studios.

    Earlier this year, a trade report revealed that Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow scribe Ana Nogueira was tasked with bringing the Teen Titans to the all-new DCU. Though a Teen Titans film was not part of James Gunn and Peter Safran‘s original slate tease, it came as no surprise that the studio was interested in bringing the team to the screen. First introduced into the pages of DC Comics in the 1960s, the Teen Titans have a been a staple for the publishing house. The makeup of the roster has undergone some changes over the years but thanks to Teen Titans Go!, fans have a strong sense of the key players. And apparently DC Studios smartly plans to leverage that in their upcoming live-action film.

    According to insider Apocalyptic Horseman, DC Studios’ Teen Titans film will feature the five fan-favorite characters from Teen Titans Go!, though apparently the studio is debating which of Batman’s Robins will star in the project.

    Though Dick Grayson founded the Titans with Wally West and Aqualad, Robins Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne have all been part of the rotating roster of heroes over the decades. With Damian set to appear in The Brave and the Bold and Batman already well-established in the DCU, it seems more likely than not that another Robin other than the Demon’s grandson will take center stage in Teen Titans.

    At this time, Teen Titans does not have a timeline for beginning production nor has it been given a release date.

  • Highly Anticipated Upcoming Marvel Project Reportedly Undergoing Major Overhaul

    Highly Anticipated Upcoming Marvel Project Reportedly Undergoing Major Overhaul

    The history of unmade projects may be one of the most fascinating pieces of the Hollywood, especially in the case of superhero properties. Well before the 2000s kicked off the golden age of comic book movies, dozens of projects never got off the ground despite having completed scripts or died their deaths at various points in production. Even in its relatively short history, Marvel Studios is no stranger to seeing projects fall by the wayside. Brian K. Vaughan and Drew Pearce‘s Runaways was pushed aside for The Avengers; after being announced in 2014, Inhumans was tossed aside; recently, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was scrapped after the studio parted ways with the film’s star, Jonathan Majors.

    Of course, not making it into theaters isn’t always a death blow. The characters who would have starred in Runaways and Inhumans made their way to television, though hey did so without the involvement of Marvel Studios. The moral of the story is that despite a sometimes strong public sentiment to the contrary, not every project that is dreamed up makes its way to an audience. Marvel’s head of streaming, television and animation, Brad Winderbaum, recently made it clear that moving forward the studio will be “developing more than we make” and that the days of meeting a release date come “hell or high water” are a thing of the past. In short, projects in development at Marvel Studios have never had a more uncertain road to screens big or small than they do now.

    Perhaps no project serves as a better example of the tenuous trek from script to screen than Young Avengers. In development since at least Summer 2021, the project has been rumored to both a streaming series and a film and be ready to head into production on multiple occasions over the years. However, despite an outright tease in The Marvels and the arrival of one of the team’s central figures in Agatha All Along, Marvel Studios has yet to officially acknowledge a Young Avengers project is in the works. Now we may know why.

    As part of the studio’s recent changes to its way of doing business behind the scenes, projects further out on the release schedule were back burnered in mid-2023 following a pair of strikes. With the streaming and theatrical slates now set through 2025, the studio has slowly begun to turn its attention to the future and it seems the Young Avengers project has found its way into the cross hairs of the Marvel Parliament again…sort of.

    According to reliable Marvel insider Daniel Richtman, Marvel has chosen to develop the project as a Disney Plus streaming series rather than a film and is now searching for a showrunner. However, in a move that is sure to churn up controversy among fans, the studio has chosen to rebrand the project as Champions, according to another social media scooper, Apocalypse Horseman.

    Despite the vitriol it’s sure to inspire, the name change is not without comic book inspiration. Originally devised in 1975 as a title featuring a team of heroes that included Black Widow, Hercules and Ghost Rider, the title was repurposed in 2016 for an all-new, all-different team created by Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos. The modern team was founded by young heroes following Civil War II and an ideological dispute with the Avengers.

    As explained by Marvel Comics editor Tom Breevort, the team aspired to “reclaim and redefine in a classic sense what being a superhero should mean.” Champions assembled teen heroes Ms. Marvel, Miles Morales, Sam Alexander, Amadeus Cho, a time-displaced Cyclops and the synthezoid Viv Vision. As is the case with all Marvel Comics teams, the Champions roster rotated members in and out, including, among othes, Riri Williams and Joaquin Torres.

    According to Richtman, part of the reason the studio chose to rebrand the project as Champions was because with its arrival on D+ still years away, many of the expected members of the team will no longer fit the bill of ‘young” Avengers. While there’s obviously no confirmed cast for the series, Iman Vellani (22 years old) and Hailee Steinfeld (27 years old) seem likely to lead the project alongside Dominique Thorne (27 years old), Kathryn Newton (27 years old), Elijah Richardson (25 years old), Joe Locke (21 years old) and Xochitl Gomez (18 years old). Additionally, Logan Kim (17 years old), who will portray Amadeus Cho in Captain America: Brave New World, the actor yet to be cast as Tommy Shepherd and, possibly, an actress yet to be cast as Viv Vision could all find their way onto the titular team as well.