Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Charles Villanueva

  • EXCLUSIVE: Why The ‘KOTOR’ Remake Took So Long

    EXCLUSIVE: Why The ‘KOTOR’ Remake Took So Long

    This month’s PlayStation State of Play was a treat not only for fans of the usual first-party console exclusives but also for Star Wars fans. It was revealed in the presentation that the Knights of the Old Republic game that defined a generation of Star Wars in the mid-2000s was getting a full-blown remake by Aspyr.

    The wait for this game was lengthy, to say the least, with the announcement happening 16 years after the sequel came out in 2005. I spoke with Star Wars: Visions producer and Lucasfilm VP for Franchise Content, James Waugh, and asked why it took so long to get a KOTOR remake going when younger games are getting remade left and right.

    It’s such a great game. That’s a great question. Again, it’s a remake of my favorite Star Wars game of all time. It’s definitely a part of the Legends impression of Star Wars. I think it took a long time to find the right group [Aspyr] to want to do it well. And I think it was just time to share this moment in Star Wars history with a new audience.

    One can only imagine just how a next-gen remake of the most beloved RPGs of the 21st century could look like. This announcement alone has sparked new speculation as to whether this remake is a precursor for a canonical Darth Revan appearance in the main Star Wars continuity. Whatever the case is, we cannot wait to see Darth Revan again.

  • Pixar’s ‘NONA’ Is a Punk Rock Heartwarmer

    Pixar’s ‘NONA’ Is a Punk Rock Heartwarmer

    Nona is Pixar’s latest short in its Sparkshorts film series, a program that lets Pixar employees develop and create their own short films to foster the company’s next generation of filmmakers. The results have been stellar so far and Nona is no exception.

    Directed by Louis Gonzales, Nona depicts a day in the life of a wrestling-loving grandmother. Anticipating a great day of watching her favorite wrestling program, a pastime she shared with her late husband, the titular Nona is in for a surprise when her grandaughter spends the day her. According to Gonzales in an interview we did with him:

    I’ve always had this concept of a grandma that loved wrestling. I’m an older guy in animation and I was seeing a lot of younger, hungrier, up-and-coming artists. I had this real connection to the idea of an older lady whose life hadn’t passed by but is on the cusp of that. That felt like it called to my attention. That’s where the story started.

    Nona is brimming with wholesome punk rock energy. From the music down to its pulsating sense of fun, this short is one that will leave a smile on your face. And like all great Pixar shorts and films, Nona gets a ton of emotional mileage out of a seemingly innocuous premise. Beneath all that crazy energy is a truly heartwarming vignette of life, love, and memory. With all that in mind, it isn’t surprising how personal the story is for Gonzales:

    I don’t know how to tell a story that isn’t personal. Even when I’m storyboarding for other directors, there has to be a personal component. Otherwise, there’s no truth in it. If there’s no truth, audiences aren’t going to connect with it. My short is filled with my truth. It’s filled with people I love that inspired these characters and stories.

    Short films are synonymous with that nostalgic Pixar viewing experience. Even going back to that iconic chess short from the 90s, Pixar shorts are truly special. Producer Courtney Casper Kent also briefly talked about these shorts get made and what makes a good Pixar short like Nona.

    I feel like where you start isn’t necessarily where you end up. That’s true with every short I’ve worked on [laughs]. It’s about telling the story that people can connect to and continuing to refine that to keep it honest. I feel like this story getting told at this point in time when people are presented with more challenges like having more family around than usual and having to balance that with work. I think that only enhanced the story and make it all of the things we are always looking for in a Pixar short.

  • ‘WANDAVISION’ Wins Marvel Studios’ First Emmys

    ‘WANDAVISION’ Wins Marvel Studios’ First Emmys

    It was only a matter of time until Kevin Feige‘s crew got their hands on an Emmy considering the great work they’ve been doing this past year alone. Wandavision has scored Marvel Studios’ first couple of Emmy awards, bagging Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Program and Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes during the Creative Arts Emmys.

    Next week’s Primetime Emmys, however, is the big show for Marvel Studios’ Disney+ offerings. Both Wandavision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier are nominated for a slew of awards including acting nominations for Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, and Don Cheadle himself. Fingers crossed that these shows bag some major awards in addition to the great ones they won yesterday.

    Source: Deadline

  • EXCLUSIVE: How ‘WHAT IF…?’s Composer Balances Dozens of MCU Themes

    EXCLUSIVE: How ‘WHAT IF…?’s Composer Balances Dozens of MCU Themes

    The MCU may not have the most consistent of iconic musical themes but when they’re iconic, they’re pretty damn iconic. A theme like the Avengers theme has penetrated the zeitgeist in the same way the Superman Donner theme has.

    Being an anthology show about the MCU, What If…? unifies all the themes together to create a tapestry of familiar yet unique sounds. At the center of this is composer Laura Karpman, who shared with us how she balances all the different sounds and melodies of the MCU.

    The great thing about all the themes is they have these wonderful handles you can just grab onto. You see Captain America, you hear Captain America’s theme, and then you move on. If you think about Endgame, that’s the way they’re handled. When somebody appears, you hear their signature, and then move on.

    This season’s Black Panther x Guardians of the Galaxy mashup is the prime example of just how a unified What If…? score could be. It meshes the best of both worlds; Ludwig Gorranson‘s hi-fi tribal soundtrack and Tyler Bates’ cosmic orchestral work. Karpman had this to say about that episode’s particular sound.

    For Episode 2, we took elements of Ludwig Goransson’s wonderful score for Black Panther. So you have a Roland TR-808 sound or an African flute and then you can layer that with the orchestral sounds of Guardians of the Galaxy. And it works in addition to the heist theme that I composed. The references to themes of the MCU are spices in a stew that is quite different.

  • Bobby Lee Was Almost Cast in ‘SHANG-CHI’

    Bobby Lee Was Almost Cast in ‘SHANG-CHI’

    Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is tearing up box offices everywhere. For the many talented people involved, the film is a vehicle that’ll propel their names to the forefront of the mainstream. Comedian Bobby Lee was almost one of those people, as he revealed the missed opportunity in jest in his latest podcast. According to the Slept King:

    I auditioned for it. Ronny Chieng beat me out and he always beats me out. I refuse to watch it, especially when they said, “Your audition was great! They loved it!” But thanks for the opportunity [laughs].

    Now, the Slept King really didn’t miss out on a sizeable role as Ronny Chieng‘s role as the fight club announcer and middleman was only for a few scenes. That being said, it would have been nice to see the MadTV comedian in that brief appearance.

    This isn’t the first time Bobby Lee has orbited around a comic book film, having previously auditioned for Randall Park‘s role in the first Aquaman film. His next big appearance is in the upcoming Borderlands film so maybe after that, he can finally snag a cool comic book role.

    Source: Tiger Belly

  • The Hardest Thing About Making ‘WHAT IF…?’

    The Hardest Thing About Making ‘WHAT IF…?’

    Making a Marvel Studios property seems hard on so many levels and an animated show like What If…?, done in the vein of the big MCU films, looks like an impossible feat to accomplish. But the people behind the show do the seemingly impossible and pull off thrilling episodes on a weekly basis.

    In an interview we did with Animation Supervisor Stephan Franck, he shared with us what the toughest part of making What If…? is.

    There are different angles that we try to be mindful of. One of them is the continuity of these characters. Their vibe is well established in the movies and we really try to honor that in these new incarnations of the characters. Connecting to that is very important. Who’s a smartass? Who’s more earnest? Who’s more deadpan? All that stuff.

    Keeping characterization is one thing but making sure the action lives up to the million-dollar action sequences of Avengers: Infinity War or Captain America: The Winter Soldier is another thing. Franck notes that action is something they hone in on.

    We try to be very specific with the action. As you mentioned, the action is crazy and intense. The fighting styles are very specific. Those are things we always look out for making this show.

  • Pixar’s New Short ‘TWENTY SOMETHING’ Is Pure Brilliance

    Pixar’s New Short ‘TWENTY SOMETHING’ Is Pure Brilliance

    Growing old gets old fast, as anyone past their mid-20s would know. The grass of adulthood isn’t as green as we all thought it would be as naive kids. There are lessons to learn, pressures to deal with, bills to pay, and norms to live up to. Growing old isn’t easy and Pixar’s latest short, Twenty Something, captures the pains of growing in the most meaningful way possible.

    Directed by Soul artist Aphton Corbin, the short follows Gia’s first night out as a 21-year old. In true Pixar fashion, the night doesn’t quite go well for her as the crippling anxiety adulthood brings soon takes over. And in truer Pixar fashion, there’s a conceit within the short that elevates it to a whole new level; Gia is made up of three kids walking under a trench coat – 1-year old Gia, 10-year old Gia, and 16-year old Gia. In the press junket, Corbin elaborates:

    I just love this idea of all these kids and what they’d look like stacked up in a trench coat.  Trying to navigate through life.  It felt like the perfect metaphor of trying to steer through life while hiding your insecurities.

    Through the eyes of Gia’s past selves, Corbin puts the perils of adulthood in focus; an insurmountable hurdle we must all jump over. Part of being an adult means being in control of yourself, both physically and emotionally, which 1-year old Gia is unable to do. For 16-year old Gia, it’s that yearning for social acceptance but being ill-equipped to handle socializing. All of this is beautifully realized by Corbin and her team and its powerful messaging cuts through the whimsy of it all.

    There’s even an added layer of complexity behind the cute representations of Gia as Corbin purposefully based them on psychoanalytic theory. In our interview with her, she said:

    I kind of based it on the subconscious. The id, ego, and super-ego. I tried to break the character down in that way. 1-year old Gia is the id; what does it want? Eat, sleep, and drink. 16-year old Gia is the super-ego who is super insecure all the time. 10-year old Gia is the level-headed one, the most confident of them all. Those three felt right.

    What makes Twenty Something stand out in an era of sleek, fancy, 3D Pixar shorts is that it’s in 2D. As I put it while speaking to Corbin, the short has a very nostalgic Saturday morning cartoon vibe to it, which only underlines the child-like yet complex messaging of it all. Corbin cited budget constraints as a driving reason but also referred to vintage cartoons as sources of inspiration.

    It was really inspired by older vintage cartoons specifically in the 60s and 70s.  We tried to get some of that charm and appeal into the design that we have there.

    With a short as evergreen as Twenty Something, it didn’t come as a surprise to hear that the story was somewhat autobiographical for Corbin, who took the plunge of directing something for Pixar for the first time with the short. Like a true artist, Corbin took all her fears and worries over something as monumental as directing and turned it into a beautiful piece of art.

    The whole thing is absolutely autobiographical. Gia was just me in my twenties, especially with the insecurity of directing for the first time. All those feelings came over me of like, “Oh my god. I can’t do this. This isn’t going to be a good movie.” And so it was fun to take those insecurities and put them into a film. It was very fun to put parts of me into that one character. I’ve never had anything quite as embarrassing as what Gia does in her first night out though [laughs].

    Twenty Something is out this Friday on Disney+ which I highly recommend you guys check out. It’s a beautiful short with a heartfelt message told in a really fun story.

  • ‘SECRET INVASION’ Began Filming Last Week

    ‘SECRET INVASION’ Began Filming Last Week

    The Skrull Invasion is on its way. Film London is reporting that the Samuel L. Jackson-led alien espionage series, Secret Invasion, has already started filming in London, with a start date that can be traced back to the first of September.

    The news comes just a few weeks after Kevin Feige himself confirmed the then-upcoming production start during the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings red carpet premiere. Jackson also took to social media to reveal his return to the Nick Fury makeup chair not too long ago, so the man is pretty busy.

    Source: Film London

  • EXCLUSIVE: Why Marvel Studios Created New Characters For ‘SHANG-CHI’

    EXCLUSIVE: Why Marvel Studios Created New Characters For ‘SHANG-CHI’

    The MCU has had its fair share of original characters created for the films prior to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Once upon a time, before he starred in his own 7-season series, Phil Coulson was an original character they made for Iron Man. Darcy Lewis, one of the runaway stars of this year’s Wandavision, was created for Thor.

    Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has the distinction of being the MCU film with the most original characters and for good reason. Producer Jonathan Schwartz shared with us why and whether it’s something we will see more of as they adapt obscure characters.

    I think it will always be case by case. Some of those characters, even if they’re obscure, have either a cool supporting cast or a supporting cast where you can find some cool element and update it. I think Shang-Chi in particular was in need of a refresh due to some of the comic elements that are a little more problematic. So we took more liberty to invent a little and bring more to it.

    Interestingly enough, Shang-Chi originally has a notable supporting cast in the comics in the form of certain MI6 agents. Schwartz elaborated why they scrapped the MI6 characters saying, “It would’ve loaded the movie up British Caucasian characters rather than having a movie that is primarily Asian.” Nonetheless, it’ll be interesting to see how they reinvent lesser-known characters for future properties.

  • EXCLUSIVE: How The Strange Supreme Fight Scene Was Developed

    EXCLUSIVE: How The Strange Supreme Fight Scene Was Developed

    This week’s episode of What If…? wowed audiences for a slew of reasons, not the least of which was the amazing fight Doctor Strange had with his evil self, Strange Supreme. With the fate of existence at stake, the fight delivered the same kind of thrills found in some of the biggest Marvel films like Avengers: Infinity War.

    We sat down and spoke with What If…? editors, Joel and Graham Fisher, on how exactly this amazing fight scene was brought to life in the production offices of Marvel Studios. Turns out the fight scene was the brainchild of showrunner Bryan Andrews and storyboard artist Aram Sarkisian.

    As far as the action sequences go, it’s all Bryan Andrews [director] and his right hand, Aram Sarkisian, who is now the Head of Story for the series. Bryan actually storyboarded that Infinity War sequence that you’re referencing. When the two of them are in a room, it’s amazing to watch. It’s a nonstop rapid fire of ideas.

    All the best fight scenes are dynamic; they tell a story through means of punching and kicking. In Doctor Strange’s case, it’s all about using the visuals of conjuration and sorcery as a storytelling device. This episode of What If…? has the two Stranges doing all kinds of things in all sorts of ways.

    Aram, as he was originally boarding it, was keeping the battle on the ground to a certain extent. And Bryan was like, “We gotta get elevation [gestures vertically]. This dance has to keep changing and can’t be all in the ground.” So they took Strange up and then took him down. All these different ways to make this fight scene flow in an organic way. And then there’s the capes fighting each other [laughs].

    With great action comes great stakes and the stakes for this episode are immense. Not only is the universe in peril in the fight but Strange’s humanity is at stake as well. The Fishers shared the production’s insistence on keeping everything about the story.

    It’s just an amazing collaboration between the director and the storyboard artists that drew it. But also the collaboration within the animation department is amazing because we got to a point where we went, “This is great but we’re gonna get battle fatigued if we keep doing action. We need to ground it within the story. What are the stakes?” So Strange needs to get into his head. We had that whole shadow moment that got storyboarded. He has to have that last temptation. Will he give in and bring back his love?