Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • REVIEW: ‘Love, Death & Robots’ Volume 3 Has Some of the Anthology’s Best

    REVIEW: ‘Love, Death & Robots’ Volume 3 Has Some of the Anthology’s Best

    After a long wait, the third volume of Love, Death & Robots has finally arrived. The anthology series by Tim Miller, Joshua Donen, and David Fincher. As its title implies, it’s full of love, death, and robots but it’s grown to be more than that. Inspired by the 1981 classic Heavy Metal, it explores animation and concepts in an anthology series that have no real limitations. It’s as bloody, sex-driven, thought-provoking, or anything the creative staff wants it to be. With the involvement of various iconic animation houses like Blow Studio, Blur Studio, Axis Animation, Titmouse, Inc., and more, it offers a wide variety of animation styles. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at this new batch of nine episodes and what they bring to the table.

    Three Robots: Exit Strategies

    While a fun re-entry into the latest Volume of Love, Death & Robots, it felt like more of the same. Even the punchline by the end was a bit of a rehash and didn’t offer much new to make you feel like there was more to the first Three Robots storyline. It still was a fun return to the goofy three we saw in the first Volume, it just lacked that punch to make it stand out from an already great first entry. Seeing mankind’s downfall and some jabs at tech millionaires are always welcome, but it sadly just didn’t do enough to make it stand out from its predecessor; no matter how loveable the three robots are.

    Bad Travelling

    It’s surprising David Fincher didn’t tackle an episode of Love, Death & Robots earlier considering he’s one of the producers, but it finally happened. “Bad Travelling” is a really interesting entry. A strange crab-like creature known as a Thanapod makes its home in an unknowing crew’s ship and makes a deal with one of its crew members. What ensues is the battle for survival and an ongoing mutiny that makes you question if the Thanapod will get its way by the end. It’s visually interesting with a grimy ship as its backdrop. The ocean’s current is as tumultuous as the emotions that everyone aboard feels, as the bodies start to pile on. Its unpredictability was a highlight and makes me hope Fincher decides to dedicate an entire film to this concept in the future. It was just that good and felt like it could’ve done even more.

    The Very Pulse of the Machine

    If you’re out of options, how far would you go for survival? That’s at least what you’d think the episode would be about at first, but it turns into something quite a bit different. I really don’t want to give it away, as it’s quite an introspective episode that scratches the surface of what my personal favorite, “Zima Blue,” portrays in its story. High concept and simple execution sometimes have the effect of elevating an experience that makes you think about your own existence. Capped off with a perfect open ending, which makes you want to rewatch and re-question every step once again.

    Night of the Mini Dead

    Whoever had the idea of exploring a Night of the Living Dead parody as if it was a living diorama deserves a reward. It felt like watching an episode of the Sims with everything going wrong. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel (besides the visual design) but it adds some fun flourishes. You have some little jokey clichés with the muffled miniature sounds making them feel fresh. What sells it is how over-the-top it is. At first, it seems like a miniature retelling of the original Night of the Living Dead until it just goes bananas with the concept. By the end, it feels like they just saw what stuck to the wall and it definitely worked no matter how insane it got by the end.

    Kill Team Kill

    “Just a fun time” is the perfect way to summarize “Kill Team Kill” as a story. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and has a great 2D art style. The simple concept of a ragtag team of soldiers facing off against the perfect bionic killer bear was thrilling. It surprised me this was from director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, who created the iconic Kung Fu Panda trilogy, as it’s quite raunchy. Yet, it made me hope she gets a chance to direct more of this style, especially in how much energy she brings to the project. Though Volume 2’s “Pop Squad” is still my favorite entry by her in the anthology. though “Kill Team Kill” is definitely a great time I’d gladly come back to rewatch.

    Swarm

    “Swarm” is a curious entry, as the concepts it explores are quite interesting but ends up following a predicted path. The title gives away what the scientists are exploring, but leads to its downfall at the hands of their own hubris. It’s more an exploration of the value within existence as part of a swarm or your own intelligence. The ending sequence is a highlight, especially how it combines this gruesome perspective and some haunting visuals. Yet, it could’ve used a bit more time to explore the concept, as it feels over before it even truly begins. While the open nature of the story is fitting, it does feel like there was more to get out of it than what we got.

    Mason’s Rats

    Evolution really isn’t your friend if you’re running a farm in the middle of nowhere. When a farmer realizes his rats ate enough GMOs to learn how to use weapons, modern pest control is his only option moving forward. It’s a fun and creative concept, as the weaponry he uses gets more and more advanced, as do the rats. At first, I adored the episode but confessed that the more I thought about it, the ending was a little convenient. While the lesson of the episode is quite a strong one and it’s generally a great episode, the ending sadly takes away from it and just wraps in a nice little bow way too easy.

    In Vaulted Halls Entombed

    You can never go wrong with a good Lovecraftian-inspired story. A group of soldiers tries to free a hostage, but end up in a much worse scenario than anyone could’ve imagined. It’s not adding anything to the concept that we’ve seen many times before, but it doesn’t need to technically. Probably the most straightforward story of the bunch because there is no real foreshadowing to what happens, it just leads from one event to the next. Still, the ending was perfectly Lovecraftian and is something that stuck in my mind on how it could continue; even if I’ll never know.

    Jibaro

    The final entry of the anthology series, “Jibaro,” might be its most ambitious yet. While its stylized visuals aren’t too far off from Bad Travelling and Mason’s Rats, it stands out for its artistic value. The short film feels like a deadly dance is spiraling out of control between a deaf soldier and a siren of unknown origin. I don’t want to give more away, but its simple premise feels like a prelude to a metaphorical look at a deadly romance. Steeped in mythology, it uses its visuals in interesting ways. The camera does move a lot which can be quite disorienting at times, but it creates a visual panic perfect for the chaos that ensues. A high recommendation and a great finisher to what is overall a strong new volume of Love, Death & Robots.

  • Seth MacFarlane’s ‘Ted’ Series Rounds Out Cast With Alanna Ubach

    Seth MacFarlane’s ‘Ted’ Series Rounds Out Cast With Alanna Ubach

    Seth MacFarlane is seemingly reviving his popular Ted franchise, as a new series is heading to Peacock. MacFarlane is going to write, direct, and co-showrun all episodes of the series and is working with Modern Family‘s Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh on the series. They will also executive produce and co-showrun. The series has now finalized its cast with Euphoria’s Allanna Ubach joining the production.

    She will be playing a “kind, selfless, and almost pathologically sweet” character known as Susan Bennett. A character that sees the world through rose-colored glasses will surely collide with the outspoken teddy bear, Ted. Of course, MacFarlane is also returning to voice the titular character. Scott Grimes, George Whigham, and Max Burkholder round out the cast.

    The series will release on Peacock and has been long in development. The first film in the series was released ten years ago in 2012 with only one sequel hitting theaters in 2015. We haven’t heard much about the production in some time, but with the cast finalized, they may start production sooner rather than later. So, everyone whose been hoping for more Ted is in luck as the Peacock series is moving forward in full steam.

    Source: Deadline

  • REPORT: Next ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Trailer to Potentially Release on Monday

    REPORT: Next ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Trailer to Potentially Release on Monday

    Thor: Love and Thunder is the next Marvel Studios film in line to release with only around two more months to go. It became infamous for having the latest release of a trailer, but it left quite an impact as Thor is trying to wrestle with a mid-life crisis and Jane Foster returns wielding a restored Mjolnir. While we’re still waiting for a first official look at Gorr the God Butcher, it seems we’ll get a chance rather soon.

    According to Daniel Richtman‘s official Patreon page, we’ll likely get a trailer on Monday, May 23rd. There is mention that we’ll know for sure if a teaser drops tomorrow to tease the next entry. Of course, there’s no mention of what exactly will be included but the second trailer commonly gives a bigger hint at what the main plotline will be for a movie. It’s unclear if they want to keep Christian Bale‘s Gorr a secret, ignoring the merch leaks, until the film’s release.

    UPDATING

    Source: Patreon via The Direct

  • Live-Action ‘One Piece’s Budget on Par with Marvel Studios’ Films

    Live-Action ‘One Piece’s Budget on Par with Marvel Studios’ Films

    There’s been a lot of discourse on just how big the budget is for Netflix’s attempt at bringing One Piece into live-action. It’s not a cheap undertaking, especially when one considers the leaked set photos teasing towns and even entire boats replicated for the sake of production. Luckily, Richard Bridgland, the production designer on One Piece, has revealed that their project is on par with what Marvel Studios is producing.

    We know he’s working on One Piece, as he’s highlighted as the Production Designer of “Project Panda,” which was the name we first heard just as the production was preparing a while before cameras started rolling. @dogy_logy shared a clip from the presentation on Twitter, which included the statement regarding the budget reveal.

    On a big film, the main unit crew will cost anywhere between 180 thousand to 250K thousand a day. And we’re talking about a big Marvel movie, the production I am working on at the moment. If they get held up a half an hour, you can calculate that cost.

    There have been many discussions on just how much money Netflix is investing in this project, and knowing that it’s following the production budget of a Marvel production, which goes up to the $200M, it’s quite something up. The challenge will be that they keep these budgets going for future entries, especially as future seasons may get even crazier with their budgets, and with Netflix’s current situation, here’s hoping they keep that investment alive for many future seasons.

    Source: Twitter

  • RUMOR: She-Hulk’s Earlier Model Was Supposedly “Bigger”

    RUMOR: She-Hulk’s Earlier Model Was Supposedly “Bigger”

    So, there has been a lot of discussion surrounding She-Hulk‘s VFX in the first trailer released for the Disney+ series. While there are still a few more months to go before it releases, future trailer releases will build more confidence by highlighting how far work has come with the VFX model. Still, VFX artist Sean Ruecroft has taken to Twitter to point out that the model was originally going to be “bigger” at one point in reference to a comment saying she isn’t “buff.”

    The Visual Effects artist has recently worked on Moon Knight as a visualization artist and was also involved with other Marvel productions that include Avengers: Infinity War and Spider-Man: Homecoming in the previs department. So, he may actively have worked with those that are in the team working on the character design. Though it should be noted that the design seemingly was something discussed earlier on.

    While it’s not uncommon that the team’s get involved with their vision of what the character should look like, the Sonic comparison is a rather curious one. Sonic the Hedgehog infamously featured a model that was nowhere close to what we’d see in the final product; it even recently made a reappearance as “Ugly Sonic” in the new Rescue Rangers film. Yet, in this case, it’s more about the character being slimmer rather than an actual bad design.

    Now, the question remains if the issue from the VFX artists is in regard to the character model not working if it’s slimmed down when an Uncanny Valley effect takes over, or if it truly was just them wanting the character to be bigger. If it’s the latter, then the reasoning for her slimmer design is mostly due to the comic inspiration for this storyline. One could argue this is nowhere close to what we’ve seen with Sonic, as this is not a bad model just something directly inspired by Dan Slot‘s run with the character from 2004 to 2005.

    The VFX teams are under a lot of pressure, as the market has suffered severely due to COVID, and many productions, such as some bits of Moon Knight, are still feeling its repercussions. Given that Disney+ is heading to an ad-supported model and the company wants to show off what big project shows they currently have in development, it may have also played a key part in the release of a trailer even with some unfinished VFX. The inclusion of Secret Invasions during the event seems to further hint at them having to tease the future of Disney+, but that is just speculation.

    Source: Twitter, IMDB

  • Sony is Working on More ‘Ghostbusters’ Films

    Sony is Working on More ‘Ghostbusters’ Films

    If you’ve been wondering if Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the last entry in the franchise, you don’t have to worry any longer. In an interview with Deadline, Sony Chairman Tom Rothman discussed the future of their focus on keeping theatrical releases alive with their entries. He highlights that they’ve produced a good number of original productions that aren’t sequels or caped-focused while also confirming that more entries in the Ghostbusters franchise are in development.

    He didn’t go into any detail or reveal if this will see a single sequel, or even a build-up into a larger franchise. In a world where many well-known IPs try to build their own cinematic universes, it’s not uncommon to assume that is the approach going in. Ghostbusters has many untapped stories to explore, especially with its surprising history as with only two films in its filmography. The franchise found a second life in a variety of animated series and even video games.

    While the female-centric Ghostbusters film didn’t quite pick up, Afterlife gave the franchise an extra jolt of energy and is potentially going to set up a new generation of Ghostbusters to carry on the torch. We’ll see if we get some kind of announcement in the coming months and if some of the creative team, as well as the cast might return as well. Still, it’s great to know that there will still be someone to call.

    Source: Deadline

  • Sony Chairman Plans to Have Jon Watts Direct ‘Spider-Man 4’

    Sony Chairman Plans to Have Jon Watts Direct ‘Spider-Man 4’

    Jon Watts just recently surprised people with the decision to move away from the upcoming Fantastic Four project. Yet, we learned shortly after that he started work on a new project together with Lucasfilm, which will explore an Amblin-style entry in the Star Wars galaxy. Now that he just wrapped work on one of the biggest Spider-Man film releases of all time with No Way Home, it seems Sony Chairman isn’t ready to let him go quite yet. In an interview with Deadline, Tom Rothman confirmed that he hopes for Watts to return to the director’s chair for the fourth MCU Spider-Man entry.

    On one hand, many have hoped that a new creative team would take the reigns as Tom Holland‘s Spider-Man takes a more grounded approach. Now that he’s seemingly unshackled from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they can rewrite his future as part of the franchise. Yet, it seems that Sony wants to keep Watts heavily involved, as well as see the return of Zendaya as MJ.

    Now, that also raises the question of how big of a role she could have considering she is heading out to MIT and has completely forgotten who Peter Parker is. Of course, she may be visiting New York City, it is her home after all, and they bump into each other. She will only remember him as the stranger she met at the coffee shop. He’s not officially signed on and things may change as more get a chance to potentially pitch their take on the character.

    Source: Deadline

  • Kumail Nanjiani Spills the Beans on His Mysterious ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Character

    Kumail Nanjiani Spills the Beans on His Mysterious ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Character

    We’re only a week away from Deborah Chow‘s Obi-Wan Kenobi series releasing its first two episodes on Disney+. Of course, all eyes are on the return of Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, but it’ll also see the addition of Eternals‘ Kumail Nanjiani to the Star Wars universe. In a surprising move, the actor has simply given away his mysterious’ character’s role in the Entertainment Weekly’s Star Wars podcast.

    His name is Haja, and he’s this guy who works on the streets of Daiyu, which is this new Star Wars location that we haven’t seen before that’s absolutely gorgeous. And he’s the guy who’s worked really hard to stay out of the bigger conflicts at play. He just kind of wants to be his own guy. Survival for him is all that matters.

    Kumail Nanjiani

    It definitely sounds like a character that’ll get drawn into something he doesn’t want to be involved with once he runs into Obi-Wan, but kind of gets dragged along.

    He’s this sort of con-man guy who cons people for money. That’s what’s important to him. And then he has a run-in with Obi-Wan and suddenly he sort of gets stuck in the bigger conflicts at play, which is the thing that he really tries to avoid. So he is this street-level con-man guy who then gets embroiled in stuff that’s way too big for him. And he has to make a choice.

    Kumail Nanjiani

    He did not give away how many episodes we can expect him, but it does sound like he’s going to get into a lot more trouble than he bargained for the moment he meets the former Jedi Master. Nanjiani playing a con man is also a fun direction for the actor, as his style of comedy may add to the guy trying to talk his way out of whatever troubles he’s about to get bombarded with.

    Source: EW via Bleeding Cool

  • Leaked ‘Snow White’ Set Photos Offer First Look at Rachel Zegler in Costume

    Leaked ‘Snow White’ Set Photos Offer First Look at Rachel Zegler in Costume

    It looks like our first look at Rachel Zegler in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Snow White has found its way online. Details on the project are still kept tightly under wraps, but it looks like they kept the design of her original dress alive, which looks like a direct adaptation of the original Disney animated film. What stands out is how much the colors pop, as sometimes live-action costumes are muted to fit a more realistic design.

    The only addition seems to be the elongated sleeves, as they normally stopped with the shoulder piece. We’ll see if we also get some more set photos that reveal the inclusion of the seven dwarfs. There have been some hints that they may take a unique take with the characters, but we’ll have to wait and see, as a lot on this production is unclear, especially how close they might adapt the original animated film.

    The 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had quite a short runtime but was a marvel of animation for its time. We’ve seen quite a few live-action attempts over the years, such as an inclusion of the characters in the Once Upon a Time series, or the action-adventure version, Snow White and the Huntsman with Kristen Stewart in the lead. There was also the 2012 film Mirror Mirror where Lily Collins took on the role of Snow White opposite Julia Roberts‘ The Queen. So, we’ll see what Zegler‘s version brings to the plate as the iconic character.

    Source: Twitter

  • Norman Reedus Seemingly Confirms ‘Death Stranding’ Sequel is in Production

    Norman Reedus Seemingly Confirms ‘Death Stranding’ Sequel is in Production

    Many were excited to see what the first independent-produced game by Kojima Productions would look like, especially with Hideo Kojima taking full charge of the project. It resulted in the game known as Death Stranding, which was quite a bit different from what many expected the Metal Gear Solid director would end up working on. In it, you take on the role of Sam, played by Norman Reedus, who transports items across a post-apocalypse from one bunker to the next, helping humanity rebuild and research the mysterious phenomenon that changed the world.

    In an interview with Leo Edit, it seems he may have accidentally confirmed that they are working on a sequel. In the interview, he reveals that he met Kojima through Guillermo Del Toro, where he worked on his first feature film. Seemed he didn’t have many options as Del Toro told him to just say yes and that’s how he ended up on what would’ve been Silent Hills. Still when asked about what’s to follow after wrapping up on The Walking Dead.

    We just started the second one.

    Norman Reedus

    It’s definitely surprising that Kojima Productions is working on a sequel, as while it was definitely critically acclaimed, sales seemed a bit more mellow than initially expected. Still, Death Stranding has a lot of potential in further exploring the world it presents and he hints it took him “two to three years” to finish the MoCap. So, they may have finished work on another project in the meantime before tackling the sequel. Yet, it’s only speculation as we haven’t heard anything outside of the Director’s Cut since the release back in 2019.

    Source: Leo