Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • Sam Raimi’s Crew Gifts Included His Comic References for ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

    Sam Raimi’s Crew Gifts Included His Comic References for ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

    It’s not uncommon that various productions would get crew gifts as part of their involvement in bringing these projects to life. In the case of Sam Raimi, it seems that he had a very different approach. Stunt Coordinator Mark Wagner took to his personal Instagram account and revealed that the director gave him some of his reference materials as a gift for working on Marvel Studios’ latest film. While he didn’t reveal every issue he received, the one he did share is quite a curious one.

    It seems that he got an issue of Doctor Strange #48 that heavily included the character of Clea and was even the return of Brother Vodoo. Now, we have to keep in mind that story elements or even visual references are commonly used in comics. So, just because it includes these characters doesn’t mean it’ll definitely also have them appear in the film. Still, they might include elements or references to the characters, as there are probably many secrets we still don’t know about the film’s upcoming release.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CYf5r7Pubjw/

    While the trailers have given us a few glimpses at the direction of the film, it still feels like there’s so much we know very little about. If Clea does arrive, it might be interesting to see how it might connect to Strange’s arc with Christine Palmer. Perhaps a multiversal version of her was possessed by the Dormammu relative and would become the reason that we see a corrupted version of the good Doctor in the trailer. Of course, she may also be the key to solving it all alongside America Chavez, who will also make her debut in the upcoming film. We only have a month more to go until we finally have our answers.

    Source: Instagram

  • ‘National Treasure’s Justin Bartha to Return for Disney+ Spinoff Series

    ‘National Treasure’s Justin Bartha to Return for Disney+ Spinoff Series

    It looks like one original cast member is making his return to the upcoming National Treasure spinoff series, as Disney+ took to its official Twitter account to announce that Justin Bartha is returning in a guest role. He’ll join the series as Riley Poole one more time, who was Nicolas Cage‘s nerdy sidekick and computer expert. The big confirmation with this is that the new series takes place in the same world as the original two films were, which opens up the window for other cameos later down the line. There’s no word if Cage might be interested in also reprising his role as Ben for the series, but the possibility definitely seems to be there.

    It’s unclear if he’ll have any ties to the original films, or if he is simply reprising his role for an unrelated cameo appearance. The Disney+ series focuses on a completely new cast that follows Lisette Alexis‘ Jess as she embarks on an adventure of a lifetime to find a long-lost Pan-American treasure. Catherine Zeta-Jones has also been cast in a major role and will make Jess’ adventure quite a bit more difficult. So far, there’s no word if the series is being produced with multiple seasons in mind.

    It’s great to see these legacy franchises include actors from the originals that inspired it. It adds that feeling of passing the torch even if not everyone is on board. Who knows, they could also always surprise viewers with a last-minute cameo, especially with films that became cult classics long after they premiered.

    Source: Twitter

  • REVIEW: ‘Reed’s Point’ Tried Too Much With Too Little

    REVIEW: ‘Reed’s Point’ Tried Too Much With Too Little

    There’s something charming about small-budget films that try to tell a compelling story with the little they have available. While not everything manages to make it work the way they imagine due to those limitations; they do say that it breeds creativity. Sadly, that isn’t always the case as some projects have a big vision that is hard to translate with such restrictions. Dale Fabrigar‘s Reed’s Point sadly falls right into that category, as a film that had a good idea but didn’t know how to quite fill its runtime.

    The film is on the shorter time, as it doesn’t even truly fill out a full 90 minutes. Even so, it still feels like it could’ve been cut down to a third given the premise of the story. After a tragic crash leads to the disappearance of a young girl at the hands of the Jersey Devil, two friends are on the hunt to find out what truly happened that day and cope with their grief. Most of the film is spent with Evan Adams‘ Alex and Sasha Anne‘s Sarah as they face the urban legend to uncover the truth.

    It sounds like a decent storyline, especially as you witness the accident earlier in the film that sets up a mystery. We see the Jersey Devil kidnap someone while also managing to rip someone’s arm off with ease. While the costume isn’t going to fool anyone, the fact that it chose to abduct Madison Ekstrand‘s Kelsey does set up a curious mystery even if they spell out the twist early on. Sadly, it’s afterward that the film struggles to bring everything together.

    After a time jump, Sarah and a surprisingly alive Alex–the film told us everyone died but suddenly he kind of appears out of nowhere–are investigating the events. Unable to cope with their grief, their convenient internships as journalists helps them chase a story they are told to leave behind. Without any supervision, the two head out investigate as they believe Kelsey is still alive out there somewhere. The base premise feels like Safety Not Guaranteed with a horror spin.

    What happens in town is no one takes them seriously until one random person does and introduces them to Anthony Jensen‘s Hank, who’s by far the best part of the film with how much fun he has with the role. Most of the film after a short visit to a diner takes place in a forest. Yet, this isn’t a dense forest like in The Ritual that would make you forget where you are and drive you mad. It’s an open field with a few trees. Sadly, the production location took away from the “mystery” element they were going for with the fear of the Jersey Devil around the corner at all times. It takes away from the illusion that Alex suddenly panics and stumbles only to break his leg–an absolute random event that feels inserted just to further pad the story.

    Even as the film nears its end, we suddenly get introduced to new characters, whose motivations are all over the place. Rather quickly, you learn that the Jersey Devil storyline is connected to a family feud which at least was hinted at earlier in the film. Yes, they technically set it up but the execution feels a bit sudden. The problem is that it’s not really a revelation by the characters but spelled out to them, which takes away from the initial pitch of the story. Rather than focusing on the Jersey Devil and them wandering the forest, seeing them investigate the town could’ve benefitted here to create more suspense.

    What drags it down an extra peg is that the ending is quite a mess. Most of the film is padding and it’s already a shorter feature film, to begin with. We build up this one storyline to suddenly add a twist that doesn’t really connect to the core story. While yes, they technically tease it–even adding in a character that was just there for the sake of some extra gore–it doesn’t mix quite as well as they might’ve thought. The thing that makes it worse is that it pulls a Friday the 13th type of ending that made no sense. Especially in how the transition between the events prior feels completely disconnected.

    Sasha Anne takes on the leading role in this story, but sadly her reactions don’t really feel connected to what’s happening at times. Some lines feel a bit phoned in and even after terrible things happen, she just seems oddly calm about it. Out of our main trio, Madison Ekstrand gets the most to do, as her character faces the most change throughout the story. As I pointed out earlier though, Jensen‘s Hank is the stand-out, as he is just having a blast with the role throughout and you can definitely see it come to life with his character.

    At the end of the day, everyone involved with the film tried and gave it their best. You can see that they had fun with the project and wanted to bring the vision to life. I do think it may have benefitted from sticking to a shorter format, as the story could’ve benefitted from it. It describes itself as a psychological thriller and also acts as a creature feature, but it loses focus along the way. Reed’s Point simply tried to do too much with too little.

  • Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes to Direct ‘Ironheart’

    Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes to Direct ‘Ironheart’

    It looks like Marvel Studios’ upcoming Disney+ series Ironheart has finally found its directing team, as Deadline has just reported that Brown Girl‘s Sam Bailey and One Day at a Time’s Angela Barnes. They also confirm a recent reveal by Anthony Ramos that the series is being produced under the banner of Ryan Coogler‘s Proximity, who are joining in a producing role.

    Marvel Studios has been expanding its approach to producing its films, such as also opening up to external production labels joining in. We’ve just recently learned that Deadpool will also be a co-production, a first for the studio outside of Sony-owned productions It’s also fitting that Coogler is involved with the project, as part of his overall deal with Disney. Plus, he is introducing the character of Riri Williams in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

    Sam Bailey made her name in the industry as the co-creator of the Emmy-nominated Brown Girls and also for her work on You’re So Talented. She also directed the final season of Netflix’s Dear White People. Angela Barnes has most notably made her name in television with projects like Mythic Quest, Blindspotting, and even worked on the fourth season of Atlanta. So, they’ve really got some talented directors to bring the series to life.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Barbie’ Continues to Expand With Will Ferrell and Emma Mackey Joining

    ‘Barbie’ Continues to Expand With Will Ferrell and Emma Mackey Joining

    Barbie continues to grow its cast even as we still know barely anything about the production or its story. Greta Gerwig is taking over directing duties for a unique take on one of the most popular toy lines. Margot Robbie takes on the titular role with Ryan Gosling rumored to play Ken. It’s unclear if the story will have everyone running around like plastic dolls, pull a fourth-wall twist, or just a simple adaptation of normal people that have the same names as these toy characters. Either way, the film has added once again to its cast Will Ferrell and Emma Mackey.

    The Hollywood Reporter has hinted that there will be a meta aspect, as Ferrell will play the CEO of the toy company, which may or may not be Mattel. It’s funny to think that this is his second time tackling this kind of role, as he also was Lord Business in The LEGO Movie, where his role also had a meta meaning for the overall story.

    There’s something promising about the comedic talent attached to this project, which might hint at something that might not take itself too seriously. If they do involve the actual company behind the creation of Barbie, perhaps she becomes sentient and is facing the fact that she isn’t actually real. There’s a lot of potential with this project and Gerwig is the perfect director to tackle this project and its social themes.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Peacock Developing a ‘Riverdale’-inspired Live-Action Series of ‘Casper the Friendly Ghost’

    Peacock Developing a ‘Riverdale’-inspired Live-Action Series of ‘Casper the Friendly Ghost’

    It looks like Casper the Friendly Ghost is making his long return, as Peacock is currently developing a live-action TV series. What sticks out is that this will be a coming-of-age story in the same vein as Riverdale‘s darker interpretation that has put the CW series on the map with its very out-there approach to storytelling. The only thing we know is that the series will be written and supervised by head writer Kai Yu Wu of The Ghost Bride fame.

    The story will follow a family arriving in Eternal Falls, where Casper becomes entangled in uncovering a dark secret that has been buried for 100 years. Just like Riverdale, the story will have a high school setting and the once-friendly ghost will have to explore what it means to be truly alive.

    While I enjoyed the first season of Riverdale, the series had a very unique direction moving forward. It’s unclear if they might try to target the same audience, but a murder mystery does work well with a character like Casper. It’s just unclear if they will completely drop his “Friendly Ghost” tagline. The new direction opens a lot of opportunities but could also push it into similar territory to reflect some of the more questionable aspects of the CW series.

    Source: Deadline

  • Blue Sky’s Canceled Nimona Film Picked Up by Netflix

    Blue Sky’s Canceled Nimona Film Picked Up by Netflix

    Here’s an interesitng surprise. Infamously, when Disney shut down Blue Sky, it was revealed they were working on a film titled Nimona. The film was in the middle of development when they shut down the studio, but it turns out that it lives after all. ND Stevenson took to Twitter to not only confirm that the film is back in production, but also that it’ll release in 2023 on Netflix. It was inspired by Stevenson‘s webcomic which he started in college. So, it’s great to see them manage to revive the project.

    Not just that, but the tweet also includes our first look at its titular character and the overall visual style that the film will use. It looks like it’ll remain a 3D animated project with some 2D flourishes, which has been becoming a dominant style to create unique visuals for each project. Chloe Grace Moretz will take on the titular role and is joined by Riz Ahmed and Eugene Lee Yang.

    Originally, the film was announced all the way back in 2015 but was delayed multiple times. When Bleu Sky was canceled, it was already finished around 75% and supposedly, there was some pushback from Disney due to the LGBTQ themes of the story. So, it’s great to see such an important story see the light of day after all. Netflix continues to become a safe haven for these canceled projects, as it adds another project that was left behind by another studio.

    Source: Twitter, Polygon

  • Disney+ Cast ‘The Adam Project’s Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson

    Disney+ Cast ‘The Adam Project’s Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson

    After a long search, it seems that Disney+ has finally found its Percy Jackson, as Variety has just announced that Walker Scobell, who just recently left his mark with The Adam Project, will take on the titular role. The series of Rick Riordan books was ordered to series back in January, and the writer has been actively teasing the project throughout, as he took a bigger hand in bringing it to life. He’s recently hinted that they are on their way to cast the main trio, which is now kicked off with Scobell taking on the role of the 12-year-old demigod.

    Percy has lived most of his life as an outsider due to his ADHD and dyslexia. Yet, he learns that he has a bigger family secret than he may have ever imagined. Perhaps it also gives him a new home where he’ll finally feel where he fits in rather than sticking out as he did before. Yet, he still will find himself on an unlikely adventure after the Greek god Zeus accuses him of stealing the master lightning bolt and is forced to find it to free himself from the accusations while restoring Olympus.

    Scobell made a big splash with his film debut in The Adam Project starring opposite Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, and more. The film’s success definitely also put him on everyone’s radar, as he played a younger version of Reynolds‘ character. He’s also set to appear in Paramount’s upcoming film Secret Headquarters, where he’ll star with Owen Wilson. It’ll be interesting to see who else mightjoin the cast.

    Source: Variety

  • HBO Max Brasil Announces ‘The Batman’s Release for Next Week

    HBO Max Brasil Announces ‘The Batman’s Release for Next Week

    Even before The Batman hit theaters, there was the word making the rounds that under HBO Max’s new deal, the film would release at some point in April. It was hinted at that it might be within the 45-day window and would eventually get confirmed. Now, HBO Max Brasil has taken to its official Twitter account to announce that The Batman will hit its streaming service for no additional cost as of April 18th.

    While the US account has yet to tweet the announcement, it does seem likely that it’ll release worldwide on the same date. It also coincides with the overall digital release that was planned for that time window. It’ll definitely cut into the film’s overall performance and maybe halt it from reaching the $800M it was currently building up to.

    Still, this is a big win for those that haven’t had the chance to visit theaters, as the pandemic is still an issue worldwide. Plus, those that are a bit hesitant about sitting through a 3-hour film might now have their chance to break it up into pieces for their viewing comfort.

    With the expansion of Matt Reeves‘ Batman-Verse moving forward on the service, it also makes sense they’d want to make it it’s permanent home moving forward. It’ll be interesting to see if it picks up a large audience when it hits the streamer just like The Suicide Squad did during its initial release. Here’s hoping that we’ll also get more announcements for the untitled Penguin-focused series to build up on the momentum.

    Source: Twitter

  • Thor’s Indian Voice Actor Reveals Work Has Finished on ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’s Missing Trailer

    Thor’s Indian Voice Actor Reveals Work Has Finished on ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’s Missing Trailer

    There’s been a heated discussion on when we might expect the official trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder to drop. It seemingly has broken the record of the latest a trailer has even been released for the studio, as the film continues to eye its July release window. Fans were hoping they might kick off the week with the trailer, but in a surprising twist, it seems they are just wrapping up work on the project.

    Indian actor and Hindi voice actor Gaurav Chopraa may have accidentally confirmed that the trailer is in its final stages, as the dub voice actor for Thor shared a picture in his Instagram stories that highlight that they’ve just finished work on the trailer. As such, it may be a hint that it could follow sometime this week once it has been dubbed in all languages.

    While many have shared some conspiracies on why exactly it has been delayed, it seems that work simply wasn’t quite finished on it. As these trailers are released worldwide nowadays, they have to ensure that most of the dubbing is also available at the time of its release.

    So, that may have delayed some aspects of the film, as they continue working on the trailer, especially as they also have to finish some VFX that are specially made for the early preview. With it being wrapped up, here’s hoping the wait is almost over. Luckily, Chopraa‘s post in his Instagram stories will at least give some hope that the wait isn’t as long as it once believed to be.

    Source: Instagram