Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • Live-Action ‘Powerpuff Girls’ & Arrowverse ‘Justice U’ Spinoff No Longer in Development

    Live-Action ‘Powerpuff Girls’ & Arrowverse ‘Justice U’ Spinoff No Longer in Development

    It’s not too surprising, but the CW’s new leadership Nexstar is moving the company away from what made it popular. The broadcaster often created shows on a cheaper budget but also was the home for a wide variety of great classics like Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, and many more. It was the last battlefront for traditional writer rooms and talent getting the opportunity to grow through the ranks while streaming made it quite a bit of a harsher environment.

    Now, we have the confirmation that Powerpuff, the live-action adaptation of Cartoon Network’s Powerpuff Girls, will no longer be reworked. After a failed pilot, one of its stars, Agents of SHIELD actress Chloe Bennet, did not reprise her role as an older Blossom. So, they tried to rework and start casting someone else in the leading role but nothing came of it for quite some time. Now, it has officially been laid to reset.

    The female-led Zorro series is no longer removing forward and they also canceled an Archie Comics spinoff focusing on Jake Chang. The bigger surprise is that the last battlefront for the Arrowverse to continue beyond The Flash’s final episode, John Diggle-focused spinoff Justice U, is also disbanding. An era is truly coming to an end alongside the last remnants of former CW president Mark Pedowitz’s. They might sell these projects to other studios, but it does seem unlikely as of now.

    Source: TVLine

  • ‘Bosch’s Clark Johnson Joins Disney+’s ‘Daredevil’ to Direct and Star

    ‘Bosch’s Clark Johnson Joins Disney+’s ‘Daredevil’ to Direct and Star

    Marvel Studios’ upcoming take on Daredevil is continuing to add some great talent, as they have seemingly added Clark Johnson not only as a director but also to play the role of “Cherry.” While it’s not confirmed by Marvel, Deadline shares that it is who they have heard he is playing, and he’s set to also direct two episodes of Marvel Studios’ longest-running Disney+ series. He joins the new take on the Netflix characters once again played by Charlie Cox with new showrunners Matt Corman and Chris Ord working on the project.

    While the Deadline article spells the name “Cherry”, there’s a chance he might tackle the role of corrupt politician Randolph Cherryh, who appeared in Daredevil #177. The character was notable for having a direct tie to Kingpin, who is also going to return with Vincent D’Onforio reprising his role from Hawkeye and the upcoming Echo. It seems very unlikely that this will be a gender-bent version of Cherry Blossom, who served as a Hand assassin in the comics.

    Clark Johnson has made quite an imprint on TV, as he directed the pilot episode of The Shield which got him an Emmy nomination. He’s also been involved with shows like Love & Death, Mayor of Kingstown, Luke Cage, The Good Fight, The Wire, and many more. He also acted in a variety of projects, such as playing Gus Haynes in The Wire, which might be one of his most iconic roles. He also appears in Evil as Father Amara.

    Source: Deadline

  • Marvel Studios President Hints at Strong International Performance of Disney+ Series

    Marvel Studios President Hints at Strong International Performance of Disney+ Series

    The Internet will often point to “quality over quantity” in regard to lower-than-usual performing Marvel movies. Though they still dominated most of 2022, their only “shortcoming” so far was Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania underperforming with 470M. Yes, it didn’t make its money back but it’s still an amount most people would dream of in such a competitive market after running for 10+ years. Still, the vocalization of the Internet’s displeasure has also been very openly pointed at Disney+.

    Some say the shows aren’t good enough quality, constantly dragging down the viewership numbers based on 3rd party tracking, and hatred from being too “woke” by a specific crowd. Last year, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Ms. Marvel took the brunt of it, but Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige left with a strong message during Disney’s Upfronts by pointing out that their shows have reached “often two to three times the numbers of viewers” from the “buzziest shows on competitive services.”

    Thanks to Disney+, we’ve expanded the Marvel Cinematic Universe into genre and formats new to us that we haven’t done before. We’ve been able to introduce exciting new heroes and villains, locations and storylines into the MCU. And I’m pleased to share that when you compare our Marvel series to some of the buzziest shows on competitive services, even our smallest series are reaching much more international audience – often two to three times the number of viewers.

    Kevin Feige

    We can’t really prove it and streaming services continue to share very little outside of Netflix, but it’s definitely an interesting perspective to offer. And it’s not like they are inventing numbers, it may be a showcase of the international audience embracing these shows more, and discussions on quality are much more diverse than they appear to be; especially if you see how the Internet reacts toward the existence of shows like The Good Doctor.

    We’ll see what the future holds for these shows, but Marvel is definitely taking a step back and changing up their strategy, such as Echo becoming a binge release. For now, it feels like we’re about to enter a new era as the pandemic has been left behind and theatrical releases are finally a viable strategy again.

    Source: The Direct via Twitter

  • RUMOR: ‘Persona 3 Remake’ May Finally be Unveiled in Next Month’s Xbox Showcase

    RUMOR: ‘Persona 3 Remake’ May Finally be Unveiled in Next Month’s Xbox Showcase

    It looks like the upcoming PlayStation Showcase won’t have anything for Atlus fans if a new rumor is anything to go by. When it was finally announced that PlayStation is back to showcase its future line-up, there was some hope (personally) that we’d finally get a good look at what the future of the Persona series looks like. After the sixth installment was a no-show during its 25th anniversary, it seemed like the perfect time to share it. Yet, it seems a new rumor is hinting at a different direction for Atlus’ reveal.

    Oddly enough, Resetera has become the main source for any future sight on what Persona fans can expect from the franchise, as not even Atlus has been willing to drop any real hints. Im A Hero Too, who previously shared that the Persona 3 Remake exists long before the first hint of it leaked online, has seemingly shared that we should expect a showcase of the game on June 11th, which is when the Xbox Showcase will take place.

    The “It’ll be Evoke-itive” is the big reveal that it’s P3 related. Of course, this isn’t a confirmation that we’ll definitely see something and they might still have a tease of some kind in the upcoming PlayStation Showcase. This move also would highlight Atlus’ strategy of going beyond its PlayStation roots, and it doesn’t mean that Persona 6, which is also seemingly in development for some kind, wouldn’t also be a PlayStation exclusive.

    It would be quite the double-hit with a first tease for the sixth installment as part of PlayStation’s showcase with a limited exclusive release similar to Final Fantasy VII Remake. In the meantime, they can keep fans happy on other consoles with a remake of Persona 3, which had the smallest amount of effort put into its remaster earlier this year. For now, it gives us at least a potential timeline on when we might expect something from this franchise for now.

    Source: Resetera, Xbox

  • 2 Familiar X-Men Set to Return for ‘Deadpool 3’

    2 Familiar X-Men Set to Return for ‘Deadpool 3’

    It looks like we have some familiar faces returning for Deadpool 3. Even while Shawn Levy is taking over directing duties and the film is set to be produced by Marvel Studios, the franchise is still continuing from its 20th Century Fox roots, as Ryan Reynolds continues to build upon what the previous two Deadpool entries set up. Now, we have the confirmation that we’ll have two familiar faces from the X-Men that were introduced in previous films.

    Brianna Hildebrand is back to once again play Negasonic Teenage Warhead, the mutant we first met during her traineeship under Colossus in the first Deadpool film. She’ll be joined by Shioli Kutsuna, who played her girlfriend Yukio, a Japanese mutant. We sadly didn’t spend too much time with Yukio outside of a few scenes so it would be great if this new film will give her a bit more to do.

    Reynolds, Levy, Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese, and Zeb Wells all had a hand in writing the script for the third Deadpool film. We’re seeing Marvel Studios return to some old habits of adapting its various projects with the help of a variety of writers to help bring the script together. It’ll be produced by Kevin Feige and while plot details are still tightly kept under wraps, we do know that we have a few franchise veterans returning, such as Rob Delaney, Morena Baccarin, Karan Soni, Leslie Uggams, and Stefan Kapicic.

    Source: Deadline

  • Disney Upfront Reveals First Look at Mobius’ New TVA Suit

    Disney Upfront Reveals First Look at Mobius’ New TVA Suit

    Disney just recently had its Upfront presentation, where it showcased to advertisers just how important it is to invest their money in Disney+. Their new ad-supported model is just picking up speed and it’s no wonder that they would try to push what the future has in store plus all the pre-existing franchises that pull in quite a number of viewership. At the after-party, it seems there are a few displays of iconic imagery from Star Wars and Marvel.

    that isn’t all, as there’s also a showcase of Loki’s second season. We get a look at a black suit that has been teased for the God of Mischief. Not just that, but the standee is next to something that looks like a space-inspired suit from the TVA. The logo is on it, and there were some hints at this being something Morbius wears in the upcoming second season, but it’s interesting that they are including some spoilers from sequences we haven’t seen yet.

    Looking closely at the picture next to Iron Man’s helmet, you can actually see that this suit is, in fact, for Morbius. It’s called a Temporal Core suit and may play into the time travel elements that continue to be a big part of this new multiversal storyline. With the confirmation of a release date during the Upfronts, we’re still waiting for an actual trailer. Of course, they may be trying to focus on Secret Invasions to avoid overlapping too many ads that create the “quantity over quality” belief of the web.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Mortal Kombat’ Reboot to Include Kameo Fighters & Immersive Story Campaign

    ‘Mortal Kombat’ Reboot to Include Kameo Fighters & Immersive Story Campaign

    Seems the rumors have turned out true, as Mortal Kombat has skipped the 12 and just cut one of the 1. Mortal Kombat 11‘s story has set up a new era for the iconic Kombatants and now, Mortal Kombat 1 will continue the story of the Fire God Liu Kang’s new world. The first trailer has finally arrived hinting at quite a few familiar faces including the fact that Shang Tsung will be the pre-order bonus for new players.

    That isn’t all, as we will also seemingly get an “immersive story campaign” that might give players the choice to once again change the course of time. Of course, it’s just a theory based on how the story trailer hints at how the story might play out with familiar faces facing a familiar foe. The game is set to release on 19th September of this year across all consoles and PC. The game will be a pure next-gen experience as PS4 and Xbox One have not been mentioned.

    This marks another reboot of the franchise that builds on a similar style of how Mortal Kombat 9 used an existing character from a previous universe to rewrite time. Though, they may have given us a younger Raiden this time around with a more human backstory as his role has been passed on to Liu Kang. They will be joined by Kitana, Mileena, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero. It’s unclear if Shang-Tsung is the main antagonist or just a misleading addition to the trailer.

    The other big addition is the so-called “Kameo Fighters.” They have seemingly reworked the system to include the opportunity to have an additional type of character that can support you during Kombat. The trailer doesn’t give away and some early rumors hint at characters like DC’s Peacemaker or The Boys‘ Homelander potentially joining the roster. We will also receive DLC in the form of Kombat Pack that confirms Johnny Cage in the game, who will have a skin that makes him look like his original inspiration, Jean-Claude Van Damme.

    It’ll be available at launch and also include early access to six new post-launch characters and five Kameo Fighters. Sadly, Day 1 DLC remains a constant in the industry and it seems it won’t be going away anytime. EArly access to six characters sounds rather curious though, as it almost implies that it’ll be a games-as-a-service type deal. We’ll have to see once more is shown from the September release.

    Source: EuroGamer

  • ‘One Piece’ and ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Remain Absent in Netflix’s New Fall Schedule

    ‘One Piece’ and ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Remain Absent in Netflix’s New Fall Schedule

    It’s not easy being a fan of a Netflix show. Besides the never-ending expectation of any show you love getting canceled at any moment, there’s also he problem with Netflix’s very flighty way of handling its marketing for new shows. In their hunt for the next Squid Game or Stranger Things, the streamer relies on little marketing and hopes the show’s quality or built-in IP audience might push it to record heights.

    In Netflix’s first Upfront ever, they tried to sell advertisers on the fact that they are able to host ads on the service with their ad-supported tier with a “wide” audience interested in seeing them. As part of it, they did some surprising big announcements for renewals for Ginny & Georgine or Virgin River; potentially trying to counteract a current perception of their overall strategy.

    In a Fall Scheduled shared by Variety for Netflix, they include four new prestige dramas that include All the Light We Cannot See, Blue Eye Samurai, The Fall of the House of Usher, and Griselda. Comedy-wise they have Neon, Exploding Kittens, Obliderated, and The Vince Staples Show. Strangely enough, two of their biggest new IPs are still missing.

    So far, One Piece has been promoted surprisingly frequently for Netflix’s standards but there was no mention of the show’s release. It wasn’t part of the Fall line-up and is currently just set under “Coming Soon” alongside a variety of other projects. Joining it is Avatar: The Last Airbender, which hasn’t had any mention since production started a long time ago.

    It’s hard to say if they are part of the Fall schedule at all at this point or even if they still have a chance for a Summer release. One Piece at the moment has the best chances of a 2023 release, but Eiichiro Oda has stated he has the final say on if a project releases or not. So, they may just be waiting for that final “go” before giving it a set release date or timing window. Earlier this year they promised 2023, so it’s not like the series has been completely left on the wayside.

    It’s a big show with a very big international audience that has yet to grow stateside. So, they will likely want to jump in as much as they can once they have a more set with the current rumor still pointing to a late August release. Perhaps it’s not part of the Fall line-up as it’s still set as the big final push in the Summer line-up that mainly has The Witcher’s next season on the horizon going into June and July.

    Avatar: The Last Airbender, however, is still a mystery. We don’t even have an official logo or Twitter handle for the series based on a very popular brand. While the original creators left the project, you’d think they would still want to push it heavily nay way they could given the built-in audience but silence still remains their de facto strategy for this property.

    They aren’t the only ones, as 3 Body Problem is also suffering from a silent promotion since the brief tease in last year’s Geeked Week. That event also seemingly has been left behind with TUDUM returning for an in-person event but no official promotion of any kind of their live stream teasing their future slate. Netflix is adjusting to a post-COVID world but is still leaving many wondering what exactly is their strategy and why are they so silent on some of their biggest ventures moving forward.

    Source: Variety

  • Netflix’s Real-Life ‘Squid Game’ Eyeing November Release

    Netflix’s Real-Life ‘Squid Game’ Eyeing November Release

    Netflix’s first Upfront has come and gone with very little fanfare. They mainly focused on their ad-supported model and selling future advertisers that they should definitely invest in. Sadly, most of their future big projects are being left behind, there are some surprises like a double season renewal of Ginny & Georgina and Love is Blind surprisingly soon return later this year.

    Probably one of their biggest “IPs” is Squid Game. While Season 2 is still taking quite a bit of time to produce, it does seem like their upcoming reality show inspired by the anti-capitalism series (the irony still isn’t lost) will come sooner than expected. The series is set to premiere sometime this November, 17 months after it was given a green light.

    It’ll consist of ten parts and see players re-enact many of the iconic games from the original with the hope of winning the big prize. The last we heard about it was that some production issues had led to some concerns over the project. People go through hellish conditions to bring a simple concept to life. We’ll have to see how it turned out and with a potential November release, there’s still some time before any official trailer drops.

    Source: Deadline, Deadline

  • Den Den Murphy Episode 28 – More Live-Action ‘One Piece’ News

    Den Den Murphy Episode 28 – More Live-Action ‘One Piece’ News

    After a bit of a hiatus, Suki and Joe are back to talk all things One Piece. The excitement is rising with Netflix’s upcoming live-action adaptation of the popular manga series with an official statement by Eiichiro Oda. Not just that but the two also catch up on the manga, and discuss the new One Piece Odyssey DLC.