Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • Matt Reeves Shares How Nirvana Inspired ‘The Batman’s Script

    Matt Reeves Shares How Nirvana Inspired ‘The Batman’s Script

    There are always some surprising influences on various projects. Sometimes a music cue or even a painting could become the center point of one’s approach to storytelling. In the case of The Batman‘s director Matt Reeves, it seems that his biggest influence was the music by Nirvana. It seems that the songs and lead singer Kurt Cobain became a main point of influence while writing his take on the Caped Crusader, who will be played by Robert Pattinson. He goes on to say that:

    Early on, when I was writing, I started listening to Nirvana, and there was something about [Nevermind song] ‘Something in the Way’, which is in the first trailer, which is part of the voice of that character. When I considered, ‘How do you do Bruce Wayne in a way that hasn’t been seen before?’ I started thinking, ‘What if some tragedy happened and this guy becomes so reclusive, we don’t know what he’s doing? Is this guy some kind of wayward, reckless, drug addict?’ And the truth is that he is a kind of drug addict. His drug is his addiction to this drive for revenge. He’s like a Batman Kurt Cobain.

    Matt Reeves

    As he points out, the song was a highlight of the initial trailer that was revealed during DC FanDome. It set quite a tone, as we got our first true look at the film’s new take of the Dark Knight and its detective noir storytelling. It’ll be interesting to see if we see any of Nirvana’s songs scattered across the film’s now confirmed 3-hour runtime. As such, we get the longest entry in the iconic comic book adaptation with the most unique take on the franchise.

    Source: Esquire

  • ‘The Suicide Squad’s Flula Borg to Reprise ‘Pitch Perfect’ Role in Spinoff Series

    ‘The Suicide Squad’s Flula Borg to Reprise ‘Pitch Perfect’ Role in Spinoff Series

    It looks like the Pitch Perfect franchise is ready to get its first spinoff with the German actor Flula Borg returning to reprise his role of Piëter Krämer from the second film entry. He’ll join Adam DeVine in the new Peacock original series, where he signs Bumper Allen, DeVine‘s character, as his client and tries to make his dreams a reality after one of his songs becomes a hit there.

    Borg has been making quite a name for himself with his short-lived but memorable tenure as Javelin in James Gunn‘s The Suicide Squad. He also appeared in Trolls World Tour, Ferdinand, and Buddymoon. He’s also has worked with DeVine in the past, such as on Workaholics.

    Megan Amram will write the spinoff series and also act as showrunner and executive producer on the piece. Brownstone Productions is also executive producing with Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman involved alongside Gold Circle Films’ Paul Brooks and Scott Neimeyer. DeVine also has an executive producing role. It seems the project doesn’t have a name as of yet.

    Source: Variety

  • Lucy Liu to Star in Stephen King’s ‘Later’ Adaptation by ‘True Blood’s Raelle Tucker

    Lucy Liu to Star in Stephen King’s ‘Later’ Adaptation by ‘True Blood’s Raelle Tucker

    Stephen King‘s 2021 novel, Later, is going to be turned into a limited series with Lucy Liu set to take on the main role. Raelle Tucker will act as showrunner and wrote the script for the pilot. She previously worked on HBO’s True Blood and the Sacred Lies anthology series together with Blumhouse Television who landed the rights for the project and are spearheading the project moving forward. She shared her excitement about getting another chance to work with Jason Blum.

    I’ve wanted to work with Jason Blum for years, and now we have two projects together. Go, me! Later is terrifying and touching and wonderfully weird — of course it is, it’s Stephen King. Adapting one of my favorite writers of all time, with an incredible partner like Blumhouse and the incomparable Lucy Liu, is a dream come true

    Raelle Tucker

    The adaptation will explore the story of Tia (Lucy Liu), the owner of a literary agency, is facing the end of her career due to the death of her star writer. Without his promised work, she’s about to face bankruptcy and is alone raising her son Jamie. Luckily, he has the ability to speak to the dead – as one does – and is able to help her finish the book after uncovering the original plans by its original author post-mortem. Yet, it wouldn’t be a story without any conflict, as Tia’s girlfriend finds out and he might be over his head.

    Source: Deadline

  • Sam Raimi Shares His Thoughts on ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    Sam Raimi Shares His Thoughts on ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    Tobey Maguire‘s return as Spider-Man in No Way Home was one of the worst kept secrets in Hollywood. Yet, the moment he returned still became a big moment for anyone visiting a cinema, as the film became the first one to become a massive hit while others struggled during the pandemic. What makes his return so interesting is that the director of the original trilogy, Sam Raimi, also is returning to the Marvel universe with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

    So, the director is slowly preparing to discuss his latest film and In an interview with Variety, he was asked about his thoughts on Spider-Man: No Way Home. He shared his thoughts on the film and also the delight of seeing the actors return to the roles he once cast them in. It looks like he had quite enjoyed the film and the fun of seeing those familiar faces return.

    It was so much fun. I love ‘No Way Home’ and the audience I was with went crazy. It was delightful to watch Alfred play his role, and Willem Dafoe, just seeing these guys take it to the next level. And Tobey was awesome as always. The best word I can say is it was refreshing for me.

    Sam Raimi

    It must be a strange feeling to see elements of your own story make a return on the silver screen. The film managed to find a good balance of continuing their original stories and even trying to redeem them, which becomes a core narrative for Tom Holland‘s Peter Parker. There’s a sense of irony that a Spider-Man film would also be the set-up for his newest entry in the Marvel universe.

    Source: Variety

  • MALTA FILM WEEK: Director Colin Azzopardi Shares His Experience Working on ‘Game of Thrones’

    MALTA FILM WEEK: Director Colin Azzopardi Shares His Experience Working on ‘Game of Thrones’

    The first-ever Malta Film Week has kicked off that gives local talent the chance to discuss and share their experiences as part of the international film industry, but also the importance of growing their local cinematic landscape. During the panel discussion on Malta’s film culture and ecosystem, director Colin Azzopardi offered some insight into his work on Game of Thrones after the question came what the panel would prefer: working on film or TV? He offered some insight into what his experience was, as well as the pros and cons that come with it.

    For me, it was a fantastic journey. One, being part of such a big project which after season 1, they knew it would do well, but they never expected it to do so well. It became like a cult and it sort of exploded, and your being part of the process. I started off as a AD, I was part of the creative process. And you’re getting involved in decision making and creating the looks of various culture in the story, and stuff like that. Then, moving on to production management and helping actually make the product on a massive scale, of course. The budgets on that were off the roof. And there’s a satisfaction in that, being part of that and being reocgnized for the awards and that kind of thing.

    Colin Azzopardi

    Just as much as he was praising the work that he was able to do with the HBO series, there was one large setback. Given its success, he was contractually obligated to work on the project for some time which limited his options of tackling other projects.

    When I was doing Game of Thrones, I used to get calls for other projects, and obviously, you can’t do it because you’re tied down for so many years on a project. So, everything has its pros and cons, of course. I guess, if it was my TV series, then it’s a bit different because it’s yours and you’re involved with it, absorbed in the process.

    Colin Azzopardi

    Of course, the panel highlights that everyone has their own perspective on the matter. There may be some that enjoy the safety of a fixed contract while others prefer the freedom of managing their own projects, as highlighted by Azzopardi on the way you approach a project if you created it yourself. That diverse perspective also strongly reflects how complex the industry is

    Source: YouTube

  • Emilia Clarke’s Character Acting Suspicious in Latest ‘Secret Invasion’ Set Video

    Emilia Clarke’s Character Acting Suspicious in Latest ‘Secret Invasion’ Set Video

    In a series titled Secret Invasion, we suspect a lot of foul play throughout the series. What doesn’t help is that quite a few spies will be involved in the series, which is the perfect recipe to keep people on their toes. A new set video has found its way online featuring Emilia Clarke in the same outfit we saw previously. It also adds a bit more to the scenes we saw featuring her and Cobie Smulders, who is returning as Maria Hill.

    The video features Clarke‘s character walking by a building only to return back. It seems reports from the set, as this is part of LeedsLive’s Facebook stream, is that she is looking around nervously and acting suspiciously. Plus, she and Hill seem to know each other, which adds some more confusion to her behavior. Ther’s always a chance she ends up being a Skrull, but she may also just be a former SHIELD spy meeting back up with her.

    https://twitter.com/SInvasionNews/status/1485750118158635017

    We have no official word on Clarke‘s character and we might not find out for some time, but it does add to the intrigue of what exactly is going on during these scenes. It’s always fun to see what the scene looks like when we see what the sequence looks like once they release it on Disney+. There are quite a few people waiting outside the barriers, which may be the reason we’ve gotten so many set videos and photos since they started their production.

    Source: Facebook via Twitter

  • Disney+’s ‘Mighty Ducks’ Series Found Its New Male Lead in Josh Duhamel

    Disney+’s ‘Mighty Ducks’ Series Found Its New Male Lead in Josh Duhamel

    It looks like The Mighty Ducks Disney+ series has found its new lead, as Josh Duhamel has been announced to fill the gap that is left behind with Emilio Estevez leaving the project. He originally was going to return for the second season, but there were rumors that conflicts regarding the series COVID restrictions may have led to his departure. Supposedly, there were also creative differences that played a key factor in why he and Disney went their separate ways on this project.

    Duhamel is set to play a new character named Gavin Cole, who runs an intense summer hockey institute. He was once an NHL player that became a coach with the description of being “inspirational, charming, and hardcore as he is big on the hockey metaphor that applies to life.” So, the kids might be in for a tough training session in the upcoming second season. It won’t be the same without Estevez‘s Gordon Bombay, but it’ll be interesting to see what Duhamel might offer to mix up the formula.

    The second season will be run by Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith, who created the series together with the film’s director Steven Brill. Outside of Estevez, most of the cast will return for the second season, such as Lauren Graham and Brady Noon. The series currently has no production start date or release date for its second season.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Chukwudi Iwuji Teases His “Powerful” and “Complex” Character

    ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Chukwudi Iwuji Teases His “Powerful” and “Complex” Character

    It’s James Gunn‘s world and we’re just living in it. The director has been making headlines with one hit project after another, as he directly followed up his work on The Suicide Squad with a spinoff on the character of Peacemaker, as played by John Cena. All that was just the warm-up, as he already jumped straight to directing his third – and likely final – Guardians of the Galaxy film. In it, a familiar face from his latest HBO Max series will make a return, Chukwudi Iwuji.

    Iwuji‘s involvement was first confirmed in a photo from the set back in November, and it’s still unclear who exactly he is playing – even if there are quite a few rumors offering a hint at who exactly that might turn out to be. That hasn’t stopped the actor from teasing the role in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, as he believes his character might be “the most complex character” we’ve seen yet in the MCU. His full quote:

    Powerful. Extremely powerful. Complex. James and I were talking about it, but he’s certainly one of, if not the most complex character we’ve seen in the freaking Marvel universe. So he’s deeply complex and deeply powerful, and I hope intriguing. I hope I bring that to it

    Chukwudi Iwuji

    It’s quite something to tease and Gunn is known for his talent of bringing complex characters to life on the silver screen. Iwuji‘s wording of “powerful” would add to the possibility of him playing a villain. Most of the MCU’s villains have been rather one-note, but that has started to change with their latest projects. So, if he is indeed playing one, the tease would add a lot to the franchise’s rogue’s gallery.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Kit Harington’s Black Knight May Return in Mahershala Ali’s ‘Blade’

    Kit Harington’s Black Knight May Return in Mahershala Ali’s ‘Blade’

    The end of Eternals finally introduced the MCU to the Ebony Blade. Kit Harington‘s Dane Whitman opened a box to unleash the cursed weapon, but that was not all. He is suddenly greeted by a voice off-screen that was later confirmed to be Mahershala Ali‘s Blade. Of course, it made us wonder what this might mean for the character’s future as the Black Knight and it seems that they may be setting up an appearance in his upcoming solo film.

    ComicBook had the chance to sit down with Eternals VFX Supervisor Stephane Ceretti, who revealed that the Ebony Blade will return in the upcoming Blade solo film, as he talks about passing on the work they did so that Martin Lawson, who is taking over a similar role for the upcoming solo film, can build upon that.

    The funny thing is my second on the show, which is Martin Lawson my additional supervisor, is actually going to be supervising Blade very soon. So I told him, I said, ‘I’m giving that to you as a gift, use it wisely and make good out of it.’ But I’m sure it’s going to do actually even better.

    Stephane Ceretti

    It would make sense that they build upon the scene from Eternals, but we also know very little about the plot of the upcoming vampire-hunting film. Perhaps Whitman becomes an unlikely ally that has to help him in stopping a new type of vampire. He would make for a great everyman and actually be involved with the story unlike in his introduction. Of course, there’s always the chance that the blade might make an appearance, but it would seem strange not to include its iconic wielder.

    Source: ComicBook

  • High-Quality Images Released for ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Finale

    High-Quality Images Released for ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Finale

    It’s surprising that it took this long before we got any official stills or images from the film featuring all three Spider-Man together. Spider-Man: No Way Home is a powerhouse at the box office, and it’s likely that everyone who wanted to see it, already has. Yet, Sony never offered an official look at its full cast. Hell, we never even got special posters highlighting the return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in their respective roles. Luckily, high-quality looks at the final were released as part of an interview with visual effects supervisor Chris Waegner over at before & afters.

    When you have to craft not one Spider-Man, but three!

    Waegner highlights that he has quite the history with the Spider-Man franchise, as he worked on quite a few of them during his tenure at Imageworks. So, he naturally was able to bring that passion and realize each one of the character’s unique aspects to life. They had to rebuild a lot of their assets for the film, as the old assets were no longer viable due to how far technology has come. Plus, Tobey and Andrew aren’t the same age when they previously played the characters, which also became a key factor.

    They also had to work on some previous villains making their grand return in the film. In a way, it would seem like modern technology would’ve made work easier on bringing these characters to life once again. A big part is their approach to Sandman, who already was pushing boundaries back during the release of Spider-Man 3. Waegner highlights that they were able to optimize their approach, such as making him feel more like a sand storm if the story or moment required it.

    In the interview, he also praised the practical work that was done to support their CG work, as the Liberty island was recreated with a practical set. A lot of the scaffolding featured in the sequence was real and also helped their team to realize their vision, as they worked on the finale. Plus, the set choice offers a lot of reference material to utilize and work from to bring the effects-heavy aspects to life in a much easier way. He does highlight that it was quite the undertaking for their Modeling and Environments team.

    Source: befores & afters