Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • New Marine Set Photo Surfaces from Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Series

    New Marine Set Photo Surfaces from Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Series

    Netflix’s One Piece series recently gave us a massive update from the manga creator, Eiichiro Oda. Not only did he confirm the eight-episode count but also went out of his way to highlight his involvement with the project being more than just giving away the rights. He has the final say on when the project releases and while we’re still waiting, some small details keep finding their way online to keep us well-fed until the next official batch drops.

    It looks like yesterday’s drop wasn’t everything, as a new set photo has found its way online through @OP_Netflix_Fan. This time around, we get a good look at the cadets that work on the various Marine ships. What stands out is that they have shorter sleeves, which is a bit more reminiscent of one of the designs the Marines have in the One Piece manga. It’s unclear if they purposefully are only giving the cadets shorter sleeves as a way to make an easier distinction of what rank each Marine has.

    It’s great to see more of the Marines, as this is our first real look at them on a ship. There’s a chance this might be part of Garp’s ship that was teased in some of the earlier set leaks. Though, this could also just be a regular Marine ship which is also quite prominent throughout the manga’s long tenure. We can only speculate for now, but it’s great to know that the Marines will have different layers and this might be our first tease at what two prominent characters from the East Blue Saga will be wearing, especially with the tease that they will integrate elements from the saga’s Cover Story.

    Source: Twitter

  • Ava DuVernay’s TV Deal With Warner Bros. Won’t Be Extended

    Ava DuVernay’s TV Deal With Warner Bros. Won’t Be Extended

    Ava DuVernay was a rising star with her projects like Selma, A Wrinkle in Time, When They See Us, Queen Sugar, and more. It led to her getting a massive deal with Warner Bros. TV that would have her signed up for five years, which was worth $100M. Yet, it seems that Warner Bros. and DuVernay have decided to part ways and will no longer continue the contract after 2023.

    Keep in mind, this is not something that was due to the WGA strike but rather was a mutual decision between both parties. There’s no drama involved with this decision but there are no details on what exactly is the cause for this development. We currently also have no news on where she is heading next, as she focuses her work on the post-production of the film Caste.

    It’s not uncommon that some deals just don’t continue due to a change in focus. There’s a chance that DuVarney is simply more interested in pushing forward her cinematic projects. Plus, there might be some disinterest after the DC project New Gods fell apart that she was heavily involved with quite some time ago, and the cancelation of Naomi on the CW. But, if there’s no drama as reported then it might just be a decision to refocus moving forward but we’ll have to see if she breaks another TV deal.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Casting Used Video Game Lines Before Halting Production

    ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Casting Used Video Game Lines Before Halting Production

    Here’s a rather bizarre piece of news, or rather trivia at some point later down the line. While The Last of Us was preparing for its second season, the WGA strike happened with many writers banding together to fight for a liveable wage. In any way one would look at it, it’s an important fight to ensure that creativity as we know it lives on moving forward and now allowing artificial intelligence to become a new norm to save labor costs of talented writers.

    Studios are a bit desperate, however, to keep their big shows going and are finding ways to avoid just following through on the inquiries made by the writers. In the case of The Last Of Us‘ second season, it seems they opted to use video game sequences to cast before finally shutting the doors on the production after all.

    Variety is reporting that they have asked actors to read sides taken directly from The Last of Us Part II, which the second season will reportedly be based on. What makes this bizarre is that there are currently no scripts for that very season even as hopes were to start production in early 2024 in Vancouver. Series showrunner Craig Mazin has been advocating for the WGA and was spotted at the picket line.

    It’s unclear what exactly pushed for this casting process but it is likely the studio hoped that they could jump into production as soon as possible if they already have a cast in place with the WGA coming to an end eventually. Neil Druckmann, series co-creator and creative director of the game, has also not been involved with the series which adds to some concerns about how they might move forward even after the series’ massive viewership.

    Source: Variety

  • CW Cancels ‘The Winchesters’ and ‘Kung Fu’

    CW Cancels ‘The Winchesters’ and ‘Kung Fu’

    CW is ready to enter a new phase of its lifespan, as it slowly starts moving away from the network shows that made it what it is today. Many expected that they will start axing shows left and right, as they are now under the new leadership of Nextstar and the rollout of cancelations has begun. The first victims of the new regime: the Supernatural spinoff The Winchesters and Kung Fu.

    It’s not all bad news, as All American and Walker have been renewed for the 2023 to 2024 season, which puts Nexstar on its goal to make it profitable by 2025; something the network is famous for never being. Supposedly, we might not see more than two to four series airing a season on the network which is quite a step down from its usual network offerings.

    Some big shows have been on CW like Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girls, Supernatural, The Flash, 7th Heaven, One Tree Hill, Smallville, Everybody Hates Chris, Gilmore Girls, and many more. Now, the future looks rather bleak for the network as they cut down greatly with some series still on the fence with supposedly only three shows getting a renewal.

    They are likely going to bring back only one of the two DC shows with Superman & Lois being the bigger one, but it is also quite pricey compared to the cheap Gotham Knights; supposedly the cheapest show they ever produced, and not too surprising given its more street-level focus. They already have some of their biggest shows wrapping up this season with Riverdale, Nancy Drew, and The Flash but it’s unclear if they will roll out more series once CW is profitable, or if they will simply stick to fewer and fewer scripted shows as times goes on as they also haven’t ordered any new pilots during this development cycle.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • New Look at Live-Action ‘One Piece’s Marines Leaks Online

    New Look at Live-Action ‘One Piece’s Marines Leaks Online

    One of the first things we got to see from the set of Netflix’s live-action One Piece series was the various boats they were building. That wasn’t all at the time, as we also got a first look at what the live-action adaptation of the Marines will look like. Surprisingly, they even included some goofier traits from the comics like their baseball caps.

    Now, after the production has long ceased and is pretty much wrapping up its post-production, a new image has seemingly leaked online courtesy of @OP_Netflix_Fan showcasing a fresh look at One Piece’s band of government watchdogs. Sadly, we still have no look at what Garp will look like in his iconic outfit, but the designs still look like they were taken directly from the manga.

    What sticks out is that we have a better look at their swords. Surprisingly though, it doesn’t seem like they have any guns on them, but this might be from the same scene we saw leak all the way back in February of 2022. Given that there’s a big number and the uniforms seem quite similar in design, they might be the ones we meet that are forced to work under Axe Hand Morgan’s rule.

    Though, they could also be positioned on Loguetown and report to Smoker, who surprisingly still hasn’t been cast so far. It almost seems like they are still keeping some castings quite close to the chest even with the series potentially only a few months out. For now, we have to see if it’ll be part of a final push towards the series’ release date promotion.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Introduces [SPOILER] into the MCU

    ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Introduces [SPOILER] into the MCU

    If you continue reading only do so at your own risk as some major story elements will be discussed in this article.

    At the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, we meet a new group of Guardians that are all under the leadership of Rocket Raccoon. After facing his experiences and past with the High Evolutionary, he embraces who he is and also takes over from Star-Lord, who has returned to Earth and spent some time with the family he believed he had lost all the way back in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film.

    Among the members of this team are some familiar faces with an even bigger Groot, Kraglin, and Cosmo. Though, there are two new members with Adam Warlock joining after his encounter with the team throughout the third film. The biggest reveal is the inclusion of a small girl that was among the group of High Evolutionary’s next creations.

    Surprisingly, the film doesn’t really say her name but subtitles reveal that she is, in fact, Phyla-Vell. It’s quite a departure from her comic origins, as she was the daughter of the original Captain Marvel and an Eternal. To be fair, she wasn’t conceived in a normal matter but rather the Eternal Elysius took some of his matter after he died from cancer and impregnated herself.

    The first person born from this unusual creation was Genis-Vell, who would take on the Captain Marvel mantel. Though, after he lost his mind and created a new universe, Elysius redid the process and gave birth to Phyla-Vell and would also take over the title of Captain Marvel. She would eventually take on the mantle of Quasar when she joins the Guardians of the Galaxy in the comic event Annihilation.

    So, the version we are introduced to here is quite a bit different. She’s part of a race created by the High Evolutionary as the “perfect lifeform” that he was going to use to re-populate a new planet. She doesn’t have any connections to Annette Benning’s Mar-Vell but there’s a chance her DNA could’ve played a role in this character’s creation. It’s also unclear if she has the powers from the comics, as there’s no mention of it.

    Phyla seemingly has endless stamina when compared to a normal human and she is part of a bigger group of children that have the same origin. Also, there’s some uncertainty if the Guardians will actually return in the future given how the film simply states that Star-Lord will return. Rocket’s new group may as well do their thing in the galaxy but we don’t see them anytime in the near future.

    It’s a shame if this is our introduction to such an important cosmic character alongside Adam Warlock, but we’ll have to wait a bit until we find out what exactly the future has in store. Given that her race is genetically created, there’s a good chance that she will grow into adulthood just as fast as Adam did. They might have a sibling-like rivalry that would be a fun dynamic if we see more of them moving forward. For now, it’s a great little Easter egg for comic fans knowing the character now exists in the universe.

  • ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ Dances Up a $114M Opening Weekend, Dominates Internationally

    ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ Dances Up a $114M Opening Weekend, Dominates Internationally

    It looks like Marvel Studios is facing a rather curious development with the latest installment of its Marvel Cinematic Universe. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected to end the weekend with around $114M domestically, which is slightly higher than the predictions going into the weekend and lands it a bit below the hoped-for $120M by Disney. Though that should not be a mark of end times, as its biggest challenge lies ahead with the second weekend.

    Still, as pointed out by movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research David A. Gross “for superheroes, average is in the stratosphere” with Marvel Studios opening above $100M even with some believing a tepid response after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The film did open below Vol. 2’s powerful $146M but ahead of the first’s overall box office. There’s also a chance that the waiting period for this loosely tied Marvel film ending a trilogy after six years just lost a bit of its momentum alongside an overall tepid year besides the surprise Super Mario Bros. Movie.

    Speaking of, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 did manage to dethrone the plumber from his throne to a still impressive second spot with $18.6M. Sony’s romantic comedy Love Again, however, didn’t bring in enough momentum with a B CinemaScore, 13% on RottenTomatoes at a rather tiny $2.4M opening weekend. The film only costs $9M but it still would require some momentum to recuperate its costs. Evil Dead Rise has been pulling quite some numbers as well, as it already stands at $110M globally which is quite bloody great for a $15M budgeted film. Horror still remains the low-budget, high-earners they’ve always been.

    It should be noted that while the domestic box office is a bit behind, globally the Guardians 3 film is doing some impressive numbers. It opened to $168M in 52 markets and now stands at $282M. China has generally been quite behind with any Hollywood production (which means comparisons to previous box office records also need to be kept in mind) but had an actually strong $28M start and very strong word-of-mouth.

    That’s kind of what Marvel Studios’ biggest hope should be. A soft opening is one thing but given Ant-Man 3 didn’t manage to pass $500M. Still, pulling in $465M is something many others still dream of as other big releases like Shazam: Fury of the Gods, and sadly Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves barely made their production budget back. Maybe it’s time to talk less about superhero fatigue and rather about blockbuster fatigue.

    Overall, Marvel’s latest still beat its global expectations with the uncertainty in the Asian market since last year, as China and Korea have kind of backed off especially as Marvel embraced science-fiction with its latest projects; something not too keen in those markets. The film is 70% ahead of the first and pretty much on par with Vol. 2. If you take out China it’s even ahead by 13%, which highlights the difficulties of post-COVID box office discussions.

    It’s crazy to think that a “tepid” box office opening for a Guardians of the Galaxy film is still the 50th highest opening globally of all time. Hell, it’s also the 18th title to do so in May. This does mark the lowest summer opening in some time but Deadline points out that this is actually a more realistic showcase of Guardians‘ box office prowess and Vol. 2 simply had a bit more momentum going into it with appearances in other Marvel movies. Perhaps the lesson is to once again tease future releases rather than an unknown future on the horizon for Marvel.

    Ant-Man was also quite inflated with the arrival of Kang the Conqueror which also gave it a much bigger opening than it probably would’ve had outside of the last two releasing post-Avengers films carrying over that momentum. Guardians didn’t introduce anything new and as a trilogy “ender” it’s also going to speak to its core audience more than newcomers. Overall though, the summer is looking at a $100M average opening so this might not just be Marvel but rather a showcase of so many films releasing after a long time, people might be more selective. All Guardians 3 needs now are strong legs and to beat what has happened to the franchise post Avengers: Endgame to make its $250M budget profitable.

    Source: Variety, Deadline

  • [SPOILER] Will Return Beyond ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

    [SPOILER] Will Return Beyond ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

    The following article major spoilers for the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Only continue at your own risk if you haven’t watched the film yet.

    Going into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, many wondered if any of the former members would continue their journey in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some actors like Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista have openly talked bout leaving their characters behind, which also led to the theory that most of them would die off as a result of the film’s events. Luckily, now that the film has been released we know what exactly the future looks like for this unlikely team of misfits.

    In a surprising twist, none of the core members died during the events of this film. While it would be the usual approach for films to end a character’s storyline by killing them off, this time they took a Captain America route by simply letting them go their own way. It also slightly opens the window for a return if they’d ever be open to doing so in the future. Given that the multiverse is around the corner, they have a way to bring back these characters with a new cast.

    Still, there is some confusion with the first post-credit sequence revealing Rocket’s new team of Guardians. We meet a new character in the form of Phyla-Vell a young child that was going to be part of High Evolutionary’s next step of creating the perfect being. Cosmo and Adam Warlock officially join the team, who are newly introduced to the franchise and seemingly characters set to return.

    The question is mostly if the same is going to affect Rocket, as Bradley Cooper has seemingly hinted this might be his last run with the character. They could find a new voice for the character and likely there won’t be a new Guardians film for some time but it seems a bit confusing. There’s a chance this is simply saying these characters still exist out there in the galaxy and keep the door open, but it would be odd not to bring back at least some of the newer additions.

    The big reveal, however, is the fact that the one confirmed returning member of the Guardians will be Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord. Even though he hung up the Elemental Blasters and returned to spend time with his grandfather. In the second post-credit, we see him just enjoying cereal before the title “The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return” appears on the screen. So, we will very likely see him at some point in the future, and is, so far, the only confirmed returning member of the cast.

    Not everyone truly hung up their mantle, and the ending definitely keeps the door open if anyone is down to potentially try their hands at the character again. It was a fitting end for this version of the team and here’s hoping that we still have some more time with Rocket, Nebula, Groot, and Mantis alongside Star-lord in the Marvel Cinematic Universe moving forward.

    Source: Cool943

  • ‘Stranger Things’ Final Season Production Halted in Solidarity With the WGA Strike

    ‘Stranger Things’ Final Season Production Halted in Solidarity With the WGA Strike

    The WGA Strike is going strong, as various productions have been slowly getting paused. Hollywood is still trying to push a few through that have finished scripts; though writers being on set is also an essential aspect to ensure adaptations can happen to tighten scripts along the production timeline. Marvel Studios just recently put a hold on Blade which was set to start production soon.

    Oddly though, they are not planning anything for Deadpool 3 as of now but that might just be them playing chicken until production has to start and the script might be deemed more “done” than the other that only recently revealed another writer was attached. Yet, we’re slowly seeing more and more productions affected such as Stranger Things writers and creators the Duffer Brothers confirming they have paused production until the strike is over on Netflix’s flagship series.

    This is a huge blow to the streaming service that greatly has been trying to build up its offerings as it first faced a drop in subscribers not too long ago. They also have been rumored to be one of the big holdouts during the meetings with the WGA. Either way, this is an important move by the Duffer Brothers and a showcase of how important this current strike is.

    Streaming services have changed the way we watch our favorite movies and shows, but they also left quite an impact on how writers earn their money. They have smaller writing rooms with a lot more work put on the backs of fewer people. More importantly, they also have less money as a result of this new model and can no longer rely on residuals. Here’s hoping that these talks end in favor of those that create the series and films we love so dearly.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Superman Legacy’ to Feature Someone from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Cast

    ‘Superman Legacy’ to Feature Someone from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Cast

    James Gunn has always had a knack for keeping secrets on his various projects and outright even denying any claims made that he can easily debunk. As the new CEO of DC Studios, it creates an opportunity. Yet, in a short AMA on Twitter, he has given some the opportunity to ask a question he’ll answer with yes or no. While most focused on his latest release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 given he restricted it to that topic, someone asked if any of the cast members might appear in his next DC project.

    Surprisingly, Gunn actually did confirm that “Yes.” someone from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise will appear in Superman Legacy. Of course, he hasn’t exactly said who it will be and what kind of role they’ll have, but it’s great to know that some of his usual faces will return one way or another. We already saw them in The Suicide Squad, where his brother Sean Gunn played the role of Weasel and will continue to do so in Creature Commando.

    Though, there’s also a good chance that he will include some of his usual cast members in one form or another. Nathan Fillion has appeared in all three Guardians films in a cameo or small role. He loves casting his close friend Michael Rooker in roles, who is also very likely to potentially appear. At the end of the day, we could also just see his brother Sean Gunn have some kind of role in bringing another CG creation to life. There’s ag good list of “definitely back” actors that would be listed that would fit the bill.

    Source: Twitter