Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Andrew Guest Worked on ‘Hawkeye’ as a Consulting Producer

    ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Andrew Guest Worked on ‘Hawkeye’ as a Consulting Producer

    Finally, the long wait has come to an end and we finally got our hands on the first two episodes of Hawkeye. The latest Marvel studios show introduces us to a more grounded storyline with Clint Barton trying to make up for past mistakes and his unlikely new protégé, Hailee Steinfeld‘s Kate Bishop. The release also includes some insights into the creative team, even some that we haven’t heard about yet. In the first episode’s credits, the name Andrew Guest pops up as a consulting producer.

    It’s quite an interesting addition that hasn’t been announced so far. Guest has worked on quite a number of classic comedies, such as 30 Rock and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Interestingly enough, it seems his inclusion in the project was teased back in September when the Community writer shared his excitement for the latest Marvel Studios project.

    One of the highlights from the series is the dynamic between Kate and Clint. There’s a good chance that the writer and producer’s experience with comedies. He might’ve joined the writing team to offer his insight into some of the character moments, or even bring the comedy of the Tracksuit Mafia together. It’ll be interesting to see if his style of comedy shows through the rest of the series as we see how the story continues to unravel.

    Source: Disney+, IMDB, Twitter

  • ‘Wheel of Time’ is Amazon Prime’s Most-Watched Premiere of 2021

    ‘Wheel of Time’ is Amazon Prime’s Most-Watched Premiere of 2021

    It looks like Amazon Prime’s latest new series, Wheel of Time, is off to a strong start as Deadline is reporting that the fantasy novel adaptation has become the most-watched series of 2021 for Prime Video. Not only that, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke has highlighted that it’s in the top 4 of the streaming services launches. So, it looks like they are quite satisfied with its performance and the new series might have a bright future ahead.

    She also added that the series had some of the highest completion rates they’ve seen for a series with third parties pointing it to being the most talked-about release for Amazon so far. The Rosamund Pike-led project was even outpacing Netflix’s popular fantasy adaptation, The Witcher. Early predictions have come true, as it was poised to be their biggest opening since the second season of The Boys.

    Amazon has also highlighted that they are aiming to offer more transparency for the future, which seems to be a reactionary move due to Netflix also offering insight into their top ten streaming performances on a weekly basis. It’ll be interesting to see if we get insight into how exactly these series perform across the board, especially with the ever-growing competition.

    Source: Deadline

  • The Odd Balance of Comedy and Drama in ‘Masters of the Universe: Revelation’

    The Odd Balance of Comedy and Drama in ‘Masters of the Universe: Revelation’

    The second part of Masters of the Universe: Revelation has finally found its way to Netflix. Kevin Smith‘s series acts as a continuation of the many story threads left behind in the original 1981 series, while also expanding upon the lore of the world of Eternia and the mysteries of the mystical power’s origin. The first part started on a surprising tragedy that pushed our characters to explore their place in a world without He-Man. Even in the second part, we get some strong character moments surrounding key characters of the original. In a colorful world like Eternia, drama is a surprising addition that adds a unique challenge to its goofier origins.

    Masters of the Universe: Revelation Part 2 Review -- Until Next Time!

    The characters in this world have some rather curious naming conventions. Some of them even follow the same rule as Digimon‘s titular monster all ending their name the same way. Throughout the journey, we’ll meet He-Man, Beast Man, Moss-Man, Mer-Man, and many other “Man” named characters. One of our main antagonists, or technically protagonist, is unironically named Evil-Lyn, which she pokes fun at not being her choice.

    It’s great that the show embraces these names that defined these characters in our childhood. It just accepts that this is their name and it makes sense within this universe rather than mocking every single character. Beast-Man especially gets a great character moment highlighted by his name in the final episodes. But I confess to sometimes chuckling when someone screams out the name Clamp-Champ in a dramatic fashion.

    Masters of the Universe: Revelation part 2 release date, cast, synopsis, trailer and more

    Still, it’s not the namings of these characters that make the drama not always land as strongly as it could. Skeletor has unleashed his power across the world early in the first episode of Part 2 and is, at long last, an actual threat to our heroes. Yet, as this is happening, we have characters like Fisto and Clamp-Champ making jokes during some high-stakes moments. So, when a character screams: “It’s time for this mist to meet my fist!” it takes away a bit from the actual tragedy that is unfolding for a bit.

    The music sometimes also takes a more “heroic” direction with some jokes thrown in right before landing on a rather tragic moment. We have burned corpses on the ground mere minutes after a joke was made. Even as the sequence starts focusing more on the drama of how helpless our heroes are and building tension, Skeletor throws out another pun to de-escalate it. It’s not technically an issue and Even with more drama added in, the expansion of the once more kid-friendly cartoon still tries to keep some of the goofier elements alive, but that seems to be at a constant struggle with the more serious additions.

    Mark Hamill se luce como SkeleGod en el primer tráiler de Masters of the Universe: Revelation Part 2 | Código Espagueti

    It doesn’t downplay the storytelling at play here and some of the deeper character moments hit quite hard. Sometimes it just feels like the show could’ve done with one or two jokes less, or at least aged up some of the humor alongside the drama. At the end of the day, it’s subjective if the humor and drama hit the right balance for you. It just didn’t quite hit the mark all the time, but I will say the second season ends on a high note that makes up for some of the goofier moments earlier on in the second part. Here’ shopping that momentum is carried over into the third.

  • John Krasinski’s ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’ Expands Cast for Season 4

    John Krasinski’s ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’ Expands Cast for Season 4

    It looks like the upcoming fourth season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan has expanded its cast by five new recruits. The John Krasinski-led project on Amazon Prime will add Zulekha Robinson, Louis Ozawa, and Okieriete Onaodowan as series regulars. Derek Cecil and Nancy Lenehan will join the project in recurring roles throughout the season.

    The casting is at perfect timing, as production has only just wrapped on the third season, which still doesn’t have a release date. So, it seems they might be jumping into the next season shortly while the other airs. They will play alongside returning actors Wendell Pierce as James Greer and Michael Kelly as Mike November.

    The Exorcist star Robinson will take on the role of Zeyara, while Hunters‘ Ozawa is Chao Fah. Onaodowan of Station 19 fame has been tapped as Adebayo ‘Ade’ Osoji. People of the Earth‘s Lenehan will tackle the role of Senator Joan Henshaw with House of Cards‘ Cecil as Senator Morgan.

    Source: Deadline

  • RUMOR: Leaked Marvel Legends’ Code Names Tease ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Additions

    RUMOR: Leaked Marvel Legends’ Code Names Tease ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Additions

    Throughout the pandemic, it seemed like the only real update we have for upcoming Marvel Studios projects was through merchandise. Even now, as film shave finally returned to theaters, sometimes leaks from toy companies offer some insight into the upcoming project, or at the very least a sign we can expect teases for upcoming projects. Twitter user @preterniadotcom shared a list that may potentially hint at the first wave of Marvel Legends figurines for Thor: Love and Thunder.

    Some of these could be quite easy to connect. Necro might be in reference to the Necrosword, so that’ll likely be Gorr the God Butcher. Korg is a good candidate for Cracked, while Pew Pew could be in reference to Star-Lord. Biceps is likely Chris Hemsworth‘s Thor, which could be as a reference to the image teased of him on set included in the tweet. The rest get a bit more difficult but Sabaton, a Swedish heavy metal band could be in reference to Valkyrie while Helm is Jane, due to her character famously wearing a helmet in the comics.

    Still, we have to keep in mind that not every single figurine in this line-up will be from the film. Even the What If…? series included at least one character from the comics. Perhaps we’ll get a Loki figurine in addition that isn’t directly connected to the film. IF code names are available and they are eyeing an April release, there’s a chance we might get a good look at them around February or March. Spider-Man: No Way Home’s toy tie-ins were released ahead of the trailer as well that offered some teases of the film.

    Source: Twitter

  • REVIEW: ‘Cowboy Bebop’ 1×02 “Venus Pop”

    REVIEW: ‘Cowboy Bebop’ 1×02 “Venus Pop”

    “Venus Pop” takes a departure from the original by exploring the Teddy Bomber, who doesn’t appear until shortly before the final episodes of the anime. Well, he’s a bit sidelined in this story, as it primarily is continuing the story set-up in the past episodes. Spike gets attacked by an assassin and it sets him out on a small side story to make sure that his past doesn’t catch up with him. Jet, on the other hand, is trying his best to get a bounty to buy his daughter a present, who is also a new addition. So, for most of the episode, our duo is on their own stories.

    COWBOY BEBOP Recap: (S01E02) Venus Pop

    In my opinion, it wasn’t the best idea to separate them this early on. Their banter and dynamic give the series some energy, but we take a detour so early that it kind of downplays the highlight of the original series. It was all about their dynamic early on so their splitting on adventures had a stronger impact. Once again we’re focusing more on world-building than character development, which is something carried over from the first episode. It adds to the fact that it’s a show that fell in love with Spike’s backstory and wanted to flesh it out more.

    Speaking of, this episode gives u our first real change from the original, as Vicious is married to Julia and both are given quite a bit of screentime. In the original, they are a non-factor until the ending, as Julia is famously described as a distant dream. This episode purposely changes the core storyline with some familiar aspects to ease fans into the fact that this show is not following the original closely. Vicious is much more complex yet not as intimidating as he was in the original. He was a mystery and that’s why he was scary.

    New Cowboy Bebop Image Is a Vicious Thirst Trap | CBR

    Here, he’s a bit more of a coward and that’s a hard pill to swallow, but does give him some more agency within the story. We even get hints about the inner workings of the Syndicate, and I did love the touch of the anime’s version of the Elders being masks. That was quite a nice visual touch. Still, while great for developing our antagonists, this does come at cost of the actual main characters we spend the most time with. It’s probably why the show feels like it doesn’t quite capture the original, as its focus is completely different.

    Still, we do get some great character moments even if it is closer to the end. When they reunite, their banter was a highlight in the episode. Cho and Shakir play off of each other quite nicely. They even carried over the joke surrounding the Teddy Bomber by playing on his insecurities was quite fun. Though, it does feel like them being bounty hunters is more of an afterthought at times. The show is still trying to find its legs but this departure from the original offer new opportunities moving forward.

  • Don’t Expect an Italian Accent from Chris Pratt’s Mario in ‘Super Mario’ Film

    Don’t Expect an Italian Accent from Chris Pratt’s Mario in ‘Super Mario’ Film

    It looks like the upcoming Super Mario film will change something quite iconic about the popular Nintendo mascot. Throughout the games, the character famously was brought to life by Charles Martinet, who gave the character an iconic Italian accent. He’s also voiced most of the supporting cast including his brother Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi. That all will change when Chris Pratt takes over the voice role for the gaming icons grand return to the silver screen, but it looks like he’ll have a very different approach.

    In an interview with toofab, Illumination Entertainment producer Chris Meledandri revealed that we shouldn’t expect his iconic Italian accent for the film. He added that Pratt will add his own spin of the character’s voice, which will be greatly different from what fans are used to. Though, he does highlight that there will be a reason given for the character’s new voice in the film. Meledandri goes on to highlight that:

    All I can tell you is the voice that he’s doing for us, and Mario, is phenomenal,” the 62-year-old insisted upon a recent return to LAX. “Yeah I can’t wait for people to hear it

    He does highlight that there will be some representation of their Italian heritage in the film, but that’ll be in the form of Charlie Day as Luigi.

    Charlie Day, who’s playing Luigi, actually comes from Italian heritage. Yeah so that’s our nod

    It’s certainly a strange decision to move completely away from the voice that made the character iconic. Even when the film SCOOB! replaced the franchise’s iconic voice cast, the voice of Shaggy copied that of the original character. It’s a recurring theme that animated projects hire non-voice actors to add as a selling point to its advertising, but we’ll see what Pratt brings to the table.

    Source: toofab

  • ‘Hawkeye’s Inspirations Include ‘Home Alone’, ‘Die Hard’ And Many More

    ‘Hawkeye’s Inspirations Include ‘Home Alone’, ‘Die Hard’ And Many More

    When the first trailer for tomorrow’s Hawkeye dropped, many have noted a similarity in style to the classic Bruce Willis-led film Die Hard. The comparison was aided by the visual of him escaping out of a skyscraper. Well, it seems that the iconic 90s action film played a role in bringing this series to life, but it looks like they had some other interesting inspiration when tackling the project.

    In an interview with ComicBook.com, director Rhys Thomas discussed what influenced their take on the character’s first solo adventure in the MCU, where he lists that the first two Home Alone films and even Gremlin also played a part in their inspiration for bringing the Christmas feeling to the Disney+ series. His full quote states that:

    People mentioned Die Hard being one side of things, but yeah. I mean Home Alone is definitely a big atmospheric Christmas touchstone… both the original and Lost In New York. Yeah, I don’t know. Like I, kinda, again, I would just do, I mean, Gremlins as well. It’s like… I’m the type of person that sort of whether a direct reference makes it into a show or a movie or not, I will take any excuse to sort of keep plumbing my memory, my cultural memory.

    There have been many classic holiday-themed films in the past years. Of course, Die Hard is the most obvious inspiration due to the action aspect. Sadly, they didn’t use the opportunity to have Shane Black tackle an episode due to his love for projects including the Christmas theme. After his work with Iron Man 3, it’s surprising they wouldn’t have him back to add his unique style. Perhaps he’ll get to tackle a Christmas special another time, as the Guardians of the Galaxy are likely the next one.

    Source: ComicBook.com

  • WandaVision’s “Agatha All Along’ Nominated for Grammy

    WandaVision’s “Agatha All Along’ Nominated for Grammy

    Here’s something you don’t expect every day. It looks like the catchy “Agatha All Along” song from WandaVision has been nominated for the Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media. It is joined in the category by From Inside‘s “All Eyes on Me”, Judas and the Black Messiah‘s “Fight for You”, One Night in Miami‘s “Speak Now,” and Respect‘s “Here I Am.” Agatha’s theme song from the seventh episode was written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez with the lyrics sung by Agatha herself, Kathryn Hahn, with back-up from Eric Bradley, Greg Whippie, Jasper Randall, and Gerald Whites. You can check out the announcement here:

    It’s a great win for Marvel Studios and their first venture into Disney+ long-form storytelling. In September, the series won the studio’s first Emmys, which was impressive for their first venture into TV-style programming. Loki also included a song that was quite popular but it hasn’t been nominated. The Mandalorian, however, was nominated for its soundtrack in this year’s Grammys. So, WandaVision won’t be the only Disney+ series represented at the award.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Wraps Production

    ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Wraps Production

    It looks like the upcoming third entry of the Ant-Man and the Wasp films with the subtitle Quantumania has wrapped production. Director Peyton Reed took to Twitter to announce that they’ve finished principal photography on the film alongside some beautiful artwork by Mark James Hiblin. It naturally doesn’t give anything away of what we can expect from the upcoming threequel and they’ll likely enter reshoots in the coming months, but it’ll be interesting to see if we get some casting news or teases about what the sequel might have in store for us.

    The only confirmation we have for the upcoming film is that Jonathan Majors will appear as Kang the Conqueror, which will build upon his appearance in the Disney+ Loki series. Of course, there’s also the confusing choice to recast Cassie Lang with Kathryn Newton taking over the role of Emma Fuhrmann. Just recently, we also learned that Bill Murphy will appear in the sequel as confirmed in an interview with German journalist Patrick Heidmann. It’ll be interesting to see what the film has in store for us with this incredible cast, as we explore the Quantum Realm once again.

    Source: Twitter