Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • RUMOR: ‘Rogue Squadron’ Delayed Until 2024

    RUMOR: ‘Rogue Squadron’ Delayed Until 2024

    During Disney’s Investors Day, we learned that Wonder Woman‘s Patty Jenkins is directing Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. The film would explore the legendary starfighter squadron that was part of the Rebel Alliance. We even got a small teaser at the time to tease the new film. At the time, we also got a release date, as it was eyeing December 2023. Yet, a recent rumor might point to it getting delayed by at least a year.

    It wasn’t until June that we found out that Matthew Robinson joined the production to write its script. At the time, it was uncertain how long he has been involved with the project, as it was still hoping to start production early next year. Yet a rumor is pointing to another production revving up early next year and a new rumor is hinting that Rogue Squadron might get pushed back, especially with how busy Jenkins will be on the third entry of Wonder Woman.

    So, it seems likely that the film might not see the light of day until 2024. There are hints they still are planning on keeping that 2023 release date for a different production, which may involve a concept created around the Old Republic. Of course, there’s still no official announcement so we have to take it with a grain of salt, but perhaps Disney+ Day has some surprises for us.

    Source: Twitter, StarWarsNews

  • RUMOR: Lucasfilm Fast Tracking a Film Based on the Old Republic

    RUMOR: Lucasfilm Fast Tracking a Film Based on the Old Republic

    Star Wars has been quite ambitious with its projects, as it aims to explore the different eras across the franchise’s history. A few months back, we got the reveal that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was getting a remake exclusively for PlayStation 5. They even announced that the original titles would join the Nintendo Switch for those that want to explore those games in their rawest form. Now, it seems they also want to take a look into that timeline in an upcoming film.

    Lucasfilm is eyeing a 2023 release set during the Old Republic instead that is set to enter production sometime next year. In 2019, Buzzfeed News shared a piece that a film based on the popular gaming franchise might make its way into cinemas.

    We still have to take this news with a grain of salt, but it wouldn’t be too surprising that the studio would want to explore this part of the timeline. It also makes sense to finally give one o the franchise’s most popular characters, Revan, some live-action love.

    They also recently released books based on a new era known as the High Republic, which may also get explored through a film or Disney+ series at some point in the future. Currently, Lucasfilm is not restricting their work to a specific timeline and have the freedom to introduce ideas and concepts at any time. So, there’s a lot of potential

    Source: Star Wars News, BuzzFeed

  • Closer Look at New ‘Hawkeye’ Costumes Offered in Magazine Cover

    Closer Look at New ‘Hawkeye’ Costumes Offered in Magazine Cover

    We’re only a few weeks away from the release of Hawkeye‘s on Disney+. The series takes place before Christmas, as Jeremy Renner‘s Clint Barton finds himself mentoring Hailee Steinfeld‘s Kate Bishop after she paraded through New York City as Ronin. Some time ago, we got the tease of a comic-accurate costume for Clint. It was a set photo that didn’t offer a clearer picture, but an official magazine cover for Lowdown Magazine offered a closer look at it alongside Bishop, who is sporting the same costume she had in the latest poster.

    Clint’s costume was also included in the poster, but as he was shooting an arrow from the side we didn’t get a good look at it. So, this cover confirms that he is wearing the one we saw leaked through a set photo all that time ago, which is heavily inspired by Matt Fractions‘ My Life as a Weapon run. Her costume seems to integrate different designs, but the detail of her having the arrow in a different shade of purple is a nice touch.

    Of course, you can’t include both Hawkeyes without Lucky having a prominent role. He’ll likely be the star of the show, but we don’t know if he might even get an entire episode from his perspective. The series seems strongly inspired by Die Hard, which is a perfect match for the most grounded member of the Avengers. It’ll be interesting if it keeps that inspiration throughout, or even adds some unique flourishes.

    Source: Lowdown Magazine

  • ‘Eternals’ Makes $30M on Friday at the Domestic Box Office

    ‘Eternals’ Makes $30M on Friday at the Domestic Box Office

    It’s been a busy day for Marvel Studios fans, as Eternals finally released in theaters. Not only are all the spoilers hitting the internet, but also the public reaction has shown there’ quite the divide between critics and audience’s views on the film. So, we’ve been curious what it might mean for its box office performance, as it earned $9.5M in its Thursday Previews. It made the film the third-highest of the pandemic. Well, it looks like the film is currently heading towards a $75M after opening this Friday with around $30M (including the money it made from previews). It’s currently in line with Shang-Chi‘s $29M opening from September.

    Friday usually makes up 40% of the box office, as pointed out by Deadline which means it might be lower than the previously stated $80M prediction. Of course, there’s always a chance this new audience reception, which is only available as of today, might boost its numbers after all. The CinemaScore might be our first indication. Eternals only drawback is the film’s length. It’s one of the longest entries in the franchise. While Avengers: Endgame had the selling point of ending the franchise’s first major arc, Eternals is a rather unknown property that introduces a group of new heroes.

    Dune is currently in second place and might take a bite out of Eternals box office. As of now, the film might not pass the $80M mark after all even as earlier predictions were a bit more optimistic in that regard. Internationally, the film is currently outpacing Shang-Chi and Black Widow, which continues to point to a strong global opening for the production. Deadline also points out that Disney has $100M in brand marketing partners, which helps reduce the burden on covering costs for the company.

    Source: Deadline, The Numbers, Deadline, Box Office Mojo

  • ‘Eternals’ Audience and Critic Reception Divided on Rotten Tomatoes

    ‘Eternals’ Audience and Critic Reception Divided on Rotten Tomatoes

    There’s been a lot of debate surrounding the latest release of Marvel Studios. Eternals seemed to have garnered quite a bit of negative attention by critics, as its rating continued to go down becoming the first MCU project with a rotten rating. With 265 critic reviews, it currently stands at 49% with 265 reviews. Yet, now that the film has opened to the public, it has currently shown a much stronger approval rating by fans with 1,000+ verified ratings giving it a 86%.

    It’s quite clear that critics and audiences are not agreeing on Eternals reception. Change is always something that may receive different kinds of reactions, especially with Marvel Studios taking a different approach with their latest film. Director Chloé Zhao left her stamp on the MCU that jelled with audiences in a way that left them with something fresh but still familiar.

    It’s not uncommon for films to simply not get the same reception from critics as they did from audiences. One could argue that expectations might play a key role in what a film is or isn’t for the respective viewer. We all go in with our biases and hopes which leaves a different imprint. Sometimes a project that is critically panned is beloved by viewers because it just offers what they are interested in.

    Source: Rotten Tomatoes

  • Latest ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Dev Stream Offers First Glimpse at Spider-Man

    Latest ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Dev Stream Offers First Glimpse at Spider-Man

    Just recently, we found out that Spider-Man will finally find his way to Marvel’s Avengers on November 30th. We haven’t gotten any real information or a look at the character, but while discussing the brand new gear system, which sounds very promising, they just secretly dropped our first look at Spider-Man. Keep in mind, there are Xbox-based buttons from a developer kit, and he remains a PlayStation-exclusive release.

    It’s just a tiny glimpse, but the developers have promised us that we’ll get a closer look at the character and his skins in next week’s developer stream. So, that’s going to be a definite date to keep an eye out for a better look at the character. They didn’t mention if we’ll find out who voices him in the meeting.

    This dev stream had a very specific mission. It was aired to introduce us to the new gear and perk rework. From that perspective, it was quite the success as we’ll enter a much better-defined endgame to grind out gear pieces. If you are interested, they released a blog with all the details which you can check up on here. It sounds quite promising and also the opportunity that rerolls push grinding the OLT and new Raid adds a lot of replayability.

    Source: Twitch, Play Avengers

  • Emilio Estevez Won’t Return for ‘The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers’ Season 2 After All

    Emilio Estevez Won’t Return for ‘The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers’ Season 2 After All

    Here’s a rather surprising bit of news. It seems that Gordon Bombay actor Emilio Estevez is exiting the second season of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. After the series brought back an unlikely team of kids to play hockey, he was one of the key cast members returning from the original 1992 film. Yet, it seems he won’t be returning to the upcoming season due to disputes over COVID vaccination requirements. The series has adopted mandatory policies for its cast and crew. It seems he declined to assure he would comply just as the scripts were being written until the studio decided not to exercise his option. As such, they are going to rewrite the scripts without him. Yet, there are also hints that creative differences also played a key factor.

    Zone A vaccination mandate isn’t new to the industry, and we might see many more people refuse to join productions if this continues. Netflix has it mandatory on all their productions while Disney TV Studios is only rolling it out on new and some existing projects. So, we’ll see if this starts affecting other productions moving forward and what it might mean for the industry, as the world still continues to recover from COVID.

    Source: Deadline

  • Harry Styles Was Part of Chloé Zhao’s ‘Eternals’ Pitch

    Harry Styles Was Part of Chloé Zhao’s ‘Eternals’ Pitch

    The following article will spoil Eternals film’s first post-credit sequence. Only continue at your own risk.

    After the events of Eternals unfold, we witnessed a small group of our new heroes going out on a voyage to find others of their kind. Suddenly, they are welcomed by the voice of Patton Oswald, who turns out to be Pip the Troll. Not just that, he is also the messenger for another Eternal, Eros. Not only do we get the confirmation that the MCU’s version of Starfox will be the brother of Thanos, but he also is played by Harry Styles. Well, it turns out Chloé Zhao had her eyes on the actor for quite some time.

    Harry as Eros was very much a package deal for me. I pitched the idea of Pip the Troll and Eros to Kevin awhile back and I love the idea of exploring an Eternal who is beyond Titan and who may have influenced Thanos throughout the years the same way Eternals influenced us, earthlings. And then, it wasn’t like I suggested Eros, and let’s go find actors.

    Chloé Zhaoeternals harry style

    Zhao highlighted that he caught her attention after the release of Dunkirk and she was quite happy how perfectly he matched the character of Starfox when they met up to talk about the potential role.

    I kept tabs on Harry since Dunkirk, I thought he was very interesting. After meeting him I realized he is that character—the same way I cast the rest of my cast. There’s so much of Eros in him. For me, if he says yes and Kevin says yes then it’s a go. And I’m very happy they both did.

    Chloé Zhao

    It’s quite interesting that she pitched these characters to Kevin Feige some time ago. In a way, it hints that she also had some clear plans for the characters beyond their brief introduction at the tail end of this film. In a way, she does imply that she might already have plans for a sequel that builds upon the events from this film and its first post-credit sequence. We’ll see if we get a sequel announcement sometime soon, especially as its opening seems quite promising so far.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Eternals’ Only the Beginning of Marvel Studios’ Cosmic Expansion

    ‘Eternals’ Only the Beginning of Marvel Studios’ Cosmic Expansion

    Eternals has finally arrived and offers a new look at the cosmic side of the Marvel Studios universe. What originally got kicked off with the Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy films has continued to expand. Yet, we’re about to enter a very different type of cosmos, as we get introduced to the Eternals and the Celestials. As we explore the birth of the universe, we might only begin our exploration of what else is out there. Luckily, one of the film’s writers Kaz Firbo confirmed that this is just the beginning of our adventures into the cosmos.

    Eternals is really launching us off into the atmosphere, into the cosmos, Guardians touched on it, Thor touched on it, but there’s how many planets? How many stories? There’s so many places and planets we can do, see and explore.

    Kaz Firbo

    It’s a curious tease, as we’ve technically already visited quite a few planets throughout the first few phases of the MCU. Also, it opens up the question if there are plans to expand Eternals into a franchise. Producer Nate Moore mentioned that there’s no guarantee we’ll see any sequels. Yet, Firbo was quite optimistic about returning to write a follow-up.

    We hope people really love this movie, and they go see this movie so that we can go and start writing the sequel. There’s a big door, you know, and I think the question is, does the audience want to step through it? I think that’s been a big thing.

    Kaz Firbo

    It certailny sounds like they have some curious plans for the franchise’s future, especially given how deep this adaptation aims to explore a different side of the cosmos. Marvel Studios’ expansion might have just begun in Phase 4 and it looks like we’ll have many different corners to explore throughout the upcoming films and Disney+ series.

    Source: Deadline

  • Early ‘Eternals’ Scripts Included El Vampiro at One Point

    Early ‘Eternals’ Scripts Included El Vampiro at One Point

    It’s not uncommon for characters or plot points to eventually get dropped at some point in development. At the beginning of the month, we learned from director Chloé Zhao that Eternals almost featured twelve main characters. It turns out these characters were Zuras and Elysius, but there was a thirteenth member that was scrapped at some point in development. Writers Kaz and Ryan Firbo discussed their work on the film in Deadline’s Hero Nation Podcast. Here, they unveiled that the Eternal Vampiro was included in the script at one point.

    We could say like who the other Eternals [that were cut] were? I mean, one of them was Vampiro.

    Ryan Firbo

    Kaz Firbo also highlighted that he was going to be the luchador version from the comics, who was known by the stage name El Vampiro. He also had a sizeable role as the points out “there were dozens of pages of Vampiro.” Similar to Kingo, he was active during his time on Earth as a professional wrestler before a Deviant disguised as El Toro Rojo. It seems they received a binder with all members of the Eternals they’re allowed to use in the film and offered a little look into how they chose.

    There are literally hundreds of Eternals. We were given a binder when we started this process. Ryan and I just sat down and we flicked through the pages, and we picked the ones that we thought could best reflect the world, whose powers were the most interesting and compelling, and that was our journey since the beginning. This is a movie about a family, and we said this is a found family, Ryan likes to say a circus family. We wanted to make sure that all over the world people would see themselves in this movie for sure.

    Kaz Firbo

    The cast certainly reflected their approach to having everyone represented. It’s already quite the challenge to include the main cast of ten characters throughout the limited time of a film. There’s still a chance he makes a return in a future project. Marvel Studios has also recently cast Cael Garcia Bernal for their upcoming Halloween special. So, they are continuing to expand their diverse cast of characters throughout future projects, and we might see more of Eternals later down the line.

    Source: Deadline