Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • ‘Squid Game’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Series Launch

    ‘Squid Game’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Series Launch

    The Korean drama Squid Game has been all the rage lately and it seems that Netflix managed to nab another international hit. It seems that the mini-series garnered around 111 million viewers in just its first month. As such, it’s their biggest launched series since Bridgerton, whose record was beaten within 28 days. It was in the top spot throughout 90 countries since its September debut with 30 language options available. Squid Game joins the ranks of international hits like Money Heist, Dark, and Lupin.

    What is quite impressive lies in how Netflix’s internationalization strategy is strengthening its grip on the market. As Deadline highlights, it’s quite an investment to realize that a series can find an audience worldwide no matter the language. The concept of Squid Game also has the advantage of telling a story that connects with many. The struggle of the low and middle-class forces many people’s hands to desperate options. The Battle Royale concept has generally also become quite popular throughout media, may it be through film, TV, or video games.

    Not everything has been golden for the streaming service, as they recently halted their Jupiter’s Legacy project, which originally included a multi-year contract with the expansion of the Millarverse. Instead, they are moving forward with a Supercrooks spin-off series that won’t directly tie into the franchise. They’ve been eyeing quite a few projects based on Dark Horse comics and even bringing Anime to live-action, such as the upcoming One Piece project.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Eternals’ Pre-Sales Hinting at Potential $110M Opening Weekend

    ‘Eternals’ Pre-Sales Hinting at Potential $110M Opening Weekend

    It looks like the numbers are finally coming in, as currently, Marvel Studios’ next project Eternals is beating US pre-sales records. As of now, according to Insider Charlie Jatinder, the film managed to garner the best sales numbers within 24 hours since 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. As such, it’s early predictions would hint at a potential opening weekend between $90 to $110 million. As such, it beat out other Marvel Studios films Black Widow and Shang-Chi.

    Keep in mind, pre-sales don’t always determine its overall box office but rather offer our first look into its potential. No Time To Die was outselling Venom: Let There Be Carnage‘s pre-sales but the latter ended up taking the top spot for best domestic opening with around $90M while the latest James Bond film was below expectation. Of course, the target audience plays a key role in how their weekend’s playoff with Eternals eyeing the usual Marvel viewership to build upon. So, it likely will have similar momentum to

    It’s always interesting to get some insight into how the box office develops. We are in a post-COVID era technically, as developments have calmed down and cinemas are continuing to recover. Eternals is a cinema-only release, which has proven to draw in more audiences. Shang-Chi beat expectations and kept the top spot for four weeks without much competition. As we close in on November, we’ll get a clearer picture of how the film will potentially perform.

    Source: Twitter, CNBC

  • Familiar Faces Returning for ‘The Walking Dead’ Anthology Spinoff

    Familiar Faces Returning for ‘The Walking Dead’ Anthology Spinoff

    It looks like we finally got the announcement for The Walking Dead‘s next spinoff. Insider has shared that the series will get an anthology series that’ll premiere on AMC and AMC+. The franchise is no stranger to spinoffs that take place in the same world, as it’ll join Fear of the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond. Channing Powell will serve as showrunner, as it explores stories from new and old characters within this zombie-filled world. The new executive producer shares his excitement for tackling the show.

    I started as a fan of ‘The Walking Dead’ and have ended up as a showrunner of what will hopefully be one of its most unique spin-offs. That’s nuts and I’m so grateful to AMC and Scott for supporting me and my writers while we pushed, pulled and poked at the boundaries of this universe to bring you something new and unexpected, while hopefully still tending to what core audiences loved so much about the flagship show.

    Channing Powell

    Tales of the Walking Dead is set to premiere next summer and they’re still being vague on who might make their return in the series. The tease of familiar faces opens up a lot of opportunities for fan-favorites to finally return after they exited the series a long time ago. It looks like

    Source: Insider, Twitter

  • More ‘The Last of Us’ Set Photos Find Their Way Online

    More ‘The Last of Us’ Set Photos Find Their Way Online

    HBO is building the apocalypse, as new set photos have found their way online from their upcoming adaptation of The Last Of Us. The popular gaming franchise is making the big leap to live-action, as we once again follow Joel and Ellie on their adventure to give humanity a last bit of hope. We recently got some set photos teasing the post-apocalyptic city that they’ll have to climb through. It looks like production is still busy, as more images have found their way online.

    The images don’t offer too many new details, but it does give us a better look at how they’re realizing this dark and gritty world. Everything is overgrown and even the cement is covered. The city surrounding these parts is still in top shape, which means they might utilize greenscreen to show its decay rather than build an entire set. It might even serve as the basis for the game’s version of Boston. Here, Joel and Ellie ended up getting lost in a skyscraper which might be where they are heading or escaped from.

    https://twitter.com/TheLastofUsNews/status/1447721115451801600?s=20

    It’s always great to see these projects realized in live-action. The base concept is luckily based on reality, which makes it an easier adaptation. Still, the practical effects at work to show the floor breaking apart and how much detail went into showing how these cars have withered away alongside humanity. As they tease a city landscape, it makes you wonder if we’ll see the iconic sequence where they pet a giraffe. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait too long for a tease of the clickers that inhabit this world.

    Source: Instagram via Twitter

  • ‘Eternals’ Will Embrace Jack Kirby’s Vision of the Celestials

    ‘Eternals’ Will Embrace Jack Kirby’s Vision of the Celestials

    The creators of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are coming, the Celestials, as Eternals explores the origins of this fictional universe. After some brief teases throughout the various space-themed films, we’ll finally get to spend some time with these mystical beings alongside their creations. Guardians of the Galaxy offered us not just one but two glimpses, such as the floating remains of Knowhere and a brief look at Eson destroying a planet through the Power Stone.

    Cap'n's Comics: Arishem The Celestial by Jack Kirby

    Of course, there was also Ego in the sequel that redefined our understanding of these mystical beings. The upcoming Eternals film will add one more layer to it, as shared by producer Nate Moore. During ScreenRant’s set visit, he discussed that the upcoming film by Chloé Zhao will introduce “true Jack Kirby Celestials.” He went on to compare them to the previously mentioned characters, as:

    In the Collector’s lab, they’re frankly not as big as they would be in our mind, and obviously Ego was a much different version. So this gets to be the giant monolithic space gods and you get to see them, which is exciting.

    Nate Moore

    As the franchise continues to expand, we’ll get introduced to many interpretations of these characters that were popularized in comics. Kirby had some visually stunning visions of these creators of everything, which will finally come to fruition in the upcoming film. It also opens up the possibility of us meeting Death or the Living Tribunal, who had a recent cameo as a statue in Disney+’s Loki series. The franchise is continuing to embrace every aspect of the comics while still building a coherent world. Perhaps we’ll finally learn whose head ended up as Knowhere all those millennia ago.

    Source: ScreenRant

  • Timothée Chalamet Caught Singing in New ‘Wonka’ Set Video

    Timothée Chalamet Caught Singing in New ‘Wonka’ Set Video

    A brand new set video has found its way online from Warner Bros.’s upcoming Willy Wonka prequel film. Just recently Timothée Chalamet shared an image of his outfit before photos leaked from their work on set as they entered production. Surprisingly, Twitter user @_ARTSARTSARTS was able to catch a glimpse of the actor on set. Not just that, he even took a video of him singing one of the songs for the upcoming film. As a small glimpse into the musical, the song already gives us a nice tease of what we can expect.

    https://twitter.com/_ARTSARTSARTS/status/1447902033936269319

    Paddington‘s Paul King is tackling the film for Warner Bros. and it’s currently eyeing a release in March 2023. Chalamet will be joined by Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman, Jim Carter, and Sally Hawkins as they explore the early days of Wonka. The adaptation will see the time when Willy Wonka built his famous chocolate factory long before the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory took place. The actor has paid tribute to Gene Wilder‘s famous line in his last post and his design does seem to take inspiration from the 1971 version of the character. As the Tim Burton version of the character also explored his origin, it’ll be interesting to see how this story stands out in comparison.

    Source: Twitter

  • Will Poulter Joins ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ as Adam Warlock

    Will Poulter Joins ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ as Adam Warlock

    Here’s a rather curious casting, as James Gunn‘s upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has found its Adam Warlock. After getting a brief tease in a post-credit sequence in the last entry, Will Poulter will bring the character to life in the upcoming sequel. He’ll join the returning cast of Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan, and Pom Klementieff. There have been rumors reported in the past that may have hinted at his inclusion and it seems it came to fruition. Borys Kit added some more information on who was included in the earlier shortlist:

    It’s probably the last name one might’ve expected connected to the character, but Poulter has proven he’s got acting chops in the past to take on this role. The plot still remains under wraps, but his inclusion does mean the Sovereign are definitely returning in the sequel. So, we can also expect Elizabeth Debicki to reprise her role. There’s also the question if he might have a first appearance in the upcoming Holiday Special heading to Disney+, which is confirmed to be canon. Still, the confirmation is quite an interesting one as James Gunn publicly discussed a piece by Illuminerdi back in March where he seemed to confirm and deny his inclusion.

    Deadline goes on to highlight that Gunn and Marvel Studios have been eyeing an actor since the end of August. They’ve had quite a few auditions, which includes the above-mentioned actors, but Poulter‘s performance put him on top of the list. He’s worked on various projects such as The Revenant and Detroit. Though he’s also had some more TV-oriented projects in the works like Hulu’s Dopesick alongside Michael Keaton and Amazon’s The Underground Railroad.

    Source. Deadline, Twitter, Twitter (Shortlist)

  • ‘Daredevil’s Steven DeKnight Refuses to Write for Marvel Until C.B. Cebulski Controversy is Resolved

    ‘Daredevil’s Steven DeKnight Refuses to Write for Marvel Until C.B. Cebulski Controversy is Resolved

    There have been quite a few controversies surrounding Marvel. Its CEO Isaac Perlmutter has been the focus of many discussions surrounding his secrecy, frugality, and almost pushing Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to leave due to creative differences. Yet, there’s one more story that has regained some momentum as of late. Marvel Comic’s Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski is another figure that is surrounded by quite the controversy. The writer has been with Marvel for quite some time, but most notoriously worked under the Japanese pseudonym of Akira Yoshida, where he tackle projects like X-Men, Thor, and many more.

    The thing is, he didn’t just use the name as a pen name but also gave interviews acting as if he was Japanese. This news has now drawn the attention of Daredevil showrunner and comic writer Steven DeKnight. In a statement on Twitter, he has now announced that after his upcoming issues release in December, he refuses to write for the comic powerhouse until the topic surrounding this controversy is “resolved.” He also calls out for others in the field to do the same.

    The whole story surrounding Cebulski’s pen name is quite a bizarre story. He wouldn’t take on the role of EiC until 2017, where this controversy was making the rounds. It’s a big and important stand to take by Steven DeKnight. We’ll likely see others join the cause and the comic industry might face a major shift in the near future to continue fighting for equality within the industry.

    Source: Business Standard, The Atlantic, Twitter

  • New Skittles ‘No Way Home’ Promotion Includes Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man

    New Skittles ‘No Way Home’ Promotion Includes Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man

    It looks like a Russian promotion for Skittles may have once again added fuel to the fire that is the mystery surrounding Spider-Man: No Way Home. Twitter user @SpiderMan3news noticed a promotion that ties into the upcoming Marvel Studios-Sony production. Yet, the bigger surprise is that the image involved in it isn’t of Tom Holland‘s titular webhead but rather Andrew Garfield‘s. He is only seen on the billboard on the promotional website, but it mainly plays the trailer we saw release in August. It’s quite a curious slip-up, or potentially just a promotion that accidentally leaked online earlier than expected.

    At this point, his potential involvement seems like the worst kept secret in Hollywood. Garfield has openly denied and then retracted the same statement when asked. We’ve seen quite a few teases and hints leak through promotional material or even merchandise. Just recently, the updated design for Spider-Man’s new Black-Gold costume was unveiled through the latest Hot Toy update. So, you never know what else might get unveiled through some kind of promotional material next? Here’s wondering when we’ll get the next trailer. So far, we still haven’t seen a poster for the film.

    source: Skittles Promo via Twitter

  • ‘Eternals’ Producer Nate Moore Talks ‘Avengers 5’

    ‘Eternals’ Producer Nate Moore Talks ‘Avengers 5’

    While Eternals is being described as Marvel Studios’ most ambitious project. It’s a tall statement after the insanity that was Avengers: Endgame. Of course, it also opens up the floodgate of questions if they could ever truly top the last entry as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes come together once more. There still hasn’t been an announcement for the fifth entry in the franchise, but ComicBook.com used the chance to discuss it while visiting the set of Chloé Zhao‘s new film. In an interview with producer Nate Moore, he had the following to say on it:

    I think you can, or you can not, you know what I mean? And I think, Avengers 4 was called Endgame for a reason. We haven’t really talked in a real way about what an Avengers 5 would be even. We could build towards it or we could just say, ‘Hey, here’s a standalone Avengers movie.’ And I think as long as the story was strong and interesting enough people will come and see it.

    Nate Moore

    Moore does go on to say that while they could make a standalone project, they love leaving breadcrumbs and letting these crossover storylines grow throughout the films.

    We’re kind of nerds so we like to build towards things and we like to spread bread crumbs and see where they come… But yeah, and I think audiences also kind of want to be surprised. So, to some degree, we don’t want to say, ‘You saw that trick, let’s do that trick again.’ What’s the new way to surprise people if, and when we did an Avengers movie, what would be the funnest version of that?”

    Nate Moore

    When discussing the potential of Jonathan Majors‘ Kang the Conqueror becoming the franchise’s next main antagonist, the Marvel Studios producer didn’t give a clear answer but teased that the world is their oyster with this new film.

    It could be anything. Do you go the opposite and make the stakes really personal and small, because what’s bigger than Endgame? You know what I mean? How do we make the stakes bigger than that?” The universe is going to collapse? I don’t know. Or is it there another way where, ‘Oh, here’s a really clever Mission: Impossible style Avengers movie that gets to be smaller. Again, all ideas we can play with, but I do feel like the door’s a bit open and audiences will be kind of game to follow us

    Nate Moore

    The potential of a smaller story to bring together the Avengers is an interesting idea. The team has a revolving door of members. So, not every story needs to introduce every single character we’ve met along the way. Of course, they could also do what they did with the first entries by building up throughout various films before the true big bad shows his face.

    Source: ComicBook