Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • ‘WandaVision’ Featurette May Tease a Potential Wonder Man Appearance

    ‘WandaVision’ Featurette May Tease a Potential Wonder Man Appearance

    WandaVision has finally released after a long wait. The first two episodes are filled to the brim with easter eggs and references to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. As a last little promotion, Marvel Studios also released a small featurette that gives us a good look at what happened behind-the-scenes. We get a first look at the production with a live studio audience. It also features interviews with various members of the production team including the show’s head writer Jac Schaeffer. Eagle-eyed viewers may notice an interesting image on the wall to her left.

     

    Yes, the image on the right is that of Wonder Man. Simon Williams has been a character I wanted to see introduced in the MCU for a long time, yet I am surprised to see him in this featurette. It would hint at him potentially making an appearance in this show. There is a reason to introduce the actor in this show, as he originally was the template for Vision in the comics. To be more precise, his brain pattern was the basis for Vision’s personality. JARVIS ended up taking on that role in the MCU, but that doesn’t exclude this storyline getting revisited in live-action.

    The character almost appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as a small cameo. There were posters prepared with Nathan Fillion in the role, where he was already a well-established actor. It is uncertain if they are using this chance to revamp the character. In the animated show, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Williams was a scientist who was infused with ion powers by AIM. The MCU may stray from his actor background and introduce him as someone who works for SWORD. They can take any angle, even if I would prefer him as an actor that shows up in the commercials that appear throughout the show. He would also be a perfect addition to the Disney+ line-up to explore film productions creatively.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘WandaVision’ Proves That Sitcoms Are Timeless

    ‘WandaVision’ Proves That Sitcoms Are Timeless

    WandaVision has finally aired its first two episodes. It certainly is a unique project, as it avoids the classic superhero action and focuses on sitcom-inspired comedy. It isn’t just inspired, but it is recreating sitcoms from different eras. The first two episodes focus on The Dick Van Dyke Show and Bewitched. These shows aired back in the 60s and 70s, so they are digging deep. Of course, comedy sensibilities have changed substantially over the years, and many wondered if going this far back may be counterproductive. The newer generation won’t recognize most of the references, and the humor might not click the same way for those that grew up with it. Now that the show has aired, it proves that we underestimated the strength of sitcoms.

    To this day, sitcoms are still some of the most popular shows that air on television. Even today, there is a wide variety within this genre, such as the police sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a family-focused Modern Family, or the never-ending animated sitcom The Simpsons. The latter proves the staying power of this genre, as the series has been airing since 1989. Even as these shows have adapted to modern sensibilities, the core aspects that define them have been there since the first TV sitcom titled Pinwright’s Progress kick-started the genre in 1946. We see it in how WandaVision adapts these classic series, but somehow still manages to keep them fresh

     

     

    Even a younger audience can appreciate the jokes in large part due to the performances by the cast. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany are a perfect leading pair that bring new life to classic tropes. They also brought in some veterans of the genre, such as Fred Melamed, Debra Jo Rupp, and potentially many more in future episodes. What WandaVision does incredibly well is it knows how to use the awkward phases of older sitcom shows. There were always pauses for a laugh track that tends to go on for too long nowadays. Instead of just leaving them in, they use these out-of-place sequences to add the overall mystery and darker atmosphere slowly seeping out.

    Jac Schaeffer and her team did their homework and found ways to re-energize older aspects and avoid the feeling of them being outdated. It’s a love letter to the past that anyone can appreciate and proved its staying power as a genre. In a way, many of us learn to love these older shows through our peers, as many might have grown up on older shows through parents and grandparents. One of my fondest memories was spending time with my mother watching shows she spent her childhood watching. It may also be a gateway for families to discuss the originals after a viewing. It creates a platform to ask your family about their knowledge of these sitcoms. To this day, my grandfather still watches re-runs of The Dick Van Dyke Show and shares his favorite memories surrounding the show. I cannot wait until WandaVision starts to explore sitcoms that I grew up with and remember when I was just a kid watching them. One day, I’ll be able to share the same experience that I had with the MCU.

    Source: Guinness World Record

  • RUMOR: Dr. Doom to Spark a War Between Atlantis and Wakanda in ‘Black Panther II’

    RUMOR: Dr. Doom to Spark a War Between Atlantis and Wakanda in ‘Black Panther II’

    Marvel Studios has quite a lot of different projects in the pipeline. After a recent hiatus, we have entered a new era for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. WandaVision is only a few hours away from introducing us to their first attempt at a story unfolding throughout multiple episodes. Of course, we still have many great films heading our way. Among them is the upcoming release for Black Panther 2. After the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman, the film’s direction was uncertain. Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Feige confirmed that they would not recast the character of T’Challa. Of course, it had massive ramifications for the film. It looks like FandomWire believes they have gotten their hand on the film’s potential story.

    They believe that the film will open up with T’Challa in his iconic Black Panther suit. Nothing is set in stone, but he will pass on as an event of whatever mission he is on. As a result, it seems that the current plan is for Shuri to take over the mantle and rule Wakanda. During these events, scientists will stumble upon the lost city of Atlantis, which will start a war with Wakanda. Of course, this would mean that Namor the Sub-Mariner will make his live-action premiere. There are plans to film a large chunk of the film underwater, which is already getting tested.

    They also believe that Doctor Doom will be the one pulling the strings that leads to this confrontation. It is uncertain how he may play into this. While FandomWire believes Wakandan divers stumble upon the city, it may have gotten orchestrated by Doom to test something out. He isn’t your typical world domination villain, so he might have a plan that somehow connects to these events. He may also want to get his hands on Vibranium, so he created the ultimate distraction. It is all just speculation, and the film is quite a few years away. Until then, a lot can happen during the film’s rewriting process.

    Source: FandomWire

  • Weekend at ‘WandaVision’s: Theorizing How Vision Was Resurrected

    Weekend at ‘WandaVision’s: Theorizing How Vision Was Resurrected

    Can you believe it? Tomorrow, WandaVision is finally released. After a year hiatus, the Marvel Cinematic Universe returns in style. It isn’t just the first entry in Marvel Studios’ fourth phase, but it is also their first brand new series on Disney+. Of course, they are returning in style by featuring our starstruck lovers, Wanda, and Vision trying to live a suburban life. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Marvel Studios’ story if something wasn’t going wrong. We know that Vision died at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. So, the question remains how is he alive again? If you’ve read the title for this feature, you might already know where I am going with this theory. I sadly believe that while we see Vision interact on his own in the various trailers, he still is dead. 

    The version of the character we see is, in fact, just the remnants of the android hero through Wanda’s powers. In a way, she is just controlling his body the way Larry and Richard handled their CEO in 1989’s Weekend at Bernie’s. In Wanda’s case, her powers are giving him the ability to act independently. Her memories of the android are giving him life, but only as long as he remains within Westview. Yet, if someone from the outside is looking in, it might just be a lifeless husk floating around with the red hex surrounding it. I actually got the idea when I saw Marvel Studios president’s cap from the WandaVision press release. It featured Wanda’s red outfit combined with a white version of Vision, which just added more to this theory. The more I thought about it, the story’s climax may be quite similar to that of the recently released Wonder Woman 1984. 

     

    The eerie feeling conveyed throughout the trailers may be a clear sign of something going wrong. Every idyllic life has its secrets to hide. She made a deal with Agnes, who is still theorized to be the cause for her powers going out of control, to bring him back. Little did she know, it was just a temporary fix that would give her the life she dreamt of for a limited time. At the end of the series, she would have to make a clear decision. Will she embrace her illusion or accept that she would have to let go eventually. The moment the hex surrounding Westview gets broken, she sees what he was the entire time. Yet, that doesn’t stop her from still loving him as she gives him one last embrace and hears his voice echo in her head. Hopefully, I am wrong, and there is a future for Vision in the MCU beyond this project.

  • Chris Evans Nearing Deal to Return as Captain America

    Chris Evans Nearing Deal to Return as Captain America

    Avengers: Endgame felt like the ending for many iconic characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Natasha Romanoff is getting a prequel film, it looked like Tony Stark, and Steve Rogers ended their story arcs. It certainly seemed that the actors were ready to find some new projects outside of the Marvel Studios’ staples. It looks like we might’ve been wrong, as it seems Chris Evans is nearing a deal to return in a future Marvel project. He would return as Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, for at least one project with the potential of joining a second film as well. Deadline does point out that it most likely is similar to how Robert Downey Jr. returned in various projects, such as Captain America: Civil War or Spider-Man: Homecoming.

    This reveal is a massive surprise after Evans did tease he was passing on the torch. The ending of Endgame certainly showcased the title of Captain America getting passed on. There is also the upcoming Falcon and the Winter Soldier series that builds upon that revelation. A while back, Charles Murphy got the scoop on a potential Nomad project being in development. In a way, they could use this storyline to tell what Rogers was up to during his time after hanging up the title after the Civil War events. That, of course, would require him to have a larger role than mentioned. If he still is in early negotiations, it would be possible he would like to explore storylines left open after all.

    It seems to be hinting that he’ll most likely be involved with a film rather than Disney+ series. Still, if Evans is open to returning, there might be no limitation to where he might show up again. They could also explore Roger’s time returning the various Infinity Stones. I would still love to see a confrontation between him and the ghastly Red Skull, who is stuck on Vormir. There is also the question of if he may appear as a senior in a potential Young Avengers project. At this point, anything is possible. Whatever he may decide, it is great to see Evans interested in returning once again.

    Source: Deadline

  • RUMOR: Animated ‘Mortal Kombat’ Film In Development

    RUMOR: Animated ‘Mortal Kombat’ Film In Development

    Warner Bros. is still building up hype for its upcoming Mortal Kombat film. It was originally going to air in January, but we never saw a trailer before it got inevitably pushed back. It is now eyeing a simultaneous release in theaters and HBO Max in April. Still, it looks like that isn’t all WB has planned for the R-rated franchise, as Illuminerdi uncovered that they are working on an animated feature. The thing that stands out the most is that it currently is given the title Mortal Kombat 3.

    They reveal an active casting call for five characters. It includes a few key players from the franchise, such as Tremor, Kuai Liang, Kabal, Kobra, and Kira. There are no story details, but it seems that the story may focus on an older Sub-Zero forced to fight Tremor. There is the question if this connects to the existing project that is currently produced by James Wan. The title is a rather strange addition, as it would naturally make people assume that a second MK film may already be in development. Animation takes a long time, so they may have mapped out to end the trilogy with a time jump that was easier to balance. Yet, it makes no sense why they wouldn’t just bank on the franchise’s possible box Office success to continue making live-action sequels.

     

     

    The more I thought about it, there is a possibility that this Sub-Zero story may take place in the timeline of the original Mortal Kombat film. So, technically it is going to be a sequel to Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Why would they go down this route? The franchise is known for playing around with time travel and multiple dimensions, so why not have a sequel to the original franchise be the jumping-off point for the upcoming reboot. Sub-Zero accidentally rewrites history and restarts the cinematic version of this story. Keith Cooke played Kuai Liang in that original film, so why not expand that franchise.

    It’s just fun speculation, but we’ll see what plans they have for this animated film, as we are still waiting for the trailer of the upcoming remake. There is a good possibility it is also just a new entry in the Mortal Kombat Legends‘ series, which started with last year’s Scorpion’s Revenge. Perhaps the second entry is already further into production, so they started work on the third animated feature. At this point, anything is possible, but I won’t complain about more Mortal Kombat content.

    Source: Illuminerdi

  • Rosario Dawson Teases Live-Action Sabine Wren for ‘Ahsoka’ Series

    Rosario Dawson Teases Live-Action Sabine Wren for ‘Ahsoka’ Series

    Star Wars has quite a bright future ahead of it. Just today, a brand new open-world game was announced as Lucasfilms starts expanding beyond their EA deal. The Mandalorian kicked-off a slew of brand new series for Disney’s newest streaming service after being a key factor in its launch. It all seems to be going well for the service and all eyes are on its future. Among the many announced shows, many are excited to further explore the story of Ashoka Tano. The character was first introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. After a mixed reception, she grew into one of the show’s most popular characters.

    Just last year, she finally made her live-action debut on The Mandalorian‘s second season. Rosario Dawson took on the character’s role for one episode before it was announced that she would get an entire series focused on her. Now, many wondered how her story would interlink with that of Star Wars Rebels. It seemed like her story picks up where that left off, especially after the mentioning of Thrawn during the episode’s climax. Of course, fans will know this also means we would potentially see the return of Sabine Wren, but it was uncertain if she’d make it to live-acton. Well. Dawson liking a tweet reporting on the possibility may add some credence to it:

    https://twitter.com/starwarstuff/status/1349338989891878915?s=19

    It makes sense that she would appear in the upcoming live-action show. Ahsoka will focus on her hunting down Thrawn through the galaxy, as he is the only connection she has on the whereabouts of Rebels‘ Ezra Bridger, which was talked bout in Kessel Run Transmissions’ latest exclusive. It seems the original plan was to create an animated sequel to Rebels that would’ve explored his storyline before Jon Favreau convinced Dave Filoni to continue her story in live-action. It seems that the sequel was already well into production, as they were unsure how successful Din Djarin’s adventures in The Mandalorian would turn out at the time. There may still be a chance that these animated sequences are released in some form or another if they already worked on them. Perhaps some of it was reworked as part of the upcoming animated The Bad Batch series so they don’t lose the existing assets. Dawson‘s like of a report on Wren is just the icing on the cake for how this story may unfold.

    Source: Twitter, YouTube, ComicBookMovie

  • Ubisoft Developing an Open-World ‘Star Wars’ Game

    Ubisoft Developing an Open-World ‘Star Wars’ Game

    Looks like the Lucasfilm Games rebranding really got the ball rolling. Just yesterday, we got the announcement that Bethesda is working on an Indiana Jones game. Now, WIRED revealed that they have also contacted Ubisoft to develop an open-world game that takes place within the galaxy far far away. Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment will be at the helm, who has developed Tom Clancy’s The Division 2. They are also working actively on a game based on James Cameron‘s Avatar franchise.

    This move is huge, as it is the first Star Wars game that is not being developed by EA since Disney acquired the rights in 2021. Originally, EA stated they have exclusivity rights for ten years, so either the contract was altered since, or it was only for publication, as development is very early and probably won’t be released until the earliest of 2023. Still, Disney’s Global Games and Interactive Experiences Senior Vice President Sean Shoptaw gave the following statement:

    EA has been and will continue to be a very strategic and important partner for us now and going forward. But we did feel like there’s room for others.

    Julian Gerighty, who worked on both The Division 2 and The Crew will serve as creative director. It will use Massive’s Snowdrop engine. It will be interesting to see what direction they go with this game. An open-world game is a tricky one if you can explore the entire galaxy. Jedi Fallen Order offered multiple areas that were free to explore on various planets. Massive may try to focus on a specific planet. Originally, there were two open-world games that got canceled at some point in development. Visceral Games was working on a game in 2017 before the studio was shuttered. There was also Star Wars 1313 that would’ve featured a playable Boba Fett. We even got an E3 demo for the game a while back that showcased what would’ve been possible.

     

    Source: Wired, Massive Entertainment, Gadgets 360, ScreenRant

  • Bethesda Reveals New ‘Indiana Jones’ Game

    Bethesda Reveals New ‘Indiana Jones’ Game

    Just yesterday, LucasFilms has announced that they are establishing their own gaming division titled LucasFilm Games. Looks like that announcement was just the build-up, as Bethesda just announced that they are actively working on a game based on Indiana Jones. It is nothing more than a teaser visual with the confirmation that the production studio Machine Games is working on it alongside LucasFilm Games. Still, just like IO Interactive’s 007 teaser trailer, it uses those nostalgia-filled visuals that still manage to get us excited within a few seconds.

    So, the big question is how they’ll approach a game based on the titular character. Like many other adventure games, it may be strongly inspired by the Uncharted franchise. Naughty Dog’s game has redefined the globe-trotting treasure hunt genre, so much that even Crystal Dynamic’s Tomb Raider remake was strongly inspired by it. Machine Games has quite an extensive library of games on their belt, most notably the Wolfenstein franchise. So, they could turn Indiana Jones into a First-Person Shooter with whipping action.

    Either way, the game might be in its early conceptual stages, so it is just pure speculation for now. If we are lucky, they might even have a concept trailer showing our first bit of gameplay during this year’s E3, so there is enough time before we hear more about this project. It is interesting to see this resurgence of classic IPs getting reborn as games, so it’ll be interesting what other projects might be hiding in the woodwork. Indiana Jones is no stranger to gaming, as his first game was on the Atari 2600. The last game in the franchise was from 2010 on Facebook titled Indiana Jones Adventure World, so this is a return to form for the adventurer.

    Source: Star Wars, Twitter

  • ‘Batwoman’ Showrunner Carline Dries Confirms Black Mask for the Second Season

    ‘Batwoman’ Showrunner Carline Dries Confirms Black Mask for the Second Season

    Batwoman is about to shake things up with its upcoming season. Javicia Leslie is taking over the mantle with her original character Ryan Wilder after Kate Kane has gone missing. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Caroline Dries discussed what we can expect from the second season, most notably, the villains that will make Wilder’s life quite complicated. In it, she reveals that a fan-favorite of Batman’s rogue gallery will make his CW premiere.

    We have a couple big bads this season. One, [who] we teed up midway through last season, is this woman Safiyah, and she’s sort of Alice’s Achilles’ Heel. And ultimately yes with the False Face Society, we will see the leader of this gang as Black Mask later on in the season

    It seems that the False Face Society will have a larger role throughout the series, as they will be responsible for their drug dealing. According to Dries, a big aspect of Wilder’s character is tied to it. At one point, she was in a relationship with someone who did drugs, which got her in jail. As such, she has a very personal vendetta against anyone pushing drugs in Gotham.

    So far, they have not named who exactly is playing Black Mask. Shivaani Ghai is playing one of the big bad, Safiyah. Alice (Rachel Skarsten) is set to return as well, who might be on the hunt to find out what happened to her sister. So far, there is no exact casting announced for Black Mask, but we could get some info as we near the show’s premiere. Ewan McGregor just recently played the character of Black Mask in Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, so some viewers might be familiar with the mask-wearing mafia boss once Batwoman returns on January 17th.

    Source: EW