Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • ‘Fortnite’ Leaks Reveal Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Green Arrow & More

    ‘Fortnite’ Leaks Reveal Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Green Arrow & More

    Looks like the current season is taking skins from all over the multiverse, as recent leaks for Fornite have revealed a variety of new skins joining this season. During the Game Awards, they revealed Halo‘s Master Chief and two characters from The Walking Dead were joining. Many wondered if we would also see more skins from Marvel after they took over the last season. Well, it looks like they weren’t quite done yet, as a group of well-known Fortnite hackers took to Twitter to share a variety of new skins showing off Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and even a comic-accurate Taskmaster.

    That is not all, as we also got the reveal for a DC skin based on the popular CW show Arrow will be included in the game based on Stephen Amell‘s iconic rendition. We also get a good look at the entire set, which reveals the character’s iconic punching arrow and a quiver.

    https://twitter.com/HYPEX/status/1338820848707317760

    Fornite has been turning into a center for pop culture. This season also saw the addition of Kratos and The Mandalorian‘s Din. So, we can expect a lot more appearances throughout this season. Nintendo fans are hoping for the potential addition of Samus Aran from Metroid. She would make complete sense within the wacky Battle Royale world, and it seems there are no limits on who they might include at this point. So, whoever had their fantasy of having Stephen Amell‘s Green Arrow take on Deadpool can do so now. Now that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate announced Sephiroth as their next DLC character, could we see Sora end up on Fornite?

    Source: Twitter (BP & CM), Twitter (TM), Twitter (Arrow)

  • ‘Loki’ Trailer May Have Confirmed the Identity of ‘WandaVision’s Mysterious Beekeeper

    ‘Loki’ Trailer May Have Confirmed the Identity of ‘WandaVision’s Mysterious Beekeeper

    Disney Investor’s Day has finally given us some brand new trailers for 2021’s Disney+ releases. It also finally gave us a look at Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as well as Loki. Not just that, we also finally got a second WandaVision trailer that included some more hints about the series’ overarching plot. The biggest reveal may have come in the form when a radio transmission broke Wanda’s fake reality and may have teased the true mastermind behind the Westview incident. For a few seconds, we were introduced to a mysterious man in a Beekeeper outfit. His face is obscured by shadows, so we can only speculate on who exactly this character may end up being. Actually, perhaps the Loki trailer has confirmed who the mysterious Beekeeper truly is.

    Now, it is easy to make the assumption that a beekeeper could be an obvious play on AIM’s involvement. There were hints and rumors that they may make their return, especially with a brief sequence in a Black Widow trailer seeming to include a small part of the logo. Yet, their involvement with something supernatural seems out-of-place. If you rewatch the Loki trailer, we get a brief sequence in what seems to be a church within the TVA facility. There is one thing that sticks out immediately, the stain-glass window in the background depicts a figure that seems to match Marvel’s variation of Mephisto.

     

     

    In the comics, Mephisto was well-known for toying with humans. The WandaVision trailer shows us that Wanda might not have created this pocket dimension on purpose but rather someone is trying to get their hands on something. We briefly saw a teaser of the Mind Stone once again getting destroyed, which was the cause of Vision’s death. There is a chance that the Infinity Stones live on in the individual’s that harnessed their ability within the main timeline. So, Mephisto might be trying to manipulate Wanda to revive Vision, so he can access the latent abilities. Why is he only getting active now? Well, he might not have a physical form and that made it difficult to access them in the main MCU timeline.

    Now that they were physically destroyed and those that were gifted their abilities have returned, such as Wanda who was snapped out of existence, he can finally enact his master plan. We always assumed Kang was going to be the major villain for the next Saga but he might be a red herring. He will have a major role later down the line but right now, Mephisto might be the reason the Multiverse ends up in shambles and affects various upcoming storylines. They might combine Mephisto with the character of Nightmare, who might be the main antagonist in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Though, this also opens up the question if he makes a deal to hide his real identity just like One More Day in the still untitled Spider-Man 3.

  • Warner Bros.’ ‘Mortal Kombat’ Reboot Delayed Until April

    Warner Bros.’ ‘Mortal Kombat’ Reboot Delayed Until April

    Warner Bros. has caused quite a stir with the reveal that their entire 2021 film slate would premiere simultaneously via HBO Max and theaters. Wonder Woman 1984 was going to kick-off this new direction in a few weeks. Now, the odd thing was that the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot was slated for January, but we never got an official trailer or first look at the film. There was even a brief tease by producer Todd Garner a week ago that wasn’t followed upon. We were anxiously waiting for the latest adaptation of the iconic franchise yet there was only radio silence. Luckily, the producer took to Twitter once more to finally give us some information on the film.

    https://twitter.com/Todd_Garner/status/1338619892770041856

    Looks like the wait for Mortal Kombat was extended by a few more months. I think this was a good move, as without any real marketing behind it the film wasn’t really given much attention to really warrant a January release. Plus, they also give themselves more time in case the pandemic drags out. I do believe this means we are getting a trailer in the coming weeks, as we still know nothing about the project outside of its casting. It was surprisingly absent during The Game Awards, which would’ve been the perfect time to reveal  I will say that I love the golden logo. Even the release date font seems strongly inspired by the font used by Mortal Kombat 11, which is a great touch. Makes you wonder if we will get the iconic theme song from the original 1995 film.

    Source: Twitter, IMDb

  • Sony Players Supposedly Receiving ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Refunds

    Sony Players Supposedly Receiving ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Refunds

    So, I confess I haven’t covered Cyberpunk 2077 as I wanted to. The game has been on my radar for some time, but looking at it graphically, I felt like it was something I wanted to reserve for my next-gen experience. Now that I was not able to get my hands on a PlayStation 5, my plans got delayed even further. From what I’ve gathered, the release has been far from what people expected. CD Projekt RED received great scores from critics, but only for the PC version. As the IGN review pointed out, they weren’t given a console version and couldn’t use their recorded footage. Shortly after release, the console’s reception by fans ended up at a 2.8 on PlayStation 4 and 3.6 for Xbox One. Cyberpunk 2077’s sales were 41% on consoles, so a substantial part of their player base was affected. Many players then took to Twitter to share their frustration with the game’s issues.

    Now, it looks like the game’s reception has hit a boiling point, as Sony is officially issuing refunds for the PlayStation 4 and Playstation 5 version. This kind of refund only occurs in extreme cases on the console, as Forbes points out. It is especially prevalent as they do not have a return policy. I have heard that there are issues even on newer consoles, and the PC version is littered with enough bugs as well that can hamper some experiences. I still want to give the game a chance, as the world you are presented with and the story sounds intriguing. It is strange to see such a high-profile release face these kinds of issues once again.

    Many recent releases, such as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Watch Dogs Legion have faced bug-related issues. In some way, it felt like Marvel’s Avengers was just the beginning of the pandemic showing its influence on the development cycle. Even Spider-Man: Miles Morales had a variety of bizarre bugs even with Insomniac’s history of polish. Cyberpunk 2077 could have fallen victim to a similar issue that has been a growing trend as of late. It’ll be interesting to see if 2021’s early releases will also be affected moving forward or developers were finally able to adjust to the current situation.

    Source: IGN, Metacritic (PS), Metacritic (Xbox), EuroGamer, Twitter, Reddit via Forbes, EuroGamer, GameCrate, EuroGamer, NerdBot, The Verge, Forbes

  • Latest ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Dev Stream Talk Omega-Level Threats Delay & Bug Fixes

    Latest ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Dev Stream Talk Omega-Level Threats Delay & Bug Fixes

    It has been a big week for Marvel’s Avengers as we finally got our hands on Kate Bishop. The new character came with a fun new kit to play around with and an almost 3-hour story mission. It was a great start to what hopefully will be a continuous roll-out of content over the next couple of months. Of course, we also had our weekly developer stream to give us some minor updates. The biggest takeaway is that they confirmed we most likely won’t get any larger updates before the end of the year. So, we might not see the addition of Omega-Level Threats in the coming weeks. So, for right now, do not expect anything to drop until 2021. With the bad news out first, let’s jump into our stream round-up:

    • They are still actively working on Omega-Level Threats, especially the AIM Cloning Labs. It looks like they are trying to balance it out with Crystal Dynamics teasing something happening “sooner“. He sadly did not offer any details on what that could be.
    • They confirmed that a variety of bug fixes for Kate’s addition are still in the pipeline, such as her flying around the map, not activating pressure plates, and missions disappearing. They did confirm that her Harm Room mission will return.
    • They planned to add civilians into the game but faced a lot of framerate issues. CD is planning on making scenarios where they can bring them into the game. So, we can expect those kinds of missions in the future.
    • Crystal Dynamics is trying to avoid reusing assets too often, so we should expect more new content in the future.

     

     

    • Matchmaking will get an optimization, especially for future content additions.
    • Characters have changed quite a bit over the development cycle, such as Kate’s had a different weapon, while Iron Man was able to use a drone.
    • Roadmap still seems to be trapped in an approval process. CD didn’t offer any details on the matter.
    • They have approached the topic of Spider-Man, Hawkeye, and Black Panther. They are not a liberty to say anything, as they can only confirm things that were approved internally.
    • Adjustments have been made to their Home Office situation. CD was able to streamline the process a bit to do mo-cap and record audio lines.
    • A variety of features are still in development with high priority, such as New Game+, Loot 2.0, Loadouts, Emote Wheel, and the addition of new villains.

     

    Most of the answers are things we’ve already heard in past streams. I am quite curious what the content is that could release before the Labs. There was a tease for an Inhuman addition a while back, so perhaps it is connected. I am not the biggest fan of the continuous delay of their Omega-Level threats. I understand why they are doing it, as there might be some issues with rejoining a mission when you lose your connection, but the game does lack some multiplayer content to keep players coming back to it. Here’s hoping that they might have some bigger plans for that shortly, as well as Clint’s addition isn’t delayed too far into early 2021. My prediction is still in late January to early February, but we will see what the next year brings.

    Source: Twitch

  • Jaimie Alexander to Return in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’

    Jaimie Alexander to Return in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’

    Just yesterday, we got a lot of information on the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney’s Investor Day showcased the future Disney+ series and gave some small updates on the various films that will fill out Phase 4 and beyond. We sadly didn’t get too much detail on most of the films, but it seems that we didn’t have to wait long, as Deadline has now reported Jaimie Alexander is finally returning to the MCU in Thor: Love and Thunder. She was noticeably absent in Taika Waititi‘s first MCU film, Thor: Ragnarok, after we witnessed the death of the Warrior’s Three. Supposedly, Loki disguised as Odin saw her as a threat and banished her. She was among those that vanished after the snap, so it is uncertain

    There is also the theory of her appearing in Loki in some capacity. It will premiere in May, so it is uncertain if they will confirm her appearance by then. Our very own Lizzie Hill heard recently from a trusted source she has a fun cameo in the Loki series. Still, it is great to see the fan-favorite character return. We have no idea what she was up to since Sif left Asgard behind and what her role will be in Love and Thunder. There have been rumors she might even get her Disney+ series at one point, which could fill in the blanks. It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it could still be in the pipeline at one point. It is also uncertain ifs he is aware that Asgard has fallen and the alien race took refuge on Earth. We’ll see whatever the future has in store for Sif and how she’ll react to what Thor has become after the events of Avengers: Endgame.

    Source: Deadline

     

  • ‘House of Dragons’ Adds Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, and Matt Smith

    ‘House of Dragons’ Adds Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, and Matt Smith

    HBO has been hard at work at expanding their popular franchise, Game of Thrones. The series known as House of Dragons will focus on the House of Targaryen. It takes place 300 years before the events of the original show. So far, we only had one confirmation for the show’s cast but it looks like they are finally rounding out the rest of the game. The Hollywood Reporter has officially announced that Ready Player One‘s Olivia Cooke, Wanderlust‘s Emma D’Arcy, and the former time-traveling Doctor, Matt Smith, have joined the series. The latter was reported by the Illumerdi just a week ago.

    Smith will play the rogue Prince Daemon Targaryen, who was one of the first characters revealed for the series. He is the younger brother of Paul Considine‘s King Viserys, who he is always trying to impress. His first-born child will be played by D’Arcy, who is a dragon rider facing adversity due o her gender. Lastly, Cooke is set to play the daughter of Otto Hightower, Alicent. She is the Hand of the King.

    The series was picked up for 10 episodes last year in October. Martin and Ryan Condal created the series with the pilot episode set to be directed by Miguel Sapochnik. THR has also revealed that Banshee’s Greg Yaitanes joined as a director alongside Snowpiercer‘s Clare Kilner and The Witcher‘s Geeta Patel. Game of Thrones‘ final season has left a sour taste for many fans, so it will be interesting to see if this brand new prequel series can make up for it. The Targaryen era also will feature many more dragons than that of the original series, so it’ll be interesting how they’ll balance it out before their budgets get too bloated. 

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Ms. Marvel’: Rish Shah Playing the Inhuman Kamran

    ‘Ms. Marvel’: Rish Shah Playing the Inhuman Kamran

    Ms. Marvel has only just entered production early on, but we still got a sneak preview during Disney’s Investor Day. We don’t have too many official details on the Disney+ series’ casting. A while back, the Illuminerdi broke the news that Inhumans Red Dagger and Kamran would be joining the project. The latter is a rather interesting addition, as he was a key player in the original comic series as Kamala’s love interest. He also turned out to be Inhuman. Kamran can charge his body with bioluminescence that he transfers into inanimate objects. The moment he does this, these objects become miniature bombs. Well, it looks like the actor Rish Shah has confirmed his involvement via Instagram with the upcoming Disney+ series and that he will be playing Kamran. @cosmic_marvel was able to get a snapshot of his story where he confirmed it.

    There hasn’t been any information on how large a role he has currently. His involvement with the project would hint at them following the iconic storyline from the comics. Now, it was an essential moment in Kamala’s road to becoming a hero so I won’t spoil it here. Still, the inclusion of other Inhumans may be confirming that this series is building up an entire section of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has yet to be explored through Marvel Studios. We still do not know if the Royal Family might make an appearance at some point, but Charles was able to find some clues to Maximus’ potentially appearing, which you can find here. Hopefully, we get some tease of what the Inhuman future within the MCU might look like once the show airs next year.

    Source: Twitter, Illuminderdi

  • LockeDown #1: Captain America Now a Government Pawn

    LockeDown #1: Captain America Now a Government Pawn

    Welcome to the brand new podcast series Lockedown. As we haven’t gotten any Marvel Cinematic Universe content for 2020, it felt like the perfect time to make up for that by introducing an in-universe podcast series. Your host John Locke tackles the many changes and developments in a world where the Avengers have officially disbanded. In today’s first episode, he kicks off the series by discussing the government’s meddling with Captain America, the allegations against Spider-Man, and the strange occurrences of the small town of Westview.

     

     

    If you enjoyed the episode, don’t miss out on getting early access by subscribing to our Patreon to be one of the first to listen to the next entry:

  • From ‘Speed’ to ‘Inglorious Basterds’: ‘The Mandalorian’ Is Expanding Its Inspirations

    From ‘Speed’ to ‘Inglorious Basterds’: ‘The Mandalorian’ Is Expanding Its Inspirations

    This week’s episode of The Mandalorian was the final build-up to the season finale. It featured the return of Bill Burr‘s Mayfeld, the galaxy’s most prominent man from Space Boston. The episode set-up is surprisingly simple as they try to get their hands on some intel to save Grogu. Now, the main part of the episode takes place on a stolen Empire vehicle that is transporting a precious material that blows up when rattled too much. Of course, that kind of set-up is begging for someone to meddle in their affairs. I won’t go into too much detail about what happens in the story. The aspect I want to focus on is the simple approach to taking an existing concept and twisting it on its head as the series grows beyond its initial inspirations.

     

    There are some minor spoilers in this article on specific scenes. So, if you want to watch the episode without any spoilers, only continue at your own risk.

     

    Let’s go back in time to 1994. Keanu Reeves just starred in a film titled Speed. Jan de Bont directed a film that had a simple premise. A group of people got trapped in a bus that cannot slow down. If it does, it would blow up and kill everyone in it. Well, what happens if you twist that concept and can only drive so fast while a group of pirates tries to board your ship? That is pretty much how director Rick Famuyiwa approached this episode. Their vehicle has highly explosive material that can blow up at any point. It adds a great level of tension that makes every move by Mando important, as one false shot or mistake, and he might end up blown to smithereens.

     

     

    Well, the episode didn’t end there, as we got one more very obvious reference. The episode also includes a variation on a very iconic sequence from Quentin Tarantino‘s Inglorious Basterds. I think at this point, anytime a character has to sit across from someone who is part of an evil regime and get a cross-examination while trying to blend in will always make me think of that film. Christoph Waltz‘s opening sequence showcased how well one can build tension through dialogue and subtle facial expressions. I was quite surprised to see such a scene make it into The Mandalorian. The episode that introduced Ahsoka Tano was also very heavily based on Yojimbo, especially from a visionary standpoint. There is a limit too often they can fall back on the Western routes of this series, so we might be heading into a future with many more inspirations taking place throughout the eight-season run.