Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • UPDATE: ‘Star Wars’ Obi-Wan Kenobi Series To Film in England’s Boston Next Month

    UPDATE: ‘Star Wars’ Obi-Wan Kenobi Series To Film in England’s Boston Next Month

    UPDATE: It looks like Star Wars’ Obi-Wan series isn’t heading to Boston, Massachusetts after all. They were right about Boston, but it will be the one that is 100 miles north of London. They are set to film in the capital of the United Kingdom as well.

     

    Source: CBS Boston

     

    Around four months ago, we shared the news that Star Wars untitled Obi-Wan Kenobi is slowly starting production. They weren’t quite ready to film but started preparing set pieces for whatever locations the famous Jedi might end up visiting. It looks like they are finally ready to film, as news broke that the Disney+ series is eyeing January 4th to start its production in Boston. Ewan McGregor is set to return as the titular character, as it takes place at some point in time after the events of Revenge of the Sith. So far, no official name has been given, but it looks like Star Wars: Kenobi might become the official title, as is stated in the Production List. It also includes the following project summary:

    Tatooine-a harsh desert world where farmers toil in the heat of two suns while trying to protect themselves and their loved ones from the marauding Tusken Raiders. A backwater planet on the edge of civilized space. And an unlikely place to find a Jedi Master in hiding or an orphaned infant boy on whose tiny shoulders rests the future of a galaxy.

    It is rather interesting that they are going to film in Boston. We have no details on the story, so the city could become the backdrop for a futuristic city in space. The description focuses heavily on Tatooine, but it looks like Kenobi might travel quite a bit throughout the series. There is also a chance that some sequences also take place in flashbacks, where we see Kenobi’s life on Coruscant. Various sources are going around teasing the series story, such as a conflict between Kenobi and a former Clone Trooper. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get our hands on set photos that offer a tease of what the show might have in store for us.

    Source: FTIA via CBS Boston

  • ‘Deadpool: Samurai’ Manga Series Announced at Tokyo Comic Con

    ‘Deadpool: Samurai’ Manga Series Announced at Tokyo Comic Con

    It seems that Deadpool is heading to Japan. Marvel and JUMP have collaborated on a brand new manga series, Deadpool Samurai, which got announced at Tokyo Comic-Con. Interestingly enough, this series was initially released as a one-shot back in October, which was written by Sanshiro Kasama with art by Hikaru Uesugi. As the name implies, the story follows Deadpool’s escapades in Japan’s Edo period, where he took on various samurai with his usual wacky humor. To break the fourth wall completely, he was the only one that was his usual self with plenty of references to the larger Marvel universe. It looks like the one-shot was a big success that they ordered an ongoing series for Shonen Jump that will go into serialization as of December 10th.

    There is no English release currently planned, but we can expect it to hit the West in the future. It is great to see the series continue, as the original one-shot was hilarious. We get introduced to our main character pretending to be a baby while trying to intimidate a group of samurais. In the middle of the battle, he is reading a JUMP magazine, so he seems to care even less about continuity in this series, especially how he solves a hostage situation.

     

     

    It will be interesting to see how they turn this into an ongoing series, as the one-shot is quite removed from the overall Marvel universe. There is a cameo by Wolverine at the end confirming he misused a time-machine, but mangas commonly have overarching stories. He might get stuck in that timeline and meets copies of the original Marvel characters that lived during this period. Not like Deadpool cares about continuity, so anything is possible.

    Source: Twitter, ComicBook

  • Latest ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Dev Stream Offered First Look at Kate Bishop in Action

    Latest ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Dev Stream Offered First Look at Kate Bishop in Action

    Crystal Dynamics is still hard at work on Marvel’s Avengers. We are only a few more days away from the first DLC character being added. Kate Bishop will offer some brand new story content and continue where the Reassemble campaign left off. We even got a special War Table that offered a deep dive into the character and teased her story. Well, that wasn’t all as, after a short Thanksgiving break, the developers returned with a brand new stream to showcase the character in all their glory. Our CD mainstays Phil and Andy were also joined by fellow developers Scott and Nicole, who were able to offer some insight. Of course, a brand new stream also means you’ll get a brand new recap. Now, let’s jump right into all the major reveals and teases.

     

    General Updates

    • Let’s start with some general updates. Phil revealed that he is the reason for Tony’s “Who you going to call?” line in the game. It was a collaborative effort, as they also worked together on characterization with Marvel.
    • New Game+ or Campaign Replay, as Phil titles it, is still being worked on, but it is already in the bug testing phase.
    • Loot is getting a complete overhaul. It will take time, but it is a big priority for the team. We can expect some major changes with future content.
    • The Omega Threat delays are due to some network issues. The missions are very long, so they want to ensure that multiplayer works as intended.
    • Their development cycles are getting better, so they are much better at getting timings down. Some of their co-workers have yet to take a break since the entire thing started. A lot of future features are also based on user feedback.
    • Kate will be available on the start screen and may have some additional music added to the game.

     

     

    Kate Bishop Gameplay

    • They worked on Clint and Kate around the same time, which is a given with their archery focus. Clint’s background as Ronin and Kate’s fencing lessons in the comics was the inspiration for her melee combat. Both characters will use a variety of arrow types.
    • Kate stole the quantum technology from AIM. It is the basis for her abilities. There are sadly no unique status effects, but some moves stack additional quantum damage. It is mainly a visual effect and became a part of Kate’s fiction to create unique abilities around.
    • Kate is a support-focused character. You can optimize your build to either focus on her arrow abilities or even her blade. Most of her heroics include a special ability that helps your team during battle.
    • One can see their experience with the Tomb Raider franchise in Kate’s pull of the bowstring. You can quickfire or pull it in for critical damage, which looks to be quite satisfying.

     

     

    • Her support heroic Decoy allows her to spawn a clone who can damage enemies. It acts as a turret, which zones enemies. You can also add an ability to turn it into a quantum bomb to take out multiple enemies. They will be focused on the decoy, so you can support it mid-battle for additional damage.
    • Quantum Overdrive is a similar ability to Captain America’s Brooklyn Brawler. It gives her infinite intrinsic ability, so you can teleport around the map freely as long as it is active.
    • Warp Arrow allows you to shoot an arrow for a long distance, which instantly teleports you to that location. They are quite useful for boss fights to avoid larger attacks. There are, however, some limitations to where you can place portals, and enemies can’t enter them. You can activate the warp arrow at any time with a button press, so you are not dependent on hitting an actual surface to activate it.
    • You can switch your loadout just like Iron Man and Black Widow. Disruptor arrows are great to stack up combos. You can time the bow to get a perfect draw that deals with critical damage. Demolition arrows can attach to targets, which can be activated remotely or with a perfect shot.
    • The Scattershot can damage multiple enemies from a distance, but you can stack damage if you shoot from close-range.
    • Kate can hack doors like Iron Man and Black Widow.

     

     

    Taking AIM Story

    • Kate was going to become an Avengers before A-Day happened. She sees the Avengers as her family, so she will add a great new dynamic. They teased her interactions with Tony.
    • When she was young, she decided she wanted to be like Hawkeye and eventually became his protége.
    • Nicole, one of the game’s writers, teased that she is fun, sarcastic, and confident. Like an older sister to her mentor, as she has it all together. They took a lot of inspiration from Matt Fraction‘s My Life as a Weapon story and her time with the West Coast Avengers.
    • They teased that a lot of references to Fraction‘s stories are scattered throughout the story and with the skins.

     

    I have to say, my first impressions of Kate were very positive. She looks like a fun character to play. I might end up focusing on a sword build, as that quantum sword looks like a lot of fun. The animations were very fluid, and they put a lot of thought into how she plays. I cannot wait to play her once the DLC is released next Tuesday. I also cannot wait to see how the story will expand and what it may tease for the future. It also was just fun to see the developers finally be able to showcase their first major DLC and having a blast doing it.

    Source: Twitch

  • RUMOR: ‘Star Wars’ Animated Series Based on ‘The High Republic’ In Development

    RUMOR: ‘Star Wars’ Animated Series Based on ‘The High Republic’ In Development

    Star Wars has been introducing a brand new era that has yet to be explored, the High Republic. The new series was unveiled alongside a bunch of comics and books that will explore a time where the Jedi Knights had to face a threat that may change the Force as they know it. We haven’t heard any official word if they would also start adapting the new era in other mediums, as it primarily was called a publishing project. Unlike The Mandalorian and other Star Wars franchises, this takes place a couple of hundred years before the events of the films. So, they don’t have to adapt the storylines to fit within the existing timeline. It offers creators more freedom than before, which would make it a perfect era to adapt as a film or TV series.

    Cinelinx has heard rumblings that there are plans to adopt the new era in live-action and animation. Lucasfilms has seen quite the success in the medium after The Clone Wars and Rebels. There is even a spin-off for The Bad Batch planned to release at one point. There were rumors of other animated projects being in development, so this is our first real hint that they aren’t just focused on live-action moving forward. There is a good chance that this show won’t enter production for quite some time, as they might focus on getting the High Republic branding out first. Hopefully, we might get an official announcement in the future that showcases the various shows and films that are planned. We still have no idea what the Obi-Wan Kenobi and Cassian Andor series will be officially titled. So, maybe Lucasfilm will give us an overview soon, or at least during Disney’s Investor’s Day.

    Source: Star Wars, Cinelinx

  • Cat Vasko Writing a Female-Led ‘Plastic Man’ Film

    Cat Vasko Writing a Female-Led ‘Plastic Man’ Film

    It looks like Warner Bros. has a brand new film in development. The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision segment revealed that a Plastic Man film is the latest to join their DC film slate. There is a twist, however. It looks like Patrick ‘Eel’ O’Brian will not be the character to greet us on screen, as it will now be a female-led project. No further details are available for now, so it is uncertain how they will adapt the character and which direction they’ll go. He has become quite popular to break the fourth wall so we could see something in the vein of Deadpool.

    The film has quite a production history. The Mayor‘s Amanda Idoko originally was hired to pen the script two years ago, which was slated as an action-adventure comedy. Now, Queen of the Air‘s Cat Vasko is taking over the project. According to THR, she will be taking it in a new direction. They also cannot confirm if the film will get a title change to Plastic-Woman as a result. My personal favorite idea was from our own Lizzie, who suggested Plastic Ma’am. The film is in the early stages of development, so it will still take some time before it sees the light of day.

    Plastic Man has quite a cult status. The original version of the story features a small-time crook who gets doused with chemical liquids during a botched heist. It results in him gaining the ability to stretch his body and even shape-shift. He eventually even became a police officer as he changed his ways after the incident. He even was part of the Justice League at one point. The character has quite the history going as far back as 1941.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Disney May Combine Disney+ and Hulu

    Disney May Combine Disney+ and Hulu

    Disney+ is an interesting streaming service. Instead of taking on the streaming giant Netflix directly, it focused its efforts on family-entertainment. That decision paid off immensely, as they were way ahead of their early estimates. Yet, there is one confusing aspect of what Disney offers when it comes to streaming. The House of Mouse has three core streaming services that each have a different audience. So, they are splitting quite a variety of content across Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Now, the issue is that Hulu is only available in the US.

    So, they can’t pull in their international audience that is interested in content beyond PG-13. Well, rumors started to go around that they would rectify this by utilizing the existing Indian brand Star. They would expand it into Europe after already rebranding it Disney+ Star. Now, the question was if it would be its streaming service or combined into Disney+. Well, a recent rumor by Collider may confirm the direction they are heading for. The move makes sense to strengthen a singular streaming platform to be able to compete with Netflix. It would combine Disney+’s 73.7M with Hulu’s 36.6M. That does not yet consider how many subscribers the service could make once Disney+ Star is rolled into the service internationally.

    Yes, they do offer these services currently through bundles, but they are still separate services. Even better, they can combine some of the design elements of both to upgrade Disney+’s rather simple template, which I hoped to see in an article you can find here. Plus, we’ll see a streaming war next year, especially now that Warner Bros. has decided to air their films next year on HBO Max. Disney’s Investor’s Day is only a few more days away, so maybe they’ll make the big announcement by then.

    Source: Collider

  • ‘The Mandalorian’ Teases Grogu’s Conflict with the Force

    ‘The Mandalorian’ Teases Grogu’s Conflict with the Force

    The latest episode of The Mandalorian has raised the stakes, as Din was given instructions by Ahsoka Tano on where he can find someone to teach the Child. Oh wait, I guess we are calling him Grogu now. Din was having fun seeing the little guy’s reaction when he called him by his name. Now that they finally found their way to Tython, they face some rather harsh changes. There is a good reason why this episode is titled “The Tragedy” after all. The episode’s chain of events may be continuing a path that was briefly teased last season for our young Grogu. It may be up to Din to save the abandoned Padawan from a dark fate.

     

    Here is your spoiler warning. I will be spoiling the major twist of this episode, so only continue at your own risk. If you don’t want to get spoiled, then be sure to watch the episode before you continue reading.

     

     

    So, the episode ends with Grogu getting captured by the now-confirmed Dark Troopers. Din is too late to save him and can only watch as they leave. Our favorite Mandalorian is heartbroken but quickly tries to find a way to get him out of there with the help of some unlikely allies. The episode did not end there as we also saw little Grogu on the ship. He had his first confrontation with Mof Gideon, who seemed oddly giddy about Grogu throwing the Storm Troopers around the room. We learned from Ahsoka that he purposely hid his abilities, but now it was as if he didn’t care. He was going to take them all down to get back to his father, and he didn’t care how often he has to fling a Storm Trooper across the room. Sadly, he is still tiny and falls asleep after exceeding his limits. The episode ends us with the question of how Din will try to save the kid and whatever Moff has planned for him.

     

     

    It is Grogu’s actions that confirm something Ahsoka Tano said in the last episode. She hinted at the consequences of a force-wielder with a strong personal connection. Their emotions can get the better of them. Something she saw someone close to her went through in the past. It looks like Grogu might be facing a similar path. Just last season, he used the Force to chock Cara, as he believed she was going to hurt him. So far, we’ve only ever seen people on the dark side use that kind of ability. Yes, Grogu seems like an innocent child, but it was shocking to see him slam the Storm Troopers around. He was letting loose, and who knows what else he would’ve done if he didn’t get tired. It certainly will be an interesting conflict once Din can save the little guy, and what implications it may have for his future. Now, we can only wonder if the message will be heard by a Jedi that can bring him back to the light, or perhaps a Sith is ready to answer the call.

  • ‘Marvel’s Avengers’: Crystal Dynamics Offers Update on AIM Cloning Labs

    ‘Marvel’s Avengers’: Crystal Dynamics Offers Update on AIM Cloning Labs

    Let us start with the good news first. We are getting Kate Bishop next week, which will be our first major addition to the game. It will also give us a feeling of what we can expect from new characters and future story patches. Sadly, their focus on making sure that Kate is as polished as possible we will have to wait a little longer for the multiplayer Omega-Level missions. Crystal Dynamics took to Twitter to reveal that while Kate will release on time, her unique Omega-Level Super Adaptoid mission still needs a little time in the workshop.

    Of course, this also confirms that AIM Cloning Labs will still need more time. We’ve been waiting for their first mini-Raid for quite some time, so it is disappointing that it still won’t release. Now, I will say that I am happy that Kate is going to release on time with the brand new content. She does include new missions, perhaps a new warzone type, and, of course, Kate. It isn’t great that we won’t be getting those Raid-type missions right at release, but I will hold CD to that “little more time” aspect of their tweet. At least they didn’t say soon, but I do wish they would give us an actual time window. I hope it still releases before the year ends.

    Now, the question is: why is it still being delayed? I believe it is connected to the length of these missions. There were rumors that the AIM Cloning Lab can last up to six hours. Now, imagine if you suddenly lose your connection and cannot rejoin someone? I wouldn’t be surprised if they are still testing out a way to make the multiplayer experience easier for players, especially to avoid any bugs that could hamper one’s run. Keep in mind that this is just speculation on my part. As annoying as the wait is, we still have Kate’s brand new operation Taking AIM coming out early next week, which is going to be an exciting addition.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Leak Teases Moon Knight and Namor

    ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Leak Teases Moon Knight and Namor

    We are only a few days away from Kate finally releasing. Marvel’s Avengers is still in a bit of a dry spell, so this will hopefully change once our first major addition to the game arrives early next week. Now, data miner @mmmmmmmmiller has started to leak a few snippets that build-up to the release. On the first day, we got a voice clip that will be from our first villain addition, AIM’s Super Adaptoid. Today’s leak is the one that caught my eye, as it seems we’ll be seeing many more iconic items from Marvel history getting added as major artifacts in the future.

    So, there are many references hidden here. There is a tease of Hank Pym’s Portal Device, which will come into play during Kate’s DLC. The Lifeline Tablet is an artifact that has its origin in Atlantis, which confirms that Namor and the Atlanteans do exist in this universe. Vishanti Appendix could be connected to the trio of supernatural gods of the same name, who worked alongside Doctor Strange in the comics. The odd one out is the Talisman of Spectacle, which was supposedly part of Avengers‘ 5 Gum promotion.

    The Ancient Winter reference might be familiar to those that watched Thor. It even gets referenced in the data files in the game as well. Not just that, we also get the Staff of Khonshu, which means the developers might have Moon Knight in the pipeline at some point. Of course, the inclusion of the artifacts does not confirm he’ll make an appearance anytime soon, but it means he is on Crystal Dynamics list for some time in the future. If they time it right, they could promote the character’s addition once Marvel Studios’ Disney+ series nears its release.

    Source: Twitter

  • HBO Max: Warner Bros. 2021 Film Release Schedule

    HBO Max: Warner Bros. 2021 Film Release Schedule

    Warner Bros. may have started a brand new development within the cinematic market. They just announced that they will release their entire 2021 slate simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. Now, the official trailer does mention that the films and release schedules are subject to change. It has been quite confusing with all the delays in 2020, so let’s look at a quick rundown of all films slated to release next year. The new HBO Max release schedule will technically start as of December 25th with Wonder Woman 1984. So, as of now, Mortal Kombat will kickstart the year but we still have no trailer for the film, so there is a good chance it will get delayed. Here is an overview of all Warner Bros. 2021 films:

     

    January 15th, 2021: Mortal Kombat

    March 5th, 2021: Tom & Jerry

    March 12th, 2021: The Many Saints of Newark

    May 21st, 2021: Godzilla vs. Kong

    June 4th, 2021: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

    June 18th, 2021: In the Heights

    July 16th, 2021: Space Jam: A New Legacy

    August 6th, 2021: The Suicide Squad

    October 1st, 2021: Dune

    November 5th, 2021: Elvis

    November 19th, King Richard

    December 22nd, 2021: The Matrix 4

    December 22nd, 2021: Sherlock Holmes 3

    No Release Date: Judas and the Black Messiah

    No Release Date: Those Who Wish Me Dead

    No Release Date: Malignant

    No Release Date: CryMacho

     

    It is quite an extensive list of films that we can expect to get released in the coming year. We will see if any of these dates will change throughout the year, especially if some of the films that are still in production might face delays due to the pandemic. HBO Max’s subscriber numbers are sure to rise with every major release, so it’ll be interesting to see if it will be able to compete with Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ through this strategy. We will see if other film giants will also follow in this digital revolution.

    Source: The Numbers