Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • REPORT: Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Talks for James Bond Role

    REPORT: Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Talks for James Bond Role

    There has been one discussion that has been on everyone’s radar: who will be the next James Bond? Daniel Craig offered a memorable tenure as the character since 2006’s Casino Royale before wrapping up his time in the role with 2021’s No Time to Die. Now, the future of the franchise remains uncertain, especially with who might take on the mantle and when we can expect the next entry.

    Of course, fans have their own personal choices on who would be fitting for the 007 franchise. Idris Elba has been one of the most popular choices, which even made the rounds that the producers, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, openly discussed its inclusion. To kick off the new year, it seems that there’s one frontrunner who has already had talks to take on the role: Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

    In a new report by Puck, it seems that Taylor-Johnson has sat down with the producers on potentially taking the role. While it doesn’t mean he’ll definitely be our next bond, the fact that the meetings went well would give him a good chance. He does make for a good choice in the role, though it would be a shame if they don’t venture out more to find their next James Bond.

    We still have to wait a bit longer before they start working on the next entry of the 007 era, but we do have a reality TV series in development at Amazon to tie us over. If talks do continue this year, we may know who is the next Bond by the time we inch closer to 2024.

    Source: Puck

  • REPORT: Casting Still Underway for Marvel Studios ‘Fantastic Four’

    REPORT: Casting Still Underway for Marvel Studios ‘Fantastic Four’

    2023 has been filled with casting rumors and theories on who might become the next members of the Fantastic Four in Marvel Studios’ reboot of the franchise. As we were nearing San Diego Comic-Con, there were many rumors floating about hinting at who may have already nabbed the role of Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, or the Thing before they would fizzle out again. The same thing happened shortly after as D23 was around the corner.

    In a new report by Puck, it seems that there still is no one set in the various roles, but they are still actively casting for the 2025 release. Fantastic Four is a dream project for Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige, and past reports have hinted at him being heavily invested in getting them right after the mixed reception of the more comedic take in 2005 and the poorly received 2015 entry.

    Matt Shakman is set to bring this franchise to life after his successful work on WandaVision. Originally, the director of the MCU Spider-Man films, Jon Watts was attached to direct but passed on the project to focus on another franchise, his upcoming Disney+ Star Wars series, Skeleton Crew.

    We still have to wait quite a bit before we find out what Marvel Studios has planned for Marvel’s first family, but it definitely has the potential to be one of their most ambitious projects yet. There’s also the possibility of how it introduces one of Marvel’s most iconic villains, Victor van Doom, who was initially rumored to appear in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. For now, we’ll have to wait a bit longer for an actual update.

    Source: Puck

  • ‘Knives Out’ Director Loves the Idea of Including the Muppets in a ‘Glass Onion’ Sequel

    ‘Knives Out’ Director Loves the Idea of Including the Muppets in a ‘Glass Onion’ Sequel

    After Benoit Blanc’s latest mystery led to him confronting a group of rich and influential people on a Greek island, many online had some fun trying to imagine what a sequel to Glass Onion would look like. Besides the countless fan castings due to the massive casting of the first sequel, there was one fun idea that seemed almost too perfect. Given Benoit Blanc’s usual habits, Social Media was ablaze with the hilarious idea of him eventually joining a mystery caper that sees him with nonother than the Muppets.

    Yes, the internet started imagining what it would be like if Knives Out director Rian Johnson created a story that saw Blanc in the strangest mystery of his lifetime starring the loveable members of the Muppets. Luckily, it seems that Johnson is quite a fan of the idea after hearing about it in an interview that was shared by the official Glass Onion/Knives Out account on Twitter, where he revels in the idea.

    Of course, there’s the challenge that the Knives Out sequels are all owned by Netflix, and The Muppets are part of Disney’s library. Of course, we could see them making a deal potentially that may lead to these films landing on Disney+ in exchange for them using the Muppets. It would be quite a lot of fun to see Kermit and Miss Piggy rocking some of the amazing fashion we see in these projects, while one of the Muppets ended up stabbed on the ground.

    Source: Twitter

  • RUMOR: ‘Persona 3’ May Receive a Modern Remake

    RUMOR: ‘Persona 3’ May Receive a Modern Remake

    2023 is looking like a crazy year for Persona fans. Just recently, Persona 5 Royal finally made its way to Nintendo Switch with remasters of Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden already in some form of development. Yet, it seems that there’s one more project that may revive a Persona classic in a big way. Following a recent tease by Atlus on more unannounced titles heading our way in 2023, we’re kicking off the year with a rumor hinting at Persona 3 getting a complete remake for modern consoles.

    Keep in mind that this remains a rumor for now, but this would make for quite an interesting development. It also comes from the same source that correctly announced the remasters and even the return of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. We all assumed that Persona 6 is just around the corner for an announcement, but it would be quite something if they re-focused their efforts on modernizing the third entry in the franchise, one that would redefine its success and how future entries would be developed.

    The possibility of a remake for 3 also opens up the possibility for plans for the fourth receiving the same treatment. Of course, we don’t know just how far they’ll go with these new adaptations and if the rumor is true. After the growing success of the fifth entry worldwide, it’s not too surprising they want to bank on its success, but it does leave us wondering just what the future might look like for the series if they remained focused on previous entries rather than pushing forward with its next official title, especially since Persona 5 released back in 2016.

    Source: GameRant

  • Netflix’s ‘1899’ Won’t Return for Season 2

    Netflix’s ‘1899’ Won’t Return for Season 2

    Netflix just won’t learn its lesson, will it? Once again, the streaming service has decided to cancel a show just before truly getting the ball rolling and testing the waters with how it could grow its audience across multiple seasons. 1899, the mystery series by the creators of Dark, will not be returning for a second season. Baran bo Odar took to his personal Instagram account to share the sad news, as Netflix has passed on continuing the series after its first season.

    It was an ambitious new project that explored the story of a steamship Cerberus on its journey across the Atlantic, which leads to them finding one that has vanished months earlier. The first season ended on a cliffhanger that was going to build upon the story elements introduced going into the second season, but it seems we won’t be getting that after all.

    Netflix has a bad habit of canceling shows that are only getting started, as they mainly focus on whatever project can break a record. It’s not realistic to put all their eggs in one basket, especially while they are pushing out high-budget shows with minimal promotion and hoping about their virality. Wednesday is not the norm but rather an exception.

    1899 not surviving even with the involvement of the talented creative team of Dark, it does open up the challenge of what other show might get canceled before it gets going. Streaming services can provide projects for longer periods of time but they mainly rely on whatever can pull in a massive viewership just in its opening weekend. We’ll have to see what it means for other projects in the future.

    Source: Instagram

  • Netflix’s ‘Assassin’s Creed’ Series Loses Showrunner

    Netflix’s ‘Assassin’s Creed’ Series Loses Showrunner

    Netflix has been trying to become the hot spot for anyone trying to bring their popular franchise to life. They have ventured out into the world of video game adaptations, especially after their success working on the animated series Castlevania. It led to them working on projects like Arcane, an adaptation of League of Legends, as well as the recently released Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Their next project is a live-action adaptation of the ever-popular Assassin’s Creed franchise.

    Sadly, it seems that they have lost a key member of the project, Jeb Stuart. He was hired to showrun the project and is no stranger to working with Netflix, as he’s recently worked on the Viking sequel, Valhalla. Collider has shared the news that he is no longer involved and it seems that once again a “difference in vision” is the reason for that. He goes on to highlight that:

    I think it was a little bit of a move of executives from LA to London, and it allowed the London group who, unfortunately, had to inherit my vision of what it was instead of getting to develop their own vision. So I think that’s fair. I know it’s going to be great whenever it comes out. I think the Ubisoft guys are fantastic. I think it’s a terrific franchise. It was just a good, mutual time to move on for both sides.

    Jeb Stuart

    So far, there’s not been an announcement about who might take over as a showrunner on the project. We also don’t know what the vision might be that led to Stuart leaving the project, but they may be still actively looking for someone to fulfill that very role. The project is seemingly still moving forward, but it looks like the wait will be longer than expected.

    Source: Collider

  • REPORT: ‘Wednesday’ Season 2 May Not Stream on Netflix

    REPORT: ‘Wednesday’ Season 2 May Not Stream on Netflix

    We just heard recently that Wednesday is very likely to get a season renewal in the near year, as the series ended up becoming one of Netflix’s biggest hits with 400 million hours viewed in a week, even beating out Stranger Things. There was only one complication: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) owns the rights and was a co-producer on the series. Now that the studio is owned by amazon, there was some uncertainty if the Jenna Ortega-led project may move away from its streaming home; especially with its recent success.

    In a new report by the Independent, it seems that the new MGM series may be moving to Prime Video rather than remaining on Netflix going into its second season. They do point out that this isn’t a sure thing and there’s a chance that Netflix won’t waste this opportunity to keep the popular series on its streaming platform, but it’s most definitely an option as of now.

    Amazon has made the statement in the past that they aren’t going to force every project that was produced under the MGM banner to remain exclusively on Prime Video, but it doesn’t exclude the fact that they’ll completely rule out the idea. According to the Independent, the team behind Wednesday is already securing writers and looking into filming locations for a second season, which is at least a positive hint at more to come. For now, we just have to wait a little longer for any confirmation if the series will return to Netflix or not.

    Source: Independent

  • Ubisoft’s Creative Director Teases Massive’s Open-World Star Wars Project

    Ubisoft’s Creative Director Teases Massive’s Open-World Star Wars Project

    2023 is set to be another major year for gaming, as many iconic franchises are making a return. We’re getting remasters of previous Persona games, more rumors hinting at the return of Metal Gear Solid, and more. There’s also the release of Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, which will see the return of Cal Kestis and a new game in the Star Wars franchise. That is not all, as it seems that we might finally get an update on the open-world game set in this universe by Massive Entertainment.

    We first heard about the game’s development back in January 2021, but outside of it being open-world, we didn’t know anything else about the project. It was also the first game to not be developed by EA in any way, which would set a new direction for Lucasfilm Games. We haven’t heard anything since but a new tweet by Julian Gerighty, the Creative Director for Ubisoft, shared a new tweet hinting at the project in 2023.

    While it doesn’t mean that the game will release this year, there’s a chance we at least get an update. They may wait until the March release of Jedi Survivor, as it gives them some time to focus on advertising the project before they focus on their next game in the iconic franchise. Here’s hoping that the wait isn’t much longer until we get a closer look at what the open world game may be like. Here’s hoping we might get to play Mandalorian staking out bounties in the galaxy.

    Source: Twitter

  • New ‘Batgirl’ BTS Images Offer the Best Look at Brendan Fraser’s Firefly

    New ‘Batgirl’ BTS Images Offer the Best Look at Brendan Fraser’s Firefly

    Batgirl is the project we’ll always wonder what it would’ve been like if it released as initially planned. It’s still bizarre to think that Warner bros. Discovery simply scrapped a near-finished project, especially with the hopes of them building a true DC Cinematic Universe. Sadly, we might never know what Batgirl was going to be like but ever since the cancelation, we’ve been seeing quite a few BTS images make the rounds.

    Just yesterday, its star Leslie Grace shared a look at what her final costume was going to look like. Now, Twitter user @BatgirlFilm which shared quite a few scenes from behind the scenes throughout its production shared another set of photos that include another look at Grace‘s Batgirl costume. That’s not all, as we also get a close-up of what Brendan Fraser‘s Firefly costume was going to be.

    It’s definitely a shame we’ll never truly see what exactly Firefly was going to be capable of, especially with how amazing Brendan Fraser‘s resurgence as an actor has been. We don’t know if they would’ve gone down a very different route with the character as a more redeemable man forced into the position he is in, or if Fraser got the chance to just be a straightforward villain.

    Is there a chance we might see this project released after all? Sadly, as they cut it mid-finalization due to saving tax, they aren’t allowed to produce or release it. Perhaps the new co-CEO James Gunn has a chance to find a workaround to get it back. For now, we can only think of what was.

    Source: Twitter

  • Atlus Teases “Several” Unannounced Titles

    Atlus Teases “Several” Unannounced Titles

    Persona’s anniversary in 2022 hasn’t quite lived up to the hype in some aspects. While it did finally lead to the confirmation that Persona 3 Portable (oddly without a name change) and Persona 4 Golden are heading to consoles, there was no sign of the sixth entry of the franchise.

    It’s great that they aren’t rushing out the sequel but not even a sign or brief teaser to capitalize off of its anniversary seemed odd. Persona 5 was released back in 2016 and many hoped to avoid a similarly long wait that occurred between that game’s release and Persona 4 in 2008. Yet, it seems like the wait will be quite a bit longer but a new statement by Atlus may have given some hope going into 2023.

    In 2023, we will start with the remastered releases of P3P and P4G, and we are also preparing several new unannounced titles. Please look forward to it!

    Sadly, they don’t give away anything but we can at least expect some new games from Atlus to get announced eventually. They may be holding back on some releases due to the production timeline needing more time and if Persona 6 is on the menu, they’d likely want to make sure they won’t keep postponing it like they did last time around.

    Sadly, we’ll just have to wait and see what is heading our way for now. There are also quite a few other franchises under the Atlus umbrella that might get their time to shine. Soul Hacker just got a new entry last year and who knows if another Shin Megami Tensei title is already further along in production. Perhaps last year was just the prelude to many more titles heading our way.

    Source: Famitsu via Persona Central