Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • ‘Knives Out’ Director Already Started Work on ‘Glass Onion’ Sequel

    ‘Knives Out’ Director Already Started Work on ‘Glass Onion’ Sequel

    After a long wait and $450M+ investment by Netflix, the first sequel to Knives Out has finally been released on the streaming platform. Glass Onion offers another exciting murder mystery starring Daniel Craig as the lovable detective Benoit Blanc. This time around, he finds himself stuck on a Greek island where things slowly start to unravel over an unlikely gathering of friends.

    Glass Onion has just been released on the platform and while it didn’t blow away any expectations with its viewership numbers, the film did have a strong short run in theaters showcasing the power of this franchise. Luckily for director Rian Johnson, Netflix is already all-in for a sequel and it looks like he already started work on it.

    So much of what I’m trying to do, because I’m starting to write the next one, is really just about trying to clear my head and think about what’s on my mind right now. Hopefully that translates in some way to what’s on all of our minds right now in terms of culture.

    Rian Johnson

    Speaking of “terms of culture,” he was asked if he would tackle something inspired by Elon Musk‘s chaotic management of Twitter but he jokingly points out that he already technically made that film. It’ll also be interesting to see what cast he once again gets together, as the film was not only jam-packed with a talented cast of characters but also had various cameos sprinkled throughout in supporting or minor roles. Whatever he has in store

    Source: Wired

  • New ‘The Flash’ Merchandise Reveals First Look at Batman’s Batwing

    New ‘The Flash’ Merchandise Reveals First Look at Batman’s Batwing

    Superhero films are more than just the pure cinematic experience, as they also come with quite a few merchandises for fans of all ages. Ironically, these products end up spoiling quite a bit more than they should, as they tend to find themselves online much earlier than expected. That is especially the case with projects that end up getting delayed further back leading to the current situation of The Flash merch revealing our first look at Michael Keaton‘s new Batwing.

    Twitter user @flashpointsaber has shared a rather curious first look at merchandise that includes two figurines and a model version of the Batwing. It’s definitely inspired by the one we first saw back in 1989 which was a direct adaptation of his logo from that era. It seems that this time around they combined the elements from modern-day Batman with the classic, as it’s even titled the “Ultimate Batwing.”

    We know that it belongs to Keaton‘s Batman rather than to the version of the character played by Ben Affleck, who was confirmed to appear due to set photos of him back in action, due to the figurine included. That is the already teased version of the character and matches with what we saw in artwork since DC FanDome almost two years ago. The only question is how the Batwing might be used in the film and perhaps connects to the final arc of the film.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Black Panther 2’ Director Opens Up on How They Chose T’Challa’s Death in the MCU

    ‘Black Panther 2’ Director Opens Up on How They Chose T’Challa’s Death in the MCU

    Chadwick Boseman left a legacy behind like no other and there was no simple task for Ryan Coogler and his crew to continue it with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. They made the difficult choice to have his character T’Challa pass on. Yet, the biggest challenge was how they’d decided to tackle this sensitive topic and they only knew that they wanted to explore “the transformative quality of grief and trauma” as revealed in an interview with New York Times.

    We wanted to have an emotionally intelligent conversation. It’s about the transformative quality of grief and trauma. There’s this expectation with emotional trauma that you just need time. ‘Oh, give them a couple weeks off; they’ll come back to work and get back to it.’ But that person is completely different in some ways. You just don’t see it because the change isn’t visible.

    Ryan Coogler

    He goes on to highlight the decision to not have someone external being responsible for the death of T’Challa, as it would mainly lead to Shuri’s grief being directed outward rather than exploring her own emotions surrounding the loss.

    If somebody else would’ve taken T’Challa out, Shuri would’ve looked for that person. We wanted it to be a situation where the only place to go was internal.

    Ryan Coogler

    There’s something fitting with the choice, as it also reflects the grief that everyone involved went through in how Boseman just suddenly passed away and that feeling of having no control. The script also became a way for Ryan Coogler to handle the loss of his friend, going through the same challenge that Shuri was throughout the film handling the ever-persistent grief.

    Source: NY Times via The Direct

  • RUMOR: Ben Affleck in Talks With Marvel Studios for an Upcoming Role

    RUMOR: Ben Affleck in Talks With Marvel Studios for an Upcoming Role

    Ben Affleck has gone through quite the journey when it comes to superhero or franchise films. The actor has made quite the name for himself throughout his directorial and acting career, but it seems he may still be interested in revisiting a new role within an established franchise. A new rumor is making the rounds online that hints at Ben Affleck potentially taking on a role in an upcoming Marvel Studios project and it’s quite an interesting one: he may be in talks to tackle the role of Dario Agger according to @MyTimetoShineH.

    For those that don’t know, Dario Agger is actually a villain better known as the Minotaur and was a recurring antagonist for Thor. At one point it was even who Christian Bale was going to play in Thor: Love and Thunder before he ended up taking on the role of Gorr the God Butcher. The character had a major role in the War of the Realms event in the comics as well as appearing in the iconic Immortal Hulk series.

    His potential addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe would open up some rather interesting possibilities. If this is a one-time appearance, it would be fitting if he had a role in the new Captain America film subtitled New World Order. Agger is famous for also being the president of Roxxon Energy, a company that has been a part of the franchise since the beginning hinted at through various appearances in the background. But, who knows if there might be another project in development where he might appear in.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Avatar’s Sequels May Potentially Face Some Delays

    ‘Avatar’s Sequels May Potentially Face Some Delays

    Avatar‘s first sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, has hit theaters and is making quite a splash. Just yesterday night, it managed to pass the one billion mark and is likely to continue making headway with some impressive box office legs. Of course, we already know that a third entry is already on the horizon but not everything seems as set in stone as initially hoped for by everyone involved.

    In an interview with The Wrap, director James Cameron reveals that they have everything mapped out up until the fifth entry of the Avatar series, but it does seem like they’re unlikely to hit their expected release dates; at least going by how Cameron hints at some uncertainties surrounding their production and wanting to give each entry a bit more time between the various sequels.

    They exist. These stories exist. We know exactly what we’re doing. We know what these movies are gonna be. We just have to go through the process of getting them done. So, you know ideally two years from now, [Avatar] 3 comes out. Ideally maybe 3 years after that 4 comes out and then ideally maybe a couple years after that 5 comes out. So we won’t be away from the market place, so we’ll have that sense of a persistent world and ongoing story that I think people want. If they’re going to invest in these characters, they’re going to invest in this world, we want to give it to them in a regular cadence, ideally, and that was the game plan. That’s one of the reasons we were gone so long.

    James Cameron

    There’s always a risk when trying to adapt a franchise and Avatar so far has been quite the untested waters (pun intended) for Disney. It’s a high-investment franchise and if they want to make more sequels, it’ll be quite expensive to roll those out while also trying to ensure they remain profitable. As it stands, Avatar: The Way of Water seems to be heading in a good direction but no one can blame them for waiting it out a bit.

    Source: The Wrap

  • Expect More Courtroom Scenes in Daredevil’s Disney+ Series

    Expect More Courtroom Scenes in Daredevil’s Disney+ Series

    Marvel Studios is about to tackle their first Netflix sequel in Daredevil: Born Again. The Disney+ series is set to bring back Charlie Cox in the title role of Matt Murdock, who has een slowly making his grand return ever since a small came in laster year’s Spider-Man. No Way Home. We even got a little taste of Murdock back in court during his brief appearce in She-Hulk, Attorney at Law. With Daredevil: Born Again set to have the most numbers of episodes for a Marvel-produced Disney+ series, it seems we’ll be spending a lot more time in court.

    In an interview with GQ Magazine to promote his new Netflix series Treason, the star also got a chance to share his excitement for the future of Daredevil. He’s been very vocal of his love for the character and it would be an understatement to say that his return was welomced with big arms by everyone involved and those that first witnessed his return in theaters. In the interview, he got a chance to share that we’ll see al ot more of Murdock in the courtoom.

    I think because of the number of episodes they’ve committed to, there’ll be a heavy influence of courtroom stuff—Matt Murdock, the lawyer in the new show. So I’m heavily focused on researching that area of this character and his life. It was one of the areas we didn’t do a huge amount of exploration around before. Even my accent is probably really rusty.

    Charlie Cox

    In the same interview, the actor shares his overall excitement about returning to the role and even going out of his way to re-read most of the comics. He’s been a big fan and he does say that he might be a bit rusty. So, he has to get “back into shape for a role like that” but going by what he provided so far, he is definitely going to be back in action the moment he walks on set.

    Source: GQ Magazine

  • ‘Glass Onion’ Pulls in Strong 82.1M Hours Viewed over Christmas

    ‘Glass Onion’ Pulls in Strong 82.1M Hours Viewed over Christmas

    It might not be too surprising, but it looks like Glass Onion‘s opening weekend was already quite the success for Netflix, as the film managed to pull in 82.1M hours viewed over the weekend from December 19th until 25th. Going by its total runtime of over two hours, the film was watched by around 35M households during its opening weekend.

    The Knives Out sequel received a limited theatrical run, which had many scratching their heads on why they didn’t let it run for longer given it managed to pull in quite a bit of money and had a good chance of winning the weekend’s box office. Given the lack of mid-budget films in theaters, it could’ve been the one project to potentially push Netflix’s gross from its initial $450M investment for the exclusive rights to Glass Onion and its yet-to-be-filmed sequel.

    Netflix also invested another $40M to get the film produced (yes, that investment did not include the actual production cost) but the film currently is slightly behind 2021’s The Unforgivable‘s opening of 85.9M. It’s on the lower end of the most popular films on the streaming service. Still, it’s a Christmas opening when most people are spending time with family and it has quite a long runtime.

    One thing is clear, we’d definitely get a third Benoit Blanc sequel but the viewership numbers could be the selling point for a slew of sequels beyond just the two. While it seems unlikely that director Johnson will get his chance to get the “Knives Out Mystery” title changed, the viewership seems like a great sign for many more entries in the future.

    Source: Variety

  • Rian Johnson Shares His One Regret with ‘Glass Onion’

    Rian Johnson Shares His One Regret with ‘Glass Onion’

    After a long wait, Glass Onion has finally arrived. The official first sequel to Knives Out continues the story of Benoit Blanc, a genius detective that finds himself stranded on a curious trip with some of the most influential people to tackle an unlikely murder mystery.

    Director Rian Johnson once again got the chance to tackle his genre-bending style in a new entry but it seems he does have one specific regret about the film’s release. It seems he’s not quite happy with the way Netflix handled the titling of the film.

    As of now, the film’s official title is Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, but that wasn’t what the director was going for. He purposefully chose the title to keep each entry as its own unique entry, kind of like “a new novel off the shelf.”

    I want everyone who liked the first movie to know this is next in the series but the whole appeal to me is it’s a new novel off the shelf every time.

    Rian Johnson

    That is not too surprising given the genre he is playing around with. Most of the classic murder mystery novels each had a unique title and were mainly connected through their titular character. Perhaps “A Benoit Blanc Mystery” would’ve been more fitting rather than clinging to the title of the first film.

    Netflix paid a lot of money to ensure that any future entries of the franchise remain exclusively on the streaming service. The film had a good chance to make a massive splash at the box office but was only given a limited release window. Now, we anxiously await to see just how big of a splash the film made on Netflix to ensure it’s future entries.

    Source: The Atlantic

  • ‘Avatar 2’ Set to Pass a Billion Tonight

    ‘Avatar 2’ Set to Pass a Billion Tonight

    The time has already arrived, as Avatar: The Way of Water is seemingly already on its way to passing a billion. After taking in $955M on Monday, the film now stands to pass the billion-dollar mark by the end of the day this Tuesday. James Cameron‘s latest film once again proves the value of the international box office as well as his usual strong legs. Combine all that with a very convenient Christmas free of competition.

    At the moment, its split is $293.2M domestic with a good chance of potentially reaching the $400M mark by the end of its run. Internationally is where most o the investment stand at $661.9M with the additional push of China. In a year where science fiction has been struggling quite a bit, the film is that last glimpse of potential going into the end of the year.

    As of now, the film’s strongest markets are China at $104.5M, France at $60.5M, Korea’s $55.4M, and Germany stands at an impressive $41.5M. So, here’s the big question of just how far the film will make it. There’s still a chance that it could reach two billion, but while its Christmas momentum has been impressive it’s unclear if that will fully carry over.

    avatar billion, it needs to make a lot of money, or else the investment for future installments might end up being questioned. If it passes two billion remains a question in the upcoming weeks but it’s still looking like a strong box office run no matter what, especially with it already passing a billion by tonight.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘What If..?’ Composer on Adapting to Each Episode’s Genre

    ‘What If..?’ Composer on Adapting to Each Episode’s Genre

    We’re still anxiously awaiting any news on what Marvel Studios’ next season of What If…? has in store for us. Besides the brief tease from San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios has gone quiet on their animation front. Wild rumors have circulated that didn’t help matters much, but it seems we have something to carry us over in an interview by Laura Karpman on what it’s like working on the animated series, and it looks like she’s having a blast.

    Oh, I love it. The thing about What If…? that’s amazing is that every episode is different, so you’re kind of starting all over again. So every episode is its own little world or a big world. And so it really is… It’s doing these series of little films, and it’s a pleasure. It’s a great gig

    Laura Karpman

    Karpman is no stranger to working with Marvel Studios, as she’s recently been involved with Ms. Marvel and even next year’s film release, The Marvels. While details on those projects aren’t divulged, she does tease how she had to adapt to each episode’s unique theming while also adhering to the scores that inspired them, if it was a Captain America or Guardians of the GAlaxy-focused episode.

    So it’s one of those things where big decisions have to be made in every episode. And in fact, it’s the opposite of prescriptive. Although there are materials that we can draw from if we choose to. So there are preexisting materials. If I want to use some of Ludwig [Göransson]’s music or Alan Silvestri music, or anybody who’s worked in the MCU, we think about how do we want to do it. And I only have one kind of monster rule for myself when it comes to using the great themes written by the composers, and that is that I don’t actually ever look at the sheet music. I do it all by ear because I think if it filters through my brain somehow, then it’ll feel like the show. Then it’ll feel like I’ve had my influence rather than just really drawing exactly from what was written. And I think it’s better for the show too, because then it feels somewhat new.

    Laura Karpman

    It definitely sounds like the series gave her a fun challenge while flexing her creative muscle. There’s something unique about their first animated project that is steeped in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s history. Now, we only need to wait for an official release date.

    Source: Collider