Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • ‘Black Adam’ Producer Turned Down a ‘The Flash’ Cameo for Dwayne Johnson

    ‘Black Adam’ Producer Turned Down a ‘The Flash’ Cameo for Dwayne Johnson

    Black Adam is quite the mess with the release underwhelming and everything that followed being quite the rollercoaster of emotions for everyone involved. Dwayne Johnson was focused on building a new corner of the DC Extended Universe but surprisingly he avoided involvement with most of the franchise that didn’t quite fit into his own plans.

    We recently learned that the actor declined to join Shazam: Fury of the Gods in a small role, which would’ve made the most sense for the character given Black Adam is Shazam’s main rival. Yet, he seemingly only saw the opportunity to build his own “Justice League” with the Justice Society of America. Yet, he even declined to join one of the main members’ upcoming solo film The Flash according to a new tweet by The Wrap’s Umberto Gonzalez.

    It’s interesting that this inquiry went out to producer Hiram Garcia instead of the actor directly, but it’s bizarre that they’d not want the actor to appear in one of the main Justice League member’s storylines. Especially the multiverse concept would offer some fun ways to give him some more fun to play around with the role and connect him with the overarching narratives. So, it seems like an odd opportunity to pass on. Perhaps there was the believe that Black Adam was big on its own and Dwayne Johnson’s plans to create his own little corner, he may want to keep it as independent as possible. Whatever the reason, the story continues to get more and more confusing.

    Source: Twitter

  • Sony Boss Offers Update on Tom Holland’s Next ‘Spider-Man’ Film

    Sony Boss Offers Update on Tom Holland’s Next ‘Spider-Man’ Film

    2022 has been a great year for Sony Pictures. Superhero-wise however, 2022 has not been the best year for Sony. While they’ve seen some successes, their latest attempt at expanding their Spider-Man franchise, wasn’t quite what they hoped for. Spider-Man: No Way Home made a major splash at the box office when it was released a year ago, but Mobius tanked at the box office. Not just that, the internet created an “It’s Morbin’ Time” joke that made them believe they could give the film some extra box office legs but ended up failing even worse.

    So, while we have various other spinoff series in some form of development, all eyes are on the next Tom Holland-led project. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been expanding quite rapidly, but there’s still no word on the fourth entry that was confirmed by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. Now, Sony Pictures’ Tom Rothman finally got a chance to tease what’s next for the wall-crawler in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. He ensured that it was happening.

    You bet. When you can expect it, I don’t know. Serve no wine before it’s time.

    Tom Rothman

    It might still be some time until we get an update on what the future has in store for us with the Spider-Man franchise. Marvel Studios has been reshaping its initial phase plans. So, perhaps once one year has fewer projects, we might see the time frame for the next entry. Who knows if we get one Spider-Man film before the Avengers crossover once again and the follow-up right after?

    Source: THR

  • Agatha Harkness’ ‘WandaVision’ Spinoff Adds Patti LuPone

    Agatha Harkness’ ‘WandaVision’ Spinoff Adds Patti LuPone

    Agatha: Coven of Chaos has been steadily growing its cast throughout the last few weeks and they’ve now added one more. Deadline has just revealed that Tony winner Patti LuPone has joined the upcoming Disney+ series. She now joins Joe Locke, Aubrey Plaza, Maria Dizzia, Sasheer Zamata, and Ali Ahn. We also have the returning Emma Caulfield Ford, who will once again take on the role of Dottie from WandaVision.

    As per usual, her role is kept quite under wraps besides that she is playing a witch. It’s not surprising that we’ll meet a few witches in a story focused on the witch played by Kathryn Hahn with “Coven” in the title of its Disney+ series. The casting so far has been quite a on point and promises what may be Disney+’s wildest series.

    LuPone marks a good sign that we’ll see quite a few musical elements in the series, which isn’t too surprising after the success that “Agatha All Along” turned out to be; hopefully also finds itself in the series’ title melody. She worked in musicals such as Evita, Les Misérables, Sweeney Todd, and more. Of course, she also blended her talents into other projects like The Comedian, Wise Guys, Frasier, Penny Dreadful, and even Netflix’s recent The School for Good and Evil. So, It’ll be exciting to see what she brings to the table.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Producer Would Love to See Johnny Depp Return

    ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Producer Would Love to See Johnny Depp Return

    Pirates of the Caribbean has been on a bit of a hiatus. The franchise was one of Hollywood’s strongest and created a newfound love for pirates. Sadly, it never really picked up; here’s hoping One Piece can gain a similar momentum with its unique take on pirates next year, but Disney still hopes to bring the franchise back with style. There isn’t just one but two new entries planned to bring it back to life, but it’s still looking like rough seas ahead.

    There have been some conflicting reports, however. Margot Robbie believed her new entry was dead in the water, but it turned out not to be according to long-time producer Jerry Bruckheimer. So far, we don’t have any details on the second entry but it seems they are moving forward at their own pace. Still, Bruckheimer has once again talked about Pirates of the Caribbean in a recent interview with THR, where he revealed that not only is he excited for the franchise’s future but also would love for one actor to return.

    I would love to have him in the movie. He’s a friend, a terrific actor and it’s unfortunate that personal lives creep into everything we do.

    Jeff Bruckheimer

    Johnny Depp has been out of the business for some time. He lost his role in the Fantastic Beasts franchise due to the controversy surrounding his marriage to Amber Heard. The trial gained quite a bit of attention online and it does seem like he is trying to make his way back into the business. Though, Depp has also openly stated that he has no interest in ever returning due to how Disney treated him after the controversy got everyone’s attention. It seems Captain Jack Sparrow is unlikely to return, but who knows what might happen in the future.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is Hollywood’s Most Expensive Film to Date

    ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is Hollywood’s Most Expensive Film to Date

    After a strong but surprisingly below-expectation opening weekend, Avatar: The Way of Water still made an impressive global $435M opening weekend. It won’t break any records but going by its hold over the weekend, it’ll likely have the legs any other James Cameron film has though just how far it’ll go remains uncertain. Still, the pressure is on as the film must make at least $2 billion to be profitable, at least that is what Cameron has shared in the past.

    We never knew exactly just how big the budget was for the film, but it turns out that it’s far more massive than any of us could’ve imagined. Even Avengers: Endgame and its multitude of big-name stars had a production budget of around $300M. The CG-heavily film has a massive budget of $460M according to a new report by Deadline. That’s quite impressive and makes sense given they also filmed the first two sequels back-to-back.

    The film’s budget is definitely impressive and there are currently no fears the film will perform incredibly well moving forward. It’s entering the holiday season where the normal day acts like a weekend. Presales factor about 20% for its post-release window and even Marvel averages around 5%. Cameron will likely do what he always does similar to what Top Gun: Maverick accomplished earlier in the year. Now, the only question remains: just how far will it go, and will it inspire Disney to go all in with Cameron‘s plans for the franchise?

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Evil Dead Rise’ Director Teases a Film “Fueled by Blood”

    ‘Evil Dead Rise’ Director Teases a Film “Fueled by Blood”

    Evil Dead is back, and one of the few projects to actually benefit from Warner Bros. Discovery’s recent mismanagement. Originally, the film was set to become an HBO Max original and they didn’t scrap it like some other unlucky projects. Instead, Evil Dead Rise by director Lee Cronin was made a theatrically exclusive release and 2023 will finally give us the return to a much-loved horror franchise.

    Sadly, Cronin can’t give us any details regarding what we can expect from the Deadite’s return, but he makes one clear promise: there shall be blood! The franchise has never shied away from making good use of bloodshed and it seems that the film “straps you onto a rocket that’s fueled by blood” in a recent interview with Empire.

    It straps you onto a rocket that’s fueled by blood. You can either get off or you stay on ’til it explodes.

    Lee Cronin

    A rocket fueled by blood sounds exactly like what one would want from an Evil Dead entry. It’s unclear still if this is a continuation of the original trilogy or perhaps we might even see this as a direct sequel to the remake from 2013. It’s crazy to think that it has taken another 10+ years to get to this point and hopefully a trailer isn’t too far anymore to get a good feeling for how this project might stay true to the previous entries.

    Source: Empire

  • Netflix No Longer Moving Forward with ‘Klaus’ Director’s Next Film

    Netflix No Longer Moving Forward with ‘Klaus’ Director’s Next Film

    Why is it always animation when companies need to save money? Sadly, it seems that Netflix has decided they are no longer moving forward with a hand-drawn animated film by director Sergio Pablos. The mastermind behind the amazingly animated Klaus was going to direct a film titled Ember but surprisingly this might not have been scratched for cost-saving measures but rather due to creative decisions.

    Pablos is not losing the rights to Ember, however, and is openly looking to show the film at another studio. The director has worked on projects like Despicable Me and Smallfoot. So, perhaps he’ll find a new home as part of Dreamworks’ current new direction but there’s also always the chance that they could try their hand at Disney getting their hands on it.

    The only thing we know about the film was its description as an “epic adventure tale of humankind’s quest for fire told through the eyes of young Dikika who embarks on an impossible race to a distant volcano to retrieve the precious spark that will save her tribe.” It was only hinted as a hand-drawn animated project but there are no details if it would’ve shared a similar art style to Klaus.

    Animation has been going through a rough patch and here’s hoping that we’ll see a more positive development. While Netflix still released some of its projects like the recent Wendell & Wild or even Pinocchio, it also decided to scratch quite a few productions. Animated TV projects like Wings of Fire, and With Kind Regards From Kindergarten never got a chance to get going.

    Source: Variety

  • DC Studios’ Head Confronts “Uproarious” Fans’ Reactions to Recent Events

    DC Studios’ Head Confronts “Uproarious” Fans’ Reactions to Recent Events

    Let’s be frank, DC Extended Universe had its ups and downs. It wasn’t an easy ride for everyone involved, especially surrounding the Justice League film. What seems like a sure-fire billion dollar blockbuster project it just ended up sizzling out before it got going. Then a subsection of the internet started an entire campaign to revive the original vision by director Zack Snyder, which led to a four-hour epic that gave an existing film a newly formatted paint.

    Now, Peter Safran and director James Gunn are at the helm to revive the entire project and it comes with some sacrifices along the way. Henry Cavill is out as Superman and the future of the Wonder Woman franchise remains a mystery at the moment after director Patty Jenkins moved on from the project due to creative differences. Now, Gunn took to his Twitter to openly discuss his thoughts on a certain fandom.

    Gunn has always been quite outspoken on his feelings towards this new job and also used the opportunity of his Social Media to swiftly take down any rumors or statements that weren’t verified in any way. It’s never an easy task to become the new leader of an entire cinematic universe, but it does seem like we have nothing to worry about. It’s also great to see him be so upfront about this and share his love for what he’s about to create. No matter how one feels about the current developments, Gunn isn’t taking this lightly and is dedicated.

    Source: Twitter

  • DC Studios’ New Cinematic Universe Won’t Recast Everyone

    DC Studios’ New Cinematic Universe Won’t Recast Everyone

    DC Cinematic Universe’s future remains a big question mark. Co-CEO James Gunn has hinted that we’ll see our first look at the franchise’s future in January but anything can happen by then. Thinking back, so much has already changed and shifted with Wonder Woman 3 dead in the water and Henry Cavill no longer returning as Superman; just as he was about to return due to Dwayne Johnson‘s insistence that Black Adam is Superman’s biggest rival. Still, it made many assume that future projects would end up seeing their main stars recast outside of some Gunn mainstays from The Suicide Squad.

    Well, Gunn is no stranger to outright speaking his mind and confirming that not everything is as the Internet wills it into existence. According to one of his latest tweets reacting to a few statements regarding the Snyderverse fandom, he reveals that he’s not going to just recast every actor that’s been a part of the DCEU so far.

    The big question, however, is if the DCEU will remain the way it was or if they simply rebooting the entire thing with The Flash. A multiverse storyline is the perfect outlet to give the franchise another chance even if it’ll likely muddle up some people’s expectations of these stories. It would be ironic if some similar plans were set for Marvel Studios’ The Multiverse Saga but due to its urgency, DC got the chance to reboot their franchise first.

    Source: Twitter

  • Jensen Ackles Campaigned for a Role in ‘The Last of Us’

    Jensen Ackles Campaigned for a Role in ‘The Last of Us’

    The Last of Us is almost upon us and luckily, it means we’ll finally get to see Pedro Pascal‘s take on the iconic character of Joel. Though, as often is the case, you never know who else might’ve almost had the role to define their take on a popular character. As it turns out, The Boys and Supernatural alum Jensen Ackles was campaigning quite a bit to take on the role of Joel Miller but seemingly never truly got into the running.

    I was really pushing hard, but I don’t think I was really in the mix or even had a shot at Pedro Pascal’s role in the Last Of Us. but that was high up on my radar.

    Jensen Ackles

    Ackles is a big name but he got a second boost when he finished his work with The Boys‘ latest season. Plus, who knows if he was what they were looking for at the time, as Joel is more an older character that represents the hardship of when time passes by them and they somewhere gave up. Ackles has a lot of energy and likely might’ve not fallen into what they were looking for.

    The first trailers were quite promising with the adaptation of the classic Naughty Dog gaming franchise. It would be hard to imagine Ackles in the role, but it’s a shame he didn’t get a chance to tackle a different role in the series. Perhaps they are mapping out multiple seasons and are interested in adding him after all.

    Source: Reddit via Twitter