Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • Colin Farrell’s Penguin Spinoff Deals With the Aftermath of ‘The Batman’

    Colin Farrell’s Penguin Spinoff Deals With the Aftermath of ‘The Batman’

    Colin Farrell has been quite busy lately and will soon return to The Batman franchise with his very own spinoff. After a long bout of silence, the project has quickly picked up the pace with Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Lauren LeFranc set as its showrunner and slowly adding directors. In an interview with Variety, Farrell surprisingly lets a few topics loose and reveals that the series takes place right after The Batman‘s ending.

    It starts about a week after ‘The Batman’ ends. So, Gotham is still, somewhat, underwater. I read the first script of the first episode and it opens up on my feet splashing through the water in Falcone’s office. Even that alone, when I read it, I was like, ‘Oh, Jesus!’

    Colin Farrell

    We still haven’t heard much about what we can expect in the sequel from Matt Reeves, but it’s interesting that the spinoff series might be the one to focus on a flooded Gotham. Perhaps the return of Robert Pattinson‘s Batman might take place at the same time, but we won’t know until they start working on the project. Still, Farrell is quite excited bout the project and praises showrunner LeFranc‘s work.

    It’s lovely. It’s so well-written. Lauren LeFranc has done such an extraordinary job, and she’s writing the whole thing and show-running. She is formidable. It’s just an exciting prospect. I love that character. I was greedy with it. I felt like I didn’t have enough. I wanted to do it more and more and more.

    Colin Farrell

    We’re definitely excited to see what the project might explore, but a power vacuum left in the wake of Falcone’s death and a flooded Gotham is definitely the perfect direction for this project. Here’s hoping we get to see some other iconic mobsters from this universe. Perhaps we’ll get a few set-ups of future confrontations with Black Mask, White Shark, The Hammer, Cosa Nostra, and many more.

    Source: Variety

  • John Carpenter Wants to Direct a ‘Dead Space’ Movie

    John Carpenter Wants to Direct a ‘Dead Space’ Movie

    We’ve entered a new era of video game adaptations, as many streaming networks have seen the potential of banking off of existing IP. Yet, there are some franchises that have surprisingly never been attempted so far. Dead Space is currently making a grand return with a remaster for modern consoles after going on hiatus for some time. Many wondered why the Lovecraftian-inspired sci-fi horror game never got an adaptation but it seems one director is actively interested.

    Not just any director but THE John Carpenter is open to tackling the gaming franchise. In an interview with A.V. Club, he talked about gaming adaptations and was surprised to find out that Chornobyl‘s Craig Mazin is adapting The Last Of Us. It sparked an interest in wanting to adapt something as well from the gaming universe, which led to I’m thinking of Dead Space.

    The only one I can think of, and I’ve mentioned it before, is Dead Space. That would make a real great movie. I could do that.

    He goes on to highlight that he’s quite a fan of the franchise, even highlighting the last release that wasn’t as critically received. Dead Space 3 moved away from its horror roots to explore more action-oriented storytelling, which didn’t seem to bother the horror director.

    Well, any of them were really good. I even like the last one, the action one that nobody else liked.

    It’s definitely interesting to see his interest in tackling such a big IP. Of course, he’d likely bring his own touch to make the project stand out from its original, but still, keep the horror landscape that made it as unique as it was when the first entry was released back in 2008. It’s no wonder that a remake is in development and we’ll see if this newly sparked revival of the franchise.

    Source: AV Club

  • Brendan Fraser is Open to Return for a New ‘The Mummy’ Sequel

    Brendan Fraser is Open to Return for a New ‘The Mummy’ Sequel

    Legacy sequels are all the rage right now. While superhero films still have a strong grab at the box office, Top Gun: Maverick and the latest Scream entry proved that people are in love with revisiting iconic franchises. So, it’s a common question to ask actors that have quite a substantial history with the medium if they’d return to a popular franchise that may have defined their career. So, it’s no surprise that Brendan Fraser was also asked about potentially returning for a fourth Mummy film. While there have been stories of the consequences he endured as a result of working on it, he still is down to potentially return.

    I don’t know how it would work. But I’d be open to it if someone came up with the right conceit.

    Brendan Fraser

    The actor also had some thoughts on the remake from 2017 starring Tom Cruise that sunk the future Dark Universe. While the adaptation tried to take a different direction with the franchise and still played tribute to what came before, Fraser believes the lack of “fun” lead to it not leaving a mark in theaters.

    It is hard to make that movie. The ingredient that we had going for our Mummy, which I didn’t see in that film, was fun. That was what was lacking in that incarnation. It was too much of a straight-ahead horror movie. ‘The Mummy’ should be a thrill ride, but not terrifying and scary.

    Brendan Fraser

    Of course, the new adaptation was hoping to adapt a horror-themed universe paying tribute to the original Hammer and Universal horror franchises; the originator of cinematic universes.

    Source: Variety

  • Brendan Fraser Describes ‘Batgirl’ as the “Antithesis” of the Usual Green Screen Superhero Films

    Brendan Fraser Describes ‘Batgirl’ as the “Antithesis” of the Usual Green Screen Superhero Films

    Brendan Fraser has seen quite the glow-up since his return to acting with Doom Patrol. It opened up many avenues moving forward, and not only is he in the Oscar-contender The Whale but was also going to take on a more villainous role in the DC Extended Universe. Sadly, that was cut short when Warner Bros. suddenly decided it wanted a tax break rather than make at least some money off of the latest DC entry.

    It’s no wonder that it’ll leave a bitter taste in anyone, especially everyone involved with the production as Blue Beetle got to continue production while an almost finished film was completely scrapped. It definitely left some scars on everyone involved including Fraser, who opened up about the issue of this project falling apart while praising Leslie Grace‘s “fantastic” performance.

    It’s tragic. It doesn’t engender trust among filmmakers and the studio. Leslie Grace was fantastic. She’s a dynamo — just a spot-on performer. Everything we shot was real and exciting and just the antithesis of doing a straightforward digital, all-green-screen thing. They ran firetrucks around downtown Glasgow at 3 in the morning, and they had flamethrowers. It was a big-budget movie, but one that was just stripped down to the essentials.

    Brendan Fraser

    It’s truly a shame that they couldn’t bring this big-budget film to HBO Max or even the silver screen. While the streaming development does keep some projects from releasing in theaters, but it at least we were able to see a vision come to life. Yet, Batgirl seems unlikely to ever see the light of day and we can only theorize what the project was like based on the leaked set footage and teases by those involved with the project.

    Source: Variety

  • Latest ‘Madame Web’ Set Photos Offer Best Look Yet at Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney and Celeste O’Conner

    Latest ‘Madame Web’ Set Photos Offer Best Look Yet at Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney and Celeste O’Conner

    We’ve gotten quite a few set photos from the sets of Madame Web but the latest batch might be our best looks yet. As shared by @DakotaJBRA on Twitter, more photos offer a clear look at the film’s main cast. We get a good look at Dakota Johnson‘s comic-inspired outfit as the leading lady herself while being joined by Sydney Sweeney and Celeste O’Connor, whose roles still haven’t been confirmed as of yet.

    We still know very little about the project,t but the set photos have teased that Madame Web is likely visiting Spider-Man’s home turf of New York City quite a bit. Of course, there’s the question of who might be their version of the character. Set photos that recently surfaced seemingly hinted at the adaptation of the character that may have a big role in the story, but there never was an official casting for a “Spider-Man” in the spinoff.

    Whatever they may be doing with this project, it could become their most unique take on a Spider-Man spinoff. Morbius didn’t quite pull in audiences as they hoped but perhaps a project that focuses primarily on the mythology based around the webhead could be something people would flock to theaters for. Here’s hoping that first trailer might be able to grab our attention and showcase what Sony has in store for us with this project.

    Source: Twitter

  • Jonathan Majors Teases His “Warrior Version” of Kang the Conquerer in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ Sequel

    Jonathan Majors Teases His “Warrior Version” of Kang the Conquerer in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ Sequel

    Kang the Conqueror will soon arrive in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Jonathan Majors first appeared as his Variant He Who Remains in Loki, but our true first introduction to the character won’t be until next year. He is teased as the big bad of this Multiverse Saga, especially with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, but it seems that we’ll see just how vicious he can be in the Ant-Man and the Wasp sequel.

    Majors revealed in an interview with Variety that he added ten pounds of muscle to prepare for the role. While he’s also been busy preparing for this time in the upcoming Creed sequel, it seems the main inspiration was that he can explore different Variants of Kang throughout his Marvel cinematic Universe tenure.

    It was the character and dimensions of Kang [that drew me to the role]. And the potential that it had. I thought, ‘I’ll take a chance on that

    Jonathan Majors

    According to his coach Jamie Sawyer, we may also get a very combat-focused take on the character in Quanumania; one of the reasons he also added the muscle is to ensure that he was fittingly reflecting his role.

    He is the warrior version of Kang, so there was a focus on what that warrior would look like who’s been around through the ages and has developed every type of combat skill. It was about making him look like an imposing figure.

    Jamie Sawyer

    Even Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige teased that the actor has a presence when he enters the room, which adds to his position as the new big bad for the franchise moving forward. We’ll see what they may have planned for the character and what other versions we might see

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Dahmer’ Series is Netflix’s Second-Biggest English Series Ever

    ‘Dahmer’ Series is Netflix’s Second-Biggest English Series Ever

    As it turns out, people have been obsessed with Ryan Murphy‘s adaptation of Jeffrey Dahmer’s story. Evan Peters takes on the title role and has seemingly pulled in quite the audience throughout the weeks, as the series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is now Netflix’s second-biggest English TV show of all time. In its third week, the series has held on the top 10 spot. With 701.37 million hours viewed, the series is only behind Stranger Things 4, which stands at an amazing 1.35 billion hours viewed within 28 days.

    As of now, the latest Netflix drama has been viewed more times than the first two seasons of Shonda Rhimes’ hit series Bridgerton in just four weeks. Squid Game still remains the undisputed record holder with 1.65 billion ours viewed in 28 days, but Netflix makes a distinction between its English-language and foreign-language projects when it structures its Top 10 lists.

    It’s crazy to see the popularity of this story, as the ten episodes follow the real-life serial killer who went on to kill 17 people between 1978 and 1991. While the series is massive with viewers, the fact that it has a 52% on Rotten Tomatoes is quite an interesting development. It’s not uncommon that fans and critics have different feelings about projects, as the Transformers franchise went on to be critically hated but still was a sure-fire win at the box office.

    Yet, Dahmer may have also pulled in audiences due to the controversies of adapting a story that isn’t too long ago and still shows real-world repercussions to this day. The recency of this story and the curiosity surrounding it may have drawn in quite a few eyes, especially with some of the reactions that we’ve seen online.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Spider-Man’ Beyond ‘No Way Home’: A Balancing Act

    ‘Spider-Man’ Beyond ‘No Way Home’: A Balancing Act

    As Marvel Studios prepares its future phases and the Multiverse Saga, there is still one key character seemingly missing on the horizon. After making a massive splash at the box office during the pandemic, Spider-Man: No Way Home took our favorite wall-crawler to his limits as he faced Variants, tragedy, and a world that has forgotten who he is. It raised the question of what the future might have in store for him beyond the lurking Symbiote left behind by a multiversal visitor.

    The ending of that project highlighted a potentially new direction, as Spider-Man was no longer a well-recognized face without his mask. The entire world has forgotten Peter Parker and he’s lost everyone dear to him. Without Aunt May or his friends by his side, he now has to do his best to cover rent, follow up on his education, and balance life as Spider-Man. The future seems difficult and challenging for our favorite hero.

    At the same time, it opens up a new challenge for Marvel Studios and whoever may take over the franchise. While Spider-Man: Homecoming was a bit more grounded, he still was shackled under the shadow of his mentor and an Avenger. His first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe had him take on Captain America, he would travel into space, take down Thanos alongside his army, fight fake elementals, join Nick Fury’s mission, and so much more.

    No Way Home brings magic and the multiverse to Spidey’s corner of the MCU, which seemed like the perfect high point for the development of this trilogy. Yet, it opens up the question of: where do you go now? Any higher and we might lose any fabric of what defines Spider-Man. We already had five films before this trilogy. So, it seemed fitting that they’d take him to new places and further explore his time in the comics, where he ended up getting wrapped up in other characters’ plots in various team-ups. Plus, if you introduce Peter Parker into the MCU, it comes with the territory.

    Yet, the answer is still not there for what to do next. A fourth entry is definite after the last film’s success and Sony’s ongoing deal with Marvel. They both want Tom Holland‘s take on the character to remain a sturdy figure in the franchise. With the ending of No Way Home leaving the young man on his own, it seems like perhaps the best strategy is to take a step back rather than continue to push forward. In a world without Avengers, there are no more ties to a bigger world but a whole new one to explore.

    Swinging throughout the snow-covered New York City, Peter is on his own. Yet, it comes with a new freedom that no longer sees him as part of what he once was. It seems fitting that perhaps his time in college also comes with a more grounded time as the wall-crawler. He’s no longer in a place where he has to face world-ending threats but rather help the locals. Everyone still remembers the webhead and he is no longer in a place where the Avengers will just call for him. Now, he has time to figure out his place in a world that doesn’t remember him.

    The sequel will likely be a story in a smaller scope even with the Symbiote on the horizon. Its tease actually sets up the perfect comic tribute with him potentially getting his hands on it during Avengers: Secret Wars as he did in the comic. We shouldn’t expect that storyline to instantly kick off, as Marvel Studios has a challenging balance to keep moving forward. We’ll see him in Avengers films but we’ll likely not see him in the same capacity as before.

    He’s no longer an Avenger and none of the remaining members would even know that he is Peter Parker. So, he’s just a guy in a costume that helped out. So, moving forward we’ll still have these bigger-than-life stories with Spider-Man but his own franchise will take that step back to ground him even more. The balance that Marvel Studios and Sony will have to balance moving forward is the very notion of his two worlds. No matter how you look at it, it’s going to be a tough balancing act, and either they once again restart a trilogy that continues to escalate or try to create a distinct line between Peter Parker’s two alter-egos: Spider-Man and forgotten Avenger.

  • Disney+’s ‘Goosebumps’ Series Adds Isa Briones, Zack Morris and More

    Disney+’s ‘Goosebumps’ Series Adds Isa Briones, Zack Morris and More

    The cast for the upcoming Disney+ series adapting the iconic children’s horror books Goosebumps is growing, as the project has now added to its cast. Just recently, we learned that Justin Long was going to be part of the film’s cast and now they have added quite a few more. The cast now includes Zack Morris, Isa Briones, Ana Yi Puig, Will Price, and Miles McKenna.

    With the new cast announcements, we also got an expanded official logline that offers a closer look at what the main cast will be up to in this new take on the franchise:

    The series follows a group of five high schoolers who unleash supernatural forces upon their town and must all work together — thanks to and in spite of their friendships, rivalries and pasts with each other — in order to save it, learning much about their own parents’ teenage secrets in the process.

    Morris has been cast as the football player Isaiah while Briones takes on the role of Jane, who is the series’ bookworm. The roles for the rest of the cast have not been announced yet but it’s safe to say we might see some of the classic horror archetypes in this adaptation. Nick Stoller and Rob Letterman will act as the executive producers and are the co-creators of this adaptation. Neal H. Moritz is also attached as an executive producer, who also was a producer on the 2015 and 2018 films.

    Source: Variety

  • Disney Updates its Cinematic Release Slate for the Coming Years

    Disney Updates its Cinematic Release Slate for the Coming Years

    The cinematic experience is partly enjoying a film in theaters while also going through the continuous reshuffling of release schedules. Not every release manages to stay consistent due to production conflicts and various challenges that come together. Blade has recently faced some troubles as it lost its director and naturally was postponed, but surprisingly many more films from Marvel followed with a whole new slate. That isn’t all, as Disney used the opportunity to update its entire slate.

    Disney’s upcoming 2024 release will now include:

    • 3/1/24 – Elio
    • 3/22/24 – Disney’s Snow White
    • 5/3/24 – Captain America: New World Order
    • 5/24/24 – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
    • 6/14/24 – Inside Out 2
    • 7/5/24 – Mufasa: The Lion King
    • 7/26/24 – Thunderbolts
    • 9/6/24 – Blade
    • 11/8/24 – Untitled Deadpool Movie
    • 12/20/24 – Avatar 3

    Fantastic Four is scheduled for 14th February 2025 with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty set for May. They have also added two untitled Marvel films for July and November. They wrap up the year with an untitled Star Wars film in December, the first cinematic entry since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. Avengers Secret Wars is now scheduled for May 2026 with three more Marvel films already given a release date. Avatar 4 joins that same year in December with its fifth entry already planned for 2028. They also already mapped out another untitled Star Wars film in 2027.

    It definitely looks like Disney has some big plans for the coming years and it’s crazy to think just how mapped out they are until 2028. Of course, the last two years only have one entry each, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see more Marvel films get scheduled once we near the Avengers release. It looks like their next