Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • ‘Werewolf by Night’ Isn’t a Pilot for a Future MCU Series

    ‘Werewolf by Night’ Isn’t a Pilot for a Future MCU Series

    Many were excited when Marvel Studios unveiled its new approach for its first-ever holiday special, Werewolf by Night. They had a great touch by calling git a Marvel Studios Special Presentation, which also opened up the possibility to further explore the concept with other projects. It’ll very likely make a return with the upcoming The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and maybe even more explorations of Marvel Cinematic Universe’s monster world.

    Yet, many wondered if Werewolf by Night may act as a setup for something given the introduction to some iconic members of the comics, Jack Russell, Elsa Bloodstone, and Ted. With Marvel Studios’ expansion on Disney+, many wondered if this might lead to a new series, especially with Midnight Sons theories making the rounds since Moon Knight’s entry into the franchise.

    Well, director Michael Giacchino has swiftly pointed out that this project was never meant to act as a backdoor pilot for anything. It’s a standalone project but doesn’t discount the possibility that “anything can happen. We’ll see.” Man-Thing’s arrival in the Multiverse Saga seems perfectly timed given his connection to the Nexus of All Reality. So, we’ll definitely see these characters again, and hopefully, Giacchino will also return to the director’s chair sooner rather than later. Perhaps a recent seat vacancy could begin his road to his first theatrical directorial debut (if you don’t count film festivals).

    Source: Variety

  • Marvel Studios Head Was Uncertain About Making ‘Werewolf by Night’ Black-and-White Early On

    Marvel Studios Head Was Uncertain About Making ‘Werewolf by Night’ Black-and-White Early On

    One of the nicest touches for Werewolf by Night was going for a black-and-white scheme. It not only made it stand out from the other entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it also made perfect use as a tribute to the 1930s and 1940s Hammer/Universal monster movies. It wouldn’t be the same project without the style and it still does add color in a clever manner later on. As it turns out, it wasn’t an easy path to convince Marvel Studios’ execs to go with this version as revealed by director Michael Giacchino.

    The composer-turned-director highlighted that “in my mind, from the very beginning, it needed to be in black-and-white” but there was some skepticism. He doesn’t confirm if this was purely on the side of Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who seemingly also shared some uncertainty about the decision, but generally highlighted the “upper echelons” of the studio. Yet, he was so confined with the direction, he stated that he “had a special monitor” that was there purely to highlight the black-and-white aesthetic.

    It seems it did take a bit to get the convincing, as it wouldn’t be until “maybe the third cut” that Feige was the one to agree on the direction. Special Presentations are the perfect way to try out new cinematic visual styles to add some diversity to how they approach their projects. Plus, WandaVision already gave us a black-and-white entry in the franchise which makes the uncertainty curious but that might be mainly due to that show also having in-universe reasonings with Wanda’s reality warping powers. Still, Giacchino‘s belief in the visual style was certainly a great one given how the project stands out from the rest.

    Source: Variety

  • NYCC: HBO Max’s ‘Titans’ Set Prop Teases Possible Superman Appearance

    NYCC: HBO Max’s ‘Titans’ Set Prop Teases Possible Superman Appearance

    The next season of Titans looks quite promising, as the team is leaving Gotham behind and faces a new threat. Many were caught by surprise when they announced that Titus Welliver will take on the role of Lex Luthor in the next season, which opened up many new story possibilities for the HBO Max series. With a release planned for November, the DC TV show used the opportunity to show off and tease what the future has in store for the team at New York Comic-Con. There, they may have given away a little hint at a future appearance with the prop sets being showcased at its booth.

    Among the many little teases of what the future has in store for the Titans series. Our very own John Sabato got a chance to visit the booth and noticed a rather interesting little set prop from the upcoming fourth season, the glasses of Clark Kent. So far, the only main Justice League member that made an appearance was Iain Glen taking on the role of Batman. Now, it seems that Clark Kent’s glasses will be sued in the fourth season, which means there’s a chance that Superman could make an appearance.

    The inclusion of Superman would make sense given Lex Luthor’s role in this season. Plus, we finally get to spend some time with Connor, who is a clone of him and Lex. We haven’t gotten a chance to explore how he would react to his existence or generally what it means to have another Kryptonian in his life. Lex’s role could also add some tension between these two as Connor tries to find his own place in this world beyond just being a member of the Titans.

  • ‘Persona 3’ and ‘Persona 4’ Hitting Modern Platforms in January

    ‘Persona 3’ and ‘Persona 4’ Hitting Modern Platforms in January

    Persona‘s anniversary event which took place across an entire year has sadly ended. It kicked off with the return of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and went on to the confirmed re-release of the third and fourth entries on modern consoles. Persona 5 Royal also was going to return with a new Nintendo release. While it seems the wait for a Persona 6 announcement is going to take a bit longer, the anniversary concert did end with the reveal that the upcoming re-releases of Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden have been confirmed for January 19th, 2023.

    It’s pretty surprising that they will re-release both entries on the same date, as it seemed like the best plan to map it out throughout the year as they build up each new entry. Yet, fans have long wanted to return to these games, especially the versions that were only available on PlayStation Portable, a console that not many owned back in the day. January is going to be busy for role-playing game fans, as One Piece Odyssey is also going to release on January 12th.

    Persona 6‘s absence is definitely a curious surprise, as it seemed like the perfect time to build up to a tease of some kind. It didn’t even need to be a look at the game but rather a confirmation of what color they are going to make its main theme. The last ones followed the primary colors of blue, yellow, and red, which makes it even more curious what direction they might be heading towards. Guess they might be keeping it for a bigger event.

    Source: Twitter

  • Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ Finds its Uncle Fester

    Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ Finds its Uncle Fester

    The Addams Family is about to reunite in the upcoming Netflix series Wednesday. Surprisingly though, there are quite a few members of the family that haven’t been announced or confirmed as part of the spinoff series. While it is all about Wednesday Addams and her murder mystery shenanigans, we still know that Gomez, Morticia, Lurch, and Pugsley will appear. Yet, many have wondered where exactly Uncle Fester was and if he’d even make an appearance.

    Luckily, it seems like Netflix was just playing coy to build up to the reveal that Fred Armisen is taking on the role of Fester. He joins Luis Guzmán, Catherine Zeta-Jones, George Burcea, and Isaac Ordonez to round out the family members. The new direction as a coming-of-age mystery comedy will definitely mix things up as Wednesday is heading to Nevermore Academy. So, it’ll be interesting to see if it also mixes up the overall family dynamic or sticks closely to the originals.

    Tim Burton is back at the helm of this project and the first trailers already hinted at the gothic flair he’s injecting into the project. So, we’re quite excited to see just what the series has in store, especially if they start exploring a dark mystery that hangs over the Addams family. We’ll see what they have in store for us once the series premieres on November 23rd.

    Source: Vanity Fair.

  • ‘Silent Hill’ Film Director May Have Confirmed the Long-Rumored ‘Silent Hill 2’ Remake

    ‘Silent Hill’ Film Director May Have Confirmed the Long-Rumored ‘Silent Hill 2’ Remake

    If there was any rumor mill that has been going on for quite some time in the industry, it would be that a new Silent Hill game is in some form of development. Konami has moved away from producing films itself and it made many wonders if the iconic horror franchise would ever see a return. Surprisingly though, there were hints that multiple games might be in some form of development and now the director of the 2006 film adaptation, Christophe Gans, may have just confirmed those rumors.

    In an interview with the French website Movie & Game, Gans hinted that there are “several games in development” with “several teams” involved. Now, that alone isn’t the biggest aspect of this confirmation, as he also has pointed out that Bloober Team is working on a remake of Silent Hill 2, which has been rumored for some time now. Just recently, South Korea’s rating boards have hinted at a project titled Silent Hill: The Short Message which many have theorized is the other original entry in the franchise that was teased for some time.

    Of course, the question remains how viable is his confirmation, as he confirms he’s not actively involved with any of the projects directly. Well, he mentions that he’s actively in contact with Team Silent and is also actively working on another film adaptation. There’s still no official confirmation on who is working on what game, but perhaps they are waiting for a joint announcement to tease the return of the project. In May, it was hinted that there are three projects in development and with enough months having passed, here’s hoping that news on it may be closer than we think.

    Source: Movie & Game via Bloody Disgusting

  • 20th Century’ to Adapt YA Novel ‘Feed’, Rising Nigerian Filmmaker Attached to Direct

    20th Century’ to Adapt YA Novel ‘Feed’, Rising Nigerian Filmmaker Attached to Direct

    It looks like the acclaimed young adult novel Feed is getting an adaptation. 20th Century has gotten the rights to M.T. Anderson‘s novel and has also already found its choice in director. Not just any, but an up-and-coming Nigerian filmmaker, Stanley Kalu, who only recently graduated from USC. He is set to write and direct the project. Zachary Green is attached to produce the love story and this is Kalu‘s feature debut.

    The book has recently been named among Time magazine’s 100 Best YA Books of All Time, which explores a dystopian America where consumers are directly linked to the internet. Yet, it’s mostly a love story at heart as a kid names Titus Gray takes a trip to the moon over the weekend, where he meets Violet Durn and ends up trying to fight the feed.

    The novel may be part of YA category, but it does explore darker themes like consumerism, data mining, and what future the U.S. might be heading towards. It even became a finalist in the 2002 National Book Award and was given an honor from the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards for Fiction a year later. Kalu is also set to produce the film which will be launched under Green’s Bantu, Inc. banner.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘WALL-E’ Director to Tackle Searchlight’s New Sci-Fi Epic ‘In the Blink of an Eye’

    ‘WALL-E’ Director to Tackle Searchlight’s New Sci-Fi Epic ‘In the Blink of an Eye’

    It looks like the 2017 Black List entry by Colby Day is finally getting an adaptation, as Searchlight has set Andrew Stanton as the director of the epic sci-fi drama In the Blink of an Eye. This marks Stanton‘s return to live-action after making quit the name for himself helming Pixar’s iconic entries like WALL-E and Finding Nemo. Russian Doll‘s Jared Ian Goldman is also joining the production as a producer but the project is just moving forward.

    Searchlight projects are normally on the smaller side of cinematic budgeting, but it seems they might venture out a bit more with this project. Stanton is no stranger to working with big-budgets and massive projects in scale, which makes him a fitting choice for this sci-fi adaptation. The concept explores the history of the world and explores three distinct stories, which will definitely be a challenge for a limited runtime.

    Colby Day‘s script appeared on the Black List and became his jumping-off point into screenwriting. He has gone on to work on Spaceman based on a Czech novel, which will be directed by Chernobyl‘s Johan Renck with Adam Sandler and Carey Mulligan attached. He’s attached as an executive producer on the project with Searchlight’s Tylor Friedman and Apolline Berty overseeing the project.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Interview with the Vampire’ and ‘The Walking Dead’ Boost AMC+’s Viewership and Subscriber Growth

    ‘Interview with the Vampire’ and ‘The Walking Dead’ Boost AMC+’s Viewership and Subscriber Growth

    It looks like AMC’s decision to invest in Anne Rice-focused projects was the right decision. According to Variety, the first release, Interview with the Vampire, has been a major boost for their AMC streaming service. It and The Walking Dead’s final season kick-off played a big part in giving the service its highest two days of viewership and subscriber growth since its initial launch back in 2020. AMC+ has shared the following statement:

    The premiere of ‘Interview’ and the return of The Walking Dead’ drove AMC+ to the most successful two days in its history on Sunday and Monday and highest levels of series viewership and new subscriber acquisition ever.

    The service pulled in 10.8M subscribers across all platforms including AMC+ with the premiere of Interview with the Vampire being the biggest launch for the service. It seemingly beat out the freshman drama Dark Winds that previously held that record and managed to triple that series numbers. So, AMC is going to continue to bank on the newly won popularity of these projects.

    According to some data that Variety could acquire, it seems that 75% of the first streams were from new customers, which is quite a substantial showcase of just how big the draw was. The timing of a massive new series based on a highly popular book released around the same time as AMC’s biggest series ever seemed like the perfect recipe for success.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Werewolf by Night’ Star Shares the Challenges of Bringing the Werewolf to Life

    ‘Werewolf by Night’ Star Shares the Challenges of Bringing the Werewolf to Life

    Werewolf by Night has finally been released on Disney+ and many got to enjoy the horror-inspired story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first werewolf. Not just that, but we also got to enjoy the captivating performance by Gael Garcia Bernal in the role of Jack Russel and his lycanthrope counterpart. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bernal reveals what it was like becoming the character and also the awkward beginnings to realize his performance.

    Yes, that’s the idea. It starts from there. Before I started to work on this, I was like, “What am I going to do?” But once you get your feet dirty and put your hands in the clay and start to play around, you gain a little bit of the character. There’s a little bit of appropriation that happens, and once you put the mask on, the whole world is built. That’s when the howling becomes a natural part of what one is doing, and then the embarrassment goes away. At the same time, as actors, we’re used to that. It’s not that we don’t get embarrassed or shy about what we’re about to do, but you have to go through it. It’s like jumping into cold water. Once you’re in the cold water, it’s even colder outside of it, so it’s better to stay in.

    Gael Garcia Bernal

    He also got a chance to highlight the makeup process to bring the character to life. He highlights how it took around four hours early on but the process sped up as production went along.

    Yeah, [Old] was nothing compared to this. The mask by itself was incredible. It took a while. The first time we did it, it took close to four hours, and then it started to take less and less. By the end, it was actually quite fast. Fortunately, there were many aspects of the costume that were practical. Everything was in camera. We didn’t have to put tracking dots on me [for performance capture]. The whole costume was weirdly scary and odd as well. 

    Gael Garcia Bernal

    It’s definitely interesting how they approached the costume, especially with the more practical take on the character. A recently revealed BTS image from the production even showcased that Man-Thing had a practical suit on set as well. If Giacchino decides to return to direct more Marvel monster features, perhaps we’ll get even more fun and scary designs exploring this new corner of the MCU.

    Source: THR