Murphy's Multiverse

Author: John Sabato

  • Producer Hiram Garcia Reveals Why ‘Black Adam’ Was Delayed

    Producer Hiram Garcia Reveals Why ‘Black Adam’ Was Delayed

    A while back fans were disappointed to learn that the DC Extended Universe film slate was hit with quite a few big delays, sending films previously dated to release this year like The Flash and Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom into 2023. One casualty fans felt was the delay of Black Adam, a film that had been stuck in development hell for quite some time and was finally close to releasing. It was initially dated for July 27th, 2022 but was sent back a few months to October 21st, 2022 and now we finally know why.

    Producer on the film, Hiram Garcia, has revealed just why Black Adam would not be making its previously dated July release date. Garcia stated that due to the pandemic there became such a backlog of work for VFX studios that they would not be able to complete work on the film in time for the set date.

    I think weā€™re just in a world right now where there was a huge and understandable freeze-up when the pandemic hit and a lot of productions were put on hold, Now that the industry has really roared back, the pipeline for VFX is so jammed. Obviously all these superhero movies just require so much VFX, and weā€™re just in a situation where the majority of the VFX houses are just completely swamped with work.

    Hiram Garcia

    Garcia went on to talk about how well the film was coming together and just how grateful they are for the VFX talent they have working on the project.

    Theyā€™re busting their ass and weā€™re so grateful for all those VFX houses, It feels like things are starting to calibrate and I think youā€™ll start to feel less shifts down the line. Weā€™re excited about it and weā€™re really excited with the way the movieā€™s been looking and excited to finish it and get it out into the world.

    Hiram Garcia

    Fans will have to wait just a little bit longer to witness the debut of Dwayne ā€˜The Rockā€™ Johnson as Black Adam, but they wanna make sure itā€™s well worth the wait and the best film it can be. Hopefully, this news will help ease some tension amongst fans who were worried about its delay.

    Source: The Wrap

  • Viola Davis in Talks to Star in a ‘Peacemaker’ Spin-Off

    Viola Davis in Talks to Star in a ‘Peacemaker’ Spin-Off

    The DC Extended Universe saw its first venture into television with James Gunnā€˜s spin-off of The Suicide Squad with Peacemaker, featuring the return of John Cena as the titular character. Gunn revealed before the series had even wrapped on its first season that he was already developing another DC series although he would not go into details about what that series might be.

    Deadline is reporting that the star of Suicide Squad and its sequel, Viola Davis, will reprise her role as Amanda Waller in an upcoming HBO Max series. She will also serve as an executive producer on the project alongside James Gunn, Peter Safran, and Christal Henry, who will write and serve as an executive producer on the series.

    There are no plot details on the series just yet and all we know is that it will not be in the same vein as Peacemaker was, with Gunn previously stating his next spin-off ā€œwonā€™t be as much a comedy as Peacemakerā€œ.

    The series could follow the aftermath of Peacemaker, where Wallerā€™s own daughter, Leota Adebayo, went on national television to expose ARGUS and bring Task Force X into the light. Effectively Adebayo put a target on her motherā€™s back and revealed everything from what happened in Midway City to the project Starfish in Corto Maltese.

    There has been no other details plot or casting wise as the project still seems to be in early development but it could be cool to see them explore Checkmate or even the Secret Six with a project like this, with Waller acting as the mockingbird figure.

    Source: Deadline

  • Elizabeth Olsen On Where We Will Find Wanda in ‘Multiverse of Madness’

    Elizabeth Olsen On Where We Will Find Wanda in ‘Multiverse of Madness’

    Wanda Maximoff helped ring in a new era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe withĀ WandaVision, Marvel Studiosā€™ first venture into television. The series ends with Wanda officially becoming the fabled Scarlet Witch and leaving Westview to head to a small cabin off the grid. We arenā€™t quite sure where we will find Wanda when we pick back up again inĀ Multiverse of Madness, as she continues to study the Darkhold and master chaos magic.Ā 

    Deadline caught up withĀ Elizabeth OlsenĀ on the red carpet at the premiere ofĀ Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness, revealing just what Wanda has been up to and where we will find her when the film opens.Ā 

    ā€œI think where we find her is, at the end of WandaVision she also discovers she is destined to be this ancient, mythic woman, the Scarlet Witch and sheā€™s been discovering what that means to her and what that means. She is coming from a place of power and confidence that we havenā€™t really seen from her yet.ā€

    Elizabeth Olsen

    Olsen herself recently expressed interest in a solo project for her character, revealing that ā€œif they had a good story to tell, Iā€™ll be there.ā€ While weā€™ve already got WandaVision, many would love to see the character take the spotlight in her very own feature film.

    Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of MadnessĀ will hit theaters on May 6th, featuring the return ofĀ Benedict CumberbatchĀ andĀ Benedict WongĀ as Doctor Strange and Wong alongside Olsenā€™s Wanda Maximoff.Ā 

    SOURCE: Twitter.

  • Xochitl Gomez on Portraying America Chavez

    Xochitl Gomez on Portraying America Chavez

    Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of MadnessĀ is set to introduce quite a few new characters along with the return of many fan-favorites. Perhaps the biggest introduction here is that ofĀ Xochitl GomezĀ who will portray America Chavez, a young girl with the ability to jump between universes with her star-shaped portals. The character will play a big supporting role in the upcoming film and is an important milestone for the representation of Latino characters.Ā 

    Deadline caught up with Gomez on the red carpet premiere of theĀ Doctor StrangeĀ sequel where she was asked about her portrayal of the character in the film.Ā 

    ā€œI think sheā€™s a perfect representation of a positive image of Latinas, in particular. I think that in the past there havenā€™t been, you know, I think thereā€™s been negative stereotypes of Latinas and you know with America sheā€™s positive. She is charismatic, she is resilient and I think that is a perfect representation.ā€

    Xochitl Gomez

    Fans are eager to see the future of this character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Many are hoping to see her become a member of the Young Avengers, a group of heroes that have been set up throughout multiple Phase 4 projects thanks to the inclusion of characters like Billy Kaplan, Tommy Shepherd, Kate Bishop, Elijah Bradley, and even Kid Loki. While there has been no official word on the team showing up anytime soon, it seems very likely to happen in the future.

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters this Friday.

    SOURCE: Twitter

  • Benedict Wong Teases How ‘Multiverse of Madness’ Will Explore the Consequences of Doctor Strange’s Actions

    Benedict Wong Teases How ‘Multiverse of Madness’ Will Explore the Consequences of Doctor Strange’s Actions

    Weā€™re just a few days away from yet another installment within the WCU, better known as the Wong Cinematic Universe, and we couldnā€™t be more excited. Benedict Wong will reprise the role again following his brief appearances in Shang Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings as well as Spider-Man: No Way Home.

    Deadline caught up with Benedict Wong at the red carpet premiere of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, where he dished on what we can expect to see in the film.

    If you watched Wandavision and No Way Home you know its basically these two projects, amazing projects, converge together and all roads lead to our movie, you know the spell that was cast, the cracks in the parallel realities have now opened, all the characters are gonna come out, lots of trouble. You know I constantly told Strange, you know, not to tamper with natural law, not to cast spells, yet, yeah im the wiser one, heā€™s the wayward one. So now all of a sudden this film is all about consequences of his actions.

    Benedict Wong

    Many will remember that Wong strongly advised against casting the spell that Strange had in mind to help Peter Parker back in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Of course, the spell went awry and welcomed many unsavory guests into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a brief time. As to be expected, Strange was not going to be getting away with it that easily. While we arenā€™t sure just where Wong will pop up just next, with reports stating he might just be making his way into She-Hulk, you can for sure catch him next in Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness, hitting theaters May 6th.

    Source: Twitter

  • First Reactions to ‘Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness’ Hit Social Media

    First Reactions to ‘Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness’ Hit Social Media

    The highly anticipated sequel to 2016ā€™s Doctor Strange is set to release worldwide in just a few days after multiple delays due to the pandemic. The film will see the eagerly awaited return of not just Benedict Cumberbatchā€˜s Doctor Strange but also Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, who we last saw in the WandaVision finale. The film could be one of Marvel Studios most ambitious projects, as we embark into the multiverse after only getting a taste of is in Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home. The film just had its red carpet premiere in Los Angeles and the social embargo has lifted releasing a wave of initial reactions to the film.

    Not every review was glowing for the film, as it seems some didnā€™t have the same enjoyment from the film and saw a conflict between Raimiā€˜s usual vision not meshing well with the script, or even stating his style hasnā€™t evolved from his earliest filmmaking days.

  • Bushman was Originally Going to be ‘Moon Knight’ Main Antagonist

    Bushman was Originally Going to be ‘Moon Knight’ Main Antagonist

    Moon Knight is set to wrap up its six-episode run this week with its finale that hopefully can avoid the curse of other series rushing its ending. The finale will see the next confrontation between the avatar of Khonshu and Arthur Harrow, whose determination to free Ammit may have unleashed an unexpected evil.

    It looks like this was not always the plan, however, and the series initially featured a much more familiar foe to fans of the Moon Knight comics. In an interview with the House of R podcast, Jeremy Slater revealed that Raul Bushman was originally set to be the main antagonist of the series.

    There was a lot of specifics in the pitch that didnā€™t wind up working in the show, Bushman was intiailly going to be the main villain, I think he was going to be possessed by an egyptian god by the end of it, and youā€™d have a big sort of avatar battle.

    Jeremy Slater

    This of course did not happen, and weā€™ve only gotten a brief reference to Bushman. So, his only real ā€œappearanceā€ was in the recent episode where Marc confirms that his partner killed the group of archeologist when he got greedy, leaving Marc for dead. So, the series still is following the comicā€™s origin story but does not focus too much on it, keeping it open for future exploration.

    Its been reported that when developing the story the team had decided that the character of Bushman was too similar to that of Erik Killmonger, the main antagonist of Black Panther. The series instead opted to take a minor character from the comics and rework him into a bit of an original character, but it seems like they may have kept the plans for Bushman and used him for Harrow.

    Source: TV Line

  • Kevin Feige on Keeping Marvel Cinematic Universe Secrets

    Kevin Feige on Keeping Marvel Cinematic Universe Secrets

    Movie leaks are always a mixed bag. Sometimes fans enjoy them because they help to get them excited, while other times, fans want to avoid having the film spoiled for them. For the past few years, Marvel Studios has seen quite a few big leaks surrounding its many projects in development. Perhaps the most prolific of the bunch were the leaks surroundingĀ Spider-Man: No Way Home. During the virtual press conference forĀ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,Ā Marvel Studios president Kevin FeigeĀ addressed these concerns, noting it isnā€™t always easy to keep the secrets.Ā 

    During the conference, Feige was asked about the challenge of keeping all the secrets and surprises for the upcoming releases. After all, the running joke is that Marvel snipers ā€“ and/or Feige ā€“ are always watching. Surprisingly, however, Feige seemed to note how difficult it has become in recent years.

    ā€œThe unfortunate truth is you donā€™t, and therefore you need to make sure that the experience itself works, regardless of what has been spoiled or not. We still do as good a job as we can and I think a lot of people are getting good at not spreading it. You know somebody steals something, donā€™t spread it around because it just potentially lessens the experience, but in a lot of ways, No Way Home showed that it did not lessen the experience, so we will continue to do the best we can, but the most important thing is delivering the movie or the show that delivers regardless of what you know going in.ā€

    Kevin Feige

    TheĀ Doctor StrangeĀ sequel has had quite a few leaks itself, whether it be from Marvel Studios directly or scoopers eager to reveal the cameos in the film. Still, despite the leaks, fans seem eager to hit the movie theaters still. As it stands,Ā Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of MadnessĀ is looking toĀ bring in $200 million domesticallyĀ in its opening weekend.Ā 

  • Leaked ‘Black Adam’ Funko Pops offer First Glimpse at Sabbac

    Leaked ‘Black Adam’ Funko Pops offer First Glimpse at Sabbac

    The hierarchy of power within the collectible universe is about to change forever as a new leak has brought us our very first look at the Funko Pops for the upcoming DC film Black Adam. The leak in question in the back of a box reveals the entire wave of figures with two Black Adams, an Atom Smasher, Cyclone, Doctor Fate, Hawkman, and even our very first glimpse at the filmā€™s main antagonist Sabbac, who was rumored to be played by Marwan Kenzari back in October of 2021.

    It looks as if Sabbac will not take a full-on demon form in the film as his comic counterpart does. He looks vaguely similar to the Ishmael Gregor version of the character, a red humanoid that sprouts horns and a pentagram on his chest. Itā€™s hard to make out exactly what he looks like here but looks to be sporting some sort of horns and is wearing a type of robe.

    Fans should also take notice that the Hawkman that we see on the box is not the same Hawkman that is listed amongst the other figures on the box. This most likely means that the larger Hawkman on the box is exclusive to a certain retailer and the other exclusives in this wave are not listed on the box, meaning there could indeed be more to come.

    Also the figures confirm that Doctor Fate does in fact not have eye holes, possibly hinting that when Nabu takes over Kent Nelsons body he is in control and does not require sight.

    There is currently no release date for these figures but it looks as if some are already making their way to retailers. The figures were most likely prepped to release soon due to the film originally set to hit theaters on July 27th, 2022 before it was hit with a delay, setting it back to October 21st, 2022.

    Source: Twitter

  • Directors That Could Take on Marvel Studios ‘Fantastic Four’

    Directors That Could Take on Marvel Studios ‘Fantastic Four’

    For those living under a tardigrade fold in the Quantum Realm, a new help wanted sign has been posted at Marvel Studios. Jon Watts, who successfully helmed the MCU Spider-Man trilogy, is departing the Fantastic Four reboot. The project was announced by Kevin Feige at SDCC 2019 and Watts had been attached to lead the project since Disneyā€™s December 2020 Investor Day; however, Marvel Studios will now have to explore new options and we have some ideas for who could sit in the directors chair.

    Bryce Dallas Howard

    Howard is still new to the directing game, having only directed a handful of shorts, music videos, and episodes, but sheā€™s quickly proved that she has what it takes to helm an ambitious project such as The Fantastic Four. Her episodes of The Mandalorian and episode of The Book of Boba Fett were among the best of each of those highly-scrutinized series, causing fans to rally for her to be given the reigns to a Star Wars feature film. While she may still be waiting in line for one of those as Lucasfilm keeps its focus on streaming series, this could be a golden opportunity for both Howard and Marvel Studios.

    Brad Bird

    Its hard to deny that The Incredibles are incredibly (pun somewhat intended) similar to the Fantastic Four, sporting very similar power sets but with an entirely different dynamic. The understanding of that dynamic is what could make Bird such a good pick for The Fantastic Four. Nailing their family dynamic is key to the projectā€™s success. Bird has done that. If he can work with Marvel Studios to understand the core values of these characters, he can get creative within those parameters and put together the first good FF film.

    Sam Raimi

    The man behind Spider-Man 2, arguably one of the best comic book films of all time, has made his return to marvel with the upcoming Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. Raimi has made it clear that after a LONG break from the superhero genre, heā€™d be willing return to collaborate with Marvel Studios. The Fantastic Four could be a great route for him. Raimi has similar qualities to that of Brad Bird, where he looks to find relatability in these characters like what he did with Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four is a chance to do that with a whole new dynamic.

    John Krasinski

    Before the reboot was even announced, fans had already made up their mind as to who they wanted to see play Reed Richards in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: John Kransinski. What if he directed the project instead? The former star of The Office has made his move into directing these past few years with the Quiet Place films and has shown an understanding of the craft. Kransinski could be a great choice to sit in the directorā€™s chair for this one, and who knows, he could even be the first star to also direct an MCU film.

    The Daniels

    One of the most important things that the next Fantastic Four film must do is set itself apart from the past live-action iterations of the team. The Daniels could be the chance to make something really special here. Following the release of Everything Everywhere All At Once, all eyes are on the duo to see what they tackle next. The Fantastic Four could be a great project for them. The two were recently in talks to direct Season One of Loki, but opted out in order to develop their most recent release. The Daniels could spark life in the project, offering a creative new spin on the team and dive into that weird side of the Fantastic Four that we previously suggested should be the avenue Marvel takes with the team.