Murphy's Multiverse

Author: João RP

  • ‘WANDAVISION’: Back to Your Regular Programming

    ‘WANDAVISION’: Back to Your Regular Programming

    After Episode 7 we are most likely done with the sitcom-based chapters of WandaVision. Even if we’re still getting an Agn.. Agatha Harkness-centric flashback that might shed some light on both her past and how Wanda retrieved Vision’s body (or did she?), the TV tropes that were so masterfully used to develop the show’s narrative so far should now take a backseat and, in the words of Paul Bettany:

    (…)in the end, you end up in full, MCU action movie.

    For many, this will be seen as a welcomed pacing shift as WandaVision begins to resemble the MCU theatrical releases more and more, as it approaches the series finale and propels some of its characters into future Phase 4 appearances. There is no way around it, as WandaVision proudly advertised for everyone to see: this is a show that meant to break from the MCU mold and everything about it, either purposeful or not, made it so that a segment of fans would have a bit of trouble adjusting to the way a Marvel Studios project is usually enjoyed.

     


    From the episodic format, something that inherently makes the narrative flow differently than in feature films, to the fact that it’s available on a streaming service, meaning it’s not bound by runtimes associated with shows of this magnitude, and not forgetting the obvious thematic approach that caught many off guard, WandaVision not only proved to not be your regular MCU property, it wasn’t even your regular TV show. But even though it might have been seen as a bit of a gamble by taking some obvious risks, it knew full well it had the MCU label as a safety net that would make audiences stick with it through thick and thin. And that is the right way to approach built-in fanbases, not by continuously giving them what they want, but by giving them what they might need once you have their full attention.

    What other way would we get to experience such incredible performances by the show’s amazing leads, as both Olsen and Bettany thrived when asked to move these characters outside of their comfort zones. We also got to recognize and pay tribute to what made the referenced sitcoms so timeless paving the way to the shows we enjoy today, how TV itself has evolved through the years to the point of it being such a meaningful part of everyone’s lives, both past, and present, making us the consumers (not in a bad way) we all are today. Pertaining specifically to the MCU fandom, we’ve seen an incredible increase of engagement throughout the community directly associated with the fact that we’re getting weekly MCU content. The number of theories developed by a single episode rivals the ones surfacing after a theatrical release and even though a week seems like a lot of time to wait before the next episode when you fill that time with all of this content, it’s hard to say it isn’t time well spent.

     


    We still have a couple more episodes until we reach the end of this season of WandaVision, but leaving the sitcoms behind feels like we’ll be indeed returning to our regular MCU programming, which will be followed by The Falcon and The Winter Soldier a month from now. That will also be a good thing, as it is the variety of approaches that’ll be helping the MCU move forward in the coming years. But may WandaVision‘s legacy be the one developed so far, that challenging audiences with interesting content, full of heart and respect towards the source material, is truly the way to go.

  • ‘JUSTICE LEAGUE’: Zack Snyder’s Unusual Shot Composition May End up Being the Right Choice

    ‘JUSTICE LEAGUE’: Zack Snyder’s Unusual Shot Composition May End up Being the Right Choice

    By now most of us are already familiar with what an IMAX movie screen provides to the cinematic experience. These screens are much bigger than usual ones, with an aspect ratio that brings them closer to the 4:3 ratio found in old CRT televisions, moving away from the wider ratios cinemas became accustomed to. Over the years with the advancing IMAX technology, IMAX cameras became both smaller and cheaper allowing directors to use them more often, up to the point where we got entire feature films where only such cameras were used.

    But the main thing with the format isn’t the aspect ratio, it’s the size of the frame/screen itself. The point was to allow for an image of such size that, aided by the steeper angle in which the seats are arranged, the audience would undergo a much more immersive experience as its field of view would be completely occupied by the image being projected. But this would also mean that, as audiences wouldn’t be able to properly keep up with the entirety of the screen, the edges (and especially the upper and lower ones) shouldn’t contain crucial information to the scene as it could end up being lost to the viewer. This way, when framing a shot, one should take all of this into consideration to allow for the best possible viewing experience, and not having to ask the audience to keep tracking a screen so big in its entirety in search of vital story details.

    Snyder explaining how he’s composed shots to go beyond the usual boundaries.

    But Zack Snyder, while using such a tall aspect ratio, had a different approach when composing Justice League shots. He decided to use every square inch of the frame to tell his story, including placing crucial information to the story both front and center as well as in the edges of the frame. If this was to be a regular theatrical release one might argue that this would be an ill-usage of the IMAX format, as having such an action-packed movie asking the viewers to keep up with so much information, on such a large screen, might prove too much. But the circumstances dictated that Snyder’s cut would end up being released through HBO Max, and audiences will now have to experience the feature film in their own homes, through their TVs. This means that the screen size has been considerably downgraded, and having information scattered throughout its entirety suddenly becomes a non-issue. In fact, it might even add to the experience since, by using both the upper and lower edges of the screen to their full potential, you are now reaching the home-theater audiences in a much more engaging way. If the shot composition was less on the unusual side, when adapting the material to the small screen you could always, as many do, cut the image without leaving out important material to the story, but that would mean that, in this case, people wouldn’t get to enjoy the shots to their fullest since there was no usual theatrical run to go with the home media release.

    This way, a creative choice that seemed to deviate from the norm (and not in the best way), might end up proving itself as the right decision as, a little over a month from now, audiences sit on their couches to enjoy Snyder’s definitive take on his Justice League project.

     

     

    Source: Justice Con / Youtube 

  • ‘WANDAVISION’ is Hexpanding

    ‘WANDAVISION’ is Hexpanding

    WandaVision keeps growing in scope with each passing episode. It’s Hexpanding, in a way. Episode 1, where we spent (practically) its entire runtime in “Sitcom Mode”, seems so far away as the show enters its third act firing on all cylinders. It took a while to get to the point where the state of affairs within the show became clear but with Episode 6 ending the way it did, we’ll have an entirely new status quo to look forward to next week. Big changes might be around the corner, changes that can help propel the show to new heights.

    The Westview Anomaly grew in size and the S.W.O.R.D. team stationed outside not only wasn’t enough to contain it, but it also managed to get itself trapped within its newfound limits. Wanda was underestimated and the outside world will have to find some new weapons to counteract her Hex. Random armed soldiers won’t do the trick anymore and, being likely that several other New Jersey residents have been engulfed by the anomaly, the event is sure to have been noticed by at least a few of the remaining Avengers, with a special focus on those who are more in touch with such…magical things.

    But not all new players might come from the outside. Inside the Hex there are new powers brewing. The twins have finally displayed (some of) their abilities and, keeping in mind how Wanda seems unable to control them at will, they certainly emerge as new players that inevitably might stand either in Wanda’s way or beside her, as she looks to maintain her (each passing day a bit less) fairytale life with Vision. Tommy and Billy, even at such a young age, would surely give whatever S.W.O.R.D. throws at them a run for its money.

    Also inside the Hex, we will now find several characters that are now down the rabbit hole. Much like Monica, they might experience light moments of clarity, breaking Wanda’s grasp on them. But this time, especially in Darcy’s case, with an increased amount of knowledge about what is occurring, how it might be happening, and how it might be hindered if not terminated. Darcy has a Ph.D. in Astrophysics, and with the world inside the Hex moving into the 2000s she can probably find the tools that may allow her to fight Wanda’s powers from the inside.

    Another new player might show up in the form of Monica’s Aerospace Engineer friend. We’ve already developed a theory on who that might be, but even if that doesn’t pan out, the build-up towards her arrival has been significant to the point that it most likely won’t be just a random character, but instead someone that matters in what the overall story is concerned.

    A single episode has now managed to present us with an entirely new playing field. With new players coming into the game from all sides, old players finding themselves in new situations, players switching sides altogether, the power struggle has just begun, and it will be even more fierce than initially expected.

     

  • HBO’s ‘THE LAST OF US’ finds its Ellie in ‘GAME OF THRONES’’ Bella Ramsey

    HBO’s ‘THE LAST OF US’ finds its Ellie in ‘GAME OF THRONES’’ Bella Ramsey

    Mentioning either The Last of Us (2013) or The Last of Us Part II (2020) means talking about one of the best and most impactful games of the past decade. It came with little surprise when it became official that HBO had secured the rights for a small screen adaptation last March, managing to secure Neil Druckman to write the story, he who is arguably the mastermind behind the game series. Last November the show got officially picked up for an entire season and we are now getting our first news regarding the cast.

    The biggest roles will obviously be the ones of Joel and Ellie, and it now seems that HBO has found the right actor for the latter in Game Of Throne‘s Bella Ramsey, who caught the eye of audiences worldwide for her incredible portrayal of Lyanna Mormont. Bella Ramsey is currently 17 years old, a bit older than Ellie was when we first met her in the first game and this might give some credence to the rumors that the show will not try to retell Joel and Ellie’s story, but will perhaps try to fill some of the gaps in the story that both games didn’t quite fill.

    We can certainly understand how Ramsey is seen as a good fit for the role, taking into consideration what we saw from her in Game of Thrones and how Ellie evolves through the games, becoming a force to be reckoned with, much in the same light Lyanna was regarded throughout Westeros.

    HBO’s The Last of Us doesn’t yet have a release date but with casting choices being made, we should probably get updates on the production’s timeline in the coming weeks.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘WANDAVISION’: 6 Reasons Why Monica Rambeau’s Phone-a-Friend is a Skrull

    ‘WANDAVISION’: 6 Reasons Why Monica Rambeau’s Phone-a-Friend is a Skrull

    WandaVision‘s Episode 5 was, for many, the best one yet as the show seems to be kicking into high gear for the final half of the season. The last couple of episodes have finally started to shed some light on some of its initial mysteries, but the show also keeps raising new questions to leave unanswered. One of those came up on the last episode when Monica and Darcy discussed what it would take to assemble a vehicle that would allow them to enter the Westview Anomaly without being affected by it. Rambeau immediately says:

    I know an aerospace engineer who’d be up for this challenge.

    That obviously begs the question: Who might that be? We’ve all read the crazy possibilities that started to make their way through social media and elsewhere: Reed Richards; Victor Von Doom; The Blue Marvel; Hank McCoy; Abigail Brand; Riri Williams. But let’s get serious for a second: besides Riri Williams (who will be played by Dominique Thorne in the upcoming Disney+ series Ironheart) none of these other characters have been cast yet and there is no official word of when and where they might be eventually introduced into the MCU. At the same time, introducing almost any of them in an episode of WandaVision would only distract us from the focus of the story being told, as we would all get drawn to those characters that are bound to become franchise staples within the next decade.

    So being, it would have to be someone a bit more lowkey, while being interesting enough so that the disclosure of the secret actually pays off. And in true MCU fashion (as WandaVision has been living proof of with Monica, Darcy, and Jimmy), if it happened to be someone we have already met in a past project, even better. Considering all of this, and a few more interesting facts we’ll get into ahead, the choice seemed logical: Talos’ daughter, the little girl that we met at the end of Captain Marvel.

    Now why does that seem like the logical choice, you ask? Here’s why.

    • She was raised by space-traveling aliens, and the Skrulls are a  far more advanced race than ours. It would take someone with that kind of background to turn Darcy’s theory into a reality.
    • Monica clearly says that she knows the person in question. Making it seem that it’s more of a personal connection and not so much a professional one. As we saw in Captain Marvel, Monica bonded with her, in the scene on the staircase when she said “You guys have the best eyes. Don’t ever change your eyes.”. As Maria probably stayed in contact with Talos even after he left earth, Monica could have easily done the same with his daughter. 
    • We know both Talos and his wife Soren eventually made it back to Earth, it’s likely their daughter came back as well. 
    • She’s someone only Monica would know off, and by making their connection essential to the story you also highlight Monica’s role in the show.
    • When Monica mentions “An engineer..” the Spanish subtitles show us “Una ingeniera..”, meaning that whoever Monica is talking about is female.
    • Almost a year ago there were reports of a casting call out for a male aged 16-23 “A Skrull hiding on earth under the protection of SWORD.” This obviously isn’t Talos’ daughter’s character but it does make it clear that Skrulls will appear on the show, so her appearance may have added context. By making it clear in episode 4 that Maria Rambeau, Monica’s mother, built S.W.O.R.D. from the ground up, and knowing how Maria came into contact with Skrull refugees in Captain Marvel, it would be fair to assume that she got S.W.O.R.D. to help them out and that Monica would be aware of that situation. Even if other operatives, such as Director Tyler Hayward, didn’t. After all, secrecy would be paramount in such a situation.

     

    All of this may end up being meaningless, but there sure are a lot of details hinting that this might be the person Monica refers to. Above all, it’s a simple enough answer that doesn’t need too much explanation, much in the way of how Marvel Studios usually does these things. Both characters have a natural connection, one we’ve already seen on screen, and it won’t leave people clamoring for answers on who is this person, how did they meet each other, or how does she know so much about these specific subjects. Being Talos’ daughter people will get it all immediately, advancing the story without having to waste time explaining what people already know.

     

  • ‘WANDAVISION’: The Twins may be Pivotal to Wanda’s Downfall

    ‘WANDAVISION’: The Twins may be Pivotal to Wanda’s Downfall

    Just as predicted in Arlyn Murphy’s Episode 5 Primer, this week we got our first real glimpse of the twins, Tommy and Billy, along with a few hints on how their immediate future might unfold. Given how big of a deal they are bound to become in the MCU as instrumental parts of the Young Avengers roster, their introduction, the questions it raised, and the few answers we might have gotten are certainly attention-worthy.

    One of the first relevant quotes regarding them was when Jimmy Woo asked if anyone had managed to identify both kids, as they had done with most of the people Wanda interacted with inside the Hex. Monica then said:

    Oh, Wanda’s twins are hers. Everything might look fake on the TV, but everything in there is real.

    This means that, unlike everybody else trapped inside Westview, the kids didn’t exist in the outside world before the Hex was set up. So being, when/if the Hex is destroyed, and everybody returns to their regular lives (as the kids appear to be, in Monica’s words, “real”), they won’t just disappear but also their minds won’t just go “back to normal”, as there won’t be any normal to go back to. They’ll still be Wanda and Vision’s kids, even in the real world, with everything that entails. 

    Coming from Wanda and being outside of the initial group being mind-controlled by her probably means that whatever powers they might be displaying inside the Hex are theirs alone and that they aren’t serving as Wanda’s proxies. We start to understand just how much autonomy they exhibit when both disappear from the crib and appear as 5-year-olds much to Wanda and Vision’s surprise. Then later, when they manage to age-up, against Wanda’s wishes, so they could keep Sparky as their pet. When they plan on aging up once again to get away from the pain felt by Sparky’s death, Wanda feels the need to talk them out of it, again making it seem like they are outside of her control. But the biggest hint on just how much Tommy and Billy are in control of their own actions is given us by Agnes, right after they turn themselves into five-year-olds:

    Kids. You can’t control ’em.

    This feels like foreshadowing, as the kids should become increasingly more autonomous and going against Wanda’s wishes. Even though they are a huge part of the model family Wanda created for herself inside the Hex, the twins (and Vision) are beginning to display certain traits that are bound to collide with that dream scenario. Wanda cannot be truly happy if she has to control the ones she loves, as she needs to feel that they are with her not because they have to, but because they want to. If the twins begin to question their situation too much (as they did when asking Wanda why she wouldn’t bring back Sparky from the dead), throwing wrenches right in the gears of Wanda’s creation, that might just be the catalyst to Wanda’s future loss of control over the entire situation. Her search for perfection will be the reason for her downfall.

    And this leads to life after the Hex, after WandaVision. If the twins are kept away from their mother in order to keep safe from someone, by then, so disgruntled with life, that might just be what leads Wanda into the dark path we are sure to follow her on in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Their absence might be presented to both her and the audience as “They couldn’t survive outside the Hex”, but they’ll be sure to come back later on, to rediscover their real connection to the Scarlet Witch.

  • ‘WandaVision’’s Occam’s Razor

    ‘WandaVision’’s Occam’s Razor

    Occam’s razor is the problem-solving principle that “entities should not be multiplied without necessity”, or more simply, the simplest explanation is usually the right one.

    It wasn’t what was initially scheduled to happen, but WandaVision is serving as our entry-point into Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Having fans starving for content for over one year and a half since the last MCU property hit theaters, was certainly noticeable after just the first couple of episodes were made available a couple of weeks ago. Fans had already picked up on where the show would draw inspiration from, starting with House o M, Tom King‘s Vision run, John Byrne’s Vision Quest, and a few more, and so the theories being devised were already plentiful, but it was like nothing could prepare us for what was to come.

    The MCU has always been a fertile ground for imaginative minds. The notion that everything produced within this Feige-designed Universe might have strong connections to the stories published in the comics for decades is all it took for the idea that everything does to settle in. If you really want to, every single detail in the movies can be interpreted as an obscure reference to something that took place in a 70’s limited-series that only a handful of people even know of. It doesn’t take much.

    And now, with WandaVision‘s weekly format, the theories keep pilling up faster than ever, with each one trying to surpass the last, making it hard to discern what actually might or might not be a true possibility for future episodes. But amid all this chaos of Fantastic Four hints, Mutant origin stories, or Hell references, it’s in the past of the MCU that we might find a way to look forward into the future with a bit more certainty.

    If you’ve been paying attention to the past decade of MCU content, one of the things that come to mind is how streamlined most events and characters introductions turn out to become. The theories that always come about after the first trailers, or after the first plot details are revealed, always seem to overcomplicate things, as the plot always seems to be way simpler than what fans expected. Yes, there is a regular number of call-backs that reward the investment of some fans in the material, but for these projects to become viable they also need to cater to the regular audience’s needs, and those can be summed up in a single sentence: “Make it easy for me to understand.” I’m also guilty of trying to develop theories that end up wanting to sound more clever than they really are. And even though most won’t amount to anything significant, it is still an important part of connecting to and with the material, and especially to other fans. It’s basically part of what makes it fun to share these movies with everybody. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

    In WandaVision‘s case, we’ve all been inundated with Mephisto and Salem Witches references, and the latest is a supposed cameo in the final episodes that may rival Luke Skywalker showing up in The Mandalorian season finale. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We should really take a few steps back in order not to lose focus on what the show really is about. Family, grief, the inability to move on when one’s world is shattered to its core. In order not to upstage what Wanda (and Vision) are going through, we really should not expect anything that’ll impact the show more heavily than what these two are and will go through in the next few episodes already is.

    Will we get a cool cameo? Most likely. Will it be from someone that hasn’t yet been introduced to the MCU? Doubtful. May the show unveil a new antagonist? Perhaps. Will it be someone who’ll manage to draw the show’s attention all to himself? That’s questionable. Will these “low” expectations take away from what the show still has to offer? Absolutely not.

     

  • McGregor Confirms Late Spring Production Start for ‘Kenobi’ using StageCraft Tech

    McGregor Confirms Late Spring Production Start for ‘Kenobi’ using StageCraft Tech

    Ewan McGregor was a guest on Eddie Izzard‘s final A Run For Hope marathon (you can donate right here), and his upcoming Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi series was briefly discussed. After several news outlets reporting that the show would shoot in places like Boston, MA, or even in the UK, McGregor confirmed that the show will actually be filming in Los Angeles, starting this spring, around May/June. This could eventually mean that we could be looking at an early to mid-2022 release date.

    When it was initially confirmed that he would indeed be returning to the role he last played in 2005’s Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, McGregor talked about how excited he was to go back to a galaxy far, far away as it would probably mean he could be using the StageCraft technology that those behind The Mandalorian developed. This was also basically confirmed by McGregor and so being choosing LA was a no-brainer. With this technology being an essential part of the success achieved by the first live-action Star Wars series, the head of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kenedy has since confirmed that new stages are being set up in the US, the UK, and Australia. In the meantime, the LA location used by The Mandalorian remains the only operational sound stage featuring StageCraft, and so it makes sense for McGregor to be confirming that principal photography on the show will take place in the City of Angels.

    Obi-Wan Kenobi will see the return of both Ewan McGregor, as the titular character, and Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. It will be directed by Deborah Chow who directed two episodes of The Mandalorian‘s first season.

  • Topps Cards Reveal John Walker’s Captain America Look

    Topps Cards Reveal John Walker’s Captain America Look

    A new digital card collection featured in the MARVEL Collect! by Topps® app has unveiled new looks for Falcon, Bucky, Zemo, and Wyatt Russell‘s John Walker.

     

    Unlike the other three, Walker is set to make his MCU debut this March on the Disney+ series, with a shield in hand (notice how it is heavily featured on his card). Even if Steve Rogers meant to pass on the Captain America shield, along with the mantle itself, to Sam Wilson at the end of Avengers: Endgame, the government seems to have a very different opinion on the matter. John Walker is given that role, agreeing to the oversight the added responsibility comes with, and the events of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier will show us if he’s the right man for the job or not.

    The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is set to stream on Disney Plus beginning March 19th.

  • ‘THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER’ Set Photo hints at Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder

    ‘THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER’ Set Photo hints at Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder

    After a few sets of Thor: Love and Thunder behind the scenes photos surfaced overnight, a closer look at a particular photograph seems to hint at the first appearance of Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder in an MCU project. The animatronics don’t seem complete even though we seem to be able to see where the horns will go as they are set up for the shoot.

     

    Based on Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr, the goats that pull Thor’s chariot in Norse mythology, Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder are heavily featured in Jason Aaron’s Mighty Thor books, a run that we already knew to be inspiring the fourth Thor project. With Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) becoming the Mighty Thor, and Christian Bale portraying Gorr, The God Butcher, Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder are yet another interesting addition to Taika Waititi’s feature. And considering the Kiwi’s iconic brand of humor, the comic relief these mystical goats could bring to the table is huge.