Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Nicole

  • James Gunn Jokes He’s Jealous How Much People Love the Holiday Special Script

    James Gunn Jokes He’s Jealous How Much People Love the Holiday Special Script

    James Gunn may be readying for his HBO Max series, Peacemaker, to debut this week, however, that’s not the only thing keeping him busy. Gunn is also currently filming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 for Marvel Studios, as well as preparing to film the previously announced Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. While Gunn spent years talking to Kevin Feige about a potential holiday special, having drawn inspiration from Star Wars, he managed to knock out the script in a short amount of time. Gunn admits that while he spent years working on the script for Vol. 3, the holiday special was something he knocked out rather quickly, which is why he’s pretty “jealous” of how much love it is getting.

    As it stands, filming on the holiday special has not yet begun, but it appears folks are excited to see it come to life — at some point. During an interview with Collider to tease Peacemaker, Gunn briefly commented on the holiday special. “It’s still upcoming in the shoot. We were supposed to shoot one day in LA, and there’s too much Omicron around, so we couldn’t do it. We’re going to have to fit it in. I haven’t started yet,” Gunn explained. “The holiday special is… I’m almost jealous of it, even though I wrote it because people freak out so much on how much they love the script for the holiday special that I’m almost like, ‘Well, wait. I’ve got this movie here I’ve been working on for two years. You love the holiday special that I literally wrote in a very short amount of time.’ But, it is really funny and really good.”

    While little is known regarding the holiday special, Gunn has previously teased it’ll include a character he’s dubbed the “greatest MCU character.” The yet-to-film holiday special is expected to release later this year on Disney+.

    Source: Collider

  • Judy Greer, Keegan-Michael Key & Johnny Knoxville Board Hulu’s ‘Reboot’

    Judy Greer, Keegan-Michael Key & Johnny Knoxville Board Hulu’s ‘Reboot’

    Hulu’s forthcoming comedy series, Reboot, has nabbed a trio of all-stars.

    It was revealed on Monday that Judy Greer, Keegan-Michael Key & Johnny Knoxville have boarded Hulu’s comedy series, Reboot. Greer has nabbed the leading lady role of Bree Marie Larson, replacing Leslie Bibb. Per Deadline, the reason for the recast is because the writers ultimately took the direction of the main female character in a “different direction.”

    Reboot hails from Steven Levitan and 20th Television. Along with creating the series, Levitan will write, executive produce and showrun Reboot for Hulu. The series focuses on Hollywood’s love of rebooting properties, especially for the small screen. Reboot sees a 2000s family sitcom rebooted, forcing its dysfunctional cast back together. Over the course of the series, the cast will need to “deal with their unresolved issues in today’s fast-changing world.”

    Key plays the role of Reed Sterling, a fussy actor also on the sitcom. While Knoxville plays Clay Barber, a dark and filthy standup comedian who is most famous for is work on the “sunny” sitcom. As for Greer’s Bree, the character is described as a small-town pageant girl who always dreamed of being an actress and a princess and both somehow came true. The trio joins the previously cast Rachel Bloom, Calum Worthy and Krista Marie Yu.

    Source: Deadline.

  • ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Swinging Toward $700 Million Domestically

    ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Swinging Toward $700 Million Domestically

    Spider-Man: No Way Home continues to dominate the box office.

    The superhero flick is on its way to passing $700 million domestically, after pulling in $8.3 million on Friday. Current estimates have it on track for a $30 million weekend in its fourth weekend. That’s only a 45% drop from the New Year’s box office. This will push the film to $650 million domestically, with the film expected to hit $666 million by Sunday. With the film continuing to hold, it seems likely the film will cross $700 million at the domestic box office in the next week or two — an incredibly impressive feat, even pre-pandemic.

    $666 million is enough to push No Way Home past Titanic ($659.3 million), while also pushing it to the sixth-highest grossing movie. The only big new release this weekend, The 355, failed to serve as any competition for No Way Home. The Simon Kinberg film – which he co-wrote, directed and produced – only took in $4.3 million. That is well below the projected $20 million the studio was hoping for going into the weekend.

    Spider-Man: No Way Home is in theaters now.

    Source: Deadline

  • REVIEW: ‘Slip’ Uses Art to Tell a Heartbreaking Tale of Mental Illness

    REVIEW: ‘Slip’ Uses Art to Tell a Heartbreaking Tale of Mental Illness

    When I first stumbled upon Slip on NetGalley, I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the book. There’s no denying the cover is stunning, and the descriptive text is rather intriguing, but it also promises a story self-harm and coping through art. Suicide is something that’s hard enough to deal with in reality; using a friend’s attempted suicide to frame a story? It seemed wrong. Yet, in the end, Slip manages to be a powerful story worthy of your time.

    Slip hails from writer Marika McCoola and debut artist Aatmaja Pandya. It tells the story of a young girl named Jade who finds herself trying to cope with a friend’s hospital stay following a suicide attempt. Just as things seem to be going up for Jade, she finds herself struggling to make it through everyday as her thoughts immediately turn to Phoebe. For Jade, her best friend was supposed to be by her side during art camp, so the idea of getting through it alone is hard to process. She doesn’t feel good enough, as Phoebe was her biggest cheerleader. She moves through the day like a zombie, oblivious to what’s taking place around her. Until she meets fellow art student, Mary.

    Mary helps revive her spirit, helping her figure out what she needs to do to get her work back on track. More importantly, though, she helps Jade find a way to cope with Phoebe. It’s an emotional story that is beautifully told thanks greatly to Pandya‘s artwork. You can feel the grief, you can sense the confusion and by the end, you’ll find yourself in the same boat as Jade. It’s a powerful story that isn’t perfect, as it often loses focus but when it gets back on track? It soars like the phoenix Jade crafts.

    The artwork can be choppy, but it only helps to sell the story. It adds to the grief and the uncertainty. It captures Jade’s feelings. The use of the red when Jade is hurting is gorgeous and the way Pandya brings Jade’s pieces to life is wonderful. They’re pieces of clay, that spring to life to help Jade along her way. It can be a bit confusing at times, as the story isn’t the best at transitions, but those moments of uncertainty are some of the biggest moments for Jade’s character.

    Ultimately, Slip isn’t a light read. If you’re looking for a fluffy romance? Slip isn’t your book. If you are, however, looking for a graphic novel that successfully tackles real life issues thanks to artwork, then Slip is the perfect book for you.

    Reviewer’s note: I generally don’t make it a point of adding my own personal bits into reviews. To be fair, though, in most instances? My reality doesn’t relate to the fiction I consume. Slip, though, hits hard. Very, very hard. Eleven years ago, I lost a dear friend to suicide. They remind me a lot of Phoebe. Loved to talk, was always smiling, and in the end, I never understood why they felt the need to end it. (We never know the full truth to someone else’s story.) To say Slip brought back some emotions for me would be putting it lightly. I never got into ceramics – look, I tried in college and it did not go over well – but I still related to the story. Art is a tool to help with grief in Slip, but there’s so much here that many others will, unfortunately, be able to comprehend.

    Slip will go on sale on June 7th from Algonquin Young Readers.

  • ‘Naomi’: Ava DuVernay Teases the Forthcoming CW Series

    ‘Naomi’: Ava DuVernay Teases the Forthcoming CW Series

    While WarnerMedia looks to sell the CW, the network is operating normally. During the TCAs on Thursday, Ava DuVernay teased her forthcoming DC Comics adaption, Naomi, hitting the CW next week on Jan. 11. Naomi, of course, is the second DC Comics title DuVernay has tackled. Shortly before the director’s New Gods feature was shelved, DC and the CW announced last February she’d be bringing Naomi, a relatively new title, to life on the small screen. For DuVernay, getting to tackle a book like Naomi was important. 

    “It’s not about representation, it’s about normalization,” DuVernay explained. “We’re doing really muscular things that relate to race and gender and class but we’re doing it by playing it normal like it’s just a part of the everyday… The more you can portray images without underlining or highlighting them and putting a star next to them. By showing a different type of hero that centers a girl, a Black girl, that centers different kinds of folks. We start to make that normal and that’s a radical and revolutionary thing.”

    As for what fans can expect from the adaptation? DuVernay notes that they crammed a lot into the first two episodes, however, don’t expect any crossovers to happen just yet. “We got a lot of information in the first two episodes which means: we get to make up cool new things,” she said. “You won’t see any crossovers in season one. We’re focused on Naomi’s journey singularly.”

    Naomi, of course, is based on the comic of the same name from Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker and artist Jamal Campbell. The series follows Naomi McDuffie (Kaci Walfall) who is a top student, skateboarder and huge Superman fan. After a stunt in her hometown of Port Oswego turns her world upside down, Naomi finds herself dealing with strange new fainting spells as she tries to uncover who or what is behind the unexpected event. As she looks for answers, and finds some folks in her town know more than they’re letting on, Naomi will find the event has changed her life for good, challenging her to question everything she knows.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Fallout’ TV Series at Amazon Nabs Director, Showrunners

    ‘Fallout’ TV Series at Amazon Nabs Director, Showrunners

    Amazon’s adaptation of the popular videogame, Fallout, has found a director and a pair of showrunners. Per Deadline, Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel) and Graham Wagner (Silicon Valley) will serve as showrunners on the television series. While Jonathan Nolan, who is producing the project alongside Lisa Joy through their banner Kilter Films, will direct the premiere episode.

    It was first announced that Amazon would adapt the beloved franchise in July 2020. The project comes as part of the overall deal Nolan and Joy have through Amazon Studios. They will produce the series alongside Bethesda Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks. Nolan, Joy, Athena Wickham of Kilter Films, Todd Howard of Bethesda Game Studios and James Altman of Bethesda Softworks will serve as executive producers.

    Nolan, a known fan of the franchise, calls Fallout one of the best video game franchises of all time. “Each chapter of this insanely imaginative story has cost us countless hours we could have spent with family and friends,” he said when the adaptation was first announced. “So we’re incredibly excited to partner with Todd Howard and the rest of the brilliant lunatics at Bethesda to bring this massive, subversive, and darkly funny universe to life with Amazon Studios.”

    While Nolan doesn’t do much directing, he did direct the pilot episodes of both CBS’ Person of Interest, which he helped create, and HBO’s Westworld, in which he serves as an executive producer. Nolan also directed the Season 1 finale of Westworld, as well as the Season 3 premiere. Outside of directing, Nolan has famously worked with his brother, Christopher Nolan on The Dark Knight trilogy, Interstellar, and The Prestige.

    Fallout first launched in Oct. 1997. Since then, the video game franchise has continued to only grow in popularity, launching a mobile game in June 2015. Microsoft purchased Bethesda Game Studios last year, all but ensuring the Fallout franchise will continue to live on for quite some time.

    As it stands, there is no release date set for the television series.

    Source: Deadline

  • WarnerMedia is Looking to Sell The CW

    WarnerMedia is Looking to Sell The CW

    The CW is going up for sale by WarnerMedia, with a potential home for the network already in the cards.

    Late on Wednesday, Jan. 5th, it was revealed that WarnerMedia was looking to sell its television network, the CW. The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, with the outlet reporting Nexstar is one of the potential suitors. Interestingly enough, while WSJ was able to confirm the network is for sale, it was unable to note whether ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia intend on selling the entire network outright or retaining a minority stake following the purchase.

    The CW, of course, has long been a struggling network since its debut in 2006. At the time, the network came about when UPN and The WB Network were merged together. Compared to other networks, the views for the CW have long been less than stellar with much of the revenue earned by the network coming from the international streaming sales of its biggest titles, including The Flash and Dynasty. While the CW once had a strong deal with Netflix that helped to booster some of its titles, that deal expired in 2019 following the launch of HBO Max. This ultimately cut into the network’s profits for the sales of international streaming rights.

    When the CW was created, it was meant to provide a network for viewers between the ages of 18-34. Yet, while the network has found some success with its DC Comics adaptations (nicknamed the Arrowverse), viewership has continued to decline, with most titles lucky to even pull in a 1.0 rating in the all-too-important 18-34 demographic.

    Source: The Wall Street Journal

  • Keanu Reeves Joins Hulu’s ‘The Devil In The White City’ for Scorsese, DiCaprio

    Keanu Reeves Joins Hulu’s ‘The Devil In The White City’ for Scorsese, DiCaprio

    Keanu Reeves is heading to the small screen.

    Per Deadline, the actor is set to star in the adaptation of The Devil In The White City for Hulu. It’s a big-budget take on the 2003 novel of the same name by author Erik Larson. The book tells the story of two men, an architect (Daniel H. Burnham) and a serial killer (Henry H. Holmes), who soon find their fates forever link thanks to the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. Burnham is described as brilliant and fastidious, desperately seeking to leave his mark on the world, while Holmes is a handsome and cunning doctor who created his own pharmaceutical “Murder Castle” on fairgrounds — a palace is meant to seduce, torture and mutilate young women.

    The adaptation has long been in the works. Leonardo DiCaprio originally purchased the rights to the novel in 2010 with the intent to make it a feature film at Paramount with Martin Scorsese in the director’s chair. While Scorsese is still attached, following the move to Hulu, he’s now only serving as an executive producer alongside DiCaprio. Todd Field (Little Children) is directing the first two episodes. Castle Rock and Manhattan creator Sam Shaw is also working on the adaptation.

    This marks the biggest television role for Reeves, who is starring in The Matrix Resurrections. He’s also returning to the John Wick franchise for its fourth installment, set to release next year.

    Source: Deadline.

  • Cobra Kai’s Season 4 Ending is the Perfect Way to Move the Series Forward

    Cobra Kai’s Season 4 Ending is the Perfect Way to Move the Series Forward

    When it comes to long-form storytelling on the small-screen, it isn’t unusual for shows to lose their steam after multiple seasons. This is, of course, in part due to the typical 20+ episode order received by most primetime network, and the ability to stretch out a story over a long period of time. While miniseries are becoming more normal and networks (finally) welcoming 10 to 13 episode seasons, most shows are able to tighten the grasp on their stories. For Cobra Kai, the 10-episodes often worked in its favor. However, by the start of Season 4, most of the drama felt rehashed. Thankfully, Cobra Kai easily set itself up for a new story by season’s end while still offering a sense of closure to what came before.

    For the past three seasons of Cobra Kai, the drama has focused on Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. They, of course, were the stars of the Karate Kid films from the 80s, and despite thirty-years having passed, the duo are unable to let go of their differences. After coming face-to-face with LaRusso, much to his chagrin, Johnny makes it a point to bring back Cobra Kai and teach kids to be “badass.” It’s a plot point that worked for the first few seasons, however, after four seasons, it does become a bit stale – especially with the continual sliminess of Kreese. The re-introduction of Terry Silver, however, makes it so Cobra Kai is able to start anew, in a sense.

    After attacking a Cobra Kai “student” – and the term student is used lightly here as Stingray is an adult – Terry begins crafting a plan to overthrow Kreese and make Cobra Kai his own. Does it sound familiar? Yes, because Kreese managed to steal back Cobra Kai from Johnny after Season 2. The difference here, however, is that Kreese was finally on the verge of character development at the end of Season 4. There was a sense he was finally beginning to comprehend everything Johnny had been desperately trying to tell him, only to find himself behind bars due to Terry. As it turns out, Terry worked out a plan with Stingray, ensuring him he’ll become a Cobra Kai if he tells the police it was Kreese that put him in the hospital – not Silver. It’s a huge turning point for the series as it impacts numerous characters moving forward.

    Sure, Johnny and LaRusso are bound to fight back against Silver, but this is no longer solely about these two characters any longer. Stingray has become so desperate to belong he’s willing to become someone else just to appear cool, while Kreese is on the verge of being more than a one-note villain as he’s thrown behind bars. More importantly, though, Silver is here to wreak havoc on Cobra Kai as a hole. He’s worse than Kreese ever was. Not only did he bribe a referee to ensure a win at the All Valley competition during Tory’s fight, but he also put a student in the hospital just to get rid of Kreese. He’s willing to go to extremes the series has not yet touched upon; Silver is the terrifying variant that the series needed moving forward.

    As the series moves into its fourth season, with Season 5 having already filmed, it’s time Cobra Kai acknowledges people do grow from their mistakes. The amount of character development crafted over Season 4 is honestly impressive and makes for a promising Season 5. The best part, though, is for the first time since the series started? There’s no telling where things go from here, and the series can only be better for it.

  • Cobra Kai: Johnny and How the Past Doesn’t Define Us

    Cobra Kai: Johnny and How the Past Doesn’t Define Us

    When Cobra Kai was first announced as a YouTube Red series in 2017, many were curious to see how the series would go about redeeming Johnny. After all, he was a huge bully as a member of Cobra Kai in the Karate Kid films – films that hadn’t exactly done a great job of making him more than a one-sided villain. Thankfully, Cobra Kai offers more of a morally gray area to explore Johnny Lawrence as a character. The series has never shied away from his faults in the past. In fact, Cobra Kai seems to embrace his mistakes, allowing him to truly grow as a character.

    He’s a screw-up. There’s no denying as much. Johnny will never be Daniel LaRusso. The temper is still there, although he’s more capable of holding it back these days, and he loves his Coors. Over the course of three seasons, though, Cobra Kai has turned Johnny from a one-note villain into a fully-realized character. He’s no longer merely a combative drunk looking to pick a fight. He’s a man determined to right his wrongs, even if he ultimately goes about doing things incorrectly.

    The Johnny Lawrence we meet in Season 1 of Cobra Kai is a down on his luck man who is simply trying to make ends meet. When he finds himself before LaRusso again, though, things take a turn for the worse and he ultimately decides to reopen Cobra Kai – much to LaRusso’s chagrin. Enter Season 2: Johnny and LaRusso are still bitter enemies, who unknowingly impose their issues with each other onto their students, resulting in a massive fight that nearly kills one of the show’s main characters: Miguel.

    Miguel, of course, is presented as a do-over for Johnny, who failed to be there for his son, Robby. While both characters are the same age, Miguel willingly accepts Johnny’s help and cherishes the time with his Sensei as he doesn’t have a father figure to look up to. Whereas, Robby is unwilling to look beyond the past and accept that his father wants to make things right. This is something we see further explained in Season 3 when Kreese steals Cobra Kai from Johnny and seeks to turn the students into trained fighters against Johnny’s will.

    Johnny doesn’t want Cobra Kai to be what it was when he was younger. He wants it to be better; he wants the students to be better than him because he knows what Kreese taught them was wrong. He tries to be the good guy, but he can’t seem to get it right, no matter what he does. Thankfully, Season 4 of Cobra Kai looks ready to let Johnny grow beyond Cobra Kai as the trailer shows him working alongside LaRusso.

    While Kreese, a war hero, is unable to let go of his past, Johnny wants nothing more than a chance at a future with those he hurt in his past. He wants what is best for Robby, even if he keeps screwing up trying to make things right with everyone else. He knows he wasn’t there for Robby in the past, but he wants to be there now, if only Robby would let him. It’s also clear he’s trying to move beyond his issues with LaRusso, knowing his own personal grudge against the man has done nothing but hurt those around him.

    Johnny Lawrence has shown more growth throughout three seasons, while LaRusso often feels as though he has regressed. In a franchise that once feared allowing Johnny to be more than the bad guy, Cobra Kai has allowed him to be more than his past self: he’s a mess, sure, but he’s trying to clean up his mess. After all, as he showed by cutting off his step-father, we are more than what lay behind us.