Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Torbjorn Frazier

  • James Gunn Confirms Superman as a “Priority” for DC Studios Future

    James Gunn Confirms Superman as a “Priority” for DC Studios Future

    As fans continue to move past the chaotic week of news within the world of DC Studios, questions are beginning to arise about what direction the studio will take with its DC heroes on film. The news of Wonder Woman 3 not moving forward and rumors of various sequels to old-guard projects being canceled has led to the thought from some that there’d be a distinct lack of these characters in the future. However, new Co-CEO of DC Studios James Gunn has confirmed at least one of the characters will remain a priority. In a tweet today, Gunn has made the point that Superman will be a marquee part of the relaunch of DC Studios.

    This shouldn’t come as any bit of a surprise. Superman is one the most recognizable characters in fictional media and it’d be wildly foolish to not have him as a centerpiece. The big question will be whether or not it will be the Henry Cavill take on Clark Kent. After his return for the post-credits of Black Adam, many assumed him to be a lock for a probable sequel to Man of Steel. However, it seems that it may not yet be that far in the works. And with the turnover at the WarnerMedia subsidiary, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that James Gunn and Peter Safran take the character of Superman in a different direction.

    Ultimately, it will come down to a decision of prioritizing a true fresh start for DC in the cinematic landscape or holding onto at least one (fairly well received) remnant of the under-utilized previous generation. Either way it certainly will be an interesting story to follow.

    Source: Twitter.

  • All-Star Ensemble Cast Set for ‘Book of Clarence’

    All-Star Ensemble Cast Set for ‘Book of Clarence’

    An elite cast of Hollywood names has been announced to join Jeymes Samuel’s second feature film, Book of Clarence. Benedict Cumberbatch, James McAvoy, Anna Diop, David Oyelowo, RJ Cyler, Alfre Woodard, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Caleb McLaughlin, Eric Kofi Abrefa, Babs Olusanmokun, and Tom Glynn-Carney are set to join LaKeith Stanfield and Omar Sy in roles for the film. Book of Clarence has officially just now begun its production in Italy.

    Book of Clarence is based on Biblical-era epics that used to be a tried and true genre in Hollywood. The story follows Clarence, played by Stanfield, in an attempt to capitalize himself as a celebrity off the back of the Messiah. The film is said to be an exploration of the themes of faith and how it can come from unexpected places.

    The film is being produced by Legendary Pictures and will be one of the first films from the studio following its new deal with Sony Pictures. The film is to be released theatrically, unlike Samuel’s debut film, The Harder They Fall, which was a Netflix original. With The Harder They Fall playing as a pastiche to classic Western film, it will be interesting to follow if Jeymes Samuel can do the same with this genre of vintage Hollywood history. Based on the directorial style he brought in his debut and mixed with the all-star cast assembled, one would think that this has the potential to be another success story for the young director.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Marjorie Finnegan, Temporal Criminal’ in Development for a Feature Film

    ‘Marjorie Finnegan, Temporal Criminal’ in Development for a Feature Film

    The next adaptation of a Garth Ennis work is officially well into development. Marjorie Finnegan, Temporal Criminal is currently being developed as a feature film at AWA Studios. The studio will be teaming up with LuckyChap Entertainment (Barbie, Promising Young Woman, I, Tonya) to produce the film. Catya McMullen is attached to adapt the screenplay and respected franchise-film director Ruben Fleischer (Uncharted, Venom, Zombieland I & II) is signed on to direct.

    The film will be based on the graphic novel from Garth Ennis with art by Goran Sudžuka that follows the titular character in her adventures of crime across time. This sets the stage for an epic cat-and-mouse chase between Marjorie Finnegan and Deputy Marshall of the Temporal PD. This is what Garth Ennis had to say about the forthcoming adaptation and the team behind the project:

    Goran Sudžuka and I are delighted to see Marjorie Finnegan making the move to the big screen. Ruben Fleischer, AWA Studios, LuckyChap Entertainment, and Catya McMullen are just the gang to get it done.

    Garth Ennis

    In an additional statement with the announcement, Ruben Fleischer spoke highly about the exciting potential of this new feature film he will be directing.

    Garth Ennis has proven time and time again why he is one of the most original voices in the world of comics. I feel so lucky and honored to bring a piece of his to life onscreen.  Add to that the incredibly talented writing of Catya McMullen along with the fine folks at LuckyChap Entertainment and AWA, and this project is the kind of thing dreams are made of. We are poised to make that completely original and amazing time travel franchise the world has been waiting for.

    Ruben Fleischer

    No official word has been given on when production for the film will begin or when audiences can expect the project to reach the big screen.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Wednesday’ Lands Record Viewership Numbers for Netflix

    ‘Wednesday’ Lands Record Viewership Numbers for Netflix

    Based on a new announcement from Netflix, the new series Wednesday has quickly become another smash hit for the streaming service. It was revealed today via a tweet that the Jenna Ortega-led program has been viewed for 341.2 hours within one week. This is enough to give it the record for most hours viewed within a single week for an English-language series on the streaming platform. The series as well is rated #1 in 83 different countries, which ties the specific record with fellow 2022 release, Stranger Things 4.

    This is certainly a major win for Netflix, which has had a generally spastic year with successes and obstacles. While hitting its first decline in subscriber count and potentially facing what might be a wall in terms of subscribers, the platform has released some of its most successful programs in Stranger Things 4, Dahmer – Monster, and now Wednesday. This then is also followed by the seemingly successful one-week theatrical run of Glass Onion before it arrives on Netflix next month (though an argument could be made for it being even more of a successful financial venture if the company allowed it to remain in theaters for a longer period of time).

    Wednesday was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar with acclaimed director Tim Burton also serving as an executive producer for the series. Serving as the most recent adaptation of The Addams Family, Jenna Ortega stars as the titular Wednesday and is surrounded by an all-star cast including the likes of Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman, Gwendoline Christie, Riki Lindhome, and Fred Armisen. The eight-episode series is currently streaming on Netflix.

    Source: Netflix.

  • Filming Schedule and Details for ‘The Penguin’ Revealed

    Filming Schedule and Details for ‘The Penguin’ Revealed

    Following the release of The Batman in theaters earlier this year, fans have long anticipated what the future could have in store for the future of this world. While it may apparently be a bit of time before a theatrical sequel, Matt Reeves has been in the midst of creating multiple spin-off shows for HBO Max to follow different facets of Gotham City. One of which is The Penguin, which will focus on Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot trying to gain control of the crime syndicate of Gotham after the new opening power vacuum following The Batman. While not much has been known about when audiences should expect the series, new details have come to light about the production that should leave people interested.

    According to The Illuminerdi, The Penguin will be filming in New York City between January to August 2023. This is a logical filming location for the show given the city’s ties to mafia-based projects in the past. As well, this filming schedule would seemingly indicate that the anticipated Batman-based show won’t release on HBO Max until early 2024 at the earliest.

    As well, “Boss” will be the working title for the series, which fits with the central theme of attaining control of the Gotham crime syndicate. It’s recently been revealed that Cristin Milioti will be playing Sofia Falcone, the main antagonist of the series who will have recently been released from Arkham Asylum. She will be joined by her brother Alberto Falcone, who will be the new don of the family following the death of their father in The Batman, and other relatives Johnny Viti and Consigliere Milos Grapa. No actors have been attached to these roles as of yet.

    In addition, it’s been revealed that The Penguin will also cover family turmoil for the Cobblepots as matriarch Francis will be struggling with Lewy Bodies Dementia. This will force the main family to deal with losing control and stability from within.

    Ultimately, it will be interesting to follow if The Penguin can match the creative and commercial success of The Batman and help further build this new universe. It certainly would be helpful for James Gunn and the newly revamped DC Studios as they seek a fresh start for the franchise.

    Source: The Illuminerdi

  • James Gunn Teases Rocket’s Origin and an Emotional Ending for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

    James Gunn Teases Rocket’s Origin and an Emotional Ending for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

    The start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 5 will finally give us the third and final James Gunn-directed entry of Guardians of the Galaxy. It’ll be the end of an era for one of Marvel’s most popular teams. The film is bound to have an emotional resolution for various characters, one of which will be the Bradley Cooper-voiced Rocket Raccoon. While in an interview with the Phase Zero podcast, James Gunn confirmed this to be the case. The director discussed how Vol. 3 will focus on the origins of the animal and how that plays into the end of this saga.

    It tells this story about Rocket and where he came from and where he’s going, and how that ties into everybody else, and the end of this iteration of The Guardians.

    James Gunn

    After being a seminal part of this universe, it’s fitting that the Guardians of the Galaxy would take a turn for the emotional heading into the ending of their trilogy. And the story of Rocket Raccoon appears in line to be the main arc of Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, especially with the casting of Chukwudi Iwuji as the main antagonist in the High Evolutionary. And having seen the initial trailer for the film at San Diego Comic Con this year, this author can confirm the film will be leaning heavily into more serious themes while wrapping up the stories of these characters.

    The concept of weight-filled emotional themes was prevalent on the mind of James Gunn while in production for Vol. 3. And it’s why he found special solace in producing the more light-hearted Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special in tandem with the Marvel Studios feature film. This is what the director had to say about balancing the two tonally different projects at the same time.

    Doing this goofy thing like once every four days, and then going and shooting four days of Guardians Vol. 3, and then going back, it almost created a lot of whiplash. But it was also almost like The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special days were like snow days, you know? Those were the… that was recess. That was fun!

    James Gunn

    In addition, James Gunn confirmed that he considers The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special to be “required watching” in order to best experience Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 this coming May. Gunn elaborates on concepts that will be introduced for the team and how the short film allowed him to spend less time on exposition in the first act of the feature film.

    People should see the Holiday Special. You’re obviously gonna learn a lot about where the Guardians have been in the past few years. You know, you’re gonna see how they now inhabit Knowhere. They’ve got a new ship called the Bowie. They’ve got a dog [who] is part of their crew now who has telekinesis named Cosmo. So where you get to learn all that, and then there’s a couple of bigger pieces of spoiler-y lore. You’re gonna learn all of those things. In a way, the Holiday Special was a Trojan Horse for me to sneak in stuff that becomes important in Volume 3, so I don’t have to spend a lot of time at the beginning of that movie explaining it.

    James Gunn

    The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special releases on Disney+ on November 25. Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 releases exclusively in theaters of May 5, 2023.

    Source: Comicbook.com

  • James Gunn Reveals When he Pitched ‘The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’

    James Gunn Reveals When he Pitched ‘The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’

    Next week will bring the final Marvel Studios project of 2022, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. It will be the second Special Presentation created by Marvel, and while there aren’t any others announced, it would seem unlikely that it’ll be the last. It’s a new concept for the Disney+ platform, but it seems that the origins of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special date back to around 2016. According to director James Gunn, the initial idea for the holiday special was pitched to Kevin Feige during the production of Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 in 2016.

    It’s certainly interesting to follow the history of how this unique project for the MCU came to be. Much like Werewolf by Night in October, the Special Presentation format is a natural evolution of the One-Shots that used to exist and are a unique way to continue narratives for Marvel. Fans have already thought up a large number of ideas that could work well in this short-film format.

    Assuming Guardians was the first Special Presentation to be pitched, James Gunn deserves credit for this new creative direction. And it could certainly bode well for the creativity Gunn can bring to the table as the new head of DC Studios (on top of the strong showings he’s already had there with The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker).

    The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special premieres exclusively on Disney+ on Friday, November 25.

  • Greta Gerwig Rumored to Direct Netflix ‘Narnia’ Films

    Greta Gerwig Rumored to Direct Netflix ‘Narnia’ Films

    After being a relatively dormant franchise in the cinematic landscape, new rumors are starting to percolate for The Chronicles of Narnia. Netflix acquired the rights for the novel series in partnership with The C.S. Lewis Company back in 2018 with plans to develop Narnia into various films and series. This was followed by the hiring of Coco co-writer Matthew Alrich in 2019 to serve as the “creative architect” to oversee all developments for the franchise revival. Unfortunately, since then there’s been little updates regarding any reboots of The Chronicles of Narnia.

    Until now, that is. What’s On Netflix has reported that star director Greta Gerwig is being eyed to helm two films meant to kickstart the rebooted Narnia universe. This apparently comes after an extensive search for a director earlier in the year. It remains just a rumor at this point in time as neither Gerwig nor Netflix has commented on the report.

    Getting a director at the caliber of Greta Gerwig would be a massive coup for Netflix in the hopes of successfully launching a cinematic universe for their platform. Gerwig has quickly become a major player in Hollywood thanks to her critically acclaimed directorial work on films such as Lady Bird and Little Women. Some notable upcoming works from her include the highly anticipated Barbie film coming in the summer of 2023 alongside writing the screenplay for Disney’s 2024 live-action revival of Snow White.

    It is unknown which of the novels would be covered in these two films potentially directed by Gerwig. It may be logical to adapt The Magician’s Nephew to serve as the origins of Narnia, followed by a remake of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe to launch the main franchise narrative. Though that’s ultimately a decision for Matthew Aldrich to make, assuming this is indeed the direction being taken with The Chronicles of Narnia franchise.

    Source: What’s On Netflix

  • RUMOR: Charlayne Woodard is [SPOILER] in ‘Secret Invasion’

    RUMOR: Charlayne Woodard is [SPOILER] in ‘Secret Invasion’

    With 2023 will come the start of Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And this new wave of Marvel Studios projects will begin with the Disney+ series Secret Invasion. Based on the modern classic comic event, the show will look to further expand the world of Skrulls as they make their presence known on Earth. As well, Secret Invasion is seemingly primed to be a deep dive into Samuel L. Jackson’s character of Nick Fury (much like the previous shows from Marvel Studios have been for others). And with a new casting rumor, audiences might now have a better idea of what to expect from the character study of Fury. The latest word is that actress Charlayne Woodard is going to be playing Priscilla, an agent and, more importantly, Nick Fury’s wife.

    **Please note that while the above tweet suggests she’ll be an Agent of S.W.O.R.D., it looks like she’ll just be an agent.**

    It’s of course important to note that this is only a rumor at this juncture. It’s been confirmed via the initial trailer that Woodard will be part of the series, but no confirmation has been made about her being Fury’s spouse. Charlene Woodward has had a prolific career in film, television, and theatre. This includes a Tony Award nomination for Best Feature Actress in a Musical for Ain’t Misbehavin’. Secret Invasion provides the opportunity for a potentially major role for the actress opposite Samuel L. Jackson.

    Meanwhile, the concept of Nick Fury having a wife within the Marvel Cinematic Universe would certainly be a surprise. Besides a brief passing mention in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it’s gone unknown that Nick Fury has a spouse. As well, there isn’t much comic precedence of Fury being married in a notable way. It further plays into the concept that these shows set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe are primarily based around providing more extensive character backstories and development for those in supporting roles from the films. And with Jackson at the lead of Secret Invasion, this should make for an exciting viewing experience (regardless of the validity of this new rumor).

    Secret Invasion is currently scheduled to release on Disney+ at some point in the early Spring of 2023.

  • Simu Liu Discusses ‘Shang-Chi’ Sequel Plans

    Simu Liu Discusses ‘Shang-Chi’ Sequel Plans

    As Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes to a close with the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, discussions are being had about which projects stood out the most during this new era for Marvel Studios. Generally speaking, one of the largest successes on the theatrical side was Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. After being one of the best critical and commercial performances of 2021, a direct sequel, to be written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, has been announced. Though it’s far too early for any plot details to be known, star actor Liu has some thoughts about what could transpire for the sequel film.

    I think just what Shaun decides to do with all this newfound power, you know? It kind of consumed his father, consumed Wenwu. I’m curious as to how someone much younger, much more inexperienced, would fare against the rings. Just this idea of all of a sudden being gifted something that’s so powerful but also so dangerous. And then the other big question I have is, you know, in what way does Shaun fit in with the rest of the MCU? Who are you going to see? What kind of crazy team-ups? What kinda tie-ins, Easter eggs? I’m just as much in the dark as everyone else, so I don’t know anything, but I’m excited to dive into that process.

    Simu Liu

    The notion of focusing on the younger generation and comparing it to the reign of Wenwu certainly opens the door for interesting story potential. Tony Leung’s character quickly has become one of the most well-received antagonists of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and finding a way to continue his legacy would be fruitful for the sequel. In addition, folding Shang-Chi into the greater universe would be a logical move as a character that feels primed to be a key part of a hypothetical Avengers roster for their upcoming films. There are certainly various different avenues of existing and new concepts that would work well to connect the popular hero to various stalwarts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When it comes to the idea of being a fixture at Marvel Studios, Liu has a positive outlook on wanting to stay as long as Kevin Feige and company will let him.

    As far as when I think that’s just a question of timing and how well my back holds up through the years. I’ll make 40 of them if we can.

    Simu Liu

    Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is currently available to watch on Disney+. There has been no official announcement made on when the sequel film will release theatrically.

    Source: Complex