Murphy's Multiverse

Category: Features

  • ‘Naomi’ (season 1)

    ‘Naomi’ (season 1)

    Premiere: January 11, 2022

    One of DC’s newest heroes is already making her way to the small screen via the CW. Naomi McDuffie was created by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker and Jamal Campbell in 2019 and the CW series was ordered just over 2 years later. Kaci Walfall will play Naomi, a multiversal metahuman who ends up on Earth-0.

    Naomi McDuffie was born on an alternate earth but sent to the main universe to
    protect her from Zumbado, the man who conquered her earth and killed those with powers.
    Naomi works to uncover her origins and where she really came from, all while developing her
    newfound abilities that allow her to manipulate energy

    Cast

    • Kaci Walfall as Naomi McDuffie
    • Alexander Wraith as Dee
    • Cranston Johnson as Zumbado
    • Camila Morena as Lourdes
    • Barry Watson as Greg McDuffie
    • Mary-Charles Jones as Annabell
    • Aidan Gemme as Jacob
    • Mouzam Makkar as Jennifer
    • Daniel Puig as Nathan
    • Will Meyers as Anthony
  • ‘Batgirl’

    ‘Batgirl’

    Premiere: TBD, 2023

    Another DTC film headed to HBO Max, Batgirl, written by Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson, will introduce another version of Barbara Gordon, played by Leslie Grace. In October 2021 it was announced that Jacob Scipio had joined the show in an undisclosed role.

    Cast

    • Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl
    • JK Simmons as Commissioner Gordon
    • Brendan Fraser as Firefly
    • Jacob Scipio in an unknown role
  • ‘The Mandalorian’: The Siege of Mandalore (Third Times the Charm)

    ‘The Mandalorian’: The Siege of Mandalore (Third Times the Charm)

    The dust has settled and Din Djarin has finished what he was tasked to do by the Armorer in season 1. But just like his bounty hunting past, when one job ends another one is waiting just beyond the blast doors. Towards the end of the finale, Din and Gideon finally came face to face with an epic duel ensuing. Following Din’s victory against the Moff came yet another task, this one on a much grander scale: ensuring the future and the way of the Mandalorians.

    Din being the one to defeat the Moff in battle means that he would now be the one to wield the Darksaber. Even after attempting to hand the blade over to Bo, who’d been in search of it for a while now, he couldn’t. It doesn’t matter if you have the blade; it’s the story behind how you got it that matters.

     

     

    When Tarre Vizla, the first Mandalorian Jedi, met his end, his blade was kept within the Jedi Temple during the days of the Old Republic. Towards the end of the Old Republic, House Vizla ransacked the Jedi temple to reacquire the blade and in doing so, returned to Mandalore and for a period of time reunited the clans, such as clan Wren and clan Saxon. Their reign would come to an end after the Mandalorian civil war in which Clan Kryze came to power. Quite recently we saw the Siege of Mandalore in the animated Clone Wars series we saw Ahsoka Tano lead the 501st legion into battle alongside Bo-Katan and the Nite Owls to overthrow Darth Maul, who’d come into power after the murder of Satine.

    After that brief history lesson, the time has come for Mandalore to be restored to its former glory. With Din now in possession of one of the most powerful items in the galaxy, it’ll be his job to unite those lost from the path and reunite to take back Mandalore from any that occupy it. Based on what we know of future projects in the pipeline, I believe it’s safe to say the crossover event teased by Kathleen Kennedy will be that of a Siege of Mandalore. I believe what remains of the Empire resides on Mandalore and that’s where we will find Grand Admiral Thrawn, roping in the New Republic, the Mandalorian, and Ahsoka Tano.

     

     

    While we do not know what the future of The Mandalorian is for season 3, and with The Book of Boba Fett on the way, it’s possible we could be taking some time away from Din while he and the Nite Owls rally what’s left of the Mandalorians throughout the galaxy, in order to muster a force great enough to take back their homeworld.

  • Phase 4: The Multiverse Arc

    Phase 4: The Multiverse Arc

    Who are you in this vast multiverse?

    Earlier this year, I wrote a theory piece on how Marvel Studios could delve into this idea of the multiverse for Phase 4 of the MCU. At the time, we had a very vague understanding of what the MCU was preparing for us. Since then, we’ve had casting confirmations, trailer releases, interviews, poster art, and after last week’s Disney’s Investor Day, we finally have a clearer picture of what we can expect for this next phase of the MCU.

     

    Brief Recap: What is the Multiverse within the MCU?

    Compared to other franchises that have utilized the Multiverse as a plot device for their stories and films, Marvel went an unconventional route and created their own definition of how the Multiverse works. To quote me from when I first discussed this concept in Reality Checked; based on Professor Hulk’s and the Ancient One’s descriptions of how time-flow works, whenever someone from the future alters the events of the past, they create another timeline based on the alteration of those chain of events, thus creating a brand new universe. It’s a form of the butterfly effect, in which our decisions branch out into two realities, one where we made the decision and another where we didn’t.

     

    What is the Multiverse Arc?

    So, it’s been said that rather than focus on a story told across a large, 23-film saga like “The Infinity Saga”, Phase 4 and beyond would begin to tell stories across small arcs of 4-5 different MCU projects. Now, in my head, I’ve already mapped out a ton of different arcs which we will get into detail later on, but the main arc that’s about to kick off Phase 4 is an arc I’m dubbing is the Multiverse Arc. If I were to give you guys a synopsis of what I think that arc would delve into, it would go a little something like this. “The Multiverse Arc encompasses a set of stories that push beyond the physical confines of time and space within the MCU. As the line between realities start to blur and timelines cross over and collide, the Cinematic Universe we all know and love is about to change forever.” So what projects do I think are part of the Multiverse Arc? Well, let’s see.

     

    1. WandaVision (January 2021)

    This is where the Multiverse Arc and Phase 4 are going to begin. I believe a lot of people are truly underestimating the potential this show is going to have in terms of setting up, not just the Multiverse Arc, but pretty much Phase 4 as a whole.  Now the show has already been discussed a lot theory-wise. Among the things people suspect might happen during the show include the possibility of Elizabeth Olsen’s “Wanda Maximoff” going all “House of M” on the MCU. The most prevalent theory about the show is that Wanda might create an alternate pocket reality around her using her power and imagination. Since she does not possess much control over her powers, she’ll begin to lose control and ultimately affect the MCU reality as a whole when her trauma over the course of the past years starts to seep in. Point in-case being, whatever happens in WandaVision will ultimately be the catalyst for a lot of the upcoming Phase 4 projects moving forward.

     

    2. Loki (May 2021)

    Ah, the God of Mischief, back to his antics once again. While the show’s details are relatively vague, we know that Loki takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame with Tom Hiddleston returning as the titular character alongside Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku, and Richard E. Grant. The reason why I’ve included Loki here in the Multiverse Arc’s storyline is that the show involves a certain agency known as the TVA. The Time Variance Authority in the comics is this bureau that was formed with the goal of monitoring an infinite number of realities throughout the multiverse and to keep temporal interference to a minimum. Since this Loki, and by consequence the series, exist in a new timeline separate from our Main MCU one thanks to the antics of the Avengers during Avengers: Endgame (2019), it is possible that the TVA intervened immediately after those events to prevent future ruptures in the timeline. We also had hints that the show might explore alternate realities due to a particular of the exclusive trailer, where we saw a dystopian New York City, possibly a timeline where Loki won the Battle of New York (2012). Speaking of which…

     

    3. What If…? (Summer 2021)

    I like to refer to What If…? (2021) as the interlude of the Multiverse Arc. But just because it’s an interlude, it does not make the show any less important to the rest of the Multiverse Arc. “What If…?, which takes inspiration from the comic books of the same name, flips the script on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reimagines famous events from the films in unexpected ways…each episode will explore a pivotal moment from the MCU and turn it on its head, leading the audience into uncharted territory.” The reason why I include this series as part of the Multiverse Arc is that I believe the show’s focus will be to present to us episodes that explain what would have happened if a pivotal moment in the MCU occurred another way, which is essentially a prime example to the definition of the MCU’s Multiverse. This show will provide us with a window into other universes.

     

    4. The Untitled Spider-Man sequel (December 2021)

    Now we need to tread carefully when discussing Spider-Man 3 because there are so many rumors regarding this film that no one really knows what’s going to happen. With villains from other iterations reprising their roles to former Spider-Men gracing the screen one last time, the film certainly is shaping up to be what many consider a possible iteration of a live-action Spider-Verse film. And it certainly doesn’t help when Kevin Feige confirmed during Investor’s Day that the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will tie in with this film. How exactly it all plays out is something fans will have to wait and see when Spider-Man 3 rolls around next year.

     

    5. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (March 2022)

    As the name implies, the Doctor Strange sequel is definitely looking to address the Multiverse and will address the events of WandaVision and the untitled Spider-Man 3 film. Directed by iconic Horror Movie director; Sam Raimi, the sequel is set to see returning cast Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Benedict Wong as Wong, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo). We will also see Elizabeth Olsen return as Wanda Maximoff and newcomer Xochitl Gomez who will portray America Chavez in the upcoming film. Right now, the film is currently filming in London and with a name like the Multiverse of Madness, I expect this film to close the Multiverse Arc off with a bang.

     

    PHASE 4 KICKS OFF NEXT MONTH WITH WANDAVISION ON JANUARY 15TH.

  • ‘The Mandalorian’ Chapter 16: The Freedom to Dream

    ‘The Mandalorian’ Chapter 16: The Freedom to Dream

    When Star Wars first came out it was unlike anything we had ever seen. It made us dream about the possibilities a galaxy far, far away might have in store for us all. Everything was new, from the characters to the planets, from the technology to the mythology. The creative output originated in an entire generation was partially visible in all the EU content developed at the end of the 20th century when fans’ actual fever dreams were put on paper.

    A few years later, when Star Wars came back, and especially when Disney bought Lucasfilm, it all became a bit more standardized. There were certainly a few wonderful moments for the franchise but since the objective was to establish a single, consistent, more controllable storyline that expanded all through the several mediums it was certainly felt that creators were, most times, holding a bit back on the stories developed, maybe being afraid to break the mold that was holding everything together.

     

     

    It became easier to introduce new characters instead of developing the old ones, making them go through events you couldn’t later go back on. Therefore, the interconnectivity that seemed to be the driving force behind it all wasn’t ever really explored to its fullest, especially when it came to legacy characters. But all that seems to be changing with The Mandalorian, as even the biggest fan dreams one might have finally found a place to bloom, with little regard to how big they might be.

    The Disney+ show had already made the post-episode periods something quite wonderful considering the number of callbacks, as fans have constantly been rewarded for their commitment to the franchise. And now it has shown that even the pre-episode conversations with all their theorizing and growing expectations also aren’t something to scoff at. The introduction of Luke Skywalker in Chapter 16 is the perfect example of that, as it specifically slowly evolved from what was the “best-case scenario” to “the rightfully chosen scenario”. And by doing it, by taking the chance in bringing in arguably the most important character in the franchise’s history into the mix, they not only made the show’s story better, they probably made the entire franchise better.

     

     

    It would have been easier, although far less impactful, to have some other Jedi answer Grogu’s call. But it would also undermine Yoda’s line to Luke when he said: “When gone I am.. the last of the Jedi you will be”. Choosing to bring back Luke not only fulfills several fan dreams but also manages to honor the Original Trilogy by not trying to circumvent it through some kind of loop-hole. What is done, is done, and now the questions of what will happen to Grogu following what The Last Jedi told us about what happened to Luke’s Jedi school are sure to come about. The story will have to find a way to deal with it, but that’s what can make it so compelling.

    By allowing itself to dream beyond its initially thought-out limits, The Mandalorian has not so much made the Galaxy feel smaller, as it made it feel more together. It took a decisive step towards what is sure to be the franchise’s future, making sure streaming is now on par with the movies in terms of what it has to offer storywise. It also made it clear that it is time to stop clouding legacy characters’ past actions by establishing their story beyond a reasonable doubt. You would have to do it eventually, and The Mandalorian showed that time can be right now. Where do we go from here? Anything’s possible as long as the training wheels are allowed to come off. So…let’s dream on.

  • ‘The Mandalorian’: Creating Sympathy in Alderaan Places

    ‘The Mandalorian’: Creating Sympathy in Alderaan Places

    The season finale of The Mandalorian has finally arrived. We finally uncover what the future holds for our favorite Mandalorian Din and Grogu. We had no idea what to expect as we entered the episode, but it certainly delivered on so many levels. Now, there was an interesting trend I’ve noticed while watching this episode that seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore as the season comes to an end.

     

    As per usual, only continue reading at your own risk, as there will be some spoilers for the final episode of The Mandalorian‘s second season.

     

    Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have started to explore an aspect that was overlooked throughout the films. A few episodes back, it was revealed that Gina Carano‘s Cara Dune is a survivor of Alderaan. At first, it seemed like a rather sudden reveal and opened the question of how exactly it ties into the over-arching story. Disney Investor’s Day revealed a new series called Rangers of the New Republic, which seemed set-up when she joined the Empire’s replacement. Now, the final episode in the second season builds on that moment, even if it is only brief. A team consisting of Din, Boba, and Cara try to get their hands on the clone scientist from the first season. Suddenly, one of his bodyguards, who is played by Agent of SHIELD‘s Thomas E. Sullivan, takes him as a hostage to get the upper hand. He starts mocking Cara for the destruction of Alderaan while pointing out how many have died in the death of the Deathstars.

    This moment, while brief, once again humanizes those that work for the Empire. Last week’s episode had a strong focus on this, as we saw Troopers support Din and Bill Burr‘s Mayfeld, who were under disguise. We had this surprisingly humanizing moment as we saw a bunch of them celebrate their victory. They even visited a small cafeteria that just gave us a glimpse of their world. Yes, one of the commanders turned out to be pure evil, but that doesn’t mean there are still people behind those iconic uniforms. Some of them may look back at these events differently, just like Mayfeld did when he confronted the before-mentioned Commander.

     

     

    The only drawback is that they are trying to create sympathy for the remnants of the Empire while having our heroes shoot them down in each episode. This juxtaposition becomes apparent in the season finale, as they have built up Moff Gideon as a pure villain. I am sad we don’t have a series from the perspective of a Storm Trooper. We have the perfect set-up as they started building some sympathy for the once so evil Empire. We don’t know if they are programmed or just regular recruits. The Dark Troopers’ existence may hint at these regular soldiers losing their autonomy at some point. In a way, these teases seem like a way to build-up a connection to Finn, who was a Storm Trooper for the First Order in The Force Awakens. As we have seen throughout the show’s run, they don’t let any stone unturned as they continue the tale of Din Djarin.

  • Iron Man’s Legacy: How ‘Armor Wars’ Can End Tony’s Open Threads

    Iron Man’s Legacy: How ‘Armor Wars’ Can End Tony’s Open Threads

    Disney’s Investors Day has unveiled a variety of brand new shows. Among them, we got the unveiling of an adaptation of Armor Wars. After Tony’s death during the events of Avengers: Endgame, it seems that his technology was still being shared across the world. Now, it is up to Rhodey in his War Machine suit to make things right. Now, the only question is how exactly they will tackle this iconic story without the hero that defined it. Well, Spider-Man: Far From Home kind of kicked off the question if there is a necessity for a new “Iron Man”. Peter learned the importance of growing into his own as Spider-Man, taking the lessons he learned from Tony but not letting them define him.  In a way, Armor Wars may carry that message forward to the rest of the world.

     

     

    We have no idea what exactly this story is going to explore. The original storyline ran from 1987 to 1988 over seven issues. David Michelinie and Bob Layton developed a story about Tony’s technology getting stolen by his worse enemies. Justin Hammer, who many might remember from Iron Man 2, enlisted Spymaster to steal his technology and create brand new armor designs. Iron Man starts a war with many armored villains to ensure no one can use his technology. Even SHIELD created an armored unit called Mandroid’s, which certainly didn’t leave a great impression on Tony. He also comes into conflict with Jack Taggart, also known as Firepower. We met this character in Iron Man 3, who exploded due to an overdose of Extremis at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

    There aren’t many players left to flesh out the original storyline. SHIELD hasn’t been around in the mainline MCU since Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Taggart blew up in the last solo film for the character. So, only Hammer remains, who was last seen in the short All Hail The King. It wouldn’t be a surprise he has already left prison and restart his company as the primary weapon’s dealer, as Stark Tech is still exploring other markets. Now, I believe he will have a new partner that helps him rebuild Hammer Industries, the son of Obediah Stane, Ezekiel.

     

     

    Ezekiel, or Zeke as everyone calls him, is pretty much the MCU’s Mark Zuckerberg. He is a young entrepreneur, just started his company straight out of college. Even with his father’s legacy, many did not expect his sudden rise in popularity and fortune. He would never give away his secret, but he seemed oddly fascinated with entering the weapon’s market. After reviving Hammer Industries, he suddenly introduces the world to a brand new type of armor, something familiar. He says it is to keep Tony’s legacy alive, but Rhodey knows something is up. Suddenly, various armored criminals are starting to cause havoc across the world, and War Machine is forced into action to ensure they do not stain what was left behind by his best friend.

    Along the way, he runs into Riri Williams, who he believed to have also stolen Stark Tech to build her Ironheart armor. She unveils that it is her technology, so he takes her under his wing to ensure her safety as an onslaught of these tech-based villains is after her. They seem to be gathering all kinds of technology for some reason. Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, Beetle, Spymaster, and many more seem to be popping out of the woodwork. The armors keep regenerating with nanotech, so they keep regenerating. It also seems their pilots have the Extremis equipped, as their limbs grow back instantly. After a long battle, Rhodey and Riri finally won. They can pry open one of the armors only to realize they have been empty all this time. It wasn’t the Extremis healing them. The whole thing was just a ruse. Each and everyone was fake. At that moment, a familiar voice starts to echo out of the armor’s speakers.

     

     

    Ezekiel wasn’t the wunderkind we all assumed he was. He wasn’t able to carry on his father’s legacy. Well, that was until he found a discarded piece of armor still containing the remnants of Ultron. Together, they started to find a way to get their revenge on Tony even after his death. They would use his armor tech, which was ingrained into Ultron, to undo everything Stark Tech has done. To besmirch his legacy, they revived the House Party Protocol from Iron Man 3, which was still active on suits that Tony constructed as a way to cope with the fight against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. Luckily, Rhodey realized that they are still connected to the Clean Slate Protocol, but Ultron took control over his armor.

    However, Riri’s armor was the only one not connected to Stark Tech, which meant she was unaffected. As such, she was their only hope to activate the protocol before Ultron could enable his Imperative. He wasn’t there to help Zeke. Ultron just used him to enact his plans of a metallic future, but he underestimated that someone would be able to keep up with Tony’s tech. In a way, he underestimated the next generation that would continue the legacy in their way. Rhodey finally can take a break and decides to support Riri in forging her path.

  • ‘THE MANDALORIAN’ Chapter 16 Primer

    ‘THE MANDALORIAN’ Chapter 16 Primer

    In the latest episode of The Mandalorian, Chapter 15 “The Believer”, Mando and Miggs traveled to an old Imperial Base where a few big things happened. We see that Miggs is pretty messed up from his days in the Empire-he definitely has PTSD. He obviously doesn’t want to see the Empire rise again. The Empire is very much alive and well, even though they were defeated in Return of the Jedi. They are still a danger to the galaxy and Gideon is, right now, the biggest threat. It just so happens he is also a more personal threat to Din Djarin because he has taken Grogu. Mando took off his helmet, implying that Grogu is more important to him than The Way.

    The Mandalorian - “Chapter 15: The Believer” Highlights | StarWars.com

    This next episode is the season finale, so big things are going to happen but…they are doing a third season!! Also, the newly announced Ashoka and Rangers of the New Republic shows tie into this Mandalorian story, so not everything will be resolved. At this point in time it looks like they have 4 big things set up:

    1. Din Djarin’s quest for Grogu
    2. Bo-Katan’s quest for Grogu
    3. Ahsoka’s quest for Thrawn and her friend Ezra
    4. The idea that remnants of the Empire are everywhere

    The last two in the list look like they will be handled in their own shows, the first one is the main focus, but it’s possible that Bo-Katan’s quest could overlap with Din’s quest in the final episode.

     

    Arlyn’s Assumptions

    In this last episode, I believe that they will get Grogu back but then they will have to deal with Moff Gideon on their way out. The fight would probably be between Mando and Gideon. Mando has the Beskar spear and it can’t be cut by lightsabers, right? Well maybe because the Darksaber is different than other lightsabers it can cut through the spear. I’m thinking Mando and Gideon will have an actual all-out fight. It seems like a fight between those two should be pretty one-sided for Mando but the build-up to it, which has taken 2 full seasons, has been pretty major. So I think there’s a little extra spice that Gideon will bring to the fight.

    Additionally, it’s possible that Grogu already chose his path before the Dark Troopers got him; there is no way to tell but, maybe a Jedi will sense him, like Ashoka said, and they will go to the base and try and get Grogu too. It’s a stretch but it’s possible. I don’t think anyone will die in the final episode because Boba Fett is brand new in the show. Cara Dune is in the new show Rangers of The New Republic so she probably won’t die. They are making another season of The Mandalorian so Mando can’t die. Ahhhhhh!!!! It seems like someone should die, but I don’t know who it’ll be!

    The final episode of The Mandalorian streams tomorrow.

  • “Spider-Man: Homemade”: A Disney+ Series Pitch

    “Spider-Man: Homemade”: A Disney+ Series Pitch

    So the resident Charles(es) of the Multiverse, Charles M., and Charles V., have this sort of article where they make pitches for projects they’d like to see on screen. They’ve done these types of pitches before for Iron Man 4, Captain America 4 (twice), and so on. I wanted to toss my hat in the ring and bring to the table something that I’ve thought of for a while now. Earlier in the year, I had conducted a study where I asked people what they considered to be “The Best Adaptation of Spider-Man in Mainstream Media”. We asked people multiple questions about it, such as who had the best Peter Parker, the best Spider-Man, the best soundtrack, the best story, and so on. Over 1,700 people had taken part in that poll and when we tallied up the points, these were the top 3 results we obtained:

     

     

    What immediately stood out to me in regards to these results was that people responded better to The Spectacular Spider-Man, the Spider-Man Playstation game, and the 90s animated series than the film incarnations. When you think about it, it makes sense. The common characteristic that these 3 adaptations have in common is that these adaptations were allowed to develop beyond the typical 2-hour time constraint in film.

    So, it got me thinking. The current Spider-Man (Tom Holland) has been a bit divisive when spoken about amongst fans. Some like his portrayal, because of his interactions with the Avengers within the scale of a larger universe. Others find the character relies too much on the likes of Tony Stark and his technology rather than fending for himself. The beauty of Spider-Man as a character is that he alone can have a cinematic universe based on his story and characters. His lore is rich in villains, locations, side-characters, and storylines. Perhaps the best way to adapt these is not in a 2-hour blockbuster, but rather in the form of a live-action Disney+ series.

     

    Adaptation

    Whatever happens after Far From Home and the untitled Spider-Man 3 sequel, chances are Spider-Man will still be around in the MCU. After facing off against world-ending, reality-shattering, Multiverse scale events, it would be nice for the series to explore a more grounded side for Peter in his own little world. So my story would be centered around New York City, and Spider-Man serving as one of its protectors while the rest of the MCU’s heroes are away. Basing the series on a loose adaptation of these classic comic story arcs is pretty much an excellent way to introduce Peter Parker into the next chapter of his life. You’ll get why in a few moments.

     

    Plot

    The introduction is essentially ripped from the source material. Peter is just about to start college at Empire State University. He’s trying to get settled into his new life and we get introduced to new characters that are essential to the Spider-Man lore: his fellow classmates Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn. He’ll start to develop a relationship with both of these characters, which will eventually blossom into a trio of best friends.

     

    He was accepted into the university after the admissions board found his achievements with the Stark Internship worthy of an acceptance letter. During his first day of class, he’ll get settled in and meet many of his professors. Some of the more notable names he’ll meet are his biochemistry teacher Dr. Miles Warren (who eventually becomes the Jackal in the comics) along with Dr. Curt Connors (who many might remember as the Lizard). For all intents and purposes of the series, their eventual villain roles will be teased throughout the series, but they will mainly serve as supporting characters and mentor figures to Peter for the time being. He’ll also meet his Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Edward Lansky, who will take an interest in Peter due to his time with the Stark Internship. He’ll give the students a tour of the facilities in which he’ll present the students with a state of the art solar panel system that powers the entire school, in an attempt to reduce the use of electrical generators (and lower the power bill).

    During the first episode of the series, we learn that the Mayor is planning to issue some budget cuts, which would heavily impact the university. Dr. Lansky is attempting to convince the local government not to force cuts onto the university so the staff, nor the students will be laid off. In order to help convince the government that the school requires funds to help with the infrastructure and programs, Dr. Lansky will promote the students to develop a project that can help better the university in a similar way that his project did. This would also help viewers see more of Peter’s inventor side and give it an opportunity to be explored during this series. However, Dr. Lansky knows that there is no possible way to change the Mayor’s mind, so in a move of desperation to save the university, he will get into contact with a very shady individual named Frederick Foswell, who many might recognize as The Big Man. He’ll ask Frederick to carry out some kidnappings on civil servants of the city government and University administration to prevent the budget cuts from happening. In order to do that, The Big Man will hire a small team of career criminals known as The Enforcers to carry out these deeds throughout the show.

    This is where we’ll start to see a bit more of Peter trying to live out the double life and attempt to find the balance between saving the world and saving his reputation amongst his friends, all the while trying to balance his university work and project that Dr. Lansky requested. Seeing how in the upcoming Spider-Man 3 film Peter will have to take on Electro, I would not be surprised if, during that film, he develops a sort of insulator so he could take on the villain. In an homage to that, Peter might find a way to reverse engineer his design so that it doesn’t actually nullify electric currents, but rather a design that is able to absorb not just electricity, but solar and light energy to boost the university’s solar panels capabilities.

    However, as reports of kidnappings and crimes start to rise, it’ll garner the attention of Spider-Man, which will eventually lead to him facing off against the villain group. Seeing as how Spider-Man is interfering in his plans, Lanksy will ask Foswell to take out Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Dr. Edward Lanksy will be working on developing a “secret project”. Eventually, Spider-Man will take down the Enforcers after multiple failed attempts to kidnap the civil servants, but The Big Man manages to escape. Still, Spider-Man is able to follow him and find out who’s behind the kidnappings. This forces Lansky’s hand to see his plan play out to the very end by himself. He uses an experimental suit that he created to take on the masked vigilante. Spider-Man intervenes to foil Lansky’s plan. Unfortunately, after trying to short circuit the suit, his plan backfired and only ended up boosting the experimental suit, transforming Lansky into a being of pure light. He has now become the Lightmaster.

     

     

    As Lightmaster escapes, Peter starts to get frustrated. He starts to lose his sense of responsibility, as he misses classes and avoids the friends he made. There is also a notable absence of Spider-Man for a few days. He feels responsible for the creation of a new villain and it’ll put Peter to question his motivations. As such, he poses the question of whether or not being a hero is something that’s important in an age where the Avengers exist and can handle these things. Meanwhile, Lansky plans his revenge against Spider-Man and the people who have wronged him. Near the end of the series, there will be an event at ESU where the University administrators and the Mayor will be present their new plans for the school. This is the time that Lightmaster decides to exact his revenge by taking the mayor out in the process.

    At the event, his classmates and professors are put into danger during Lightmaster’s attack. When Peter gets wind of what’s happening, he puts his moral dilemma aside for the greater good. The question is, how will he be able to take on a villain which is essentially a being of pure light? At this point, he remembers the project that he was developing at Dr. Lansky’s request and realizes that it might be useful in a fight against the Lightmaster. So, with experimental technology in hand, he takes on his newly created nemesis and tries to figure out a way to defeat him. As the fight develops, Peter remembers the solar panel system that Dr. Lansky developed. If Peter manages to lure him and uses his device to amp up the absorption capabilities of the panel, he might be able to deponer Lightmaster. He lures him to the panels so that Lansky can recklessly shoot his energy at them. As he is now a being of pure energy, he will get absorbed by the device. Unable to stop the panels from absorbing his energy, Lansky eventually dissipates and is held captive within his own creation.

    The series ends on a positive note, with Peter realizing that in a world where heroes face off against greater threats to save the world, it can sometimes leave “the friendly neighborhood” unguarded. So he vows to keep his promise to “fight for the little guy” and defend New York from any dangers that might present themselves in the future.

  • Marvel Studios Multiverse: Who is Mephisto?

    Marvel Studios Multiverse: Who is Mephisto?

    The Lord of Lies. Master of the Realm of Lost Souls. Hell-lord. Simply put, Mephisto is one of the most relevant villains in all of Marvel Comics history and pretty much Evil Incarnate. Mephisto is a being from another dimension and its ruler. “Mephisto’s Realm” poses as a sort of “hell”, or another realm of the dead so to speak. He often tends to pose as Satan but he’s not really “the devil” that people often tend to think, so try not to get those confused.

     

    A little backstory

    Mephisto has existed for nearly hundreds of millions of years and his power rivals and goes beyond that of any magic-user in the comics. He has the ability to alter space and time, possess the souls of those who hand over them willingly, godlike strength and durability, and unlimited ability in the mystic arts. His most unique trait is that Mephisto is known for cutting deals with many of our Marvel heroes. He tends to strike deceptive bargains with beings whose souls are either extremely powerful or exceptionally pure. Those deals usually tend to backfire or hurt the heroes in some shape or form, even binding someone’s soul to another demon to create the hellish Ghost Rider.

     

    His ultimate desire is to capture as many living souls as possible to dominate the world. His most famous rivalry is that with the Silver Surfer, as he considers his soul the purest of them all and has repeatedly tried to claim it. He’s also gone toe to toe in the comics with the likes of Thor, Ghost Rider, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Scarlet Witch, and so on.

    Mephisto is surely bound to make his appearance in the MCU at some point. The question is when?

    Rumors and speculations of Mephisto appearing in the MCU have grown over the past few days, with the appearance of a devil creature in a stained glass window, and many suspect that it may be Mephisto being depicted on that glass design. While I believe that Marvel could be teasing the character in this shot, I suspect that Mephisto may play a bigger role than we realize in this phase of the MCU, particularly an arc of this phase which I dubbed “the Multiverse Arc.” Now, I’ll be explaining later on in another article what I suspect Multiverse Arc to be, but simply put, a character with such an interesting backstory, powers, and repertoire such as Mephisto has to take his time to be built up, so I suspect that Mephisto might be appearing in a number of Phase 4 projects and a lot of these projects have very deep ties to Mephisto.

     

    WandaVision (2021)

    WandaVision definitely could have the seeds for Mephisto’s first appearance in the MCU. In the comics, Wanda aka The Scarlet Witch used fragments of Mephisto’s soul so she could conceive her children; Billy and Tommy aka Wiccan and Speed. When Mephisto came to reclaim the fragments of his soul (and by consequence, remove her kids from existence), Wanda went insane, which resulted in her altering all reality. The events of this comic precede those of House of M, a storyline that is very well known and is expected to be adapted in WandaVision. Our very own Joseph Aberl actually presented the theory that we may have already gotten our first look at Mephisto in the WandaVision trailer, in the form of a certain ominous beekeeper. So check that out if you haven’t already.

     

    Loki (2021)

    The idea of the God of Mischief facing off against the Lord of Lies definitely is an interesting one, to say the least. Both of these characters have such similar qualities that in the end, the only thing that could differentiate them is their morals, where Loki may indeed have a set of beliefs while Mephisto has none. There are a lot of fans who speculate Mephisto could make his appearance in the upcoming Disney+ series. This is due to the tease of a devil creature in a stained glass window that we saw earlier in the article. There is a connection to the comics between Loki and Mephisto where Loki intervened with Sigurd the Everglorious to avoid having him be trapped in Mephisto’s Realm forever, so it’s interesting to see whether we’ll see that play out or if we’re setting up something else entirely.

    Spider-Man 3 (2021)

    Once again, Joseph Aberl presented another potential way for Mephisto to make his presence known in the MCU, and that’s through a loose adaptation of One More Day. To quote Joseph on what exactly happened during that comic; “One More Day may play a small part in the story. Plus, the whole point of the original was that Mephisto made a deal with Peter. He took off his mask in front of the world during the Civil War storyline. It ended up getting Aunt May shot in the process. It came at the cost of his marriage to Mary Jane. MJ also makes sure that Peter’s identity would remain a secret.” We all know that Spider-Man’s identity was pretty much exposed at the end of Far From Home and with everything confirmed and rumored to be happening in this film, adding in Mephisto seems like a bit of a stretch, but it’s entirely possible to have the dealmaker appear for a short cameo in the series and offer Peter the opportunity to fix everything, but Strange may advise against it due to the nature of Mephisto.

     

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

    Stephen Strange and Mephisto have gone tow to toe many times in the comics. Both are incredibly powerful in the mystic arts and their abilities rival each other. The most recent encounter was in Doctor Strange: Damnation, where Doctor Strange travels to Las Vegas to resurrect the people that died there during the events of Secret Empire, but Mephisto had already gotten there first and took many of those souls, including some heroes’ souls and turned them into Ghost-Rider like creatures. Seeing Mephisto take on Doctor Strange in this film would truly be an antagonist worthy of the Multiverse scale this film is trying to set up and a worthy successor to Dormammu’s appearance in Doctor Strange (2016).

     

    Would you like to see Marvel’s Devil make his appearance in the MCU?