Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • Chloe Bennet Addresses ‘Secret Invasion’ Rumors

    Chloe Bennet Addresses ‘Secret Invasion’ Rumors

    Who do you trust? Unless it’s Patti LuPone, it’s probably not any actor or actress rumored to be part of a Marvel Studios project. Over the years, the lying and dissembling has grown farcical as the talent attached to projects roll out the same tired denials. Of course, every now and then, someone rumored to be boarding a project actually isn’t; however, given the growing number of denials, it’s often hard for fans to discern who they can trust…especially when it’s someone they’d like to see in their favorite franchise. Now it looks like fans are facing another decision as Secret Invasion’s debut approaches.

    In an interview with Screen Rant, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actress Chloe Bennet, who has been rumored to appear in Marvel Studios next big streaming series denied that she’ll be appearing in any Marvel Studios projects. In fact, Bennet said that while she would love to reprise her role as Quake, she’s never been contacted by the studio for a role in any of their projects.

    “Of course. Of course, I would be open to it,” said Bennet of the opportunity to return to the role she filled on the ABC series. “Listen, there’s a lot of stuff around that. I so deeply love S.H.I.E.L.D.’s fans because it’s this tenacity that got the show on air to begin with.”

    Despite her willingness to suit back up, however, it seems the studio just hasn’t found the right project for her return. “I have not once been approached or asked or involved in anything after I wrapped S.H.I.E.L.D.,” claimed Bennet. “And I am not involved in anything that is coming out. I’ve not been asked, but I would be more than excited to put on the suit again. And, of course, of course, Daisy is a big part of who I am. So I would love to, but I have not been communicated [with] about it.“

    For fans who have been around the denial block a time or two, most of what Bennet had to say sounds awfully familiar. Over the past few years, Charlie Cox, Andrew Garfield, Jonathan Majors and Tatiana Maslany joined the prestigious list of actors forced to lie to fans despite their involvement in projects being fairly well-known. Has Bennet joined them? Or are all the rumors, hints and teases of her role in Secret Invasion all false? Who do you trust?

    Source: Screen Rant

  • Marvel Studios Hits Pause on ‘Wonder Man’ & ‘Thunderbolts’

    Marvel Studios Hits Pause on ‘Wonder Man’ & ‘Thunderbolts’

    As the writers’ strike continues, Hollywood is being forced to hit pause on upcoming projects. Two of the most recent projects impacted by the strike are Marvel Studios’ Wonder Man and Thunderbolts, with the former having already begun production and the latter having been readying for a June start.

    Wonder Man and Thunderbolts join Blade as Marvel Studios projects now on hold indefinitely. Wonder Man has no official release window but Thunderbolts and Blade are tentatively slated for July 26th, 2024 and September 6, 2024 releases, respectively. It would seem that should the strike continue through the Summer and, perhaps, beyond that meeting those release dates would begin to become unrealistic for Marvel Studios.

    As it currently stands, productions for Agatha: Coven of Chaos, Captain America: New World Order, Daredevil: Born Again and the third Deadpool film are still up and running. While principal photography on Kathryn Hahn‘s Agatha Harkness spinoff is coming to a close, the Deadpool and Wolverine team-up is just getting underway in the UK. It’s unknown how the strike might impact additional photography and/or reshoots which are a built-in part of every Marvel Studios production.

    Source: Deadline.

  • Summer Box Office May Be Slowing Down With ‘The Flash’ and ‘Elemental’s Soft Forecasts

    Summer Box Office May Be Slowing Down With ‘The Flash’ and ‘Elemental’s Soft Forecasts

    Here’s a surprise but it seems the summer tentpoles are showing quite a bit of a slowdown. The Little Mermaid is heading to a strong $120M+ opening weekend over Memorial Day, which puts it at $100M over three days. That is slightly behind the other Disney releases Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantmania but still a strong opening if the film has legs like the previous Guardians film.

    Yet, the rest of the box office is looking a little lukewarm so far. Fast X made a huge splash internationally but is slowing down quite a bit domestically at $67.5M. Even the return of the former box office champion isn’t really lighting up the box office’s engine with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts tracking for a soft $40M in early projection. Yet, it seems some other hopefuls aren’t showing that momentum many hoped for this year.

    The Flash is currently heading for $70M. It’s quite a bit lower than what Warner Bros. Discovery is banking on given that they used all of Shazam: Fury of the Gods‘ marketing budget on this film that they are pushing as “the best superhero film of all time.” The question remains if it’ll have strong word-of-mouth and legs afterward. If it offers what is promised, it does have a good chance but it’s still far from where you’d want your $250M+ film to open.

    There’s also the depressing development of Pixar’s box office due to the Disney+ releases throughout the last few years. Elemental is looking at a $40M similar to Transformers, which would put it on track with Onward and The Good Dinosaur but even Ratatouille managed to become a success with a soft $47M. They just need to hope that old momentum carries over.

    Source: Variety, Hollywood Reporter

  • New Website Domain Further Hints at ‘Persona 5’ Spinoff

    New Website Domain Further Hints at ‘Persona 5’ Spinoff

    The Persona rumor mill continues to go haywire after a recent leak claimed a Persona 5 spinoff is joining the already hinted Persona 6 and rumored Persona 3 Remake. It’s Persona everywhere for the next two years, but there’s still nothing concrete. Sony’s PlayStation Showcase was a no-show for the franchise but a new website listing may be hinting at something Persona-related happening after all.

    A new listing has been uncovered by Twitter user @MbKKssTBhz5, which is P5T.JP. The domain has just been created and fits the usual naming we see with anything Persona 5-related such as P5R for Persona 5 Royal, P5S for Persona 5 Strikers, and more. So, it would match the usual naming and adds more weight to the recent rumors of a potential spinoff.

    https://twitter.com/MbKKssTBhz5/status/1661196487215259648

    The question now is what exactly the domain’s “T” stands for. Some are hoping for a fighting spinoff like the Arena series from Persona 4, but it may also be a direct sequel similar to Strikers. Though, it might get confusing for fans of Royal given that the first official sequel to P5 is actually only for the vanilla game. So, we’ll have to see just how they are interested in expanding this part o the franchise and how it might stand out between a Persona 3 Remake and the long-awaited sixth entry.

    Source: Twitter, Persona Central

  • REPORT: Temuera Morrison to Return in ‘Ahsoka’ in Fan-Favorite Role

    REPORT: Temuera Morrison to Return in ‘Ahsoka’ in Fan-Favorite Role

    No, he’s sadly not going to play Boba Fett but Temuera Morrison will once again reprise his role as one of the many clones still out there in the vast galaxy in The Mandalorian spinoff series, Ahsoka. Though, this time around he’s going to be playing the fan-favorite character Captain Rex or also known as CT-7567 according to One Take News. There’s no word if Morrison is also going to play other clones, as they played a big role in Ahsoka Tano’s story throughout The Clone Wars and even Star Wars Rebels.

    Captain Rex is one of the more popular members as he was one of the few that didn’t fall victim to the Order 66 inhibitor chip. He even returned in Star Wars Rebels and The Bad Batch due to his popularity. Dee Bradley Baker had the pleasure of voicing the clones throughout the animated ventures, but it’s great to see Morrison get the many opportunities to play the characters he originally brought to life.

    He actually recently got the chance to play a veteran Clone, as he appears in Obi-Wan Kenobi for a brief cameo that highlights the fallout of the Clone Wars. At the time, many speculated if it might even be Rex down on his luck in a world that doesn’t need him anymore but it wouldn’t quite match what we saw of him during Rebels. For now, there’s no word if he’s in a flashback or the current day so we’ll have to wait and see once the series releases.

    Source: One Take News

  • ‘Mortal Kombat’ Sequel Finds its Kitana

    ‘Mortal Kombat’ Sequel Finds its Kitana

    Mortal Kombat‘s next film is finally revving up. Surprisingly, the film had one of the biggest releases on HBO Max during the day-and-date release strategy but somehow Warner Bros. has been quite hesitant about getting the next one into production. While the WGA strike is running, casting is still moving forward for the sequel with the latest addition Adeline Rudolph joining the production as Kitana.

    The actress actually starred opposite Tati Gabrielle in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, who is also going to appear in the film. They are the third addition after Karl Urban was recently confirmed to take the iconic role of Johnny Cage. While we might have to wait a bit longer until we see him with the tattoo of his first name across the chest, it’s still looking like Simon McQuoid is ready to start production on the sequel.

    2021’s Mortal Kombat wasn’t quite the faithful adaptation of the original games that people hoped it would be, but it still offered some of the fun charms. Fatalities weren’t kept a secret and it still tried to establish its own unique take on the lore of the original; though it was weird that the first Mortal Kombat film was more a prequel to the tournament of the same name. Still, we’ll see if the second one offers what the first couldn’t.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • Set Photos From Chinatown Set of ‘Captain America 4’ Include a Potentially Major Twist

    Set Photos From Chinatown Set of ‘Captain America 4’ Include a Potentially Major Twist

    Downtown Atlanta was recently transformed into Chinatown as part of production on Marvel Studios Captain America: New World Order as revealed through photos shared by Christopher Oquendo. The photographer was back at the location again and among some high-quality close-up looks at the set is a very interesting location that could indicate a major twist to what already seems like a packed plot.

    As part of the Chinatown set, a restaurant reveals that the scenes being shot on location are set on Canal St. in Chinatown. While it’s much more likely that it’s not an important detail, Canal St. has actually been an important location in the pages of Marvel Comics in the past as the location has served as a hideout for The Hand and The White Dragons, a gang under the control of Mister Negative.

    The addition of either Mister Negative or The Hand to the film, which is already packed full of villains, would be shocking. However, given so little is known about the plot of the film and Marvel Studios’ history with mashing up characters, it’s not out of the question that the Serpent Society is somehow tied to one or the other. Of course, it’s far more likely that it’s just a nice touch on a setpiece that may not even make the final cut of the film but it’s interesting nonetheless.

    Captain America: New World Order hits theaters on May 3, 2024.

  • ‘The Little Mermaid’ Director Rob Marshall Explains How the New Film is Grounded in the 19th Century Fairy Tale

    ‘The Little Mermaid’ Director Rob Marshall Explains How the New Film is Grounded in the 19th Century Fairy Tale

    Disney’s live-action reimagining of the beloved 1989 animated musical fantasy, The Little Mermaid, has been fairly warmly received as one of the studio’s best efforts in their quest to remake every animated film in their catalog. Rather than directly adapting the animated classic shot-for-shot, director Rob Marshall and the production team, which included Lin-Manuel Miranda and John DeLuca, looked for ways to make the live-action version a “completely original confection” and a “massive musical” that still captured the heart of the story.

    For the new film, that meant more music, bigger swings and helping the stars of the project find their comfort zone and their voices to make the audience feel like they were seeing something new. That’s no small task given that not only is it a reimagining of one of Disney’s most popular films but also based on a nearly 200-year-old fairy tale. Surprisingly enough, as Marshall revealed at the global press junket for The Little Mermaid, it was revisiting Hans Christian Andersen‘s 1837 story that helped the production team find the foundation of their film in one very famous quote.

     But a mermaid has no tears and therefore she suffers so much more

    The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
    Halle Bailey as Ariel in Disney’s live-action THE LITTLE MERMAID. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

    “Well, it’s so interesting ’cause the first thing that John and I did when we actually started this journey was to go back to the Hans Christian Andersen tale to understand where it all came from,” said Marshall of the famous quote that is shown on screen as the film opens. “We were immediately aware of how this was a very contemporary story already in the 1830s about this young girl who feels displaced and wants to, you know, go on a journey of self-discovery, you know, to another world. And so, for me, [clears throat] the quote, to be able to find something from Hans Christian Andersen specifically, so we sort of ground this in where it came from, was important to us, to find something from him. And this, you know, it’s the most sort of famous quote from the tale.”

    That quote turned into one of the film’s prevalent themes and was emoted wonderfully by Ariel actress Halle Bailey. According to Marshall, adapting the story to live-action actually aided in realizing the Andersen quote. “And I have to say that because we were bringing, I think, more depth and emotion, which you can in a live-action piece. You know, that’s what this genre helps you do,” he explained. The idea that, because a mermaid has no tears, and she feels more, she suffers more, it felt to us like it set the table for this more emotional telling of the story.” Bailey’s performance has been roundly praised by critics as elevating the overall quality of the film, including the strong emotional performance delivered when the character is without a voice. Audiences can see Bailey’s emotional performance for themselves as The Little Mermaid is now previewing in theaters ahead of tomorrow’s wide release.

  • Melissa McCarthy Shares How She Brought Ursula to Life

    Melissa McCarthy Shares How She Brought Ursula to Life

    While all eyes are on the performance of Halle Bailey as Ariel, there’s a talented cast that has the challenge of bringing some iconic characters to life, especially the iconic songs that made The Little Mermaid what it was. Melissa McCarthy will be the one to bring us “Poor Unfortunate Souls” as the iconic Ursula. Some trailers have already teased her performance as the underwater witch, she got a chance to share the challenges of playing the character in live-action.

    Animation doesn’t have any restrictions on how a character is brought to life. So, you can much easier imagine someone with multiple limbs swimming around while singing. In the case of McCarthy, the actress had the challenge of constantly floating with a rig as revealed during the film’s official press event. She does share one funny moment that did happen the one time she touched anything while acting.

    I slipped on the clam shell occasionally, on my back, but I was never literally on my feet. We were either up in rigs or, you know, there were all different magical things. You know, if you were diving, it was one rig. If you were spinning, it was another. But no, never on the ground.

    Melissa McCarthy

    It must’ve been fun just hanging around from a rig while acting out your soul or even singing. She sadly doesn’t share what that was like, it’s still interesting to know just what kind of movie magic they used to ensure Ursula stays as true as possible to the original film from 1989.

  • New ‘Spider-Man 2’ Trailer Reveals First Look at Kraven the Hunter & Symbiote Spider-Man

    New ‘Spider-Man 2’ Trailer Reveals First Look at Kraven the Hunter & Symbiote Spider-Man

    The Sony Showcase ended on a high note with our first look at Spider-Man 2’s major villain: Kraven the Hunter. Interestingly enough, it also looks like the game unveiled Spider-Man rocking the symbiote suit. We only knew that Venom was going to feature, but it was uncertain if you actually get to use his powers and they will use it to have Peter Parker’s Spider-Man be different from Miles Morales.

    Also, they updated Miles’ suit to have a gliding function. So, we are seeing quite a few steps forward for the franchise. It’s uncertain if you can only switch between these two characters, as Mary Jane was also playable. The trailer also hinted at Lizard multiple times before unveiling him on the run from the duo. It seems the story will be built around the character and his struggle.

    It’s looking like an exciting new entry, and we’re already seeing the rage in Peter Parker. While the “Six Months Later” element may have misled us to believe this is how the game kicks off, the Kraven segment is very likely how the game opens. It’ll be interesting to see how switching between Spider-Mans will affect your overworld experience and if they have unique missions for each character.

    Source: YouTube