Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • New Listing May Hint at a Potential ‘One Piece’ Season 2

    New Listing May Hint at a Potential ‘One Piece’ Season 2

    Only a few weeks ago, we got our first look at the upcoming live-action adaptation of One Piece that is set to get released on Netflix at some point this year. We’ve had rumors that the series is eyeing a late August release, which would work with a strong promotional front during this year’s Geeked Week, which is very likely going to arrive in June. The adaptation spearheaded by showrunners Matt Owens and Steven Maeda has been hinted as one of Netflix’s big hopes to have a new Stranger Things on their hand, which isn’t too surprising given just how big of a seller the manga is.

    Now, we haven’t heard much about their future plans for this adaptation, as Netflix tends to wait quite a bit before giving any renewals or updates for their projects. The Witcher might be the only real exception where we got a renewal for a second season ahead of its launch. Yet, we know that some projects are written before they’re even renewed such as The Sandman and even the canceled Cowboy Bebop. Now, a new listing on the Writers Guild of America West may have hinted that script work may already have started for One Piece‘s potential second season.

    First things first, this is not a confirmation that Netflix already renewed the show for a second season. As mentioned previously, we’ve had cases where they worked ahead of time hoping to jump into the next production cycle without losing time to prepare the scripts; something ironically Stranger Things didn’t do for its last season, as their writing room didn’t come together until after the release of the latest season. Still, it’s an interesting inclusion for not just one but multiple writers that were already listed on the WGA directory to be involved with a second season.

    One Piece showrunner Matt Owens‘ WGA page has an interesting addition that states he’s acting as Executive Producer on One Piece with a “Season Count” of two. He’s only mentioned as a showrunner for one season, but the addition of a second season for his role as Executive Producer is quite a curious addition, especially as he’s not the only one to have this season count.

    The only oddity is the time window of 2022 to 2024 not matching with the showrunner designation of 2023 to 2024. Comparing it to co-showrunner Steven Maeda, the time window is given from 2022 to 2023. So, it’s odd that the production year is missing as when compared to other writers it normally is included in the timeframe. It should also be noted that Maeda does not have a second season mentioned on his WGA writer’s page as of now.

    Now, what makes this so interesting is that Owens isn’t the only writer from the first season with a second-season count included. Ian Stokes, who wrote the second and seventh episodes, also has a season count of two for his role as co-Executive Producer. Fellow Episode 7 writers Lindsay Gelfand and Allison Weintraub also have two seasons included for One Piece with their shared title of Executive Story Editor.

    The reason this is worth noting is that unlike IMDb not anyone can just sign up and add information to the WGA directory. As pointed out by the site, this is either verified independently by the WGAW as well as the WGAE (Writer’s Guild of America East), or information uploaded by the writers themselves. Not just anyone can make an account and upload information, which adds a little something to this inclusion but still is not a full confirmation. There’s a chance that is added accidentally or just in preparation for a potential second season if given the renewal, as they may have started at least mapping out the Alabasta Saga, which would be the focus in a second season after the East Blue.

    To also contrast it, Wednesday has officially been renewed and that is something the WGA has added directly to the main site of the show with a production window of 2023 to 2024 (very likely just a temporary addition as we have no official production timeline). We don’t know if they’ve already worked on the scripts for a second season ahead of time, but curiously staff writer April G. Blair, for example, does not have a writing credit for the second season while Executive Producer and co-writer Kayla S. Alpert does.

    So, it’s unclear if Blair may have returned for the second season’s writing room or generally moved on to a different project. There’s a good chance that these additions are mainly for producing credits and showcasing that work on the second season’s overarching plotlines may be worked on rather than singular scripts per episode. We still don’t have the credit for One Piece‘s fourth episode even though most have been uploaded in January.

    Another comparison to highlight how WGA works is that Lauren S. Hissrich, the showrunner for The Witcher, is listed for a season count of four, which has been confirmed and they haven’t even released the third season yet. At the moment, it is still eyeing a Summer 2023 release, which will mark the final appearance of Henry Cavill in the iconic role of Gerald of Rivia but would match with them starting work on the scripts for the next season ahead of its release.

    If there ever was a show that had a good chance to pull in a big viewership for a second season, it is One Piece. We’ve seen more of this project than even the other two major players rumored to release this year, the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Three-Body Problem. It doesn’t mean anything definite but if they are starting to map out a second season, they can jump into production as soon as they can once a renewal is given to avoid an issue like Stranger Things having way too long breaks between seasons. Maybe it’s a little hopeful but the potential is there.

    Source: ScreenRant, The Wrap, WGA Registry, WGA (One Piece), WGA (Matt Owens), WGA (Steven Maeda), WGA (Ian Stokes), WGA (Lindsay Gelfand), WGA (Allison Weintraub), WGA (Wednesday), WGA (April G. Blair), WGA (Kayla S. Alpert), WGA (Lauren S. Hissrich)

  • Marvel Studios Delayed ‘The Marvels’ to Give it More Time in Post-Production

    Marvel Studios Delayed ‘The Marvels’ to Give it More Time in Post-Production

    After the harsher criticism has hit Marvel Studios’ latest release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the sudden move for The Marvels from a July release all the way back to November had many wondering if there’s a correlation. Perhaps Marvel Studios knew they needed to give the project more time and it was too late to push back Quantumania back as well, as it already started its marketing cycle; something that could’ve become quite expensive to restart at a later point.

    While we’ll never truly know what reason Marvel Studios has for delaying projects, there have been hints that they are taking a step back after the rush of projects released right after the pandemic delayed everything for a year. So, ever since they’ve been playing catch-up and had the Disney+ pressure set upon them by Bob Chapek‘s reign. Now, Bob Iger returned and we’ll likely see a more familiar Marvel Studios moving forward after a more experimental season.

    In a new report by The Wrap, they share that the delay for The Marvels was to give it more time in post-production, at least according to their studio insiders. It’s a surprising move as it will compete directly with Disney’s 100th-anniversary film Wish, a scare that also happened last year with the underperforming Strange World against Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Though some believe these projects won’t face a similar fate.

    Still, if this report is true we’ll likely see more time windows for post-production moving forward for Marvel Studios’ productions. The thing that many might not have noticed is that non of the 2024 releases have started production. They are set to start in a few months and all films from this year filmed during 2021. So, we may see a return to normal as all productions up to this point also had to film during COVIDs high season.

    Source: The Wrap

  • ‘Gorillaz’ Creators Offer Update on Long-Awaited Netflix Movie

    ‘Gorillaz’ Creators Offer Update on Long-Awaited Netflix Movie

    Gorillaz is quite the musical phenomenon with their unique take on genre giving each new album something unique. Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn created the fictional band that would go on to leave its mark on the industry. With a new album set to release on February 24th titled Cracker Island, Albarn has been busy promoting the music group’s future. During an interview with the Belgian magazine Humo, it seems it was revealed that the Netflix film they have been working on is sadly currently in limbo.

    What stands out is that the project never even left the script stages and seemingly never truly finalized to get any animation work done. The project has kind of been in existence since all the way back in 2002 but sadly nothing ever truly came together to give us a true story focused on 2-D, Murdoc, Noodle, and Russel. Interestingly enough though, this quasi-cancellation was seemingly what inspired the creation of the new album Cracker Island, which first premiered its solo by the same name starring Thundercat around six months ago.

    The good thing is that each new music video does act as a continuing story for our favorite fictional band, and the same is true with the latest releases featuring a cult that was seemingly started by Murdoc. Perhaps elements from that original script made their way into these new videos and storylines that have been teased throughout new music videos. The band has been showcased in different animation styles in the past but it would’ve been amazing to see them in a live-action/animation hybrid style similar to the video from the single Cracker Island. Perhaps one day the project will come together.

    Source: Pitchfork

  • RUMOR: Disney+’s ‘Wonder Man’ May Have Already Found its Villain

    RUMOR: Disney+’s ‘Wonder Man’ May Have Already Found its Villain

    Here’s an interesting rumor, but insider Daniel Richtman has once again dropped an interesting detail about the upcoming Wonder Man series. The Disney+ series will explore the day and life of Hollywood star and part-time superhero Simon Williams, who’ll be played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. While he’s the only confirmed cast so far, it seems they may have already cast his brother Eric Williams, better known as the supervillain Grim Reaper.

    While it’s unclear how they’ll connect these two or if they’ll just stick to their comic origins, Richtman shares that they are currently in talks with Fear the Walking Dead and Lovecraft Country star Demetrius Grosse to take on the iconic villainous mantle. His addition makes sense given that he’s also Wonder Man’s main arch-nemesis and it adds a nice personal element to the

    We don’t know exactly where they are heading with this story, and there’s also the chance that the Grim Reaper doesn’t technically exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe just yet. Though it would be interesting for Simon to find out his own brother was a hitman that had a cybernetic scythe attached to his arm. In the comics, he was mostly a tech-based villain but they could make the change towards something more magic or energy-based depending on the story. Either way, it’s exciting to see where this series is heading once we find out more on it in the future.

    Source: Patreon via The Direct

  • New ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Funkos Offer New Look at Scarlet Spider, Vulture and More

    New ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Funkos Offer New Look at Scarlet Spider, Vulture and More

    While Marvel Studios continues to set the pace at the box office, they aren’t the only Marvel entry set to make a big splash this year. We also have the long-awaited sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that will continue the story of Miles Morales. This time around he is forced to travel Across the Spider-Verse and no longer have unwelcomed Spider-People on his home turf. As such, we’ll see a variety of new characters during his travel across the multiverse and the latest Funkos offer a glimpse at who he’ll meet along the way.

    We get a few familiar characters that have already been confirmed for some time and even showcased in the recent trailer release for Across the Spider-Verse. Spider-Punk’s Funko even seems to keep the unique art style that will bring him to life in the animated film. We also see Spider-Woman’s design and Spider-Man 2099, who has been hinted as an antagonist in the upcoming film.

    That’s not all, as we also get a good look at Spider-Man India, whose world was hinted at in the first-ever teaser for the film. They are joined by some new characters like Spider-Byte, which seems to be a new take on a digitized version of the iconic hero. There’s also Scarlet Spider, whose design seems to hint at a strong cel-shaded look for when they show up.

    That is not all, as we also got our first villain tease in the Funkos with a character that seems to be a medieval version of Vulture. So far, we only know that Spot is going to be the primary villain nd one of the reasons Miles finds himself stranded throughout the multiverse, but we don’t know yet how many iconic villains that might find their way into this story.

    Overall, these Funkos look great and are certainly must-buys for any collector. They are a great tease on what we can expect and with a film that features the most Spider-Man characters, we may see a lot more Funkos in the near future building up to the film’s release.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘The Mandalorian’ Showrunner Already Wrote Season 4

    ‘The Mandalorian’ Showrunner Already Wrote Season 4

    We’re only a few weeks away from finally returning to the world of Din Djarin and Grogu. After a long pause and a pit stop in The Book of Boba Fett, the two reunite in the third season of The Mandalorian to continue where we left off. Din is on his journey to regain his right as a Mandalorian once more by going to the long-forgotten home planet of Mandalore.

    The various trailers already teased a conflict is brewing and he’ll reunite with his brethren and sisters to take on a yet-to-be-determined threat. But, it seems like it won’t be the end for our beloved duo as showrunner Jon Favreau has revealed that he already finished writing the fourth season which has yet to be officially confirmed.

    Season 4? Yeah, I’ve written it already. We have to know where we are going to tell a fully formed story. So, we had mapped it out, Dave [Filoni] and I. And then slowly you just write each episode. So I was writing it during post-production, because all of it has to feel like a continuation and one full story.

    Jon Favreau

    It is interesting to note that Favreau and co-creator Dave Filoni have had this habit of already working on the next season just as they were wrapping work on the previous one. So, it’s not necessarily a surprise that they already mapped out the next season but more that they’ve already finished writing it while working on the post-production. It’ll be interesting to see if the wait between this season and the next might be quite a bit shorter.

    Source: Collider

  • David Fincher Shoots Down Any Hope for ‘Mindhunter’ Season 3

    David Fincher Shoots Down Any Hope for ‘Mindhunter’ Season 3

    Netflix hasn’t been the kindest to its subscriber base, as many of its shows have sadly been canceled as of late. We’ve seen quite a few series not even make it past the first season but there are also some gems that returned for a second but didn’t manage to live on. It seems more and more like a rarity that a series manages to live for multiple seasons like Umbrella Academy or Stranger Things.

    Among the most hoped-for returns would be the canceled Mindhunter series from the mind of Joe Penhall and David Fincher. The series followed the FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench, as they worked for the Behavioral Science Unit, where they interview serial killers to better understand their minds. Sadly, it seems that Fincher has shot down any chances of a third season in an interview with the French publisher Le Journal du Dimanche.

    I’m very proud of the first two seasons, but it’s a particularly expensive series and, in the eyes of Netflix, we haven’t attracted a large enough audience to justify such an investment. I don’t blame them, they took risks to launch the series.

    David Fincher

    It’s a shame as the second season was welcomed to much critical acclaim, but it seems viewers simply didn’t check it out back in 2019. It’s crazy to think how long it has been since the series was released and yet Mindhunter is still on the minds of many, hoping to see it finally return. Yet, as Fincher points out, it seems they just didn’t have a big enough audience to really sell a third season to Netflix. It’s been the biggest issue the streamer has faced, especially with the amount of series they put out.

    They seem to go for a quantity strategy and hope a few gems might manage to pop up here or there. It does happen like with the recent success of Wednesday and The Sandman, but it’s becoming seemingly more difficult for new series to establish themselves. Netflix has put a lot of money into upcoming adaptations of Three-Body Problem, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the live-action One Piece series. So, here’s hoping they can break the curse and go on for many more seasons.

    Source: Le Journal du Dimanche via Total Film

  • ‘Ahsoka’ Star Rosario Dawson Updates Season 1 Release Plans

    ‘Ahsoka’ Star Rosario Dawson Updates Season 1 Release Plans

    Star Wars fans are anxiously awaiting the release of Ahsoka, the live-actions series which seems to be nothing less than a direct sequel to the animated series Star Wars: Rebels. Footage of the series has been screened at a couple of different fan events and some snippets have found their way into some 2023 teasers for Disney Plus but news on the series has been scarce…until now.

    During an interview with Today’s Hoda and Jenna, Ahsoka star Rosario Dawson gave fans a bit of hope about the project’s release window. “Ahsoka, that’s going to probably come out in the Fall,” Dawson said of the streaming project slated for Disney Plus. Fall is still pretty generalized but it does at least give fans something to pencil in.

    With Disney Plus recently getting an overhaul in terms of the number of projects being put out and the spacing between said projects by large brands like Star Wars and Marvel Studios, streaming Ahsoka in the Fall gives it plenty of room to breathe following the third season of The Mandalorian, which kicks off on March 1st.

  • Jason Momoa Rumored to Be Abandoning Aquaman Amid Reports of Shoddy Sequel

    Jason Momoa Rumored to Be Abandoning Aquaman Amid Reports of Shoddy Sequel

    While James Gunn and Peter Safran‘s new DC Universe comes together, it may be doing so with a new Aquaman eventually. As reports by a pair of trusted insiders indicated that Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom is shaping up as a stinker, a new rumor suggests that film will be the last go around as Arthur Curry for star Jason Momoa.

    According to both Viewer Anona and Big Screen Leaks, James Wan‘s sequel to the financially lucrative Aquaman is testing incredibly poorly ahead of its December 2023 release. Though the first film wasn’t a critical darling, it did rake in over $1B at the box office. As the old DC slate begins to give way to DC Studios’ plans, Warner Bros. would certainly like to near that mark again but it may be rough especially as a follow-up rumor indicates that Aquaman star Jason Momoa is bailing on the franchise.

    The news isn’t all bad for DC fans, however, as it seems Momoa has another DC role in mind…one that might be right up his alley. The new role shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who have been paying attention, but according to the rumor mill from Hot Mic podcast host Jeff Sneider, Momoa will make the jump the DCU to fill the role of interstellar, heavy metal mercenary Lobo, “the most badass bounty hunter in the galaxy.”

    Given that Gunn has only revealed the first half of Chapter 1 of the DCU, it’s possible that a Lobo project fits into the second half of the Gods and Monsters entry. Even if Momoa is already on board, it makes sense, as Sneider points out, to wait for Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom to complete its theatrical run before revealing Momoa’s bold new role.

  • RUMOR: Jonathan Majors’ Kang May Return Sooner Than Later

    RUMOR: Jonathan Majors’ Kang May Return Sooner Than Later

    Jonathan Majors finally got to play Kang the Conqueror in the recently released Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. While we did get a brief glimpse of one of his Variants during the first season of Loki, the first season even ended with a glimpse at the big bad himself as the new leader of the Time Variance Authority. So, we all assumed he’d likely have a role in the second season, but it was never officially confirmed.

    With Quantumania‘s release and the much-discussed post-credit sequences, the Marvel rumor mill has once again picked up steam as Cosmic Circus has hinted that Kang will have a larger role in the upcoming second season. While he only made a brief appearance in last season’s finale, it seems we can expect him to appear in at least three episodes. If they are still sticking to their six-episode format for dramas, he’ll have a significant role in the series.

    They believe the reasoning is that we’ll see a few Kang variants in the season, as it’ll focus on Loki and Mobius seeking out the different versions and how they influenced the timeline. The Sacred Timeline is no longer and with the multiverse continuing to stretch out into infinity, who knows what they might find. It’s definitely sounding like Marvel is making good use of the concept and giving Jonathan Majors many chances to give us a unique take on this character every time we see him.

    Source: Cosmic Circus via The Direct