Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • ‘Rosaline:’ Kaitlyn Dever on How She Shaped Her Role

    ‘Rosaline:’ Kaitlyn Dever on How She Shaped Her Role

    William Shakespeare‘s story of star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, is widely known across the world. What some people might not know, though, was that in the original story, there was another person Romeo loved before Juliet – that person was none other than Rosaline. For leading lady Kaitlyn Dever, who takes on the role of Rosaline for the Hulu film, getting to know Rosaline from Shakespeare’s story was an important step in preparing for the role.

    During the virtual press conference for the movie, Dever explained that Rosaline’s limited role in the original story actually made it easier for her to develop the character. “She is mentioned in Romeo and Juliet. But she’s a very, very, very small role in the story,” Dever explained. “And so, because of that, it was actually a really exciting prospect because you can kind of do anything and everything you want to, and the character that I sort of created with Karen was kind of something that we just felt like you could go for it in so many ways.”

    Dever continued, noting that she had a ton of fun with the character. She got to enjoy her determination and fearlessness, while also having the chance to be more comedic in her delivery at times. “I just appreciated and admired her, you know, determination and her fearlessness and her drive. The writing is so brilliant,” she said. “It was really easy to kind of go there. But, I mean, it was so easy to just have the most fun and just be sort of outrageous sometimes, and sarcastic and comedic with this whole cast. It was really, really fun.”

    One of the things Dever, as well as the rest of the cast, had to be careful with was how far they were willing to take things. As the actress explained, it was all about balance because of the fact that Rosaline is “a lot.” Thankfully, director Karen Maine was there to help guide them all.

    I feel like it was always kind of, we were always exploring that and those tones.  And sort of, I feel like some days I was like, “Yeah, that was a lot.”  And Rosaline is a lot sometimes.  And that’s what’s so much fun about her in playing her. But I think you never really know, but I think, yeah, we did have, you know, Karen there as a constant guide. And she’s so good with direction and sort of allowing us to feel free in that.

    Dever

    Rosaline will premiere on Hulu this Friday, Oct. 14th, 2022.

  • Paddy Considine Reveals What Killed King Viserys

    Paddy Considine Reveals What Killed King Viserys

    With the conclusion of the eighth episode of House of the Dragon came the conclusion of a season-long journey toward death for one of the series’ main characters. After a long and gradual decline in health over the first season, King Viserys I Targaryen died in his sleep in the final moments of Sunday’s latest episode. In an interview, actor Paddy Considine gave some insight into the cause of the suffering and death for the now-deceased King of Westeros.

    He’s actually suffering from a form of leprosy. His body is deteriorating, his bones are deteriorating. He is not actually old. He’s still a young man in there. He’s just, unfortunately, got this thing that’s taken over his body. It becomes a metaphor for being king, and the stress and strain that it puts on you, and what it does to you physically, what it does to you mentally.

    Paddy Considine

    This shouldn’t really come as a surprise to viewers based on the telltale signs of Viserys’ body gradually falling apart as the season progressed. It was certainly noticeable in this past episode in which the king had to wear a golden mask to hide the fact he had lost an eye due to the disease. Considine’s physical performance in struggling with leprosy and his overall portrayal of the character should place the actor high in award consideration in 2023.

    Ultimately, the death of Viserys is the gateway for the civil war brewing amongst the Targaryen family. The conflict between Rhaenyra Targaryan and Alicent Hightower has been the main storyline of House of the Dragon to this point and while this episode left the two characters at potentially the closest they’ve been since the premiere, the feelings of resentment have been passed down to their children which makes the upcoming boiling point all the more inevitable. With two episodes remaining, it certainly will be interesting where the status quo stands heading into the future of the series with the Dance of the Dragons.

    Source: Comicbook.com

  • Marvel Studios Halting ‘Blade’ as Director Search Continues

    Marvel Studios Halting ‘Blade’ as Director Search Continues

    Marvel Studios is reportedly halting Blade, at least temporarily, as it continues its search for a new director. The news comes courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, with the outlet reporting the decision was made in order to further develop the movie and continue the search for a new director. The movie was expected to enter production in November. The crew is said to have been notified today that the production is temporarily shutting down.

    Bassim Tariq was originally set to direct the film starring Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, however, Tariq left the project a little over two weeks ago. With the production currently shutting down, it seems doubtful it’ll make the previously announced release date of Nov. 3rd, 2023. Marvel Studios is said to be keen to get the movie “right,” and Ali has been heavily involved in the creative decisions on the film with the actor reportedly having had say in hiring Tariq in the beginning.

    Following Tariq’s exit, it was revealed that Beau DeMayo had signed on to rework the script. With DeMayo’s hiring, it was expected that Marvel Studios would quickly fill the director position (ala Ant-Man), but instead, the studio has opted to slow down to “deepen the search” for a new director, while also ensuring they took time to further strengthen the movie.

    Blade was first announced by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige in 2019 when Ali was brought on stage to reveal the project was in development.

    Source: THR.

  • Dwayne Johnson Promises a Major Showdown Ahead in the DC Universe

    Dwayne Johnson Promises a Major Showdown Ahead in the DC Universe

    It’s been said so much that it’s become a meme: the hierarchy of power in the DC Unvierse is changing. In just a couple of weeks, fans will see for themselves what Dwayne Johnson has been teasing when Black Adam hits theaters. Johnson has called the long-gestating project the “hardest undertaking of [his] entire career physically & mentally” and has maintained his passion for bringing the character to the screen for the better part of a decade.

    With the future of the DC Universe uncertain in the wake of massive ongoing changes at WB, it’s safe to say that all eyes will be on the box office performance of Black Adam as WB decides just what the future holds. While the execs might be debating what’s next, Johnson is pretty bullish on what he thinks needs to happen and, in an interview with CinemBlend, he made it very clear: Black Adam vs. Superman. When asked if he intends for the two titans to go toe-to-toe on screen, Johnson held nothing back, saying, “Absolutely. That is the whole point of this man. Thank you for asking that.“

    Johnson continued on, giving some insight into what the new DC era he’ been talking about really means

    And I have been saying for some time, there’s a new era in the DC Universe that’s about to begin. And what I meant by that was introducing a brand new character. It’s not a sequel, not an existing IP. It was…you know, Black Adam! Two years ago the world had no idea who he was. We did, but not, you know, the rest of the mass out there. Introducing the JSA, introducing that new era of the DC universe.

    Dwayne Johson

    According to Johson, however, the new era isn’t just about introducing new characters. It’s also about giving the fans what they want, including more Superman.

    But also what I really meant by, ‘This is a new era in the DC Universe,’ is listening to the fans. Listening to the fans. And doing our best to give the fans what they want. And maybe, sometime down the road — and I went through this in pro wrestling — is you can’t always give them what you want. But you’ll always know that we’re listening. And in this case, with what you and I are talking about, I have been listening and I’ve been wanting to address fans for years. Because I’ve been waiting for someone to step up and address the fans and say, ‘Hey, we hear you.’ So finally, after many months turned into many years, we ended up with what we ended up at. And the whole goal and intention now is to this new era, new time. Now let’s build out.

    Dwayne Johnson

    Rumors continue to proliferate that Henry Cavill’s Kal-El makes an appearance in Black Adam, but it sounds as though Johnson has more than just a brief meeting between the two in mind. While everyone is waiting for the Shazam/Black Adam movie, it seems Johnson has other plans.

    Source: CinemaBlend

  • New Character Posters Released for ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

    New Character Posters Released for ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

    With a month until Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters, Marvel Studios has unveiled a slew of new character posters for the film. The posters, as shown below, feature Michaela Coel (Aneka), Alex Livinalli (Attuma), Florence Kasumba (Ayo), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia), Tenoch Huerta (Namor), Mabel Cadena (Namora), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Angela Bassett (Queen Ramonda), Dominique Thorne (Riri Williams), Martin Freeman (Everett Ross) and Letitia Wright (Shuri).

    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. © 2022 MARVEL.
    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. © 2022 MARVEL.
    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. © 2022 MARVEL.
    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. © 2022 MARVEL.
    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. © 2022 MARVEL.
    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. © 2022 MARVEL.
    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. © 2022 MARVEL.
    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. © 2022 MARVEL.
    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. © 2022 MARVEL.
    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. © 2022 MARVEL.
    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. © 2022 MARVEL.
    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. © 2022 MARVEL.

    Along with the posters, Marvel Studios released a brand new featurette for the movie featuring director Ryan Coogler, Nyong’o, Wright, and Huerta.

    In the film, Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. When Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, alerts them to a global threat and his disturbing plan to thwart it, the Wakandans band together with the help of War Dog Nakia and Everett Ross and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.

    Tickets for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are on sale now. The movie will hit theaters on Nov. 11th, 2022.

  • Laurence Fishburne Pushed for a ‘Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur’ Series

    Laurence Fishburne Pushed for a ‘Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur’ Series

    After a development time that seems endless, the Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur series is set to premiere next year in February. During New York Comic-Con, we finally got a lot more information on the sequel that has been drip fed to us ever since its initial announcement. Diamond White will take on the role of Lunella a.k.a. Moon Girl with Steve Loter at the helm of the series. As it turns out, it was actually Laurence Fishburne that pushed for adapting this series.

    It starts with Laurence Fishburne in a comic book store. He did his weekly run to pick up new comics every Wednesday and was drawn to Brandon Montclare and Amy Ramy Reeder’s run of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.

    Steve Loter

    Loter highlights that his experience working on Kim Possible was one of the reasons that he was chosen to join the project and Fishburne‘s love for the series ended up leading to him reaching out to Cinema Gypsy’s Helen Sugland before any talks happened with Marvel and Disney. The executive producer also jokingly referenced Fishburne‘s work on the -ish series

    They made Black-ish, Grown-ish, Mixed-ish and said, ‘We gotta make a show out of this. But without the name ‘ish’ on it.

    Steve Loter

    The mention of that franchise led to quite a few laughs during the NYCC panel, but Moon Girl-ish would’ve made for an interesting title. It’s always great to see the passions of creators lead to the development of projects that otherwise might never see the day. Marvel Studios has also started giving smaller characters more focus and their own projects; allowing them to explore new corners of their ever-expanding franchise. who knows if Moon Girl might make her way to live-action at some point s well.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • Hercule Poirot Returns! ‘A Death on the Nile’ Sequel Adds Tina Fey, Michelle Yeoh And Many More

    Hercule Poirot Returns! ‘A Death on the Nile’ Sequel Adds Tina Fey, Michelle Yeoh And Many More

    While the last adaptation of Agatha Christie‘s iconic A Death on the Nile had a rough release in the middle of the pandemic, it looks like the 20th Century is still not quite done yet with Kenneth Branagh‘s take on Hercule Poirot. In a new press release, they have unveiled that their next adaptation will be A Haunting in Venice inspired by Christie‘s Hallowe’en Party which will start production in a month.

    Branagh returns in the director’s chair for the latest entry, which will add quite the cast once again. Tina Fay, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Kelly Reilly, Emma Laird, Riccardo Scamarico, Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Jamie Dorman, and Michelle Yeoh have joined the cast, which is eyeing a 2023 release. Branagh shared his excitement about the return in the following statement:

    This is a fantastic development of the character Hercule Poirot, as well as the Agatha Christie franchise. Based on a complex, little known tale of mystery set at Halloween in a pictorially ravishing city, it is an amazing opportunity for us, as filmmakers, and we are relishing the chance to deliver something truly spine-chilling for our loyal movie audiences.

    Kenneth Branagh

    20th Century Studios president Steve Asbell also shared the following statement on continuing their relationship with Branagh and further adapting Christie‘s novels.

    We are enormously privileged to continue our long collaboration with the incomparable Sir Kenneth Branagh and couldn’t be more excited by the bold new creative direction Ken, Michael, and the rest of the filmmaking team have taken with this latest film. We also remain grateful to James Prichard and the rest of our friends at Agatha Christie, Ltd., for their partnership and for once again entrusting us with, as Poirot modestly calls himself, ‘probably the greatest detective in the world.

    Steve Asbell

    This marks the third entry with Murder on the Orient Express in 2017 followed by this year’s release of Death on the Nile. Technically, Poirot has appeared in 47 novels from The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1920 all the way to While the Light Lasts and Other Stories in 1997. So, they have quite a few stories they could tell for many years to come if they choose to do so, but they may also want to wrap up their take on Poirot with a trilogy.

  • Hulu’s ‘Devil in the White City’ Loses Director

    Hulu’s ‘Devil in the White City’ Loses Director

    Hulu’s ambitious adaptation of The Devil in the White City is facing some trouble at the moment. Right after losing its leading star Keanu Reeves, it seems that it has now also lost its executive producer and director Todd Field. It doesn’t look like the streamer is backing down and is actively looking for someone to take over from the Tár director, which recently received rave reviews at the Venice International Film Festival.

    The project has been in development since 2019 and was ordered to series back in August. Erik Larson wrote the original book that the series is based on, which would explore the story of 1893’s World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago from the views of the various designers that attended. It also explores the story of H. H. Holmes who many believed was America’s first serial killer.

    Reeves leaving the project already was a bad omen, especially with it being shortly after he was even cast. It may be hinting at some creative differences that are adding some difficulties in bringing the work to life. Leonardo DiCaprio famously purchased the rights in 2010 and Martin Scorsese was originally attached to direct it back in 2015 based on a script by Billy Ray. Yet, the project continues to have problems and we’ll see how long it might take before they find a new director to take over.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Brown Girls’ Actress Sonia Denis Joins Marvel Studios’ ‘Ironheart’

    ‘Brown Girls’ Actress Sonia Denis Joins Marvel Studios’ ‘Ironheart’

    Ironheart‘s cast continues to grow as time goes by. Once again, our latest update to the upcoming Disney+ series from Marvel Studios includes a new cast addition. This time around the Brown Girls actress Sonia Denis has seemingly joined the cast, which will see Dominique Throne return to the role of Riri Williams after her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever next month.

    Story details on the sequel are still scarce, as it’ll explore Riri’s time building the most advanced suit of armor that the MCU has seen since Iron Man. Yet, we do get hints at her already doing so in the Black Panther sequel, which raised many questions if this might act as a prequel series. Of course, there’s also the chance that she might not have the energy source capable of keeping a new suit going, which leads to her experimenting.

    Tony Stark was no stranger to building a massive amount of suits for different situations. So, why wouldn’t Riri Williams do the same? The only tease we got from the series was the confirmation that Anthony Ramos is taking on the role of The Hood, which may add a magic vs. technology angle to the series. It definitely would make it stand out from other projects and offer a new perspective on how to tell a story about high-tech suits.

    Source: Variety

  • Benedict Cumberbatch Pushed for “Darker” Scenes in ‘Doctor Strange 2’, Wrote Some of the Scenes Himself

    Benedict Cumberbatch Pushed for “Darker” Scenes in ‘Doctor Strange 2’, Wrote Some of the Scenes Himself

    It feels like an eternity ago that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was released in theaters. Time truly flies when you’re having fun, as we got a bunch of iconic new entries into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yet, there still is something special about the latest multiverse-focused storyline as Benedict Cumberbatch got to take on his iconic role in different variations, and as it turns out, he also got to write some of the scenes himself.

    I absolutely loved it, and it sounds so egotistical – but there we go, that’s what actors are – but I loved doing the scenes with myself because of the challenge of it. And I got to write some of those scenes … I suggested that it needed to get darker at a point. There was a slightly more saccharine version at one stage and I’m really happy with the way it evolved.

    Benedict Cumberbatch

    He goes on to highlight in an interview with Prestige Online that director Sam Raimi and the film’s writer, Michael Waldron, were quite supportive of letting him add his own voice to the script as well. He also highlights his hope to further explore the multiverse and the many Variants that exist out there.

    Sam Raimi was so game for it and Michael Waldron really supported me to write it as well. We turned what was a very small combat between the two into a sort of very bizarre and inventive battle in that moment. I really loved it. It was how the original was pitched to me a long while back when Scott Derrickson was still working with us: Strange would meet versions of himself. It was something I wanted to lean into. We could have gone even further, and maybe it will go into the future. Who knows what other versions we might need in the multiverse chapter of the MCU? But it was very enjoyable to play all the variants of myself.

    Benedict Cumberbatch

    It definitely would be a shame if we doesn’t get to play around with the concept of Variants further in the MCU. Loki‘s upcoming second season might take a crack at it again after introducing a few versions of Loki and we did get the iconic Spider-Men in No Way Home. Who knows just how much we’ll venture out into the multiverse once Phase 5 arrives?

    Source: Prestige Online