Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • Paul Bettany Confirms Major Spoiler for ‘Vision Quest’

    Paul Bettany Confirms Major Spoiler for ‘Vision Quest’

    Marvel Television’s Paul Bettany-led streaming series, potentially titled Vision Quest, has remained remarkably under the radar. For its part, the studio has rarely mentioned the series officially, though it’s likely to be included in its NYCC presentation on October 11th. Despite the studio’s silence, some details about the series emerged over time, including a very interesting cast full of AI beings and one very mysterious young man played by Ruaridh Mollica.

    Though the identity of Mollica’s character has been kept under wraps by the studio, all signs point toward him portraying a young man named “Tucker” who is serving as the vessel for the soul of Tommy Maximoff. That’s not something the studio would come right out and say (it spent over half of Agatha All Along attempting to conceal the true identity of Joe Locke’s character) plenty of insiders have chimed in on the subject. None of them, however, carry the same weight as series star Bettany, who has seemingly confirmed Tommy’s appearance.

    While speaking at Los Angeles Comic Con, Bettany revealed that Vision Quest tells a story of “intergenerational trauma” shared by “fathers and sons.”

    It’s about intergenerational trauma…fathers and sons and denial of pain and denial of your own truth and coming to terms with who and what you are.

    –Paul Bettany on Marvel Television’s streaming series, Vision Quest

    With James Spader set to return as Tony Stark and Bruce Banner’s AI murder bot, Ultron, and much of the series set in a reality other than our own, Vision Quest will see Vision faced with some disturbing realizations while he rediscovers who he is. However, Bettany is clearly speaking about multiple generations and more than one father and more than one son, which all but confirms that his son, Tommy, will indeed appear.

    As seen in Agatha All Along, Billy Maximoff transferred to soul of his brother into a boy who died in a pool as a result of bullies holding his head under water. As Billy did so, he stated that the boy had no family or no one to love him, leaving the door wide open for “Tucker” to have quite a bit in common with his trouble-making comic book counterpart.

  • James Gunn Hints at Major Changes to DC Studios ‘The Brave and the Bold’

    James Gunn Hints at Major Changes to DC Studios ‘The Brave and the Bold’

    When James Gunn and Peter Safran rolled back the curtain on their plans for DC Studios’ Gods and Monsters slate, the studio’s plans for Batman grabbed a lot of attention. Not only was Gunn going to introduce another new Batman but he was also going to introduce members of the Bat Family who have not had the big screen treatment before.

    The Brave and the Bold was described as “a story of Damian Wayne, who’s Batman’s actual son that he didn’t know existed for the first eight to ten years of his life. He was raised as a little murderer and assassin.” And with Andy Muschetti on board to direct, it sounded as though the project would come together quickly. The cookie has crumbled a little differently, however, as the film has been delayed a bit as Gunn work with a new writer (who many believe to be Drew Goddard) to make sure they get things right and it seems as though that may mean a major character has been dropped from the film.

    In an interview with IGN, Gunn explained that “some things have changed” with the project and to “wait to see exactly what’s happening,” with Damian Wayne.

    No, I think you have to wait to see the movie. Some things have changed. Plenty of things are in flux on what his situation is with his parentage and all that stuff, so I wouldn’t take any of it – Yeah, I mean, the actor who wants to… Listen, first of all, I can’t tell you the amount of big actors that have told me they want to be Batman.

    -James Gunn

    “I think you have to wait to see exactly what’s happening,” Gunn replied when pressed further about whether or not Damian would still appear in the project. Obviously that’s not confirmation of anything but it’s a far more cryptic answer than necessary if Damian is in the project. Should the new writer have written him out, it would seem to be more or less a Page 1 rewrite given that Gunn originally described the film as a Damian story. At that point, is it even still The Brave and the Bold? We’ll certainly keep an eye on this one.

    Source: IGN

  • ‘Peacemaker’ Delivers an Absolutely Phenomenal DCU Cameo

    ‘Peacemaker’ Delivers an Absolutely Phenomenal DCU Cameo

    As he was making the rounds promoting Season 2 of Peacemaker, James Gunn touted the sixth and eighth episodes of the HBO Max streaming series as perhaps his favorite work on an incredibly impressive superhero resume. More recently, the DC Studios co-chair and Superman Saga creator has described the sophomore season of Peacemaker as a prequel to his next film, Man of Tomorrow…and now fans can understand where Gunn was coming from on both counts.

    Episode 6 of Peacemaker Season 2, “Ignorance is Chris”, sees Frank Grillo‘s Rick Flag Sr. grow frustrated with the inability to track down John Cena‘s Christopher Smith on the alternate Earth he’s chosen to call home and turn to the DCU’s resident expert on the subject: Lex Luthor!

    Serving a 265-year sentence in Belle Reve for his actions as seen in Superman, Luthor trades a chance at redemption to help Flag locate Peacemaker.

    Given that Superman stands as the only DCU film, there certainly weren’t a lot of characters from which to choose for cameos; however, even given a full roster of characters, Luthor is one of the greatest villains in all of comics and using him in this way is a major fLex.

    Luthor may not be back in Peacemaker but his appearance teases just how connected and comic booky Gunn’s DCU will be…and it’s phenomenal!

  • ‘Spaceballs 2’ Cast Officially Revealed as Production Kicks Off

    As the 1987 Star Wars parody, Spaceballs, came to a close, Mel Brooks’ Yogurt told Bill Pullman‘s Lone Starr that “God willing,” they’d all “meet again in Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money.” Nearly 40 years later, Amazon MGM Studios has begun production on the long-awaited sequel which will see nearly all the main players from the original reunite and reprise their respective roles.

    After 40 years, we asked “What do the fans want?”…but instead, we’re making this movie.

    -Mel Brooks

    Amazon MGM Studios announced that Rick Moranis (Ghostbusters; Little Shop of Horrors; Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise), Josh Gad (Frozen; Beauty and the Beast; The Wedding Ringer), Keke Palmer (Nope; One of Them Days), Lewis Pullman (The Testament of Ann Lee; Thunderbolts), Anthony Carrigan (Barry; Superman), George Wyner (A Serious Man; A Million Little Things), Daphne Zuniga (Melrose Place; One Tree Hill), and Bill Pullman (Independence Day; Lost Highway; The Sinner) are set to star in the studio’s new Spaceballs film, alongside previously announced star, Mel Brooks.

    The sequel has brought Moranis, who will once again play the villainous Dark Helmet, out of retirement. Bill Pullman and Zuniga return as Han Solo and Princess Leia analogues Lone Starr and Vespa, with Lewis Pullman believed to be playing their son, a new character based on Kylo Ren. Gad is rumored to be playing the son of Barf, the Mawg played by the late John Candy.

    Josh Greenbaum (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar) is directing from a script by writing duo Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez (Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy; TMNT: Mutant Mayhem), and Josh Gad. Plot details are being kept under lock, key, and an industrial-strength Schwartz shield.

    Spaceballs 2 will be in theaters in 2027.

    Source: Amazon MGM Studios

  • Marvel TV Boss Confirms Plans for Annual Releases for Two Marvel Animation Projects

    Marvel TV Boss Confirms Plans for Annual Releases for Two Marvel Animation Projects

    Since rebranding and falling under the purview of Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studio, Brad Winderbaum in 2021, Marvel Animation’s projects have been far more hit than miss. The first seasons of  X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man debuted to strong critical reviews and an even stronger audience response, building excitement for sophomore seasons.

    In early 2025, Winderbaum confirmed that both series would return to D+ in 2026 and shared his wish that both would become annual releases for the studio. “Season 2 of X-Men ‘97 is going to be in ‘26. We’re working on it now. To me, it’s important to try to get to an annual cadence with these shows and to have something that people can rely on,” Winderbaum proclaimed, adding “We will have a Spider-Man season every year if I have anything to say about it.” As the head of streaming, Winderbaum does indeed have something to say about it and now, he has said it.

    (L-R): Rogue (voiced by Lenore Zann), Jubilee (voiced by Holly Chou), Jean Grey (voiced by Jennifer Hale), Cyclops (voiced by Ray Chase), Roberto Da Costa (voiced by Gui Agustini), Nightcrawler (voiced by Adrian Hough), Storm (voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith), and Morph (voiced by JP Karliak) in Marvel Animation’s X-MEN ’97. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 MARVEL.

    While promoting Marvel Animation’s latest release, Marvel Zombies, Winderbaum revealed that both X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are on the books for annual releases for “the next few years.”

    What’s exciting about the next few years is that we’re going to get subsequent seasons of X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on an annual cadence. So every year, there’ll be a new season and we can map out a longer arc to those stories.

    -Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studio, Brad Winderbaum
    Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Hudson Thames) in Marvel Animation’s YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 MARVEL. All Rights Reserved.

    Under original showrunner Beau DeMayo, X-Men ’97 looked set to run for five seasons and adapt major Marvel Comic storylines such as Age of Apocalypse. With Marvel Studios moving on from DeMayo, however, progress on the show slowed, pushing season two off the studio’s 2025 streaming slate and into 2026. Winderbaum‘s latest comments could be interpreted as an indication that the new showrunner, Matthew Chauncey, has hit his stride in outlining and developing future seasons of the show.

  • James Gunn Teases the Futures of Two DCU Villains

    James Gunn Teases the Futures of Two DCU Villains

    While Superman focused mainly on fleshing out the all-new, all-different DCU’s Metropolis and its cast of characters, the film’s opening text established a world in which metahumans have been a known quantity for 300 years. That allowed for plenty of room to introduce heroes and villains in the film without necessarily having to spend too much time on their origins, something director James Gunn took full advantage of in having the Engineer and Ultraman join Lex Luthor in taking on Superman.

    Even though Maria Gabrielle de Faria’s Engineer didn’t land with audiences as much as Gunn had hoped, she was a key part of Luthor’s team, so with Superman’s arch enemy set to return in Man of Tomorrow, it shouldn’t be too surprising to learn that Gunn has plans for the Engineer as well.

    As confirmed by Gunn from comments made in the Superman Director’s Commentary, de Faria will return in Man of Tomorrow where fans will learn what happened to the villain after she went toe-to-toe with Kal-El and lost.

    “She’s out of the movie,” said Gunn of the character in reference to her not returning to the story after being knocked unconscious by Superman. “Where does she go? Well, you’re going to find that out in the next movie.”

    That sounds a bit like PlanetWatch may end up getting involved in…watching the planet…when Brainiac attacks, which is a reasonable way of having Lex and Superman team up in Man of Tomorrow. However, the Engineer wasn’t the only other villain in Superman.

    During production, word leaked that Superman would feature some sort of evil doppelgänger of the Man of Steel, also played by David Corenswet. That, of course, turned out to be the DCU’s Ultraman, who has a markedly different origin story from his DC Comics counterpart…but as Gunn teased, his story may not be over either and the next chapter may take him to his comic book home.

    “We discover that Ultraman is a clone of Superman. [In the comics], Ultraman is from Earth-3, where he’s a part of The Crime Syndicate and an evil version of Superman. There are some similarities here,” said Gunn. “Also, you might ask yourself, ‘Where does Ultraman go at the end of the movie?’ He sends him up into the black hole. Is this the end of Ultraman? I don’t know.”

    While obviously more opaque than the plans for the Engineer, it does sound as though while Ultraman’s fate might be unknown to the audience, it’s a little more defined in Gunn’s mind.

    Could Gunn be hinting at a Crisis on Two Earths-type film as part of his Superman Saga? It’s certainly not one on many fans’ bingo cards and would be incredibly ambitious; however, if executed properly, it would also likely stand as a giant among comic-booky comic book films.

  • ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ Star Joins the Cast of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ Star Joins the Cast of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    In May, a report from journalist Chris Higashi, who was in attendance at the Disney Blockbuster Consumer Products presentation, revealed a significant amount of information about the villains and plot of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Though it was met with heavy skepticism as the time, Higashi claimed that the presentation revealed a trip of villains set to menace the Web-Slinger in the new film: Scorpion, Boomerang and Tombstone.

    With Michael Mando back as Mac Gargan, Scorpion is a lock and now, as production continues in the UK, another of those three baddies has been confirmed.

    According to Deadline, Marvin Jones III has joined the cast of Spider-Man: Brand New Day as Tombstone, The Horror of Harlem.

    Jones voiced Tombstone in Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018 and also has experience as a live-action baddie after playing DC kingpin Tobias Whale in the CW’s Black Lightning.

    Updating…

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Leak Provides First Look at Marvel Movie’s Main Cast in Costume

    ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Leak Provides First Look at Marvel Movie’s Main Cast in Costume

    With Marvel Studios recently having completed principal photography on Avengers: Doomsday (though plans include “a healthy dose of additional photography down the road”), directors Anthony and Joe Russo will begin post-production work on the film while also prepping for production on Avengers: Secret Wars. Incredibly, despite filming for five-and-a-half months, true leaks from the set were scarce, leaving fans with only a few bread crumbs about what might be going down in Avengers: Doomsday; however, thanks to one of the film’s hair and makeup artists, the first looks at the new costumes of the entire main cast has made its way online.

    Via her IG story, hair and makeup artist Giovanna Ponci has revealed art of 28 characters confirmed to appear in Avengers: Doomsday. While the most notable costume changes belong to the Fox X-Men, there’s plenty from the artwork to dissect.
    • Top row (L to R): Doctor Doom, Reed Richards, Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova (partially obscured), Magneto (partially obscured), Beast (partially obscured) and Ghost
    • Second row (L to R): Thor, Sue Storm, Shuri, Red Guardian, Charles Xavier, Cyclops and Falcon
    • Third row (L to R): Captain America, Thing, Shang-Chi, M’Baku, Gambit, Nightcrawler and Sentry
    • Bottom row (L to R): Ant-Man, Johnny Storm, Loki, Namor, Mystique, John Walker and Franklin Richards

    The art reveals that James Marsden‘s Cyclops will be sporting a comic-accurate, Jim Lee-inspired blue and gold suit, confirming previous rumors, and Rebecca Romijn‘s Mystique will be wearing a white dress, per her classic look.

    Yelena Belova and her New Avengers are all featured in the artwork and while their Avengers: Doomsday costumes were revealed in the Thunderbolts* tag, it’s worth pointing out that Lewis Pullman is in full Sentry mode, something that could certainly change the course of the film in more than one way.

    Wakandans Shuri and M’Baku are both sporting new looks while their new ally, Namor, is wearing collared costume that looks to be comic-inspired as well.

    Finally, the Fantastic Four all appear to have slightly altered costumes while Doctor Doom’s look seems to match the promotional art of the character shared at a Shanghai marketing expo in early September.

  • ‘Luke Cage’s Star Mike Colter All But Confirms Return to the Role for ‘Daredevil: Born Again’

    ‘Luke Cage’s Star Mike Colter All But Confirms Return to the Role for ‘Daredevil: Born Again’

    Marvel Television boss Brad Winderbaum recently confirmed that the studio has given the green light to a third season of Daredevil: Born Again and it’s looking increasingly likely that another of hero from Netflix’s Defenders-verse will be making the jump to D+.

    But now that some time has passed, now that we actually see how well-integrated the stories are, I personally, Brad Winderbaum, will confidently say that they are part of the Sacred Timeline.

    -Brad Winderbaum

    Though it was originally developed without ties to the Netflix series, Daredevil: Born Again underwent a major creative overhaul that ultimately canonized 13 seasons and 161 nearly hour-long episodes and added them to the MCU’s Sacred Timeline. The first season of the revival brought Jon Bernthal, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Ayelet Zurer and Wilson Bethel across the bridge and into the MCU and in May it was revealed that Krysten Ritter had joined the cast of the second season, reprising her role as hard-drinking PI Jessica Jones. And it continue to look like she won’t be the last Netflix star to join Marvel Television’s flagship streaming series.

    After once stating that the role was in his “rear view mirror,” Luke Cage star Mike Colter has recently begun to tease a potential return as Harlem’s Hero. Colter is set to join Ritter, Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio at New York Comic Con, sparking speculation that an official announcement of his return to the role is imminent. Now, Colter has upped his tease game, all but confirming his return during an appearance at Edmonton Expo.

    “I don’t know why people keep asking me this. There’s no signs. It’s not like they’ve just recently revived one of the Marvel Netflix shows,” teased Colter when asked if he was set to return for as Cage in Daredevil: Born Again.

    Colter‘s comments certainly come across as confirmation of his return as Cage, though nothing is certain until the star shows up in an episode. If Colter is indeed “back”, the timing of the revelation would align with the star joining the cast for the third season, which will go into production in early 2026, though an appearance in Season 2 can’t be ruled out.

  • James Gunn Offers Discouraging Updates on The DCU’s Batman

    James Gunn Offers Discouraging Updates on The DCU’s Batman

    When James Gunn and Peter Safran pulled back the curtain on the first chapter of DC Studios’ planned slate, The Brave and the Bold…and nearly three years later, that’s proven to be the case as the project has struggled to gain any positive momentum.

    Inspired by Grant Morrison‘s Batman and Son arc from his epic run on Batman that began in 2006, The Brave and the Bold was described by Gunn as “a very strange sort of father-son story” featuring Bruce Wayne and his son, Damian, who Gunn referred to as “a little son of a bitch.”

    [The Brave and the Bold is] a story of Damian Wayne, who’s Batman’s actual son that he didn’t know existed for the first eight to ten years of his life. He was raised as a little murderer and assassin.

    -James Gunn

    Originally set to be directed by It and The Flash helmer Andy Muschetti, the film was also intended to introduce “other members of the extended Bat-Family” who Gunn explained had “been left out of the Batman stories in the theater for far too long.” With so many details available by mid-2023, it seemed likely that The Brave and the Bold would follow closely behind Superman and help build a solid foundation for the all-new DCU.

    However, by late 2024, progess on the film had seemingly stalled leading to Gunn explaining that the studio had “no set timeline for anything,” and that production on The Brave and the Bold–and any other DC Studios project–would not get made “until we have a screenplay that I’m totally happy with.” And now, as 2025 winds down into its final quarter, Gunn has provided a bit of a discouraging update on that screenplay.

    “The script isn’t done,” Gunn revealed in an interview with The Ringer-Verse. “I mean, we’ve got somebody writing a script, I think it’s really good,” he quickly clarified. And that wasn’t the only downer Gunn dropped.

    With it recently becoming crystal clear that Matt Reeves‘ Batman Epic Crime Saga is set outside the DCU’s main continuity and that Robert Pattinson will not be the DCU Batman, Gunn was asked if he had found his Batman yet. The short answer is no.

    “Do I have ideas about actors who could play Batman? Absolutely, I do. I have guys I like. I have guys that are top of the list for me, just like I had people that were at the top of the list for Superman,” Gunn said.

    “People can guess and maybe they’ll be right about certain things. We’d have to screen test, we’d have to do the whole thing. Okay, I see what you’re doing. ‘1923’, it’s a really good TV show, like I can’t believe how good that show was,” said Gunn, likely referring to rumors that Brandon Sklenar was in the mix for the DCU’ Dark Knight.

    Notably, Gunn’s comments about screen tests stand out as in the cases of both Superman and Supergirl, trades caught wind of the DC Studios’ short lists for Superman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor and Supergirl. It’s safe to assume a role as big as Batman would catch the attention of the trades again. And while that means fans are no closer to finding out who will play Batman, Gunn does know someone who won’t… though he isn’t quite ready to share who that is.

    “One actor in particular, a pretty big star, wants to be Batman,” teased Gunn before saying, “we’ve talked about it, but I don’t think that’s the case,” he said.

    With so little seemingly working on the right direction and multiple other projects further along in development, it seems as though The Brave and the Bold won’t hit theaters until 2028 or later.

    Source: The Ringer-Verse