Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • Marvel Studios Kevin Feige Almost Went to DC After Ike Perlmutter Dispute

    Marvel Studios Kevin Feige Almost Went to DC After Ike Perlmutter Dispute

    Here’s an interesting surprise it looks like the conflict between Kevin Feige, the CEO of Marvel Studios, and Ike Perlmutter, the CEO and Chairman of Marvel, almost led to the MCU producer joining Warner Bros.’ DC department. In a new piece by Puck, they reveal he entered discussions around the mid-2010 as he was facing some issues with Perlmutter, which were quite famously documented. This may have also led to a promotion in 2015 to work with Alan Horn. He would eventually become Marvel Entertainment’s Chief Creative Officer as well while supervising Marvel Studios.

    The Marvel Cinematic Universe definitely wouldn’t be what it is today if it weren’t for Feige’s leading hand, and he’s quite a passionate person about telling these stories. Disney may have faced quite the challenge if he decided to leave, as there aren’t many in the industry that could’ve taken over the vision that was set out. He’s famous for planning in advance where their franchise is heading, and his imprint is definitely on these projects.

    Of course, it’s always strange to think about what could’ve been, and DC may have been very different if he did indeed take over the project. There have been many reports on Ike Perlmutter‘s infamous frugality that has led to many issues. He also established the creative council that led the original projects and strongly restricted what Feige could do, especially when it came to embracing more diverse characters. If you’ve ever wondered why it took so long for a Black Widow film to get going, he’s the one that wouldn’t even let them release toys based on the character.

    Source: Puck via The Direct

  • HBO Max’s ‘Raised by Wolves’ Canceled After 2 Seasons

    HBO Max’s ‘Raised by Wolves’ Canceled After 2 Seasons

    After airing for two seasons on the HBO Max streaming platform, Raised by Wolves has been canceled. The Ridley Scott-produced series was originally ordered to series on TNT back in 2018 before being transferred to the WarnerMedia streaming service before its premiere in 2020. In a statement made to Variety by HBO Max, they officially announced they weren’t moving forward with a third season, but remained complementary to the entire team behind the show.

    While we are not proceeding with a third season of Raised by Wolves, we are beyond grateful to the stellar cast and crew, our creators Aaron Guzikowski, Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, and the entire team at Scott Free Productions, for their beautiful artistry and unique ability to immerse fans into the world of Kepler-22b.

    HBO Max

    The series starred the likes of Amanda Collin, Abubakar Salim, Travis Fimmel, Niamh Algar, and Kim Engelbrecht. This series served as the directorial debut for Ridley Scott on an American television program.

    The news of this cancellation comes at a time of large amounts of turnover across the entire WarnerMedia company under the new leadership of David Zaslav. The new CEO has spearheaded a mentality of conserving financial assets which has caused a massive shakeup thus far in consolidating a large number of projects (as seen with the large amounts of cancellations seen across the board and shutting down production for any new scripted programs on the TNT and TBS networks).

    It remains to be seen what further changes will occur under the WarnerMedia umbrella. As well, the question can certainly be asked if the critically successful Raised by Wolves series may be able to find new life on another network or platform.


    Source: Variety

  • RUMOR: Amber Heard’s Scenes in ‘Aquaman 2’ May Have been Cut

    RUMOR: Amber Heard’s Scenes in ‘Aquaman 2’ May Have been Cut

    Amber Heard and Johnny Depp‘s trial has been in the news for quite some time. During, there were many reveals regarding her role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, as well as Depp talking about what would’ve been his last Pirates of the Caribbean film. Yet, as Heard didn’t want out of her contract as hoped by Warner Bros., it seems that they may have decided to delete all her scenes in the upcoming Aquaman sequel after all.

    The news comes from Geeks Worldwide’s KC Walsh who shared the tidbit on his Twitter. Of course, there are no details but it does seem like they may have decided to move away from her entirely after already minimizing her role to some extent. It’s unclear how they may write around her absence, but we could see some reshoots in the future if this turns out to be true.

    If they had a meeting, it is very likely in response to the trial and worries from the corporation to draw in any more negative attention. Amber Heard has been the focus of coverage for this trial, especially on Social Media. For now, there’s no official word by Warner Bros. Discovery, which is going through quite a bit of change. So, we’ll see if they will even make an official announcement if this decision has truly been made.

    Source: Twitter

  • Tahar Rahim Joins Dakota Johnson-Led ‘Madame Web’ Cast

    Tahar Rahim Joins Dakota Johnson-Led ‘Madame Web’ Cast

    Sony is moving fast with their upcoming adaptation of the Spider-Man character of Madame Web. After casting Dakota Johnson in the titular role, they swiftly added Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor. Now, the film directed by S.J. Clarkson has added The Serpent‘s Tahar Rahim.

    There’s no word on who exactly he may playing, as we know very little about the way they’ll adapt this character’s comic history. Madame Web is normally an elderly woman that was kept alive through a device that looked like a spider’s web. She had power over the Spider-Verse and became a constant mentor figure for Spidey’s more out-there adventures.

    It seems Sony wants to make her their version of Doctor Strange, but it’ll be interesting to see how they manage to adapt it. There’s a lot of potentials to create an interesting original story around the character, and it seems we shouldn’t expect your typical hero vs. villain structure.

    Sony has been obsessed with building its own Spider-Man universe even as it starts tacking elements from MCU’s playbook due to their Home-themed Spider-Man franchise. No Way Home confirmed that Sony won’t be playing in the same toolbox as them, but it’s also unsure who exactly would carry this franchise potentially.

    Tom Holland remains in his own universe, which is very likely to have a fourth entry on the horizon. So, we can only speculate for now what the future has in store and which Spider-Man this group of anti-heroes may potentially join or fight. As of now, we have no clue how exactly it may fit together just yet.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Ms. Marvel’s Directors Reveal the Inner Thought Animations Weren’t Part of the Initial Scripts

    ‘Ms. Marvel’s Directors Reveal the Inner Thought Animations Weren’t Part of the Initial Scripts

    There was a lot of excitement when the first trailer dropped for Ms. Marvel, as it seemingly promised what may be Disney+’s most inventive series by Marvel Studios yet. With a fun atmosphere of a young heroine trying to find her place in the world and as a superhero, we also got some creative visualizations that bring her inner thoughts to life. It turns out, this wasn’t part of the initial script.

    Directing duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah revealed how they had the idea during the Disney+ show’s red carpet premiere. They added the animation as they had the idea to use it as a way to highlight the character’s inner thoughts and further emphasize that she’s a daydreamer.

    We needed to set her up right. That’s why we wanted to add animation to it. It was not in the script, we wanted to get into her head, into her fantasy. We wanted to have an endearing and charming character. And have someone that Muslim girls all over the world can relate to, but also tell that universal story everybondy can feel a connection with.

    Adil El Arbi

    They definitely stood out in the initial trailer and highlight the influences it takes from films like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. It would be interesting if they also make their way into future appearances for the character, something that someone like Deadpool might notice and reference. We know she’ll also appear in next year’s The Marvels, which could further build upon her inner thoughts as she’s among the Avengers she’s been idolizing for so long.

    Source: Twitter

  • New ‘Black Adam’ Promo Art Teases a Showdown With Hawkman

    New ‘Black Adam’ Promo Art Teases a Showdown With Hawkman

    It looks like some more promo art for Black Adam has found its way online highlighting the members of the Justice Society of America. Not only that, but it also highlights Black Adam as part of the team. While he seems like an unlikely candidate to join any kind of team, the new promotional images offer a good look at the members of the team, which we previously saw through Funko Pops that don’t highlight every detail these characters will bring to the table. The images were shared by @DCversio1.

    https://twitter.com/dcverso1/status/1532739808031801346?s=21&t=ujGwSqgSnbxre1_IQlFv6Q

    Overall, the costumes look great, and it’ll be interesting to see if we get a full showdown between the heroes with the newfound ally that has his own understanding of what it means to represent justice. ‘One of the promotional material seems to imply that there will be a battle with Hawkman at least.

    https://twitter.com/DCverso1/status/1532740366037835777

    The visual of having the members be highlighted with diamonds while Black Adam is a lightning bolt highlights that he may be among other heroes, he definitely stands out on his own terms. We see a continued highlight of Doctor Fate’s unique mask that seems split down the middle with one side reflecting order and possibly chaos, something our very own John Sabato has noted in the past. Or, he just took a punch from the almighty wielder of the power of Shazam that left quite a sizeable dent in his helmet.

    The introduction of the JSA is also a big moment for DC movies and may highlight there’s more than just the Justice League. We’re still anticipating a trailer that offers us a better look at these heroes in action. Maybe the first trailer teases that very battle for supremacy included in the promo art.

    Source: Twitter

  • Arian Moayed Describes ‘Ms. Marvel’ Co-Star Iman Vellani as “a Phenom” 

    Arian Moayed Describes ‘Ms. Marvel’ Co-Star Iman Vellani as “a Phenom” 

    Arian Moayed only just joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in December’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, and he’s already gearing up to return. The Iranian-born actor is set to make his second appearance as Department of Damage Control Agent Cleary in the upcoming series Ms. Marvel, which debuts on Disney+ next week. Moayed will co-star with an immensely talented cast, which includes newcomer Iman Vellani in the title role as teen hero Kamala Khan.

    Speaking with Variety on the red carpet premiere of the show, the Succession star was asked what he thought of Vellani’s performance, which has received praise from critics in early reviews. Moayed seemed to agree, calling the young actress a “phenom”:

    She’s a phenom, and I’m not joking. She’s an immigrant, from Pakistan, grew up in Canada. There’s an immigrant quality there so she’s working hard, you can already know that…She really just has all of the natural skills. I think we’re going to be very excited to see her in a lot of things moving forward.

    Arian Moayed

    The actor also commented on what it means to him, as an immigrant himself, to see Vellani get the spotlight as a role model for young children. Moayed hopes that the series will help change how the world perceives the Muslim community:

    I’m an Iranian immigrant. I grew up, the best that we had was ‘Aladdin’, which was also amazing. But now to imagine, so many years later, there is a Muslim show with a superhero. It’s just going to change how people perceive us.

    Arian Moayed

    Ms. Marvel hits the small screen on June 8th.

  • Colton Haynes Reveals Why He Left ‘Arrow’ Ahead of Season 8

    Colton Haynes Reveals Why He Left ‘Arrow’ Ahead of Season 8

    With the release of his new memoir, Colton Haynes is finally opening up as to what led him to exit Arrow ahead of Season 8.

    His memoir, Miss Memory Lane, was released on May 31st. The 256-page book from Atria Books takes fans down memory lane as Haynes recalls his struggles with addiction, abuse, and his time on Teen Wolf and the CW’s Arrow. The actor, who is set to appear in the Paramount+ Teen Wolf revival movie, left MTV’s Teen Wolf series in 2012 after appearing for two seasons. The decision to leave was financially-based as the network refused to pay the actor what his fellow stars were being paid. Ironically enough, this is an issue Arden Cho experienced too when she received a lowball offer to return for the Paramount+ Teen Wolf movie.

    Unfortunately, Haynes had an even more frustrating experience when he was a part of the cast of the CW’s Arrow. The actor starred in the series for seven seasons before transitioning to a recurring role ahead of Season 8. For Haynes, the decision to exit Arrow after Season 7 was due to personal reasons. He wasn’t in the best state mentally, nor did he have a great relationship with his co-stars, or at least one in particular.

    In his memoir he writes, “I had walked away from my full-time job on Arrow at the beginning of the year, supposedly because my contract had ended, but it was really because I was too depressed and I couldn’t stand working with one of my cast mates.”

    Arrow ended after Season 8 and since then, Haynes hasn’t really appeared in much outside of an episode of Hulu’s Dollface, as well as a music video for Lil Nas X. He can next be seen in Teen Wolf: The Movie, where he’ll reprise his role as Jackson Whittemore. Production recently wrapped and the movie is set to debut sometime this year.

    Source: E! Online.

  • ‘Moon Knight’ Beats Out ‘Hawkeye’s Overall Viewership on Disney+

    ‘Moon Knight’ Beats Out ‘Hawkeye’s Overall Viewership on Disney+

    There have been some curious statements in the past in regards to Moon Knight‘s overall viewership on Disney+. As SambaTV has not released the numbers for the final episode, many took this as a showcase that the show didn’t quite end on a high note. Yet, Nielsen ratings have revealed that Moon Knight managed to pull in its best viewing in its finale, which is a showcase of how different streaming services develop in comparison to traditional TV.

    The six-episode series took in 715 million minutes from May 2nd to 8th which was the week of its finale. It grew from 681 million in its previous week, and the only small dip it faced was in its fourth week, otherwise, the show has continued to grow in viewership over its six-episode run. Normally, linear TV sees a recurring decrease in viewership over its total run, which may be due to long season formats and ongoing breaks in-between.

    In total, the series pulled in 3.7 billion minutes watched, which puts it between Hawkeye (3.46B) and The Falcon and Winter Soldier (4.15B). The show managed to take in the third spot and beat out competition like Prime Video’s new Outer Range, Bullsh*t: The Game Show, and more. Netflix’s Ozark however was the champion that week. Outer Range took in the fourth spot but was a fair bit behind with 425M viewers, but not a bad performance.

    Moon Knight‘s numbers aren’t something to just scoff at given that the character is the first newly introduced member of the MCU family with little to no connections to the rest. So, it beating out Hawkeye, which already posted some strong numbers is no small feat. The Mandalorian and Loki remain the strongest performers on the app, but we also don’t know if there are other success factors that haven’t been taken into account yet. Still, it seems Marvel Studios is still quite successful with what they produced so far.

    Source: THR

  • ‘Twisted Metal’ Series Adds Richard Cabral and Samoa Joe

    ‘Twisted Metal’ Series Adds Richard Cabral and Samoa Joe

    As the series based on the PlayStation video game franchise Twisted Metal continues its development for the Peacock streaming service, new castings have been revealed that help to round out the cast. Firstly, it was announced that the Emmy-nominated Richard Cabral will be portraying the role of Loud. The character is the overprotective brother of Quiet, who will be portrayed by Stephanie Beatriz. This will be Cabral’s first role since exiting FX’s Mayans M.C. earlier this month.

    It was also announced that Joe Seanoa, aka the professional wrestler Samoa Joe, will be portraying the physical form of Sweet Tooth. This will be a dual-portrayal of the character with Will Arnett slated to provide voice-over work for the role. Sweet Tooth is arguably the most popular and recognizable character from the Twisted Metal video games, known for being a prolific killer from his ice cream truck. Joe was officially written off of his current wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling on the latest episode of Dynamite with a shoulder injury angle this past Wednesday, which will provide him the time to physically inhabit the role of Sweet Tooth.

    In addition, actors Mike Mitchell, Tahj Vaghans, and Lou Beatty Jr have been cast as recurring characters in the upcoming series. Mitchell and Vaughans will be playing Stu and Mike respectively, who have been described as the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the Twisted Metal universe. Meanwhile, Beatty Jr will play the experienced cartographer Tommy.

    These names join the already star-studded cast consisting of Anthony Mackie as John Doe, Thomas Haden Church as Agent Stone, and Neve Campbell as Raven. Production for the series began in late May and is set to complete by early September.

    Source: Deadline and Deadline