Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan Hickman’s Run Inspired ‘Doctor Strange 2’s Take on Mr. Fantastic

    EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan Hickman’s Run Inspired ‘Doctor Strange 2’s Take on Mr. Fantastic

    Jonathan Hickman always had a way of reinvigorating stories with some of the most popular Marvel characters. While many will remember his amazing work on the crossover event Secret Wars, he also gave us quite the iconic run focused on the Fantastic Four. It brought a new life to Marvel’s first family and redefined their position within the Marvel universe for many. It seems that may have also been a big inspiration for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron.

    In an exclusive interview with Charles Murphy, the writer talked about the many influences in the film and it turns out that Hickman‘s run with Reed Richards also played a key part in how he approached the Illuminati’s Mr. Fantastic, who was played by John Krasinski.

    Yes and I still have to be deliberately cagey for one more weekend about the specifics about these actors and everything, but it was really trying to draw on that Hickman version of that, of the Illuminati and how they dealt with Incursions. That specific character I love, deeply and was excited to collaborate with that actor on and how to bring him to life.

    Michael Waldron

    He once again highlights that he worked on bringing the character to life with Krasinski, and it’s great to see that the actor was also able to add to the character even if it’s just a brief appearance.. Though taking a strong Hickman direction is a noticeable addition to the character. Given the character’s long history, there are many iterations to choose from but many might point to Hickman‘s run as a modern definite of the character.

    It’s also interesting he made a point to highlight he can’t say much more at this time. So, we’ll see if there’s more information heading our way on Mr. Fantastic and the Fantastic Four in the future. Marvel Studios does have a film planned for the team and outside of Jon Watts dropping out as a director, we don’t know what exactly their plans are just yet.

  • Disney+ Adds 8M Subscribers and Avoids Netflix’s Downward Trend

    Disney+ Adds 8M Subscribers and Avoids Netflix’s Downward Trend

    There has been a lot of worry about the streaming market ever since Netflix faced its first subscriber drop in over ten years. So, everyone was wondering if others in the market would also face a slow down in subscriptions, or even worse, an additional drop. It turns out Disney managed to avoid the trend, as they have added 8M subscribers, beating Wall Street’s estimates.

    The service now stands at a total of 137.7M subscribers with its second-quarter growth. As such, its shares went up by 4.5% which definitely shows some of the hesitations that were out in the market. Hulu has also added 300K subscribers to stand at 45.6M while ESPN+ reached 22.3M with one million additional subscribers. So, there’s a general growth across all streaming services currently owned by the House of Mouse.

    Disney has taken a hit of $1 billion ending its content licensing agreements, but even while they wouldn’t solidify which ones, Netflix is a definite part of it with their Marvel series. Their only real challenge now remains with Disney+ Hotstar being a cheaper offering of the service that increases its subscriber growth but not the profit pulled from it. Spending will continue to grow, but we’ll see how it continues to move forward in the future.

    Source: CNN, THR

  • ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Still on Track to Release This Year

    ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Still on Track to Release This Year

    Another earnings call has arrived from Disney, which tends to mostly give us some small glimpses of how projects are being developed. They tend to not reveal any big news, but it seems that Disney CEO Bob Chapek has made one statement regarding an upcoming Marvel Studios project. He has revealed that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is still on track to hit its November release this year, as shared by Decider’s Alex Zalben on Twitter.

    To be fair, he only states it’s “on pace to come out this year” which could still see a potential delay from its November 11th release date. The reason for some concerns came due to the troubled production earlier this year, as an injury forced them to delay the production. Luckily, Letitia Wright, who was injured during production, was able to return to finish production earlier this year.

    It’s a relief to know that the film is still eyeing to stick to its 2022 release, as who knows if it might also lead to some further delays to projects that are connected, such as Ironheart is currently being worked on. Director Ryan Coogler is also working on that project alongside other Wakanda-focused Disney+ series that haven’t been announced yet. So, if work delays on the next Black Panther entry, it could affect those projects as well.

    Source: Twitter

  • EXCLUSIVE: ‘Doctor Strange 2’s Michael Waldron Teases the Growing Multiversal Threat of MCU’s Phase 4

    EXCLUSIVE: ‘Doctor Strange 2’s Michael Waldron Teases the Growing Multiversal Threat of MCU’s Phase 4

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is quite the self-contained story about Strange overcoming his need for control and Wanda accepting to finally let go. Yet, we can’t deny that it also sets up quite a lot of important elements for the franchise moving forward, especially when it comes to the multiverse that is part of the madness.

    The film introduces the concept of Incursions when two realities start colliding with each other and even teases how that ends up looking like when he faces off against a sinister version of himself. Yet, comic readers will quickly realize that the last time we’ve heard about Incursions we were building up to the Secret Wars crossover event. In an interview with our very own Charles Murphy, Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron teases many threats that have been piling on throughout Phase 4.

    And there’s the threat. And it’s out there and now it’s out there. There’s a multiversal threat. In the same way that when the MCU first went cosmic many years ago, there was the teed up threat of Thanos. Now it’s probably a matter of you’re setting up some multiversal threats on the board. Whether it’s Kang, Incursions, whatever. It’ll be interesting to see how all those things come together.

    Phase 4 has been building up not one but multiple big threats that have the multiverse as a common trait. We technically got the Incursions teased in Loki, where we saw a cartoon hinting at an event where multiverses started fighting for dominance. At the core of all these events was Kang the Conqueror, whose Variant we first met in that very Disney+ series. Perhaps Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which will see Jonathan Majors tackle the role and could further set up where

  • EXCLUSIVE: Brother Voodoo Was Never Planned for ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

    EXCLUSIVE: Brother Voodoo Was Never Planned for ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

    Even by Marvel Studios standards, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was a film shrouded in secrecy up until its release. The promise of secrets and surprises mixed with the multiversal nature of the movie led to plenty of rumors and speculations ahead of the release. Now that audiences have had a chance to experience the Doctor Strange sequel, fans are getting plenty of information about the actual contents of the film as well as the process of bringing them to the screen.

    Possibly above all else, fans are debating how the surprise appearances of certain characters, such as the Illuminati, compared to some of the widespread rumors of certain cameos being in Multiverse of Madness. In an exclusive interview with Murphy’s Multiverse, the film’s writer Michael Waldron spoke on the secrecy involved in making the film and the Illuminati.

    But Waldron also spoke on rumors that certain characters from the comics would play major roles or supporting leads in the Doctor Strange sequel that ultimately did not. In particular, the writer discussed the characters of Clea and Jericho Drumm, also known as Brother Voodoo. As we know from the mid-credits scene, Charlize Theron did make a brief and teasing appearance as Clea, but whether or not she was ever meant to be a significant character is unclear. Waldron simply noted that “I think Clea has always been on the table.”

    When asked about the rumor that Jericho Drumm had a role in the film, Waldron revealed that Brother Voodoo was never a part of Multiverse of Madness:

    I think there was definitely a discussion of Jericho Drumm, but never anything that I worked on.

    Michael Waldron

    The speculation that Drumm would make his way to the MCU made—and still makes—plenty of sense. First appearing in Strange Tales #169, the Haitian-born Jericho Drumm left for America to become a psychologist. Upon returning home, he found his brother, Daniel, dying from a spell cast on him. Daniel made Jericho promise to study to become a Houngan, starting his path towards eventually replacing Stephen Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme. We already saw Daniel be killed in the original Doctor Strange as the keeper of the New York Sanctum at the time.

    Alas, Brother Voodoo did not make an appearance in Multiverse of Madness, though his connections to Doctor Strange still make him a strong choice for future stories, including Doctor Strange 3. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theaters worldwide.

  • Bryce Dallas Howard is Ready To Direct a ‘Star Wars’ Film

    Bryce Dallas Howard is Ready To Direct a ‘Star Wars’ Film

    Disney+ has given us a whole new look into the Star Wars Universe with its original series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Those series have featured multiple episodes directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, for what many fans believe to be some of the best of both shows. For a while now, people have to say Howard deserves a shot a directing a film, we hear have even talked about how she’d be perfect for one and even recently ranked her amongst our top picks for the new Fantastic Four director.

    In an interview with Gizmodo, while promoting her newest film, Jurassic World: Dominion, Bryce Dallas Howard was asked if she was ready to take the reigns of a Star Wars feature film, and it seems like she’s onboard if someone is willing to ask her.

    Oh, my goodness, I think it would take someone asking me.

    Bryce Dallas Howard

    Howard‘s episodes of The Mandalorian are seen as some of the most memorable with “Sanctuary” seeing the first meeting of Dinn Djarin and Cara Dune. In it, the pair band together to defend a village from a group of raiders who’ve taken control of an empire AT-ST. “The Heiress” was another one of her episodes, bringing Bo-Katan and the Night Owls into live-action, previously only seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels.

    But perhaps her most coveted work is in episode 5 of The Book of Boba Fett. In “The Return of The Mandalorian” we see the return of Dinn Djarin as he plans to visit Grogu, but is stopped by Ahsoka Tano in order to help him continue the youngling’s training. The episode also features the first on-screen meeting of Tano and Luke Skywalker, quite the monumental moment for fans of the franchise.

    While there’s no word on a possible project right now for Howard, Star Wars Celebration is rapidly approaching and we will hopefully get some news on the future there.

    Source: Gizmodo

  • Twenty-One Pilots Originally Worked on ‘Top Gun: Maverick’s Soundtrack

    Twenty-One Pilots Originally Worked on ‘Top Gun: Maverick’s Soundtrack

    Here’s a curious surprise, it seems that Twenty-One Pilots was originally meant to work on the soundtrack for Top Gun: Maverick. While many know that Lady Gaga took on that task with her ballad Hold My Hand, we may have gotten a very different soundtrack at an earlier point. The news comes from the Twenty-One Pilots frontman Tyler Joseph, who shared on the radio station KROQ the story, making the claim that it was the film’s main star and producer Tom Cruise who had them kicked off the project after already signing on by Paramount Pictures.

    I was working with the music placement person for the new ‘Top Gun’ on writing a new song for them, and then I believe Tom Cruise came in and just fired everyone. You’ve seen that new ‘Top Gun’ thing that he’s got? The trailer has been out for, like, three years, so there’s been a few overhauls, and I was a part of that, so, they moved on.

    Tyler Joseph

    It’s certainly not unheard of that Cruise has shown his influence over projects, especially a legacy sequel. He also highlighted that he worked on a few scenes to write the original music. So, it’s curious that they got kicked at a later point, highlighting it was around the time he saw the footage.

    It was actually pretty soon after they brought me in to show me parts of the movie and what they were looking for and stuff. Then I got word that there was like a wholesale swap.

    Tyler Joseph

    Lady Gaga took over at that point, but it’s unclear what may have exactly led to that “wholesale swap” as he points out. It’s not great when you start working on a project to suddenly get kicked, but it probably will never be confirmed if it truly was Cruise that got them kicked off the project.

    Source: IndieWire

  • Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively Set to Return for ‘A Simple Favor’ Sequel

    Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively Set to Return for ‘A Simple Favor’ Sequel

    Deadline is reporting that Lionsgate will be teaming up with Amazon Studios to produce a sequel to one of their most successful projects, A Simple Favor. Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively have been announced to return to the franchise, reprising their roles as Stephanie Smothers and Emily Nelson respectively. As well, respected film and television director Paul Feig is slated to return to helm the follow-up to his independent success with the first film. Jessica Sharzer is also returning to write the sequel’s screenplay in addition to serving as an executive producer for the film.

    2018’s A Simple Favor has been one of Lionsgate’s most successful projects on both a commercial and critical level. The Anna Kendrick-led film turned in a decent-sized financial profit-earning over $97.5M at the box office while also holding an 84% certified fresh rating with Rotten Tomatoes. A Simple Favor is the story of Stephanie (Kendrick), a widower and single mother, who vlogs through the surprising investigation pertaining to the disappearance of her friend Emily (Lively).

    Without getting into specific spoilers, the film left the door open for story opportunities for a hypothetical sequel. And now with the sequel becoming a reality and entering active development, fans of the independent darling will have the opportunity to potentially have some of the unresolved threads of the first film answered.

    Source: Deadline

  • The NBA’s Dearly Departed: Chicago Bulls Edition

    The NBA’s Dearly Departed: Chicago Bulls Edition

    Even with being eliminated from the Playoffs in the first round, this was a surprise season for the Bulls. Chicago had one goal this season and that was to surround Zach LaVine with as much talent as possible to sell him on the future of this team and convince him to reup with the team rather than look around as a free agent. With that in mind, the Bulls put together an impressively solid roster of veterans and defensive payers, improving their win total by over 40% YoY. There’s a lot to look forward to next season as the Bulls were injury prone this season, especially with their difference making defensive anchors, Caruso and Ball being out majority of the season, and in Balls case, the playoffs. The big question for the Bulls this offseason is, did they convince LaVine to stay?

    Notable Free Agents

    • Guard Zach LaVine
    • Guard Matt Thomas (Restricted)
    • Forward Derrick Jones Jr.
    • Forward Tony Brown Jr.
    • Forward Tyler Cook (Restricted)
    • Center Tony Bradley (Player Option)
    • Center Tristan Thompson

    Projected 2022-2023 Starting Lineup

    • PG Lonzo Ball
    • SG Zach LaVine (Free Agent)
    • SF DeMar Derozan
    • PF Patrick Williams
    • C Nikola Vucevic

    Will Zach LaVine Resign

    Outside of a few role players the Bulls are essentially running it back for the 22/23 season, but that’s assuming that LaVine resigns. Under the radar, Zach has proven himself to be a capable leader and scorer with the Bulls while also improving on the defensive end almost every season. With a ceiling that have yet to be hit, the Bulls are desperate to keep LaVine in the fold as the team is built to go as far as LaVine can take them. The question is, what is LaVine looking for? Is he looking to be to sole focus point? Is it a desired state to live in? Or is it a desire to be in the best place to win? If the goal is to win, then the Bulls is the best option as the next best teams with potential cap space to sign him would be the Portland Trailblazers or the Indiana Pacers.

    Winning on the Margin

    With a starting 5 set for the next season, and roll players like Caruso and White signed, look for the Bulls to focus on shoring up their bench with solid reliable veteran role players. Injuries killed the Bulls this season, which forced them to rely on young, inexpensive, and inexperienced players. This is their window if they successfully resign LaVine, and in order to maximize this window they will have to use their cap space wisely on real veteran presence on their bench. This is an important off season for the Bulls and it will be interesting to see if they can continue the positive momentum from this season.

  • Disney+’s ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’ Adds ‘She-Hulk’s Director Kat Coiro

    Disney+’s ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’ Adds ‘She-Hulk’s Director Kat Coiro

    Disney has been busy expanding its live-action repertoire for Disney+, and it seems that they are slowly moving forward with another one of their projects. The adaptation of the fantasy book series The Spiderwick Chronicles has been in development for some time, and it seems that they have now added She-Hulk director Kat Coiro to the mix.

    She will join to direct the first two episodes that will follow the Grace Family, as they move into an ancestral home that starts to unravel a dark mystery on a faerie-filled world existing parallel to theirs. It’s described as a “modern coming-of-age story combined with fantasy adventure.” Coiro will also be on-board as an executive producer for the series. Paramount television Studios and 20th Television are working on the series with Locke & Key‘s Aron Eli Coleite on board as showrunner.

    Coiro made a name for herself working on the rom-com Marry Me which starred Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson. She also worked on the six episodes of the other Disney+ series, She-Hulk where she directed the pilot episode. She’s also worked on Dead to Me, Shameless, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Modern Family to name just a few. So, she’s definitely made a splash in the industry’s TV endeavors.

    Source: Deadline