Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • Amazon Orders a Third Season of ‘Upload’

    Amazon Orders a Third Season of ‘Upload’

    After a long wait, Season 2 of Upload is now available on Amazon Prime. More importantly, though, a third season of the series has been ordered by the streamer.

    It was announced today that Amazon has given a third season order to its hit series, Upload, starring Robbie Amell. The series tells the story of a twenty-something-year-old man, Nathan Brown (Amell), who finds himself adjusting to life in the afterlife following a mysterious car accident. The first season premiered in 2020 to critical acclaim, but the second season, unfortunately, took nearly two years to debut.

    After a cliffhanger of a season, Upload will return with (hopefully) more answers for fans eager to see what will become of Nathan and the others. The half-hour series hails from Greg Daniels, who has worked on titles such as Parks & Recreation, King of the Hill, and The Office to name a few.

    Read our review of Upload Season 2 here.

    Source: Twitter, Deadlinie

  • ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Surpasses $500M Worldwide

    ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Surpasses $500M Worldwide

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has officially surpassed $500 million at the worldwide box office.

    On Monday, the latest Marvel Studios blockbuster crossed the $200 million mark at the domestic box office after earning $13.3 million. And now, the film has hit yet another major milestone. As of Tuesday, the Doctor Strange sequel managed to cross $500 million at the worldwide box office. More impressively, though, it is nearing $300 million at the international box office – a feat it looks likely to accomplish by the end of the day.

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is expected to dominate the box office in its second weekend with little to no competition outside of Firestarter. Experts predict the film will pull in approximately $74 million, for an estimated 60% decline in its second outing. The only true competition Strange faces is Top Gun: Maverick, which will fly into theaters over Memorial Day weekend. That film is expected to open with anywhere between $70-$100 million in its opening weekend.

    When Multiverse of Madness opened, it managed to score the second biggest worldwide start for a Hollywood movie in the Pandemic era with a stunning $449.4 million worldwide debut – $187 million domestically and $262.4 million internationally. The film also secured the fourth biggest opening ever for the Marvel Cinematic Universe behind Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Not bad considering its predecessor finished its theatrical run with $677.7 million worldwide.

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now in theaters.

    Source: Deadline.

  • ‘Moon Knight’ Head Writer Says Marc Was Alive and “Busy” During the Blip

    ‘Moon Knight’ Head Writer Says Marc Was Alive and “Busy” During the Blip

    With the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness coming right on the heels of the finale of the Disney+ series Moon Knight, there has been a lot for Marvel fans to process over the last week. Still, information about the series has been pouring out after the relatively open-ended finale. In any Phase Four MCU project, though, there is one question always on audiences’ minds even if it is rarely answered—who survived the Blip?

    Considering the MCU’s post-Avengers: Endgame content all takes place relatively recently after half the universe’s population was eliminated and then brought back, it always seems fairly relevant. For their part, Marvel Studios often keeps discussions about the details of the Blip to a minimum for plenty of practical reasons. However, Moon Knight head writer and executive producer Jeremy Slater recently told The Direct how Oscar Isaac’s Marc Spector spent his time during the five-year period. As seemed reasonable, he first confirmed that Spector did indeed survive the Blip:

    We definitely, in the writers room, we all collectively thought he survived the Blip, that he wasn’t blipped away. Because I don’t know how you—I think if he had been blipped and come back, it would be something that you would have to address. It’s something you would have to deal with, especially as a character who is trying to find his place in the world, and has a lot of questions about his past. To not touch on the Blip of it all, felt weird. So we all kind of collectively assumed that he was part of the 50% that survived.

    Jeremy Slater

    Different clues throughout the series pointed to that conclusion, but it was never directly mentioned. Perhaps more interesting, Slater went on to say that he believes Moon Knight was “busy” during that time in a similar way to Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye/Ronin. He stated:

    But as to what was actually happening during that period, I mean, I think that they say in the show that Steven basically woke up about two years ago. That was the first time that they started living separate lives, and it was following the death of Marc’s mother. So that’s been the last two years, and we assume the three years before that was sort of Marc, just, there was probably, in the same way, that Hawkeye had his hands full as Ronin because the criminal underworld was running rampant during the Blip time, I assume Moon Knight was keeping very busy. But it was all being sort of done in the shadows, and he was sort of taking out a lot of threats that never surfaced or saw the light of day.

    Jeremy Slater

    While the character’s future in the MCU is still unclear, Slater’s description of Marc Spector’s vigilante-type past confirms that side of the superhero that we did not see in Moon Knight. It certainly helps explain the room full of the bodies of those Spector killed as the Fist of Khonshu, and it opens up plenty of space for telling stories about the character in the past or hints at how he may act in the future.

    All episodes of Moon Knight are now streaming on Disney +.

    Source: The Direct

  • ‘Star Wars’ Prequel Trilogy’s New-Found Love Changed Ewan McGregor’s “Outlook” with the Franchise

    ‘Star Wars’ Prequel Trilogy’s New-Found Love Changed Ewan McGregor’s “Outlook” with the Franchise

    It’s hard to deny that the Star Wars prequel trilogy faced an uphill battle when it releases initially. The pressure of following up on of the most popular franchises of all time that has been largely dormant in theaters is nothing to scoff at. Even with the original creator George Lucas at the helm, it didn’t quite jell with people at the time. Luckily, there have been a new group of fans that look back at these three films quite fondly nowadays and it seems that this new perspective has also sparked something in Ewan McGregor.

    During his promotion for the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series, McGregor talked about what it’s like seeing the renewed love for those that grew up from watching it as kids has also changed his own relationship with the series. @DreamedOfMagic took to Twitter to share the following quote by the actor:

    You were a kid when our films came out, so we sort of made them for you… We now meet those people that really love our films, but it’s taken 15 years for us to hear that and it’s so nice…. It’s changed my outlook – my relationship with Star Wars…”

    Ewan McGregor

    While it’s not spoken, the newly found reception for these films may have also been a reason he was open to potentially return. Hayden Christensen also faced a lot of backlash at the time of this portrayal of Anakin Skywalker but is welcomed with open arms by the community. So much so, that he’s now also making a general return in the role with other appearances planned in the near future. With only a few more weeks to go, we’ll see what the future has in store for us with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Ms. Marvel’ Co-Creator on Iman Vellani’s Casting and Adapting Her Story to the MCU Timeline

    ‘Ms. Marvel’ Co-Creator on Iman Vellani’s Casting and Adapting Her Story to the MCU Timeline

    Moon Knight and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have been dominating the last few weeks, but now it’s time for Marvel to set their eyes on the next release, Ms. Marvel. There’s been some concern with the adaptation, as while the character seems mostly intact from the comics, her abilities have gone through quite the change. The character’s co-creator Sana Amanat talked to Entertainment Weekly to not only talk bout that massive change but also to highlight just how excited they are that Iman Vellani is taking on this role.

    There is so much of Kamala in her because I think Kamala has the same type of view of the world. She looks at the world with eager and hopeful eyes, and I think Iman does that, too. You can’t help but root for her and be drawn to her. There are just so many similarities that it felt like such a natural fit to see her put on the costume for the first time [or] see her go into the Khan house for the first time. It just made sense. There’s no other Kamala than Iman Vellani.

    Sana Amanat

    That’s not all, as she also discussed how they’ve adapted the project to fit the MCU by remaining true to Ms. Marvel’s storyline from the comics.

    The comic was very much a guiding light for us. We needed to make sure that it worked in the MCU, of course, but we wanted to make sure that we had that quirkiness and the stylistic distinction that the comics did so well. We wanted to find our own MCU version of it. So, we’re doing things in this show that we don’t really do anywhere else in the MCU. It’s kind of told through the lens of Kamala’s experience and her wild imagination. I think the brightness and the colors and where we go in the Marvel universe and in Kamala’s universe is really what makes it stand out, tonally and stylistically, from everything else.

    Sana Amanat

    The biggest change will also come in the form of how she looks up to Captain Marvel. Carol Danvers never had the identity of Ms. Marvel in the MCU. So, it’s a very different relationship when she takes on that role while still growing into her hero moving forward.

    I think that is very, very similar to the comics. Obviously, in the Marvel comics, the story was different. [Carol] was Ms. Marvel in the Marvel comics, and she’s been around for much longer. But in this case, what’s unique is Captain Marvel is one of the few really well-known, big-time female Avengers, if you will. She had a pretty significant save in the battle against Thanos, and I think if someone who was young and looking out at the world, and she sees this really powerful, badass woman almost take down Thanos, what does that do to you? How do you internalize that? I think that is a really important story to tell, not only about who your heroes are, but who are your heroes when you’re a young person of color? What does that do to your sense of self?

    Sana Amanat

    It’s great to see that the creators of the character were also heavily involved with the project to ensure that their vision remains intact even in its translation to live-action. She highlights that she was on set and had an active role in bringing the character to life, which just highlights how collaborative the Marvel Studios environment truly is for creators of any kind.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • ‘Ms. Marvel’ Co-Creator Sana Amanat Talks on Disney+ Series New Take on Kamala Khan’s Abilities

    ‘Ms. Marvel’ Co-Creator Sana Amanat Talks on Disney+ Series New Take on Kamala Khan’s Abilities

    There has been a lot of debate on the changes made to Ms. Marvel’s abilities. The upcoming Disney+ series by the same name will mostly follow the character of Kamala Khan, who was first introduced back in 2014. Marvel’s first Muslim-American superhero had a very specific ability that many called Embiggening where her body stretches in creative ways or even just grow entirely. Yet, the Ms. Marvel trailers teased she’ll have some crystal and cosmic-inspired abilities. People were concerned about what it might mean for her moving forward, but Ms. Marvel co-creator Sana Amanat has now opened up about the change from the comics.

    Amanat played a vital role in bringing the character to life together with writer G. Willow Wilson, artist Adrian Alphona, and editor Steve Wacker. She highlights the adaptation and says she’s also actively discussed the changes with fellow creator Willow highlighting they agreed with the direction the project took with her abilities.

    Obviously, so much of the show is an adaptation, and we thought it was important to make sure that her powers are linking to larger stories in the Marvel universe. We wanted to make sure there is a little bit more story to tell after this series. Obviously, she goes into The Marvels. The powers do look different, which is very controversial. I know people are like, “How dare you change the powers!” I know people are upset about it, but as someone who’s probably one of the closest people to this character from the inception, and having spoken to Willow about this as well, I think Willow and I have always felt that this made sense. This was the right move because there are bigger stories to tell.

    Sana Amanat

    One might argue that sacrificing her original abilities for “bigger stories” to tell, but that may further hint that we’ll get a better view of why the changes were made once the series releases on Disney+. It also seems like Amanat confirms that the metaphorical and visual standpoint of the abilities will remain even with their more cosmic direction.

    It’s really fun to give Kamala different kinds of powers that feel big in scope and cinematic in a different way. We can do a lot of fun things with her. I don’t want to spoil too much about how she uses her powers, but they’re fun and bouncy. At the same point, the essence of what the powers are in the comics is there, both from a metaphorical standpoint and from a visual standpoint. We’re doing the embiggened fist. We’re doing the elements that make her feel and look kind of crazy, but also really cool. I think it’s going to be familiar to people, but at the same time, different in a fresh and unique way.

    Sana Amanat

    The powers haven’t been highlighted too much in the trailers. So, we’ll see how exactly it might tackle these themes that made the character stand out in the past. Many that have been worried about the adaptation point out that it takes away from her character, but it seems that is something they’ve definitely going to remain while promising it’s simply just a “fresh” perspective on something comic readers have come to love over the years.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Pulls in 148.6M Views Within First 24-Hours

    ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Pulls in 148.6M Views Within First 24-Hours

    Avatar: The Way of Water just released its first trailer and already made quite the splash in the film market, as the film managed to garner 148.6M views within its first 24-hours. The announcement comes from Disney and 20th Century which also highlighted that 23M were lone from China. Keep in mind, that this is excluding everyone that watched the trailer in its exclusive theatrical launch alongside Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which made its own mark with $450M worldwide.

    To put it into comparison, the film has managed to pull in more viewers than Black Widow (116.8M), Incredibles 2 (113.1M), and Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker (112.4M). It’s impressive considering the first entry was released in 2009 and people mostly had to go on the promise of multiple sequels being in development. The impressions are certainly positive and will seemingly draw in quite a crowd going by these early numbers. The film will release on December 16th with the return of Sam Worthington‘s Jake Sully and Zoe Saldaña‘s Na’vi Neytiri.

    The original made quite the splash in theaters by becoming a massive hit and taking the top box office spot from director James Cameron‘s other hit, the Titanic. While Avengers: Endgame managed to pass the film’s initial box office success, a sneaky re-release campaign gave it an additional boost to once again claim the top spot. As both franchises are under Disney’s subsidiaries, the company has managed to keep its hands on two very valuable IPs and highlights that they are also all in to give Cameron the time he needed to develop multiple Avatar sequels.

    Source: THR

  • Disney+ Delays Release of ‘Moon Knight’s BTS ‘Assembled’ Special

    Disney+ Delays Release of ‘Moon Knight’s BTS ‘Assembled’ Special

    It looks like one of the Assembled episodes has been delayed, as Moon Knight’s was originally going to release today. Still, Disney has seemingly made the decision o postpone it to 25th May 2022. This delay marks the second time it has happened for any Marvel Studios shorts that take a peek behind the curtain on how these projects are done. The same happened with their last Disney+ series Hawkeye, which was delayed into February instead of its initial January release. Surprisingly, we also never got a poster release for the series, which has also been a tradition up to this point.

    There’s been a surprising development of these projects being turned into individual episodes rather than having them as part of the initial Assembled series. The change was made with Hawkeye, which may have seen a spike in viewership as a standalone episode rather than bundled with the series due to the sporadic release schedules depending on when the films and series are released.

    Here’s hoping that they do eventually fold them back into the Assembled series at a later date for those wanting to catch up on everything they missed. The upcoming episode on Moon Knight also will include a particular “roundtable discussion” featuring the directors of the series. We initially saw the Disney Gallery: The Making of The Mandalorian, which kicked off the idea of mini-documentaries based on the popular series. We’ll see if they start promoting the special as we near its new release date in a few weeks.

    Source: What’s On Disney+

  • Charlize Theron Shares ‘Doctor Strange 2’ BTS Image to Celebrate Joining the MCU as Clea

    Charlize Theron Shares ‘Doctor Strange 2’ BTS Image to Celebrate Joining the MCU as Clea

    It was exciting when we got our first look at the many members o the Illuminati throughout our time with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Yet, the film gave us one last surprise in the form of its post-credit sequence. After a surprisingly go-lucky Strange is wandering the streets, he is suddenly greeted by a mysterious person in the middle of the street. Eagle-eyed viewers instantly recognized the actress Charlize Theron. Comic fans also instantly realized that she is playing the Sorcerer Supreme of the Dark Dimension and Dormammu’s niece, Clea.

    To celebrate joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the actress took to Twitter and shared a small BTS image of her showing off her Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness make-up. In the comics, her costume and design were heavily focused on the color purple and it was great seeing those elements remain in their translation into live-action. Sadly, she didn’t give us a full look at the costume she wore in the post-credit sequence, which seemingly took a lot of elements from across the character’s vast comic history.

    It does seem like they are setting her up as a big part of the third entry of the Doctor Strange franchise, but we don’t have an official announcement on it even happening. They may even head out into the Dark Dimension in a different film altogether, but the fact she’s pretty much signed on is an exciting one either way. Her appearance was quite the treat for viewers, and hopefully will be the first of many appearances moving forward for the actress in the MCU.

    Source: Twitter

  • Leaked ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Listing Hints at Illuminati Funko Pops

    Leaked ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Listing Hints at Illuminati Funko Pops

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has been quite the ride. Not only does it embrace Marvel’s knack for character-driven storytelling but also gave Sam Raimi time to revisit his horror roots. While being quite a memorable film, it also gave us some iconic cameos in the form of the Illuminati. We were introduced to the remnants of the team that would eventually meet their fate at the hands of the fully unleashed Scarlet Witch after underestimating her abilities.

    We just got a leak that gave us our first look at Dead Strange’s Funko Pop. It included our first look at Captain Carter with her shield. This adds to another leak via scrooge_ducktales on Instagram, which includes a listing of upcoming Funko Pop additions in the form of the various members of the Illuminati. It includes Black Bolt, Charles Xavier, Mr. Fantastic, and Maria Rambeau’s Captain Marvel. There have been FUnkos of them in the past, it’ll be interesting to see their live-action designs brought to life in the collectibles.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CdYYDMvp3lG/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

    Keep in mind the Funkos included in the visual aren’t actually the ones that are getting released, as these are those that have already been made available in the past. So, we’ll see how different the designs may turn out. John Krasinski‘s Mr. Fantastic and Anson Mount‘s Black Bolt had the most comic-accurate designs we’ve seen on the silver screen. So, they’ll definitely make some great additions to anyone’s collection.

    Source: Instagram