Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • ‘Dirty Dancing’ Sequel Nabs ’Warm Bodies’ Director

    ‘Dirty Dancing’ Sequel Nabs ’Warm Bodies’ Director

    The Dirty Dancing sequel has found its director.

    Deadline has announced that Jonathan Levine will direct the sequel for Lionsgate. Levine, of course, is perhaps best known for directing films such as Warm Bodies and 50/50. The long-awaited sequel to the 1987 hit, Dirty Dancing, will be brought to the Cannes market next week by Lionsgate and will reportedly feature a mix of music from the original and 90s hip-hop.

    Levine spoke exclusively to Deadline and revealed that the sequel, also titled Dirty Dancing, will be a coming-of-age romance much like the first film. The sequel will center on a young woman at the original summer camp that’ll see Baby’s own journey intertwine to create a “multi-layered narrative.” Along with serving as a director on the film, Levine also co-wrote the sequel along with Elizabeth Chomko (What They Had).

    As it stands, Jennifer Grey, who starred in the original, is the only cast member attached to the film. However, the team behind the sequel reportedly has a “shortlist of names” to play the lead character. It’s expected that the cast will consist of name actors and a slew of newcomers. “We are about to talk to people and are exploring that,” Levin told the outlet. “The most important thing for us was having Jennifer on board. She is an invaluable collaborator. We’re going to try to involve as many people from the original as is appropriate. We want to be respectful in every way.”

    Dirty Dancing starred Grey and the late Patrick Swayze. While it was never a critical darling, the original film is beloved and has spawned countless sequels and even saw a made-for-tv adaptation in 2017 that starred Abigail Breslin as Frances “Baby” Houseman.  

    Production is expected to kick off later this year for a 2024 release.

    Source: Deadline

  • Star Wars’ Next ‘The Mandalorian’ Spinoff ‘Ahsoka’ Has Started Production

    Star Wars’ Next ‘The Mandalorian’ Spinoff ‘Ahsoka’ Has Started Production

    All eyes have been busy on Marvel’s various ventures and films, it’s finally time for Star Wars to take the limelight once again. Disney+ has just shared a new image that confirms that The Mandalorian spinoff series Ahsoka has finally started production. Sadly, the image doesn’t really give anything away or a look at the production, it’s a confirmation that they’ve finally started work on it. It’s the second spinoff series to come out of the Star Wars series that started Disney+’s hold on the streaming market after The Book of Boba Fett was released back in December.

    It’ll be interesting to see if the series follows some similar elements that we saw in The Book of Boba Fett, where the story suddenly turned into a continuation of The Mandalorian. While it does create a very unique yearly release model as everyone’s story intertwines with each other, it does go against usual TV mentalities as it creates confusion for those watching The Book of Boba Fett or Ahsoka as its own project.

    We’ll see what the future may hold for the Star Wars series, especially as they expand with some new projects. Obi-Wan Kenobi is confirmed as a limited series, but it may still possibly also set up more series moving forward. While Marvel has been moving forward with their new projects, it seems that Lucasfilm, who actually kicked off the streaming service initially, still in a preparation stage for their projects.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Love, Death and Robots’ Volume 3 to Feature David Fincher’s First Animated Project

    ‘Love, Death and Robots’ Volume 3 to Feature David Fincher’s First Animated Project

    After a long wait, Love, Death and Robot‘s third season has finally received a trailer. It gave us a glimpse of what the anthology series will include throughout its latest nine episodes, especially with the different concepts and animated projects. The biggest surprise came in the announcement that the episode “Bad Travelling” will be David Fincher‘s first time directing an animated project with Se7en screenwriter Andrew Walker having penned the script.

    The episode is teased to feature “a jable shark-hunting sailing vessel is attacked by a giant crustacean whose size and intelligence is matched only by its appetite. Mutiny, betrayal and ventriloquism with a corpse.” It sounds like the kind of storyline that would be right up Fincher and Walker‘s alley, whose reunion since the iconic film is another exciting prospect. The story is based on a short story by Neal Asher.

    The writer actually is also the one who wrote the story that Volume 2’s Snow in the Desert is inspired by. Blur Studio is the one behind the breath-taking animation of Fincher‘s 3D short which will include some interesting crustacean mayhem taking apart an unlikely crew already on edge. The series was first created by Deadpool director Tim Miller with Jennifer Yuh Nelson as a supervising director. Fincher is also attached as a producer.

    Source: Collider

  • Earlier ‘Moon Knight’ Drafts Referenced ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’s Gorr the God Butcher

    Earlier ‘Moon Knight’ Drafts Referenced ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’s Gorr the God Butcher

    With a series in development based on Moon Knight and his connection to the Egyptian pantheon, as well as the arrival of Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder seemed like the perfect time to set up his arrival. Yet, the Disney+ series surprisingly remained self-contained and didn’t include any references to Christian Bale’s upcoming god-slaying character. Yet, Moon Knight head writer Jeremy Slater revealed that earlier drafts of the script did, in fact, include references to Gorr. In an interview with The Direct, he talks about

    Both a lot and a little. But the reality is that we had no idea—when we started working on the show, we didn’t know when we were debuting. We always sort of assumed it would be later down the road, and we would sort of be coming out in fall of 2022, and we thought we would probably be following Thor [Love and Thunder]. But at that time, Thor didn’t necessarily have a concrete release date either, everything was sort of up in the air, and it’s like we might be ahead of Thor, or we might be finishing up. So there were different versions of the script where the Gods would sort of talk about, ‘This thing with Gorr the God Butcher just happened, and now we’ve got this new problem.’ And then there were other versions of the script where they sort of talked about, ‘We’re hearing rumors [that] Gods are dying, this is not the right time to get involved.’ Like we tried to have our cake and eat it too

    Jeremy Slater

    The meeting of the gods referencing the looming threat would’ve made sense, but it does seem like the uncertainty of some productions has added a new layer of challenge, especially with how the pandemic shifted their projects around. It also would’ve been confusing for some viewers to hear references to Gorr, especially if they potentially retcon his backstory and his activities at a later date. He goes on to highlight that they were aware of the “general beats” of Love and Thunder, but Marvel supported them in not forcing in the reference.

    We knew the general beats of what would happen in Thor: Love and Thunder, so that we wouldn’t be contradicting anything. But we had versions of the story that sort of teased Gorr’s arrival, and [ones] that were sort of taking place in the aftermath of that movie. Ultimately at some point, Marvel just made the creative decision, ‘You know what, we don’t necessarily need this.’ The way that Ennead scene ultimately panned out in Episode 3, it didn’t feel like there was an organic place to sort of drop-in, like, ‘Oh, and by the way, this has nothing to do with the story we’re currently telling, but there’s a thing happening over here.’ I think Marvel is getting very smart about how they sort of work in those references and cameos, and they’ll do it if it makes sense. [They won’t] do it if they hurt the story, [so] they don’t do it just for the sake of doing it. I think that was a time where they felt like, ‘We’re stretching to make this connection, we don’t really need it

    Jeremy Slater

    Moon Knight is in a better place for remaining within its own pocket of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While some hoped the post-credit sequence might introduce Gorr, it would’ve been confusing for many, especially if they wanted to keep the door open for further exploration of its main character rather than him being overshadowed by Gorr. We’ll see if the Egyptians might have a potential appearance in Love and Thunder once it hits theaters in July..

    Source: The Direct

  • Kevin Feige Discusses the Changes to Ms. Marvel’s Powers

    Kevin Feige Discusses the Changes to Ms. Marvel’s Powers

    With Moon Knight having concluded, we can further turn out attention to Ms Marvel premiering at the beginning of June. Being such a new hero in the Marvel Universe at large, there has been a lot of fan discussion about how Kamala Khan might be adapted into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Kevin Feige has been speaking to Empire and confirmed some details about Kamala’s powers in the Disney+ show. 

    The continuity of Marvel’s comics and films and shows storyworlds move at different paces and are on different journeys. The difference between these storyworlds at the time Kamala joined both has led to a slightly different kind of adaptation of Kamala’s powers and their aesthetic Feige tells Empire: 

    We adapt the comics; it’s not an exact translation. [Kamala] came about in a very specific time within the comic-book continuity. She is now coming into a very specific time within the MCU continuity. And those two things didn’t match. […] She’s interested in knowing, ‘Great, does that mean I’m an Asgardian? Did I get hit with gamma rays?’ No, it’s seemingly none of those things. It goes to her own past and her heritage and lineage.

    Kevin Feige

    Continuing, Feige suggests Kamala’s awareness and integration with the superhero media industry will point her in the direction of learning more about her powers as the show unfolds: 

    What we will learn about where those powers come from, and how they come about, is specific to the MCU. You will see great comic splash panels in some of our action sequences. If you want big, giant hands and arms, well they’re here in spirit, if not in stretchy, plastic-type ways.

    Kevin Feige

    Finally, Feige gives a clue as to why this adaptation of Kamala is altering her powers somewhat:

     It taps into the future of her story as it connects to her other friends that she will meet in the upcoming film The Marvels

    Kevin Feige

    It seems like lots of thought has gone into the context in which Kamala Khan will appear in the MCU. Feige’s mention of lineage is also particularly intriguing when we think about the lineage and origin of her powers in the comics. It strikes me that Feige and the Parliament might be playing the long game with revealing exactly where Kamala’s powers come from, perhaps. Without a weekly Marvel Studios Disney+ show on right now, the anticipation for Ms Marvel is building, and it will be exciting to see Kamala’s story start to play out in early June. 

    Source: Empire

  • Taweret Originally Had a Bigger Role in the ‘Moon Knight’ Finale

    Taweret Originally Had a Bigger Role in the ‘Moon Knight’ Finale

    Moon Knight introduced us to the Egyptian pantheon of gods and the concept of Avatars. While it’s uncertain if the concept will be further explored in the future, it did set up the introduction of Moon Knight and the latest MCU hero, Scarlet Scarab. May Calawamy‘s Layla El-Faouly takes on the new heroic alter-ego after becoming Tawaret’s Avatar. While she reluctantly agreed after somebody take-over shenanigans, it seems that wasn’t always the plan.

    You know, I found out that I had to do it 30 minutes before we did it. Because initially, Antonia Salib, who plays Taweret, was on set. She was going to be in the chamber with Layla. And then Mohamed Diab comes to me in the trailer while I’m getting ready, and he’s like, ‘You know, I thought about it, and actually, she has to come through you.’ And I really didn’t know what that meant. I was like ‘You want me to mimic, like, suddenly be possessed by Taweret?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, cool,’ and he leaves me.

    May Calamawy

    It definitely sounds like a challenge for her to suddenly change the way she takes on the role, but it did add a fun twist. We did get some moments of Taweret using dead bodies to communicate with her before they would unite. While it would’ve been great to have her on-screen again, it does seem like they also wanted to potentially avoid ballooning their budget due to the already extensive Kaiju-esque battle in the finale.

    Source: The Wrap

  • ‘Multiverse of Madness’ Confirms the Designation of MCU’s Sacred Timeline

    ‘Multiverse of Madness’ Confirms the Designation of MCU’s Sacred Timeline

    There’s been a surprising amount of discussion on what exactly the name is for the Marvel Cinematic Universe within the universe. As the comics’ main timeline was always called 616, it was given a unique number from fans over the years to make it stand out as a part of the greater multiverse. For years, fans have dubbed it 199999 but it looks like that has now officially changed quite a bit with the arrival of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and his exploration of the multiverse. We’ve now learned that there are indeed two incarnations of the 616 universe out there.

    The article will include spoilers to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. If you haven’t seen the film yet, only continue at your own risk.

    Interestingly enough, it would imply that the comic multiverse is not part of this cinematic multiverse. When Strange lands in the universe of the Illuminati, he meets their Variant of Christine Palmer. While they discuss which reality they’re currently visiting, Palmer reveals that they’ve “decided” to designate their universe as the one known as 616. As we’ve seen in Loki, the storyline we’ve followed since the first Iron Man film back in 2008 was called the Sacred timeline, though no clear indication if it’s multiple universes that follow a strict storyline or just one specific one supervised by the TVA. After the events of that Disney+ series, the multiverse was unleashed and it opened the floodgates for Spider-Man: No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness.

    For comic fans, this also opens up a bigger concept in the form that this franchise exists solely within its own multiverse. So, we shouldn’t expect elements from the comics to carry over or even to meet characters that have that kind of history. It’s a clever way of introducing viewers that have no real connection to the comics into this concept, as well as the trend of establishing 616 as the “main” timeline of the multiverse. The passion behind these creatives shows that they want to keep iconic phrasing and concepts from the comics, but the freedom to tell the universe the way they want to moving forward.

  • Elizabeth Olsen Explains Wanda’s Evolution From ‘WandaVision’ to ‘Doctor Strange 2’

    Elizabeth Olsen Explains Wanda’s Evolution From ‘WandaVision’ to ‘Doctor Strange 2’

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has garnered attention for many reasons. But one aspect of the sequel that has many fans debating is Wanda Maximoff’s Scarlet Witch and the character’s descent from hero to villain. While Maximoff was introduced to the MCU as a villain in Avengers: Age of Ultron and was certainly more of an antihero at best in WandaVision, some feel as though her redemptive arc at the end of that series does not square with where we find her in the Doctor Strange sequel.

    As it turns out, actress Elizabeth Olsen also had a hard time with the transition. In an interview with Variety, the Emmy-nominated actress discussed her reaction to learning Wanda was the villain of Multiverse of Madness:

    Well, I knew I was gonna be in “Doctor Strange,” but I thought I was gonna be, like, in an ensemble thing. So at first I think I was nervous and conflicted, because I hadn’t finished “WandaVision” yet, but we were almost finished. And I was like, “Oh my god, how do I make this all work together?” We got there; I got there. And it became an amazing opportunity to have people be won over by this woman in “WandaVision” and feel for her, and then, you know, manipulate them into this film, where they get to be on her side and then feel conflicted themselves. So I thought that was a great opportunity.

    Elizabeth Olsen

    Ultimately, Olsen understood Wanda’s dark journey from the end of WandaVision as being a result of the trauma that remained at the end of the series, particularly the loss of her twin boys. The actress went on to describe Wanda’s evolution:

    I just wanted everything to feel like some version of an advancement, even if the advancement is someone feeling a different reaction to the pain and loss. We also haven’t seen her have a reaction to what happened in Westview. Even if we watched her go through trauma and loss, we haven’t seen her go through the loss of the children. I think, for any parent — I would assume, because I’m not one — the loss of the child would always be much harder than the loss of anyone else important in your life. I just wanted to make sure it was a constant evolution forward and not repetitive…How do we make this different but still part of the woman that we know?

    Elizabeth Olsen

    While fans will never stop debating whether Wanda’s arc was consistent enough, Olsen is suggesting that the extreme grief that audiences did not see after Wanda left WestView was the driving factor of her descent. The character’s corruption from the use of the Darkhold certainly would have influenced and turned those dark emotions into something much more volatile. So, the fact that Multiverse of Madness saw the Scarlet Witch using her full power to get what she believes she should rightfully have is not too hard to comprehend.

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is playing in theaters worldwide.

    Source: Variety

  • Elizabeth Olsen Reveals Wanda Was Originally “Supposed to Kill More” in ‘Doctor Strange 2’

    Elizabeth Olsen Reveals Wanda Was Originally “Supposed to Kill More” in ‘Doctor Strange 2’

    The article will contain spoilers on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. So only continue at your own risk if you haven’t had a chance to watch the film yet.

    Now that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is rounding out its debut weekend, the creators and stars are opening up about making the ambitious film. While Doctor Strange, as the title suggests, is the film’s main protagonist, it is also the sequel’s villain that turned a lot of heads. Wanda Maximoff and Scarlet Witch actress Elizabeth Olsen has been discussing her take on the complicated character.

    One of the most memorable aspects of Multiverse of Madness is perhaps Wanda’s violent and ruthless killing of countless characters, including the star-studded Illuminati including John Krasinki’s Mr. Fantastic, Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter, Lashana Lynch’s Captain Marvel, Anson Mount’s Black Bolt. While killing off such a major ensemble is surely a lot for an MCU film, Olsen revealed in an interview with Variety that the final cut was more merciful than the original plan. The actress stated:

    I was also supposed to kill more. I had a hard time with it. I was like, these are human beings and Wanda is okay with ending their lives? But I just had to buckle down and think all these people are in her way and she’s warned Doctor Strange not to get in her way. And he did. He didn’t listen. And so I just had to go from that point of view. 

    Elizabeth Olsen

    The idea of the Scarlet Witch killing even more (probably) high-profile characters is not too crazy of a concept after the events of Multiverse of Madness. It certainly begs the question of who else may have been part of the Illuminati initially, or what other characters almost met their end in the Doctor Strange sequel.

    It is also interesting how Olsen “had a hard time” with Wanda killing people. While viewers saw a redemptive arc for the character in WandaVision, the Scarlet Witch undoubtedly went on a darker path since the finale of that series. While some may find it hard to understand the character’s journey, Wanda’s corruption via the Darkhold had a strong role to play in the fall of the mother grieving her lost children.

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

    Source: Variety

  • Mohamed Diab Reveals Cut ‘Moon Knight’ Scene That was “Oscar-Worthy”

    Mohamed Diab Reveals Cut ‘Moon Knight’ Scene That was “Oscar-Worthy”

    Sadly, not everything makes it into a final cut of a project due to pacing issues or something just doesn’t work as well as planned. In an interview with The Hollywood reporter, Moon Knight director Mohamed Diab talks about that exact kind of scene which sadly ended up on the cutting room floor, which he believes includes an “Oscar-worthy performance” by lead Oscar Isaac.

    I think he would say that I was just encouraging him, but I always tell him, ‘You’re going to win everything,’ because he is always great. He’s a genius actor. The irony is that my favorite scene of his got cut. It was in episode six. As great as everything else was, he actually topped it with something even better. He confronted his mom in a white void, and he was going back and forth between Marc and Steven. And oh my god. That scene by itself is an Oscar-worthy performance. Hopefully, Marvel releases that scene one day because Oscar was a genius.

    Mohamed Diab

    Considering how heartbreaking the moments were between Steven and Marc, especially when it came to their mother, it definitely would’ve been a powerful moment to see them confront their mother. The praise that Oscar Isaac is getting is also a great showcase of just how involved he was with the project and the investment he gave going in.

    Here’s still hoping that he’ll return for a second season to build upon the mystery from the post-credit sequence, which would give him even more possibility to show off his acting skills. The finale showed the actor easily swapping between his different DID alters, which was quite impressive from an acting perspective and also highlights what drew him to tackle this project from the get-go.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter