Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • ‘Batwoman’ Canceled at the CW After 3 Seasons

    ‘Batwoman’ Canceled at the CW After 3 Seasons

    The CW has decided to cancel Batwoman after three seasons.
    The decision was announced by series showrunner Caroline Dries. She took to Twitter to confirm the news stating:

    https://twitter.com/carolinedries/status/1520142094131613697?s=21&t=PdVQeZc_hoE63eCQCWDjHA

    Batwoman has had a bit of a bumpy path on the CW. The series initially starred Ruby Rose during its first season, however, Rose went on to leave the project ahead of Season 2. At the time, the actress hadn’t completely explained her reasoning for leaving, only saying it was a decision she hadn’t come to lightly. Rose would then elaborate on her exit, citing injuries she sustained while on set and the grueling hours required as a series lead. Things would only become more complicated down the line as reports circulated regarding Rose’s behavior on set, as well as allegations she’d made against Dries.

    The series would later reinvent itself with the casting of Javicia Leslie as the new Batwoman, Ryan Wilder. Unfortunately, though, while viewers tuned in to Season 2 to see how the new Batwoman would be introduced, the series took a bit of a stumble in its third season as it averaged around 760,000 viewers and a 0.2 demo rating – that is with Live+7 viewings already included. Those numbers are down approximately 20% from Season 2.

    As it stands, The Flash has been renewed for another season, although reports suggest Season 9 could be its last. Fellow DC series Naomi and Legends of Tomorrow have yet to be renewed, although its expected news on those titles will hit soon.

    Source: TV Line, Twitter

  • BREAKING: Marvel Studios ‘Fantastic Four’ Without a Director Following Jon Watts’ Exit

    BREAKING: Marvel Studios ‘Fantastic Four’ Without a Director Following Jon Watts’ Exit

    Here’s a surprise to many, but after being announced as the director for Fantastic Four in 2019, it seems that Jon Watts has pulled out of the project. This is quite the surprising move considering he just cemented his standing with Marvel Studios after his work on Spider-Man: No Way Home. It seems that the reasoning is that the director wants to take a break after completing the trilogy and it wasn’t intended to be his next film.

    The director has been quite busy, as he’s been busy with production, directing, and promoting the Spider-Man films since he finished work on his 2015 Cop Car. So, he wants to take a break and all parties have confirmed the exit is amicable. Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige shared the following statement:

    Collaborating with Jon on the Spider-Man films has been a true pleasure. We were looking forward to continuing our work with him to bring the Fantastic Four into the MCU but understand and are supportive of his reasons for stepping away. We are optimistic that we will have the opportunity to work together again at some point down the road.

    Kevin Feige

    Watts has shared the following statement on the exit:

    Making three Spider-Man films was an incredible and life changing experience for me. I’m eternally grateful to have been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for seven years. I’m hopeful we’ll work together again and I can’t wait to see the amazing vision for Fantastic Four brought to life.

    Jon Watts

    It’s great to see Marvel Studios give the director time to focus on himself and take a step back. Not only that, but it opens up new opportunities for them to find a new voice to join the MCU, especially with the strong sci-fi direction this project might take. There’s a lot of potential with many talented directors that might be perfect for the film.

    Source: Deadline

  • REPORT: ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ May Introduce Aquaman’s Child

    REPORT: ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ May Introduce Aquaman’s Child

    We just recently got some teases on what the future of the DCEU has in store, which included a brief tease of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. While we still know rather little about the project, a new report by The Direct may hint that Jason Momoa‘s Arthur Curry and Amber Heard‘s Mera may have an addition in the upcoming film. While they couldn’t share any details, they have heard that the film will include their child.

    It’s not the first time they had a child, as we were introduced to Arthur Curry Jr. some time ago. Yet, there was also the rather dark Aquaman: Death of a Prince storyline, whose title already hints at the rather dark turn for a storyline of the 1970s. It’s not clear if James Wan might be building up an adaptation of that storyline, or if they are potentially exploring a new take on Aqualad.

    We do know that the character is getting an HBO Max adaptation, but that will explore a storyline inspired by a graphic novel. So, we’ll see how exactly their child might be connected to the story. The confirmed return of Black Manta doesn’t bode well given the child’s comic history. Perhaps their kid gets abducted and brought to the Lost Kingdom in the title, which sets up the potential storyline and why they are unleashed upon the world. For now, it’s just speculation but that’s the fun of it all.

    Source: The Direct

  • Blake Lively to Make Her Directorial Debut Adapting Brian Lee O’Malley’s ‘Seconds’

    Blake Lively to Make Her Directorial Debut Adapting Brian Lee O’Malley’s ‘Seconds’

    Blake Lively is set to step behind the camera in her latest role as director. The Hollywood Reporter announced on Friday that Lively will helm the adaptation of Seconds for Searchlight. Seconds is based on the graphic novel of the same name from creator Bryan Lee O’Malley.

    It tells the story of a girl named Katie Clay who finds herself with the power to try to fix her past mistakes by writing them down in a notebook and taking a mushroom before going to sleep. As expected, however, Clay soon finds herself obsessed with trying to correct every little mistake and soon finds she’ll have to face the consequences for ignoring the rules.

    O’Malley, of course, is best known for his work on Scott Pilgrim which received a live-action adaptation from Edgar Wright. Despite stumbling at the box office, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World has quickly become a cult favorite. This time around, while Lively will direct Seconds, she’ll be doing do from a script penned by Wright.

    This marks Lively’s first film directing gig after she directed a music video for Taylor Swift last year with “I Bet You Think About Me.” The former Gossip Girl star has seen her star on the rise in recent years thanks to projects like The Shallows and The Rhythm Section.

    As of this writing, Seconds does not yet have a release date.

    Source: THR

  • ‘The Marvels’ and ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’ Swap Release Dates

    ‘The Marvels’ and ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’ Swap Release Dates

    Two of Marvel Studios’ 2023 films have swapped dates. Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels was previously dated for release in February 2023, and will now release in July 2023. While the third film in the Ant-Man series, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania which was previously set to release in July 2023 has moved up to February 2023. 

    Deadline reported that both films are moving along well but that the Paul Rudd film was a little further along in the process. Both films started filming last Summer in London, and are equally set to continue stories on a wider stage than the films before them. With Quantumania potentially having connections to Loki Season 2 through Kang, it will be interesting to see where they connect in the timeline. Similarly, it is expected that Secret Invasion will connect to The Marvels through the Kree-Skrull tensions. The Samuel L. Jackson-led series seems like it may have a more direct connection, where Kang’s variants are separate people. Yet it is unclear exactly when Secret Invasion will take place in relation to The Marvels. Lots still yet to be discovered.

    In terms of the productions, it’s great to hear that both films are moving along nicely. Keeping the Marvel Studios dates means fans aren’t really losing anything. The swap of dates means there will be more for fans to discuss and theorize in relation to what happens when. It will be an exciting slate for 2023 for the Marvel Cinematic Universe regardless of the date swaps.

    Sources: Deadline

  • REPORT: America Chavez’s Mothers Have Been Cast in ‘Multiverse of Madness’

    REPORT: America Chavez’s Mothers Have Been Cast in ‘Multiverse of Madness’

    As Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness approaches, the secretive film has been dropping more and more information. Even with the rumored high-profile cameos on fans’ minds, one highly-anticipated character already known is Xochitl Gomez’s America Chavez. The young hero’s ability to make portals to alternate universes will surely come in handy in the multiversal sequel.

    Still, the character also marks major milestones for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as America’s Latinx and LGBTQ+ comics background will make its way into the live-action film. In the comics, her traditional origin story is that she used her dimension-hopping powers to travel from a universe known as the Utopian Parallel after her mothers gave their lives to save that universe. Multiverse of Madness has made headlines after some countries banned the film and others asked Disney to remove LGBTQ+ references from the film.

    While we knew America’s mothers would be referenced, it looks like we now know that the two have been cast. According to One Take News, actresses Ruther Livier and Chess Lopez played the role of America’s mothers in the Doctor Strange sequel. While the scope of their roles is not yet known, it seems likely that they may be relatively small. Still, the fact that the roles have been filled does indicate that we will likely see a significant part of the young hero’s past.

    Livier has appeared in 90210 and has done a lot of voice work, particularly in video games such as Sly 3, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and Dead Rising 3. Lopez seems to be relatively new to the entertainment scene, having appeared in a few short films.

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness his theaters on May 6, 2022.

    Source: One Take News

  • CONFIRMED: ‘Reservation Dogs’ Actor Devery Jacobs Joins ‘Echo’

    CONFIRMED: ‘Reservation Dogs’ Actor Devery Jacobs Joins ‘Echo’

    Production on one of the next Marvel Studios series for Disney+, Echo, has already kicked as confirmed by star Alaqua Cox via Instagram. In the post where she confirmed the production start, she revealed that star of Reservation Dogs, Devery Jacobs, had sent her flowers wishing her luck on the first day and telling her she would “see her soon.” This led to us speculating that Jacobs could be playing a role in Echo and it seems that turned out to be true.

    Deadline has confirmed that Jacobs has indeed joined the upcoming Disney+ original series focusing on Maya Lopez. Although her role remains unknown, the trade believes that Jacobs could be playing the character of Julie, which we speculated in our Connecting Imaginary Dots piece as Jacobs matched the description of the character quite well.

    This is the second casting for the series, with Jacobs joining both Cox and the previously announced Graham Greene in an undisclosed role. The series is also rumored to feature the return of Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio as Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, which will see the two reunited following Daredevil season 3’s cancellation.

    It was announced back in March of last year, months before Cox made her debut as Echo that the deaf, Native American hero would be returning in her very own solo series. Cox made her debut as the character in Hawkeye, which premiered late last year and saw the character working alongside Wilson Fisk, before turning on him and leaving town.

    Echo is currently in production and has no set release date.

    SOURCE: Deadline

  • RUMOR: ‘The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’ May Include an ‘Eternals’ Reference

    RUMOR: ‘The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’ May Include an ‘Eternals’ Reference

    It looks like James Gunn may still be busy filming the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. While he shared a wrap gift with only a few more days to go on production, as he is working on both the special and Vol. 3, it was unclear what exactly is being filmed at the time. Perhaps a new rumor not only hints at what they are working on but even includes a great little tie-in to the overarching Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    According to The Hashtag Show’s Hunter Bolding, he shared a tweet that they are currently filming something on Hollywood Blvd. While he can’t confirm which production it is, the Christmas decorations seem to hint that it is in fact the Guardians special. The biggest reveal is that it seems there are various posters of Kingo at the location. We last saw Kumail Nanjiani‘s character in 2021’s Eternals. He’s a Bollywood star and it’s a fun Easter egg to include if they are filming at the Chinese Theater.

    Twitter user @PokeDan4 has shared a video from the set that confirms they are in fact filming at the Chinese Theater. The only thing is that it’s hard to make out any posters featuring Kingo.

    Of course, there are no details on what poster it might be but it’ll be something fun to find for those keeping an eye out. It does also open up the question if we’ll see the return of Nathan Fillion, who was cast as Simon Williams but his cameo was cut from the film. So, we’ll see if he might get a second chance to pay tribute to what almost was.

    Updated 4/29/22:

    A new video has surfaced giving us a clear look at a poster featuring Kumail Nanjiani‘s Kingo!

    @patrickadougall

    Well, this was an eventful walk. #marvelstudios #guardiansofthegalaxy

    ♬ Hooked On A Feeling – Blue Swede & Björn Skifs

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel ‘The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes’ Hitting Theaters Next Year

    ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel ‘The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes’ Hitting Theaters Next Year

    Ever since the Hunger Games films came to an end, Lionsgate has been vocal about wanting to return to the franchise. So, it isn’t entirely surprising that the studio announced The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is coming to the big screen.

    During Lionsgate’s presentation at CinemaCon on Thursday, the studio revealed the Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is headed to the big screen on Nov. 17, 2023. The film is based on the book of the same name by author Suzanne Collins. It tells the story of Coriolanus Snow at the age of eighteen as he prepares to enter the Hunger Games. Francis Lawrence, who helmed the three sequels to The Hunger Games, returns to direct the prequel. He directs from a script by Collins, Michael Arndt (Catching Fire), and Michael Lesslie.

    As it stands, while production is underway, no casting has been announced for the film.

    The Hunger Games franchise was a massive success for Lionsgate, earning an astounding $3 billion at the worldwide box office across four films. While The Hunger Games novel also appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 260 consecutive weeks.

    Source: Variety.

  • ‘Moon Knight’ is Most In-Demand Show, as Marvel Studios Influence on Disney+ Subscriber Growth Slows

    ‘Moon Knight’ is Most In-Demand Show, as Marvel Studios Influence on Disney+ Subscriber Growth Slows

    New data offers new opportunities, as Business Insider has shared some more analysis of how exactly the Disney+ series are performing. They provided data by Parrot Analytics that showcases how the various Disney+ shows from Marvel Studios have rather similar developments. They are massive hits for the service, yet have one curious flaw. The Marvel projects aren’t drawing in new fans to further boost the subscriber base even if Moon Knight is the most in-demand series currently.

    They share an overview that seemingly hints at the overall demand, but the takeaway is that the service is having issues bringing in new subscribers even if current ones are quite happy with the offering. The Direct questions if perhaps the streaming service may have potentially reached its high point when it comes to subscriber growth yet it may also be a bit more complicated than that. Moon Knight is ahead of Loki and Hawkeye 25 days after its debut but trailing behind WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

    parrot marvel tv series disney plus data

    While Marvel’s offerings do have diversity in genre, they are still technically connected through the overarching brand, the main focus of Disney+. Most of their focus is on branding over individuality, which might be one of the issues they are facing. Subscriptions services like Netflix can offer more varied series and films due to them not having strong IPs, to begin with. The family-friendly focus also became a crux due to limiting its audience potential but is on a path to potentially grow with their new adult-focused content such as the Netflix Marvel series.

    It also becomes clearer if we look back at data from November of 2021. At the time, Marvel was responsible for 60% of its subscription base. So, it’s no wonder that most of the current subscribers are going to focus on those series and the growth might stagnate slightly. Disney+ will likely focus on diversifying its portfolio while also making sure they keep its current subscribers with the help of the Marvel projects. The data provided is by a third party, which also might not fully reflect subscriber growth due to Disney focusing on a different metric. SambaTV analysis shares some different perspectives, which adds to the issue of how true this data is. For now, it just offers a foggy window rather than a clear view.

    Source: Business Insider, The Direct