Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • Patty Jenkins’ ‘Rogue Squadron’ Film Delayed Indefinitely

    Patty Jenkins’ ‘Rogue Squadron’ Film Delayed Indefinitely

    Not too long ago, rumors were swirling that Patty Jenkins‘ upcoming Star Wars film titled Rogue Squadron might get delayed by a year. It was originally going to enter production by 2022 and release in 2023. Yet, it seemed a new Old Republic-inspired film was fast-tracked while it was pushed back by a year. The Hollywood Reporter has now confirmed the delay due to scheduling issues with Jenkins. It most likely is connected to the quickly confirmed third entry of Wonder Woman and a new Cleopatra film. The film is currently taken off the release schedule, but there is no word if it even might release in 2024.

    It’s never great news when production is pushed back, especially if you consider we haven’t had a new Star Wars film since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. At this rate, if we don’t get a confirmation on The Old Republic film, we might not get a new entry until 2025. Disney has been focusing more on their Disney+ offerings, which is keeping us covered until then. The Mandalorian has its first spinoff releasing in December with The Book of Boba Fett and there are quite a few others that may release next year. So, we’ll see what the future has in store for its cinematic outings.

    Source: THR

  • Chukwudi Iwuji Seemingly Joins ‘Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 3.’ as Production Starts

    Chukwudi Iwuji Seemingly Joins ‘Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 3.’ as Production Starts

    Production on the third installment within the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy is finally taking place as the film and holiday special is set to film back to back. Writer and director James Gunn returns to helm the project hot off of the release of The Suicide Squad and wrapping production Peacemaker.

    Not much is known about the film aside from Adam Warlock finally making his debut into the Marvel Cinematic Universe after the Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 2 end credit scene teased his arrival. Will Poulter will play the character, having recently been confirmed to join the cast, but it seems Gunn may have just confirmed and added yet another past cast member to this film. In a recent post to Twitter, featuring a photo of him with the cast of Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 3, it seems Peacemaker star Chukwudi Iwuji may have joined the upcoming Marvel film. 

    https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1457754577411973122?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

    It’s unknown who Iwuji may be playing as this is currently the only confirmation of his addition to the film. The director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 also shared his excitement to work alongside the actor once more.

    https://twitter.com/jamesgunn/status/1457792078050590720?s=21

    It’s not uncommon for Gunn to bring back past actors, especially if he loved working with them. In almost every one of his films, both Nathan Fillion and Michael Rooker have played some role, just recently having played TDK and Savant in The Suicide Squad. Iwuji plays Clemson Murn in Peacemaker, a seemingly original character created by Gunn for the series. Surely Gunn will make his way to social media soon to confirm Iwujis return. 

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Raised by Wolves’ Line Producer Joins Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Series

    ‘Raised by Wolves’ Line Producer Joins Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Series

    We’ve been still waiting for quite some time to find out what exactly the future has in store for Netflix’s live-action adaptation of One Piece. Recently, some new photos have surfaced teasing the Straw Hats’ famous ship, the Going Merry, parked comfortably in their shooting location in Cape Town. Yet, we still haven’t heard anything about the upcoming cast that will bring the East Blue saga to life. To bridge our wait until we get more information, a listing on the website CallaCrew has revealed that Cheryl Eatock joined the project as a line producer.

    The website includes the resumé of Lerato Tshabalala, who is Eatock‘s production secretary. Of course, it doesn’t explicitly call it by the series’ name but rather the production title we’ve uncovered back when we shared the news on Marc Jobst directing the pilot episode. At one point, the production changed from Project Roger, named after the famous king of the pirates to Project Panda. The title is a joke reference to the manga’s creator Eiichiro Oda‘s ongoing joke of including a random character known as Pandaman in the background.

    Eatock has quit the experience working in South Africa, as she also was the line producer of Ridley Scott’s first TV series Raised by Wolves. She’s also worked on other big-budget films like The Dark Tower and Bloodshot. She once shared that it took them four months of pre-production to prepare for a 22-week shoot. We’ve noticed that some of the production team behind One Piece moved to South Africa, and there’s a chance they are also busy preparing everything. Here’s hoping it means the wait won’t be much longer, but her work on Raised by Wolves might help turn Cape Town into the crazy world of the East Blue.

    Source: CallaCrew, IMDb, Motion Pictures

  • ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Might Get Approved for China Release

    ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Might Get Approved for China Release

    There’s been quite a bit of debacle if any Marvel Studios films would get a release in China, especially with the discussions surrounding Shang-Chi and Eternals. Both projects relied mainly on specific markets with the former even being a strong showcase of Marvel’s resolve to keep the original vision alive by denying edits of LGTBQ+ scenes for specific markets. Yet, it’s a comment by director Chloé Zhao that may be the catalyst for its exclusion. Still, it doesn’t mean they won’t ever release anything in China, as Variety reports that Spider-Man: No Way Home may get approval to release in the Middle Kingdom. It’s a big win for the film especially with how well Spider-Man projects have performed in the country.

    A release in China is a big move for any project, as it adds that extra boost during the pandemic for a better box office showing. Ever since the pandemic started, the country has restricted its already limited availability by quite a bit. One of the highest-grossing films of the year is a locally produced one that was released just as theaters opened there. Given Spider-Man’s popularity, he’s very likely to leave an impact. Given all the theories, there’s a chance the film will leave quite a memorable dent in 2021’s box office.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Shang-Chi’ and Other Marvel Films Getting IMAX Aspect Ratio on Disney+

    ‘Shang-Chi’ and Other Marvel Films Getting IMAX Aspect Ratio on Disney+

    Disney+ is uniquely expanding its offerings, as you’re going to be able to stream your favorite Marvel movies in a brand new format. To celebrate Disney+ Day, the streaming service is offering your favorite films, including the soon-to-be-released Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, in the newly expanded aspect ratio of 1.90:1. It’s quite the move by Disney to add a layer to their offerings with the service and will be available with a limited amount of films.

    https://twitter.com/Russo_Brothers/status/1457708779806490632?t=DefW1g-YpoJ_lKeT99XnUg&s=19

    Black Widow includes around 22 minutes of IMAX shot sequences, which adds reason to rewatch the film once it is made available on November 12th. The current list of films with the newly expanded aspect ratio is the following:

    • Avengers: Endgame
    • Avengers: Infinity War
    • Black Widow
    • Ant-Man and the Wasp
    • Captain America: Civil War
    • Captain Marvel
    • Doctor Strange
    • Thor: Ragnarok
    • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
    • Iron Man
    • Guardians of the Galaxy
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

    It’s quite an extensive list and offers a reason for anyone that was looking for another reason to check out their favorite Marvel film. For now, it seems they are doing it mainly for their Marvel offerings, but we may see other films get the same treatment in the future. Disney is showing their fangs in the streaming wars and they are adding more pressure to the competition.

    Source: Twitter, The Verge

  • Disney+ Day To Feature Scheduled Content

    Disney+ Day To Feature Scheduled Content

    The excitement around Disney+ Day has been growing since Disney announced it would be an event to celebrate their iconic brands. Fans of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars have been excited about the event as a chance to see the future of the storyworlds they love. With Disney+ Day approaching this Friday, there has been a lot of fan discussion about whether there would be a live presentation like Investor Day 2020 or not. 

    The two year anniversary of the launch of the service will also feature its expansion into Asia-Pacific markets which has had some people thinking they might launch content with friendly schedules to those timezones. It’s now become clear that there won’t be a featured live presentation, but there will be a schedule of content uploads throughout the day instead. 

    Disney+ Day Kicks Off Global Celebration With Week-Long, Company-Wide Promotions

    Disney has confirmed via press release that fans can follow along on the Disney+ social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for first looks, trailers, exclusive clips and appearances from stars and creators from Friday November 12th at 6:00am PT / 2:00pm GMT.  Subscribers will also be the first to see exclusive on-platform specials from Pixar Studios at 8:00am PT / 4:00pm GMT and Marvel Studios at 8:45am PT / 4:45pm GMT. In addition to this, Disney have also confirmed that new subscribers will have a 75% discount for this month with the cost being $1.99, opening up the platform for fans who want to see this on-platform content. 

    It will be exciting to see what new things we might learn about the future of the storyworlds we love this Friday. With so much in production it will be exciting to see new characters and worlds. Here’s hoping we get some new announcements of as yet unannounced productions to incite more speculation. What are you hoping to see on Disney+ Day this Friday? 

    Sources: Disney

  • ‘Raya and The Last Dragon’ Writer Qui Nguyen Working on A Marvel Studios Project

    ‘Raya and The Last Dragon’ Writer Qui Nguyen Working on A Marvel Studios Project

    Raya and The Last Dragon screenwriter Qui Nguyen seems to be at work on a project for Marvel Studios. According to his bio at Geffen Playhouse, the playwright, author and screenwriter seems to have worked on a television project (likely a streaming series) for Marvel Studios. As you can see, he also lists being a screenwriter for Marvel Studios among his accomplishments on his Twitter bio.

    IMDB does not list any Marvel Studios’ projects for Nguyen, so it’s likely that whatever the project is, it has not been released yet. Though he’s a noted and award-winning playwright, Nguyen has recently worked as an executive story editor on AMC’s Dispatches from Elsewhere and Netflix’s The Society and as staff writer on SyFy’s Incorporated, so he has plenty of recent experience with episodic TV series.

    Marvel Studios has plenty of streaming series in the works, including at least one animated series other than What If…?, so there are plenty of potential projects to which Nguyen could be attached. We’ll continue to follow this story as it develops.

    Sources: Twitter, Geffen Playhouse

  • New ‘The Batman’ Promo Pays Tribute to ‘Batman: The Animated Series’

    New ‘The Batman’ Promo Pays Tribute to ‘Batman: The Animated Series’

    It looks like a new visual has found its way online promoting the upcoming adaptation of The Batman. Matt Reeves will tackle a new interpretation of the Caped Crusader with Robert Pattinson taking on the daunting task of playing the titular character. We just recently got a second trailer during this year’s DC FAnDome event, as we prepare for its release next March. To tie us over, it seems some promotional material has found its way online that pays tribute to one of the most beloved interpretations to the character, Batman: The Animated Series. The visual comes courtesy of Twitter user @DCverso1.

    https://twitter.com/dcverso1/status/1457498003745517571?s=21

    It’s hard to deny the visual similarity with Batman holding up his cape in a similar fashion to that of the original. The 90s animated series was the introduction for many to the character and revolutionized the way we looked at animated projects aimed at kids. Its exploration of adult themes with episodes like “Heart of Ice” or “Baby-Doll” made it stand out from its contemporaries. So, a tribute to the series isn’t too surprising.

    The Batman has generally had a very different marketing push from the series that came before. While Christopher Nolan grounded the character in the real world, Matt Reeves seems to be taking a bite out of the different corners of the character’s history. So, instead of being tied to a specific interpretation, he can pay tribute to the many elements that defined the character over the years. Perhaps, we’ll get other visuals paying tribute to the various versions of Batman in the future.

    Source: Twitter

  • First Look at Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Poster

    First Look at Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Poster

    It’s been quite the wait but we finally got our first official look at the Spider-Man: No Way Home poster. It did accidentally drop early as a poster was noticed on the side of a bus, but it turns out the official poster took a different approach with its design. Not only did they add more elements teasing other villains that have been long rumored. Yet, while Jamie Foxx‘s Elektro is hinted with the lightning bolt and a sandstorm hinting at the return of Spider-Man 3‘s Sandman, it’s the most obvious inclusion that caught everyone’s attention. If you look closely into the background, Willem Dafoe‘s Green Goblin is hanging out in the background ready to tackle Spidey.

    Here’s a zoomed-in look at Green Goblin provided by @MarvelFansIN, whose design seems eerily close to the original 2002 version.

    We got a brief tease of his pumpkin bombs from the original 2002 Sam Raimi film, but this is our first real look at his inclusion. Alfred Molina‘s Doc Ock took center stage in the initial trailer and promotional material, but his inclusion here might hint at the fact he’ll make an appearance in the second trailer. It’s unclear how big the role is, but his return has been teased since back in December when the first rumors started spreading about the various members of the film’s central group of villains. It’s still unclear how long we might have to wait until the second trailer releases, but we are certainly getting more hints at the main antagonists of this project. It’ll be interesting to see the dynamic between these different villains

    Source: Twitter, Twitter

  • Skydance New Media’s Marvel Project Adds Writer Marc Bernardin, Drops First Hints at Game

    Skydance New Media’s Marvel Project Adds Writer Marc Bernardin, Drops First Hints at Game

    Not too long ago, we found out that Marvel has entered a deal with newly-formed Skydance New Media, which is run by former Naughty Dog director Amy Henning to kick off a new gaming franchise. Of course, the creator of the beloved Uncharted games adds a lot of interest in what this new AAA title based on an unknown Marvel IP might offer. We know very little about the project, but one of its newly revealed writers might have given us a hint at what it might end up being.

    On an episode of Kevin Smith‘s podcast Fatman Beyond, fellow host Marc Bernardin confirmed that he’s working on the upcoming project. At the same time, the chat started to guess what the game might potentially be with Smith highlighting that they may have confirmed it immediately. MinnMax’s Ben Hanson took to Twitter to highlight the most viable guesses being Ant-Man and Fantastic Four.

    While he does go on to highlight that Fantastic Four seems like the most likely adaptation, there are also rumors hinting at a potential Daredevil game. For now, we’ll have to take everything with a grain of salt but it’s great to get a tease whatever this project may end up being. It’s a big venture for Skydance New Media to tackle such a famous IP for its first game, but it looks like the team has been working on this project for some time now. Here’s hoping the wait isn’t too long before we get an official announcement what it is about.

    Source: GameRant, YouTube, Twitter