Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • ‘Hawkeye’ Producer on Drawing Inspiration from the Fraction/Aja Run in the Comics

    ‘Hawkeye’ Producer on Drawing Inspiration from the Fraction/Aja Run in the Comics

    Fans are eagerly awaiting Hawkeye, the next Marvel Studios original Disney+ series. Recently, Marvel Studios executive producer Trinh Tran spoke about how actress Hailee Steinfeld was basically made for the role of Kate Bishop, the young archer Clint Barton teams up within the series. Steinfeld also apparently feels quite attached to the character. In an interview with EW, the actress shared that, “[d]iving into all the information out there on Kate Bishop felt like a dream.”

    In an interview with EW, Steinfeld revealed that much of her inspiration for her character came from the critically acclaimed Hawkeye comic by Matt Fraction and David Aja. While we already knew that the series would draw heavily from the well-known run, apparently, the comic particularly influenced the dynamic between Kate and Clint. In the same interview, Tran explained:

    “The Fraction/Aja style and tone is what we were really gravitating towards…[o]nce they encounter each other and go off on this journey together, there’s so much they can bounce off each other.”

    Trinh Tran

    The witty mentor-mentee relationship between the two archers was certainly a standout aspect of the Fraction/Aja comic– if Hawkeye can manage to pull off something similar, or successfully adapt any of the other Hawkeye comic components, the series may end up being something quite special.

    The first two episodes of Hawkeye premiere on Disney+ later this month.

    Source: EW

  • Marvel Studios’ ‘Eternals’ Pulled From Release in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait

    Marvel Studios’ ‘Eternals’ Pulled From Release in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait

    Marvel Studios’ Eternals is no longer releasing in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or Qatar. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the film was banned from being released in the three countries do the inclusion of a same-sex couple in the film.

    Eternals was originally slated to hit theaters in the Gulf Region on Nov. 11, shortly after its release in the United States. However, the film has been quietly removed from appearing on websites in the three countries. Interestingly, though, it is still showing as coming soon in the United Arab Emirates.

    The ban comes as Disney was given a series of edit requests to make on Eternals to adhere to the local censors. Disney, however, refused to comply with the requests, resulting in the film being pulled from release. While not on the record, it’s thought one of the requests was to cut the on-screen kiss between Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) and his on-screen husband Ben (Haaz Sleiman).

    Phastos, of course, is the first gay superhero to appear within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which makes the on-screen kiss between the two characters monumental. Unfortunately, though, because homosexuality is still illegal across the Gulf, the depiction of it in the film was always going to ruffle some feathers.

    Eternals hits theaters tomorrow. It is directed by Chloé Zhao and stars an ensemble cast including Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie. 

    Source: THR

  • Gal Gadot Says They’re Working on the ‘Wonder Woman 3’ Script Now

    Gal Gadot Says They’re Working on the ‘Wonder Woman 3’ Script Now

    Yesterday, Netflix held the red carpet premiere of Red Notice, which hits the streaming service later this month. On hand to promote the film was one of its stars, Gal Gadot, who is best known for playing Wonder Woman these days. While the second installment of the Wonder Woman franchise, Wonder Woman 1984, wasn’t as well-received as the first film, DC and Warner Bros. quickly greenlight the sequel following the film’s success on both HBO Max and in theaters.

    The last we heard about Wonder Woman 3 was during DC’s FanDome when director Patty Jenkins confirmed the project was moving forward. However, thanks to Gadot, we now have a better idea of how things are going on the third installment. During an interview with Variety, Gadot confirmed the script for Wonder Woman 3 is being worked on now.

    When asked when Wonder Woman 3 would hit theaters, Gadot seemed as unsure as fans. “I can’t tell you yet,” she says. “But we’re working on the script.”

    As to whether or not she could provide more details, Gadot teased that DC was watching, explaining that people would “come down from the roof” and take her away if she said anything else.

    Director Patty Jenkins is returning to direct Wonder Woman 3 for DC and Warner Bros. with Gadot reprising her role as the titular hero once again. No release date has been set.

    Source: Variety

  • Taika Waititi To Direct Jodorowsky’s Graphic Novel ‘THE INCAL’

    Taika Waititi To Direct Jodorowsky’s Graphic Novel ‘THE INCAL’

    Taika Waititi makes his move from one famous comic to another, with The Incal, a graphic novel by legendary director Alejandro Jodorowsky and artist Moebius. The Thor: Love and Thunder director is attached to adapt and direct The Incal, with help from regular collaborator Jermaine Clement. The announcement video can be seen below:

    Jodorowsky had nothing but nice words to say about Waititi:

    When Humanoids’ CEO Fabrice Giger introduced me to Taika Waititi’s work, it became obvious to me that he was the one. I fully trust Taika’s creativity to give THE INCAL a stunning take, intimate and at the same time of cosmic proportions.

    For the uninitiated, The Incal is a cosmic pic about a detective who stumbles upon the titular relic, known to bestow immense power, which other evil space factions are after. The saga chronicles the detective’s journey throughout the vast galaxy as he meets all sorts of quirky characters.

    Jodorowsy’s vision, to say the least, is pretty damn trippy. Partnered with Moebius’ impressionistic visuals, the world that they put together for The Incal is nothing short of awe-inspiring. It’ll be interesting to see how Taika manages to wrangle all the crazy ideas and visuals together.

  • Hailee Steinfeld Was Marvel Studios’ “Go-to-Girl” for the Role of Kate Bishop

    Hailee Steinfeld Was Marvel Studios’ “Go-to-Girl” for the Role of Kate Bishop

    For well over a year, fans rode a roller coaster as rumors of Hailee Steinfeld signing on as Kate Bishop ebbed and flowed. She was in; she was out; she signed on the dotted line; the project was delayed and might have cost her the role; the project was delayed and allowed her to land the role. In reality, nobody knew what to believe and it wasn’t until we got the first photos and videos of Steinfeld on set that anyone was sure she had landed the role of Bishop in Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Hawkeye.

    Hawkeye is set to stream (beginning with a 2-episode premiere) on November 24th and from the footage we’ve seen so far, it looks like Steinfeld is not only a great fit for the role but truly gets the role. According to Marvel Studios executive producer Trinh Tran, even though fans rode the rumor mill roller coaster, the studio always knew they wanted Steinfeld for the role.

    I remember the very first day when [executive producer and MCU mastermind Kevin Feige] and I sat with Hailee to talk about it. We were just like, ‘This is Kate Bishop.’ When you read the comics, you get that energy from Kate — that wit and those smarts. And meeting Hailee, you see she’s so incredibly talented. Just look at the body of work she’s accomplished at such a young age. We knew having her be a part of the MCU one way or another would be very exciting, but when we started talking about this particular project and this character, she just became our go-to girl.

    As Tran says, Steinfeld is a huge star at just 24 years old and brings with her to Marvel Studios an already incredibly well-established fan base of young people. Steinfeld is very much primed to become one of the faces of the MCU’s future and it certainly doesn’t hurt Marvel Studios to have one of those faces be as instantly recognizable as hers. Bishop’s entrance into the MCU will mark the appearance of yet another comic book Young Avenger and as that number continues to grow, it’s only a matter of time until those characters get their own property, one that will certainly see Bishop in the lead. When you think about that future, you can understand why Steinfeld was always Marvel Studios go-to-girl and why they were willing to do what they had to do to find a way to bring her into the MCU.

    Source: EW

  • ‘Eternals’ Eyeing a $150M Worldwide Box Office Opening

    ‘Eternals’ Eyeing a $150M Worldwide Box Office Opening

    After the mixed reception, there was some concern that it might hamper Eternals box office performance. Early predictions had it at potentially breaking the $100M mark while the critical reception led to that going towards a prediction between $67M and $92M. As we’ve finally entered the week, we’re starting o get a better grasp of its potential box office performance. According to Variety, the box office is currently set to hit $75M+ with some even seeing it surpass the $85M mark. To give a comparison, it could potentially become Marvel Studios’ highest-earning film of 2021 if it passes Black Widow‘s $80M (excluding its Disney+ Premier Access income).

    Venom: Let There Be Carnage still holding on to the $90M record for the year, which it could still potentially surpass if fan reception shows a more positive development. Shang-Chi also managed to beat early expectations by quite a bit as it was believed to only hit around $30M but ended up with $70M. So, there’s still a chance that it might surprise us and garner quite a bit more and potentially surpass the $100M mark that everyone has been chasing throughout the year.

    Internationally, the film might potentially make $150M globally. In addition to the domestic predictions, it might add around $75M in international markets. It opened in South Korea to the top spot with the second-best opening day during the pandemic with $2.6M. The inclusion of Train to Busan‘s Ma Dong-seok has made the market a potential strong international player. So, it looks like it might pass Shang-Chi‘s international performance and potentially might develop similar to Black Widow. As the week continues, we’ll get a clearer picture of where the box office is heading.

    Source: Variety, Deadline

  • Gal Gadot in Final Talks to Play Evil Queen in ‘Snow White’

    Gal Gadot in Final Talks to Play Evil Queen in ‘Snow White’

    Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?

    Gal Gadot and Disney are joining forces. Per Deadline, the Wonder Woman actress is in talks to play the Evil Queen in its live-action Snow White. According to Deadline, Gadot is in final negations for the role. The actress is coming off the highly anticipated Red Notice, which hits Netflix later this month.

    Disney reportedly took its time to find the perfect actor for the role of the Evil Queen, however, the studio always had its eye on Gadot. Deadline reports Gadot was excited at the prospect of joining the likes of Angelina Jolie and Cate Blanchett, who have played iconic villains in live-action Disney remakes of its animated classics. (Jolie was Maleficent, while Blanchett was the stepmother in Cinderella.) Unsurprisingly, there were scheduling issues to work out, but it seems a deal was made this week.

    Along with her forthcoming turn as the Evil Queen, Gadot is returning for the third installment of Wonder Woman for Warner Bros. and DC. It seems likely Gadot will film Snow White before Wonder Woman 3.

    Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man) is directing Disney’s live-action Snow White, while Marc Platt (Legally Blonde, Dear Evan Hansen) is producing. Production kicks off next year.

    Source: Deadline.

  • Unannounced Superhero Game Canceled by 2K, Will Cost the Company $53M

    Unannounced Superhero Game Canceled by 2K, Will Cost the Company $53M

    It looks like a secret superhero online game was recently scrapped by Take-Two’s 2K. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier revealed that a game developed by Hangar 13 was recently canceled and in an earnings statement it would end UPC posting the company around $53M for ending its development. It’s not uncommon for games to get canceled at some point in development, but was in development under the code-name Volt.

    In his report, he points out it went through many versions, but the number of reboots, technological issues, and COVID-related issues led to its eventual cancelation. It started development back in 2017. It’s uncertain if the “superhero” aspect was something added later down the line, or even got replaced eventually throughout production. The gaming studio Hangar 13 is currently preparing to tackle its next project.

    Superhero games are all the rage right now, especially as Marvel starts expanding with more and more developers. There’s no mention of a license being involved with this one. So, it might actually be a brand new IP that was going to bounce off the trend. As it’s not uncommon, it’ll be interesting to see

    Source: Bloomberg

  • Daniel Dae Kim to Play Fire Lord Ozai in Netflix’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’

    Daniel Dae Kim to Play Fire Lord Ozai in Netflix’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’

    Netflix just announced that actor Daniel Dae Kim is joining its cast for Avatar: The Last Airbender on Twitter. He will tackle the role of Fire Lord Ozai, the father of Zuko and the leader of the fire nation. We just recently heard the news that they were potentially looking to cast the rest of the nation of fire benders. So, it’s great that it didn’t take long for the confirmation of Kim’s addition to the cast in the iconic role.

    Ozai was mostly kept in the shadows throughout the earliest seasons. So, we might spend a bit more time with the character if they already announce the casting now. There was also a rumor that they might already cast Azula for the series’ first season. Western adaptations tend to tease characters in adaptations much earlier. So, this casting might be our first hint that Azula might get an official casting in the near future as well. It’ll be interesting to see if it stretches out its adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender over multiple seasons rather than abiding by the same structure of the original.

    Source: Twitter

  • Sofia Vergara Tackling the Role of Griselda Blanco for New Netflix Mini-Series

    Sofia Vergara Tackling the Role of Griselda Blanco for New Netflix Mini-Series

    Here’s a casting you wouldn’t expect. Deadline has reported that Sofia Vergara will take on the role of drug lord Griselda Blanco in an upcoming miniseries for Netflix simply titled Griselda. It’ll simply be titled Griselda and explore her life building one of the most profitable cartels in human history. She was infamously known as “Black Widow” as she balanced her criminal and family life.

    Empire’s Ingrid Escajeda will act as showrunner, writer, and executive producer on the show. She’ll be joined by Eric Newman, Andrés Baiz, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro, who were the creative team behind the popular series Narcos. They, however, confirmed that there is no connection between the series.

    [UPDATING]

    Source: Deadline, Illuminerdi