Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • Roy Thomas, Co-Creator of Marvel’s Iron Fist, Praises Finn Jones and Netflix Series

    Roy Thomas, Co-Creator of Marvel’s Iron Fist, Praises Finn Jones and Netflix Series

    Marvel Television set the bar high on Netflix when it premiered Daredevil and Jessica Jones in 2015, but the success of those shows was short-lived. Iron Fist dropped two years later to much worse reviews, with many fans and critics feeling that the show and lead actor Finn Jones had failed to live up to the immense potential behind Marvel’s Living Weapon. Yet, during a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Iron Fist co-creator and industry legend Roy Thomas revealed that he actually very much approved of Jones’ performance and the show at large.

    When asked what he ultimately thought of the live-action series, Thomas explained:

    Oh, I watched all of it. Yeah. Iron Fist had a few problems here and there, but I really liked the actor who played Iron Fist. I liked the general concept of it and everything.

    Marvel’s Iron Fist ran for two seasons on Netflix before it became the first of the shows to be axed, in what would eventually be the demise of the entire Defenders franchise on the small screen. The first season of Iron Fist was run by Inhumans showrunner Scott Buck, with showrunner Raven Metzner signing on for an ever-so-slightly improved sophomore effort.

    While the series has plenty of problems, from writing to fight choreography, Jones’ casting was controversial from the start. Many fans hoped an actor of Asian descent would have landed the role. Although Danny Rand’s future within the Marvel Cinematic Universe is currently unclear, the character remains a hot topic. Since the show’s cancelation, one of the show’s stunt coordinators’ has come forward with claims that Jones did not put in enough effort when it came to training for fight scenes.

    Nonetheless, Thomas continues to have only good things to say:

    Just wonderful. They were all reasonably good. Of course, The Defenders wasn’t that popular, that brief series, but I thought that was great because I’m an old superhero group fan, and I thought that was wonderful. But I really liked them all. I met many of the actors, [Mike] Colter who played Luke Cage, and Iron Fist and so forth…

    Both seasons of Iron Fist are streaming now on Netflix.

    As it stands, no plans for the character’s appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been announced.

    Source: Comic Book

  • Brenton Thwaites Confirms ‘Titans’ Season 5

    Brenton Thwaites Confirms ‘Titans’ Season 5

    This past season of Titans saw the team hit a bit of a bump in the road, as the death of Jason Todd brought the heroes from San Francisco, all the way back to Gotham City. The absence of Batman led the team to stick around and defend the city as Scarecrow and Red Hood began their reign of terror. The series just recently wrapped up its third season at HBO Max with a fourth season confirmed to be in the works at DC FanDome. It seems like fans of the series need not worry about the future of the Titans though. 

    In an interview with Matt Sheehan, actor Brenton Thwaites, who plays Dick Grayson on Titans may have confirmed that the series has already been renewed for a fifth season before the fourth had even begun production. While asking a question on what’s in store for Dick and Kory, and the potential future we saw for them in the finale of season 3, Thwaites let it slip that season 5 would be happening.

    “So I knew it was a placeholder for whats to come in Season 4 and 5, and I just, I just asked that they were very confident that they were very confident that would happen”

    This past season of Titans saw the team hit a bit of a bump in the road, as the death of Jason Todd brought the heroes from San Francisco, all the way back to Gotham City. The absence of Batman led the team to stick around and defend the city as Scarecrow and Red Hood began their reign of terror. The series just recently wrapped up its third season at HBO Max with a fourth season confirmed to be in the works at DC FanDome. It seems like fans of the series need not worry about the future of the Titans though. 

    Titans is one of the most popular series on streaming and it’s not shocking to see it be renewed beyond season 4. The next season is still very early in development so it’s unknown as of right now just when filming will begin or when the next season will release.

    SOURCE: Twitter

  • ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ Rights Up for Sale, ViacomCBS Interested

    ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ Rights Up for Sale, ViacomCBS Interested

    Alvin and the Chipmunks have been a childhood classic for years. Now, it seems that the current owner Bagdasarian Productions is aiming to sell the iconic singing chipmunks for around $300M. Currently, ViacomCBS is interested in purchasing the rights, which includes all the films, songs, and TV shows that starred Alvin, Simon, Theodore, and their expanded family. The company is run by Ross Bagsdasarian Jr. and his wife Janice Karman. They’ve already actively had talks with buyers but no agreement has come as of now.

    The current price is at $300M but it’s uncertain if that will remain as such moving forward. Many streaming services are eager to add any potential streaming service to their repertoire. So, it’ll be interesting to see who is interested in ensuring they can bank on adding this franchise. While it did have some films, the series is mostly known for its young demographic.

    Netflix has quite the interest in these types of IPs, such as the recent purchase of Roald Dahl‘s children’s books which cost upward of $700M. Ross Bagdasarian Sr. created the characters in 1958 for a children’s music act. It wasn’t until 1961 that the original three chipmunks Alvin, Simon, and Theodore made their official first appearance. Depending on who garners the rights, they’ll have a lot to play with. In a way, Disney might have their eye on the franchise as it plays into their all-encompassing approach to media and intellectual property.

    Source: CNBC

  • ‘Y: The Last Man’s Natasha Mumba Reveals Her Role in HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’

    ‘Y: The Last Man’s Natasha Mumba Reveals Her Role in HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’

    It looks like one more actress has joined the upcoming HBO adaptation of the popular gaming franchise The Last Of Us. Y: The Last Man actress Natasha Mumba updated her Instagram profile to include her role in the upcoming series. She even adds the name of her character, Kim Tembo. Fans of the gaming franchise might notice that this character hasn’t appeared in one of the two games and might be another invention for the series.

    As this is the only news we have on her joining the project, it opens up the question of what kind of role she might have. There’s a good chance she may play a member of the Fireflies or the event offer a unique take on some familiar storylines. The core of the original story was isolation. So, it’s uncertain if this version takes a unique approach to explore how exactly she fits into the story. It’s great to see Mumba join the production hot off the tail of her success on series Y: The Last Man and The Handmaiden’s Tale. It’ll be interesting to see her dynamic with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.

    Source: Instagram

  • Zack Snyder’s ‘Rebel Moon’ Adds Sofia Boutella

    Zack Snyder’s ‘Rebel Moon’ Adds Sofia Boutella

    It looks like Zack Snyder‘s upcoming film has found a new star, as Sofia Boutella will join the Netflix production of Rebel Moon. The film will be written by Snyder alongside Shay Hatten and Kurt Johnstad. Some time ago, the project was once planned to be a Star Wars film that was rewritten. The director made a deal with the streamer after the success of his film Army of the Dead, as he also recently produced the first spin-off based on this new zombie-filled cinematic universe.

    The film will explore a peaceful colony in the galaxy that is suddenly threatened by a tyrant known as Regent Balisarius. Their only hope is a young woman that is set to find warriors to take a stand. It wasn’t an easy process, as they’ve met with talent for months before settling on Boutella for the lead role. According to Deadline, her performance wowed the Justice League director and convinced him she was perfect for the role.

    Boutella has made a name for herself with her performances in Kingsman: The Secret Service, Star Trek Beyond, and Atomic Blonde. The former was her breakout role in Hollywood that got her various roles in the industry. She recently appeared in Wyatt Rockefeller‘s debut Settlers. We cannot wait to see what she brings to the role in this new take on a sci-fi epic.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Marketplace Will No Longer Offer Paid Consumables in New Statement

    ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Marketplace Will No Longer Offer Paid Consumables in New Statement

    Marvel’s Avengers has been mostly quiet as of late, as they start focusing on reworking their core system throughout the rest of the year. Yet, there was a controversy surrounding the sudden decision to include purchasable consumables in their in-game marketplace. As the main focus has always been on their payable costumes, the decision was certainly met with frustration by players during a dry period. Well, it seems that Crystal Dynamics has taken that feedback and announced in a new post on Twitter that they will no longer offer these in the marketplace but they’ll remain as in-game earnable rewards moving forward.

    We’ve already seen some big steps for the game with hero-specific perks getting added to the game. It was teased as their first of many steps that’ll build-up towards the game’s first raid where we’ll cap of the story introduced in War for Wakanda. Their sister company Eidos recently released the Guardians of the Galaxy game. So, Crystal Dynamics took a backseat for the week. Here’s hoping we’ll get a clearer picture of what the new Raid and the final 2021 hero, Spider-Man, have in store for us soon.

    Source: Twitter

  • Marvel Legends Lady Loki Now Available for Individual Pre-Order

    Marvel Legends Lady Loki Now Available for Individual Pre-Order

    After having been teased alongside a retro Falcon figure earlier this year, Marvel Legends retro

    One of the great modern iterations of the God of Mischief came from 2008’s epic Thor series by comic creators J. Michael Straczynski and Oliver Coipel when Loki took the form of a woman and became known, to fans, as Lady Loki. The Loki of Norse mythology was always a shapeshifter, so taking the form of a woman was nothing new but the character went on, in this new form, to be quite popular throughout Dark Reign. Now collectors can pick up a great looking version of Lady Loki for their shelves.

    Pre-order the 6-inch Lady Loki at Entertainment Earth ($22.99 and scheduled to ship in February) by Murphy’s Multiverse is an Entertainment Earth affiliate.

  • Robert Downey Jr. and Matt Damon Join Christopher Nolan’s ‘OPPENHEIMER’

    Robert Downey Jr. and Matt Damon Join Christopher Nolan’s ‘OPPENHEIMER’

    Christopher Nolan‘s ensemble for his biopic on the project that led to the creation of the atomic bomb just got two atom bombs of star power. Deadline is reporting that Robert Downey Jr. and Matt Damon are in talks to join Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt in Oppenheimer.

    In addition to that report, THR is saying that Robert Downey Jr. is playing Lewis Strauss, a commissioner who put Oppenheimer on the stand and questioned his loyalty to the US, while Damon is playing Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project that created the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer marks Downey’s first project with Nolan and Damon’s second following Interstellar.

    Cillian Murphy is set to play the titular scientist while Emily Blunt is to play Oppenheimer’s wife, Kitty Oppenheimer.

    Source: Deadline

  • Carole Baskin Sues Netflix for Using Footage of Her in ‘Tiger King 2’

    Carole Baskin Sues Netflix for Using Footage of Her in ‘Tiger King 2’

    Carole Baskin is suing Netflix.

    As Tiger King 2 readies to hit the streaming platform, Baskin is suing the streaming giant for using footage of her in the second season. Baskin and her husband, Howard Baskin, filed a lawsuit in Florida against Netflix on Monday. Variety was able to uncover some of the documents in which Baskin alleges she only signed on for a single season.

    Per Baskin, Netflix breached their contract by using footage of her and her husband in Tiger King 2. The court document states that footage of the Baskins and Big Cat Rescue was only contracted for the initial documentary. “The Baskins believed that any sequel – though odious – would not include any of their footage.”

    Footage of the couple, however, was used in the trailer to promote the upcoming second installment hitting the streaming service this month. “By utilizing the film footage of the Baskins and Big Cat Rescue secured by Royal Goode Productions under the Appearance Releases in ‘sizzle reels’ and promotional trailers for the sequel entitled ‘Tiger King 2,’ the Defendants are in breach of the terms of the Appearance Releases.”

    Baskin also described how the documentary was something different than what was originally pitched to her when they made Tiger King. During production on that project, Baskin believed it to be an exposé of the big cat breeding and cub petting trade along the lines of Blackfish. Instead, she felt as though the show focused far too much on Joe Exotic.

    It’s unclear what’ll happen with Tiger King 2 slated to debut on Nov. 17.

    Source: Variety

  • Writers Revealed for First Three Episodes of ‘Hawkeye’

    Writers Revealed for First Three Episodes of ‘Hawkeye’

    Hawkeye premieres with 2 episodes on Disney+ in little over 3 weeks. Up until now, most of what we have seen from the show has been the Christmas Holiday atmosphere it is leaning into. It’s quite clear from the trailers that Clint Barton’s past as Ronin will drag him along with Kate Bishop into a conflict with the Tracksuit Mafia just before Christmas. As we get closer to the release date there will be more details updated and released about the technical aspects of the show. The Writer’s Guild of America West has updated their site to show the credited writers for the first three episodes. 

    Episode 1 has been written by series Head Writer Jonathan Igla. He is most well known for his 2010 to 2015 run on Mad Men from Season 4 to Season 7. He also worked on Sorry for Your Loss, a bereavement-focused drama series executive produced by and starring Elizabeth Olsen. Writing Episode 2 is the newest name to be revealed from the Hawkeye writers’ room. Like Igla, Elisa Climent’s credits seem to be a mix of drama and comedy with the aforementioned Sorry For Your Loss, and a dark comedy about a female con artist called Imposters. Finally, for Episode Three, the duo Katrina Mathewson and Tanner Bean who previously announced their involvement on Twitter in March 2020 and who similarly have drama and comedy credits including a previous holiday film Christmas Ever After.

    With the glimpses of Rogers the Musical and the seriousness of Clint trying to get back to his family before Christmas it seems like Hawkeye tread the balance between comedy and drama as the the writers’ previous credits seem to indicate. As for how the series itself plays out, we’ll have to wait and see as it premieres towards the end of this month and concludes close to Christmas. 

    Source: WGAW via Twitter