Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Could See the Return of the Valkyries

    ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Could See the Return of the Valkyries

    Here’s an interesting little tidbit. On the website StarNow, which includes information on actors and casting listings for major brands including Netflix and Disney, actress Vivian Tung includes a rather curious tidbit in her credits and experience. In her 2021 list, she highlights that she played a featured extra on the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder film. What stands out is that she’s listed as a Valkyrie. Tessa Thompson‘s Brunnhilde is the last known living member of the elite Asgardian warriors. So, this listing could hint at their return in the upcoming sequel.

    There are many ways to bring back the Valkyries. Either we get to explore Brunnhilde’s past that was hinted at before they were killed by Hela, or she reestablished a new generation after taking over New Asgard. She was given the title to rule over the remnants that are living on Earth. So, it wouldn’t be too surprising that under her rule she’d empower young Asgardian women to start a new generation of warriors.

    It’s great to dive deep into this part of the MCU’s mythos, as we only got a glimpse of it in Ragnarok. There’s also the fact that they may build upon the reestablishment of the Valkyries through the reintroduction of Jane Foster. In the comics, she ends up becoming a Valkyrie after giving up the mantle of Thor. Perhaps, there’s a future for Natalie Portman‘s character beyond the fourth entry in the franchise as she takes on a new persona. Of course, it’s still speculation and we’ll see what kind of role they might have once the film gets released next May.

    Source: StarNow

  • ‘No Time to Die’ May Be First $100M Domestic Opening Since Pandemic Started

    ‘No Time to Die’ May Be First $100M Domestic Opening Since Pandemic Started

    It looks like the box office is truly recovering, as current estimates have No Time To Die set to surpass the recent record-breaker, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and potentially be the first film to pass $100M domestically in its opening weekend. The Venom sequel barely inched above the $90M mark, but this is a great sign for later-year releases. The latest James Bond flick managed to surpass international expectations.

    Advanced ticket sales are currently on par with the latest major release. The film’s advertising pushed it as the Avengers: Endgame of the 007 franchise. It’ll end Daniel Craig‘s run as the character before someone else takes up the mantle, which was confirmed not to take place anytime before 2022. They utilized this “end of an era” tagline to push the film’s general marketing and it’s certainly paying off. At this point, it also bodes well for future films to do the same.

    It’s been a rocky year, it wasn’t until Godzilla vs. Kong that we had some hope for recovery. Once the Delta variant reared its head, things looked a bit more depressing but cinema-only releases have been dominating the box office lately. Shang-Chi was that extra push as it far surpassed early predictions that were kept low due to the pandemic. It even continued to remain at the top spot for four weeks running. At this rate, it’s clear that the box office will continue to slowly rise in numbers. It doesn’t mean we’ll see 2019 numbers again next year, but it’ll certainly be inching closer.

    Source: CNBC

  • RUMOR: Doctor Strange May Face-Off Against Ultron Sentries in Multiversal Sequel

    RUMOR: Doctor Strange May Face-Off Against Ultron Sentries in Multiversal Sequel

    Here’s a curious piece of news, as The Direct has exclusively shared the news that the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness film may feature the return of Ultron’s sentry bots in live-action. They do not go into detail if we’ll also see the return of the one controlling them, but it seems to potentially hint at a connection between the film and Disney+’s current What If…? series. They only state it’ll be from one of the universe’s Strange visits, but the natural connection would be with the recent reveal of an Infinity Stone-wielding Ultron who is taking on the Watcher.

    The inclusion of Ultron Sentries could be a general short diversion. There’s a chance that the upcoming What If…? finale might tie into the upcoming film. So, it could further develop the franchise’s concept o the multiverse and also opens up the possibility that others appear. There was a rumor that Captain Carter and the corrupted version of Strange may appear in the sequel. So, more elements may manage to find a way into the upcoming film.

    Of course, these are still rumors. The concept of the multiverse leaves almost any possible approach. We’ll see what the future has in store, especially if they continue building upon it. There’s a good possibility that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania may join in the multiversal fun. The arrival of Kang the Conqueror could lead to another multiversal war. As such, we might see a lot more of Ultron in the future.

    Source: The Direct

  • Chris Columbus Exits ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s Film

    Chris Columbus Exits ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s Film

    Five Nights at Freddy’s was quite the popular game for a while. It currently is preparing for the upcoming PlayStation-exclusive game Security Breach but has been quite silent for some time. There have been some issues with creator Scott Cawthon, as he moved on from the franchise. Yet, he was still involved with the film adaptation. Sadly, it seems that there’s still no hope for it seeing the light of day, as director Chris Columbus has officially exited the project. The reasoning seems to be Cawthon not signing off on the film’s script.

    In an interview with Collider, producer Jason Blum confirmed the director left the project, who has been attached since February 2018. He didn’t reveal if they may already have someone new attached to tackle the project, but he did offer some insight into the reasoning why it’s been taking so long to enter some form of production.

    We’ve written multiple scripts, and we’ve got where we’re threading a needle, which is doing justice to Five Nights at Freddy’s and making Scott (Cawthon) happy. The only way that we would go about it is giving Scott … I don’t want to do something that Scott doesn’t like. Let me say that a different way. I don’t have the right to do anything Scott doesn’t like. Basically, Scott has kind of like the equivalent of ‘final cut’ and it’s taken longer than I hoped to get the right story.

    Jason Blum

    Cawthon is very productive of the property. So, it’s understandable he wants to make sure that everything is perfect when tackling the project. Yet, we know they went through ten scripts by this stage, as revealed by him back in November. Yet, he also said they’ll enter production in the spring of 2021 and already signed off on a script. So, something might’ve changed since and creative differences led to Columbus leaving.

    Source: Collider

  • ‘Shang-Chi’s Destin Daniel Cretton to Direct ‘American Born Chinese’ for Disney+

    ‘Shang-Chi’s Destin Daniel Cretton to Direct ‘American Born Chinese’ for Disney+

    It looks like Shang-Chi’s director, Destin Daniel Cretton, has already found his next project. According to Deadline, he will adapt the action-comedy American Born Chinese for Disney+. It’s an adaptation of the 2006 graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. He’ll also act as executive producer for 20th Television alongside Bob Burger‘s exec Kelvin Yu and Charles Yu, who will write the series.

    Melvin Mar, Jake Kasdan, and Gene Luen Yang also will join the production as executive producers. Kelvin Yu will serve as its showrunner. They are currently preparing for casting. Disney Branded Television president, Ayo Davis, shared the following on the project:

    We are delighted to continue our relationship with Melvin Mar and Jake Kasdan and thrilled that Destin Daniel Cretton is set to direct. The team are visionaries in bringing character-driven adventures to life, and we cannot wait for our audience to experience this fantastically memorable and imaginative adaptation of the graphic novel. This is a great universal story that moves between worlds and explores the impact of culture, identity, and acceptance through the lens of adolescence.

    Ayo Davis

    Mar and Kasdan might be familiar to fans of the Fresh Off the Boat ABC series. They’ve recently expanded with the Disney+ original Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. Their work on the only Asian-American series to pass 100 episodes is a cultural landmark, and it’s great to see them continue it with American Born Chinese. Cretton’s hot off his success with Shang-Chi and the Legends of Ten Rings, which seems likely to get a sequel in the future after its box office success. It’ll be interesting to see if he will tackle it after this series wraps production.

    Source: Deadline

  • Ben Affleck Compares Working on ‘The Flash’ to ‘Justice League’

    Ben Affleck Compares Working on ‘The Flash’ to ‘Justice League’

    The upcoming film adaptation of The Flash has slowly evolved into the center point of the DC Extended Universe’s multiverse. Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen will somehow meet up with various incarnations of the popular vigilante Batman. We know that Michael Keaton will have a considerable role in the film, but Ben Affleck will also make his grand return in the role of Bruce Wayne.

    Of course, he famously moved away from the franchise after the turbulent production on Justice League after Zack Snyder left the project. We only got teases of his Batsuit from set photos, but never a direct sighting of Affleck. While silent on his exact role, Variety lucked ou stand got a chance to ask him how it was like working on the film. In the interview, he ended up also opening up about how it compares to his previous DC project.

    [The Flash] was a really nice way to revisit that as the prior experience had been difficult. This was really lovely. Really fun… I had a great time… I love Ezra and I had a chance to see Jason [Momoa], who’s over there making ‘Aquaman [and the Lost Kingdom].

    Ben Affleck

    There’s been a lot of hope he can revisit his original Batman pitch before he ended up moving on from the project. While it’s exciting to see Matt Reeves bringing a gothic touch to the series, but there’s always curious about what Affleck‘s version would’ve looked like. A positive experience could interest him in giving it another chance. So, we’ll see if its success may kickstart a separate Batman franchise to exist alongside Reeve‘s adaptation.

    Source: Variety via ComicBook

  • James Gunn Confirms Development On One More DC Project Besides ‘Peacemaker’

    James Gunn Confirms Development On One More DC Project Besides ‘Peacemaker’

    All eyes have been on James Gunn, as he may have kickstarted a new era for DC. The Suicide Squad offered viewers an experience unlike previous entries, and it was only the beginning of his new tenure. While he’ll take a brief pitstop to finalize his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, he’s also already putting the finishing touches on the upcoming HBO Max Peacemaker series. In August, DC President Walter Hamada teased that they may have plans to continue working with the director, but there never was a confirmation he’s already developing something. At least there wasn’t until now.

    In a discussion today on Twitter, Gunn chimed in and confirmed that he is working on another DC project in addition to Peacemaker. Of course, he doesn’t give away what project it is exactly, but it’s great to know that once he’s done with the Guardians threequel, he’ll likely jump on whatever project is currently in the pipeline. He’s no stranger to working on multiple projects and we’ll likely get a hint once he’s wrapped up with his next Marvel project.

    https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1444712947985620994?s=20

    There were rumors pointing to Idris Elba‘s Bloodsport potentially getting his own series, but the director shot that down rather quickly. He confirmed that it was in no state of development, which means he’s most likely working on something else. Of course, there’s a chance that Gunn is currently still preparing a pitch for his next DC project, as him working on it doesn’t mean it’s entered any form of pre-production. Whatever it may end up being, we’re definitely going to be in for a wild ride.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Venom’ Sequel Kills the Box Office With A $90M Opening Weekend

    ‘Venom’ Sequel Kills the Box Office With A $90M Opening Weekend

    After being projected to debut to a nice $60M domestic box office, Venom: Let There Be Carnage absolutely blew the doors off that number with a $90M open, exceeding projections by 50%. The sequel to the 2018 film started off with a great take at Thursday night’s previews and didn’t slow down one bit and knocked Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings out of the top spot after 4 strong weeks.

    As noted above, Let There Be Carnage outdid its predecessor by $10M and did so in the midst of a pandemic. Speaking of the pandemic, the $90M also marks the highest grossing opening weekend of a film during the ongoing health crisis.

    The first film was a hit with fans, less so with critics, so it’s no surprise to see audiences out in droves to see it, especially with it getting higher marks than its predecessor by many of those same talking heads. The film has also generated substantial buzz around its mid-credit scene which appears to bring Tom Hardy’s Venom to the MCU and face-to-face (kind of) with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. Given the huge success the film had, it’s likely the studio won’t wait long to greenlight a third film and make good on the promise of that scene.

  • ‘Shang-Chi’ Director Open to Romance Between Katy and Xialing

    ‘Shang-Chi’ Director Open to Romance Between Katy and Xialing

    It’s hard to believe that it has been exactly one month since Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings first hit movie theaters. While some thought it would flop, the film received critical acclaim and is currently the highest-earning movie of 2021 in terms of box office performance.

    Over the past month, fans have been able to experience and discuss their favorite aspects of Shang-Chi, including characters that created from scratch solely for the film. The movie highlighted the now-popular friendship between Simu Liu‘s Shang-Chi and Awkwafina‘s Katy, and many fans specifically enjoyed that the two never became romantic. Director Destin Daniel Cretton has revealed that platonic friendship between the two was always the plan:

    Early on… when I did my initial pitch, it was like Sam and Frodo was the relationship that I had, like, in my pitch… that Shang-Chi needed… the Asian-American sidekick…When we started talking together with Dave about that relationship, we started talking about how many girl friends we have, like legitimate friends… and I think that’s something that we both — it’s very normal to us to have friends who are… and they’re not surface friends, they’re real intimate friendship relationships that are not romantic. And that was exciting for us to do.

    Destin Daniel Cretton

    Still, romance could still very much be in the future of the Shang-Chi franchise. Another standout character from the film was Shang-Chi’s sister, Meng’er Zhang’s Xialing. When asked about the fact that some fans have been vocal about wanting a romantic pairing between Katy and Xialing, Cretton stated:

    I would not be opposed to that.

    Destin Daniel Cretton

    Whether or not Katy and Xialing pair up, Cretton being open to the idea is a huge. As it stands, LGBTQ+ representation is virtually absent in the MCU. It might also signal Marvel Studios’ growing willingness or intention to include more queer characters or storylines. Eternals will make MCU history next month by featuring Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos and Haaz Steiman’s character as a gay couple raising a family together and kissing onscreen, a long-awaited first for the MCU.

    Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is in theaters now.

  • Early Drafts of ‘Shang-Chi’ Were “Too Crazy” for Marvel Execs

    Early Drafts of ‘Shang-Chi’ Were “Too Crazy” for Marvel Execs

    In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton and writer David Callaham gave some insight into the development process of the film. According to Callaham, some of the early ideas pitched were “too crazy” to make it into the final cut.

    We were doing some pretty weird stuff at the beginning before (executive producer) Jonathan (Schwartz) kind of pulled us back. He knows the world. I think Destin and I, when we got there, were like ‘We can do anything! It’s Marvel!’ No idea was off the table to begin with, to be honest, which was really cool of Marvel, to let the team explore a little bit, and then eventually they tell you ‘You can’t do that, that’s too crazy’ or ‘We’re doing that somewhere else, but we can’t talk about it,’ that kind of thing.

    One such potentially crazy idea, according to Cretton, would have seen Shang-Chi leave a younger brother behind, rather than Xialing, who would eventually turn into some sort of monster.

    I mean, at one point, there was a moment when Shang-Chi had a brother that was left behind with Dad rather than a sister. That was early on. And there’s inspirations from the comics for that character. And I think the brother, like, turned into a monster at one point.

    As Cretton says, Shang-Chi did have both a half-brother and an adopted brother in the comics, both of whom ultimately did battle with the Master of Kung-Fu. With neither Moving Shadow nor M’Nai, the aforementioned brothers, showing up in the first film, it’s possible that they could have put a pin in the idea and bring the character back in the sequel, seeking to challenge Shang-Chi and or Xialing for control of the Ten Rings (both the objects and the organization.

    It’s always interesting to listen to the creatives behind the projects talk about the developments behind the scenes. Often times, ideas left out of the original films grow over time and find their way into sequels or additional projects; additionally, as Callaham pointed out, they creators sometimes find out that their ideas are already in the pipeline for other projects. Either way, it’s a good idea to file this one away in your memory banks for later as it has the potential to pop up down the line.

    Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is now in theaters and will begin streaming on Disney Plus November 12th.

    Source: Yahoo! Entertainment