Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • ‘SECRET INVASION’: Marvel Studios Preparing to Start Production Soon

    ‘SECRET INVASION’: Marvel Studios Preparing to Start Production Soon

    The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand, with quite a few productions going simultaneously worldwide. Still, all eyes are on the upcoming release of Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings, as they just recently held a red carpet event. Luckily, FabTV got a chance to chat with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige on how he feels about the success of their franchise.

    He highlighted that his focus always remains on the future, in which he discussed the various projects currently filming, which included Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and The Marvels. What stood out was that he confirmed that Secret Invasion hasn’t started production yet, as he states they are:

    Getting ready to start production on our Secret Invasion series.

    It’s quite a surprise it hasn’t already been in production. Samuel L. Jackson already hinted at his return as Nick Fury in The Marvels, which he wasn’t confirmed for yet. In a way, this helps structure the upcoming production schedule, as he’ll shoot his scenes for the film first before joining the series. It’s uncertain if Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos will also appear in the sequel, but he is confirmed for the Disney+ series.

    Given the character’s history, it seems likely, and they might re-use elements from the film in the spin-off series to cut down on production costs. It’s interesting to see if the series ends up taking place after the events of the film, or they might even set it up like Agents of SHIELD did with Captain America: Winter Soldier. So, the events of the film might take place during the season’s complete runtime.

    If you are interested, you can check out the interview here:

    Source: YouTube

  • ‘ETERNALS’: Sersi and Black Knight’s Romance Takes Place in MCU’s Present Day

    ‘ETERNALS’: Sersi and Black Knight’s Romance Takes Place in MCU’s Present Day

    Entertainment Weekly has released a grand interview with the cast and team behind Marvel Studios’ upcoming Eternals film. It offered many details on what we can expect from the film, such as what they were up to during events like Avengers: Endgame. Luckily, we also got some insight into Gemma Chan’s Sersi, who will be the driving force behind the film. Her relationship with Richard Madden’s Ikaris has been highlighted quite frequently throughout the press.

    Yet, we knew that Kit Harington might also spend some time with her in a romantic relationship. As he is playing Dane Whitman, the Back Knight, we guessed they would have had a brief romance during the Middle Ages, but it seems they’re taking a very different route this time around. Entertainment Weekly reveals that:

    One of the last roles to be cast was the film’s emotional center: Chan plays Sersi, who — unlike some of her Eternal cohorts — has a soft spot for humans. In the present day, she works as a museum curator in London and is dating human Dane Whitman (played by Game of Thrones alum Kit Harington)

    Entertainment Weekly

    This is quite an interesting hint, as it would imply that Whitman won’t don the iconic moniker from the comics. There’s still the chance he’s a descendant of a Black Knight and might end up wielding the Ebony Sword, but he isn’t from that time period. Of course, they could also take the modern route to give him the Photon Sword that he ended up wielding later on. They might want to avoid him swinging around a deadly sword when facing human enemies.

    Source: EW

  • ‘ETERNALS’ Will Explore their Absence During ‘AVENGERS: ENDGAME’

    ‘ETERNALS’ Will Explore their Absence During ‘AVENGERS: ENDGAME’

    We’ve been anxiously awaiting the next installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s only a few more weeks until Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings finally releases, and Eternals awaits us in November. The latter will introduce us to a new race within the universe that has been guarding humanity since the earliest days. Of course, it made many wonders where they were in past entries of the franchise. Why they weren’t helping the Avengers from the planet getting destroyed?

    Well, it looks like Entertainment Weekly was able to shed some light on the topic, as in their big coverage of the upcoming film they sat down with the cast and crew to talk about the next entry in the MCU. In it, they also revealed some interesting details about what we can expect from the film and hinted that the film will explore why they didn’t get involved with any of the events we’ve witnessed since the first Iron Man in 2008.

    Eternals picks up after the events of Avengers: Endgame, when half of the population has returned after being snapped out of existence. It’ll also answer why the Eternals didn’t volunteer to help go after Thanos — or help tackle any of the other various crises throughout history. (The short answer is that their mission is to focus on the Deviants and never interfere with human affairs. Still, the Avengers probably could’ve used the help.)

    Entertainment Weekly

    The message of the first trailer did highlight that they don’t interfere with humanity, but we’ve witnessed them do it quite a bit in that same footage. So, whatever they did before these events might have triggered them to distance themselves from these events. Their focus on the Deviants is also an interesting aspect, but with Thanos having a Deviant gene in the comics, it might be a bit more complicated than it seems at first glance.

    Source: EW

  • AMC Developing Anne Rice’s ‘LIVES OF THE MAYFAIR WITCHES’ Series

    AMC Developing Anne Rice’s ‘LIVES OF THE MAYFAIR WITCHES’ Series

    Last year, AMC struck a deal with author Anne Rice that included the rights to 18 of her novels. It also included her best-known novel, Interview With the Vampire. They recently cast Sam Reid as the vampire Lestat. While the network is already hard at work on an adaptation of, which is indeed expected to premiere next year, a new report indicates that they have begun exploring the possibility of adapting a trilogy of Rice’s book into a second series.

    According to EW, AMC is working with Esta Spaulding and Michelle Ashford (Masters of Sex) to develop Rice‘s Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy for TV. The novel follows Rowan Mayfair, first introduced in the 1990s The Witching Hour, as she comes face-to-face with her family’s past and a demon named Lasher. He has haunted, influenced, and molded them for centuries. The Witching Hour spent 22 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list and was followed in the series by Lasher and Taltos. The series created a rich history and mythology around the witches and crossed over with some of Rice’s later vampire novels.

    At the moment it appears AMC is simply kicking the tires on the adaptation, but should Spaulding and Ashford crack the story, a deal is already in place for Spaulding to serve as showrunner. Rice’s Mayfair witches novels have been criminally overlooked for years. Here’s hoping AMC finds the magic ingredients and makes this adaptation happen.

    Source: EW

  • Carl Weathers Confirms ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3’s September Production Start

    Carl Weathers Confirms ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3’s September Production Start

    It seems like the production start date for The Mandalorian‘s third season has been one of the biggest mysteries as of late. We knew for a while that The Book of Boba Fett would replace its usual December release in 2021, but it was uncertain if that meant the series would start production earlier and then release throughout 2022. As time went on, there was no real news on it and it seemed like it might not release until December 2023, as Lucasfilm ventures out with other Disney+ series in the Star Wars franchise.

    The Mandalorian' Reveals Baby Yoda's Real Name

    Well, it seems we finally have a more clear date, as Carl Weathers revealed during a panel in Steel City Con that he’ll return as Greef Karga and also will direct at least one episode. Not just that, but he also gave us a time window with the Disney+ series entering production in September. Here is his quote from the event:

    And so now, we’re gonna start a new season of The Mandalorian, within the next month. Yeah. And I get to be in front of camera again, and I get to direct again

    Carl Weathers

    It’s great to finally get some kind of timeline for the production, as we’ve gotten various teases but nothing definite. We still know very little about what direction the franchise is heading with the third entry, as it continues to expand with other series like Ahsoka, which has been slowly picking up its casting in the past few weeks. They might have postponed production to also allow Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to utilize the Volume. We can’t wait to see how Din’s story continues without Grogu by his side.

    Source: YouTube via ScreenRant

  • REPORT: ‘VELMA’ Character Descriptions Hint at HBO Max’s Reinterpretation of the Scooby Gang

    REPORT: ‘VELMA’ Character Descriptions Hint at HBO Max’s Reinterpretation of the Scooby Gang

    Scooby-Doo is no stranger to countless interpretations over the years. It has probably seen the most revamps of any franchise. Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated was a personal highlight due to its overarching plot and Lovecraft-inspired elements. Yet, a brand new interpretation is heading our way with a prequel series focused on Velma.

    HBO Max announced the series in February, which will see Mindy Kaling starring in the titular role that wants to explore a time in the gang’s life without the titular pup. It’s certainly a surprising twist on the franchise and the Geeks WorldWide may have offered a closer look at the story threads. Here are the descriptions of the show’s interpretation of our favorite Mystery Inc. members:

    Scooby-Doo Animated Prequel TV Show, Velma, Coming to HBO Max
    • It looks like Shaggy is the editor-in-chief of Poortown High’s newspaper. He’ll be on the spectrum and has a hard time handling social norms especially when he is Velma’s only real friend. It looks like there’s a family secret, which he’ll need to solve with her help. So, we’ll see what pushes him towards the type of character we know him as in the series.
    • Daphne is the adopted daughter of two female police officers, who still faces daily challenges of being abandoned. There’s a curious emphasis of her red hair and she’s quite ruthless in trying to become the popular kid in their school.
    • Some characteristics remain for Fred Jones, who’ll be a “gym rat, riddled with daddy issues.” It seems that he’ll also face the trouble of never having gone puberty and is trying to hide it from Daphne, who he is dating in the series. All it takes is a false imprisonment to get the gears in motion and he learns to value Velma.

    Various character descriptions also include their parents, who might have a bigger role in the story. Scooby-Doo normally features the gang traveling the States taking down one fake ghost after another. So, only the before-mentioned Mystery Incorporated included their parents as essential characters to the mythos. Perhaps the series is taking some clues, but there’s no mention of “people in masks.”

    There’s a good chance this new interpretation also moves away from the various monsters they’ve faced in the past. Overall, it’s a bit disheartening that the clichés are still present with the character, as the popular Daphne and jock Fred seem well alive in these incarnations. Who knows if the actual show twists the interpretations presented here.

    Source: GWW

  • Marvel May Have Only Recently Secured the Rights to ‘SECRET WARS’

    Marvel May Have Only Recently Secured the Rights to ‘SECRET WARS’

    It’s already been some months since we learned in an interview that Loki may potentially be the set-up towards a multiversal clash in the form of Secret Wars. While the name has never been outright stated, there was some evidence in the series with the mention of a “Multiversal War” early on in a section featuring Miss Minutes. It seemed likely Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness would continue to build upon that foundation alongside the newly released What If animated series.

    Well, it seems more evidence is popping up of its inclusion, as the creator of the comic storyline Jim Shooter revealed he was approached by Marvel Studios about adapting the storyline during 2021’s Megacon Orlando. In a question, if he saw the Marvel Cinematic Universe developing to adapt that storyline, he started telling a story about how Marvel was trying to secure the rights for everything involving his original Secret War run.

    This one clown called me from Marvel. He wasn’t an editor but some executive of property management which was a little odd. He asked me if I wanted to write a novelization of Secret Wars.

    He goes on to describe the received a gigantic document with a deal that wasn’t acceptable. Shooter would go on to turn it down and get a call from Jeff Bogart, who apologized for the dubious contract. The writer highlighted that the reason they sent such a large contract was simple, they don’t hold the rights to a plethora of characters:

    They didn’t have a single piece of paper that said the Beyonder, Titania, Vulcano and other characters, new Spider-Woman for that matter, and the whole black costume thing, no piece of paper that said they own it.

    He then asked if they are making a movie due to these contracts, as they are trying to make sure everything has been a “bulletproof chain of title,” as Shooter describes it. He also mentions that Hollywood was a bit looser in the past and recently focused more on securing any rights in advance to not get sued. It may explain why we’ve seen Spider-Man’s Black Suit in the third Sam Raimi film, but they only made sure to own it now. While the film might not be in development currently, Marvel Studios is famous for planning and might’ve already been trying to secure all the necessary rights. The highlight of Spider-Man’s black costume is also quite interesting.

    If you are interested, you can check out the entire panel, where he also discusses the current state of comics and creators:

    Source: YouTube

  • Jonathan Hickman Leaving X-Men Following ‘Inferno’

    Jonathan Hickman Leaving X-Men Following ‘Inferno’

    In 2019, Jonathan Hickman headed up Marvel’s X-Men relaunch. At the time, Hickman talked about the huge plans he had for Marvel’s mutants and so far, two years in, he’s proven a man of his word. Hickman’s HoX/PoX titles set the X-Men on a path towards not only dominance, but also destruction, the latter seemingly the premise of the upcoming Inferno limited series. Fans have been left wondering for a while now if Inferno would mark the end of Hickman’s time on the line or if it was just a jumping off point to the next chapter of the mutant story: turns out it’s a bit of both.

    In an exclusive interview with EW, Hickman confirms that he will be stepping away from the X-line following Inferno but that plans for the line have evolved over the years and that the seeds planted in HoX and PoX are now going to be cultivated by other creators moving forward.

    Oh, plans have changed entirely. When I pitched the X-Men story I wanted to do, I pitched a very big, very broad, three-act, three-event narrative, the first of which was House of X. And while this loosely worked as a three-year plan, I told Marvel upfront that I honestly had no idea how long the first part would last because there were a lot of interesting ideas that I had seeded that other creators would want to play with, and so, we left this rather open-ended. I was also pretty clear with all the writers that came into the office what the initial, three-act plan was so no one would be surprised when it was time for the line to pivot.

    Hickman added that while HoX/PoX were originally thought of as the first of a three-act plan, it turned out to be something much larger than that: “paradigm shift in the entire X-Men line.” And so while Hickman had planned to move onto the second act, the rest of the team working on the other X-books convinced Hickman that they were having too much fun to move on.

     So, during the pandemic, when the time came for me to start pointing things toward writing the second-act event, I asked everyone if they were ready for me to do that, and to a man, everyone wanted to stay in the first act. It was really interesting, because I appreciated that House of X resonated with them to the extent that they didn’t want it to end, but the reality was that I knew I would be leaving the line early.

    Hickman has spent the last six months or so reshaping the plan and bringing in new creative teams to continue to move the first act forward, planning for the next “several years” of X-books.

    So after Inferno, I’ll be leaving to go work on my ‘Next Big Marvel Thing’ and starting in January the X-Line will rocket forward starting with a weekly series that leads into the very cool, refocused, line of books. Yes, it’s taken us a little while to get everything assembled correctly, but the end result — everything that’s coming after Inferno — is going to be pretty great.

    Inferno, it seems, will be Hickman’s mutant swan song for now and whether or not he comes back to the line once Marvel is ready to move on to act two remains to be seen. For the time being, Hickman will continue working not only on whatever his next big Marvel project is, but also his newly announced 3 Moons, 3 Worlds Substack projects. Hickman has set big things in motion for the mutants of Marvel Comics, however, and helped return them to the top of the charts for the publisher so while he might be moving on, it’s unlikely his given up on his plan entirely.

    Source: EW

  • ‘STAR WARS: VISIONS’ Voice Cast Includes Simu Liu, Temuera Morrison, Neil Patrick Harris, and Many More

    ‘STAR WARS: VISIONS’ Voice Cast Includes Simu Liu, Temuera Morrison, Neil Patrick Harris, and Many More

    It looks like Lucasfilm has finally shared its official voice cast for the upcoming anime spin-off Star Wars: Visions. They recently released a brand new trailer featuring the full voice cast and it’s quite impressive, as it includes various high-profile names including Lucy Liu, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Neil Patrick Harris, Alison Brie, Simu Liu, David Harbour, and many more. Temuera Morrison even returns to voice Boba Fett in one of the episodes. You can check out the full cast list right here for the English dub of the series:

    The Duel”: Brian Tee (Ronin), Lucy Liu (Bandit Leader), Jaden Waldman (Village Chief).

    “Tatooine Rhapsody”: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Jay), Bobby Moynihan (Geezer), Temuera Morrison (BobaFett), Shelby Young (K-344), Marc Thompson (Lan).

    “The Twins”: Neil Patrick Harris (Karre), Alison Brie (Am), Jonathan Lipow (B-20N).

    “The Village Bride”: Karen Fukuhara (F), Nichole Sakura (Haru), Christopher Sean (Asu), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Valco), Andrew Kishino (Izuma), Stephanie Sheh (Saku).

    “The Ninth Jedi”: Kimiko Glenn (Kara), Andrew Kishino (Juro), Simu Liu (Zhima), Masi Oka (Ethan), Greg Chun (Roden), Neil Kaplan (Narrator), Michael Sinterniklaas (Hen Jin).

    “T0-B1”: Jaden Waldman (T0-B1), Kyle Chandler (Mitaka).

    “The Elder”: David Harbour (Tajin), Jordan Fisher (Dan), James Hong (The Elder).

    “Lop & Ocho”: Anna Cathcart (Lop), Hiromi Dames (Ocho), Paul Nakauchi (Yasaburo), Kyle McCarley (Imperial Officer).

    “Akakiri”: Henry Golding (Tsubaki), Jamie Chung (Misa), George Takei (Senshuu), Keone Young (Kamahachi), Lorraine Toussaint (Masago).

    As you can see above, the episode “Akari” is also strictly voiced by an Asian cast, which is a great move considering the episode’s focus and characters. They’ve also revealed the Japanese dub for the series:

    Star Wars: Visions Release Date, Trailer, Cast, Crew And News

    “The Duel”: Masaki Terasoma (Ronin), Akeno Watanabe (Bandit Leader), Yūko Sanpei (VillageChief).

    “Tatooine Rhapsody”: Hiroyuki Yoshino (Jay), Kōusuke Gotō (Geezer), Akio Kaneda (Boba Fett), MasayoFujita (K-344), Anri Katsu (Lan).

    “The Twins”: Junya Enoki (Karre), Ryoko Shiraishi (Am), Tokuyoshi Kawashima (B-20N).

    “The Village Bride”: Asami Seto (F), Megumi Han (Haru), Yūma Uchida (Asu), Takaya Kamikawa (Vaan), Yoshimitsu Shimoyama (Izuma), Mariya Ise (Saku).

    “The Ninth Jedi”: Chinatsu Akasaki (Kara), Tetsuo Kanao (Juro), Shin-ichiro Miki (Zhima), Hiromu Mineta (Ethan), Kazuya Nakai (Roden), Akio Ōtsuka, (Narrator), Daisuke Hirakawa (Hen Jin).

    “T0-B1”: Masako Nozawa (T0-B1), Tsutomu Isobe (Mitaka).

    “The Elder”: Takaya Hashi (Tajin), Kenichi Ogata (The Elder), Yuichi Nakamura (Dan).

    “Lop & Ocho”: Seiran Kobayashi (Lop), Risa Shimizu (Ocho), Tadahisa Fujimura (Yasaburo), Taisuke Nakano (Imperial Officer).

    “Akakiri”: Yū Miyazaki (Tsubaki), Lynn (Misa), Chō (Senshuu), Wataru Takagi (Kamahachi), Yukari Nozawa (Masago).

    It’s quite an impressive cast for this anime adaptation. Not just that, it’s also a sign of how invested Disney and Lucasfilm are in the project. They believe this new direction for an anthology series may stand out and also accompanies this same approach with What If…? which includes mostly actors who previously played the characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It may be a sign for a new direction for animation and it’ll be interesting to see how this develops.

    Source: Collider

  • EXCLUSIVE: Tim Roth Cast Alongside Rebecca Hall in 2019 Black List Winner ‘RESURRECTION’

    EXCLUSIVE: Tim Roth Cast Alongside Rebecca Hall in 2019 Black List Winner ‘RESURRECTION’

    The Black List has been a famous spot for aspiring screenwriters or directors to find their start. It’s grown to the point that it’s become its own community that helps to develop projects. Of course, there’s also the annual survey where they look for the most-liked screenplays that haven’t been produced yet to support the smaller projects to find a footing. It’s how films like American Hustle, Juno, Spotlight, and many more found their footing in Hollywood. In 2019, the Black List winner was Andrew Semans for his script titled Resurrection. As the project is picking up steam, we can exclusively reveal that the film will include Tim Roth alongside Rebecca Hall in the leading roles.

    The project is eyeing a production start in the coming week in Albany with Semans also taking over directing duties. He’s previously worked on projects like 2012’s Nancy, Please, and was a producer on various films including 2021’s The Dig. Hall plays the character of Margaret, who is raising her daughter Abbie on her own. She’s set to go to university until her past comes haunting her in the form of David (Tim Roth). Her well-planned life takes a darker turn as she faces the uncertain. It’ll be interesting to see these two act off of each other in the psychological thriller which currently doesn’t have a release date as of yet.

    Marvel fans are excited to see the return of Roth in the upcoming She-Hulk Disney+ series, and his character Abomination was revealed to also appear in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Rebecca Hall recently appeared in Godzilla vs. Kong and Amazon’s Tales of the Loop series. They have both proven their dramatic muscle and will make a great pairing in Resurrection.