Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • Marvel Studios Confirms Ben Kingsley Return in ‘SHANG-CHI’

    Marvel Studios Confirms Ben Kingsley Return in ‘SHANG-CHI’

    It’s been a long wait but the premiere for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has finally arrived. While we still have to wait a few more weeks, it’s a sign that we don’t have to fear the film facing some kind of delay. Venom: Let There Be Carnage left its late September release and it did add some uncertainty but everyone took to the red carpet to enjoy the event. It seems that the event had some curious surprises, as actor Ben Kingsley was sighted during the event. Luckily, Comic Book’s Brandon Davis was attending the event, where Marvel Studios confirmed he is part of the film’s cast to all those that are attending

    The actor hasn’t appeared since his initial appearance in Iron Man 3 as a fake version of the Mandarin. It turned out he was an actor known as Trevor Slattery that ended up in prison before he met with a follower of the Ten Rings in the All Hail The King one-shot. Of course, his appearance would hint at them continuing the storyline in some way. It’s uncertain if he’ll have a bigger role in the story, or it might turn out to be a simple cameo.

    Still, it’s incredible how Marvel Studios still pulls upon storylines left open. The Marvel Cinematic Universe first introduced the organization in 2008. There have been some hints of their continued reign throughout the series even after Iron Man 3. It’ll be interesting to see how Kingsley‘s character will play into this story and what it might mean for his future with the franchise.

    Source: Twitter (Ben Kingsley) Twitter

  • The First Reactions to ‘SHANG-CHI’ Are Here

    The First Reactions to ‘SHANG-CHI’ Are Here

    After years of waiting, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is finally around the corner. The film just had its big LA premiere and with that screening comes the first reactions from the press. Check it out below!

    https://twitter.com/johncampea/status/1427497528539312129
  • ‘Hotel Transylvania: Transformania’ Nearing a $100M Deal to Stream Globally on Amazon

    ‘Hotel Transylvania: Transformania’ Nearing a $100M Deal to Stream Globally on Amazon

    Just recently, Sony made the decision to postpone Venom: Let There Be Carnage once again and is now set to release in October. In the first report on another delay, there were also discussions of Hotel Transylvania: Transformania also eyeing a delayed-release. Well, it looks like the animated sequel has found a new home with Amazon, as Sony is nearing a $100M deal with the streamer for an exclusive release.

    Sony has been forming a strong strategy in these unlikely times by forming alliances with various streaming services. Venom‘s recent delay added some fuel to theories surrounding their December release of Spider-Man: Homecoming. Their willingness to push an October release to a streaming service may also hint at uncertainty about how to handle the current situation. Who knows if the Spider-Man spin-off will get delayed again if Delta Variant numbers continue to grow going into October.

    Variety revealed that Sony will still retain rights to home entertainment, linear TV, and Chinese exhibition. So, the deal is primarily for their digital release. It joins other projects, such as Netflix’s Fatherhood, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and recently Vivo. It’s also not their first deal with Amazon, as Cinderella will release on the platform on September 3rd. Still, it’s a big move to push the finale of their franchise to a digital release. The deal hasn’t been finalized. So, it could still change but it seems safe to say they might go down this route.

    Source: Variety

  • Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige Talks Fu Manchu and Their Approach to ‘SHANG-CHI’s Wenwu

    Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige Talks Fu Manchu and Their Approach to ‘SHANG-CHI’s Wenwu

    There’s a lot of controversies surrounding Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in China. Local audiences aren’t comfortable with the introduction of the titular character’s father. We know it’ll be an original character known as Wenwu, who is portrayed by famous Chinese actor Tony Leung, but there are still some heavy ties to the racist caricature of Fu Manchu. In an interview, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige discussed their approach to this character and also confirmed that Marvel does not own the rights to the racist caricature.

    That is one of the truths about the early comic books that Fu Man Chu was a part of that story in the early comics. Fu Manchu is not a Marvel character. Fu Manchu is not a character we own or ever want to own. And that changed in the comics many years ago. We never had any intention of doing that in this movie. Fu Manchu is not in this movie in any shape or form.

    Kevin Feige

    He also goes on to highlight that it is an offensive figure. He makes a point of highlighting their strategy is to welcome people into this universe, especially with their approach to defining their heroes. They also took a very specific approach with their villain, as Kevin Feige highlights that Wenwu isn’t the kind of villain you think the leader of the Ten Rings might be.

    This is a very unique character that you can almost not even call a villain. This is a story about the love between a father and son, but misunderstanding and conflict and that’s what we’re anxious for people to see in this movie between these two amazing actors.

    Kevin Feige

    The interviewer goes on to point out Shang-Chi’s dark decision on taking his father’s life. While not giving away any details, Feige does point out that they’ve changed many elements in their adaptation. He does go on to tease the change of perspective on his father’s past might inform his character in the film while avoiding giving away any real spoilers. Leung‘s past performances will also play a major role in how this character is shaped and, hopefully, we get a lot more of him in the future.

    Source: Weibo via YouTube

  • ‘SHANG-CHI’s Destin Daniel Cretton Teases Martial Arts Action and Buster Keaton Storytelling

    ‘SHANG-CHI’s Destin Daniel Cretton Teases Martial Arts Action and Buster Keaton Storytelling

    Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ upcoming release will mark an important milestone for Marvel Studios. It’ll be their first Asian-American-led project with Simu Liu taking on the role of the titular hero. It’s also their first attempt at a Kung fu-inspired film that honors the film of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and many more. In the interview, he revealed that Marvel Studios took the challenge quite seriously as they changed their approach to action to emphasize the choreography.

    This movie is the first time that I think Marvel has put a lot of their emphasis in the action design and, specifically, the choreography. And it’s their first time really tackling a more purely martial arts movie, which is super exciting to be a part of. They obviously didn’t hire me because I’m amazing at martial arts movies, so there’s also a very strong emotional, dramatic and comedic element to these characters.

    Destin Daniel Cretton

    He even goes on to highlight how they took a Buster Keaton storytelling approach with some of the action sequences. The first clip released for the film highlighted this approach, as you can see physical comedy with various payoffs. Cretton calls it just a small taste of what the film has to offer.

    The first glimpse at action seems promising, as it doesn’t rely on over-editing that some MCU films shave done in the past. The approach of adapting Keaton-style storytelling is also a perfect tribute to the way that Jackie Chan also molded his martial arts films. He famously paid tribute to the famous clock hanging sequence from Safety Last! in his film Project A back in 1983. We can’t wait to see what action awaits us, especially when Shang-Chi faces off against his father Wenwu.

    Source: Fandango, YouTube

  • ‘SHANG-CHI’ Takes Place Post-Snap in the MCU Timeline

    ‘SHANG-CHI’ Takes Place Post-Snap in the MCU Timeline

    There have been many questions surrounding the upcoming Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings film. The biggest was when exactly it takes place during the Sacred Timeline. Marvel Studios could explore his story during the five-year gap after Thanos snapped half of all existence from the universe. They might even explore his story before the snap, as he confronts his father on the evil that he sees within the Ten Ring organization. Well, it looks like we finally got confirmation as director Destin Daniel Cretton discussed the film in an interview with Fandango. In it, he made the following statement on when it takes place:

    Shang-Chi is set in the present day in the MCU timeline.

    Destin Daniel Cretton

    Fandango goes on to ask if he definitely means post-snap, which he goes on to confirm. He doesn’t go into detail where it exactly fits, but it’s a good confirmation as Marvel Studios have moved away from strictly following their releases alongside their timeline placement. Black Widow took place during the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Loki made the placements of future entries even more complicated due to the introduction of the multiverse, which adds some more complexity to Marvel Studios’ approach.

    The big confusion is the wording of “post-snap,” as that would place it before the events of Avengers: Endgame. The result of that film was titled the blip, but there’s the possibility Cretton is referencing that event which also included a snap to undo what Thanos has done. So, we might still have to speculate on which snap he is referencing for just a few more weeks.

    Source: Fandango

  • New ‘SHANG-CHI’ IMAX Poster Hints at Fin Fang Foom

    New ‘SHANG-CHI’ IMAX Poster Hints at Fin Fang Foom

    It looks like Shang-Chi‘s marketing has finally ramped up, as we got a brand new IMAX poster for the film. Yet, there’s also a rather curious detail on it. While we see the Great Protector dragon, which was hinted at through a leaked Funko Pop and then confirmed in a brief sequence during the last trailer, he is joined by another strange dragon. In the exclusive reveal by ComicBook.com, they confirm that it is a greenish-black dragon.

    Now, the colors might be familiar to many that followed the comics, and our reports from back in September, there were hints at Fin Fang Foom’s lair, The Valley of the Sleeping Dragon, getting included in the film. We thought it might’ve been used for the white Great Protector, but it seems it might house two dragons. His design is also quite different from the comics. So, it might be a different one entirely but Marvel Studios is no stranger to changing the designs of comic characters. The color scheme would at least hint at a connection between the two.

    shang-chi imax poster

    No matter what character it turns south to be, the inclusion of more dragons opens up the film to a lot of interesting details we might’ve missed. Perhaps the Ten Rings have a different purpose after all and the green dragon is why the organization was born. It could also be the namesake for the Great Protector. There’s a lot of potential his inclusion could hint at, which might also be why they randomly included him in this poster.

    Source: Comic Book

  • ‘FREE GUY’s Surprise $28.4M Domestic Box Office Adds Fuel for ‘SHANG-CHI’s Upcoming Release

    ‘FREE GUY’s Surprise $28.4M Domestic Box Office Adds Fuel for ‘SHANG-CHI’s Upcoming Release

    Another week comes to a close and we have some more data to give us an insight into how the overall Box Office is developing. There’s been some negative light on recent statements by Disney CEO Bob Chapek on calling the upcoming 45-day release window of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings an “experiment” in unlikely times. While the sentiment with the Delta Variant spreading across the role was understandable, the wording for such a culturally relevant depiction for an Asian-American-led project wasn’t. The film’s star Simu Liu shared this sentiment in a tweet:

    All eyes were on Free Guy, a 20th Century release without a Disney+ Premier Access offering, to offer a glimpse of how other theatre-only releases might perform. Well, it may have given some hope as it surprised with a really impressive $28.4M domestic release. To put that in perspective, early predictions set it as a low-end $15M to $20M. For a pandemic release with a $100M budget, it’s a great showcase of its strength in cinemas. It generally garnered $51M worldwide putting git at a good start. It even saw the largest increase from Friday to Saturday with a 24% spike in ticket sales.

    Free Guy | film.at

    In addition, without a digital offering, its drop in the second weekend might prove some optimism for future releases. As Variety points out, Free Guy is the only real original theatre-only release so far and makes it a big testing ground in comparison to Snake Eyes and A Quiet Place Part II. As Shawn Robbins, the chief analyst of Box Office Pro highlights, it’s giving some hope that Shang-Chi surpasses the predictions ceiling of $55M.

    Audiences love sequels — when they’re good — but sometimes you want something unique. Considering its an original movie, Disney is probably feeling more confident going into ‘Shang Chi’.

    Not everything was all rosy over the weekend, as The Suicide Squad dropped by 70% in its second weekend. Its strength lied in its HBO Max showings, but its availability might show the challenge of these same-day releases. According to Forbes, it’s the biggest drop for a high-profile superhero film with only Shaquille O’Neal‘s Steel standing at the top spot with 78%. We’ll see if we get an additional insight into how it performs on the streaming service in its second week Black Widow has surpassed Christopher Nolan‘s Tenet, which has become the benchmark for blockbuster releases moving forward. Here’s hoping it might mean that Shang-Chi proves that it’s deserving of more attention.

    Source: Twitter, Variety, Forbes, CNBC

  • Todd McFarlane’s ‘SPAWN’ Film Adds ‘BROKEN CITY’s Writer Brian Tucker

    Todd McFarlane’s ‘SPAWN’ Film Adds ‘BROKEN CITY’s Writer Brian Tucker

    The long-rumored Spawn film finally seems to be moving forward. The Hollywood Reporter has unveiled that Todd McFarlane‘s passion project added Brian Tucker. He’s well-known for his work on the 2013 crime thriller Broken City, which starred Russell Crowe and Mark Wahlberg. The film will be produced by Blumhouse Productions with McFarlane set as the film’s director. He’ll also produce the film alongside Carla Hacken and Jason Blum.

    The project has been talked about since 2017 with Jamie Foxx attached for some time. Even Jeremy Renner was involved as well, but it’s uncertain if they are still set to star. The Hollywood Reporter stated that once the script is written they’ll approach the actors again. The last update we got on the project was briefly during CCXP back in December of 2020. At the time, McFarlane teased multiple other big names involved with the project but there was no other announcement made.

    It’s uncertain how long Tucker has already been involved with the project and if he is called in to rewrite a project. Still, it’s great to see that the project is moving forward and there’s still hope to see Spawn in all his glory on the silvers screen. We did get one adaptation featuring Michael Jai White in 1997, which was adapted as a horror-action film by New Line. The comic has been running since 1992 under the Image Comics banner and currently stands as the longest-running indie title. So, it’s time he gets his time to shine in cinemas once again.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘TITANS’ Vincent Kartheiser Unlikely to Return After Season 3 Due to Misconduct Investigations

    ‘TITANS’ Vincent Kartheiser Unlikely to Return After Season 3 Due to Misconduct Investigations

    Titans‘ third season has finally and it seems its premiere is smeared with some rather surprising news. Deadline has revealed that new cast member Vincent Kartheiser will very likely not return for a fourth season due to the actor being subject to multiple investigations by the studio. It seems the actor triggered at least two complaints and two internal investigations over the course of the season’s production. He was accused of disruptive, juvenile behavior alongside inappropriate comments. All investigations were done remotely from Burbank due to COVID protocols.

    According to them, the accusations haven’t risen to the point that he would get kicked from the show’s production, but he did get a representative that was monitoring the actor’s behavior closely. Naturally, Kartheiser‘s spokesperson denies the allegations and only shared the following statement on the matter:

    Warner Bros investigated this matter and made clear to Mr. Kartheiser its expectations for behavior on the set, and he agreed to comply with their directives.

    It’s quite shocking that these allegations have only seen the light of day now. Of course, there is no official confirmation or statement by Warner Bros. So, we still need to consider there is more to this story but it’s not a great way for Titans to kick-off its third season. Kartheiser took on the role of the famous Batman villain Scarecrow and only had a one-year contract. So, it seems they might write out the character and focus on a new villain for the fourth season.

    Source: Deadline