Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • ‘Superman: Legacy’: New House of El Crest Possibly Revealed

    ‘Superman: Legacy’: New House of El Crest Possibly Revealed

    As the cast of James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy assembled in Atlanta for a table read ahead of the start of production, a couple of photos posted by stars who participated in the read may have given fans the first look at the all-new DCU’s crest of the House of El.

    Both Isabela Merced, who will play Hawkgirl in the film, and Sara Sampaio, who will play Eve Teschmacher, posted photos of their nameplates to social media, providing a look at what just might be the new design for the Kryptonian symbol of hope that star David Corenswet will bear on his chest in Superman: Legacy.

    The logo is clearly inspired by the DC Elseworlds tale Kingdom Come, a four-issue limited series by Mark Waid and Alex Ross that was published in 1996. Following the death of Lois Lane and the public’s acceptance of a new hero willing to kill, Superman spends a decade in the Fortress of Solitude before returning to a world that’s become increasingly short on old-fashioned values. Parts of the story were adapted in the CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths in which Superman Returns star Brandon Routh sported the black and red crest on his chest.

    With our stories, we want to take it away from good guy vs. bad guy. There are really good—almost saintly—people and Superman is among them. There are really terrible villains like Gorilla Grodd or the Joker. And then there’s everybody in between them, so there are all these shades of gray which allow us to tell complex stories.

    James Gunn on Superman

    While it seems unlikely that Gunn will be adapting Kingdom Come for Superman: Legacy (it seems far too dour of a story for the film set to launch the DCU and Gunn’s project seems to have taken a fair bit of inspiration from Richard Donner’s 1978 Superman), the idea of the Kryptonian hero existing “in a world that thinks of kindness as old fashioned,” as explained by Gunn, does reverberate with one of the themes of Kingdom Come. Returning from his self-imposed exile, Kal-El found the world greatly changed and its heroes no longer embracing “goodness” as a core value. It’s possible that theme will carry over into Superman: Legacy with a younger Kal-El serving as an example of all that is good for heroes like Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner, a Green Lantern who is often depicted as a prick.

    Production on Superman: Legacy is expected to kick off in March in Hell, Norway before returning to America to film in Cleveland and Atlanta. The film is currently expected to be in theaters on July 11, 2025.

  • Tom Cruise Locks in First Warner Bros. Project with Director Alejandro Inarritu

    Tom Cruise Locks in First Warner Bros. Project with Director Alejandro Inarritu

    It was quite shocking when Tom Cruise suddenly shifted gears and signed a deal with Warner Bros. studios. After it’s been slowly burning bridges wherever it can with David Zaslav at the helm, he still saw some potential of working with the studio. Now, his first project is a lock as director Alejandro Iñárritu is set to make his first English-language film since The Revenant for WB and Legendary Entertainment with him starring in the project.

    There are still no details on what the film will be titled. Still, Iñárritu will be returning to work with Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris, and Nicolas Giacobone, whom he famously worked on Birdman almost a decade ago. It seems they are going out of their way to keep the latest original a big secret and Cruise has been rumored to be looking for a next role that could give him a chance to move away from his usual big action fair.

    Of course, Iñárritu is quite a powerhouse director after winning two straight Oscars with his last projects. It’s also not the first time he worked with some major names as he helped Leonardo DiCaprio finally win his first Oscar with The Revenant. So, it’ll definitely be interesting to see what these two worlds will offer viewers whenever they start rolling the cameras.

    Source: Deadline

  • Anjelica Huston Joins the Star Wars Universe in Season 3 of ‘The Bad Batch’

    Anjelica Huston Joins the Star Wars Universe in Season 3 of ‘The Bad Batch’

    Star Wars animated series such as The Clone Wars and Rebels have habitually brought back characters and returned to locations seen in prior seasons, no matter how big or small of a role they may have played. In this way, characters like Hondo Ohnaka became fan favorites rather than one-offs and stick around long enough to potentially make their way into live-action (fingers crossed, Hondo!). With the third and final season of The Bad Batch underway on Disney Plus, the writers dipped into that playbook in Episode 2, “Paths Unknown”, and brought back a face not seen since Season 1 and with him, one of the galaxy’s more ruthless crime bosses.

    Episode 13 of Season 1, “Infested”, introduced Devaronian gangster Roland Durand into the mix of interesting folks Clone Force 99 have crossed paths with. Roland made his big entrance by assuming control of Cid’s Ord Mantell establishment, a move he said he learned from his mother, Devaronian crime boss Isa. Over the course of the episode, as Roland’s tough-guy tactics put him on the wrong side of business with the Pyke Syndicate, it was revealed that Isa was not to be trifled with and was a ruthless and respected leader with enough juice that the Pykes chose not to escalate matters and allowed Roland and the Batchers to walk away from their confrontation…but not before cutting one of Roland’s horns off. In the second episode of the three-episode Season 3 premiere, as Hunter and Wrecker begin their search for Omega, they pay Roland–and his mom–a visit.

    You take what you want. That’s the Durand way. It’s a tactic my mother has perfected.

    Roland Durand, Season 1-Episode 13
    Issa Durand in a scene from “STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH”, season 3 exclusively on Disney+. © 2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

    “Paths Unknown” not only introduces Isa Durand but also put a major talent and longtime Hollywood favorite behind the crime boss. Anjelica Huston, who played Morticia Adams in 1991 and 1993’s Addams Family films and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1986’s Prizzi’s Honor, was revealed as a surprise addition to Season 3 as the voice of Isa. Huston, who previously voiced a Sith character in an episode of Star Wars Visions, is now officially apart of the galaxy far, far away!

    The first 3 episodes of the final season of The Bad Batch are now streaming on Disney Plus.

  • Potential Release Date Revealed for Star Wars ‘The Acolyte’

    Potential Release Date Revealed for Star Wars ‘The Acolyte’

    After the successful launch of its High Republic-era stories through novels, comic books and the animated series Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Lucasfilm is nearly ready to reveal the first live-action project set in the glory days of the Republic. Late in 2023, Disney confirmed that Star Wars: The Acolyte was part of Disney +’s 2024 streaming slate though no release date or even a release window was provided at the time. Now, as the third and final season of the animated series The Bad Batch gets underway on Disney Plus, it seems as though we might have an idea of when The Acolyte will debut on the streamer.

    According to Collider, the Leslye Headland-created series is tentatively slated to debut on Disney Plus on June 5, 2024. Should that date hold, The Acolyte will premiere just five weeks after the final episode of Season 3 of The Bad Batch streams. The series, which is set near the end of the High Republic era–which spans from 500 BBY until 82 BBY–takes place roughly a century before the events of Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace and “will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes but discovers the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.” According to Collider, a trailer is ready to roll out and could be part of Lucasfilm’s May 4th Star Wars Day/May the 4th Be With You plans.

    The Acolyte will star Amandla Stenberg, Dafne Keen, Jodie Turner-Smith, Manny Jacinto, Lee Jung-jae and Carrie-Anne Moss.

    Source: Collider

  • First Details on ‘Thunderbolts’ Emerge as ‘The Bear’ Showrunner Takes a Crack at the Script

    First Details on ‘Thunderbolts’ Emerge as ‘The Bear’ Showrunner Takes a Crack at the Script

    After the start of production was delayed several times, Marvel Studios Thunderbolts is set to get in front of cameras in just two weeks. Originally written as a sequel to Black Widow by Eric Pearson, who is now working on the script for Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four, the film’s script has been passed on to several writers since. Now, according to a trade report, Marvel Studios has brought some real creative firepower on board to touch up the script ahead of filming.

    Aaron Couch and Borys Kit have revealed that Joanna Calo, the showrunner of the hit FX series The Bear, was recently hired by the studio to sharpen the script. In the same report, the first details about the titular team have been revealed and sound pretty in line with what’s been suspected about the film for some time. Given the film features stars Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan, a plot involving the potential death of one or the other would certainly be met with some outrage. Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Olga Kurylenko and Hannah John-Kamen–all of whom are reprising roles from prior MCU projects–are also part of the cast. Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Russell’s John Walker, Kurylenko’s Taskmaster and John-Kamen‘s Ghost make up the core of the Thunderbolts team.

    According to an insider with knowledge of the script, Thunderbolts “centers on villains and antiheroes going on a mission that was supposed to end with their deaths.” Given what else is known about the film, it’s reasonable to assume that mission will put the team in the sights of the powerful Sentry, now set to be played by Lewis Pullman.

    Thunderbolts is set to debut in theaters May 2, 2025.

    Source: THR

  • ‘Black Widow’ Writer Brought on to “Polish” Script for ‘The Fantastic Four’

    ‘Black Widow’ Writer Brought on to “Polish” Script for ‘The Fantastic Four’

    As the start of production on Marvel Studios long-awaited Fantastic Four reboot draws near, a new trade report has revealed a surprising bit of info about the studio’s efforts to improve the script. According to THR, Black Widow scribe Eric Pearson was brought on by the studio to “polish” the script before production begins this Summer.

    The Fantastic Four was originally written by Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer before being rewritten by Avatar: The Way of Water and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes writer Josh Friedman, who was brought on to beef up the science-fiction aspects of the project. According to THR’s report, Pearson, who also worked on Thor: Ragnarok and wrote the first draft of Thunderbolts for the studio, “has a reputation for taking projects over the finish line.”

    The Fantastic Four, which was first announced at SDCC ’19, was originally set to be directed by Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home skipper Jon Watts. However, Watts left the project in April 2022, leaving the project without a director until Matt Shakman took the regins in August 2022. Shakman and the studio are taking their time with the project as it stands to be one of Marvel’s biggest draws in years as it brings Marvel Comics First Family into the MCU. After an extensive casting search, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach were announced as the Fantastic Four in February and production is slated to get underway this Summer in the UK.

    The Fantastic Four is currently slated to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.

    Source: THR

  • Marvel Studios to Retitle ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’

    Marvel Studios to Retitle ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’

    Since Marvel Studios parted ways with Jonathan Majors, it’s seemed all but certain that they’d eventually retitle the Avengers film that included the name of his MCU character. Now, according to THR, they’ve made the decision to retitle Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

    According to THR insiders Aaron Couch and Borys Kit, Marvel Studios had been considering the change for some time after the less-than-enthusiastic response to Ant-Man and The Waps: Quantumania and Majors‘ legal troubles and subsequent firing by the studio seemed to be the final nail in the coffin. The studio began distancing itself from Quantumania by replacing writer Jeff Loveness, who wrote the Ant-Man threequel, with Michael Waldron, who was already writing the sixth Avengers film, Avengers: Secret Wars. Waldron’s experience in helping to create the Multiverse in Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness along with his understanding of Marvel lore made him an attractive option and allowed for creative continuity between the two-part Multiverse Saga finale.

    Avengers 5 is still currently slated for a May 1st, 2026 release.

    Source: THR

  • Clark Backo Joins the Cast of ‘Venom 3’

    Clark Backo Joins the Cast of ‘Venom 3’

    Madame Web is failing at the box office, but Sony is looking ahead.

    Variety reported on Tuesday that Letterkenny actor Clark Backo has joined the cast of Sony’s Venom 3. Backo will join Tom Hardy, who stars as the titular character, and Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Details surrounding Backo’s role are currently being kept under wraps.

    Kelly Marcel, who worked on the first two Venom movies, will step behind the director’s chair for the threequel. Marcel also helped to write the screenplay for the upcoming film from a story she developed with Hardy. Marcel and Hardy will produce the film alongside Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal and Hutch Parker.

    This will mark Backo’s biggest role to date. The actress is best known for her role as Rosie on the popular Canadian series, Letterkenny. She also recently starred in the Apple TV+ series, The Changeling, which Marcel helped to create and produce.

    Venom 3 will hit theaters on Nov. 8th, 2023.

    Source: Variety

  • Gareth Edwards to Direct New ‘Jurassic World’ Movie

    Gareth Edwards to Direct New ‘Jurassic World’ Movie

    David Leitch is out, Gareth Edwards is in.

    Deadline announced on Tuesday that Rogue One director Gareth Edwards will direct the latest Jurassic World movie. The news comes after it was recently revealed David Leitch walked away from the film after being in early talks to direct it. Edwards is currently in final negotiations with Universal, meaning a deal should be closed relatively soon.

    According to Deadline, Edwards managed to easily impress producers Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall, who were behind the original franchise, the director was quickly given an offer. Pre-production is supposed to quickly get underway once the deal is complete. As previously reported, the new Jurassic World movie will be a brand new, fresh take on the Jurassic films. None of the previous cast members are expected to reprise their roles.

    The Jurassic World franchise has been a huge box office success for Universal. The first film, which debuted in 2015, went on to earn an impressive $1.6 billion at the worldwide box office. The sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, released three years later, and earned $1.3 billion. The final film in the trilogy, Jurassic World: Dominion, released in 2022 and managed to still bring in $1.1 billion despite COVID-19’s impact on the box office.

    The latest Jurassic World movie will hit theaters on July 2nd, 2025.

    Source: Deadline

  • First Reactions to ‘Dune: Part Two’ Hail the Film as a Sci-Fi Masterpiece, Praise Director Denis Villeneuve

    First Reactions to ‘Dune: Part Two’ Hail the Film as a Sci-Fi Masterpiece, Praise Director Denis Villeneuve

    Supermega-visionary-auteur Denis Villeneuve went all in on Dune: Part Two and if the early reactions from critics who screened the film at its world premiere in London are anything to go by, his gamble paid off. While full reviews are still embargoed, critics took to social media to share their impressions of the sci-fi sequel and the praise was universally effusive.

    A Cinematic Masterpiece

    Screen Rant’s Joe Deckelmeier heaped praise on the film calling it a “cinematic masterpiece” and “an epic cinematic journey.” He also echoed other critics sentiments by calling the film “an experience” that he felt like he was a part of.

    A Magical Experience

    Like Deckelmeier, CinemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg felt the “experience” of the film, proclaiming he left feeling as though he had “ridden a sandworm.” As is the case with great literature, Eisenberg noted that this adaptation of Frank Herbert’s beloved novel also tapped into the political zeitgeist of modern times.

    https://twitter.com/eeisenberg/status/1758249830986445276?s=20
    LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 15: (L-R) Josh Brolin, Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux, Rebecca Ferguson, Souheiler Yacoub, Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Stellan Skarsgård, Austin Butler and Anya Taylor-Joy attend the World Premiere of “Dune: Part Two” at Leicester Square on February 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures)
    LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 15: Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet attend the World Premiere of “Dune: Part Two” at Leicester Square on February 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures)
    LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 15: Zendaya attends the World Premiere of “Dune: Part Two” at Leicester Square on February 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures)
    LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 15: Timothée Chalamet attends the World Premiere of “Dune: Part Two” at Leicester Square on February 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures)
    LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 15: Zendaya, Director, Screenwriter and Producer, Denis Villeneuve and Timothée Chalamet attend the World Premiere of “Dune: Part Two” at Leicester Square on February 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures)

    Mr. Villeneuve’s Opus

    Already revered in sci-fi circles, Dune: Part Two looks as though it’ll elevate Denis Villeneuve’s status to god tier. Griffin Schiller called the film Villeneuve’s “magnum opus” and “the definitive sci-fi epic of a generation.”

    Games Radar’s Emily Murray doubled up on the opus (which is fascinating because I have no idea what that means) and added that the “immersive” action was a highlight along with performances by starts Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya.

    As great as this all sounds, social media will remind you that every single person who saw the film is a WB shill who was paid a massive sum of money to share kind words about the film on X.

    Dune: Part Two hits theaters across the globe on March 1, 2024.

    About Dune: Part Two

    The saga continues as award-winning filmmaker Denis Villeneuve embarks on Dune: Part Two, the next chapter of Frank Herbert’s celebrated novel Dune, with an expanded all-star international ensemble cast. The film, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2021’s six-time Academy Award-winning Dune.

    Dune: Part Two will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.

    The big-screen epic continues the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed bestseller Dune with returning and new stars, including Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (Wonka, Call Me by Your Name), Zendaya (Spider-Man: No Way Home, Malcolm & Marie, Euphoria), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning), Oscar nominee Josh Brolin (Avengers: End Game, Milk), Oscar nominee Austin Butler (Elvis, Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood), Oscar nominee Florence Pugh (Black Widow, Little Women), Dave Bautista (the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Thor: Love and Thunder), Oscar winner Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter, Hairspray), Léa Seydoux (the James Bond franchise and Crimes of the Future), Souheila Yacoub (The Braves, Climax), with Stellan Skarsgård (the Mamma Mia! films, Avengers: Age of Ultron), with Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling (45 Years, Assassin’s Creed), and Oscar winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Being the Ricardos).