Murphy's Multiverse

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  • Review: Marvel’s Greatest Cosmic Hero Is Back On Top in ‘Nova: Centurion’ #1

    In the late 1960s, Marvel Comics began to truly carve out the cosmic corner of its universe. With the Fantastic Four Galactus Trilogy, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby shifted the scope of the Marvel Universe beyond Earth-based villains and into the vastness of space. With imaginations running wild, Lee and Kirby–with the Kree hero Mar-Vell at the center–created entire civilizations complete with complex histories and mythologies all their own.

    For 15 years, Captain Marvel led the publishing house’s charge into space, introducing dozens of characters, many of whom became major players in their own right. Following 1982’s The Death of Captain Marvel, Cosmic stories continued–mostly via the mind of Jim Starlin–with characters such as Thanos, Adam Warlock and the Silver Surfer taking center stage. Starlin‘s spin strayed a bit from the traditional hero-vs.-villain dynamic, crafting a complex, almost philosophical, and ultimately symbiotic relationship between Thanos and Warlock.

    In 2006, a new era of Cosmic story telling began, one that may ultimately be counted among the House of Ideas finest hours. Primarily helmed by writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, Marvel kicked off what is generally considered to be a five-part epic story. Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest, War of Kings, Realm of Kings and The Thanos Imperative formed a continuous saga that re-established and redefined the Guardians of the Galaxy, Inhumans, Nova Corps, and other major cosmic players while elevating Peter Quill and Richard Rider to A-listers.

    While that’s not intended to be a comprehensive history of Marvel’s Cosmic continuity, it’s certainly the highlights. Though Marvel has never abandoned its Cosmic pursuits, space epics aren’t for everyone, nor can everyone write them well enough to appeal to the masses. Arguably, the biggest issue facing Marvel Comics has been its struggle to consistently leverage the legacy of Mar-Vell to sell Cosmic stories.

    Primarily due to Mar-Vell’s definitive, respected death and the subsequent proliferation of his title and power set among other characters, an overt set of challenges have complicated Marvel’s own efforts. So, for every Annihilation, there’s an Empyre, which, once again, attempted to lean into the legacy of Mar-Vell to make space fun again…and fell short once again.

    From those ashes came Jonathan Hickman‘s Imperial, which circumvents the half-hearted attempts to recognize Mar-Vell’s importance, ultimately placing his true successor back in his rightful place as Marvel’s Cosmic champion.

    Despite its efforts to make Quasar, Silver Surfer, Star-Lord and even Mar-Vell’s own offspring the next Cosmic hero, Marvel has never done better then Richard Rider and the last-reamining Nova is front-and-center again, not only headlining his own solo series since 2017.

    Under Jed MacKay, who has been perfecting his craft since 2011, Richard Rider resumes his rightful throne as the heir to Mar-Vell in Nova: Centurion #1, which sees the last remaining Nova set sail on what looks to be a stellar adventure willing to delve into the publishing house’s deep Cosmic legacy.

    The issue pulls no punches, boldly boasting Rider’s own bequest as not only Nova Prime but Marvel Comics’ Cosmic Prime.  Rider–reciting his own resume while, once again, rolling the dice–showcases his wide-range of heroic characteristics, which inarguably allows him to stand beside Steve Rogers and Thor as the most noble heroes to ever grace the pages of Marvel Comics. It’s only one issue but ’nuff said: MacKay gets right to the core of Rider, allowing him to shine like the Supernova he is.

    With Imperial, Hickman did as he does, resetting the board by cleverly crafting a story from a corner where nobody was looking. That story resulted in a new Cosmic order in which Rider found himself on the outside looking in…and that’s always where the man has done his best work. Nova: Centurion #1 picks up with Rider–the last Nova–smartly using the terrors of space against it to save a cruise vessel before revealing the dire nature of his circumstances. And before you know it, MacKay‘s alchemical first issue pays homage to prior iterations of the Cosmic glory days, pairing Rider with the hedonistic Starlin-era scoundrel Pip the Troll while bringing Annihilation-era sideckick-turned-space bandit Cammi back into the fold as a mystery surrounding the Hickman-era X-Men precious metal mysterium points Nova in the direction of one of his old foes.

    All any reader can glean from a new #1 is a glimmer of hope that the series is in good hands and on the right track. MacKay‘s Nova Centurion #1 deftly blends what’s probably nostalgia, though it might be too obscure for many readers to notice, with the best parts of modern Marvel to put the Human Rocket back in the driver’s seat and promise an adventure worth a second chapter.

  • DC Studios’ Next Streaming Series Officially Delayed

    DC Studios’ Next Streaming Series Officially Delayed

    All signs point to DC Studios’ HBO Max streaming series Lanterns having quite a bit going for it. Led by what DC Studios’ co-chair James Gunn labeled as a crack team of writers, the project has begun to sound more and more like a potential prestige series for HBO. After nabbing Kyle Chandler to portray Hal Jordan, the studio landed star-in-the-making Aaron Pierre to play John Stewart.

    Lanterns will see Pierre‘s Stewart, who the actor says “radiates strength and fortitude,” being prepped as a replacement for Hal Jordan which, as one might expect, will cause some friction between the two. They’ll have to get over that quickly, however, as they’ll have to take on one of DC’s darkest villains, the Black Hand, and probably deal with some nonsense from potential Legion of Doomer Sinestro, played by Ulrich Thomsen.

    According to Gunn, the show will feature Lanterns who “find this ancient horror on Earth, and these guys are basically supercops on “Precinct Earth.” It sounds like it’ll be one helluva ride…but it looks as though fans will have to wait a bit to take it.

    Originally intended to stream in in spring or early summer 2026, the series has now officially been delayed to the “end of summer 2026.”

    Gunn previously described Lanterns as playing a “really big role leading us into the main story” of the DCU’s Chapter One: Gods and Monsters while DC Studios’ co-chair Peter Safran as a “terrestrial-based investigation story” in the vein of True Detective. As it stands now, the series will follow Supergirl‘s theatrical release and is currently the only streaming project on the DC Studios slate.

    Source: The Wrap

  • WB Greenlights ‘Gremlins 3’ for 2027 Release with Original Writer Set to Direct

    During a November 6th investor call, CEO and president of Warner Bros. Discovery David Zaslav announced that the movie production arm of the company is moving for forward with a new installment in its Gremlins franchise.

    According to Zaslav, Gremlins 3 will be directed by Harry Potter franchise and Home Alone director Chris Columbus, who wrote 1984’s Gremlins, and Steven Spielberg set to produce.

    The original film spawned a 1990 sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch but despite rumors over the years, a new film had yet to come together. According to THR, Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein (Final Destination: Bloodlines) have been tasked with writing the screenplay for the film.

    Source: THR

  • Leaked Promo Art Reveals Upgraded ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Costumes Hit the Mark in Season 2

    Leaked Promo Art Reveals Upgraded ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Costumes Hit the Mark in Season 2

    In early May, photos from the New York City set of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 revealed an unexpected team-up as Matt Murdock and Bullseye were spotted together, presumably working together to take down Wilson Fisk.

    Upon closer look, the photos also showed off updates costumes for both characters, with Daredevil’s black suit garnering the most attention. However, Wilson Bethel‘s Dex was also sporting new threads, though the details were tough to see well given it was a night shoot. Thanks to some new promo shots, that’s no longer an issue.

    X user @variablelace, who recently released some unused promo shots from Season 1, has shared shots of Dex and Daredevil, providing detailed looks at their new gear.

    https://twitter.com/variablelace/status/1986158574691914129?t=t5u6BFa5YBLLYJRPcC57qA&s=19

    In the case of Dex, the lines on the neck are a subtle nod to the far more outlandish Bullseye costume from the comics. Would Marvel dare go so far as to put the mask on Bethel, going full comic book?

    https://twitter.com/variablelace/status/1985551748887457997?t=eYMgjzVPFOBWtZ40XmmjLg&s=19

    Cox‘s black suit will certainly draw a lot of praise, though it’s just another repaint of the old Netflix suit. However, it’s black which somehow stokes the fire of “dark and gritty” segment of the fanbase.

    Season 4 of Netflix’s Daredevil Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again is set to hit D+ on March 4th, 2026.

  • Trailer, Symopsis, Details for ‘Predator: Badlands’ Promise a Brand New Direction for the Action Franchise

    Trailer, Symopsis, Details for ‘Predator: Badlands’ Promise a Brand New Direction for the Action Franchise

    Director Dan Trachtenberg breathed new life into the Predator franchise with 2022’s Prey which he followed up with Killer of Killers, an animated anthology that fundamentally reframed everything fans once believed they knew, opening the doors wide for new era of storytelling. The first chapter in that new era will be Predator: Badlands, also directed by Trachtenberg, who once again promises to deliver something audiences have never seen in a Predator film.

    Where Killer of Killers expand the Yautja’s role in the history of the AVP universe and pulled the curtain back a bit more on the franchise’s killing machines, the Yautja, Badlands looks to expand on that, revealing more of what makes the species tick and by making one of them, Dek, the film’s protagonist rather than it’s Boogeyman. With just one month to go until the film’s release, 20th Century Studios has released a new trailer for the film, along with a synopsis that highlight not only Dek’s dangerous journey but also his partnership with Elle Fanning‘s Weyland-Yutani synth, Thia.

    Set in the future on a deadly remote planet, Badlands follows a young Predator outcast (played by newcomer Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) who finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Elle Fanning) as he embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.

    -Synopsis for Predator: Badlands

    While visiting the set of Predator: Badlands, Screen Rant spoke with producer Ben Rosenblatt, who shed some light on Thia, who will spend a great deal of the film on Dek’s back.

    On this journey, he meets a Weyland-Yutani synth who has been severed in half and stuck in a nest on the planet waiting for some way to help get out of there. So the backstory on that is Weyland-Yutani has sent an all-synth mission onto this planet to pursue the very same beast for their own purposes.

    -Ben Rosenblatt

    “The big idea is that we are trying to do a Predator movie where the Predator is the hero, the protagonist of the movie,” Rosenblatt explained “So our story follows an undersized predator.”

    With a Yautja as the lead, Predator: Badlands will get a chance to follow Dek to Yautja Prime, the home planet of the alien species as seen in Killer of Killers, though that’s not the film’s primary setting. “It begins on Yautja Prime with this predator and his immediate family,” explained Rosenblatt, “and through a series of both exciting and tragic events, he’s set off on a journey on a foreign planet, and that’s where most of the film is taking place.”

    Given what fans learned about the Yautja and their home planet in Killer of Killers, it seems possible that Predator: Badlands will share some connective tissue with the animated project and may set the stage for whatever Trachtenberg has in mind for the franchise’s next installment.

    Predator: Badlands will hit theaters on November 7th

    Source: Screen Rant

  • Review: ‘Marvel Zombies’

    Review: ‘Marvel Zombies’

    As Marvel Studios marketed the first season of its multiverse-hopping canonical animated series, What If…?, it smartly leaned heavily into the show’s most eye-popping premise: zombies. The earliest teasers for the series put zombie Cap front and center, along it clear that at least in that episode, nobody was safe from the zombie apocalypse.

    As it turned out, the attempt by Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to take down the zombies infected with a Quantum Virus in “What If…Zombies?!” led to an even greater catastrophe; however, the silver lining for fans of zombies–and the gratuitous violence that comes with them–was 30 minutes of TV-MA of spectacularly gory fun in the kind of kill-or-be-killed environment that was more akin to Mortal Kombat than anything. And, like many episodes of What If…?, “What If…Zombies?!” left the door open for more stories to be told…

    …the creative team behind What If…? ran with it like they were designing Mortal Kombat fatalities. The episode included two particularly bad cases of being cut in half (Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers were bisected longitudinally and transversely, respectively); Wong continued the trend of librarians from Kamar-Taj being relieved of their heads; and Hope van Dyne got especially nasty, using ants to strip the flesh from Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian and Doctor Strange before decapitating Iron Man, repulsoring Happy in the face and then growing to full size inside a zombified Sharon Carter, resulting in a real gross mess.

    -‘WHAT IF… ZOMBIES?’ Is the Closest To ‘MORTAL KOMBAT’ The MCU May Get

    Four years later, Marvel Animation’s Marvel Zombies returns to the alternate Earth overrun by Quantum zombies to spin a classic zombie yarn bringing together disparate groups of survivors. While the zombie horde prevented Thanos’ plans from coming to fruition, it ultimately unleashed an even greater threat in Wanda Maximoff, the Queen of the Dead, who doesn’t have a 50% off the population of the Earth coupon but rather and army of undead who see the population as an all-you-can-eat buffet.

    Center): Zombie Okoye (voiced by Kenna Ramsey) in Marvel Television’s MARVEL ZOMBIES exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Television. © 2025 MARVEL.
    Frenetic, savage and gadgety-on-the-brink-of-gimmicky, Marvel Zombies ends up a bit less than the sum of its parts while still managing to deliver a sinewy supernatural survivor story.

    Picking up where “What If…Zombies?!” left off, Marvel Zombies spends three episodes bringing together its main cast while explaining and expanding upon the situation they’re trying to survive in the ravenous, post-apocalyptic environment which creators Bryan Andrews and Zeb Wells leverage to their full narrative advantage. From the North Institute to The Raft and plenty of surprising people, places and things, the four-episode TV-MA mini-event is weaved on an impressively vast narrative canvas that is incredibly inclusive. Ultimately, Marvel Zombies is Kamala Khan’s story–and Iman Vellani once again does an amazing job–though there’s plenty for others to do outside of die.

    On that note, Simu Liu‘s Shang-Chi and Awkwafina’s Katy Chen, who are at ground zero of the outbreak in San Francisco, get a fun new origin story that shows off the fun that can be had exploring these What If…? universes. And it involves a truly all-time great zombie apocalypse moment that sits right there with 28 Days Later and World War Z. Ultimately, it’s moments like this (which takes place at the begining of Episode 2) and Spider-Man being turned loose as a zombie-killing machine that make Marvel Zombies worth the watch, even if it is a bit flawed in its narrative and does leave some continuity questions even in an alternate timeline.

  • First Teaser Trailer, Synopsis Arrive for Lucasfilm’s ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’

    First Teaser Trailer, Synopsis Arrive for Lucasfilm’s ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’

    A new age of theatrical Star Wars projects is set to launch next May when Din Djarin and his foundling, Grogu, jump to the big screen in The Mandalorian and Grogu.

    With 8 months to go until release, Lucasfilm has unveiled the first trailer for the project as well as the first official synopsis.

    The evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they have enlisted the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his young apprentice Grogu.

    Directed by Jon Favreau, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu also stars Sigourney Weaver and is produced by Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and Ian Bryce,  with music composed by Ludwig Göransson.

    Updating…

  • ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Marketing Teaser Confirms the MCU Doom Will Indeed Possess a Comic-Accurate Trait

    The casting of Robert Downey Jr. as the MCU’s Victor Von Doom has been subjected to significant criticism. While it’ll be quite some time before fans will be able to judge Downey’s performance, we now know that Marvel Studios’ Doom will stand apart from prior big screen iterations in one big way.

    As part of a teaser displayed at the Disney 2026 Merchandise Expo in China, a video presentation gave an interesting tease of the film and featured Doom’s hands casting spells, confirming the MCU’s Doom will indeed be a sorcerer.

  • Promo Art Reveals First Look at Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom

    Promo Art Reveals First Look at Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom

    Though he appeared in a tag to The Fantastic Four: First Steps, fans were unable to catch a good glimpse of what the MCU’s Victor Von Doom truly looks like. The scene, which featured Robert Downey Jr.’s villain making an unwelcome visit to the Baxter Building, only have a glimpse of the villains’s back and mask, leaving the full reveal for another day. Today seems to be that day.

    Emerging fromWalt Disney Studios Marketing Expo in Shanghai is the first full look at Doom as he will appear in Avengers: Doomsday.

    The art reveals what looks to be an epic take on Doom’s armor which, according to reports, is hiding a disfigured Victor whose look was inspired by “classic Universal monster movies.”

    How can we not go backwards? How can we not disappoint expectations? How can we continue to beat expectations? And he brought up Victor Von Doom. I looked into this character. Later on, he goes, ‘Let’s get Victor Von Doom right.’

    -Robert Downey Jr. on Kevin Feige’s pitch for him to return to the MCU,THR
    SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: Robert Downey Jr. speaks onstage during the Marvel Studios Panel in Hall H at SDCC in San Diego, California on July 27, 2024. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)

    As part of their SDCC ’24 presentation, Marvel Studios announced that the fifth Avengers film, previously titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, was set to be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and had been retitled Avengers: Doomsday, which would star Downey as Victor Von Doom.

    Avengers: Doomsday is currently set to hit theaters on December 18, 2026.

  • Holy Jackpot, Batman! ‘Clayface’ Prop Teases The Dark Knight’s First Sidekick

    Photos from the Liverpool set of DC Studios Clayface have revealed an upcoming scene will be shot at the Gotham carnival known as Amusement Mile. Aged poster props have teased a “Freakshow” featuring the “Penguin Man among other attractions at the carnival, giving the DCU’s Gotham a solid foundation that allows for many of Batman’s villains to have been active for years. Now, a new prop teases the potential for Batman’s first sidekick to appear in the DCU.

    A new photo of the Amusement Mile set shows another aged poster for The Flying Graysons, a trio traveling acrobats including Dick Grayson, the first Robin.

    The death of Dick’s parents,  Jonathan and Mary Grayson, in a fall caused by a sabotaged rope, orphaned Dick and let to his adoption by Bruce Wayne. Soon after, Grayson became Robin and The Boy Wonder served as Batman’s sidekick for years. Grayson later joined the Teen Titans and, eventually, took on the identity of Nightwing after a falling out with Wayne.