Murphy's Multiverse

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  • Michael Keaton in Early Talks To Reprise Batman Role in ‘THE FLASH’

    Michael Keaton in Early Talks To Reprise Batman Role in ‘THE FLASH’

    Michael Keaton is in talks to join THE FLASH to once again play Bruce Wayne, a role that made him a superstar and help make comics a modern cinematic commodity. According to The Wrap, talks are early and could fall through anytime but this is crazy exciting nonetheless. The uber-popular Flashpoint storyline has been attached to this film for quite a while which would easily explain Keaton’s surprising involvement in the story. If we’re seeing the larger DC multiverse, then it makes sense to see a different version of Batman out there.

     

    And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Variety is saying that Keaton’s role could end up being a Nick Fury-esque mentor role that calls for multiple DCEU film appearances.

    The production history of THE FLASH has been nothing short of a clusterfuck, with countless creative changes behind-the-scenes. But now, it seems like things have calmed down with It director Andy Muschietti helming the project and an early 2021 start date. Let’s hope it all works out because it’s about time we see a Flash film and see Keaton don the cowl once more.

    Source: The Wrap

  • RUMOR: Alpha Flight Bound for the MCU

    RUMOR: Alpha Flight Bound for the MCU

    According to a Caleb Williams of Knight Edge Media, Marvel Studios is keen on introducing Alpha Flight to the MCU. Normally one tweet wouldn’t get me to turn on my laptop and type up a story, but this tweet resonates with some things I’ve heard and discussed on the podcast in the past.

    Created by John Byrne and first appearing in 1979’s Uncanny X-Men #120, Alpha Flight is a Canadian super team that plays a key role in the the long history of Wolverine; in fact, their first appearance saw their team leader, Vindicator, who first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #109 where he failed in his solo effort to bring the Canucklehead back into the fold, lead his team in to atone for his failure. The original team, which included Sasquatch, Shaman, twins Northstar and Aurora and Snowbird under the command of Vindicator-characters Byrne had developed long before his tenure at Marvel-were chosen to provide the X-Men with a real challenge. In 1983, Byrne wrote a solo Alpha Flight series that introduced one of the team’s most beloved members, Eugene Judd, aka Puck. Recently Puck lead a different version of Alpha Flight into space working alongside Carol Danvers before the original team returned just this past Fall.

    This rumor is incredibly interesting to me because, as Charles Villanueva and I have talked about on the podcast several times, it lines up with some information I heard quite some time ago, so while I am in no way confirming this, it’s definitely something I will keep an eye on because one of my most trusted sources told me that Alpha Flight was a property that Marvel Studios One-Above-All, Kevin Feige, believed to have great potential. This information was from a time before Disney Plus was a factor, so I have no idea what the plans might be, but if we speculate a bit, you can see there are a lot of options.

    Obviously, everyone will eagerly focus on Wolverine’s past with the team as they eagerly anticipate the MCU version of Logan, but there are more options here than him. In Avengers: Endgame, Hulk mentions that part of the process of him merging his two personalities was spending some time in his “gamma lab” during the 5 year hiatus; I’m curious to see if Dr. Walter Langkowski, aka Sasquatch, might have been a part of his team or if, like in the comics, he was doing his own work on the Hulk’s experiment. Either way, Sasquatch, who played an interesting role in Al Ewing‘s The Immortal Hulk, brings another gamma related character into the mix in addition to She-Hulk.

    Sasquatch 'Dies' in Immortal Hulk #4 -- And Then Things Get ...

    Mutant twins Northstar and Aurora are more than just copies of the Maximoff twins. Jean-Paul Beaubier is the first major Marvel character to be openly gay and his sister, Jeanne-Marie, has struggled with dissociative identity disorder throughout her years in the comics. Michael Twoyoungmen, aka Shaman, is a powerful First Nations mystic who has taken some harrowing journeys throughout the years and aided in the birth of Snowbird, a demigod and daughter of the Inuit goddess Nelvanna. As Marvel Studios continues to make their films more representative of the world, you can see how Alpha Flight provides a great opportunity to diversify their character lineup.

    Again, this is all speculation based off a single tweet, so temper your expectations and be cautious and careful in how you spread the news. I am NOT confirming the rumor, only sharing that I heard 2 years or so ago that Feige saw great promise in the group and speculating on how they might fit in. For all we know, it might not even be the original team and, instead, the tweet is about the version that served with Captain Marvel. As always, time will tell.

     

     

  • Hulu’s ‘Helstrom’ Slated For October Release

    Hulu’s ‘Helstrom’ Slated For October Release

    This bit of information dropped during the Hulu Newfront 2020 presentation today.  The company revealed that the Marvel series Helstrom will air as part of the streaming service’s Huluween slate probably sometime in October.

    Per Deadline:

    Finally, the platform unveiled a number of titles for its Huluween strand. Originals launching around the spooky holiday including horror film Books of Blood, based on Clive Barker’s book and starring Anna Friel, Rafi Gavron, Britt Robertson and Yul Vazquez, horror satire feature Bad Hair starring Elle Lorraine, Vanessa Williams, Jay Pharoah, Lena Waithe, Blair Underwood, Laverne Cox and James Van Der Beek, Marvel Studios’ Helstrom and Mary Laws’ Monsterland.

    Despite the huge Marvel brand attached to it, there’s been virtually no news about this show since it was greenlit. The show was, oddly, the only survivor in the axing of multiple Marvel TV projects. The cast announcement went under the radar. We don’t know what exactly to make of this show in the wake of the dissolution of Marvel TV but it’s happening. 

     

  • Kathryn Hahn Hoping To Resume Work on ‘WANDAVISION’ Soon

    Kathryn Hahn Hoping To Resume Work on ‘WANDAVISION’ Soon

    Kathryn Hahn, who is cast as a key but mysterious character in WandaVision, (more than likely the witch Agatha Harkness), was interviewed on The Playlist podcast today and dropped a few tidbits about the series.

    For starters, she has confirmed that she has a bit more to film, and The Playlist reports that she’s hoping to resume filming this summer.

    “I’ve got a little bit left on WandaVision.”

    When asked what it’s like joining the “Marvel machine” she said:

    “It is another like surreal awesome swing into another genre… but so fun…so fun…”

    “I wish I could tell you a thing about it, but I can’t, or I would just disappear from this Zoombox.”

    She was also asked about how crazy WandaVision looks, she replied:

    “It’s gonna be fabulous, yeah. I can’t say anything else!!”

    You can listen the full interview on The Playlist podcast here.

  • Marvel Studios May Be Casting Their Echo

    Marvel Studios May Be Casting Their Echo

    As the production wheels start turning again, news has started trickling over the past couple of weeks. Today brings what might be some of the biggest news to date as it looks like Marvel Studios may be in the early stages of casting for one of Marvel’s more extraordinary characters and one time Avenger Maya Lopez, aka Echo.

    Sarah Finn put out the call for a deaf female, Native American, First Nations, Indigenous or Latinx, 18 or older, to play the role of “Malia” in an upcoming Disney Plus series set to shoot this Fall. Finn is looking for someone “independent, athletic and bright” to play a 20 something character.

    It’s obviously important to note that this casting call does not indicate what series the role is for, so we can only speculate that it’s for Echo, one of Marvel’s most prominent deaf characters, speculation made much easier by the fact that the description checks just about every box on the Maya Lopez checklist. However, while Finn is Marvel Studios casting director, she has also worked on Star Wars projects as well including The Mandalorian, so it’s possible the role could be for one of the Star Wars series in development as well.

    A top level martial artist with photographic reflexes and co-created by Joe Quesada and Dave Mack, Echo first appeared in 1999’s Daredevil #9. Raised by Kingpin after he murdered her father, Echo fell in love with Matt Murdock while simultaneously trying to take out Daredevil. After besting Daredevil and discovering he was Murdock, Echo turned on Fisk, shooting him in the eye, and then fled the country. 

     

    Marvel Studios will have full control of the rights to Daredevil back from Netflix by November 2020, making it possible that this is the first sign of their plan to reboot the Man Without Fear. However, there have been no signs of development on a Daredevil series and there is another part of Echo’s comic book past that may point in the direction of her showing up in Hawkeye, a series that was, at one point, on track for a late-Summer/early Fall start of production and may still get a chance to do the cameras of things go well. In Brian Michael Bendis 2004 New Avengers, Maya fought anonymously alongside the Avengers in Japan as the mysterious Ronin before revealing herself to them. Of course Clint Barton later took on the same persona, one we saw on screen in Avengers: Endgame.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Though it might necessitate quite a retelling of her origin story, it’s possible that Echo could show up as an antagonist in Hawkeye, presenting an interesting parallel to Kate Bishop, before finding her way back to the light. Again, all we can do is speculate here, but the potential certainly exists for Echo, a character whose dark journey might be pretty similar to Barton’s and who bore the same mantle as the Avenging Archer, could show up in the series, especially given Kevin Feige’s statement that we would, in fact, see more of Barton’s time as Ronin. 

     

    I’ve been working hard trying to dig up more information on the casting call, which I’ve now seen circulating on Twitter, but at the time of publishing this article, I’ve been unable to find anything more. Stay tuned as I will update this situation as it changes.

  • First Trailer For the Snyder Cut Released

    First Trailer For the Snyder Cut Released

    Last month’s news that WB was working with director Zack Snyder to complete his original vision for The Justice League still has fans buzzing, especially with Snyder confirming he will be participating in DC FanDome coming up in August. With all that going on, they certainly didn’t need any more buzz about the project, but they created some more today by releasing a teaser trailer for the film giving fans their first look at Darkseid!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFdChgiuasA

    The opening of the teaser gives off a really great Indiana Jones vibe and presents what seems to be a completely different tone from the film that was released in theaters in 2017. The Darkseid tease actually works better than the payoff of seeing the Lord of Apokolips in the teaser’s second half, but given time and money to finish the project, Snyder is likely to pull of something impressive.

    The Snyder Cut of The Justice League is headed to HBO Max sometime in 2021!

  • ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ May Still Stream in 2020

    ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ May Still Stream in 2020

    I’m not one to shy away from sharing good encouraging news about the MCU, and this bit is far from official word, but nonetheless certainly a good sign for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

    See below an Instagram post supporting #BlackLivesMatter by Anthony Mackie’s personal makeup artist on FaTWS Latoya Henderson (filmartist_toya).

    “We’re getting a Black Captain America this year.” This is, I stress, not official word the show will definitely still stream in 2020. They still have significant work to complete, however one assumes Latoya might know a thing or two on the subject, and spoken to the man himself about it maybe, so this is definitely an encouraging sign that we will see Sam and Bucky in the series this year!

    Our most recent rumblings from sources both public and anonymous point to The Falcon and Winter Soldier resuming filming in Atlanta in late July and currently negotiating to return to Prague, probably in August. Charles Murphy recently indicated on his Twitter that should the series complete filming by the end of September, they should still make a 2020 streaming on Disney plus. Fingers crossed this is the case.

  • ‘Wonder Man’

    ‘Wonder Man’

    Premiere: December 2025

    A June 2022 trade report announced that a Wonder Man Disney+ series was in development over at Marvel Studios with Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang–Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) as executive producer and Andrew Guest (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Community) serving as head writer.

    Little else is known about the project besides the fact that it’s seemingly looking at a 2023 production start, possibly hinting at a 2024 release. Considering both the subject matter, and the team Marvel Studios is gathering to develop the project, it would perhaps be fair to expect a show with a lighter tone similar to She-Hulk‘s, with similar episode lengths and numbers.

    Following persistent rumors in mid-October, Yaha Abdul-Mateen was finally confirmed as being the MCU’s Wonder Man through a trade report later that same month. Production on the project kicked off in 2023 but was delayed due to the WGA strike. Following some time to reframe the project, production restarted in January 2024.

    The Marvel Television series will debut on Disney Plus in December 2025.

    Cast

    • Yaha Abdul-Mateen as Simon Williams / Wonder Man
    • Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery
    • Demetrius Grosse as Eric Williams/Grim Reaper
    • Ed Harris as Neal Saroyan
    • Lauren Glazier as a to-be-confirmed character
  • Sophia Di Martino Seemingly Prepping to Resume Filming ‘LOKI’

    Sophia Di Martino Seemingly Prepping to Resume Filming ‘LOKI’

    A new Instagram post by Salma Hayek yesterday signaled that she’s expecting reshoots for The Eternals to begin soon, now actress Sophia Di Martino seems to indicate that prep for filming her series Loki is beginning to ramp up as well! See the post below!

    While we’ve been hearing that the Disney plus Marvel series might resume in July, along with the other Marvel shows WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, further evidence like this is certainly an encouraging sign! On top of that Tom Hiddleston was spotted by a fan in Georgia a few days ago. They are perhaps not quite ready to start up again yet but it seems the production wheels are indeed turning again!

  • Disney Plus ‘OBI-WAN’ Series to Use Revolutionary ‘MANDALORIAN’ Tech

    Disney Plus ‘OBI-WAN’ Series to Use Revolutionary ‘MANDALORIAN’ Tech

    When Ewan McGregor went on stage on August 23 2019 at D23 the excitement was palpable. Everybody knew what was coming and his announcement that he would indeed get to play Obi-Wan Kenobi once again meant one of the best aspects of the Star Wars prequel trilogy was back.

    In a recent interview with ACE Universe he shared that same enthusiasm while telling us that the technology the show’s production team will have at their disposal plays a big part in that. This technology while not brand new, hasn’t been around for a long time. The Mandalorian was the first production to use it in it’s first two seasons and they haven’t been shy about it.

    If you got to watch The Mandalorian‘s first season on Disney+ you should really check out Disney Gallery: Star Wars: The Mandalorian, another Disney+ 8-episode mini-series that airs it’s final episode this Friday. It takes us behind the scenes with both the directors and the cast of the show, while also focusing on the production side of things, the score by Academy Award winner Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther), Star Wars’ legacy and a few more interesting topics.

    But the episode that perhaps resonated with most people was episode 4 titled “Technology.” It’s perhaps the closest Star Wars has gotten us, in the past few years, to the feeling many had back in 1977 when it’s special-effects innovations changed Hollywood forever.

    Episode 4 introduced us to what production called “The Volume.” It’s basically a soundstage surrounded by giant LED walls that are used to project photorealistic virtual environments, that Industrial Light & Magic developed alongside Epic Games. It turned out to be something that George Lucas toyed with 40 years ago but that proved to be a little too much for that era’s technological capabilities.

    From an actor’s standpoint, and as Ewan says:

    The prequels were all blue screen and green screen and it was hard to imagine, but nowadays I think things have moved on so much, and I think a lot of what you see is gonna be what we see on the set. I don’t know if you’ve seen the behind-the-scenes of The Mandalorian series, but they employ that incredible screen, it’s pretty amazing. It makes you feel like you’re in the place, it’s going to feel more real for us, as actors. And I think we’ll be using some of that technology on our show.

    By removing green screens form the equation, actors are now reacting to something that isn’t inside their head but right in front of their faces. They are now able to correctly adapt their performances to it, and obviously, every actor in the same scene will now have the same reference points, allowing for a more coordinated response from everybody. It’s not a cheap option, but by eliminating expensive on-location shootings, and fast-tracking production in more ways than one, its benefits aren’t anything to sneeze at.

    Another side of this is the fact that, by making it possible to shoot so many environments indoors, it allows for more secretive projects to remain as such. Star Wars and Marvel projects, that always like to leave audiences mostly unspoiled, can now avoid random set photos that disclose both minor and major plot points, and even characters’appearances, from appearing online without their approval.

    Also, with the COVID-19 pandemic still impacting so many productions and studios looking into ways on how to better protect their crews and acting talent, this might just be a way of making sure sets are a bit more impervious to outside contact. You shouldn’t put it past Disney to decide to shoot as many projects as possible using this technology in the coming months.

    For a more in-depth look into The Volume, check out this article by Epic Games

    You can catch the entire ACE Universe interview right here, on their Youtube channel.