Murphy's Multiverse

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  • New ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Key Location Revealed

    New ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Key Location Revealed

    Murphy’s Multiverse recently gained a friend in the Czech Republic and as a result some very intriguing information about a filming location for Falcon and the Winter Soldier has been uncovered.

    Thanks to @FFilmu on Twitter we have learned that Ploskovice Castle, north of Prague, will be used for filming. This is certainly a very regal looking location which does make us wonder if it might be used for Baron Helmut Zemo’s ancestral home!

    Ploskovice Castle in the Czech Republic.
    Via www.zamek-ploskovice.cz/cs

    Per @FFilmu, the production has permission to film the beautiful exteriors and in the main hall, as well as the grotto pictured below.

    Many thanks to Fandime Filmu on Instagram for the updates of Falcon and the Winter Soldier filming in Prague. This is an image of the grotto expected to be used for filming this month.
    Another image of the cave-like grotto from
    www.zamek-ploskovice.cz/cs
    An image of what I believe is the main hall to be used for filming from
    www.zamek-ploskovice.cz/cs

  • New ‘SHANG-CHI’ Description May Lend Further Credibility to the “Tournament” Leak

    Several months ago, an alleged leak of the plot of the upcoming Marvel Studios feature film, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings, indicated that the titular character would enter into an underground Kung Fu tournament in order to try to win the legendary Ten Rings. The leak can be found at the bottom of the page.

    Over the past several months, I’ve been able to uncover evidence, in the form of casting calls, that might support that leak. First, a call went out for a ringside fight announcer which was followed by a call for actors with martial arts experience and professional wrestlers. Now, a third new character description has surfaced that seems to follow the trend.

    Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is looking for a male to film a one scene cameo in which he will livestream the film’s main characters as they enter into what is described as a large scale fight. The character, named “KANE”, is traveling with the main characters on a bus when the fight occurs. Could this bus trip be taking the characters to a location for the underground tournament? We’ll have to wait and see, but one thing we can say for sure is we have not seen any evidence to suggest the tournament leak is purely fan fiction. If you haven’t read it, check out the original leak below. Make sure to let us know your thoughts on the tournament in the comments!

    An alien spaceship landed in China hundreds of years ago. The ship was powered by the Ten Rings, magical relics that all serve a different purpose. The rings were looted by a secret society known as the Avatars, which is led by a wise martial artist simply called the Ancestor. The Ancestor wore the rings and used them to become an expert fighter.

    The Mandarin grew up hearing about the ancestor’s story and was fascinated by it, despite everyone else believing it was just a myth. He began to idolize the Ancestor, and devoted his life to finding the rings. This inspired him to form his own mafia, which is the Ten Rings gang. Basically, the point of the gang is look for the rings all around the world. He adopted his niece, Fah Lo Suee (Awkwafina) and taught her martial arts.

    After years of investigation, he discovers that the legend of the ten rings are real, and that the Ancestor is dying. There was a leak a little while back that Shang-Chi is a tournament film, and that’s actually true. When the Ancestor dies, the Avatars will run a secret tournament/kung-fu trial in which the winner will be granted the rings. The Mandarin is too old to compete, and he doesn’t want to risk Fah Lo Suee’s life. That’s where Shang-Chi is going to come in.

    Shang is a street urchin who meets the Mandarin after he starts dating Fah. The Mandarin takes a liking in Shang and starts training him as his apprentice. His first task, as an act of gang initiation, is to kill Trevor for impersonating the Mandarin. People speculated that they would be related, but it will be more of a Walter White/Jesse Pinkman dynamic.

    When the tournament begins, the Mandarin will send Shang to win and get the rings for him. That’ll be the basic gist of the film pretty much. I know that defeating Fin Fang Foom will be an obstacle. Leiko Wu and Clive Reston will be in the movie as SHIELD agents who are investigating the Ten Rings gang. Shang-Chi will obviously betray the Mandarin and become a hero over the course of the film. He will get the ability to create multiple duplicates of himself. It will be an ‘Orphan Black’ situation, where each clone of himself has their own personality. So the fights will obviously be insane to witness.

    Marvel is casting Shang’s enemies in the tournament, and one of them will be a character named Chao.

  • Wunmi Mosaku Joins the Cast of ‘LOKI’

    Actress Wunmi Mosaku has joined the cast of the upcoming Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Loki.

    Set photos of Mosaku, which can be seen at Just Jared, show her interacting with Sophia Di Martino who, depending on which speculation you subscribe to, is playing either Lady Loki or the Enchantress. While the role of Mosaku is yet to be determined, it appears that she is working with the Time Variance Authority, possibly as one of the Justices employed by the organization.

    Mosaku’s star has been on the rise as the 32-year old since winning a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress in 2017. She has since appeared in Season 5 of Luther and will lead Jordan Peele’s upcoming HBO series, Lovecraft Country.

  • Disney Plus European Launch Event Cancelled Amid Coronavirus Concerns

    Disney has cancelled its European Launch event, originally scheduled to take place on Thursday and Friday of this week, in response to the rapid spread of the coronavirus through Europe. News of the cancellation came in a press release via THR:

    Due to a number of media attendee cancellations and increasing concerns at the prospect of traveling internationally at this time, we have decided to cancel our Disney+ launch events scheduled to take place on Thursday and Friday.

    The 2 day event was set to feature a Thursday launch followed by a Friday press conference and several panel discussions (Star Wars and Marvel Studios almost certainly among them). Disney now plans to deliver the press briefing next week via webcast and promised to find other ways to make the talent expected at the event available to the press.

    Stay tuned to Murphy’s Multiverse as this story develops.

  • New Video Gives A Clearer Look at Sam and Bucky On Set in Atlanta

    Over the weekend, multiple set videos and photos emerged of what appears to be a major battle sequence from Marvel Studios The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Today, courtesy of this Facebook page, gives us a clearer look. Warning, the video may be considered spoilery.

    In the video we can clearly see Wyatt Russell’s Captain America (boooo!) taking on a group of folks while Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes works to free what seem to be some hostages from a vehicle.

    Previous footage seemed to indicate that Walker and Bucky were working on opposite sides here, so there’s no reason to think they’re on the same side now and given Walker’s history of instability in the comics, it’s been expected that he’d come to blows with the good guys at some point.

    What’s your take on the new clip? Let me know in the comments.

  • What I Heard This Week: ‘THE MANDALORIAN’ Season 2 Gets a New MCU Director

    Every now and then I come across some information the veracity of which can be confirmed by a second source. What happens FAR more often is that I come across some information that while believable and from trustworthy sources, cannot be confirmed by other sources for various reasons. Typically, when the second scenario occurs, I move on and forget about the information unless, in rare instances, it turns out to be proven true somewhere down the road. For instance, on February 19th, I wrote this piece relaying some rumors I’d heard about Marvel Studios updating its Disney Plus slate; the next day, the news broke that a special Disney Plus event would be held in London on March 5th where it is expected that Marvel Studios and Star Wars slates will be updated.

    It’s not very often something Star Wars related comes my way. There are several incredible Star Wars sites out there that do a great job covering the news and breaking it themselves, so I’m very excited to share this information with you. Before I share the information, I have to stress that as of now, this information is unconfirmed which, in my case, means I was unable to corroborate the information with a second source. However, this information came from a source who provided accurate information in the past (about a Marvel Studios project), so while I am wholly inclined to believe the source, I want to be up front with readers about the scenario. That having been said, here you go: Peyton Reed is set to direct 2 episodes of the second season of the Disney Plus streaming series, The Mandalorian and Taikia Waititi is once again contributing to the series!

    Fans of the series will recall that in addition to voicing the rewired bounty hunting droid, IG-11, in season 1 of The Mandalorian, Waititi also directed the finale, bringing his signature wit to the series. While it is unclear whether or not Waititi will be directing an episode, helping to produce or coming back to voice another character, the message was clear: he’s been working with show runner Jon Favreau on the second season.

    For Reed’s part, the seeds for his potential involvement may go as far back as November of 2018 when he, along with Waititi and Joe and Anthony Russo visited Favreau on the set during production of the shows’ first season, pictured below.

    Image result for peyton reed mandalorian set

    Favreau and Reed have a working relationship dating as far back as 2006 when the former co-starred in Reed’s comedy, The Break-Up, and have certainly had a chance to exchange notes given their ongoing relationships with Marvel Studios. Last season, 3 directors (Deborah Chow, Rick Famuywia and Dave Filoni) helmed two shows each, so it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibilities that Reed could fit into that same mold.

    This news comes at a time when James Mangold publicly denied that he’d be involved with the show after a recent rumor surfaced, so it’s a scary time to put this out there. However, with Disney Plus holding an launch event this Thursday in the UK (as I first reported here) where they are expected to make some announcements and update the slates for their major properties, it was time to share this info.

  • Mark Ruffalo Confirms Negotiations for ‘SHE-HULK’ Appearance

    In news that will surprise few and delight many, Mark Ruffalo confirmed that negotiations have begun to see him return as the Hulk in the Disney Plus streaming series, She-Hulk.

    According to ComicBook.com, Ruffalo announced the news at this weekend’s C2E2 event in Chicago. His return makes an unbelievable amount of sense given how integral Bruce Banner is to the story of his cousin, Jennifer Walters, becoming She-Hulk. With the news that he’s almost certainly going to return, we can now hope to see his character take some new paths down the road as well.

  • What I Heard This Week: Marvel Studios Disney Plus Production Update

    If you’re a part of the tl:dr crowd, this probably isn’t for you.

    Over the past 5 months, Marvel Studios has begun production on 3 series set to stream on Disney Plus. The production schedules themselves have been in flux and we’ve even seen a shift in the release date of one show as WandaVision moved from its original 2021 debut to late 2020. What I think we are witnessing here is Marvel Studios learning on the fly. While they’ve produced a couple dozen films, these series are an entirely different animal and the studio has been learning and evolving while responding to all sorts of different issues (weather, natural disasters, leaked locations and more).

    The Falcon and The Winter Soldier kicked off production in Atlanta at the end of October. That production was loudly announced via a social media blitz from stars Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie. This production has been very public, even throughout the last week, yet the general public has no idea the number of surprises in store for them (even if I did scoop Madripoor when they didn’t want me to).

    WandaVision was widely reported to begin filming in September in Los Angeles. However, as I reported in September (the site wasn’t up and running yet, so I just tweeted out the info), neither of those things were correct. As seen in the documentation below, production kicked off in early November in Atlanta.

    In early December, I used similar documentation (seen below) to inform fans that production on Loki was set to begin in early February. Just about a month later, I learned that Marvel Studios was slightly accelerating the start of production for Loki (which we later learned was so they could have the brief footage for the Super Bowl spot). That report was met with a great deal of skepticism; I was even told publicly on my Twitter feed by a Marvel Studios crew member that I was wrong because he was told Loki wouldn’t start until “closer to summer.”

    I think this is an important lesson here. I believe that the crew member was told that. I believe he believed that. I also believe that at any given time only about 5% of the people involved with a production (that includes the cast as well) actually knows the entirely of “what’s going on.” Obviously cameras rolled on Loki; we all saw the proof with our own eyes.

    As 2019 came to a close, I learned that The Falcon and The Winter Soldier was set to film in Puerto Rico after the holiday break. As we know, filming in Puerto Rico was delayed and then abandoned after the island was ravaged by earthquakes. As filming in Atlanta is reaching its end, we’ll see just where the show lands next…

    The new year brought more changes to production. Ms. Marvel, once slated for an April start, was seemingly moved to August as the studio reopened casting. Then I learned that production on Hawkeye (originally planned for an April start before being pushed to July), was indefinitely delayed. Recently, I updated that original report to indicate that the studio has tentatively targeted (pun most definitely intended) September for a start of production, turning the indefinite delay into a defined one: start of production was pushed back another 2 months. I know this is a really big topic of debate, so as I did with WandaVision and Loki, I’m sharing the recently updated documentation for Hawkeye, which is filming under Finger Guns Productions, LLC.

    Way back in October of 2020, I tried really hard to hint to everyone that Finger Guns Productions LLC was the company for Hawkeye:

    Quite a few people believed, and some still may, that it was the production company for Deadpool 3, but as you can see it is clearly marked as a Disney Plus production. Further evidence which has been redacted also indicates that it is Hawkeye. So, as of late yesterday, production on Hawkeye is set to kick off in Atlanta on September 28, 2020. Before people start jumping to the conclusion that this means Hawkeye will miss its Fall 2021 premiere date (something that was widely reported due to poor reporting on the original story), we should take cues from the two longest running productions: The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and WandaVision. As I mentioned, Marvel Studios has been learning and evolving and one lesson I believe they have learned is that they have MORE time than they originally believed to get these shows done. Despite delays of every kind, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is on track to meet its August release date and WandaVision is on track to arrive several months earlier than originally intended. So, if Hawkeye does in fact begin in September of 2020, we could reasonably expect it to air anytime between July and Decemeber of 2021. With that lesson in mind, here’s a little more breaking news…

    Not too long ago I learned that She-Hulk was looking at kicking off production in Atlanta in July. A recent report from the Illuminerdi indicated that it would instead kick off in August. As of yesterday, neither of those things are still true. She-Hulk, under Thine Selves Productions LLC, is now looking to get the cameras rolling in mid-November of this year. If we are to use WandaVision as an example, that means we could very well see She-Hulk streaming on Disney Plus in December of 2021.

    Finally, it was recently reported that Moon Knight will film in Atlanta in November. I can confirm that this is accurate. What I can add to that is that Moon Knight, under Spectorcorp Productions, is still planning to go to the UK. As I originally stated, it is HIGHLY LIKELY that the reason they are heading to the UK is to use it as a base from which they can easily access some more exotic locations (think deserts) that are often used for filming.

    The constant here is change. Even as I type this, I’m confident that within a month, something here will change. That doesn’t stop me from continuing to look, rather it’s what keeps me going.

  • What I Heard This Week: ‘THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER’ To Film in Canada

    Every now and then I come across some information the veracity of which can be confirmed by a second source. What happens FAR more often is that I come across some information that while believable and from trustworthy sources, cannot be confirmed by other sources for various reasons. Typically, when the second scenario occurs, I move on and forget about the information unless, in rare instances, it turns out to be proven true somewhere down the road. For instance, on February 19th, I wrote this piece relaying some rumors I’d heard about Marvel Studios updating its Disney Plus slate; the next day, the news broke that a special Disney Plus event would be held in London on March 5th where it is expected that Marvel Studios and Star Wars slates will be updated.

    Image result for prettiest places in vancouver

    A thing I heard this week: Thor: Love and Thunder may shoot some scenes in Vancouver, British Columbia, aka Hollywood North.

    Since the 1970s, Vancouver has been one of the world’s top production locations. While it hasn’t been a hot spot for Marvel Studios, Helstrom is filming there now and it looks like the plan is for Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder to do some work there as well. As far as I can tell, the plan is still for the bulk of the filming to take place in Australia and for additional filming to take place in Vancouver, among other locations. While I continue to search to find out if the film will be using studio space, my assumption is that they’re going to Vancouver to shoot locations and, to that end, there is no shortage of beautiful places from which to choose.

    Thor: Love and Thunder is expected to kick off production in Australia this August and shoot through the end of the year.

  • ‘STRANGER THINGS’ Season 4 Production Update

    If you’ve been following along, I’ve been working hard to keep fans updated on the production of the fourth season of Stranger Things. From detailing the Lithuanian production to narrowing down when to expect things to kick off back in Atlanta to introducing some new characters and even confirming a planned FIFTH season, I’ve been on top of production all along. Now I’ve got one more tidbit to pass along.

    Image result for stranger things kids

    With filming in Lithuania wrapped (filming that I heard included not only David Harbour but also Winona Ryder), production is heading back to the United States. While I initially believed it would start in early March, it turns out I was WAY OFF. Production is set to begin in Atlanta tomorrow, February 28th.

    This is good news for fans of the show as once it moves back to Atlanta, it should be easier to follow and cover. I expect to be able to bring you guys more news on the show over the next several weeks! Stay tuned to Murphy’s Multiverse…