Murphy's Multiverse

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  • EXCLUSIVE: Marvel Studios ‘SHE-HULK’ Targeting July Start of Production

    Three of Marvel Studios Disney Plus series are now in production in Atlanta with Ms. Marvel on deck with a scheduled April start. Next up: She-Hulk, which I have learned is planning to begin production in Atlanta in July.

    Image result for marvel jennifer walters"

    Announced at 2019’s D23, along with Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight, She-Hulk will be written by Jessica Gao (Rick and Morty) and is expected to be a location-heavy production, meaning it might not require quite as much studio time as something like Loki. The search for an actress to portray Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk began late last year.

    Given the production delays on several Marvel Studios projects due to weather, natural disasters and other unexpected circumstances and the fact that the production of Loki was actually moved up about 10 days, I’m not even trying to bother pinpointing a date in July and just accepting the fact that until the cameras start to roll, I might not know one. However, I am penciling She-Hulk in for a July start of production. She-Hulk should air on Disney Plus in the second half of 2021, though no official release date has been given.

  • First Look at Wyatt Russell’s John Walker as Captain America in ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’

    Production on Marvel Studios first Disney Plus series, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, is back in full swing following the holiday break and recent set photos have given us our first look at Wyatt Russell’s John Walker in costume as Captain America.

    The photos, which can be seen over at Page Six, appear to show Russell being introduced as Captain America to a crowd of fans.

    Marvel Studios The Falcon and The Winter Solider is now in production and scheduled to air on Disney Plus this Fall.

  • Jared Harris Isn’t Playing Doc Ock in ‘MORBIUS’ Because He is Playing Emil Nikos

    Following the release of the Morbius trailer last week, baseless speculation began that Jared Harris might be playing Doctor Otto Octavius in the Sony film. I’ve spent the better part of the last week doing my best to inform everyone (via my Twitter account) that not only is Harris not playing Doc Ock, but that he is playing a different doctor: Dr. Emil Nikos.

    Described as “calm and fatherly” Harris’ Nikos is the mentor to Jared Leto’s Morbius. He is the director of the underfunded institution we see in the trailer and despite having “every right to be cynical, ” he has chosen the “path of hope.”

    I can imagine fans are having a hard time wrapping their heads around this because it represents a change from the comics, where Nikos was Morbius’ peer and best friend. That being said, this hardly represents the first time a character was adapted to serve a different purpose on screen. Given the fact that the trailer seems to paint Nikos in a sympathetic light, I’d wager it’s still safe to assume one aspect of the character might carry over from the comics: I’d put my bet down that he’ll still be the first victim of Morbius.

    Morbius is due in theaters July 31, 2020.

  • ‘ETERNALS’ Set Photos Confirm Sersi and Dane Whitman Romance

    As Marvel Studios Eternals nears its wrap date, there is still much we don’t know about the project. Set photos have been few and far between and there have been few, if any, information leaks. One thing we do know, however, is that the film will in fact feature romantic pairing straight from the comics: Sersi and Dane Whitman.

    Set photos, which can be viewed at Page Six, show stars Kit Harrington and Gemma Chan embraced and kissing on set.

    Just how Sersi and Dane’s relationship will factor into the events of the film remains to be seen, but it’s likely it is not something approved of by all of her fellow Eternals.

  • Connecting Imaginary Dots: Miki Ishikawa Will Play Jolt in ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’

    If you’ve never read an installment of Connecting Imaginary Dots, allow me to explain the idea. Connecting Imaginary Dots was the title I came up with for my speculation pieces when I was writing at MCU Exchange. These types of pieces basically allow me to unload a bunch of junk that’s circulating in my brain in a way that should never be confused for things I actually expect to happen. I basically take a bunch of facts that are almost always entirely unrelated and do my best to connect the dots with by stretching my imagination. In the past these types of pieces have resulted in me theorizing that the Spider-Man sequel which became Far From Home might end up being a team-up outing of Spidey and Hulk in the Savage Land;however, I also wrote one theorizing that Sterling K. Brown would be playing the father of Erik Killmonger in Black Panther LOOOOOONG before anyone else was considering it and one in which I theorized that Annette Bening was actually Mar-Vell when everyone else still thought Jude Law was playing the character. The bottom line is this: these are fun spec pieces that allow me to just be a fan. With that out of the way…

    Back in December, actress Miki Ishikawa and actor Desmond Chiam were added to the cast of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. While Chiam has been photographed on set on more than one occasion, there has been no sign of Ishikawa so far. Though she has not been on set, she has been putting herself through the paces of a rigorous regimen of exercise, the kind of routine that one might associate with becoming a superhero.

    I have long believed that Marvel Studios has been working to set up some version of the Thunderbolts and I have often theorized how The Falcon and The Winter Soldier might be just the place to introduce the team. The present day of the MCU is a time without heroes. With the Avengers gone, the time is right for Thaddeus Ross to bring in his own team that he controls. I’m a big believer that the Thunderbolts are coming, so when Ishikawa was cast, I quickly jumped to the possibility of her playing one of the OG Thunderbolts: Jolt.

    First introduced in 1997’s Thunderbolts #1, Hallie Takahama, aka Jolt, is one of the first members to be added to the Thunderbolts initial roster. Following experimentation by Arnim Zola, Jolt became attuned to her body’s bioelectric field to the extent that she could both weaponize it and use it to move incredibly fast.

    As I stated earlier, when Ishikawa was cast, there was no evidence to support that she would actually play Jolt, so my guess was just a guess and, most likely, driven by my desire to see the Thunderbolts enter the MCU. But then yesterday, Ishikawa posted some pictures of her newest tattoos and one of them REALLY stood out to me:

    That tiny little lightning bolt on her wrist looks exactly like the kind of tattoo one might get if she had been cast as a Thunderbolt (the team logo is a lightning bolt) and, perhaps more specifically as Jolt! Adding more fuel to the fire was a now deleted comment from a user saying “Can’t wait to see you as Jolt in the MCU!”, a comment that Ishikawa liked before it disappeared.

    Connecting these dots really makes it seem like Jolt is a real possibility for Ishikawa’s mystery role and, if that’s the case, the Thunderbolts cannot be far behind!

  • ‘LOKI’ Production Update

    As I’m fond of saying and as I’m sure is evident by all the changes that have occurred on various Marvel Studios productions over the lat month: things change. While a lot of the news recently has centered around production delays, this bit of news may appear as good news to eager fans. Once tentatively set to begin production at the beginning of February, it appears that cameras are set to roll on the Disney Plus series, Loki, on January 20th.

    The series, which will see Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, last seen escaping with the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame, hop through space and, apparently, time to influence human history. Hiddleston will be joined by Sophia Di Martino in a yet to be disclosed role.

    Production on the series is expected to run at Pinewood Studios in Atlanta and at various U.S. locations through mid-June. Loki is currently scheduled to air on Disney Plus in the Spring of 2021.

  • Sony’s ‘MORBIUS’ Trailer Throws Fans for a Loop

    Sony Pictures released the teaser trailer for the second installment in their Spider-Man Universe of Marvel Characters today and comic book movie fans were rattled by a reveal in the trailer’s final moments.

    Michael Keaton’s appearance in the film, which was already rumored to include JK Simmons‘ J Jonah Jameson and a visual reference to Spider-Man’s status as a “murderer” following Spider-Man: Far From Home, set the internet ablaze with speculation.

    Though it’s not made clear in the trailer, it’s certainly implied that Keaton is playing the same character in Morbius as he did in Spider-Man: Homecoming…Adrian Toomes, aka the Vulture. While many have speculated this might be taking place in an alternate timeline or universe, Sony’s making a fairly obvious statement here by having Keaton wear the same attire he was wearing when we last saw him in prison in Homecoming.

    Image result for michael keaton vulture prison homecoming"

    And so the confusion grows and while we probably cannot expect an official answer anytime soon, it’s also probably not that tough to decode. Disney and Sony went back to the negotiation table over extending Tom Holland’s MCU contract past the 3 crossover films and 2 solo films and it’s likely that the outcome was something like this:

    • Holland will be able to appear in MCU solo films and crossovers for the foreseeable future. This is partly fact and partly speculation. Holland wants to play the character and he wants to continue to play along with the other characters in the MCU. Don’t underestimate Holland’s pull in this.
    • Sony has always had the option to use the characters they own who appeared in the MCU films. Keaton’s Toomes showing up here is striking, but I would be the deal he signed was with Sony, not Disney, so it was always a possibility. However, now that they have pulled the trigger, it won’t be a surprise to see Michael Mando, Donald Glover, Bokeem Woodbine or others show up.
    • Sony and Disney probably came to some understanding that, while it allowed Marvel Studios to continue to use Holland, also made it clear Sony was going to start using him too.
    • Sony is going to make movies that contain characters that appeared in the MCU, including Spider-Man, but it is highly unlikely that those movies will have any impact at all on the larger narrative of the MCU, but they might, eventually, have some impact of what role Spider-Man plays there.
    • Somebody is making a Sinister Six film.

    Outside of that, the trailer looks better than I anticipated and, from the one glimpse we get of him in the trailer, it looks like Leto’s Morbius is one of the better comic-to-screen adaptations we’ve seen.

    Morbius hits theaters July 31, 2020.

  • ‘THE MATRIX 4’ Set to Film In Australia

    The upcoming fourth film in The Matrix franchise will film in Australia. This marks a return to form for the franchise as each of the previous films in the series were filmed there as well.

    Production will begin in the US, bouncing to three different locations before moving to Australia in March. The film will see Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss return alongside newcomers Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris and Jessica Henwick. It is due in theaters on May 21, 2021.

    This news was first reported by GWW.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Marvel Studios ‘HAWKEYE’ Series Delayed Indefinitely

    UPDATE: According to Verge reporter Julia Alexander, Disney reps have denied the veracity of this report, calling it “completely inaccurate.”

    Production on Marvel Studios planned Disney Plus series, Hawkeye, has been postponed indefinitely. Originally scheduled to begin production this July, the series has now been removed from the studio’s 2020 production schedule.

    While the news is sure to disappoint fans, the signs have been pointing towards a possible delay over the past several weeks. The studio has moved Ms. Marvel into an April start of production and is already casting for Moon Knight and She-Hulk, both of which will film ahead of Hawkeye, meaning that while we might not see the Avenging Archer when we thought we would, the big production wheel keeps on turning.

    Changes to the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe necessitated the production delay, which is not the first delay on Hawkeye. The cascading changes, which will allow for some plot points of the larger, ongoing narrative of the MCU to be introduced ahead of the series, have moved Hawkeye quite a way down the production list and, quite possibly, out of 2020 entirely. An indefinite delay does not mean it’s the end for Hawkeye and might give time for Hailee Steinfeld, said to have been in negotiations for series co-lead Kate Bishop, to work out a way to fit the series into her schedule.

    Stay tuned for more on this story as it develops.

  • ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLIDER’ May Have Added Actress Julie Zhan to Its Cast

    Filming for Marvel Studios Disney Plus series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier has resumed following the holiday break and it’s possible that actress Julie Zhan (NCIS: Los Angeles) has joined the cast.

    Twitter user (and Murphy’s Multiverse super sleuth) @FWSupdates noticed that Zhan’s Instagram held some clues that could indicate the actress has joined the production in Atlanta.

    https://twitter.com/FWSupdates/status/1215277063013314560?s=20
    https://twitter.com/FWSupdates/status/1215277171515777026?s=20

    At this point I was unable to confirm Zhan joining the cast and, unless a set photo or an official announcement from Disney is forthcoming I won’t be able to, but I thought I’d present the opportunity for you all to see the videos, strike up a conversation and think for yourselves.