Murphy's Multiverse

Blog

  • James Gunn Teases the Futures of Two DCU Villains

    James Gunn Teases the Futures of Two DCU Villains

    While Superman focused mainly on fleshing out the all-new, all-different DCU’s Metropolis and its cast of characters, the film’s opening text established a world in which metahumans have been a known quantity for 300 years. That allowed for plenty of room to introduce heroes and villains in the film without necessarily having to spend too much time on their origins, something director James Gunn took full advantage of in having the Engineer and Ultraman join Lex Luthor in taking on Superman.

    Even though Maria Gabrielle de Faria’s Engineer didn’t land with audiences as much as Gunn had hoped, she was a key part of Luthor’s team, so with Superman’s arch enemy set to return in Man of Tomorrow, it shouldn’t be too surprising to learn that Gunn has plans for the Engineer as well.

    As confirmed by Gunn from comments made in the Superman Director’s Commentary, de Faria will return in Man of Tomorrow where fans will learn what happened to the villain after she went toe-to-toe with Kal-El and lost.

    “She’s out of the movie,” said Gunn of the character in reference to her not returning to the story after being knocked unconscious by Superman. “Where does she go? Well, you’re going to find that out in the next movie.”

    That sounds a bit like PlanetWatch may end up getting involved in…watching the planet…when Brainiac attacks, which is a reasonable way of having Lex and Superman team up in Man of Tomorrow. However, the Engineer wasn’t the only other villain in Superman.

    During production, word leaked that Superman would feature some sort of evil doppelgänger of the Man of Steel, also played by David Corenswet. That, of course, turned out to be the DCU’s Ultraman, who has a markedly different origin story from his DC Comics counterpart…but as Gunn teased, his story may not be over either and the next chapter may take him to his comic book home.

    “We discover that Ultraman is a clone of Superman. [In the comics], Ultraman is from Earth-3, where he’s a part of The Crime Syndicate and an evil version of Superman. There are some similarities here,” said Gunn. “Also, you might ask yourself, ‘Where does Ultraman go at the end of the movie?’ He sends him up into the black hole. Is this the end of Ultraman? I don’t know.”

    While obviously more opaque than the plans for the Engineer, it does sound as though while Ultraman’s fate might be unknown to the audience, it’s a little more defined in Gunn’s mind.

    Could Gunn be hinting at a Crisis on Two Earths-type film as part of his Superman Saga? It’s certainly not one on many fans’ bingo cards and would be incredibly ambitious; however, if executed properly, it would also likely stand as a giant among comic-booky comic book films.

  • 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.

  • ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ Star Joins the Cast of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ Star Joins the Cast of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    In May, a report from journalist Chris Higashi, who was in attendance at the Disney Blockbuster Consumer Products presentation, revealed a significant amount of information about the villains and plot of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Though it was met with heavy skepticism as the time, Higashi claimed that the presentation revealed a trip of villains set to menace the Web-Slinger in the new film: Scorpion, Boomerang and Tombstone.

    With Michael Mando back as Mac Gargan, Scorpion is a lock and now, as production continues in the UK, another of those three baddies has been confirmed.

    According to Deadline, Marvin Jones III has joined the cast of Spider-Man: Brand New Day as Tombstone, The Horror of Harlem.

    Jones voiced Tombstone in Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018 and also has experience as a live-action baddie after playing DC kingpin Tobias Whale in the CW’s Black Lightning.

    Updating…

    Source: Deadline

  • 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’ Leak Provides First Look at Marvel Movie’s Main Cast in Costume

    ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Leak Provides First Look at Marvel Movie’s Main Cast in Costume

    With Marvel Studios recently having completed principal photography on Avengers: Doomsday (though plans include “a healthy dose of additional photography down the road”), directors Anthony and Joe Russo will begin post-production work on the film while also prepping for production on Avengers: Secret Wars. Incredibly, despite filming for five-and-a-half months, true leaks from the set were scarce, leaving fans with only a few bread crumbs about what might be going down in Avengers: Doomsday; however, thanks to one of the film’s hair and makeup artists, the first looks at the new costumes of the entire main cast has made its way online.

    Via her IG story, hair and makeup artist Giovanna Ponci has revealed art of 28 characters confirmed to appear in Avengers: Doomsday. While the most notable costume changes belong to the Fox X-Men, there’s plenty from the artwork to dissect.
    • Top row (L to R): Doctor Doom, Reed Richards, Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova (partially obscured), Magneto (partially obscured), Beast (partially obscured) and Ghost
    • Second row (L to R): Thor, Sue Storm, Shuri, Red Guardian, Charles Xavier, Cyclops and Falcon
    • Third row (L to R): Captain America, Thing, Shang-Chi, M’Baku, Gambit, Nightcrawler and Sentry
    • Bottom row (L to R): Ant-Man, Johnny Storm, Loki, Namor, Mystique, John Walker and Franklin Richards

    The art reveals that James Marsden‘s Cyclops will be sporting a comic-accurate, Jim Lee-inspired blue and gold suit, confirming previous rumors, and Rebecca Romijn‘s Mystique will be wearing a white dress, per her classic look.

    Yelena Belova and her New Avengers are all featured in the artwork and while their Avengers: Doomsday costumes were revealed in the Thunderbolts* tag, it’s worth pointing out that Lewis Pullman is in full Sentry mode, something that could certainly change the course of the film in more than one way.

    Wakandans Shuri and M’Baku are both sporting new looks while their new ally, Namor, is wearing collared costume that looks to be comic-inspired as well.

    Finally, the Fantastic Four all appear to have slightly altered costumes while Doctor Doom’s look seems to match the promotional art of the character shared at a Shanghai marketing expo in early September.

  • ‘Luke Cage’s Star Mike Colter All But Confirms Return to the Role for ‘Daredevil: Born Again’

    ‘Luke Cage’s Star Mike Colter All But Confirms Return to the Role for ‘Daredevil: Born Again’

    Marvel Television boss Brad Winderbaum recently confirmed that the studio has given the green light to a third season of Daredevil: Born Again and it’s looking increasingly likely that another of hero from Netflix’s Defenders-verse will be making the jump to D+.

    But now that some time has passed, now that we actually see how well-integrated the stories are, I personally, Brad Winderbaum, will confidently say that they are part of the Sacred Timeline.

    -Brad Winderbaum

    Though it was originally developed without ties to the Netflix series, Daredevil: Born Again underwent a major creative overhaul that ultimately canonized 13 seasons and 161 nearly hour-long episodes and added them to the MCU’s Sacred Timeline. The first season of the revival brought Jon Bernthal, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Ayelet Zurer and Wilson Bethel across the bridge and into the MCU and in May it was revealed that Krysten Ritter had joined the cast of the second season, reprising her role as hard-drinking PI Jessica Jones. And it continue to look like she won’t be the last Netflix star to join Marvel Television’s flagship streaming series.

    After once stating that the role was in his “rear view mirror,” Luke Cage star Mike Colter has recently begun to tease a potential return as Harlem’s Hero. Colter is set to join Ritter, Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio at New York Comic Con, sparking speculation that an official announcement of his return to the role is imminent. Now, Colter has upped his tease game, all but confirming his return during an appearance at Edmonton Expo.

    “I don’t know why people keep asking me this. There’s no signs. It’s not like they’ve just recently revived one of the Marvel Netflix shows,” teased Colter when asked if he was set to return for as Cage in Daredevil: Born Again.

    Colter‘s comments certainly come across as confirmation of his return as Cage, though nothing is certain until the star shows up in an episode. If Colter is indeed “back”, the timing of the revelation would align with the star joining the cast for the third season, which will go into production in early 2026, though an appearance in Season 2 can’t be ruled out.

  • James Gunn Offers Discouraging Updates on The DCU’s Batman

    James Gunn Offers Discouraging Updates on The DCU’s Batman

    When James Gunn and Peter Safran pulled back the curtain on the first chapter of DC Studios’ planned slate, The Brave and the Bold…and nearly three years later, that’s proven to be the case as the project has struggled to gain any positive momentum.

    Inspired by Grant Morrison‘s Batman and Son arc from his epic run on Batman that began in 2006, The Brave and the Bold was described by Gunn as “a very strange sort of father-son story” featuring Bruce Wayne and his son, Damian, who Gunn referred to as “a little son of a bitch.”

    [The Brave and the Bold is] a story of Damian Wayne, who’s Batman’s actual son that he didn’t know existed for the first eight to ten years of his life. He was raised as a little murderer and assassin.

    -James Gunn

    Originally set to be directed by It and The Flash helmer Andy Muschetti, the film was also intended to introduce “other members of the extended Bat-Family” who Gunn explained had “been left out of the Batman stories in the theater for far too long.” With so many details available by mid-2023, it seemed likely that The Brave and the Bold would follow closely behind Superman and help build a solid foundation for the all-new DCU.

    However, by late 2024, progess on the film had seemingly stalled leading to Gunn explaining that the studio had “no set timeline for anything,” and that production on The Brave and the Bold–and any other DC Studios project–would not get made “until we have a screenplay that I’m totally happy with.” And now, as 2025 winds down into its final quarter, Gunn has provided a bit of a discouraging update on that screenplay.

    “The script isn’t done,” Gunn revealed in an interview with The Ringer-Verse. “I mean, we’ve got somebody writing a script, I think it’s really good,” he quickly clarified. And that wasn’t the only downer Gunn dropped.

    With it recently becoming crystal clear that Matt Reeves‘ Batman Epic Crime Saga is set outside the DCU’s main continuity and that Robert Pattinson will not be the DCU Batman, Gunn was asked if he had found his Batman yet. The short answer is no.

    “Do I have ideas about actors who could play Batman? Absolutely, I do. I have guys I like. I have guys that are top of the list for me, just like I had people that were at the top of the list for Superman,” Gunn said.

    “People can guess and maybe they’ll be right about certain things. We’d have to screen test, we’d have to do the whole thing. Okay, I see what you’re doing. ‘1923’, it’s a really good TV show, like I can’t believe how good that show was,” said Gunn, likely referring to rumors that Brandon Sklenar was in the mix for the DCU’ Dark Knight.

    Notably, Gunn’s comments about screen tests stand out as in the cases of both Superman and Supergirl, trades caught wind of the DC Studios’ short lists for Superman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor and Supergirl. It’s safe to assume a role as big as Batman would catch the attention of the trades again. And while that means fans are no closer to finding out who will play Batman, Gunn does know someone who won’t… though he isn’t quite ready to share who that is.

    “One actor in particular, a pretty big star, wants to be Batman,” teased Gunn before saying, “we’ve talked about it, but I don’t think that’s the case,” he said.

    With so little seemingly working on the right direction and multiple other projects further along in development, it seems as though The Brave and the Bold won’t hit theaters until 2028 or later.

    Source: The Ringer-Verse

  • Marvel Wraps ‘Avengers: Doomsday’; ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ On Deck

    Marvel Wraps ‘Avengers: Doomsday’; ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ On Deck

    After filming for roughly five-and-a-half months, principal photography on Avengers: Doomsday has wrapped, according to THR. The trade report confirms suspicions stemming from multiple social media posts from crew members but comes with one caveat: with 15 months until the film’s December 18, 2026 release date, the studio already has plans for “a healthy dose of additional photography down the road.”

    With Avengers: Doomsday simmering until additional photography begins, directors Anthony and Joe Russo can begin to turn at least some of their collective attention to Avengers: Secret Wars, the capstone to the Multiverse Saga which will land in theaters on December 17, 2027.

    Stephen McFeely is writing the script. We are right in the middle of the writing process. We’ve always worked very closely with Markus and McFeely through all the work that we’ve done together. It’s a little bit like getting back on a bike. We have a really codified process that we all work together through… It’s very complicated to iron out a story of this scale.

    -Joe Russo

    “It’ll be similar [to the process of filming Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame], but we’ll have a larger break in between the two movies than we did,” Joe Russo explained in October 2024. According to his brother, Anthony, that “break” will consist of “a year or so,” allowing the brothers time to do some post-production work on Doomsday while also preparing for Secret Wars, which will be written by Infinity War and Endgame co-writer Stephen McFeely.

    Doctor Doom has officially arrived in the MCU. This villain, a master of cutting-edge science and powerful magic, will unleash a cascading crisis across the entire multiverse.

    -First synopsis for Avengers: Doomsday

    With production taking place largely at the UK’s Pinewood Studios, details about Avengers: Doomsday have proven tough to find, though a recent marketing expo did provide a first look at Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom and his comic-accurate power set. Outside of that, a cast reveal in March has been the only official word on the film, which looks to feature the OG Fox X-Men taking on the heroes of Earth-616 as an incursion threatens both their worlds.

    Source: THR

  • ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Officially Renewed for Season 3

    ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Officially Renewed for Season 3

    During an August appearance at Galaxy Con, Charlie Cox struck a nerve among the rabid Daredevil fan base when he called the upcoming second season of the series the “final” season. Though co-star Vincent D’Onofrio quickly chimed in to say there was a “good chance” of a third season, fans still worried that the beloved show might be coming to an end, though Cox’s statement was incongruent with Marvel Television boss Brad Winderbaum‘s earlier statements about long-term plans for the series. Now, Winderbaum has left nothing open to debate.

    …there’s something that we do in this final season that doesn’t exist in the comics. So it is unique to our show and so I’m pretty excited about that.

    -Charlie Cox

    “In terms of Daredevil, yeah, we are greenlit for Season 3 and we start shooting next year,” said Winderbaum in ain interview with IGN.

    Interestingly enough, Winderbaum‘s confirmation comes just weeks before a planned Marvel Television panel at New York Comic Con where the studio will “provide a look” at its upcoming slate. With Daredevil: Born Again stars Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Deborah Ann Woll and Krysten Ritter all scheduled to be in attendance in New York City, as well as Luke Cage star Mike Colter, it’s possible the studio is planning a larger reveal about the third season.

    Source: IGN

  • Matt Reeves Calls ‘The Batman-Part II’ a Bruce Wayne Story, Teases Film’s Villain

    Matt Reeves Calls ‘The Batman-Part II’ a Bruce Wayne Story, Teases Film’s Villain

    In 2022, producer Dylan Clark promised that the sequel to The Batman would make it to theaters much quicker than the original, which took five years to finish. While that won’t be the case, it is beginning to sound like The Batman-Part II, which will begin principal photography in April 2026, will be worth the wait.

    I will go on record and say it will be less than five years.

    -Dylan Clark

    Director Matt Reeves recently went on record to state his belief that the sequel–on track for an October 1st, 2027 release–will be based on the best possible script and “will be better than the last.” Part of that, according to Reeves, is keeping star Robert Pattinson at the heart of the story rather than diverting too much attention to the new project’s villain–though the director did have some exciting news on that front.

    “There is an exploration to be had, and one of the explorations for me was to do something that pushes even further into the character of Bruce Wayne,” Reeves told Josh Horowitz.

    “The first story is so much about The Batman. I always wanted in the movies, and let’s say we get to make three—I have no idea—that I always wanted the movies to be focused on his character. A lot of the other films, which I love, once you get past the origin tale, then you start telling the rogues’ gallery story and that character’s arc,” explained Reeves, referencing prior Batman projects in which villains such as Catwoman and the Joker, among others, served essentially as co-leads.

    “I never wanted to lose Rob at the center of these stories, so that is what we really set our aim on.” he said. “Picking the right villain that digs into what that does and goes into his past and his life, that was what drove that discussion,” before revealing that the “right villain” is one that has yet to be featured in previous Batman films.

    We’re super excited about it, and I will say, it’s never really been done in a movie before.

    -Matt Reeves

    Though that quote from Reeves isn’t too revealing, it does keep Batman villain Hush in play. Fans of The Batman have long theorized that the baddie, created by Jeph Loeb in 2022, was set up in the first film. Given Hush’s connections to Wayne’s past, he does seem to fit if the film is going to explore the billionaire more than the Bat.

    Source: Happy Sad Confused