Murphy's Multiverse

Blog

  • Murphy’s Team-Up, Volume 9: Favorite Comic Book Adaptation of 2021

    Murphy’s Team-Up, Volume 9: Favorite Comic Book Adaptation of 2021

    John Sabato

    Sweet Tooth' Renewed for Season 2 on Netflix – The Hollywood Reporter

    My favorite comic book property this year had to be Netflix’s Sweet Tooth. Jeff Lemire’s original comic is one of my very favorites and was such an interesting read. The series mostly stays true to it’s source material but isn’t afraid to make creative changes that let it stand apart from the comic. It’s a sweet and wholesome story that sees a young hybrid boy and a grizzled survivor of the plague travel what’s left of the world to find the answers to what came first: the plague or the hybrids?

    Anthony Canton III

    Review: Doom Patrol season 3 ends on a solid if unremarkable note

    There’s something to be said for a show that continues to get better over each of its three seasons. Doom Patrol does that in spades. There’s a level of self awareness, humor, and introspection that makes it the best live-action comic book adaptation I’ve seen. The casts performances particularly this season have been extraordinary. Nuanced, tragic, and some even angry. Brendan Fraser in particular has been a standout in bringing such a broken character like Robotman to the screen. We’ve had a lot of good to great entries in comic book tv and film this year, but no property quite understands it’s assignment like Doom Patrol.

    Nathan Miller

    Eternals Earth Born Celestial 300 Miles Tall | Screen Rant

    My favorite comic book project of the year is Eternals. I loved how the film made me feel. Through the performances, direction and soundtrack, I felt the weight of human history, the joy of friendships and found family, the terrifying vastness of space, and the drive of needing to pull together to tackle environmental problems. Intellectually I think the film points toward the future of storytelling, in leaving behind The Hero’s Journey and embodying a more collective journey beyond binary perspectives. It’s a shame more people didn’t initially appreciate the film’s complexity, but hopefully that will change over the next few years, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe enriches its appreciation retrospectively. I’m looking forward to Chloe Zhao’s sequel and the Eternals themselves eventually appearing alongside other established MCU characters.

    João Pinto

    This wasn’t my first choice, but someone with impeccable taste got to that one first (thank you to my friend, JJ!). But in a sense, this show deserves to take the top spot. WandaVision was a pop culture phenomenon. Due to many production delays that affected several projects, it ended up becoming the first Marvel Studios project to be released after the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic and to say audiences were hungry for content is an obvious understatement. The weeks the show was on were some of the best ever to be a comic book fan. The theories ran wild as the show lent itself to the sort of online discourse that drove everyone insane by the sheer magnitude of some of the hot takes. Covering it was a blast as well. I must say that the Murphy’s Multiverse team covered that show as well as any other site, big or small, did. It showed us how much fun we could have while doing something that hopefully everyone enjoyed, and in a way, it became the stepping stone for the work we’ve been doing covering every show ever since. By the enjoyment I got from covering it to following it as a fan it deserves its spot on my favorite comic book adaptations of 2021 list.

    Joseph Aberl

    Both 'Shang-Chi' Post-Credits Scenes, Explained (Spoilers)

    I think my favorite comic book adaptation of the year must be Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. I have no prior knowledge or history with the character. So, I went in pretty open about the adaptation. I was hoping for at least some fun kung-fu actions inspired by classics from the genre. Yet, the film went above and beyond as I ended up with an incredibly heartfelt story that also manages to open up the MCU in a creative way. I cannot wait to see Simu Liu’s future with the character and what a sequel might offer.

    Charles Murphy

    The Suicide Squad Trailer Reveals Bloodsport Put Superman in ICU with Kryptonite Bullet - Den of Geek

    This will probably come as a shock to absolutely everyone, most of all JJ, but my favorite comic book-based project of 2021 was not a Marvel property. James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad takes the top spot for me and it’s not a particularly close race. While I certainly loved Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, The Suicide Squad feels like the most complete story. While the casts of WandaVision, Loki and Black Widow were lights out, the cast of The Suicide Squad was all but perfect. And finally, while Marvel Studios did a great job bringing some less-than-popular characters this past year, Idris Elba’s Bloodsport stands as not only the best reinvention of a little known comic book character in the past year, but also arguably of all time. After a year in which the comic book-based entertainment we all love was painfully absent, we had plenty in 2021 but none of them quite matched the quality of The Suicide Squad.

    Hunter Radesi

    Loki' Is the Perfect MCU TV Show - Variety

    I’m as surprised as anyone to be writing this, but I think the quirky magic of Loki was my favorite experience with a comic adaptation this year. I was firmly against the idea of this project from the start, and you can probably find old tweets of mine stating the show would be a waste of resources on a character whose story I felt was already over. I couldn’t have been proven more wrong. Michael Waldron and Kate Herron managed to craft a fresh, unique spin on the genre that left me wanting more every week. Absolutely charming performances from every member of the cast, genuinely joyous twists and turns throughout, and constantly beautiful set pieces that begged you to keep your eyes on the screen. I think I finally understand why my friends love Dr. Who so much. Can’t wait for the next season.

  • How the ‘Black Widow’ Post-Credit Scene Ties into ‘Hawkeye’

    How the ‘Black Widow’ Post-Credit Scene Ties into ‘Hawkeye’

    The most recent social media spot for the Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Hawkeye promised some big surprises for the second half of the season. Prominent among the teases in the spot was a character, who was supposed to be mysterious, dressed in black with some rather interesting headgear. Fans of the comics immediately recognized that character as Yelena Belova, wearing her signature headgear from her days working for A.I.M. as the Adaptoid.

    Rather than working for A.I.M., the MCU’s Yelena was revealed to be working for Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. While Val’s larger agenda is yet to be revealed, we do know that in the short-term, she has put Yelena on the trail of one of the heroes of Hawkeye: Clint Barton. When Val and Yelena met during the post-credit scene of this Summer’s Black Widow, we didn’t have enough information to fully understand the threat Yelena’s pursuit of Barton could pose. Thanks to a trade report, fans already knew Florence Pugh was going to appear in Hawkeye and the scene spelled out that she and Barton would be facing off against one another, but it wasn’t until fans worked through the first 3 episodes of the series that we could truly see the kind of trouble Belova could make for Clint.

    The first 3 episodes of Hawkeye have spent a significant amount of time dealing with the fallout of Kate putting on the Ronin suit. The suit put Kate in danger, brought her and Clint together and put them both on the radar of the Tracksuits and their boss and, as we learned in Episode 3, “Echoes”, brings back painful memories for Maya Lopez as the Ronin was responsible for the death of her father. As Episode 3 ended, Clint’s secret was still safe but it seems like it’s only a matter of time until his past truly comes back to haunt him. And now that we can tie it all together, it seems like it’ll be Yelena that brings everything crashing down on Barton.

    Who Is Valentina Working For? Val Is Back And Seen Recruiting Yelena Belova

    Despite only a couple people being shown to have been aware that Clint was the man behind the Ronin mask, it turns out that Val, who seems to be pretty resourceful, was in the know all along. As our friend Caleb Borchers pointed out on Twitter, Val didn’t just sent Yelena after Clint, she sent her after Ronin Clint. And that’s going to cause Clint a whole lot more headaches.

    It seems safe to say that once Yelena enters the picture, Clint’s secret identity will be revealed to all interested parties in some way. How will Kate deal with the fact that her hero is a murderer? How will Echo respond to finally learning the identity of her father’s killer? What will Wilson Fisk’s move be when he learns it was an Avenger that nearly wiped out his criminal empire? Of course, Yelena is operating on bad info from Val, so what will happen when she learns the truth about what happened to Natasha? The second half of this season might not quite have the surprises the spot promised, but it certainly will have a lot of drama all tied to Kate putting on that damn suit.

    The first 3 episodes of Hawkeye are now streaming on Disney Plus.

  • ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Ahead of ‘Avengers: Endgame’s 24-Hour Presales in Select Markets

    ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Ahead of ‘Avengers: Endgame’s 24-Hour Presales in Select Markets

    It’s looking more and more likely that Spider-Man: No Way Home may finally break the pandemic curse, as it is currently leading the presales worldwide, even going as far as setting brand new benchmarks even with news of the Omnicom variant spreading worldwide. The film already shattered them in the United States, as it was only trailing behind Avengers: Endgame‘s pre-sales from 2019, and is doing something similar in many international key markets. In some, it is even passing the record set by Endgame.

    Deadline reports that the film is currently managed to make $7M in Mexico, which is 40% higher than that of the last Avengers entry. It has managed to do the same in Brazil, Central America, Spain, and noticeably the UK. The latter was currently outselling No Time to Die by three times, where the final Daniel Craig-led James Bond film did incredibly well. Australia and Turkey were on par with Endgame‘s release.

    The impressive release for the film is also that it’ll be available in 90% of markets in its initial release. Most noticeably, China will get a later release, and it is rumored to be Marvel Studios’ first release in the country since the pandemic started. It’s been quite an impressive breakthrough not only for Sony’s latest entry in the MCU Spider-Man films but also a showcase of the nostalgia and rumors surrounding the project. We’ll be keeping an eye on how the release performed.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ Trailer Teases Indian Spider-Man Pavitr Prabhakar

    ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ Trailer Teases Indian Spider-Man Pavitr Prabhakar

    The first trailer for the highly-anticipated animated sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) dropped yesterday. While not openly confirming any new additions, it may have revealed at least one new inclusion. Most of the sneak peek consisted of Shameik Moore’s Miles Morales interacting with a familiar face, Hailee Steinfeld’s Gwen Stacy. Later on, he is seen fighting a mysteriously aggressive Spider-Man 2099, who will be voiced by Oscar Isaac in a larger role than his quick cameo in the first film.

    The duel between Spider-People sends them flying across the multiverse, and one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment indicates the film will take us to a world plenty of fans may have forgotten about. As user @karazorlls points out in the following tweet, the background of a quick frame indicates Miles may find himself in the universe of Pavitr Prabhakar, who some might remember from his run titled Spider-Man: India.

    https://twitter.com/karazorlls/status/1467303782157627399?s=21

    Pavitr Prabhakar made his comic book debut in a limited series written by Sharad Devarajan, Jeevan Kang, and Suresh Seetharaman from 2004 to 2005. The character exists in an alternate reality where Spider-Man originated from Mumbai instead of New York. Prabhakar inherits his spider-powers from a mystical yogi as opposed to a radioactive spider, but much of the rest of his story remains fairly in line with the classic Peter Parker tale.

    The Indian Spider-Man made an appearance in the famed Spider-Verse event of the comics. So, his eventual inclusion in the movie version may have been inevitable. Time will tell if the character actually shows up in the film, or who could be playing him. Until then, let the speculation commence and you can check the trailer here:

    Source: YouTube, Twitter

  • CCXP: ‘Morbius’ Jared Leto Teases a “Sinister” Villain Team Up After ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    CCXP: ‘Morbius’ Jared Leto Teases a “Sinister” Villain Team Up After ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    Spider-Man: No Way Home will introduce a multitude of iconic Spider-Man villains from previous entries of the franchise. We’re about to see Tom Holland‘s Peter Parker face off against Alfred Molina‘s Doc Ock or Jamie Foxx‘s Electro. Of course, some other new enemies are ready to sink their teeth into the friendly neighborhood superhero, as Sony has been expanding their films featuring Venom and soon Jared Leto as Morbius. It seems that there might be some “sinister” plans on the horizon.

    During the CCXP panel in Brazil from Sony, they showed off a new clip of Leto‘s transformation into the vampiric Moribus. He then also had a brief segment, where he teased rather curious villains to “meet up” with the multiverse opening up.

    If you’ve seen the last Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer, you know the multiverse has officially opened. There’s all kinds of opportunities for villains to meet up and maybe nurture their more sinister intents.

    Jared Leto

    We’ve seen hints of Spider-Man in Morbius trailers, such as the inclusion of Michael Keaton‘s Vulture and even a “murderer” graffiti on the wall. While it is very inconsistent, especially with the reveal of The Amazing Spider-Man‘s Osborn building, they are trying to build towards something. Sony wants to bank on the MCU connection and we’ll see how No Way Home might open up the window to crossovers in the future.

    Source: ComicBook.com

  • Disney+’s ‘She-Hulk’ Inspired by Dan Slott and Charles Soule’s Storylines

    Disney+’s ‘She-Hulk’ Inspired by Dan Slott and Charles Soule’s Storylines

    During Disney+ Day, we got our first look at the upcoming Disney+ series, She-Hulk. Tatiana Maslany will bring Bruce Banner’s cousin, Jennifer Walters, to life who’ll eventually get a blood transfusion and transform into a green goliath. Unlike the Hulk, she still remains mostly the same person and continues her efforts as a lawyer. We know very little about the series, but luckily, Maslany offered some details in an interview with the podcast Scott Hasn’t Seen, which was pointed out to us by @MerchantOfSound.

    In it, she confirms that the upcoming series is inspired by Dan Slott‘s run with the character as well as that of Charles Soule. Both famously took a more grounded look at the character with action taking a backseat to focus more on how she struggles to find the right work-life balance with heroics on top of it all. Especially Soule‘s work alongside Javier Pulido and Mutsa Vincente, which ran in 2018, gave a very grounded look to the character. She even ends up in quite the trial against Matt Murdock.

    Dan Slott’s run is a bit further back, as it ran from 2004 until 2005. The story also focused on her balancing these different lifestyles with Titania having quite the role in the story. We know she is making her MCU premiere and will be played by Jameela Jamil, which was our first hint at Slott potentially being one of the inspirations of the Disney+ series. It’ll be interesting to see what elements from both will make it into the project.

    Source: CCB World, Twitter

  • CCXP: Jamie Foxx on Electro’s New Design in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    CCXP: Jamie Foxx on Electro’s New Design in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    Out of all the confirmed villains, the return of Jamie Foxx as Electro was the one that kicked off the multiversal theories. At the time, he did tease that his character will have a brand new look unlike the blue skin we saw in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. So, many were happy to see him embrace the more classic design of the character when he showed up in the latest trailer even with the iconic mask – even if it is made of lightning than actual cloth.

    During CCXP, the actor was asked about what it’s like to embrace this new design for the character. It’s certainly a departure from his skin being completely blue and Foxx seemed quite happy about that fact in the panel alongside Alfred Molina and Willem Dafoe, who also briefly touched on how different it was bringing his classic costume to this new film.

    I’m happy to get a brand new start, a brand new look. The blue, when we did it the first time, it was, look, I didn’t care, I was just happy to be in this wonderful course. And it was like you said, it was sort of like two or three hours.

    Jamie Foxx

    He doesn’t seem to dislike the original design but shares his excitement for this new take and how it feels a bit more fitting for the portrayal of the character he wants to bring to life. It makes you wonder if he might get another chance down to line to play the character given his enthusiasm for it.

    With this one, it just feels more comfortable and I think it feels more today, modern. Like, not trying so hard. I sort of relate it to RnB, back in the day, used to have fringes on your outfit and like shoulder pads, and now you can just sing.

    Jamie Foxx

    His enthusiasm is infectious and he seems quite excited to sit alongside two icons. The design looks great and it’ll certainly add an additional layer to the character once he faces off against Tom Holland‘s Spider-Man. Here’s hoping it might be only their first of many interactions in the franchise’s future.

    Source: YouTube

  • CCXP: Willem Dafoe Teases ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’s New Green Goblin Costume

    CCXP: Willem Dafoe Teases ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’s New Green Goblin Costume

    CCXP has been quite the event. Not only did we get a new trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, but we even got a clip from Morbius. Now, with Spider-Man: No Way Home on the horizon they couldn’t leave that project out either. While we didn’t get a clip or even a new teaser, they did feature a villain’s panel with Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, and Jamie Foxx. The Spider-Man veterans are making a grand return in the upcoming film and Dafoe shares a few insights into his new costume for the film.

    Costumes are much more comfortable than they were before. I remember the initial fitting to create the costume for the Green Goblin, I stood there for eight hours and they put different pre-formed pieces on me. Now, they scan me and they can design it and then make the costume and then try it on me. It’s a huge leap in the technology and they’re more flexible. We can do more things with them.

    Willem Dafoe

    Technology has definitely come a long way with how they can tackle elements on set. Doc Ock actor Alfred Molina highlighted that his tentacles are fully CGI this time around, which highlights how far it has come. Dafoe did have some fun and teased that there are some new elements we can expect about his costume in the upcoming threequel.

    Also, I don’t know how much we want to fool with spoilers, but the looks a little different. Old Norman and the Goblin are further down the line and they have a few more tricks up their sleeves. […] There’s been upgrades on the costumes, I would say.

    Willem Dafoe

    We’ve gotten a glimpse of the costume and even see that he’ll lose the iconic mask at a later point. It’ll be interesting to see what these “tricks” are that he is teasing, which seem quite on-brand for the Green Goblin. Who knows how much he’ll make Peter Parker’s life a living hell once he gets his hands on him in the threequel.

    Source: YouTube

  • Miles Morales Will Meet “a Lot of New” Friends “Across the Spider-Verse”

    Miles Morales Will Meet “a Lot of New” Friends “Across the Spider-Verse”

    Right after the first trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Part 1 to everyone’s surprise – has dropped, Christopher Miller and Phil Lord offered some glimpses into their work on the latest entry and teased what the sequel has to offer. The biggest question surrounds how the spider-verse element will build upon the previous film, and they confirmed that we can expect some familiar and a lot of new friends joining up Miles Morales’ adventure. The only confirmed returning characters are Hailee Steinfeld‘s Gwen Stacy and Oscar Isaac‘s Miguel O’Hara.

    There have been many theories about what we might expect in the next entry of this franchise. As he’s going to explore the multiverse, it almost seems like it might be endless. We could get the return of some classic animated Spider-Men that haven’t had the chance to voice their characters in quite some time. We might meet some brand new takes on the character that only existed in comics. The potential seems limitless with this kind of concept stand we can’t wait to be part of the ride.

    Source: Twitter

  • Don’t Expect Miles Morales in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    Don’t Expect Miles Morales in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    We just got the trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse that teased Miles Morales continued story meeting other spider-themed heroes across the multiverse. Of course, with No Way Home also taking a similar theme it opened up the question if we might see a potential crossover especially with Morales’ existing in the MCU being teased since the release of Homecoming. Well, it looks like Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the producers of the latest animated film, have seen the threequel and can confirm Miles isn’t included but does add a curious tease of everyone being “part of the Spider-Verse.”

    Of course, the question remains if they mean their take on Miles Morales or the character in general. It would be too much if they also introduce Morales in the film that is rumored to feature multiple Spider-Men from the multiverse. So, it’s best to keep him for a potential new trilogy as Parke takes on a more mentor role. He was mentored throughout this trilogy. So, it’s time for him to take on that role and open a path for a new kid to take on the mantle potentially.

    Source: Twitter