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  • ‘One Piece’ Anime Celebrates 1,000 Episodes With New Key Art

    ‘One Piece’ Anime Celebrates 1,000 Episodes With New Key Art

    One Piece started back in 1997 and has been one of the most popular Shonen Jump franchises. Its anime adaptation followed only two years later and continued to grow alongside the series created by Eiichiro Oda. As it continued to catch up with the manga, it introduced various filler arcs to bridge the time. Still, it managed to catch up with the manga once again as we entered the Wano arc. Inspired by Japan’s Edo period, the new storyline sees the conflict between Luffy and Kaido, which seeds were first planted in Punk Hazard. Just like the manga, the anime has also passed the 1,000 mark, and to celebrate, we got a brand new key art teasing their ongoing conflict.

    The new key art includes the Tobiroppo and Lead Performers alongside Kaidu. After their conflict started what feels like half an eternity, Luffy is finally gunning for his head. This time around, he is joined by fellow pirates from the Worst Generation and Yamato. The latter might be the most popular new addition to the series, as she’s the daughter of Kaido. Yet, she claims to be Oden and wants to take vengeance upon her own father. Here’s hoping the wait isn’t too long to witness the final push to win the raid on Onigashima.

    Source: Twitter

  • REVIEW: ‘Titans’ Episode 12 – Prodigal

    REVIEW: ‘Titans’ Episode 12 – Prodigal

    Over the course of the season, and particularly with the past few episodes, Titans has dug a hole for itself with many of its questionable (if not cringe) character and plot decisions. The penultimate episode of Season 3 carries on much of this legacy—the rough parts of the episode are very rough—but somehow Tim Drake and Donna Troy are still hanging on as a glimmer of hope for the show. By the end, though, we still aren’t put on an obvious path to a finale.

    For much of Titans‘ third season, there hasn’t been much to add to the Crane and Jason villain arc. Both of their motivations—and often personalities—change dramatically each episode. In “Prodigal,” Crane has started speaking in poems with his focus on destroying Gotham and killing everyone in it. In the last episode, we were still working with the “Gotham’s savior” version of Crane. But perhaps cutting up the pizza guy can change a person. Shockingly, Jason soon realizes that he does not want to help Crane, perhaps for the final time given the swiftly approaching end to the season. 

    Last episode ended with Dick presumably dying at the hands of random Gotham citizens, and Rachel and Gar confirm that. What follows is absolutely bonkers. Through watching it all happen along with Rachel’s later description, we come to find out that the bats that have been following Gar around for quite a few episodes did so because they knew that Gar loved Dick. After discovering Dick’s body, the bats swarm Gar who then inadvertently changes into a bat and leads the bat swarm to lift and carry Dick’s body to the Lazarus Pit. Congratulations to Gar for being given the green light by the series to actually change into an animal, but the rest of that is rough.

    The episode hits again on the fear theme—Gar confesses that fear is what unlocks his ability to change. At this point, it feels like this is an after-the-fact excuse as to why Gar essentially does nothing in the series. But Dick also has to work through fear in the Lazarus Pit. There, he encounters a nightmare Crane who tells him that he let his father down and that he also hates Jason and wants him dead. After miming the Joker and beating Jason to death in the Pit fever dream, Dick realizes that he does not actually want to do that, which is a huge revelation and personal breakthrough.

    He then sees and talks to his late father, and his father telling Dick that he loves him really does the trick—Dick then sees a young girl who calls him her dad. It’s not clear if this is supposed to be a sort of vision of the future or a manifestation of hope and love. Either way, we don’t learn that the girl’s name is Mar’i or anything crazy, but it seems implied that Kory could be the girl’s mother. Lastly, Dick has a very strangely shot and edited conversation with Crane again in his dream, which mostly consists of close, straight-on shots of both of their faces. With terrible editing, Dick goes to punch Crane and simultaneously in the real world punches through the Lazarus Pit to revive from the dead. While there were some decent elements of Dick’s psyche involved in this whole sequence, it’s a letdown that his dramatic fight to live ultimately prevailed because he just wanted to punch Crane of all people.

    Blackfire reunites with Conner thanks to a little help from Krypto. She’s still a hard character to really embrace, but giving her the “fire” actually makes her a bit more enjoyable. Her dominating and confident personality type is complimented by her being more powerful, and it seems like she was immediately given better visual effects and better mastery of the power than Kory ever had. Blackfire convinces Conner that the two should be some sort of super duo. Conner doesn’t take too much persuading after Dick’s betrayal, so we get a couple of “Fuck the Titans” quotes and Conner is now the rebellious type. 

    Kory and Blackfire have a solid moment of sisterly love after Kory explains to Blackfire what their parents did to them as kids. Blackfire is ready to return to Tamaran alone to face her destiny as queen. Conner, newly minted as a bad boy, gets the last laugh of the episode as he psychotically blows up Blackfire’s ship because he is mad she would be leaving him. Honestly, it’s a fun last shot of the episode because Conner’s evil Luthor-side appearance was a surprise in the moment and gave Superboy some (immature) edge.

    Tim and Donna’s side plot with the Drake family ends up being a mild letdown because instead of holding their ground and revolting against the corrupt GCPD, they end up choosing to escape instead. Still, the dynamic between Tim and Donna is the strongest element the show has going for it currently. Tim is gearing up to try and be a superhero-type, but Donna’s big sister energy very clearly tells him it’s a terrible idea and that he wouldn’t be able to cut it. Tim, though, does not doubt that he needs to fight and that he at least has to try. His holding his moral and personal ground against Wonder Girl is a solid way to give his resolve credibility. He may also have the benefit going forward as a hero that his mentor happened to be one the most reasonable and well-qualified around.

    Finally, Jason and Dick—both Lazarus Pit alumni—come together in an agreement to take down Crane. Considering the intended storyline of the season, this should not have felt as hollow as it did. It is too easy, and there is no appreciation for what the characters have been through or what they have done to each other. Any character build-up or side arcs are easily forgotten, and apparently, there are generally no consequences of anyone’s actions. They all simply come back together no questions asked when the plot needs them to. All of the in-between moments are pretty much confirmed to be filler.

    Episode 12 took some interesting liberties with how it moved the plot forward. While the theme of fear has been around for some time, we are now getting some hints of “love conquers fear” — which isn’t exactly where this seemed to be going. Overall, though, this episode felt at least somewhat better than the last few. Perhaps that’s because it did decide to drive itself into a corner where it has no choice but to pick (at least the end of) a plot. It still does not feel like a finale has really been set up, which is probably not a good sign. 

  • Jonathan Majors Talks Transitioning From He Who Remains to Kang the Conqueror

    Jonathan Majors Talks Transitioning From He Who Remains to Kang the Conqueror

    Actor Jonathan Majors is set to play the villainous Kang the Conqueror in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Majors is in an interesting position after having indirectly introduced his character in the season finale of the Loki series. Having portrayed a variant of Kang known as He Who Remains, a burning question is how the two characters will be different from one another. Asked by Variety how he will handle the transition between his portrayals of the two characters, Majors said:

    Well it’s a different script, so there’s that…different writers and I’m shooting in a different country, so there’s that. And you know, He Who Remains is in the world now, so there’s so much we know about him…there’s [] 40 minutes of that guy and that narrative, and so it really set me up to tell a story and get another canvas with more players this time. It’s not the incredible Tom Hiddleston…I’m dealing with Paul Rudd and Evangeline and the likes of the Ant-Man family.

    Jonathan Majors

    Ant-Man himself Paul Rudd has praised Majors’ work and performance for the upcoming film. It looks like Majors has some praise for Rudd as well, as Majors also stated:

    Paul’s a veteran. And you know, we don’t have the Avengers without Ant-Man. He’s our leader on set…He’s been instrumental in allowing me to kind of land, you know, in the world. It’s his set, it’s his franchise, and he’s been beautiful.

    Jonathan Majors

    Just going off of the words of the two actors, it looks like Ant-Man and Kang the Conqueror are set to be quite formidable characters and instrumental to the growing Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as its new multiverse. The upcoming third installment of the Ant-Man franchise is currently in production in London and is on track to hit theaters on Feb. 17, 2023. 

    Source: Twitter, Twitter

  • Dissecting “Dada Patrol” with ‘Doom Patrol’ Writer Shoshana Sachi, Part Two

    Dissecting “Dada Patrol” with ‘Doom Patrol’ Writer Shoshana Sachi, Part Two


    In Part 1 of our Q&A with Doom Patrol writer Shoshana Sachi, we discussed how “Dada Patrol” came together. Here we discuss some of the most important character arcs with Jane and Vic. Also, Shoshana tells us about who she identifies with the most on the show and gives a little advice.

    Murphy’s Multiverse: Vic’s meeting with Frenzy has sent him on a different path emotionally. This was as angry as we’ve seen Vic on the show. What was the thought process behind lighting that fire under him?

    Shoshana Sachi: The mask Frenzy made that was a reflection of how he saw Cyborg, was titled Approximate man– which as you can imagine, got under Vic’s skin. I believe Vic has been on this path since season one. He’s always been aware that he’s different, and has always had preoccupations about his humanity vs his machinery. 

    He found it hard to speak to women, and there was hesitation when it came to being intimate with Roni. He’s very self-conscious about his humanhood and the way his body looks mostly mechanic (even though there’s a man underneath).

    Frenzy was pushing Vic to face up this question once and for all and came at it from a Black identity perspective. Which, as you can imagine, was harder to hear. But ultimately, it’s this sort of conflict that we hope will finally push Vic full force into figuring out his existential crisis for real.

    MM: How did the sweets metaphor come into play as far as Jane’s(and Kay) wants and needs go? Was it something specific?

    SS: I actually enjoyed your read on the sweet shoppe metaphor; a desire for something satisfying but ultimately dangerous. To be honest with you, the sweet shoppe was just how I saw The Fog’s inner sanctum. I didn’t want to give her something too serious or clinical. I wanted to showcase her fun side, and her indulgent side that was more open to frivolity, sensuality and decadence. 

    MM: Which character do you identify with the most on the show?

    SS: Jane for sure. She’s the reason I was drawn to writing for Doom Patrol. I’ve experienced physical and emotional abuse and trauma, so I felt very capable of tapping into that side of her experience. In Episode 5 of Season 1, we see her in her element: at a punk club in New Jersey, and that was such an expression of who I was in my early 20s’/ late teens. I used to go to underground punk clubs and throw myself into the moshpit. I was also used to being the only brown face in those spaces.

    MM: And finally, What advice would you give to aspiring tv/film writers?

    SS: I always like to say that if this is really what you want to do, make sure everything you do is in service of this. Just do it, write and learn the craft inside and out. Some young writers don’t want to listen to criticism or learning, I’ve come across that when I used to teach screenwriting– and the only thing that is a barrier to you becoming better at that point (As a writer) is yourself. 

    Be humble, be open, and listen. I’m always reminding myself I have a ways to go and things to learn. I feel like with every season I’ve grown as a writer, and if I hadn’t been open to learning to improve my craft, I wouldn’t be where I am today. That being said, helpful criticism and purely critical attacks are two different things. 

    You’ll hear a lot of rejection and I’ve faced a lot of it myself. It’s a tough business for creatives because we wear our hearts on our sleeves. It’s important to find a way to support yourself and seek support in others (therapy!), in order to keep your motivation up. Don’t take shit from anyone, if this is your dream, do it.

    Just like Doom Patrol, Shoshana Sachi is making waves in her own way. Doom Patrol airs every Thursday on HBO Max.

  • Samuel L. Jackson Begins Filming ‘SECRET INVASION’

    Samuel L. Jackson Begins Filming ‘SECRET INVASION’

    We haven’t hear much about Secret Invasion since last month’s report that Skrulls were hiding in London. Luckily, we finally have an update with the series lead now heading to the set. Although Samuel L. Jackson has been posting selfies of him and his cool t-shirts in London since August, up until this point he has used the hashtag ‘#themarvels’ with those photos. It hasn’t been until now that he has used ‘#secretinvasion’ on Instagram suggesting the beginning of his days on this set.

    Secret Invasion will be Nick Fury’s 12th appearance in the MCU after he was last seen in the Spider-Man: Far From Home’s post-credit scene. Back then he was looking for his shoes after relaxing in front of a beach projection and telling everyone to “get back to work” while commanding a Skrull spaceship. With our recent reports on Kingsley Ben-Adir playing a villainous Skrull, it is intriguing to think that Nick Fury might be caught between his Skrull friend Talos and his evil brethren as they try to take over Earth.

    It remains to be seen exactly what the mission of Fury’s Skrull spaceship was and how it will tie to Secret Invasion, but with cameras seemingly rolling on the limited series perhaps there’s an outside chance we might see some early footage at Disney+ Day on November 12th.

    Sources: Instagram

  • Paul Rudd Praises Jonathan Major’s Kang in ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantamania’

    Paul Rudd Praises Jonathan Major’s Kang in ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantamania’

    The finale of Loki left fans with so many burning questions as to what comes next for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the shadow of Kang the Conquerer looms over the now branching multiverse. While we have yet to only met He Who Remains, Jonathan Majors will make his return to the MCU in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantamania. Majors will finally don the mantle of the Conquerer, setting up a new era of chaos for Earth’s mightiest heroes. 

    In a recent interview for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, with Ant-Man himself, Paul Rudd praised Jonathan Major‘s performance as Kang The Conqueror. Obviously, Rudd remains quite silent on just what’s happening within the film but made sure to prepare audiences for what Major’s is about to bring to the MCU.

    “I’ve loved everything he’s done, and I see what he’s doing in this, and I’m knocked out by it. It is really fun to bring new people into the fold, and the enthusiasm that people have is palpable.”

    It’ll be interesting to see just how Kang makes his way the main timeline and why he chose that specific one. It’ll also be exciting to see how different Majors plays the role compared to how he did with He Who Remains. The upcoming third installment in the Ant-Man trilogy is currently in production in London. Most of the main cast from the first two films is returning, including Corey Stoll, who did not appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp. The film will hit theaters on Feb. 17, 2023. 

    SOURCE: Variety

  • How Joel McHale’s Starman Can Fit into ‘Stargirl’ Season 3

    How Joel McHale’s Starman Can Fit into ‘Stargirl’ Season 3

    Before the sophomore season even premiered, Stargirl was picked up for a third season at the CW Network, following its move from DC Universe. The Series quickly added stars one of which was the one and only Joel Mchale. Many were ecstatic to see the Community star suiting up as a Sylvester Pemberton, aka Starman. However, there was one downside to Mchale’s role in Stargirl. His character dies, almost immediately. 

    Starman’s presence in season 1 of Stargirl serves as more of a goal to strive towards for Courtney as she learns to wield the Cosmic Staff and live up to the heroism the Justice Society of America strived towards. At the tail end of the first season, however, we learned that Sylvester Pemberton is, in fact, not dead and has been off doing who knows what and is looking for Pat Dugan. 

    While we don’t know Starman’s motives and just how he survived just yet, we have to question how he can fit into a dynamic that’s become based on honoring the past and not looking back. Pemberton could serve as a sort of mentor to Courtney and the other members of the JSA, teaching them how to become better heroes, something Pat in which doesn’t have much experience. We could also see the origins of the Cosmic staff explored on-screen. It would allow viewers to learn how the staff was created, and how Courtney became its newest wielder.

    After all, it’s still unknown just how the Cosmic Staff came to be, as the series has cemented Sylvester Pemberton as the first and only Starman. It has so far neglected Ted Knight’s story as the creator of the staff and the actual first Starman. If the show would like to move in the direction of Starman jumping into action once again, we could see him develop and wield the gravity rod, the precursor to the cosmic staff and would allow a similar powerset.

    Joel Mchale’s return to the series as a series regular is definitely a big win, and will surely attract a community of new fans to the series. Season 2 of Stargirl is currently airing on the CW with hopefully some light shed on Starman’s fate coming soon. 

  • Jodie Whittaker Wraps Production on ‘Doctor Who: Flux’

    Jodie Whittaker Wraps Production on ‘Doctor Who: Flux’

    Doctor Who is once again about to enter a new era, as we learned that Russel T. Davis will return to act as showrunner for the popular BBC series back in September. His return for the franchise’s 60th anniversary comes at the cost of Jodie Whittaker leaving the franchise after taking over from Peter Capaldi in 2017. It was when Chris Chibnail took on the role of showrunner from Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin. They’ll end their run on the 13th incarnation of the doctor with a six-part series and three specials in 2022. They’ve just wrapped production on the thirteenth season with the subtitle Flux, as shared by the official Twitter channel.

    Doctor Who is one of the longest-running live-action series of all time. As it enters its 60th anniversary, there are some high expectations with Russel T. Davis‘s return. Yet, it shouldn’t undermine the work put in by Whittaker‘s take on the iconic character. She brought a lot of life into the series and her work alongside Chibnail gave it a fresh of new energy. It’ll be curious if they’ll build upon that energy or take a completely new direction moving forward.

    Source: Twitter

  • Pandemic Will Play a Role in ‘Halloween Ends’

    Pandemic Will Play a Role in ‘Halloween Ends’

    Here’s a rather curious reveal. The classic Halloween horror franchise has made a grand return. In 2018, director David Gordon Green revisited the franchise and offered a direct sequel to the original 1978 film, as Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle return in their respective roles. Their success led to two sequels, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends. The former is releasing in a few days with the sequel ending the new trilogy next year. As we await the next entry, Green offered a tease for the final entry in the new trilogy.

    In an interview with Uproxx, he discusses how the upcoming third entry will take place during the time it releases. As such, it will also deal with real-world problems that affect people during that time. The pandemic hit people across the world and it seems that the poor Strode family will not just face a global virus alongside a man on a killing spree. Green goes on to highlight his approach with the threequel.

    So if you think about it, I mean, where we’re leaving these characters on Halloween 2018, the world is a different place. So not only do they have their immediate world affected by that trauma, having time to process that trauma – and that’s a specific and immediate traumatic event in the community of Haddonfield. But then they also had a worldwide pandemic and peculiar politics and another million things that turned their world upside down.

    David Gordon Green

    It’s an interesting idea to consider these real-world events in the upcoming story. Naturally, it’s not new for slasher films to integrate elements from whatever is happening during those times and it makes sense to explore it, especially as they are also filming under those restrictions. We can’t wait to see how Halloween Kills also sets up the sequel and builds upon it.

    Source: Uproxx

  • Dissecting “Dada Patrol” with ‘Doom Patrol’ Writer Shoshana Sachi, Part One

    Dissecting “Dada Patrol” with ‘Doom Patrol’ Writer Shoshana Sachi, Part One

    In Doom Patrol’s latest episode of season 3, titled “Dada Patrol,” the team is tested mentally and emotionally in various ways. As character arcs shift, our favorite misfits have to find a way to deal with these new challenges. Murphy’s Multiverse was fortunate enough to talk to Shoshana Sachi, the writer of this episode for a two-part Q&A. Sachi talked to us about pitching the episode, introducing new characters and plenty more!

    Murphy’s Multiverse: What was the thought process in pitching this episode, and then writing this episode as you’re introducing new characters in the sisterhood of Dada?

    Shoshana Sachi: At the beginning of the season we as a writers room pitched on what we would like to see in the season, and plotted out the arc of the entire season. Jeremy (Doom Patrol EP) assigned me to episode 5, where we had plotted the Doom Patrol would intersect with the Sisterhood of Dada. From there, I took leadership for my particular episode and continued to have discussions/pitch sessions with the rest of the writers’ room to discover how we wanted to present the Sisterhood, and what conversations we wanted them to have with the Doom Patrol.

    It felt organic to me that the Sisterhood of Dada wouldn’t be a smash, bang, pow sort of group– they would more likely defer to psychological warfare so to speak. They’re interested in having existential conversations. For me, it was more of a task of finding where the Doom Patrol characters’ journeys intersected with the thoughts and preoccupations of the Sisterhood, and how they could have meaningful conversations that threw the Doom Patrol off their game. 

    Writing in hyperbolics and poetic speech is most fun and interesting to me, and I’m excited that Jeremy always indulges me in doing so. It seemed to match the sort of energy the Sisterhood had, so I believe it worked, though I’ve become aware that some found it esoteric, and I understand that.

    MM: What’s one of the biggest challenges for you as writer when you’re trying to figure out what works and doesn’t thematically?

    SS: I guess it’s finding ways to make sure everything we do is true to the character and makes sense for what the characters are going through at that moment in time. We also want to make sure we give the characters a respectful amount of time to get to where they need to go and not rush them. Sometimes it might seem like we’re moving them slowly, sometimes it may seem like characters backtrack a little, but I believe we’re always working in service to a truthful place that the characters are at emotionally. 

    MM: Who do you find the most challenging character to write for on the show? 

    SS: All of the characters have such different points of view and come from different backgrounds/ traumas. It’s always hard to navigate social issues or traumas because you want to make sure you portray it in the best way possible, with the best intentions– while being as truthful to what the trauma is. It can be a hard tightrope to walk, but I think because we have such a diverse room, we’ve managed to always find the right conversations and resources to navigate these things in a way that felt honest and eye-opening. 

    Be sure to check out Part 2, where we talk to Shoshana about some of the character arcs on the shows, along with her advice for aspiring screenwriters.

    Season 3 of Doom Patrol is on HBO Max now.