Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: DC Movies

  • James Gunn Confirms Superman’s Pal Will Appear in ‘Superman: Legacy’

    James Gunn Confirms Superman’s Pal Will Appear in ‘Superman: Legacy’

    For fans of Superman, there’s a core group of characters whose stories are hard to separate from the Man of Steel. For better or for worse, Ma and Pa Kent, Lois Lane, Perry White, Jimmy Olsen and Lex Luthor are all fairly inextricably connected to Clark Kent. With a new Superman film coming as part of James Gunn and Peter Safran‘s new DCU, it’ll be important for Gunn–who is writing and directing Superman: Legacy–to find a way to make the reintroduction of all those characters into the mainstream feel fresh, should he choose to use them. With Gunn recently revealing that he’d begun “early pre-production” on the film and posting a picture of the current script for the film, you can be sure he’s thought through which characters are a must for the first adventure and now he’s revealed who one of them is.

    Responding to a fan on Twitter, Gunn revealed that Daily Planet photojournalist and longtime bestie of Superman, Jimmy Olsen will “of course” be in the movie.

    Olsen has appeared in multiple Superman-related projects in different mediums over the years. Actors such as Marc McClure, Aaron Ashmore, Mehcad Brooks and Michael Cassidy have all added their own touches to the character with some straying pretty far from the nature of Olsen in the comics. Given that the premise of Gunn’s new film revolves around Superman holding strong to old school values, it’s possible the newest iteration of Olsen might more closely resemble the innocent “Jeepers Mr. Kent” version than the CIA operative. With Gunn noting that he’s put together a list of preferred actors and actresses for the film, the identity of the new Jimmy Olsen may be just around the corner.

  • ‘Avengers’ Directors Open to Tackling DC Studios’ Batman

    ‘Avengers’ Directors Open to Tackling DC Studios’ Batman

    Joe and Anthony Russo have been quite busy since they departed Marvel Studios and their work on the Avengers franchise. They left quite a mark in the blockbuster landscape and while some haven’t been too thrilled with their latest work like The Gray Man, they have been busy promoting a very ambitious TV series titled Citadel for Amazon.

    While promoting the series, they were asked by ComicBook.com if they were interested in tackling any DC Studios project given that another Marvel alum has taken over the CEO position at the company. While they don’t say anything definite, it does seem like they have one character they’d definitely want to tackle: Batman.

    Obviously James over there running it, it would be a no-brainer. We love him to death. We love the direction he’s going to take that world in. You know he’s gonna be inventive with it. And favorite DC characters? I mean, man. There are so many good ones. I  always answer based on the comics I collected as a kid, and the two comics I collected the most were Spider-Man — actually, the three —  were Spider-Man. X-Men and Batman. But there have been a lot of iterations of Batman, so I feel like that’s an obvious answer.

    Joe Russo

    It definitely would be interesting to see what the Russo Bros. might be capable of putting together with a Batman film that takes its inspirations from The Brave and the Bold storyline that famously had the caped crusader duking it out with his own protegé, Damian Wayne. While in the comics it was Dick Grayson as Batman, it still will act as a point of inspiration with their iconic dynamic just being passed on to Damian’s actual father.

    Source: ComicBook.com

  • Andy Muschietti Rumored to Be Back Behind the Camera for a New DC Studios Project

    Andy Muschietti Rumored to Be Back Behind the Camera for a New DC Studios Project

    It’s hard to imagine that there’s a comic book film that’s had a stranger saga than The Flash. While it’s finally set to be released this June, it’s been a long, rough road to release. Warner Bros. had been developing the property for over two decades when they finally added it to their slate of planned films and gave it a 2018 release date. Seth Grahame-Smith was brought on board to write and direct the Ezra Miller flick but bailed on the project citing creative differences. Warner Bros. swiftly replaced Grahame-Smith with Rick Famuyiwa who swiftly left citing…creative differences. By 2018, The Flash had become Flashpoint and then The Flash again, got a new creative team as John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein agreed to write and direct and was pushed to 2021 as Miller kept busy with his work in The Fantastic Beasts franchise. Daley and Goldstein hit the road and were replaced by It director Andy Muschietti who, by some miracle, stuck around long enough to make the film. And that’s not even getting into the Miller stuff…

    Muschietti’s work on The Flash has been subject to high praise from those who have screened the film ahead of its June 23rd release, including DC Studios co-chair James Gunn who called the film “one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.” While the place of Miller’s Flash in the new DCU remains to be seen, a new rumor suggests that Muschietti has proven his mettle and is being tasked with shepherding one of DC Studios recently announced theatrical projects. According to r/DCEUleaks “verified sources”, Gunn and co-chair Peter Safran are eyeing Muschietti to direct The Brave and The Bold, which will introduce the DCU’s prime Batman and his son, Damian.

    Described by Gunn as “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,” The Brave and The Bold will be “a very strange sort of father-son story” about Batman and Damian based on the Batman and Son arc from Grant Morrison‘s epic run on Batman at DC Comics. While it’ll focus on Bruce and Damian, Safran shared that the film will also “feature other members of the extended Bat-Family just because we feel like they’ve been left out of the Batman stories in the theater for far too long.“ At this time, Gunn has not spoken on the possible inclusion of Muschietti in the project, though given his propensity to address online rumors, it may only be a matter of time before he does.

    Source: Reddit

  • ‘X-Men’ Franchise Director Rumored to Be in Line to Helm DC Studios ‘The Authority’

    ‘X-Men’ Franchise Director Rumored to Be in Line to Helm DC Studios ‘The Authority’

    The inclusion of The Authority among the new DCU’s theatrical projects certainly came as a surprise to fans when James Gunn revealed part of the slate of Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. The super team, once described as the Anti-Justice League for their lack of a moral compass, is hardly among the most popular group of DC comic book characters but look to play a big part in the overarching narrative of the DCU. As such, Gunn and co-chair Peter Safran would almost certainly love an experienced director behind the camera and according to a new rumor, they’ve found their guy.

    According to r/DCEUleaks “verified sources”, Matthew Vaughn has been slotted in to direct The Authority. Vaughn is a veteran of comic book properties as he’s helmed Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class and the Kingsman trilogy. He is also known to be a huge fan of Superman who was once pursued by Warner Bros. to direct Man of Steel 2 and once developed a trilogy pitch with writer and friend Mark Millar. Interestingly, Millar wrote 12 issues of The Authority for DC following the departure of creators Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch from the series.

    As of yet, Gunn–who is notoriously active on social media when it comes to rumors about his projects–has yet to comment on the veracity of the rumor of Vaughn’s involvement. Whether it turns out to be true or not, Vaughn would certainly check a lot of boxes for both Gunn and fans when it comes to the type of talent attached to one of the new DC tentpoles.

    Source: Reddit

  • James Gunn Hints at Talks for a Marvel-DC Cinematic Crossover

    James Gunn Hints at Talks for a Marvel-DC Cinematic Crossover

    James Gunn is now the co-CEO of DC Studios and has the unimaginable task of righting the ship that was the DC Extended Universe. Now, simply pushing it forward as the DC Cinematic Universe, he aims to wrap up what was filmed before him while setting his sights on the future. Interestingly enough, it seems his friendship with Kevin Feige has led to some “light and fun” talks about a potential DC-Marvel crossover down the line.

    In an interview with Empire, he reveals that while his first priority is to ensure that he fully takes charge of the DCU after wrapping up work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. But he seems quite open to potentially working on some kind of crossover; even if it likely would require a lot of legal work to make it happen.

    I’m certain that’s more likely now that I’m in charge [at DC], Who knows? That’s many years away, though. I think we have to establish what we’re doing [at DC] first. I would be lying to say that we haven’t discussed it. But all discussions have been very, very light and fun.

    James Gunn

    With Gunn at the charge, it definitely will change many of the restrictions that we saw in the past for the franchise. While some corners of the Internet have already cried out in terror, there’s a bright future ahead for a truly interconnected franchise. While juggling TV and video games in addition to films might sound quite a bit challenging, if anyone could make it work it’s definitely Gunn.

    Source: Empire

  • ‘Aquaman 2’ Hitting Theaters Earlier This Holiday Season

    ‘Aquaman 2’ Hitting Theaters Earlier This Holiday Season

    As the tides at DC continue to change, the sequel to one of the most successful DC films to date has gotten a new release date. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which was originally slated to release on Christmas Day, will now hit theaters on December 20th.

    James Wan’s sequel, which will now now on a Wednesday rather than a Monday, will be going head to head in theaters with the sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife which recently began production.

    Updating…

    Source: Deadline

  • Frank Grillo Doubts a Crossbones Return to the MCU, Hints at DCU Future

    Frank Grillo Doubts a Crossbones Return to the MCU, Hints at DCU Future

    There’s always a discussion surrounding how villains are treated in any comic book cinematic franchise. Most commonly, they survive for mostly one film and those that make it out alive aren’t around for too long. So, while the heroes continue to get some development, outside of Loki, most villains end up one-dimensional due to the lack of screen time.

    As it turns out, Crossbones actor Frank Grillo feels the same. His character was seemingly set up for a long future with the Marvel Cinematic Universe but faced an untimely end during Captain America: Civil War. One might argue that without his character, the events of that entire film wouldn’t have taken place but it seems Grillo wasn’t a fan of how his character was treated, and seemingly confirms he’ll appear in an upcoming DC project.

    They never told a story [about Crossbones]. The mythology of the MCU and just what Marvel has in its pool of characters, it’s so deep. Crossbones was there for a minute, but he was supposed to be there longer, then they went the direction they did. I think Crossbones serves a purpose, but I think the interesting thing is that if you see how many people around the world have responded to Crossbones, and again, he’s on the screen for a very f–king short amount of time, I think there’s more there. I think there was more meat on the bone. I was disappointed, which is why I went over to DC.

    Frank Grillo

    It’s certainly a bit strange as he probably had more screen time than any villain in the MCU. Plus, he also returned for two projects even after his character died, as he returned in Avengers: Endgame and even voiced Crossbones again in What If…?. So, he wasn’t a character that was completely sidelined and it would’ve been great to see him return especially with future multiversal storylines. But going by his comments, that ship has sailed.

    Source: ComicBook.com

  • DC Studios co-CEO Weighs in on Competing with Marvel Studios

    DC Studios co-CEO Weighs in on Competing with Marvel Studios

    Marvel vs. DC is seemingly half of what makes the Internet the Internet. There’s always been a competition on who has the coolest hero, the best character developments, the most iconic moments, and whatever a nerdy brain can think up. Yet, it’s a very different picture for those involved in trying to make these companies and their projects a success.

    Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has very openly stated that he hopes to see DC succeed, as he believed it was beneficial to everyone. And now DC Studios co-CEO, James Gunn, has echoed those same words. He believes that “every movie Marvel has is sort of an advertising for comic-book films, and vice versa.”

    I think it’s the opposite. To be frank, I think the better Marvel movies do, it’s better for DC, and the better DC movies do, it’s better for Marvel. When people see bad movies, they don’t want to spend more money on seeing more movies. So you want good movies to happen, especially since we’re making two or three movies a year at DC. So every movie that Marvel has is sort of an advertising for comic-book films, and vice versa. And you don’t want to scare off people from going to the theater. And if we’re both making good movies, that’s the best of all situations, which keeps the ball bouncing back and forth. At that point, we can talk about rivalries, and it’d be fun.

    James Gunn

    It’s also fitting that the director of a Marvel and DC film feels this way, as his belief isn’t far-fetched from reality. We’ve seen all these films at their best when others succeed, as there’s a certain boost from one project going into the next. As such, these projects need each other to offer something unique to make them stand out, while also boosting their success. Here’s hoping whatever dragged the last two films down is about to take a different direction.

    Source: Rolling Stone

  • ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’s James Gunn Believes in Superhero Fatigue

    ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’s James Gunn Believes in Superhero Fatigue

    Superhero fatigue has been all the rage right now. Mostly due to some pointing out that they’ve seemingly reached their limits and reading too much into box office performances of two distinct projects earlier this year. Shazam: Fury of the God couldn’t pull in an audience and opened with a depressing $30M while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania lost steam surprisingly fast after a bombastic opening.

    While there’s more to this given just how superhero films performed last year, James Gunn gave his thoughts on the topic and seemingly believes that there is such a thing. Yet, he points out that it’s not as simple as “superhero movies” but rather spectacle films that lack the heart that really drags us into these stories.

    I think there is such a thing as superhero fatigue. I think it doesn’t have anything to do with superheroes. It has to do with the kind of stories that get to be told, and if you lose your eye on the ball, which is character. We love Superman. We love Batman. We love Iron Man. Because they’re these incredible characters that we have in our hearts. And if it becomes just a bunch of nonsense onscreen, it gets really boring. But I get fatigued by most spectacle films, by the grind of not having an emotionally grounded story. It doesn’t have anything to do with whether they’re superhero movies or not. If you don’t have a story at the base of it, just watching things bash each other, no matter how clever those bashing moments are, no matter how clever the designs and the VFX are, it just gets fatiguing, and I think that’s very, very real.

    James Gunn

    It’s not completely wrong, as many spectacle films sometimes can overshadow the heart of the story. Ant-Man‘s third film is quite a bit “bigger” than the previous and perhaps just went overboard on what defined the franchise initially. Even Shazam‘s sequel seemingly started going in a bigger direction and there’s no surprise that the first two very family-centric franchises may have struggled a bit earlier this year.

    Of course, the topic of superhero fatigue is also quite a bit important for James Gunn, as he’s the head of the newly formed DC Studios. With him set to also direct the next Superman film that’ll define a future new cinematic universe, he’ll put a lot of weight into ensuring that fatigue doesn’t take away their opportunity to build this franchise.

    Source: Rolling Stones

  • ‘Blue Beetle’ Gets First Trailer, Official Synopsis

    ‘Blue Beetle’ Gets First Trailer, Official Synopsis

    Despite the turnover at the top of the studio, DC’s Blue Beetle will release on August 18th. Audiences got their first look at the film in an exciting trailer and now a new synopsis provides a better idea of what to expect from the film by director Angel Manuel Soto.

    Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero Blue Beetle.

    Blue Beetle stars Cobra Kai‘s Xolo Maridueña as Jamie Reyes/Blue Bettle with Raoul Max Trujillo starring as the film’s villain, Carapax. Adriana Barraza, Damían Alcázar, Elpidia Carrillo, Belissa Escobedo and George Lopez are all featured as members of Jaime’s family.