Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: DC TV

  • EXCLUSIVE: Dick Grayson, Harper Row and Spoiler Headline the Roster of CW’s ‘Gotham Knights’

    EXCLUSIVE: Dick Grayson, Harper Row and Spoiler Headline the Roster of CW’s ‘Gotham Knights’

    A decade after the premier of Arrow, the CW continues to expand its slate of live-action DC content. In the last decade, more than half a dozen series have made their way to the network and now production is close to beginning on the newest addition, Gotham Knights. The series just recently got a pilot order, meaning it’ll shoot its first episode before possibly being handed a series order. Since the initial report, fans have been in the dark on just who the series will follow with no details on its characters…until now.

    Thanks to a friendly source, we’ve been able to put together a pretty good picture of the show’s core characters, the Bat Family. The series is currently looking to cast several series regulars ahead of an April start of production in Toronto.

    Most notably, Gotham Knights is looking for an actor, 18 or older, to fill the role of a series regular that fits the bill of Dick Grayson, the first Robin and adopted son of Bruce Wayne.
    Described as “athletic” and “sensitive”, the character remains resilient despite being vulnerable following the murder of his parents and subsequent adoption by Wayne.

    Interestingly enough, it looks like Grayson won’t be the only former Robin on the show. It seems as though Grayson will be joined by Stephanie Brown, aka Spoiler, a genius-level hacker whose father, a DC villain called Cluemaster, raised her on a “steady diet of brain teasers and puzzles.” Gothman Knight is searching for an 18-year old actress to portray the “sarcastic and smart” character.

    We can also deduce that Harper Row, aka Bluebird, is set to join Grayson on the team. The studio is searching for a female to play a “blue-haired bisexual” character who has taken to the streets to escape her abusive home life. Her brother, Cullen, also looks to be joining the series with the studio searching for a transgender actor who identifies as male for the role.

    Gotham Knights will also feature “a quick-witted British attache” who sounds like she could be Julia Pennyworth, daughter of Alfred Pennyworth. In the comics, Julia came into the picture after her father was disabled following an attack from Hush. Following in her father’s footsteps, she helped the Bat Family coordinate their efforts.

    Probably the most startling character headed for Gotham Knights is one described as the daughter of “the most dangerous man in Gotham.” First thoughts are that the series is going to introduce “Joker’s daugher”, Duela Dent, who claimed to be the daughter of the Joker and also claimed to be the daughter of about every villain in Gotham.

    The CW is also searching for a handful of other series regulars, including one that could be Lucius Fox’s daughter, Tiffany, to join the team in addition to the already exciting number of characters listed here, many of whom will be making their live-action debut. There’s also room for plenty of guest stars and supporting members of the cast. Hopefully, with the scheduled start of production right around the corner, casting will start to trickle out soon.

  • REVIEW: ‘Peacemaker’ Episode 7 – “Stop Dragon My Heart Around”

    REVIEW: ‘Peacemaker’ Episode 7 – “Stop Dragon My Heart Around”

    Peacemaker’s penultimate episode resolves one of the two major series storylines, which exposes the strength of the Auggie storyline but also makes it feel like it was gone too soon. Stop Dragon My Heart Around hits peaks in terms of emotional impact with Peacemaker’s relationship with his father and leaves the Project Butterfly plotline as the clear, ultimate threat for the finale. 

    The Auggie/White Dragon/Peacemaker’s dad storyline turns out to be quite the sleeper. After being almost exclusively a racist piece of garbage on the sidelines, Auggie steps into his White Dragon supervillain suit one last time to kill his son. While from the series alone it is not entirely clear what exactly the White Dragon got up to in his prime, now is apparently his moment to rock a killer suit while lightly jogging through the woods with an army of discount white-pillow-case-wearing skinheads. While pretty cool to look at, a more keen eye would notice that the White Dragon suit is more reminiscent of a KKK-inspired Frank rabbit from Donnie Darko.

    The ending of the White Dragon story packs more of a punch than anything else in the series. While Peacemaker’s dad was interesting until now, his role was mostly to passively provide context for Peacemaker’s existence and redemption. Early in this episode, we get the full picture of how Peacemaker caused his brother’s death when they were children, providing ample motivation for Peacemaker to do what he does—unceremoniously and abruptly execute his father. The cold nature of the killing combined with the emotional impact it clearly has on Peacemaker is a wonderfully-staged moment where the character truly has to decide who he is. It is underscored by conversations throughout the series that Auggie is beyond all saving, yet Peacemaker could never kill him. Considering that Peacemaker is simultaneously coming to terms with how he does not want to kill anyone, it’s a very strong moment for Peacemaker.

    At this point, it is all too clear that the Auggie aspect of the series carried likely much more weight and impact than pretty much anything else going on. It feels a bit like there is lost potential—had this storyline been given more attention the combination of the darkest corners of White Dragon, the brightest spots of Peacemaker, and the greyest spaces of the real world surrounding them could have been electric. Giving a relatively new character a white supremacist-based story (one where he willfully ignores his dad’s famous racist beliefs and crimes) right off the bat probably is not the best strategy. But it just doesn’t fully find its place within this series, which is a shame. 

    While the Butterfly Project plot is off to the races, it still is not exciting. And now, compared to the resolution of its companion plotline, it looks even less inviting. As generic as it has felt, Murn’s death this episode is it at its best. After butterfly Murn got a bit more of the spotlight last episode, it feels like it matters a bit that the character is gone. The final moments with Murn as the sad and crumpled butterfly are actually heartbreaking, even if only because we have more sympathy for a dying animal-type creature than a human. Either way, Murn’s death is a classic “we’re really a team now” tragedy—Phil Coulson would be proud. 

    While Episode 7 is strong, a few elements of Peacemaker still feel out of place. Top of that list still is Judomaster, who once again ends up unconscious after fleeting moments of screen time. The character is great, but what is his point? How is he related to anything other than working as security for the Goffs? Why did he “ding dong bitches” our main team after hanging out at a gas station? Another is Adebayo and her Amanda Waller connection—it is too significant of a thing to not have greater meaning or consequences, but it has only served as extremely minimal background information for Adebayo’s character. Amanda Waller is a major character in this universe, but quite frankly, Viola Davis herself is on another level. Surely cameoing in a FaceTime conversation is not the full extent of her involvement. 

    Honestly, the finale of Peacemaker might end up being less interesting than this episode. The penultimate installment rightfully draws a hard line between its two stories but it ends up highlighting the strength and the greater potential of the one it ended. Project Butterfly as we know it falls short in comparison, but perhaps it still has some meaningful surprises up its sleeve. The finale is set to feature some violent, over-the-top, last-stand-type action no doubt, which could be phenomenal. In any event, after Murn’s death, Task Force X is in its best place in terms of team dynamics going into the final battle. 

  • RUMOR: ‘Titans’ Season 4 May Feature Lex Luthor

    RUMOR: ‘Titans’ Season 4 May Feature Lex Luthor

    Here’s a rather curious rumor making the rounds, as it seems that a new rumor might be pointing to Lex Luthor potentially joining the upcoming fourth season of Titans. The series is no stranger to using familiar faces from across DC history, but it had a habit of focusing primarily on its ties to Batman’s mythology. Well, it seems they are finally going to explore Superman a bit more, as The Illuminerdi has hinted that the show might be adding Lex Luthor in an unknown role.

    His addition does make sense considering the show heavily features Superboy, whose DNA is a mix of Superman and the iconic DC villain. So, an eventual confrontation between the two would carry a lot of emotional weight. Their take on Scarecrow was a far departure from what people are used to. It isn’t the first time we’ve seen the character join a live-action DC show, as Jon Cryer recently brought the character to life.

    It’s a bit confusing how exactly Titans approaches its various characters, as some big names have been kept in the shadows. The Joker wasn’t even truly featured on screen in the last season outside of his laugh and some hints as they adapted Death in the Family. We’ll see how they approach this big-name character in the upcoming season if he truly makes an appearance.

    Source: Illuminerdi

  • ‘Peacemaker’ Episode 7 Primer

    ‘Peacemaker’ Episode 7 Primer

    It seems like just a week ago we got the first few episodes of Peacemaker, featuring the return of John Cena as the titular character. As we enter this new week, we grow closer and closer to the finale with the penultimate episode set to premiere tomorrow on HBO Max. Throughout this season, we’ve seen the secrets of Project Butterfly unravel and Murn\ come clean about his true identity… and that there’s a giant cow?!

    Picking up directly after the cliffhanger ending of ‘Monkey Dory’, the last episode opened with Murn confronting Adebayo in the streets following her learning he is one of the butterflies, but not before Harcourt seemingly pulls up the rescue. Harcourt explains that she figured it out early on, realizing Murn took a hell of a hit at the Goff residence with little damage. Murn reveals that the butterflies were initially here peacefully before the queen and others began planning ulterior motives, plotting world domination. Murn is a defector who inhabited the past mercenaries’ bodies to put a stop to them and save the earth. He reveals the pain he wakes up with daily, living with Murn’s memories of his past heinous actions.

    The previous episode also saw Detective Song and Fitzgibbons go over Locke’s head in order to get a warrant to arrest Peacemaker and free Auggie Smith. Mission accomplished, as the White Dragon was freed and the Evergreen police department readies to lead an assault on Peacemaker’s trailer. Learning of this at the very last second, Peacemaker and Vigilante escape through the skylight with Eagly and Goff, climbing through trees to evade the cops. Vigilante ends up falling, freeing an encased Goff, who flew into the mouth of Detective Song and took over her body.

    Vigilante and Peacemaker escape through the woods, with Eagly swooping down and taking out cop after cop. The two of them are then aided by Locke, who killed the remaining cops and left a getaway vehicle for the duo at the edge of the woods, pinning the crimes on an assailant vaguely similar to the Hamburglar.

    New Butterfly Sophie Song returned to the police station and used their equipment to reach out to the others, summoning them all to Evergreen. The Butterflies converged on a hill near the station, exiting their ships and following Goff inside to which ‘Monster’ by Reckless Love plays over the butterflies swarming the police station, inhabiting all within.

    The final moments saw Peacemaker’s faux diary read to the country as he’s framed for countless murders, as the secret of the butterflies remains as a conspiracy to the world. As Peacemaker deals with this, the White Dragon suits up as his followers have rallied to his side, and just like that it seems just about everyone is after Peacemaker.

  • REPORT: ‘Titans’ Season 4 Eyeing Joseph Morgan and Franka Potente in Villainous Roles

    REPORT: ‘Titans’ Season 4 Eyeing Joseph Morgan and Franka Potente in Villainous Roles

    It looks like the fourth season of Titans is starting to get some momentum, as they may be actively looking to recruit their main antagonist soon. In a new report by the Illuminerdi, they revealed that the HBO Max series is eyeing Joseph Morgan in the role of Sebastian Blood, better known as Brother Blood. That’s not all, as they also want Franka Potente to take on the role of Mother Mayhem.

    Morgan has a lot of experience playing an antagonist, as he’s famous for his time as Klaus Mikaleson, the vampire-werewolf hybrid from The Vampire Diaries and its spin-off The Originals. They also hint that his take on the character will be someone who is reserved that is hiding a dark side, but will eventually be overtaken by his own charm and “calamitous objectives.” In contrast, we have Potente’s Mother Mayhem, who’s described as someone who “has been training all her life to accomplish her goals.”

    She’s well-known for her time on The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy. So, she is no stranger to action roles and would make a promising addition to the series. There are still no details on how the Church of Blood might build upon the story from the previous season, but they may become a promising addition to the show, as it explores the aftermath of their confrontation with the Scarecrow.

    Source: Illuminerdi

  • ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Will Likely Happen Says James Gunn

    ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Will Likely Happen Says James Gunn

    What do you do if the first season of your show is the biggest streaming series currently? If you’re HBO Max, you’d make a second season happen ASAP. At least it seems that’s what the streaming service is doing for the aforementioned biggest show on TV right now, Peacemaker. According to James Gunn, “there’s a really good chance” that a second season happens.

    Besides the monstrous metrics this show has been ticking, Peacemaker happens to be a really well-written, heartfelt, and outrageously funny show. The show deserves a second season on that merit alone. Once more, Gunn has created a smash hit from a wildly unknown IP with a cast of characters that will surely endure as the years go by.

    Peacemaker is currently streaming on HBO Max. The latest episode, “Monkey Dory,” dropped earlier today, with our critic, Mary Maerz, calling it the best episode of the series to date. With three episodes left, here’s to hoping HBO Max announces a second season sooner rather than later.

    Source: Deadline

  • New ‘The Suicide Squad’ Spin-Off Show In Early Development at HBO Max

    New ‘The Suicide Squad’ Spin-Off Show In Early Development at HBO Max

    It looks like Peacemaker won’t be the only anti-hero getting his own live-action series on HBO Max. James Gunn has confirmed to sources at Deadline that he’s in the very early stages of developing another DC Comics-based series for the streaming service. It’s unknown what or who the show would center around, but Gunn did reveal that it would be another spin-off of his hit film The Suicide Squad. Deadline’s report clarifies that whatever the project is, it’s still a long way from officially happening. Nothing has been written or greenlit, but HBO Max is supposedly enthusiastic about Gunn‘s pitch.

    The Guardians of the Galaxy director didn’t drop much info in his short statement regarding the currently-unproduced series, saying only that it was being worked on:

    We’re working on something else now, another TV show that’s connected to that universe. I can’t quite say.

    James Gunn

    Peacemaker, the first Suicide Squad-adjacent project from Gunn, is currently the number one show in the world. It seems likely that this would be motivation enough for HBO to give their new premiere creative whatever he wants going down the line. Fans on social media have clamored for new shows based on the likes of Idris Elba‘s Bloodsport and Daniela Melchior‘s breakout character Ratcatcher 2, though knowing Gunn, they’re just as likely to get a whole series based around Nathan Fillion‘s The Detachable Kid. However, they should expect to remain in the dark for a little while longer until the director finishes his work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and its companion Holiday Special.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Peacemaker’ Reigns as The Biggest Streaming Series Currently

    ‘Peacemaker’ Reigns as The Biggest Streaming Series Currently

    Streaming is all the rage these days as more and more studios branch out into direct-to-consumer releases. It’s become a hot spot for shared universes like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, and now the DCEU. So it comes as no surprise that the HBO Max has struck gold with Peacemaker which now happens to be the biggest streaming show today.

    As of January 22nd, the series has become the most in-demand streaming series in the world, reportedly 69.5 times more in demand than most series. The series has now surpassed both the second season and first season of The Witcher and Book of Boba Fett respectively.

    It is being reported that in 2021, demand for original programming on HBO Max grew a whopping 39.2% compared to Netflix’s 10.3%. Max has also continued to exceed subscription expectations as it closed out the year 2021 with 73.8 million subscribers.

    HBO Max has recently branded itself “The Streaming Home of DC” as they continue to develop original content based on DC comics. HBO Max is developing quite a few DC original projects based on IPs such as Black Canary, the Green Lantern, and Justice League Dark characters. In addition to those in development, the service is already home to Titans, Doom Patrol, Young Justice, and Harley Quinn.

    SOURCE: Business Insider

  • ‘Peacemaker’ Episode 5 Primer

    ‘Peacemaker’ Episode 5 Primer

    We’ve passed the halfway mark on the first, and hopefully not last, season of Peacemaker on HBO Max. Episode 5 is set to hit HBO Max tomorrow and fans are waiting to see what’s next following that jaw-dropping revelation at the end of last week’s episode. Episode 4 featured some emotional moments and revelations for the team, especially Peacemaker himself, who may finally be realizing his father was never trying to toughen him up, just abusing him and taking his anger on the world out on the only person he had left.

    Following the mission in which the team exterminated Royland Goff and his family, who were indeed butterflies as Murn suspected, and with Judomaster in tow, the gang heads back to their rundown base of operations with one less toe than before and Vigilante claiming that he may never walk the same again.

    Following a brief team meeting, Peacemaker and Vigilante return to Auggie Smith’s house where the nosey neighbor explains that Auggie has been arrested, but only after he gets into an argument with Peacemaker about Batman, similar to spats you see on Twitter daily.

    This is where Peacemaker begins to realize who his father really is. It’s obvious that Auggie is a repugnant and awful man, but as his son, Smith only saw that through rose-colored glasses, believing it to be tough love. It took Auggie telling Chris that he wished he had killed him the second he was born, but Chris seems to have finally had a breakthrough.

    After a bit of not-so-subtle manipulation by Adebayo, Vigilante gets the sudden idea to kill Auggie and rid Christopher of him once and for all. Vigilante was the stand-out this episode. While he may be a complete psychopath, he’s one with good intentions who cares about people and things, but just has a funny way of showing it. Getting himself arrested, he takes the Aryans head-on and proceeds to ridicule them for all their backward thoughts and actions, provoking them into attacking him first so that he can make his way to Auggie and take him out.

    The episode ends with a montage between characters to “House of Pain” by The Pussycats. We see Peacemaker facing a lot of crucial events in his life: him being forced the kill a man by his father, presumably the first life he’d taken; a flashback to the events of The Suicide Squad, in which we see Peacemaker kill Rick Flag, someone he looked up to and believed to be an American hero, in which Flag calls him a joke; finally, we see the death of Christopher’s brother. Although we aren’t exactly sure how it happened, it’s a moment that deeply haunts him.

    The most shocking revelation in this episode, however, takes place in the final scene in which we see Murn revealed as a butterfly as he releases his proboscis to consume the amber nectar. Just why is Murn trying to take down the butterflies if he is one?

    Episode 5 of Peacemaker debuts tomorrow on HBO Max.

  • The DCEU Can Shine Even Without Superman and Batman

    The DCEU Can Shine Even Without Superman and Batman

    Quite recently the internet has been ablaze with rumors and reports regarding the future of the DC Extended Universe. They have stated that Batman and Superman would essentially have no role in the DCEU moving forward. Michael Keaton might take on a role similar to Nick Fury in the early days of the MCU. Their original roles will be taken over by Batgirl and Supergirl of the trinity. While it seems like there’s a bit of uncertainty on what’s to become of the DCEU, I don’t think all is lost. In fact, I feel like there’s even more potential now than there was ever before.

    Obviously, Batman and Superman are essential characters to the comics mythos. They are the literal pillars of the DC Universe across all mediums, and rightfully so. Luckily the characters will live on in multiple other projects like Matt Reeves‘ The Batman, Batman: The Caped Crusader, My Adventures With Superman, Superman and Lois, as well as whatever DC has planned. The two aren’t completely gone from DC’s cinematic future. As such, they can continue to exist in their own separate projects while minor characters get a chance to shine in a connected DCEU.

    That is exactly why we shouldn’t look at this as the end but rather as an opportunity. In this instance, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has proven how a franchise can build itself without some of its most iconic characters. Yes, there have been comparisons when people pointed out that the DCEU went a little too fast so that they could catch up with the MCU, but in this case, they should take a page out of their book. With this new direction, they may be unshackled like Marvel Studios once was.

    The Marvel Cinematic Universe was able to build without its pillar characters, as back in 2008 they only had limited access to their roster of characters. As such, the MCU was forced to start without the likes of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and even the X-Men. They couldn’t access these characters that put them on the map. Instead, they worked with what was available at their disposal and built a universe with the likes of Iron Man, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Vision, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and many more. While it seems difficult to imagine a world without them, they weren’t well-known at that time.

    The DCEU has a chance to dig through its incredibly rich roster of characters and give the spotlight to those that would’ve otherwise never gotten the chance. Marvel is at a place now where they can introduce characters like the Eternals, Echo, Shang-Chi, and many more to their universe and instantly turn them into household names. Even Moon Knight just recently had more views within the first 24 hours than series like Hawkeye, WandaVision, and even Loki. These are all characters that became fan-favorites after being part of the franchise for years, and this new character managed to outperform them.

    So, even if the future for Batman and Superman in the DCEU is uncertain, this isn’t something to fear but rather embrace. These two characters have such a strong place in the cinematic consciousness of the public. They aren’t dependent on the rest, especially with Reeves‘ plans of building an entire universe based solely on Batman. So, the DCEU can reestablish itself and become even more interconnected as minor characters get their time to shine. We’re already seeing the new direction with projects on Black Adam, Blue Beetle, and more. This is just the beginning of a brighter future.