Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: DC

  • David Krumholtz ‘Supergirl’ Role May Tease Traumatic Flashbacks to Krypton’s Final Days

    David Krumholtz ‘Supergirl’ Role May Tease Traumatic Flashbacks to Krypton’s Final Days

    With the additions of David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham, DC Studios’ Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow has begun to build its supporting cast. Though original reports of their casting indicated that Krumholtz and Beecham were playing Supergirl’s parents, it was unclear if the pair alhad signed on to play Zor-El and Alura In-Ze, the Kryptonian parents of Kara, or Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, her adoptive Earth parents. That’s no longer in question.

    Following the trade report, Krumholtz took to Instagram to celebrate the news, calling it a “mindblowing privilege” to join the DCU while clarifying he had been cast as Zor-El.

    Based on Tom King‘s limited comic book series of the same name, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow follows Kara across the galaxy as she attempts to find a renewed purpose. It’s unclear just how one-to-one DC Studios’ adaptation of the book will be but Krumholtz‘s role as Zor-El may be relatively small if it’s similar to the role played by the character in King’s work. In the comic, Zor-El and Alura appeared as Kara recalled her final days in Argo City as her father prepared to send her away to save her life.

    Given that Superman will not include Kal-El ‘s origin story, it’s possible that Kara’s memories of her home planet may be the first time it is seen in the DCU. It’ll also be interesting to see what James Gunn and Peter Safran have in mind for Zor-El, who in recent years has become a cyborg under the control of Brainiac.

    Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is expected in theaters on June 26, 2026.

  • David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham Join the Cast ‘Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow’

    David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham Join the Cast ‘Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow’

    Filming on DC Studios’ second film, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, got underway in the UK this week and it didn’t take long for news to escape Leavesden. According to THR’s Borys Kit, David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham have joined the production as the parents of Milly Alcock‘s Kara Zor-El.

    It’s unclear if Krumholz and Beecham are teaming up as Kara’s Earth parents, Jeremiah and Eliza, or her space mommy and daddy.

    If it’s the latter, Krumholz will portray Zor-El, a Kryptonian scientist who is also the uncle of Kal-El, aka Superman. After surviving the destruction of his home planet, Krypton, the character has evolved into an antagonist to his daughter and nephew in recent years. Beecham would then fill the role of Alura In-Ze who also survived Krypton’s apocalypse and has also caused her own share of problems over the years despite working mostly as a force for good. If the actors are playing Supergirl’s birth parents, the film’s plot could contain some Brainiac bread crumbs.

    Given the lack of clarity on THR’s report, however, the former option must be considered as well and, in one particular way, would be interesting. If Krumholtz and Beecham are set to pay Kara’s adoptive Earth parents, it could bring into play one of DC Comics more interesting clandestine organizations, the Department of Extranormal Operations. Tasked with tracking metahumans on Earth, that D.E.O. recently reactivated in the comics.

    Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is set for a June 26, 2026 theatrical debut.

    Source: THR

  • What to Expect from the Future of the DCU and When To Expect It

    What to Expect from the Future of the DCU and When To Expect It

    Beginning in 2024, James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios will launch the DC Universe. In an effort to make more cohesive shared universe, the DCU will connect streaming series, video games and films through narrative threads. Though Gunn and Safran are building a new, interconnected continuity, there will still be DC projects produced outside of this continuity (such as Matt Reeves Batman Epic Crime Saga) under the Elseworlds banner.

    What’s next for DC Studios? Who’s recently joined the cast of your most anticipated series or film? Where can you find the teasers and trailers? Look no further, true believers. Everything you need to know about the future of the DCU has been collected for you here. Click on each logo to learn what we currently know about the upcoming DCU projects.

    Chapter One: Gods and Monsters

    Elseworlds

    Projects set outside of the main DCU continuity, the Elseworld projects allow artists to tell stories without attempting to weave them into the DCU’s narrative tapestry.

  • DC Studios Set to Move Forward with First Horror Movie

    DC Studios Set to Move Forward with First Horror Movie

    In recent weeks, James Gunn made it clear that one fundamental difference between the all-new DCU and the MCU, in which he worked for nearly a decade, will be be an emphasis on world building over story building. Whereas Marvel Studios builds Phases and Sagas around “big bads” such as Thanos, Kang and Doctor Doom, and weaves those characters and their stories into multiple projects, one goal of his at DC Studios is to make sure that each new DCU project can be enjoyed on its own merits.

    “These are interconnected stories but people are always going to be [saying], ‘Who’s the big bad?’,” Gunn explained to Josh Horowitz. “Are there big bads for connected films? Yes. But is this all about, ‘Hey, I’m telling this one story about this big bad’? No.”

    This is about a connected universe. We’re world building. We’re not story building. We’re not writing one story that has a beginning, middle, and end. We’re creating a universe in which people can go and join into this universe and experience it. It is much more like Star Wars than Marvel in that respect.

    -James Gunn on the narrative structure of the DCU

    What Gunn‘s goal helps DC Studios accomplish is to open additional avenues for talented creators who have ideas for original stories that wouldn’t necessarily mesh with larger, universe-defining narratives. Mike Flanagan, the creator behind Netflix’s horror series The Haunting of Hill House and its subsequent follow-ups, reportedly pitched one such project to Gunn in 2023: a Clayface solo film. Recent reports indicated that the project was among those the studio was preparing to move forward with soon. Now, a trade report has confirmed the project was given the green light.

    According to Deadline and Variety, production on Flanagan’s Clayface film will get underway in early 2025. Though Flanagan wrote the script for the project, he will not direct it.

    Though Clayface will be produced by Matt Reeves‘ 6th & Idaho Productions, it is expected to be part of the main DCU continuity rather than Reeves’ more grounded and practical Batman Epic Crime Saga. The character is set to make his DCU debut soon in Creature Commandos.

    Flanagan‘s history with horror projects could mean Clayface will mix and match elements from various iterations of the character that have appeared in DC Comics over last 80+ years. With an official announcement reportedly imminent, perhaps Gunn will shed some light on the direction of the project.

    Sources: Deadline, Variety, YouTube

  • James Gunn Adds Two Previous DC Projects to the New DCU Timeline, Confusing Dozens

    James Gunn Adds Two Previous DC Projects to the New DCU Timeline, Confusing Dozens

    Before it even begins, the new DCU is causing confusion among fans. Set to kick off on December 5th with the animated Max streaming series Creature Commandos, DC Studios’ new attempt to bring the characters and stories of DC Comics to life already has quite a few projects lined up for fans over the next few years. However, according to DC Studios’ co-chair James Gunn, a pair of projects that were relased prior to the creation of the studio should be considered canon, too…kind of…for the most part.

    In an interview with IGN, Gunn muddied the timeline waters of the all-new DCU by explaining that the events of a pair of projects he created will be considered canon to the new connected universe.

    “Now in Creature Commandos, you’ll hear them talk about things that happened in [The] Suicide Squad or Peacemaker,” shared Gunn. “Well then, those things automatically become canon.”

    Released in 2021, The Suicide Squad introduced John Cena‘s Peacemaker to fans as part of a second team of degenerates sent by Amanda Waller to Corto Maltese. The events of The Suicide Squad, including the death of Rick Flag at the hands of Peacemaker, serve as the set up for Season 1 of Peacemaker, an HBO streaming series that debuted in 2022 and saw Cena return as the offbeat character. With Amanda Waller, who was featured in both projects, and Rick Flag’s father both appearing in Creature Commandos, and again in Season 2 of Peacemaker, a clear line of continuity can be established from one project to the next. Until it can’t.

    As it turns out, not ALL of the events of Season 1 of Peacemaker are to be considered canon to the new DCU, which hasn’t started yet but did start in 2021 with The Suicide Squad. “The truth is almost all of Peacemaker is canon with the exception of Justice League… which we will kind of deal with in the next season of Peacemaker,” said Gunn of the shadowy appearance of the Snyderverse’s team of heroes.

    Given Gunn’s creativity and the time he’s had to solve the issue of decanonizing a scene he wrote, explaining away the Justice League shouldn’t be much of a problem…at least until it happens.

    Creature Commandos kicks off the all-new DCU–or does it?–on December 5th while Season 2 of Peacemaker will begin streaming in August 2025.

    Source: IGN

  • Rock, Sgt. Rock: DC Studios Targeting Daniel Craig for WW II Period Piece

    Rock, Sgt. Rock: DC Studios Targeting Daniel Craig for WW II Period Piece

    Ahead of the launch of the all-new DCU with the seven-episode animated series Creature Commandos, DC Studios’ co-chair James Gunn recently teased some surprises added to the impressive Chapter One: Gods and Monsters slate. “It’s really Creature Commandos, Superman, Peacemaker, Lanterns, Supergirl..and then some things people don’t know,” said Gunn. Now a new report may have identified one of those unknowns.

    According to Deadline, Gunn and co-chair Peter Safran are working to land former 007 Daniel Craig to lead director Luca Guadagnino‘s Sgt. Rock project.

    Word of the development of the project broke in September with Jeff “The In” Sneider reporting that Guadagnino was working with DC Studios on a film that Nexus Point News revealed to be a WW II period piece featuring Sgt. Rock. Rock’s infantry unit, Easy Company, has been confirmed to be included in Creature Commandos, leading to speculation that the character, who first appeared in 1959’s Our Army at War #81, may also appear.

    Craig and Guadagnino worked together on Queer, which premiered earlier this year in Venice and will hit theaters on a limited basis on November 27th. According to Deadline, should the pair reunite in Sgt. Rock, it is believed that Guadagnino will tackle the DC Studios’ project next, putting his American Psycho remake on the back burner for the time being.

    Source: Deadline

  • Review: ‘The Penguin’, Episode 1 -“After Hours”

    Review: ‘The Penguin’, Episode 1 -“After Hours”

    When Matt Reeves‘ The Batman hit theaters in 2022, it was clear that the Gotham which Robert Pattinson‘s Batman sought to protect had a long, dark and sordid past. Corruption ran so deep in Gotham that it might rightly be believed to be a cornerstone of the great city. So strong was the foothold of organized crime in Gotham that the crime families and their goons were entitled and emboldened to carry out their crimes while still considering themselves good men.

    Despite being as warped as the foot that caused his Penguin pimp limp, Falcone family capo Oz Cobb believed himself to be one of those good men. Colin Farrell’s portrayal of Oz in The Batman demanded a follow-up performance which has now hit Max in the form of the limited streaming series, The Penguin. And the series pulls no punches about its lead character nor does it provide any quarter for a man who finds himself in a mess of his own making.

    If The Penguin weren’t known to be a spinoff set in Reeves‘ Batman Epic Crime Saga, it would be as unrecognizable as a comic book-based property as its star is in the lead role. The Penguin shares far more in common with any number of HBO’s prestige crime dramas and Episode 1, “After Hours”, embraces that legacy. It goes full gangster right away and it looks as though the series will benefit from its forthright approach as an exploration of the world of organized crime and the types of people who inhabit it.

    Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.
    -Salvador Dali

    Central to Episode 1 and presumably the series are Farrell‘s Cobb and Cristin Milioti‘s Sofia Falcone. Oz wastes no time in unintentionally making an enemy out of Sofia and much of the first episode is spent with Oz apparently spinning his wheels. However, the true brilliance of the episode comes in its closing moments. In his own words, Cobb knows he inhabits a world of big men who need to believe he’s small…and so he allows them their fantasies, using his rough appearance and demeanor to serve as a facade for an ingenious criminal mind. And by episode’s end, Cobb has engineered the rise of the Maroni family he once took down and set himself up as all nut untouchable.

    Thematically, ambition is at the episode’s core and from Cobb’s words to his new partner in crime, Vic, to the 9 to 5 needle drop, there’s no chance it can be forgotten. Cobb’s ambition is second to none and now, with his brilliant mind free to cook, his time has come. Every bit as ambitious as its title character, The Penguin is as intelligent, violent and grounded in the human condition as the great HBO dramas it aspires to be.

  • Mark Strong Confirmed to Appear in a Mystery Role in ‘The Penguin’

    Mark Strong Confirmed to Appear in a Mystery Role in ‘The Penguin’

    In a now-deleted Instagram post, Mark Strong‘s personal trainer, Giacomo Farci, confirmed that the star has a role in the upcoming MAX streaming series, The Penguin. While it’s not the first time the actor’s name has been associated with the project, Farci’s comments are much more believable than when Strong was listed as part of the cast on IMDB a couple of months ago. Now, the real question is, of course, who will the actor be playing?

    With Shazam! baddie Doctor Sivana and Green Lantern goober Sinestro among the roles on his resume, Strong already has a notable history portraying DC villains. While there’s no indication by Farci who Strong will be playing in The Penguin, it seems more likely than not that it will be yet another villain given what’s known about the project. Given that the streaming series will serve to bridge the gap between 2022’s The Batman and 2026’s The Batman Part II, it’s also possible Strong’s character could appear in the Matt Reeves‘-helmed sequel and though he didn’t share the identity of Strong’s character, Farci did leave one hint for fans to decipher.

    When asked which character his client was playing, Farci said he was unable to answer the question but then encouraged the fan who posed the question to “watch Gotham” which he then said was “a good series for DC lovers.” Then, to make sure the fan caught the hint, Farci capped off the sentence with a cute winky face emoji.

    Over 5 seasons, the Fox series Gotham used a whole slew of villains from Batman’s rogues gallery. Some of those make more sense for Strong than others, such as psychopath Victor Zsasz, Mr. Freeze, Hugo Strange or even Clayface; however, given that The Penguin seems very mob-centric, it’s also possible Strong might play any number of mafioso types who could be vying for power after Carmine Falcone’s death. We’ll all find out together when The Penguin streams on MAX later this year.

  • ‘Superman: Legacy’: New House of El Crest Possibly Revealed

    ‘Superman: Legacy’: New House of El Crest Possibly Revealed

    As the cast of James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy assembled in Atlanta for a table read ahead of the start of production, a couple of photos posted by stars who participated in the read may have given fans the first look at the all-new DCU’s crest of the House of El.

    Both Isabela Merced, who will play Hawkgirl in the film, and Sara Sampaio, who will play Eve Teschmacher, posted photos of their nameplates to social media, providing a look at what just might be the new design for the Kryptonian symbol of hope that star David Corenswet will bear on his chest in Superman: Legacy.

    The logo is clearly inspired by the DC Elseworlds tale Kingdom Come, a four-issue limited series by Mark Waid and Alex Ross that was published in 1996. Following the death of Lois Lane and the public’s acceptance of a new hero willing to kill, Superman spends a decade in the Fortress of Solitude before returning to a world that’s become increasingly short on old-fashioned values. Parts of the story were adapted in the CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths in which Superman Returns star Brandon Routh sported the black and red crest on his chest.

    With our stories, we want to take it away from good guy vs. bad guy. There are really good—almost saintly—people and Superman is among them. There are really terrible villains like Gorilla Grodd or the Joker. And then there’s everybody in between them, so there are all these shades of gray which allow us to tell complex stories.

    James Gunn on Superman

    While it seems unlikely that Gunn will be adapting Kingdom Come for Superman: Legacy (it seems far too dour of a story for the film set to launch the DCU and Gunn’s project seems to have taken a fair bit of inspiration from Richard Donner’s 1978 Superman), the idea of the Kryptonian hero existing “in a world that thinks of kindness as old fashioned,” as explained by Gunn, does reverberate with one of the themes of Kingdom Come. Returning from his self-imposed exile, Kal-El found the world greatly changed and its heroes no longer embracing “goodness” as a core value. It’s possible that theme will carry over into Superman: Legacy with a younger Kal-El serving as an example of all that is good for heroes like Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner, a Green Lantern who is often depicted as a prick.

    Production on Superman: Legacy is expected to kick off in March in Hell, Norway before returning to America to film in Cleveland and Atlanta. The film is currently expected to be in theaters on July 11, 2025.

  • Closer Look at Ted Kord’s ‘Blue Beetle’ Suit

    Closer Look at Ted Kord’s ‘Blue Beetle’ Suit

    Jamie Reyes will be the leading man in the upcoming Blue Beetle film, but we’ve known for a while that the character of Ted Kord will have a role of some kind. Details remain quite sparse on how exactly he’ll feed into the story or even if we’ll get a good look at his iconic suit from the comics. While the film is set to release soon, it seems an exhibition has unveiled not only Kord’s suit but also that of Dan Garrett.

    The suits are shared by Twitter which offers a first close-up at some rather comic-accurate designs for previous bearers of the Blue Beetle title. They aren’t as flashy as the one used by Reyes, but it’s unclear how much they will connect Kord to the blue scarab’s history. Given that Susan Sarandon is playing Viktoria Kord, we might find out what happened to him as he focused on his research of the beetle that may have inspired his costume and technology.

    The big surprise is the inclusion of Dan Garrett in a costume. Blue Beetle is a legacy character and he was the original to hold the title back in the Mystery Men Comics era of Fox Comics. Perhaps the beetle’s history is long and we’ll only see the costume as Kord shares the history that led to him becoming the iconic hero. Outside of Ant-Man, we haven’t really explored a legacy mantle that goes back multiple generations. So, it could make the film stand out.

    Source: Twitter