Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: DC

  • New ‘The Suicide Squad’ Featurette Reveals Sean Gunn as Calendar Man

    New ‘The Suicide Squad’ Featurette Reveals Sean Gunn as Calendar Man

    Before the film made its big debut at last year’s DC Fandome, fan’s imaginations were running wild who’ll end up joining Task Force X in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. He hand-picked some of the wackiest and obscure characters from within the DC Universe. The current line-up includes Polka-Dot Man, Peacemaker, Javelin, Savant, Black Guard, and even a walking Weasel played by Sean Gunn. Gunn‘s brother is no stranger to playing around in his brother’s films. He was the on-set model for Rocket Raccoon and played Kraglin in the Guardians of the Galaxy films. While we knew he’d be playing Weasel in the film, it seems he picked up another role within the film.

    In a new behind-the-scenes featurette for the upcoming film, in a brief blink and you’ll miss it scene, you can catch Sean Gunn as one of Batman’s most obscure rogues, Calendar Man. The character was not previously known to be in the film and looks to be a brief cameo. The actor has a shaved head, and the abbreviated months tattoed around his cranium which many might remember from the comics.

     

     

    For those unfamiliar with Julian Gregory Day, who is better known as Calendar Man. He’s a supervillain whose fascinated by holidays and calendars. That love turned into his theme where he only commits crimes on those specific days. The character gained more notable popularity in The Long Halloween. In it, he was reimagined as a more Hannibal Lecter-type villain that Batman would speak to within an effort to locate the holiday killer, and would toy with Batman with his cryptic hints and clues.

    You can check out the featurette here:

    Source: Twitter

     

  • First Look at Freddie Stroma’s Vigilante Costume in ‘Peacemaker’ BTS Image

    First Look at Freddie Stroma’s Vigilante Costume in ‘Peacemaker’ BTS Image

    Before The Suicide Squad is even out, the upcoming spin-off show Peacemaker has already wrapped filming. The show will debut in January on HBO Max. It’ll see the return of John Cena as the titular character of Christopher Smith, the man who will do anything in the pursuit of peace. Plot details for the series remain unknown as the show could be adapting the Janus Directive storyline. In it, we follow Peacemaker’s origins as he faces off against Adrian Chase, also known as the Vigilante. The small story ends up involving multiple shady organizations that all lead back to Amanda Waller.

    Originally the series would’ve seen Chris Conrad as Adrian Chase, but he would ultimately get recast due to creative differences. Freddie Stroma took over the role after Conard’s exit. As the season finishes up production, a new photo featuring the entire cast has given us our first look at the actor’s suit. He is sporting the character’s classic blue and white color pallet with a V-shape design on the chest.

     

     

    For those unfamiliar with the character, Adrian Chase is the second person to don the mantle of Vigilante. His first appearance was in The New Teen Titans #23 all the way back in 1982. Chase was an Attorney in New York City who went down a more violent path of justice following the murder of his wife and kids at the hands of mobsters. He would come face to face with Peacemaker after Smith murdered one of his closest friends in his absence. Chase, so terribly out of shape, would be beaten by Peacemaker and unmasked live on television, ending his career as the vigilante. It’ll be interesting to see if the HBO MMax series follows the same structure.

    Source: Instagram

  • Dwayne Johnson Shares New Destruction-Filled ‘Black Adam’ BTS Image

    Dwayne Johnson Shares New Destruction-Filled ‘Black Adam’ BTS Image

    It’s crazy to think that we’ve seen more from Shazam: Fury of the Gods‘ set than from Black Adam. The latter started quite a bit earlier but has been kept tightly under wraps. Around five days ago, Sarah Shahi did confirm that we’ll meet the Intergang in the upcoming film. Yet, their exact role remains uncertain. In last year’s DC FanDome, we got a tease of Dwayne Johnson‘s Black Adam facing down the Justice Society of America, which includes Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate.

    With a stellar cast, the film is already a promising entry in the ever-expanding DCEU. Luckily, Johnson shared a new BTS image that teases the size of the sets they are working with and a glimpse at the detailing of his iconic black suit. Of course, it wouldn’t be an anti-hero film if he didn’t leave quite a bit of destruction in his wake.

     

    Johnson has been a strong force behind Black Adam’s strong marketing campaign. Unlike most films that keep a lot of things tightly under wraps, he’s openly shared images from the set and various teases to hype up his DC premiere. It’s a character that he is personally very invested in, which is always a good sign for a project.

    We do not know if there are any plans for Shazam and Black Adam to crossover into each other. They both gained their abilities from the same wizard with Adam taking a darker turn. We even got a brief glimpse of his appearance in the first Shazam film when Djimon Honsou as the wizard explained the history of these abilities. Here’s hoping we get the showdown of a century. The battle between him and Henry Cavill‘s Superman would also be an iconic cinematic event.

    Source: Instagram

  • New ‘Shazam: Fury of the Gods’ Set Photos Reveal a Battle-Damaged Shazam

    New ‘Shazam: Fury of the Gods’ Set Photos Reveal a Battle-Damaged Shazam

    We got some brand new set photos from the set of Shazam: Fury of the Gods. While they don’t reveal too much from what’s happening, it does look like our favorite hero got badly damaged from a fight. We see Zachary Levi running away from something with parts of his suit looking worse to wear. It almost seems like something burned him. Just two weeks ago, we got a first look at Helen Mirren on set as Hespera. Perhaps he took damage while fighting her. The photos were posted by Twitter user @neorvng, who got the photos as they were filming the scene. The shots show the actor racing past him.

    What makes this interesting is that the suit never really saw any battle damage in the first film. It’s not like Billy Batson puts on a real suit, but rather he transformers into his alter ego with the powers of the six immoral elders. So, it must’ve been something truly powerful to leave those burn marks. It seems they were generally shooting a sequence where actors had to run away from something, which could be part of the aftermath of his fight. It’s uncertain if Levy running is part of that sequence, or if the actor was just running for another reason.

    Overall, it also promises a darker storyline in the sequel. The first film already had some pretty harsh scenes involving the Seven Deadly Sins and the sequel might take it up a notch. We don’t know what the plot is exactly, but if anyone can damage Shazam that way, it’s going to be quite the threat to face for the group of unlikely heroes.

    Source: Twitter

  • Don’t Expect Marvel Studios or Warner Bros’ DC at 2021’s SDCC@Home

    Don’t Expect Marvel Studios or Warner Bros’ DC at 2021’s SDCC@Home

    It looks like San Diego Comic-Con will be a bit smaller once again. Of course, the pandemic has changed quite a bit and no one was expecting the filled Hall H at the San Diego Convention Center to return anytime soon. Sadly, they both already skipped last year’s event and there was some hope that they might join the event’s digital showcasing. They’ve shifted gears by showcasing most of their new entries during Disney’s Annual Investor Day event. Warner Bros. hasn’t attended for almost three years and has its own DC FanDome event just around the corner.

    In the digital age, it seems easier for these studios to keep these showcases in-house. Marvel Studios’ showing in 2019 was quite memorable, as they revealed the entire Phase 4 slate and had a slew of their actors appear in person. It’s cost-intensive but quite a memorable spectacle for the thousands of visitors of these panels. Of course, many showings weren’t even made public, which is difficult if you stream everything online.

    It’s not surprising they aren’t attending, but it’s sad to see this tradition get affected by the pandemic as it has. DC FanDome was a great success for Warner Bros. last year, as they can combine their showings for comics, films, and TV shows. There is a chance that Sony might attend to push Spider-Man: No Way Home, Venom: Let There Be Carnage or Morbius which are all set to release in eh coming months leading into 2022. DC will have a panel for the Legends of Tomorrow series and there are rumblings of their Publishing division getting a panel. The event will take place from November 26th until 28th. So, they might have a change of heart until then but it seems unlikely as of now.

    Source: Deadline, SDCC

  • Sarah Shahi Confirms Intergang for ‘Black Adam’

    Sarah Shahi Confirms Intergang for ‘Black Adam’

    Black Adam could be considered one of comic’s greatest anti-heroes. while more often than not portrayed as a villain he has his conflictions. Black Adam comes from the Middle Eastern country of Kahndaq, a nation that was once a “melting pot of cultures, wealth, and magic” yet the nation was built on the backs of slaves. Adam was given the powers of the wizard Shazam and used them to break the chains of those beaten down by those who stood above them. When Adam returned to the modern-day he would find people oppressed and enslaved and would do whatever it took to free people from the chains of those who abuse their power.

    In a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Actress Sarah Shahi, who signed on to play Adrianna Tomaz in the film, confirmed that Intergang would be playing a big role in the film as a primary antagonist.

    “I play a character named Adrianna, and she’s a freedom fighter that’s leading this big resistance against an evil, malicious group called Intergang,”

    Shahi went onto explain just how important she took this role and how she looked to break a stereotype amongst middle eastern actors with this movie

     “I’m Middle Eastern; I’m Persian. And there’s not a lot of Middle Eastern representation out there… There are other Middle Eastern actors that I know who are either getting cast in terrorist roles or they’re really being stereotyped by how they look. So I’m hoping that, on some level, Black Adam will help break open that stereotype.”

    Intergang makes themselves a target of Adam in the New 52 when they offer him, Adrianna, alongside $2,000,000 in African gold to try and entice him into allowing them to use Kahndaq to run weapons through. Adam in return frees Adrianna and violently kills a member of Intergang named Noose. With Adrianna at his side, Adam learned to become a better leader and more passionate with her help.

    SOURCE: THR

  • James Gunn Talks the Inspiration for ‘The Suicide Squad’ Spin-Off ‘Peacemaker’

    James Gunn Talks the Inspiration for ‘The Suicide Squad’ Spin-Off ‘Peacemaker’

    Everyone has their eyes set on James Gunn‘s The Suicide Squad. The DC film will reintroduce the world to the iconic team of ex-villains that are all gathered for one reason: they would get killed if they didn’t. Luckily, the director isn’t stopping there as we are also getting a spin-off series that focuses on John Cena‘s über-patriotic character, Peacemaker. So far, the story has been kept tightly under wraps outside of some classic Charlton Comics characters, such as Judomaster. As the release for his Suicide Squad sequel is drawing near, we also got a first official look at a blood-drenched Peacemaker and some insight into the series.

     

     

    In the interview with Empire, Cena and Gunn mock the show’s titular character but also tease that there might be more to him than meets the eye. The director stated that:

    Peacemaker has a clear set of ideals that I find really interesting. You know: ‘I want peace no matter how many men, women and children I need to kill to get it.’ Sounds like nonsense, but it also makes a lot of sense. And you see in John’s performance how he does not feel good about it – something I thought was the seed of an entire eight-episode show.

    He also teased that the upcoming story will be a sci-fi story that focuses on real-world issues when you have people like Peacewalker killing for his specific beliefs. Cena teases that the series will explore what made him who he is in the upcoming DC film. Gunn has also been open about a potential second season. So, we might see a lot more of Peacemaker in the future and get a closer look at the unique corner of the DCEU he inhabits.

    Source: Empire

  • ‘The Suicide Squad’: James Gunn Reveals the Villains Who Didn’t Make the Cut

    ‘The Suicide Squad’: James Gunn Reveals the Villains Who Didn’t Make the Cut

    When it got announced a few years ago the James Gunn would be writing and directing the next Suicide Squad film, many fans knew he would dig deep within the depths of the DC Universe for the best possible candidates. For a while, we could only speculate. Set photos would only offer a glimpse at the roster. It wasn’t until DC Fandome that we officially got confirmation on who joined the infamous squad. Gunn lived up to the expectations. He is using characters like Javelin, Savant, Weasel, Peacemaker, Bloodsport, and even a reimagined version of Arm-Fall-Off-Boy in his film. It seems there were a lot more candidates that didn’t cut. Well, not yet, at least.

    When asked by a fan via Twitter, the director opened the flood gate, revealing he’d kept a folder on his computer with candidates for the squad and shared a few that didn’t make it. In the thread, we got the confirmations that Livewire, Punch, Jewelee, Black Spider, and even Deathstroke almost appeared in the sequel. The latter has been a popular choice for fans. In the rest of the thread, he also revealed some familiar villains that include Man-Bat, Plastique, Chemo, Killer Frost, Mister Freeze, KG-Beast, GunHawk, Knockout, Rainbow Creature, and even Solomon Grundy. You can check out the Twitter thread here:

    https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1411386522704637954

    While some of these great characters didn’t make that cut, that isn’t an entirely bad thing and won’t be cut down like an overgrown lawn. If Gunn was to return for a future Suicide Squad film he’d most definitely revisit that folder for some more of the best and brightest that DC can offer.

    Source: Twitter

  • RUMOR: Tobias Menzies to Play Sinestro in HBO Max’s ‘Green Lantern’ Series

    RUMOR: Tobias Menzies to Play Sinestro in HBO Max’s ‘Green Lantern’ Series

    All the way back in 2011, Green Lantern released in theaters to less than stellar reviews and amounted to a dismal box office haul. What’s most memorable about that movie is its ending, in which we see Thaal Sinestro, one of their strongest warriors, succumb to the newly forged yellow lantern ring. The ring was forged to face Parallax but was deemed too dangerous. Sinestro’s origins have always followed down this dark path, going from one of the galaxies’ strongest warriors to one of its darkest foes. With the upcoming HBO Max series developing this sprawling story over time, it’ll be interesting to see the rise and fall of this once great hero in the DC Universe in live-action once again. It looks like we might get to revisit this storyline sooner than expected

    A few months back we reported on Sinestro’s inclusion in the series, with him being described as a “strategic commander” a “warrior monk” and one of the “greatest lanterns of all time”. In a new rumor from the Illuminerdi, they’re reporting that actor Tobias Menzies will now bring the DC villain to life in the series. He is well-known for his roles in Game of Thrones, Rome, and The Crown. It’s unclear how big of a role Sinestro could be playing in the series or what time period he would be showing up in, as the show is set to sprawl the 40s, 80s, and modern-day.

    Menzies would be joining Jeremy Irvine and Finn Wittrock, both previously cast in the series as Alan Scott and Guy Gardner. The series is set to be written by Marc Guggenheim and Seth Grahame-Smith while being produced by Greg Berlanti, adding yet another major DC Series under his belt. Green Lantern currently has no set release date but will release exclusively on the HBO Max streaming service.

    Source: Illuminerdi 

  • Leaked ‘The Flash’ Promo Reveals New Concept Art and Teases the ‘Flashpoint’-Inspired Storyline

    Leaked ‘The Flash’ Promo Reveals New Concept Art and Teases the ‘Flashpoint’-Inspired Storyline

    It looks like Comic-Con might have come early. A new video promo for Andy Muschietti‘s The Flash has leaked online, and it reveals quite a bit of new information about the long-delayed solo film. The video starts with franchise star Ezra Miller describing what he loves about his character’s powers. Namely, the fact that a single ability, his famous super-speed, can translate into several different abilities, such as creating tornadoes or traveling through time. They showcase the new concept art of Flash saving a baby in mid-air. Miller then gives confirmation on a detail that’s been rumored since production on the film began: there will be multiple Batmen in the film. Ben Affleck‘s name is not specified.

    https://twitter.com/Hellkr1/status/1410248329817210885?s=20

    Director Muschietti eventually takes over, referring to the team of Sasha Calle‘s Supergirl, Miller‘s Flash, and Michael Keaton‘s Batman as a ragtag Justice League. He claims that the group of underdogs is going to save the world as the brand new concept art of Supergirl and Keaton‘s Batman is shown. Supergirl stands on a roof next to Barry with her cape flowing and takes flight to combat an unknown threat. Barry rides in the back of the Batmobile as a “spoiler alert” sign covers up another figure alongside him.

    The mysterious new face might belong to that of the figure huddled for safety, possibly the de-powered version of Kal-El from the Flashpoint comic series. It’s also possible the figure under the sign is Wonder Woman, as pausing the footage at the right moment reveals some familiar armored boots and the tip of an equally familiar sword. It’s uncertain how this found its way online, but there is a chance it was prepared for this year’s DC FanDome and a test version of the footage was leaked online.

    Source: Twitter