Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Disney Plus

  • REVIEW: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Chapter 6 – From the Desert Comes a Stranger

    REVIEW: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Chapter 6 – From the Desert Comes a Stranger

    So, the third season of The Mandalorian is going strong. It’s just strange they decided to rename it The Book of Boba Fett and ignore the titular character after a few episodes to fully embrace a follow-up story for Din Djarin. After last week’s episode, Temuera Morrison once again takes a backseat while the series further expands upon the greater mythos that was initially set up with Grogu’s journey to becoming a Jedi. It’s a shame that such a great episode is bogged down by the fact that it feels like you’re watching the wrong show.

    I will talk about spoilers in the review, so only continue at your own risk if you haven’t seen the episode yet.

    I love what Lucasfilms is doing with the Disney+ series, but I fear what this series’ pacing might mean for other spin-offs from the initial series that kicked off Disney+’s success. Pedro Pascal‘s Din remains one of the most compelling characters, but he also gets the most emotional arc throughout the entire franchise currently. Boba Fett at least shows up this time around, but barely even has a speaking line that makes you wonder if he’s even the protagonist of this story.

    Still, what we have is a great episode that is riddled with great cameos that are certain to make many long-time fans gush. The episode starts with Timothy Olyphant‘s return as Cobb Vanth – a personal favorite that I hope gets more focus in the future – and a small insight into what the Pykes trade is going on. You’d think for a large smuggling ring they’d do more than exchange money in the middle of nowhere like that, but it does lead to a powerful moment showing who he’ll side on once the main conflict happens.

    Yet, most of the episode is focused on Grogu, who makes his adorable return with some insight into his teachings by Mark Hamill‘s Luke Skywalker. They certainly learned from the previous appearance and the effect looks quite a bit better, even if still off at times. the performance is also quite subdued but works well for the Jedi way that he is trying to teach to his new padawan. It’s great to see the teachings, especially how Grogu echoes moves we’ve seen from Yoda in the prequels. That even gets paid off at the end of the episode.

    Din not being able to let go of his little fellow, and traveling all the way to see him was great – even if I don’t quite get how he knew to find them. R2D2 returns for a brief appearance, which seemed like a given with Luke there. However, I never expected Rosario Dawson‘s Ahsoka to make an appearance. It made sense in how she built upon the words she mentioned in her last appearance, and her interactions with Luke were heartwarming for Star Wars: Clone Wars fans.

    I do believe that the biggest moment comes at a later date for Clone Wars fans when bounty hunter Cad Cane arrived. Probably the best use of Tatooine’s landscape to build up his arrival and everything just worked incredibly well. Didn’t think the character would translate so damn well to live-action. The Western showdown matched his design so well, and he probably got the most intimidating introduction out of any character in this show yet. It’ll be a difficult one to top moving forward.

    We only have one more episode to go, and I am having a hard time imagining all these pieces falling together as they should. Boba is a no-show in his series for the last two episodes. We spent most of the first five revisiting the past and any main threat vanished before they even had a chance to become relevant. The Pykes offer some intrigue but not enough to make the upcoming events feel relevant. Outside of Morrison‘s performance and giving Boba Fett an actual character, it feels like this series is just The Mandalorian 2.5 rather than its own fully fleshed-out show. Even when the show catches back up with Fett’s empire, the big moment towards the end is overshadowed by everything else.

    I loved the episode, don’t get time wrong, but I wanted to spend time with Fett, as he raises the Rancor, takes down the underbelly, and sees the build-up to the final confrontation. They tease a big war, but we still don’t know why the Pykes are obsessed with the obvious Dune parallel. The problem lies that its main character was fleshed out in the past while nothing in the present is fully explored outside of fun cameos and Djarin’s story taking over. Perhaps they should’ve split it up into two series and just keep The Book of Boba Fett as a brief 5-episode mini-series.

  • ‘The Book of Boba Fett’: The Mysterious Gunslinger Explained

    ‘The Book of Boba Fett’: The Mysterious Gunslinger Explained

    Chapter 6 of The Book of Boba Fett, “From the Desert Comes a Stranger”, was another strong entry into the overall mythology being created through the live-action Disney Plus streaming series. Serving as another episode of The Mandalorian-set interlude ahead next week’s finale, the episode saw the return of several characters introduced in Season 2 of The Mandalorian and left a lot of threads untied as it concluded. And while we could talk about the returns of Grogu, Luke and Ahsoka all day, it was the return of Timothy Olyphant’s Cobb Vanth that led to the chilling introduction of a mysterious gunslinger that has social media buzzing.

    Shortly after Din Djarin wrapped up his discussion with Vanth, the stranger coming from the desert that the title warned fans of appeared on the sandy streets of Mos Pelgo, now called Freetown. After issuing a stern warning to Vanth to stay out of the Pyke’s business, the stranger enters into a shootout with Vanth and his dumb deputy, killing said dumb deputy and wounding Vanth before heading back out into the desert without so much as revealing his name. The stranger made a big impression in a short time but, as it turns out, he’s not much of a stranger at all. While Chapter 6 marked his debut in a live-action project, the stranger has been a part of the Star Wars universe for more than a decade! For those unfamiliar with him and his exploits, read on.

    First introduced in Season 1 of the canonical animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Cad Bane is, much like Boba Fett himself, a dangerous and notorious bounty hunter. Created by The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett creator Dave Filoni, Bane’s inclusion in the live-action series has been rumored for some time and continues a trend wherein Filoni continues to extend the stories of many fan-favorite characters introduced in The Clone Wars by bringing them to live-action. In addition to that, it also makes a whole lot of sense given Bane’s long history with Fett.

    Bane’s ties to Fett began when Fett’s father, Jango, mentored Bane as a bounty hunter. Following the death of Jango, Bane eventually took on Boba and mentored him, completing the circle as it were. Their exploits are detailed over several seasons of The Clone Wars, but Fett’s not the only bounty hunter on Tatooine that has a history with Bane. The events of another canonical animated series, The Bad Batch, saw Bane square off with Fennec Shand with potentially force-sensitive clone Omega at the center of their dispute.

    How Bane came to be working for the Pykes is a story for another day, but his entrance into The Book of Boba Fett is full of promise. As seen in Chapter 6, the Duros bounty hunter is nobody to be trifled with, but he’s now put himself directly in the sights of Boba and Shand, creating some serious intrigue heading into next week’s final episode.

  • ‘Hocus Pocus 2’: Doug Jones Shares Closer Look at New Billy Butcherson Design

    ‘Hocus Pocus 2’: Doug Jones Shares Closer Look at New Billy Butcherson Design

    Just yesterday, executive producer Adam Shankman revealed that the Halloween classic revival of Hocus Pocus has just finished production. The project will see the return of the original Sanderson sisters, Bette Milder, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimiy. Yet, they aren’t the only ones as Doug Jones is also making his return as the zombie Billy Butcherson. Outside of a single set photo of the sisters flying, we sadly never got a good look at his updated take on the character. Luckily, as production has wrapped, the actor has shared a closer look on his Twitter featuring him in full Butcherson make-up.

    https://twitter.com/actordougjones/status/1488583087168516099

    It certainly looks like they stuck to his original design for the most part. He’s wearing a jacket that hides the rest of his costume, but it does seem like it is mostly the same as the original. The best part of the costume is that he once again gets to do a practical mask to bring the zombie to life, which is a perfect way to pay tribute to the original. Jones is famous for his work on bringing various monsters to life through practical prosthetics and it’s great to see him return to one of the roles that put him on the map.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Loki’ Season 2 Eyeing a Summer Production Start

    ‘Loki’ Season 2 Eyeing a Summer Production Start

    There are quite a few Marvel Studios series heading our way on Disney+ this year, but we’ve still haven’t had an update on the first one to receive a second season, Loki. It left us with quite the cliffhanger as we awaited what the future might have in store for the God of Mischief. It looks like we might have our first hint that the Tom Hiddleston-led Disney+ series will start production this year.

    In a new piece by Backstage, they hint that production is eyeing a summer start at Pinewood Studio. Back in July, it was confirmed that Kate Herron was not returning to direct the series but there hasn’t been an update on who might’ve taken over since. After she left the project, there was some belief that it may not start production until 2023, but if it is indeed going to start production this year, they may have already found their director.

    A summer production start might offer some hope that the series could find its way to Disney+ in 2023. Given that Kang the Conqueror might have a role in the series, they could be trying to connect it to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where Jonathan Majors will technically make his first appearance as that specific variant. Here’s hoping we might also get some casting announcements in the coming months that offer a hint at what else we cane expect from Loki’s return to the TVA.

    Source: Backstage

  • ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ Has Wrapped Production

    ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ Has Wrapped Production

    Disney+ has been busy reviving cult classic franchises. Among them is a sequel to Hocus Pocus, which will see the return of Bette Milder, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy in their iconic roles, as they once again start haunting Salem. A new group of teenagers, played by Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham, and Belissa Escobedo, will take on the sisters. Doug Jones is also set to return as Billy Butcherson. It looks like the production has wrapped, as revealed by executive producer Adam Shankman in a new Instagram post.

    We did get a set video of the Sanderson sisters taking flight back in November, but nothing else has found its way online. The last entry was filmed back in 1993 and it’ll be interesting to see how they handle the time difference since the events of the original. It’ll also be interesting to see what has happened to the mysterious black candle since the events of the original. Either it remained forgotten in the attic of an unsuspecting family, or perhaps it has found its home in a museum. Whatever happened to it, teenagers are about to light a candle they will surely regret.

    Source: Instagram

  • Latest ‘Moon Knight’ Promo Art Offers Full Look at Oscar Isaac’s Costume

    Latest ‘Moon Knight’ Promo Art Offers Full Look at Oscar Isaac’s Costume

    There’s been a lot of hype surrounding the upcoming release of Moon Knight, which may become Disney+’s darkest story yet. Marvel Studios is venturing into new territory and the first trailer certainly sold us on the potential of this new franchise. Plus, the character may have one of their best costume designs yet, which we got a closer look at through a promo image around a week ago. Luckily, it seems a new piece has found its way online with a full look at his entire costume, as shared by @MKnightNews.

    The design is still quite impressive, as they utilized a mummy-inspired design with how his costume is made of white bandages. It fits into the Egyptian theme the character has and that was highlighted in the trailer. Plus, it adds some nice detailing to a pure white design, which may have otherwise been quite difficult to adapt in live-action. The moon symbol being golden also adds a nice detailing.

    The interesting surprise is how the cape is drawn. Instead of being a full piece of cloth, it’s also made of stitched together wraps, which may add to the fact that the costume isn’t a physical thing he wears but something that magically wraps around him, as seen in the trailers. Of course, it would be an interesting twist if he’s actually wearing his Mr. Knight costume and just imagines the full costume due to his fractured personality disorder.

    Source: Twitter

  • Elizabeth Mitchell Returning as Mrs. Claus for ‘The Santa Clause’ on Disney+

    Elizabeth Mitchell Returning as Mrs. Claus for ‘The Santa Clause’ on Disney+

    Another familiar face is returning for The Santa Clause limited series on Disney Plus.

    News of The Santa Clause receiving a revival series was first announced two weeks ago. While we knew Tim Allen would be returning to reprise his role as Scott Calvin, aka Santa Claus, little else was known regarding the series. Now, it looks like Allen will be joined by Elizabeth Mitchell who returns as Carol, aka Mrs. Claus.

    Mitchell first joined the beloved franchise with The Santa Clause 2, which saw Allen’s Scott go in search of a Mrs. Claus in order to remain Santa. She returned alongside Allen for The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause in 2006, where Scott had to learn to keep his family happy, while also battling Martin Short‘s Jack Frost.

    The revival series looks to be headed in a new direction with Scott realizing he’s unable to be Santa forever, something he’s struggling with as his birthday approaches. The series will set up a new Santa Claus, while allowing Scott and his family to, hopefully, prepare for a new adventure outside of the North Pole.

    Scott Calvin is on the brink of his 65th birthday and realizing that he can’t be Santa forever. He’s starting to lose a step in his Santa duties, and more importantly, he’s got a family who could benefit from a life in the normal world, especially his two kids who have grown up at the Pole. With a lot of elves, children, and family to please, Scott sets out to find a suitable replacement Santa while preparing his family for a new adventure in a life south of the pole.

    The revival series is being showrun by Last Man Standing creator Jack Burditt. He will executive produce the series along with Allen, Kevin Hench, Richard Baker and Rick Messina. A release date for The Santa Clause has yet to be announced.

    Source: Deadline.

  • The Abomination Will Appear in Human Form in ‘She-Hulk’

    The Abomination Will Appear in Human Form in ‘She-Hulk’

    Before Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, we hadn’t seen the Abomination since an Avengers tie-in novel revealed he was being held at the super villain prison known as The Raft. When we saw him in live-action, he was being trained by the new Sorcerer Supreme, Wong, and appeared to be in a more jovial mood than was to be expected. We know we will see him in She-Hulk next and, while in the comics Emil Blonsky is unable to transform back and forth between his human and savage form, it seems there will be even more changes to the character.

    In an exclusive interview with The DisInsider regarding his new movie Sundown, talk naturally turned to Tim Roth‘s confirmed appearance in She-Hulk. Roth was specifically asked if he’d return to human form like Bruce Banner, and he responded with an emphatic “oh yeah!”

    Given that this would be a change from the comics, we are now very curious to see how Marvel is able to explain this, and whether it ties into how Mark Ruffalo‘s Bruce Banner also returns to his human form after melding the Hulk and Banner into Professor Hulk.

    She-Hulk is expected to hit Disney+ sometime this year.

    Source: DisInsider.

  • ‘Secret Invasion’ Set Video Shows [SPOILER] Working With Skrull Villain

    ‘Secret Invasion’ Set Video Shows [SPOILER] Working With Skrull Villain

    Filming on Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Secret Invasion continued yesterday in Halifax, UK and, as has been the case, much of what went on was caught on camera. Twitter user @bishopluvbot was on the scene and captured dozens of pictures and videos of yesterday’s scenes, all taking place on the Piece Hall set. Most of the main cast of the series has been on set all week, including Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn and Cobie Smulders, who are back in their respective roles, and newcomers Emilia Clarke and Kingsley Ben-Adir, whose roles are unknown outside of vague descriptions.

    The above video captured a major explosion set during a scene being filmed on “National Unity Day” in the interior courtyard of Piece Hall. While it’s no surprise that Ben-Adir’s character, who is playing a Skrull and the main antagonist of the series, was involved in the explosion, another video does include a shocking revelation that may be considered a spoiler.

    The second video shows the aftermath of the explosion, with wounded extras leaving the site. A few seconds into the video, Clarke’s character can be seen walking away from the explosion and getting into a car with Ben-Adir’s villainous character. This obviously casts doubts on Clarke’s motivations in the series, as earlier in the week she was seen exchanging a hug with Maria Hill.

    Is Clarke a villain as well? Not much is known about her character, but she is known to be an “up and coming spy” who also has powers. Is she working with the Skrulls? Has she been simmed her? Given that the series is meant to be a paranoia-based thriller, it’s likely that fans will often be left wondering who is or is not a Skrull and what side anyone is on at any given moment. Seeing Clarke’s character working with Ben-Adir here is just the tip of the iceberg.

    Secret Invasion will stream on Disney Plus sometime before 2075.

  • REVIEW: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Chapter 5 – Return of the Mandalorian

    REVIEW: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Chapter 5 – Return of the Mandalorian

    After what can perhaps be described as a rather lackluster series so far, The Book of Boba Fett has delivered not only its best episode yet, but probably one of the best Star Wars Disney+ episodes ever. It’s interesting how it managed that on an episode where the titular character doesn’t show up, even if the reasons for that tend to be pretty obvious. Let’s dive in.

    After the obvious hints on last week’s episode, it’s no surprise that Din Djarin finally made his debut on the show. And much like Ahsoka Tano’s introduction on Chapter 13 of The Mandalorian, we didn’t have to wait long for that to happen, with the series putting aside an endless tease and going straight into it. By giving us an entire episode following Din the show cashed in on the growing expectations to see what was to come next in the journeys of Din Djarin, following Grogu’s departure and his acquiring of the Darksaber. By expanding his story and also tying it with Boba Fett’s it managed to deliver a compelling addendum to both The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian.

    One might say that a few of the issues that have made The Book of Boba Fett pale in comparison to its predecessor might come to the (lack of) novelty of it all. Having a show not only set on Tatooine, perhaps the most uninteresting of the interesting planets of the Star Wars universe but also focusing half of your runtime on flashbacks that do little more than connecting dots one already knew existed doesn’t exactly invite the awe of discovery one often associates with Star Wars. With the flashbacks presumably ending in Chapter 4, given Boba Fett being finally healed of the injuries inflicted on him by the Sarlacc, it was now time to move forward and bring something new to the table.

    This breath of fresh air is personified by the return of Din Djarin. His on-screen magnetism is perhaps best explained through the tracking shot set between 07:05 and 09:21. We follow him go up an elevator, delivering his bounty, collecting the information he needed, and then leaving, all on a single take, with the camera focusing on him at all times. The Disney+ shows have been known for doing something similar to what Peli Motto did with Din’s new ship when she states “Not a gram of fat on her!” in order to make it go faster. They always seem to be able to cut the superfluous shots and give us the bare essentials that the story needs in order to move forward at a more pleasant pace. So it is interesting to see an episode take its time with the reintroduction of a character so that when it’s done everybody had the opportunity to settle in and begin the episode on the same page. That can only speak of how much the character means to so many, even if it’s only been around for a little over two years.

    By making Din Djarin the star of the show we managed to get off-planet and onto some new and interesting locations, one of the aspects where The Book of Boba Fett doesn’t really deliver. Elysium and Interstellar came to mind when we got to the city in space where Din delivers his bounty. But the references within the new and exciting location and action shots didn’t stop there as the flashbacks to the destruction of Mandalore was reminiscent of Terminator 2: Judgment Day with the KX-series security droids taking the place of the Terminators stepping on human skulls. All these references, combined with the connections to past Star Wars projects as seen when Din is testing out his Naboo N-1 Starfighter through Beggar’s Canyon, Motto’s BD droid, and a few more, could feel gratuitous but they all end up shining by flowing nicely into the plot and being used as an integral part of the story.

    At the end of the day having a Din Djarin-centered episode also benefits his future endeavors. Besides setting up what is sure to be a transformative final act for The Book of Boba Fett, having Chapter 5 explore the present state of The Tribe, the group hidden in the Mandalorian covert in the sewers of Nevarro, first introduced and mostly destroyed in The Mandalorian, also perfectly sets up what a The Mandalorian season 3 might be all about by addressing the legacy of the Darksaber and how that impacts Din’s relationship with his fellow Mandalorians. With Din left on his own, and much like in his own show battling his teachings after realizing there were other ways to honor his Mandalorian background, his search for Grogu will now begin as he plans to deliver him his own mesh armor made out of beskar. 

    This chapter feels like one that jumpstarts the show from its lethargic state, giving it a much-needed energy boost as we get to the final two episodes with a greater sense of urgency, with more dynamic character dynamics on the horizon. The Book of Boba Fett might not be living up to the hype, but there is no reason why it can’t still surpass it.