Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Disney Plus

  • ‘What If’: Captain Carter to Utilize Scrapped Captain America Storyboards

    ‘What If’: Captain Carter to Utilize Scrapped Captain America Storyboards

    We’ve seen some creative ideas make their way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yet, there is still something that sadly ends up on the cutting room floor. Normally, a franchise doesn’t get a chance to revisit them, but Marvel Studios’ new animated series What If gives them a unique opportunity. Director Bryan Andrews confirmed that some unused concepts will get utilized through the newly introduced Captain Carter. He’s been with the company since 2010s Avengers as a storyboard artist and finally has the chance to reuse scrapped ideas.

    There’s a ton of Captain America stuff that I had done over all the years that just never quite got in there. And I was like, ‘Ah-ha!’ ‘Cause now we have Captain Carter and she’s got the shield, there’s a lot of stuff ready to go… The moves are visually invigorating and they should be on the screen.

    Of course, he does confirm there will be a lot of unique elements that belong to Captain Carter and make her stand out from Steve Roger’s time. It’s great they get to bring back old ideas through this show. Who knows, we might even see some concepts from earlier entries that never made it on the silver screen but get adapted in animated form.

    The concept of the What If series opens up what feels like endless possibilities and could become a mainstay in Marvel Studios’ line-up. We know that they’ll also adapt a prelude comic, as head writer A.C. Bradley confirmed a version of Fury’s Big Week will get adapted as an Agatha Christie-style story. It’ll be interesting to see what else the ten-episode season might offer once it premieres in a few weeks.

    Source: The Direct

  • ‘Jungle Cruise’ Nabs Decent $34M in Domestic Box Office and Another $30M on Disney+ Premier Access

    ‘Jungle Cruise’ Nabs Decent $34M in Domestic Box Office and Another $30M on Disney+ Premier Access

    It looks like the Box Office still requires more time to heal after all.  As the Delta variant rages across the world, the latest Disney movie entered cinemas with a decent $34.2M opening. As Forbes points out, it’s in line with Dwayne Johnson’s most non-Fast and Furious films. In a way, it’s on par with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. In addition, Disney also released their income through Disney+ Premier Access, as they gained an additional $30M.

    The film did manage to pass Space Jam: A New Legacy‘s $31M, but it can only hope for a leggier post-launch to ensure it makes back its expensive $200M budget. Overall, the trend continues as the film’s second weekend sees a sharp decline. Last week’s Old dropped by around 70%, while Snake Eyes plummeted by 79%. In a way, we should continue to expect these kinds of drops in future releases.

     

    Nicht "Snake Eyes 2", aber so ähnlich: Noch ein "G.I. Joe"-Film kommt - Kino News - FILMSTARTS.de

     

    Black Widow earned another $5.8M, with only $2M keeping it from surpassing F9’s domestic total. As such, it seems likely it’ll hold the title as a domestic top performer for some time. It may remain Marvel Studios’ third worst-performing film due to the current situation, but it still is showing some legs. Of course, the lawsuit surrounding Scarlett Johansson adds some questions on how to perceive its “success.”

    Jungle Cruise’s advantage moving forward is it doesn’t have any direct competitors. So, there’s a chance it could leg out like Black Widow is currently. The curious aspect about the Box Office development is that it still seems the overall trends between films are on par with pre-pandemic numbers. Disney releasing their Disney+ numbers only for the opening weekend is curious and opens up a question regarding transparency. We never heard how much about Raya and the Last Dragon, Mulan, or even Cruella‘s numbers. Moving forward, transparency from streamers will be a big question mark.

    Source: Forbes

  • ‘What If’: Tom Holland’s Absence in Cast List May Confirm Spider-Man’s Leaked Identity in Disney+ Series

    ‘What If’: Tom Holland’s Absence in Cast List May Confirm Spider-Man’s Leaked Identity in Disney+ Series

    The official cast list for Marvel Studios animated series What If finally got revealed. It includes a long list of iconic MCU actors that are returning to the franchise to lend their voice to this new venture. Yet, there are some notable absences. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Brie Larson, and Scarlett Johansson are noticeably absent from the list. We’ve known that Tony Stark will get a new voice actor through the first trailer, but there never was a statement regarding why they didn’t join the production. Yet, there’s another absent actor in the list, whose character we know makes a return to the series, Tom Holland. Toy leaks confirmed a version known as Zombie Hunter Spidey. Yet, a leak hinted that it isn’t Peter Parker in the iconic role.

    There was a toy leak that first confirmed Spidey’s appearance in the series. Yet, it wasn’t Parker, but rather mentioned that Steve Rogers took over the role at some point. There’s a chance he took on the mantle after something happened to Peter during the zombie outbreak. He’s also wielding the iconic cape of Doctor Strange, which means the survivors of the outbreak are using all the weapons they have at their disposal. Yet, we know there’s a Zombie Captain America in the series, which opens up a lot of questions about how this zombie outbreak affects the multiverse.

     

    Das sind angeblich die 6 (!) Gegner von Spider-Man in seinem neuen MCU-Abenteuer - Kino News - FILMSTARTS.de

     

    It might connect to the issue regarding Sony’s rights to that specific version of the character. If you look closely, the costume provided in the animated series is different from the films, as the redesign is closer to the ones we see in Disney’s theme park. It’s the one used in the Worldwide Engineering Brigade attraction. So, it seems likely they had to fall back on this version of the character due to the rights.  The animated rights to the character returned to Disney and were the reason why Spectacular Spider-Man got canceled back in the day.

    So, they might’ve taken this unorthodox direction to include him in the series without requiring Sony’s input. Of course, it could also be a similar case to the absence of other actors. There’s a chance he simply couldn’t return to the role, but they still included a version of Peter Parker that becomes a zombie hunter. The leak teasing Captain America taking on the role could be from another storyline if it turns out true. The Zombie version of Steve Rogers would put a dent in this leak but with a series exploring the multiverse, anything is possible.

    Source: Polygon, Comic Book

  • Marvel Studios ‘What If’ Cast List Confirms Clark Gregg’s Return as Agent Coulson

    Marvel Studios ‘What If’ Cast List Confirms Clark Gregg’s Return as Agent Coulson

    Marvel Studios’ upcoming Disney+ series will explore the alternative realities of stories we’ve followed throughout the last few years. We’ve learned that quite a few iconic actors will reprise their iconic roles from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Surprisingly, there are some receptions as Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Black Widow, and Captain Marvel will get new voice actors as confirmed in the latest trailer. Yet, there are some great minor characters finally making their return to the franchise, such as the official cast list confirming Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson returning to the franchise. Here’s the complete cast list for the series as provided by Comic Book:

    Andy Serkis, Angela Bassett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Benicio Del Toro, Bradley Whitford, Carrie Coon, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Sullivan, Clancy Brown, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Danai Gurira, David Dastmalchian, Djimon Hounsou, Dominic Cooper, Don Cheadle, Emily VanCamp, Evangeline Lilly, Frank Grillo, Georges St-Pierre, Hayley Atwell, Jaimie Alexander, Jeff Goldblum, Jeremy Renner, John Kani, Jon Favreau, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Kat Dennings, Kurt Russell, Leslie Bibb, Mark Ruffalo, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Douglas, Michael Rooker, Natalie Portman, Neal McDonough, Ophelia Lovibond, Paul Bettany, Paul Rudd, Rachel House, Rachel McAdams, Samuel L. Jackson, Sean Gunn, Sebastian Stan, Seth Green, Stanley Tucci, Taika Waititi, Tilda Swinton, Toby Jones, Tom Hiddleston, and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor.

    It’s crazy to think how many actors returned to lend their voices to the animated series. Yet, some major actors did not return. If they continue the series with multiple seasons, it’ll be curious to see if they can keep this sizeable voice cast. Gregg’s return is a great one, as it also adds to the show, potentially connecting the franchise with the events of Agents of SHIELD, whose canonicity is always an open question. He’ll likely appear in the episode that is based on Fury’s Big Week, the first adaptation of the prelude comic.

    Source: Comic Book, Variety

  • ‘Jungle Cruise’: Jack Whitehall Talks Improvising on Set

    ‘Jungle Cruise’: Jack Whitehall Talks Improvising on Set

    The latest theme park adaptation by Disney features quite the all-star cast. The WWI story features Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Edgar Ramirez, Paul Giamatti, and many more. With such a stellar cast, it opens up many possibilities for them to interact on set. Their dynamic on the film’s set can determine their character’s directions and lead to some off-script banter. Some of the most iconic lines in cinema history were improvised by the actors, and Whitehall teased that we can expect some off-script lines in the film during the press junket.

    I mean, there was a fair amount of improv. The script was amazing, but then also, we were given the space to kind of improvise and add stuff to it, and-and-and these two created this environment where we were able to do that, and it felt like such a safe space.

    He goes on to tease that quite a few jokes landed on the cutting room floor, but for a good reason. It almost makes you wish we’d get an R-rated version of the film to see the jokes that didn’t make it into the film. Still, it’s great that their director, Jaume Collet-Serra, gave them the possibility to build on the cast’s dynamic. His work on the film as a director even inspired Dwayne Johnson to push him to tackle his DC passion project, Black Adam. So, there’s a good chance we can expect more improvisation in their next project together.

  • Emily Blunt Talks How ‘Indiana Jones’, ‘Romancing the Stone’ And More Inspired ‘Jungle Cruise’

    Emily Blunt Talks How ‘Indiana Jones’, ‘Romancing the Stone’ And More Inspired ‘Jungle Cruise’

    Finally, Jungle Cruise has released on Disney+ Premier Access and in theaters. Disney has been attempting a resurgence on their films based on popular theme park rides. Pirates of the Caribbean was one of their most successful ventures that managed to turn it into a franchise with five installments ending in 2017 and a reboot in the future. The latest attempt takes us on an adventure into the jungle during the first World War with Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson. In the press junket, Blunt talked about the many inspirations that helped bring this adventure to life.
    And was made in the spirit of the films that we all grew up watching. And just, I mainline those movies into my veins. I just loved Indiana Jones and Romancing the Stone, African Queen. Like, they are just joy bombs, and they’re nostalgic, and I think we just needed to pierce people’s hearts directly with the spirit of those films that we all loved as children. Um, and it just took a lot of tempering and c-beautiful conducting from Jaume, who was just extraordinarily free-spirited with us.
    The first trailers did tease that Romancing the Stone and Indiana Jones vibe, which is perfect for this kind of adventure. During the junket, the actors also discussed how they took the concept of the ride and add layers to it while crafting this story but kept the silly aspects of the ride intact, according to Jack Whitehall. They even shared their experience riding the original theme park ride for the first time. Blunt confessed she only rode the ride a few days before the premiere.
  • Report Hints at Internal Strife Between Kevin Feige and Disney Over ‘Black Widow’s Release

    Report Hints at Internal Strife Between Kevin Feige and Disney Over ‘Black Widow’s Release

    It looks like the Black Widow drama might leave its scars internally. There have been various hints that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was a strong contender for Disney to wait out the pandemic for a pure theatrical release. Yet, Disney moved forward with pulling it on their streaming platform. This decision has now recently led the film’s lead, Scarlett Johansson, to file a lawsuit against the company. Disney’s backlash by calling out her actions may have stirred up some discomfort within the company. Hollywood Reporter’s Matthew Belloni shared a “What I’m Hearing” newsletter that hints at Feige being unhappy with the overall release and seemed to have predicted the potential lawsuit.

    [Feige is] a company man, and not prone to corporate showdowns or shouting matches. But I’m told he’s angry and embarrassed He lobbied Disney against the day-and-date plan for Black Widow, preferring the big screen exclusivity and not wanting to upset his talent. And then when the sh-t hit the fan, the movie started tanking, and Johansson’s team threatened litigation, he wanted Disney to make this right with her.

    This report matches what has been talked about for some time and opens up the question about Disney and Marvel Studios’ relationship moving forward. It also doesn’t bode well for Disney CEO Bob Chapek‘s current run as the new head of the company, after only recently taking over from Bob Iger. The hope of utilizing the streaming service within the pandemic made sense, but it seems they simply moved forward without consulting internally.

    Of course, it’s not an easy decision to make, but this move could leave some scars between the house of mouse and its subsidiary. It also reveals the limitations of what Feige can decide and with backlash after backlash, Jungle Cruise may lead to similar events. It’s Disney’s hands to do the right thing, but their first legal and public action left a sour taste. So, we’ll keep an eye out on how this develops.

    Source: What I’m Hearing Newsletter via Comic Book

  • Disney Fights Back Against Scarlett Johansson’s ‘Black Widow’ Lawsuit

    Disney Fights Back Against Scarlett Johansson’s ‘Black Widow’ Lawsuit

    It’s not every day we get to discuss legal actions on this site. In a sudden move, Scarlett Johansson sued Disney for breaching her contract on Black Widow being a theater-only release. The claim is that this would keep her from gaining the benefits written within her contracts. The film was released in theaters, but also on Disney+ Premier Access. We don’t know if she originally was set to receive a specific type of percentage from the Box Office income, which has been hampered by the digital release.

    It looks like Disney wasn’t going to sit there and take it, as they already gave a public statement in regard to this legal action. It confirms that her bonuses were tied into its Box Office earnings. They offered a public statement regarding their contractual obligations and that she received $20M for her work with additional compensation on top of the digital release. Disney’s statement is as follows:

    There is no merit whatsoever to this filing.  The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Of course, we have no further details on the matter. To some degree, it seems like a public display rather than an actual lawsuit. We’ve seen open discourse regarding contracts and combined releases. HBO Max and Warner Bros. are no strangers to this discussion. The bigger question is if this will end the working relationship between Disney and Johansson for future projects. It seems very unlikely we might see her return in any capacity if they burn bridges with this lawsuit. Here’s hoping they come to a consensus, and it doesn’t put the final nail in the coffin on Natasha Romanoff’s time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    Source: Variety, Variety (Disney)

  • ‘Hawkeye’: Jeremy Renner Teases Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop’s Motivation in the Disney+ Show

    ‘Hawkeye’: Jeremy Renner Teases Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop’s Motivation in the Disney+ Show

    After a long wait, we finally got the official release date for Marvel Studios Hawkeye series. It’ll take inspiration from the famous My Life as a Weapon run by Matt Fraction. In addition, it’ll see the return of Black Widow‘s Yelena Belova. We still know very little about the story, but luckily Entertainment Weekly got a chance to talk to Jeremy Renner. He offered some insight into Clint Barton’s new protégé, Kate Bishop.

    She will be played by Hailee Steinfeld and bring new energy to the retired archer’s life after the Avengers. He offered some insight and confirmed she will retain her Hawkeye fandom from the comics when they first meet.

    [Kate is] a 22-year-old kid and she’s a big Hawkeye fan. She has a wonderfully annoying and equally charming manner about her, because she’s such a fangirl of Hawkeye. The relationship grows from that, but the biggest problem for Clint is Kate Bishop and the onslaught of problems that she brings into his life.

    He also shared that he took Steinfeld under his wing to introduce her to the world of working in the Marvel Cinematic universe. It also seems to hint that her entering Clint’s life is what drags him out of his never-beginning retirement. We’ll find out what trouble is haunting her when it releases on November 24th on Disney+. With the official announcement, there’s a good chance we’ll get a trailer shortly after What If‘s August premier.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • ‘Hawkeye’: First Look at Disney+ Series Released as Marvel Studios’ Confirms November Premiere

    ‘Hawkeye’: First Look at Disney+ Series Released as Marvel Studios’ Confirms November Premiere

    Marvel’s mighty marketing machine is finally revving up its engines for Hawkeye. Entertainment Weekly has released the first official image of Hailee Steinfeld and Jeremy Renner as Kate Bishop and Clint Barton in the upcoming Disney Plus series. The image doesn’t reveal much in the way of the plot for the Disney+ show, but it does give us a look at what appears to be some sort of Hawkeye hideout or training ground.

    Clint Barton is wearing the same outfit that Murphy’s Multiverse exclusively captured in the series’ first leaked set video, which would indicate the room is located in New York City and belongs to Bishop herself. The tweet by Marvel Studios with the image also confirms a November release date on the 24th.

    Marvel’s Hawkeye is set to draw heavily from Matt Fraction’s iconic 2012 run on the character. Not only will we see Barton form a mentorship with Bishop, but villains like Fra Fee’s Clown and the rumored Madame Masque will help bring the series to life as well. Other cast members confirmed to appear are Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Tony Dalton as the Swordsman, Vera Farmiga as Bishop’s mother, and Alaqua Cox as the deaf assassin Echo.

    Also, soon-to-be-superstar Jolt will appear as the fan-favorite Lucky the Pizza Dog. The series will be helmed by Rhys Thomas and the directing duo of Bert & Bertie. The script comes from Jonathan Igla, filling the controversial “head writer” position Marvel has embraces as opposed to the traditional showrunner.

    Source: Twitter