Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Disney Plus

  • REVIEW: ‘The Acolyte’

    REVIEW: ‘The Acolyte’

    Since Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, the studio’s projects, both film and television, have been unevenly received by Star Wars fandom. It’s been eight and a half years since the nostalgia-driven Episode VII-The Force Awakens launched the Disney Star Wars era and in that time, segments of the fandom moved from a sense of uncertainty and unrest to vocal and volatile about the direction of the franchise. Almost echoing the history of the Jedi Order itself, Star Wars fandom experienced the First Great Schism when Episode VIII-The Last Jedi hit theaters. As fans grew increasingly displeased with the further exploration of the Skywalker Saga and the themes originally developed within it by George Lucas, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy recognized a need to move away from the Skywalkers and the outline of The Maker. However, even as the ascension of heir to the empire Dave Filoni began as Disney Plus allowed for more stories to be told through streaming series, it seemed hard to break away from the addiction to the Skywalkers. Even as the Creative Grand Admiral of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars division, Filoni‘s projects continued to feature Skywalkers as Luke made an appearance in The Mandalorian and Anakin in Ahsoka.

    I think it is vital. Just staying within the construct of George’s storytelling, to keep chipping away at that, I think would be wrong. It’s our job to step away now, but still have a connection to the mythology that George created. That won’t stop. But we are moving on from the Skywalker saga. That’s what’s taking a lot of time, discussion, and thought right now.

    Kathleen Kennedy, Vanity Fair, 2022

    While the desire to connect each new project to the brand’s most recognizable names can be easily understood–especially since so many of the key creatives currently working on Star Wars projects grew up as fans of the brand–it remains a cord that has to be cut. Enter Leslye Headland. Like Filoni, Headland is a lifelong fan of the franchise who describes her love for Star Wars as existing on a “deep cellular level.” And, like Filoni, she has grown into adulthood pondering, meditating on and dreaming about the galaxy far, far away. And now, in The Acolyte, Headland gives fans a brand new entry point into that galaxy that allows fans to engage with the same themes and concepts that Lucas made central to Star Wars but in an all-new era of stories that does not depend on the Skywalkers or, so far, even a passing familiarity with their stories. Steeped and connected in the mythology of Star Wars yet independent of anything that’s come before it, The Acolyte is Disney’s boldest storytelling effort to date within the franchise as it looks to redefine itself.

    I just love Star Wars—I always have. Every time I’m asked the question ‘what is your fandom like?’ or ‘what do you love about Star Wars?’, it’s difficult for me to answer because I love it on a deep cellular level. I almost think Star Wars has been a part of my personality since I can remember.

    -Leslye Headland
    (L-R): Mae (Amandla Stenberg) and Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    Set at a time in the High Republic era that precedes the events of Episode 1-The Phantom Menace by a century, The Acolyte represents a daring new direction for Star Wars. And through four episodes, it blazes the trail that the franchise sorely needed. Headland‘s intrepid exploration of the High Republic is ripe with thematic parallels upon which Lucas built the foundation of the franchise and toys with the expansion of the mythology similar to Filoni’s work. However, The Acolyte is singular in that outside of the briefest of cameos that casual viewers will never recognize, Headland does it all with a new cast of characters who are incredibly easy to like from jump street.

    As the franchise sputtered through the sequels, Kennedy believed the future depended not only on moving away from the Skywalkers but also on allowing talented creators to expand the Star Wars sandbox beyond Tatooine and to tell character-driven stories. The Acolyte succeeds on both counts. While it’s billed as Star Wars-noir, it tells a Star Wars tale as old as time that explores the duality of good and bad and centers around relationships. At the center of the story are twins, Osha and Mae, and Jedi Master Sol, whose history with the twins allows Headland to explore flaws inherent in the Jedi Order. Within the first four episodes of The Acolyte, the dynamics of the Jedi–who are at their peak during the High Republic–reveal the beginnings of the cracks in the firmament that ultimately allow for their fall. Star Amandla Stenberg‘s transition between twins Osha and Mae is smooth and effortless and among the franchise’s best in years and Lee Jung-jae’s compassionate Sol joins the ranks of the Jedi Order’s most loveable Masters.

    We’re not defined by what we lose; we’re defined by what we survive.

    -Jedi Padawn Jecki Lon

    Despite the Great Schism, Star Wars lives on and as Jedi Padawan Jecki Lon shares with Osha, “we’re not defined by what we lose; we’re defined by what we survive.” The Acolyte stands as a wonderful example of survival and adaptation. It’s an all-new era of Star Wars with no keepers standing at the gate and no background necessary to enjoy. It delivers one of the franchise’s most beautifully shot episodes to date in Episode 3, many of its most interesting new characters in what seems like forever and some of the best-looking action sequences ever shot in the galaxy far, far away. The screener package left us at one helluva cliffhanger but should the second half of the series deliver on the promises made in the first, The Acolyte will become the first step in a new direction the franchise sorely needs.

    Sources: Vanity Fair,

  • Giancarlo Esposito Teases His Upcoming Role in the MCU

    Giancarlo Esposito Teases His Upcoming Role in the MCU

    During a panel at CCXP24, Esposito shocked the audience with the news that he had reached a deal to join the MCU in a mystery role. “I cannot promise you it’ll be Professor X, because here’s what I think. I think that there’s something about being original,” said Esposito. “We’ve seen different versions of Professor X. Wouldn’t you like to see me play a character in a Marvel movie who is original, and new, and fresh? So, mark my words: This will happen sooner than you think.” As expected, Marvel Studios refused to comment on the news and the buzz around it died down…until Esposito reignited it at another convention.

    While making an appearance at Phoenix Fan Fusion, Esposito teased a little more about his MCU role, saying, “The MCU has knocked on my door and it’s a role you won’t predict. It will be teased and there will be a series afterwards” before telling those in attendance he would “knock it out of the park.“

    The news that whoever this mystery character is will appear in a series doesn’t give fans much to go in terms of deciphering who Esposito will be playing; however, it does indicate that whoever the character is won’t be a one-off and could be fairly important to one of the studio’s developing storylines.

    Esposito’s dalliance with Marvel Studios has been ongoing and has been interesting to follow. After years of being fan-cast as Charles Xavier, Giancarlo Esposito reached out to set up a meeting with Marvel Studios in 2022. And while the studio wasn’t “quite ready to get into that conversation” at the time, according to the actor, they must have come around to the notion of Espositio joining the MCU.

    I love how all this happens…[t]he fans come to me when I’m in line, a lot of comic cons, and it started with Dr. Doom maybe over a year ago. And then fans came and said [that I should do Freeze]…then it was Magneto. And these are fans suggesting to me what might be appropriate for me to do. And then, right, so the last year…people are coming and saying it’s [Professor] X. And they asked me, would you like to do that? I said I’d love to be in the Marvel Universe. And so all that got translated when the fan casting started to blow up that they’d like to see me play Professor X. It got so huge, I finally had to have my people call Marvel and explain that, you know, that this is a fan want and we would love to work with you. And [Marvel Studios isn’t] quite ready to get into that conversation. But when they are, I am here.

    -Giancarlo Esposito in 2022

    Esposito once revealed he was turned down for a role in the D+ streaming series Loki. “The truth of the story is this,” said the actor in a 2022 interview, “about four years ago I met with Louis D’Esposito who [is] in the television unit of Marvel. And they had come to me to play possibly play Loki on the television side. And so I did not do [that part], and there were reasons for it. I think I wasn’t the one who was chosen [would] be the honest truth. But I would have maybe liked to do it.” Esposito continued, “And then I thought when I wasn’t selected for that, that it would be great if I could be in a Marvel movie, not just a television show because I like films a lot. I love television, obviously, I had a great run in the television world, doing last year was four shows at one time and the year before five shows.” Now it seems as though the star will get a chance at both.

    Source: Empire

  • First Reactions to ‘The Acolyte’ Give the High Republic Series High Praise

    First Reactions to ‘The Acolyte’ Give the High Republic Series High Praise

    Lucasfilm’s latest Star Wars streaming series, The Acolyte, premiered in London on May 23rd, with attendees having the opportunity to see the first two episodes. Meanwhile, select journalists were sent a screener package that included the first four episodes. After the screening, fans and critics took to social media to share their initial reactions to the upcoming show.

    The High Republic Era Kicks Off with a Bang

    The Acolyte provides Star Wars fans with the first live-action look at the High Republic era, a time when the Jedi were at their zenith as protectors of the galaxy and the Sith were long since believed to be extinct. Long-time media personalities such as Screen Rant’s Joseph Deckelmeier and Peter Sciretta felt the new setting provided a fresh perspective on the galaxy far, far away.

    Star Wars Noir

    Star Lee Jung-jae, who plays Jedi Master Sol, said The Acolyte fits into the “detective genre.” For several critics, the noir nature of the series was a highlight.

    The Cast Carries the Show

    While maybe not quite on the same scale as Game of Thrones, the main cast of The Acolyte is fairly large. While it’s sometimes tough on an audience to have so many characters to get to know, it sounds as though the great writing by showrunner Leslye Headland has made that quite a bit easier.

    The first two episodes of The Acolyte debut on Disney Plus on June 4th.

  • It’s Not All Connected: Marvel Exec Clarifies the Studio’s Recent Rebranding

    It’s Not All Connected: Marvel Exec Clarifies the Studio’s Recent Rebranding

    “Mr. Stark, you’ve become part of a bigger universe; you just don’t know it yet.” When Fury, Nicholas J. dropped that bomb on Tony Stark in the MCU’s first-ever post-credit scene in 2008’s Iron Man, the Marvel Cinematic Universe took flight. Over the next decade, the MCU expanded in ways nobody could have ever predicted. Through an onslaught of Easter eggs, cameos, name drops and references, the largest interconnected cinematic universe in Hollywood history became so popular that Anthony Mackie‘s Sam Wilson could show up in Ant-Man and everyone in the audience knew who he was….hell, they knew who Ant-Man was! So ingrained in the experience of the MCU was that connectivity that in 2018, Marvel published an MCU guidebook titled “It’s All Connected.” Fans fawned over every fragment of connectivity, theorizing which character might show up where and how each post-credit scene might set up the next big thing. Doctor Strange! Reed Richards! Mephisto! But then, a funny thing happened on the way to the Multiverse.

    With the dawn of Disney Plus, the rate of expansion of the MCU increased. New, unfamiliar characters were introduced, causing a sense of disorder and uncertainty among fans. Entropic chaos ensued. Once the strength of the franchise, the MCU’s connectivity–along with a few less-than-successful projects–quickly threatened to cripple it. As Bob Iger returned to Disney, Marvel’s top creatives began to formulate a response to the dilemma and by the time Echo debuted on Hulu and Disney Plus in January 2024 and fans were introduced to the Marvel Spotlight banner, the studio’s solution began to become clear: the MCU would no longer be all connected but rather, through a series of moves behind the scenes, become à la carte.

    Marvel Studios is now–at least in part–reborn. As the studio forges ahead through its uneven Multiverse Saga, fans will find themselves on more of a choose your own adventure journey that Marvel hopes will help keep attracting new viewers. Following Echo, X-Men ’97 became the first production to debut under the new Marvel Animation banner. This Fall, Agatha All Along will mark the debut of the resurrected Marvel Television banner. The hope, according to Marvel’s head of streaming, television and animation, Brad Winderbaum, “is to “signal to the general audience that we’re creating a lot of options, and you can follow your tastes within this brand.”

    There was a lot of pressure post-‘Avengers: Endgame’ on the public to feel obligated to watch absolutely everything in order to watch anything. Part of the rebranding was a signal to the general audience that we’re creating a lot of options, and you can follow your tastes within this brand. Some will be more comedic, some will be more dramatic, some will be animated, some will be live-action. Marvel is more than just one thing — it is actually many different genres that just happened to coexist in a single narrative.

    -Brad Winderbaum

    Even as the Mutliverse Saga moves ahead, the rebranding does not create different universes within the MCU. That would be messier and increase confusion. Instead, as Winderbaum points out, “the characters still live and breathe in the same universe, but the interconnectivity is not so rigid that you need to watch Project A to understand Project B.” In that sense, the experience, says Winderbaum, should become more akin to that enjoyed by comic book readers who can pick up a Captain America comic without worrying about what’s going on in the most recent run of The Avengers. “The hope is that, like the comics, you can just pop in anywhere and have a satisfying experience. We’re trying to dispel the idea that you need to do any kind of setup work to watch anything else.”

    Iger’s return to Disney also came with a mandate that some of the larger studios–Marvel included–pull back a bit on the quantity of their streaming output. According to Winderbaum, that’s something that Marvel Studios had already begun working on. So, in addition to the reduced pressure to watch everything because “it’s all connected”, there’s also a reduction in content which should add up to an increase in quality and, hopefully, a better experience for the audience. “We were already, as of two years ago, adapting our process from being, you know, fill the service as fast as possible no matter what, to a more considered approach,” said Winderbaum. “I really like the idea of two shows a year, especially because we are developing more than we make. We used to treat the shows like the features where we’re gonna make a show and that’s it, we’re going to hit a release date, hell or high water. Well, it’s hard to do for a two hour feature, it’s even harder to do for, six, seven, eight, nine hours. So now we have a more traditional approach.” And so while the studio may have a lot of projects in the pipeline–like the LONG-GESTATING Nova series–there’s no guarantee that they’ll hit D+ soon, if ever; only that if and when they do, they’ll have been carefully curated.

    Ultimately, the rebranding changes absolutely nothing for your average MCU superfan. The banner that hits the screen for a few seconds won’t stop the completist from watching everything and criticizing the VFX; however, the strategy behind the rebranding isn’t aimed at those fans but rather at drawing new viewers in without overwhelming them. For a studio that hopes they have a whole lot more stories to tell, that’s the only way to stay in the game for the long haul.

    Source: Variety

  • Merch Leak Provides First Look at the Leads of ‘Skeleton Crew’

    Merch Leak Provides First Look at the Leads of ‘Skeleton Crew’

    Though Lucasfilm rolled out a trailer for its live-action streaming series Skeleton Crew exclusively for those in attendance at Star Wars Celebration 2023, next to nothing has been made public about the show. Due to hit Disney Plus around Christmas, the series stars Jude Law, Kerry Condon and a group of largely unknown child actors. While fans wait for some kind of footage from the project to be shared, a new listing for a collectible from the show has provided a first look at tht young leads.

    Found on the online store Fanatik, via r/StarWarsLeaks, a collectible ingot shows the four children who are the main focus of the series along with an unknown character who is either a droid, cyborg or just wearing a very intricate mask.

    New Skeleton Crew collectible give us our first look at the main characters of the show
    byu/Matapple13 inStarWarsLeaks

    The biggest revelation is that one of the leads is an Ortolan, the same species as renowned Jizz-wailer Max Rebo, first seen in Return of the Jedi. And so we have our first look at the four kids who “make a mysterious discovery on their home planet that leads them to get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy.” Their journey will lead them to cross paths with Law’s Force-wielding character, a mysterious Jedi we still don’t know much about at all.

    Skeleton Crew will stream on Disney Plus beginning in December.

    Source: Fanatik

  • Marvel Exec Reveals All-New Information about the Studio’s Animated Series ‘Eyes of Wakanda’

    Marvel Exec Reveals All-New Information about the Studio’s Animated Series ‘Eyes of Wakanda’

    Marvel Animation has already had a banner year in 2024 and it’s only just gotten started. The 10-episode run of X-Men ’97 might ultimately be one of Marvel Studios’ best projects and fans are already salivating over the potential direction of Season 2. While it’ll be some time before the sophomore season streams on D+, two more projects from the new Marvel Animation banner are due out this year.

    Late this year, the first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will debut on D+ but before that, the four-episode series Eyes of Wakanda will hit the streamer. Kept a secret until the December 2023 red carpet debut of What If…? Season 2, the series produced by Ryan Coogler‘s Proximity Media has still yet to have much officially revealed by Marvel. However, in a recent interview, Executive Producer and Marvel Studios Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation Brad Winderbaum gave fans a bit of info to tide them over.

    “This is the history of Wakanda as told through the War Dogs,” revealed Winderbaum, referencing Wakanda’s global intelligence network whose number has included Nakia, Zuri and Prince N’Jobu. This tidbit from Winderbaum fleshes out the show’s previously revealed premise that it would follow “brave warriors” from “throughout Wakandan history have been tasked to travel the world retrieving dangerous vibranium artifacts.”

    Winderbaum also reiterated that “Eyes of Wakanda is an MCU show,” after having previously revealed that the series “fits right into our sacred MCU timeline continuity.“ That provides a lot of opportunity for Marvel Animation to define or redefine periods of the MCU’s history that are currently unknown including the potential inclusion of an Iron Fist from the hidden city of K’un-Lun. If all that sounds good to you, Winderbaum is in agreement. “Todd Harris is the creator,” he said of the new show before adding that it’s “just such a cool show” and “some of the best animation we’ve ever done.” While there’s still no indication when in 2024 Eyes of Wakanda will debut on Disney Plus, the show does sound like it has the makings of another hit for Marvel Animation.

  • Marvel Studios’ TV Boss Updates the Status of ‘What If…?’ Season 3

    Marvel Studios’ TV Boss Updates the Status of ‘What If…?’ Season 3

    Following the conclusion of the first season of X-Men ’97, Marvel Studios is riding high and once again feeling the love from fans to which they’d grown accustomed. With two more projects from the studio’s newly created Marvel Animation banner due out in 2024, fans have plenty of new content ahead; however, there’s also work being done on future seasons of not only X-Men ’97 but also the studio’s first canonical animated series, What If…?.

    The second season of What If…? was warmly received by fans and largely declared an improvement over the studio’s first effort. A first look at Season 3 teased not only that the studio had plans to include several characters who so far had been off limits but also had already done quite a bit of work on it causing fans to wonder how quickly the studio might be able to push it out. In an interview with Comic Book, Executive Producer and Marvel Studios Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation Brad Winderbaum shed some light on the studio’s progress with the project.

    “What If…? Season Three is — that might be the one that comes out next, in terms of animation,” said Winderbaum, before calling the project “the culmination of a trilogy.” While that’s hardly a definitive statement, it’s interesting to hear it described that way as it could indicate the third season will be the last.

    Though Winderbaum did stop short of revealing exactly when Season 3 could hit Disney Plus, it does sound as though it could be sooner rather than later. “We’re actually close to completing that one, and it really feels like you’ve gone through this amazing emotional experience with Uatu, in a way that’s… What’s great about The Watcher is that he presents himself as uncaring, and cold, and just an observer, but he cares more than everybody [and] anybody. That is on full display in that third season.”

    Could What If…? Season 3 find its way on to Marvel Studios’ 2025 streaming slate? It certainly seems possible at this point and if that is the plan, fans could learn all about it during Marvel’s presentation at D23 this August.

    Source: Comic Book

  • ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Originally Had No Connection to the Netflix Series

    ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Originally Had No Connection to the Netflix Series

    While there’s still just under a year until the audience can judge the finished product, the changes to Daredevil: Born Again that came out of the Hollywood work stoppage and a subsequent change in the creative team behind the series certainly seemed to have put a spring in the step of its two stars. Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio have had nothing but high praise for the new direction of the series under showrunner Dario Scardapane and directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead and during Disney’s TV Upfront presentation, they gave some insight into just how much the new team changed the course of the show.

    While talking to TV Insider, Cox noted that Daredevil: Born Again will share “a lot” of connectivity with Netflix’s Daredevil series. While that won’t surprise fans who saw a slew of set photos confirm the returns of Elden Henson, Deborah Ann Woll, Wilson Bethel, Jon Bernthal and Ayelet Zurer, D’Onofrio provided a bit more insight about just how significant the changes made to the series were.

    DISNEY UPFRONT 24 – The Disney Advertising Upfront is a showcase event that brings together all the content corners of The Walt Disney Company on one stage. On Tuesday, May 14, 2024 at North Javits in New York City, an incredible roster of all-star talent will tout their connections to storytelling, Disney, and each other while showcasing their latest projects for the upcoming year. (Disney/John Argueta) CHARLIE COX, VINCENT D’ONOFRIO

    “It originally wasn’t going to be at all, but now it’s a lot,” said D’Onofrio about how much the new D+ series was originally intended to reference the Netflix show. D’Onofrio‘s comments confirm what was a contentious point among fans that had been debated since the show was announced. Following a 2022 presentation about Daredevil: Born Again at D23, Cox indicated that Kevin Feige‘s plan was for the series to be about “new stories and new ideas“, saying the series was “A Season 1. It is not Season 4, so it is a whole new thing. Which I think is the way to go. If you are going to do it again, do it differently.” That sentiment was something Cox reiterated just a month later, calling the series “a whole new deal” while indicating he was looking forward to the opportunity to retell some bits of Matt Murdock’s story.

    What’s great about that is that we potentially get to tell some of the stories over and over again, in the same way that they do in the comics. Every now and then they start back in the beginning of Murdock’s journey as a little boy and they tell the whole origin story again, so maybe we’ll get to do that. I don’t know.

    -Charlie Cox, October 2022

    What was true then is clearly not true now, however, and according to Cox, the fans of the Netflix series most definitely had some influence on the changes to the series. “I think [it’s] the fans. I think [it’s] the studio as well,” said Cox. “That’s a really fine balance to strike. If you’re going to remake a show and call it Season 1 and it was a successful show and it was kind of beloved, then you’ve got to do what people liked,” Cox explained. “But also you’ve got to have a reason for remaking it. So you have to change it up a bit. And that’s just a really fine balance to find.”

    And just as Daredevil’s enhanced senses include a heightened vestibular sense that gives the Man Without Fear an uncanny ability to center and balance himself, Cox thinks Marvel Studio may have found the sweet spot of balance in mixing old and new. “I think that they’ve done a beautiful job doing that,” he said. “And hopefully, the old fans – the O.G.s – will love it and also, we’ll maybe pick up a few more fans on the way.“

    Daredevil: Born Again will stream on Disney Plus beginning in March 2025.

    Source: TV Insider

  • Hawkeye Season 2

    Hawkeye Season 2

    Premiere: TBD

    In May 2024, multiple online scoopers reported that a second season of Hawkeye was in the works with a potential release date in 2026.

    Cast

    • Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton
    • Hailee Steinfeld as Kat Bishop
    • Unknown actor as Barney Barton
  • RUMOR: Marvel Orders Up a Second Season of ‘Hawkeye’

    RUMOR: Marvel Orders Up a Second Season of ‘Hawkeye’

    When it debuted in 2021, Hawkeye was a hit with fans and critics alike. The series saw Jeremy Renner‘s Avenging Archer reluctantly take Hailee Steinfeld‘s Kate Bishop under his wing to take on New York City’s criminal underworld run by Vincent D’Onofrio‘s Kingpin. The show packed quite a punch, driving a spinoff series focused on Alaqua Cox‘s Maya Lopez, and Steinfeld quickly became a fan favorite as Hawkeye-in-training. Given its success and Steinfeld’s popularity, Marvel fans have been wondering what’s next for the characters and now it seems the studio has figured out their next move.

    According to the internet’s busiest bee, My Time To Shine Hello, Marvel Studios has ordered up a second season of Hawkeye. No timeline was given for when the Marvel Television series might head into production or stream on Disney Plus.

    In addition to reporting that another season of Hawkeye is in the works, MTTSH also shared some potential plot points. According to the scooper, Season 2 will take inspiration from the 2011 movie The Raid and see the Hawkeyes pinned down in “one location.” Finally, MTTSH alleges that Clint’s brother, Barney Barton, stands to play a “major role” in the sophomore season. In the comics, Barney was an FBI agent who, like his brother, was a high-level athlete. After being trained by Buck Chisholm–the man who trained Clint–and manipulated by Baron Zemo, Barney became a masked villain known as Trickshot and was part of Norman Osborn’s Thunderbolts/Dark Avengers. Following an intense brawl with his brother, Barney and Clint have reconciled and worked together on some missions in recent years.

    The new season will mark the return of Renner to the role for the first time since a near-fatal accident in 2023. Outside of Renner and Steinfeld, the rumor provided no information on the potential return of other characters from the first season of Hawkeye. Given the positive fan response to his character, Jack Duquesne, it would be surprising if Tony Dalton was not approached about reprising the role.