Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Disney Plus

  • ‘THE MANDALORIAN’ Chapter 10 Explores the Wildlife of a Galaxy Far, Far Away

    ‘THE MANDALORIAN’ Chapter 10 Explores the Wildlife of a Galaxy Far, Far Away

    Once again, The Mandalorian is back with a brand new episode. Funny enough, as Charles reported quite some time ago, this episode is directed by Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s Peyton Reed. The story of Din and the Child continues as they continue their search for others of his kind. Last week, he helped out a little town fight a rather unusual foe on Tatooine. Now, the episode continues where we left off. It leads him on a journey to an unknown planet that may have some unlikely dangers waiting for him. The first two episodes also have a rather curious connection that highlights one important aspect that makes the Star Wars universe feel alive, the creatures we meet along the way.

     

    Here is your spoiler warning. I will be talking about some aspects of the story, so if you haven’t watched the episode continue at your own risk. 

     

    After losing the trail of other Mandalorians, he took on an escort mission. It didn’t go as planned, as they ended up in a chase sequence by the New Republic. At first, they were able to get away but crashed into an icy cave. Din’s new companion wanders off only for her to find a hot spring. Everything seems cozy until the Child ends up finding an egg that acts as his new lunch. The camera pans out and reveals Xenomorph-like eggs in the cave. After a quick snack, the other eggs start to hatch spider-like creatures, as their mother appears to snack on whatever may have entered their domain.

     

    It is a great way to switch up the episode structure, as this felt like a small tribute to classic creature features. As I mentioned, the eggs alone were a tribute to the original Alien franchise. The selling point of this spider is also its deep cut from the Star Wars franchise. It is known as Krykna and first appeared in Star Wars Rebels. It almost had its debut many years earlier, as he was a design by Ralph McQuarrie that was going to be in The Empire Strikes Back on Dagobah. The Krayt Dragon from the last episode had a cameo in A New Hope as a skeleton. The Mandalorian uses some deep connections to establish the deep ties that exist between the various Star Wars franchises in creative ways. It interweaves these elements with the overall narrative by building upon classic storytelling arcs, such as Seven Samurai, Clint Eastwood Western films, and now Alien. The scene of them trying to stay safe in the cockpit was a personal highlight of the episode.

     

     

    We have seen these connections weaved throughout the series and other franchises. Last season introduced the first live-action rendition of the Blurrg that made their debut in The Clone Wars. Every time we visit Tatooine, we see the Bantha make their appearance, especially accompanied by Tusken Raiders. Hell, the Mud Horn plays a key role in the discovery of the Child’s abilities and becomes Mando’s signit. These animals and their worlds highlight that these are living ecosystems. I believe we will see many more in the upcoming episodes, as the initial two had a strong focus on Mando facing the forces of nature. Hopefully, this means we will see a Mythosaur, which was even mentioned in the first episode, and Star Wars Rebels‘ Purrgil. Now, who wouldn’t want to see a whale floating in space?

    Source: EW

  • Theory Thursday: Wild ‘WANDAVISION’ Wonderings

    Theory Thursday: Wild ‘WANDAVISION’ Wonderings

    WandaVision may be the first MCU project of Phase 4, but Marvel Studios has managed to keep the series relatively under wraps compared to shows and movies coming out further down the line. This series is supposedly a personal favorite of Kevin Feige’s, one he wants to keep as much of a surprise as possible for fans until it’s officially released. But the crumbs of content we’ve gotten thus far have provided much area for speculation and theorizing. Take this piece of official art for the show drawn by Director of Visual Development Andy Park, which combined with the caption on Instagram may be hinting at a concept I’ve had a feeling WandaVision may be dipping into for awhile now.

    //www.instagram.com/embed.js
    That “I won’t give details on specifically why I did this, but you’ve seen the trailer so you’ve seen them in these costumes,” line nods to this design being more meaningful than just simply art for merch (though those t-shirts featuring it are admittedly fantastic). And it tells us that the mystery here isn’t supposed to be the “reveal” of the costumes, since we’ve already seen those in the trailer.

     

    As has been discussed and teased aplenty by now, WandaVision will pay homage to various sitcom eras, with even some direct references to specific shows. And anyone who’s seen the 1964-1972 ABC series Bewitched will feel a sense of…familiarity when looking at Park’s piece.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOOFdNWPP04

    Wanda and Vision are wearing the Halloween costume versions of their classic comic outfits in Park’s drawing. It hasn’t been confirmed when exactly the Halloween-featured episode of WandaVision will take place (in terms of which sitcom era or episode number). However, we do know that it will be an important one for the series and one in which things look to be taking a turn into a whole new level of crazy (remember: as seen in the trailer, Halloween is when Vision runs into Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness and is informed of his death).

    There have been a couple of different theories as to when the episode will take place; some have pointed out that the staircase and house setup behind Wanda in the shots when she’s wearing her Halloween costume are quite similar to those seen on Bewitched, and Park’s Halloween art taking clear inspiration from that show gives weight to this idea. On the other hand, the episode being a turning point in the series combined with the snippet of children out trick-or-treating in the trailer dressed in costumes one might see today points to it taking place in the modern era, or one at least a few decades removed from the 1960’s-70’s era during which Bewitched originally aired. Given that the trailer shows Wanda consciously manipulating eras at her will, it’s very possible that both these eras could be prevalent in the episode and the changing of decades through the series might not be as linear or rigid a format as one episode = one era as some have been thinking.

    Bewitched was a live action series, but like a few other sitcoms of the era such as I Dream of Jeannie, it’s intro was animated. We don’t know whether or not WandaVision or any of Marvel’s other Disney+ series will have a theme song or official intro of some kind, but with the changing nature of eras and genres in this show it would be super cool to see a different style of introduction for each episode, perhaps one of them being an homage to Bewitched or just the type of theme song segment prevalent in that era in general. This would work if the Halloween episode is set in the 1960’s (or begins there and switches to the modern day later on).

    If the episode is set entirely in a post-Bewitched time period, however, this art could be part of something even more wild. As previously stated, the drama and zaniness in Westview look to be getting kicked up a notch in some way come Halloween, and I think there will be quite a few big surprises we haven’t even seen hints of yet. If they showed us how the eras change in the trailer as well as someone (Monica Rambeau) travelling from the sitcom world to the real one…what aren’t they showing us?

    The Super Bowl spot and official series trailer have shown WandaVision tackling sitcoms from all eras. But what if Wanda’s power over her reality go beyond that? What if she can alter not only the time period of the sitcom, but its medium?

    Yes, folks, I’m saying the world of WandaVision might get a little bit animated.

    This is something that has been marinating in my head since before the art was released. Once television reached the 1990s and beyond, a lot of the most famous sitcoms released – The Simpsons, Family Guy, etc. – were animated. If the eras proceed in a linear fashion, at least for the first few episodes of the series, things will likely hit a fever pitch as we get close to modern day. And what would be crazier than reaching an alternate dimension? (Going from 3D to 2D, that is.)

    If this were to happen, it would probably only be for a brief scene or two, but it would be a great way to keep the audience on their toes and potentially create a truly memorable moment in the MCU. (Or is it the Marvel Multimedia Multiverse now?) And there’s a lot they could do to play around with this idea. I’ve focused heavily on Bewitched because of the drawing and footage hints pointing towards it but there certainly could be elements of other shows mixed in as well. I mentioned animated sitcoms growing in prominence seeing a resurgence around the 1990’s and the most famous of all, The Simpsons, is another show available on Disney+. While I wouldn’t expect a direct crossover between the two shows, I think an animated segment paying homage to the long-running series would fit right in with the ones for live action shows of the past we’ve already seen snippets of in the trailer.

    One thing I think would be less likely for them to do with the concept of animation but interesting if they did would be to use it to introduce the concept of What If? to the uninitiated. The sitcom world in WandaVision is sort of like Wanda’s own personal “what if” scenario in terms of Vision still being alive and the two building a life together so it would be fitting in a way. I don’t think this will happen considering we’ve seen the animation style of What If? and it’s nothing like Andy Park’s drawing of Wanda and Vision, but if they end up using multiple animation styles they could take the advantage of being able to backdoor-promote the upcoming animated series (which will also be on Disney+).

    It’s very difficult to predict anything about a potential animated piece in WandaVision considering how close to the chest Marvel is holding their cards with this particular project. I highly doubt any footage of such a sequence would be revealed before its official in-show debut and there’s really not much more they could do to tease it without totally giving it away. As I said before, if animation really is incorporated into the series I’m expecting it to either be as part of its intro sequence(s) or a scene where the alternate reality goes totally bonkers and off-the-wall. But as of now I don’t have a clear direction on what the details could be, only that my suspicions of it coming to fruition are increasing as the show grows closer to its debut.

  • Absent from November’s “Next on Disney Plus” Announcement, ‘WANDAVISION’ Seems Set for December

    Absent from November’s “Next on Disney Plus” Announcement, ‘WANDAVISION’ Seems Set for December

    The first of the month has come and with it has come our first look at what to expect on Disney Plus in the month of November. Noticeably absent from the video was Marvel Studios WandaVision, a streaming series set to be Marvel Studios first shot at original MCU content for the service.

    While Marvel Studios have yet to give an official announcement date, it now seems like WandaVision will stream at some point in December as the studio has indicated a 2020 release for the series. While evidence pointed to a Thanksgiving weekend streaming start for the series, it now seems highly unlikely we’ll be seeing WandaVision while we eat our turkey sandwiches. Though it’s possible that the series could still begin streaming in November, it seems more likely that with reshoots/pick-ups on the series just recently wrapping that the studio will take its time and, hopefully, give fans a holiday season surprise sometime in December.

  • Leaked ‘WANDAVISION’ Funko Pop Description Reveals Major Spoiler

    Leaked ‘WANDAVISION’ Funko Pop Description Reveals Major Spoiler

    A leaked description of an Emerald City Comic Con exclusive two-pack may have revealed a huge spoiler for Marvel Studios Wandavision. The leak comes courtesy of @Serlent pops, who has a stellar reputation for digging up such things, and reveals that the ECCC exclusive will apparently feature Wanda’s dead brother, Pietro, aka Quicksilver!

    As Serlent Pop’s clearly says in the tweet, the two-pack is, at the moment, only rumored but the user’s history with uncovering these things in addition to rumors and what we already know about the series make this one a little easier to believe. Marvel Studios’ first trailer for the Disney Plus streaming series clearly indicated that Wanda has, somehow, created an alternate reality of some sort where her dead lover, Vision, is alive and well and even has the Mind Stone embedded in his forehead. If Wanda can “bring Vision back from the dead”, there’s no reason to believe she couldn’t and wouldn’t do the same thing for her brother, who sacrificed himself in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

    Evan Peters Back for X-Men: Dark Phoenix | CBR

    This isn’t the first we’ve heard of Pietro’s potential return to the MCU. An audition tape for who appeared to be one of Wanda and Vision’s twin sons referenced the boys’ uncle sleeping on the couch and while MCU Quicksilver Aaron Taylor-Johnson has indicated he would not return to the role and was never spotted in or around the Wandavision set, Evan Peters, who played Quicksilver in Fox’s X-Men films was cast in a “mystery” role in the series. While there’s no confirmation of  Quicksilver’s return nor of Peters’ stepping into the role, evidence continues to point in the direction of at least one of those two things being true and, if Disney is true to their word, we won’t have much longer to wait before we find out as WandaVision is supposed to stream in 2020.

    Source: @Serlentpops

     

  • ‘WandaVision’ Adds Jolene Purdy in a Recurring Role

    ‘WandaVision’ Adds Jolene Purdy in a Recurring Role

    We got a rather sneaky reveal for an additional cast member in the upcoming Disney+ show WandaVision. Deadline just reported the casting of an HBO satire titled The White Lotus. The listing included five additions. Among them was the mention of Orange Is the New Black‘s Jolene Purdy. In the same article, they point out that she just recently wrapped filming for the upcoming MCU series. Not only that, but she also has a recurring role. This reveal signifies her involvement with multiple episodes throughout the season. There is a chance that she might be one of Wanda’s neighbors. So far, there has been no confirmation on this casting, so this is a great surprise. Purdy is well-known for her appearances on Under the Dome, The Magicians, and she even appeared in 2001’s Donnie Darko.

    It is also interesting that it confirms that the series has only finished up recently. WandaVision still is rumored to release in the upcoming month, so they will be finishing up the effects on the later episodes as it releases. Plus, they will most likely have a Christmas break for a few weeks, which would give them more time to work on the post-production. We currently still don’t have a release date for the series. At least they seem to be aiming for a 2020 release for now. Hopefully, we will get a release date announcement in the comings weeks. The Mandalorian’s second season just released, so Disney doesn’t have to worry about the marketing cannibalizing each other.

    Source: Deadline, IMDb

  • How ‘THE MANDALORIAN’ Chapter 9 Turns Nostalgia Into World-Building

    How ‘THE MANDALORIAN’ Chapter 9 Turns Nostalgia Into World-Building

    Finally, after a long wait, the second season of The Mandalorian has released. The show did not waste any time and continues where the first left off. Our new favorite Mandalorian Din Djarin is now responsible for a young child that is somehow related to Yoda. Now, he sets out into the galaxy to find others of his kind to bring back the young force-sensitive child home. The last season was filled with Easter Eggs and references to the first two trilogies. It expanded the universe in a way we had yet to see, but there is something about how the second season opens that confirms how well this show handles nostalgia. The Mandalorian isn’t just an Easter egg hunt, as it uses these familiar elements to further build upon a galaxy we once believe to know like the back of our hand.

     

    Before you continue, be wary that there will be some major spoilers for the episode. So, only continue at your own risk if you have yet to watch it.

     

    After the infiltration of an underground fighting arena goes wrong, Mando once again returns to Tatooine. In a way, this planet might be the most visited place in the galaxy. At first, we get some familiar shots from the original trilogy and the last season. The fifth episode Gunslinger, which took place on the same planet, was heavily criticized for focusing too much on nostalgia, and it almost feels like it is going down the same path again. Yet, after we briefly catch up with Amy Sedaris‘ Peli Motto and get a nice moment of character growth, it splinters off from the familiar. The story truly starts the moment he enters the village of Mos Pelgo. Finally, we visit a new location on this desert planet with its history and characters.

    Now, the selling point of this episode is the appearance of Cobb Vanth, played by a former gunslinger Timothy Olyphant. I believe fans from the Extended Universe will recognize that name. The first time we meet him, he is wearing a very familiar outfit. Yes, it is, in fact, that of Boba Fett, who we last saw fall into a Sarlacc Pit. The moment that showed how this series pays tribute to the Star Wars history and its last season is the moment Vanth takes off the helmet. In the Mandalorian creed, you cannot take off your helmet. We physically see Din shocked even if we can’t see his face. The show doesn’t hold our hands and have Pedro Pascal explain that no Mandalorian should do such a thing. Din seems to have no connection with Fett, so there was also no in-universe reason for point out the original owner of the Beskar armor. Those that have seen the original will make the connection automatically. Viewers, who are new to the franchise, might even be inspired to read up on it.

    There are a lot of great little ways it uses visuals from the franchises’ history. Vanth’s speedster was made out of one of Anakin’s pod racer engine. Mando used a similar cry that Obi-Wan used in A New Hope to communicate with the Tusken Raiders. Yet, this time they aren’t just chased away but spent time with, which had got teased in the previously mentioned episode. Now, we get to explore how Raiders survive in the desert and what traditions they have. We saw glimpses of this worldbuilding when they spent more time with the Jawa’s in the first season. We also get introduced to the ecosystem of Tatooine, such as the various creatures that live there. The Sarlacc Pit was a giant creature that lived under the sand that seemed beyond our understanding. Well, we now get introduced to its natural enemy, the Krayt Dragon, which is the main focus of the episode.

    All of these elements not only pay tribute to the franchise’s history but uses them to extend our understanding of this universe. The smartest aspect is how everything in this episode is due to their connection to Boba Fett. His armor creates this immediate connection to the Sarlacc Pit and Tatooine. It takes place in the desert, so it uses some old Western film elements to ease you into the new season. So, the logical next step is to finalize that connection with a massive reveal at the end of the episode. It only truly works if you know anything about the franchise’s history. Yet, it also works for new viewers, as one can make most of the connections from the episodes’ general set-up based on nostalgia. It is hard to believe that this is only the first episode, and I am curious how they expand the Star Wars galaxy in the future.

    Source: IndieWire

  • Theory Thursday: ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Will Introduce the Commission on Superhuman Activities to the MCU

    Theory Thursday: ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Will Introduce the Commission on Superhuman Activities to the MCU

    Once meant to kick of Marvel Studios slate of Disney Plus streaming series, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier hit a bit of a speed bump in the Spring, pushing it back in the queue. In an alternate universe, the series has completed its run and fans’ imaginations have been running wild with theories about what’s next for the heroes and villains. Here, however, we’re still stuck speculating on what might be and a non-story from last week got my wheels spinning again.

    After some official The Falcon and The Winter Solider Mini Mates leaked online last week, word made its way around the internet that they had spoiled the fact that Wyatt Russell would be introduced as Captain America in the series. of course that’s just not right; there is no spoiler here. The Big Game spot that teased the series already showed us Walker in full Cap gear as have many set photos and, most importantly to this theory piece, these posters from the set which made the rounds back in February.

    The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Set Pic Reveals The New Captain America

    Walker being trotted out as Cap isn’t a spoiler by any means. While they certainly won’t follow the character’s comic arc beat for beat, it’s been pretty evident from jump street that Walker was going to be the guy holding the shield…there’s a reason why the series isn’t called Captain America and The Winter Soldier. What is interesting about the posters that were spotted on set is that they are sponsored by the U.S. Army. Now Walker himself was a military hero but that’s not all that’s going on here. These posters are more than just the U.S. Army celebrating the promotion of one of their own to the role of Cap; these are good ol’ government propaganda and that likely means that, just like in the comics, Walker was hand selected by the government to be the new Cap. There’s probably a whole other theory piece here about why Walker was chosen over Sam, but that’s not what this is. This is about just what kind of group would do the choosing and what role they might play in The Falcon and The Winter Solider and beyond.

    If the government is going to do something, you can be damn sure they’re going to form a committee to do so and, theoretically speaking, that committee would be the Commission on Superhuman Activities. In the comics, the CSA’s members came from all over the government: the military, the NSA and the FBI were among the organizations who had representatives on the Commission. Their job, in a nutshell, was to monitor and strategize on how to deal with the ever growing number of powered people. As Vision pointed out in Captain America: Civil War, the strength of the Avengers invites challenge. Given what we know about the series, it seems incredibly likely that we will see the further proliferation of powered people (you can read my ideas about how that might happen here) and see the government response to that. Way back in January of this year, this Connecting the Imaginary Dots piece laid out one possible route the government might take: attempting to reproduce the Super Soldier serum. Now we can’t be 100% sure, but I’m willing to be that one of the big themes of this series is going to be the legacy of Steve Rogers and that serum and that John Walker gets himself a little cocktail to power him up courtesy of the CSA.

    The CSA isn’t the Accords, though the formation of the Commission might easily be seen as a natural consequence of the Accords. The CSA would be its own thing and while Thunderbolt Ross might have a hand in its formation in the MCU, it’s very much its own group in the comics and it has a few KEY power players who, should the CSA show up in the MCU, might portend some really big things down the road.

    Key among the potential members of the CSA are Valerie Cooper and Henry Peter Gyrich. Dr. Valerie Cooper believed she saw a developing threat in the growing number of powered people (it was mutants in the comics…are we there yet in the MCU) and used the CSA to tap into the that growing number of powered U.S. citizens as part of what she saw as an arms race. In the absence of the Avengers, Cooper created the Freedom Force (composed entirely of mutants who were looking to clear their criminal records) and the group was successful for a time before falling apart. From there, Cooper played an integral role in making sure that John Walker ascended to the mantle of Captain America, under the thumb of the CSA, and bringing in his old Army buddy, Lemar Hoskins, as his partner, Battlestar (you first read about Hoskins appearing in the series right here!). Cooper, or a character like her, seems like sure bet to appear in the series and while her time on the CSA is pretty exciting, wait until you guys go look up the X-Men watchdog organization she headed up (O.N.E.).

    A little more well-known thanks to his time as a government liaison with the Avengers, his appearances in numerous animated series and in 2000’s X-Men, Henry Peter Gyrich is an even bigger asshole and a character a lot of fans have been expecting to see in the MCU for some time, so an appearance here as part of the CSA wouldn’t be entirely surprising. Gyrich helped develop and oversee the off-the-books Project: Wideawake which kept an eye on the mutant explosion and, among other things, employed Sentinels against them.

    Should one or both of these two appear in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, they could not only be viewed as short terms thorns in the sides of Bucky and Sam but also potentially as some of the first steps that Kevin Feige could be taking towards introducing mutants to the MCU. At the very least, they might be two of the first characters who were previously owned by Fox to make their way into the ever expanding universe (though I think Agatha Harkness might be the first, now that WandaVision is coming ahead of this project). We’ll see how it turns out, of course, but given what we already know about the series, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the CSA make its debut when The Falcon and The Winter Soldier premiers next year.

     

  • ‘Moon Knight’ Adds Egyptian Director Mohamed Diab

    ‘Moon Knight’ Adds Egyptian Director Mohamed Diab

    Just yesterday, we got the massive reveal that Oscar Isaac was in talks for the titular role of Moon Knight. Marvel Studios’ upcoming Disney+ series was the last to be announced, so it still has some time before it is released but that isn’t stopping the studio. According to Deadline, they have added Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Diab to direct the series. As such, he will be joining showrunner Jeremy Slater. Diab is well-known for his film Eshtebak, or Clash, which got him into the selection for the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.  He also directed various Egyptian franchises El Gezeira and Cairo 678. As Deadline points out, these were some of the highest-grossing films from the Arabic and Egyptian filmmaking market.

    His filmography and Egyptian heritage will help solidify Moon Knights’ deep connections to Khonshu. Marc Spector is a mercenary with a variety of alter egos. His mind is damaged, as he is also haunted by an Egyptian God known as Khonshu. He became its conduit after being left for dead by Raoul Bushman, his former employer. He was Marvel’s answer to Batman before growing into his own twisted take on a masked vigilante.

    Mohamed Diab will surely lend his very unique voice to make this series stand-out among the upcoming Disney+ slate. It will be interesting to see how much time we spend in Egypt and if they will focus more on his personality disorder before jumping into the mythology aspect. Also, will his costume be closer to that of his original run or could we see the latest Mr. Knight persona being adapted as well? Whatever direction they may go, this is certainly going to be an exciting addition.

    Source: Deadline

  • What I Heard This Week: Two Potential Moon Knights

    What I Heard This Week: Two Potential Moon Knights

    Every now and then I come across some information the veracity of which can be confirmed by a second source. What happens FAR more often is that I come across some information that while believable and from trustworthy sources, cannot be confirmed by other sources for various reasons. For instance, on February 19th, I wrote this piece relaying some rumors I’d heard about Marvel Studios updating its Disney Plus slate; the next day, the news broke that a special Disney Plus event would be held in London on March 5th where it is expected that Marvel Studios and Star Wars slates will be updated. I also shared information about Peyton Reed directing episodes of season 2 of The Mandalorian months before he made it official. With productions either underway or ramping up, information is starting to come back in and this time I heard something incredibly interesting about Marvel Studios Moon Knight.

    While rumors have persisted that Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Moon Knight will begin production in 2020, it seems like it’s destined to begin filming in early 2021 alongside She-Hulk. Like She-Hulk, however, it’s also been rumored for some time that the studio has settled on their lead actor. I heard whispers as far back as August that the studio had found their Marc Spector and have done everything I could to try to uncover the identity of the actor but ran into roadblocks at every turn. This weekend, however, a very trusted source shared a couple of names with me that he had heard associated with the role. To be clear, there is no evidence that one of these actors has landed the role and I was unable to confirm with a second source that these two actors were in the mix; however, with the absence of news about who Marvel Studios has chosen, I believe sharing some info about names they MAY have considered could generate some interesting discussion. According to the source, Marvel Studios showed interest in actors Daveed Diggs and Nick Kroll for the role of Marc Spector!

     

     

    Diggs and Kroll both fit the mold while breaking it at the same time. Given the prominent role that Spector’s Jewish background plays in the comics (his father is a rabbi), it’s been the popular opinion that Marvel Studios would seek out a Jewish actor to portray Spector and both Diggs and Kroll fit the bill there. On the other hand, Kroll is known as more of a comedian and it’s been Diggs’ vocal talents that have helped propel him towards stardom, though both actors have moved outside their comfort zones in their recent work. Kroll displayed his dramatic chops in 2018’s Operation Finale and Diggs received rave reviews for his role in the uber smash hit Hamilton, 2018’s Blindspotting, and more recently in the Snowpiercer series, a role in which he’s delved not only into some big-time action sequences but also into a world of loss and violence not altogether different from the one inhabited by Marc Spector.

    Again, there’s no indication that either actor sat down and had discussions with Marvel Studios about the role, much less signed on for it. Realistically, unless one of these actors gets the role, there’ll never be a way to “prove” they ever considered; however, if they were in fact on “the list”, it shows an impressive amount of non-paradigmatic thinking on the part of the Kevin Feige’s trusted casting crew led by Sarah Finn. While I’ve been on board the Shia LeBeouf for Spector hype train (I may have built it, if we’re being honest) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen is a popular fan cast, it seems the studio is at least considering some more “off-beat” actors rather than the “edgy” types we’ve all had in mind. The potential interest in the two also offers a little clarity on an age range for Spector and, like the two actors, it’s a little different than what I was thinking. I was surprised to see that Diggs is 38 (would be 39 by the time production ramped up) and Kroll is 42, so while we’re certainly going to see an origin story, we’re also definitely getting a Moon Knight who has served his time as both a Marine and a merc and who has been through the ringer a bit. With all that in mind, I’m even more excited than ever to find out who Marvel Studios has chosen for the role as my mind has suddenly been opened up to a whole lot more options that I was previously considering!

    Marvel Studios Moon Knight is headed to Disney Plus (eventually).

     

  • EXCLUSIVE: ‘HAWKEYE’ to Film at Tyler Perry Studios

    EXCLUSIVE: ‘HAWKEYE’ to Film at Tyler Perry Studios

    Productions on the first two Marvel Studios streaming series, WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, are coming to a close and production on Loki has resumed in Atlanta following the COVID-related hiatus. Up next for the studio are Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye and with Spidey 3 also taking up studio space in Atlanta, Disney found themselves looking for some additional space and have found it! Marvel Studios Hawkeye will be using Tyler Perry’s Atlanta studios when it begins filming later this year.

    Hawkeye Concept Art Reveals First Look at Marvel Disney Plus Show | Collider

    Pre-production on the series has been ongoing for the past month and the studio is currently taking aim at a post-Thanksgiving start of filming and hoping that the series has the same good fortune as the others that recently resumed filming without any further delays. Expected to explore the fallout of the Avenging Archer’s time as Ronin, Hawkeye will introduce Kate Bishop, Maya Lopez and, most importantly, Lucky the Pizza Dog to the MCU and is also rumored to bring in classic Marvel villain Madame Masque. The series is said to be heavily influenced by the award-winning 2012-2015 run on the book by Matt Fraction. Should filming avoid any significant delays, the series could debut in the second half of 2021.