Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Doctor Strange

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Overtakes ‘The Batman’ as 2022’s Highest Domestic Earner

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Overtakes ‘The Batman’ as 2022’s Highest Domestic Earner

    While all eyes are on Top Gun: Maverick‘s dominance over theaters, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness still held on tight to the second spot as it has pulled in $16.4M over the weekend. As such, the film has now managed to reach $370M at the domestic box office, which puts it at the top spot as the highest-grossing domestic release of 2022 so far. It has just barely passed The Batman‘s $369M and is currently on its way to passing $400M domestically.

    It has now reached $868.7M worldwide after pulling in another 22.9M overseas. It’ll continue to inch its way towards a potential $900M but some predict it could still pull in around $950M. Though with new arrivals like Top Gun and Jurassic World Dominion around the corner, we might see it slow down. Still, its’s 48% drop is actually lower than that of Captain America: Civil War and has shown some surprising legs after the initial harsh drop. It further hints at this film legging out like a horror film.

    It’s a considerable development that it legged out as it did, as earlier it seemed like it wasn’t going to hit $900M after that initial drop. While it’s not really possible for it to pass a billion, it’s not a measure of its success if you consider that it’s not even released in some key markets like Russia (for obvious reasons), China, Saudi Arabia, and more. So, it did perform quite well and is pulling through after some made theories on the MCU’s box office draw.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Concept Art Offers a New Look at Clea’s Full Design

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Concept Art Offers a New Look at Clea’s Full Design

    It caught many by surprise when Charlize Theron arrived in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ first post-credit sequence. Not only was it exciting for the actress to join the franchise, but comic fans also finally got introduced to the fan-favorite character of Clea. While her future in the franchise still remains a big question mark, the potential of her having a bigger role moving forward is quite an exciting one.

    Marvel Studios’ Senior Visual Development Illustrator, John Staub, has shared a new piece of concept art that offers a new look at Clea’s final design. There’s a lot of detail that went into adding comic elements into her cape and even pants, though it’s a shame we didn’t get to spend more time with her to get a better look at how the design fully comes together in live-action but it does seem promising for whenever she may return.

    Theron already sold her character with just the short amount of time she had on screen, but it’ll be interesting to see when we might expect her to return. There’s no official confirmation of a third Doctor Strange film yet and with the multiverse falling apart, we may see her return sooner rather than later. With the hints at Incursions, we can expect a lot more multiversal shenanigans moving forward. Clea will also very likely become a cornerstone of how exactly that’ll come together.

    Source: Instagram

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’ VFX Team Worked on a 40-Second Scene for Over a Year

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’ VFX Team Worked on a 40-Second Scene for Over a Year

    There are always highly discussed takes on how Marvel Studios handles its VFX and CG work on their films. While some point out aspects that seemingly stick out for some, there’s a lot of work that goes into these projects over the many years of production. In an interview with Variety, VFX artist Alexis Wajsbrot (Framestore VFX) offered some insight into just how long they worked on the various sequences of the film.

    He worked on the iconic 40-second travel through the multiverse, which even included Doctor Strange and America Chavez turning into paint. Wajsbrot started working on the moment back in September of 2020. As such, he worked on the sequence for almost an entire year and a half before it released in theaters.

    Fellow VFX artists Olivier Dumont and Michael Perdew from Luma Pictures worked for several months on the film’s iconic Gargantos sequence. The MCU’s version of Shuma-Gorath was quite a special challenge to tackle as his unique anatomy adds a equally unique challenge.

    When you animate a human and you have two legs, it’s easy. But, when you have eight legs to animate, it’s a challenge. And then you have to animate that in the middle of a street that is very busy with a lot of things that it’s going to interact with. So it’s like, how far do you go in terms of work.

    Olivier Dumont

    They worked on this sequence for six to eight months to bring the creature to life. Perdew highlights that “time is the single most important thing” alongside “having. really clean and clear path.” It looks like they certainly got a lot of time to work on aspects of these sequences, and they also highlight how they had a say in what they would include, as well as received some active feedback and ideas from Kevin Feige.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’ VFX Artist Confirms Savage Land Easter Egg

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’ VFX Artist Confirms Savage Land Easter Egg

    While Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness kept its word by exploring the multiverse, surprisingly, it held back quite a bit. The main story mainly focused on two dimensions, but we still got a short little romp through the multiverse after Strange catches up with America Chavez. we got a lot of teases of dimensions that we can only speculate on what exactly they mean. Luckily, VFX artist Alexis Wajsbrot of Framestore VFX offered an insight.

    In the interview with Variety, he not only confirms that Kevin Feige actively supported the VFX teams in creating the different dimensions, which they were given complete freedom to explore whatever they could think of. As they pitched their ideas, it turn out that the Marvel Studios CEO was the one that had the idea to include the Savage Lands, the brief second when we see the dinosaur in the multiverse travel.

    One was an Incan statue world, which ended up in the movie because Kevin Feige thought, ‘Well, that could be a great world to put the Living Tribunal in.’ So that world became the Living Tribunal world. We proposed a jungle and Kevin Feige said, ‘Well, it could be cool if it was Savage World.’ It’s a world that exists in the Marvel Universe, so we had to add dinosaurs.  We had to model and texture and render and animate dinosaurs for two seconds, which is extremely not cost-efficient.

    Alexis Wajsbrot

    It definitely was something that comic fans were excited to see, especially as many were wondering when we might actually see it get added at some point to the MCU. It’s been quite the experience to see the many Easter eggs that were included and who knows if we may get a chance to revisit them in a future entry.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Writer on Nightmare’s Inclusion in Earlier Drafts

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Writer on Nightmare’s Inclusion in Earlier Drafts

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has been a film with some of the most changes from its original inception to its release for Marvel Studios. And with the Doctor Strange sequel officially released almost a month ago, more information is emerging about some of the changes that were made in the script’s transformation between creative teams. In an interview with Den of Geek, Michael Waldron discussed how the character of Nightmare was originally involved with the film before Marvel Studios changed course in its direction.

    I think it’s been reported that once upon a time, there was some talk of Nightmare and stuff like that. But when I came on board, it was a multiverse story. And so it was always about trying to figure out who that multiversal adversary was going to be.

    Michael Waldron

    During the time in which Scott and Jade Bartlett served as head writers with Scott Derrickson directing, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was a film with a relatively smaller scope. The change of villain towards one focused on the multiverse was emblematic of Marvel Studios looking to take a bigger swing with the project in how it fits into the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And they found that to be a success with Waldron writing and Sam Raimi helming the film as it has earned over $800M globally at the box office. As well, the choice of a new villain could be considered a success based on the general widespread praise Elizabeth Olsen has received for her portrayal of the Scarlet Witch. 

    With Marvel Studios continuing to move forward in this multiversal arc in the MCU, it will be interesting to follow where and how they continue to make larger choices to keep excitement in their flagship film franchise.

    Source: Den of Geek

  • ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Coming Out On Digital Next Month

    ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Coming Out On Digital Next Month

    With $800M to its name and a couple million more to close out its theatrical run, it’s safe to say that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is another notch of success for the MCU. The film will be heading to everyone’s home on Digital come June 22 and on Blu-Ray on June 26. Check out the announcement trailer below:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4EBvzMqW84

    Like Eternals and Shang-Chi before it, it’s likely that the Disney+ release will be on the same day, something that was rumored last week. With it finally available for everyone to access in the comfort of their home or computer, fans will be able to post HD pictures of Anson Mount getting his head blown off and John Krasinski turning into spaghetti.

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Eyeing a June Release on Disney+

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Eyeing a June Release on Disney+

    It looks like the German Disney+ page has already confirmed when we might expect the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on Disney+. According to Twitter user @DragonSkill01, a new visual was shared highlighting what we can expect in June on the service. In it, it reveals that the Doctor Strange sequel will release on June 22nd. Not only that, but it looks like the Assembled episode, here only titled The Making of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will also release on the same day.

    Image

    While it’s the German release in this overview, it’s commonly a worldwide simultaneous release. So, it would make sense that the rest of the world will also get their hands on it by June 22nd. It must be noted that the post has been deleted since. So, it may have accidentally been published early. So, there may be a chance that the release would change, but it’s the official account that accidentally published it.

    The Assembled episode is also an interesting inclusion, as normally they try to keep some time between the film’s release and the Making Of episode. They’ve started releasing them as individual episodes instead of under the Assembled banner initially, but we’ll see how they handle it moving forward. Still, it’s great to know that we’ll get some mind-blowing sequences on the family-friendly Disney+ app soon.

    Source: Instagram via Twitter

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Has Passed $700M Worldwide

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Has Passed $700M Worldwide

    There have been a lot of discussions surrounding Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness‘ box office development. Yes, it did face a harsh drop in its second weekend but as The Numbers pointed out, many frontloaded projects have tended to face harsher drops and Forbes made a good point on people expecting either an Avengers-level crossover film or a cameo fiesta like Spider-Man: No Way Home. Throw in the strong horror elements that may not jell with some general audiences, you end up with a B+ CinemaScore and people hoping for more, as such slowing down the word-of-mouth. Throw in a rather dead weekend with little competition.

    Still, the film opened as the 11th highest opening ever at the domestic box office. Even if it’s the second weekend was below The Batman‘s stronghold, the film is still not slowing down as it has now passed the $700M club. As of now, the film has garnered $297M domestically and $406M internationally. So, it managed to pull in the missing $12M to pass the benchmark it just barely missed over the weekend.

    There’s something fascinating about the discussions surrounding box office numbers. Even while Multiverse of Madness will very likely not pass the billion mark, it’s by far still a success for Marvel Studios. It already passed the box office of its original release, which stood at a strong $676M and is very likely going to move around the $900M mark. So, it is a definite increase from one film to the next even if it’s been six years between sequels.

    The MCU’s connected universe gives these films the benefit of sustaining franchises even with larger gaps due to ongoing appearances and staying relevant to viewers. We’ll see if Thor: Love and Thunder may soar with the expectations of the multiverse finally dropped from a new release.

    Source: Twitter, The Numbers, Forbes

  • Anson Mount on Returning as Black Bolt in ‘Doctor Strange 2’

    Anson Mount on Returning as Black Bolt in ‘Doctor Strange 2’

    It must’ve been hard for many of the actors that appeared as part of the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to stay silent. That especially goes for Anson Mount, who was able to return to the role of Black Bolt, which he only briefly got to play in the ill-received 2017 Inhumans series. Now that enough people are talking about the big moments in the film, Mount has taken to his Twitter account to share his enthusiasm for returning to the role, as well as confirm that it was Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige that invited him back to return to the role.

    It definitely was a great surprise and a deep cut for those that remembered the failed ABC series, which only ran for one season. Multiverse of Madness managed to not only bring him back to the role but even update his costume to be a lot closer to that from the comics. Yes, he even had his iconic fork on the mark, which Doctor Strange was quick to make fun of. He even went out in the most gruesome way, and it seems he had a lot of fun working with director Sam Raimi on bringing the character to life.

    We even got a comic-accurate version of his powers, which were given a very memorable visual flourish to stand out from the effect used on the ABC series. We’ll see if this brief appearance might also build up to more in the future, as not much is known about where the Inhumans fit within the MCU.

    Source: Twitter

  • New ‘Multiverse of Madness’ Concept Art Offers a Closer Look at Scarlet Witch Design

    New ‘Multiverse of Madness’ Concept Art Offers a Closer Look at Scarlet Witch Design

    There is no denying that Elizabeth Olsen‘s Scarlet Witch is one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most powerful characters. Her recent turn to the side of chaos in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness cemented her as a terrifying force of nature in the eyes of many fans, and a new piece of concept art from visual developer Andy Park reflects this perfectly. The longtime Marvel Studios artist often uses social media to promote his previously unreleased artwork for the company’s shows and feature films, and it delivers every time. Most recently, Park has revealed a new look at Wanda Maximoff’s suit from the Doctor Strange sequel:

    The image displays Maximoff in all her scarlet glory, highlighting the immense amount of power she has gained from fully embracing the use of dark magic. Park comments that the intention of the new design was to stay true to WandaVision‘s grand finale outfit while also giving the character a “darker” spin overall. It would appear the artist was able to do just that, with the help of the film’s Visual Development Supervisor Ian Joyner and the rest of Marvel Studios’ talented concept team. Park started his career designing creatures and characters for the acclaimed God of War franchise, before moving over to Marvel in 2010. Since then, he has worked on a number of films including The Avengers, Captain America: Civil War, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Ant-Man and the Wasp.

    Source: Twitter