Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: HBO Max

  • RUMOR: Villains for Adam Sztykiel’s ‘Wonder Twins’ Possibly Revealed

    RUMOR: Villains for Adam Sztykiel’s ‘Wonder Twins’ Possibly Revealed

    The DC Extended Universe is branching out into streaming with Peacemaker being the first of what we can assume will be many heroes to shine on HBO Max. Original films on the service are still something we’ve yet to see with titles like Batgirl and Black Canary on the way. Yet, it seems like another recently announced project is moving along faster than we anticipated.

    Just a few weeks ago we learned that HBO Max had begun development on yet another original DC film, this time focusing on Zan and Jayna, who are better known as the Wonder Twins. A new report from That Hashtag Show has revealed some new mystery characters who are listed to be the antagonist of the film.

    One of the villains is named Kenzie, as the studio is searching for an Australian female over the age of 18 years of age. The character is described as being a bit crazy, and having a few screws loose. She is super determined to be best friends with Jayna and has a massive crush on Zan. The other two villains are another set of twins named Pils and Vinka who are being compared to the Grady Twins from The Shining. The two of them walk and talk in unison and are on a mission to kill the Wonder Twins.

    Surprisingly the film is currently set to begin production on July 5th, 2022 which is quite quick considering how recently the film was announced. Black Adam writer Adam Sztykiel is set to write and direct the film. No casting announcements have been made but we can assume they’re more than likely coming soon.

    Source: That Hashtag Show

  • HBO Max Developing ‘It’ Prequel by ‘Wonder Woman’ Scribe

    HBO Max Developing ‘It’ Prequel by ‘Wonder Woman’ Scribe

    Wonder Woman writer and It Chapter Two producer Jason Fuchs has begun work on an It prequel project for HBO Max. According to a trade report, the prequel series which is currently titled Welcome to Derry, will see Fuchs serve as the head writer and Andy Muschetti, who directed both It films, back the project as executive producer.

    According to the confusingly worded trade report, the series will serve as a prequel to 2017’s It. While it’s unclear exactly what ground the series might cover, it’s possible that it could explore the origins of Pennywise. If that were to be the case, they could further develop an idea that was cut from the 2017 film which introduced Pennywise in the 1600s:

    There was a scene we shot that was a flashback from the 1600s, before Pennywise [was Pennywise]. The scene turned out really, really disturbing. And I’m not the clown. I look more like myself. It’s very disturbing, and sort of a backstory for what It is, or where Pennywise came from. That might be something worth exploring in the second one. The idea is the ‘It’ entity was dormant for thousands and thousands of years. The [flashback] scene hints on that.

    Bill Skarsgard

    There’s no work on whether or not Bill Skarsgard, whose portrayal of Pennywise was so terrifying that the children on set were often afraid during filming, would return in the role.

    Source: Deadline, JoBlo

  • RUMOR: ‘Blue Beetle’ Will Feature Carapax and an Original Foe

    RUMOR: ‘Blue Beetle’ Will Feature Carapax and an Original Foe

    The DC Extended Universe is about to get a little bit bigger with the arrival of Jaime Reyes, aka the Blue Beetle. Fans are eager to see the third and most popular iteration of the character make his big-screen debut next year. Sadly, we still don’t know a ton regarding the plot of the project. Details on just who Jaime will face in the film are still scarce, but a new rumor may hint at a rather unknown foe.

    The Cosmic Circus is reporting that the DC villain Carapax will be making his live-action debut in the film alongside what seems to be an original character named Victoria Kord. Of course, that name would seem familiar as that is the last name of Ted Kord, mentor to Jaime Reyes, and the second person to don the mantle of Blue Beetle. Victora Kord reportedly also has connections to Bruna Marquezine’s character, who is only known as Jenny.

    Conrad Carapax was an archeologist and rival of Daniel Garret, the first Blue Beetle. He traveled to Pago Island where he found the remains of a lab that once belonged to Jarvis Kord, the uncle of Ted Kord. He was killed when trying to activate a robot but ended up fusing his mind with it. Victoria could possibly have some sort of link to Jarvis, or maybe be a gender-bent version of the character. Jarvis spent his time on the island-building robot he intended to use to take over the world. Victoria being in an antagonist role alongside Carapax could hint at this change.

    Blue Beetle is set to hit theaters on August 18th, 2023.

    Source: Cosmic Circus

  • ‘The Incredible Hulk’ Finds New Streaming Home on HBO Max Instead of Disney+

    ‘The Incredible Hulk’ Finds New Streaming Home on HBO Max Instead of Disney+

    Disney+ has become the home of all Marvel projects. While the Sony Spider-Man films are still noticeably absent, especially those that take place in the MCU, the service has recently been able to add the missing Netflix series. Yet, there is still one MCU-specific film that refuses to make its return home in the form of The Incredible Hulk.

    Decider has shared a list of projects heading to HBO and HBO Max in April. What stuck out is the Edward Norton-led film is included in the list. It’s uncertain if the film will finally make its move to join Disney+ anytime soon, as the production was originally distributed by Universal. They also seemingly owned the rights to the character for some time, but it’s unsure if Disney+ has actively been making deals behind the scenes to get the rights back to the film.

    For now, it seems that we’ll still have to wait to have the full MCU represented on the “Home of Marvel” according to the recent update. It does seem like Marvel Studios plans is to bring all projects that have the Marvel brand to the service at some point, especially with that Sony deal some time ago that still hasn’t born any fruit so far. Spider-Man is heading to the service at some point, but it’s uncertain just how long the wait will be.

    If The Incredible Hulk is getting added to HBO Max, it would indicate that some kind of deal was made with Universal. 20th Century films are still premiering on WarnerMedia’s service before they fully move over to Disney+ with the rights now belonging to the House of Mouse. We’ll see how exactly this unfolds and if the MCU will truly be united at some point.

    Source: Decider

  • Harvey Guillén Joins ‘Harley Quinn’ as Nightwing

    Harvey Guillén Joins ‘Harley Quinn’ as Nightwing

    Harvey Guillén is on a hot streak, as he’s been cast in quite a few projects over the course of the last few weeks. Not only is he taking on a big role in Puss In Boots: the Last Wish, but now it seems he’s also got his hands on a big animated project. Deadline has just revealed that the actor has joined Harley Quinn in the role of Nightwing. He’ll make his debut in the upcoming third season, which will be when it first gets released on HBO Max.

    There currently is no release date, and it’s unclear what direction he is taking with this version of the character. Still, it’s exciting to see the actor’s hot streak after his success working on the FX series What We Do In The Shadows. He’s also finished his work on the series I’m Totally Fine and will also be seen in the upcoming live-action adaptation of the popular DC character Blue Beetle.

    We’ve already seen previous members of the Bat-family in the first two seasons. We did meet a version of Robin, who was Damian Wayne. Batman, of course, also had quite the role throughout the series’ run. It’ll be interesting to see if we’ll also meet others from the Bat-family and get to explore their dynamic more in the R-rated series. Plus, a potty mouth version of Nightwing is probably going to be quite hilarious.

    Source: Deadline

  • James Gunn to Cameo in ‘Harley Quinn’ Season 3

    James Gunn to Cameo in ‘Harley Quinn’ Season 3

    It looks like while we know very little about the upcoming third season of Harley Quinn, we did get one hidden reveal. In the article on the upcoming spinoff focused on Kite Man, it seems that series creator Patrick Schumacker confirmed that James Gunn, who’s a vocal fan of the R-rated series, will appear in the series as himself. Of course, as a director, he will take on some fictional directing duties on one of the Waynes.

    He is playing himself, and is directing a movie about Thomas Wayne.

    Patrick Schumacker

    The Suicide Squad director is known for his own ventures into an R-rated world. So, he’s the perfect addition to the series and it’ll be fun to keep an eye out for when we might expect him. Thomas Wayne wouldn’t be the film I’d expect him to tackle living in the world of DC, but it would be fun to see some of his usual directing flourishes find their way into the fictional work. Imagine a hard R-rated adaptation of Thomas Wayne’s life, as he sits on his expensive bed in his tidy whities. It’ll be interesting to see if we also get some callbacks to his own DC ventures, especially with the new popularity of Peacemaker.

    Source: Slash Film

  • J.K. Simmons Teases Commissioner Gordon’s Expanded Role in ‘Batgirl’

    J.K. Simmons Teases Commissioner Gordon’s Expanded Role in ‘Batgirl’

    Actor J.K. Simmons is busy doing press for the Oscar-nominated film Being the Ricardos, for which he earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination. The Academy Award-winning actor has been quite active in other projects recently, so it is no surprise that Simmons is getting plenty of questions about his various superhero projects, including Spider-Man: No Way Home, Invincible, and the upcoming Batgirl HBO Max film.

    While Westworld’s Jeffrey Wright played Gotham City’s Jim Gordon in the most recent live-action adaptation of the character in the recently released The Batman, Simmons took on the role of Commissioner Gordon in Justice League (2017) and Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021). Unlike the latest iteration of the Dark Knight, these two films took place in the DCEU. So, it is not too surprising that Simmons is returning to play the character in the upcoming DCEU film, Batgirl. While Gordon had a limited role up to this point, Simmons told Discussing Film that there would be much more of Commissioner Gordon in Batgirl:

    It’s much more than I got to do in my brief stint as Commissioner Gordon in Zack Snyder’s film. And really, it was fun because it was a completely different side of Commissioner Gordon. All that we saw in the little snippets of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, in either the original or in Zack’s brilliant, expanded cut, it was just Commissioner Gordon being business-like and needing Batman’s help. In this film, I think I’m allowed to say since it does center on Batgirl, we see much more of Commissioner Gordon at home.

    J.K. Simmons

    The actor went on the praise directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, noting:

    Dude, those guys are crazy! I don’t know how they do it, and they had been shooting for four weeks or so by the time I joined. I met them via Zoom, and I was under the L track outside of my boxing gym in Chicago when we first spoke. They just bring such an energy. I’ve already compared them to a couple of like two-year-old Weimaraners, who have been pent up in the back of a station wagon all day and somebody just let them loose. The energy and the passion that they bring for making movies was a really fun energy to be around and then the fact that they also really know what they’re doing is is a nice part of the overall experience.

    J.K. Simmons

    Along with his renewed role of J. Jonah Jameson in the latest Spider-Man trilogy, Simmons is playing beloved comic book characters in both the Marvel and DC universes. But he added, “I’m still not sure I understand all the various multiverse aspects of, you know, DC or Marvel.” It is unclear when Batgirl will release given the major delays in the DCEU’s upcoming theatrical schedule, though there’s an argument to be made that it would make the perfect 2023 holiday release.

    Source: DiscussingFilm

  • ‘Harley Quinn’s Kite Man Getting a ‘Cheers’-Inspired Own Spinoff

    ‘Harley Quinn’s Kite Man Getting a ‘Cheers’-Inspired Own Spinoff

    Hell Yeah! It looks like the scene-stealing Kite Man is getting his own HBO Max spinoff from the popular R-rated Harley Quinn series. During SXSW’s Not Kidding Around: Warner Bros. Animation and the “Reimagining of Iconic Characters for an Adult audience” panel, series creator Patrick Schumacker has revealed that they are working on a spinoff titled Noonan’s.

    The project is in early development, but Kite Man will take center stage in the project as he buys the infamous villain hangout spot Noonan’s Bar in Gotham. Schumacker had the following to say on the spinoff teasing it’ll be strongly inspired by Cheers.

    He tries to run the bar by himself but it doesn’t turn out so easy. We have Harley and Ivy appear in the first episode, but after that, we have with different goons and villains appearing every episode like Lex Luthor and Bane. It will be kind of like ‘Cheers’ for supervillains.

    Patrick Schumacker

    UPDATING

    Source: Slash Film

  • Warner Bros. Discovery to Combine HBO Max and Discovery+

    Warner Bros. Discovery to Combine HBO Max and Discovery+

    It was only a question of time, but the official announcement has finally arrived. As Warner Bros. Discovery is about to be created when the AT&T merger finalizes with Warner Media, it seems that HBO Max and Discovery+ will be fused into one service rather than Disney’s multi-platform bundle strategy. Gunnar Wiedenfels, who will be the CFO of Warner Bros. Discovery, shared the following insights into their approach during the Deutsche Gank 30th Annual Media Internet & Telecom Conference:

    One of the most important items here is that we believe in a combined product as opposed to a bundle… We believe that the breadth and depth of this content offering is going to be a phenomenal consumer value proposition

    Gunnar Wiedenfels

    He also highlighted why they aren’t rushing this concept and want to give it some time to figure out how best to approach it.

    The direct-to-consumer business is obviously further along now than what we had four years ago. There’s a greater risk, you want to get that right. Between the two direct-to-consumer products, by the time we close, close to 100 million people are going to be affected as we make those changes. So that will need some very, very detailed and disciplined planning

    Gunnar Wiedensfels

    This change won’t happen overnight, so bundling will still be available early on as they try to figure out how to merge the platforms. It’s unclear if they’ll stick to the HBO Max or Discovery+ branding, as they may take a different approach. The services are currently available with an ad-supported and ad-free variant that is priced differently. So, we might have to wait for some time before we get a clearer vision of

    what the streaming future has in store for HBO Max and Discovery+.

    Source: Variety

  • George R. R. Martin Reveals Game of Thrones Prequel Titles

    George R. R. Martin Reveals Game of Thrones Prequel Titles

    HBO’s hit series, Game of Thrones, which garnered more attention than almost any other show during it’s run, ended in 2019. However, the network has plans to continue expanding the franchise through multiple prequel series over the course of the next several years. The first of these shows, House of the Dragon, will debut later this year, but at least four more projects are also on the horizon. In a recent interview, Thrones creator George R. R. Martin gave updates on each of the prequels, revealing their official titles and current showrunners.

    The first series will be centered around a legendary Dornish warrior-queen, and is still repping it’s original title of Ten Thousand Ships. Amanda Segel, known for her work on Person of Interest, will serve as showrunner. Another show, about famed explorer Corlys Velaryon, has changed its title from Nine Voyages to The Sea Snake, in an effort to avoid having multiple shows with numbered monikers. Bruno Heller, who worked on DC Comics’ adaptations Pennyworth and Gotham, is currently set as showrunner.

    The long-awaited adaptation of Martin’s “Dunk and Egg” novellas, about the companionship of a wandering knight and a youthful Aegon V Targaryan, does not yet have a title, but Martin says it will likely either be The Hedge Knight or Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The showrunner will be Steve Conrad, of Patriot fame, and Martin revealed he would like to write more novellas to help with the continuation of the live-action show. Lastly, the writer confirmed that an animated series is in development tentatively titled The Golden Empire, which will shed more light on the China-inspired land of YiTi. No showrunner is attached at the moment.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter