Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: HBO Max

  • James Gunn Explains ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2’s Big Retcon

    James Gunn Explains ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2’s Big Retcon

    Before the DCU officially got underway with Creature Commandos in December 2024, DC Studios co-chair James Gunn had already muddied the canon waters. In what seemed to be an odd choice at the time, Gunn explained that events from The Suicide Squad or Season 1 of Peacemaker would “automatically become canon” when they were talked about in Creature Commandos.

    Released in 2021, The Suicide Squad introduced John Cena‘s Peacemaker to fans as part of a second team of degenerates sent by Amanda Waller to Corto Maltese. The events of The Suicide Squad, including the death of Rick Flag at the hands of Peacemaker, serve as the set up for Season 1 of Peacemaker. With Amanda Waller, who was featured in both projects, and Rick Flag’s father both appearing in Creature Commandos, and again in Season 2 of Peacemaker, a clear line of continuity seemed to be established from one project to the next…but then Gunn threw in a twist.

    “The truth is almost all of Peacemaker is canon with the exception of Justice League… which we will kind of deal with in the next season of Peacemaker,” Gunn teased in a November 2024 interview.

    Gunn was, of course referring to the season finale of the first season of Peacemaker, which featured some high profile cameos following the episode’s big battle. As Peacemaker and his crew walked away from the ashes of the barn battle, four members of the Justice League arrived on the scene. But with the DCEU dead and buried, how could they exist if Peacemaker is DCU canon?

    Ahead of the Season 2 premiere of Peacemaker, social media scooper My Time To Shine Hello shared word that Gunn’s decision to “deal with it” was to erase the Justice League entirely, replacing them with the Justice Gang during a “Previously in the DCU” opening. And that’s exactly how it went down, almost.

    3 CENTURIES AGO, the first superpowered beings, known as METAHUMANS, appeared on Earth, ushering in a new era of GODS AND MONSTERS.

    3 DECADES AGO, an extraterrestrial baby was sent in a spacecraft to Earth, and adopted by Kansas farmers.

    3 YEARS AGO, the baby, now grown, announced himself as SUPERMAN, the most powerful metahuman of all.

    3 WEEKS AGO, Superman stopped the country of BORAVIA from invading JARHANPUR, sparking controversy around the world

    3 HOURS AGO, a metahuman called the HAMMER OF BORAVIA attacked Superman in the city of METROPOLIS.

    3 MINUTES AGO, Superman lost a battle for the first time.

    While Mister Terrific, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Superman and Supergirl did appear, the latter two were NOT members of the Justice Gang at that time because as Gunn reminded fans on Threads, the events of Peacemaker Season 1 happened “before Superman.” That also explains the absence of Metamorpho, who teamed up with the heroes, and why Clark was so familiar with those characters in Superman. According to Gunn, the Man of Steal and his cousin have been able to “team up with them a lot like they did in Superman,” in the three years since Clark announced himself as Superman.

    To recap, the events of Peacemaker Season 1 take place in the new DCU continuity before Superman and, as made clear by Rick Flag Sr.’s reference to the “Luthor incident,” Season 2 takes place after the events in Metropolis. Easy as that!

  • ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Rumored to Retcon a Major Season 1 Appearance

    ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Rumored to Retcon a Major Season 1 Appearance

    Season 1 of Peacemaker ended with an idea so crazy, James Gunn didn’t think he’d get away with it. John Cena‘s Christopher Smith mocked the Justice League often in the first season of the streaming series, including accusing Jason Momoa‘s Aquaman of fucking fish, so when the heroes showed up following the sesson finale’s big battle, it was a fantastic surprise for fans and it gave hope that DCEU would expand…but we know how that turned out.

    With an all-new, all-different DCU already on the way before the Justice League cameo, fans wondered how Gunn would work the now defunct heroes into the “new canon.” The short answer is that he didn’t, even though the rest of the first season of Peacemaker will remain integral to the new continuity. Gunn explained that the integration of Season 1 of Peacemaker into the DC would be “pretty straightforward, with the exception of the appearance by a certain group at the end,” though he never explained how it was that Smith and the audience would forget what they had seen. Now, a new rumor clarifies that dilemma.

    According to prolific social media scooper My Time To Shine Hello, the Justice League cameo is retconned before Season 2 of Peacemaker actually begins in earnest.

    “The first episode of Peacemaker Season 2 opens with ‘Previously in the DCU,’ claimed MTTSH. “It’s mostly all season 1 footage, but there are a couple of changes. Danielle Brooks’ character now talks about calling in the Justice Gang, and they reshot the Justice League cameo from the finale,” potentially revealing Gunn’s plan to follow up on the success of Superman by including the metahuman heroes who worked alongside Kal-El to defeat Lex Luthor…oh, plus one major addition.

    Instead of Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and The Flash, the intro will reveal Smith meeting with the Justice Gang AND Milly Alcock’s Supergirl. “Now, it’s Mister Terrific, Superman, [Guy Gardner], Hawkgirl, and Supergirl (all but [Green Lantern] and Hawkgirl are in shadow),” claimed MTTSH, revealing that the Maiden of Might will likely join the team at some point…when she’s not hammered.

    With under two weeks until the streaming premiere of Peacemaker Season 2 on. August 21st, it’s very possible that MTTSH has delivered solid intel as screening packages for the series have likely been sent out to select members of the media.

  • DC Studios ‘Booster Gold’ Starting from Scratch with New Writer Penning Pilot

    DC Studios ‘Booster Gold’ Starting from Scratch with New Writer Penning Pilot

    After losing its original and still unknown screenwriter, the Booster Gold streaming series seemed dead in the water at DC Studios. It turns out that is not the case, however, as the studio has brought on a new writer to take a crack at the pilot.

    According to Deadline, David Jenkins (Our Flag Means Death) has taken over duties on cracking the code and, if DC Studios co-chairs James Gunn and Peter Safran are happy with his take on the pilot, the plan is for him to take on showrunner duties on the series.

    Described in 2022 by Safran as a “loser from the future who uses his basic future technology to come back to today to pretend to be a superhero“, Michael Jon Carter isn’t one of DC Studios household names but has been a character Gunn has been locked in on since putting together DC Studios Chapter One: Gods and Monsters slate. Though there had been rumors that Kumail Nanjiani had landed the role of Carter, no official word has ever come on the matter.

    The goal from the beginning was to give the honor that the great characters deserved; the Wonder Womans, Batmans, and Supermans. But then also to prop up these lesser-known characters like Peacemaker, Booster Gold, and The Huntress.

    -James Gunn

    The series was initially described as an “outright comedy” and Gunn described the story of the time-displaced 25th Century hero as “imposter syndrome as a superhero.” How do you deal with that?”, asked Gunn, who added that the series will focus on how Carter “tries to use this future technology to be loved by the people of today and what is really at the base of that.”

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Dune’ Spinoff Recasts and Adds New Director

    ‘Dune’ Spinoff Recasts and Adds New Director

    Dune’s second part is about to release in theaters later this year, but there is also a spinoff that seemingly was in development hell long since the first film was released in theaters. Now, it seems that Dune: The Sisterhood finally getting some momentum as they enter a second try on the project.

    The Crown’s Olivia Williams is now set to take over the role of Tula Harkonnen, which originally was going to be played by Shirley Henderson before she left the project in February. They also have added a new director Anna Foerster set to take on multiple episodes and the pilot, which she is taking over from Johan Renck.

    The story is set to further explore the galaxy introduced by Frank Herbert in his Dune book series. Dune: The Sisterhood would take place 10,000 years before Paul Atreides’ journey as we follow the Harkonnen Sisters, who would found the sect of Bene Gesserit. The story will be an adaptation of Sisterhood of Dune, which was written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Casting Used Video Game Lines Before Halting Production

    ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Casting Used Video Game Lines Before Halting Production

    Here’s a rather bizarre piece of news, or rather trivia at some point later down the line. While The Last of Us was preparing for its second season, the WGA strike happened with many writers banding together to fight for a liveable wage. In any way one would look at it, it’s an important fight to ensure that creativity as we know it lives on moving forward and now allowing artificial intelligence to become a new norm to save labor costs of talented writers.

    Studios are a bit desperate, however, to keep their big shows going and are finding ways to avoid just following through on the inquiries made by the writers. In the case of The Last Of Us‘ second season, it seems they opted to use video game sequences to cast before finally shutting the doors on the production after all.

    Variety is reporting that they have asked actors to read sides taken directly from The Last of Us Part II, which the second season will reportedly be based on. What makes this bizarre is that there are currently no scripts for that very season even as hopes were to start production in early 2024 in Vancouver. Series showrunner Craig Mazin has been advocating for the WGA and was spotted at the picket line.

    It’s unclear what exactly pushed for this casting process but it is likely the studio hoped that they could jump into production as soon as possible if they already have a cast in place with the WGA coming to an end eventually. Neil Druckmann, series co-creator and creative director of the game, has also not been involved with the series which adds to some concerns about how they might move forward even after the series’ massive viewership.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘It’ Prequel ‘Welcome to Derry’ Continues to Expand Its Cast

    ‘It’ Prequel ‘Welcome to Derry’ Continues to Expand Its Cast

    The cast for Welcome to Derry is continuing to grow, as it has now added Revenge’s Madeleine Stowe and Daredevil’s Stephen Rider. The project still technically doesn’t have an official name and the “Welcome to Derry” is more a working title for now, but it wouldn’t be too surprised if it gets the It moniker added as other franchises do nowadays, such as Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

    The two additions are joining a cast that currently consists of Chris Chalk, Jovan Adepo, James Remar, and Taylour Paige. We currently have no details on who exactly they are set to play and the details are still under lock and key on just how much it’ll explore the history of Derry. It’s very likely going to act as a prequel to the story of Pennywise and how the Dancing Clown came to be but Bill Skarsgard has denied any involvement of far.

    The project is from the mind of the latest It films’ director Andy Muschietty, who developed the HBO Max Original series with Jason Fuchs, who is acting as the series showrunner, and his wife Barbara Muschietti. There’s a lot of potentials to explore this series in a Lovecraftian way as we slowly uncover the creature’s growing hold over Derry and the ones that stood up against him when no other could.

    Source: Deadline

  • Warner Bros. Discovery Stocks Drop After HBO Max Relaunch Presentation

    Warner Bros. Discovery Stocks Drop After HBO Max Relaunch Presentation

    Well, that’s not a good sign. It seems investors aren’t quite sold on the whole HBO Max renaming, as Warner Bros. Discovery’s stocks have dropped by 6%. Ever since the Discovery merger, the stocks for the company have been facing quite some troubling developments and likely aren’t adding any more pressure to its team trying to balance out its ever-increasing debt that led to the sacrifice of projects like Batgirl or a Scoob! Christmas special.

    Overall, the market has been down over Wednesday as Paramount Global, Netflix, and Disney also faced a drop but Warner Bros. had the highest at 5.8%. The Dow Jones index dropped by 38.2 points with the Nasdaq dropping 102 points or 1%. Warner Bros. Discovery held its presentation during trading hours, hoping to push everything in a more positive direction but it seems Wall Street isn’t having it. So, it seems they still have a long way to go at this point.

    In January, the company balanced out slightly after dropping below $10, as it now stands at around $15. It’s not a good sign though if they try to relaunch a three-year-old streaming service with a new name and most aren’t seeing this as a positive change. There is no analysis of just how the internet has reacted but the first ones in aren’t loving the name, as it seems to move further away from the brand that could’ve pulled in a bigger audience than a rather standard name like MAX.

    Source: Variety

  • Second ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Spinoff in Development

    Second ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Spinoff in Development

    HBO Max and Discovery+ are fusing together into the oddly named Max. Alongside the grand announcement, they have also unveiled a wide variety of series to showcase what they hope to achieve with this rebranding by moving away from the HBO label that they feared would set an expectation of only high-string dramas being part of the streaming service. Mostly, it’s a way to bring the 90-Day Fiancé offerings to the platform but it seems one CBS classic is making a return as well.

    Chuck Lorre is seemingly already working on a new series that is set in the same world as The Big Bang Theory, which would make it the second spinoff project after Young Sheldon. It’s no surprise they want to bank on that recognizable name as it ran for an impressive 12 seasons and was one of CBS’ biggest series, which will now stream exclusively on Max. Lorre famously hinted at the plans for multiple spinoffs in a 2019 interview:

    Truthfully, the reason for a spinoff is economics, and that’s not the reason to do a show. You should do a show because you have something you really love and you want to do it. Economics follow passion. If you start with economics … well, shit, become a network executive

    Chuck Lorre

    The original series actually ended because Lorre wanted to ensure the entire ensemble cast was present and after Jim Parsons, who famously played Sheldon Cooper, decided to move on with his career and instead of forcing it to continue, they wrapped it up. As of now, there’s no real confirmation on what we can expect from the spinoff or who might be its main focus. So, we’ll have to wait a bit before they move forward with the spinoff.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Game of Thrones’ Spinoff, ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight,’ Ordered to Series

    ‘Game of Thrones’ Spinoff, ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight,’ Ordered to Series

    You’d think Warner Bros. is all Max’d out after announcing one project after another, but there are quite a few plans to make their re-dubbed streaming service stand out. They continue to promote the cross-platform releases of some of their biggest HBO series even as the former HBO Max has dropped its naming. Among the various announcements is that they have now confirmed that George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg will be adapted as a Game of Thrones prequel.

    The series will be titled A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, which is quite a long title if you include the Game of Thrones logo being part of its official reveal. The project will explore the story of Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire by the name of Egg, who is described as “two unlikely heroes” by the series’ official logline.

     Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.

    The series is described as a more lighthearted spinoff, which would give the Game of Thrones franchise something a bit different compared to its usual fantasy epic drama, which was also the main focus of House of the Dragon. HBO has been quite focused on getting as many series out as possible. The title of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” with a subtitle sounds like perhaps this series will act as an anthology series that could explore different stories throughout its runtime.

    Source: Twitter, IndieWire

  • HBO Max Changes Name, Sets ‘The Conjuring’ TV Series

    HBO Max Changes Name, Sets ‘The Conjuring’ TV Series

    HBO Max has officially changed its name to Max. The newly renamed streaming service will combine both HBO Max and Discovery+ and will officially launch on May 23rd. The company hopes that by removing HBO from its name, it’ll help to pull in more audiences that “previously turned away from the streaming service due to HBO’s high-brow reputation.”

    Along with the new name, Max has ordered a television series set within the universe of The Conjuring. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Max is currently developing a brand new series based on the hit horror franchise. Peter Safran, who has been a producer on the franchise and now co-leads DC Studios, will produce the series. While James Wan, who directed the first two Conjuring films, is in talks to serve as an executive producer on the project. As of now, no writer is attached to the project.

    No further details regarding the series are available, however, it’s expected that the new series will “continue the story established in the feature films.” The long-running franchise has also launched spinoffs with The Nun and Annabelle. As of now, it’s unknown when the series will debut.

    Source: THR and THR.