Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Hulu

  • Disney May Sell Hulu to Regain Hulk and Namor Film Rights

    Disney May Sell Hulu to Regain Hulk and Namor Film Rights

    In the world of IPs and rights, you never know what might happen. Marvel Studios is still trying to regain the rights that Marvel Comics once sold to external partners all the way in the past to ensure they wouldn’t go bankrupt. While Sony is not likely to ever let go of Spider-Man, it does seem like there are two characters they might finally regain the film rights to according to a Wall Street analyst, Jason Bazinet, who has a “Buy” on Disney shares and offered some predictions on where he sees the company’s future.

    One of the biggest questions always was: will Disney hold on to Hulu? The streaming service did push its overall subscriber numbers but existed as a direct competitor to their in-house produced streaming service Disney+. They also don’t fully own it with a 67% stake being the only reason they have as much control over r the service as they do. Bazinet though believes going by the latest fiscal quarter, they’ll likely sell the service.

    Following fiscal 1Q23 results, we believe the company is less interested in a mass market DTC offering. This raises the possibility that Disney may sell its Hulu stake.

    Jason Bazinet

    The share size was a result of their Fox deal that cost them a whopping $71.3B back in 2019. They technically have the right to buy out the remaining 33% from Comcast as of January 2024, but there’s no definite that they are obliged to definitely do so. Blazinet though believes that perhaps the sale of Hulu gives them some leverage to get their hands back on the distribution rights for the Marvel IPs of Hulk and Namor.

    While Disney owns all Marvel IP, Universal has distribution rights to Hulk and Namor. As such, if Disney makes a Hulk or Namor film, Comcast can distribute the film on Peacock. If Hulu is sold, Disney may use this as an opportunity to secure these distribution rights.

    Jason Bazinet

    Hulu can be found in 44% of U.S. online households and has a strong market share. Though if they do decide to purchase the remaining rights, they might just fuse the service similar to how the service is being treated internationally with the Star branding. As of now, the costs estimated for Hulu stand at somewhere between $19.8B and $27.5B. Though there have been rumors they might regain the rights by 2023 anyway. So, we’ll have to see what that might mean especially with rumors of a World War Hulk film making the rounds.

    Source: The Wrap

  • Roiland Dropped from ‘Solar Opposites,’ Loses Overall Deal at 20th Century Animation

    Roiland Dropped from ‘Solar Opposites,’ Loses Overall Deal at 20th Century Animation

    A day after it was announced that Adult Swim has cut ties with Rick & Morty co-creator Justin Roiland, Hulu has decided to follow suit. Roiland, who voiced Rick & Morty on the Adult Swim series, also helped to co-create Solar Opposites for Hulu. Solar Opposites, renewed for a fourth season, will continue, but Roiland will no longer be attached due to his domestic assault charge.

    The news was announced on Wednesday with The Hollywood Reporter confirming that Roiland’s overall deal with 20th Century Animation is also no more. “We have ended our association with Justin Roiland,” Hulu and 20th TV Animation revealed in a statement to the press.

    With 20th Century Animation and Hulu cutting ties with Roiland, he will also no longer be involved in Koala Man. That series recently launched on Hulu and hails from creator Michael Cusack and showrunners Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez. Roiland has also willingly resigned from Squanch Games, the video game developer he helped to co-found.

    While Rick & Morty is set to recast the titular characters for the remaining 40 episodes left from the show’s renewal back in 2018*, Hulu hasn’t officially announced its plans regarding who will voice Korvo in future episodes of Solar Opposites. (The renewal for Rick & Morty at the time was for 70 episodes overall.)

    Source: THR.

  • ‘Shoresy’ Renewed for a Second Season

    ‘Shoresy’ Renewed for a Second Season

    Shoresy is coming back for a second season. The spinoff to Letterkenny has been picked up for a second six-episode season. The news comes after Letterkenny recently returned for its eleventh season in December.

    The series focuses on the foul-mouthed, chirp-serving, mother-loving, fan-favorite character, Shoresy, played by creator Jared Keeso. It tackles Shoresy’s journey with the embattled Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs as they continue their quest to never lose again. Production on Season 2 is expected to begin this Spring in Sudbury.

    Returning alongside Keeso for Season 2 are Tasya Teles (The 100) as Nat, Harlan Blayne Kytwayhat (Prey) as Sanguinet, Blair Lamora (Paranormal Nightshift) as Ziigwan, and Keilani Rose (Filmsy) as Miigwan. Also starring in the series are Jonathan-Ismael Diaby as Dolo, Terry Ryan as Hitch, Ryan McDonell (The Crossing) as Michaels, Max Bouffard (Letterkenny) as JJ Frankie JJ, and former Kahnawake Condor and MMA fighter Andrew “The Canon Antsanen as Goody. Jon “Nasty” Mirasty, Brandon Nolan, and three-time Stanley Cup winner, Jordan Nolan star as Jim, Jim, and Jim, respectively with Listowel’s Keegan Long as Liam, and North Bay’s Bourke Cazabon as Cory.

    The first season of Shoresy is now streaming on Hulu in the US and on Crave in Canada.

  • Everything You Need To Know Ahead of ‘Tokyo Revengers’ Season 2

    Everything You Need To Know Ahead of ‘Tokyo Revengers’ Season 2

    Get ready to mark your calendars because the highly anticipated Season 2 of Tokyo Revengers is finally premiering on January 7th as part of the Winter 2023 lineup of new anime releases. As some have been anxiously waiting to find out what happens next in this drama-filled series, here’s a quick recap of the first season and what to look forward to in the next.

    What Happened So Far

    It feels like an eternity since we last spent time in the world of Ken Wakui’s Tokyo Revengers. Toman and Valhalla now proudly stands at 450 people, with Kisaki hailed as a hero after the events of Bloody Halloween. Takemichi is now the leader of the first division while Chifuyu took over as his second-in-command. Then he travels to the present to learn that Toman has grown even more powerful and influential. However, in this timeline, Mikey has vanished and Draken has been executed with Kisaki left in charge. In the end, Kisaki kills adult Chifuyu and prepares to shoot Takemichi for opposing him for the past 12 years. He confesses to orchestrating Baji’s death and calls him “my hero” before the screen fades to black as a gunshot is the last sound left with the viewers.

    What to Expect

    The second season of the anime will adapt the “Christmas Showdown” Arc and will introduce a slew of new characters. Yet, there are also some major changes to the previous cast, as Tatsuhisa Suzuki, the original voice actor for Draken, was involved in a big cheating scandal and multiple suicide attempts. As a result, he has been replaced by Masaya Fukunishi. The new cast includes:

    • Mikako Komatsu will play Yuzuha Shiba.
    • Tomokazu Sugita will play Taiju Shiba.
    • Junya Enoki will play Inui Seisyu
    • Natsuki Hanae will play Kokonoi Hajime
    • Tasuku Hatanaka will play Hakkai Shiba

    The next seasons’ new opening called “White Noise” has already been released with the song being performed by Official HiGE DANdism, which you can check out here:

    Tokyo Revengers has become a popular series throughout the years and there’s a lot of excitement to see how they bring the second season to life. It’s upcoming release on January 7th will see the series. It’ll be made available on Hulu in the United States and on Star+ in the rest of the world. If you need to catch up, the first season is currently available on Netflix and Crunchyroll.

  • First Look at Keira Knightley in 20th Century’s ‘Boston Strangler’, Heading to Hulu in March

    First Look at Keira Knightley in 20th Century’s ‘Boston Strangler’, Heading to Hulu in March

    The next 20th Century Studios production is making its way to Hulu, as the upcoming true-crime thriller from director Matt Ruskin is heading to Hulu on March 17, 2023. Boston Strangler explores the story of reporter Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley), who is hot on the heels of the Boston Strangler murders. With the help of her colleague Jean Cole, played by Carrie Coon, they fight their way through the sexism of the era to stop a killer at their own personal risk.

    The film is set to premiere on Hulu in the United States with Disney+ and Star+ in international territories as part of the Star banner. The film has a star-studded cast as joining Knightley and Coon is Bill Camp, David Dastmalchian, Alessandro Nivola, Morgen Spector, and Chris Cooper. In the producing chair are Ridley Scott, Kevin J. Walsh, Josey McNamara, Michael Pruss, and Tom Ackerley.

    Hulu has slowly been becoming the home for many of Disney’s 20th Century Studios productions. It’s a shame it’s not getting a theatrical release as it is set as a streaming exclusive, but that has proven successful for Disney throughout the pandemic and in 2022 with projects like Prey, Hellraiser, and more. It’ll be interesting to see what Boston Strangler brings to the table, especially in a desperate need for more crime-thriller films. So, it’ll be worth keeping a close eye on the upcoming first trailer for the film set for its March 17th release.

  • REVIEW: ‘Letterkenny’ Season 11

    REVIEW: ‘Letterkenny’ Season 11

    After leading man Jared Keeso took some time to focus on the Letterkenny spinoff, Shoresy, he has returned for Season 11 of Letterkenny and… it’s a mixed bag. Letterkenny has always been one of those shows that wasn’t designed for everyone. The humor can be crude. The characters can be hard to relate to. And the show can often feel like there’s no real point to it. In the end, though, Letterkenny always delights, even with its faults. Unfortunately, though, Season 11 takes a bit longer to get going and the episodes themselves never really feel cohesive.

    Letterkenny is a weird show. There’s no denying as much. It’s a weird show that is packed full of humor and proves Keeso, who helped to create both Letterkenny and Shoresy, is incredibly talented. However, following the excellent first season of Shoresy, it’s hard to return to Letterkenny as it is. Keeso as Shoresy is just excellent, and there’s something special about that character and his journey not to be such an asshole. Letterkenny, which does briefly bring back Shoresy this season, feels like much of the same. The ladies remain wonderful – especially Katie and Gail – and the Skids remain the best part of the series. But while those characters continue to grow – yes, even Stewart – it never really feels like Wayne and the others do.

    That isn’t to say Letterkenny is bad. It’s not. It’s still great, but Season 11 takes a bit to get going. The “Chips” episode feels pointless and is ultimately a weird choice to kick off the season. Had it been done as a special episode? That would’ve been great, but again, as a season opener, it feels like a poor decision. There’s no real value to be gained from the episode. Is it funny? Yes. Does it serve a purpose? Absolutely not. Thankfully, by episode three, the show regains its footing for the season and begins to build out a story across the remainder of the episodes. Said story focuses on the always crude Gail, played wonderfully by Lisa Codrington, and her questionable choices. One of Letterkenny‘s biggest strengths is that it always its female characters to be realistic and that includes allowing them to be sexual beings. Gail makes some poor decisions this season, that allows the rest of the characters to explore actual issues faced by women daily, and still finds a way to make it an important topic while keeping things light-handed. It’s one thing that Letterkenny does better than most shows these days. It isn’t afraid to let its female characters exist. Flaws and all.

    Once the season finds a real starting point, it’s smooth sailing from that point forward. The show brings back the always fantastic Glen, who is as ridiculous as ever, to work with Clark Backo‘s Rosie on finding a missing dog. The hilarity that ensues from that point on, courtesy of the Dicks, is a great reminder of what makes Letterkenny so great. But then the show takes a minor stumble yet again in the final episode of the season. As always, Wayne and company continue to have each other’s backs, which is great. However, there are only so many times a season can end with a big fight that is only briefly shown before it cuts to the end credits.

    And yet, with an uneven start and a finish that literally feels like an ending used before, Letterkenny‘s eleventh season isn’t as strong as those before it. However, with a strong first (?) season of Shoresy, one has to imagine Keeso and company still have plenty more in stock for the Letterkenny crew and can easily deliver a hell of a twelfth season. Because there’s no way a Season 12 isn’t on the horizon.

  • REVIEW: ‘Darby and the Dead’ Feels Familiar With a Strong Message

    REVIEW: ‘Darby and the Dead’ Feels Familiar With a Strong Message

    What happens if you combine Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Mean Girls, and add a splash of Ghost Whisperer? Well, you get Darby and the Dead. The story of Darby Harper (Riele Downs), a young teenage girl who has the ability to see the dead. After a tragic accident sees the most popular girl in school pass away (Auli’i Cravalho), Darby is forced with an unlikely tag-along as she tries to make sure her frenemy manages to pass on but gets more than she initially bargained for.

    The main concept is a fun idea to give the usual high school storylines an additional layer beyond the usual drama, but the film by Silas Howard is quite keen on trying to throw in as many ideas as possible. In addition to the “wacky” element of Darby seeing the dead, we also have her actively breaking the fourth wall throughout the story. It seems to imply we are also part of her gift, but it can sometimes be more distracting than anything else. Yet, it does also add some levity of social commentary regarding popular culture in high school. It only suffers from trying a bit too hard to replicate Ferris Bueller.

    That very element does have the advantage of living off of Downs‘ performance throughout the film. She’s definitely a highlight and even with a more clichéd direction at times, she still finds a way to balance her character’s development of not falling too much into Means Girls territory. It’s simply a shame that the story still relies mostly on familiar territory rather than taking it into a new direction with a premise of someone able to speak to the dead. Instead of exploring Cravalho‘s Capri from that perspective, we mostly follow the outcast to popular girl storyline throughout.

    One thing you can’t deny though is that the film has heart. It’s cheeky self-awareness be more a way to make use of the story’s trappings and build upon its characters. Darby is the main focus and the story doesn’t shy away from showing her as a flawed but well-meaning person. The story manages to find that balance that doesn’t turn it into a cautionary tale of popularity, but rather just showcasing that trying out new things is okay. Even with some of the usual story beats at play, the focus of this story and Darby’s development makes up for it in many ways. In times of resisting change, there’s something sweet of a story simply saying you don’t have to be popular but you shouldn’t close yourself off from the living either.

    These are elements that work quite in favor of the film’s way of riffing on the material. While it does follow similar plot beats, we get a twist on one of the usual romance storylines and another that is hinted at but never truly followed through with. So, it manages to avoid one cliché by simply being busy with other plot elements throughout its runtime. In turn, this works in favor of creating more believable reactions rather than something that feels like a forced plotline. Capri similar is able to avoid some aspects of the popular girl trope by simply being in a position that won’t let her fully fulfill that role. So, there are elements where its base premise works in favor of not completely falling into what you’d expect form this type of story.

    Even saying that, there’s still a lot of heart. Howard‘s direction adds some visually interesting shots and the way it handles her supernatural elements does make for some interesting set pieces. Even with some of my complaints, there’s still a self-awareness to the story that makes great use to it, especially when it comes to how Capri ends up passing away. It’s a light-hearted adventure that knows its mostly following in cliché territory. So, it makes great use of those story elements even if it’s not reinventing the wheel per say.

    Darby and the Dead is an enjoyable ride, but could’ve used a bit more dead and less high school. There’s an earnest attempt at using a clichéd storyline by adding a message that’s more realistic. While it didn’t always hit the mark, it’s central messaging is definitely worth praising. It’s okay to change and let go of the past while also still looking at it with fond memories. Letting go is part of the process and sometimes it’s the hardest thing to do, especially when you yourself have to embrace change.

  • ‘Darby and the Dead’ Star Opens Up on the Challenge of Breaking the Fourth Wall

    ‘Darby and the Dead’ Star Opens Up on the Challenge of Breaking the Fourth Wall

    As revealed in the trailers, Darby and the Dead features a lot of inspirations, especially from the many high school films that released throughout the years. But, one can easily tell that Ferris Bueller’s Day Off plays a big inspiration in how Darby Harper breaks the fourth wall throughout her misadventure with the dead. Actress Riele Downs had the challenge of not only speaking to the deceased but also the audience and it seems it took some time getting used to.

    As revealed during the official press conference for the film, Downs shared what it was like trying to communicate with the camera and “needing to play all these different beats” with whoever she had to interact in a specific scene. She’s an introverted character that is quite outspoken and that took some time to adapt to for Downs.

    Honestly, it was maybe a little difficult to adapt to at first, just, like, how much dialogue there was and needing to play all these different beats, and to Auli’i’s characters who was not supposed to even be visible by other people. So, a lot of different dynamics happening, but it became natural pretty quickly, believe it or not. I guess maybe being more of an introverted slash introspective person that sort of, you kind of live that out in your life anyway I guess a little bit.

    Riele Downs

    Adding the fact that she can see the dead that aren’t visible to others lends the film a certain unique challenge. We’ve seen the fourth wall being broken by quite a few characters, as it became popular once again with the arrival of Deadpool but it does add a unique take with Darby’s ability. So, it’ll be interesting to see how she brings it to life when Darby and the Dead release son Hulu on December 2nd.

  • ‘Darby and the Dead’ Actress Teases “Refreshing” Take on Modern High School

    ‘Darby and the Dead’ Actress Teases “Refreshing” Take on Modern High School

    While high school settings have been popular in films for as long as anyone can remember, it has always been interesting in comparing how things have changed over the years. Darby and the Dead is the latest addition to the genre and while the main focus will be on the story focusing on a girl that can talk with a deceased popular girl, it’s also about exploring what it’s like to be in modern high school.

    In the official press conference, actress Nicole Maines shared how they tried to explore this “high school environment” of today while still “breathing new life” into how the usual popular kids are seen.

    I feel like what brings this movie into the realm of being the Clueless or the Mean Girls or the next Heathers is it very, like Genneya said, accurately depicts what the high school environment is today. And I think that is breathing new life into what we think of as the popular girls or the popular kids.

    Nicole Maines

    She also goes on to talk about how this film focuses on having the top dogs of this high school come from “marginalized communities” which further reflects modern high schools and adds something refreshing.

    And I think that what this film does spectacularly, and what is groundbreaking about it is that it showcases diverse and marginalized communities, particularly women, thriving and existing at the top of the food chain, which we never get to do. And now we’re seeing them as top dogs, and it’s really refreshing to see. And it was really refreshing and exciting to get to be a part of that. And to get to be the top dog for a second. It was a little fun.

    Nicole Maines

    There’s always the challenge of making something familiar feel fresh and new, especially as the world around us continues to change and diversify. So, it does seem like it was a core focus in this project especially while still exploring that anyone can be on any part of the food chain of high school.

  • ‘Mean Girls’, ‘Bring it On’ and More Inspired ‘Darby and the Dead’s Characters

    ‘Mean Girls’, ‘Bring it On’ and More Inspired ‘Darby and the Dead’s Characters

    Darby and the Dead is a new high school comedy that adds a new spin. As the name implies, it’s not just about a young teenager surviving high school, but her former bully suddenly dies and she’s stuck trying to help her pass on to the next life. It’s a creative premise and looks to be a promising new take on the classic film type.

    During the official press conference for the Hulu Original, actresses Kylie Lyia Page, Nicole Maines, and Auli’i Cravalho got a chance to tease the inspirations of how they brought their characters to life in the Hulu Original. Page highlighted the rather obvious Mean Girls, but also Bring It IOn as inspirations on trying to bring their “popular girl” personas to life in the film.

    I think Mean Girls is definitely one. I mean, just that’s easy, you know, we’re a group of four girls. You know, we’re at the top of the food chain. We’re cheerleaders, so a little bit of Bring It On in there. And Clueless for sure.

    Kylie Lyia Page

    Maines also went on to highlight that it wasn’t only the way they approached the dynamic in their friend’s group, but also that it heavily inspired their wardrobe. So, they had quite a few references to keep an eye out for in what the characters wear throughout the film’s runtime.

    Even our wardrobe tried to give nods to different films that we loved, and yeah, ‘cause we wanted to just make a, like, a fresh take on the classics that we grew up with.

    Nicole Maines

    There are many iconic films that explored this familiar setting too many, and they do hint that while it’s inspired by classics, the film is mainly a more modern take to represent how high school looks for students living it currently. Here’s just hoping that no poor soul can see the dead while trying to live through the