Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Illuminati

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’s Costume Designer Opens Up on Challenges Bringing the Illuminati to Life

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’s Costume Designer Opens Up on Challenges Bringing the Illuminati to Life

    There’s been a lot of talk surrounding the introduction of the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Many were shocked when it was revealed that Black Bolt’s costume was entirely made through VFX, which was quite impressive. Of course, the internet has made its own theories in regards to how it came together, but luckily in an interview with Comic Book Movies, costume designer Graham Churchyard has offered some insight into what exactly happened behind the scenes.

    While many believed that the current releases were safe from COVID, it turn sout that their initial plans for the Illuminati weren’t as easy to bring to life as initially expected. Churchyard reveals that many couldn’t travel due to COVID, and there was also an issue of hopes on who they might be able to include. By the time they could finally, likely also contractually speaking, there wasn’t much time left.

    Yeah, I feel sorry for Janek Sirrs that he had to shoehorn those in at the last moment. We had designs for other characters, and then we didn’t have casting and there were travel bans. When we were shooting the Illuminati in London, actors like Sir Patrick couldn’t come to London because of travel. Richie Palmer and everyone had a big wish list of like who was going to be in the Illuminati. When it came down to those two characters being settled on, it was then even too late to make something locally in Los Angeles. Just way too late and too close.

    Graham Churchyard

    He also shared his thoughts with the VFX teams that had to work on everything at the last second but highlighted how they tried their best to help them as best as they could through the costume design, especially the challenge with Wanda flying around Kamar Taj.

    It was probably too close for comfort for visual effects to really do that because up to that point, everything else had been physically there. All of Wanda when she’s flying around Kamar Taj on a very elaborate wire rig that’s like a spider that goes six ways that can pull you in different directions. Where possible, pretty much everything is physical in the costumes unless they say, ‘Hey, the skirt is getting in the way of the rig.’ It just gives visual effects one less thing to do out of the million things that they have to do in to bring these characters and enhance them in the way you see them.

    Graham Churchyard

    Lastly, they revealed that they had to build Captain Marvel’s costume, played by Lashana Lynch in this alternative universe, from scratch. So, they didn’t have much time but confirmed that a lot was cut throughout the process.

    Lashana Lynch as Captain Marvel…we built that entirely from scratch. We start with a 3D scan in a photogrammetry booth, and then we work out a form of the person and start building the costume on top of that and sculpt things in the computer. We’re then printing those out, moulding them, and then get to the point where we say, ‘Let’s bring the actor in for a fitting’ and fine-tune it until you get something like that. I was really happy with Lashana’s costume. The fit and performance, and she was able to fight. All I’m saying is a lot was cut and it’s a very quick end for the Illuminati. We shot a tonne more, but maybe it’ll be on the Blu-ray.

    Graham Curchyard

    There is hope that we’ll get a view behind the scenes from the production in the blu-ray extras, especially some concept art teasing who may have almost joined the Illuminati. Costume design having to throw together something as fast as they could is quite respectable and everyone involved managed to give us a great film even with all these COVID hurdles along the way.

    Source: Comic Book Movie

  • Leaked ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Listing Hints at Illuminati Funko Pops

    Leaked ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Listing Hints at Illuminati Funko Pops

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has been quite the ride. Not only does it embrace Marvel’s knack for character-driven storytelling but also gave Sam Raimi time to revisit his horror roots. While being quite a memorable film, it also gave us some iconic cameos in the form of the Illuminati. We were introduced to the remnants of the team that would eventually meet their fate at the hands of the fully unleashed Scarlet Witch after underestimating her abilities.

    We just got a leak that gave us our first look at Dead Strange’s Funko Pop. It included our first look at Captain Carter with her shield. This adds to another leak via scrooge_ducktales on Instagram, which includes a listing of upcoming Funko Pop additions in the form of the various members of the Illuminati. It includes Black Bolt, Charles Xavier, Mr. Fantastic, and Maria Rambeau’s Captain Marvel. There have been FUnkos of them in the past, it’ll be interesting to see their live-action designs brought to life in the collectibles.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CdYYDMvp3lG/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

    Keep in mind the Funkos included in the visual aren’t actually the ones that are getting released, as these are those that have already been made available in the past. So, we’ll see how different the designs may turn out. John Krasinski‘s Mr. Fantastic and Anson Mount‘s Black Bolt had the most comic-accurate designs we’ve seen on the silver screen. So, they’ll definitely make some great additions to anyone’s collection.

    Source: Instagram

  • Illuminati Namedropped in New ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Promo

    Illuminati Namedropped in New ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Promo

    One more promo has dropped for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which mostly included familiar footage. Yet, the biggest surprise came in the form of the official name drop that the council Strange faces off against is indeed the Illuminati. Marvel Studios has always taken some liberties with how they showcase the secret society of heroes that try to make decisions on the future of their world. In the comics, they were formed after the Kree-Skrull War but will probably get a new origin in the film.

    We don’t know exactly how this team formed as part of the multiverse and what it might mean for the future of the MCU. The trailers seemingly tease that the team of multiversal heroes will face off against the Scarlet Witch. Who knows if the team will even remain afterward, or if we might expect a new one to form within the Sacred Timeline. Perhaps the multiverse will continue to grow, and we get a future project to see the aftermath of these events.

    There have been many teases of what Doctor Strange’s adventure through a multiverse of madness might entail, but it feels like they are still hiding quite a bit. Who knows how much screentime the Illuminati actually gets, as it could be nothing more than a brief pitstop for Strange in his travels through the multiverse. No matter what, it’s great to finally have the confirmation that they are indeed who we expected them to be and we can’t wait to see the first incarnation of them in live-action next week.

    Source: Twitter

  • How the MCU’s Illuminati Could Take Shape

    How the MCU’s Illuminati Could Take Shape

    When the Illuminati were introduced in 2005, Brian Michael Bendis dropped a nuke in arguably the most wide-sweeping retcon in the history of Marvel Comics. Bendis’s concept idea that these heroes shared a secret history worked brilliantly at the time and though the roster has changed some over the years, the group has continued to be an integral part of several major story lines since. Yesterday’s report by the Illuminati that The-One-Above-All is developing an Illuminati-centric project is hardly surprising (fans have been speculating about it for years), but the timing of the project is.

    Marvel Studios Is Reportedly Developing An ILLUMINATI Project ...

    We know that when Kevin Feige and the creative team of Marvel Studios adapt comic properties they aren’t out to make exact replicas of the books and that is going to have to be the case with the Illuminati as well. Out of the original comic book crew there’s only one member alive and well in the MCU and 4 who don’t exist in the shared cinematic universe (sorry guys, the ABC Black Bolt is NOT a legit MCU character), so the make up of the group will certainly have to change but the notion of forming a secret society does not. So who could make up the MCU version and what would bring them together? Let’s take a look…

    The Team

    10 Possibilities For Smart Hulk's MCU Future | ScreenRant

    A few current members of the MCU seem to be locks to me: Carol Danvers, Bruce Banner and Stephen Strange. Noticeably absent from the list is T’Challa, but I absolutely love the idea of him being ideologically opposed to the formation of such a group and standing apart from his allies. In addition to these 3 “gimmies”, I think you might well see someone like Salma Hayek‘s Ajak join the team as a replacement for Black Bolt. That gives a lineup that keeps some of the ideas Bendis had about the structure of the group intact and looks something like this:

    Carol: representing the Cosmic corner of the MCU

    Bruce: representing the science sector of the MCU

    Stephen: representing the mystics of the MCU

    Ajak: representing the long history of super humans on Earth

    However, that leaves one fairly large missing piece: the common man. As strange as it seems, that was Tony Stark’s role on the original team. While everyone else was gifted with incredible powers, it was Stark’s ingenuity that made him Iron Man. While it might not be a popular choice with fans, I think the best fit among the current MCU roster is actually Hank Pym. Pym has been around for a long time and seen a lot of things and has quite the secret history himself. I don’t know if this makes up for the slight against him by making neither him nor Wasp founding Avengers, but Michael Douglas is enjoying playing Pym and fits the “common man” archetype better than anyone else. So yeah a really different looking team than what Bendis had in mind, but you work with the tools you have.

    What Brings Them Together

    In the context of the MCU, this SEEMS pretty easy. If you go back and watch the films and keep track of all the stuff the core Avengers held secret from one another and how those secrets started to tear the team apart and lead to Thanos winning, you can see why a group of folks who sort of cover the major bases might decide it’s best to get together with the intention of making sure something like this never happens again.

    So bringing them together at a time when there are no Avengers with the intention of avoiding any major, future issues works just fine; however, the best part about the comic book Illuminati is the unwitting part they play in Skrull Invasion of Earth and, interestingly enough, news of the Illuminati project being developed arrives shortly after news of a Secret Invasion project being in the works as well. I don’t believe this to be coincidental and I think, as I am well aware many of you do, that someone among this crew will be revealed as a Skrull sleeper agent and, if I were to choose RIGHT NOW, I’d choose Carol.

    We have no idea what Carol has been up to in the years since she left Earth and we have no idea how advanced the Skrull’s have become. We’ve seen Super Skrulls in the comics with the ability to replicate the powers of the Fantastic Four and while Carol’s powers are enormous, they are a part of her and, therefore, could potentially be reproduced with advanced enough technology. The setup for Carol being a Skrull sleeper agent is there should they chose to go that route. Carol being revealed as a Skrull, after her history as a sort of hero to the people, would cause a seismic shift in the MCU.

     

     

  • Marvel Studios is Interested in the Illuminati

    Marvel Studios is Interested in the Illuminati

    Here’s some cool MCU news to get us through this MCU-less Comic-Con week. Our friends at The Illuminerdi have gotten their hands on a cast listing for a mysterious ILLUMINATI project with Kevin Feige’s name on it. No other details about this project were spared but like a lot of MCU projects in early development, details are generally scarce this early. There’s no telling whether this is a film, TV show, or an animated thing. All this report does is give us the gist: Marvel Studios has this team on their radar.

    What can we expect from the MCU’s Illuminati down the road? For one thing, it’s barely going to resemble what we had in the comics. Cap and Tony are out of the picture. Doctor Strange and T’Challa are the only existing Illuminati members in the MCU currently. We don’t know how Professor X, Reed Richards, Namor, and Black Bolt enter the MCU. You could maybe substitute one of them with Captain Marvel and Bruce Banner.

    I’d be surprised if Marvel Studios shows audiences how screwed up this team is. The comics version of the team was a very compromised one. These dudes delved into some shady shit that would make Tony’s creation of Ultron look like an episode of Rugrats. Heck, they end up trying to murder one another down the road.

    Source: Illuminerdi