Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Marvel Cinematic Universe

  • This is Wonder Man: Pitching an MCU Mockumentary

    This is Wonder Man: Pitching an MCU Mockumentary

    Disney+ has started an interesting new trend. After the success of The Mandalorian, Disney wanted to continue the hype by releasing an entirely new series focused on the behind-the-scenes work. The new series was given the title Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian. Instead of a play on the name, the title is vague enough for future installments. As such, they seem to plan on continuing it with future Disney+ originals. There is a good chance that the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe entries Falcon and the Winter Soldier and WandaVision would follow also get their entries. This could be our closest look at how Marvel Studios approaches their show’s development.

    The thought of getting a look at the filming of a Marvel project was exciting. Yet, I started wondering if there was something more they could do. Then, an interesting idea hit me. Why not combine the look at what happens during a Marvel Studios production and weave a story through it. I mean, we are still missing the appearance of one major Avenger. Wouldn’t Wonder Man be the perfect candidate for his own Disney+ series?

    Wonder Man

    Simon Williams has an interesting history in comics. His brother, Eric Williams, also known as the Grim Reaper, talked him into embezzling money from their father’s company. He was then forced by the Enchantress and Baron Zemo to infiltrate the Avengers. This resulted in him getting flushed with ion-based powers before being killed off. After being revived, he eventually joins the Avengers as Wonder Man. At some point, he became a stuntman and actor. The latter aspect is probably what the character is now most known for nowadays.

    The character was to appear in the MCU. James Gunn hired Nathan Fillion to play Williams as a big shot actor in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. They even revealed a picture of him playing a character named Arkon from one of William’s in-universe films. Funny enough, Arkon exists within Marvel Comic’s canon. Sadly, this cameo was cut from the film. Gunn did tease that there is a future for this character at some point in the MCU. Yet, there is still no sign of the actor since he was cut from the 2017 film.

    Passion Project

    Simon Williams isn’t confirmed as Wonder Man yet. As far as we know, he is a renowned actor that even got to play Tony Stark in a Steve Jobs-inspired film. We got a tease of what type of films and documentaries are being produced in the MCU. In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter looks through various in-flight films about Wakanda, HYDRA, and a documentary about Tony Stark. Naturally, as everyone mourns the loss of the iconic billionaire, studios weren’t going to waste this opportunity. They gathered information from various sources to make a follow-up film. Williams returns in the iconic role and his popularity skyrockets to new heights. Now, he is at the peak of his game. It is his chance to finally make a dream project a reality. In a world filled with superheroes, he wants to create his own.

    He tries to get the Executives on board to produce a film titled “Wonder Man”. After much discussion, he gets them to greenlight the project. Now, the superstar has complete creative control as he sits in the director’s chair. Just to bloat his ego, he also has an entire team film their production, which is our primary set-up for the stories’ format. We follow Williams throughout his production, as he creates the superhero he always wanted to be. Inspired by Captain America, the superstar dreamed of the character when he was a kid. We slowly get to know the arrogant hero better throughout the story, as the production faces various issues. Yet, he is unaware that some of his past mistakes are coming to haunt him.

    Unlikely Hero

    If WandaVision is anything to go by, Disney+ will let Marvel Studios reinvent their approach to storytelling. So, why wouldn’t they give a show a try that works as a mockumentary within the MCU? It lets Marvel Studios tell a meta-story about everything necessary to get their superhero films on the silver screen. It would be fun to see Kevin Feige, Victoria Alonso, Louis D’Esposito, and the rest of Marvel Studios’ team to appear in minor cameos. We could even finally address the fact that the heroes have doppelgangers in Hollywood. It would be fun to see Chris Evans show up discussing how everyone thinks he is Captain America. Also, throughout the series, we get commentary from the crew to add some comedy. It would work as an in-universe way of using fourth-wall-breaking elements similar to The Emperor’s New Groove.

    Of course, the main focus of the story is Williams. His arrogance acts as a nice parallel to Iron Man’s from the first film. He made some mistakes in his past. His fame and fortune also got him addicted to gambling. He lost his entire earnings and hoped that this film’s success would get him out of debt. He starts to learn his lesson but it may be too late. During production, they are filming a sequence in a research lab that was deserted a while back. Ignoring the A.I.M. logo hanging above, he tries to save some money for the CGI effects by using it as a backdrop. While filming in the Wonder Man costume, he accidentally gets hit by an ion blast that changes his body. He was made of pure ion energy now and was unrecognizable. Suddenly, mid-filming he loses control and ends up in a confrontation with some new Avenger recruits. He is now forced to regain his original form. He is unrecognizable to many so the superstar is on the run. All still in the same filming style of a mockumentary. We still get commentary from Williams throughout. It blends the boundaries between the film he is making and what really happened. Perfect Blue may have played some inspiration as well. There is so much potential with this concept within the MCU. It would be a perfect follow-up to WandaVisions insanity.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Instagram

  • EXCLUSIVE: ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Set Videos Hint at New Team Joining the Series

    Earlier this week, a video taken on the set of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier seemed to show Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes liberating some people from NYPD vehicles while Wyatt Russell’s John Walker fought a group of masked thugs. Though exciting, the video came without much context. Now, in footage, photos and a firsthand account obtained exclusively by Murphy’s Multiverse, we are able to get a MUCH clearer picture of what we were seeing.

    At this point, I would caution anyone who is spoiler sensitive from continuing on as what follows my very well revolve around a major plot point. Also, I offer my gratitude to @Loburger for being generous enough to share these pics, videos and details exclusively with Murphy’s Multiverse and to @MsLizzieHill for her tireless work to help provide our readers with the best content!

    Image result for captain america mjolnir

    Twitter user @Loburger was on set Saturday, February 29th and managed to snag several set photos, including one below that seems to add some context to what we see in set videos.

    The set photo below indicates that at least one major set piece in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier will revolve around a hostage situation taking place at the 2023 G20 Summit in New York. G20 is an annual summit that was first held in 1999. Representatives from 20 countries assemble to discuss means to achieve international financial stability. Recently, actor Demi Castro was added to the IMDB Page as “G20 Leader #1” and, if I’m processing all these videos correctly, it seems that the villains of the series will mount an attack on G20! Scroll through the images below to see some exclusive set videos.

    The four new set videos below give us much more complete picture of just what’s happening in this scene. According to @Loburger:

    “The 2 armored vehicles come to a stop and 4 people run toward them. You can’t tell from the this but all 4 of them appeared to be females and they all wore masks. One of the ‘bad guys’ with the masks had brilliantly bright, long red curly hair.”

    And so, as you can see in the first video, the 2 NYPD SWAT vehicles pictured above are stopped in the road by the gang of females.

    The next video is similar to the video from the other day, but from a different angle. It gives us another look at Walker’s brutal fighting style and also shows him taken down by the gang of women. This gang of women look like brawlers to me and that’s something I’ll speculate on shortly.

    The final video shows Bucky rushing to the aid of Walker after liberating who we assume to be G20 hostages from the SWAT vehicles.

    There are 2 major takeaways here:

    1. At this point it seems safe to say that Bucky and Walker are indeed working together to rescue the G20 leaders.

    2. Are we seeing the Grapplers? In the comics, the Grapplers are a group of female wrestlers who, similar to John Walker, are powered up by the Power Broker, but then went on to pursue a life of crime. The group consisted of Titania, Letha, Poundcakes and Screaming Mimi, aka Songbird! Like many other characters and plot points from The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, the Grapplers were created by writer Mark Gruenwald, so it’s not entirely unreasonable to think the might show up to cause some trouble for our heroes.

    Image result for marvel comics grapplers

    While there are still MANY, MANY questions about what’s going on here, there’s no doubt that these new photos and videos shed a little more light on this past weekend’s production! Please feel free to sound off on what you think is going on in the comments!!

  • New Video Emerges as ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Resumes Production

    New Video Emerges as ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Resumes Production

    The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has finally resumed filming the series after taking a very long break due to COVID-19 related shut downs back in March. The past few days several images and videos popped up indicating they were indeed getting ready and very close to resuming, if not filming already. Proof finally arrived Wednesday night as they filmed in the form of some eagle eyed Instagrammers (@theappgod and @nitefader)

    See below for the NEW videos of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier filming in Atlanta!

    Video by @theappgod on Instagram
    Video by @theappgod on Instagram
    Video by @nitefader on Instagram
    Video by @nitefader on Instagram

    The Falcon and the Winter Soldier production returning to filming and, fingers crossed, finishing the series has been greatly anticipated by Marvel fans. Here’s hoping they can still get it streaming before the end of 2020!

  • NEW Video Reveals a Closer Look at ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Set

    NEW Video Reveals a Closer Look at ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Set

    A new video by Noticias Geek TV on YouTube was published yesterday giving us an early glimpse at the subterranean set where The Falcon and the Winter Soldier crew has been preparing to resume filming. The set looks familiar because back in early March, we shared some photos of the set before COVID shut everything down. There’s nothing too spoilery revealed there, I’d say, but interesting to think about what they have planned to film here.

    Check it out!

  • RUMOR: ‘Ms. Marvel’ Eyeing Jasjit Williams and Saager Shaikh for Key Supporting Roles

    RUMOR: ‘Ms. Marvel’ Eyeing Jasjit Williams and Saager Shaikh for Key Supporting Roles

    Just recently, we got the rumor that Marvel Studios’ upcoming Ms. Marvel series has found some directors. The Direct revealed that they signed Bad Boys For Life‘s Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah to direct at least one episode. Marvel Studios is still playing coy with any information for upcoming shows, as it is still difficult to predict how the pandemic will affect releases and productions. Still, looks like that wasn’t all that The Direct had uncovered from behind-the-scenes of the production. They now also claim that two actors are being eyed for importing supporting roles.

    Keep in mind that they can’t confirm any of the actor’s potential roles. We are also still waiting for some kind of announcement on who might end up playing the titular hero, Kamala Khan. So, keep this with a grain of salt and just speculation. The Direct is pointing out that actor Jasjit Williams may be playing Bruno Carrelli. He is a friend of Kamala in the comics, who is a potential love interest. Saagar Shaikh is rumored to be Aamir Khan, Kamala’s older brother.

    It would make sense that casting is underway, as the production is eyeing a production start by November. Delays are still a potential issue but, hopefully, we find out more about the cast once we near November. Ms. Marvel is a great addition to the franchise and cannot wait to see how they will approach her story. We still don’t know if they will embrace her identity as an Inhuman. If they do, it will be interesting how they introduce them. It will be interesting to see how they will differ from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Inhumans series.

    Source: The Direct

  • RUMOR: ‘Bad Boys For Life’ Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah to Direct ‘Ms. Marvel’ Episodes

    RUMOR: ‘Bad Boys For Life’ Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah to Direct ‘Ms. Marvel’ Episodes

    We’ve all been waiting for some news regarding Marvel Studios’ upcoming Ms. Marvel show. The character has been seeing a surge in popularity lately. She was among the core cast of Marvel Rising and is the main focus of Marvel’s Avengers’ Reassemble storyline. All that is missing is her live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When Kevin Feige announced the show last year, we couldn’t wait to see how she will fit into Marvel Studios’ ever-expanding world.

    Hollywood Reporter did confirm that Brisha K. Ali would act as showrunner for the show last year. Now, The Direct is reporting that Bad Boys For Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah will direct at least one episode for the upcoming show. Both directors have confirmed that they’ve met with both Marvel and DC for some potential projects not too long ago. So, there is a good chance this may be officially confirmed once casting has been finalized. Until then, we can only see this as a potential rumor for now.

    Marvel news has been rather scarce. As most projects have been delayed indefinitely, it is uncertain when we could expect some official word from Marvel Studios. We are still waiting for the first foray into Disney+, as WandaVision or Falcon and the Winter Soldier are still on hold for now. Hopefully, we will get some signs of life soon. If productions are to start soon again, we hopefully will also find out who will play the iconic teenage Muslim superhero. Marvel Studios’ foray into streaming might be their most ambitious project yet and cannot wait to see what they have planned for us.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter, The Direct, ComicBook.com

  • New ‘Black Widow’ Image Teases Showdown with Taskmaster

    New ‘Black Widow’ Image Teases Showdown with Taskmaster

    There has been a drought when it comes to Marvel Studios news. Ever since Black Widow got delayed, we’ve been just waiting for any sign of life. It has finally arrived as Empire released an exclusive image that teases a stand-off between Natasha and Taskmaster. This is our first look at the movie since the last trailer was released five months ago. It was still set to release in May at the time.

    black-widow-exclusive-oct

    Is it much? No, not really but it is something. One of the highlights is the tease of Taskmaster throughout the trailers. Even after the delay, we have no idea who is playing Tony Masters. We did get a look at him using various abilities from iconic Avengers. So far, we know that he copied Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Panther but who knows what else they are hiding from us.

    There is still something we can take from this image. We get our first real look at Taskmaster’s back which seems to include some strange metal backpack. This could be a jet pack like we saw in the Marvel’s Avengers game, or just where he keeps his weapons. Also, going by Natasha’s outfit, this is during their first fight on the bridge. Cannot wait to see this in action, as Natasha slowly realizes that her adversary is copying her every movie. I hope this is just the beginning for the character and we get much more of Taskmaster moving forward.

    Source: Empire

  • EXCLUSIVE: Working Title of ‘DOCTOR STRANGE’ Sequel Revealed

    EXCLUSIVE: Working Title of ‘DOCTOR STRANGE’ Sequel Revealed

    Murphy’s Multiverse has learned that the working title of Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness is “Stellar Vortex.” As reported by Murphy’s Multiverse yesterday,  the Doctor Strange sequel is planning to begin filming this November in the UK.

    The vortex part of the working title certainly sounds like it would ring true for something called “Multiverse of Madness.” The stellar part is even more interesting, however, as it might hint at a certain Young Avenger’s super powers and may point to there being a bigger part for Miss America Chavez in the film than first expected.

    Last but certainly not least, here’s a shout out and big thank you to Twitter user @sky_waller  for their assistance with this information.

  • ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Headed to Prague in October

    ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Headed to Prague in October

    Many of us Sam and Bucky fans have been eagerly awaiting for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier to finish the series after being shut down back in mid-March. Mounting evidence makes me very confident the show will resume filming next week in Georgia (September 8th), as first suggested by our own Charles Murphy several weeks ago.

    A lot of fans have also been wondering if the show will return to film in the beautiful city of Prague in the Czech Republic. When productions shut down there, they had close to two weeks left of planned filming. As I reported recently, Carnival Row recently finishing its second season there was a good sign for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as well, and it appears I was right.

    Several sources and evidence gathered have confirmed to us that production on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is still planned to return to the Czech Republic beginning in October and extending into November.

    Fingers crossed we still get the much anticipated Marvel series this year!

  • Ant-Man, Wasp & Young Avengers: All-Out Kaiju Attack

    Ant-Man, Wasp & Young Avengers: All-Out Kaiju Attack

    It has been a bit quiet on Marvel Studios’ front. There were some tidbits here and there but nothing major. Well, looks like we got our biggest news just a few days ago. It was finally quasi confirmed that the next installment in the Ant-Man and the Wasp will be released in 2022. We still don’t know much about the project as of now but there are so many possibilities. Ant-Man showed what is possible when a man can shrink. We got a story inspired by classic heist films. The sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp played around with a stronger comedy-vibe. Director Peyton Reed got a chance to play around with Pym tech to highlight what is possible. Now, the question is where does he go from here? Well, I believe the next installment should take its inspirations from Kaiju films. 

    Young Recruits

    There have been a lot of rumors floating around about what the next film will be about. One rumor pointed to the film being the introduction of the Young Avengers. Most of the team members are being introduced in their own series. Avengers: Endgame also gave us an aged-up Cassie Lang. It is a great way to introduce her to the team and give her a chance to become her own heroine. We are about to enter the next generation of heroes. They will need some guidance and the Pym family are a perfect choice. Who knows how many young heroes are out there in the world without someone to help them control their abilities. What if one of them might be much more dangerous than they know?

    young-avengers-team-standing-together-comic-panel-1200x526

    The upcoming Ms. Marvel show will reintroduce the Inhumans to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While nothing is confirmed, there is a good chance we might see the Terrigen bomb go off. This won’t just affect Kamala Khan but many other unsuspecting people. Among them is a young man named Kei Kawade a.ka. Kaiju Kid. He played a major role in Marvel’s Monsters Unleashed storyline. The reason for his name is due to his ability to summon monsters through his drawings. He later even learns that he can fuse or create new monsters at will. Not only would he make for a great addition to the Young Avengers but also create a unique challenge for the young heroes to face under the tutelage of Scott and Hope.

    Size-Able Match

    We know that M.O.D.O.K. was featured in an earlier draft of the third installment. The leader of A.I.M. could still fit into a story with Kaiju Kid. I am getting inspired by the upcoming Marvel’s Avengers game here. That games’ story sees George Tarleton trying to save Inhumans before turning into the iconic giant head in a floating chair. They can still use this base concept and flip it on its head, A.I.M could still be in the script. With a sudden spike in monster appearances since the Terrigen incident, A.I.M is hunting down its source of origin. The organization filled the void that Tony Stark left behind after his death in Avengers: Endgame. After purchasing Hammer Industries, they became the #1 weapon manufactures and even added their own private army. It is unclear who took over the company after their original founder Aldrich Killian passed away. Still, someone is pulling the ropes behind the scenes.

    modok

    It becomes a race for Ant-Man and Wasp to locate who they believe might be behind it. Scott is forced to turn into Giant-Man multiple times to take down a variety of different monsters. They also get interrupted by A.I.M that are overly vigilant towards the young team. As time goes by, the mysterious mastermind starts to get more involved as he realizes that Pym is also a part of the hunt. It all comes to the moment that an unsuspecting Kawade gets confronted by the private army. Scott tries to come to his rescue but also ends up captured. Both are brought in front of the man behind the scenes, M.O.D.O.K. He reveals that he once worked alongside Pym for S.H.I.E.L.D. His own ventures into the Quantum Realm opened his eyes to a new world and took a toll on his body, but his mind now knows everything he needs to know.

    Kaiju Showdown

    In his elongated speech, M.O.D.O.K. reveals that he has no interest in the Inhuman gene. The reality is that he was focused on the Quantum remnant that was found on each of the monsters. A part of his Inhumanity is connected to the realm, which allows him to imagine the kaiju he summons. He doesn’t have full control over them but it is something Michelle Pfeiffer‘s Janet van Dyne can help him control. Sadly, Kawade is worried he will hurt someone. He doesn’t want to lose his parents and feels threatened by both groups. He starts frantically finishing a drawing he’s been working on throughout the film so that they would leave him alone. The final monster he summons will be the biggest yet. Maybe he will even be someone we’ve met before.

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    Earlier this year, we heard a rumor that an iconic dragon of the Marvel universe will make his debut in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. It is none other than the giant dragon that was introduced in Strange Tales #89, Fin Fang Foom. Yes, in the middle of the final battle between A.I.M.. and the Young Avengers, Kid Kaiju accidentally summons the MCU’s version of Godzilla. The young team fights a group of robots and Beekeepers, as Scott is forced to fight the colossal dragon. They could pay a great tribute by having them fight through miniature buildings that get destroyed throughout their fight. Part of me wished they’d even have a few shots of Fin Fang Foom being a guy in a rubber suit because Scott gets electrocuted and can’t see clearly. It all ends with Cassie joining the fray and calming down Kei, as A.I.M. retreats to fight another day. Foom gets transported back to where he came from, as Scott managed to keep him at bay. Janet promises to help him hone his abilities and he becomes a member of the now officially formed Young Avengers. Scott looks on in pride as his own daughter joins them.

    Quantum All The Way

    This concept continues where we left off. Hank and Janet are still researching the Quantum Realm, especially after the Avengers managed to travel through time during Endgame. M.O.D.O.K. being connected to it also adds to why the character is quite unhinged throughout the story. Pym has a similar track record like Tony for former colleagues turning evil. This way, the resurgence of A.I.M. also fits into the story and gives them a reason to be an active participant. Kid Kaiju’s ability of inter-dimensional vision in the comics. We know that this has been connected to the Quantum Realm, so it makes sense to connect these abilities. It also opens up a whole new world to explore as Hank might try to decipher what connection the Inhuman gene might have with the realm. MCU isn’t a stranger to tweaking some origins, so the film could also be introduced to explore how exactly the Kree has created this new race of humans long ago. Still, this is just an idea by connecting various dots that have been preventing themselves during the pandemic. Whatever Peyton Reed may have planned, I cannot wait to see it.

    Source: DisInsider, Digital Spy