Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Marvel Movies

  • Isabela Merced Joins Sony’s ’Madame Web’

    Isabela Merced Joins Sony’s ’Madame Web’

    Sony continues to expand its spider web. Isabela Merced has officially joined the cast of Madame Web in an undisclosed role, joining the previously announced Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, and Celeste O’Connor in the upcoming blockbuster. The film is set to be directed by S.J. Clarkson, and is aiming for a release on July 7, 2023. Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless have written the script, after a previous attempt from Kerem Sanga.

    This is the third major comic book project Merced has had her name attached to. The actress, best known for her role as Dora the Explorer in 2019’s Dora and the Lost City of Gold, was a finalist for the role of Ratcatcher II in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and contended for a part in Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Her credits also include roles in Transformers: The Last Knight and Sicario: Day of the Soldado, as well as a leading part in the forthcoming novel adaptation Turtles All the Way Down. While the nature of her involvement in Madame Web is still unknown, it seems like this is only the next step in a promising young career for Merced.

    The plot of Madame Web is also being kept under wraps, though the character has been described as the closest thing Sony has to Marvel’s Doctor Strange. Traditionally an elderly woman confined to a chair, Web is usually more of a psychic character than a physical one. Although, there have been a few iterations of the spider-themed mentor in the comics. This includes one named Julia Carpenter, who is younger and was once a Spider-Woman. These traits may be closer to what ends up in the final film, if the casting of Johnson is any sort of indicator.

    Source: Deadline

  • Daniela Melchior Set to Appear in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

    Daniela Melchior Set to Appear in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

    After being at the center of speculation for months, Daniela Melchior has been confirmed to have joined the cast of Marvel Studios Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

    Melchior’s social media activity had fans convinced she would be a part of the expanded cast for the threequel, with many speculating that she would be playing Moondragon, who is canonically the daughter of Drax in Marvel Comics. And while director James Gunn ruled out the idea of her playing Moondragon, he never outright denied Melchior would have a role in the film.

    With her casting now confirmed by a Hollywood trade report, speculation will begin anew about who Melchior, who first worked with Gunn on the DC Comics film, The Suicide Squad, might be playing. While there is no guarantee she’s playing a member of the Guardians, rumors have persisted that this film will see a new group of heroes take over for the current team. Should those rumors turn out to be true, Melchior could be playing the MCU’s version of Phyla-Vell (a character who I have heard is due to appear in the MCU), a one-time member of the Guardians and a character with connections to several characters in the larger MCU.

    In the comics, Phyla is the daughter of the Kree hero Mar-Vell. The character played a large role in the Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest events and, eventually, wore the Quantum Bands and took on the mantle of Quasar. Speculation has already begun that the bracelet worn by Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel might be one half of the pair of Quantum Bands, and it’s been revealed by Marvel Studios that the changes to Khan’s powers were made to make her inclusion in the upcoming feature film The Marvels make a bit more sense. The inclusion of Phyla-Vell in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 could put her on the board as someone who might eventually try to lay claim to the bands. All speculation, of course, but sensible.

    Melchior joins Chukwudi Iwuji as actors to have worked with Gunn on a DC Comics’ adaptation and make the jump to the MCU. Iwuji, who starred in the HBO Max streaming series Peacemaker, looks to be playing the High Evolutionary, the main antagonist of Vol. 3.

    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will hit theaters on May 5, 2023.

    Source: Deadline

  • New ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Crew Merch Teases a New Guardians Logo

    New ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Crew Merch Teases a New Guardians Logo

    It looks like some more wrap gifts have found their way online from the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 productions. While it doesn’t give us any big revelations or teases for the future entry, it does include one rather interesting detail. markmantastic has taken to his TikTok account to share some of the best and worst wrap gifts he received while working on various films. He included in one video a look at a new jacket from Vol. 3 that includes a brand new logo on the sleeve of the jacket, as shared by @dano_cosmic alongside other little details from crew merch.

    The original logo seemed strongly inspired by the Nova Corps from the first film, but the updated one has quite a bit more texture to it. There are added elements, but it’s unclear if it finds their way into the actual film. The original log wasn’t highlighted in the first two films, but we did see some set photos of the team wearing an actual uniform. So, it may be part of that as the family unites to face their biggest threat yet. The neon-esque design is also an interesting detail that may be a signifier of which direction director James Gunn is going with the threequel’s visual palette.

    It wouldn’t be surprising to have Gunn go all out with this potentially being his last entry in the franchise. So, we might expect the most emotional storyline of them all, which is not an easy task after the gut punch that was Yondu’s death in Vol. 2. The fact Rocket is highlighted in the cap and he’s been a character that’s been heavily highlighted for taking center stage in the upcoming story does continue to add pressure to the many theories surrounding the project.

    Source: TikTok via Twitter

  • Naked Chris Hemsworth is ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Trailers Most Replayed Moment

    Naked Chris Hemsworth is ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Trailers Most Replayed Moment

    We were all quite excited when we got the second trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder, as it offered our first clear look at Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher. We even got a good look at Russell Crowe as the Greek god Zeus, who had some fun by flicking off Thor’s disguise. He ended up overdoing it, as it lead to Chris Hemsworth‘s God of Thunder standing without his clothes on. It seems that this joke has become quite the hit with fans, as ComicBook.com noticed that it this part is the trailer’s most replayed moment.

    via ComicBook.com

    It’s definitely no surprise that this moment may have caught everyone’s glimpse, as Hemsworth went all out with his training for his return as the Thunderer. Even earlier set photos including him showed off just how trained he got, as his arms seemed like they doubled in size since the last time we saw him on screen.

    Taika Waititi might also just be a marketing genius, as Hemsworth‘s special training isn’t the only thing that people are talking about. Natalie Portman not only returned to play Jane Foster but also went all out with her training, as many noticed just how ready she was to take on the role of Mighty Thor. Perhaps they are also hiding just how chipped Korg’s rocks have gotten since the last time we saw him growing moss while playing video games on a comfy couch.

    Source: YouTube, ComicBook

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Overtakes ‘The Batman’ as 2022’s Highest Domestic Earner

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Overtakes ‘The Batman’ as 2022’s Highest Domestic Earner

    While all eyes are on Top Gun: Maverick‘s dominance over theaters, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness still held on tight to the second spot as it has pulled in $16.4M over the weekend. As such, the film has now managed to reach $370M at the domestic box office, which puts it at the top spot as the highest-grossing domestic release of 2022 so far. It has just barely passed The Batman‘s $369M and is currently on its way to passing $400M domestically.

    It has now reached $868.7M worldwide after pulling in another 22.9M overseas. It’ll continue to inch its way towards a potential $900M but some predict it could still pull in around $950M. Though with new arrivals like Top Gun and Jurassic World Dominion around the corner, we might see it slow down. Still, its’s 48% drop is actually lower than that of Captain America: Civil War and has shown some surprising legs after the initial harsh drop. It further hints at this film legging out like a horror film.

    It’s a considerable development that it legged out as it did, as earlier it seemed like it wasn’t going to hit $900M after that initial drop. While it’s not really possible for it to pass a billion, it’s not a measure of its success if you consider that it’s not even released in some key markets like Russia (for obvious reasons), China, Saudi Arabia, and more. So, it did perform quite well and is pulling through after some made theories on the MCU’s box office draw.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Concept Art Offers a New Look at Clea’s Full Design

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Concept Art Offers a New Look at Clea’s Full Design

    It caught many by surprise when Charlize Theron arrived in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ first post-credit sequence. Not only was it exciting for the actress to join the franchise, but comic fans also finally got introduced to the fan-favorite character of Clea. While her future in the franchise still remains a big question mark, the potential of her having a bigger role moving forward is quite an exciting one.

    Marvel Studios’ Senior Visual Development Illustrator, John Staub, has shared a new piece of concept art that offers a new look at Clea’s final design. There’s a lot of detail that went into adding comic elements into her cape and even pants, though it’s a shame we didn’t get to spend more time with her to get a better look at how the design fully comes together in live-action but it does seem promising for whenever she may return.

    Theron already sold her character with just the short amount of time she had on screen, but it’ll be interesting to see when we might expect her to return. There’s no official confirmation of a third Doctor Strange film yet and with the multiverse falling apart, we may see her return sooner rather than later. With the hints at Incursions, we can expect a lot more multiversal shenanigans moving forward. Clea will also very likely become a cornerstone of how exactly that’ll come together.

    Source: Instagram

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’ VFX Team Worked on a 40-Second Scene for Over a Year

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’ VFX Team Worked on a 40-Second Scene for Over a Year

    There are always highly discussed takes on how Marvel Studios handles its VFX and CG work on their films. While some point out aspects that seemingly stick out for some, there’s a lot of work that goes into these projects over the many years of production. In an interview with Variety, VFX artist Alexis Wajsbrot (Framestore VFX) offered some insight into just how long they worked on the various sequences of the film.

    He worked on the iconic 40-second travel through the multiverse, which even included Doctor Strange and America Chavez turning into paint. Wajsbrot started working on the moment back in September of 2020. As such, he worked on the sequence for almost an entire year and a half before it released in theaters.

    Fellow VFX artists Olivier Dumont and Michael Perdew from Luma Pictures worked for several months on the film’s iconic Gargantos sequence. The MCU’s version of Shuma-Gorath was quite a special challenge to tackle as his unique anatomy adds a equally unique challenge.

    When you animate a human and you have two legs, it’s easy. But, when you have eight legs to animate, it’s a challenge. And then you have to animate that in the middle of a street that is very busy with a lot of things that it’s going to interact with. So it’s like, how far do you go in terms of work.

    Olivier Dumont

    They worked on this sequence for six to eight months to bring the creature to life. Perdew highlights that “time is the single most important thing” alongside “having. really clean and clear path.” It looks like they certainly got a lot of time to work on aspects of these sequences, and they also highlight how they had a say in what they would include, as well as received some active feedback and ideas from Kevin Feige.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’ VFX Artist Confirms Savage Land Easter Egg

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’ VFX Artist Confirms Savage Land Easter Egg

    While Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness kept its word by exploring the multiverse, surprisingly, it held back quite a bit. The main story mainly focused on two dimensions, but we still got a short little romp through the multiverse after Strange catches up with America Chavez. we got a lot of teases of dimensions that we can only speculate on what exactly they mean. Luckily, VFX artist Alexis Wajsbrot of Framestore VFX offered an insight.

    In the interview with Variety, he not only confirms that Kevin Feige actively supported the VFX teams in creating the different dimensions, which they were given complete freedom to explore whatever they could think of. As they pitched their ideas, it turn out that the Marvel Studios CEO was the one that had the idea to include the Savage Lands, the brief second when we see the dinosaur in the multiverse travel.

    One was an Incan statue world, which ended up in the movie because Kevin Feige thought, ‘Well, that could be a great world to put the Living Tribunal in.’ So that world became the Living Tribunal world. We proposed a jungle and Kevin Feige said, ‘Well, it could be cool if it was Savage World.’ It’s a world that exists in the Marvel Universe, so we had to add dinosaurs.  We had to model and texture and render and animate dinosaurs for two seconds, which is extremely not cost-efficient.

    Alexis Wajsbrot

    It definitely was something that comic fans were excited to see, especially as many were wondering when we might actually see it get added at some point to the MCU. It’s been quite the experience to see the many Easter eggs that were included and who knows if we may get a chance to revisit them in a future entry.

    Source: Variety

  • First Look at the Logo for ‘Kraven the Hunter’ Unveiled

    First Look at the Logo for ‘Kraven the Hunter’ Unveiled

    Sony’s next installment in there expanding universe of Marvel characters who are related to, but never feature, Spider-Man, is Kraven the Hunter. The film will see Aaron Taylor-Johnson suit up in Kraven’s traditional white collar outfit and take on the dangers of the streets of London, such as treacherous minivans. Production on the film has been underway for several weeks and now, as at least part of the crew wrapped their work on the film, we have our first look at a logo for the film.

    Other than the bright colors of the very tactical-looking logo, the first thing that jumps out is that it does include what appears to be a spear, which is one of Kraven’s traditional weapons. It remains to be seen how Kraven will brandish the spear against a minivan and what, if any, effect it would have on the vehicle.

    The above logo was on a backpack gifted to crew. Could it be a hint that Kraven will also wield a backpack as he navigates the rowdy streets of London? Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until January 13, 2023 or later to know for sure.

  • How the Road to ‘Secret Wars’ Might Go Through Earth- 838

    How the Road to ‘Secret Wars’ Might Go Through Earth- 838

    Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is looking like another box office win for Marvel Studios, what it accomplishes as the 5th film in Phase 4 is to continue planting the seeds for the potential next major crossover. Already eleven projects in, the path to Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on the classic Secret Wars storyline seems like it’s being built, even if some feel we’re not ready quite yet.

    That’s right, it’s beginning to look like the MCU is eleven projects into what might become known as the Secret Wars saga. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier gave us a new Captain America, a reformed Bucky, and introduced us to the US Agent. Black Widow gave us a new Black Widow and a still effective Red Guardian. WandaVision gave us White Vision and Photon, while simultaneously introducing us to witches, including the Scarlet Witch. What If…? showed us different Earths, with different Variants of the heroes and villains we’ve seen on Earth-616, including worlds where Thanos does not become a villain and where Captain Carter is the first Avenger. And then there’s Loki, which presented us with the rules of the multiverse, how the TVA had been pruning Variants across different universes, while introducing the maestro behind it all, He Who Remains.

    He Who Remains, aka Nathaniel Richards, had spent considerable time and energy figuring out a way to defeat and/or trap multiversal Variants of himself, essentially wiping out their worlds. When Sylvie stabbed He Who Remains in the season final of Loki, she unleashed the multiverse. Indeed, we find out in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that a Variant remaining in another universe for too long causes an Incursion. Knowing that, it is clear that Nathaniel Richards did save lives, even if the methods of his TVA were not the right ones. The restoration of the multiverse, the knowledge that Incursions destroy other universes and the revelation that at least one universe in the multiverse has a TVA that openly works for a version of Kang can be seen as evidence that Marvel is building towards Secret Wars.

    With Incursions playing such a viral role in Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Wars run, and Marvel leaning a lot on Hickman’s work when they adapt these stories for the MCU, the mention of them by Earth-838’s Reed Richards is no coincidence. We now have one world (Earth-616) where a Variant (Gamora) is on the loose and no TVA to return her to her timeline. We know that, coming out of Avengers: Endgame, there were at least 5 different timelines. What If…? gave us the timelines mentioned above, which Kevin Feige confirmed are the consequences of Sylvie’s stabbing. In one of those universes, a Captain Carter exists. Could she be the same Captain Carter seen in Multiverse of Madness?

    In her world, we see that it’s a world where the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Inhumans all exist. The Charles Xavier who arrives late to Strange’s trial greatly resembles the Professor X from the X-Men animated series. If we accept that the animated series is canon to Earth-838, then this means that on this Earth there are the remaining members of the Fantastic 4 and X-Men, Inhumans who have just had their King brutally murdered, and ateam of Avengers who also just had their leader murdered. Also of note, only Mordo survived to tell their Wanda was possessed by another Wanda: as such, they’re going to want consequences.

    Hovering over all of this is every version of Kang. With Incursions caused by Variant sremaining in another universe for too long, and no TVA there to prune said Variant, then it is possible that Earth-838’s Kang (Immortus) will use the Baxter Foundation to further his desire to control the other universes. With a catalyst like Earth-616’s Doctor Strange off in the Dark Dimension, and the death of his own Variant, he may feel that Earth-616 is vulnerable and thus can be attacked. He’s got his army and all that’s left is war.