Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Marvel Movies

  • Further Evidence Emerges Confirming Sydney Sweeney’s ‘Madame Web’ Role

    Further Evidence Emerges Confirming Sydney Sweeney’s ‘Madame Web’ Role

    Despite rolling out one of the most poorly received and mocked superhero films in the Golden Age of the genre in Morbius, Sony Pictures is still wheeling and dealing in the business of making films about obscure Spider-Man characters. Kraven the Conservationist is up next for the studio this October and then, just a few short months later in February 2024, Madame Web will arrive in theaters. Despite being littered with characters most fans have never heard about, Madame Web has an impressive cast led by Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Adam Scott and Emma Roberts and is rumored to tell a pretty wild story taking place somewhere in the Spider-Verse.

    Set photos from the film had some fans crossing wires on who was playing whom until a report last Summer seemed to straighten all that out: Johnson is portraying the titular Madame Web and Sweeney is playing Julia Carpenter, aka Spider-Woman #2 (Jessica Drew, who as far as we know is not in this movie is Spider-Woman #1; however, there is another Spider-Woman in this movie, Mattie Franklin, and she is Spider-Woman #4!). Now a new report from a popular YouTuber seems to back up that info.

    The Hot Mic Podcast shared some information about Sony’s Spidey projects, including an unconfirmed bit of info that a Spider-Woman film may go into production in 2024–though it’s unclear which of the three Spider-Women it may follow–and info on Sweeney’s role. Simply put, the host of the HMP shared that he’d heard Sweeney is in fact portraying Spider-Woman in Madame Web. Of course, in the comics, this Spider-Woman, Julia Carpenter/Spider-Woman #2, also goes on to become Madame Web and comes into conflict with Charlotte Wittier, Spider-Woman #3. Given Sony’s love of nonsensical stories, it’s easy to see why they’ve chosen to go the route they have with Madame Web.

    Source: YouTube

  • 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

  • Steven Yeun’s ‘Thunderbolts’ Role Reportedly Revealed

    Steven Yeun’s ‘Thunderbolts’ Role Reportedly Revealed

    Marvel Studios’ search for its “evil Superman” is over if a new round of rumors and reports is to be believed. As work on Thunderbolts progresses ahead of its scheduled June production start, it appears that The Walking Dead star Steven Yeun has landed the role of Robert Reynolds/Sentry.

    Rumors of the involvement of the Sentry in the plot of Thunderbolts have swirled since late Fall of 2022 when a casting call for an “evil Superman” circulated online. After sorting through a few of Marvel’s Superman analogs, Sentry rose to the top of the list of possible choices and additional information from reliable insiders has continued to build the case that he’ll make his MCU debut in the film. Now a slew of reports, including one from The Illuminerdi, all indicate that the 39-year-old Yeun has landed the part, which will make him a key player in the MCU beyond the events of 2024’s Thunderbolts.

    Though Yeun is most well known (and beloved by fans) for his long-running role as Glenn on AMC’s The Walking Dead, should he have landed the role of Sentry it won’t be his first rodeo as a nigh-omnipotent and indestructible hero. Yeun has served as the voice of Mark Grayson, the Viltrumite-human hybrid hero known as Invincible, for 2 seasons of the animated Amazon Prime series Invincible. For all their similarities in terms of powers, however, Sentry and Invincible are far from the same character and stepping into the role of Sentry would provide Yeun an opportunity to explore a character with a much, much darker side. In the comics, that darker side is, in part, due to an entity known as The Void, and that entity is rumored to appear in Thunderbolts as a key part of Sentry’s character arc.

  • Disney+’s ‘Wonder Man’ Logline Hints at Show’s Intended Tone & Time Frame

    Disney+’s ‘Wonder Man’ Logline Hints at Show’s Intended Tone & Time Frame

    While word of a slowdown of the big Marvel Studios machine continues to spread, the company continues to prep several projects for production over the next several months. Among them is the streaming series Wonder Man, created and overseen by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty director Destin Daniel Cretton.

    The show has been on a bit of a fast track since being revealed in a trade report last June; in fact, despite not being part of either of Marvel Studios’ big Summer con presentations (SDCC and D23), Wonder Man is tentatively set to begin principal photography in late March or early April. As such, the series has made quite a bit of news lately as the cast begins to shape up and it’s in the news again now as insider Daniel RPK has unveiled a potential logline for the project

    Wonder Man has been described as a Hollywood satire and the new information from RPK does seem to fall in line with that.

    Based on the character of Wonder Man, one of Marvel’s oldest characters, first introduced in 1964 in the pages of Avengers No 9. Known as Simon Williams, a celebrity actor and stuntman. In a nutshell, it is a story of two actors struggling to make it in the Hollywood of the MCU, [asking] the big question what does Hollywood look like in a world where super heroes are real?

    Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is set to bring Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man, to life and will share the screen with Ben Kingsley who will reprise the role of Trevor Slattery (likely the other struggling actor) in the project. If Slattery is the other struggling actor, it calls into question just where on the MCU timeline it will fall. When last seen, Slattery seemed to have chosen to stay in Ta Lo with fuzzy bestie Morris after having spent the better part of a decade either in prison or as a prisoner of Wenwu after portraying the Mandarin at the behest of Aldrich Killian. However, before taking that job, Slattery was indeed a struggling actor doing things…no two ways about it…in the street that a man shouldn’t do.

    Could part of Wonder Man be set during the Infinity Saga? There’s no reason it couldn’t be and it actually lines up with part of Williams’ villain origin story. In the comics, Simon’s father, Sanford, developed a munitions factory named Williams Innovations. After Sanford’s death, Simon ran the company into the ground as competitors like Stark Industries took its business. Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes put an interesting spin on that part of the story by having Tony Stark buy the company much to the disgust of Simon. In either version, the downfall of Williams Innovations drove Simon down the road toward becoming a super-powered villain. This could easily be adapted to the MCU without Robert Downey Jr. needing to appear; on the other hand, Marvel Studios could choose to skip this part of Simon’s story entirely and set it entirely in the present day.

    Whatever the case, MCU fans will have at least a couple of years to wait before they’ll find out. With Marvel Studios looking to spread out their streaming series a bit more, Wonder Man likely won’t hit Disney Plus until early 2025.

    Source: Patreon

  • ‘Captain America 4’s Anthony Mackie Shares Marvel Studios’ Extreme Security Measures

    ‘Captain America 4’s Anthony Mackie Shares Marvel Studios’ Extreme Security Measures

    Marvel Studios was once quite famous for bein the most tight-lipped studio in the market. Yet, given their popularity, they’ve also become popular victims to a variety of leakers that not just share minor details on the various films but even let entire storylines find their way online. It’s definitely a frustrating experience as rumors from the earliest stages of the production lead to false expectations based on various rumors.

    Of course, the pandemic saw some of the biggest leaks due to just how long these projects needed to find their way to theaters. So, it’s not too surprising that they are taking much harsher directions to avoid anyone leaking something. Even its titular stars aren’t safe from it, as Anthony Mackie revealed the process of how many steps there are to read his script for Captain America: New World Order.

    Like, today. I literally, I’ll show you the email. I got my script today. Haven’t read it. Haven’t opened it. I haven’t got my passcode to the website that let’s you get to the website. We literally get a passcode to a website that gives us a location to meet the person to sign, to sit with a computer, and read our script.

    Anthony Mackie

    It must be awkward having someone sit there in a corner just waiting for you to finish reading. Mackie, in his usual charm, jokingly shares what the experience is like with this intern supervisor.

    They don’t trust nobody. And it’s always like some 21-year-old intern and he just hates you. You know, he’s sitting there eating Cheetos and he’s like, ‘Read faster,’ you know? And I’m like, ‘I’m dyslexic.’ And he’s like, ‘I don’t care.’ Like it’s, oh, it’s a whole thing

    Anthony Mackie

    Who knows how far they’ve also gone to ensure nothing leaks from the productions moving forward. There were hints that they also restructured their internal approach to test screenings, which some have criticized but showcases just how much the current rumor mill culture also restricts the way these production studios can work.

    Source: Kelly Clarkson Show via The Direct

  • New Funko May Have Unveiled an MCU Original Hero Kahhori for ‘What If…?’ Season 2

    New Funko May Have Unveiled an MCU Original Hero Kahhori for ‘What If…?’ Season 2

    Marvel Studios has mainly focused on adapting existing characters from the choices; sometimes even twisting some familiar faces in new ways like the Scarlet Scarab in Moon Knight. Yet, a new Funko leak may have unveiled a brand new character that could be a Marvel Cinematic Universe exclusive character.

    Instagram user lasvegasfunkoholics has shared a Funko Soda that includes a character named Kahhori. Now, this character seemingly has no connection to an existing one in the comics and seemingly will appear in the upcoming second season of What If…?‘s second season given that another leaked Funko Soda includes Zombie Iron Man and the logo is included.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CpQJnIFp7Uy/

    There are also Soda Funko’s for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as they are seemingly rolling out quite a few MCU-centric Soda Funkos. There will be some confusion of who Kahhori is and if she might also have a role in live-action. There’s also the chance that she might appear in The Marvels or potentially one of the Disney+ shows set to release this year, Secret Invasion and Loki‘s second season.

    Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige has always been open to potentially introducing brand new characters original to the franchise. Agent Coulson may not have been a hero but Clark Gregg‘s iconic character went on to become a fan-favorite and was also even introduced into the comics even before he got his own spinoff series Agents of SHIELD. So, we’ll have to keep an eye out for where Kahhori might appear.

    Source: Instagram, The Direct

  • Fantastic Four and Blade May not Appear in ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’

    Fantastic Four and Blade May not Appear in ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’

    With every Avengers movie, it becomes a big question of who we might see take on a major role in the project. Throughout the last three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was easy to follow the main cast that’ll appear in these films but as the franchise continues to grow, there are many more opportunities to see some new familiar faces.

    Many are excited about the prospects of their favorite characters having a major role in an Avengers film, especially with the more diverse offerings with Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, Kate Bishop, Spider-Man, and many more. We also have the upcoming new additions of Blade and the long-awaited Fantastic Four, though it seems that they may not have a role in the next Avengers film, The Kang Dynasty.

    In an interview with Gizmodo, Jeff Loveness revealed that he’s hard at work on The Kang Dynasty and is seemingly actively trying not to have any of the other projects shape his work in some way. As such, he hints that he’ll “probably not even” include the Fantastic Four or Blade in the upcoming Avengers sequel.

    But much like when I took on this Ant-Man job, I can’t really focus on that outside stuff. I have just got to lay down the bones of a good story, hopefully, and find the characters that I want to tell [it]. And then it becomes a game of ping pong with the other people. Like whoever comes on and does Fantastic Four or Blade or—I’m probably not even using those characters, you know—but it all informs itself. And so, you just keep an ear open if [someone says], “Hey, if Blade wants to jump in, go for it, man.” But it’s up to me to focus on my movie and, you know, work with [Michael] Waldron a little bit on his thing to make sure it all kind of makes sense. But I think the second you start looking at the 25 other movies coming out, you get a little lost in the sauce.

    Jeff Loveness

    He does keep the door open and who knows if Marvel Studios might consider some rewrites from Avengers veterans to help find the balance between the various crossovers. Still, it’s great that Loveness stands by his approach to creating a singular story which he also highlighted for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. While it didn’t get the reception as hoped, it still shows he just loves telling a good story.

    Source: Gizmodo

  • ‘Ant-Man 3′ Faces Marvel Studios’ Biggest Second Weekend Drop at 70%

    ‘Ant-Man 3′ Faces Marvel Studios’ Biggest Second Weekend Drop at 70%

    The numbers are finally in and it looks like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was able to make up some momentum over the weekend, as while many feared it’ll be the first superhero film to drop above 70% in its second weekend, it held on stronger than expected and entered its second weekend at $32.2M, which is still a sharp 69.7% decline. As of now, it makes it the biggest second-weekend drop for any Marvel Studios offering, which was previously held by Black Widow at 67.8%. It also is above that of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which held the record for the highest superhero drop in its second weekend at 69.1%. Though it could still go up or down depending on adjustments once Sunday’s final numbers are here.

    It had similar critical reception and CinemaScore to Eternals, which managed to hold at 62% during COVID. Even as people want to call this the end of Marvel Studios, the opening does paint a very specific picture of how Marvel films currently operate. They will draw in quite a crowd early on (with varying success depending on the marquee character) but depending on its rewatchability will leg out better or worse. Perhaps Quantumania‘s weirdness and comic book-inspired direction just was too much for audiences, just as much as it wasn’t jelling with critics.

    The film also had a harsher drop internationally with around 70% and currently is on its path to gross anywhere between $470M to $540M according to some estimates. Though it depends on its third weekend potentially inching it back up that could give us a better clue at where it is heading at the moment. Currently, it might make around 215M to 245M domestically. Quantumania currently stands at a still-strong 363.7M worldwide, and an insider seems to paint a different picture than the overreacting internet tends to:

    Marvel takes something away from movie including Black Panther, including Avengers. I can say we’re incredibly proud of the film, Jonathan Majors does a fantastic job as Kang. It’s the movie we wanted to make. Box office is what it is, but it’s not going to stop people from going back to the theaters.

    Quantumania still had a stronger second weekend than the previous two entries as Ant-Man stood at $24M and its sequel at 29M. So, it starts to paint the picture that this film is performing more like a regular Ant-Man threequel after a Captain America: Civil War-like opening. If word-of-mouth was better, the film would’ve had the potential to go much stronger but we’ll see if Marvel Studios has a reaction to it. Still, if it hits the higher parts of its current estimates, the film could still manage to outgross the first entry. The only issue is its much higher budget that probably leaves a bit of a stomach ache for Marvel; though it’s not the “end of Marvel” or “Marvel fatigue” going by its opening alone.

    The lower Chinese market makes all the difference considering both previous entries pulled around $100M+ from that market which hasn’t had a Marvel opening since 2019 and generally saw far weaker performances from most Hollywood productions in that market. As stated earlier, the film is likely to break even at this rate, which is still better than most high-budget releases that we saw last year that faced far worse odds. Also Deadline pointed out that science-fiction shows struggle more in specific markets which we’re also seeing reflected here, as this was the most “out-there” direction the franchise took besides simple space travel to other planets.

    Something worth noting though is that the second weekend may have seen an overall harsher drop, but its Friday-to-Saturday numbers paint a very curious picture. Thor: Love and Thunder dropped around 68% in its second weekend but saw a much softer jump from Friday to Saturday at around 34%. It’s Thursday to Friday was also at around 65%, which could be due to the stronger weekly performance during the summer. Quantumania had a stronger jump than Multiverse of Madness going into its Friday (+119% vs. +111%) and from there going into Saturday (+76% vs. 54%). The Saturday-to-Sunday drop is slightly harsher (-36% vs. -31%) but could be an indicator for its third weekend. The big question is the drop going into Monday and how it carries into the next week.

    The weekend had a surprise opening for Cocaine Bear at $23M, which likely had its male audience take a bigger bite out of Ant-Man than expected. Though the film might also face a harsher drop next weekend, as unlike M3GAN or Violent Night, it got a softer B- CinemaScore with more mixed reactions from audiences. Still, it’s a good opening for the out-there black comedy and likely got its CinemaScore from the amount of gore that was included; something horror films generally struggle with when it comes to audience reception.

    Source: Variety, Twitter, Deadline, The Numbers, The Numbers (Love and Thunder),

  • Simu Liu Teases Shang-Chi’s Return is “Sooner Than You Think”

    Simu Liu Teases Shang-Chi’s Return is “Sooner Than You Think”

    We’ve just entered Phase 5 and it seems the projects are about to get even more connected than before. The Multiverse Saga is truly upon us and while we don’t know who will return when it seems Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ star Simu Liu has teased an earlier return for his character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    In an interview with People, Liu got a chance to share what it’s like being part of this expansive universe filled with very talented actors and creatives bringing their own stamp to a universe that plays by its own rules. The big reveal comes when he says we might “see something sooner than you think” in regard to his return.

    I’m such a big fan of both the characters and the performers that play them, so any collaboration is an opportunity for me to work alongside someone who, in their own way, is breaking barriers and at the very top of their game. I think that’s what excites me the most as a performer, [and] also as a fan. And who knows, they might see something sooner than you think.

    Simu Liu

    Of course, there’s no clear indication when he might appear but there’s a chance that one of the upcoming Phase 5 films could feature Liu‘s Shang-Chi in some capacity. We saw him interact with members of the now-defunct Avengers and perhaps he’ll end up helping out in Captain America: New World Order, or a secret member of the Thunderbolts that have yet to be unveiled. Of course, he might also be hinting at an announcement for a Shang-Chi sequel that has long been rumored.

    Source: People

  • ‘Captain America 4’ Executive Producer Confirms Production Timeline

    ‘Captain America 4’ Executive Producer Confirms Production Timeline

    As Marvel Studios first 2023, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania film works through a rough second weekend in theaters, the company’s first 2024 film is gearing up to begin production. Captain America: New World Order, which will see Anthony Mackie‘s Sam Wilson step into the lead role previously held by Chris Evans‘ Steve Rogers, is slated to hit theaters on May 3rd, 2024 and rumors about its production schedule have been making the rounds over the past few months. Fortunately, Executive Producer Nate Moore put an end to any debate about when cameras will roll on the film.

    While attending the Producers Guild if America Awards in Beverly Hills, Moore revealed that principal photography on Cap 4 is expected to kick off in “3 weeks.”

    That timeline puts New World Order on Pace to begin filming after St. Patrick’s Day with Monday, March 20th looking like a good bet. That means the film’s stars, including Mackie, Harrison Ford and Tim Blake Nelson, could start arriving in Atlanta any day now to prep for shooting for the Phase 5 film.