Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Marvel News

  • ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Star Addresses Marvel Television’s Plans for the Streaming Series

    ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Star Addresses Marvel Television’s Plans for the Streaming Series

    Against all odds, Daredevil: Born Again delivered a frustratingly fantastic season, arguably the best in the series history dating back to its 2015 Netflix origins. Showrunner Dario Scardapane, who took over mid-production, found a way to utilize the pre-overhaul material while steering the revival back into the familiar and bloody waters fans were asking for in the season’s final two episodes.

    Daredevil: Born Again is, from start to finish, a fantastic series. With its hero and its villain equally saturated in blood and emotional trauma, the show examines the futility of pursuing sustainable change without addressing the deeply nested layers of human behavior.

    Scardapane’s finale left New York City–and the Man Without Fear–in a very dark place as Mayor Kingpin declared Martial Law and his Anti-vigilante Task Force rounded up the City’s heroes. Those developments set up a very tough path for Matt Murdock in Season 2, which was already well into production by the time Season 1 wrapped its run on D+. With he sophomore season looking as if it will draw inspiration from Marvel Comics recent Devil’s Reign event, it seems clear that yet another confrontation between Daredevil and Kingpin is inevitable. And with Daredevil: Born Again set up as Marvel Television’s flagship IP in its new approach to developing and releasing series, it sounds as though there’s much more story left to tell in and around Hell’s Kitchen…maybe.

    Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox) in Marvel Television’s DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Television. © 2025 MARVEL.

    Season 2 will come out next year, and then hopefully season 3 and season infinity after that. I think this world is extremely rich, and there are many stories to be told on the streets of New York.

    -Brad Winderbaum

    In an interview with Awards Buzz, series’ co-star Vincent D’Onofrio explained that while the studio does have plans to move forward with a third season of Daredevil: Born Again, fans are going to have to continue their strong support for the project to ensure it continues.

    “If they let us do it, we have a plan,” said D’Onofrio. “It is up to the fans to watch and to get excited. And it is up to us to please them and get the story right. We are looking forward in a big way.“

    D’Onofrio’s comments are hardly surprising as now, more than ever, studios are making decisions based on viewership and online responses to projects. That said, a third season of the series feels like a very sure thing given the passionate fan base and the interest of its stars to move ahead.

    Source: Awards Buzz

  • ‘Thunderbolts*’ Writer Reveals the Film Originally Had an Entirely Different Big Bad

    ‘Thunderbolts*’ Writer Reveals the Film Originally Had an Entirely Different Big Bad

    Lewis Pullman‘s performance as Bob/Sentry/The Void has been roundly praised following the opening weekend of Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* The New Avengers. And while Bob will indeed be back for more in Avengers: Doomsday, it turns out he was originally not part of the film, leaving the Thunderbolts to teamnup against an entirely different antagonist.

    “The original drafts of this had John Walker as the punching villain at the end,” said Pearson. “The idea was that part of Val’s manipulation was that she had told him that his serum was wearing off, and she was doing these medications to keep him going,” added the writer. Given Walker’s fragile mental state, it’s easy to imagine Val working U.S. Agent into a frenzy to do her dirty work.

    In reality, he was a time bomb; a Hulk kind of thing. There was going to be a bit of a ‘Sun’s getting real low’ moment because from the beginning of this, it was like, “I want to end our third act fight with a hug.“

    -Eric Pearson

    Fortunately, Marvel and Pearson made a decision to head in another direction, choosing Bob as the subject of Val’s manipulative machinations, leaving the team up against a foe they could never take on physically. “That version was kind of fun, but ultimately didn’t work and didn’t feel right tone-wise,” he explained. “I had already kind of layered in the whole Breakfast Club thing, so I was like, ‘I want someone that they can’t beat in a punching fight and that they have to connect to in an emotional way.’“

    While Val is the film’s true baddie, she would pose no threat to any of the team of Thunderbolts without someone else there to do the heavy lifting. While Walker might have made for an interesting punching bag, he’d have truly stood no chance against a pair of Super-Soldiers teaming up with Ghost and Yelena. Moving away from Walker to The Void is just one example of the very positive changes made to the script during the pre-production process that allowed it to become one of the studio’s best films in the past several years.

    Source: Screen Rant

  • Marvel Studios Begins Unprecedented Wave of Marketing Madness for ‘Thunderbolts*’

    Marvel Studios Begins Unprecedented Wave of Marketing Madness for ‘Thunderbolts*’

    Long before Thunderbolts* hit theaters, fans had plenty of theories about the asterisk added to the film’s title in early 2024. At the time, Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, made it clear that the studio would not address the change until after the movie hit theaters. That time is now and the studio is addressing it in an unprecedented way.

    Yes, you’ll notice the asterisk on Thunderbolts. That is the official title of Thunderbolts and we won’t talk more about that until after the movie comes out.

    -Kevin Feige

    Following the film’s very solid opening weekend in which it pulled in $162.1 M globally ($76 M domestic, $86.1 M overseas) and managed to secure an A- Cinemascore, the studio has begun a bold marketing move that officially reveals the meaning behind the asterisk.

    In the film’s third act, the film’s titular team of lonely losers are introduced to the press as The New Avengers after saving New York City from The Void. It’s a move made solely to allow Valentina Allegra de Fontaine to save face but as the film’s post-credit tag reveals, the team is still active as Avengers 14 months later.

    Retitling a film after release, even unofficially, isn’t something Marvel Studios has dabbled with in the past and it remains to be seen just how serious the studio is about the change. It appears, however, they’ve invested at least some capital in a second wave of marketing the film as The New Avengers begging the question if the film will indeed be rebranded for digital and home release.

  • ‘Thunderbolts*’ Director Confirms Major Changes to the Film’s Original Script

    ‘Thunderbolts*’ Director Confirms Major Changes to the Film’s Original Script

    Rewrites, reshoots and additional photography have become routine partsof the Marvel Studios production machine. It’s safe to say that no two projects undergo the same amount of changes and that they’re not always all-encompassing nor always favorable.

    Both Captain America: Brave New World and Daredevil: Born Again were significantly reworked following the 2023 Hollywood work stoppages to varying degrees of success. Brave New World reshot its first act battle, gave The Leader a concerning makeover and shot a very awkward post-credit scene, none of which were well-received by fans. On the other hand, the creative retooling of Daredevil: Born Again, intended to connect it to the original Netflix series, seemed to please the bloodthirsty legion of edge lords who believe the character should suffer in darkness and misery. However, perhaps no project underwent a more complete overhaul than Thunderbolts*.

    Originally drafted by Eric Pearson as a sequel to Black Widow, the project’s script was handed off to both Joanna Calo and Lee Sung Jin. Typically, it’s never made clear by the studio just how much a script changes from beginning to end; however, director Jake Schreier veered from the norm in an interview with EW, explaining that very little of the film’s original conceit survived.

    According to Schreier, the only big idea from the original script that made it to the big screen was the idea of the mismatched team of damaged people being revealed as the MCU’s New Avengers at the end. The idea was “in the script from the very first draft,” Schreier told EW, adding “Even though a lot of things, almost everything, changed around it.“

    “There was the core idea of these operatives sent to kill each other, which I thought was such a neat twist on people expecting Marvel’s Suicide Squad,” Schreier explained. “And then that was the ending, and it went to a very different place, but that was the one thing that was like, no matter what we do, it’s going to end in that place.” Whatever the original version may have been, there will be very few fans disappointed with the direction the studio ultimately chose for the film.

  • The ‘Thunderbolts*’Post-Credit Scene Just Became Even More Important to the Future of the MCU

    The ‘Thunderbolts*’Post-Credit Scene Just Became Even More Important to the Future of the MCU

    As is Marvel Studios’ tradition, Thunderbolts* included some additional scenes during the credits. Though the first scene featuring David Harbour‘s Red Guardian was played for laughs, the second scene jumped 14 months into the MCU’s future, providing a look at the New Avengers regrouping at The Watchtower. Unlike several of the studio’s post-credit scenes, this one felt important, providing information about Captain America and his team of Avengers while also teasing the arrival of the Fantastic Four on Earth-616. Yelena’s New Avengers were decked out in new uniforms, including Bucky sporting a new star logo very reminiscent of the one his character recently sported in the pages of Marvel Comics as The Revolution, and were just learning about a “space crisis,” which is almost certainly an Incursion.

    TL:DR, the 2-minute and 54-second scene is doing a lot of table setting for Avengers: Doomsday and it turns out that’s because it was filmed by the directors of the upcoming Marvel project.

    In an interview with Comic Book, Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier revealed that the post-credit scene was filmed on the set of Avengers: Doomsday while strongly hinting that Joe and Anthony Russo were behind the camera for it.

    So a couple things about that. I didn’t film that scene. I was there when it was filmed and I can say that it comes from the set of a production that might be starting production right around now. So that might be fun for people to stay and watch.

    -Jake Schreier

    The knowledge that the Russos filmed the scene adds a little extra weight to the information contained within. Too frequently, the studio’s stingers are poorly thought out and following up on them becomes the problem of “the next guy.” Since the Russos directed this and are “the next guys,” this scene can more or less be thought of as part of Avengers: Doomsday, which we can safely assume begins a year and two months after the events of Thunderbolts*, set in 2027. With that, we now know that the next Avengers film will be set in 2028, keeping the MCU timeline ahead of the real world by a couple of years.

    Thunderbolts* is now in theaters and Avengers: Doomsday is now in production ahead of its May 1, 2026 release.

  • First ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ BTS Photo May Reveal a Familiar Setting

    First ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ BTS Photo May Reveal a Familiar Setting

    One month after Marvel Studios slowly revealed over two dozen members of the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, principal photography on the film has officially begun in the UK. Though it’s only just getting underway, photos of the construction of a large-scale practical set and rumblings of an opening scene at the X-Mansion have made their way online in recent weeks; now, a behind-the-scenes photo released by the Russo brothers looks to confirm the latter.

    Shared on Instagram, the first official look from the set of Avengers: Doomsday does not seem to give much away at first glance, though some might argue that seeing “Victor Von Doom” on the director’s chair might settle some concerns that Robert Downey Jr. is playing a Stark Variant. However, a closer look at the background could indeed confirm that the first scenes to be filmed for the movie are set at Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.

    Given that it’s been some time since the interior of the X-Mansion has been visited on screen, it might be easy to overlook that Downey’s chair is positioned to intentionally provide a look at the wall of what can be assumed to be the location for filming on day one…and that wall does indeed look like it belongs inside Xavier’s school. The oak paneling is consistent with how the school has looked in the Fox films and with a large chunk of the cast of the original X-Men trilogy returning for Avengers: Doomsday, that’s unlikely to be a coincidence.

    While it’s safe to assume the Russos won’t be following the exact formula they used in making Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, it is likely there will be some resonance in some of the choices they make. Opening Avengers: Doomsday by having Victor Von Doom take on and possibly take out Fox’s OG X-Men would serve the same purpose as having Thanos easily defeat the Hulk and Thor while killing Loki. With X-Men: Days of Future Past having created a divergent timeline in which the events of the original trilogy were undone and the team was alive and well in 2023, the X-Men should be an incredibly formidable superteam and if they can’t stop Doom, who can?

  • Early Reactions Call ‘Thunderbolts*’ Marvel’s Best Since Endgame

    Early Reactions Call ‘Thunderbolts*’ Marvel’s Best Since Endgame

    Once upon a time, Thunderbolts* seemed to be on track to be a relatively run of the mill Marvel Studios movie that would serve as a sequel to 2021’s Black Widow. A few rewrites and an almost totally unknown director later, it sounds as though the studio’s work behind the scenes may have transformed Thunderbolts* into an MCU all-timer.

    Without giving away too much, a lot of what David [Harbour] and Florence [Pugh] are working with as material in this movie relates to that past relationship. And there’s resonance to that, so I think it’s important to everyone to preserve that legacy of something that emotionally meant so much to people and make sure that we refer to that in the right way, and we protect it and make sure that it means something. I think we’re pulling from all of their histories and then trying to tell something new. I don’t think that it feels like a Black Widow sequel. I think it feels like it’s a sampling of people from different parts [of this universe]. It’s definitely a part of our story but it’s not the driving force that leads into this film.

    -Jake Schreier

    Following the film’s European premier and series of early screenings Thunderbolts* is being hailed as an overwhelming success, featuring the kind of heart missing from many recent efforts.

    According to multiple socmed accounts, Thunderbolts* is carried by strong performances across the board with Florence Pugh and Lewis Pullman leading the way.

    While early screenings always generate “best ever” reactions, reading between the lines here reveals that Jake Schreier‘s approach to the project injected the film–and perhaps the MCU–with the shot of adrenaline it needed as it heads into the final phase of the Multiverse Saga.

  • ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Showrunner Teases Matt Murdock’s Season 2 Army

    ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Showrunner Teases Matt Murdock’s Season 2 Army

    The Season One finale of Daredevil: Born Again left Matt Murdock–and all of New York City– in the shadow of Mayor Kingpin. “Straight to Hell” left no doubt that Wilson Fisk won the battle but it also made it clear that Matt Murdock is regrouping and preparing for war. Faling back to Josie’s, Murdock is now looking to put together an army to take on Fisk and his Anti-vigilante Task Force, an idea that has fans of the Netflix Defenders-verse convinced Jessica Jokes, Luke Cage, Danny Rand and more will ultimately be featured in Season 2.

    With the sophomore season already well into production, there’s been no sign of the Defenders yet; however, in a recent interview, showrunner Dario Scardapane made it clear those characters–and others from Matt’s circle of friends–arent far from his mind as he continues work in the show.

    “Without giving too much away…when you’re working in what I would call the Hell’s Kitchen corner of the MCU, those iconic characters are always in your mind,” said Scardapane of Jones, Cage and Rand…but those heroes aren’t the only characters with ties to the Kitchen.

    “The thing is that — and this is kind of hard, I’m trying to thread a needle here — you want to bring in people and relationships and past figures in Matt’s life because they help the story, particularly in terms of a story where Fisk has taken over the city. And there is a resistance and a rebellion, so to speak, rising. So there’s going to be people, vigilantes, superheroes that are involved in that. There has to be because this is happening to their city,” Scardapane explained. Of course, as integral to his story so far as the Defenders have been, nobody has been a more important figure in Matt’s past than Elektra. However, bringing her back from the dead or even bringing in living Defenders just because isn’t something Scardapane is willing to do.

    “…you also want to create a completely organic story for that. So who comes in and why has to be beyond anything earned. So the easiest answer to your question is, yes, those characters that you just listed off are absolutely in my head and everybody’s head as we’re working,” said Scardapane of the trio of heroes who helped save New York City in the Defenders crossover event.

    “How that manifests itself is both really tricky writing-wise and a pretty closely guarded secret at this point,” he continued. “So I’m being intentionally cagey, but I’m also saying, ‘Hell yeah!’ in terms of it’s something we’re thinking about.“

    Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again will hit D+ in March 2026.

    Source: EW

  • ‘Daredevil: Born Again’: [SPOILER] Returns as Action Moves to Key Netflix Series Location in Latest Set Photos

    ‘Daredevil: Born Again’: [SPOILER] Returns as Action Moves to Key Netflix Series Location in Latest Set Photos

    Ironically, as Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again enters into its Netflix era, production on Season 2 of the D+ streaming series has returned to one of the Netflix series’ key locations. After what seemed like a daily onslaught of set photos early on, production on the new season of the Marvel Studios revival hadn’t been gathering much attention; however, that’s certainly changed now.

    For the past few days, photos from the New York City set revealed that as part of his New York: Born Again campaign, Wilson Fisk was set to take part in a charity boxing match against someone called Matter Horn. Now, new photos and video reveal that the match takes place at Fogwell’s Gym.

    Fogwell’s, of course, is the home gym of the Murdocks. It’s the place where Jack Murdock trained and where Matt learned to fight. It would almost certainly seem that since Fisk knows Matt is Daredevil, that he’s chosen the venue to draw the hero out as he continues his anti-vigilante agenda. And further video from the set shows that if that was indeed the plan, it worked.

    https://twitter.com/chrisagwrites/status/1910600134141870341

    Wilson Bethel‘s Bullseye has been on set the past few days as well and now we know why…sort of. While it’s not entirely clear what is intent is, the crazed assassin can be seen arriving at Fogwell’s in his tactical suit, once again loaded with knives. And then he can be seen quickly leaving…through the front window!

    It would seem that showrunner Dario Scardapane is intent on having Daredevil and Bullseye crash through the front window of every location near and dear to the heart of Matt Murdock. With the frenzy taking place outside Fogwell’s just before the two exit the gym, it’s clear the action inside was likely just as intense as what went down inside Josie’s in Season 1. However, no spoilers have escaped the set just yet but given who was in attendance, it’s incredibly likely Bullseye was there to take someone out…but who?

    The Season 1 finale of Daredevil: Born Again streams on April 15th on Disney Plus. Season 2 will debut in 2026.

  • Possible Peek at Robert Downey Jr.’s Doom Reveals an Absolutely Absurd Take on the Character

    Possible Peek at Robert Downey Jr.’s Doom Reveals an Absolutely Absurd Take on the Character

    Of the 70,000+ characters created by Marvel Comics over the years, Doctor Doom is arguably the most well-crafted among them. Years of retcons have resulted in a flawed megalomaniac who remains entirely relatable to the Everyman. When Marvel Studios acquired the live-action rights to the character in 2019 as part of Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox, hopes wre high that after a pair of poor representations of Doom were brought to the screen in 2005 and 2015, Marvel might get it right. Those hopes have begun to fade.

    How can we not go backwards? How can we not disappoint expectations? How can we continue to beat expectations? And he brought up Victor Von Doom. I looked into this character. Later on, he goes, ‘Let’s get Victor Von Doom right.’

    -Robert Downey Jr. on Kevin Feige’s pitch for him to return to the MCU

    After what has since been revealed to be nearly a year’s worth of planning, Robert Downey Jr. was revealed to be Marvel Studios choice to bring Doctor Doom to life in the MCU. Questions about the choice haven’t really stopped since the announcement was made at SDCC ’24 and now a possible peek at Downey’s Doom look has generated even more concern.

    Downey’s 60th birthday celebration took place in the UK where the star has been for some time in preparation for the beginning of principal photography on Avengers: Doomsday and a very special invitation was sent out to those lucky enough to be in consideration to attend. Joined by a pair of Doombots, Downey’s Doom appears to be wearing combat fatigues, sporting a pair of black gauntlets and a gold mask. His ensemble is topped off with a fancy purple cape.

    While it would be easy–and perhaps best–to pass this off as simply some artistic choices, the fact that the character’s hair resembles the new look Downey was seen sporting at his party has led people to believe the invite is based closely on how Downey’s Doom will look in the film. And if that is the case, it’s unlikely to relieve concerns about this iteration of the character. Though the invitation does seem to indicate that this Doom will, like his comic book counterpart, be a mastrr of the mystic arts and a scientist, at some point it’s ok to wonder when Marvel Studios will stop attempting to reinvent the wheel each time they bring a major character into the MCU. Simply put, there is only Doom and he doesn’t need to be altered to be great.

    Avengers: Doomsday will be in theaters on May 1, 2026.