Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Marvel Studios

  • New Rumor Details Namor’s Powerful Presence in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    New Rumor Details Namor’s Powerful Presence in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    Tenoch Huerta Mejía‘s Namor stands as one of Marvel Studios’ most wonderfully constructed antagonists with his performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever leaving fans wanting more. Though characters from the World of Wakanda were expected to play key roles in Avengers: Doomsday, Huerta Mejía‘s name stood out among those revealed to be part of the cast of the 2026 film. And with the Russo brothers directing, K’uk’ulkan’s return should be expected to make a splash…and it sounds as though it will.

    VFX artist turned social media scooper James Mack–who has accurately reported on some details about Avengers: Doomsday–took to X to share details about a massive and VFX-heavy battle featuring Namor and it sounds as though the Emperor of the Deep will unleash the full extent of his powers next year.

    According to the scoop, Namor–accompanied his Talokanil army and a giant octopus–will unleash a “massive tsunami” in an unknown opposing force in Avengers: Doomsday.

    After sharing the original scoop, Mack returned to X to share an image of the giant tidal wave known as the Ultimatum Wave as it wiped out Manhattan. Of course, in Marvel Comics continuity, Magneto, not Namor, caused the Ultimatum Wave. However, that won’t stop Marvel Studios from showing off just how powerful Namor can be in Avengers: Doomsday.

    Mack’s scoop names two new Talokanil soldiers: Andromeda and Orka. Given the legions of soldiers in Namor’s army, namea aren’t dished out to all of them; in fact, only Attuma and Namora were named in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. With those two characters expected to return, perhaps is reasonable to assume Andromeda and Orka might have similarly sized roles. Neither have particularly exciting histories in the pages of Marvel Comics, with Andromeda canonically the daughter of Attuma and Orka typically a blunt instrument. It’s possible that the two are part of an MCU iteration of the Defenders of the Deep, Namor’s hand-picked strike force.

    With a trailer for the film rumored to be headed to theaters in December, this rumor seems relatively believable as this would be JUST the sort of big action beat that could be included in the trailer to raise expectations for the film.

  • ‘Severance: Star Tramell Tillman Casts Doubt on the Nature of His Role in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    ‘Severance: Star Tramell Tillman Casts Doubt on the Nature of His Role in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    In August, trade reports indicated that Severance and Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning star Tramell Tillman joined the cast of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Initially, the word that Tillman was set to join the fourth installment of the Spidey franchise as a villain; however, months into filming, Tillman’s role remains a mystery and now the star has called into question the veracity of those early reports.

    In a brief interview with Variety, Tillman played coy about his role while responding to a question about his potentially villainous character by asking, “Who says I’m playing a villain?”.

    Interestingly, despite never having been caught on location yet, Tillman revealed he’s already begun work on the film, scheduled to hit theaters on July 31, 2026.

    I’m told that Marvel has a plan to say goodbye to Kang. They’re going to wrap him up. I think they want to give him the boot just to put to bed any…I think they’re going to deal with Kang somehow. A small little thing… probably in one of the Avengers movies. I’ve heard Doctor Doom could be the one who kills him.

    -Jeff “The In” Sneider

    While reports from early 2025 claimed that Tillman was set to take over the role of Kang from Jonathan Majors, more recent insider buzz has made an effort to discredit the idea. Truly, yet another villain in Spider-Man: Brand New Day seems like overkill with Tombstone, Scorpion and, allegedly, Sadie Sink‘s shape-shifting character set to antagonize Spidey while he’ll also have to deal with both a rampaging Hulk and The Punisher.

    Given the expansive roster of interesting characters in Spidey’s orbit, there’s no doubt that Tillman would be a far greater asset to the MCU as a character–ally or enemy–who can carry on beyond a one-off appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

  • Details from Marvel’s Scrapped Avengers Film Reveal One New Team Was Set to Play a Key Role

    Details from Marvel’s Scrapped Avengers Film Reveal One New Team Was Set to Play a Key Role

    In February 2023, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness described Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, as “the biggest movie in the world.” However, whatever “big, sweeping” ideas Loveness had for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty were thought to be lost to time as he was replaced as the film’s writer by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron in November 2023. By July 2024, original director Destin Daniel Cretton had also left the project and was replaced by Anthony and Joe Russo, who brought along old pal Stephen McFeely to work on the script for what became Avengers: Doomsday.

    One early rumor about Loveness‘ plans for the film indicated that it would include multiple teams of heroes, something that was all but confirmed when concept art from Marvel Studios Senior Concept/Visual Development Mushk Rizvi was discovered online in early 2025. While there’s always plenty of space between concept and execution, we now know one “big idea” Loveness had for one particular team whose presence in the film was revealed by the concept leaked art.

    In a Reddit Q&A, Waldron pulled back the curtain on plans he and Loveness had for the Young Avengers before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was scrapped in favor of Avengers: Doomsday.

    Jeff Loveness and I spent an afternoon pitching on the Young Avengers defeating a version of Kang and being so stoked about it…only to discover that that particular Kang carried a little card that said to Be Patient with him, it was his first day as a Kang. And then they were so bummed. I think he was gonna be the lizard Kang from the end of Kang Dynasty? I don’t know. Anyway we had fun.

    -Michael Waldron, Reddit Q&A, October 28, 2025

    Given the response to the defeat of Jonathan Majors‘ Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, it seems unlikely such a scene, even if treated as a joke, would have landed well with the grumbly segment of the Marvel “fan base.” However, it is entirely in line with the sensibilities of Loveness and Waldron and also at least partially consistent with one of the Young Avengers first collective missions in the comics.

  • Fans Believe Marvel Studios May Have “Soft Launched” Its New Black Panther

    Fans Believe Marvel Studios May Have “Soft Launched” Its New Black Panther

    In January 2025, a report from Jeff “The In” Sneider indicated that Marvel Studios planned to recast the role of T’Challa, with a new actor set to portray the character originally played by the late Chadwick Boseman. Sneider claimed the new actor would step into the role for three upcoming films, starting with Avengers: Doomsday and continuing on in both Avengers: Secret Wars and Black Panther 3.

    Sneider’s report was quickly countered by social media scooper My Time To Shine Hello, who claimed that the recast wasn’t for the character played by Boseman but rather for T’Challa II, played by Divine Love Konadu-Sun in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Former Marvel Parliament member Nate Moore seemed to put the rumblings to rest in February, explaining that without a story in place for Black Panther 3, the studio was unable to make a decision about replacing Boseman in the role. However, as believable as Moore‘s words were, one of the biggest oopsies ever quickly turned the tide of the story one more time.

    We don’t know what the story is, so I couldn’t tell you whether or not we’re open to recasting. It certainly wasn’t our instinct for Wakanda Forever. I’ll never say never to anything, but it’s too early to talk about any of that stuff. We have to figure out what the story’s going to be.

    -Producer Nate Moore

    In March, Senior Concept/Visual Development Artist Mushk Rizvi posted a significant amount of concept art from the studio’s upcoming slate to her Art Station account. Among there were several designs for a new Black Panther that looked to be using actor Damson Idris as a model. 

    The idea of Idris as the MCU’s new T’Challa took hold quickly among the fanbase; however, further inspection of the files posted on Art Station revealed that the character in the concept art was T’Chanda, the Black Panther of Wakanda in World War II and the grandfather of T’Challa. Despite the excitement, the buzz died down and with principal photography on Avengers: Doomsday having been completed with no sign of Idris among those revealed to be part of the cast, fans seemed to have moved on…until now.

    An appearance by Idris at Vogue World: Hollywood, alongside Black Panther franchise star Angela Bassett, has fansvonce again believing he’s set to be the MCU’s next Black Panther.

    With Bassett spotted holding hands with Idris while outfitted in the same garb work by her Queen Ramonda, fans quickly began to call the event a “soft launch” for the recasting of Boseman‘s iconic role. Theories and speculation have begun to spread across social media platforms and message boards, though no single theory seems to be taking hold. Is Idris a Multiversal Variant, a grown T’Challa II or T’Chanda? Has he been cast in Avengers: Doomsday at all? Given the fact that characters from the World of Wakanda are confirmed to play a major role in the film, all of the options would seem to be in play. With the studio rumored to be planning to roll out a teaser for the film before year’s end, perhaps we’ll all find out soon.

  • Marvel Rumored to Be Moving Fast on Recently Revealed Revival

    Marvel Rumored to Be Moving Fast on Recently Revealed Revival

    Arguably the biggest Marvel news Coming out of New York Comic Con was that Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter and the Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios, Brad Winderbaum, admitted to discussing a future for Jessica Jones beyond returning for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. Whatever the studio has in mind for the character, Winderbaum teased that the new project would be coming “sooner than you think,” and one of social media’s busiest bees has now spoken on the subject.

    There’s a lot of stuff that I’ve felt there was room to explore, and Brad and I talked about it and I am not going to say any of it, because we’re going to be doing it.

    -Krysten Ritter
    According to social media scooper My Time To Shine Hello, Marvel Studios has started the process of assembling the creative team for the Jessica Jones revival by searching for a writer.
    NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 11: Krysten Ritter speaks onstage during the Marvel Television and Marvel Animation Panel at New York Comic Con at Javits Center in New York, NY on October 11, 2025. (Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Disney)

    In 2013, 5 years after the MCU kicked off with Iron Man, Disney and Netflix reached a deal that allowed the streaming service to develop four live-action series based around some of Marvel Comics’ “street-level” heroes: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. The original deal called for a 13-episode series to be developed for each character with their stories intersecting in a crossover events series, The Defenders. Ultimately, each of the series were granted at least a second season and, in 2016, following the character’s debut in Season 2 of Daredevil, a spinoff series centered on Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, went into development.

    In late 2018, Netflix began cancelling the series individually and by February 2019, the Defenders-verse died a quiet death in the trades. In March 2022, the series were all removed from Netflix’s streaming platform and appeared on Disney Plus as The Defenders Saga and were not included in the MCU Timeline or the Infinity Saga. However, in January 2024, Winderbaum canonized the projects, beginning the Netflixification of Marvel’s live-action streaming efforts. Now, a Jessica Jones project looks to be the next step.

  • What to Expect from the Future of The MCU and When to Expect It

    What to Expect from the Future of The MCU and When to Expect It

    What’s next for Marvel Studios? Who’s recently joined the cast of your most anticipated series or film? Where can you find the teasers and trailers? Look no further, true believers. Everything you need to know about the future of the MCU has been collected for you here. Click on each logo to learn what we currently know about the upcoming MCU projects.

  • ‘ViSiONQUΞST’ Will Retcon Major Infinity Saga Moment

    ‘ViSiONQUΞST’ Will Retcon Major Infinity Saga Moment

    When Star Trek: Picard‘s Terry Matalas took over the development of VisionQuest from WandaVision and Agatha All Along creator Jac Schaeffer, he assembled a creative team whose resumes suggested that the project might become one of Marvel Television’s most eccentric streaming series to date. Coming out of New York Comic Con 2025, where fans in attendance got a glimpse of what to expect from the show, it seems as though that may well be the case.

    Though VisionQuest is meant to serve as the endcap of a trilogy that began with WandaVision in 2021 and continued with Agatha All Along in 2024, it will also connect to and explore concepts left on the table during the Infinity Saga and includes the return of one of the Avengers’ greatest villains from Marvel Studios’ first collection of films with James Spader returning as Ultron. Ultron won’t be the only AI in the show, however, as several of Tony Stark’s programs are also set to return, though this time they’ll all have human forms, allowing for some interesting interactions with Henry Lewis as D.U.M.-E, Jonathan Sayer as U, James D’Arcy as J.A.R.V.I.S., Orla Brady as F.R.I.D.A.Y., and Emily Hampshire as E.D.I.T.H.

    While speaking during a surprise appearance at NYCC, Paul Bettany explained that the series would focus on the White Vision’s “attempt to connect to” the memories given to him by Red Vision during the season finale of WandaVision, though the Synthezoid is “having real difficulty connecting to them.” While speaking to Phase Hero’s Brandon Davis following NYCC, showrunner Matalas gave some additional insight into Vision’s plight in the show and discussed its core dynamic.

    Simply put, VisionQuest is about “A man going through an identity crisis,” according to Matals. Vision is “trying to find a way to identify with who he was but is having difficulty as he is out in the world and seeing humanity in a more direct way…[he] has some doubts about us.” From what can be gathered from the teaser shown at NYCC and from Bettany’s comments, the series will take us inside Vision’s mind while he struggles, revealing that he’s “been saving and copying and pasting [the AIs] to keep them alive inside his head,” including Ultron, which leads to what Matals calls the show’s “core dynamic.”

    “This is a show about the Marvel AIs,” said Matalas. “You do get to see robot Ultron, but you see a lot of James Spader and a lot of Paul Bettany together,” teased the showrunner. “They are very much a core dynamic of the show.” However, much has changed since fans last saw them together during the climax of Avengers: Age of Ultron, which Matalas calls his favorite scene from the 2015 film. “Where they are now, Ultron isn’t quite the same and Vision isn’t quite the same. So it’s interesting to see what that new dynamic is going to be.”

    Of course, any expectation that Vision’s creator has undergone a catharsis and will be looking out for his “son” seems far-fetched given Ultron’s place as one of the most sinister foes of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. And as Bettany teased, Vision has kept Ultron “behind a pretty impressive firewall because he’s a psychopath. But he’s a clever one.” We’ll see what sort of evil Ultron gets up to when VisionQuest hits D+ in the Fall of 2026.

    Source: Collider, Marvel.com, Phase Hero

  • Marvel Updates Release Info for Two Upcoming Live-Action Streaming Projects

    Marvel Updates Release Info for Two Upcoming Live-Action Streaming Projects

    Both Marvel Animation and Marvel Television provided updates to their respective 2026 streaming slates on October 11th, with five total projects in the spotlight. On the animation side, streaming skipper Brad Winderbaum talked about the second seasons of X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, two shows the studio hopes to roll out annually for the foreseeable future. Winderbaum also brought news on three live-action projects set to debut in 2026: Wonder Man, Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 and VisionQuest, with Wonder Man‘s January 27th release date being revealed while the other projects were given more general windows.

    Coming out of NYCC, the 2026 streaming slate shaped up as follows:

    • January 27th: Wonder Man
    • TBD March: Daredevil: Born Again Season 2
    • Summer: X-Men ’97 Season 2
    • Fall: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2
    • TBD 2026: VisionQuest

    Following the presentation, Disney has updated the information available about each project via their respective media kits, revealing a release date for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 and a more defined release window for VisionQuest.

    The sophomore season of Daredevil: Born Again is now confirmed to begin streaming on March 4th, 2026 while VisionQuest has now been given a Fall 2026 release window.

    It is notable that Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again debuted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2025 and that March 4th, 2026 will be a Wednesday. Over the past couple of years, Marvel Television has not established any real consistency in releasing episodes on Tuesdays or Wednesdays and the March 4th date is as true to Winderbaum‘s promise of the series being a flagship that fans can look forward to being released annually.

    In the case of VisionQuest, the Fall 2026 release sets up the series to be the final live-action project fans will take in before heading to theaters for Avengers: Doomsday on December 18, 2026. While the studio continues to work on reducing the number of projects that feel too intricately connected to the larger narrative, rumors have begun to swirl that VisionQuest may indeed include a major MCU plot point, connecting the series and its cast to the conclusion of the Multiverse Saga.

  • Marvel TV Boss Addresses the Future of ‘X-Men ’97’

    Marvel TV Boss Addresses the Future of ‘X-Men ’97’

    X-Men ’97 left fans wanting more when the first season wrapped its 10-episode in May 2024. One of Marvel’s most consistently excellent projects, the revival of the beloved X-Men: The Animated Series was originally planned to return to D+ in 2025 for Season 2; however, following the dismissal of original showrunner Beau DeMayo, the gap between seasons expanded. During New York Comic Con, Marvel’s streaming head honcho, Brad Winderbaum, gave fans a peek at Season 2 revealed plans for it to stream Summer 2026, more than two full years since Season 1 completed its run.

    Winderbaum has expressed a desire to have future seasons of X-Men ’97 “get to an annual cadence,” joining Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man as “something that people can rely on.” To that end, new showrunner Matthew Chauncey and the rest of the creative team have fallen into a groove, already working on Season 3…and beyond.

    What’s exciting about the next few years is that we’re going to get subsequent seasons of X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on an annual cadence. So every year, there’ll be a new season and we can map out a longer arc to those stories.

    -Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studio, Brad Winderbaum

    “Season 3 is…I’ve almost seen animatics for the entire season, and it is incredible. I saw an episode the other day,” Winderbaum said in an interview with Collider following the Marvel Animation and Marvel Television panel. But he didn’t stop there.

    After he was fired, DeMayo revealed he had a five-season plan in place when he created the series and it looks like Winderbaum and the creative team behind X-Men ’97 will continue to work from that outline. “There is definitely, more than possibly, more to come from X-Men ‘97. We’re talking about Seasons 4 and 5 now,” said Marvel’s TV big cheese.

    Assuming Winderbaum’s “annual cadence” is kept, new seasons of X-Men ’97 will continue to hit D+ until at least 2029, giving fans their mutant throughout the decade!

    Source: Collider

  • ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Set Video Sets Off Speculation on the Identity of Liza Colón-Zayas’ Role 

    ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Set Video Sets Off Speculation on the Identity of Liza Colón-Zayas’ Role 

    Since Tom Holland returned to the set of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, photos and videos from the set have indicated that one of the film’s major set pieces will involve Michael Mando‘s Mac Gargan being pursued by Jon Bernthal‘s Frank Castle. Recently, Mando was spotted on set exiting a helicopter in the same prison gear he was wearing at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming. Fans have generated plenty of theories about what might happen in that scene, including the potential for the adaptation of an incredible action sequence based on a portion of a scene from a video game but whatever the case, it looks like the aftermath will be nothing short of disastrous.

    A new behind the scenes video shared by X user @batuhansafakk shows Spidey working with first responders in the midst of a significant mess in the streets. At one point during the footage, a female police officer approaches Spider-Man and the two have an extended conversation. Even given the distance from which the footage was recorded, it seems clear that the actress working with Holland is Liza Colón-Zayas, who was cast in the film earlier this year. And given that she’s a police officer working closely with Spidey, speculation about the identity of her character has taken off.

    When she was originally cast, fans speculated that Colón-Zayas may end up playing Miles Morales mother, Rio. Now, thanks to online scooper My Time To Shine Hello, a new theory has taken hold and it does indeed track with Marvel Studios and Sony setting Spider-Man: Brand New Day on the streets.

    MTTSH believes Colón-Zayas could be playing NYPD Detective Jean DeWolff, an ally of Spidey’s created by Bill Mantl and first introduced in 1976’s Marvel Team-Up #48. The two formed a close working relationship over the years and her death at the hands of her partner Stan Carter, the Sin-Eater, took a major toll on the Web-Slinger. In the Ultimate Universe, DeWolff worked with Spidey but was ultimately revealed to be a pawn of the Kingpin.

    Should Colón-Zayas indeed be playing a version of DeWolff, she’ll be this version of Spidey’s first NYPD ally and could end up as a recurring character, setting up an adaptation of Peter David‘s four-part “The Death of Jean DeWolff” arc, considered one of the best Spidey stories of all time.