Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Marvel Studios

  • Helmut Zemo: The Story So Far

    Helmut Zemo: The Story So Far

    As we continue with our previews for The Falcon And The Winter Soldier characters, one of the most compelling returns is that of Helmut Zemo. Daniel Brühl‘s Zemo only appeared in one film, though you can easily make an argument that he had a substantial impact on the MCU. This guy broke up the Avengers without laying a hand on any of them. Zemo is one of the few villains who successfully reached his end goal in a film. There’s something intrigue about his return, so let’s take a look at how Zemo got here.

     

     

    Captain America: Civil War introduces us to Helmut Zemo. He is a former Colonel of the Sokovian Armed Forces and the leader of EKO Scorpion. After the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron left Sokovia in crumbles, Zemo sought revenge for his family’s death. Knowing that he couldn’t fight the Avengers head-on, he focused on destroying the team with other means. To achieve his goal, he started hunting down a mission report on December 16th, 1991. Zemo found a book that contains the phrases to control Bucky, which he took after interrogating a former HYDRA goon.

    He was the mastermind that coordinated the bombing of the UN in Vienna, which led to King T’Chaka’s death. It was around the same time the Sokovia Accords were signed, so tensions were high. His plan involved framing Bucky behind the explosion, which would start an internal struggle between Iron Man and Captain America. It led to the eventual arrest of the former Winter Soldier and Steve Rogers by the CIA.

     

    It becomes the perfect opportunity for Zemo to use the book on Bucky, who goes on a rampage. He then plants the seed of him heading out to activate other HYDRA super-soldiers, which is why the Avengers fight at the Berlin airport. He waits his time at the base until Rogers, Stark, and Bucky arrive. There, he reveals that his plan was never about the soldiers. He killed them long before they showed up. The file he was looking for was to show Stark the night his parents die.

    Now that he managed to destroy the Avengers from the inside, as Iron Man, Captain America, and Bucky duke it out, he sits in the snow. T’Challa, who learned there is no point in taking revenge, confronts the former Sokovian soldier on his action as he plays with a gun. The moment he tried to end his life, T’Challa jumped in to make sure he can’t go through with it. The last we saw of him, he was in the same cell that Bucky was imprisoned in. We will see how he escaped and decided to don his mask once the show airs on March 19th on Disney+.

     

  • ‘WandaVision’ Gets Soberingly Real With its Last Sitcom Era

    ‘WandaVision’ Gets Soberingly Real With its Last Sitcom Era

    With only two episodes of WandaVision to go, reality has finally caught up with Wanda, in more ways than one. Yes, the show finally reached the present day this week, just in time for the excitement and allure of Westview to disappear and become a much more cynical place.

    With a couple of exceptions, WandaVision has used its sitcom structure to effectively highlight and/or subvert the feel of whatever time period Westview happens to be experiencing during the current episode. Long gone are the carefree days of the 1950s, and even the difficult lessons of the 1980s are too sugar-coated for the town by “Breaking the Fourth Wall.” All of these eras have had their blissful bubbles burst by one incident or another, and now Wanda is ready to give up on this one before it even starts. She’s not going to bother attempting to maintain hope and optimism in her children, either. She just wants some time to forget about everything, and it’s even sadder to think about when you remember that this was her whole motivation behind creating Westview in the first place.

    WandaVision episode 7 review: "A reveal brings about the endgame" | GamesRadar+

    This cynical attitude isn’t the only modern sitcom trope present in this episode. The documentary style of television that was largely popularized by reality TV eventually made its mark on sitcoms like Modern Family and The Office with characters frequently breaking the fourth wall as if they’re speaking to an interviewer (the term “mockumentary” has been coined in reference to this) and there’s plenty of that to be found here. Even characters who are trapped in “real life” are somehow able to magically pop over to an interview location to speak to the audience this week, and of course this is eventually lampshaded before the episode is over. There’s even a point at which Vision simply looks into the “regular”, non-interview camera; also a common trope of the times.

    The lack of lyrics – or even character shots – also fits in with modern-day sitcoms. But those disappointed by the final Anderson-Lopez theme tune being…uneventful were surprised when a theme song for a whole different side of the story capped off the episode.

    After much fan speculation, “Agnes the Neighbor” was finally confirmed to be Agatha Harkness, a character lifted from Marvel Comics but considerably changed for WandaVision (most notably in that Agatha isn’t a villain in the comics). A montage of her evil deeds throughout the eras of Westview was accompanied by her very own theme song, which was very reminiscent of the one for The Munsters, a 1960’s sitcom about a family consisting of various types of monsters (not to be confused with The Addams Family, which ran during the exact same years and had nearly the same number of episodes).

    “Breaking the Fourth Wall” was the last episode of WandaVision to focus on emulating a specific era of sitcoms, but as Agatha’s theme song demonstrated, that doesn’t necessarily mean all the references are done quite yet. This episode showed the magic maintaining Westview’s eras going haywire, and it’s very likely this will escalate as WandaVision hurdles toward its March 5 finale.

  • Bruce Campbell May Be in London for ‘Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness’

    Bruce Campbell May Be in London for ‘Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness’

    Back in June, in an interview with Diabolique Magazine, Evil Dead actor Bruce Campbell gave a surprisingly insightful answer on Sam Raimi‘s upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness film. He has been a mainstay in Raimi‘s films, commonly appearing in a brief cameo, so many thought that the chances were good he would do the same for Raimi‘s first film since 2013’s Oz the Great and Powerful. Campbell may have revealed that he will potentially make an appearance, as he shared a brief video confirming that he is in London in quarantine.

    Of course, there is no confirmation that he is there explicitly. The only thing we know is that he is involved with the upcoming Evil Dead Now film. He confirmed that he doesn’t have a starring role but will only have a producing credit. Given their history, it just seems to make sense that he would also make an appearance in some form. They have kept the tradition for some time, as he also appeared in Oz The Great and Powerful. It would be amazing if they bring back the concept from Raimi‘s scrapped version of Spider-Man 4, which would’ve seen Campbell play the role of Mysterio.

    If they had the rights to the Evil Dead franchise, they could’ve paid tribute to one of the earlier Marvel Zombies runs, which features Ash Williams fighting an onslaught of zombified Marvel heroes. The Doctor Strange sequel’s focus on the multiverse offers a wide variety of possibilities to happen, so who knows what direction they might take if he is indeed joining the production.

    Source: Diabolique Magazine via The Direct, Twitter, Variety, Den of Geek, What Culture

  • Marvel Studios Has Begun Their Search for ‘Fantastic Four’ Writers

    Marvel Studios Has Begun Their Search for ‘Fantastic Four’ Writers

    Yesterday, a rather bizarre story dropped about the possibility of Jennifer Lawrence joining the Fantastic Four. The report by The Daily Telegraph tabloid claimed that she was heading to Australia to film it. It was strange that its director, Jon Watts, is still actively working on the untitled Spider-Man 3, as laid out in the original article. The rumor regarding Lawrence‘s casting mentioned she is also there to film a different series, which would have to be in production for some time if she were to join the other potentially. So, like with many rumors, we can only take it with a grain of salt. Justin Kroll took to Twitter to share some information on the production. He dropped the return of Chris Evans as Captain America around a month ago. It offers some insight into where the production of the Fantastic Four film currently is.

    Fantastic Four got revealed at the tail-end of Disney’s Investors Day’s Marvel Studios panel, so it makes sense that it is later down the production pipeline. They only recently hired Stacy Osei-Kuffour to pen Blade. They might be looking for writers for a variety of projects at the moment. Speaking of, they have cast Bahershala Ali in the role of the vampire hunter already in 2019, so it isn’t new for them to sign-up talent long before they enter any form of pre-production. They have cast actors early for them to make an appearance in earlier projects. Either way, it will be interesting to see who they might get to write the project about Marvel’s first family and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s attempt at adapting the iconic characters.

    Source: Twitter, Deadline

  • ‘Ms. Marvel’ Production Heading to Bangkok Next

    ‘Ms. Marvel’ Production Heading to Bangkok Next

    Marvel Studios has been busy working on the various Disney+ shows that are eyeing a release this year. So far, we only know that Falcon and the Winter Soldier will start next month before Loki takes over in May. Right now, Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel are currently filming as they prepare to release in late 2021. Especially Ms. Marvel has been filming for some time, they even had enough to showcase a small sizzle reel during Disney’s Investors Day last year. It gave us our first look at newcomer Iman Vellani in the titular role. Now that an additional casting has been revealed, it looks like their current plans will see the production head to Bangkok. In a recent Instagram posting, atlanta_filming mentioned in the comments that the series is going to be heading to the iconic city of Thailand next.

    Our own sources back up the next shooting location, as they aim to wrap up its production in Atlanta next month. They would be heading to Bangkok shortly after, but it is unsure how it might be affected by the pandemic. Thailand may serve as the backdrop for a famous storyline from comics that took place in Badin, Pakistan. It is the hometown of Kareem, or better known as the hero Red Dagger. We know that Aramis Knight has joined the series in the role, so it could be how they introduce him. We have no details, so it is uncertain what they plan on shooting in the city, but it would be interesting to see the character explore her roots. It could also serve as a backdrop for some creative interior shots, so we’ll see once the show airs sometime later this year.

    Source: Instagram

  • ‘WandaVision’ Episode 7 Recap: The Woman Behind It All

    ‘WandaVision’ Episode 7 Recap: The Woman Behind It All

    If Episode 7 was any indication, we are arriving at the heights and very best of what WandaVision has to offer. The chess pieces have moved and the stakes are high. Monica Rambeau does what heroes do, Vision sorts through his feelings while Wanda loses it, and Agnes is exactly who we thought she was. Let’s examine where we are.

     

    Vision gets caught up on everything.

     

    Vision wakes up after the hex expands to being right in the middle of the circus. He recognizes Darcy from the previous night in the confrontation with S.W.O.R.D. and Hayward. Inside the hex, Darcy has become an escape artist who thinks Vision is a creep. Kat Dennings continues to be really awesome in all of her appearances and this is no exception.

    Vision catches up to bring her mind back to reality. Darcy then catches  Vision up on everything that’s happened prior to Westview, AKA Infinity War. He’s frustrated with Wanda but Darcy assures him that Wanda and Vision belong together. They later find out that Wanda is keeping Vision from getting back home, or perhaps someone else is? The seeds of doubt have been sewn so it will be interesting to see how these two reconcile.

     

    Monica Rambeau at her very best.

    Monica and Jimmy Woo are driving towards the hex so Monica can get back in there. We still don’t know the identity of the aerospace engineer but I’m sure when we find out it will be quite the surprise. Jimmy receives the info Darcy hacked from Hayward’s firewall. The intel shows that Vision is the focus of their operation, as they plan to bring him back online as their own sentient weapon. More on this later. As they arrive Monica meets with her contact, Major Goodner who brings a small unit to Westview with the vehicle Monica requested.

     

    Outside of the Hex, Monica suits up to cross over the CMBR-filled static on the rescue mission. As she drives the vehicle in the barrier turns out to be too powerful and transforms the vehicle halfway into a truck. As Monica gets out, that hero factor or whatever motivated her to keep going kicks in. She forces her way through the barrier and while struggling through we see four different versions of her split. As she holds it together we hear dialogue from Captain Marvel including Carol Danvers and Nick Fury. As she breaks through the barrier we see her eye color change to purple and a new hero is born. Is it Spectrum, Pulsar, or Photon? We have plenty of time to find out but this show has done an exemplary job of giving us Monica Rambeau’s back story the necessary treatment. Even before the series ends, we know who Monica is, her motivations and what she’s capable of without her powers. With the powers? One can only wonder.

     

    Monica then confronts Wanda at her house and Wanda immediately becomes very angry. The prior interferences from Hayward are referenced and she can’t trust anyone. Wanda then yeets Monica outside again but this isn’t the same Monica that got thrown like a rag doll in episode 3. She gathers herself and lands in a pose that only a superhero can pull off. Monica pleads with Wanda to not make herself the villain of the story. They argue and Wanda threatens to end Monica and when Monica replies, “Do it then.” you felt the tension go up another notch. Monica attempts to calm Wanda down and it feels like she’s getting somewhere until Agnes shows up and whisks Wanda away. That Agnes is something else.

     

    Wanda is losing her mind, and she might be losing more.

    Wanda starts her day waking up in bed confused about what happened the night before. We get a replay of the hex as she narrates in a Modern Family-style as she seems a bit overwhelmed. Billy and Tommy then come up as they complain that their games are changing form. Their controllers turn into older models, and finally Uno Cards. Billy hears voices in his head but Wanda is having none of it. She wants to be left alone. As the kids are arguing about the video games, Wanda comes downstairs and her powers are on the fritz. Before she gets cereal she seems content with Vision being out of the house for now, and calls Pietro an impostor. It was a nice touch for the cereal to be Sugar Snaps, referring to Thanos’ snap at the end of Infinity War.

     

    Eventually, Agnes shows up and insists on taking the kids off of Wanda’s hands for a bit. Wanda is more than happy to and as she thinks she’s going to have a simple time watching tv her powers go out of whack again. Everything around the house switches time periods and she continues to be confused. A voice offscreen then asks, “Do you think maybe this is what you deserve?” Wanda is losing it.

     

    We cut to a commercial advertising Nexus, an anti-depressant that’s “a unique anti-depressant that works to anchor you back to your reality or the reality of your choice.” That’s another big easter egg. In Marvel Lore the Nexus is a cross-dimensional gateway which provides a pathway to any and all possible realities, this also includes realities between realities. The Multiverse! Wanda Maximoff in the comics is a nexus being, one that is always a constant in all universes.

     

    We get to Agnes’ house which looks really nice on the inside by the way! Billy notices that Agnes is “quiet on the inside.” which is a heck of a red herring for what’s to come. After Wanda’s confrontation with Monica, Agnes brings her into her home presumably to see the kids. As Wanda sits she senses something eerie. She goes to the basement where Agnes says to check for the children. As she goes down a very dark hallway she reaches a room with a cabinet full of bones and a glowing book. Once she reaches this room Agnes shows up and locks the door. We then learn that Agnes is actually Agatha Harkness, the witch from Marvel comics Lore. As Wanda seemingly is under Agnes’ control the episode closes with a brilliant montage with the song “Agatha All Along”. We see how Agatha has been influencing Wanda and Vision the entire time concluding with us finding out that Agatha killed Sparky. Roll credits! Man, that was a lot. Let’s take a look at the theory board with some questions.

     

    Theory Board

    1. We only see Hayward briefly at the beginning of the episode talking about a launch of something as he’s outside the hex. A secret operation to retrieve Vision? Who’s he working for and who is he actually? Is he a Kree taking part in trying to get a weapon online for a war against earth? Is he Hydra or Aim? We will find out soon enough.
    2. With the mention of the Nexus and that glowing book and that really funky, dark room in Agatha’s basement, is this the door to the Nexus Of All Realities? What is the nature of that book? That holds the key to everything, including potentially who Agatha is working for. There’s no way that she’s doing this on her own. Did she use the Wundagore Everbloom flowers and that’s why she killed Sparky? The Everbloom flowers allow a person to have visions to the future by lying a petal of an Everbloom on their tongue. This requires the person to consume the flower twice, once after hunger and second after murder. This may have allowed Agatha to be one step ahead this entire time.
    3. We’re left with our first mid-credits scene! Monica arrives at Agatha’s house and as she heads to the basement, Pietro makes his first appearance of the episode with, “Snoopers are gonna snoop.” and we fade to black. We saw that Agatha influenced Pietro showing up, but is that Fox’s Pietro, or is that our villain of the story? We’re getting tantalizingly close to the answers to that.
    4.  Are Billy and Tommy ok? We don’t see them as Wanda is taken back under Agatha’s control. They are crucial to the story going forward especially the type of power that Billy has as a telepath.
    5. Mephisto, or Nightmare? The devil references have been rampant throughout the series to this point, but has that been a throw-off to the rumored villain in the upcoming Dr. Strange film? Will we find out who Ralph is? Sounds like with Ralph our answers will be found.

    WandaVision has been a delight through seven episodes, and the weekly releases has allowed us to digest this differently than if we were binging. With two left we have so many questions still to be answered, and it’s shaping up to be a wild ride down the stretch.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • RUMOR: Jennifer Lawrence Joins ‘Fantastic Four’

    RUMOR: Jennifer Lawrence Joins ‘Fantastic Four’

    So, this is a rather bizarre story but too interesting not to cover. Right now, Marvel Studios has started production on a variety of projects, such as Thor: Love and Thunder. They have been expanding beyond their usual Atlanta filming location, as Australia has been growing into a popular filming location. It looks like they will continue working there with another upcoming project, as according to The Daily Telegraph, Marvel Studios also plans to shoot the Fantastic Four film there. Not just that, as they also reveal that Jennifer Lawrence is already on her way there to film it.

    It’s a bit of a strange surprise if you consider that Jon Watts is set to direct the upcoming film. Yet, he is still at work on the untitled Spider-Man 3 film, so it would be strange to start production so soon. We’ve reached out to Disney, but they have not yet responded on the validity of this rumor. Daily Mail also sourced The Daily Telegraph, where they explicitly state that she is involved in a Marvel project. It also states that she will arrive there in a month to start production on a series in the coming weeks.

    So, even if the production will be in Australia but it is unlikely to start anytime soon. Jennifer Lawrence is quite a high-profile actress to join the franchise and the second former X-Men actress to join a Marvel Studios production. So, she won’t have a minor role and it would be easy to say that she might be playing Susan Storm, or better known as the Invisible Woman. We’ll see what the validity is to this story moving forward.

    Source: The Daily Telegraph via Daily Mail

  • ‘ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA’: Evangeline Lilly Confirms Summer Production Start

    ‘ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA’: Evangeline Lilly Confirms Summer Production Start

    We’ve been getting a lot of first looks at various Marvel Studios productions. We got our first look at the Thor: Love and Thunder set as they are ramping up production in Australia. Now, we were wondering if any other films might also be slowly starting, such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The Wasp herself, Evangeline Lilly, was surprisingly candid when addressing the Ant-Man threequel’s upcoming shooting start. It looks like we’re pleased to see that it won’t take long for the project that will feature Kang the Conqueror, and that is likely will give yet another Young Avenger in Cassie Lang’s Stature. If you scroll through the following Instagram post, you can see her confirm a potential summer production start. 

     

    This revelation confirms our own report from June 2020, that principal photography is set to begin this summer. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will once again have Peyton Reed in the director’s seat. He will be the second Marvel Cinematic Universe director to have a complete trilogy under his belt. He is following Spider-Man‘s Jon Watts, who is currently directing his still-untitled third installment. Stars Paul Rudd and the aforementioned Evangeline Lilly will be returning alongside Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer. Jonathan Majors and Kathryn Newton will be making their franchise debuts in the threequel. It will be interesting to see how this film connects to the last entry in the franchise and potentially build upon the current rumors of a multiversal storyline.

    Source: Instagram

  • Laurel Marsden Joins Disney+’s ‘Ms. Marvel’

    Laurel Marsden Joins Disney+’s ‘Ms. Marvel’

    We are in the new era of Marvel Studios storytelling. WandaVision has redefined our understanding of what makes a Marvel story. It will also be the first of many that are heading our way. Among them is the story of the Inhuman Ms. Marvel. It will bring the character of Kamala Khan into the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. We got a brief snippet of the series during Disney’s Investors Day, but it has gone quiet since while production continues. Luckily, it seems that The Hollywood Reporter got their hands on some info, as Laurel Marsden is joining the series.

    The actress has recently appeared in Survive. It aired on the now shut down service Quibi service. It kickstarted her career to get a larger role, such as the upcoming Marvel Studios show. She will play Zoe Zimmer, who got introduced in 2014’s Ms. Marvel No. 3. She is a bully character but also ends up bonding with Kamala. As THR points out, she is the first character to get saved by Kamala in the comic, so she also pushed the young hero to embrace her role.

    The show has no release date but most likely will get released later in the year. We are only a month away from the release of Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Loki is set to arrive in May. Hopefully, we might get a few new trailers once we near the release of the Gods of Mischief’s show. We will certainly keep an eye out for any potential set photos that may give us a small glimpse of where they are going with this story.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Wyatt Russell’s Captain America in Distress in Latest ‘Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ Teaser

    Wyatt Russell’s Captain America in Distress in Latest ‘Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ Teaser

    It’s 30 days before the first episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier drops and so we’ve been treated to a new teaser. We’ve seen a lot of the material before, but there are a few new shots. In one new noteworthy image, Bucky and Sam appear to part ways after the shield throwing session that we’ve seen many times. Although I know this was filmed during the first few weeks of production in Savannah, Georgia, I have to wonder if it’s at the beginning of the series or maybe even at the end. They made peace with each other and found their places in this new world.

     

     

    Another image of note is what appears to be John Walker, who is played by Wyatt Russell, decked out as the new Captain America. Something seems wrong though, as he’s kneeling and grasping his head. The shield itself seems a bit battle-damaged and scorched at this point too. Could it be that Mr. Walker is feeling the pressure of his new position as the Star-Spangled man? Or is something much more sinister going on in his head?

     

     

    Further interesting evidence that not all is right came to me when I realized that the same location was revealed in other trailers and clips for the show. Bucky and Sam are seen leaving in a rush, without Walker. In a clip, Sam is holding the shield, while in another he is throwing it in what seems to be the same location. These scenes, to my knowledge, were filmed at the Pullman Rail Yard in Atlanta in late 2019/early 2020. You may also recall Sebastian Stan posting an image from the same location around that time.

     

    We are a month away from the series release, so we are going to get a lot more teases for the series. If you are interested, you can check out the latest teaser below:

    Source: Twitter