Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Marvel Studios

  • Natalie Portman Talks ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’

    Natalie Portman Talks ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’

    “It’s going to be really Silly and Funny and Great.”

     

    This is how the Academy Award-winning actress described the upcoming MCU film, Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). Natalie Portman, who portrayed Dr. Jane Foster in the previous Thor (2011) & Thor: The Dark World (2013) films, is currently in Sydney, Australia, “prepping” for the production of Thor 4. Last night, she was interviewed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. She was asked about the project and how she had prepared for the project. “I’m playing the Mighty Thor…There were some graphic novels where Jane Foster becomes Thor and it’s going to be really silly and funny and great.” She also described that she had been exercising for the role, joking about the process as “tiring after working out…and during…and before.”

     

     

    She continued the interview by showing praise for Taiki Waititi, the director of Thor: Ragnarök (2017) & now, Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). “He’s wonderful. I’m very excited to be a part of it all.”

     

    THOR LOVE AND THUNDER IS SET TO PREMIERE February 11, 2022, STARRING Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, and Natalie Portman.

     

    Source: The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

  • ***UPDATED*** Alejandra López NOT Tapped to Helm Upcoming Marvel Studios Project

    ***UPDATED*** Alejandra López NOT Tapped to Helm Upcoming Marvel Studios Project

    Update: We learned today that Lopez was working with Marvel on an audiobook project and not an upcoming project for Marvel Studios as first reported.

    “DEJANDO LA MANCHA DE PLATANO Y AGRADECIENDO A DIOS.”

     

    That is how Ms. López responded to her breaking the news that she will be directing a project at Marvel Studios. Puertorrican born-and-raised director, Alejandra López let everyone know via her social media that her next project would take her to Burbank, California, where she has confirmed that the news.

     

     

    Alejandra López has worked on multiple projects before, her most notable work being the short film The Blue Cape (2019). It’s a touching story of how a young boy in a hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico goes beyond his limits to help acquire medicine for his grandfather. As a Puertorrican, this news makes me so happy and proud of her accomplishment. I wish her the best and cannot wait to know more about which project she’s been tapped to direct.

  • A Brief History of Denials by Marvel Studios Actors

    A Brief History of Denials by Marvel Studios Actors

    If you’ve been keeping up to date with the news, you’d know by now that Tatiana Maslany, who according to a trade report landed the role of Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk for the upcoming Disney Plus streaming series, has now denied that those casting rumors. Many people were taken by surprise when Ms. Maslany denied these rumors, however, it isn’t the first time actors that work within the MCU have denied such casting before. Today, we’re going to take a look at some prime examples of this concept.

     

    1. Paul Rudd

     

    Let’s all go back to a simpler time, 2013. Paul Rudd is fresh off production from Anchorman 2. By that time, Variety had released a report saying that Paul Rudd and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were the frontrunners to portray Ant-Man in the MCU. Now because the report came from another source outside official confirmations, when asked about the subject, Paul Rudd stated said “It’s all rumor, man!”.

     

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XIvS-qvRRk&w=560&h=315]

     

    And clearly, we all see how that rumor went years later, with him appearing in 2 solo MCU films and also appearing in Captain America Civil War & Avengers: Endgame.

     

    2. Benedict Cumberbatch

     

    It’s incredibly difficult to believe anyone else could have portrayed Doctor Strange since he was always the top pick amongst fans to portray the Sorceror Supreme but it’s true. Back in 2014, Benedict Cumberbatch spoke to MTV about the possibilities of him portraying Doctor Strange, & he mentioned that at the time, it couldn’t work out because he was doing a little play called ‘Hamlet’ in London. “So I don’t think I could even if that was in the cards. It sounds like a fantastic project. It’s a shame if I miss out, but who knows?”

     

    Clearly, he didn’t miss out, and thankfully he is our Sorceror Supreme today.

     

    3. Evangeline Lilly

     

    Just like Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly denied the rumors of her being the female lead in Ant-Man back in 2014. She stated back then that “No, I can’t. I don’t know anything about those rumors.” And look where she’s at now, kicking it as the resident Wasp in the MCU.

     

    4. Jeremy Renner

     

    Even an original core member of the Avengers had denied he was cast. Back in 2010, Jeremy Renner stated that the Hawkeye rumor was “just one of those things that got blown way out of proportion. It was an idea…So there’s truth that we talked about it, but there’s no truth to me doing it. “

     

    Thankfully, he decided to do it and now, he’s one of the main members of the OG Avengers, has appeared in multiple MCU films and will now have his own Disney+ show Hawkeye.

     

    What does this all mean? Essentially it means that actors are sometimes put into the position to deny any sort of casting rumor until an official confirmation from studios comes through. And what does this mean for Tatiana Maslany’s casting as She-Hulk? It most likely means she’s following suit and denying these “rumors” until they become “confirmations”.

     

    Besides, Mark Ruffalo already tweeted about it.

  • ‘The Falcon And the Winter Soldier’ Adds ‘On My Block’ Danny Ramirez

    ‘The Falcon And the Winter Soldier’ Adds ‘On My Block’ Danny Ramirez

    Looks like there were still some new actors that haven’t been revealed for Marvel Studios’ upcoming Falcon and the Winter Soldier series. The Hollywood Reporter revealed that up-and-comer Danny Ramirez will be joining Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie‘s Disney+ series. They do highlight that his role has not been revealed as of now but that it will be an important one. Production is still underway, as some videos from the set revealed the new Captain America taking someone out in brutal fashion. It is uncertain when we will see the series released next year, as production continues but hopefully we could see it early 2021.

    Ramirez has been slowly garnering attention. he appeared in Netflix’s On My Block and the Fox show The Gifted. His credits also include Assassination Nation and Valley Girl, as well as the highly anticipated Top Gun: Maverick. He will be joining an extensive cast that will see the return of Daniel Bruhl, and Emily VanCamp. The cast is truly shaping up to be one of Marvel’s best. This year’s WandaVision will offer us some crazy antics in multiple dimensions while Falcon and the Winter Soldier will stick to the more grounded realism that Captain America introduced us to.

  • Connecting Imaginary Dots: Tyler Dean Flores Joins the Cast of ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’

    Connecting Imaginary Dots: Tyler Dean Flores Joins the Cast of ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’

    CONNECTING IMAGINARY DOTS ARE PIECES WE WRITE HERE THAT ALLOW US TO BE WHAT WE ALL TRULY ARE: FANS. THESE SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN AS SCOOPS, EXCLUSIVES OR FACTS; JUST SPECULATION ABOUT THE THINGS FOR WHICH WE ALL SHARE A GREAT PASSION.

    Much of the cast of the Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier has been working in Prague for the past week or so and evidence suggests that we might be able to add one more to their number in the person of actor Tyler Dean Flores. An up and comer with under a dozen film or TV appearances, Flores might actually be the answer to a question I’ve been working on for nearly a year! Let’s take a look at the evidence and get into how he might be the missing puzzle piece I’ve been searching for.

    Tyler Dean Flores

    Last night, an Instagram follower first alerted me to the possibility of Flores having joined the cast by sharing some recent Instagram photos that seemed to indicate that Flores was spending some time with Erin Kellyman, an actress whose now confirmed role in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier was first revealed by Murphy’s Multiverse in a Connecting Imaginary Dots feature, and some other cast members.

    A quick check of Twitter showed that the same information had been noticed by Screen Rant’s Cooper Hood. Some further investigation of Flores’ social media turned up another solid piece of evidence when the actor revealed he was, in fact, working in Prague, though he would not reveal the project.

    I’d say on it’s own the cumulative social media evidence presents a pretty solid case for the Harlem native having joined the cast but there’s one more dot to connect here and, in doing so, it solves one of my longest standing mysteries around the series. Late last Fall/early last Winter, a casting call was shared for me that indicated Marvel Studios was searching for an Hispanic/Latinx actor to play a supporting role in the series. I couldn’t dig up the communications to find the date, but I know it was around the time we broke the news that Adepero Oduye has joined the series. I know that some other “scoopers” and one Hollywood trade were also in possession of the info and trying to find out who had landed to role as well. Seeing Flores hanging out in Prague with the rest of the cast gives me at least a small level of confidence that he is the actor who landed the role and, if the sizes of the roles of some of the other actors he has been working with are anything to go by, Flores’ role might extend beyond this series…perhaps as a member of the Thunderbolts. Of course none of this is confirmed at this point, so the evidence has to speak for itself, but in this case, I think it makes a pretty compelling case.

    The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is currently filming and is now expected to stream on Disney Plus sometime in early 2021.

  • Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Widow’: Who is Rick Mason?

    Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Widow’: Who is Rick Mason?

    As Marvel Studios has once again postponed Black Widow‘s release, it gives us some time to brush up on our comic history. The film will focus on Natasha Romanoff’s history with the Red Room. It is a top-secret Soviet institute that turned young women into elite assassins. Of course, Natasha was once a member before joining S.H.I.E.L.D. at an unknown point. The upcoming film will dive deep into the various characters from her past who all may have deep ties with the secret organization. So, let’s use this opportunity to dive deep into the various characters in 400 words or less.

    Rick Mason is a mercenary who specialized in non-lethal combat against superhumans. His father was the criminal inventor Phineas Mason, who is better known as the Tinkerer. He was briefly part of S.H.I.E.L.D., MI-6, and even the Russian intelligence. Mason’s freelance work is under the codename The Agent, where he works for the highest bidder. We first got introduced to the character in Marvel Graphic Novel #57 back in 1990. Since, he was hired to kill a CIA mole, take on renegade China agents, and even took out a quintet of powered mercenaries. Mason even took on The Corporation as his father was forced to work for them. This job led to him fighting alongside Luke Cage and another agent, Dakota North, who was sent by his own father to take down the organization. In reality, he sent them to save his son.

    The character will have a role in the upcoming Black Widow film, who seems to have a romantic interest in her. He will be played by O-T Fagbenle and is currently the frontrunner to be Taskmaster’s secret identity. Mason might be the furthest departure from the comics. We saw the Tinkerer in Spider-Man: Homecoming, so he won’t be his son in this incarnation. He was mentioned as an agent, who has some history as part of S.H.I.E.L.D., which would fit the depiction of Taskmaster in various media. He was a member of the spy organization in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series and the recently released Marvel’s Avengers. There is also a good chance that these loose connections are a red herring to keep us guessing on who the iconic villain may turn out to be. He hasn’t been featured in trailers so far, so anything is possible.

  • ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ Ramping up Production in Prague

    ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ Ramping up Production in Prague

    Over the past few days, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (2021) production moved to Prague for some more shoots and takes for the upcoming Disney+ limited series. We know that as of now, they’re still trying to complete production and we don’t know exactly how far along the team is production-wise. But a local site has been keeping us to date on all of the things the team shoot and film for the show. And most recently, it seems that they started filming some action sequences involving Sebastian’s Stan double for the show, some wires, and a sequence involving a bridge.

     

     

    Now in these videos above, we can see Sebastian Stan’s double performing a sort of stunt sequence involving some wirework, along with a drone camera capturing another angle to the scene. According to the page and their sources, the production team was shooting “a chase scene close to National Theater – one of the main historic sites of Prague.” Neither Sebastian Stan nor Daniel Brühl (who plays Baron Zemo) are in Prague but sources say they will be arriving at a later date. Currently, Anthony Mackie & Wyatt Russell are already there in Prague for production. Another very important thing to note is that Adepero Oduye was seen on the premises of production. We’ve already discussed her joining the cast back in November. Her role still remains unknown, however, we’ve caught wind that the Oduye’s character will be “someone close to Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson.”

     

    Another interesting tidbit from the set photos is that they were able to confirm that a part of the plot in Prague will be set in Riga, the capital city of Latvia, based on the street signs and the Latvian police cars.

     

    Now apart from that chase sequence, there was also another production unit stationed at the Troja Bridge and “a road in the countryside where production shot a scene with armed vehicles.”

     

     

     

    Stay tuned for more updates.

     

    Source: Fandíme Filmu, Instagram

  • ‘WandaVision’ BTS Images Could Tease a Musical Number

    ‘WandaVision’ BTS Images Could Tease a Musical Number

    The first Disney+ show to finally be released will be WandaVision. There sadly is still no official release date. A recent datamine may have revealed that it is heading towards a Thanksgiving release, or at least in December. The show is still in production, as they still have some episodes to shoot after production was halted during the pandemic. Now, some pictures were released by @eobrmidias that give us a good look at the cast getting ready for an upcoming shot. The first set of pictures features Elizabeth Olsen in a rather interesting outfit.

    https://twitter.com/eobrmidias/status/1314962819448741889

    There are also pictures featuring the rest of the cast Paul Bettany, Teyonah Parris, Kathryn Hahn, and Paul Bettany.

    https://twitter.com/eobrmidias/status/1314971754792660992

    Paul Bettany seems to be wearing a suit of some kind. This is just a theory, but it looks like Wanda may be part of some show or dance number. At first, her outfit seemed like a colorful swimsuit but her stockings would hint at this being an outfit for a show. The only confusion would be Parris and Hahn‘s outfits. If this is from the same day on set, their costumes are very varied that wouldn’t make sense in the same scene. It could be that while they are talking, Wanda and Vision break out into a musical number. Many shows have included musical episodes like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, How I Met Your Mother, Community, and many more. The sitcom inspiration opens up so many possibilities so it wouldn’t be unlikely. It would be very interesting if they break out in song while the warped reality breaks apart around them.

    There might be one more picture from the set back in February that could give it away. In the backlots for both Loki and WandaVision, a huge tent was seen before they had to shut down. It looked like a circus tent, which could mean that Wanda is wearing an outfit for a trapeze artist. Bettany‘s smoking could mean he is the circus director. It only opens up the question why they are in these roles to begin with.

    It will be interesting to see how this comes together. They may be wrapping up production so they can get the effects to work done before the show launches. Aa they are still filming, this could be the reason that no specific date has been set so they don’t run into an early deadline. Here’s hoping we get some kind of reveal soon.

    Source: Twitter, Instagram

  • Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Widow’: Who is Yelena Belova?

    Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Widow’: Who is Yelena Belova?

    As Marvel Studios has once again postponed Black Widow‘s release, it gives us some time to brush up on our comic history. The film will focus on Natasha Romanoff’s history with the Red Room. It is a top-secret Soviet institute that turned young women into elite assassins. Of course, Natasha was once a member before joining S.H.I.E.L.D. at an unknown point. The upcoming film will dive deep into the various characters from her past who all may have deep ties with the secret organization. So, let’s use this opportunity to dive deep into the various characters in 400 words or less.

    Yelena is the youngest addition to the comics. She appeared in 1999’s Inhumans Vol. 2 #5. You read that right, she made her debut while Earth and Attilan were at war with each other. She also trained in the Red Room Academy, where she even believes she surpassed Natasha Romanoff. When we first meet her, she is sent to deliver a device that could help Attilan win the invasion. She ended up failing her mission against her bittered rival but learned a valuable lesson. At one point, she was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and swapped faces with Nathasha’s. Of course, she was not too happy with this and left the spy life behind her. She made a career as a lingerie model before being dragged back into her old life when she gets wrapped up in the export of stolen medical supplies. She would turn back to her original life which would lead to many confrontations with the Avengers. She would later take on the Black Widow mantle and temporarily join the Thunderbolts.

    Marvel Studios managed to get Florence Pugh in the role of Yelena for Black Widow. There were teases that Natasha would potentially pass on the mantle to her before facing her fate in Avengers: Endgame. In the family dynamic teased through the trailers, she is the younger sister. She is very independent and quite confident in her ability. Of course, she was also trained in the Red Room and seems to know quite a bit about Taskmaster. We also get glimpses of her going through a procedure that could pull her towards the evil side. Pugh is a fantastic addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who hopefully will be around for more future projects.

  • Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Widow’: Who is Melina Vostokoff?

    Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Widow’: Who is Melina Vostokoff?

    As Marvel Studios has once again postponed Black Widow‘s release, it gives us some time to brush up on our comic history. The film will focus on Natasha Romanoff’s history with the Red Room. It is a top-secret Soviet institute that turned young women into elite assassins. Of course, Natasha was once a member before joining S.H.I.E.L.D. at an unknown point. The upcoming film will dive deep into the various characters from her past who all may have deep ties with the secret organization. So, let’s use this opportunity to dive deep into the various characters in 400 words or less.

    Melina Vostokoff is more famous as the assassin Iron Maiden. She made her initial appearance in Marvel Fanfare #11 in 1983. Her name is due to her flexible metal costume that covers her entire body. She was a Russian agent who lived in the shadow of Black Widow during her time working for the government. At one point, she broke off from Russia to work as a freelancer. In one mission, she had the chance to assassinate her once hated rival. She worked alongside others but was the only one able to keep with Natasha only to get interrupted by a S.H.I.E.L.D. team. She would often return to take on the Avengers multiple times. At one point, she joined the female super-criminal army Femizons. Melina also was captured by Thunderbolt’s Joystick during the Superhuman Registration Act.

    Rachel Weisz will portray the character in the upcoming Black Widow film. This version of the character will have close ties to the Red Room. She acts as a mother-figure to Natasha alongside David Harbour‘s Alexei Shostakov. It is unsure what her role in the story would be. The character’s villainous nature could point to her betraying the family at some point in the story. It sadly would be a rather dramatic turn given how much Natasha seems to be focusing on reuniting them. There could also be ties to Taskmaster, who currently has taken over control of the Red Room. Sadly, we won’t see her iconic Iron Maid outfit, but maybe they’ll add a tribute to her comic design.