Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Marvel Studios

  • ‘WANDAVISION’: Meet the Hearts

    ‘WANDAVISION’: Meet the Hearts

    When the WandaVision trailer dropped last Sunday, some of the biggest teases came from the black & white portion of the show.

     

    As I stated in another theory post, by the time we hit the 1950s portion of the show, we know Wanda and Vision just got married and have moved to the town of WestView. They want to fit in with the rest and they’re living their perfect suburban lives. At some point during the show, they will invite Mr. & Mrs. Heart over for Dinner. Played by Fred Melamed and Debra Jo Rupp, the Hearts will ask them all sorts of questions like; “When did they get married? Where did they move from? Why don’t they have children yet?”. Wanda stuttered when asked these questions and she wasn’t able to answer them because she didn’t know how to answer them. None of it was real. Vision tried to answer as well, but he didn’t know either. And that’s when all of their reality started to slowly fall apart as the aspect ratio started to expand. Now, something that really puts us at unease is when Mr. Heart slams the table and says “Dammit. Why?”, with Mrs. Heart telling him playfully to “Stop it.”, all while Wanda and Vision give each other looks of concern. Such weird things to say.

     

    Now, when I asked you guys about how you thought Mr. & Mrs. Heart could be, many of you have stated that they’re actually demons sent by either Mephisto or Nightmare or people manipulated by the nosy neighbor Agnes aka Agatha Harkness:

     

    https://twitter.com/GodEmperorBoss/status/1308603394840498184?s=20

     

    Now, these are all completely valid theories, considering how much Mephisto influences Wanda’s story and the birth of her children as a whole. Not only that, but we’ve also heard rumors regarding Nightmare possibly joining the MCU in this show and potentially manipulating Wanda to alter reality. But I propose another theory, and ONE of you actually got really close to what I was thinking:

     

    https://twitter.com/adambarnhardt/status/1308523318388166657

     

    And in that tweet was a reply from fellow Murphy’s Multiverse Contributor: Lizzie Hill, which pretty much consolidates exactly what I’m proposing today.

     

    https://twitter.com/MsLizzieHill/status/1308548233661214725

    And because Lizzie and I had a bit of back-and-forth regarding our theories, we managed to consolidate both our theories into this one theory.

     

    THEORY: MR. & MRS. HEART ARE THE MANIFESTATIONS OF WANDA’S SUBCONSCIOUS

     

    Something we need to understand is that during this show, a lot of the things we see in these homages to the sitcoms are actually the manifestations made by Wanda as part of her alternate reality. Meaning, the whole world around her is made up by her (except for some exceptions like Monica and Agnes, who are “intruders”). What if when Mr. & Mrs. Heart are asking these questions, it’s actually Wanda asking herself these questions, to quote Lizzie, “like a writer trying to work out details of this story, getting angry/frustrated on one side(Mr. Heart), combined with the denial and trying to stay in the moment (Mrs. Heart), combined with the trauma of losing Vision & not being able to have this ideal life with him.” What if they are the life Wanda wants for her and Vision? And with the way Wanda looks at Mr. Heart when he slams the table, it looks as if he struck a nerve in Wanda. Another possibility for Mr. Heart asking “Damn it why?’ could be her manifestation of Vision asking Wanda “Why did you do this? Why did you bring me back?” since we know that Vision is probably the only manifestation of Wanda that has any sort of control and when Mr. Heart asks the question and slams the table over and over, it keeps cutting back to Vision looking at Wanda, with Mrs. Heart saying “Stop it.” over and over in the background with Wanda looking concerned at Vision.  Either way, it always just comes back to the same principle that this is all in Wanda’s head and it’s her ideas and subconscious questioning herself.

  • ‘WANDAVISION’: “Welcome to WestView”

    ‘WANDAVISION’: “Welcome to WestView”

    After months of radio silence from Marvel Studios, this past week, Marvel Studios started to ramp up on news once again, with reports of Jonathan Majors being cast as Kang the Conqueror, She-Hulk finding it’s the lead actress in Tatiana Maslany, with Kat Coiro set to direct multiple episodes, Olivia Wilde discussing Kevin Feige’s involvement in the upcoming Spider-Woman film, & Ms. Marvel finding its team of directors. & the news didn’t stop there as fans were treated this past Sunday to the first official trailer for the upcoming Disney+ show, WandaVision. Now, the trailer gave us a look at Wanda Maximoff & The Vision’s life after they’ve become newly-weds and are living the best of their lives in the humble little town of WestView until everything begins to fall apart.

     

     

    For this Theory Thursday, I wanted to discuss a plot mechanism that I thought could play out in the show, and when I saw the trailer, I found that my theory could actually be plausible. So let’s delve right into it.

     

    THEORY: EACH SITCOM ERA IS A “RESET”.

     

    Okay, let me explain because it can get kind of confusing. We know that the series is a “blend of classic television and the Marvel Cinematic Universe”, paying homage to multiple sitcoms over decades of television, like “I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, The Brady Bunch, Roseanne, and many more”. And the biggest tease we got in the trailer was from the 50’s portion of the show, which was filmed in black & white and in front of a live studio audience. In my opinion, this is the first era the show will touch upon.

     

     

    Wanda and Vision just got married and moved to the little suburban town of WestView. They want to fit in with the rest and they’re living their perfect suburban lives…until “Mr. & Mrs. Heart” (played by Fred Nelamed and Debra Jo Rupp) come over to visit them and ask them all sorts of questions like; “When did they get married? Where did they move from? Why don’t they have children yet?”. This causes Wanda to stutter because she didn’t know how to answer them. When Vision tries to answer, he doesn’t know either. Mr. Heart slams the table and asks Wanda “Dammit. Why?”, & Mrs. Heart tells him to “Stop it.” over and over, all while Wanda and Vision give each other looks of concern.

     

     

    Immediately before the scene can go on, it starts to rewind. This is where “the first reset” begins. Unable to answer the questions about how/when she and Vision got married, where they came from, or why they don’t have children, Wanda loses her concentration and her 1950’s reality starts to unravel and rewind like a VHS tape until it eventually kicks her out of that made-up reality back into our own. And I believe it will go a little something like this:

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvfaSOcO_zI&feature=youtu.be

     

    Now that we understand the concept of what “the reset” is, I propose that during WandaVision, Wanda will encase herself (and the town of WestView) in an alternate pocket reality, where she will try to live her life with Vision as if it were a sitcom with a happy ending, but every single time, she finds a mistake that can unravel her reality, causing her to reset the reality she is in and move to another era where she can start over, having learned from the mistakes of her previous era. But as she keeps resetting her pocket universe, or changing between eras more and more, she’ll eventually garner the attention of the likes of her nosy neighbor Agnes, S.W.O.R.D. (and possibly even a Master of the Mystic Arts). And the reason for this is that maybe, every time Wanda resets her reality, she alters the fabric of reality in all of the MCU little by little until eventually causing a rupture in that reality, which is what could kickstart the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

     

    But we’ll only know for sure when WandaVision drops this 2020.

     

     

  • ‘WandaVision’ 24-Hour Traffic Surpasses ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Super Bowl Trailer

    ‘WandaVision’ 24-Hour Traffic Surpasses ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Super Bowl Trailer

    It has been a very dry year for Marvel fans. Suddenly, the Emmys gave us a glimpse of hope as it dropped the first trailer for WandaVision. It was the first new trailer we’ve seen from the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the last Black Widow trailer dropped back in April. We didn’t know if the Disney+ shows would even see a 2020 release. Originally, August was the starting point for this new venture with Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Somehow, the craziest of Marvel Studio projects were able to stick to its 2020 plans. Our first look at the trailer teased the unlikeliest of couples battle in an alternative dimension filled with sitcom tropes. It teases a completely new direction for the franchise and it looks like people are already all in.

    Even though the Emmys sank to a new low of 6.1 million viewers, the trailer has been the talk of the town. Within 24 hours the trailer has garnered around 53 million views. According to the social media monitor RelishMix, this is in the same league as any Avengers or Fast & Furious trailer. It has reached 302.6K mentions which are numbers that are tentpole even pre-COVID. To put this into perspective, it beat out any of the major draws from the Super Bowl. Black Widow at the time garnered 18.7 million followed by Mulan and No Time to Die. Hell, it even beat out Avengers: Infinity War‘s 30.9 million after its Super Bowl reveal.

    This is why Marvel Studios was quiet all this time. They knew that they needed to wait for the perfect moment. People were aching for some kind of life for the franchise. WandaVision not only filled that void but also changed our perception. We have learned to expect specific things from a Marvel Studios trailer. We get some comedy, action, and amazing effects. Yet, this trailer shows that the studio is venturing out into completely new territory that will break our understanding of the franchise’s future. It is an exciting time to be a Marvel fan and cannot wait until they finally reveal the official release date.

    Source: Deadline

  • New Set Photos Show Sebastian Stan Smiling, Cruising on the Set of ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’

    New Set Photos Show Sebastian Stan Smiling, Cruising on the Set of ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’

    Intra-pandemic production on the Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier resumed last week and set photos have come fast and furious. The most recent pics have come to us via Just Jared and they show one of the series leads, Sebastian Stan, filming a motorcycle scene.

    Despite less than stellar weather this week, Stan was able to work this scene in on a clear night earlier this week. The scene sees Stan’s Winter Soldier atop what appears to be a pretty souped up bike in what is sure to be a highly intense chase sequence. You can check the set photos out at Just Jared by clicking the link above!

  • Marvel Studios ‘ETERNALS’: Who is Phastos?

    Marvel Studios ‘ETERNALS’: Who is Phastos?

    With the Infinity Saga coming to a close, Marvel Studios is preparing to launch into an all-new, all-different era beginning with Phase 4. While several properties are going to serve as deeper dives into already established characters and worlds, Eternals is going to introduce new characters and change what we think we know about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Eternals were born in the mind of Jack Kiby as Marvel Comics “ancient aliens”: beings of immense power who had protected Earth since the beginning of time. Over the course of history, the Eternals and their enemies, the Deviants, worked their way into the religions and mythologies of many cultures gods and monsters, angels and devils and heroes and villains. Marvel Studios will certainly put their own spin on the characters, but we can still take an opportunity to get to know them here…in 400 words or less!

    The history of Marvel's Phastos explained

    A master forger, inventor and tech genius,the nihilistic Phastos has developed weapons for the Eternals for the past 2,500 years or so, including the elegant and deadly blade of his fellow Eternal Kingo. His expertise as a weapons forger lead to him being confused for the Greek god Hephaestus. Like all Eternals, Phastos’ power suite gives him incredible strength and powers; however, unlike most of his fellow Terran Eternals, Phastos did not approve of going to war against the Eternals enemies, the Deviants. Spending much of his life searching for evidence that life has meaning, Phastos personal philosophy stands in stark contrast to the other Eternals.

    All Of Marvel's Eternals Character Designs Revealed In Concept Art
    Concept art of Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, fourth from left.

    Phastos will be brought to life by Brian Tyree Henry and the MCU version of Phastos seems set to offer a very different take on the character. Rather than adapting the nihilistic version of the comics of the character, it seems that this version will have found someone who gives meaning to life as he has a husband and a child in Marvel Studios Eternals. It will be interesting to see if Phastos still holds the same pacifist views about war with the Deviants as well, despite his expertise in designing weapons.

    Eternals is set to hit theaters February 12th, 2021.

  • Evidence Suggests Disney May Be Prepping to Alter ‘BLACK WIDOW’ Release

    Evidence Suggests Disney May Be Prepping to Alter ‘BLACK WIDOW’ Release

    Evidence from both the Disney UK and Disney France websites may indicate that the company is rethinking their release strategy for Marvel Studios Black Widow. As seen below, both websites have removed the film’s release date from the respective pages for the film. They have also replaced posters for the film with ones that no longer show a date. Both websites have done the same with the pages for the upcoming Pixar film, Soul, which is currently scheduled to be released in theaters on November 20th.

    Depending upon your perspective, this evidence could be interpreted in multiple ways if we throw out the chance that this is some sort of error on the part of the two websites. One possible interpretation is that Disney is preparing to offer Black Widow to audiences via Premier Access. Support for this hypothesis can be found by looking back at how events unfolded around Mulan’s shift to Premier Access. Much like what’s happening with Black Widow and Soul, the release date for Mulan was taken down from official Disney websites and replaced with “COMING SOON” just ahead of the official announcement that it would be premiering on Disney Plus. Many pundits believed Mulan would serve as the canary in the coal mine for the Disney PVOD release strategy and yesterday’s Yahoo report that the studio has already raked in $260M via Premier Access would seem to indicate a major success for their first effort. An argument could be made that Black Widow and the Marvel Studios banner could easily outdo that take.

    Another possible interpretation is that Disney has made the decision to move Black Widow’s theatrical release from the November 6th date but have yet to pin down a new window. Earlier this week, a report by Deadline suggested that the company was preparing to do just that though they had no official word from Disney. The decision to move the film’s release date would be unsurprising given the disappointing box office returns for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, which caused Warner Bros. to shift the release of another of their tentpole releases, Wonder Woman 1984, for a fifth time. At this point, nobody would blame Disney for moving the film to a time when more people will feel comfortable heading to theaters.

    While we can’t be sure which, if either, of these interpretations of the evidence is the correct one, it does feel like some news about the release strategy for Black Widow is imminent. If and when that happens, we’ll be here to pass it on.

  • Marvel Studios ‘ETERNALS’: Who is Thena?

    Marvel Studios ‘ETERNALS’: Who is Thena?

    With the Infinity Saga coming to a close, Marvel Studios is preparing to launch into an all-new, all-different era beginning with Phase 4. While several properties are going to serve as deeper dives into already established characters and worlds, Eternals is going to introduce new characters and change what we think we know about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Eternals were born in the mind of Jack Kirby as Marvel Comics “ancient aliens”: beings of immense power who had protected Earth since the beginning of time. Over the course of history, the Eternals and their enemies, the Deviants, worked their way into the religions and mythologies of many cultures gods and monsters, angels and devils and heroes and villains. Marvel Studios will certainly put their own spin on the characters, but we can still take an opportunity to get to know them here…in 400 words or less!

    Thena by Arkenstellar 2014 - YouTube

    The daughter of the modern Prime Eternal, Zuras, Thena has been a part of the Marvel Comic mythology since she first appeared as the Roman goddess Minerva in 1940’s Red Raven #1. Retconned by Jack Kirby in Eternals #5, Thena has served as one of the Eternals fiercest warriors, often being confused for Minerva’s Greek counterpart and daughter of Zeus, Athena, over time. While Thena has served as the tip of the spear in the Eternals endless battles with the Deviants, she also found herself falling in love with one of their most ruthless warlords and eventual leader, Kro, over the course of a couple of thousand years. Thena became pregnant with twins which she decided to transfer into the womb of a mortal woman who then gave birth to the Deviant-Eternal hybrids. Those children, Deborah and Donald, eventually learned their true origins and of their incredible power: they could merge into one being, the Dark Angel, who grew wings and could, like many Eternals, project powerful beams from its eyes.

    Trailer Watch: Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek And The Rest Of The Eternals Have One Week To Save The World In Chloe Zhao's Marvel Epic - TODAY

    Angelina Jolie will portray the warrior Thena in Eternals. Interestingly, trailers have shown Thena interacting with the Deviant Kro. It’ll be interesting to see if Thena and Kro take on the role of star-crossed lovers in the film and go on to conceive the twins. While the length of Jolie’s contract with Marvel Studios is unknown, Thena’s character is one that is primed to appear in multiple films, especially if they adapt the story of her children with Kro. We also know that Thena will be affected by Mahd Wy’ry, a cognitive condition brought on by their long life that causes them to forget and can potentially drive them mad, making Thena, one of the Eternals fiercest warriors, a potential threat.

    Eternals will hit theaters November 5th!

  • Disney Eyeing a New Release Date for ‘BLACK WIDOW’

    Disney Eyeing a New Release Date for ‘BLACK WIDOW’

    It has come. The moment most of us probably dreaded. Warner Bros. already delayed the release for Wonder Woman 1984. It’s generally looking grim for any releases in October after Tenet barely scraped by in cinemas. We knew that this would signify more delays in the near future. Now, it looks like Marvel Studios and Disney are contemplating delaying Black Widow according to Variety. They do not add what release date they might be considering for now.

    To some degree, November releases seemed still pretty safe for now but that might change soon. 2020 could be the first time we’ve had an entire year without a single Marvel Cinematic Universe entry since 2009. WW84 is still slated to release in December, a week after WB’s other tentpole film Dune is slated to air but even those release dates are questionable for now.

    Keep in mind, Variety has no official confirmation. They add that they got no comment from a Disney spokesperson. If Disney decides to stick to an only in theaters release for Black Widow, it’s definitely getting delayed. Tenet barely managed a $200 million worldwide, so most studios are going to have to expect a weak Box Office performance for some time. Even if they postpone it to 2021, that year is filled to the brim with releases. They will end up cannibalizing each other so they might not even break-even after the delay.

    Disney’s best option is to minimize costs through a direct income. They already tested it out with Mulan on Disney+. They don’t have to share the income and can draw in additional subscribers. It may be the best investment long-term. Even if they do go the Premium Access route, they may delay it to make sure they can probably market the film’s release. The article also states they are planning to release Soul on Disney+, so it seems quite likely.

    Source: Variety

     

  • First Look at Batroc the Leaper in ‘Falcon & The Winter Soldier’

    First Look at Batroc the Leaper in ‘Falcon & The Winter Soldier’

    Falcon and the Winter Soldier has finally entered production again. Alongside it, we are getting a few more screenshots from the set. This time, it seems to confirm the appearance of a strongly rumored character from MCU’s past. Back in March, the Weekly Planet podcast reported that George St-Pierre might return as Batroc the Leaper. He first appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier during the opening sequence. Now, as production resumes we got our first look at him in costume for the Disney+ series. As we can’t share pictures here, you can check them out by clicking here.

    At first glance, it’s a great rendition of the character’s costume from the comics. The colors combined with the shirt-jacket combination is a simple but great way to reinvent his previous adaptation. Hopefully, we get a lot more from him throughout this series than we did in Winter Soldier. Also, can we just talk about how amazing Emily VanCamp looks in that suit? If they are being filmed together, it may be an attack on her by the mercenaries. Most likely, Zemo orchestrated the attack to get his message across. It will be interesting to see how this fits into Falcon and Winter Soldiers’ overarching story.

    Source: Weekly Planet, Just Jared

  • Loose Adaptation: How ‘Ant-Man 3’ Could Change Kang the Conqueror’s Origin

    Loose Adaptation: How ‘Ant-Man 3’ Could Change Kang the Conqueror’s Origin

    We finally got some news for an upcoming Marvel Studios film. Jonathan Majors has been cast in a major role for Ant-Man’s threequel. Deadline’s sources indicated that he will play Kang the Conqueror This is huge especially with the Young Avengers rumors. At some point, M.O.D.O.K. was even going to be heavily featured. This film may truly become a cornerstone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe moving forward. This casting announcement seems like a natural follow-up to recent news. A lot of hints have been building up that make Kang the perfect successor to Thanos. Let’s look at some of the hints that may have teased his addition to the franchise. There is also a good chance this might be a very different version of Kang than we are use to.

    A New Generation

    Let’s get the obvious aspect out of the way first. Kang’s introduction is a heavy indicator that the Young Avengers will have a role as well. Let’s start with who exactly Kang is. Nathaniel Richards was from the 31st century and believed to be a descendant of Reed Richards. Not only that, but there is also the theory that he is also related to Doctor Doom. It is why he ended up using Victor von Doom’s technology to travel back in time, even become the famous Pharao Rama-Tut. His heir was non-other than En Sabah Nur, also known as the mutant Apocalypse. After overshooting his original timeline, he ends up conquering a war-torn Earth and becoming the infamous Kang the Conqueror. At one point, he decides to save his younger self and showed him the unexplored past. This version was saved from the moment he would turn evil and rejects that future. He dons the Iron Lad moniker and is the founder of the Young Avengers.

    That’s a lot of connections throughout the Marvel Universe in just one character. Our main focus is the connection with Young Avengers. Nathaniel is the one that brings the team together after the Avengers disbanded. We are currently facing a timeline in the MCU without the Avengers. Tony Stark has passed away. Thor decided to join the Guardians off into space. Rogers was able to return to his own time and live a fulfilling life. Even their headquarters was blown up by Thanos. There seems to be nothing left as everyone is heading off into their own adventure. So, a new generation will take over to continue their legacy. How does this all connect to Ant-Man? Well, his daughter Cassie has aged up after the events of Avengers: Endgame. In the comics, she is a member of the team and is known as Stature. She tries to follow in his footsteps as many others find their protegés forcing him into a mentor role alongside Hope van Dyne.

    Low-Key Connections

    Stature isn’t the only connection we have between Kang and Ant-Man. There is also the elephant in the room. Tony Stark invented time travel through the quantum realm in Avengers: Endgame. Through their travels, they ended up creating a splinter of different timelines by stealing the Infinity Stones. There is a good chance these actions created a version of earth that will end up being torn apart by war. One particular timeline, in particular, seems like the best candidate that would lead to the creation of Kang. Tony accidentally manages to drop the Tesseract that lets Loki escape from Thor’s clutches rather than facing Odin’s judgment. Even as Captain America returned the borrowed Infinity Stones, this timeline has been changed the most. It also is the only one that is getting a spin-off with next year’s Loki series on Disney+.

    Why does that matter? Well, Loki will introduce the Time Variance Authority (TVA). They are responsible for the multiverse and keeping timelines consistent, which is a perfect choice for this multiverse tale. Their existence is also a major hint at how Stark’s invention of time travel may have had some bigger implications. Marvel’s time cops haven’t always been successful at keeping the timeline in check, especially when Kang was involved. Keep in mind that Ant-Man 3 is currently slated for 2022. It’s a surprisingly early announcement, which could hint at Kang’s appearance in this Disney+ series. They could introduce him early to build up the character before appearing in the Ant-Man threequel.

    Loose Adaptation

    Jonathan Majors‘ version of the character could be a unique take on the character. Marvel Studios isn’t a stranger to adapting the villain’s backstories to fit the overarching plot. Ultron was a creation of Hank Pym in the comics. It wasn’t until Age of Ultron that he got connected to Tony Stark. The original article by Deadline highlights this very fact. Also, he may not be the only villain. We could still see M.O.D.O.K. as the main antagonist with Kang pulling the strings. He may have been a wealthy benefactor that saved A.I.M. and gave them technology way beyond their time. Similar to Thanos, Marvel Studios might want to build him up throughout multiple cameos. He is known as a major Avengers villain. The Conqueror won’t be taken down so easily by a group of teenagers.

    If Kang is given a new spin, there is a chance we won’t see the classic interpretation of Iron Lad either. First of all, the Fantastic Four haven’t been introduced yet. So, they might try to build a connection to existing characters. Similar to how Ultron, they may change his origin while keeping some defining aspects alive. A while back, there was the rumor of an Ironheart series being in development. It would be easier to combine her stories with Nathaniel’s rather than juggle two separate characters inspired by Iron Man. It would make sense if he was her descendant from the future. No matter what route they take, Iron Man is a likely connection to remain consistent in the adaptation. Hell, maybe even use some elements from The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Captain America’s survival altered his timeline in the show pushing him to conquer the present-day Earth. Rogers’ choice of staying in the past may work as his main motivation to travel to the present day within the MCU. They might not reveal his connection to Ironheart until a later entry. Kang is such a great character to introduce. He is exactly what Tony warned the Avengers about back in Endgame. When you mess with time, it tends to mess back.

    Source: DisInsider