Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Marvel Studios

  • Marvel Launches Official ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Companion Podcast Ahead of Season 2 Premiere

    Marvel Launches Official ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Companion Podcast Ahead of Season 2 Premiere

    If you thought the hype for Matt Murdock’s return couldn’t get any louder, Marvel Television is making sure you’re fully immersed before the first frame of Season 2 even hits your screen. Disney has officially announced the Daredevil: Born Again Official Podcast, a nine-episode video companion series launching March 17.

    This isn’t just a standard promotional fluff piece; Marvel is positioning this as their first official podcast on D+, signaling a major shift in how they handle behind-the-scenes content for their heavy-hitter series.

    The Actors on Actors Deep Dive

    L-R: Matt Murdock / Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) in Marvel Television’s DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Television. © 2026 MARVEL.

    Launching exactly one week before the March 24 premiere of Season 2, the podcast kicks off with a massive Season 1 retrospective. Episode 1 will feature Wilson Bethel, showrunner Dario Scardapane, and Marvel’s streaming skipper, Brad Winderbaum, looking back at the chaos that brought us to Fisk’s mayoral reign.

    Subsequent episodes will drop alongside the series, featuring an unprecedented look at stunts, costumes, and those inevitable Easter eggs. Expect to see Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Deborah Ann Woll in intimate, actors on actors style conversations. In a smart move for accessibility, the video version will stream on both Disney+ and YouTube, while audio-only listeners can find it on all major platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

    The Season 2 Stakes

    L-R: Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) and Matt Murdock / Daredevil (Charlie Cox) in Marvel Television’s DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Jojo Whilden. © 2025 MARVEL.

    The announcement also gave us a fresh look at the Season 2 logline, and it’s grim: Mayor Wilson Fisk is officially hunting Daredevil as “public enemy number one.” The tagline—Resist. Rebel. Rebuild.—suggests we’re moving away from the courtroom and into a full-blown urban insurgency.

    In Season 2 of Marvel Television’s Daredevil: Born Again, Mayor Wilson Fisk crushes New York City underfoot as he hunts down public enemy number one, the Hell’s Kitchen vigilante known as Daredevil. But, beneath the horned mask, Matt Murdock will try to fight back from the shadows to tear down the Kingpin’s corrupt empire and redeem his home. Resist. Rebel. Rebuild.

    -Official synopsis for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2

    With a cast that includes Krysten Ritter and Matthew Lillard, the Born Again era is clearly Marvel’s new flagship. By launching this podcast, they’re creating a sticky ecosystem for fans to obsess over every detail of the Kingpin’s corrupt empire.

    Marvel is taking a page out of the HBO playbook here. Shows like The Last of Us and Succession proved that a high-quality companion podcast can keep the conversation alive all week long. For a show as dense and anticipated as Daredevil, giving fans a direct line to Scardapane and the cast is the best way to ensure Born Again dominates the cultural zeitgeist through the spring.

  • ‘ViSiONQUΞST’ Lands ‘The Penguin’ Composer Mick Giacchino

    ‘ViSiONQUΞST’ Lands ‘The Penguin’ Composer Mick Giacchino

    If there’s one thing Marvel Studios has mastered lately, it’s the art of the creative upgrade. While we’re all waiting to see exactly how Paul Bettany’s White Vision finds his soul (and his sons) in the upcoming VisionQuest streaming series, the production has just locked in one of its most important voices yet.

    According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Emmy-winning composer Mick Giacchino has been enlisted to score the series.

    The name Giacchino carries a lot of weight in the halls of Marvel and Disney. Mick is the son of legendary composer Michael Giacchino, the man responsible for the iconic scores of Doctor Strange, the studio’s Spider-Man trilogy, and Thor: Love and Thunder.

    But Mick isn’t just riding on his father’s coattails. He’s been carving out his own path in the genre space. Mick just won an Emmy for his incredible, brooding work on HBO’s The Penguin. If you loved the way that score made Gotham feel like a living, breathing weight on Oz Cobb’s shoulders, you know what he brings to the table. He’s also no stranger to the Disney machine, having recently composed the score for the Amblin-esque Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.

    With VisionQuest set to be one of Marvel Television’s weirdest series to date–a sort of techno-philosophica journey that needs a score capable of feeling both cold and deeply alive, Mick’s penchant for quirky, neo-nostalgic themes might be the perfect fit.

    This is a show about the Marvel AIs. You do get to see robot Ultron, but you see a lot of James Spader and a lot of Paul Bettany together. They are very much a core dynamic of the show.

    -Terry Matalas

    This hire confirms that Marvel is treating VisionQuest as a premium event. By pairing a writer like Terry Matalas with a composer like Giacchino, they are aiming for the same prestige level that made WandaVision a cultural phenomenon. With James Spader returning as Ultron, the soundscape for this show needs to be massive, and Mick has proven he can handle the pressure of legacy characters.

    Source: THR

  • ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Trailer Rumors Hit Fever Pitch

    ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Trailer Rumors Hit Fever Pitch

    If you’ve been refreshing your feed waiting for Tom Holland to suit back up, you might want to clear your schedule for next week. While Sony and Marvel have been playing their cards closer to the vest than usual, the rumor mill for Spider-Man: Brand New Day has stopped spinning and landed on a date.

    According to several reliable corners of the internet—including the incredibly accurate Cryptic4KQual—the first official trailer for the fourth Holland-led Spidey flick is slated to drop on Wednesday, March 18.

    With a locked-in release date of July 31 just over four months away, fans are rabidly anticipating a first-look teaser. Marvel and Sony traditionally kick off the 100-day marketing sprint around this time, and with the Brand New Day subtitle signaling a fresh start for Peter Parker after the multiversal madness of No Way Home, first time franchise director Destin Daniel Cretton has taken the opportunity to put together a completely different take on the Wall-Crawler…and maybe get a hint or two about the identity of Sadie Sink‘s mysterious character.

    Fans were disappointed when Marvel skipped a trailer drop during the 2026 Super Bowl, but the consensus is that Sony wanted a standalone window to dominate the conversation without competing with the big game’s noise. And with the studio’s Project Hail Mary set to dominate the box office, pairing the teaser with that film will ensure it meets plenty of eyeballs.

  • Tobey and Hugh Reportedly Set to Clash in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    Tobey and Hugh Reportedly Set to Clash in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    If you think Deadpool & Wolverine was the peak of nostalgia, buckle up. For years, Kevin Feige has reportedly wanted to see the Kings of the 2000s share the screen, and per a new reports from one of the internets busiest bees, that moment is coming at the literal start of the next Avengers epic.

    As we move through March 2026, the multiversal floodgates have officially opened. While the rumor mill was initially focused on these two clashing in Avengers: Doomsday, a new report suggests that Marvel Studios and Sony are looking far beyond a simple cameo.

    According to industry scooper MyTimeToShineHello, Marvel and Sony are reportedly in early discussions to develop a standalone Spider-Man and Wolverine team-up movie, starring Hugh Jackman and Tobey Maguire.

    Marvel is reportedly looking at the massive success of Deadpool & Wolverine as proof of concept for high-stakes legacy team-ups. Instead of just being part of the massive Avengers ensemble, this standalone project would allow for a deep dive into the dynamic between these two specific icons, who have so often co-inhabited Marvel Comics stories.

    Interestingly, Jackman once revealed that a Wolverine cameo was actually planned for Sam Raimi‘s 2002 Spider-Man, but fell through because the crew couldn’t access his suit. This movie would essentially be the 25-year payoff for that lost moment. Other rumors have suggested that Maguire and Jackman are being positioned as the main protagonists of Avengers: Secret Wars. A standalone film could serve as the bridge or prequel to their roles in that event and would almost certainly own the box office for weeks.

    We really tried to get me to come on and do something, whether it was a gag or just to walk through the shot or something. The problem was, we couldn’t find the suit. The suit was stuck in some thing. And so when they were in New York when I was there, we couldn’t get it together.

    -Hugh Jackman on a Spider-Man and Wolverine team-up, 2013

    A standalone Spider-Man and Wolverine movie could potentially take place on Battleworld, featuring the two heroes navigating Doom’s patchwork reality before the final showdown in Secret Wars…or, given recent comments by both actors, it could simply be engagement bait.

  • Mask On? John Campea Claims RDJ’s Face Won’t Be Seen in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    Mask On? John Campea Claims RDJ’s Face Won’t Be Seen in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    The discourse around Robert Downey Jr.’s Doom just took another turn. Recently, the consensus among the scooper community has been that while Victor Von Doom would keep his mask on when in front of the 616 heroes, the audience would get that meta moment of seeing RDJ’s face—likely to hammer home the tragedy of a man who looks exactly like the hero we lost in Avengers: Endgame.

    However, John Campea is now throwing a monkey into that wrench. On a recent episode of his show, Campea stated that he has confirmed Marvel is keeping the mask firmly in place for the duration of Avengers::Doomsday, saving the face reveal  for the grand finale in 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars.

    One of the rumors about Doomsday that we did confirm for people is that they do not reveal Robert Downey Jr.’s face as Doctor Doom… they don’t reveal Tony Stark’s face or Robert Downey Jr.’s face in Doomsday, and that the repercussions of that and the reasons for that and all that kind of stuff is something they’re saving for Secret Wars.

    -John Campea

    To mask or not to mask, that is the question but it’s hardly a new debate. But with Robert Downey Jr. in the role, it seems hard to believe that Marvel invested that kind of money just for a voice-over performance and a stunt double in a green cape.

    If Campea is right, Marvel is making a bold, narrative-driven choice. By withholding the face, they’re forcing the audience to treat Victor as a separate entity from Tony Stark. It builds tension so  when that mask finally comes off in Secret Wars, it’s a tactical emotional nuke designed to break the heroes, perhaps mirroring the division in Captain America: Civil War.

    This contradicts several other reports that suggested the audience see a scarred version of the 616-Stark-lookalike early on. If Campea’s info holds water, it means the brothers Russos are leaning into the horror of Doom, which does match up with  Film Threat’s Chris Gore’s claim that Doom’s face will be disfigured and, in his opinion, looks to be inspired by the look of creatures from “classic Universal Monster movies.”

    If they’re saving the face for Avengers: Secret Wars, they’re betting everything on a singular moment of shock to carry the entire Multiverse Saga finale.

  • Sadie Sink Is Reportedly the MCU’s Jean Grey—and She’s Debuting in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    Sadie Sink Is Reportedly the MCU’s Jean Grey—and She’s Debuting in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    For over a year, the Marvel fandom has been playing a high-stakes game of “Guess the Redhead.” Since Sadie Sink was first reported to be joining the MCU back in early 2023, speculation has swung wildly from her playing Songbird in Thunderbolts to being a Multiversal variant of Mary Jane Watson.

    However, following a series of massive leaks over the last 48 hours, the mystery appears to be solved. Trusted scooper Cryptic HD QUALITY has doubled down on earlier reports from Jeff Sneider, explicitly stating that the Stranger Things star is portraying the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Jean Grey.

    The journey to this confirmation has been anything but linear. When Sink officially joined the cast of Spider-Man: Brand New Day in March 2025, she was famously cagey, calling the Jean Grey rumors “cool” but stopping short of a confirmation.

    As production moved through Glasgow and eventually back to Pinewood Studios, the “Insider Info War” reached a fever pitch. We saw theories ranging from Sink playing a Mark Millar-inspired Ultimate Jean Grey to a live-action version of Spider-Gwen from Earth-65. But as we noted back in August 2025, the sheer scale of Sink’s casting suggested someone much more pivotal to the MCU’s future than a one-off Spider-Man supporting character.

    Why Jean Grey? Why Now?

    The most common question among fans is: Why introduce one of the most powerful X-Men in a Spider-Man movie? According to the latest leaks, the answer lies in the Department of Damage Control (DODC) and the fallout of the Multiverse Saga.

    Reports from the Glasgow set suggest a sequence where Sink’s character is being hunted by the DODC. Insider Daniel Richtman has indicated that Sink’s character utilizes telepathic mind control—a hallmark of Jean Grey’s power set—to manipulate guards and potentially even turn Bruce Banner into the Hulk. And then, there are on-set descriptions that have consistently noted Sink wearing green and yellow—the signature colors of Jean Grey’s Marvel Girl.

    By introducing Jean as a street-level mutant being persecuted by the government, Marvel Studios is effectively setting the stakes for the Mutant Saga before the X-Men even have a team. This grounds Jean in the 616 reality, making her a sympathetic figure Peter Parker feels compelled to protect. And it also makes one ask what might have happened to the Jean Grey from whatever universe the X-Men appearing in Avengers: Doomsday are native to.

    The Road to Avengers: Secret Wars

    Perhaps the most compelling piece of evidence for the Jean Grey reveal is Sink‘s reported future in the franchise. It has been widely reported that Sink will reprise her role in Avengers: Secret Wars, which begins filming in London later this year.

    Casting an actress of Sink’s caliber for a multi-film arc—especially one that leads into the climax of the Multiverse Saga—only makes sense if she is playing a true heavy gitter. Jean Grey isn’t just a mutant; she is a cosmic entity. If the MCU plans on adapting the Phoenix Force in a post-Secret Wars world, Sink is the perfect anchor for what could unfold as a decade-long narrative.

  • The “Wizard Sidekick” — Is Strange Truly Breaking Bad in Doomsday?

    The “Wizard Sidekick” — Is Strange Truly Breaking Bad in Doomsday?

    The Multiverse is a fickle beast, and if the latest round of rumors circulating about the plot of Avengers: Doomsday are to be believed, its greatest protector might just be its new enforcer. While Benedict Cumberbatch has spent the last year playing coy with the press—famously telling Variety that Doctor Strange is taking a “hiatus” because the character “didn’t align” with the new post-Kang pivot—insiders are spinning a different yarn.

    The Third-Eyed Sheriff

    Fresh reports from industry insiders Daniel Richtman and Jeff Sneider suggest that Robert Downey Jr.’s Victor von Doom won’t be conquering the Multiverse alone. According to Richtman, Doom is flanked by a “Wizard Sidekick” who wears a variation of the Latverian mask, featuring a distinct slot on the forehead for a third eye.

    This wizard reportedly wields a Sling Ring with lethal precision, acting as Doom’s primary enforcer and multiversal navigator. While Cumberbatch’s name wasn’t on the initial official cast list, multiple sources now claim he has filmed “pivotal, high-security scenes” in the UK under a production codename.

    Why the Betrayal?

    To understand why Stephen Strange would align with a tyrant like Doom, we have to look back at the ending of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

    Strange ended that film with a third eye, a physical manifestation of Darkhold corruption), and left with Clea to fix an Incursion he caused. Perhaps during their adventures, Strange and Doom crossed paths and a corrupted Strange chose to team up with Victor.

    On the other hand, in Jonathan Hickman‘s 2015 Secret Wars, Strange serves as the “Sheriff of Agamotto” under God Emperor Doom because he believes Doom is the only one capable of saving any reality from total collapse. If this is the case, Avengers: Doomsday would likely include a flashback that might show us how the unusual pairing of sorcerers came to be.

    Of course, there’s also a strong possibility that the “Wizard Sidekick” isn’t 616 Strange at all, but a variant—perhaps the “Sinister Strange” we met in the Incursion-ravaged universe—who survived and found a new master in Doom. But having such a character hidden behind a mask only to reveal he’s not “our” Strange wouldn’t really drop much of a hammer on the audience.

    Murphy’s Theory: The Secret Wars Setup

    If Strange is indeed the “Wizard Sidekick,” it reframes the entirety of Avengers: Doomsday. Instead of a standard hero-vs-villain romp, we are looking at a tragedy. The Avengers won’t just be fighting a man who looks like Tony Stark; they’ll be fighting a man they fought side-by-side with and trusted to hold the fabric of reality together.

    This betrayal likely serves as the cliffhanger for the film. Imagine the Avengers finally unmasking Doom’s right hand, only to find a corrupted, third-eyed Stephen Strange staring back at them. It sets the stage for a redemption arc in Avengers: Secret Wars, Strange must answer for his choices…just like in Hickman’s Secret Wars.

  • Rumor: Stephen Strange to Serve as Doom’s Right Hand in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    Rumor: Stephen Strange to Serve as Doom’s Right Hand in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    As the Marvel Cinematic Universe hurtles toward the collision of realities in Avengers: Doomsday, the power vacuum left by the Multiverse’s decay is beginning to fill with some familiar, yet formidable, faces. While fans have been catching up on plot leaks detailing Victor von Doom’s plans, a new report from industry insider Daniel Richtman suggests that Doom won’t be ruling alone.

    According to Richtman, Stephen Strange is set to serve as Doom’s primary lieutenant—a move that mirrors one of the most iconic dynamics in modern Marvel Comics history. Richtman’s report claims that “Doom’s right-hand man is “a wizard who can use a sling ring. He wears a mask similar to Doom’s, but with a slot for a third eye on his forehead.”

    For those well-versed in Jonathan Hickman’s 2015 Secret Wars, this development feels like destiny. In that storyline, Strange takes on the mantle of Sheriff Strange, the high justice of Battleworld who serves at the right hand of God Emperor Doom. Strange’s decision wasn’t born of a heel turn, but of a desperate pragmatism; he believed Doom was the only being capable of stitching together the fragments of a dying multiverse. If this rumor holds true, Avengers: Doomsday may find our Master of the Mystic Arts making a similarly impossible choice—sacrificing his morality to preserve what’s left of existence.

    Strange’s absence from the recent round spoilers left many with questions about why the only 616 hero with intimate knowledge of Incursions was nowhere to be found in the action. Richtman’s report would go a long way in explaining this, while setting up what would likely be a key reveal either late in Avengers: Doomsday or in its follow up, Avengers: Secret Wars.

  • Jack Mulhern Joins ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 3 as Mystery Villain

    Jack Mulhern Joins ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 3 as Mystery Villain

    With principal photography on Season 3 of Daredevil: Born Again set to get underway this month, the first bit of news about the new batch of episodes has emerged and it may well tie to one of the most prominent theories about what to expect from the third season.

    According to Nexus Point News, 31-year old Jack Mulhern (Painkiller, Mare of Easttown) has joined the cast as a character named Phillip.

    While NPN’s own speculation is that the character–who is described as “a smart and scrappy New Yorker who’s sweet and lovable with a hidden rageful side”–might be one of Wilson Fisk’s children, another interesting option might be considered.

    Though he’s hardly one of Daredevil’s primary antagonists, Phillip Sterling caused plenty of problems for the character after being introduced in  Daredevil #39 (1968). While it’s unlikely showrunner Dario Scardapane would choose to directly adapt the character, whose comic book resume is full of some odd bits that won’t fit at all with the studio’s vision for Daredevil: Born Again, one particular arc featuring Sterling would  match well with the anticipated direction of Season 3.

    Sterling had a long standing field with The Man Without Fear and went by a few aliases, including Death-Stalker, and was one of the few early Daredevil villains to know the heroes true identity. It’s been widely theorized that Season 3 will involve Murdock being exposed as Daredevil in an adaptation of Ed Brubaker‘s “The Devil in Cell-Block D.” Sterling also has comic book ties to both Karen Page, whom he kidnapped.

    Scardapane recently revealed that fans should expect an abrupt narrative shift in Season 3, and introducing a villain like Sterling (if they stay away from his more…unusual powers) would make for a nice transition back to the street-level story the showrunner has teased.

    Source: NPN

  • First ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Synopsis Reveals When the Film Is Set, Teases “Web of Mystery”

    First ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Synopsis Reveals When the Film Is Set, Teases “Web of Mystery”

    As the wait for the first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day drags on, a new synopsis for the film has made its way online courtesy of a Penguin Random House book.

    The synopsis of “The Art of the Movie” published in association with Marvel Studios. Assuming its accurate, the most interesting tidbit to be gleaned from it is that the events of the fourth installment in the Spider-Man franchise will be set in 2028.

    Four years have gone by since we last caught up with our friendly neighborhood hero. Peter Parker is no more, but Spider-Man is at the top of his game keeping New York City safe. Things are going well for our anonymous hero until an unusual trail of crimes pulls him into a web of mystery larger than he’s ever faced before. In order to take on what’s ahead, Spider-Man not only needs to be at the top of his physical and mental game, but he must also be prepared to face the repercussions of his past!

    According to the book, Spider-Man: Brand New Day will take place four years after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home which was set in 2024. With the MCU’s current events as seen in Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts taking place in 2027, the newest Spidey film will be the furthest out narrative thread.

    The synopsis also teases a “web of mystery” and a test to Peter’s “mental game” which may well hint at the identity of Sadie Sink’s character.