Tag: Marvel

Hulu’s ‘Helstrom’ Slated For October Release

This bit of information dropped during the Hulu Newfront 2020 presentation today. The company revealed that the Marvel series Helstrom will air as part of the streaming service’s Huluween slate probably sometime in October.

Per Deadline:

Finally, the platform unveiled a number of titles for its Huluween strand. Originals launching around the spooky holiday including horror film Books of Blood, based on Clive Barker’s book and starring Anna Friel, Rafi Gavron, Britt Robertson and Yul Vazquez, horror satire feature Bad Hair starring Elle Lorraine, Vanessa Williams, Jay Pharoah, Lena Waithe, Blair Underwood, Laverne Cox and James Van Der Beek, Marvel Studios’ Helstrom and Mary Laws’ Monsterland.

Despite the huge Marvel brand attached to it, there’s been virtually no news about this show since it was greenlit. The show was, oddly, the only survivor in the axing of multiple Marvel TV projects. The cast announcement went under the radar. We don’t know what exactly to make of this show in the wake of the dissolution of Marvel TV but it’s happening.

June 22, 2020
The Real Deal with Ogun

After sitting on it for months, we recently released an image from the Madripoor set of Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier that revealed what appeared to be a biker gang logo. Shortly after running the story, we were contacted by Twitter user and Murphy’s Multiverse reader @AmzingShite, who believed he had a match for the face on the jacket; he believed (and in subsequent conversations on Twitter it became clear that a lot of folks share the same opinion) that the face was incredibly similar to a red demon mask worn by one of Wolverine’s oldest acquaintances: Ogun.

First introduced in the 1984 series Kitty Pryde and Wolverine, Ogun is a ninja who once served as friend of Logan’s and mentored him in the Art of the Samurai. During their time together, Ogun revealed to Logan that he had mastered the forbidden art of cheating death. Ogun could copy his psyche and then upload it into the bodies of others where it would slowly begin to erase their personalities and install his, a process he intended to do to Logan before the X-Man departed. Following Logan’s departure, Ogun fought all over the world wearing the red mask seen in the picture above, one that presents a common depiction of demons in Japanese art.

That connection to Logan has people plenty excited as fan-generated rumors were already circulating that Wolverine would pop up on location in Madripoor, but what’s more interesting is the relationship Ogun himself as to the island, specifically to an underground tournament fought there at one point…

Apparently bored killing people on his own merit, Ogun joined the Yakuza as an enforcer. Already shown in Avengers: Endgame, the Yakzua are expected to appear in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in the episode where the gang visits Madripoor. In that regard, it’s possible that we see Ogun as the head of a Yakuza biker gang, thus explaining the symbol on the jacket.

There is, however, one more interesting possibility that could connect The Falcon and The Winter Soldier not only to someone from Logan’s long history, but also to a long-standing rumor about the plot of Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings! During an arc in Wolverine, Vol. 2, Ogun found himself in Madripoor at the time a secret, underground martial arts tournament was being fought. It’s a crazy tale that involves him trying to take over Madripoor by taking over the body of Viper, but it checks enough boxes to at least bring it up here.

Admittedly a blurry picture of a biker jacket is absolutely not enough evidence to suggest that Ogun is showing up and that’s not what I’m suggesting here. It’s likely that this is either just an Easter Egg for Ogun or completely unrelated; however, to me, the images are similar enough that not taking the time to point out the potential connections would be silly given we originally published the picture and had some great followers from our community (including @hradesi14 who gave a nice summary of Ogun’s character) point it out to us.

This is one we’d love to hear about in the comments. Do you think we’ll see Ogun in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier? Are we just a few degrees of separation away from the MCU version of Wolverine? Get a discussion going in Disqus and let us know.

June 15, 2020
Without Denny O’Neil, We Wouldn’t Have Gotten the Best ‘DAREDEVIL’ Run

Daredevil is probably the most consistently great comic book of the past twenty or so years. I mean, it’s had its middling to average runs here and there but for the most part, it’s the one book whose pedigree of writers and artists have yet to be matched. This was mostly in due part to Denny O’Neil, the man who gave Frank Miller the reigns to not only write the comic but to draw it as well. Frank Miller, of course, paved the way not only for future Daredevil writers by reinventing the character for subsequent stories to come. Being the progenitor of talent he was, O’Neil likely saw the potential in creators like Miller that early on.

In addition to his work on Marvel, O’Neil’s stint on Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow with artist Neal Adams became nothing short of legendary. The duo dusted off the Caped Crusader’s campiness brought on by the 60s TV show and pulled the character back down to the darkest pits of Gotham where the character started. The response to this back-to-roots change to the Batman was acclaimed. Villains like Two-Face and the Joker saw a resurgence in their popularity and super iconic Batvillain was Ra’s Al-Ghul introduced. With Green Lanter/Green Arrow, O’Neil tackled social problems head-on, exploring themes of drug use, radicalism, and activism unlike any other writer of the time.

Denny O’Neil passed away at the age of 81 yesterday. His work will be remembered forever. Our hearts go out to his loved and to all those who admired him. Rest in peace, king.

June 13, 2020
How To Adapt Comic Stories The MCU Way

Phase 4 will be huge for the MCU. It’ll be the phase we see beloved characters like Kate Bishop and Kamala Khan make their debut in this world. It’ll be the phase we see the first Asian superhero with Shang-Chi. It’ll be the phase the multiverse will branch off and fall apart. And not least, it’ll be the phase where we see a very recent comic story get adapted with Thor: Love and Thunder.

5 years ago, Jason Aaron introduced the idea of having a disease-ridden, dying, middle-aged Jane Foster wield Asgard’s most prized weapon. The idea not only came with an exciting spin on a decades-old character but it also brought a lot of status-quo changes for the Thor mythos. Mjolnir was no longer just a hunk of uru shaped into a hammer; it now had a sentient storm inside it choosing the worthy. Aaron reintroduced Mangog into the fold as well as turning Roxxon into a prime big bad for the Marvel Universe. Aaron’s Roxxon was led by one Dario Agger, an intensely corrupt executive who had the power to turn into a minotaur. So yeah, good shit.

Taika Waititi clearly knew this, hence the need to adapt such a badass story on-screen despite its recency, which brings us to the whole point of this piece.

Now, whether the majority of Aaron’s story makes it onto the story has yet to be seen but the choice to adapt something so recent is a choice that stands out to me as a frequent reader of the source material. I, for the most part, enjoy back-reading more than I do reading the current stories happening. For the longest time, I had this notion at the back of my head that stories needed shelf-life before they could be eligible for adaptations. Old stories that stood the test of time had first dibs to on-screen reimagining before any of these new ones. New stories had to stay on the shelf for a while, just so we could see how strong they stood 10 years from now. Kevin Feige and his thinktank at Marvel Studios clearly do not share the same sentiment as me.

Over the course of the decade, the MCU has found great success in adapting all kinds of stories, spanning the entirety of Marvel’s history. But even though there’s a seemingly equal mix of old and contemporary adaptations, the MCU is by and large influenced by modern Marvel comics. The Avengers and all the ancillary stories around it are based on the Ultimate line of comics, which was originally published to depict what a real-world Avengers initiative could look like. The Guardians of the Galaxy had been in publication for decades but it wasn’t until the Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning run that the blueprint for the live-action adaptation came.

There are varying degrees of how the Marvel Studios machine draws inspiration from text. Some adaptations are more pronounced than others while some are nuanced. Take a look at the last two Captain America films. Both films not only adapt the primary premise of each comic, which in Winter Soldier’s case is the brainwashing of Bucky Barnes and in Civil War’s case the ripple between the Avengers but more specifically Tony and Steve, but they also remake panels in live-action and share subtext with the source comic.

More often than not, you have the films that draw loosely from the text like Thor: Ragnarok. Ragnarok is an idea inherent to the Thor mythos yet the film barely touches upon the crux of the Norse apocalypse as it is foretold in ancient text and Marvel comics. In actuality, the film has less to do with the actual Ragnarok story in the comics than it does with Planet Hulk, an arc that came out a little over a decade ago. A chunk of Thor: Ragnarok takes place in Sakaar, the planet Hulk inhabits for some time. The premise of Hulk being a stranded gladiator is there but the meat of what the actual story is about isn’t there. Hulk doesn’t become the emperor of Sakaar in the film nor does the planet get nuked by the ship Hulk rode in.

One look at the MCU slate these past 11 years and it’s easy to assume how favored the newer stories are compared to the older ones. Modern stories tell more timely problems and depict characters in ways the current generation see themselves in. There’s a reason why we’re getting Kamala Khan before a character like Nova who’s been around for decades. The world is populated by a lot of people whose voices have yet to be heard, who see themselves in Kamala Khan. The same can be said for this new iteration of Captain America, with Sam Wilson under the helmet. Both Sam Wilson becoming Cap and Kamala Khan are recent additions in the comics that resonate well in the world we live in.

There’s an uncanny ambition to how modern Marvel stories are told. As the social themes of comics progress, so does its ambition for storytelling on a visual and narrative scale. Matt Fraction and David Aja’s now-classic Hawkeye run and Tom King’s Vision arc are fantastic examples of how cape stories could be in this day age. Both have a distinct deconstructive approach to tackling superhero stories akin to modern-day independent cinema. It’s no surprise that they’re getting a live-action adaptation of both stories despite them existing less than a decade with the upcoming Hawkeye and Wandavision Disney+ series.

By design, stories nowadays are conceived with the intent of bundling them in paperback/graphic novel form. Whereas back in the day, comics only existed in single issues. Stories were marketed individually. Daredevil: Born Again wasn’t referred to as Born Again until it was reprinted in graphic novel form. Up until that point, it was simply known as Daredevil #227-233. In this graphic novel era, there is a stronger push for long-form storytelling. The kind that Marvel Studios draws inspiration from.

We live in an era where the summer crossover events are everything to publishers. Gone are the days where events used to be contained in a small particular run. Now, crossover events are highly-publicized marketing ploys, composed of multiple tie-in stories that culminate in one big comic extravaganza. Sound familiar? That’s because it is in many ways the same thing Marvel Studios is doing with their films.

And thanks to the success of Hollywood comic adaptations, the industry has attained somewhat of a resurgence in publicity. Civil War was one of the first comic stories to gain international notoriety just for the novelty of pitting superheroes against each other. The publicity became so big that even my non-comic book reading relatives heard about it elsewhere. The bigger the story, the bigger the spectacle. Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame may not be based on recent stories but the way they were designed in the MCU apes the modern way crossover events are told. Just for their scale alone, it’ll only be a matter of time until we see stories like the latest Secret Wars or Siege happen on-screen.

As for the older stories, they do get their live-action dues here and there. Most if not all ideas plucked from the stories of old are centered around a character’s essence and origin story. By design the Avengers are based on the Ultimates line, however, the first film takes cues from the original Stan Lee and Jack Kirby story where the team is forced to convene to defeat Loki. The beats of Stephen Strange’s journey towards mysticism are from Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s original ideas. The idea that Scott Lang is a reformed convict trying to make good with his daughter by stealing the Ant-Man suit is straight out of his original appearance in the 70s. Iron Man 2 was originally intended to be an adaptation for the iconic Demon in a Bottle storyline but because of the alcoholism aspect, the concept was vetoed and watered down to Tony battling the intoxication of the arc reactor instead of alcohol. As bad as they are, elements of the Thor films take inspiration from the amazing run by Walt Simonson.

Barring all the problematic stuff that made you go yikes from the olden era, there’s an unmistakable charm to the classics. The Saturday Morning Cartoon style of writing can seem to be dated at times but you can’t help but revere the SMASH!, BOOM!, POW!, EXCELSIOR! sincerity of Stan Lee. The way these stories struck the right thing at the right time and how timeless it got as the world changed. Spider-Man’s themes from the Silver Age still resonate in this day. The redemption stories of Iron Man and Stephen Strange continues to echo in our minds this day.

Of course, a lot of stories from that era had ideas that absolutely insane groundbreaking; no one had seen the likes The Coming of Galactus and Infinity Gauntlet when they were released. The stories defined what original truly meant back then. It’s because of these stories that the modern era has a foundation to build something on. The MCU at its core works because of how ingrained old-fashioned earnestness to the way they write these characters in a modern light. As Coulson puts it, we all could use a little old-fashioned these days.

It’ll be interesting to see how the MCU moves forward with taking modern comic inspiration in the next decade or so. It was announced not too long ago that Kevin Feige was being promoted to Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer, which meant all stories spanning television, comics, and film would have to go through his desk. Feige today has essentially the say to whatever kind of story he wants in the comics for the MCU to draw from. That could either go horribly wrong due to the forced corporate synergy or it could go well if Feige tells the comics division to continue telling bold and ambitious stories independent of what’s happening on screen.

June 11, 2020
Lessons From Lucasfilm: How Marvel Studios Can Learn From Star Wars

As part of the relaunch of Murphy’s Multiverse we invited several friends, old and new, to write some guest features. This was written by our good friend, Marvel News Desk’s very own Caleb Borchers.

2019 was an important year for Marvel Studios as they finished out their first saga of films in triumphant fashion. One of the facets of their success is that Marvel Studios passed up Lucasfilm as the most financially dominant arm of Disney. While Star Wars films had historically outperformed their Marvel counterparts, Marvel is now clearly ascendant. It may not be a totally apples to apples comparison, but both Marvel and Lucasfilm released the final film of an era of storytelling. One could argue that Rise of Skywalker was actually set up to be an even greater event in that it capped off 35 years of film making across several generations of fans. When the dust settled, however, Avengers: Endgame dominated Rise of Skywalker with far more than two times the international gross.

Despite their general dominance, Marvel Studios still has a few things they could learn from Lucasfilm and their company compatriots in a galaxy far, far away. As fans of both franchises can attest, Star Wars still provides some things to fans that Marvel just hasn’t been able to duplicate. Here are three ways that Marvel Studios could benefit from some of the practices over at Lucasfilm.

(Obviously one could write the opposite article and it might even be longer. First on my list for how Lucasfilm could learn from Marvel Studios would be something like “Hire a director and actually trust that director, keeping them on board until the movie is released!” I don’t mean here to pretend that Lucasfilm has no flaws, just that they do some things really well.)

Make Use of Animation, Particularly on the TV/Streaming Side

Many Star Wars fans feel that the best material to come out of Lucasfilm since the Disney takeover has nothing to do with the Skywalker saga or the big screen. Instead, The Mandalorian and Star Wars: Rebels have been the big homeruns of the era, in addition to positive reception of the latest season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. While Lucasfilm has struggled to match Marvel in producing multiple successful films a year, Marvel hasn’t even touched the world of animation, with the exception of the upcoming What If…?

Animation for Star Wars has been great in its ability to extend and deepen their universe. Anakin Skywalker was a dud in the prequel trilogy. But fans of Clone Wars are much warmer to the character after he was more fully realized in animation. Almost every planet in the Star Wars universe has multiple stories of lore now between the various animated projects that have returned to settings from the films. Imagine a TV show that could explore what life is like in Wakanda or what the daily cases handled by X-Con Security might look like or what threats the Nova Corps have defended against. Animation allows all this exploration on a minimum budget. The only limits are the imaginations of the animators.

Another advantage of animation is that it allows for connections and cameos that are impractical in live action properties. Just in Rebels alone Star Wars fans saw Leia, R2-D2, C3PO, Lando, Mon Mothma, Obi-Wan, Vader, Maul, and the Emperor operating within the larger universe before A New Hope. Imagine the Marvel connections that could happen within the bounds of animation. Peter Parker and Shuri could meet at a youth science expo. We could get a history of Mar-Vell and the Skrulls with Ego stopping by in the midst of things. Or Red Skull could be in a confrontation with Odin during his attempts to find artifacts in Norway during WWII. Kevin Feige has rightfully been hesitant to force those kinds of interactions into films where they would be a side show. Animation would allow him to make those interactions the focus of what would literally be a side show to the main MCU.

Animation also serves as a lab in which new characters can be added and developed. Lucasfilm is about to cash in on a decade and a half of animation to bring the like of Ahsoka Tano, Bo Katan, and Sabine Wren into The Mandalorian. Casual fans might not know those characters but the loyalists most certainly do. And everyone will know them when they explode onto Disney+’s most popular show. While Feige and crew have done an excellent job blooding new characters in other films (including Vision, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and more) their capacity could open in animation. There would be more screen time if nothing else.

Another advantage for Marvel Studios is that it increases output. Star Wars fans are kept somewhat happy between films because there are more stories happening in the animation world. They’re seeing the biggest stars of their universe on the small screen too. This has ancillary benefits of selling more merchandise. Fandoms generate revenue disproportionately from the most dedicated fans, why not give them something else to enjoy and purchase? (To be fair, comics do serve this function for many MCU fans.)

Now some will argue that Marvel already has an arm to do these kinds of things and that is Marvel TV. Fans of both universes will know that the crossover and continuity of Star Wars television is on a totally different level than the crossovers between Marvel films and TV shows. While ABC’s shows and Netflix’s universe were given lip service by Marvel, it was always a one way relationship. TV shows worked hard to connect over and the films just ignored the TV universe. Certainly one would never hear the voice of Charlie Cox in Endgame the way Rey hears from half a dozen TV only Jedi at the climax of Rise of Skywalker. Also, with the exception of Fury and Sif in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. film characters hardly come into TV shows. But in Star Wars characters, ships, locations, etc. move back and forth. Perhaps the most distinct version of this is the TV character Saw Gerrera appearing in a pivotal role in Rogue One. Marvel TV could do this function, but it hasn’t. Maybe that will change with Disney+, but live action Disney+ shows are still not going to provide the flexibility of animation.

One final things animation does is that brings in new, young fans. While Star Wars fans may not love how young Star Wars: Resistance skewed, it still captivated younger viewers. The reality for a company like Disney that has centuries in front of it most likely is that they must always capture new fans from young ages. Enticing kids to watch is a way to guarantee another 60 years of revenue from loyal fans. Marvel Studios is clearly aware of this with their focus on a younger Spider-Man as well as all the rumors about Young Avengers. Animation is another easy on ramp to this audience base.

Designate Some Canon Keepers

Almost every time a documentary crew talks to Lucasfilm about a new project, those interviewed includes someone from the Lucasfilm Story Group. This group functions as the official keepers of canon. They appear to have detailed records on every character in their universe, all the appearances of those characters, and important dates involved with characters. They keep up similarly with locations and ships and much more. As such, anytime a filmmaker is interested in doing something there is a definite authority to determine if the decisions will break the canon of the universe.

Kevin Feige and crew need such a group and they need it badly. Some talk has occurred suggesting some of this work happens. Feige has alluded to an official timeline that is kept somewhere at Marvel Films HQ. But none of it is as official as the Lucasfilm Story Group. This has become painfully clear a time or two, with the date cards of Spider-Man: Homecoming being a perfect example. While the concerns are relatively pedantic, it is even more short sighted to not keep up with these things. The beauty of the MCU, even as opposed to the comics, is a relatively cohesive story with a real sense of the passage of time and character development. A group like this could help in so many ways.

Not only would the existence of such a group help Marvel Studios, but they should also publicize who is on the canon committee and make them household names. We should all know someone as “the continuity guy” and Marvel. The opportunities at conventions would be fun. Come to a panel and ask your obnoxious continuity concern and get an official answer. Also, how much time would it save for Feige when on a press tour to deflect the “gotcha” questions by simply saying, “That’s a great question for our continuity guy, you should interview him.”

Stronger controls on continuity and canon would allow Marvel execs to be off the hook, would tighten up the universe for fans, and would just add an overall level of polish to a universe that’s already fairly cohesive. My last suggestion piggybacks off this idea and might not be popular.

Swing the Continuity Axe

Many fans were incensed when Disney bought up Lucasfilm and immediately canned what is known as the “extended universe” canon. This was an attempt to streamline plans for new content. With all the novels and comics about Star Wars post-Return of the Jedi off the table, J.J. Abrams had much more freedom to tell a new and different story about the universe post-Luke, Leia, and Han. It was a bold move but one that greatly simplified a very messy mass of story.

Marvel Studios needs to do the same thing with the so-called “canon” of the Marvel TV shows. While the original idea was ambitious, it never truly worked. Early on there were great moments, like the Hydra overthrow of S.H.I.E.L.D. which occurred simultaneously on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But the positive fan experience of that moment seemed to be a detrimental experience to the creatives behind the products. S.H.I.E.L.D. felt mis-paced for much of its first season but we now know that is because the show was merely treading water until the big crossover reveal. The second season’s helicarrier crossover idea with Age of Ultron is still awkward to this day.

The Netflix shows didn’t fare much better. Despite the Sokovia Accords rocking the superhero world to its core in films, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage are out and about in the streets showing off their powers with no concern about the police arresting them for their power usage. Fans have bent over backwards to try to explain the inconsistency away. Maybe it was about the geography or power level of the characters. Maybe you could squeeze the time frames so all the shows happened pre-Ultron. While one can understand the efforts lovers of these shows went into keeping them in canon, it is hard not to see that the producers of the shows (and definitely the producers of the films) just didn’t care as much.

The most egregious example would be the utter nonsense surrounding Thanos, the snap, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The season 5 finale is clearly placed during the invasion of Wakanda and season 6 is clearly in a non-snapped world. This says nothing of the fact that the time travel rules of Endgame and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are in almost complete disagreement. As S.H.I.E.L.D. continued the continuity just frayed to the point of no longer being salvageable.

Dropping the shows from continuity also allows some characters who were poorly done on TV to be reclaimed in the films. The Inhumans are too important to the history of Marvel to allow the utterly disastrous ABC show to be considered the MCU version of Black Bolt and Medusa. Iron Fist fans also deserve a better version of their favorite hero. This isn’t true for every version of every TV character, but Marvel Studios can choose to rehire actors who did work like Charlie Cox, Vincent D’onofrio, or Olivia Holt.

If Marvel Studios would adopt these three practices from Lucasfilm it would improve the already strong MCU. More characters, depth, and breadth would be available to the universe. That increased potential would be kept within logical canon guidelines. And the TV shows which just do not fit into the larger narrative of the show would be freed from those expectations to be enjoyed for what they are.

June 9, 2020
A ‘Black Widow’ Actor May Have Made the Jump to ‘Shang-Chi’

I came across something kind of interesting during a recent check of IMDb for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. One of the Widows in the upcoming Black Widow film is listed as a stunt performer on Shang-Chi as well!

Jade Xu and the other Widows in the Black Widow trailer.

A quick double check of Jade Xu’s Instagram confirms that she was indeed in Sydney Australia for a new Marvel adventure there beginning March 1st until at least March 8. Good enough to confirm for me that the listing can be trusted.

Could it be one of the Widows survives the events of Black Widow and appears in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings? Or is she simply doing some miscellaneous stunts? Her height and build, I believe, would make her a good candidate to double Awkwafina’s character, widely rumored to be Shang-Chi’s sister Fah Lo Suee, so this is another strong possibility.

The reason I’m really excited by this stunt performer being listed for these projects is the very high level of skill she possesses. We are certain to get some great fighting sequences with a stunt actress like this involved!

Jade Xu, per her IMDb listing, is a 3 time Wushu/Kung Fu World Champion and began her martial arts training at 6 years old. You can find examples of her athleticism and grace on her Instagram, YouTube channel, and website jadexu.com

Jade Xu

June 9, 2020
Marvel Studios ‘HAWKEYE’ Working Title Revealed

With productions delayed as the COVID-19 pandemic continues we aren’t quite sure when we can expect to see Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Hawkeye start filming; however, we do know what the working title will be whenever that is! The Jeremy Renner led series that is set to introduce Kate Bishop to the MCU will be filming under the working title Anchor Point.

The working title refers to the a spot on an archer’s face where they draw back their bow. A consistent anchor point is key to accuracy. It’s also worth noting that the collected first volume of Kelly Thompson’s Hawkeye series is called Anchor Points.

Once on track for a late-September start, it’s no longer clear when we should expect production to begin as Marvel Studios has given no updates. While Renner is returning as Clint Barton, Marvel Studio have yet to cast their Kate Bishop though rumors persist that Hailee Steinfeld is their first choice.

Stay tuned to Murphy’s Multiverse for more on this story as it develops. In the meantime, you can check out the titular story arc featuring Kate Bishop, written by Kelly Thompson.

June 8, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: Evan Peters Playing Mystery Role in ‘WANDAVISION’

The world needs some good news. Thanks to a familiar and trusted source (the same L.A. based source who told me about Peyton Reed signing on for Season 2 of The Mandalorian), I have learned that Evan Peters (American Horror Story, X-Men) signed on for a key role in the Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series WandaVision. The 33-year old Peters landed the role late last year and filmed his scenes shortly after.

The nature of Peters’ role is being kept under wraps and that is likely to generate a great deal of excitement and confusion among fans given that the actor has thrice portrayed Wanda’s brother, Pietro, in Fox’s X-Men franchise. Of course Peters is also well-known for his portrayal of several terrifying villains over the course of 8 seasons of American Horror Story, opening up the possibility that he’s landed a role as WandaVision’s big bad. Given the nature of the series, Peters could be playing anyone from Nicholas Scratch to Mephisto.

The waters would seem to get muddy quickly should Peters be reprising his role as Pietro and then crossing over into the MCU, but rumors have persisted that WandaVision will somehow feature Wanda’s deceased brother though Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who played the speedster in Avengers: Age of Ultron, has made it very clear that we shouldn’t plan on seeing him suit back up as Quicksilver any time soon. So if Taylor-Johnson isn’t back and Quicksilver is, that would mean a recast, something Marvel Studios has done successfully in the past, and Peters would be an interesting choice given the majority of fans seem to gravitate towards his portrayal of the character. This is just one possible option, of course, and perhaps not even the most likely, but it’s the one that quickly comes to mind.

Time will tell exactly what role Peters is playing, but given his American Horror Story fan base and his resume as a superhero, this is, most definitely, some good news!

June 1, 2020
Connecting Imaginary Dots: Evidence of a Wakandan Presence in ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Intensifies

If you’ve never read an installment of Connecting Imaginary Dots, allow me to explain the idea. Connecting Imaginary Dots was the title I came up with for my speculation pieces when I was writing at MCU Exchange. These types of pieces basically allow me to unload a bunch of junk that’s circulating in my brain in a way that should never be confused for things I actually expect to happen. I basically take a bunch of facts that are almost always entirely unrelated and do my best to connect the dots with by stretching my imagination. In the past these types of pieces have resulted in me theorizing that the Spider-Man sequel which became Far From Home might end up being a team-up outing of Spidey and Hulk in the Savage Land; however, I also wrote one theorizing that Sterling K. Brown would be playing the father of Erik Killmonger in Black Panther LOOOOOONG before anyone else was considering it and one in which I theorized that Annette Bening was actually Mar-Vell when everyone else still thought Jude Law was playing the character. The bottom line is this: these are fun spec pieces that allow me to just be a fan. With that out of the way…

At the end of April, in another Connecting Imaginary Dots piece, the detective work of Liz led to some evidence-based speculation that we might see some Wakandans in the upcoming Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Key to the premise was an Instagram post by stunt double Jenel Stevens which indicated she was in Prague at the same time as the series was filming there. In the photo, she is seen with stunt double Vanessa Cater who is confirmed to be working on the series.

Stevens is once again central to today’s premise as an update to her IMDB account not only lists her as working on The Falcon and The Winter Solider, but also shows her doubling for someone fans will absolutely recognize:

Stevens IMDB indicates the presence of 2 new actresses in the cast: Indya Bussey, who is relatively unknown, and Florence Kasumba, who we would expect to be reprising her role as Ayo, one of King T’Challa’s Dora Milaje! We here at Murphy’s Multiverse are all well aware the IMDB can often times be misleading, so we looked a bit deeper.

A quick check of Bussey’s Instagram shows that she was indeed in Prague during the time the series was filming there. And while Kasumba’s Instagram does not show her there nor reveal a location, the actress posted this posted this photo during the time period production was occurring in Prague, perhaps an indication of her returning to the role.

As was discussed in the first Connecting Imaginary Dots and followed up on in the episode of Murphy’s Law that followed, Bucky’s role as Wakanda’s White Wolf (traditionally the leader of the Wakandan secret police) and the nation’s interest in Zemo, who was responsible for the death of King T’Chaka, give us more than enough reason to accept the fact that the Wakandans would be present in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and, as the title indicates, the evidence is absolutely backing that up.

May 11, 2020
Disney Plus to Update Its Marvel Studios and Disney Slates at March 5th Launch Event in London

Disney is hosting a launch event in London on March 5th where it is expected to update its series slates for Marvel Studios, Star Wars and the rest of it properties and reveal exclusive information. This lines up with the information I shared with you yesterday but is more exciting as it also includes Star Wars and more.

Executives from several branches of Disney are expected to be in attendance to update us on their properties and, potentially, reveal new offerings. It is expected that we might hear updates on Star Wars properties such as The Mandalorian Season 2, Obi-Wan and Cassian Andor; additionally, Marvel Studios will likely update its 2021 release schedule which should include new release dates for Loki, What If…? and Hawkeye and, potentially, dates for Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk and Moon Knight.

Stay tuned for more on this as it draws near.

Source: Starwarsnewsnet.com

February 20, 2020