Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: MCU News

  • Marvel Studios Rumored Plans for ‘Hawkeye’ Season 2 Sound Insanely Good

    Marvel Studios Rumored Plans for ‘Hawkeye’ Season 2 Sound Insanely Good

    Set at Christmas, the first season of Hawkeye brought an entirely different vibe to Marvel Studios first wave of streaming series. It wasn’t all holly and jolly, however, as the project took viewers into New York City’s world of organized crime and reintroduced Vincent D’Onofrio‘s Kingpin into the MCU. For a while, it seemed as though the first season–which was well-received by critics and fans–woule be the only season but over the last year, buzz has steadily grown about Marvel’s interest in putting together a second round of episodes.

    I cannot speak to future plans in the tradition of secrecy. Again, the show coming out, you never know how it’s going to be received and it has been amazing to see how warmly people have taken it and enjoyed it. And it’s been great to see Hailee’s character embraced and sort of land so firmly in the MCU. I sincerely look forward to where that character goes next. And yes, I loved walking on the streets of the MCU and would gladly enjoy doing it again.

    –Hawkeye director Rhys Thomas

    Originally described as being inspired by the 2011 film The Raid, a potential Season 2 of Hawkeye May be headed to small screens sooner than expected. Late last year, insider Daniel Richtman reported that Marvel Television was hoping to start production on the new season in late 2025. Weeks later, it was noticed that Disney was marketing the physical media release of Season 1 as “the complete first season” rather than “the complete series.” Indeed Marvel Television head man Brad Winderbaum recently admitted that a second season of Hawkeye that had second season potential and could be revisited “whenever.“

    On the heels of Winderbaum’s comments,  a new report on the new season’s potential plot has emerged, further fueling hopes that Clint and Kate are headed back to D+.

    The new information comes from Richtman and while it rehashes some older rumors, it includes some interesting updates to the story of the potential second season. According to the insider, inspired by Die Hard, Hawkeye Season 2 will see Clint and Kate pinned down in one location while having to fight off an onslaught of attacks by assassins. Most interestingly, it sounds as though the final boss will be the villain Trickshot, otherwise known as Barney Barton!

    This is not the first time Barney has been associated with the project and it’s easy to see how given the project’s potential plot, both The Raid and Die Hard could have been used as inspiration. And with Die Hard in the DNA, it does sound as though Season 2 of Hawkeye will be once again set and Christmastime!

    As exciting as it is, it is worth remembering that Winderbaum has also consistently warned MCU fans that the television branch of the studio is developing far more projects than they will ever produce. And the recent revelation that Terror Inc., Strange Academy and Nova were all pushed to the back of the queue should also serve to remind us all that until we start seeing set photos, trailers and official release dates, nothing should be taken for granted.

  • Jon Bernthal Promises New ‘The Punisher’ Streaming Special Will Match the Netflix Tone

    Jon Bernthal Promises New ‘The Punisher’ Streaming Special Will Match the Netflix Tone

    With the proliferation of MCU scoopers on the scene over the past five years, it’s become increasingly rare that Marvel Studios can ever truly pull of a surprise. Plot points, castings and even new projects are typically shared by social media scoopers before the trades or Disney get the news out. However, 2025 has been full of surprises with the trades announcing that Marvel had paused development on a series nobody new was being developed, leaked concept art revealing all kinds of interesting plans and news of a Special Presentation featuring Frank Castle, which came straight from the Marvel TV boss’s mouth.

    After revealing the project was in the works, Marvel’s head of TV, animation and streaming, Brad Winderbaum, also shared that Jon Bernthal, who will return as Frank Castle in an upcoming episode of Daredevil: Born Again, will co-write the Special Presentation with Reinaldo Marcus Green, who will also direct it. Now, while promoting his new film The Accountant 2, Bernthal has shared some more information about the project.

    It’s like a shotgun blast of a story, but also has all the pathos and emotion that you want out of a Frank Castle story.

    -Brad Winderbaum on The Punisher Special Presentation

    In an interview with THR, Bernthal described the story of the Special Presentation as one that “this character deserves.”

    I care very deeply about Frank, I’m really grateful that I’m getting the opportunity to tell the story that I think the fans deserve. We’re giving it our all and we’re trying to tell a Frank Castle story that we’re going to turn our back on the audience — it’s not going to be easy, it’s not going to be light, and I think it’s the version that this character deserves and I’m just beyond honored and grateful that we get the opportunity.

    -Jon Bernthal

    It also sounds as though fans who enjoyed the two seasons of the Bernthal’s hyper-violent Netflix series, The Punisher, will also enjoy the new project, which is reportedly debuting in 2026.

    “It’s going to be dark; Frank has no interest in breaking out the darkness. It’s not going to be easy,” said Bernthal when asked how the Special Presentation would compare to the original Netflix series. “I don’t know if that’s the Netflix tone then that’s what it’s going to be. It will not be Punisher-lite, I promise you that.”

    Source: THR

  • ‘Daredevil: Born Again’: Marvel TV Boss Confirms a Shocking Season 2 Return

    ‘Daredevil: Born Again’: Marvel TV Boss Confirms a Shocking Season 2 Return

    When Marvel Studios brought Dario Scardapane on to overhaul the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, the new showrunner’s first instinct was to bring back Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll, both of whom were not originally part of the revival. His second instinct, apparently, was to have Henson’s Foggy murdered, throwing Matt Murdock’s life into chaos. Scardapane was so preoccupied with whether or not he could, he didn’t stop to think if they should.

    But what’s done is done, of course, and such a catastrophic event should never be undone. And so Foggy, who was Murdock’s best friend and partner and, according to Scardapane, one part of the “heart and soul” of Daredevil, has gone to heaven, hopefully a half hour before the devil knew he was dead. However, Scardapane has also made it clear that he believes “you can’t do this show without Foggy and Karen, so as production begins on Season 2, he seems to have created a bit of a conundrum. But apparently he’s also already solved his own problem.

    In a post-premiere interview, Marvel’s head of TV, streaming and animation, Brad Winderbaum addressed Foggy’s death and let slip a bit of information that is sure to cause fans of the show to head into a tizzy.

    “Without going into spoiler territory, I will say that both Deborah and Elden are coming back for Season 2,” Winderbaum revealed to Phase Hero’s Brandon Davis. Woll‘s return was already confirmed but news of Henson‘s return will certainly cause a frenzy of wild theories and assorted nonsense.

    In the world of comic books and in particular the world of Daredevil, deaths are routinely undone. In this case, it would seem an incredibly poor choice to undo Foggy’s death given it’s the catalyst for Murdock’s all-new, all-different life. Wild theories aside, Henson‘s return could easily–and probably more reasonably–be necessary for flashbacks to the good old days of Nelson, Murdock and Page because, you know, we never saw those days.

    This is a type of new origin story for Matt. He’s the type of character that in just like all classic Marvel stories, they’re affected by some sort of tragedy.

    -Dario Scardapane

    For his part, Scardapane isn’t giving anything away. “Listen, he’s not gone forever. That’s all I can say – it’s not the last thing you’re gonna see of him,” he said of Foggy, while claiming that the creative team, who decided to kill Nelson, love him too. “So, I understand. We also understand the heartbreak, and we did not take this lightly. I get upset. We were upset on the day, we were upset watching it. All of these things are true.“

    Perhaps Franklin has just been hanging out at the butcher shop all this time..

    Sources: Games Radar, Phase Hero

  • Funko Strikes Again! Marvel Studios Sentry Revealed Via ‘Thunderbolts*’ Merch

    Funko Strikes Again! Marvel Studios Sentry Revealed Via ‘Thunderbolts*’ Merch

    Marvel Studios has a merchandising problem. No studio works harder to keep its secrets than Marvel does, however, on multiple occasions, those secrets they worked so hard to keep have been spoiled by toys, T-shirts and promotional images. Now, it’s happened again, revealing the identity of a character the studio worked so hard to protect in production despite multiple leaks.

    Ahead of coming available for purchase online this week, pictures of the line of Funko Pops for Thunderbolts* have appeared online. While 4 of the beloved  collectibles reveal nothing, the fifth provides the first look at Sentry, the super-powered Super Soldier unwittingly set loose by the team in the film.

    Ultimately, unless the studio plans to drop another trailer very soon, it’s poor planning by Marvel to let fans’ first look at Sentry come via merchandise pre-order. While most hardcore Marvel Studios fans have been aware that the character was part of the film for quite some time, this may be the first time that a different group of fans learns that Lewis Pullman’s Bob is actually Robert Reynolds, aka Sentry.

    The latest blunder comes on the heels of Funkos confirming that Joe Locke‘s Teen was indeed Wiccan/Billy Maximoff in Agatha All Along and McDonald’s Happy Meals giving away Diamondback toys despite the character being cut from Captain America: Brave New World.

  • Leaked Concept Art Reveals Another Comic Book Avenger Is Being Considered for Marvel’s ‘Vision’ Series

    Leaked Concept Art Reveals Another Comic Book Avenger Is Being Considered for Marvel’s ‘Vision’ Series

    Marvel Studios Vision series is shaping up to be one of the studio’s most unique projects to date. Originally developed by WandaVision and Agatha All Along showrunner Jac Schaeffer, Vision was passed off to Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas in May 2024. Matalas wasted no time rebuilding the show according to his new…vision…and from what can be gleaned by going through the confirmed cast–which includes Ultron voice actor James Spader–and team of directors, Vision may end up being a tense psychological thriller with notes of existential crisis. And it looks like it might have a lot of artificial intelligence types as well.

    As part of the Great Concept Art Leak of 2025, concept art for the AI known as Jocasta was revealed. The file name included the phrase “tmn” which indicates that the art is for Tin Man, the working title of the Vision streaming series.

    As a backup AI unit created by Tony Stark and seen briefly in Avengers: Age of Ultron, J.O.C.A.S.T.A. technically already exists in the MCU. However, it looks as though the character, who was created by Ultron in the comics, will be finding her way into a physical body in Vision.

    Though she was designed as “The Bride of Ultron”, Jocasta has long been an ally of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and an Avenger herself. It’s unclear if Ultron will be responsible for the creation of her body in the MCU but it is starting to feel like Vision will see a proliferation of artificial beings with rumors that characters such as Viv Vision and Victor Mancha may also appear.

    Vision is set to begin production this month and is expected to stream on Disney Plus in 2026.

  • Leaked Concept Art Reveals a Look at One (Likely) Scrapped Team of Heroes from ‘Avengers 5’

    Leaked Concept Art Reveals a Look at One (Likely) Scrapped Team of Heroes from ‘Avengers 5’

    In February 2023, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness described his next Marvel Studios project, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, as “the biggest movie in the world.” However, whatever “big, sweeping” ideas Loveness had for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty are likely lost to time as he was replaced as the film’s writer by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron in November 2023. By July 2024, original director Destin Daniel Cretton had also left the project and was replaced by Anthony and Joe Russo, who brought along old pal Stephen McFeely to work on the script for what became Avengers: Doomsday. Two writers and a pair of experienced Marvel Studios directors later, it’s hard to imagine there’s much meat left on the bones of Loveness‘ original ideas.

    I have this opportunity to write a vast, American epic–I’ll use American in a general term–but a big, American movie. I don’t take it lightly and I want to make it this big, sweeping and exciting, funny movie and I think we have the best actor in the world as the most complicated villain in comic books. So I can’t say too much, but we’re really swinging for the fences and I can’t wait for you to see what Jonathan does.

    -Jeff Loveness

    Loveness became a bit of a fall guy for the unfortunate bomb that Quantumania became and even if his entire story for The Kang Dynasty was scrapped, it doesn’t mean there may not have been some fun ideas in store. One early rumor about the film indicated that it would include multiple teams of heroes and now some leaked concept art for the film may have revealed the makeup of one such team.

    One particular piece of concept art from Marvel Studios Senior Concept/Visual Development Mushk Rizvi’s now removed Art Station folder provides a look at designs for a bar scene that feature an incredibly diverse cast of characters.

    The concept art, which is dated March 20, 2024, shows Benedict Wong‘s Wong and Chris Pratt‘s Star-Lord hanging out with Iman Vellani‘s Kamala Khan, Hailee Steinfeld‘s Kate Bishop, Kathryn Newton‘s Cassie Lang, Joe Locke‘s Wiccan and an unknown actor as Speed. It looks as though the plan was–and may still be–to introduce the MCU’s Champions/Young Avengers in Avengers 5, now known as Avengers: Doomsday.

    As exciting as concept art is, it’s important to remember it’s not always indicative of what will be seen in the final cut of a film. Even if the scene made its way into the final draft of the script and was filmed, there’s no guarantee it wouldn’t end up on the cutting room floor. Furthermore, in this particular instance, this concept art was from nearly a year ago and there’s no telling whose script it was from but it’s definitely not from McFeely’s draft, so counting on it still being part of the plan for the new film is probably a bad move. Nonetheless, the conceptualized scene, which also features Doop, has fans excited online and is creating more positive buzz than most Marvel projects.

    Avengers: Doomsday is currently slated to hit theaters on May 1, 2026.

  • Marvel Studios Exec Ends Speculation about Plans for ‘Black Panther 3’

    Marvel Studios Exec Ends Speculation about Plans for ‘Black Panther 3’

    Since Denzel Washington revealed that Ryan Coogler was writing a part for him into Black Panther 3, reports and rumors about the film have come at a constant clip. While Kevin Feige confirmed that the project is in development and that Nate Moore will serve as a producer despite preparing to leave Marvel Studios, there’s been no other news from official sources. But that hasn’t stopped the usual suspects from sharing what they’ve heard.

    Whether it be rumors about recasting either T’Challa or T’Challa II, Washington‘s potential role or generalized statements that could later be proven true with the wave of a hand, online scoopers have had plenty to say about Black Panther 3…and according to Nate Moore, none of it is true.

    “It is, honestly, so early,” Moore told EW when asked about the online buzz. “We’ve had a couple of conversations with Ryan Coogler, our filmmaker who’s coming back, but he’s finishing up his film.“

    Moore then went out of his way to make it clear that despite the abundance of rumors circulating about Black Panther 3,  the studio has not begun work on the film and won’t be for some time.

    “We are still figuring out again exactly what [the next] Avengers is going to be, so we haven’t had any real story conversations,” Moore explained. “I know there’s been a lot of chatter online about casting and villains. None of that’s true. We just haven’t gotten there yet, to be honest, but I am very excited to start those conversations hopefully this year.”

    The truth is, there’s no truth to those rumors. Never say never to anything, we haven’t really had a lot of creative conversations with Ryan Coogler yet, because he’s finishing his film Sinners, which comes out this year. We’ll get into it later this year, but everything you read online is not true, if for no other reason than we just haven’t started.

    -Nate Moore via Comic Book

    When pressed further about the studio’s willingness to recast the role of T’Challa, Moore doubled downvon his previous claims without closing the door to the possibility. “We don’t know what the story is, so I couldn’t tell you whether or not we’re open to recasting. It certainly wasn’t our instinct for Wakanda Forever,” said Moore. “I’ll never say never to anything, but it’s too early to talk about any of that stuff. We have to figure out what the story’s going to be.”

    With Coogler still working on his script, it can be inferred from Moore‘s comments that Black Panther 3 might not be ready for theaters until after Avengers: Secret Wars. Of course, that’s not going to stop the rumors from flying but it’s good to have someone from the studio provide a little clarity on where things stand with the anticipated project.

    Source: ComicBook, EW

  • Upcoming Marvel Studios Series Already Greenlit for Record Run

    Upcoming Marvel Studios Series Already Greenlit for Record Run

    After 17 years with the company, it would be right to say that Marvel Studios Head of Streaming, Television and Animation, Brad Winderbaum, has seen it all. After working as an assistant to Louis D’Esposito on 2008’s Iron Man, Winderbaum climbed company ladder and is now one of the most influential voices working behind the scenes at Marvel. Given the scope of that influence, when Winderbaum feels strongly about the direction of a project, it’s good news for that project.

    In the case of Marvel Animation’s upcoming streaming series, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, which debuts on January 29th, Winderbaum‘s positivity about the project seems to have it poised to make a record-breaking run on Disney Plus.

    Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Hudson Thames) in Marvel Animation’s YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 MARVEL. All Rights Reserved.

    What Jeff is building brick by brick in this show is starting to pay off. You feel it in season 1. You grow connected to these characters so when everything starts to lock into place and starts to pay off by the end of the season, I feel it in my soul. It just gets deeper and deeper in subsequent seasons.

    -Brad Winderbaum
    In an interview with The Movie Podcast, Winderbaum not only confirmed that the previously announced second season of the series is already deep into development but also that a third season has already been given the go-ahead.

    “We’re greenlit for season three so in a couple of weeks, I’m going to hear [Jeff Trammell ‘s] pitch for the third season of this show,” said Winderbaum.

    Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Hudson Thames) in Marvel Animation’s YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 MARVEL. All Rights Reserved.

    With that, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man joins Marvel Animation’s What If…? and X-Men ’97 as the only Marvel Studios’ streaming series to find life beyond a second season. Like X-Men ’97, the first season Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man consists of 10 episodes which means, should subsequent seasons also receive 10-episode orders, it looks to be on track to be the first streaming series to run for at least 30 episodes, especially with development on X-Men ’97 slowing down.

    Early reactions to the new animated series have been overwhelmingly positive and Winderbaum seems to share that enthusiasm. “I’ve fallen so head over heels in love with these characters,” he said before updating the progress being made on Season 2. “By the way, I’ve now read all the scripts for season 2. We’re halfway through the animatics.” Though the animation process is a long one, Winderbaum‘s comments could point to a second season streaming on Disney Plus at some point in 2026.

    Source: The Movie Podcast

  • Giancarlo Esposito Makes Genuinely Bonkers Claim about His ‘Captain America Brave: New World’ Character

    Giancarlo Esposito Makes Genuinely Bonkers Claim about His ‘Captain America Brave: New World’ Character

    In late 2022, following a swell of online support for him to play Charles Xavier in Marvel Studios’ X-Men franchise, Giancarlo Esposito took matters into his own hands in an attempt to land an MCU role. During a fan panel at Rose City Comic Con 2022, Esposito explained how the fan casting led to having his people reach out to Marvel Studios. “I finally had to have my people call Marvel and explain that, you know, that this is a fan want and we would love to work with you,” Esposito told the crowd.

    But I feel as if there may be some mileage with me and Marvel. I know I love what they do. I know I love creativity. So who knows what could happen? Keep putting it out there.

    Giancarlo Esposito

    The star spent the next year making sure nobody has forgotten his willingness to join the world’s largest action franchise and then, in May 2024, thanks to the magic of Marvel Studios’ reshoots, Esposito‘s dream came true. By Summer, Esposito had taken it up on himself to unburden Marvel of any secrecy around his character, revealing that he had signed on to Captain America: Brave New World as Seth Voelkers, the founder of the Serpent Society (called Serpent in Brave New World) who went by the alter ego of Sidewinder.

    Marketing for Captain America: Brave New World has contained plenty of Esposito’s Sidewinder, attempting to establish the character as some sort of menacing threat to Sam Wilson. And while nobody believes that Captain America is in any true danger from Sidewinder, it hasn’t stopped Esposito from over hyping the character.

    Last Summer, Esposito teased Sidewinder as “a badass” and a departure from his usual roles. In a new interview with ABC, he repeated those claims, saying, “You’ve never seen me play a character like this. This guy knows how to use a rifle, a pistol, knives, (he’s) very very physical, active with his physicality, punches, kicks, all that.” And while that all checks out against the evidence available in the footage that’s been shared ahead of the film, Esposito also made a claim that caps into question his ability to be taken seriously when talking about Sidewinder.

    “Part of the incorporation of Sidewinder’s colors I brought into the costume that I’m wearing,” he said. “I’m hoping that it gives them inspiration in movies to come that will allow me to take on more of that serpent persona.“

    While it’s clear that Esposito will be playing a far more grounded and less flamboyant version of Sidewinder in Captain America: Brave New World, don’t tell him that. Perhaps Esposito’s comments about the similarities between the film and comic book characters costumes refer to the collar on his trench coat being similar in color to the comic book counterpart’s cape; perhaps his character has some fabulous footwear we haven’t seen just yet; perhaps, like with the character itself, Esposito is making a mountain out of a mole hill.

    As for the evolution of the “serpent persona”, Esposito did tease that his character would have a role in an unreveales series following Captain America: Brave New World, so maybe Marvel will indeed bring a fully realized Serpent Society–and its leader–into the MCU down the road.

    Source: ABC

  • Marvel Studios Reportedly Makes a Decision on ‘Doctor Strange 3’

    Marvel Studios Reportedly Makes a Decision on ‘Doctor Strange 3’

    Doctor Strange’s place in the Multiverse Saga is clear…or at least it was. 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness surprised fans by revealing that the Multiverse faces no greater threat than Stephen Strange. The film’s mid-credits scene, featuring Charlize Theron as the powerful extra dimensional sorceress Clea, saw Strange embark on what many believed to be the first step in discovering that time was running out for the Multiverse. Of course, much has changed since then which means whatever adventures Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron had in mind for Strange and Clea may no longer be on the docket for the paranormal pair.

    And there’s the threat. And it’s out there and now it’s out there. There’s a multiversal threat. In the same way that when the MCU first went cosmic many years ago, there was the teed up threat of Thanos. Now it’s probably a matter of you’re setting up some multiversal threats on the board. Whether it’s Kang, Incursions, whatever. It’ll be interesting to see how all those things come together.

    -Michael Waldron

    Though star Benedict Cumberbatch has confirmed he’ll be returning to work on an MCU project or two in 2025 (the actor is confirmed to be part of the cast of Avengers: Doomsday), there’s been no news on the studio’s plans for a third installment in the Doctor Strange franchise. However, a new report has shed some light into the Dark Dimension.

    According to Marvel Studios insider Daniel Richtman, production on Doctor Strange 3 is expected to get underway in 2026. Should that come to fruition, it’s likely that the film would take one of the studio’s two currently unfilled 2027 theatrical slots.

    Really what happened was, we ended up stumbling upon an idea that activated all of us. You couldn’t see it coming until it came, and once it came it was like, “Well, that’s a story we need to tell.”

    -Anthony Russo on Avengers: Secret Wars

    While many believed Doctor Strange 3 would provide a good chunk of the exposition necessary to get fans ready for the final act of the Multiverse Saga, it’s possible that writer Stephen McFeely has incorporated that into Strange’s arc in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. If that’s the case, Doctor Strange 3 will likely be one of the first films in the studio’s next saga which is expected to be heavily focused on mutants. 

    Source: Empire