Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: MCU

  • Robert Downey Jr. May Have Confirmed an Additional Pair of Heroes for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    Robert Downey Jr. May Have Confirmed an Additional Pair of Heroes for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    Since returning to Marvel Studios to play Doctor Doom, Robert Downey Jr. has often posted Doom-themed holiday images to his personal Instagram account. This Easter weekend, he did so again and fans believe some “hidden Easter eggs” have revealed a pair of characters whose presence in Avengers: Doomsday has, so far, not been confirmed.

    The image features Doom holding an Easter basket loaded up with eggs decorated with the symbols of the heroes from across the Multiverse set to face the villain in the upcoming film: Shang-Chi, the New Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Black Panther, Thor, Namor, Ant-Man, Loki and Captain America. However, tucked in the back of the basket behind the other eggs are a pair of eggs with the symbols of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.

    Benedict Cumberbatch was not among the 27 stars revealed as part of the primary cast during last March’s 5-hour Livestream reveal; however, he has often been rumored to be in the film, with Cumberbatch‘s Strange said to have filmed “pivotal, high-security scenes” as Doom’s “wizard sidekick.”

    While the Strange logo leaves no room for debate, it might be worth pointing out that the Spider-Man logo more closely resembles the only typically associated with Tobey Maguire‘s Spider-Man than that seen on the suit worn by Tom Holland‘s Wall-Crawler. And, in fact, it is Maguire‘s Spidey who has often been linked to the project, with claims of a scene filmed with Deadpool and Wolverine having stirred up fans over the past few months.

  • Karen Page Spotted with the New Mayor of NYC in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 3 Set Photos

    Karen Page Spotted with the New Mayor of NYC in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 3 Set Photos

    Despite the fact that Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again hasn’t yet reached the midway point, Marvel Studios has made it clear that the Mayor Fisk storyline will not carry into Season 3. Fans believed the first teaser for Spider-Man: Brand New Day revealed the Kingpin’s successor in Gracie Hall and recent photos from New York City set of the third season have confirmed that belief.

    It seems as though Shelia Rivera will be filling the Wilson Fisk-sized void in the Mayor’s office in Season 3 and that she’ll be sharing some scenes with Karen Page, who no longer needs to be lurking in the shadows.

    With the return of Luke Cage also confirmed, it’ll be interesting to see if Rivera remains Mayor or if Cage looks to throw his name in the ring, should a new election be taking place. Cage followed Fisk’s reign of terror in the comics but the MCU iteration of Harlem’s Hero is quite different from his MCU counterpart.

  • New Evidence Confirms Production Location, Offers Potential First Clues about One of Marvel’s First Phase 7 Films

    New Evidence Confirms Production Location, Offers Potential First Clues about One of Marvel’s First Phase 7 Films

    Just a couple of weeks ago, Marvel Studios released its most recent Phase 7 slate. Kevin Feige and the Parliament paired the number of films in 2028 from four to three, in addition to revealing what is certainly nothing more than the first draft of its slim 2029 slate. All told, the current configuration of Phase 7 consists of five films, spanning from May 2028 through July 2029.

    • Untitled Marvel Studios May 5, 2028
    • Untitled Marvel Studios July 28, 2028
    • Untitled Marvel Studios December 15, 2028
    • Untitled Marvel Studios May 4, 2029
    • Untitled Marvel Studios July 13, 2029

    Now, as the studio prepares to begin production on the Multiverse Saga finale, Avengers: Secret Wars, a pairing of publicly accessible records has provided production information and potential plot clues for one of the studio’s first Phase 7 films.

    As of March 24th, Marvel Studios had registered Fragment Productions LLC. for motion picture production activities in the UK. While that information still hasn’t hit the web, it led to some serious speculative tweets by yours truly. However, a recent update to the SAG-AFTRA website, located by one of MM’s Discord mods, has clarified the nature of the project.

    According to the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Production Listing database, Marvel Studios will be producing Black Panther 3 under Fragment Productions LLC.

    Despite some concerns that writer/director Ryan Coogler might not move forward with the threequl, the project has been in development for some time. And while rumors have the studio recasting Damson Idris in the role of T’Challa, neither Google nor the studio has confirmed any details about the project, though Denzel Washington has revealed he believes he will be attached to the film.

    While Washington‘s role has not been revealed, rumors have claimed that he would be playing the devious and disruptive villain Achebe. While it’s unclear what the status of the universe, much less Wakanda, will be following Avengers: Secret Wars, Achebe would make a fine antagonist for the nation of Wakanda.

    The name of the production company represents a shift for the studio, which had previously produced Black Panther franchise films under Kimoyo Productions and Kimoyo II Productions, respectively. And as for what direction, if any, the newly formed company’s title might indicate a story for the film…well, that’s a different process entirely. Fragment could refer to a fragment of Vibranium; it could refer to Wakanda somehow remaining as a fragment of the previous iteration of the universe post-Secret Wars; it could refer to an attempt to adapt Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda run, in which Wakanda expanded into space before eventually facing internal civil wars and political fragmentation.

    At the time of publication, Disney had not responded to inquiries about the nature of the LLC or how it may relate to Black Panther 3.

  • ‘Daredevil:Born Again’: BTS Photos Confirms the Return of a Pair of Major Characters for Season 3

    ‘Daredevil:Born Again’: BTS Photos Confirms the Return of a Pair of Major Characters for Season 3

    With Marvel Television intent on producing new season of Daredevil: Born Again on an annual cadence, fans will continue to run the risk of learning information about each “next” season before the “current” season completes its run. While it’s easy enough to avoid major spoilers (and as Season 2 will prove, easy enough for the studio to keep major reveals away from the public eye), it’s impossible to keep everything under wraps when much of the series is filmed on the streets of New York City. And with filming on Season 3 underway, a pair of major characters have been confirmed to return to your small screens in 2027.

    Behind the scenes photos from the NYC set have revealed that both Krysten Ritter‘s Jessica Jones and Deborah Ann Woll‘s Karen Page will not only be back for Season 3 but will be sharing scenes…with no sign that Charlie Cox‘s Matt Murdock will be joining them.

    Karen Page and

    Shared by Daredevil Shots, the new photos reveal trailers for “Jessica Jones” and “Karen” and “JJ” (reported to be the stunt double for Ritter).

    It’s been made clear by Marvel’s streaming skipper Brad Winderbaum that fans should expect more Jessica Jones stories in the future and the photos confirm that at least some portion of those will be told in Daredevil: Born Again Season 3.

  • New Rumor May Indicate Marvel Studios Is Setting Up an ‘All-New X-Men’ Adaptation

    New Rumor May Indicate Marvel Studios Is Setting Up an ‘All-New X-Men’ Adaptation

    The rumor mill for Spider-Man: Brand New Day is officially moving at light speed, and at the center of the storm is Sadie Sink. While mounting evidence suggests that she’s playing the MCU’s definitive Jean Grey, a new tidbit from the reliable scooper Cryptic4KQual has just added a massive, reality-bending layer to her debut.

    According to Cryptic, Sink’s Jean isn’t just a local mutant from Westchester—she was described to him as being “time-displaced.” If that phrase sounds familiar, it’s because it was the literal backbone of one of the most polarizing and fascinating eras in modern X-Men history.

    In 2012, writer Brian Michael Bendis launched All-New X-Men, a series that saw the original five teenage X-Men (Cyclops, Jean, Beast, Iceman, and Angel) travel from the past to the present day. This teen Jean had to grapple with a world where her older self was dead, her mentor was a failure, and her future was a tragedy.

    By using the “time-displaced” description, Marvel Studios might be signaling a move away from the traditional born in the 616 origin. Instead of explaining where mutants have been for 20 years, Marvel could simply pluck them from the past–or another timeline–and drop them into the modern MCU. Even if it’s controversial, it’s potentially brilliant.

    Given the knowledge that Brand New Day deals–at least in part–with the fallout of Peter’s memory wipe, if Jean arrives as a stranger in a strange land, she and Peter–the ultimate lonely hero–share a thematic link that makes their rumored partnership much more poignant. Additionally, a time-displaced Jean allows Marvel to explore the character’s raw, untapped power and her psionic form–which Cryptic notes will look like X-Men ’97–without immediately jumping to the cosmic firebird.

    The time-displaced angle–especially in one of the final films in the Multiverse Saga–helps avoid forcing Marvel to address why the X-Men haven’t intervened on Earth-616 before. It also opens the door to the other members of the original five X-Men appearing in either a post-credit even to Brand New Day or in Avengers: Secret Wars.

  • New Report Reveals Major Plans for One Character in ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’

    New Report Reveals Major Plans for One Character in ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’

    If you thought Florence Pugh was just a passing torch-bearer for the Black Widow mantle, think again. According to a fresh report from industry insider DanielRPK, Yelena Belova isn’t just surviving the multiversal chaos of Avengers: Doomsday—she’s being positioned as one of the primary anchors for the grand finale, Avengers: Secret Wars.

    Pugh’s Yelena is reportedly one of the modern MCU characters who will actually drive the core of the story, which is slated to begin production later this year.

    Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in Marvel Studios’ THUNDERBOLTS*. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2025 MARVEL.

    After beginning the film in the dumps, Yelena ended Thunderbolts* not as a reluctant assassin, but as the de facto leader of a new, albeit dysfunctional, team of Avengers. RPK’s report suggests that her leadership role will somehow extend into the Secret Wars.

    Interestingly, DanielRPK also noted that Pugh and David Harbour (Red Guardian) are currently scheduled for additional photography during the Avengers: Doomsday reshoot window. The insider recently shared the word that the reshoots were largely planned to be “character-dricen” scenes, intended to add emotional beats and narrative clarity to the film.

    In a post-Iron Man MCU, the franchise has struggled to find a human center. Pugh’s performance has been a consistent bright spot, blending high-stakes trauma with the kind of dry wit that fans used to associate with Tony Stark. By making her a major player in Secret Wars, Marvel is betting on her star power to help carry the franchise into whatever comes after the soft reboot.

  • The “Miss de Fontaine” Connection — How the ‘Born Again’ Premiere Links ‘Thunderbolts’

    The “Miss de Fontaine” Connection — How the ‘Born Again’ Premiere Links ‘Thunderbolts’

    Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 premiere just dropped on Disney+ and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it audio cue has officially tied Wilson Fisk to the highest levels of the MCU’s shadow government.

    In a post-premiere breakdown with The Wrap, showrunner Dario Scardapane and executive producer Sana Amanat pulled back the curtain on the episode’s biggest Easter egg: the off-screen presence of the MCU’s shadiest normy,Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.

    The moment happens in Wilson Fisk’s mayoral office in Gracie Mansion.  As Fisk is being lectured by high-ranking government officials, Matthew Lillard’s Mr. Charles abrubtly enters the room. When one of the officials receives a phone call that instantly flips his hostile tone into one of total submission, he addresses the caller as “Miss de Fontaine.”

    Scardapane confirmed to The Wrap that this wasn’t just a random name-drop. “Mr. Charles has a boss!” he teased, finally confirming that Lillard’s character is an asset reporting directly to Val. Sana Amanat explained that the Easter egg was designed to “create space” and remind the audience that these street-level stakes exist within the larger MCU ecosystem, even if Val doesn’t physically walk into Gracie Mansion.

    We wanted to put Mr. Charles in that world. We wanted to kind of connect those two. Her showing up in our world would be the best, but a lot of the times, we’re siloed in this, you know, pretty rich world of characters and where those crossovers are.

    -Dario Scardapane

    As tantalizing as the tease was, Amanat clarified that fans should NOT take it as an indication that it’s anything more than an it’s-all-connected Easter egg. “There’s no need for that,” Amanat said when asked if the mention was teeing up another project. “I feel like these stories are so rich on their own that we are able to tell the stories we need to, especially with Daredevil, because there’s so many different kinds of characters.“

    However, informed fans know that Val has her hands into more dirt than just smuggling weapons which means, by extension, so does Mr. Charles…and his MCU story is just beginning.

    Source: The Wrap

  • Marvel Reportedly Orders “Character-First” Reshoots for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    Marvel Reportedly Orders “Character-First” Reshoots for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    We’ve seen the reports that the Avengers: Doomsday script was being tweaked during production, and it looks like those rewrites have officially triggered a round of additional photography. But don’t panic—this isn’t a The Marvels level overhaul.

    Avengers: Doomsday is heading back to London soon for additional photography and according to industry insider Daniel Richtman, the goal is to provide “narrative clarity” and “emotional beats” to the project. Sounds like after having spent some time in post-production, the Russos realize that with an ensemble this massive, the audience needs more time to actually care about the new team dynamics before Doom starts tearing them apart.

    Richtman’s report stated that the big set pieces are reportedly locked and that cameras will be capturing “character-driven material” when they roll in the coming weeks. These moments have always been a strength of Anthony and Joe Russo, who have struck gold with unexpected character pairings and groupings in the past such as Thor, Groot and Rocket or Nebula and Tony Stark.

    If they’re going back to set to make sure the “heart” of the movie is beating, that’s a win for the fans.

  • Vincent D’Onofrio Blames Studios for Kingpin’s Absence from Spider-Man

    Vincent D’Onofrio Blames Studios for Kingpin’s Absence from Spider-Man

    Since returning to the role of Wilson Fisk in Hawkeye, Vincent D’Onofrio has made no bones about which MCU hero he wants the Kingpin to square off against. Whenever he’s provided the opportunity, D’Onofrio consistently makes it crystal clear that taking on Spider-Man is his “end goal” as Kingpin. And for quite some time, all parties involved seemed to be teasing such a showdown in what ultimately became Spider-Man: Brand New Day but that never materialized…and now D’Onofrio is placing blame at the feet of the studios who collaborate to produce the MCU-set Spidey films.

    …it definitely has to be Spider-Man. One day…I’m hoping. We’ll see if they ask me to do it. Kingpin lived in a world of Punisher, Daredevil and Spider-Man so that would be the one.

    -Vincent D’Onofrio

    While responding to a fan’s statement that a matchup between Kingpin and Spidey was needed “ASAP”, D’Onofrio stated in order for it to happen, Sony and Marvel would need to “get their shit together” over what he called a “complicated rights issue.”

    While Kingpin debuted in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #50, he has since become a primary Daredevil antagonist. D’Onofrio explained that because the character is technically “shared” between Marvel (Disney) and Sony, placing him in a Sony-produced Spider-Man film requires a level of legal acrobatics that hasn’t happened yet. In the past, D’Onofrio has noted that his current contract is firmly rooted in the Marvel Television side of things, so similarly to how Spider-Man won’t appear in a live-action Marvel Television series, Kingpin won’t appear in a live-action Marvel Studios film until a new deal is arranged.

  • James Marsden Takes His Place on Prestigious List of Marvel Studios’ Liars and Deniers

    James Marsden Takes His Place on Prestigious List of Marvel Studios’ Liars and Deniers

    Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night, James Marsden spoke openly about reprising his role as Cyclops in Avengers: Doomsday. He also admitted to lying about it previously to avoid “Marvel trouble.”

    In doing so, Marsden joins elite company such as Charlie Cox, Andrew Garfield and Paul Rudd, all of whom have lied, denied and otherwise dissembled about their association with Marvel Studios projects.


    Of course, the big takeaway isn’t just the return—it’s the suit. Marsden confirmed he is finally wearing the Jim Lee-inspired comic-accurate costume, moving away from the black leather era of the early 2000s. Since the suit was first leaked in 2025, fans have been excited to see it on screen and the first glimpse of it in one of the film’s short teasers delivered.

    “To put this on felt very cool,” said Marsden, who said he also felt “heroic” and “authentic”, the latter of which fans have been craving and Marvel seems intent on giving them.