Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • Sadie Sink’s ‘Spider-Man:  Brand New Day’ Role Has Launched an Insider Info War

    Sadie Sink’s ‘Spider-Man:  Brand New Day’ Role Has Launched an Insider Info War

    In December 2024, longtime industry insider Jeff “The In” Sneider passed on word from a source that Stranger Things and The Whale star Sadie Sink had emerged as the front runner to portray Jean Grey in the MCU. Given that Marvel Studios X-Men film still hadn’t landed a director (Thunderbolts* helmer Jake Schreier has since locked down the job), Sneider’s sources believe that the studio was keen on casting the role of Jean Grey at the time to allow the character to appear in either or both of its next two Avengers films, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

    In March, Sink was indeed cast in a major MCU role, joining Spider-Man: Brand New Day as Tom Holland‘s co-star, the the identity of her character was not revealed. Since then, Sneider and his podcast co-host John Rocha have heard that Sink could be playing a Mary Jane Watson Variant, the daughter of Toby Maguire‘s Peter Parker and Kirsten Dunst‘s MJ, Mayday Parker, and an “alternate universe Gwen Stacy.” Now, just as fellow insider Kristian Harloff corroborated Sneider ‘s Stacy scoop by reporting that he had been given a “pretty good guarantee” that Sink is set to play Gwen Stacy in the 2026 flick, Sneider has changed course again!

    During his latest podcast, Sneider shared that he’s “still hearing Jean Grey” when asking his sources about Sink’s role.

    The amount of conflicting insider information around Sink’s role is incredible, especially considering the fluctuating nature of the tea coming from Sneider ‘s sources. However, given what’s known about the film, Grey may actually make sense within the plot, though how the young mutant’s origin would be handled or if the studio would want to include another major Marvel character when The Punisher and Hulk are already set for pivotal parts in the film are both questions worth considering.

    For now, it seems all fans can do is speculate and debate as Sink has yet be caught on camera on the Glasgow, Scotland sets. Should she indeed be Grey, she may not have a large part in the action until after Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner turns “savage.” The two have faced off in the pages of Marvel Comics with Grey using her incredible telepathic and telekinetic abilities to get the upper hand over the Hulk.

    Source: The Hot Mic Podcast

  • Turning Point! New ‘Brand New Day’ Rumor Could Set up a Haunting Turn for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man

    Turning Point! New ‘Brand New Day’ Rumor Could Set up a Haunting Turn for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man

    The MCU’s Peter Parker has not had it easy. After being orphaned as a young boy, Parker has lost his the aunt and uncle who raised him and Tony Stark, who mentored him into the world of superheroes. Most recently, in an effort to save the Multiverse, Parker convinced Stephen Strange to cast the runes of Kof-Kol, twisting the spell to ensure he was forgotten by everyone he had ever known, stripping him of his relationships with Ned and MJ. Alone, Parker began rebuilding his life with a renewed commitment to fighting crime as a friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man.

    The next installment in the Spidey franchise, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, looks set to honor the path Parker set out upon at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, keeping the hero close to the streets of New York rather than traveling to space or fighting for the fate of the Multiverse. Reports have him set to face off with street-level villains Tombstone, Tarantula, Boomerang and Scorpion whole also dealing with a vengeful Frank Castle and a rampaging Bruce Banner. Nobody said street-level meant it would be easy and Parker Luck dictates it could never be any other way. Now, a new rumor claims that another new character is set to join the complex concoction of Parker’s life and it’s one that could have a devastating impact on his journey.

    YouTube host Kristian Harloff has reported that he has been given a “pretty good guarantee” that Sadie Sink—who joined the cast of Spider-Man: Brand New Day in March–is set to play Gwen Stacy in the 2026 flick, helmed by Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton.

    I know we all think that we’re immortal…but what makes life valuable is that it doesn’t last forever.  What makes it precious is that it ends… Make [your life] count for something; fight for what matters to you, no matter what. … It’s easy to feel hopeful on a beautiful day like today.  But there will be dark days ahead of us, too.  There will be days where you feel all alone.  And that’s when hope is needed most.  No matter how buried it gets, or how lost you feel, you must promise me that you will hold on to hope.  Keep it alive.  We have to be greater than what we suffer.  My wish for you is to become hope.  People need that.  And even if we fail, what better way is there to live?

    -Gwen Stacy’s graduation speech from The Amazing Spider-Man 2

    There have been plenty of rumors about who Sink might be playing in the film; however, should she indeed be playing Gwen, it could set up another haunting turn for Holland‘s Parker. Having met Andrew Garfield‘s Peter 3 and hearing his story in Spider-Man: No Way Home, meeting Gwen Stacy in his reality should certainly set off Peter 1’s Peter Tingle.

    Though the character only made 80 appearances in the comics before her death in Gerry Conway‘s two-part “The Night Gwen Stacy” died, Peter’s role in her death (the impulse from his webs snapped her spine as it stopped her fall so abruptly) tormented the hero for years. As seen in No Way Home, Garfield’s Peter 3 was similarly impacted by his Gwen’s death, growing into an angry and not-so-friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

    I lost… I lost Gwen. My, uh… She was my MJ. I couldn’t save her. I’m never gonna be able to forgive myself for that. But I carried on. Tried to, uh… tried to keep going, tried to keep being the… that friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, because I know that’s what she would have wanted. But… at some point, I just… I stopped pulling my punches. I got rageful. I got bitter. I just don’t want you, to end up like… like me.

    -Peter 3

    Assuming Sink is playing Stacy, the audience would feel a strong sense of dramatic irony and suspense over the course of Spider-Man: Brand New Day which then opens the doors to Cretton throwing a twist in the mix. Given that Sony co-produces the MCU-set Spider-Man films, they may have their own plans for Gwen Stacy and the character could be revealed to be a multiversal Ghost Spider Variant, allowing her to star in her own franchise. And then again, she may not be Gwen or any of the other characters she’s been rumored to be and all these words were wasted…

    Source: The Kristian Harloff Show

  • Lucasfilm Reportedly Developing a Full Slate of ‘New Jedi Order’ Films

    Lucasfilm Reportedly Developing a Full Slate of ‘New Jedi Order’ Films

    After a seven year hiatus, Lucasfilm will bring Star Wars back to theaters next May with The Mandalorian and Grogu, directed by Mandoverse architect Jon Favreau. The studio has at least another half dozen theatrical projects in development, including director Shawn Levy‘s Star Wars: Starfighter, which will star Ryan Gosling, Mia Goth and Matt Smith and is set to debut on May 28, 2027. Further down the road, a new trilogy being created by Simon Kinberg, a “Jedi Prime” project by director James Mangold, a long-gestating film from Taika Waititi and a New Jedi Order film starring Daisy Ridley from director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy are all set to expand they mythology of the galaxy far, far away created by George Lucas. Now, a new report indicates that the studio intends to take a page from Favreau’s Mandoverse book and use one of those projects to launch a series of connected projects all intended for theaters.

    According to insider Daniel Richtman, Lucasfilm is reportedly developing a full slate of films, set in the New Jedi Order era, beginning with Obaid-Chinoy’s film which is still being written by The Bourne Ultimatum and The Banker scribe George Nolfi. Richtman’s report claims that the film will launch a series of movies which will ultimately culminate in a event film that will see a number of familiar Star Wars characters share the screen.

    Set 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, the Ridley-led project has struggled to come together, however. Originally developed by Damon Lindelof, the film began to lose steam almost immediately after it was announced as the Lost creator, and his co-writer, Justin Britt-Gibson, bailed. Steven Knight quickly  boarded the project and just as quickly left, forcing Lucasfilm to pull the film from its 2026 release calendar. With Star Wars: Starfighter and Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi project reportedly moving ahead in the queue, Nolfi has been able to carefully curate his script since joining the project in January 2025.

    I know the storyline for one film. That’s not to say that that’s all it is, but that’s what I was told about. And I imagine it will be the next film, I think. I mean, again, I don’t know, post strikes and everything, how quickly everything will start up again. But yes, so far, I know the story of one film and I think people will be very excited.

    -Daisy Ridley

    Richtman’s report aligns with reports that Lucasfilm views Ridley as its “most valuable cinematic assest” and comments from the actress which have indicated multiple projects were in the works.

  • ‘The Batman Part II’ Finally Gets an Encouraging Update

    ‘The Batman Part II’ Finally Gets an Encouraging Update

    After months of rumors, speculation and non-sensical bullshit, the sequel to Matt Reeves 2022 The Batman finally has been given an official update.

    In a letter to Warner Bros. Discovery’s shareholders, CEO David Zaslav revealed that “The Batman II’ (2027) is preparing to begin shooting next spring,” finally providing some good news about the highly-anticipated sequel, which is slated for an October 1, 2027 release.

    In film, James Gunn is busy preparing the next installments of the DC super family, including Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (2026), Clayface (2026) and the next Wonder Woman. In addition, The Batman II (2027) is preparing to begin shooting next spring, among several other projects in development. The 10-year vision for the DC universe also includes an exciting array of television projects, including The Penguin, the upcoming new season of ‘Peacemaker,’ and the debut of ‘Lanterns’ in 2026. In a precise and measured way, the DC franchise will increasingly overlay across the studio’s broader efforts: from film and TV to consumer products, games, experiences and social.

    -Warner Bros. Discovery shareholder memo

    Originally planned for an October 3, 2025 release, the film’s theatrical debut was delayed until October 2, 2026 in March 2024 and then, in December 2024, was moved again into 2027.

    Source: Deadline

  • Spidey Swings Through the Streets as an Explosion Rocks the Set of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    Spidey Swings Through the Streets as an Explosion Rocks the Set of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

    Principal photography for Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues in Glasgow, Scotland where a scene featuring Spidey chasing a tank rumored to be driven by Jon Bernthal‘s Frank Castle has been filmed in the public eye for several days. After being rained out yesterday, the cast and crew on back on set today to film an incredible chase scene that includes a rig that allows Tom Holland‘s stunt double to swing through the streets practically.

    While incredibly popular and successful, Jon Watts‘ MCU-set Spider-Man trilogy was subject to some criticism for the lack of shots of the Web-Slinger swinging through NYC. That criticism appears to have reached the ears of Marvel Studios as Destin Daniel Cretton‘s installment in the franchise has gone to extraordinary lengths to capture what’s sure to be an iconic chase.

    Movies aren’t necessarily filmed in order, it would certainly start the new Spidey film off with a bang if it opens in media res with Spider-Man in the middle of a chase scene full of the kind of sweeping swinging shots fans have been asking for.

  • Tom Holland Suits Up and Takes on a Tank in Fresh ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Set Photos

    Tom Holland Suits Up and Takes on a Tank in Fresh ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Set Photos

    Filming on director Destin Daniel Cretton‘s Spider-Man: Brand New Day is underway in Glasgow, Scotland and the production has come out of the gates squarely in the public eye and come out swinging. After a few days of set construction and some rehearsals, star Tom Holland was captured on set in the new Spidey suit that generated so much hype when it was recently revealed on social media.

    In full daylight, the suit’s color scheme becomes much more apparent and looks much closer to the suit the hero wore as he swung over New York City follow the main events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. The new photos also offer a great look at the hero’s new web shooters, which seem to include some elements of the classic comic book design.

    https://twitter.com/MyTimeToShineH/status/1951953564319785150?t=OZHhZFX20Yd4jnjbppl_Og&s=19

    According to insider Daniel Richtman, the scene currently being filmed features Spidey chasing down a tank driven by Frank Castle who is attempting to take out Michael Mando‘s Mac Gargan. Certainly Peter Parker’s sense of justice won’t mesh with The Punisher’s!

    As it turns out, this is not the first time we’ve Holland’s new suit. Despite widespread disbelief at the time, the suit Holland is sporting on set is the same as the one shown off at the  Disney Blockbuster Consumer Products presentation in May, where Scorpion, Tombstone, Tarantula and Boomerang were revealed as villains and word of the Savage Hulk’s appearance in the film first came down.

  • New Report Reveals Marvel Studios First Post-Multiverse Saga Film

    New Report Reveals Marvel Studios First Post-Multiverse Saga Film

    With just four movies set to release over the next two and a half years, Marvel Studios Multiverse Saga is slowly approaching the finish line. Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday will land in theaters in 2026 before a yet-to-be revealed project and Avengers: Secret Wars wrap up the studio’s second cinematic saga. Of course, work is already well underway on the MCU’s next chapter, which will feature a new take on the X-Men.

    Though studio head Kevin Feige and Disney boss Bob Iger continue to promise a reduction in Marvel’s theatrical output, the most recent release calendar shows four Marvel Studios films intended to release in 2028. That’s as many films in 2028 as the studio intends to release over the next 29 months! And now, a new report reveals which film the studio is currently hoping will launch its saga.

    According to Jeff “The In” Sneider, the third installment in Ryan Coogler‘s Black Panther franchise is slated to go into production in early 2027 with a targeted release date of February 18, 2028.

    In January, a flurry of reports clouded the future of the Black Panther franchise as Sneider and fellow insider My Time To Shine Hello shared conflicting information about the studio’s plans to recast the role of T’Challa, originally filled by the late Chadwick Boseman. Producer Nate Moore addressed those rumors in February, saying “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.” According to a recent report by Variety’s Tatiana Siegel, those conversations have begun and “ideas are percolating” for Black Panther 3 “creating excitement internally” at the studio.

    With the studio skipping SDCC this year, the trade report, which also included an update on the studio’s plan for their X-Men film, is about all there is to go on in terms of a look at the studio’s upcoming slate, which Feige recently teased extends into 2032.

    Source: YouTube

  • New Report Provides Casting, Release Date Updates for Marvel Studios ‘X-Men’

    New Report Provides Casting, Release Date Updates for Marvel Studios ‘X-Men’

    As The Fantastic Four: First Steps enyers the second weekend of its global launch, Marvel Studios is reportedly preparing to begin work on another project made possible by the 2019 Disney-Fox deal.

    According to Variety’s Tatiana Siegel, Kevin Feige and the Marvel Studios Parliament are currently “fine tuning” the script by Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes writer Michael Lesslie and that casting for the project will “begin soon.”

    Though there’s been no word from Marvel on which X-Men will comprise the team, rumors have claimed that the team will be female-focused and though it will introduce some characters who have not yet appeared in live-action, the plan is to include “main characters we all know” with Kitty Pryde and Gambit set to play large roles.

    Jake’s going to make a youth-focused reboot. That may be reflected in mutant castings, and it’ll definitely be felt in the tone and perspective of the film.

    -Kevin Feige

    Director Jake Schreier, who also helped Thunderbolts* for the studio, has called the source material “inherently interesting and complex”  adding that “the core idea of what X-Men is involves complexity.” And while that sounds like a story that might be better suited for experienced stars, Siegel ‘s report indicates that Marvel is “looking for younger talent, rather than A-listers” in an effort to shrink the film’s budget. That idea certainly meshes well with recent comments by Feige, who describedarvel Comics line of mutant books as places to “tell stories about young people who feel different and who feel Other and who feel like they don’t belong,” adding that’s the same direction the studio is heading with the new film.

    Even as the studio begins the casting process, Siegel’s report cautions that fans should not get too excited about the film hitting theaters soon. Despite having a July  23, 2027 date set aside for an unnamed film, Marvel does not intend to use it for X-Men. As previously stated by Feige, the studio’s “new age of mutants” won’t get underway in full until after Avengers: Secret Wars which will cap off the Multiverse Saga on December 17,2027.

    Updating…

    Source: Variety

  • New Details Emerge on Marvel Studios “Complex” Take on the X-Men

    New Details Emerge on Marvel Studios “Complex” Take on the X-Men

    After helping bring the X-Men to the screen in the early 2000’s at Fox, Marvel Studios Head Honcho Kevin Feige is preparing to do so again, this time as a flagship property at Marvel Studios. With a script being written now, X-Men is primed to launch the studio’s post-Multiverse Saga plans in 2028.

    Feige has entrusted the first of what will be many X-projects to Jake Schreier, whose work on Thunderbolts* helped boost Marvel back toward the stratosphere the studio had inhabited for well over a decade before coming back down to Earth following a string of disappointing projects. Ahead of the release of Thunderbolts* on physical media, Schreier met with The Playlist and, for the first time,  discussed taking on X-Men.

    Jake’s going to make a youth-focused reboot. That may be reflected in mutant castings, and it’ll definitely be felt in the tone and perspective of the film.

    -Kevin Feige

    “I mean, yeah, without going into too much—really almost any detail,” said Schreier when asked if he could talk about his involvement with the new Marvel Studios project. “What I can say is, it’s just inherently interesting and complex material. The core idea of what X-Men is involves complexity,” he added.

    Since launching during the Civil Rights Movement, X-Men stories have always been subtextually complex, featuring characters who are often feared and hated for being different, something Schreier looks to putting front and center in his film. “It’s an incredible opportunity with super interesting characters and [much] internal conflict. These characters are wrestling with their identity and place in the world—that’s inherently interesting and complex material,” said Schreier.

    They have been a place to tell stories about young people who feel different and who feel Other and who feel like they don’t belong. That’s the universal story of mutants, and that is where we’re going.

    As with Marvel Studios The Fantastic Four: First Steps, X-Men will need to be fundamentally different from Fox’s previous big screen efforts. While Schreier chose not to elaborate on how the studio will accomplish that, he did confirm the studio’s plans to set the new film apart from the films in the Fox franchise. “Yeah, I think that’s fair to say,” said Schreier when asked if his film would be “recognizably different” from the prior projects, adding  “There’s that red sniper dot out there somewhere, you know…“

    It seems unlikely that Marvel sniper will be coming for Schreier, however, as he seems not only to have a handle on how to bring a fresh perspective to a genre that continues to fight audience fatigue (whether real or imagined) but also stay true to the stories that made fans fall in love with the characters. “…to be able to explore all of the ideas that are inherent to that rich source material, but also at the scale inherent to the source material, that’s like a very rare and fortunate opportunity. That’s very exciting,” he said. With enough ideas in the source material to last a decade or more, it is indeed a very exciting time for X-Men fans.

    Sources: The Playlist

  • Matt Shakman on the Cut Fantastic Four Villain Fans Will Never See

    Matt Shakman on the Cut Fantastic Four Villain Fans Will Never See

    As first revealed in November 2024, John Malkovich was cast in The Fantastic Four: First Steps as Marvel Comics’ villain and twisted genius Ivan Kragoff. First introduced in January 1963’s Fantastic Four #13, Kragoff is better known as the Red Ghost, a recurring foe of Marvel’s First Family who often used his army of Super-Apes to aid him in his plans. Unfortunately, as recently revealed by director Matt Shakman, Malkovich‘s role was cut from the film. Now, in a new interview, Shakman has detailed why the decision was made and explained that it’s unlikely the footage will ever be seen.

    “We wanted to get the sense of history. We wanted these characters to feel lived in. We wanted the city to feel lived in. This is a real family, and they’ve been doing this for four years. Part of that was showing all the things they’ve done along the way,” said Shakman of the film’s opening act montage that replaced the classic origin story.“Building the Future Foundation, defeating Red Ghost, Mad Thinker, Mole Man…it was part of building the history for them so we could jump in and see them change as a family when a child is introduced.”

    “We had an opening that involved a lot of action about the Red Ghost,” Shakman continued. “We had an incredible performance from John Malkovich. It was just so much material when we were trying to get to that present-day moment when their world changes and Franklin’s arrival becomes imminent.“

    There were a lot of things that ultimately ended up hitting the cutting room floor. When we were building a ’60s retro-future world, introducing all of these villains, introducing these four main characters as a group, as well as individually, introducing the idea of a child — there was a lot of stuff to balance in this movie and some things had to go ultimately in terms of shaping the film for its final version.

    -Matt Shakman

    “We had Red Ghost trying to steal a rocket ship with his apes, Reed trying to defeat him and outwitting him,” he said of the cut scene. “They had a lot of really fun stuff. We used snippets of it in that montage you see where he’s kicking one of the Super-Apes into the water.“

    While Malkovich‘s take on Kragoff didn’t make the final cut, the character did appear in the film’s post-credit scene, as did his Super-Apes. “You can see in the credits Reed getting his face pulled by a baboon, which is an homage to Alex Ross,“ said Shakman. It’s unlikely that Marvel Studios has current plans for Earth-828’s Red Ghost in Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars, but perhaps–and hopefully–there’s a way for Malkovich to bring the character to the screen in some way before long.

    Source: Phase Zero, Variety