Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • New ‘Shang-Chi’ Concept Art Includes Deadpool Fighting Proxima Night

    New ‘Shang-Chi’ Concept Art Includes Deadpool Fighting Proxima Night

    We know that Marvel Studios invests a lot of time in creating concept art for various versions of the scripts to help its writers get a feeling for how these projects come together. Sometimes it offers a look behind-the-scenes on what ideas were pitched throughout the development, and it seems that a new piece of concept art from Andrew Kim reveals a different battle in the fighting cage sequence of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. While we got Wong fighting Abomination in the film, it seems that at one point it included a battle between Avengers: Infinity War‘s Proxima Midnight and Deadpool.

    Env_SiFanNightClub_v007_WIP_NewFightArenaPOV_190904_AK.jpg

    It’s unclear if this was just drawn for fun, as Proxima Midnight not only died in Infinity War but even got snapped again in Avengers: Endgame. So, her inclusion in Golden Daggers Club makes less sense than the fourth-wall-breaking merch with a mouth. While it may have been jarring to see him included, especially with the character’s connection to the Fox universe. So, even if this isn’t just a joke by the artist, it may have been a bit jarring to suddenly see him show up out of nowhere for some fans.

    Sadly, it seems very unlikely that this was ever planned, and the inclusion of Abomination was a great move, especially with his confirmed appearance in She-Hulk. Plus, we got some fun with Wong that opened up a lot of questions about what the future has in store for these characters. A sudden return of Proxima Midnight might have many scratching their head, though Deadpool could’ve dragged her from the multiverse for fun. It might’ve been too distracting in the middle of a new solo film that would have distracted viewers. Still, it’s a great looking concept art and hopefully we get to revisit this cage fight at a later point.

    Source: Andrew Kim

  • Charlie Cox Shares His Thoughts on The MCU Canonicity of the Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’ Series

    Charlie Cox Shares His Thoughts on The MCU Canonicity of the Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’ Series

    There have been many debates on whether the Netflix Marvel series like Daredevil, Iron Fist, and more are part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The recent arrival of Vincent D’Onofrio and Charlie Cox seemed to hint at it, but it looks like the Daredevil actor has his own opinion on how Marvel Studios should tackle it. While he doesn’t think they should completely skip on the events of the story, their stories should be reimagined moving forward. His full quote from a panel at the Middle East Film and Comic Con in Abu Dhabi on the matter is:

    In keeping with a lot of things in the MCU … It’s a good moment to have a few years [pass] … it’s reimagined. It’s slightly different … It’s ‘born again’.

    Charlie Cox

    The iconic quote is definitely something he enjoys using, as he also used it in reference to the series’ joining Disney+. The inclusion of D’Onofrio‘s Wilson Fisk with the ability to take an arrow to the chest and act as if he was only briefly poked by a needle. He seems quite a bit more powerful than before and Hawkeye seems to know who he is but tries to avoid mentioning his name. He was quite the public figure in Daredevil, which made no one realize who he is a bit odd. Yet, the way the story works, it could still keep bits and pieces from the original Netflix series. We’ll see if their future return calls back to the Netflix series moving forward.

    Source: YouTube via Twitter

  • ‘The Batman’ Surprises With Strong Sunday With a $134M Opening Weekend

    ‘The Batman’ Surprises With Strong Sunday With a $134M Opening Weekend

    Never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth, as The Batman‘s final numbers have found their way online and surprised many with the film’s Sunday dropping by 21% from Saturday, which is way lower than its initial 35% estimate. As such, it pulled in $34M and now stands at a strong $134M opening weekend rather than the initially reported $128M.

    These numbers further solidify The Batman as Warner Bros.’ strongest opening since the pandemic started, and is Matt Reeves‘ biggest opening for any of his releases. The big question remains just how strong its legs are going to be, especially with the confirmed April release on HBO Max. Their 45-release window strategy will open up some new challenges but could set the standard for the future of cinema.

    Still, a 10% drop from the expectations is quite astonishing, and that is for a very genre-defining take on a superhero film. Batman is a very popular character, but it seems like a sign that people were waiting for this kind of film to offer something unique. It seems that even the almost three-hour runtime wasn’t going to scare anyone off, and it’ll be interesting to see how strong its second weekend might be.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘The Batman’s HBO Max Release Confirmed for April

    ‘The Batman’s HBO Max Release Confirmed for April

    We’ve entered a new age where film release windows will be quite a bit shorter than they were in the past. While Warner Bros. is moving away from the day-and-date simultaneous release model, they still are working with a new 45-day release window moving forward. One of the first affected by it is The Batman, which had many wonders when they might expect it to release on HBO Max exactly. Luckily, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar has outright confirmed its exact release date on Vox’s Recode podcast. In it, he confirmed that it will release on April 19th on the service.

    Think about when movies would show up on HBO, which is eight to nine months after theatrical premiere. The Batman is going to show up on day 46 on HBO Max.

    Jason Kilar

    It’s not going to be the only film to release within this schedule, as Kilar further highlighted that it’ll affect other big DC tentpole releases, such as Black Adam, and The Flash.

    I feel really, really good knowing that The Batman, and Black Adam, and The Flash, and Elvis, and a whole host of other movies, are literally going to be showing up on day 46 on HBO Max in a variety of territories all over the world. That is a very, very big change that I don’t think people appreciate, and I feel really good about it.

    Jason Kilar

    It’s uncertain how this might affect the film’s box office, as quite a few releases tend to make a lot during their runtime. Yet, the pandemic has shown that the latest release doesn’t truly impact the films too strongly, but it also depends on whatever the release is. It still seems like a possible $1 billion might be in its future, but we’ll see what happens once it releases digitally.

    Source: Vox’s Recode via IGN

  • ‘The Batman’ Concept Art Offers Closer Look at Gotham City

    ‘The Batman’ Concept Art Offers Closer Look at Gotham City

    The Batman has finally been released in theaters, and it may have given us the most atmospheric take of Batman and Gotham City on the silver screen. Luckily, it seems that artist Jaime Jones has shared some of his work that helped set the design for Matt Reeves‘ take on the iconic city alongside designer James Chinlund. The designs are great, and you can see a lot of the influences that would find their way into the final product. I do wish we got a shot of Batman hanging above a misty Gotham like the first image, but there’s always the potential sequel to further explore different corners of the city.

    This new take on the iconic Caped Crusader has opened up many new avenues to explore, especially with its unique take on the character and its world. Here’s hoping that we get many more atmospheric shots as we explore more of Gotham City in potential sequels and the spinoffs. While we got a good look at the city, it does feel like we’ve only scratched the surface, especially with the tease of an Arkham Asylum spinoff in development.

    Source: Twitter

  • Barry Jenkins Teases His Upcoming ‘The Lion King’ Prequel

    Barry Jenkins Teases His Upcoming ‘The Lion King’ Prequel

    It’s still strange to think just how popular the live-action remake of the original Disney classic, The Lion King, ended up being. It was quite the box office success, and they quickly fast-tracked a prequel series focusing on Mufasa’s upbringing into becoming the iconic king that we see in the film. We haven’t heard much since Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre joined the cast of Barry Jenkins‘ film. Luckily, Variety got a chance to interview the director, who gave a few teases on the film.

    There were hints that Nicholas Britell has joined the production back in December, but luckily Jenkins not only confirmed his involvement but also that they are trying to build upon what Hans Zimmer established with the previous entry. While they are big shoes to fill, Jenkins is quite confident they can do so.

    Nicholas Britell’s gonna do his thing. He always does it well. There’s a whole legacy of music that Hans [Zimmer] created that we’re gonna live up to

    Barry Jenkins

    That is not all, as he does continue to tease the film’s place as a prequel and offers a glimpse of what the direction will be for the upcoming film. It looks like we’re definitely going to explore the early days of Mufasa and what made him the king we remember.

    Kings aren’t just born, they aren’t just made. They have to become who they are.

    Barry Jenkins

    It’s not a lot to go by, but it does further hint that we’re definitely in for more of what we saw from Jon Favreau‘s film. Jenkins seems quite excited about the project and how it’ll push him as a filmmaker. The effects were groundbreaking for when the last film was released, and we’ll see how this sequel might try to push it even further.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘The Batman’s Matt Reeves Teases Horror-Themed Arkham Asylum Spinoff Series

    ‘The Batman’s Matt Reeves Teases Horror-Themed Arkham Asylum Spinoff Series

    The Batman is just the beginning of a brighter future for a new cinematic universe primarily focused on the Caped Crusader and his colorful cast of supporting characters. One of the first confirmed projects was one focused on Gotham P.D. but we did hear rumors that it may have gotten a new focus. It seemed like the project was going to explore Arkham Asylum rather than the usual police storyline. We only had the project name to go by at the time, but director Matt Reeves has finally confirmed the new direction.

    The GCDP thing, that story has story has kinda evolved. We’ve actually now [moved] more into the realm of exactly what would happen in the world of Arkham as it relates coming off of our movie, and some of the characters… almost leaning into the idea of… it’s like a horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham.

    Matt Reeves

    The horror themes seem quite promising, especially if they fully embrace the insanity that is Arkham in the comics. That is not all, as the director has also teased the direction the project will go and hinted that we might get a bit more from his rogue’s gallery in the series.

    The idea, again the way that Gotham is a character in the movie, I really want Arkham to exist as a character. You go into this environment and encounter these characters in a way that feels really fresh. And so in our work on Gotham, that story started to evolve, and it started feeling [like], ‘Wait, we should really lean into this.’ And then that’s kinda where that’s gone

    Matt Reeves

    There were teases of Batman’s first year has already introduced some familiar villains into this universe, and it’s unclear if these series will all build up into a united storyline, or if they are all acting as separate projects to further explore the universe that this version of the Dark Knight lives in. No matter what direction Reeves‘ vision might be heading towards, the film already gave us a promising starting point and hopefully we’ll find out sooner rather than later when we might expect the new series.

    Source: Cyber Nerds via The Direct

  • Robert Pattinson Interested in Joining Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ Sequel

    Robert Pattinson Interested in Joining Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ Sequel

    Robert Pattinson has been vocally interested in his excitement to expand The Batman as a franchise. While he mainly talked about turning it into a trilogy, it seems that he’s gotten a taste for blockbuster releases with his recent work in them. In an interview with Variety, the actor has revealed that he’s also actively interested in appearing in a sequel for Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune.

    I love those “Apes” movies so much. There’s only been two movies — well, three now — where I wanted to do a sequel: the “Apes” movies, “Sicario” and “Dune.” I saw both of the “Apes” movies in the cinema and I just thought what he could do with mo-cap was just so unbelievable. If he could do that with a monkey’s face, then he can get a performance out of me as well.

    Robert Pattinson

    After the success of the first entry, Villeneuve‘s space opera and desert planet epic were fast-tracked for a sequel, as the director already mapped out the trilogy he wants to tell. After an interview with the director hit the web that he may already be eyeing to add Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen into the sequel. As such, he may be a potential role for Pattinson if they are already busy casting. We only have the confirmation that the original cast will return. So, we might get some hints later this year as they prepare for production.

    Source: Variety

  • Rudy Pankow on a Potential Return for an ‘Uncharted’ Sequel 

    Rudy Pankow on a Potential Return for an ‘Uncharted’ Sequel 

    Sony’s recently released Uncharted movie was full of twists and turns, but perhaps the biggest surprise for fans was the inclusion of Rudy Pankow as Nathan Drake’s brother Sam. Trailers for the film had already revealed the elder Drake would have an impact on the story, but Pankow’s casting and Sam’s actual appearance were kept a secret until the project hit theaters. The movie’s post-credits scene strongly hinted that the character would be back in a potential sequel, though whether or not the Outer Banks star will return to play him seems up in the air.

    After all, Sam would have aged quite a bit in the film series’ timeline, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the studio cast an older actor when the time comes. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, however, Pankow voiced his desire to come back for another round. Despite the fact that, apparently, it wasn’t even him we saw in the film’s stinger:


    That [second-to-last] scene with the bearded guy, that was not me. I don’t know if I should have said that or not, but I will stay true to the fact that it was not me. I don’t think I should have expectations, but at the same time, my fingers are crossed. So I hope it goes in that direction, and I hope that they just throw a couple of scruffies on my chin so I can play a late-20s to 30-year-old Sam. I would also get a little bigger for the role, so I think I can pull it off. So if there is a sequel, the fates will decide what will happen, but it would be a blast to hunt treasure alongside Tom Holland.

    Rudy Pankow


    An Uncharted sequel has not yet been given the go-ahead, but the first film’s success would indicate it will happen eventually. If Sam does play a big role, it will be a departure from the game series, which doesn’t see the brother reunite in person until much further down the line.


    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘The Batman’ Scores $128 Million Opening

    ‘The Batman’ Scores $128 Million Opening

    The Caped Crusader has topped the box office.

    The Batman has secured the second-best opening weekend behind Sony and Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home. The latest film from Matt Reeves is looking to bring in around $128 million in its opening weekend, following a $43.2 million Saturday. Of course, as it is still early in the day, the film’s opening could rise to $130 million depending on how Sunday progresses.

    The Batman marks the biggest opening for Warner Bros. during the pandemic era, as well as the best opening for Reeves, coming in above Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which opened to $73 million. More impressively, however, The Batman‘s opening weekend is currently the best domestic opening for the year. The film’s opening numbers are all the more impressive given its nearly three-hour runtime.

    Regarding The Batman, Toby Emmerich, president of Warner Bros. Motion Pictures, spoke highly of Reeves and his vision for the film. “You to buy into the idea that Batman is like Hamlet. He’s such a rich character. And that the only reason to do it is if you find a different swim lane and a Batman that’s true to the DNA, but is a different interpretation,” he said in a statement to THR. “From the very beginning, Matt consciously made sure that the character and the story he was telling was different than anyone that had been told before.”

    The Batman is in theaters now.

    Source: THR.