Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • The 2026 MCU Theatrical Slate Is Reportedly Changing Yet Again

    The 2026 MCU Theatrical Slate Is Reportedly Changing Yet Again

    To say that Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga has been uneven may be an understatement. It seems, however, that some downtime during the work stoppages of 2023 was fruitful for the studio as it has rolled out a string of well-received projects in 2024. With Deadpool & Wolverine marking a return to form at the box office and Robert Downey Jr. returning to bring the Saga’s new big bad, Victor Von Doom, to life, it seems as though there’s a bright future ahead for Marvel Studios…but what exactly does that future hold?

    Heard into the summer convention circuit, fans were holding out hope that the studio’s head honcho, Kevin Feige, would roll out the all-new, all-different Multiverse Saga slate. Convention season has come and gone, though, and other than a retitled Avengers movie, Feige didn’t pull back the curtain to reveal anything fans didn’t already know. Choosing to focus the studio’s time at SDCC and D23 on its 2025 slate of films and streaming series, the Feigester didn’t shed any light on what films would join Avengers: Doomsday in 2026 instead quietly removing one project from the slate. At the time, fans had some ideas about Marvel’s motives behind the move and now it looks as though they might have been right.

    According to longtime Marvel Studios insider Daniel RPK, Marvel Studios and Sony are currently planning to get production on Spider-Man 4 underway in early 2025 with an eye on having the film ready to release in theaters on July 24, 2026.

    The studios were previously believed to be reporting a Fall 2024 start of production with Sony reportedly pushing for a 2025 debut for the film; however, as we enter the final third of the year, there’s been no word on a director for the project. Should the latest report on Spider-Man 4 hold true, it would join two currently untitled Marvel Studios releases and Avengers: Doomsday on the slate.

    • February 13, 2026: Untitled Marvel Studios Film
    • May 1, 2026: Avengers: Doomsday
    • July 24, 2026: Spider-Man 4
    • November 6, 2026: Untitled Marvel Studios Film

    With a pair of streaming series (Wonder Man and Vision) also expected to be ready for release on Disney Plus, 2026 could be shaping up to be a very bountiful year for Marvel Studios.

  • Robert Downey Jr. Clarifies His New Marvel Studios’ Role

    Robert Downey Jr. Clarifies His New Marvel Studios’ Role

    Marvel Studios swung for the fences at SDCC ’24 by revealing Robert Downey Jr.‘s return to the MCU. Trotting out their biggest star didn’t land quite as well as they had hoped, however, as fans questioned both the logic of recasting Downey as Victor Von Doom and whether or not he’d truly been cast as Doom at all. In the days and weeks following the casting, social media was abuzz with speculation that the character might be revealed as a Tony Stark Variant behind the mask or a reverse-engineered take on Marvel Comics’ Infamous Iron Man. It is the Multiverse Saga, after all, and fans have grown accustomed to the studio’s growing penchant to put their own spin on incoming characters. And so, despite being introduced as Victor Von Doom, fans have continued to wonder just who Downey would be playing in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday. For now, at least, it seems that uncertainty can be laid to rest.

    In an interview with THR, Downey clarified that his return to the MCU was never going to happen by going backward by reprising his role as Tony Stark and that the goal laid out by Marvel Studios Head Honcho Kevin Feige was to “get Victor Von Doom right.“
    SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: Robert Downey Jr. speaks onstage during the Marvel Studios Panel in Hall H at SDCC in San Diego, California on July 27, 2024. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)

    Downey revealed that talks about his return to the studio began in 2023 when, during a conversation with his wife, Susan Downey, and Feige, the Marvel boss said, “It just keeps occurring to me, if you were to come back …” before taking the conversation in a surprising direction. “He brought up Victor Von Doom,” shared Downey, adding, “I looked into this character. Later on, he goes, ‘Let’s get Victor Von Doom right.” And with the blessing of Disney boss Bob Iger, the plan was hatched to bring the Infinity Saga’s brightest star into the struggling Multiverse Saga as the most complex and well-developed villain in the history of Marvel Comics.

    Though he won’t be the first actor to play two roles in the MCU–indeed his Captain America: Civil War co-star Chris Evans just reprised his role as Johnny Storm in Deadpool & Wolverine–he will be the first to fill two roles of the magnitude of Iron Man and Doctor Doom. To that end, should any hint of Tony Stark’s well-known MCU persona come through in his performance as the Beast of the Balkans, fans will begin to question just who is supposed to be behind the mask. Fortunately, Downey–who just won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Oppenheimer–has shown to be more than a one-trick pony over the years and has the requisite skill to disappear behind Doom’s mask and create a brand new persona that fans will have to hope is as mesmerizing and memorable as his time as Iron Man.

    Source: THR

  • Simu Liu Updates the Status of ‘Shang-Chi 2’

    Simu Liu Updates the Status of ‘Shang-Chi 2’

    With the third anniversary of the theatrical release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings creeping closer, fans are still waiting for the film’s breakout star, Simu Liu, to return to the MCU. While much of the recent dialogue around Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga centers on the poor performances of several projects, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings still stands as one of the company’s best films post-Endgame, having been both critically and financially successful. Just two months after the film hit theaters during the pandemic in 2021, it was announced that Destin Daniel Cretton inked an overall deal to develop content for Disney including a Shang-Chi sequel.

    Destin is an amazing collaborator who brought a unique perspective and skill to Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings. We had a fantastic time working together on the film and he has so many intriguing ideas for stories to bring to life on Disney+, so we’re thrilled to expand our relationship with him and can’t wait to get started.

    -Kevin Feige on Destin Daniel Cretton, December 2021

    According to Cretton, much of the groundwork for the sequel took place during the filming of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. “While we were shooting, we were throwing around joke ideas of what a sequel could be,” said Cretton who added “There are a lot of ideas that we had in the opener, and some of those ideas are planted as questions, by the end of our movie. There are things that we potentially want to explore in the future.” Despite what sounded like a promising start to a sequel script, the director indicated in a 2021 interview that nothing had moved beyond the “idea stage” and that he’d done no work on a script, saying “I’ve done [zero]. It’s a fun place to be right now. Everything is a possibility. We’re just tossing very loose ideas around and we’ll start to hone in on something, hopefully.“

    I think just what Shaun decides to do with all this newfound power, you know? It kind of consumed his father, consumed Wenwu. I’m curious as to how someone much younger, much more inexperienced, would fare against the rings. Just this idea of all of a sudden being gifted something that’s so powerful but also so dangerous. And then the other big question I have is, you know, in what way does Shaun fit in with the rest of the MCU? Who are you going to see? What kind of crazy team-ups? What kinda tie-ins, Easter eggs? I’m just as much in the dark as everyone else, so I don’t know anything, but I’m excited to dive into that process.

    -Simu Liu on a potential Shang-Chi sequel

    During SDCC ’22, Liu fueled hopes that sequel plans would come to fruition relatively soon, telling the crowd that he was”going to be busy the next few years” and that he’d be starring in “a couple of” projects Marvel Studios announced during the convention. Two years and another SDCC later, Liu’s Shang-Chi still hasn’t returned to the MCU and the sequel still hasn’t been put on Marvel Studios’ slate. It’s an understatement to say that quite a bit has changed behind the scenes at the studio over the last two years and fans have rightfully been worried that the Shang-Chi sequel may have been canceled; however, in a recent interview with Press Trust of India, Liu put those concerns to rest.

    A lot of it is above my pay grade but it’s definitely happening,” said Liu of the sequel, adding, “So just very excited to kind of work on it and it’s going to be amazing. I really can’t say anything beyond that.

    It’s an encouraging update from the film’s star that comes at a time when there simply hasn’t been much information about the project in nearly a year. In late 2023, Cretton was confirmed to still be working on the script while also having stepped down as director of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. With even more changes having taken place at Marvel Studios since then–including the reframing of the entire structure of the Multiverse Saga–it’s unclear what role Shang-Chi will play in the shared narrative over the next few years. Once believed to be integral to mounting a defense against Kang the Conqueror, Shang-Chi’s rings may now have a different purpose with Doctor Doom looming. And while Liu may not be at liberty to discuss just what that purpose is, it is encouraging to know he’s still headed back to the MCU.

    Source: Press Trust of India

  • FanExpo Chicago: Giancarlo Esposito Lets a Potentially Revealing Detail Slip about His ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Villain

    FanExpo Chicago: Giancarlo Esposito Lets a Potentially Revealing Detail Slip about His ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Villain

    After teasing his MCU role for months, Giancarlo Esposito surprised everyone when he revealed he would be playing Seth Voelker, the King of the Serpent Society, in Captain America: Brave New World. A far cry from the characters fans most frequently theorized Esposito would play, Voelker, aka Sidewinder, was a surprise across the board as Marvel insiders had all been led to believe he was playing the even more obscure G.W. Bridge.

    While the appearance of the Serpent Society in Brave New World wasn’t a surprise (set photos revealed a pair of members very early on in production), casting Esposito as its most senior member right smack dab in the middle of the action was. The trailer for the film reveals Sidewinder as an antagonistic agent of chaos and now Esposito may have given away his character’s ultimate goals.

    During an appearance at Chicago’s Fan Expo, Esposito revealed some new information about Sidewinder and, potentially, his motives.

    Presenting Voelker as a great, scientific mind is a change of pace for the character who, in the comics, was more of a criminally minded businessman. However, given the role that the Adamantium race is set to play in Captain America: Brave New World, it seems clear that Sidewinder and his fellow Serpents have their own plans for the mystery metal. And while a scientifically minded Sidewinder is a new take on the character, having a member of the Serpent Society armed with Adamantium would not be. In the comics, Frank Payne, who went by the name Constrictor, was once armed with Adamantium coils that he used to whip and, get this, constrict his enemies.

    Combined with a previous revelation by Espositio that his character will be featured in a streaming series after the events of Brave New World, it sounds as though the Serpent Society is in the MCU to stay. If they are to do so and prove a formidable threat against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, having a man leading the pack who can crack the code of how to utilize Adamantium will prove very valuable.

    Captain America: Brave New World is set for a February 14th, 2025 release.

  • D23: Major Marvel Movie Remains Absent from Kevin Feige Presentation

    D23: Major Marvel Movie Remains Absent from Kevin Feige Presentation

    For the third time in four months, Marvel Studios’ One Above All, Kevin Feige, provided a convention audience with an update on the studio’s 2025 film slate when he took the stage at Disney’s D23 event on August 9th. And for the third time in four months, Feige teased Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, explaining what each project would add to the ever-expanding MCU and showcasing footage for those in attendance. And for the third time in four months, there was no mention of one of the studio’s longest-gestating projects.

    As was the case at April’s CinemaCon and July’s SDCC, Feige’s presentation about the studio’s 2025 theatrical slate did not include even a mention of Blade. First announced at SDCC ’19, the Mahershala Ali-led reboot was initially met with incredible anticipation; five years later, that has evolved into incredible consternation as the studio’s well-documented struggles to get the project up and running have led to concerns that it may never make its way to the big screen. And when for the third time in four months the project gets left out of a presentation by Feige about what to expect in theaters in 2025, it’s easy to understand why fans have grown concerned.

    Feige isn’t acting independently in ignoring the project. During a recent investor call, Disney big cheese Bob Iger also failed to discuss the project while hyping investors on the company’s big 2025 release schedule. “In 2025, our theatrical slate remains just as robust, with Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Zootopia 2, and Avatar 3,” said Iger, listing each of the other MCU films slated for 2025.

    Despite being left out of Feige’s three most recent presentations about the immediate future of the MCU and currently being without a director, Blade is still listed as a November 7, 2025 release on all of Disney’s official channels. However, as the calendar creeps toward Fall, when the project was expected to begin production, the probability of Blade keeping that 2025 release date continues to decrease. And at this point–after not being mentioned during a presentation by Feige for the third time in four months–fans have begun to wonder if they’ll ever see the Daywalker’s solo project on the big screen at all.

  • D23: Pixar Announces ‘Incredibles 3’

    D23: Pixar Announces ‘Incredibles 3’

    With the 20th anniversary of Incredibles just around the corner, Pixar announced a third film in the franchise, Incredibles 3, is “officially in the works.”

    While no release date was provided, Brad Bird–who directed the first two films in the franchise–is back for the threequel.

    Updating…

  • D23: James Cameron Reveals the Title of ‘Avatar 3’

    D23: James Cameron Reveals the Title of ‘Avatar 3’

    Nearly six years ago, the BBC reported on the titles for each of the sequels to Avatar. Whether or not they were ever true, it’s now clear that the reported title for Avatar 3, The Seed Bearer, didn’t make the cut.

    During D23’s Disney Entertainment Showcase, director James Cameron revealed the title for the third film in the franchise. Set to release on December 19, 2025, the film will be called Avatar: Fire and Ash.

    According to Cameron, who flew in from New Zealand where he’s been working on the film, Avatar: Fire and Ash “is not what you expect but it’s what you want” and will feature a new character that he promises fans will “love to hate.”

    Updating…

  • D23: Walt Disney Animation Studios Unveils a New Trailer for ‘Moana 2’

    D23: Walt Disney Animation Studios Unveils a New Trailer for ‘Moana 2’

    As part of D23’s Disney Entertainment Showcase, Walt Disney Animation Studios rolled out a brand new trailer for Moana 2.

    Walt Disney Animation Studios’ epic animated musical “Moana 2” reunites Moana (voice of Auli‘i Cravalho) and Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson) three years later for an expansive new voyage alongside a crew of unlikely seafarers. After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.

    -Official Synopsis for Moana 2

    Directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller, Moana 2 opens in theaters on Nov. 27, 2024.

  • ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Claws Up Biggest R-Rated Opening Weekend Ever

    ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Claws Up Biggest R-Rated Opening Weekend Ever

    Marvel once again fatigues its way to some record-breaking numbers, but this time in a category many thought they’d never read the names “Marvel Studios” and “Disney.” With the release of Deadpool & Wolverine, they have now managed to win the biggest R-rated opening box office weekend ever with a whopping $205M. That makes it the eighth-highest opening ahead of Black Panther and trailing slightly behind The Avengers. It’s crazy to think that in all this time only nine films ever passed that $200M mark and this is the first time an R-Rated film managed such a feat.

    It has also skipped over Deadpool and Deadpool 2′s opening weekends, which each made respective $132M and $125M which were massive for the time for R-rated before Joker went on to make a good streak. It also marks the biggest opening of the year overtaking Inside Out 2, which had a debut of $155M and now is the highest-earning animated film ever. It’s a good sign after many films seemingly struggled last and this year, but may be a bigger sign that July is the new May for the summer box office.

    Internationally, the film made $438M so it’s definitely going to be a smash at the box office and help make up some of the issues that plagued the studio last year with The Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Though ignoring online discourse, it was a rough year overall for major releases and the strikes just hit the box office harder than one would expect. It does open the question if this is a similar surprise hit with Spider-Man: No Way Home given the leads and audiences simply care more for nostalgia than original continuations.

    Deadpool & Wolverine had initial expectations at $160M so that jump is quite massive after it made $96M on its opening day alone. What is also going to boost its numbers is the impressive A CinemaScore ranking which is quite unusual given how general audiences tend to react towards R-rated films. So, the Deadpool film being a crowd-pleaser with its humor goes against many online reactions stating people will be mixed on it. So, we’re continuing to see a stronger dissonance between X and TikTok reactions against the global reactions. The big question is: how far can it go and is a billion on its radar moving into its second weekend?

    Source: Variety

  • The Hierarchy of Power in the MCU Is About to Change (?): Dwayne Johnson Is in Business with the House of Mouse

    The Hierarchy of Power in the MCU Is About to Change (?): Dwayne Johnson Is in Business with the House of Mouse

    The Rock is cooking…and while we can’t quite smell just exactly what it is he’s cooking quite yet, it’s likely to be something special. Through his Seven Bucks Production company, The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment has struck a first-look deal with Disney that will see The People’s Champ develop films for both theatrical and streaming release.

    The agreement cements what’s been more or less a handshake deal between the Seven Bucks and Disney for quite some time. Dwayne Johnson has starred in several Disney films including 2021’s Jungle Cruise and has been leading the promotional charge for Moana 2 as it prepares for its November theatrical release. Johnson’s deal provides the marketable star the opportunity to collaborate with all of Disney’s major studios, including Marvel and Lucasfilm.

    The move is the latest in a series that has seen Johnson grow his brand to unimaginable heights. Johnson spun a successful pro wrestling career into an even more successful acting career and has become a social media icon. The actor has his own tequila label, his own energy drink, his own line of men’s skincare and is part owner of the UFL. Following the major restructuring of Warner Bros. plans with DC Comics characters–which no longer included Black Adam–Johnson now finds himself back in the market for another comic book movie. Interestingly enough, a recent rumor had Johnson in the running for one of the X-Men’s most formidable adversaries, Apocalypse, though no further word has come of that since. While there’s no word just yet on what Johson will tackle first, it’s hard to imagine the star doesn’t have something in mind that would see him move into one of Disney’s major brands fairly quickly.

    Source: Variety