Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • Leaked ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Set Photo May Reveal New Quantum Realm Ship

    Leaked ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Set Photo May Reveal New Quantum Realm Ship

    It looks like the first set photo from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania have found their way online. @AntManNews found a delivery driver’s photos, who dropped something off in Pinewood Studios. It included the following prop that seems to have enough space to house two individuals. Its delivery also correlates with the location being where Peyton Reed teased a production featuring The Mandalorian’s Volume. So, it’s very likely they’ll use this prop to film interior shots of the ship. It seems the director might be pulling from his experience with the Disney+ show to utilize

    Of course, it’s uncertain if it truly will be used as the Quantum Realm ship, which we first saw in Ant-Man and the Wasp. The subtitle of this entry gives away the revisit to the iconic location. We know that Kang the Conqueror will make his debut in the film after Jonathan Majors brought one of his Variants to life in Disney+’s Loki. There’s a chance this ship might belong to him. We know that the TVA is connected to the character, and they rely mostly on their time doors. So, it seems safe to say that it might be connected to our titular heroes.

    The return to the Quantum Realm is an exciting prospect, as Avengers: Endgame opened the doors to how it plays a key role in how the universe works. Kang’s connection to time travel also opens up the possibility of visiting different points in history throughout the film, besides potentially visiting the mysterious bubble city hinted at in the last film. Perhaps Ant-Man was in the background of Eternals first meeting with humanity after all.

    Source: Facebook via Twitter

  • ‘Morbius’ Director May Have Accidentally Confirmed an Appearance by ‘Venom’s Tom Hardy

    ‘Morbius’ Director May Have Accidentally Confirmed an Appearance by ‘Venom’s Tom Hardy

    Sony has two major films in development based on the Spider-Man franchise that doesn’t include the iconic wall-crawler. Venom: Let There Be Carnage sees the return of Tom Hardy as the titular anti-hero. His film was slated for September, but there are already first signs it’ll potentially get delayed by a month. He’ll soon be joined by Jared Leto‘s Morbius, which got pushed back to January 2022.

    The latter teased a connection to the wider universe with a trailer cameo by Michael Keaton’s Vulture, but it seems the director Daniel Espinosa may have given away another cameo. When asked about how it is to direct big stars, he mentioned a few known actors in the film and also name-dropped Tom Hardy. Here’s the translated answer from the interview with MovieZine:

    It usually feels strange before the day begins, when you look at the schedule and stand on the set yourself. When you walk around there, the recording looks just like a Swedish production, but then when you look at the schedule and read names like Michael Keaton, Jared Leto, Tom Hardy, then it feels cool and very exciting. But once you start working, it’s exactly the same thing. An actor wants a director and actors want to be directed.

     

    Spider-Man"-Kultfigur in "Morbius" oder "Venom 2"? Darum können Marvel-Fans darauf hoffen - Kino News - FILMSTARTS.de

     

    As there has never been a word on his inclusion, it seems the director may have accidentally let his involvement slip in the interview. It looks like Sony doesn’t want to waste any time building up their wider universe. If Hardy does end up in the film, he may end up being a post-credit sequence that connects the films to a new, wider universe. Sony has also recently cast Aaron Taylor-Johnson for the role of Kraven the Hunter.

    So, they may have plans to integrate his character into this new wider universe that may or may not include Tom Holland’s Spider-Man moving forward. His inclusion would be an exciting direction forward as Sony continues to build upon Spidey’s vast number of adversaries throughout comic history. Who knows if a new attempt at the Sinister Six is in the future.

    Source: MovieZine, IMDb

  • ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’: Merchandise Teases a Larger Role for Doctor Strange

    ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’: Merchandise Teases a Larger Role for Doctor Strange

    It’s been quite a day, as one piece of merchandise after merchandise has gotten released online for Spider-Man: No Way Home. First off, we got a closer look at Spidey’s new suit with magical webbing. Then, there’s also a tease of Mysterio’s legacy living on through his believers that seemed to have even created their own visuals. That wasn’t all, as there’s also quite a bit of merchandise teasing a much larger than an anticipated role for Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange. Quite a bit of the merchandise features the Doctor alongside Spidey as if they are parallels of each other. The visuals also are built up similar to Homecoming’s use of Iron Man in its promotion.

     

     

    His design in this merchandise is quite different from the Funko that got released earlier last month. In it, he was wearing snow boots and a shovel alongside his classic cape. It was believed he had a minor role, but it seems he could be a strong force throughout the movie after all. They certainly want to highlight that he is indeed in the film, while also playing around with some iconic Spider-Man visuals. Spidey and Strange’s faces combined pays tribute to an iconic visual from the comics that we briefly saw in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

    It would be curious if he takes on a more antagonistic role. Spidey is a hot-headed teenager who has the world trying to hunt him down. Perhaps he believes that his magic could help him solve the issue at hand. Once he gets his hands on a magical item, he might end up getting chased by Strange throughout the film. At this point, anything is possible, as we still anxiously wait for any trailer to tease what the film has in store for us. Either way, it looks like we’ll get a lot more of Doctor Strange before he heads into the Multiverse of Madness.

    Source: Hot Topic, Hot Topic, Amazon

  • Mysterio’s Legacy Lives in New ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Merchandise

    Mysterio’s Legacy Lives in New ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Merchandise

    The hype surrounding Spider-Man: No Way Home is surreal, as we are still waiting for a trailer almost weekly at this point. Sony postponing the upcoming release of Venom: Let There Be Carnage in New Zealand has some red flags. Still, it looks like the film is not wasting any time getting merchandise, as we got a closer look at Spidey’s black-gold suit with magic webbing. That’s not all, as some more merch on Amazon offers a look at some familiar designs featuring Mysterio’s legacy that’ll carry on after the finale of Far From Home.

     

     

    The new merchandise features drawings of the iconic villain with a question mark and the bold statement: “We Believe Mysterio.” So, it looks like the Daily Bugle’s work has influenced the masses way more than we thought, and Spidey won’t have an easy time. It’s still uncertain how much of the film will follow his story facing the public’s belief in him as a murderer before magic gets involved.

    We’ve actually seen this “Believe” design before. It was first teased when the first set of photos of the film hit the internet almost seven months ago. It was part of a poster on a newsstand with a bit more detail. Furthermore, it seems almost as if they are taking inspiration from Qanon followers to bring this to life in the upcoming film, and build upon the strong messaging from the first film on fake news. It’ll be interesting to explore how far Mysterio’s powers reach even after his death in the last film.

    Source: Amazon

  • New ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Merch Showcases Peter Parker’s Magical Webbing

    New ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Merch Showcases Peter Parker’s Magical Webbing

    We’re still anxiously waiting for any sign of life from Spider-Man: No Way Home. At this point, we know more about the film through merchandise than anything else. It’s been a month since we got our first look at a suit that seemed inspired by the Spider-Man game. The golden-black design stood out from the rest, and it looks like the suit will give our favorite wall-crawler some new magical abilities. Hot Topic has released a new shirt that holds the name”Magic Web.” It confirms that Peter is getting quite the upgrade in the upcoming film.

     

    Marvel Spider-Man: No Way Home Magic Web Hoodie

     

    Interestingly enough, there’s a second shirt that is called the Gold Web Shot with a red variant of his costume, but it’s very likely just a recolor for the shirt. Still, the high-quality look at his magical webs makes you realize that his high-tech suit’s Funko Pop also includes a blue magical circle. So, these two suit designs might be more connected than we think. It’s also interesting that this might be the second version of Spidey to utilize magic in the MCU, as Zombie Hunter Spider-Man wields Strange’s cape in the upcoming What If series.

    If we look at other shirts featuring the black-gold costume, it seems that the red lining on his fingertips isn’t always included. It only seems to be available when he uses magic. Perhaps the black suit is connected to these abilities, and his original costume pops out while using it. As more merchandise is finding its way online, it hopefully means we’ll finally get a trailer to see if all these rumors surrounding the film are true.

     

    Source: Hot Topic

  • ‘The Suicide Squad’ is HBO Max’s Second Most Viewed Film During Theatrical Opening Weekend

    ‘The Suicide Squad’ is HBO Max’s Second Most Viewed Film During Theatrical Opening Weekend

    The Suicide Squad had to face an uphill battle with the Delta variant roaming the world and adding some doubt in people willing to visit a cinema. So, our only point of orientation on its potential success would be how popular it was on the HBO Max streaming service. It could give us an inkling how well the same-day release strategy is working for Warner Bros. and it seems it might’ve been far more popular than expected. HBO Max chief Andy Forssell shared that the film was their second most-viewed film during its release weekend.

    As the country faces new challenges due to the COVID variant, we’re happy to continue to offer fans the option of viewing movies in their homes. Many chose to do just that as Suicide Squad emerged as the second most viewed film over an opening weekend on HBO Max since we began day-and-date releases with theaters.

    Of course, they didn’t share any exact numbers and according to The Hollywood Reporter, Mortal Kombat is currently holding the top spot. Samba TV shared an analysis yesterday that on Thursday, 363K US households watched the film, but it doesn’t offer a direct point of comparison for the entire weekend. Still, it’s good to see the film is prospering through streaming and might be a hint that R-rated projects have a good home in streaming media.

    The Delta variant is still adding a lot of uncertainty for cinemas. So, the upcoming weeks will give us a better idea, especially with early September still locked in. It’ll be curious if major Marvel Studios like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings might push beyond the current threshold and offer some more trust in movie-going audiences, as some delays are still happening for major releases.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘The Suicide Squad’ Falls Short With $26.5M Domestic Weekend Amid Growing Pandemic Concerns

    ‘The Suicide Squad’ Falls Short With $26.5M Domestic Weekend Amid Growing Pandemic Concerns

    It looks like The Suicide Squad ended up falling short of its early $30M+ predictions, as the film ended up debuting with $26,5M domestically. It also garnered an additional $45.7M internationally, putting it at a $72.2M worldwide Box Office. These results are slightly higher than yesterday’s prediction, which saw it making $1M less. Even with it hitting a lower than expected BO, it still took the top spot. It was closely followed by Jungle Cruise with $15.6M and Old with $4.14M. Black Widow has been keeping steady at the fourth spot with another $4M.

    Overall, the Box Office results prove that Delta concerns are still dominating. Ever since Marvel Studios’ release, the overall numbers have steadied out for bigger releases at $30M. Yet, each film faced harsh drops in its second weekend. Trends would reflect non-pandemic numbers, but digital releases are showing their fangs. James Gunn’s DC film is available on HBO Max for no additional costs. So, even after a strong Thursday showing, people were hesitant over the weekend as pandemic numbers continue to rise again.

     

    The Suicide Squad - Kritik: Hektisch, aber höllisch unterhaltsam

     

    Forbes’ Scott Mendelsohn also argues that the confusion regarding Suicide Squad’s position as a soft reboot and sequel may also add some confusion to audiences’ willingness to risk viewing it. Of course, the first film’s negative reception also adds to that factor. Will Smith was the big selling point of the original, and he is absent in the sequel. Combine that with an R-rating and there are a lot of wild factors this film had to face.

    Still, the film received a very positive reaction from critics and fans alike. Yet, it did face a B+ in its CinemaScore rating. Of course, we can’t compare it to Ayer’s Suicide Squad, which opened to $133M without facing any of these issues. We’ve already seen Sony delay Venom: Let There Be Carnage in New Zealand. So, there’s a lot of uncertainty moving forward into what the future holds for cinema as we face the current development.

    Source:  The Numbers, Variety, Variety (Updated), Forbes, Twitter

  • ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s New Zealand Release Delayed Until October

    ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s New Zealand Release Delayed Until October

    It looks like Clifford the Red Dog’s big delay could be the start of many. Currently, the pandemic is facing another upswing through the Delta Variant. As such, there’s a lot of uncertainty regarding if the upcoming September releases will keep their slot. Well, it seems that Sony might already be taking the first precautions, as Venom: Let There Be Carnage got postponed in New Zealand.

    The site Event Cinemas has now listed the sequel as a release on the 14th of October, rather than its initial 23rd September release. When the Sony Pictures New Zealand account released the initial trailer in May, it included the international release date but was noticeably absent with the second trailer.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiAju6ojIuM

     

    Even the US version did not include a release date in the second trailer. It already raised some concerns that it might signal an eventual delay. It looks like that is indeed the fact. Curious enough, some countries already included an October release, such as the Austrian Cineplexx site having it slated for 21st October. Looking back at the May trailer for this market, it was slated for that release date in local German-speaking markets.

    This is mainly due to the film market opening up later due to lockdown restrictions. Still, there’s a high likelihood that the film also faces a delay in the US. Early September releases seem quite safe in their current time slot, but anything eyeing the end of next month will likely get pushed back. So, Daniel Craig’s No Time to Die might suffer a similar fate with its currently planned release on the 30th of September.

     

    Venom 2: Neuer Trailer zeigt brutalen und makaberen Blockbuster des Marvel-Antihelden | STERN.de

     

    Of course, it also threatens a delay for December’s release of Spider-Man: No Way Home if Sony is already considering pushing back its current releases. It’s uncertain if Eternals will keep its November release, and we might see a continued push back until the Delta Variant’s growth is halted. Box Office numbers have also gone down over the past few weeks signaling that it still needs some time before we return to some normality.

    Source:  USA Today, Event Cinemas, HOYTS, YouTube (NZ), Cineplexx, YouTube (GE)

  • ‘Shang-Chi’s Secret Actor Behind Death Dealer’s Mask Revealed

    ‘Shang-Chi’s Secret Actor Behind Death Dealer’s Mask Revealed

    It looks like we finally found out who is behind the mask of Death Dealer in Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings. There has been a curious focus on keeping the identity of the character a secret, but it turns south the actor ended up leaking his involvement with the project. Martial artist Andy Le took to Instagram to share the official character poster for the character and hinted at his involvement with the character.

     

    That is not all, as POC Culture also noticed that fellow Shang-Chi actress Awkwafina shared an Instagram story that confirmed he is indeed playing the role, as she tagged him. Of course, it doesn’t confirm if we’ll even find out the identity of the character at some point in the film, and it simply is a silent role. Death Dealer is Wenwu’s right-hand man and could just be a silent opposition for Shang-Chi as he learns to finally face his father. We got a tease of their confrontations in the trailers.

     

    Awkwafina's Instagram Story Confirming Andy Le as the Death Dealer

     

    Marvel Studios has been actively keeping their identity a secret, and we see that they’ve been around since Shang-Chi was a kid. They were heavily involved in his training into adulthood. So, who knows if the same version of Death Dealer exists throughout the entire film. Marvel Studios has also kept the identity of Taskmaster for quite some time, and it’s uncertain if Le is also portraying the character, or was mainly the stunt double. We’ll probably only know once the film releases in September.

    Source: Instagram, POC Culture

  • ‘Black Widow’ Passes ‘F9’ to Become Highest Grossing Domestic Film

    ‘Black Widow’ Passes ‘F9’ to Become Highest Grossing Domestic Film

    It looks like Black Widow has finally done it, as it officially passed F9 to become the pandemic’s highest-grossing film in the domestic Box Office. It currently pulled in $170.4M over the course of four weeks. It officially passed the film with its Wednesday Box Office. To put that into comparison, the latest Fast and Furious installment required six weeks to hit the $169.8M mark. So, even among all the legal issues, it still managed to top the Box Office.

    Ever since the opening weekend, Disney has been coy on sharing any insight into how the film has performed on the streaming service since its initial launch. It supposedly made $60M in its opening weekend alone, but it’s uncertain if that number has grown at all since the initial launch. An analysis by Samba TV hinted that they managed to double their US viewership. So, it might turn out quite profitable for Disney.

     

    2021 - Wie die letzte Actionsequenz von Black Widow gedreht wurde | Bildschirm-Rant - Gettotext.com

     

    The big question remains if it would’ve made more money without a digital release. Even The Suicide Squad’s release is influenced by Warner Bros.’ HBO Max strategy. Even Disney’s latest release, Jungle Cruise, nabbed $34M, which seems on par with Dwayne Johnson’s film Rampage. It would imply that the Delta fear isn’t affecting viewers too much in their initial watch.

    Yet, the second weekend has shown a general drop of around 70%+. Old and Snake Eyes dropped by 70% and 79% respectively. All eyes are on Jungle Cruise if it will continue that tradition.  The Suicide Squad is currently eyeing a $30M+ opening weekend, and it still looks like the overall Box Office still needs time to return to the numbers we saw in 2019.

    Source: Deadline