Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movies

  • ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Actor Confirms Scenes With Peter Dinklage and Jeff Goldblum Were Cut

    ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Actor Confirms Scenes With Peter Dinklage and Jeff Goldblum Were Cut

    One of the fun things about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that you never know who ends up crossing paths. It turns out that Christian Bale‘s run as Gorr the God Butcher, who he plays in Thor: Love and Thunder, originally included scenes featuring the return of Peter Dinklage and Jeff Goldblum. The former made his first appearance in Avengers: Infinity War where he played the dwarf Eitri while the latter made his MCU debut in Thor: Ragnarok as the leader of Sakaar. Sadly, it seems they didn’t make it into the film.

    In an interview with Prensaescenario, Bale talked about some scenes that sadly got cut along the way, and it looks like after previously being reported to joining the production, they may have filmed a few more scenes. Luckily, this scenario may be similar to the one with the 616 Mordo where he was going to be killed at the hands of Wanda. They may have had plans for the characters moving forward and didn’t want to just lose them in one fell swoop with Gorr’s god-killing rampage.

    Sadly, we might never see these sequences but they could include them on the digital and physical release. Yet, if they are completely avoiding these sequences to imply something, they may just skip them altogether. Who knows why they were left out, as Taika Waititi is also known for a very spontaneous directing style that may have led to the sequences not being added to the final product.

    You can watch the interview here:

    Source: YouTube

  • ‘Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown Joins Russo Bros. Next Netflix Film

    ‘Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown Joins Russo Bros. Next Netflix Film

    It looks like the Russo Bros. are focused on staying in Netflix’s wheelhouse as while they’re busy promoting The Gray Man, they’ve already set their next project in the form of The Electric State. Millie Bobby Brown, who is hot off of her work on the latest season of Stranger Things, is already set to join the film. Former Avengers co-star, Chris Pratt, is also currently in talks.

    The directing duo will once again team up with writer Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who also worked on the previous Netflix film. It’ll once again be a high-budget project that is likely going to go beyond the 200M mark. Brown will play an orphaned teen that travels the American west to find out what happened to her younger brother. She’ll be accompanied by a mysterious robot and an eccentric driver. It’s unclear who Pratt may end up playing.

    The project is an adaptation of the 2018 illustrated novel. Simon Stalenhag created the original and also worked on the iconic Tales From the Loop. It looks like they are also already eyeing a production start in October in Atlanta. So, we may get some casting announcements in the coming months as the project moves forward. Russo‘s are naturally producing under their AGBO banner.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Chris Hemsworth Reveals His “Favorite Villain” in the MCU

    Chris Hemsworth Reveals His “Favorite Villain” in the MCU

    Through three solo adventures in the MCU, Thor has more often than not found himself facing off with members of his family as primary antagonists. Thor: The Dark World featured Malekith and Kurse, but even there Loki’s machinations featured prominently in the story. Thor: Love and Thunder breaks free of that pattern, bringing one of Thor’s most terrifying villains from Marvel Comics into the MCU: Gorr the God Butcher, played by Academy Award-winning actor Christian Bale. And according to Hemsworth, Bale’s work with the character was so special that he became Hemsworth’s favorite MCU villain.

    He’s my favorite villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I love everyone I’ve worked with, but this was particularly special.  And a lot to do with what Christian said before, there’s this empathic quality there, there’s a vulnerability.  You kind of find yourself going, oh what’s he’s doing is wrong, but I get the sort of motivation behind it.  And every time you work with someone different, different characters that bring different things out of you, and that was the case here.  And yeah, he did an incredible job. 

    Chris Hemsworth

    It’s high praise indeed, given that Hemsworth’s Thor faced off against his brother, played brilliantly by Tom Hiddleston, his sister Hela and, most notably Thanos, who sent the god of thunder down a dark path. It’s hardly surprising that Bale delivers big in his performance, however, because he’s never been known to mail in a performance. Audiences won’t have long to wait to see where Gorr fits on their lists of favorite MCU villains as Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters on July 8th.

  • What to Expect from Marvel Studios at SDCC ’22

    What to Expect from Marvel Studios at SDCC ’22

    Marvel Studios has confirmed it will have a presence in Hall H for the first time since 2019. Kevin Feige once said the studio wouldn’t go to SDCC if they couldn’t over-deliver, so fans must be in for a bit of a treat this July. What can fans expect? What should they not expect? Let’s think it through…

    A Major She-Hulk Presence

    The surest of sure things is that Marvel Studios’ presentation will have a heavy dose of their next big thing: the Disney Plus streaming series She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. By the time SDCC rolls around, it’ll have been about 2 months since the first full-length trailer for the series dropped, so a fresh trailer certainly makes sense given the series will begin streaming four weeks after SDCC. Marvel Studios always likes to have cast members on stage for SDCC presentations, so don’t be too surprised if star Tatiana Maslany shows up and, if they really want to blow the roof off of Hall H, Charlie Cox.

    First Look at Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

    black panther tenoch huerta

    The next surest thing for Hall H is that a good chunk of time will be devoted to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel Studios’ final film of 2022. SDCC is just a month away and not so much as a teaser for the film has been released yet. That may change over the next couple of weeks as Marvel Studios could choose to release something online that would also play in front of Thor: Love and Thunder, or they could simply choose to wait and make waves at SDCC. It also seems likely that the cast of the film could be on stage, as was the case with Eternals in 2019, and Marvel Studios could finally acknowledge that Tenoch Huerta will be the MCU’s Namor, in addition to revealing some other cast members who will still be a surprise to general audiences who don’t follow things too closely.

    Disney Plus Updates

    Marvel Studios has a second season of What If…? that should be ready to go at some point in 2022, 3 live-action projects that have completed principal photography (Secret Invasion, Werewolf By Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special) and 3 others that are in production now (Echo, Loki Season 2 and Ironheart). Should fans expect major news about every one of those projects? Absolutely not, but some cast reveals and some first look footage would go a long way for pretty much any of them because nothing official from Marvel Studios has been revealed about any of them save Echo.

    It’s All About Phasing

    Marvel Studios’ fans sure seem to love big timeline photos even though the reality is that they’re subject to change. There’s been a lot of Phase 4/Phase 5 talk lately and Feige recently said he’d be showing fans a “tiny, tiny, tiny bit more of the roadmap” in the coming months. So will there be a full Phase 5 reveal? Unlikely. But could Feige give fans a cool looking timeline for the rest of 2022 and for 2023? Sure.

    The Over-Deliver

    So far, nothing listed above would be either surprising or all that exciting for fans who are always starving for more. In 2019, the “over-deliver” was certainly the reveal that Mahershala Ali would be leading the Blade reboot. So what’s in store for 2022? The 2023 slate is 75% known and it’s widely believed that Blade will take the other spot. There are four dates blocked off for 2024, though no films have been assigned to them at the time this article is written. However, it’s expected that Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts are going to be two of them, so any news about another 2024 film would be pretty major. If he really wants to make a big enough bang that will carry over until D23, he could announce anything mutant-related or reveal whatever they’re calling the Secret Wars adaptation that fans are all expecting to be the Endgame of this new saga. There’s no way for us to know exactly what Feige will do, but the safe bet is that he’ll drop something major at SDCC, but keep many more big reveals in the bag for D23, which we continue to hear is going to be an absolute blast.

  • Christian Bale on His Gorr the God Butcher Not Being Comic-Accurate in ‘Thor 4’

    Christian Bale on His Gorr the God Butcher Not Being Comic-Accurate in ‘Thor 4’

    There have been quite a few discussions surrounding why Thor: Love and Thunder moved away from Gorr the God Butcher’s iconic comic design. Many theorized that having Christian Bale involved with the project was one of the decisions, but the actor now offered some insight during the press tour on how they approached the design, most notably due to Bale‘s restrictions after wrapping up another project.

    Yeah, I was coming off of a film where it had been necessary to be sort of rather lacking in muscle. And then I saw the images and thought: “Well, that’s not going to be possible. And this G-string that#s going on there.” He looked in the comic books like physically a, you know, someone to reckon with Thor. And I said: “Well, you know that’s just not going to be possible in the state I’m in.

    Christian Bale

    He goes on to highlight that he only had three days between productions, which is the result of COVID. We’ve seen with many productions that they had less prep time and with VFX houses slammed, it’s not easy for these productions to somehow get their projects out in a meaningful way; which Marvel Studios has found a balance to work with.

    And so we said: “Alright, now we’ll go with the supernatural powers that he does have that he gets from the Necrosword etc, which I think works really effectively.

    He also highlighted that the G-string was already decided not to be part of the film before Bale even sat down with director Taika Waititi. So, it seems that they’ve already decided on some aspects of the design before he joined, but also adapted to his thinner frame due to his previous project. It once again highlights how these productions are far more complicated and also have to adapt when they adapt talent, especially ones as big as Christian Bale.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Beats Out ‘Shang-Chi’ and ‘Eternals’ Viewership in First 5 Days on Disney+

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Beats Out ‘Shang-Chi’ and ‘Eternals’ Viewership in First 5 Days on Disney+

    It looks like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has been a big release on Disney+ even while it’s still available in theaters. The film has been building up quite a bit over the last few weeks in cinemas, as it’s likely to end its run with at least $950M. While it isn’t a billion, it’s quite the jump from the previous entry and further proves that Marvel Studios has a hold at the box office. Now, they also released the film on Disney+ to grab a home audience and it looks like the film performed quite well.

    According to a study by Samba TV, a third-party analytics company, the film pulled in 2.1M US households that watched the Doctor Strange sequel in its first 5 days of streaming. To put it in perspective, SambaTV reported that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Teen Rings pulled in around 1.7M viewers back in November. Eternals also pulled in a strong 2M which now puts Doctor Strange on top with 2.1M.

    It needs to be pointed out that this value is only a temporary look and might not truly represent how these projects are truly performing. Still, from a third-party perspective, it does seem like the project is doing quite well. 2M viewership seems to be the core audience for Marvel films, which is a curious benchmark for future projects. These numbers could be quite a bit higher due to it relying on Samba TV’s household panels but it at least offers us a little glimpse of how our favorite projects are performing.

    Source: Twitter (Strange), Twitter (Shang-Chi), Twitter (Eternals)

  • Warner Bros. SDCC Plans Revealed

    Warner Bros. SDCC Plans Revealed

    The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that while certain properties from Warner Bros. Discovery will be showcased at San Diego Comic-Con next month, CEO David Zaslav is looking to make big changes to the company’s approach at the convention. Per the outlet, this year will mark the first time that Warners – including DC. – will not have a presence on the convention floor. In recent years, the company has had a huge presence on the convention floor, including signings from the Justice League cast in recent years.

    Perhaps the biggest news, however, is that there will be no presence for the CW at SDCC. Fans of The Flash and Superman & Lois, unfortunately, should not expect the panels and promotion of recent years. This, of course, shouldn’t be too surprising. Along with cleaning most of its slate, the CW is expected to go up for sale which more than likely had an impact on the decision to forgo SDCC. The lone exception will be Riverdale, with the series set to make its final Hall H appearance ahead of its sixth and final season on the network.

    While Warner Bros. Discovery will not have a floor presence, titles such as House of Dragons and Sandman will make a huge splash at the convention thanks to HBO and Netflix. There will also be panels by DC Publisher and CCO Jim Lee, as well panels for animated titles (for young and old), and Warner Bros. Games. There will also be a special screening of the first two episodes of Harley Quinn, as well as the premiere of the animated film Green Lantern: Beware My Power, which will be followed by a Q&A.

    The decision to rethink how Warner Bros. Discovery approaches Comic-Con is said to be so that the company can be “more strategic” as the convention has cost Warners approximately $25 million in past years due to the floor installation, travel for its talent and tech costs for presentations. It remains to be seen whether or not this change is permanent in coming years, or if this is merely a one-time change.

    Source: THR

  • Taika Waititi on the Unexpected Love Triangle in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’

    Taika Waititi on the Unexpected Love Triangle in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’

    It’s clear that there were no restraints placed on the creative mind of Taika Waititi during the production of Thor: Love and Thunder. If the promotional footage from the trailers have shown fans anything, it’s that the fourth Thor installment will be the Odinson’s wildest ride yet as his former flame, Jane Foster, comes crashing back into his life as a Thor of her own.

    Part of the mystery of Jane’s return is clearly tied to another of Thor’s loves: his hammer, Mjolnir. Destroyed by his sister, Hela, in Thor: Ragnarok, Mjolnir is back in Love and Thunder, and, as has been seen in the trailers, apparently more fond of Jane than the Odinson. In Mjolnir’s absence, of course, Thor had a new weapon, Stormbreaker, forged for him with the help of Eitri and a helping hand from Groot. During the global press conference for Thor: Love and Thunder, Waititi explained that because Stormbreaker’s handle is part of Groot, it was going to have some feelings about Mjolnir coming back into Thor’s life.

    Yeah. And Stormbreaker, I don’t know if this is the way anyone else thought about it, but you gotta remember Stormbreaker’s made of Groot’s arm. Well, you know, the handle is. And so Groot was like a teenager when he did that. So we felt like Stormbreaker was a young wif and had only just been born about five or six years ago. So it had to feel a little bit like an adolescent and it was like it was going through changes.

    Taika Waititi

    Reading between the lines, it appears that Waititi has indeed written a love triangle into Thor: Love and Thunder, though not one fans of the MCU saw coming, but rather one between a thunder god and his two weapons.

    Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters on July 8th.

  • Jason Schwartzman the Latest to Board Prequel to ‘The Hunger Games’

    Jason Schwartzman the Latest to Board Prequel to ‘The Hunger Games’

    The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has added yet another actor to its growing cast. Jason Schwartzman joins the cast as Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman. Not only is the character the host of the 10th Hunger Games, but he is also an ancestor of Caesar Flickerman’s, who we saw played by Stanley Tucci in The Hunger Games franchise. Schwartzman joins the previously announced Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow, Hunter Schafer as Tigris Snow, Josh Andres Rivera as Sejanus Plinth, and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray. 

    The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel to The Hunger Games films and is based on the book of the same name. Francis Lawrence, who helmed three of the four Hunger Games films, is returning to direct the prequel. He directs from a script by Michael Lesslie (Macbeth).

    The synopsis for the film is as follows:

    Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird and a snake.

    The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be produced by franchise producer Nina Jacobson and her partner Brad Simpson, as well as Lawrence. Suzanne Collins, who penned The Hungers Games books, will also serve as an executive producer alongside Tim Palen and Jim Miller. Production on the film is currently underway for a planned Nov. 17, 2023 release.

    Source: THR

  • Emma Roberts Joins the Cast of ‘Madame Web’

    Emma Roberts Joins the Cast of ‘Madame Web’

    The cast of Sony’s Madame Web has grown again, this time adding Emma Roberts in another undisclosed role. Roberts joins Dakota Johnson, Isabel Merced, Celeste O’Connor and Sydney Sweeney in the Sony film.

    With so many unknowns about the film and the cast continuing to expand, it’s hard to even speculate about what character Roberts may be playing. It’s believed that Johnson will be playing Julia Carpenter, the second character to go by Madame Web in the comics. Rumors around Sweeney’s character range from Silver Sable to Black Cat to Gwen Stacy, while fans are convinced that Merced will play Anya Corazon. One thing is certain, however, Sony is loading up the film, to be directed by S.J. Clarkson, with major talent.

    In the comics, Madame Web was originally an older woman, Cassandra Webb, who possessed precognitive powers. Webb passed her powers, and the moniker, on to Julia Carpenter who held down the role during many major Spider-themed comic events. Madame Web will follow Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius and the recently wrapped Kraven the Conservationist in Sony’s ever-expanding universe of Marvel films.

    Source: Deadline