Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movies

  • ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Scores Third Highest Thursday Previews Take Ever

    ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Scores Third Highest Thursday Previews Take Ever

    Box office forecasts for Spider-Man: No Way Home have predicted a sense-shattering opening weekend for the film. Now that the numbers from the film’s domestic Thursday night previews are starting to come in, it looks like the weekend total may exceed even the most generous of guesses.

    Deadline is reporting that No Way Home took in $50 million yesterday, making it the third-largest Thursday previews take ever behind only Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The $50M ranks as the biggest preview night take of the pandemic, dusting the $13.2M made by Black Widow and now stands as the best preview night take for a Spider-Man film, more than tripling what Spider-Man: Homecoming took in back in 2017.

    No Way Home, which currently holds the highest Rotten Tomatoes ranking of any live-action Spider-Man movie, now looks to be on pace for a $100 million Friday and some forecasts predict the domestic opening weekend totals could exceed $250 million and push $1B in global profits.

    Source: Deadline

  • Tom Holland Ready to “Take a Break”, Feels Like “We Might Be Ready to Say Goodbye to Spider-Man”

    Tom Holland Ready to “Take a Break”, Feels Like “We Might Be Ready to Say Goodbye to Spider-Man”

    Tom Holland has spent a lot of time in spandex over the past 6 years. Since filming for Captain America: Civil War began in 2015, Holland has appeared in 2 Avengers films and 3 solo Spider-Man films, including Spider-Man: No Way Home, out in theaters now. If anyone would have superhero fatigue, it’ Holland, given that he’s been filming something for the character every year for 6 years while also working on other films.

    With No Way Home wrapping up a trilogy worth of stories for the character, Holland is looking forward to some time away from Spidey. But how much time? In a conversation with People, Holland shed some light on the subject. “I’ve spent the last six years being so focused on my career,” Holland says. “I want to take a break and focus on starting a family and figuring out what I want to do outside of this world.“

    As Holland looked forward to the time off, he reflected on his time as Spidey and had some interesting thoughts about his future in the role:

    I’ve loved every minute of it. I’ve been so grateful to Marvel and Sony for giving us the opportunity and keeping us on and allowing our characters to progress. It’s been amazing. And that’s why for me, I don’t want to say goodbye to Spider-Man — but I feel like we might be ready to say goodbye to Spider-Man.

    While in the past, Holland has said he’d love to play the character forever, he’s recently been a bit more open to seeing someone else suit up in the role. He told People that the shift in his thinking is about giving other people a stab at the character:

    I don’t want to be responsible for holding back the next young person that comes in who deserves it just as much so. I would love to see a future of Spider-Man that’s more diverse — maybe you have a Spider-Gwen or a Spider-Woman. We’ve had three Spider-Mans in a row; we’ve all been the same. It’d be nice to see something different.

    Will Holland walk away from the character? Probably not if Sony producer Amy Pascal, who recently indicated that more Spidey collabs with Marvel Studios were on the way, has anything to say about it. Sony exec Tom Rothman tempered those expectations recently, but in reality it’s hard to foresee an immediate future where the two studios aren’t making more Spidey films and Holland isn’t back in the spandex.

    Source: People

  • ‘Doctor Strange’ Sequel Nearing End on Reshoots

    ‘Doctor Strange’ Sequel Nearing End on Reshoots

    In the latest Heat Vision blog entry on The Hollywood Reporter, Aaron Couch shares some bits from Spider-Man: No Way Home’s carpet as many of the actors involved reflect back on their work. Of course, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Benedict Wong‘s appearance in the film alongside characters from Sam Raimi’s original trilogy, there are some fun connections to be had. Raimi has now taken it upon himself to bring the Doctor Strange sequel to life that’ll explore the madness of the multiverse.

    In November we learned that the team entered production once again for extensive reshoots to “realize the full potential of the film” and it seems that they may finally be nearing completion of the additional photography. In the latest piece by the Hollywood Reporter, they got a chance to interview Wong on what the Raimi film might offer to audiences.

    I’ve been marveling at his vision, his take. His overall resolve, as well. We were shooting in the middle of a pandemic and it was almost like, Doctor Strange and the Menace of the Multischedule. We were literally filming in a quantum way. There is no plan A. There’s a B and a C and then a D. Your mind is running all over the place. I have no doubt it’s going to be something fantastic

    Benedict Wong

    It’s still exciting to think about what the upcoming sequel might have to offer to audiences and what they may have added throughout their reshoots. Loki introduced us to the concept of the multiverse within the MCU and we even saw those rules get broken in Ultron’s power grab during What If…?. Here’s hoping the first look won’t be for too long anymore to see just how mad the multiverse will end up being.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Shang-Chi’ and ‘Jungle Cruise’ Boost Disney+ in November

    ‘Shang-Chi’ and ‘Jungle Cruise’ Boost Disney+ in November

    Disney+ has been seeing quite a bit of growth that made it a strong competitor. While Netflix still dominates the market, especially in the United States, the offerings based on existing IPs have been a strong marketable focus for the Disney-owned service. Marvel Studios and Star Wars offerings are at the forefront, but there is a stronger shift since their big cinema releases are making their way to the platform.

    Exactly that happened in November, which saw a strong showing by Disney+ with the Disney+ Day releases of Shang-Chi and Jungle Cruise playing a big role. On top of it all, Hawkeye was released in the same month offering a lot to viewers. We did hear it had the lowest viewed premiere from all Marvel Studios series on the platform, but it still was quite close to WandaVision back in January. It’ll be interesting to see how the finale might perform after the confirmation of Vincent D’Onofrio‘s return as Kingpin.

    Overall, Disney+ has grown to a competitive size within a short period of time. It’s uncertain what the future has in store for it, as they try to find new ways to grow, but expansion is still at the forefront of most of these offerings. Netflix also has the advantage of beings years in the market but has been pushing much more to expand its IP collection. We’ll see what the future has in store for this competitive market.

    Source: Nielsen

  • Matthew Vaughn Open to Tackle a ‘Star Wars’ Film

    Matthew Vaughn Open to Tackle a ‘Star Wars’ Film

    Matthew Vaughn is currently promoting his latest film, The King’s Man, which acts as a prequel to his popular Kingsman franchise. It seems though that before he brought the iconic franchise to the silver screen, he was in love with the idea of tackling a project for Lucasfilm, especially as part of the Star Wars franchise. Screen Rant got a chance to ask about his interest in potentially tackling a project, while also looking back at the sequel trilogy’s release by Disney.

    If you’d asked me that 10 years ago, I would have given Kingsman to Lucasfilm for free to get a go shooting a Star Wars film. So yes, I would have loved to [have] done a Star Wars film, which was part of the Skywalker saga, is all I can say. It sort of feels like that’s been decimated, or whatever the word is for that thing. But yeah, Star Wars is a really important movie to me. I mean, I thought I liked films, and then I saw Star Wars…So, never say never…So the answer is, if they really wanted a new, proper Star Wars film, a proper one, a Star Wars movie that could be its own thing, I wouldn’t say no, just have a go with a lightsaber…So, I don’t know. When they were looking for a director for the next Indiana Jones, it did pique my interest.

    He’s made quite an interesting statement on the case of the sequels and their quality. Plus, his love for LucasFilm highlights how deep their films have become a part of our cultural consciousness, especially with many of us growing up with it. He continues to highlight that:

    I was like, “Oh my God, to make an Indy would be great.” But Star Wars, yeah, I think out of all the IP I’m not involved with, Star Wars would always get my attention. If they rang — they’ve never rang me up, they’ve got no interest in working with me, just to be very clear. I think I’m probably a little bit too — what’s the word? — Maverick, maybe? But I promise, if I did it, I would do — I’m not saying no one tries to make a good film, a bad film — but I would be meticulous on trying to protect the legacy of something that I fell in love with movies for. So the answer is a very long-winded answer. But yes, I’d like to.

    Star Wars is definitely an interesting project to tackle for any director given its many influences that establish a unique take on space operas. We’ve also slowly seen them expand into new ventures like Star Wars: Visions, which might be a sign they are expanding in unique ways. Though delays have recently also hinted at a lot of discussions internally. So, we’ll see what the future has in store for the franchise and hopefully, Vaughn gets a chance to make a dream come true.

    Source: ScreenRant

  • Marvel Legends ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Wave Available for Pre-Order

    Marvel Legends ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Wave Available for Pre-Order

    The newly revealed wave of Marvel Legends based off of Marvel Studios upcoming film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now available for pre-order both individually and in its entirety at Entertainment Earth.

    The wave is comprised of 7 figures with Rintrah serving as the BAF for the wave. 4 of the figures are based on the film, 1 seems to be based on the first film and 2 are comic book figures (D’Spayre and Sleepwalker).

    Links for individual pre-orders below:

    America Chavez
    Doctor Strange (Astral)
    Doctor Strange (Mom)
    Mordo
    Wong
    D’Spayre
    Sleepwalker

    Pre-orders for the entire wave are available from Entertainment Earth right here.

    Murphy’s Multiverse is an Entertainment Earth affiliate.

  • A ‘Kick-Ass’ Reboot Is Happening

    A ‘Kick-Ass’ Reboot Is Happening

    It’s not common to see a director decide to reboot his own franchise but Matthew Vaughn is not one to make common choices. A few years ago, he talked about the possibility of doing a spin-off of Kick-Ass, the Mark Millar-penned hit comic that Vaughn brought to the mainstream with its gung-ho violence and superhero satire, with a brand new character named Patience Lee. Now, the director has confirmed that a reboot is ready to happen.

    We’ve got a big reboot of Kick-Ass in two years. Big reboot. It’s so fucking nuts that I can’t talk about it. But we’ve got that ready to go. All the rights revert back in two years and then we’re going to reboot it where people will be like, he is insane.

    The original Kick-Ass premiered at a time where the concept of a successful R-Rated superhero film was unheard of. A decade later, the superhero movie landscape is now in a completely different place where violent superhero films and shows are very successful. To see a brand new take on Kick-Ass should be interesting to see given all the changes the industry has seen.

    Source: Collider

  • ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Off to a Strong International Start, Eyeing $300M+ Opening Weekend

    ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Off to a Strong International Start, Eyeing $300M+ Opening Weekend

    Well, the numbers are certainly showing an impressive start for the third entry in the MCU Spider-Man franchise. While Far From Home was the first to break the $1 billion milestones, it seems like No Way Home is going to follow shortly after. It already was proving its potential through its record-breaking pre-sales, its rollout in international markets is continuing that very trend. Deadline first reported that it already grossed $5.28M in Korea, which puts it 11% ahead of 2019’s Far From Home release, which was the film’s second-biggest market behind China. It’s also dominating France and will release in select markets as of Friday, such as the Netherlands, India, Germany, and more.

    Some markets are even accommodating their release windows, such as the Netherlands opening early due to a 5 PM curfew. U.S. numbers haven’t arrived yet, but it seems that it made around $50M+ in its Wednesday previews alone and is definitely going to nab around $300M+ at this rate. Of course, COVID restrictions could become an influencing factor, as pointed out, but there’s always the potential it goes beyond it if it continues down this path. Overseas projects have it at $160M to $180M, but there’s potential to go higher if the pandemic codicils don’t hamper its development. Charlie Jatinder shared some insight into how the markets are performing:

    Especially, the UK numbers are impressive, as it pulling in £7.2M in comparison to this year’s most successful release in the country, No Time to Die, managed to earn around £100M with an opening consisting of £4.5M. So, it looks like the film will definitely have strong legs internationally at this rate.

    We’re still waiting for more data on how the domestic market has performed, but its Wednesday numbers are already quite impressive and signal good things. Even as the Omnicom scare is making the rounds, there’s still some hope that it’ll hold strong and we can expect a generally strong performance. Will it pass $1 billion? There’s some hope it might be the first to do so since the pandemic started, but we’ll have to see how its weekend starts developing as word-of-mouth spreads.

    Source: Deadline, Twitter, Twitter (UK)

  • Recast, Reboot, Retire or Reprise: What’s the Right Choice for Other Marvel Netflix Characters

    Recast, Reboot, Retire or Reprise: What’s the Right Choice for Other Marvel Netflix Characters

    With Vincent D’Onofrio and Charlie Cox reprising their respective roles as Kingpin and Matt Murdock this week and rumors swirling that other cast members from the Netflix Defenders-verse series might join them, we decided to take a look at who should come back and who should be left behind. Note that this is not all-encompassing and that there’s no real metric here, much less any consistency. Sometimes we want the actor and not the role; other times we want the role but not the actor; other times we want neither. To make it easy, we cast a verdict on each character: recast the role, reboot the character with the same actor, retire the character or have the same actor reprise the same role. Because the world is hard, sometimes had to pick more than one.

    The Big 4

    Each of the following actors led at least 2 seasons of a solo series on Netflix as well as popping up in either Defenders or another series.

    • Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle
      Whether or not Marvel Studios plans on using the Punisher in the near future is certainly a great topic for debate, but that debate is for another day. The topic here is whether or not Bernthal is the man for the job should they chose to bring the character into the MCU and, fortunately, there’s not much of debate to be had. As he almost always does, Bernthal inhabited the role of Castle in a way that many actors just couldn’t do. If we are going to see the Punisher again, it has to be Bernthal.
      Verdict: Reprise
    • Mike Colter as Luke Cage
      Colter is a case of Netflix missing the mark on why they cast the character. Colter is a solid actor. His work on CBS’s Evil has been excellent; however, he seems to be, in general, more comfortable in roles that require a more subdued persona and, to me, that’s just not Luke Cage. If Cage is coming back, the actor has to have BIG energy and charisma. The man lead the New Avengers and as much as I love Colter, I can’t see him effectively convincing Dr. Strange, Spider-Man and Captain Marvel that they should be following his orders.
      Verdict: Recast
    • Finn Jones as Danny Rand
      In a shared universe that includes Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, there’s simply no place for Jones as the Iron Fist. While part of the problem with the character was the way he was written (Rand should be able to kick multiple asses all the time without ever having to use the Iron Fist), it’s impossible to give Jones a pass. He notably didn’t want to train and he’s also just not that great of an actor. If they give Rand another chance, it has to be with another actor.
      Verdict: Recast
    • Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones
      Ritter’s situation is nearly the opposite of Colter’s in that the role of Jones fits her specific talents incredibly well. She looks the part and believably acts the part. While the series ended on a really poor note, Ritter’s time as the character would make it incredibly hard to imagine someone else in the role.
      Verdict: Reprise

    The Supporting Cast

    Simone Missick: Actress, Misty Knight in Netflix's Luke Cage | Howard Magazine

    Each of these characters played a major, supporting role in at least one season of the Defenders-verse series.

    • Vondie Curtis-Hall as Ben Urich
      After giving one of the best performances in Season 1 of Daredevil, Curtis-Hall didn’t get a chance to come back in the role because, well, Kingpin killed off the character. One of the best cases we can make for why the Netflix series should not be canon is so Curtis-Hall can return in a role that could expand beyond Daredevil’s stories and into the greater MCU.
      Verdict: Reprise
    • Rosario Dawson as Clarie Temple
      Keep the actress, ditch the character. Dawson is lights out in pretty much everything she does. Fans would love to see her jump into a bigger role like Mahershala Ali, who starred in Luke Cage, was able to do. Sorry, Claire, you stay behind, but bring Rosario into the MCU in a new role.
      Verdict: Retire
    • Scott Glenn as Stick
      One of the most unforgivable offenses made by Netflix over the course of their Defenders-verse series was their portrayal of the Hand. As Charles V. has said over and over again, “it’s really hard to screw up undead ninjas”, but they did it. If there’s one Daredevil-centric thing they could fix that would really spice up the whole MCU, it’s the Hand. And if the Hand is back, Stick should be back and if we’re getting Stick, it’s gotta be Scott Glenn.
      Verdict: Reboot
    • Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson
      Foggy is such an important part of the story of Matt Murdock that he absolutely must be involved in whatever stories are told going forward. Henson, however, never seemed the right fit and it’s almost certain a recast would land better with fans.
      Verdict: Recast
    • Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing
      Henwick was one of the brightest stars over the two seasons of Iron Fist. It was recently revealed that she had to pass on a role in Shang-Chi in order to land her role in the upcoming Matrix sequel, so obviously Marvel Studios is keen to work with her again. Henwick should absolutely be in the MCU. Whether that’s as Collen Wing or in another role is the question. Should she enter into the MCU in another role, that would really make it hard to consider Iron Fist “canon”, however. There is certainly a great Daughters of the Dragon story to be tole with Wing and Misty Kinght, should they want to keep Henwick in a version of the same role.
      Verdict: Reprise
    • Simone Missick as Misty Knight
      Speaking of…Missick was dynamite as Misty Knight, bringing some of the charisma to Luke Cage that Colter did not. Seeing Missick return as Knight, perhaps to team up with Sam Wilson as she has recently in the comics would be fantastic.
      Verdict: Reprise
    • Debra Ann Woll as Karen Page
      The vote here is no, but not for the reasons you might think. Woll was great as Karen Page. She was better than great. But as the story of Matt Murdock/Daredevil moves on, Marvel Studios would be wise to move away from the dark, Frank Miller inspired arcs that we integral to the Netflix series and adapt some other authors’ work. Modern day runs by Charles Soule and Mark Waid would top the list and wouldn’t require more of Page, a character whose continued story would only continue to drag Matt through Hell.
      Verdict: Retire
    • Elodie Yung as Elektra
      Yung checked all the boxes as Elektra: sleek, sexy, dangerous and talented. If they should choose to do another story with the Hand or just with Elektra, it’d be hard to find someone who both looked and played the part as well as Yung. Bring her back!
      Verdict: Reprise

    The Villains

    David Tennant Would Love Purple Man to be in an Avengers Movie
    • Wilson Bethel as Bullseye
      Bethel’s time as Bullseye was just getting started when the plug was pulled on the Defenders-verse. He gave a great portrayal and would be fully capable of holding his own on screen again with Cox. Bring back Bullseye and bring back Bethel.
      Verdict: Reprise
    • Alice Eve as Typhoid Mary
      Eve seemed like an out of place casting at the time, but she did fine in the role. Moving forward, however, it seems appropriate to have an entirely different version of the character and I don’t think anyone would be upset to see a new actress in the role.
      Verdict: Reboot and Recast
    • Bob Gunton as Leland Owlsley
      Love Gunton, but he was playing the comic book Owl in the same way that Fra Fee is playing comic book Kazi, which is to say not at all. There is certainly room for the Owl in this newly carved out corner of organized crime in the MCU, but not for this version. A younger actor and totally different characterization are in order.
      Verdict: Reboot and Recast
    • Theo Rossi as “Shades” Alvarez
      You might think that with all the characters and actors we didn’t include on the list, that Rossi is a surprise. He might be but his son, Victor Alvarez, could join the MCU’s other young heroes down the road. Rossi was creepy and slimy in the role. It would only be a bit part if he came back, so let’s see him back so we can get to his much more important offspring.
      Verdict: Reprise
    • David Tennant as Purple Man
      Tennant joins D’Onofrio and Ali in the trinity of great Defender-verse performances as villains. Ali has moved into the MCU in larger role as Blade. D’Onofrio is back. It might be a stretch to bring Purple Man into the current MCU unless the want to do the big Breakout arc from New Avengers, but getting Tennant back on board in that role or any other would be fantastic.
      Verdict: Reprise
    • Wil Traval as Nuke
      Nope. Give us a real Nuke in a future Cap movie. Scrap the actor and forget the character ever existed.
      Verdict: Reboot and Recast
    • Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Marianna
      Zurer was fire as Vanessa. Both the actress and the character were amazing. However, the MCU’s Kingpin isn’t going to have 13 hours of time to tell a bunch of personal stories, so unfortunately, unless we get a Kingpin series, neither Zurer or Vanessa need to make the jump.
      Verdict: Retire

    Make sure to sound off in the comments on who you’d like to see reprise their roles and who you think should be left behind.

  • Marvel Legends “Defender Strange” Confirms a Third Strange Variant in ‘Multiverse of Madness’

    Marvel Legends “Defender Strange” Confirms a Third Strange Variant in ‘Multiverse of Madness’

    For some time now, Marvel Studios has unfortunately allowed the first look at characters from many of their upcoming projects to come from either merchandise leaks or pre-orders. That is again the case for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as first looks at new wave of Marvel Legends and a Target Exclusive have now made their way online.

    Of great interest is the Target Exclusive “Defender Strange” figure. The presence of the figure confirms not only a previous leak relating to upcoming Funkos, but also leaked plot points about the upcoming film. In both cases, “Defender Strange” represents a THIRD variant of Stephen Strange present in the film.

    “Defender Strange” joins normie Strange and Strange Supreme (who is reportedly seen briefly in the first look at Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness attached to Spider-Man: No Way Home) as variants of the character that appear as the film explores the multiverse. Strange Supreme was first seen in What If…? and “Defender Strange” seems to be based on the character’s look in Matt Fraction’s Defenders. With a trip through the multiverse ahead, there’s no telling how many variants might appear!