Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movies

  • New Casting Information for ‘Man of Tomorrow’ May Point to Another of DC’s Trinity Joining the Battle Against Brainiac

    New Casting Information for ‘Man of Tomorrow’ May Point to Another of DC’s Trinity Joining the Battle Against Brainiac

    After months of speculation that the sadistic supervillain Brainiac would finally make his big screen debut in DC Studios Man of Tomorrow, a trade report confirmed the Coluan Collector of Worlds would indeed serve as the catalyst bringing Superman and Lex Luthor together. With Hawkgirl confirmed to return and other heroes such as Supergirl and John Stewart also believed to be joining the fray, plenty of Superfriends will be on hand to assist in the battle against Brainiac. However, new casting information has fans believing another hero might be set to appear as well and if speculation is correct, it’s one of DC’s heaviest hitters.

    …a story about Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together to a certain degree against a much, much bigger threat.

    -James Gunn on Man of Tomorrow
    Following a report from insider Daniel Richtman that DC Studios is searching for an actress in her 20s for a major role in Man of Tomorrow, speculation is growing that Wonder Woman will make her DCU debut in the film.

    It’s important to note that Richtman’s report doesn’t provide anywhere near enough information to determine that the female character will be Wonder Woman. However, with DC Studios co-chair James Gunn recently saying that the character was crucial to the success of the fledgling shared universe and that a script for a new Wonder Woman project by Ana Nogueria was in the works, it’s not the worst guess.

    With principal photography on Man of Tomorrow set to kick off in April, casting is certainly underway, so if the character is indeed Wonder Woman, expect trades to get on the case soon and try to figure out what actresses are in the mix for the role.

  • ‘She-Hulk’ and ‘Marvel Zombies’ Writer Zeb Wells Set to Write Legendary’s ‘Buck Rogers’ Film

    Marvel multimedia scribe Zeb Wells has been tasked with reviving one of the most significant figures to emerge from the pulp era. According to OG super scooper Umberto Gonzalez, Wells–who has worked for Marvel’s film, television and publishing studios–has landed the gig as the writer for Legendary’s Buck Rogers film.

    Gonzalez’s report states that Wells will be adapting author Philip Francis Nowlan‘s novella, Armageddon 2419 A.D. for the feature film. The original story, published in 1928, featured Rogers being exposed to a gas, going into suspended animation and waking up in a dystopian future to fight invaders with advanced technology like ray guns and flying belts. Nowlan’s action-adventure style was common to the pulp era and the character, originally named Anthony Rogers, inspired the creation of countless characters and stories including Flash Gordon, Adam Strange and Star Wars.

    While the character gained his greatest mainstream fame through the hugely popular newspaper comic strip (where he was renamed “Buck Rogers”), radio serials, movie serials, and TV series including Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which ran from 1979-198.

    A Buck Rogers project has been in development at Legendary since they acquired the rights to the character in 2020.

    The Thrill Machine: A Look Back at the Pulp Era 💥

    The Pulp Era was a golden age of popular fiction, spanning roughly from the 1890s through the 1950s. It was a time when fantastic, action-packed stories—from hard-boiled detective tales and jungle adventures to the earliest forms of modern science fiction—burst onto newsstands and defined much of 20th-century pop culture.

    What Defined the “Pulp”?

    The term “pulp” comes directly from the cheap, rough wood pulp paper on which these magazines were printed. This inexpensive material allowed publishers to print vast quantities of fiction magazines at low cost, selling them for just 10 or 25 cents.

    These magazines were easily identifiable by several key characteristics:

    • Low Cost: Their affordability made them the primary mass-market entertainment before television and comic books took over.
    • Distinctive Covers: They featured vibrant, lurid, and often sensationalistic painted covers designed to grab a reader’s attention and hint at the wild action inside.
    • Genre Focus: Unlike literary magazines, pulps were unapologetically dedicated to specific genres, giving rise to specialized titles.

    A Multiverse of Genres and Heroes

    The Pulp Era didn’t just entertain; it served as the essential proving ground for nearly every genre and archetype that would later define comic books, movies, and television.

    Science fiction titles such as Amazing Stories–in which Rogers debuted–adventure titles such as Doc Savage Magazine and detective titles such as Black Mask broke ground for the eventual rise of comic books.

    The Birth of the “Superhero”

    Crucially, the pulps invented the concept of the “Super-Hero” long before Superman. Characters like The Shadow (who had a secret identity, a hidden headquarters, specialized gadgets, and fought a constant war on crime) and Doc Savage (a polymath adventurer with near-superhuman skills and strength) established the fundamental tropes that would later be directly adopted by comic book creators. Many early Golden Age comic book writers and artists were, in fact, veterans of the pulp industry.

    Source: The Wrap

  • Disney Acquires Rights to  Best-Selling Fantasy Series ‘Impossible Creatures’, Sets Sights on Adapting First Two Novels as Films

    Disney Acquires Rights to  Best-Selling Fantasy Series ‘Impossible Creatures’, Sets Sights on Adapting First Two Novels as Films

    After rolling the dice in an auction to acquire the rights to develop author Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures novels into films, Disney is hoping to have found its own fantasy phenom.

    Like Harry Potter, The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games, Impossible Creatures has quickly grabbed the attention of studio heads as the first two novels in what is now planned as a five part series rocketed to #1 on children’s book charta across the globe. Rundell, an Oxford professor, won Author of The Year and the first novel, Impossible Creatures, won Children’s Book of The Year at 2024 British Book Awards. The sequel, The Poisoned King, races to #1 on charts as well, kicking off a studio scramble that includes Disney, Warner Bros. and Netflix, with the House of Mouse coming out on top.

    When I read Impossible Creatures, I knew it belonged here at Disney. I was immediately drawn into the vibrant world Katherine imagined and the possibilities of what we could do together with this story.  Written by Katherine herself, these movies are in the best of hands with our Walt Disney Studios team, and I can’t wait to see this tale brought to the screen.

    -Disney CEO Bob Iger

    An epic fantasy adventure that plunges two unlikely young heroes into a secret world where all the creatures of myth are real—and in grave danger, Impossible Creatures is the kind of IP Disney has been craving as it has slowed the pace of production by its major studio brands.

    The first irdt novel centers on a young boy from the human world, Christopher, and a fierce girl on the run from the magical world, Mal. Christopher’s life changes forever when he meets Mal, who appears with a baby griffin he saves from drowning. He is introduced to the Archipelago, a hidden cluster of unmapped islands in the Atlantic where creatures like dragons, unicorns, sphinxes, and kraken have thrived for millennia.

    However, the Archipelago is dying. The magic, known as the “Glimourie,” is fading, and the mythical creatures are perishing. Mal and Christopher embark on an urgent quest, traveling across the wild islands to discover the source of the magical crisis. They must consult sphinxes for secrets, battle fearsome monsters, and negotiate with dragons, all while being pursued by a dangerous murderer.

    As part of the deal, Rundell will develop screenplays for the first two films with Charles Collier via their Impossible Films production studio which worked in Paddington 2 and Wonka. And, of course, such a fantasy world may well lend itself nicely to Disney’s theme parks, where there is an entirely different amount of money to be made.

    Source: Deadline

  • Rumor: Ryan Gosling’s ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ to Launch New Trilogy

    Rumor: Ryan Gosling’s ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ to Launch New Trilogy

    Production is underway on director Shawn Levy‘s Star Wars: Starfighter and while little has officially been revealed about the film outside of the main cast, there are plenty of reason for fans of the galaxy far, far away to get excited about the project, which is due in theaters in 2027.

    Ryan Gosling was confirmed as the film’s star during Star Wars Celebration Japan, making good on months of rumors that the A-lister was set to join the franchise. Matt Smith, who joined the cast in August as “the next great villain in the Star Wars universe,”and Mia Goth, who was cast in June, are set to antagonize Gosling‘s character, who is rumored to be protecting his Force-sensitive nephew, played by Flynn Gray.

    Billed as”an all-new standalone adventure,” Star Wars: Starfighter has been described as “an entirely original story set in a period of time never before explored in Star Wars.” Despite that description, there’s a growing belief online that Gosling‘s character will be tasked by Amy Adam‘s character with safely delivering his nephew to someone who can train him to use the Force and now a pair of new rumors have renewed hope that he’ll be delivered to a very familiar face.

    According to My Time To Shine Hello, despite Lucasfilm’s designating Star Wars: Starfighter as a stand alone project, the film will include a “big cameo” and is meant to launch a new trilogy.

    Given the rumors about the project, it’s easy to imagine that Gosling‘s mission in the film is to safely deliver his nephew to Rey Skywalker’s New Jedi Academy, which would allow Daisy Ridley to cameo, setting up a New Jedi Order trilogy.

    After being announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023, Lucasfilm’s Daisy Ridley-led New Jedi Order era film seemed to quickly gather momentum, at one point being the favorite to launch the studio’s plans to bring its galaxy far, far away back to theaters. Set to “tell the story of rebuilding the New Jedi Order and the powers that rise to tear it down,” the Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy-directed project was reportedly far enough along that Lucasfilm considered a 2025 release. Things changed quickly, however, as creative teams came and went and by November 2024, the film’s release was delayed indefinitely despite reports that the studio believes Ridley is its “most valuable cinematic asset.” By mid-2025, the film was reportedly pushed even further down the queue, with Starfighter and James Mangold‘s Jedi Prime film being proritized.

    Connecting the available dots, it begins to seem very reasonable that Starfighter might serve as a Rogue One-esque prequel to Ridley‘s trilogy, setting the stage for the New Jedi Order era. Of course, as Star Wars fans continue to grow increasingly frustrated with the franchise’s inability to bring ideas to fruition, nothing on that front will truly matter until production begins on Ridley’s project.

  • ‘Spaceballs 2’ Cast Officially Revealed as Production Kicks Off

    As the 1987 Star Wars parody, Spaceballs, came to a close, Mel Brooks’ Yogurt told Bill Pullman‘s Lone Starr that “God willing,” they’d all “meet again in Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money.” Nearly 40 years later, Amazon MGM Studios has begun production on the long-awaited sequel which will see nearly all the main players from the original reunite and reprise their respective roles.

    After 40 years, we asked “What do the fans want?”…but instead, we’re making this movie.

    -Mel Brooks

    Amazon MGM Studios announced that Rick Moranis (Ghostbusters; Little Shop of Horrors; Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise), Josh Gad (Frozen; Beauty and the Beast; The Wedding Ringer), Keke Palmer (Nope; One of Them Days), Lewis Pullman (The Testament of Ann Lee; Thunderbolts), Anthony Carrigan (Barry; Superman), George Wyner (A Serious Man; A Million Little Things), Daphne Zuniga (Melrose Place; One Tree Hill), and Bill Pullman (Independence Day; Lost Highway; The Sinner) are set to star in the studio’s new Spaceballs film, alongside previously announced star, Mel Brooks.

    The sequel has brought Moranis, who will once again play the villainous Dark Helmet, out of retirement. Bill Pullman and Zuniga return as Han Solo and Princess Leia analogues Lone Starr and Vespa, with Lewis Pullman believed to be playing their son, a new character based on Kylo Ren. Gad is rumored to be playing the son of Barf, the Mawg played by the late John Candy.

    Josh Greenbaum (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar) is directing from a script by writing duo Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez (Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy; TMNT: Mutant Mayhem), and Josh Gad. Plot details are being kept under lock, key, and an industrial-strength Schwartz shield.

    Spaceballs 2 will be in theaters in 2027.

    Source: Amazon MGM Studios

  • ‘Clayface’ Looks Set in a Gotham Full of Batman’s Greatest Villains

    ‘Clayface’ Looks Set in a Gotham Full of Batman’s Greatest Villains

    While Clayface is one of Batman’s most interesting rogues, few would list him as one of the Dark Knight’s greatest baddies. However, it’s starting to look as though DC Studios’ upcoming horror movie, Clayface, will set the stage for–if not introduce–at least a few of Batman’s biggest big bads in the DCU.

    With production on Clayface continuing in Liverpool, new photos from the set tease the very real possibility that Batman villains The Joker and The Penguin are already active within the DCU.

    In the case of The Joker, it seems as though there is both a singular entity referred to as The Joker, who is leading a march against the corrupt Gotham City Police Department, and a gang who calls themselves The Jokers. Theories are already flying that The Jokers will turn out to be the DCU’s version of the Red Hood Gang, though there’s no good explanation for why they aren’t just called the Red Hood Gang.

    In the case of The Penguin, the reference comes in the form of a poster for the Gotham carnival known as Amusement Mile. The poster, which invites people to “Behold” the “Penguin Man,” shares a wall with a “Freakshow” poster, insinuating that the character is one of the attractions.

    Photos of props from the Liverpool set had already revealed that The Penguin’s club, The Iceberg Lounge, was among the key locations shown on a Gotham map; however, it’s unclear when Clayface is set, if some of these photos are from flashbacks or if The Penguin is already an established crime boss in the present of the DCU. Whatever the case, it seems as though Clayface might do a lot of the heavy lifting in establishing Gotham in the all-new DCU.

  • DC Studios ‘Supergirl’Reportedly Making Radical Changes to Its Villain

    DC Studios ‘Supergirl’Reportedly Making Radical Changes to Its Villain

    In September 2024, Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts landed the villainous role of Krem of the Yellow Hills in DC Studios’ Supergirl. The central antagonist of the celebrated 2021 DC comic book miniseries, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, upon which the upcoming film’s script was based, Krem was a ruthless, intergalactic outlaw whose monstrous actions propelled the entire story. Though certainly barbaric, Krem was otherwise a regular-looking, run-of-the-mill ginger alien. It sounds as though the villain will be radically changed for his DCU debut, however.

    According to insider Daniel Richtman, who recently shared some positive feedback about the 2026 film, the DCU version of Krem “looks more like a monster”  and “[carries] dead alien rats with him to eat.”

    In our story, we have Superman who was sent to Earth and raised by incredibly loving parents. Kara was on Krypton. She was on a piece of Krypton that drifted away from the planet and she lived there for the first fourteen years of her life in a horrible situation where she watched everyone around her die. So, she’s a much harsher and more fucked up Supergirl than you’ve been used to thus far.

    -James Gunn

    While we’ll have to wait until seeing the film to discern whether or not the change to Krem makes much of a difference, making a villain a little more destestable is never a bad thing. Additionally, Krem isn’t exactly a household villain, which means the studio is unlikely to get too much pushback from lifelong Krem fans. DC Studios’ co-CEO James Gunn has described Supergirl as “a little more rock and roll” than Superman, which leaves some room for exploring the wilder side of the DCU, including Lobo, who will be played by Jason Momoa, who will be cosplaying as Jason Momoa.

    Supergirl hits theaters on June 26, 2026.

  • James Gunn Confirms Another ‘Superman’ Star Will Return in ‘Man of Tomorrow’

    James Gunn Confirms Another ‘Superman’ Star Will Return in ‘Man of Tomorrow’

    James Gunn has made it clear that Superman‘s strong performance took a significant amount of heat off of him and the DCU, allowing both to breathe and Gunn to look ahead. And it didn’t take Gunn long to reveal his next project: Man of Tomorrow, the next installment in his Superman Saga, which will hit theaters on July 9, 2027.

    Announced via social media on September 3, Man of Tomorrow will see Superman stars David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult reprise their respective roles and, it seems, team up against an as-yet-unrevealed threat. Though additional cast has not been officially revealed, Gunn teased that the film would feature characters from “within the group of characters we’ve already met,” leading to speculation that the Justice Gang might appear. Indeed, Isabel Merced teased that possibility shortly after Gunn‘s announcement, but Gunn has been tight-lipped about what other characters will appear in the film…until now.

    In response to a question on Threads, Gunn confirmed that Rachel Brosnahan will return as Lois Lane for Man of Tomorrow in an “important role.”

    Given the importance of her role in Superman and in the character’s long history in DC Comics, it’s unsurprising that Brosnahan will return for Man of Tomorrow; in fact, it’s likely she’ll be a key player in the entire Superman Saga and, perhaps, play a role in the larger, overall narrative of the DCU.

  • BTS Photo from the Set of ‘Clayface’ Teases Another Major Batman Villain

    BTS Photo from the Set of ‘Clayface’ Teases Another Major Batman Villain

    As was the case with Superman, which saw Cleveland become Metropolis, DC Studios is taking great care to make sure its Gotham is FULL of Easter eggs, nods and comic accurate inclusions when it is introduced in Clayface.

    Recently, a map of Gotham City was spotted on set, complete with key locations such as Wayne Manor, Ace Chemical, The Monarch Theater, Crime Alley, Arkham and the Kane Memorial Bridge. While it’s unclear if those or any of the locations spotted on the map will factor into the plot of Clayface, it’s the kind of world building necessary to sustain what DC Studios hopes is a long-running narrative in its new, interconnected universe.

    As great as it is to see some of Gotham’s most important settings show up on a map, an empty alley or asylum won’t keep Bruce Wayne up at night…but baddies do. And a new prop spotted on the Liverpool set of Clayface confirms that at least one other classic Batman villain has a footprint in Gotham.

    While there’s no indication as yet he’ll appear in the film, a new BTS Photo Confirms that crime king Roman Sionis, aka Black Mask, is active in the all-new, all-different DCU.

    Introduced into DC Comics continuity relatively recently in 1985, Sionis has grown incredibly popular over the years. The villain appeared in the Batman: Arkham video game franchise, the CW’s Batwoman and in Birds of Prey, where he was portrayed by Ewan McGregor.

    As established in Creature Commandos and Superman, heroes and villains are already deeply established in the DCU and with Gotham having no shortage of baddies, it’s unsurprising to see a Sionis Easter egg; however, given the connection between Matt Hagen’s transformation to Clayface and Gotham’s criminal underworld (and the idea that the film’s villain is still unknown), it’s possible Black Mask may make yet another live-action appearance.

  • ‘Dynamic Duo’: DC Studios’ Animated Elseworlds Film Being Rewritten By Dynamic Duo

    ‘Dynamic Duo’: DC Studios’ Animated Elseworlds Film Being Rewritten By Dynamic Duo

    DC Studios first animated feature film, Dynamic Duo, is getting a major overhaul by an Academy Award-nominated pair of writers.

    According to The Wrap, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, the writing team behind 500 Days of Summer, The Disaster Artist and Daisy Jones & the Six, have come on board to rewrite the project, which is currently set to hit theaters on June 30, 2028.

    According to The Wrap, Dynamic Duo, which will be directed by Arthur Mintz, will “take place in a separate timeline from his films starring Robert Pattinson and, as we understand it, outside of the current DC Universe canon,” which would then establish it as an “Elseworlds” project.

    Originally penned by Coco and Lightyear scribe Matthew Aldrich, Dynamic Duo will tell the story of “the early days of Dick Grayson and Jason Todd aka the Robins. The duo call themselves the Dynamic Duo. They’re orphan thieves, best friends who share dreams of a better life, but their friendship will be tested by competing visions of a future out of which will come a new Dynamic Duo.“

    DC Studios will be working with Swaybox, a new and innovative animation studio that uses a “Momo animation” process that Deadline described as “a cross between CGI animation, practical elements of stop-motion, and live-action real-time performance.”

    Source: The Wrap