Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movies

  • EXCLUSIVE: ‘Strange World’ Director on Naming the Clade Family

    EXCLUSIVE: ‘Strange World’ Director on Naming the Clade Family

    Strange World, the latest entry in Disney’s massive film collection, is set to introduce audiences to a whole new batch of wonderful characters. Brought to life by a wide range of talent, including Jake Gyllenhaal and Jaboukie Young-White, the movie will revolve around an adventurous family known as the Clades. Gyllenhaal portrays Searcher Clade, a humble farmer, while Young-White plays his wanderlust-fueled son, Ethan. The patriarch of the Clade clan, a world-famous explorer named Jaeger, is brought to life by Dennis Quaid, while Searcher’s wife Meridian, a skilled pilot, is voiced by Gabrielle Union.

    The crux of the film’s story, which sees the family journey through an unknown world, is the relationship between Jaeger and Searcher. While the former is fully on board with his exciting way of life, the latter could do without, causing an emotional rift between the two when Jaeger tries to impose exploration on his only child. Their names, obviously, are reflective of this, something co-director Don Hall says came about at the very beginning of the creative process. In an exclusive interview with Murphy’s Multiverse, Hall and co-director Qui Nguyen were asked how the film’s protagonists got their monikers, and Hall explained that, like everything else in the movie, it really came down to jumping off of Jaeger:

    I think it was very early on, maybe before Qui got on. Really, Jaeger is the planet that everything orbits around. The desire to examine that overly heroic adventurer and deconstruct that character a little bit. That’s where it started. Then, y’know, thinking about how interesting it would be to tell the story through the perspective of his son, who didn’t want to be that. Who rejected pretty much all of that. That felt like a more interesting angle to watch the movie through.

    Don Hall

    He continued to reveal that, with this plot point in mind, what to call Gyllenhaal‘s lead fell into place naturally. Hall even offered an alternative option for the character’s name, before giving the final thought on why they went with ‘Searcher’:

    It made sense that Jaeger would name his son ‘Searcher.’ It just felt like it was in the same vibe – and obviously ‘Jaeger Jr.’, probably. I could see that too. If not ‘Jaeger Jr.’, then ‘Searcher.’ I just liked what it evoked, I just liked that feeling of not knowing everything and that you’re still seeking, and that’s what this character was doing.

    Don Hall

    Strange World is now in theaters.

  • Chris Hemsworth Wants to Reinvent Thor in his Next Appearance

    Chris Hemsworth Wants to Reinvent Thor in his Next Appearance

    Thor: Love and Thunder has faced quite an interesting reception since its release, as some were quite frustrated with it embracing the most comedic aspects of all entries. Yet, it seems that Chris Hemsworth is ready to embrace a new direction for the franchise. After Taika Waititi‘s work on the last two entries with a more comedic focus, it seems that the Thor actor is ready to tackle the character in a new way, as he likes “keeping people on their toes.”

    You look at Thor 1 and 2, they were quite similar. Ragnarok and Love and Thunder are similar. I think it’s about reinventing it. I’ve had such a unique opportunity with Infinity War and Endgame to do very drastic things with the character. I enjoy that, I like keeping people on their toes. It keeps me on my toes.

    Chris Hemsworth

    He also highlights that it’s his way to get himself invested in the project. While his statement “just for my own sanity” may get misinterpreted online, it definitely seems like he’s looking for the hook that inspires him to continue the character. It’s not too dissimilar from what we saw him share before Waititi joined Thor: Ragnarok.

    It keeps me invested. I’ve said this before but when it becomes too familiar, I think there’s a risk in getting lazy then because I know what I’m doing. I don’t know if I’m even invited back. But if I was, I think I would have to be a drastically different version in tone, and everything, just for my own Sanity.

    Chris Hemsworth

    It’ll be interesting to see if we get a fifth entry in the franchise and what it might mean for Hemsworth moving forward. There are some darker stories that are definitely worth adapting, which might offer that fresh paint he’s looking for.

    You can watch the full interview with Happy Sad Confused Podcast here:

    Source: YouTube

  • Quentin Tarantino’s Long History With Comic Book Movies

    Quentin Tarantino’s Long History With Comic Book Movies

    Quentin Tarantino, the acclaimed creative behind indie megahits like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, has been on a bit of a tear lately in regards to superhero cinema. A recent interview with the Los Angeles Times saw the director call filmmakers who work with Marvel Studios “hired hands“, and claim that modern auteurs like himself “can’t wait” for comic book movies to fail. Not long after, Tarantino continued his tirade to imply companies like Marvel Studios had killed the “movie star”, effectively making characters more famous than the actors who play them.

    This is, of course, not a surprising stance for the famously old-fashioned talent to take, but it is unexpectedly harsh for someone with a long history of almost working on comic-based projects. Throughout his career, Tarantino has been attached to four separate superhero adaptations and has admitted to using comic-adjacent concepts as the basis for some of his released projects. Kill Bill, one of Tarantino’s seminal works, famously includes a comic-inspired monologue, and the director is known to have rows of superhero books stored in his home. He even recently revealed that Inglorious Basterds, another fan favorite from his resume, was heavily inspired by Marvel’s Howling Commandos line from the 1940s.

    For what it’s worth, Tarantino does not seem to despise the idea of adapting comics. He once said that, in his 20s, the idea of making films based on his favorite superheroes was all he wanted to do, but that he’d since “grown out” of that phase and moved on to focusing on original concepts. It would appear that his true qualms with superhero adaptations stem more from their unexpected impact on the film industry, and his perception that they’re produced at a high rate with low quality. As such, it’s intriguing to look back on the films his name was once attached to, and ponder what could have been different in a world where Tarantino was among those who had left their mark on the history of superhero cinema.

    Luke Cage: Hero For Hire

    Perhaps the closest Tarantino ever came to actually making a Marvel movie. The Jackie Brown filmmaker spoke with MTV in 2013 and dropped the bombshell he had once actively attempted to get a Luke Cage: Hero For Hire film off the ground. He claimed the idea for the project came very early in his career after he completed production on his directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs. That puts Tarantino’s pitch somewhere around 1992, nearly a decade before Blade, Spider-Man, and X-Men put comic book movies back on the map, and a lifetime before Netflix’s Luke Cage series made the character a household name. At the time, Marvel Studios had not yet been created, so Cage’s film rights were among the countless of their kind being bounced from company to company. As it turns out, however, Tarantino nailed down their then-owner, and a potential star, in a strong effort to get Hero For Hire made:

    After ‘Reservoir Dogs,’ I had considered doing a ‘Luke Cage: Hero For Hire‘ movie. Ed Pressmanowned it at that time and we talked about it. And I talked with Larry Fishburne about being Luke Cage and he really liked  that idea.

    Quentin Tarantino

    In the same interview, Tarantino explained that Hero For Hire fell by the wayside when the idea for Pulp Fiction grabbed his attention. As time continued to slip by, Hero For Hire suffered a quiet creative death. Much later, in a 2020 podcast interview, Tarantino added that some of his geekier pals were to blame for the Luke Cage film’s demise. Apparently, they felt dramatic actor Laurence Fishburne was not suited for the title role and had pestered Tarantino about casting action star Wesley Snipes instead. Never a fan of being told what to do, the director said this back-and-forth “ruined the whole damn thing”, despite Cage being his “absolute hero” at the time. Ultimately, Tarantino said he felt like he “made the right choice” in committing to Pulp Fiction as his second feature.

    Silver Surfer

    Around the same time, after Reservoir Dogs and before Pulp Fiction, Tarantino is reported to have written a full-blown script for a film based on Marvel’s cosmic mascot, the Silver Surfer. What’s more, he supposedly brought the script to German studio Constantin Film, who owned the rights at that point. In the early 90s, several creatives saw the immense potential in a Silver Surfer adaptation, but most studios – Marvel included – felt there was no money to be made in Silver Surfer on the big screen. The visual effects required to bring a movie like that to life were considered too expensive, and as a result, every attempt to develop a cohesive film was shot down. This, unfortunately, included Tarantino’s treatment, which was supposedly around 500 pages long.

    Green Lantern & Iron Man

    Years later, after superhero films had gained steam but prior to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s emergence, Tarantino was offered two separate major adaptations from big-name studios. Green Lantern and Iron Man, both in varying stages of development in the late 2000s, were pitched to the Django Unchained director by their respective producers as his first tentpole picture. Obviously, he passed on both. While Tarantino has never publicly commented on his opportunity to bring Iron Man to life, which came at a time before the involvement of Robert Downey Jr. or any of the factors that eventually made it a huge hit, it likely came to him in a scenario similar to what he described for Green Lantern:

    I was offered the ‘Green Lantern’. Not since it’s been a script, but just like, ‘Hey we own the ‘Green Lantern.’ Would you like it?’

    Quentin Tarantino

    Again speaking to MTV, Tarantino conceded that, by the time Green Lantern and Iron Man arrived at his door, he had fully grown past his phase of wanting to adapt other people’s material. He elaborated, saying if he were to ever make a superhero film, it would have to be something entirely of his own design:

    It wouldn’t be an existing comic book character. I’m a writer. I’d want to use my imagination and not have to fight with geeks’ memories of how this character should be and, ‘Oh, I cast an actor as opposed to a bodybuilder’ or it’s not as good as the way Neal Adams drew him.’ If I were to do something like that, I would want the fun of coming up with the superhero myself.

    Quentin Tarantino

    With only one film left in his 10-film career plan, Tarantino will likely never make a superhero movie. Unless, of course, he decided he wanted to contribute to the trend, and use his imagination to show the current crop of directors how he thinks it should be done.

    Source(s): The Digital Fix, Screen Rant, MTV, The Hollywood Reporter, Indie Wire, Yahoo!, Comic Book Resources, The Los Angeles Times, 2 Bears, 1 Cave Podcast

  • James Gunn Clears the Air on the Rumors Surrounding Henry Cavill’s Superman Contract

    James Gunn Clears the Air on the Rumors Surrounding Henry Cavill’s Superman Contract

    For those outside of the know, visionary director James Gunn is now in the driver’s seat at DC Films, alongside co-leader Peter Safran, and he’s not afraid to clear things up when the internet gets them wrong. A recent online rumor claimed British star Henry Cavill, who has portrayed Superman in the DCEU since 2013’s Man of Steel, had signed a new contract with the company that included the potential for television appearances. While Gunn has not yet fully denied this, he did take to Twitter to clarify that no current reports on the matter come from anyone with actual knowledge on the situation.


    Cavill made a grand return to his iconic role in last month’s Black Adam, while Gunn has been hard at work revitalizing DC’s television slate since the release of The Suicide Squad spin-off Peacemaker earlier this year on HBO Max. The return of Cavill to playing Superman after several years away from the superheroic spotlight has gotten audiences very excited, and reports like the one Gunn has shot down are likely to be plentiful. However, no official announcements have been made regarding what’s next for DC Films now that Gunn and Safran are in charge. Luckily for fans, the duo’s track record indicates they might have a lot to be hopeful about. A dedicated comic book fan and proven filmmaker, Gunn is slated to head the creative aspect of DC’s cinematic future while Safran handles the business side. When the pair are ready, there’s a good chance the DC fandom gets quite a bit of thrilling news. Until then, it appears reports about Superman and his fellow Justice Leaguers should be taken with a grain of salt.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Will Have Six Animation Styles

    ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Will Have Six Animation Styles

    When Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse hit theaters in 2018, it’s incredible art direction was immediately praised. The animated film featured a distinct, and wildly unique, animation style that proved to be a hit with audiences and critics alike. Since the movie’s release, it’s look has been replicated in video games, comics, and countless pieces of fan art across the World Wide Web. As such, the return of this animation to the big screen has been a major talking point in regard to the upcoming sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. According to the creatives, however, the now-iconic style that dominated the first film won’t be the only one making an appearance in cinemas next year.

    Speaking exclusively with Empire Magazine, executive producer Phil Lord revealed that Across the Spider-Verse will have six different styles presented throughout the movie. This falls in line with the title and the film’s first teaser, which hint the story will flip the concept of the first film, which saw the multiverse come to Miles Morales, and instead see Miles Morales traveling across the multiverse himself. A separate art style for each new world. Lord explained:

    The first film had one animation style that dominates the movie. This movie has six. So we’re taking those tools, adding all the things we learned on The Mitchells Vs The Machines, and then growing them further to accommodate the ambition of this movie. Which is to wow you every time you enter a new environment, and also to make sure that the style of the movie reflect the story, and that the images are driven by feelings, as opposed to some egg-headed art project. Which it also is, by the way!

    Phil Lord

    Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swings its way into theaters on June 2nd, 2023.

    Source: Empire

  • ‘Multiverse of Madness’ Concept Art Reveals Doctor Strange’s Meeting with the Vishanti

    ‘Multiverse of Madness’ Concept Art Reveals Doctor Strange’s Meeting with the Vishanti

    For the most part, every frame of every film is the culmination of an incredible amount of work done behind the scenes in pre-production. It’s a complicated process that some find daunting and the most laborious part of making a film. Marvel Studios films are typically full of visual spectacles that fans don’t see until they’re fully realized after dozens and dozens of hours of work by concept artists. However, for every piece of concept art that makes it through pre-production, there are countless more that don’t when the scenes they are created for are cut either from the script or end up on the editing room floor.

    In that regard, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may have been one of the most maddening films for concept artists whose work was never adapted to the finished product. Originally, the film was set to be directed by Scott Derrickson and it is very likely that a good deal of pre-production work was done before he departed the project. Sam Raimi took over the film with writer Michael Waldron and the two went to work on creating an entirely different film which meant all new concept art had to be created. At the heart of the film was a MacGuffin known as the Book of Vishanti, a magical tome that Multiverse of Madness co-producer Richie Palmer described as “a magical book that gives— if you’re good, it will give you the power you need to defeat any bad. It will fight the Darkhold; it is good, and it is pure.”

    The film wasted no time introducing the Book of Vishanti as fans were thrown into the middle of America Chavez and a Variant Doctor Strange’s pursuit of the tome in the opening scene. With the Darkhold-influenced Scarlet Witch after Chavez’s powers, the Book of Vishanti, which Palmer described as the “greatest power of good” in the Multiverse became Chavez’s best hope at survival because it served as the antithesis of the Darkhold.

    On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Book of Vishanti. It exists in the space between universes, and is not for any one sorcerer to wield or keep as their own. The Darkhold has the quality about it where you want to possess it and you want to keep it. The Book of Vishanti is the opposite. It’s for everyone and all sorcerers.

    Richie Palmer

    In the Marvel Comics, the book was created by Agamotto, the first Sorcerer Supreme of Earth. Agamotto was the son of the Elder God Oshtur and with her and the alien god, Hoggoth, formed a trio of god-like beings known as the Vishanti. Over centuries, the Vishanti became the guardians of Earth and its Sorcerers Supreme. Having served as Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen Strange has come face-to-face with the group before and thanks to some newly located concept art created by Aaron Black, it seems that the idea for him to meet up with them in Multiverse of Madness was tossed around at one point.

    Obviously, the Vishanti didn’t make the final cut and all that can be done is to speculate about what Strange’s visit to them might have entailed. The concept art for the trio is stunning, however, and given the importance the Vishanti play in the comics, it would not be surprising to see the idea revisited somewhere down the road.

    Sources: Marvel.com, Art Station

  • Vincent D’Onofrio on Which MCU Hero is the “End Goal” for Kingpin to Take On

    Vincent D’Onofrio on Which MCU Hero is the “End Goal” for Kingpin to Take On

    When Kevin Feige revealed that Daredevil and Spider-Man would lead the MCU’s street-level heroes, it only added fuel to the fire that the two heroes would eventually team up to take on their greatest common enemy: Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin. All the principles involved in the potential battle royale have shared their desires to tangle with one another before. Vincent D’Onofrio, who returned to the role of Kingpin in Marvel Studios D+ streaming series Hawkeye, has gone on record twice describing his hopes to take on Spider-Man, saying that if there were one hero he could battle down the road “it definitely has to be Spider-Man.“

    If Kingpin and Spider-Man don’t go toe-to-toe, however, it won’t be because of D’Onofrio’s lack of trying. If he hadn’t been clear enough already, the actor reiterated his wish to see the two characters fight during a panel at September’s Salt Lake FanX. During a Q&A session, D’Onofrio was asked who in the current MCU he’d love to interact or fight with. As an audience member shouted Spider-Man, D’Onofrio said, “there’s only one, really, end goal…and I think somebody just said who that would be.“

    Given Kingpin first hit the pages of Marvel Comics in 1967’s Amazing Spider-Man #50, it would be tragic if he didn’t take on the Web-Head at some point in the MCU now that Marvel Studios has the opportunity to have them face off. With Tom Holland reportedly inking a new deal, perhaps D’Onofrio will get his wish, squaring off with Spidey in Spider-Man 4.

  • Leaked Merch Offers First Look at ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Maximals

    Leaked Merch Offers First Look at ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Maximals

    It looks like it’s the kind of day where the merchandise just keeps giving, as another set has found its way online. This time, however, it’s not for a Marvel Studios production, but rather the long-awaited newest entry in the Transformers franchise. With the subtitle Rise of the Beasts, we were excited to see the live-action dbut of the Maximals and luckily, this new merchandise leak offers just that.

    The mug as shared by Twitter user @rotbtrailer includes our first look at four key members of the Maximals. We can see the inclusion of Optimus Primal, Rhinox, Airazor, and Cheetor. They have been announced to join the film with Primal being voiced by Ron Perlman and Airazor by Michelle Yeoh.

    The designs are definitely great even if we can’t get the best look at them. You can cleaerly see that they are robots in disguise but with a lot of detail highlighting their animalistic designs. It’s quite exciting to see what they’ll do with them in live-action but here’s hoping that we’ll also see if more merchandise finds its way online teasing the deisgns of the others. There’s still the question if the Autobots will be closer to Michael Bay’s design or the ones we saw in Bumblebee. Only time or more leaks will tell.

    Source: Twitter

  • First Look at ‘The Marvel’s Main Trio in New Merch Leak

    First Look at ‘The Marvel’s Main Trio in New Merch Leak

    Just as we finally got to sit down in theaters to watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel Studios is already preparing for what’s to come in 2023. We already got a trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania but now it seems that some merchandise has been spotted that offers a first look at the main trio of The Marvels.

    As shared by umportalgeek on Instagram, there’s already a The Marvels‘ shirt available that gives us a good look at the main trio of Monica Rambeau, Carol Danvers, and Kamala Khan. The biggest reveal from this merchandise is the costume that Monica will seemingly wear during her outing as a hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    Not much is known about the project and there’s a lot of potential with this film having not one but three leads. The balance it’ll hold by switching between perspectives of Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, and Teyonah Parris. Their dynamic will definitely be a highlight for the project.

    We already got a hint at what direction the project is taking during the post-credit sequence of Ms. Marvel. With merchandise already making its way into stores, we’ll have to see if more is already circulating even with the film not set to release until July.

    Source: Instagram

  • Kareem Daniel to Leave Disney, Streaming Division Facing Reorganization

    Kareem Daniel to Leave Disney, Streaming Division Facing Reorganization

    It was only a question of time but it’s insane that it only took a day before the news hit that former Disney CEO Bob Chapek‘s internal executive structure is already falling apart. As it seems, the head of media and entertainment distribution, Kareem Daniel, is set to leave the company as well with former CEO Bob Iger returning. It was a strong move away from Iger’s creative-focused era that has left the company with a few scars in its wake, especially souring the views on its streaming ambitions with Disney+. Iger always was the kind of leader that used data but didn’t overly rely on it to muddle creative ambitions; the issue the current leadership fell into, especially with dramas surrounding Black Widow‘s release.

    In a world and business that is awash with data, it is tempting to use data to answer all of our questions, including creative questions. I urge all of you not to do that.

    Bob Iger

    Daniel and Chapek’s goals were quite ambitious and they aimed to grow Disney+ as fast as possible with investment, but it seemingly led to many sparks internally, especially with the issue of return on investment being left behind in those ambitions. Disney+, ESPN, and Hulu stand at a proud 235M combined subscriber base making it quite competitive with Netflix and shouldn’t be ignored, but the concern that the $1.5B investment can’t be recouped by the time it was meant to be is definitely one of the reasons for this massive executive switch. Still, with Daniel‘s exit, we can expect some major changes in Disney+’s streaming strategy and structure moving forward.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter