Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Spider-Man

  • J.K. Simmons Hints At ‘SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME’ Return

    J.K. Simmons Hints At ‘SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME’ Return

    J.K. Simmons is starting to become a regular name in comic book adaptations, and he’s not done yet. During a recent interview with ComicBook.com, the acclaimed actor hinted that he may not be through with playing with one of his most iconic roles. The role being referred to is, of course, hot-headed journalist J. Jonah Jameson, whom Simmons has inhabited to perfection since his big screen debut in Sam Raimi‘s 2001 Spider-Man. Originally depicted as the web-head hating editor of the fictional New York City newspaper The Daily Bugle, Simmons reprised the role in both of Raimi’s sequels as well as the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man. Fans everywhere were surprised to find the Oscar-winning performer show up as Jameson once more in Spider-Man: Far From Home‘s mid-credits scene, this time as an internet conspiracy theorist. The unexpected cameo made him the first actor to play the same character in more than one Marvel Cinematic Universe and led audiences to wonder if he may show up again in the future of the mainstream MCU. This quote, taken from Simmons after a question about his involvement in the worlds of both Marvel and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, most likely provides the answer:

    “I’m pretty sure people know that I might be showing up in Spider-Man land again…”

    Aside from playing J. Jonah Jameson, Simmonsis known to comic book fans for his part as Commissioner James Gordon in the DCEU and his upcoming role voicing Omni-Man in Amazon’s Invincible series. Supporters of Nickelodeon’s Avatar franchise may recognize him as the voice of Tenzin in The Legend of Korra. Outside of the nerd realm, the actor has won an Academy Award for his performance in the film Whiplash, and has appeared in numerous critically-acclaimed films such as Burn After Reading and La La Land.

    Source: ComicBook.com

  • Hannibal Buress Leaks His ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Appearance

    Hannibal Buress Leaks His ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Appearance

    It seems Spider-Man: No Way Home will find its way back to Midtown High. The third film in Jon Watts’ Spider-Man trilogy has been rumored to feature everything but the kitchen sink, and one could be forgiven for thinking this wouldn’t leave a lot of room for the story to explore more of Peter Parker’s roots. However, a now-deleted video posted to the Instagram account of Hannibal Buress confirms this won’t actually be the case. The short video gave fans a glimpse of Buress and modern-day superstar Zendaya in full Midtown High attire, shooting hoops in the school’s gymnasium. This is the first undeniable proof we’ve had of Midtown High’s involvement in the film and confirms the rumor we heard some time ago about Buress’s return as Coach Wilson. Luckily, @SpiderMan_MCU_ was quick to grab photos before it as deleted:

    Buress, best known for his work in stand-up and The Eric Andre Show, is one of many comedians who have taken on the role of Midtown High educators in the MCU. He portrayed Coach Wilson, the school’s resident gym teacher, in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. Unfortunately for Buress, the world-traveling nature of the sequel excluded him from appearing in Far From Home alongside fellow jokesters Martin Starr and J.B. Smoove. Luckily, it looks like director Watts has found room to bring back the fan-favorite character for another go-around. The addition is a good sign for fans of the franchise who found themselves worried the large scale of No Way Home would detract from the wonderful small-scale tone established back in Homecoming. No matter how many villains, or Spider-Men, show up in the movie, at least we know we’ll see Hannibal Buress and a bunch of ugly gym shorts as well.

    Source: Instagram via Twitter, The Direct

  • Andrew Garfield’s Stunt Double Leaked His Involvement ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    Andrew Garfield’s Stunt Double Leaked His Involvement ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    Spider-Man: No Way Home has been an odd project to follow. There are so many secrets surrounding the project that it is uncertain what is even true anymore. Charlie Cox will return in the role he made famous in Netflix’s Daredevil series. Even Willem Dafoe was seen on set. There was also that Paramount tweet that seemed to confirm the involvement of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in the upcoming film. To this day, nothing has ever been confirmed beyond the film’s title. Well, it seems that some more hints have been placed on their involvement, as Twitter user @spideyupdated shared some Instagram posts by Andrew Garfield‘s stunt double William Spencer. In them, we can clearly see him with Tom Holland’s own stunt double, Greg Townley.

    As you can see, he has deleted them by now, but he has been very active in sharing his enthusiasm for being on the set of the Spider-Man threequel. At this point, we are only waiting for a confirmation that past incarnations of Spider-Man will make an appearance. There have been too many hints at their involvement to some capacity. Still, the film won’t release until December. So, we might have to wait a little longer, especially if we face any potential delays. Marvel Studios and Disney still haven’t advertised Black Widow, which is supposed to hit theaters at the beginning of May. We’ll certainly be keeping an eye out if there are any more hints at their involvement in the film.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ Post-‘Avengers: Endgame’ Timeline Revealed

    ‘Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ Post-‘Avengers: Endgame’ Timeline Revealed

    The events of Avengers: Endgame have shaped the Marvel Cinematic Universe in new and interesting ways. We got a small glimpse at the consequences when Spider-Man: Far From Home first aired in 2019. WandaVision continued the tradition by taking place only weeks after the events, as we witnessed Monica Rambeau returns from the Snap. It changed the landscape of the MCU and it looks like Falcon and the Winter Soldier will continue the tradition. In an interview with Collider, it was revealed that the series takes place at least six months after the event that was dubbed the Blip in-universe. Director Kari Skogland confirmed that this was an important part when scripting the show:

    Everything narratively was informed by that event for us. It meant that we’re just past the shock of it. We’re just past the joy of it — because we’re imagining that there would be a lot of joy, in people returning. Now we’re into the reality of it, which is complicated.

    The timeline would set this quite sometime after WandaVision and shortly before Far From Home. It is one of the MCU’s greatest advantages to explore a new kind of world after an event changes everything. Skogland wants to explore this Blipped world and how it is affected politically. Countries had to adapt to half the world vanishing. Head writer Malcolm Spellman also pointed out that this was a big part of how they pitched the show early in the development process. It will be interesting to see how else the events might influence future entries, or if we even get to explore the time period between the Blip and Snap.

    Source: Collider

  • Theory Thursday: The Spider-Verse Paradox

    Theory Thursday: The Spider-Verse Paradox

    Multiple topics are trending amongst Marvel fans. The upcoming finale of WandaVision and the premiere of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier are on everyone’s mind. Yet, perhaps nothing riles up all four corners of the fandom quite like Spider-Man. Last week, the official title for the upcoming threequel got revealed via a social media post, Spider-Man: No Way Home. The title reveal has sparked multiple theories ever since. They range from possible plotlines based on crossed-out names to the suspicious use of hexagons across the board.

     

     

    Yet, the biggest question on everyone’s mind is whether or not Spider-Man: No Way Home will incorporate the multiverse. Kevin Feige confirmed that the events of WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will tie into the third entry. As such, there is a high probability that we will witness some multiverse shenanigans. With that in mind, it would imply that we could see former iterations of the character return to the silver screen. Yet, Tom Holland has denied any potential cameos by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield on multiple occasions.

    The rumor of a live-action Spider-Verse has gotten rumored for quite some time. This time, the concept seems plausible. So, in the case that Spider-Man: No Way Home does go that route in December, we might wonder how they would approach this storyline. We are talking about characters that haven’t been on the silver screen for some time. Andrew played the character around seven years ago, while Tobey hasn’t donned the suit since 2007. Keep in mind that Far From Home takes place in 2024. So, how do we bring them from their respective timelines into the MCU? Let us try to answer this Spider-Verse Paradox.

     

    The Timelines

     

    In my Phase 4: Reality Checked feature, I talked about how Marvel Studios explicitly defined the MCU’s time travel concept by taking the multiverse approach. In essence, any alteration in the past would create a new timeline, which ruptures the flow of time into a new universe. It’s pretty much a butterfly effect on a larger scale. So far, we know that it will get presented in the upcoming Disney+ shows Loki and the animated What If…? series. They seem to exist in alternate timelines (and therefore alternate universes), proving the existence of a Marvel Cinematic Multiverse. That theory is for another day. Now that we have a clear picture of the MCU timeline. So, let’s take a look at other universes.

     

     

    Let’s apply the concept of the multiverse to another franchise: Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man trilogy. Based on the multiverse concept, the Raimi films exist in another timeline and therefore are pretty straightforward. The same principle would apply to The Amazing Spider-Man films, which exist in a separate timeline and universe. Now, how will Marvel Studios bring them all together for Spider-Man: No Way Home?  

     

    Spider-Verse Paradox

    The Spider-Verse Paradox Theory refers to the diagram above. In essence, all of the alternate universes have their separate timestreams. When that flow gets disrupted by an event caused within the MCU, whether it’s caused by Wanda Maximoff in WandaVision or something else entirely, we will have a convergence-style event. It will be similar to the one we witnessed in Thor: The Dark World. Yet, instead of the nine realms, multiple universes converging towards the center of the singularity. At the center of it, all will be the MCU’s New York City.

    What is the point I’m trying to make? The timelines of each universe will flow linearly and converge during Spider-Man: No Way Home. As it is set in 2024, then that means that the other timelines have to be in the same year. It means that Andrew Garfield‘s Peter Parker would have been Spider-Man in the TASM universe for about ten years, and Tobey Maguire‘s version will have existed for nearly 20 years. It would be interesting to revisit the character after that many years on the job.

    We can only imagine how many stories they could tell. There is also the possibility they hung up on the mantle. Perhaps Maguire‘s Peter settled down with Mary Jane Watson and started a family. What happened after Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man came back in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and took on Paul Giamatti‘s Rhino? The possibilities in those stories are endless. It’s all just a matter of waiting to see if it comes to fruition.

    Source: Walt Disney

  • REPORT: Sony’s Spider-Man Spin-Off ‘Silk’ Adds Sang Kyu Kim as Showrunner

    REPORT: Sony’s Spider-Man Spin-Off ‘Silk’ Adds Sang Kyu Kim as Showrunner

    All eyes are on the title reveal for Spider-Man: No Way Home. Well, Peter Parker isn’t the only webhead on Sony’s mind, as some details have made their way online. Around six months ago, it got revealed that a live-action series was in development for Silk. It would introduce the world to the character of Cindy Moon. She is new to Marvel comics, as she made her debut back in 2014, as Peter uncovered that he wasn’t the only one bit by the radioactive spider.

    She even got her series and had an important role in the Spider-Verse event. At the time, we already knew that Phil Lord and Chris Miller were developing the series as part o their five-year deal alongside Korean-American writer Lauren Moon. The Illuminerdi may have gotten their hands on the first details for the series. It is in early development as an Amazon Prime series. They are currently casting a Korean-American, who is between the age of 19 and 29-years-of-age. It seems they have approached Adeline Rudolph for the role, but there have been no talks so far.

    The first description also teases the series story following her early beginnings in crime-fighting, who has a knack for 80s and 90s pop culture. Not just that, they also have added Sang Kyu Kim as showrunner and executive producer for the series. Kim has quite the filmography as a producer on series, such as Jupiter’s Legacy, Altered Carbon, Designated Survivor, and The Walking Dead. It will be interesting to see if the series will tie into Venom and the MCU Spider-Man films or if it will be its project moving forward.

    Source: Illuminerdi, IMDb

  • Murphy’s Law Podcast: Episode 83

    Murphy’s Law Podcast: Episode 83

    Charles and Charles talk the week’s biggest news including the Ta-Nehisi Coates-led Superman reboot, the title reveal for Spider-Man 3, our Black Adam scoop the new Loki release date, M.O.D.O.K. and more!

  • ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’: Tom Holland Reveals Title for Spidey Threequel

    ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’: Tom Holland Reveals Title for Spidey Threequel

    After months of speculation (and people trying to figure out all sorts of words or phrases with the word “Home” in them), we finally have a title for the third Spider-Man film, officially titled “Spider-Man: No Way Home”. They revealed it in a small video alongside the new video:

     

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CLrwOAcljxN/?igshid=1pfgjzdcym8jg

    The title was revealed today on social media, hours after the stars of the show started to post different versions of the title on social media.

    The movie is currently in production, with Tom Holland set to reprise his role as Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man. Not only is Tom returning to the titular role but most of the supporting cast of the previous films, such as Zendaya and Jacob Batalon are returning as well for their roles as MJ and Ned Leeds respectively.

    Additionally, we’ll also see Benedict Cumberbatch reprising his role as Doctor Strange in the typical “mentor” role that’s been seen in the last couple of Spider-Man films. We’re also set to see the introduction of Charlie Cox into the MCU as Matt Murdock, and even Jamie Foxx reprising his role as Electro alongside Alfred Molina as Doc Ock. This isn’t even taking into consideration the heavy rumors that even more actors from the previous Spider-Man franchises are coming into the MCU, including Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s interpretations as Spider-Man.

    Spider-Man: No Way Home is scheduled to premiere on December 17, 2021.

    Source: Instagram

  • First Official Images for the Upcoming ‘Spider-Man’ Threequel Released Alongside Multiple Titles

    First Official Images for the Upcoming ‘Spider-Man’ Threequel Released Alongside Multiple Titles

    Update: Zendaya has joined the fun as well.

    Many mysteries are keeping Marvel Studios’ watchers on edge. We’ve been anxiously waiting for the reveal of how the entire events of WandaVision have unfolded and what the title will be for Spider-Man‘s third entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is set to release in December and has been in development for some time now. There were many theories about what the title would be, as they seemed rather keen on sticking to the “Home” titling of the past two. Now, Tom Holland took to Instagram and finally unveiled the title for the film, Spider-Man: Phone Home. Wait no, is it Spider-Man: Homewrecker?

    It looks like the cast of the upcoming threequel is having some fun with us, as they revealed our first look at the iconic trio of Peter, MJ, and Ned alongside various fake titles. It is a great way to play with us while we wait for the official reveal, as we were a little confused the moment we read Phone Home.

    Tom Holland wasn’t the only one but fellow actors have joined in for the fun with new images:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CLpxI_oFrp2/

    The images certainly look to be real, especially with Jacob Batalon‘s Ned wearing the Midtown High jersey. These images seem to imply that they are trying to find a place that Peter can hide out while he is on the run from the police. After the end of Far From Home, he was framed for murder by Jake Gyllenhaal‘s Mysterio which will force him to leave his regular life behind. We have had a variety of rumors pointing to a multiversal storyline, so it’ll be interesting to see if we have to guess which title is the real one as they release more.

    Source: Instagram (Peter), Instagram (Batalon)

  • How ‘WandaVision’ Lays the Groundwork for a Hexagonal ‘Secret Wars’ Battleworld

    How ‘WandaVision’ Lays the Groundwork for a Hexagonal ‘Secret Wars’ Battleworld

    It’s a hexagonal multiverse, and we are living in it. The latest episode of WandaVision has started to expand. Interestingly enough, even as it grew, it kept its original shape. As such, the hexagon represents something more than just a wordplay on Wanda’s hex abilities. We are still waiting for an official confirmation why such a focus is given to this shape. We know that this Disney+ series will act as a set-up for future multiversal storylines of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man 3. If we are about to enter other parts of the multiverse, we may see this structure return in the future. We have seen something similar to how Marvel has approached a connected multiverse in the comics. It made me wonder if we might get Secret Wars‘ famous Battleworld consisting of multiple hexagonal shapes.

    Originally, Secret Wars was a storyline that ran from 1984 until 1985. A strange entity, who goes by the Beyonder, decided it would be fun to throw various heroes and villains into a world known as Battleworld. There they have a selection of alien weapons and technology. It was Marvel’s first attempt at a Battle Royale storyline that got two sequels. However, the latest incarnation of 2015 introduces us to a concept where multiple dimensions started to converge. As the map below showcases, different sections originally belonged to a part of the multiverse. It included the HYDRA Empire from the Secret Empire run, Old Man Logan‘s Wastelands, and so many more.

     

     

    In the comics, the third version of Battleworld, the one shown above, was created after Doctor Doom and Doctor Strange defeated the Beyonder. Their universe got threatened by incursions of others colliding with each other. After Doom took the Beyonder’s powers as his own, he put together Battleworld from the remnants. If WandaVision is setting up the multiverse, it may be setting the ground rules for how the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of Battleworld may be structured. Instead of going the route of multiverses colliding, they introduce us to the concept of pocket dimensions jumping into existence. They take the shape of a hexagon when introduced or created within a new world. It also isn’t the first time we’ve seen this shape in the MCU. What also supports this theory is the way space travel works in the MCU. In Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we learn that Hyperdrive travels through different dimensions. The gateway between them is in a hexagonal portal. The Kree even built their entire architecture around that shape.

     

     

    As such, it could be the structure for a future Battleworld or the entirety of the multiverse. The different universes that Doctor Strange will visit in the upcoming Multiverse of Madness may get connected through this shape. He uses the sling ring in a round shape to travel from one location to another in the mainline dimension. So, once he tries to travels in the multiverse, it may change into the hexagon we first witnessed in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Marvel Studios has always been very good at creating rules to keep everything together, which we saw with their time travel antics in Avengers: Endgame. They may be slowly setting the foundation that will connect all future multiversal stories in the coming years. Once the building blocks are set, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see a Secret Wars storyline in a few years as the next major crossover event that could replicate Endgame‘s success. I think we are just at the beginning of a major storyline that is about to unfold.