Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV News

  • New Rumor Indicates Another Major Netflix Character is Set to Join the MCU

    New Rumor Indicates Another Major Netflix Character is Set to Join the MCU

    First Charlie Cox. Then Vincent D’Onofrio. Now, a new rumor has another major player from Netflix’s Defendersverse series set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to KC Walsh, Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones, whose rumored appearance in She-Hulk was nothing more than speculation, was set to join the cast of the Disney Plus streaming series, Daredevil: Born Again, but was unable to make the commitment because of a scheduling conflict. In her place, Marvel Studios has allegedly decided to bring Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle on instead.

    Though Walsh didn’t mention Bernthal by name, the rumor mill has been active around the actor’s arrival in the MCU for months. Dating back to SDCC ’22, fans were buzzing about the possibility of Bernthal’s Frank Castle showing up in an upcoming MCU project, with some rumors even pointing to a Punisher series being in the works. While no further mention has been made of that possibility, the rumors continue to pile up about Castle’s appearance in Daredevil: Born Again. In early August, fellow Netflix star Rosario Dawson added to the buzz during an interview at the C2E2 2022 when she told the crowd she had recently learned “the Punisher was happening again.” Dawson later recanted her statement saying “I can’t be trusted”, but the rumors haven’t died down.

    Bernthal first played Frank Castle in 2016 during the second season of Netflix’s Daredevil and his portrayal of the character was an instant hit with fans. He went on to star as the character over 2 13-episode seasons of The Punisher before the show was non-renewed in 2019. With the live-action rights to the characters reverting back to Marvel Studios and Cox’s appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law and D’Onofrio’s appearance in Hawkeye, it’s always seemed to be a matter of when other characters from the Defendersverse would arrive in the MCU, no if. With Daredevil: Born Again not filming until 2023 and not streaming until 2024, fans may have to wait quite some time to find out exactly when that when is.

  • ‘Andor’ Showrunner Hints at Season 2 Release in 2024

    ‘Andor’ Showrunner Hints at Season 2 Release in 2024

    We’re only a few more days ahead of the release of Andor, the latest Disney+ series to release and further explore the Star Wars galaxy. We’ve known for a while that we’ll also be getting a second season, which will likely start production soon. As it turns out he’s expecting to start production by November according to showrunner Tony Gilroy in an interview with The Wrap. Even still, we shouldn’t expect the release until 2024.

    I have two more years to go. We start shooting in November on Part 2. And I don’t know if … Our past pattern was two years, but I mean, I’ll be on … We’ll shoot from November to August. And then our post[-production] last time was about a year.

    Tony Gilroy

    In an interesting tidbit during the interview, Gilroy hints at the fact that this might be the most time he’s ever spent on a franchise as he tends to jump from one project to the next; highlighting how dedicated he is to this project.

    This is the most home I’ve ever made. I’ve always had a very nimble approach to this. I never take a job in front of another job. I’ve always just done one thing at a time and moved around and never made a company or got a letterhead or I never had a production deal or anything. This is the longest I’ve ever spent anywhere.

    Tony Gilroy

    It’s definitely motivating to see that the project has Gilroy wanting to spend as much time as he can on it. His initial idea for Andor was originally going to consist of five seasons which would highlight just how excited he was to tackle the project moving forward even as he compressed the idea into two seasons.

    Source: The Wrap

  • ‘Andor’ Showrunner Praises Impressive Set by Former ‘Chernobyl’ Production Designer

    ‘Andor’ Showrunner Praises Impressive Set by Former ‘Chernobyl’ Production Designer

    Andor will be the first Disney+ series to take a step away from the Volume, which has become quite popular by many productions during the pandemic. Of course, it made sense considering that it helped work around the restrictions set by COVID and some countries closing their borders. Still, The latest Star Wars series ist focusing a bit more on using real sets to highlight the grounded aspect of what the project has to offer.

    In the official press event for the Disney+ series, Tony Gilroy got a chance to talks about the sets that were built for this series. They had production designer Luke Hull attached, who also gave us the chilling Chernobyl, and teased the “eight-and-a-half-acre city” they built for this production.

    You know, we talked before about the set and the thing that they were talking about, our production designer Luke Hull, who did Chernobyl, I mean, he really is in the brain trust that puts the show together with Sanne and Luke and Leo, my brother John Gilroy, Cathy, the core group of people that put this together. I mean, Luke is just, I mean, he’s Mozart, and he’s a young production designer, and he’s just soaring. And they built an eight-and-a-half-acre city for us that we will use for all 12 episodes.

    Tony Gilroy

    He also goes on to highlight how it helped them build an entire community around the set that brought this world to life. So, it’s not just establishing a practical set for them to film in but also ensuring that they have a chance to create a living community that changes across the timeline they hope to tell in this story.

    And as they said, it’s a 360 set. And the community that we were allowed to build within it and the social structures and the rituals of it, because there are some really intense rituals about it, it really feels like a place, like what is it? You get to play God. We built a place, we built a whole culture, we built a whole life, we built a whole tradition, we had people care about it and anyways. It’s a fantastic maximal expression of imagination to be able to do this. It just fantastic to be able to do it. It’s thrilling.

    Tony Gilroy

    Tony Gilroy certainly knows how to sell his series, and it’s exciting to see how they make use of this set. It’ll also be interesting to see how they showcase the change of this community throughout time. We’ll have to see as the three-season premiere releases on Disney+ on September 21st.

  • Tony Gilroy Explains the Inspiration Behind ‘Andor’

    Tony Gilroy Explains the Inspiration Behind ‘Andor’

    When Rogue One: A Star Wars Story debuted in theaters in 2016, no one expected to see the series continue years down the line. Especially not leading man Diego Luna. However, Tony Gilroy, who co-wrote Rogue One, had an idea on how to expand upon Cassian Andor’s story. During the virtual press conference for Andor, Gilroy was asked about his inspiration behind the Disney+ series, and the showrunner explained he wanted to be able to showcase the complexities of the character before the events of Rogue One.

    I think the main idea is we have a character in Rogue One.  And we know where he ends up.  And we know how accomplished and complicated he is.  And the idea that we can do a story that takes him literally from his childhood origins and walk him through a five-year history of an odyssey that takes him to that place, during a revolution, during a moment in history in a place where huge events are happening and real people are being crushed by it, the fact that we could follow somebody as an example of a revolution all the way through to the end, that was the walk-in for me. 

    Being able to showcase Andor and his life leading up to the revolution was ultimately the selling point for Gilroy. While the series has a ton of characters, including some we’ve already met previously, the series ultimately focuses on Andor and the difficult times and decisions that are made leading up the events of Rogue One – just on a “big canvas.”

    And Gilroy isn’t the only one excited to be expanding upon the character of Andor. Luna was quick to note how much he enjoys working with Gilroy, who he calls someone he admires, and how exciting the prospect of Andor is because it’s not just about a specific event.

    First of all, just the chance to be back working with this family, getting to do more stuff with Tony, which is someone I admire, and I love his company and, and collaborating with him is amazing.  So just being back felt great.  But I think Rogue One is a film about an event, you know?  You don’t get to know those characters.  You don’t get to understand exactly where they come from, what needed to happen. 

    Luna

    Star Wars: Andor will debut with three episodes on September 21st. The remaining nine episodes will then drop weekly on Disney+.

  • Netflix Still Hasn’t Renewed ‘The Sandman’ But Work Has Already Started

    Netflix Still Hasn’t Renewed ‘The Sandman’ But Work Has Already Started

    The Sandman has become one of Netflix’s biggest hits as it dominated the top spot for quite some time on the streaming service. Yet, we still haven’t gotten any word on an official confirmation for a second season. While the wait still continues, it does seem like the team behind the production are confident they’ll get to continue work on the series. In an interview with ScreenRant, VFX supervisor Ian Markiewicz has hinted that they’ve already prepped the scripts and are even looking into how to tackle the VFX as they wait for a confirmation.

    We have a really wonderful framework for what we think season 2 looks like. Allan is still touching up scripts and reworking things, but we have an arc. Up until pretty recently, I think maybe even two weeks or so, Gary, our production designer, myself and Allan meet over lunch, and we will do a script over that meeting. It’s like, “Okay, let’s look at 201,” and we’ll do our breakdowns together, where we do page turns on 201, and we say, “Okay, what do we think? Where can we film this? Can we film this in a real space? If not, what do we need to build, if we need to build it?

    Ian Markiewicz

    He also reveals that they’ve been trying to adapt their approach for the second season, as they decide what can be tackled through VFX and what would make use of a practical set. The work on the first season definitely helped them shape their approach.

    Are we building this as a physical set, or can it be a building as a virtual set or a combination thereof? Is it physical to a certain extent, and then digital beyond that?” Just trying to break each one down to be like, “What’s the most value for this, what’s the most sensible way that covers the need for what we need it to be?” That process is happening now, which is great, and it’s really fun and exciting to be able to sort of have season 1 and behind us to know what we feel worked there, things that we wanted to sort of finesse further, and how that impacts our approach for season 2.

    Ian Markiewicz

    The team certainly sounds confident even as Neil Gaiman has been hesitant regarding the missing confirmation by Netflix itself. Here’s hoping that the wait isn’t much longer and we’ll finally get a confirmation in the coming weeks.

    Source: ScreenRant

  • REPORT: ‘Ms. Marvel’ Renewed For Second Season 

    REPORT: ‘Ms. Marvel’ Renewed For Second Season 

    It looks like Iman Vellani is here to stay. According to a new report from Daniel RPK, Marvel Studios may have just given the green light to another season of Ms. Marvel, one of the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe series to drop on Disney+ and a hit with fans earlier this year. The show, centered around Vellani’s teenage hero Kamala Khan as she grows up in Jersey City, was initially believed to just be an origin story for the character. However, if true, this news would indicate Marvel has changed course and will alter the live-action title from “limited” to “ongoing.”

    Vellani can next be seen in 2023’s The Marvels, a sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel that features Khan teaming up with Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers and Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau after the trio’s powers begin to malfunction. It’s likely a second season of Ms. Marvel would pick up after the events of the film, with Khan resuming her personal life in New Jersey and continuing to grow into her new role as a superhero. There are plenty of loose threads left hanging from the first season that another batch of episodes could help resolve, taking the pressure off of future team-up films to do the heavy lifting when it comes to Kamala’s character arc within the MCU.

    Aside from Vellani, the cast of Ms. Marvel includes Matt Lintz and Yasmeen Fletcher as friends Bruno and Nakia, as well as Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapoor, and Saagar Shaikh as members of the Khan family. Laurel Marsden, Rish Shah, and Aramis Knight also have supporting roles. Former Batgirl directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah directed most of the first season with Meera Menon and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Bisha K. Ali served as head writer.

    Source: Daniel RPK

  • ‘Constantine’ and ‘Madame X’ Dead at HBO Max, Will Be Shopped Elsewhere

    ‘Constantine’ and ‘Madame X’ Dead at HBO Max, Will Be Shopped Elsewhere

    Back in 2020, JJ Abrams signed a massive deal with HBO Max for his production company, Bad Robot. The deal would give him exclusive access to developing projects from the supernatural side of the DC Universe, specifically Justice League Dark. While numerous projects were announced throughout the years, and one seemed to have secured a leading actor, nothing ever became of the deal. Unfortunately, now it looks as though two projects being developed under the deal are no longer moving forward — at least, not at HBO Max.

    Upon today’s news that, after seventeen years, a sequel to the Keanu Reeves film, Constantine, is in the works, Variety confirmed that JJ Abrams and Bad Robot’s upcoming Constantine and Madame Xanadu series will halt development at HBO Max. The plan is for the shows to be shopped elsewhere. It is of note that the decision was reportedly not due to creative issues.

    This, of course, shouldn’t be entirely surprising. News of the Constantine sequel noted that Abrams would be involved, which could hint that he may have possibly dumped previous plans with the series and could build his Justice League Dark universe from there.

    There is still the matter of the Zatanna film, though, which is currently set to be penned by Emerald Fennel who is best known for her award-winning work on Promising Young Woman. It’s unknown if Abrams is involved in that project at all, but his overall deal with WB would suggest that he is indeed involved.

    Abrams will work with the original film’s director, Francis Lawrence, and Akiva Goldsman on the Constantine sequel which will see Keanu Reeves return to the titular role. There is currently no word on where the other series will be shopped to or if anyone at all shows interest in the projects.

    SOURCE: Variety

  • Charlie Barnett Joins ‘Star Wars’ Series ‘The Acolyte’

    Charlie Barnett Joins ‘Star Wars’ Series ‘The Acolyte’

    Charlie Barnett is the latest actor to head to a galaxy far, far away. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Barnett has signed on for the Star Wars series The Acolyte. While details regarding Barnett’s character are currently unknown, the outlet states his role is likely a supporting one. Should a deal make, Barnett’s casting would make for a Russian Doll reunion, as the show’s co-creator Leslye Headland is the showrunner on The Acolyte.

    Barnett joins a rather impressive cast that includes Amandla Stenberg, who is toplining the show, along with Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae, Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim) and Manny Jacinto (The Good Place). Outside of Russian Doll, where Barnett stars as Alan Zaveri, the actor has appeared in Arrow and You.

    The Acolyte is being described as a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a “galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging Dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.” The project was first announced in April 2020, with Lucasfilm finally confirming the series in December 2020.

    Russian Doll‘s Leslye Headland will serve as the series director, writer, executive producer and showrunner on The Acolyte. As of now, the series does not yet have a premiere date on Disney+.

    Source: THR.

  • Warner Bros. Discovery Leadership May Be Prepping for a Future Sale, Comcast the Likeliest Potential Buyer

    Warner Bros. Discovery Leadership May Be Prepping for a Future Sale, Comcast the Likeliest Potential Buyer

    Warner Bros. Discovery has been quite the chaotic merger for many reasons. The cancelation of almost finished products left a sour taste with many, but taking down exclusive projects from streamers may have been the straw that breaks the camel’s back. In a new report by The Hollywood Reporter, they showcase a lot of uncertainty that’s brewing between talent agencies and investors for the company.

    Their current hunt for a “Kevin Feige” for DC has many concerns as no one really would want that job. Even if you do a decent job, like Walter Hamada did dragging the franchise to its current popular standing after the Zack Snyder fallout, you’re always stuck in comparison. One talent representative highlights the biggest issue anyone would face:

    DC is so fragmented. J.J. [Abrams] had this one, Zack Snyder had that one, Todd Phillips had the other thing. And they’re all such huge egos.

    With that many egos, it’ll be hard to truly bring a united franchise together as WBD hopes to accomplish. Plus, they are still moving forward with Elseworld stories like a Joker sequel and The Batman franchise. Some are suggesting that new CEO David Zaslav, who has been reported in the past to have a harsh leadership style by former Discovery employees, is simply prepping the company for its next sale.

    Most of his endeavors and that of the CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels is to cover Warner Bros.’s massive $50B+ debt; no simple task for anyone. As such building up their biggest brands and covering as much of the debt as possible opens up that very possibility. It seems Comcast’s Brian Roberts is the one that has his eyes on the studio the most to further build up NBCUniversal and combine it with WBD. One executive with inside knowledge gave the following statement in regards to why there’s a good possibility:

    Obviously Peacock sucks. There are some good synergies. I’m sure [Roberts] is licking his chops because the [WBD] stock is so low. And I think that’s Zaslav’s endgame. Get the place sold.

    The head of another company highlighted just how sad this development would be as it would mark the end of another massive studio after Disney purchased Fox some years ago. The issue is simply becoming challenging for these massive studios to stay afloat and handle their debt management. Not everything is doom and gloom, as some are highlighting that some additions have been more talent-friendly unlike under AT&T’s leadership and a seller isn’t something that’s definite as of yet.

    Source: THR

  • Charlie Cox Shares an Emotional Connection with Fans Over the Classic DD Suit

    Charlie Cox Shares an Emotional Connection with Fans Over the Classic DD Suit

    With Charlie Cox’s MCU as Daredevil in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law just a few weeks away, hype is at an all-time high, especially given his recent appearance and subsequent interviews at D23 Expo 2022 in Anaheim. At the event, fans were shown a Hall D23 exclusive clip of Daredevil interacting on a rooftop with Jen Walters. The clip showcased a new take on the character as well as a new look: a yellow and red costume.

    The yellow costume pays homage to the one worn by the character in 1964’s Daredevil #1 and has been teased in promotional material for the show. It’s also something fans of the character have been asking to see in live-action for some time now and has been the topic of social media talk in the months since it was first seen in the trailer for She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. As it turns out, fans aren’t the only ones excited about the yellow suit.

    In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Cox detailed his emotions when he first learned he’d be wearing the classic suit in his appearance on She-Hulk.

    I got to go to LA to go to a fitting and I walk in and the suit is hanging there but then there’s a drawing on the wall and it has the gold and red. And I was like, “no way.” It’s funny because when you play the character this long, you’re emotionally connected to the fans’ response. So you see something like that and it means something to you, but you know what it means…what it’s gonna mean. You start to have a sense of how people are going to respond to that.

    Charlie Cox

    Cox, who has been playing Daredevil since 2015 and who returned to the character after a long hiatus, is not only a fan favorite but also seems to clearly love the role and appreciate what it means to the massive fanbase that’s been built up over the years. With at least two future appearances set in stone for the character, it’ll be fun to see what other Daredevil costumes Cox gets to suit up in over the next several years.

    Daredevil can be seen in an upcoming episode of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law ahead of an appearance in 2023’s Echo and 2024’s Daredevil: Born Again.