Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV News

  • ‘Pachinko’ Star Joins Apple TV+’s ‘Godzilla’ Monsterverse Spinoff

    ‘Pachinko’ Star Joins Apple TV+’s ‘Godzilla’ Monsterverse Spinoff

    Apple TV+ and Legendary Television’s untitled Godzilla series is adding to its cast. According to Deadline, Pachinko star Mari Yamamoto has joined the cast of the monster series, tentatively titled Hourglass. The series is set in the aftermath of the battle between Godzilla and the Titans in San Francisco. It follows a family’s journey to uncover its buried secrets that link them to the secret organization, Monarch. It will also directly connect to Legendary’s Monsterverse.

    While details on her role are under wraps, Yamamoto joins a cast that already includes Anna Sawai (F9: The Fast Saga), Ren Watabe (461 Days of Bento), Kiersey Clemons (Transparent, Zack Snyder’s Justice League), Joe Tippett (Mare of Easttown), and Elisa Lasowski (Versailles). Yamamoto previously worked with Sawai on the Apple TV+ series Pachinko, where they played Hana and Naomi, respectively. The series also stars father and son acting duo Kurt and Wyatt Russell in unknown roles.

    Matt Shakman, who directed Marvel Studios’ WandaVision for Disney+, is set to direct the first two episodes of the series. Shakman will also serve as an executive producer on the series. The still-untitled series hails from Chris Black (Outcast, Star Trek: Enterprise) and Matt Fraction (Hawkeye), who co-created the series. Black will also serve as the showrunner of the series.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘She-Hulk’ Head Writer Reveals How Daredevil’s New Suit Was Decided

    ‘She-Hulk’ Head Writer Reveals How Daredevil’s New Suit Was Decided

    In an interview with Lifehacker, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law‘s head writer Jessica Gao got a chance to share her excitement about bringing Daredevil back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Charlie Cox had a brief appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, he’ll finally don his iconic suit in the upcoming Disney+ series. As it turns out, however, she shares that she had a lot of freedom in how to include the character with one exception.

    Usually how they do it is they kind of let us propose what we want to do rather than give us guidelines. When they first told us that [Daredevil] was a possibility we just couldn’t believe it. And as we were coming up with story and what we wanted him to do, the fact that they kept not saying no was shocking to us.

    Jessica Gao

    She goes on to highlight though that there was one thing she had no control over and that was the way he was going to look in the series. The trailers revealed he had his Netflix red suit but with a new touch of yellow that pays tribute to his original design. It seems that was Marvel Studios’ idea.

    The one thing that I didn’t have control of was the suit. They knew exactly what they wanted the suit to look like.

    Jessica Gao

    Most of Marvel Studios’ team are comic nerds and it does seem like the chance of introducing the character in a more comedic light was the perfect way to also bring in some of the goofier aspects of his character. We’ll likely see his classic colors return in the near future, but it is great that they are combining these two worlds. Here’s hoping the wait for our first full look at him in action isn’t too far away. Now we only need to see the D on his chest.

    Source: Lifehacker

  • Netflix’s ‘One Piece’s is Slowly Wrapping Up Production

    Netflix’s ‘One Piece’s is Slowly Wrapping Up Production

    It looks like One Piece may be slowly winding down production in South Africa, or rather Cape Town to be exact. As shared by Caitlin Rollino on her Instagram account, she reveals that the main unit has seemingly wrapped on the One Piece live-action series. There hasn’t been an official statement in regards to the project having fully wrapped up, but it definitely seems like production is slowly nearing its end.

    It’s crazy to think that we’ve been following it since January when the production first started getting rolling. Seven months later, it has seemingly entered its final stages and hopefully further hints when we might expect its release. Director Marc Jobst seemingly hinted that the first two episodes wrapped production in May. The series has been teased to be among Netflix’s largest, especially with the news that this live-action adaptation may have a budget on par with other Marvel Studios productions.

    With a talented team behind it, there’s an exciting potential with this adaptation. The cast is quite excited to bring this project to life, the showrunners are big fans of the source material and the sets promise that it’s truly the original brought to life. The mangaka behind the series, Eiichiro Oda, also is heavily involved and it does add a stamp of approval that some other projects might not have. Anime adaptations are a difficult challenge but we said the same about superheroes not too long ago. Perhaps this series is the perfect choice to accomplish that very goal.

    Source: Instagram

  • ‘Warrior’ Actor Joins Live-Action ‘One Piece’

    ‘Warrior’ Actor Joins Live-Action ‘One Piece’

    It looks like the various roles are getting filled for the upcoming live-action adaptation of One Piece. While we’re still waiting for the next official reveal by the team behind the franchise, it does seem like actor Grant Ross, known for his work on Warrior, American Monster and The Kissing Booth has joined the production as Genzo.

    For those that might not know, Genzo is an important character in the Arlong Park Arc. While not a major role in the One Piece mythos, he plays a vital role in Nami’s upbringing and it’s great to see their casting be as close as possible to the original manga. He famously wore a windmill in his cap which would be fun to see in live-action. Ross was excited about the announcement and shared some great-looking fan art on how similar he looks to his manga counterpart.

    The interesting reveal is that he seemingly has a role in an episode directed by Emma Sullivan. The surprise is that she was confirmed to direct the episodes he’s in. While there’s a chance that the Arlong Park Arc could be a multi-episode storyline, she was confirmed to be tackling the storyline of the Baratie. Many theorized that might’ve taken up multiple episodes as well.

    So, it opens up the question if Baratie is only one episode or if the Doctor Who director is also responsible for every episode involving these two storylines. Genzo is only in that one storyline but there’s a chance he only included the director that was publicly known. Of course, we won’t know for sure until it is officially revealed.

    Source: Pursch Artistes

  • Owen Wilson Says Marvel Scolded Him For Talking About ‘Loki’

    Owen Wilson Says Marvel Scolded Him For Talking About ‘Loki’

    Marvel Studios is famously secretive about their upcoming projects, and it would seem Loki star Owen Wilson learned this the hard way. The veteran actor has grown to become a fan favorite member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as jet ski loving TVA Agent Mobius M. Mobius. Wilson will be back for the show’s second season, which is currently filming in London, but stated in a recent interview with ComicBook that he’s keeping his lips sealed on his character’s future.

    Asked to give more information on Loki and Mobius, the former Royal Tennenbaums star revealed he made the mistake of saying too much in the past, and heard about it from Marvel themselves. The actor began with a brief, timid response to the question of what fans should expect in Loki Season 2:

    Well, I do think that… you know, we’ll see what happens with this one. I immediately get kind of self-conscious because they’re so kind of uptight.

    Owen Wilson

    Wilson is, of course, referring to Marvel’s long history of shushing performers who are eager to give away details on their upcoming work. When pressed on whether or not he’s been scolded by the company in the past, Wilson gave an earnest and succinct answer:

    Yes. Yeah, multiple times.

    Owen Wilson

    It seems nobody is safe from Marvel’s content lockdown. The actor has had fun with the strict set of rules in the past, however, once joking that Marvel boss Kevin Feige sent him an anonymous, threatening text after he let slip that Mobius would have a mustache in Loki’s first season. Hopefully, Wilson makes it to the premiere of the next season, and fans can be happy with all the surprises the show’s creative team has in store.

    Source: Comic Book

  • Rory Culkin Boards ‘Black Mirror’ Season 6

    Rory Culkin Boards ‘Black Mirror’ Season 6

    Netflix has nabbed another big name for its sixth season of Black Mirror. Deadline reports that Rory Culkin is set to join the impressive cast of the forthcoming season. News of his casting comes about a month after it was revealed Zazie Beetz, Paapa Essiedu, Josh Hartnett, Aaron Paul, Kate Mara, Danny Ramirez, Clara Rugaard, Auden Thornton and Anjana Vasan have all joined Season 6 of Black Mirror. As with the others, little is known regarding the actor’s role in the anthology series.

    Culkin is coming off of FX’s Under the Banner of Heaven where he starred alongside Andrew Garfield. He recently starred in 50 States of Freight, Castle Rock and Waco. He has also previously starred in Signs and Scream 4. The actor also previously led the podcast, Outliers, which followed a young, unnamed boy who believes he and his father are the last remaining humans in a world ravaged by mysterious creatures until that belief is shattered by the truth.

    The sixth season of Black Mirror is the first season to be produced through writer Charlie Brooker‘s Netflix-backed banner, Broke & Bones, which he runs along with Annabel Jones. Production on Season 6 of Black Mirror is currently underway with no release date yet announced. It is expected this season will follow the same pattern as Season 5, with limited episodes that are closer to feature film length.

    Source: Deadline.

  • ‘She-Hulk’ Director on Allowing Improvisation With CG Characters

    ‘She-Hulk’ Director on Allowing Improvisation With CG Characters

    She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has finally found its way to Disney+, offering Marvel Studios’ first comedy. The big challenge is seemingly creating a classic comedy concept with fully CG characters. Director Kat Coiro points out that same challenge in an interview with Variety, as they had to find a way to make the series stand out visually with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while still playing in a comedic world.

    It’s really about pinpointing those comedic scenes that are about rhythm and banter and dialogue, and allowing those to be shot in the way that traditional comedies are — often cross shooting and allowing actors to improvise. Now, you add to that CG characters, and it’s a whole ‘nother level of complex. When you watch the first episode, you see that Mark [Ruffalo] and Tatiana [Maslany] are bantering.

    Kat Coiro

    She highlights how they found a balance with the VFX, especially in how important it was to be “really prepared” to ensure that they could also have fun with the concept.

    There’s a comedic point of view there. They’re also two CGI characters who require incredible amounts of VFX passes. So it was about being really prepared, knowing exactly how we were going into it, so that we could then allow them space to have fun. That really is the challenge. You have to have fun. To have a comedy, there has to be a sense of playfulness. There has to be a sense of trust that you can improvise and go off script and explore things.

    Kat Coiro

    It definitely sounds like a challenge to go off script with a CG character, especially with the work required to make these characters stand out as realistic as possible. Still, it’s important for a comedy to allow its actors to breathe with the moment-to-moment comedy to add something special to the series. So, it seems they tried their best to have a balance of both.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘She-Hulk’: Episode 1 Ragnarok Easter Egg Explained

    ‘She-Hulk’: Episode 1 Ragnarok Easter Egg Explained

    Episode one of Marvel Studios’ latest Disney Plus streaming series, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, gave audiences plenty to chew on. The immediate fourth-wall break, the appearance of one of the MCU’s douchiest characters to date and the breakthrough appearance by Jameela Jamil’s Titania were certainly all eye-catching and worth discussion, however, another brief Easter egg is one that might foreshadow the biggest payoff.

    Well before Episode One, “A Normal Amount of Rage”, aired, fans were well aware that a car crash was responsible for Jennifer Walters gaining the incredible powers of her cousin, Bruce Banner’s alter ego, the Hulk. What fans did not know, however, was that the car crash was caused by a Sakaaran ship that came to Earth in search of the Hulk. Why would that ship be on Earth? What could the Sakaarans want with the Hulk? A potential answer comes from both the comics and the ship’s appearance could lend credence to a nearly year-old rumor.

    The planet of Sakaar was introduced in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok and although the Hulk’s adventures on the planet are done, it doesn’t mean the consequences of those adventures have all come to bear. As explained in Thor: Ragnarok, time moves in mysterious ways on Sakaar, so while Hulk may not have been gone too very long as perceived by his friends on Earth, he also may have spent quite a bit of time on Sakaar.

    Thor: Ragnarok very clearly adapted bits and pieces of one of the Hulk’s most popular Marvel Comics’ stories: Planet Hulk. Miek and Korg, who were both major players in Greg Pak’s Planet Hulk, were introduced in Ragnarok, but there were another half-dozen or so other major characters who never appeared. Foremost among them are Caiera, who Hulk married on Sakaar, and their son, Skaar.

    Rumors have long pointed to the potential appearance of Skaar in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law and the appearance of the Sakaaran ship on Earth does little, if nothing, to dispel those rumors. Fans of the Marvel Comics might remember that Skaar first appeared in the midst of the World War Hulk event; notably, a World War Hulk film is rumored to be in development at Marvel Studios.

    Could the Sakaaran ship be the precursor to Bruce Banner meeting his son, Skaar? Could that meeting be a precursor to a World War Hulk movie being announced, given the rumors that Universal’s distribution rights for Hulk films are set to expire in 2023? Hopefully, these questions will be answered in the near future, allowing fans to start guessing about a whole new set of possibilities.

  • Paramount+ Series ‘School Spirits’ Adds to its Cast

    Paramount+ Series ‘School Spirits’ Adds to its Cast

    Production is officially underway on School Spirits, the young adult drama being adapted for Paramount+. Deadline has announced that Kristian Flores (Reboot), Spencer MacPherson (Reign), Kiara Pichardo (The Society), Sarah Yarkin (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Nick Pugliese (Dramarama) and Rainbow Wedell (The Wilds) have officially joined the cast. They’ll star alongside the previously announced Peyton List and Milo Manheim. Also joining the series in recurring roles are Josh Zuckerman (The Offer) and Maria Dizzia (13 Reasons Why).

    The series will follow List’s character as she finds herself stuck in the afterlife and goes on to investigate her mysterious disappearance, alongside a group of other students that are also stuck in limbo from her school. Flores is Simon Elroy, MacPherson is Xavier Baxter, Pichardo is Nicole Herrera, Yarkin is Rhonda, Pugliese is Charley, and Wedell is Claire Zolinski. While Zuckerman and Dizzia will portray Mr. Martin and Sandra Nears.

    Oliver Goldstick, who previously worked on Pretty Little Liars, is the showrunner. He’ll also executive produce alongside Nate and Megan Trinrud, who wrote the pilot. Max Winkler, who recently worked on Freeform’s Cruel Summer, is set to direct and executive produce as well.

    School Spirits is based on the forthcoming graphic novel of the same name by Nate & Megan Trinrud and Maria Nguyen. The novel will be published next year through Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books. It is being produced by Awesomeness Studios and production is currently underway in Vancouver.

    Source: Deadline.

  • Jessica Gao on the Evolution of Using the Fourth Wall Break in ‘She-Hulk’

    Jessica Gao on the Evolution of Using the Fourth Wall Break in ‘She-Hulk’

    Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is set to premiere this Thursday, and as evidenced in the trailers, Jen’s fourth wall breaking will be a big part of the series. Jessica Gao, who serves as the head writer on the show, previously discussed the importance of including fourth wall breaking in the series, stating it was one of the most essential factors from the comics she ensured carried over into the series. However, it looks like it took a bit for the creatives to decide how to work it into the show.

    During the virtual press conference last week, Gao was asked how She-Hulk breaks the fourth wall in a way unique to her character. According to Gao, it was a bit of an evolutionary process to decide how the titular hero would use the fourth wall breaks within the series. “I mean, we really talked.  It went through a lot of evolutionary steps.  A long journey of, like, how much should she talk to camera?  Is she talking directly to the audience?  Is there another meta element?  Is she talking to somebody else, like, that’s more behind the scenes?”

    Early scripts had the series using text boxes with editor’s notes instead of having Jennifer Walters talking directly to the camera. Gao took inspiration from the comics and how editor’s notes were added in text boxes. “At one point, there was an iteration in the scripts where, instead of really talking directly to the camera, there were, kind of text boxes that were editor’s notes, like the comic books, how there were editor’s notes in comics.”

    Had the series decided to keep the text boxes, Walters would’ve interacted with them on screen, but it was ultimately scrapped. “And she was actually interacting with the editor’s notes that would be onscreen. I mean, we did eventually scrap that idea. But I mean, we went through a lot of different versions of how she would do it.”

    While it would’ve been fun to see Tatiana Maslany‘s Walters interact with editor’s notes on the screen, the creatives seem to have made the right decision by choosing to have her speak directly to the camera.

    She-Hulk: Attorney at Law premieres on Thursday, August 18th.