Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV News

  • Marvel Studios Reportedly Sets Its Return to Wakanda

    Marvel Studios Reportedly Sets Its Return to Wakanda

    Following the incredible success of 2018’s Black Panther, Wakanda emerged as a key location in the waning days of the Infinity Saga. Writer and director Ryan Coogler filled the hidden nation with interesting characters and created a rich history that demanded further explanation. While a Black Panther sequel was always in the works, Coogler‘s Wakanda demanded further exploration and so, in early 2021, Disney reached a deal with the director’s Proximity Media to develop exclusive content for Disney Plus which included a streaming series centered on the Kingdom of Wakanda. Later that year, it was revealed that Danai Gurira‘s Dora Milaje captain, Okoye, was set to star in a D+ series set in Wakanda. While it was never truly clear if the Okoye-centric series and the Wakanda-set series were one in the same, it is clear that over three years later, fans are still without a live-action Black Panther series. However, a new report suggests that hope may be on the horizon.

    In late 2022, Marvel Studios executive Nate Moore confirmed that Coogler‘s Proximity Media was developing multiple Wakanda-based projects saying “there are no shortage of ideas,” when it comes to expanding on the mythology the world of Wakanda, describing it as “expansive” and “full of great characters” and providing opportunities “beyond what happens with this film.” At that time, Moore stated that in addition to a third Black Panther film, “there are more opportunities to go back to Wakanda.” While Moore cautioned that with both Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ironheart on his plate, development on a Wakanda spinoff project had not been a priority for Coogler, it seems those opportunities are starting to be realized.

    Because of the amount of time and attention that went into this film, and frankly the Ironheart show, that is probably not as far along as people want it to be, but there are certainly great ideas that we’re still talking to Ryan about. So, we’ll see how far we can get with it.

    -Nate Moore on the development of a Wakanda-centric streaming series, November 2022

    In late 2023, a canonical animated series, Eyes of Wakanda was announced and set for release in 2024. Now according to trusted insider Daniel RPK, the studio is turning its attention back to developing World of Wakanda, a live-action series set in Wakanda.

    No details were provided about World of Wakanda in the report, however, it’s possible that Gurira previously provided some insight into what to expect. In a 2022 interview with Deadline, Gurira described Coogler’s vision for the future of the Dora-turned-Midnight Angel, comparing it to David Carradine‘s Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s TV series Kung Fu.

    [Coogler] was saying it’s like that kung fu show, where the guy just walked the earth. She just walks off. We don’t know where Okoye’s going. And she’s sort of letting go. She was fighting to keep that position, and then she lets it go. That’s kind of her arc, that she lets go. And we don’t know where that leads to.

    -Danai Gurira on the future of Okoye

    In an early 2023 interview with Stephen Colbert, Gurira was asked about the potential for an Okoye-centric series and said,” I have been told that I can gently allude to this possibility [of an Okoye-centric series]. So, I am gently alluding. Just gently.” Perhaps the time has finally come for the long-gestating project to take flight. However, with Disney cutting back on the quantity of Marvel Studios’ content on its streaming service, don’t expect to see the series before 2026 at the earliest.

  • Joe Locke Clarifies the Identity of His ‘Agatha All Along’ Character

    Joe Locke Clarifies the Identity of His ‘Agatha All Along’ Character

    To the dozens and dozens of Nicholas Scratch fans out there, Heartstopper star Joe Locke is about to become a heartbreaker. After nearly two years of speculation over who Locke is playing in the upcoming Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Agatha All Along, the identity of Locke’s character was recently revealed…sort of. According to Disney, Locke will be portraying a member of Agatha Harkness’ coven simply known as “Teen.” While nobody is buying that will be the only name he goes by–and a previous reveal indicates it will not be–it likely won’t be enough to prevent Agatha All Along from becoming mired in the same asinine speculation that haunted WandaVision from week to week during its 2021 run.

    Rather than run from the ridiculousness of it, it seems Marvel Studios is rather content to encourage it, keeping up the facade as long as possible. In an interview with Total Film, Locke explained that while “Teen” is not a code name being used by Disney to hide who he is truly playing but rather an inside joke crafted by members of Agatha’s coven of chaos.

    It’s not a fake code name; it’s what everyone calls him, which is a joke that develops during the show, but just becomes what everyone calls him, and he answers to it.

    -Joe Lock on playing Teen in Agatha: All Along
    (L-R): Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone), Ali Ahn (Alice Wu-Gulliver), Teen (Joe Locke), and Mrs. Hart/Sharon Davis (Debra Jo Rupp) in Marvel Television’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Television. © 2024 MARVEL.

    Once described as a “familiar” by co-star Patti LuPone, Locke’s character was also revealed by a casting call to be “witty” and “astute” as well as a “bit of a fanboy.” Fans of the comics have rightly connected those attributes to Billy Kaplan, aka Wiccan, who was so much of a fanboy that he originally called himself Asgardian and styled his look after the Odinson’s. According to Locke, Teen also shares another character trade with Wiccan: he is impulsive. “He’s very thoughtful and kind, but he can act without thinking sometimes,” said Locke of his Agatha All Along character, explaining how he might find himself in league with Harkness and her crew. Of course, there’s one other very good reason Teen joins Agatha’s coven: the power offered by the journey down the Witches’ Road.

    In Marvel Studios’ Agatha All Along, the infamous Agatha Harkness finds herself down and out of power after a suspicious goth Teen helps break her free from a distorted spell. Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious Teen pull together a desperate coven, and set off down, down, down The Road…

    -Official Synopsis for Agatha All Along

    It’s become widely speculated that Locke’s character is taking the trip down the legendary road to reclaim what he misses most. And while some further speculate that he’ll be looking for his mother, Wanda Maximoff, others believe he’ll be out to find his twin brother, Tommy. Interestingly enough, a recent report indicated that the studio is looking to cast Javon Walton as Tommy Shepherd, aka Speed, the reborn brother of Billy in the pages of Marvel Comics. While Locke doesn’t confirm his character’s intentions for walking the road, he doesn’t shy away from teasing that his motives are not entirely altruistic. “The Witches’ Road offers untold spoils and power…,” said Locke, adding “and then we’ll find out.“

    And find out we will–although certainly not soon enough and not before we all relive the devastating stupidity that surrounded WandaVision–as Agatha All Along debuts on Disney Plus on September 18th.

    Source: Games Radar

  • Marvel Studios Recasting Pivotal Phase 4 Role for Upcoming Project

    Marvel Studios Recasting Pivotal Phase 4 Role for Upcoming Project

    Marvel Studios kicked off its post-Endgame efforts in January 2021 with its first Disney Plus streaming series, WandaVision. Led by incredible performances by Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany and Kathryn Hahn, the series was a hit with fans and has spawned a pair of spinoffs in Agatha All Along, a nine-episode streamer premiering on September 18th, and an untitled Vision series that begins production this Fall. While the continuing tales of Agatha Harkness and the White Vision are certainly of interest to fans, the series also included a handful of other characters whose impact was felt beyond the story told in WandaVision.

    The story of Monica Rambeau, who gained her powers in WandaVision, continued in the 2023 film The Marvels and looks to be integral to helping move along the overall narrative of The Multiverse Saga and there are several minor characters from WandaVision who are set to return for Agatha All Along; however, arguably no characters had a larger immediate impact on Phase 4 than Wanda and Vision’s children, Billy and Tommy. Created by Wanda as part of the Hex she placed over Westview, the children disappeared when Wanda removed her spell in the WandaVision finale. Corrupted by the Darkhold and driven in her efforts to reunite with Billy and Tommy, Wanda became the Scarlet Witch and took on fellow Avenger Steven Strange in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Though she sacrificed herself to destroy the Darkhold in the final act of the film, Marvel Studio’s head honcho Kevin Feige has teased a future for the character and it seems as though fans will begin to get a glimpse of that soon.

    There really is so much more to explore. We still haven’t touched on many of her core storylines from the comics. I don’t know that we saw her under rubble? I saw a tower coming down, and a little red flash. I don’t know what that means.

    -Kevin Feige on the future of Wanda Maximoff

    Though she isn’t expected to have much, if any, physical presence, in Agatha All Along, Wanda’s actions will reverberate throughout the series. The series will follow Agatha as she seeks to regain the power taken from her by Wanda. To do so, Agatha must walk the legendary Witches’ Road with her coven and one member of that coven is widely believed to be Billy Kaplan who, in the comics, is the reincarnated version of Billy Kaplan. Played by Joe Locke, the character is called Teen in Agatha All Along, obfuscating the character’s true identity until late in the series. With one son finding a way back into the world, it’s just a matter of time until the other does and now we know when to expect that.

    According to insider Daniel RPK, Marvel Studios is looking to cast Javon Walton as a character also called Teen in the upcoming Vision-centric WandaVision spinoff. Given previous rumors about the series and the shared name for the character, it seems all but a certainty that the studio is looking to cast Walton as Tommy Shepherd, the reborn Tommy Maximoff.

    In addition to recently launching a career in boxing, Walton has starred in the HBO prestige series, Euphoria, and Netflix’s Umbrella Academy. In the comics, Tommy was a rough-around-the-edges teen whose behavior frequently landed him in juvenile detention centers. He possessed powers similar to his uncle, Pietro Maximoff, aka Quicksilver, and joined the Young Avengers under the codename Speed. Tommy Maximoff, played by Jett Klyne, displayed similar powers in the latter half of WandaVision.

    Kevin Feige recently confirmed that Star Trek: Picard writer Terry Matalas has replaced WandaVision and Agatha All Along showrunner on the Vision series and while early word is that Matalas has some interesting new ideas for the show, the return of Tommy to the MCU remains in the plans and will serve as connective tissue to Agatha All Along. Given how pivotal finding a way to bring her sons to life was to Wanda’s arc, it would seem incredibly logical that once they’ve found their way into the 616 reality, she won’t be far behind.

  • Marvel Studios Reportedly Reanimating a Project Long Thought to Be Dead

    Marvel Studios Reportedly Reanimating a Project Long Thought to Be Dead

    Despite the not-insignificant drama now surrounding its creator, Marvel Animation’s What If…? Season 2 and X-Men ’97 provided the impulse to change the direction of Marvel Studios’ momentum in 2024. With more seasons of those two series in the works in addition to exciting new projects such as Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Eyes of Wakanda and Marvel Zombies, the future of animated projects at Marvel is already bright…and may be getting brighter, yet.

    According to insider Daniel RPK, Power Pack is back in development at Marvel Studios, this time as an animated streaming series. Gifted with powerful cosmic abilities obtained from a space horse named Whitey, Power Pack is a superhero team of pre-teen sibs who find themselves taking part in crazy cosmic adventures together. The superhero team was introduced into Marvel Comics in 1984 and while they’ve mostly stuck to their own corner of the universe, have shared the stage with the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the Avengers.

    Marvel has been trying to find a way to bring Power Pack to audiences for over two decades but has continued to put the superhero team on the back burner for various reasons. In 2000–long before the birth of the MCU–Marvel struck a deal with Artisan Entertainment to develop 15 properties for film or television series. Lead by Captain America and Thor, the deal also called for projects featuring Iron Fist, Black Panther, Deadpool, Longshot and Power Pack to be curated under Avi Arad.

    In 2017, Marvel Studios took back up the Power Pack torch and began development on the project under the watchful eye of Jonathan Schwartz, now the VP of Production & Development. By 2021, the project had been shelved as the MCU continued to grow and evolve. In an interview with Murphy’s Multiverse, Schwartz said of Power Pack, “It’s one of those things we look at and talk about every once in a while. We’ll probably get there eventually but it’s not something super active at the moment.” Should this new report prove true, it seems as though eventually is now.

  • Marvel TV Boss Dodges the Canonicity of ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’

    Marvel TV Boss Dodges the Canonicity of ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’

    Marvel Studios’ Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation, Brad Winderbaum, has been there since the beginning. Beginning his career as an assistant to Marvel big wig Louis D’Espositio on Iron Man, Winderbaum has served as an executive producer on over a dozen projects and was promoted to his new role in August 2021. Since then, he’s found himself in the spotlight more frequently, including being the mouthpiece for the studio’s rebranding which moved them away from the “it’s all connected” era that seemed to overwhelm newer fans.

    There was a lot of pressure post-Avengers: Endgame on the public to feel obligated to watch absolutely everything in order to watch anything. Part of the rebranding was a signal to the general audience that we’re creating a lot of options, and you can follow your tastes within this brand. Some will be more comedic, some will be more dramatic, some will be animated, some will be live-action. Marvel is more than just one thing — it is actually many different genres that just happened to coexist in a single narrative.

    -Brad Winderbaum on Marvel Studios rebranding of projects, May, 2022

    Now roughly halfway through their Multiverse Saga, the studio is reticent to make fans feel as though they have dozens of hours of required reading to do before watching a new project. “The hope is that, like the comics, you can just pop in anywhere and have a satisfying experience,” said Winderbaum in a May 2024 interview with Variety. “We’re trying to dispel the idea that you need to do any kind of setup work to watch anything else.” So while “the characters still live and breathe in the same universe…the interconnectivity is not so rigid that you need to watch Project A to understand Project B.” For example, even though the events of the Netflix Marvel series from the mid-2010s are canon to Marvel Studios’ Sacred Timeline, audiences should not need to watch the 39-hour-ish long episodes of Netflix’s Daredevil in order to enjoy the upcoming Disney Plus streaming series, Daredevil: Born Again.

    So, I can say that up until this point, we’ve been a little bit cagey about what’s Sacred Timeline and what’s not. That was born, frankly, out of a period at the studio where we were like “we have to stick the landing with Avengers.” It was another part of the company developing the Netflix stuff; we were aware of what they were doing, they were aware of what we were doing, but it was a lot.. it was a lot to balance anyway. But now that some time has passed, now that we actually see how well-integrated the stories are, I personally, Brad Winderbaum, will confidently say that they are part of the Sacred Timeline.

    -Brade Winderbaum on the canonicty of the Marvel Netflix series, January 2024

    With Marvel Studios so readily retroactively placing the events of the Netflix Defenders-verse into their Sacred Timeline, fans have been anticipating another TV series to be officially given the same treatment. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the first Marvel Television show of the modern era, continues to have a fervent fanbase of supporters who believe it deserves to be given Winderbaum’s seal of approval as well, despite some mixed signals about just how it might fit into the Sacred Timeline; however, Winderbaum isn’t quite ready to sign off on that just yet.

    “I want to go down this road with you, you know I do, but we’re just gonna take a deep breath for a second,” said Winderbaum when asked if he considered Marvel Television’s ABC melodrama as canon to the MCU’s Sacred Timeline. “I think that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a really great show and there was a long time where some of the best reveals in that show were during the Winter Soldier era where Hydra emerges and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh!’,” said Winderbaum about the early seasons of the series that clearly crossed over with Marvel Studios’ big-screen adventures. “I remember that feeling, even knowing what was happening, just being a fan, [going] ‘It really is connected!’,” he continued. “I think that there is, in a crazy way, like you said, it does feel like it fits into The Multiverse Saga in an incredible way.” Before finishing his evasive maneuvers, Winderbaum gave props to the cast of the series saying, “Just know that I love that cast, I love Clark Gregg and I love that show.“

    Winderbaum seems to have been heavily schooled in Feigespeak 101 because he said a whole lot without saying anything at all. Loving the series and the cast and admitting a nostalgic connection to the “It’s All Connected” days is a far cry from “I personally, Brad Winderbaum, will confidently say that [the Marvel Netflix series] are part of the Sacred Timeline.” Part of the studio’s hesitancy to officially canonize Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. despite the obvious connectivity of early seasons likely stems from some of the crazier adventures that took place in later seasons. Of course, no matter what Winderbaum or other studio execs say, the best part about fandom is and always has been the ability of fans to choose their own adventure and enjoy things as they please. Nothing anyone says or does not say should deter from that.

    All episodes of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. can be found on Disney Plus under the “Agents and Inhumans” section which is obviously and intentionally quite separate from the section titled “MCU Complete Timeline.”

    Source: Screen Rant

  • D23: ‘What If…?’ to End with Season 3

    D23: ‘What If…?’ to End with Season 3

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    With the series ending, director and showrunner Bryan Andrews explained that he was comfortable going big. “We can take big swings,” said Andrews of the creative teams efforts for Season 3. To that end, the series is set to feature some wild new genres, including a Western, and expand its roster beyond the major characters who populated most of the show’s first two seasons.

    In addition to a Western, another of those “big swings” will see a new team of Avengers–featuring Sam Wilson, Moon Knight and Monica Rambeau, take on gamma monsters.

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  • D23: Marvel Animation’s ‘What If…?’ Season 3 to Feature a New Roster of Heroes

    D23: Marvel Animation’s ‘What If…?’ Season 3 to Feature a New Roster of Heroes

    While the first two seasons of What If…? bopped all over the multiverse, the episodes by and large featured Marvel Studio’s core Avengers. It’s been explained that there were good reasons for the limited roster of characters and the promise was made that Season 3 would expand on said roster. If a look at the series during Marvel Animation’s D23 presentation is anything to go on, the promise has been kept.

    According to various outlets in attendance at the presentation, What If…? Season 3 will feature Shang-Chi, Moon Knight, Ironheart and the White Vision among its cast of characters.

    https://twitter.com/Seantaj/status/1822360907411849524

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  • Marvel Studios Confirms Episode Count for ‘Agatha All Along’

    Marvel Studios Confirms Episode Count for ‘Agatha All Along’

    Marvel Studios’ first streaming series, WandaVision, may ultimately be remembered more for what it was not than what it was. Each week, the MCU fanbase squabbled about short runtimes, concocted ridiculous theories and nitpicked its way right through a very good series carried by three incredible performances. Even in the weeks and months leading up to the series, social media was full of debates over how many episodes it would be despite evidence that it was set to be a 9-episode season. As the first of at least two WandaVision spinoffs creeps closer to its debut, Marvel has put out one of those potential fires before it spreads.

    According to an official release sent out by Disney following Marvel Studios’ presentation at D23, Agatha All Along will consist of nine episodes.
    (L-R): Teen (Joe Locke), The Green Witch/Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) and Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata) in Marvel Television’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 MARVEL.

    In Marvel Studios’ Agatha All Along, the infamous Agatha Harkness finds herself down and out of power after a suspicious goth Teen helps break her free from a distorted spell. Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious Teen pull together a desperate coven, and set off down, down, down The Road…

    -Official Synopsis, Agatha All Along

    As ridiculous as it seems that the same confusion over episode count that occurred with WandaVision could resurface over Agatha All Along, there has been a lack of clarity on the matter. It is nearly impossible and definitely futile to attempt to dig back to the source of the confusion; however, most of it seems to stem from claims of a Witches’ Road special presentation spinning out of the spinoff. Further claims about the special–which was never discussed publicly by Marvel Studios–postulated that plans for it had changed and it had been rolled into the body of the streaming series. Whether any of the claims were ever true or not, message boards and Discord servers were certainly not certain about how many episodes of the Kathryn Hahn-led series they should prepare for this Fall.

    According to the press release, the nine-episode series was directed by a trio of talent with each responsible for three episodes. In addition to series creator Jac Schaeffer, episodes of Agatha All Along will be directed by Rachel Goldberg (Mayans M.C. and Gen V) and Gandja Monteiro (Wednesday, The Witcher and The Walking Dead: Dead City).

    Agatha All Along will debut with a 2-episode premiere on September 18th and stream on Disney Plus right through Spooky Season!

  • D23: First Look at Lucasfilm’s ‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’

    D23: First Look at Lucasfilm’s ‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’

    Created by Marvel Studio’s Spider-Man trilogy director Jon Watts, Lucasfilm’s upcoming live-action Star Wars streaming series Skeleton Crew represents a new direction for the studio. Set during the same New Republic era as The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka, the big-budget adventure will feature four young characters who find themselves on a wild adventure in the galaxy far, far away. Skeleton Crew will introduce youngsters Ravi Cabot-Conyers (Wim), Kyriana Kratter (KB), Robert Timothy Smith (Neel) and Ryan Kiera Armstrong (Fern), who will star alongside Jude Law, who plays Jod Na Nawood. A first look at the streamer was expected as part of D23’s Disney Entertainment Showcase and Lucasfilm did not disappoint.

    When four kids make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, they get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home, meeting unlikely allies and enemies will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.

    -Official Synopsis, Skeleton Crew

    Lucasfilm assembled an all-star team of directors for Skeleton Crew. In addition to Watts, Star Wars vet Bryce Dallas Howard, The Daniels, David Lowery, Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier and Lee Isaac Chung were all revealed to be helming episodes during Star Wars Celebration 2023.

    Skeleton Crew will debut on Disney Plus on December 3rd.

  • D23: Familiar Faces Set to Return for ‘Andor’ Season 2

    Arguably the crown jewel in Disney’s Star Wars streaming efforts, Andor was always destined for a short run. The prequel to Rogue One–which itself is a prequel to A New Hope—Andor was designed by Tony Gilroy to cover the five years immediately leading up to the 2016 film.

    Forest Whitaker, Ben Mendelsohn and Alan Tudyk will all return to reprise their respective characters in Season 2 of Andor.

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