Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV News

  • Series Creators Explain Why They Took ‘What If…?’ to 1602

    Series Creators Explain Why They Took ‘What If…?’ to 1602

    The penultimate episode of Marvel Studios animated streaming series What If…? saw Peggy Carter transported to 1602 where she joined a small collection of familiar faces in solving the mystery behind an Incursion that threatened their universe. Inspired by Neil Gaiman’s 2003 limited series, the episode had its fair share of cool moments that didn’t quite coalesce into the banger it could have been. Still, “What If…The Avengers Assembled in 1602” is a fun episode that pays homage to one of Marvel Comics’ more entertaining alternate universes and one of fiction’s most imaginative authors. And according to the creators of the series, finding a way to work Gaiman’s 1602 into the series has been a priority for some time.

    Director and Executive Producer Bryan Andrews revealed that the episode is one that had been in development for quite some time though the team wasn’t quite sure where it would fit. “[We] needed to find the right time to do it,” said Andrews. “It’s so fun to see such different versions of these characters—Loki and Happy are true highlights in this episode.” It turns out that one of the reasons Loki was such a highlight is that writer AC Bradley had her own agenda for star Tom Hiddleston, who voiced the character in the episode. “Ha! Honestly, this whole thing was just my sneaky ploy to see Tom Hiddleston do Hamlet,” said Bradley. “He’s one of the best Shakespearean actors alive, and it was so cool to see him perform Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy off-book.” All jokes aside, Bradley explained that the episode truly came together because of one simple truth: there was a good story to tell.

    All storytelling, from the first cave drawings to the modern cinematic universes, is about connection, asking your audience: ‘Is this your story, too?’ The same holds true when adapting beloved storylines and IP. I first seek out the human story—the heart. The world of 1602 is one of chaos and confusion with our MCU heroes trapped in an alternate history. The burning questions are: How did they end up here? How can they restore their world?

    AC Bradley

    Outside of being full of the potential Bradley described, writer Ryan Little also pointed out that there was another factor involved in choosing to adapt Gaiman’s comic: it was just plain fun. “I’ll always remember the first time I read Neil Gaiman’s original 1602 [Marvel comics] series in high school,” said Little. “We filled this episode with 1602 iterations of characters from across the MCU to share with everyone that same fun Neil created when first exploring Elizabethan Marvel in his original run.” And if nothing else, the creators found the fun in 1602.

    All episodes of What If…? are now streaming on Disney Plus.

  • ‘What If…?’ Creators on Cate Blanchett’s Return, Hela’s Arc in Episode 7

    ‘What If…?’ Creators on Cate Blanchett’s Return, Hela’s Arc in Episode 7

    In the most intriguing episode of What If…? Season 2 to date, Episode 7, “What If…Hela Found the Ten Rings?” explores an alternate path for the Goddess of Death. Rather than imprisoning his daughter in Hel, Odin banishes here to Earth where she meets Xu Wenwu, discovers who she truly is and becomes a champion of peace and freedom across the galaxy. It’s a wonderful episode that fully embraces the true nature of What If…? and as the cherry on top, it’s elevated by Cate Blanchett’s return to the role.

    Blanchett drew wide-ranging praise for slaying the role of the deranged and bloodthirsty firstborn of Odin in Thor: Ragnarok and does nothing here other than add to an already great character. As you might imagine, in an animated series where the stars who brought characters such as Captain America, Iron Man and Black Widow to life aren’t part of the voice cast, the creators of What If…? were thrilled to have an actress of Blanchett’s caliber on board. “I mean, we got Cate Blanchett! And she’s amazing.” exclaimed director and executive producer Bryan Andrews when sharing his excitement for the episode.

    Andrews’ excitement was shared by Matthew Chauncey, who took over writing duties for the episode. “We’re all such huge fans of her work, obviously, who isn’t?“, asked Chauncey. Chauncey went on to explain that the genesis of the episode came not only from loving what Blanchett’s Hela accomplished in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok but also from wondering why Odin treated his daughter so much more harshly than his sons.

    AC Bradley and I both love Ragnarok and Hela specifically, but something that always
    struck us was how her dad did her kind of dirty in that movie compared to how he treated his sons. Think about it: When Thor starts acting a fool in his first movie, Odin sends him on a sort of cosmic time-out to Earth. But his daughter? Nope, he just locks her in Hel for all
    eternity and throws away the key. It got us thinking: How much of Hela’s villainy is a product
    of her own nature and how much of it was created by the way her father treated her? What
    would happen if instead of locking her in Hel, he banished her to Earth to teach her a
    lesson?

    Matthew Chanuncy

    The result is an episode that creates one arguably the most interesting alternate universes introduced in the animated streaming series. By setting the divergence point one thousand years before Thor’s Sacred Timeline banishment, the episode’s butterfly effect becomes nearly as exciting to ponder as the Asgardian-Ten Rings alliance formed during it.

    The first 8 episodes of Season 2 of What If…? are now streaming on Disney Plus with the season finale set to debut at 12 AM PST/3 AM EST.

  • ‘What If…?’ Creatives Go Behind the Scenes on Episode 6

    ‘What If…?’ Creatives Go Behind the Scenes on Episode 6

    In what was inarguably their most innovative and inspired creative choice, the team behind What If…? produced an entire episode set in Kanien’kehá:ka and featuring members of the Mohawk Wolf Clan including the MCU’s first original hero, Kahhori. An episode that features the kind of unbridled creativity that helped make Marvel’s publishing house known as the House of Ideas, “What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?” was an achievement four years in the making that required a vast collaborative effort. The end result is an episode with not only original characters but also an original, in-universe mythology rooted in the culture of the First Nations’ people. In an official production brief, executive producer and episode director Bryan Andrews and writer Ryan Little provided some insight into the creation “What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?”.

    The episode imagines a universe in which the Tesseract fell to Earth from Asgard and shattered upon impact allowing the Space Stone inside to imbue a lake in New York in North America’s Haudenosaunee Confederacy with its powers. That Forbidden Lake became a portal to another dimension known as the Skyworld where members of the Mohawk nation existed utopically away from the growing dangers of European colonization. According to Andrews, though the episode didn’t appear until the second season of What If…?, the episode was devised when he first boarded the project.

    The Kahhori Skyworld episode is a special one. One of my first ideas when I came on to What If…? was doing a First Nations episode—what if colonization failed because there were super beings already there? It finally came to life in season two and Ryan Little did an amazing job on it and working with our Mohawk consultants.

    Bryan Andrews

    Writer Ryan Little backed Andrews‘ claim and gave some insight into the work that went into putting the episode together over the last four years. “We spent four years working with historical and language experts from Kanien’kehá:ka, the Mohawk Nation, to craft this episode.” In the episode, members of the Mohawk Nation speak to one another only in Kanien’kéha, their native language, allowing for a much more authentic representation of the people and their culture. It didn’t end with language, however, as the studio’s collaboration with historian Doug George and Mohawk language expert Cecelia King factored into every creative decision in the episode according to Little. “They collaborated with us on every layer of the story from the characters’ names, personalities and costumes to the look of the civilization and the surrounding wilderness to make every facet of this episode the most accurate depiction possible.”

    The end result was a strikingly beautiful episode that has been well-received by the Mohawk community according to Jeremy White, who voiced another one of the episode’s original heroes, Atahraks.

    The first seven episodes of Season 2 of What If…? are now streaming on Disney Plus and a new episode will be released every day through December 30th.

  • ‘What If…?’ Unleashes Its Full Potential in Episode 6

    ‘What If…?’ Unleashes Its Full Potential in Episode 6

    The House of Ideas. That moniker has been with Marvel Comics for much of its nearly 85 years in the publishing business. Beginning with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The House of Ideas created a multiverse full of some of the most beloved fictional characters in the industry. For 15 years now, those characters have been at the center of pop culture as the narrative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to unfold across screens big and small. However, in that time, for all the liberties Marvel Studios took with characters and stories from the pages of Marvel Comics, they had never created an original superhero…until now.

    On display in Episode 6 of the second season of What If…?, “What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?” was, for the first time, the type of unbridled creativity that gave Marvel Comics the House of Ideas nickname in the first place. Set in North America’s Haudenosaunee Confederacy at an undefined time in pre-colonial America, the episode introduced the MCU’s first original superhero, a Mohawk Wolf Clan woman named Kahhori, and then quickly followed that up by introducing a dozen or so more powered-up Kanien:ke people. Throughout the episode, the Mohawk people–whose way of life is being threatened by Spanish conquistadors–speak authentically in their native Kanien’kéha thanks to the studio’s collaboration with historian Doug George and Mohawk language expert Cecelia King. Never in the history of comic book projects has a Native American people been treated so reverently. But the creativity hardly stops with a wonderful new hero and some closed captions.

    From start to finish (well, almost–they did drop dickhead Strange in there), the episode blazes its own trail. Beginning with Surtur’s successful Ragnarok set at some undisclosed point in time before Odin placed the Tesseract in the care of the people of Tønsberg, “What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?” features nary a single familiar beat from the MCU. Beginning with the fate of the Tesseract, creators Bryan Andrews and Ryan Little played very liberally with the premise of What If…? in this episode and the payoff was monumental. With the butterfly effect in full effect, the creatives were able to get schwifty with the possibilities of the Space Stone and its spacetime powers. The inventiveness led not only to a beautiful, new in-universe mythology that introduced the Mohawk Skyworld but also a wonderful powerset resulting from exposure to the Tesseract-powered waters of the Forbidden Lake.

    As teased in the closing moments of the episode, Kahhori’s story hasn’t come to a close. While she has a larger role to play in Season 2 of What If…?, it would feel like a missed opportunity if the studio didn’t include the character in one or both parts of the two-part finale to the Multiverse Saga. With some interpretation of one or another of Marvel Comics’ Battleworld stories sure to take place, the inclusion of Kahhori–now one of the most powerful heroes in the Multiverse–doesn’t seem like a bridge too far. Though she was voiced by Devery Jacobs in What If…?, Jacobs is already holding down a live-action role in the MCU. That opens the door for Amber Midthunder, who in 2022 made it clear she was ready to join the MCU and told us her hopes to continue to push for indigenous representation in Hollywood blockbusters, to possibly fill the role.

    While the MCU cannot and certainly should not look to create brand new heroes, mythologies and universes in every project, “What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?” serves as a wonderful reminder of what creators can do when they find true inspiration. Here they have delivered undoubtedly the best episode of What If…? and opened the door for a fascinating new hero to join the best of the rest in the Multiverse should those calling the shots have the courage.

  • Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Series May Be Preparing for Season 2

    Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Series May Be Preparing for Season 2

    Shortly after the writer’s strike came to an end, the writing staff for the second season of Netflix’s live-action One Piece series unveiled its writer’s team. There were hints that they may have started working on some of the episodes already ahead of the strike; hints even exist that they may have finished most of the drafts already. Yet, we have no exact timeline on when we could expect the second season to start getting the cameras rolling again.

    A new post from Nami actress Emily Rudd may have given us a hint on when we can expect production to start. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily give us a true timeline but it does seem that we can expect production on the second season to be earlier than initially expected next year. In a now-deleted Instagram story, Rudd shared a gift she received for the holidays with a highlight that it is for the “season 2 prep”.

    This alone doesn’t necessarily make a case that production is going to start up just as soon as the new year comes rolling in, but preparations are a hint that we’re definitely getting closer. Plus, it might be a better hint that some kind of casting news may be underway in the coming weeks to prepare us ahead of production.

    There’s also the hint from Brashaad Mayweather, the actor who played Patty in the first season sharing that he’s already hearing sets being built for next year’s filming. As such, they may already be getting ready to start as soon as they can and will likely require quite a few more out-there sets when compared to the first given the nature of the story that is going to be told and the many more islands they’ll explore.

    We’ll probably have to wait at least until later before we get an update, as we did get some casting announcements ahead of time before production started in January last year. Though, it’s also quite a bit different given that this is the second season of a recurring show that may handle things a bit differently. Still, here’s hoping that this is a sign that updates are just around the corner.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘What If…?’ Writer on Creating Captain Carter

    ‘What If…?’ Writer on Creating Captain Carter

    Season 1 of What If…? introduced the novel idea of Peggy Carter becoming the test subject of Project Rebirth rather than Steve Rogers. The result, of course, was Captain Carter, a Union Jack-wearing Super Solider who led the Allied Forces against Hydra in an alternate universe in “What If…Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?”, the first episode of the animated series. Carter went on to be one of the main characters of Season 1, joining Uatu’s Guardians of the Multiverse, and a Variant of the character made her live-action debut in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The original Captain Carter is back for Season 2 of What If…? and as the ending of the Carter-centric Episode 5, “What If…Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?” teased, she’s going to continue to play a large role in the Multiverse. As Captain Carter creator and What If…? head writer A.C. Bradley explained, there are some compelling reasons why the character is the centerpiece of the series.

    “Captain Carter holds a special place in my heart. I’ve never loved a fictional character as much as I love her,” said Bradley. “When season one was happening, a colleague asked me if I’d researched the treatment of women during World War II. As a woman in Hollywood, I’ve got plenty of my own stories to draw from.” It’s safe to say that this alt-universe Variant of Carter, voiced by Haley Atwell who has portrayed the live-action version of the character since 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, has become one of the most popular and transcendent characters from the series.

    For me, Captain Carter stands tall not just due to her physical strength or her combat abilities—it’s her undeniable presence, her capacity to take charge and command respect, or at the very least, equal treatment.

    A.C. Bradley

    As the MCU continues to introduce new heroes, fans continue to have more and more options from which to draw inspiration. To that end, Carter has certainly made quite a few fans, including one near and dear to Bradley’s heart. “I have a two-year-old daughter,” says Bradley. “She walks into [daycare] with her foam Captain Carter shield. That I could give her that role model, that symbol of strength and feminism—I’ve never been prouder as a mother or writer.”

    The first 6 episodes of What If…? are now streaming on Disney Plus with a new episode debuting daily through December 30th.

  • Writing ‘What If…?’ Episode 4 Was a Dream Come True for AC Bradley

    Writing ‘What If…?’ Episode 4 Was a Dream Come True for AC Bradley

    After the first season of What If…? streamed in 2021, one episode that didn’t stream got nearly as much press as the ones that did. That episode, which became known as The Lost Gamora Episode, featured Tony Stark ending up on Sakaar. Even though it spawned a Lego set, the episode–written by AC Bradley–ended up being destined for Season 2 of the animated adventure. Now that it’s finally streamed, Bradley has opened up a bit about it.

    It turns out that while Bradley wrote the episode in 2019, it had been gestating for far longer. “Seeing Iron Man in 2008 was a game-changer for me,” she said. “I’d just graduated from USC Film School, was working as an assistant at a management company, writing every morning but still trying to find my voice. What did I want to write? What did I even have to say? Then one Saturday, a friend texted me—we ended up catching Iron Man at the Arclight.“

    That fateful showing, it turns out, set Bradley on the path to being a major part of the creative team of What If…? as it opened her eyes to what a comic book movie could be. “I remember walking out of the theater and telling her that this is it—I want to write Iron Man—or rather, stories like that: action-adventure, but with heart and humor. Telling a very human, personal story, but wrapping it in superheroics and, of course, killer explosions.”

    https://twitter.com/TheAshBradley/status/1550593591763877889?s=20

    After serving as the head writer for the first two seasons of What If…?, Bradley announced that the second season would be her last project with Marvel Studios. With another season of the Multiversal series confirmed, it will be someone else’s turn to turn their dreams of working on comic book projects into a reality.

  • ‘What If…?’ Writers Speak Out on Happy Hogan’s Big Night

    ‘What If…?’ Writers Speak Out on Happy Hogan’s Big Night

    Episode 3 of the second season of What If…? was quite the Christmas Eve gift. “What If…Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?” proved to be one of the funniest episodes of the series to date, allowing Jon Favreau‘s sidekick the opportunity to step into the spotlight and Freak out. With an infinite number of potential stories to tell, having Hogan defend Avengers Tower against Justin Hammer probably wasn’t on many peoples’ wish lists; however, it proved to be a worthy inclusion in the anthology. According to series writers Matt Chauncey and AC Bradley, the unlikely story–and its unlikely hero–came out of a desire to put together a holiday special and a request by Favreau.

    “AC and I grew up loving all those holiday specials and Christmas episodes that come back on year after year, and I think selfishly, we really just wanted a chance to write one of our own,” said Chauncey. “Something that might have a shot at becoming an annual tradition that gets revisited every holiday season. The challenge and the fun became figuring out who would be the least likely team of would-be heroes to rise up to save the day when the real Avengers are off doing other things,” he added.

    “[We’re] creating this sweet, meta-narrative where these characters who usually play the sidekick role in the movies finally get to step into the limelight and be the heroes of the story,” Chauncey continued. “It’s about flipping the script and giving these fan-favorite characters their moment to shine, which also felt like a fitting theme straight out of one of those classic holiday specials we wanted to emulate.”

    So how did they land on Happy Hogan? In a serendipitous turn, Favreau had been hoping to have Hogan take center stage in an episode and that gave the writers exactly what they were looking for. “First, let’s all agree that Jon Favreau is just an incredible talent and person. He was awesome when he came in to record for season one,” said Bradley. “Then for season two, he had one request—he wanted to headline own episode! Knowing that Happy Hogan was going to lead the charge on this one, Matt and I had a blast adding in all these Favreau touches.”

    Favreau clearly had a blast doing the voice work for Hogan and his alter-ego, the Freak. And as great as he was, the return of Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, who served as the Hans Gruber to Favreau’s John McClane in the Die Hard riff, put the bow on the wonderful animated gift. New episodes of What If…? will continue to debut daily through December 30th.

  • Marvel Studios Unveils Synopses for the Remaining Episodes of ‘What If…?’ Season 2

    Marvel Studios Unveils Synopses for the Remaining Episodes of ‘What If…?’ Season 2

    To date, three episodes of the second season of Marvel Studios canonical animated series What If…? and so far, critics and audiences alike have given them a thumbs up. With 6 more episodes set to roll out daily until December 30th, the studio has given everyone a pretty interesting present to open on Christmas Eve: spoilery synopses of the remaining episodes. Proceed at your own risk…

    Tony Stark/Iron Man in Marvel Studios’ WHAT IF…?, Season 2 exclusively on Disney+. © 2023 MARVEL.
    Episode 4: What If… Iron Man Crashed Into The Grandmaster?

    After his gambit to destroy the Chitauri Fleet during the battle of New York strands him on the planet of Sakaar, Tony Stark’s efforts to overthrow The Grandmaster lead to a ceremonial, grand prix-turned-demolition-derby—a death match that could land Tony on the Sakaarian throne.What If… Captain Carter Fought The Hydra Stomper?

    Episode 5: What If… Captain Carter Fought The HYDRA Stomper?

    After the long-lost Hydra Stomper is recovered, Captain Carter’s mission to save her old flame, Steve Rogers, sets her on a collision course with new enemies.

    Episode 6: What If… Kahhori Reshaped The World?
    Kahhori in Marvel Studios’ WHAT IF…?, Season 2 exclusively on Disney+. © 2023 MARVEL.

    After conquistadors lay siege to her tribe, a young Mohawk woman ventures into the Tesseract-powered waters of the legendary Forbidden Lake to recruit the forces of Sky World to help save her people.

    Episode 7: What If… Hela Found The Ten Rings?
    (L-R): Xu Wenwu and Hela in Marvel Studios’ WHAT IF…?, Season 2 exclusively on Disney+. © 2023 MARVEL.

    Growing weary of Hela’s bloodlust, Odin opts to teach his daughter a lesson by stripping her of her powers and banishing her to Earth. But when she lands in ancient China, the seductive lure of the Ten Rings threatens to reawaken the Goddess of Death’s villainous appetite.

    Episode 8: What If… The Avengers Assembled In 1602?
    1602 Wanda Merlin in Marvel Studios’ WHAT IF…?, Season 2 exclusively on Disney+. © 2023 MARVEL.

    When Captain Carter is transported to an Elizabethan-era locale that’s populated by modern day MCU figures, she’ll have to uncover the cause of the temporal anomaly that’s mysteriously stranded so many familiar heroes and villains in the year 1602.

    Episode 9: What If… Strange Supreme Intervened?
    Strange-Supreme in Marvel Studios’ WHAT IF…?, Season 2 exclusively on Disney+. © 2023 MARVEL.

    When Captain Carter teams up with an old friend to hunt down vicious Universe Killers terrorizing the Multiverse, she finds the greatest threat to all existence may be closer to her than she realizes.

    Episode 9’s description is especially spoilery to anyone who has been following along throughout the Multiverse Saga. While Universe Killers sounds like a big deal, MCU fans know who the true threat to existence is…

    About What If…? Season 2

    The Watcher returns to season two of Marvel Studios’ What If…? when the animated series
    begins streaming on Disney+ on Dec. 22. And in the spirit of the holiday season, fans are
    invited to unwrap a new episode nightly for nine nights.

    With a new episode debuting nightly beginning December 22, season two of What If…? continues the journey as The Watcher guides viewers through the vast multiverse, introducing brand new and familiar faces throughout the MCU. The series questions, revisits and twists classic Marvel Cinematic moments with an incredible voice cast that includes a host of stars who reprise their iconic roles. Featuring fan-favorite characters this season like Nebula, Hela and Happy Hogan, episodes are directed by Bryan Andrews (eps 2-9) and Stephan Franck (ep 1) and written by AC Bradley (eps 3, 4, 5, 8), Matthew Chauncey (eps 1-3, 7, 9) and Ryan Little (eps 6, 8). The animated series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Bryan Andrews and AC Bradley. 

  • Marvel Studios 2024 Slate Officially Revealed

    Marvel Studios 2024 Slate Officially Revealed

    In July 2022, Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, unveiled a significant portion of the Multiverse Saga slate. At that time, 2023 was set to be the studio’s most ambitious year yet with 8 live-action projects set to roll out in theaters and on Disney +. The best-laid plans and all that and as 2023 comes to a close, 2 of those projects, Echo and Ironheart, have yet to stream and one of the films, Blade, has yet to begin production. As those projects began to get moved out of 2023, the shuffle was on and 2024’s took on a whole new look as well.

    As originally presented at SDCC ’22, Marvel Studios 2024 slate included 4 films and 5 live-action streaming series. At the time, no dates were announced for any of the studio’s animated series. Things have certainly changed dramatically since then. In an official release from Disney, Marvel Studios entire 2024 slate is now composed of only 5 projects and only 3 of them (1 film and 2 streaming series) are live-action.

    (L-R): Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Logan in Marvel Studios’ Untitled Deadpool movie. Photo by Jay Maidment. © 2023 MARVEL.

    As per the official release, the studio’s year will kick off when all 5 episodes of Echo stream on January 9th. The untitled Deadpool sequel will be Marvel Studios’ theatrical release of 2024, debuting in theaters on July 26th. The final live-action project of the year, Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, is officially set to stream at some point in the Fall which lines up with earlier reports of a September 19th target date.

    Marvel will also roll out three animated streaming series over the course of 2024. The newly announced Eyes of Wakanda, produced by Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media, X-Men ’97 and the recently retitiled Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are all on the docket for the new year though no release windows were provided by Disney.

    As becomes more evident every year, the slate is very fluid. Projects could be moved in or out of 2024 as any number of variables dictates.