Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV News

  • Marvel Studios was Aware of ‘The Marvels’ Troubles, Reworking Future Slate

    Marvel Studios was Aware of ‘The Marvels’ Troubles, Reworking Future Slate

    2023 was certainly a rough year for Marvel Studios and potentially the one to reshape their future. Phase 4 seemed to be the most experimental for the studio, especially facing troubles during COVID and the recent strikes completely scrapping any plans that were finally coming together. The Marvels‘ box office is definitely going to be something many cling to for a variety of reasons, but it does look like Marvel Studios wasn’t just blinded by the troubles heading their way.

    In a new report by The Hollywood Reporter, they claim that according to their sources, “Marvel studios and Disney were well aware The Marvels was in trouble” even before it was released in theaters. As such, they are going to take their time to rework their theatrical tentpole releases and also evaluate generally how they will move forward.

    Marvel Spotlight is their first move to create a more distinct separation of the projects that are relevant for the bigger picture, but it does seem like this might be how they’ll brand most of their Disney+ series moving forward. THR also highlights that Deadpool 3 is a deliberate choice as the only release next year and perhaps is one of the reasons they are considering reworking Captain America: Brave New World. Marvel Studios’ future may seem uncertain but it’s definitely a good sign that they are learning from their lessons.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Wonder Man’ to Start Filming after Thanksgiving, Now a Marvel Spotlight Project

    ‘Wonder Man’ to Start Filming after Thanksgiving, Now a Marvel Spotlight Project

    Marvel Studios’ strategy of utilizing Marvel Spotlight to create a distinction between their films and TV shows is continuing to move forward. The upcoming Wonder Man series is seemingly still alive after many rumors hinted it might be canceled. The series starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will now be under the new banner that highlights that this is an additional story part of the MCU but not something relevant to the major ongoing narrative.

    We still know very little about the project but it did start production before the writer’s strike led to the production shutting down. Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton is set to direct the first two episodes and is acting as an executive producer on the Disney+ series. It’s unclear if the intentions of this being a standalone project were there from the beginning or if it’s part of the new direction for the production studio.

    The announcement is part of the big reveal that the director has left the upcoming Avengers project behind to put his focus on other projects with the studio. Of course, we don’t know what exactly he else might be working on but it does seem like a move to allow the director some more time to work on other projects rather than rush out everything and neglect the long-awaited Avengers film.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Loki’ Season Finale Grows to 11.2M Views

    ‘Loki’ Season Finale Grows to 11.2M Views

    While all eyes are on the demise of the MCU with The Marvels‘ disappointing opening due to a variety of reasons strongly affecting the market, it does look like their Disney+ series is showing that there’s a chance there’s, as expected, more to this story. The series finale for Loki has seen an increase from its initial viewership according to Disney+. It’s not a massive jump but it did see a jump from 10.9M in its premiere episode to 11.2M in its final entry.

    That is not the biggest ending for a series in 2023 on Disney+ however, as the series was just behind The Mandalorian’s third season. Still, what is quite impressive is that Loki had a strong consistency throughout its six-episode run by pulling in an average of 11M. It should be noted that it’s difficult to compare streaming services’ viewership the success so we can only compare it to other series on the streaming service.

    Loki remains one of the strongest entries on Disney+ for Marvel Studios and is likely a template for future projects moving forward. Of course, we don’t know what their future has in store exactly but it’s interesting to see these two sides to what Marvel Studios currently stands at. It further highlights that the box office performance represents a crossroads rather than the norm.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Loki’ Directors Preparing for ‘Daredevil’ Disney+ Series

    ‘Loki’ Directors Preparing for ‘Daredevil’ Disney+ Series

    Some time ago, it was revealed that Marvel Studios is pulling back on the upcoming Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again. They restarted the project with an actual showrunner in the form of former The Punisher’s Dario Scardapane, who likely will bring his previous work to influence the series to be a bit closer to the version many are hoping to see revived from the original Netflix series.

    That isn’t all, as Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead, who have proven they are some of Marvel Studios’ best gets after Moon Knight and Loki Season 2, are also involved with the series. In an interview with The Wrap, they revealed that they have yet to start work on the project but are already diving deep into the franchise, comics, and Netflix series included.

    It is day zero. We’re currently just consuming Daredevil content, not just the Netflix show but all the possible material. We’re just making our stew of information nice and thick.

    Aaron Moorehead

    They will be directing the remaining episodes from the series and it’ll be interesting to see if they have any involvement in getting the previous entries going as well. There’s a lot we don’t know about the adaptation just yet given that it’s taking a completely new direction. Very likely a bigger sign of Marvel Studios reshuffling their future releases.

    Source: The Wrap

  • RUMOR: Marvel Studios “Likely Moving Away” from Original Kang Storyline

    RUMOR: Marvel Studios “Likely Moving Away” from Original Kang Storyline

    There’s been much debate online over the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Many have already called it the end of an era after their first film in a while had a lower opening than even their 2008 release, but that doesn’t mean the production company is just going to sit around. The biggest challenge was that Jonathan Majors‘ Kang the Conqueror was going to be the main focus of the Multiverse Saga but as it turns out, they may be heading in a new direction.

    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness is seemingly no longer involved with the first Avengers film, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. A podcast episode of The Ringer’s House of R features writer Joanna Robinson who made the recent MCU book exploring the inner makings that made the studio what it is today. In it, she seemingly hints that Marvel Studios might be moving away from its original plans.

    As this hasn’t been officially confirmed, it’s something we should take with a grain of salt but Loki definitely kept it open how they decide to move forward. They still have many options in how they tackle the entire storyline moving forward and there’s also a chance that they simply retitle the first Avengers film, or perhaps just jump straight into Secret Wars‘ storyline. They could turn whatever happened to the multiverse into a mystery film as these characters try to unravel what happened to their reality.

    Source: Spotify

  • Marvel Studios Unveils New ‘Spotlight’ Brand for

    Marvel Studios Unveils New ‘Spotlight’ Brand for

    Here’s a rather fascinating surprise. It looks like Marvel Studios was tired of people complaining about what is and isn’t part of the mainline storyline and has established a new brand. As the internet complains about fatigue and “filler” in the build-up towards the grander storyline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it seems they decided to establish a “Marvel Spotlight” with a brand new fanfare composed by Michael Giacchino. Its name is inspired by the anthology comic book series from 1971 and gives them the opportunity to explore smaller stories without the weight of “having to watch it all” the internet claims.

    Marvel Studios’ Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum shared the following on the new branding:

    Marvel Spotlight gives us a platform to bring more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen, and in the case of Echo, focusing on street-level stakes over larger MCU continuity. Just like comics fans didn’t need to read Avengers or Fantastic Four to enjoy a Ghost Rider Spotlight comic, our audience doesn’t need to have seen other Marvel series to understand what’s happening in Maya’s story.

    Brad Winderbaum

    You can listen to the fanfare here:

    It makes sense and gives people the opportunity to be a bit more selective in what is or isn’t relevant. Ironically, it seems that the “homework” accusations are technically solved with this but it does expect that people are informed of what exactly this branding means. In a way, this is also their version of the Marvel Knights branding used in the comics to introduce darker, more grounded storylines. We’ll see how they use it in the future.

    Source: Marvel

  • Marvel Studios’ ‘Echo’ Series to Change Echo’s Powers

    Marvel Studios’ ‘Echo’ Series to Change Echo’s Powers

    Surprising everyone: the first trailer for the next Disney+ series Echo has dropped. It dropped in quite a fashion, as not only is it now a Disney+ and Hulu simultaneous release, but it’s also going to be Marvel Studios’ first TV-MA release. So, we’ll have to wait for its binge-release in January to see if the story delivers on the MA promise.

    In a small interview ahead of its release, director Sydney Freeland also teased that this version of the character might be quite a bit different from the comics. Echo was famous for her ability to copy anyone’s ability, which made her a formidable fighter against characters like Daredevil. It seems they have other plans for her according to the director.

    Her power in the comics is she can copy anything, any movement, any whatever. It’s kind of lame. I will say, that is not her power.

    Sydney Freeland

    Details are still scarce on what exactly her new power set might be; if there even will be one but it’s definitely interesting that they are trying to head into a new direction with the character. We’ll see if we get some teases in the coming months. A January release is kind of fitting given it’s a sequel to Hawkeye, which was released in December.

    Source: Variety

  • Disney to Purchase Comcast’s Remaining Stake in Hulu

    Disney to Purchase Comcast’s Remaining Stake in Hulu

    Was only a question of time but it looks like Disney is dead set on owning Hulu 100% moving forward. It has been announced that they are set to purchase the remaining 33% stake for around $8.61 billion from Comcast. The following statement has been shared on why they are now invested in getting their hands on the rest of that streaming service.

    The acquisition of Comcast’s stake in Hulu at fair market value will further Disney’s streaming objectives.

    It’s unclear what exactly their streaming objectives are and if moving forward Hulu and Disney+ will become a more united streaming service, but it seems Disney has some plans to at least counteract the continued drop in linear TV viewership. As much as people are discussing the streaming wars, TV as we know it is still dying with viewership dropping steadily over the last few years.

    So, we might see a major shake-up in the streaming market moving forward as everyone is ensuring they have the equity stake in the various platforms to ensure long-term investments. We will see if a new disruptor might pop up in the coming years but for now: streaming is here to stay.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘She-Hulk’s Budget Ballooned Up to $25M Per Episode

    ‘She-Hulk’s Budget Ballooned Up to $25M Per Episode

    There are many discussions surrounding what is going on with Marvel. While some believe they have lost their edge, it’s hard to deny (even if the web tries) that recent events shook the entire industry in an unprecedented way. What seemed like a straight-forward march into 2020 ended up derailing an entire industry for years to come. As such, costs were exploding beyond what you’d usually see with shows, especially in a streaming war to produce the best “content” possible (even if that wording has soured quite a bit in the industry).

    She-Hulk, Attorney at Law was one of the shows that seemingly suffered, as in a new Variety report they claim that a single episode would end up being more expensive than even the final episodes of Game of Thrones. However, it’s not surprising given just how big Marvel was that they’d invest heavily to promote the streamer as much as possible, especially with a purely CG character as part of the cast and we know that Marvel has a bad habit of generally reshooting many sequences leading to more CG work.

    It definitely isn’t a good sign if their costs continue to pile up and who knows if the current strikes also affected the 2024 releases. We may not know until next year, but it wasn’t a secret that the Disney+ shows cost a pretty penny, especially grounded shows like Secret Invasion saw its costs balloon during production in recent reports.

    Marvel Studios wasn’t quite prepared to start a new venture like long-form storytelling and then getting hit by a pandemic that completely threw everyone off. We’re still feeling the aftermath of that time as it was still just under a year ago that we were living it. Now, we are also facing strikes that are redefining the entire industry, at this point while Marvel is certainly facing shaky grounds, it’s not something that seems specific to them looking at how few films performed in 2023.

    Source: Variety

  • Marvel Studios’ Daredevil’ Series Finds Its New Showrunner and Directors

    Marvel Studios’ Daredevil’ Series Finds Its New Showrunner and Directors

    It’s been a wild ride for Disney+ and Marvel Studios. Now that the WGA regulations are in place based on the new deal, the studio’s head writer concept has been scrapped to return to a more traditional showrunner method. The Punisher’s Dario Scardapane is seemingly taking over as showrunner for the Daredevil: Born Again series (uncertain if that name will remain) and is joined by the directing duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who are making quite a name for themselves with their work on the Loki Season 2 episodes that are getting quite a bit of social media attention.

    The series was filmed in New York but after it was paused due to the strikes, it seemed that Marvel Studios wasn’t quite satisfied with what they got and original head writers Matt Corman and Chris Ord left the project. Given the character’s history with the Netflix series considered one of the best adaptations, it’s no surprise that they are trying to make sure that this one truly sticks the landing. Benson and Moorhead are attached to direct the new episodes to finish out the first season but no one knows how much they will overhaul the entire show.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter