Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV News

  • Synopsis, New Characters Revealed for Marvel Studios ‘Ironheart’

    Synopsis, New Characters Revealed for Marvel Studios ‘Ironheart’

    After debuting in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams is set to take on her own solo adventure in the Disney Plus streaming series Ironheart. While a new listing at the U.S. Copyright Office points to it being quite a while before that series hits the streamer, some new information about the series has come to light.

    Though it’s not set to stream for another 2 years, a new synopsis for Ironheart–along with some additions to the main cast–provides a little more insight into what to expect. The series is described as one “in which charming teenage super genius Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) returns from MIT to her hometown of Chicago in her iron suit and begins to unravel threads that bring danger and adventure to her doorstep.” While it doesn’t give away much, the synopsis does at least place the setting of Ironheart AFTER the events of Wakanda Forever, clearing up a subject about which there had been some debate.

    The filing also fills out the series’ cast a bit more though it’s not quite as revealing as a similar filing that was made for Daredevil: Born Again. Solo: A Star Wars Story’s Alden Ehrenreich is listed as Joe McGillicuddy which is almost certainly an alias or throwaway name as it’s widely believed the actor had been cast as Ezekiel Stane, the son of Jeff Bridges‘ Iron Man villain, Obadiah Stane. Manny Montana (Cousin John) and Shea Couleé (Slug) look to be members of the crew of Anthony Ramos’ Parker Robins with Couleé likely a version of Marvel Comics Ulysses Lugman and Montana a version of John King, the actual cousin of Robbins.

    Anji White looks to be portraying Riri’s mother, Ronnie, while Lyric Ross looks to be taking on the role of Riri’s best friend, Natalie, who was shot and killed in front of Riri when she was 13. The Many Saints of Newark actor Matthew Elam is listed as Xavier Washington, who seems to be an original character and may end up as a love interest for Riri. Interestingly enough, Regan Aliyah, who joined the cast in August of 2022 and was rumored to be set to portray Zelma Stanton, is absent from the cast list.

    Despite their efforts to conceal his identity here, there’s really no mystery to Sacha Baron Cohen’s “mystery man” as it’s been widely reported he will be portraying Mephisto. His presence–and that of the Hood–sets up Ironheart as a unique magic vs. science that should thrill fans when it arrives in 2025.

  • ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Gets a New Synopsis and Interesting Character Additions

    ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Gets a New Synopsis and Interesting Character Additions

    After getting off to a very public start of production in New York City, Daredevil: Born Again moved out of the eye of the public for some time before being shut down in the midst of the WGA strike. With the resolution of that strike and some good vibes being generated around a settlement of the SAG strike, the big wheel is starting to spin again at Marvel Studios and some new information about the anticipated series has come to light.

    Thanks to the discovery of a US Copyright filing, a new synopsis for the Disney Plus streaming show has been made public as well as some incredibly interesting additions to the cast.

    In the filing, Daredevil: Born Again is described as a story that sees “longtime rivals Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) try to leave behind their darker alter-egos to serve the people of New York only to have their pasts catch up to them.” Given all the uncertainty about just how this series ties to Netflix’s Daredevil, it’s eye-catching to see Murdock and Fisk described as “longtime rivals.”

    The synopsis may be the least interesting bit of information found in the filing, however, as it not only confirms quite a few rumored castings but also reveals several actors and characters with major Marvel Comics ties. Confirmed are the castings of Margarita Levieva as Heather Glenn and Nikki M. James as Kristen McDuffie, each of whom was a love interest of Murdock’s in the Marvel Comics. Of major interest is the listing of Michael Gandolfini as a character named Daniel Blade, Arty Froushan as Buck Cashman and Genneya Walton as BB Urich.

    It has been rumored that Gandolfini is playing a young Wilson Fisk in flashbacks and “Daniel Blade” is not an existing Marvel Comics character, so there could be some alias work at play there. While Buck Cashman, a superpowered government special operative, has over 30 appearances as a supporting character in Daredevil comics, the most interesting name of the group is BB Urich. While there’s no BB Urich in the pages of Marvel Comics, it’s possible that Walton could be playing the daughter of Ben Urich, one of Daredevil’s most important supporting characters in the comics who was played by Vondie Curis-Hall in the Netflix Daredevil series. Urich was killed by Kingpin in that series so if Walton were to be playing his daughter, her inclusion may well line up with the idea of Fisk’s past catching up with him.

    Whatever the case, the filing also indicates the show isn’t expected to stream until January 2025 at the earliest which means fans will have a long wait to find out exactly what’s going on in Daredevil: Born Again.

  • Potential Release Dates Emerge for Marvel Studios Delayed Streaming Series

    Potential Release Dates Emerge for Marvel Studios Delayed Streaming Series

    The recently resolved WGA strike and the yet-to-be-resolved SAG strike have taken a toll on Marvel Studios’ streaming plans. Streaming series such as Daredevil: Born Again and Wonder Man were forced to shut production down which began a game of dominoes with the once robust slate of programming. Without a solid idea of when series would resume production, much less complete it, the studio began to reshuffle its plans to make sure consumers would have something to consume in 2024. As a result, Echo, a finished product, was bumped out of November 2023 and into January 2024 and other series’ release dates, such as those for Agatha: Coven of Chaos and Ironheart, faced some serious uncertainty. Now, as the future of production schedules begins to become a bit clearer, some clarity around the release of these projects may have gained some clarity as well.

    According to multiple filings with the US Copyright office, originally found by @ScarletWitchUpd, Marvel Studios has begun to plan out their 2024 and 2025 streaming schedules a little more specifically.

    While these dates must certainly continue to be taken as tentative for the time being, it seems the current plan is to release the first episode of Agatha: Darkhold Diaries on September 29, 2024, the first episode of Daredevil: Born Again in January 2025 and the first episode of Ironheart on September 3, 2025. The late 2025 release date for Ironheart comes as quite a shock considering principal photography on the series wrapped in November 2022 and a good deal of footage was shown off at D23 2022 in Anaheim.

    If these dates should hold–or even be relatively accurate–it also speaks volumes about Marvel Studios plans for series such as Wonder Man and Vision Quest. As it stands, it would seem that neither of those two series would be on the books before 2026. Given the studio once had eight unannounced series (of which Wonder Man and Vision Quest were two) set to stream between the Fall of 2024 and the Summer of 2025 it will interesting to see just how much fat has been trimmed from the slate since Bob Iger returned.

  • A Second Season of ‘Ahsoka’ Looks to Be in the Works

    A Second Season of ‘Ahsoka’ Looks to Be in the Works

    While the eighth and final episode of Ahsoka left no doubt that there are more adventures in store for the former Jedi, the lack of an immediate announcement of a second season left fans wondering where those adventures would unfold. With creator Dave Filoni also tapped to bring the New Republic era of stories to the big screen, it’s reasonable to wonder if the cliffhangers from “The Jedi, The Witch and The Warlord” were meant to be resolved in the “Heir to the Empire” film and if Ahsoka would be a one and done. While it’s possible much of what went on in Ahsoka might be addressed in the film, it now seems a second season is a very realistic possibility as well.

    According to Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro, though nothing is “locked yet”, due at least in part to the lengthy WGA strike, a second season of Ahsoka seems pretty likely and is “in the conversation” about what project is up next for the main cast of characters. If that’s the case, it seems more foundation needs to be laid before Filoni’s film, which is said to be the capstone of the Mando-verse projects, hits theaters.

    Lucasfilm’s Star Wars streaming series Skeleton Crew is thought to be the next New Republic-era story headed to Disney Plus though there seems to be some uncertainty when that will stream despite it having previously been announced as a late-2023 drop. Beyond that, it’s believed that a fourth season of The Mandalorian is ready to head into production as soon as possible after the resolution of the SAG strike. If filming were to get underway in 2023, it’s possible it would be ready for release in the Spring of 2025. While it hasn’t been officially announced yet, it seems as though Lucasfilm is angling for Filoni’s film to hit theaters in 2026 so it’s possible that a second season of Ahsoka might have some space carved out for it in 2025 or early 2026.

    All episodes of Ahsoka are streaming now on Disney Plus.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Ahsoka’ Season Finale Runtime Revealed

    ‘Ahsoka’ Season Finale Runtime Revealed

    Lucasfilm’s latest Star Wars streaming series, Ahsoka, has by and large been one of the studio’s most consistently strong efforts. Led by a stellar cast including star Rosario Dawson and Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll, the series has served as both a continuation of Star Wars Rebels and an effective next chapter in the New Republic era of stories being spun by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. Now, with the series finale just two days away, a new report from a reliable source has emerged and gives fans an idea of how long the eighth and final part of the series will run.

    Cryptic HD QUALITY, who has reliably reported on runtimes for episodes of Marvel Studios and Star Wars series in the past, has shared that the finale of Ahsoka is set to run 46 minutes and 25 seconds with 42 minutes and 43 seconds of that before the credits roll.

    https://twitter.com/Cryptic4KQual/status/1708086543263338523

    Even before the show debuted on Disney Plus, rumors swirled that the series finale would put the heroes in a tough spot and end on an Empire Strikes Back-esque cliffhanger. Part 7 certainly laid the groundwork for such an ending by reuniting the Ahsoka, Ezra and Sabine just in time to take on Grand Admiral Thrawn and Morgan Elsbeth while separating Skoll from his apprentice Shin Hati. It’s likely that most of those 42 minutes will be spent on some pretty intense action scenes before setting up the next chapter in the Mando-verse.

    The final episode of Ahsoka streams Tuesday, October 3rd, at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT.

  • ‘One Piece’ Director Was Against Using The Volume

    ‘One Piece’ Director Was Against Using The Volume

    If it comes to filmmaking technology that had the biggest 180 public opinion, the Volume swiftly lost its standing after seemingly being a necessary tool during the pandemic. The idea is simple: you have LED screens built around that enable actors to interact with elements rather than just using a blank screen of various colors. The Mandalorian revolutionized technology, but its overuse in a lot of major films led to the internet changing its opinion on the tech quite hastily.

    So, it was quite refreshing when One Piece hit Netflix and one of its biggest selling points was that it built pretty much most of its relevant sets. They also filmed in South Africa on water to make sure that the sea-faring adventure actually took place on the water. It seems a big reason for that is director Marc Jobst according to cinematographer Nicole Hirsch Whitaker in an interview with The Direct.

    My director comes from the theater. So I think he was very much against that type of filmmaking for a show like this. He really felt like it was important for the actors to be in a real environment. Even when we shot [the] Gold Roger [sequence], even though that was a lot of blue screen, he took us to a real location and we shot in a castle so that they were surrounded by the walls and that they felt like they were in a space

    Nicole Hirsch Whitaker

    Of course, the use of blue screen still remains but most of the elements our cast interacts with are practical. So, the screens are simply there to help make the world feel real and ensure that the limitations of filming on a water stage don’t include the freeway from he background when the cast is supposed to be on the open seas. Whitaker also goes on to highlight that the story and use of daylight supported what they wanted to achieve with he series.

    Some people might say that that’s not something that will happen in the future, but I do think if actors fight for that, as opposed to being in a room. And listen, the Volume is incredible, it’s amazing and it’s a wonderful tool. And it’s it’s really important because we have to embrace it for so many reasons. But I think for this show, a story about family and being out in the world with a lot of exteriors and a lot of daylight, I think this was the right way to go.

    Nicole Hirsch Whitaker

    There’ll likely be a point when the Volume gets a new time to shine with more additional support rather than being the main way the film. We don’t know if future use will remain but it seems safe to say that One Piece is going to remain focused on utilizing real sets moving forward, as it was one of the series’ biggest selling points. Season 2 also featured a variety of environments that’ll give them fun opportunities to establish a variety of fun environments for the cast to interact with.

    Source: The Direct

  • ‘One Piece’ Season 2 Adds Long-Time Content Creator to Writer’s Room

    ‘One Piece’ Season 2 Adds Long-Time Content Creator to Writer’s Room

    This news actually broke earlier in the month. However, given that the WGA strike was still active and its successful resolution had a higher priority, now that a deal has finally been made and SGA is on the horizon to get one, it seems like the right time to cover the story. Randy Troy, who is a long-time One Piece content creator, and has worked in the industry as an actor and writer, has joined the writer’s room for the second season of Netflix’s live-action adaptation.

    The official announcement was made a few weeks ago on Twitter during the WGA strike that he is involved but was focused on ensuring the strike was a success. We know that the scrips are supposedly ready according to a producer of the One Piece series, which means he was likely already involved before the strike happened as they were preparing the script ahead of Season 1’s launch. While they didn’t know at the time they would be getting a renewal, it definitely was to keep everything going to ensure they can avoid a large gap between seasons’ release.

    It also marks the second time that a content creator who has heavily joined the series’ long history gained a role as part of the live-action production. The first season also involved Artur – The Library of Ohara who supported keeping everything within the timeline that the original manga series followed. So, it’s exciting to see the heavy involvement of people from the community that’ll help this live-action adaptation flourish and grow going into its second, and likely even more ambitious next season.

    Source: twitter

  • Chris Evans Says His Return to Marvel Will Be “No Time Soon”

    Chris Evans Says His Return to Marvel Will Be “No Time Soon”

    Chris Evans was once just as unsure about the idea of him becoming Captain America as fans who thought he was the wrong guy for the job. However, by the time Captain America: The Winter Soldier rolled out in 2014, it was obvious there really was no other guy better for the job and as he led the charge against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame he had earned the love and resect of fans and the right to finally say “Avengers…Assemble.” Like fellow Infinity Saga stars Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlet Johansson, Evans walked away from the MCU after Endgame; however, unlike those stars, Evans‘ Steve Rogers is still alive and well somewhere within the Marvel Universe leaving fans to wonder if he’ll ever return to action.

    Nearly three years ago, Deadline reported that Evans had in fact made a deal to return as Rogers in an unnamed project with an option to return for a second theatrical project. With Hollywood still catching up from COVID, Disney slowing Marvel Studios roll and a pair of long-lasting strikes, much of what Marvel Studios may have had planned has been hit with a series of delays so if Evans had planned a return to the MCU, there’s no telling just how far off that might be. Now, in an interview with GQ, Evans addresses the possibility of his return and gives an idea of when it might happen.

    “Yeah, maybe,” said Evans about his return to Marvel. “I’ll never say never, just because it was such a wonderful experience. But I’m also very precious with it. It’s something that I am very proud of. And like I said, sometimes I can’t believe it even happened. And I wouldn’t want the black eye if it felt like a cash grab or if it didn’t live up to expectations or if it just felt like it wasn’t connected to that original thing. So, no time soon. And ultimately I really hope to just maybe act a little bit less in my life. I have a lot of other interests.“

    Of course, “soon” is relative and with the mountain of delays Marvel is currently looking to overcome, it looks like no new projects would be on the slate for at least another year or more anyway which would put a new Evans-led project somewhere in 2025 or 2026 anyway. That would certainly feel like something other than “soon” for a character who is already 4 years removed from his last appearance. With an adaptation of Secret Wars set to conclude the Multiverse Saga for Marvel Studios, an appearance by Cap–or even Iron Man and Black Widow–is clearly not out of the question and would likely very much live up to those expectations Evans is referring to.

    Source: GQ

  • Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Holds On to #1 Spot in its Third Week

    Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Holds On to #1 Spot in its Third Week

    It looks like people have been enjoying the adventure toward the Grand Line, as the live-action One Piece series has remained the #1 most-watched show on Netflix for a third week in a row. The adventure series pulled in 10M views with around 75.5 M hours viewed. It was a close race with Virgin River, which is in its fifth season but still couldn’t dethrone the manga adaptation while Who is Erin Carter? remained in the top three.

    It looks like Netflix knew where the series was going and that is why they gave it a second season renewal early on; not common for the streaming service. The big fear was that the third week would see a massive drop after a slight increase in its second, but it held surprisingly strong with “only” a 48% drop. It still seems unlikely it’ll kick Queen Charlotte from the Top 10 spot but shows that if they keep a consistent release, the show has a good chance to grow over time.

    It’ll be interesting to see if the show manages to still hold strong. It’s facing some big competition going into its fourth week with Sex Education’s final season and a new season of Love is Blind. So, we’ll see if the series will hold on to the top three or if it manages to even still hold unto the second spot going into its fourth week. For now, we’ll just have to wait but it does continue to seem like word-of-mouth is strong and shows the potential for the series.

    Source: Netflix, The Wrap

  • Jamie Lee Curtis is Ready to Join Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Once Strike Ends

    Jamie Lee Curtis is Ready to Join Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Once Strike Ends

    Just as the live-action One Piece series was in its earliest stages, there was much fanfare for Jamie Lee Curtis to join the Netflix series potentially. Of course, at the time we had no idea if there even would be a second season or if it’d manage to make a big enough splash with audiences. The actress has been a long-time fan of the series and is friends with Chopper voice actress Brina Palencia.

    While she mentioned in interviews, that she’d love to play Robin, she knows that she might not fit that role anymore but has openly discussed playing Dr. Kureha. Chopper is her favorite character so the role just seems to make sense. As One Piece has now been renewed for a second season, the actress has gone out of her way to highlight that she is going to campaign for the role once actors and writers are paid what they are owed.

    Some eagle-eyed readers also noticed that Matt Owens, the co-showrunner for the first season, highlighted that she won’t “need to lobby” and they’ll discuss the role once everything has been wrapped up. So, it seems like Curtis is a definite casting addition if they can finally get AMPTP to pay everyone what they deserve. With scripts pretty much ready according to the show’s producer, it’s the only big hindrance keeping them from getting the ball rolling on the production.

    Source: Instagram