Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV News

  • J.K. Simmons Eyeing Return As Commissioner Gordon In HBO Max’s “BATGIRL”

    In the immortal words of the Daily Bugle, he’s back! The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively revealed that J.K. Simmons is in negotiations to reprise his role as Commissioner James Gordon in HBO Max’s Batgirl film. The tremendously popular actor first appeared in the role for 2017’s Justice League, with more of his scenes being revealed in this year’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League expansion. It had previously been a topic of debate as to whether or not Simmons would ever play Gordon again, with Warner Bros seemingly moving away from the cinematic universe established by Zack Snyder. For example, actor Jeffrey Wright is set to take over the role in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Simmons has mentioned before that he had a desire to return to the role, and already had a contract for more movies, so it’s good to see those promises may actually be fulfilled.

    Batgirl will be helmed by directing partners Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who are best known for reviving the Bad Boys franchise with Bad Boys For Life. The script was written by breakout Christina Hodson, who previously wrote the screenplays for Birds of Prey and the upcoming The Flash project. It was confirmed just days ago that up-and-coming actress Leslie Grace will don the cape and cowl for the film, becoming the first Batgirl on film since Alicia Silverstone held the role in 1997’s Batman & Robin. It’s unknown what the plot of the film will entail, but the consistent flow of casting updates is good news for those of us who can’t wait for new information much longer.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Hawkeye’: First Look at Disney+ Series Released as Marvel Studios’ Confirms November Premiere

    ‘Hawkeye’: First Look at Disney+ Series Released as Marvel Studios’ Confirms November Premiere

    Marvel’s mighty marketing machine is finally revving up its engines for Hawkeye. Entertainment Weekly has released the first official image of Hailee Steinfeld and Jeremy Renner as Kate Bishop and Clint Barton in the upcoming Disney Plus series. The image doesn’t reveal much in the way of the plot for the Disney+ show, but it does give us a look at what appears to be some sort of Hawkeye hideout or training ground.

    Clint Barton is wearing the same outfit that Murphy’s Multiverse exclusively captured in the series’ first leaked set video, which would indicate the room is located in New York City and belongs to Bishop herself. The tweet by Marvel Studios with the image also confirms a November release date on the 24th.

    Marvel’s Hawkeye is set to draw heavily from Matt Fraction’s iconic 2012 run on the character. Not only will we see Barton form a mentorship with Bishop, but villains like Fra Fee’s Clown and the rumored Madame Masque will help bring the series to life as well. Other cast members confirmed to appear are Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Tony Dalton as the Swordsman, Vera Farmiga as Bishop’s mother, and Alaqua Cox as the deaf assassin Echo.

    Also, soon-to-be-superstar Jolt will appear as the fan-favorite Lucky the Pizza Dog. The series will be helmed by Rhys Thomas and the directing duo of Bert & Bertie. The script comes from Jonathan Igla, filling the controversial “head writer” position Marvel has embraces as opposed to the traditional showrunner.

    Source: Twitter

     

  • Seth Green Teases Howard the Duck’s Role in Marvel Studios’ ‘What If’ Disney+ Series

    Seth Green Teases Howard the Duck’s Role in Marvel Studios’ ‘What If’ Disney+ Series

    It seems Howard the Duck may have more than a bit role in Marvel’s What If…?, according to actor Seth Green. The Hollywood Reporter recently published a retrospective on 1986’s Howard the Duck film, in honor of the cult classic’s 35th anniversary. The piece includes numerous interviews, including one from Green, who has been portraying Howard in the MCU since 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Among his comments on the character were interesting tidbits on his future in the Marvel wheelhouse, and a confirmation in which episode we can expect him:

    […] it resulted in a scene between T’Challa and Howard.

    Fans discovered Howard would be involved in the show via a surprise appearance in its first full-length trailer. Green’s comment seems to confirm he will appear in an episode featuring Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa replacing Peter Quill as Star-Lord and reveals he will play a big enough role to include a speaking part. The famed comedian also shared how he chose to portray the character, with a manner more in line with his comic history:

    He’s a punk rock noir detective, at least that’s the way I play it.

    Howard was written as a private eye in Chip Zdarsky’s 2015 run on the character, and it appears that former Howard the Duck actress Lea Thompson found inspiration from the same comics when developing her ideas for a potential MCU reboot. Thompson has been vocal about wanting to direct a modern remake of Howard, and some of her comments on the topic, from the same retrospective, do hint at a future for everyone’s favorite space Duck in the MCU:

    Marvel liked the pitch, but they have different plans for the different characters.

     Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Diane Ademu-John Boards HBO Max’s ‘DUNE’ Spin-Off Series As Showrunner

    Diane Ademu-John Boards HBO Max’s ‘DUNE’ Spin-Off Series As Showrunner

    Denis Villeneuve’s Dune just got its second trailer, and the franchise is already expanding. Diane Ademu-John has officially boarded the film’s spin-off series, Dune: The Sisterhood, as its new showrunner. The HBO Max series will explore the universe established in Dune through the eyes of the mysterious Bene Gesserit. The Jedi-like organization of women has achieved a mastery over mind and body, which allows them to meddle in the political landscape of their universe.

    The series will serve as a prequel to Villeneuve’s project, with its story ultimately leading to the famous events on the desert planet Arrakis. Dune: The Sisterhood originally got announced in 2019, but not much has been said about the show since original showrunner Jon Spaihts stepped down in November of that year. The announcement of Ademu-John’s involvement is good news for those who were worried about the series’ future. The project’s newest helmer has a long history working in television, having written for shows like The Haunting of Bly Manor, Empire, The Originals, and The Vampire Diaries.

    The show’s pilot will be directed by Denis Villeneuve, and will most likely be made sometime between Dune and its intended sequel. The sprawling franchise has a lot of content to work with, as series creator Frank Herbert wrote a total of six Dune novels in his lifetime. The Star-studded initial film was going to drop last year. Due to COVID-related delays, it will now release on October 22 in theaters and on HBO Max.

    Source: Variety

  • Kevin Smith Talks Scrapped ‘Howard the Duck’ Plans and Hints at Werewolf By Night’s Marvel Studios Future

    Kevin Smith Talks Scrapped ‘Howard the Duck’ Plans and Hints at Werewolf By Night’s Marvel Studios Future

    Way back in early 2019, Hulu announced it would be producing an animated Howard the Duck series from famously nerdy filmmaker Kevin Smith. The project was ultimately scrapped, with very little information revealed before its downfall. Luckily for us, Smith finally opened up about the unmade show on the latest episode of his podcast, Fatman Beyond. In a quick rant, he revealed what the basic plot of the series would have been:

    The idea of our story was that Howard was trapped here and he was trying to get pages of the Darkhold, which would allow him to go back.

    The Darkhold, for those that don’t remember, is the same evil book of magic that was featured in the fourth season of Agents of SHIELD and the end of WandaVision. It seems much of the planned adult comedy would have been rooted in mysticism, as Smith also specified he wanted to use an obscure horror character that Marvel Studios already had plans for:

    I reached out to Walter Flanagan from Comic Book Men and told him I’m gonna take a stab at all the f–king 70s characters. Walt was giving suggestions and Werewolf By Night was absolutely on the list…then I go into Jeph [Loeb] and told him what I wanted to do, and that’s when they said ‘You can’t use Werewolf by Night,’ and I asked why. They said the movie division was using him.

    Essentially Marvel’s version of the Wolfman, Werewolf By Night has been rumored to have a role in Moon Knight for some time. After all, the two characters possess a long history as both friends and enemies. Marvel Studios hasn’t confirmed a Werewolf appearance just yet, but Smith’s comments should give fans of the character hope.

    Source: Fatman Beyond via Comic Book

  • EXCLUSIVE: ‘Loki’ Director Kate Herron Explains Marvel’s Interconnected Multiverse

    EXCLUSIVE: ‘Loki’ Director Kate Herron Explains Marvel’s Interconnected Multiverse

    The final episode of Loki introduced the world to the multiverse. A single decision unleashed a new Multiversal War and opened up new paths for the once Marvel Cinematic Universe. What If and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be our first visits int the multiverse, but we don’t know quite yet how it works. Luckily, our own Charles Murphy got a chance to sit down with director Kate Herron. She offered some insight into how the Sacred Timeline expanded.

    So, there’s the branches, right, which is like the alternative reality. But then something, you’ll see it, it’s very subtle but in the very last shot where you see the multiverse, there’s like basically other bigger physical timeline branches. So, it’s almost like these different separate trees that are now connecting.

    The visual of the Sacred timeline branching off was quite a memorable moment for those wanting to explore the infinite possibilities o the multiverse. The latest What If the trailer teased a crossover of these different Variants in the form of the Guardians of the Multiverse. Luckily, Herron elaborated that there will indeed be some points where these timelines interconnect.

    It’s almost like a bridge. If you imagine the branch, it is like another reality. But if the branch extends beyond a certain point, it will then connect to other physical timelines. […] That last shot we did, there are other like thicker [branches] that are meant to be like our timeline. And there are other timelines like that and the branches are the connectors basically.

    It’ll be interesting to see if Doctor Strange will be able to clean up the multiverse in the upcoming sequel, or simply witness the results of timelines colliding. We know that Kang is the cause of the Multiversal War. It might end up becoming the final connection point between them. It still seems very likely Secret Wars in our future and we cannot wait to see how the second season of Loki further explores the multiverse.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Director Kate Herron Hopes ‘Loki’ Season 2 Explores Hunter B-15’s Backstory

    EXCLUSIVE: Director Kate Herron Hopes ‘Loki’ Season 2 Explores Hunter B-15’s Backstory

    The season finale of the Disney+ series Loki left quite the impression on fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As it answered many of the questions we had since the show premiered, the finale left us with quite a few cliffhangers. We are left wondering where Judge Renslayer was heading and why the Time Variance Authority can’t remember Loki. Sylvie was last seen in the citadel at the end of time, as Kang’s image replaces the Time-Keepers. In an interview with the show’s director Kate Herron, our very own Charles Murphy asked her about the various cliffhangers, and she even proposed an additional one: What is B-15’s secret past?

    I have no idea. I don’t know the future plans but the other thing I will say to just kind of add on to your cliffhanger pile: “Who is B-15?” I loved that scene when her and Slyvie see her memories but we don’t know who she is and why was she happy? I don’t know, I feel like there’s a lot of unresolved questions in the first season, but as to when they’ll be answered, I don’t know.

     

     

    The focus on Wunmi Mosaku‘s B-15 is quite interesting. It shows that her backstory could hide some interesting secrets than we previously anticipated. In the scene that Herron specifies from the fourth episode, we see Hunter B-15 going to the year 2050 with Sylvie. There she confronts her what exactly she did to her coworker and fellow TVA hunter, C-20. Sylvie then proceeded to unlock Hunter B-15’s memories from before she became a Variant. Now, we are left to wonder what exactly those memories were. There’s also the question of what her Nexus Event was that brought her to the TVA in the first place. Hopefully, by the time we enter Loki‘s second season, we’ll get an answer to all of these questions even though Kate Herron isn’t returning to direct.

  • ‘Loki’: The Mystery Behind the Unused King Loki Scenes

    ‘Loki’: The Mystery Behind the Unused King Loki Scenes

    There have been many mysteries surrounding Loki. The show built up the big question of who is the man behind the curtain. We all wanted to know who was the puppet master of the Time Variance Authority. Trailer after trailer teased whoever it could be. There were countless teases, and even the trailers put many on the path of the mastermind being a king version of Loki.

    Well, it turns out that brief tease had nothing to do with the actual finale. It was a big question mark for many viewers, and it turns out it originally was part of the first episode all along. Chris Hemsworth even recorded the grunts of that brief cameo. Composer Natalie Holt offered some insight into why the scene didn’t make it into the first season in an interview with The Direct.

    That was a moment in Episode 1. When Mobius is showing [Loki] his life, there were more moments in there. I think they just kind of cut it down to kind of give it a bit more focus. But there were a few extra moments in there, and that Frog of Thunder moment was one of them. I had actually written, I had done something with choir for it like it was this big, grand moment where Loki takes over the crown in Asgard, and then you see Thor as a frog

    Interestingly enough, a week ago, we already heard that the first episode planned a fight sequence between Loki and Throg. It’s our first confirmation that this ties together with the King Loki sequences we’ve seen scattered throughout the trailers. It’s a great move to avoid this sequence, as it would’ve taken away from his cameo in the fifth episode. We also got a lot of comedic moments in the opening and adding more could’ve taken away from the dramatic core of Loki’s acceptance.

    There’s always a chance they might revisit this concept in the future, especially now that Loki will have a second season. Still, it was clever to use this unused footage in the trailers to keep people guessing until the end. Even if it didn’t serve the series directly, it was a clever idea by Marvel Studios’ marketing team.

    Source: The Direct

  • RUMOR: Sung Kang Will Play ‘STAR WARS: REBELS’ Character in ‘OBI-WAN KENOBI’

    RUMOR: Sung Kang Will Play ‘STAR WARS: REBELS’ Character in ‘OBI-WAN KENOBI’

    It’s possible we have our first information on Sung Kang’s mysterious Obi-Wan Kenobi role. A new report from Jordan Maison and the folks at Cinelinx are claiming that Kang will portray one of the Empire’s Inquisitors in the Disney+ series. More specifically, he is said to be the Fifth Brother, an antagonist we saw frequently in the second season of Dave Filoni’s animated Star Wars Rebels.

    In that show, the Fifth Brother was voiced by Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, and worked closely with Sarah Michelle Geller’s Seventh Sister to track down the Force-sensitive Ezra Bridger and his master Kanan Jarrus. The Fifth Brother ultimately met his end at the hands of the former Sith Lord, Maul.

    In the Star Wars universe, the Inquisitors are a group of Dark Side Force users who work for Darth Vader and the Empire. They spend much of the time between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope hunting down Force-sensitive individuals in an effort to kill or turn them. Maison claims that they won’t be the only Rebels characters who appear in Kenobi, but the scooper did not clarify who else might make an appearance.

    Sung Kang is best known for his role as the fan favorite character Han Lue in the Fast and the Furious franchise. In recent years, he has also appeared in films like Raya and the Last Dragon and We Can Be Heroes. On television, he had a starring role in three seasons of the popular Starz series Power.

    Source: Cinelinx

  • RUMOR: Vivian Lyra Blair Cast As Princess Leia in ‘OBI-WAN KENOBI’

    RUMOR: Vivian Lyra Blair Cast As Princess Leia in ‘OBI-WAN KENOBI’

    She may only be a child, but to us, she’s royalty. Rumor has it Princess Leia Organa will be making a return to live-action in next year’s Kenobi series. The news comes from Jordan Maison at Cinelinx, who claims actress Vivian Lyra Blair has been cast as a younger version of the iconic character for the upcoming Disney+ project.

    The same report reveals that Leia will be a major part of Kenobi’s story, with Maison describing her role as the “impetus” of the whole show. If the rumor is true, it seems the young Princess will be the reason Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi dives into a new adventure.

    Blair is perhaps best known for her work in 2018’s surprise hit Bird Box, and also had a role in Robert Rodriguez’s Sharkboy & Lavagirl spin-off We Can Be Heroes. Princess Leia is one of the founding characters of the Star Wars franchise. She was originally brought to life by Carrie Fisher, who famously portrayed the character in six films over the course of forty years. The rebellious dignitary also had a cameo appearance in 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, with Norwegian actress Ingvild Deila standing in as a body double for Fisher.

    Other than this cameo, not much of the character’s life before A New Hope has been explored. Leia appeared briefly in Dave Filoni’s Star Wars Rebels, working against the Empire on her adoptive father’s orders. She may be a little too young to be participating in missions in Kenobi, so it will be interesting to see what shenanigans could end up getting Obi-Wan out of exile on Tatooine.

    Source: Cinelinx