Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV

  • Indira Varma Reveals Her ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Character Was Originally a Love Interest 

    Indira Varma Reveals Her ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Character Was Originally a Love Interest 

    One of the great mysteries surrounding Obi-Wan Kenobi before its release was the identity of Indira Varma’s character. When she was first announced as part of the cast, theories began to run rampant. Many guessed she might be playing Kenobi’s long-lost love, Duchess Satine Kryze, in potential flashbacks, while others wondered if she might be a hidden Jedi. The first trailers for the series eventually revealed Varma to be playing an Imperial Officer, and the latest episode unveiled that she was actually a double agent working against the Empire from the inside.

    An original creation, Tala helps smuggle refugees to safety alongside Kumail Nanjiani’s Haja Estree. However, it seems fans weren’t actually that far off when they assumed Varma would be playing some sort of love interest on the show. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the former Game of Thrones star explained her character went through a few iterations in the script and was originally meant to be Obi-Wan’s romantic interest:

    There had already been different incarnations of the script and the story line. And I think, originally, she was going to be a love interest.

    Indira Varma

    Varma went on to describe why the creatives behind Kenobi ultimately decided against the idea:

    They felt that it was maybe a bit clichéd where always the woman turns up and they fall in love or whatever. And it’s more interesting that this is a woman with agency who is not just going to fall at the feet of Obi-Wan.

    Indira Varma

    So far, not much is known about Tala or her motives. She was able to survive the events of the most recent episodic installment, so hopefully, fans get to learn more in the coming weeks.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Writer Plays Coy on Grand Inquisitor’s Fate, Teases “Canon is Everything”

    ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Writer Plays Coy on Grand Inquisitor’s Fate, Teases “Canon is Everything”

    Obi-Wan Kenobi surprised everyone by debuting its first two episodes early last week, but the altered premiere date wasn’t the only thing that shocked fans. In the series’ second episode, Moses Ingram’s ambitious Third Sister impales Rupert Friend’s Grand Inquisitor with her lightsaber and leaves him for dead. This was an unexpected development for many reasons, the greatest of which being the fact Grand Inquisitor was previously shown to be alive much later in the franchise’s timeline. The character was the main antagonist of Star Wars Rebels’ first season, which takes place five years after the events of Kenobi.

    Speaking to Vanity Fair about the plot twist, Kenobi’s writer Joby Harold seemed to hint that the leader of the Empire’s Inquisitorious may not be dead after all. He referenced Lucasfilm’s commitment to established canon as evidence:

    As you know, we would never break canon. So, that’s all I’ll say. Canon is everything.

    Joby Harold

    The supposed demise of the Grand Inquisitor has been the topic of much debate in the last week. Rebels has a very dedicated and passionate fanbase, who felt understandably betrayed by the possible decanonization of their favorite Star Wars story. Luckily, it seems those faithful don’t have much to worry about. If Harold’s comments are any indication, Kenobi hasn’t seen the last of the Grand Inquisitor. There have already been quite a few theories on how he may have survived this ordeal, and we’ll likely find out later in the series if at all. Still, it looks like fans don’t have to worry about how it’ll affect canon moving forward.

    Source: Vanity Fair

  • HBO Max’s ‘Raised by Wolves’ Canceled After 2 Seasons

    HBO Max’s ‘Raised by Wolves’ Canceled After 2 Seasons

    After airing for two seasons on the HBO Max streaming platform, Raised by Wolves has been canceled. The Ridley Scott-produced series was originally ordered to series on TNT back in 2018 before being transferred to the WarnerMedia streaming service before its premiere in 2020. In a statement made to Variety by HBO Max, they officially announced they weren’t moving forward with a third season, but remained complementary to the entire team behind the show.

    While we are not proceeding with a third season of Raised by Wolves, we are beyond grateful to the stellar cast and crew, our creators Aaron Guzikowski, Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, and the entire team at Scott Free Productions, for their beautiful artistry and unique ability to immerse fans into the world of Kepler-22b.

    HBO Max

    The series starred the likes of Amanda Collin, Abubakar Salim, Travis Fimmel, Niamh Algar, and Kim Engelbrecht. This series served as the directorial debut for Ridley Scott on an American television program.

    The news of this cancellation comes at a time of large amounts of turnover across the entire WarnerMedia company under the new leadership of David Zaslav. The new CEO has spearheaded a mentality of conserving financial assets which has caused a massive shakeup thus far in consolidating a large number of projects (as seen with the large amounts of cancellations seen across the board and shutting down production for any new scripted programs on the TNT and TBS networks).

    It remains to be seen what further changes will occur under the WarnerMedia umbrella. As well, the question can certainly be asked if the critically successful Raised by Wolves series may be able to find new life on another network or platform.


    Source: Variety

  • ‘Ms. Marvel’s Directors Reveal the Inner Thought Animations Weren’t Part of the Initial Scripts

    ‘Ms. Marvel’s Directors Reveal the Inner Thought Animations Weren’t Part of the Initial Scripts

    There was a lot of excitement when the first trailer dropped for Ms. Marvel, as it seemingly promised what may be Disney+’s most inventive series by Marvel Studios yet. With a fun atmosphere of a young heroine trying to find her place in the world and as a superhero, we also got some creative visualizations that bring her inner thoughts to life. It turns out, this wasn’t part of the initial script.

    Directing duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah revealed how they had the idea during the Disney+ show’s red carpet premiere. They added the animation as they had the idea to use it as a way to highlight the character’s inner thoughts and further emphasize that she’s a daydreamer.

    We needed to set her up right. That’s why we wanted to add animation to it. It was not in the script, we wanted to get into her head, into her fantasy. We wanted to have an endearing and charming character. And have someone that Muslim girls all over the world can relate to, but also tell that universal story everybondy can feel a connection with.

    Adil El Arbi

    They definitely stood out in the initial trailer and highlight the influences it takes from films like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. It would be interesting if they also make their way into future appearances for the character, something that someone like Deadpool might notice and reference. We know she’ll also appear in next year’s The Marvels, which could further build upon her inner thoughts as she’s among the Avengers she’s been idolizing for so long.

    Source: Twitter

  • Arian Moayed Describes ‘Ms. Marvel’ Co-Star Iman Vellani as “a Phenom” 

    Arian Moayed Describes ‘Ms. Marvel’ Co-Star Iman Vellani as “a Phenom” 

    Arian Moayed only just joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in December’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, and he’s already gearing up to return. The Iranian-born actor is set to make his second appearance as Department of Damage Control Agent Cleary in the upcoming series Ms. Marvel, which debuts on Disney+ next week. Moayed will co-star with an immensely talented cast, which includes newcomer Iman Vellani in the title role as teen hero Kamala Khan.

    Speaking with Variety on the red carpet premiere of the show, the Succession star was asked what he thought of Vellani’s performance, which has received praise from critics in early reviews. Moayed seemed to agree, calling the young actress a “phenom”:

    She’s a phenom, and I’m not joking. She’s an immigrant, from Pakistan, grew up in Canada. There’s an immigrant quality there so she’s working hard, you can already know that…She really just has all of the natural skills. I think we’re going to be very excited to see her in a lot of things moving forward.

    Arian Moayed

    The actor also commented on what it means to him, as an immigrant himself, to see Vellani get the spotlight as a role model for young children. Moayed hopes that the series will help change how the world perceives the Muslim community:

    I’m an Iranian immigrant. I grew up, the best that we had was ‘Aladdin’, which was also amazing. But now to imagine, so many years later, there is a Muslim show with a superhero. It’s just going to change how people perceive us.

    Arian Moayed

    Ms. Marvel hits the small screen on June 8th.

  • ‘Moon Knight’ Beats Out ‘Hawkeye’s Overall Viewership on Disney+

    ‘Moon Knight’ Beats Out ‘Hawkeye’s Overall Viewership on Disney+

    There have been some curious statements in the past in regards to Moon Knight‘s overall viewership on Disney+. As SambaTV has not released the numbers for the final episode, many took this as a showcase that the show didn’t quite end on a high note. Yet, Nielsen ratings have revealed that Moon Knight managed to pull in its best viewing in its finale, which is a showcase of how different streaming services develop in comparison to traditional TV.

    The six-episode series took in 715 million minutes from May 2nd to 8th which was the week of its finale. It grew from 681 million in its previous week, and the only small dip it faced was in its fourth week, otherwise, the show has continued to grow in viewership over its six-episode run. Normally, linear TV sees a recurring decrease in viewership over its total run, which may be due to long season formats and ongoing breaks in-between.

    In total, the series pulled in 3.7 billion minutes watched, which puts it between Hawkeye (3.46B) and The Falcon and Winter Soldier (4.15B). The show managed to take in the third spot and beat out competition like Prime Video’s new Outer Range, Bullsh*t: The Game Show, and more. Netflix’s Ozark however was the champion that week. Outer Range took in the fourth spot but was a fair bit behind with 425M viewers, but not a bad performance.

    Moon Knight‘s numbers aren’t something to just scoff at given that the character is the first newly introduced member of the MCU family with little to no connections to the rest. So, it beating out Hawkeye, which already posted some strong numbers is no small feat. The Mandalorian and Loki remain the strongest performers on the app, but we also don’t know if there are other success factors that haven’t been taken into account yet. Still, it seems Marvel Studios is still quite successful with what they produced so far.

    Source: THR

  • Virgina Kull, Jason Mantzoukas and More Join Disney+’s ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’

    Virgina Kull, Jason Mantzoukas and More Join Disney+’s ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’

    With production underway, the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians has added a slew of talent to its growing cast.

    Per Variety, Virginia Kull, Glynn Turman, Jason Mantzoukas, Megan Mullally, and Timm Sharp have all joined the series in recurring roles. They join series lead Walker Scobell in the small screen adaptation of the beloved book series. Also starring alongside Scobell in the series are Aryan Simhadri and Leah Sava Jeffries.

    Kull, best known for Big Little Lies and Mr. Mercedes, will portray Sally Jackson – Percy’s loving, protective and selfless mother. She has been forced to raise her son knowing she’ll one day have to give him over to the world of the Olympian gods. While Turman, who has appeared in Fargo and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, will play Chiron, aka Mr. Brunner. The character disguises himself as Percy’s Latin teacher but is really the famed centaur Chiron who trains the heroes and provides Percy when guidance from time to time.

    Mantzoukas will play Dionysus, aka Mr. D, who is described as irritable and sarcastic. Mr. D runs Camp Half Blood, which serves as a camp for the demigods. Mantzoukas, of course, has an impressive resume full of comedy credits that include shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Good Place. Mullally, who is perhaps best known for Will & Grace, joins the series as Alecto, aka Mrs. Dodds who is Percy’s strict, irascible math teacher. She also happens to be one of the three Furies and loyally serves the god of the underworld, Hades.

    As for Sharp, who has appeared in Enlightened and On the Verge, the actor will play Gabe Ugliano, who is Sally’s selfish and combative husband and Percy’s stepfather.

    Production on the live-action Percy Jackson series is said to be underway with book author Rick Riordan having written the pilot along with Jon Steinberg. Muppets Most Wanted director James Bobin is directing the series for Disney+. As of this writing, the series does not yet have a release date.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Twisted Metal’ Adds Will Arnett as the Voice of Sweet Tooth

    ‘Twisted Metal’ Adds Will Arnett as the Voice of Sweet Tooth

    Arnett, who serves as an executive producer on the series, has long been rumored to be a part of it for some time. It wasn’t until today, however, that the actor was announced to be voicing none other than the burly Sweet Tooth. The chaos-loving character is known for his iconic ever-smiling clown mask and doomsday ice cream truck that he drives around Lost Vegas.

    The actor joins a cast that includes the likes of Anthony Mackie, Stephanie Beatriz, Thomas Haden Church, and Neve Campbell. Mackie is set to star as John Doe, while Beatriz plays the character of Quiet. Church will play Agent Stone and Campbell, who is recurring in the series, will play Raven.

    Twisted Metal hails from Cobra Kai writer Michael Jonathan Smith and is based on the classic video game franchise of the same name. It has been developed as a half-hour, high-octane action-comedy series that is based on an original take from Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. The series will focus on a motor-mouthed outsider, Mackie’s Doe, who is offered a chance at a better life with a bit of a caveat – he’ll need to deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland and survive.

    Twisted Metal will stream exclusively on Peacock upon its release.

    Source: Deadline.

  • Paramount+’s ‘Fatal Attraction’ Series Adds Amanda Peet

    Paramount+’s ‘Fatal Attraction’ Series Adds Amanda Peet

    The Paramount+ series will reimagine the 1980s psychosexual thriller that starred Michael Douglas and Glenn Close. The film told the tale of a married man’s one-night stand that ultimately came back to haunt him after the other party decided to stalk both him and his family. In the Paramount+ series, Joshua Jackson (The Affair) will play the married man who has an affair that’ll harm the life he’s built with his wife Beth Gallagher (Peet). Lizzy Caplan (Castle Rock) will play the role of the other woman, Alex Forrest.

    Fatal Attraction was written by Alexandra Cunningham (Dirty John) from a story she co-wrote with Kevin J. Hynes. The television series will hail from Paramount Television Studios and Amblin Television. It is said to explore the timeless themes of marriage and infidelity with a modern take on some of the harder-hitting themes displayed throughout. 

    Cunningham will serve as the showrunner for the series, and will executive produce alongside Hynes and Amblin Television presidents Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey.

    Peet recently appeared in the anthology series, Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story. She has also appeared in films such as The Whole Nine Yards and Something’s Gotta Give. She also recently served as the showrunner and creator on the Netflix series The Chair which starred Sandra Oh.

    Source: Deadline

  • HBO Max Renews ‘Our Flag Means Death’ for Season 2

    HBO Max Renews ‘Our Flag Means Death’ for Season 2

    The streaming service renewed the critically acclaimed comedy hailing from creator/showrunner David Jenkins, executive producer, and star Taika Waititi and executive producer Garrett Basch. Our Flag Means Death, which premiered in March, is loosely based on the adventures of the 18th century would-be pirate Stede Bonnet who is played by Rhys Darby in the series.

    Our Flag Means Death follows Bonnet as he tries to serve as the captain of the pirate ship Revenger, where he struggles to earn the respect of his crew. After a fateful run-in with Captain Blackbeard, as played by Waititi, Bonnet and Blackbeard end up falling in love and finding themselves trying to survive.

    In a statement released to the press, HBO Max Head of Original Content Sarah Aubrey expressed excitement over renewing the comedy. “We are so happy to bring this truly one-of-a-kind series back! We congratulate David, Taika, Rhys and the entire talented cast and crew, and thank the show’s fans for embracing it wholeheartedly.”

    Jenkins added on to Aubrey’s comments, explaining that they felt they had something special while they were making the first season. “We felt the show was special while we were making it, but fans’ open-armed embrace of the inhabitants of the Revenge makes heading into a second season all the more sweet.”

    As of this writing, Season 2 of Our Flag Means Death does not yet have a release date.

    Source: Deadline