Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV

  • Connecting Imaginary Dots: ‘Glow’ Actress Shakira Barrera and ‘Ironheart’

    Connecting Imaginary Dots: ‘Glow’ Actress Shakira Barrera and ‘Ironheart’

    As the calendar rolls over into Summer, production on another round of Marvel Studios projects will shortly be underway. Among those projects is the Disney Plus streaming series Ironheart, which was first announced by Marvel Studios One-Above-All, Kevin Feige, during 2020’s Disney Investor Day presentation. Dominique Thorne will lead the project as Riri Williams, a genius inventor who will make her MCU debut this November in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

    Aside from Thorne, however, little news about the cast of Ironheart has made its way outside of Marvel Studios despite production set to kick off in June. In the Heights star Anthony Ramos has joined the series in an unannounced role, as have Harper Anthony and Lyric Ross. Rumors have circulated that Ramos might by portraying the villain of the project, Parker Robbins, better known in the comics as the Hood, and it’s known that Marvel Studios was looking to cast the son or daughter of Jeff Bridges‘ Obidiah Stane, the villain of 2008’s Iron Man. But as is almost always the case, Marvel Studios has stayed mum on any official announcements about the cast.

    And while fans debate if Ramos is the Hood and wonder who will be cast as “Ezekiel Stane” (while Obidiah had a son in the comics, the studio is open to casting a woman in the comedic role), there is certainty around the creatives behind the project. Marvel Studios brought in Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes to helm the project as co-directors, with Chinaka Hodge, Sev Ohanian, Zoie Nagelhout and Zinzi Coogler working as the team of executive producers. As it turns out, one actress who recently revealed she is prepping for a secret role happens to follow nearly the entire creative team on Instagram.

    GLOW and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actress Shakira Barrera has recently connected with Bailey, Barnes, Hodge, Nagelhout and Ohanian (we were unable to find Zinzi Coogler on IG) and, just 6 days ago, posted the video seen below to her IG story.

    https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cd67M2NpVX5/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

    In the video, she thanks her fitness coach for helping her prepare for an “amazing role” that the actress can’t share, but promises will be “worth it.” Given the mounting evidence, it’s reasonable to suggest that Barrera could have joined Ironheart in yet another unannounced role. And while it might not be announced, the comics might provide a reasonable suggestion as to whom she might be playing, should we begin by entertaining that Ramos is playing Parker Robbins.

    Part of what makes Robbins such a fascinating and despicable villain in the comics is that his descent into villainy and dark magic cost him his family: his wife, Sara, and their daughter, Breanne. Robbins was always a poor husband, cheating on Sara whenever he could, but when he began trifling with magic, Robbins began to see Dormammu in everyone, including his daughter. After finding Parker shaking their daughter, Sara left Parker behind.

    Should Ramos be playing Robbins, casting Sara alongside him would go a long way for making fans of the MCU develop the same dislike for this version as they have for the character from the comics. The logistics work out, with Barrera currently prepping for a secret role (and no roles are more secretive than Marvel’s) and she and Ramos are very close in age (he’s 30 and she’s 32).

    Should you take this one to the bank? Absolutely not. While it seems pretty safe to conclude that Barrera has been cast in Ironheart, who she’s playing can only be taken as purely speculative, given that it’s based on a connections to a character who is only rumored to appear in the series in the first place. So while her casting might be confirmed sooner rather than later, it might be a year or so before we find out who she’s portraying in the series. As always, we’ll check back in then.

  • McKinley Belcher Arrives on Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Set

    McKinley Belcher Arrives on Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Set

    The live-action One Piece series’ production has been going strong. While we did get a surprising amount of set photos leaked, which is mostly due to just how massive the production is with actual ships being used for the various pirates, we still know very little about the crew and their looks. With only a few more days to go for a first tease during Geeked Week, it seems that McKinley Belcher, who has been cast as Arlong, has officially joined the production.

    The actor took to his Instagram account to share a set photo of his chair with his name on it. Sadly, he also isn’t giving us a glimpse at his make-up as the iconic villain from the East Blue, but it’s fun to see the tradition of the chair shot return. It was used by the cast early on when everyone started finding their way to production.

    With him officially joining production it means that they are likely filming the iconic Arlong Park currently. Perhaps we get some photos from the cast sharing a look at them hanging out together, which was something we saw early on. We are quite excited to see how they translate the Fishmen to live-action and how close they may stick to his original design. With a budget that could rival a Marvel film, there’s a lot of potentials for this series to establish itself as the platform’s next major release. Perhaps Geeked Week may give us a first look at his design alongside with the Straw Hats in their costume.

    Source: Instagram

  • ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Character Posters May Hint At Future Plot Twist 

    ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Character Posters May Hint At Future Plot Twist 

    When Obi-Wan Kenobi debuted on Friday, it introduced the world to one of the franchise’s most ruthless villains yet. Moses Ingram’s Reva Sevander, better known to the Empire and Inquisitorious as the Third Sister, was shown to be unabashedly vile in her hunt for hidden Jedi. The character managed to remove an appendage, threaten a family, and impale her own boss in just two episodes of shared screen time. Frankly, it was a pretty impressive introductory showing for Reva, in what is potentially just the tip of a rather violent iceberg. Based on the premiere, it would seem the Third Sister is set to play a major role for the remainder of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s run. Despite this, her future in Star Wars as a whole is still very much in question.

    The latest Disney+ series takes place a full decade after the events of Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, planting it firmly in the middle of the galaxy’s “Dark Times” era, exploring the relationship between runaway Jedi and their Imperial hunters. It’s an incredibly intriguing basis for a story, but it’s not the first Star Wars show to tackle the topic. Star Wars Rebels, an animated series that ran for four seasons on Disney XD, was the first project to shed some light on the Inquisitors and their lust for democratic demise. The cult-favorite series takes place years after the events of Kenobi, and several members of the Inquisitorious make appearances over the course of its story. Familiar scowling faces like the Grand Inquisitor and Fifth Brother pop up repeatedly, but Reva is never anywhere to be seen.

    Of course, there are plenty of viable reasons for her absence. Maybe the Third Sister is simply on a different mission than her companions at the time of the Ghost crew’s rise to prominence, or perhaps her actions against the Grand Inquisitor don’t go over well with the higher powers of the fearsome Empire. At first glance, it would seem fans don’t have any real clues as to Reva’s long-term future. Yet, with a little further inspection,a reasonable explanation may have already been presented…but nobody caught it.

    On the same day that Kenobi premiered, a series of character posters were released to help promote Ewan McGregor’s big return. Each installment in the poster series features one of the show’s major players looking intently at the viewer, with their left eye replaced by a Tatooine sun and one of two characters – Obi-Wan, or his former apprentice, Darth Vader. Examining the group of posters as a whole reveals that the protagonists, or “good guys”, have Vader in their eyes, while the villains are shown to be focused on Kenobi. It gives the impression that the characters are looking toward their respective enemies. Curiously, Reva is the only character who doesn’t fit this pattern. Although she has thus far appeared pretty villainous, her character poster has her eyeing down Vader in the same manner as Obi-Wan and Kumail Nanjiani’s surprisingly warm-hearted con man.

    It’s made clear in the series that Reva has a desire to prove herself to the Emperor’s right-hand man, so it’s possible the poster is just an indicator that Vader is the real apple of her eye. However, it’s also entirely plausible that Reva won’t stay on the Dark Side of the Force for all six of Kenobi’s episodes. Redemptive arcs are fundamental to the fabric of Star Wars, and tend to happen more often than one might think. The franchise has seen worse villains, including the aforementioned Vader, come back to the side of the Light before. There’s still plenty that’s not known about Reva’s backstory, which was teased as being somewhat tragic, and it wouldn’t be all that shocking to learn she was once a happier individual than she is now. If that’s true, then the long history of Star Wars would imply that good may still be inside of her.

    Kenobi began with a sequence in which a group of younglings attempted to escape the Jedi Temple during Order 66. Maybe Reva was there, a Jedi herself, and has doubled down on the pain of the Dark Side to escape the pain of her own past. If her attack against the Grand Inquisitor were to get her booted from the Inquisitorious or put on notice by Vader himself, she could potentially be forced to ally with Obi-Wan in another attempt to survive. From there, who knows what interacting with a former Jedi Master could lead her to remember about herself. Either way, the placement of Vader on Reva’s poster is an interesting choice and one that feels awfully deliberate in comparison to everything else.

  • SWCA: First Footage Description for ‘The Bad Batch’ Season 2

    SWCA: First Footage Description for ‘The Bad Batch’ Season 2

    Star Wars Celebration is coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any highlights on the last day. After quite a bit of silence on the second season of The Bad Batch, they finally showed off some of it during its panel at the event. Our very own Hunter Radesi was lucky enough to get in and share some of the footage he got to witness and share what was shown off. The following footage description is from the show’s premiere episode.

    Some time has seemingly gone by since we last spent time with the Clone Troopers. Omega has aged and they have a new look as well. Their armor is now grey with some orange thrown in. Omega is playing at the beach while Tech reprimands her to focus on her studies. Suddenly, the other members are being chased by a giant crab monster. While they try to shoot at it, Omega gets caught between it and their ship. She shoots a few perfect shots with her bow and seemingly takes the beast down.

    You can check out their new look here:

  • SWCA: Jon Favreau Already Started Writing ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 4

    SWCA: Jon Favreau Already Started Writing ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 4

    Star Wars Celebration is still ongoing and it looks like Jon Favreau may have confirmed that while we’re months away from The Mandalorian‘s Season 3 to release, they’re already started work on a fourth season. In an interview with CinemaBlend, he talked about where they currently are with working on these series as Dave Filoni has moved on to focus on the Ahsoka series. While discussing it, he gave away that he’s already started writing on Season 4 of the Disney+ series.

    With television, we’re very lucky that we don’t have to rush things through into an hour-and-a-half, two hours. We get to tell stories slowly. So now, as Dave [Filoni]’s doing Ahsoka, it’s very much informing the writing that I’m doing for [The Mandalorian] Season 4. It becomes – how should I put it – more precise.

    Jon Favreau

    It’s surprising that he may have already started work on it, but we did hear that Favreau has a tendency to write these projects even before getting a confirmation. The initial pitch for the series he started working on before he even got the green light to work on it. So, he may have just put down some ideas and wants to make sure he doesn’t lose them.

    It’s great to know that the series continues as it’s the only series on Disney+ that’s been running for multiple seasons like this. Marvel Studios generally goes for ongoing mini-series with the exception of Loki. So, it’s nice to have a project that continues to be a staple for the streaming service.

    Source: CinemaBlend

  • SWCA: ‘Tales of the Jedi’ Trailer Description Teases Mace Windu and Revan Look-a-Like

    SWCA: ‘Tales of the Jedi’ Trailer Description Teases Mace Windu and Revan Look-a-Like

    Not only did the Tales of the Jedi panel give the visitors a first look at an episode focused on Ahsoka, but they also got a brand new trailer teasing the various stories that will be included in this anthology series. As shared by our own Hunter Radesi, who is attending the event, it seems that they’ve hinted at a lot of the various storylines that’ll get explored in the animated series.

    There are sequences featuring Obi-Wan, Mace Windu, Bail Organa, and even Yaddle. Dooku and Windu are seen fighting side-by-side. There’s a new inquisitor with a Revan-inspired mask, which is white with red markings. Dooku also has a line that seems to reflect one by Anakin from Revenge of the Sith, possibly hinting at his darker turn. We even have Anakin making fun of Ahsoka during training. So, it looks like there will be quite a few episodes that explore different themes and concepts.

  • SWCA: ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ Composer Returns for ‘Tales of the Jedi’

    SWCA: ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ Composer Returns for ‘Tales of the Jedi’

    After already getting a closer look at the newly confirmed Tales of the Jedi series, we now also received the confirmation that the composer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Kevin Kiner, is going to return for the animated anthology series. It’s not too surprising as the series will be made in the same animation style and its creator Dave Filloni is also heavily involved with the project. The news comes directly from the panel as Hunter Radesi is keeping us updated on the announcements.

  • SWCA: Description of ‘Tales of the Jedi’s First Ahsoka-Focused Episode

    SWCA: Description of ‘Tales of the Jedi’s First Ahsoka-Focused Episode

    Star Wars Celebration has been filled with surprises, and we even got our first real look at Tales of the Jedi. The new animated series will explore the history of some familiar faces throughout Star Wars‘ long history and our very own Hunter Radesi got the chance to watch an episode from the series. Here’s a description of that footage.

    The episode they got to watch was titled “Life and Death.” The episodes seem to be on the shorter side with a length of 15 minutes teased for the episode that was shown and it has a similar style to The Clone Wars. It explored the story of Ahsoka Tano when she was born in a little village. We actually meet her family and there’s a celebration. A year later, she takes her hunting and teaches her lessons on the value of life.

    Her mother will be voiced by Janina Gavankar, who many might recognize as Iden Verso from Battlefront II. It seems while they are hunting they get attacked by an animal that is similar to a sabretooth tiger. Her mom was keeping it off long enough for support from the village to arrive. Yet it grabs Ahsoka and brings it to her cave. She manages to communicate with it through the Force so as not to get eaten. She returns o her village riding it and we meet an old lady that proclaims that “Ahsoka is a Jedi.”

  • SWCA: ‘The Clone Wars’ Matt Lanter and Ashley Eckstein to Return in ‘Tales of the Jedi’

    SWCA: ‘The Clone Wars’ Matt Lanter and Ashley Eckstein to Return in ‘Tales of the Jedi’

    Tales of the Jedi is shaping into quite the series, as first details are making their way online through the Star Wars Celebration event. Our own Hunter Radesi has been attending the event and offered some details from the panel that might excite some The Clone Wars fans as it’s been revealed that in three episodes focused on Ahsoka Tano’s life, we’ll see the return of Ashley Eckstein and Matt Lanter. While Rosario Dawson and Hayden Christensen have taken on the live-action roles of Ahsoka and Anakin Skywalker, this is definitely something exciting for fans of the animated series with Dave Filoni‘s heavily involved with the series.

    Take a look here at some of the upcoming episodes:

  • SWCA: Liam Neeson to Return as Qui-Gon Jinn in ‘Tales of the Jedi’

    SWCA: Liam Neeson to Return as Qui-Gon Jinn in ‘Tales of the Jedi’

    Here’s a surprise, during the Tales of the Jedi panel, a new animated series that’ll explore the history of some familiar Jedi, we got the confirmation that Liam Neeson is making his return to the franchise. While he denied wanting to cameo in Obi-Wan Kenobi, it seems that he’ll voice Qui-Gon Jinn one more time in the animated series. That’s not all, as it seems his son will play a younger version of himself in the series. Of course, this confirmation may also fuel some more theories on him potentially returning in the latest Disney+ series as well given he is even referenced.

    Here’s a first look at a young Qui-Gon from the animated series: