Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV

  • Jacob Gibson Shares His Favorite Usopp Fight from ‘One Piece’s Manga

    Jacob Gibson Shares His Favorite Usopp Fight from ‘One Piece’s Manga

    Jacob Romero Gibson has the challenging role of playing the lovable liar Usopp in Netflix’s live-action adaptation of One Piece. Not a single role in this series is going to be easy given just how beloved the original manga by Eiichiro Oda. Yet, the cast is one of the biggest selling points for this new adaptation and a new batch of interviews done from before the SAG strike.

    One big question for Gibson was how much he knows about the original manga and while he confesses he doesn’t have the deepest knowledge of the source material, he does, however, share what his favorite moment is. And, unsurprisingly, it’s the iconic fight in the Alabastsa Arc where he fought alongside Chopper against Baroque Works.

    Oh, man, you know, I’m still a noob. You know, I’m not going to claim that I have the whole canon in my back pocket. But one of my favorite Usopp fights is the Alabasta Arc, so. [deep laugh] With him and Chopper and [deeper, longer laugh] just that whole scene of him riding on the hedgehog, like, so funny. So funny.

    Jacob Romero Gibson

    The sequence is iconic and one of the most creative fights of the early era of One Piece. Here’s hoping that the series gets a renewal shortly after its release. Once actors and writers are paid fairly, it would be great if they get a chance to bring it to life once more.

    Source: GamesRadar

  • Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Series Tries to Maintain “The Spirit of the Original”

    Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Series Tries to Maintain “The Spirit of the Original”

    Emily Rudd has been quite open about her love for One Piece and the excitement of getting to work with Eiichiro Oda, the creator of the franchise. Now, she has the chance to play her favorite character, Nami, in a series that is famous for being goofy and silly. Yet, they still try to aspire to make a “grounded version.“

    I think there have been crazier shows done. And yes, it’s a little bit silly and a little bit wacky. But again, I think something that we have really focused on is just the heart of the show. It’s a really beautiful story. And I think it’s the adventure, it’s the play, but it’s also like real stories, real people. And so, finding the grounded version of it while still maintaining the spirit of the original was something that we tried to find the balance of.

    Emily Rudd

    One thing that Emily Rudd is very aware of is the importance of her performance in the East Blue Saga. Most of this storyline is built around the emotional arc and an iconic moment that defined many’s journey into the 25+ years of One Piece.

    Oh, I was so deeply aware that this was going to hinge on me. I mean, the scene that we are addressing was the one that made me a fan of the show. It was what locked me in, and I remember the first time seeing it, I was bawling. And every time I have seen or read it since, I cry. I think about it, I cry.

    Emily Rudd

    Especially that iconic sequence is something that the actress is well aware of, and probably put a lot of pressure on herself to ensure it is done justice. But not just her, the entire crew that is bringing the series to life wanted to make sure they pull it off.

    But that scene, because it means so much not only to existing fans, but to me, that was like, ‘I have to make it right. I have to make it right,’ and I really think that we did. Like the entire team really kind of turned it out for that moment.

    Emily Rudd

    She shares that what makes Namis stand out among the Straw Hats is that “she’s the brains of the bunch” as “she’s keeping the boys in line” throughout their voyage into the Grand Line. It’ll be interesting to see how she pulls it off with the hopefully first of many seasons of this iconic series.

    Source: GamesRadar

  • ‘One Piece’s Taz Skylar Shares How They Tackled Sanji’s Controversial Characteristic

    ‘One Piece’s Taz Skylar Shares How They Tackled Sanji’s Controversial Characteristic

    In a new interview done before the SAG strike, GamesRadar got a chance to sit down with One Piece’s Taz Skylar. The man to bring Sanji to the live-action series had a challenging task. While he highlights the time he spent doing all the kicks himself in the same interview, he also didn’t shy away from how they approached the more controversial aspect of his character.

    He goes on to say that “everything’s a translation” and how they knew they couldn’t just adapt it “frame-by-frame,” an important lesson for most live-action adaptations.

    I think we had a lot of conversations about how everything’s a translation. Like, I had a lot of images of Sanji on my wall that were from the anime. And everything is a translation, because it can’t be frame-by-frame. But I can interpret everything that he does, everything that I see that he does, and put it into what I deem to be a translation into live action, because essentially, it’s a different language. It’s no longer 2D, it’s 3D, so like innately there is a translation there.

    Taz Skylar

    There was an understanding that the way he shows his affection to girls won’t quit work in a Western setting. He also shows his knowledge of the character given his familial relationship with his sister and mother. It seems they used that as a basis for how they tackle his take.

    As in, the background that he has with women in terms of the relationship he had with his mother, the relationship he had with his sister, the way that they interacted with him as opposed to the way that his brothers and his father used to interact with him. That to me, speaks volumes about why he may have a certain relationship with women in general and how we may react to it. In the sense that I don’t have to question at all why he cares so much about women. And that’s what I was hanging on to throughout it.

    Taz Skylar

    He highlights that instead of trying to avoid his behavior being one way, they simply wanted to take the core of his overall interaction as the basis for this “translation” of this version of Sanji.

    So as opposed to trying to really meter whether it comes off as creepy or whether it comes off as flirty, I would just imbue it with, “I really care about this person.” And hopefully what came out was a good translation. I won’t judge the result; I’ll just tell you about the process.

    Taz Skylar

    Taz Skylar is definitely showcasing a strong understanding of the character and a passion to bring him to life. It’ll be interesting to see how it comes together once we actually get to watch him in action in the series instead of just snippets during a trailer.

    Source: GamesRadar

  • Taz Skylar Did Every Kick as Sanji in Netflix’s Live-Action ‘One Piece Series

    Taz Skylar Did Every Kick as Sanji in Netflix’s Live-Action ‘One Piece Series

    Netflix has a packed August slate. After the release of the second part of The Witcher and Hearstopper in just a few weeks, we’re finally going to have the release of the live-action One Piece series. There’s something nostalgic looking back on when it was first announced in 2017 and having seen the trailer recently. Now, we got little over a month to go and the first interviews done before the SAG strikes are finding their way online.

    Taz Skylar, the man who plays Sanji in the live-action remake, gave a few insights into his journey to becoming the powerful kicker. In the interview, he highlights that “every single” kick was his own and they didn’t use any CGI on his leg.

    Yep! I did absolutely every single one of my own kicks in the show. There is no CGI on my leg, and my stunt double was my trainer, and was very enthusiastically cheering me from the side. He was with me throughout every step of it, and I had various other trainers.

    Taz Skylar

    He also goes on to highlight that he spent multiple hours a day preparing for this role. He knew exactly what he wanted to do and his stunt double ended up becoming his trainer.

    Early in the process, I decided that it was going to be… I wanted to do everything. Like, it was very much one of those jobs that if I was in for a penny, I was in for a pound. And we started with two hours a day of training when I got to South Africa. I was already training with a friend of mine here who’s a taekwondo black belt. And then when I got to South Africa, we started with like two hours a day of training. It was evident it wasn’t going to be enough, because I didn’t really have any sort of martial arts background. I had an athletic background, but not a martial arts.

    Taz Skylar

    He highlights, however, that those two hours aren’t enough and even went to continue adding more hours to nail his techniques. He even flew in his original trainer from London to further develop his abilities. It’s definitely impressive and further highlights that make this adaptation have the potential to become special.

    Source: GamesRadar

  • REVIEW: Predictable and Dull, Marvel’s ‘Secret Invasion’ Finale is an Overt Disappointment

    REVIEW: Predictable and Dull, Marvel’s ‘Secret Invasion’ Finale is an Overt Disappointment

    From the time the earliest teasers for Secret Invasion rolled out online, it was clear that at some point in the show, Nick Fury wouldn’t be Nick Fury. Since writer Kyle Bradstreet left that “ace” up his sleeve, it was pretty evident from the time “Fury” infiltrated the Skrull hideout that it wasn’t really him. In fact, even in the aftermath of last week’s episode, plenty of fans had already guessed exactly what was going to happen with The Harvest; however, most of those fever dream theories were more interesting than what was delivered in “Home.”

    As far as series finales go, Marvel Studios has seemed to have a hard time “sticking the landing” as everyone likes to say. To continue that analogy, the Secret Invasion finale would be more akin to a gymnast hitting the springboard and then launching headfirst into the pommel horse. For what was hyped up as a paranoia-landed spy thriller, the series as a whole lacked any sense of suspicion or mistrust as to who was or wasn’t a Skrull and despite their efforts, nobody actually believed Russia and America were going to war. Skrull Rhodey was always going to die. G’iah was always going to have her vengeance. “Who do you trust?” Certainly not the people rubber-stamping the choices made here.

    Emilia Clarke as G’iah in Marvel Studios’ SECRET INVASION, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.

    Much as it had previously done with the Kree, Marvel Studios has now painted themselves into a corner with the Skrulls. Kevin Feige once proudly claimed that Marvel Comics pointed Marvel Studios in the right direction with their projects: “The answers are always in the books,” said the head man. It now seems that in their quest to avoid doing direct page-to-screen adaptations, they’ve entirely lost their way. Much like Ronan the Accuser and Mar-Vell before him, Kl’rt, the OG Super Skrull, will either be ignored entirely or greatly reduced in significance…so that the MCU could have Gravik? For decades, Marvel Comics has found ways to keep the Kree-Skrull War alive and interesting but somehow, over the course of two projects, Marvel Studios reduced it–and all its players–into minimalist impressions. What’s left? Some “peace talks” and a brand new most powerful being in the galaxy in Emilia Clarke’s G’iah and Fury’s Skrull wife. What are they going to do now? No idea. Varra’s work is apparently “important” and G’iah’s final scene reeks of the all-too-common theme among Marvel Studios’ writers that whatever comes next for the character is the next guy’s problem.

    And what of the hero of the series? After pushing the people he once took under his wing and hoped to find a home for into a war against their own extinction, Nick Fury…pisses back off into space? So he can make jokes again in The Marvels? After a half-assed explanation given not by Nick but by G’iah pretending to be Nick, old Nick is back and nobody would blame anyone for wondering how–or even if–the events of Secret Invasion will have changed him when we see him again. For four episodes, the series really only worked as a showcase for Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Don Cheadle and Olivia Colman’s talents; however, once it came time for it to change gears and try to find its relevance in the ongoing shared narrative, the wheels came off entirely. Ultimately, Secret Invasion will be remembered as a series of unfortunately misapplied and wasted concepts that show Marvel Studios just doesn’t value or understand the Cosmic corner of the comics that Feige once said held all the “answers.” It might be time for the studio to course-correct and work its way back to taking more inspiration from the comics–or it might be too late already.

  • First Look at Luffy’s Devil Fruit in Netflix’s Live-Action ‘One Piece’

    First Look at Luffy’s Devil Fruit in Netflix’s Live-Action ‘One Piece’

    One Piece Day gave us the live-action One Piece’s first full trailer. While we still have some time to wait for the actual release, it was an overall big day for Eiichiro Oda’s baby. He’s been working on it for 26 years and has been very open about his involvement in the project. So, the One Piece Day event wasn’t just about Gear 5 and the anime but also gave us quite a few first looks for the series.

    Not only did an image surface give us a first look at the franchise’s Den Den Mushi, but @newworldartur has also surprised us with another piece of their prop showcase. Now just anything, but the iconic Gum-Gum Fruit, or Gomu-Gomu no Mi for those that prefer the Japanese dub. It looks like a one-to-one adaptation of the original with a rather curious detail.

    The detail of it being part of a Marine case stands out, as that is a revelation that wouldn’t become relevant until 20+ years later. Yes, they considered a detail that wouldn’t really pay off for many years to come, which highlights that those involved with the project are big fans of the original series. We’ll have to wait and see how it comes together, especially if they even hint at how the Red-Haired Pirates get their hands on it before Luffy ends up eating it.

    Source: Twitter

  • First Look at Live-Action ‘One Piece’s Den Den Mushi

    First Look at Live-Action ‘One Piece’s Den Den Mushi

    The first full trailer for One Piece has dropped, which offers us quite a better look at what we can expect from this live-action series. Surprisingly, it seems to still retain some of the goofier aspects of the franchise, which highlights just how much influence the series creator, Eiichiro Oda, has on this project. We also got a look at a News Coo, which is only one big part of this world’s unique flora and fauna.

    Surprisingly, we did not see a Den Den Mushi, also known as a Transponder Snail (the inspiration behind our very own One Piece podcast). In this world, they do not communicate through phones but rather these snails that have the ability to connect and also end up looking like the person using it. We kind of expected they would keep it at a minimum, but a new image surfaced online from @OnePieceNxBr, which unveils that we are definitely getting the iconic Den Den Mushi. This one even being similar to Axe-Hand Morgan.

    It’s this detail that highlights this project isn’t trying to go for realism, but is introducing us to a unique world. One Piece‘s world-building has been its biggest strength and the Netflix original is smartly diving into that as a way to make it work. Sticking to some of the iconic aspects also makes this series stand out, even if it likely is quite a bit more expensive for the necessary work relevant to keep this world going. Here’s hoping that once it releases in late August, it’ll draw in the viewership to keep it going for many more years.

    Source: Twitter

  • Disney+ Original ‘Secret Invasion’ Heading to Hulu for Limited Time

    Disney+ Original ‘Secret Invasion’ Heading to Hulu for Limited Time

    Disney has been experimenting quite a bit on how they can grow the audience for their various shows. Just recently, it was announced that Ms. Marvel is heading to ABC and quite a few of their animated shows get limited releases on Disney’s various TV channels. Now, they are also trying it out with another Marvel series.

    Hulu has unveiled that the first three episodes of Secret Invasion, which is going to release its season finale next week, will be available for a limited time on Disney’s sister streaming service. It’s an interesting way to promote the series and gain additional viewers ahead of the finale but it’ll continue to be available until August 17th.

    The strategy isn’t bad, as it’s more about also expanding the bundle they are offering for those interested in multiple streaming services. While viewership for this series wasn’t among Marvel’s best, it doesn’t have any superheroes that tend to carry these kinds of projects. Though we generally don’t know what makes a Disney+ series successful in the eyes of Disney, as they release no data and we have to rely on third-party analysis. One of the important reasons writers and actors are fighting for better pay.

    Source: Twitter

  • CONFIRMED: ‘The Witcher’ Composers Working on Netflix’s ‘One Piece’s Score

    CONFIRMED: ‘The Witcher’ Composers Working on Netflix’s ‘One Piece’s Score

    One Piece has some iconic music and it was not going to be a small task. Yet, there were more and more hints that perhaps composer Sonya Belousova would be working on the live-action’s music after she shared an Instagram video of some pirate-esque music.

    It was back in April that the detectives @OP_Netflix_Fan and @OPLAFandom first shared that Sonya Belousova alongside Giona Ostinelli are working on the live-action One Piece series. Now, ScreenRant has confirmed that they are both working on the project with an official statement by the talented composers:

    We’re thrilled to have been invited by Netflix, Matt Owens, Steve Maeda, and Tomorrow Studios to become part of the Straw Hats crew and craft the ONE PIECE live action music universe by serving as composers, songwriters, and music producers for the live action adaptation of the beloved manga. We have plenty of surprises in store for fans of the franchise and new fans. It will be an incredible adventure with songs and virtuosic flamenco guitar, hip-hop and big band jazz funk fusion, folk and circus, rap and big epic swashbuckling orchestra, featuring extraordinary artists. We’re so excited to set sail for ONE PIECE when it premieres on Netflix August 31!

    Sonya Belousova & Giona Ostinelli

    Belousova has also taken to Twitter to share her excitement about being involved with the project. Though, it’s interesting she calls it “BIG BIG NEWS ALERT #1” which gives some hope that perhaps more is on the way. She does hint at more updates to follow.

    They both are famous for their work on another Netflix series, The Witcher. They went on to create the viral hit “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher” and have quite some iconic songs that have the same potential. The only question is if we’ll get a new rendition of “To the Grand Line” or “Bink’s Sake” when the series releases in August.

    Source: ScreenRant, Twitter

  • Hot Toys Teases Some Netflix’s Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Collectibles

    Hot Toys Teases Some Netflix’s Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Collectibles

    Here’s a fun surprise, but it looks like One Piece is getting some brand-new merchandise. We already got a tease during Anime Expo; a big sign that Netflix is all-in with this new project. While most of us may have thought they were planning to slowly roll out a few products as they test the waters, it looks like they aren’t holding back after all.

    Hot Toys shared a tweet confirming that they are working on collectibles of the iconic series but based on Netflix’s live-action adaptation. Sadly, they have yet to share anything on what characters will get the Hot Toys treatment and if these are similar to their iconic Marvel Cinematic Universe line-up, but it’s definitely a great surprise.

    The timing of the tweet is also quite interesting, as One Piece Day is this weekend. They are having an in-person event in Japan, and it wouldn’t be too surprising if they actually reveal it over the weekend. They will have some props at the location, but there was no word if they will also include merchandise. Seems like we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

    Source: Twitter