Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV

  • ‘The Mandalorian’ Brings the Star Wars Deep State to Live-Action

    ‘The Mandalorian’ Brings the Star Wars Deep State to Live-Action

    Chapter 22 of The Mandalorian saw Bo-Katan reclaim her fleet, take possession of the Darksaber and become the chosen one to lead the Mandalorian Renaissance. It was all too easy. Chapter 23, The Spies, brought all the good Mandalorian mojo to a quick halt. While fans expected the episode to feature the return of Mandalorian archnemesis Moff Gideon, the episode also contained a delightful surprise that portends continuing bad news for the heroes of the story.

    The opening moments of The Spies not only quickly added Gideon back into the mix but also introduced a group of high-ranking Imperial loyalists known as the Shadow Council. The Shadow Council made its first canonical appearance in Chuck Wendig‘s 2017 novel Aftermath: Life Debt where, led by Admiral Gallius Rax, they planned to overthrow the New Republic. The machinations of the Shadow Council, which consisted of Rax, Rae Sloane, Brendol Hux, Ferric Obdur, Grand Moff Rand and Hodnar Borrum, were thought to be thwarted with their defeat at the Battle of Jokku, however, as seen in Chapter 23 of The Mandalorian, it has been reformed.

    While the identities of every member of the Shadow Council weren’t revealed, their goals–by in large–remain the same: reestablish the Empire. Two members of the council, Grand Admiral Thrawn’s Number 2, Gilad Pellaeon, and soon-to-be First Order General Brendol Hux, who is heading the mysterious Project Necromancer, seem to be allotted a disproportionate amount of the resources available the Imperial loyalists as they work. As seen in The Spies, however, Gideon is less than impressed with his fellow council members, who seem content to wait for the return of the Heir to the Empire, Thrawn.

    Gideon’s speech in the opening moments of Chapter 23 certainly stirred the Shadow Council to action as the agreed to move on the accumulating Mandalorians before they were able to rise to their full strength and offer a much more real threat to the reemergence of the Empire. Given what’s known about the future of the Star Wars universe, Hux’s work on Project Necromancer, likely being done in the Unknown Regions, will lead to the creation of Snoke, a reborn Emperor and the rise of the First Order. However, with Thrawn set to make his return in Ahsoka and the future of Gideon’s feud with the Mandalorians yet to be written, there are certainly some tense moments ahead for the beskar warriors.

  • ‘Private Practice’, ‘Prison Break’ Star Paul Adelstein Joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe

    ‘Private Practice’, ‘Prison Break’ Star Paul Adelstein Joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe

    Paul Adelstein, best known for his roles as Paul Kellerman on Prison Break and Dr. Cooper Freedman on Private Practice, revealed that he has joined the MCU. Though the nature of his involvement with Marvel Studios was not disclosed, Adelstein revealed via his Instagram that he was currently in Atlanta for something MCU-related.

    While the tendency would be to believe Adelstein has been cast in one of Marvel Studios upcoming projects–both Captain America: New World Order and Agatha: Coven of Chaos are currently filming in Atlanta–it’s also possible he’s working behind the camera as part of a writing room. Adelstein recently appeared in The Menu and The Greatest Beer Run Ever and is slated to appear in an episode of the second season of Cruel Summer later in 2023.

  • Netflix Orders ‘Stranger Things’ Animated Spinoff

    Netflix Orders ‘Stranger Things’ Animated Spinoff

    The Upside-Down is about to look quite a bit different, as Netflix has seemingly decided to move forward with an animated series that takes place in the world of Stranger Things. There is no real info on what exactly the story will be about and if we can expect any tie-ins to the main series, but it seems they at least already have a production company attached.

    It seems Eric Robles is working on the series with Flying Bark Productions. He has quite a varied background with series like Random! Cartoons, Fanboy & Chum Chum, and most notably Glitch Techs. The latter was a Netflix and Nickelodeon cooperation, which means Robles has some experience working with the streaming service but there’s now ord if his co-creator Dan Milano is also involved.

    This animated spinoff will be executive produced by the Duffer brothers under their new Upside Down label, which is also looking to expand the franchise with a live-action spinoff, a new attempt at a live-action Death Note series, and more. They gave the following statement on jumping into animation with this franchise.

    We’ve always dreamed of an animated ‘Stranger Things’ in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving, and to see this dream realized has been absolutely thrilling. We couldn’t be more blown away by what Eric Robles and his team have come up with — the scripts and artwork are incredible, and we can’t wait to share more with you! The adventure continues.

    Duffer Brothers

    Stranger Things is one of their biggest IPs and it’s actually surprising how long it took before they attempted to create a spinoff but it worked out as most of the focus remained on the ongoing series, which is set to release its final season at some point in the coming years. It’ll be interesting to see how exactly the horror series translated into a Saturday morning cartoon.

    Source: Variety

  • SWCE: Lucasfilm Reveals the End of ‘The Bad Batch’

    SWCE: Lucasfilm Reveals the End of ‘The Bad Batch’

    After a bit of a slow start to its sophomore season, The Bad Batch picked up the pace and delivered several consistently wonderful episodes in the back half. That culminated in a heart-breaking finale that saw Omega separated from the group as they try to overcome the apparent loss of Tech.

    The cliffhanger came with the promise of at least one more season’s worth of stories for Clone Force 99 and now we know that’s all we’ll get. During Star Wars Celebration 2023, it was announced that Season 3 of The Bad Batch will be the final one for the animated series.

    Updating…

  • ‘X-Men ’97’ Showrunner Seems to Confirm Rumored Delay

    ‘X-Men ’97’ Showrunner Seems to Confirm Rumored Delay

    As word began to circulate that Marvel Studios 2023 streaming slate might see some reshuffling following the return of Bob Iger, one series that seemed a safe bet to remain in 2023 was X-Men ’97. The revival of the beloved X-Men: The Animated Series, X-Men ’97 was set to kick off its rumored four-season run in the Fall of 2023. Now it seems as though that will not be the case.

    Following a rumor about the show being delayed until 2024 was shared on Twitter by CanWeGetSomeToast, showrunner Beau DeMayo took to social media to tell ask fans who are anxiously awaiting the show to “just be patient.” Though DeMayo said he could “neither confirm nor deny” the rumors of the show’s delay, the information is consistent with word that reached us as well.

    https://twitter.com/beau_demayo/status/1644418268403499009?s=20

    Despite the friends of humanity still having their mullets and getting all up in it, things are really starting to look up for mutants. And this is gonna kind of come to a head and leads our X-Men to say, ‘What does our future hold for us? We weren’t expecting this.

    Beau DeMayo on X-Men ’97

    As with many of the projects that are currently facing delays of varying lengths, the extra time to nail things down should ultimately be worth the wait for fans. The new series is set to pick up right where Season 5 of X-Men: The Animated Series left off. According to DeMayo, X-Men ’97 begins “several months after Professor X left Earth after being shot by Henry Gyrich and had to return to the Shi’ar homeworld to be with Lilandra.” The mutant superteam will also be going up against a familiar foe in Mister Sinister, according to an official synopsis of the series. So it sounds like there are plenty of great things in store for fans whenever the show finally makes its way to Disney Plus.

  • SWCE: Currently No Plans for ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Season 2

    SWCE: Currently No Plans for ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Season 2

    Obi-Wan Kenobi was a unique entry in Star Wars’ Disney+ saga, as it moved away from the show that kicked off the long-form storytelling era of Lucasfilm, but also refocused on a major character from the original Prequel trilogy. Ewan McGregor returned to the role and explored what happened to the former Jedi Master after the Empire started emerging from the ashes of his own failures.

    In an interview with Kathleen Kennedy, the CEO of Lucasfilm, she revealed that while McGregor is quite eager to do another season of Obi-Wan Kenobi, they currently have no real plans to move forward. It was originally imagined as a limited series by showrunner Deborah Chow, there’s also no necessity to move forward as the initial story was wrapped up in the original vision of the series.

    That is not an active development. But I never say never, because there’s always the possibility. That show was so well-received and [director] Deborah Chow did such a spectacular job. Ewan McGregor really wants to do another. Everybody’s all hands on deck with what we’re doing right now, as you can see by what we showed everybody [at the Celebration]. We’ll turn our attention to that again maybe down the road.

    Kathleen Kennedy

    It’s definitely interesting that they are keeping the door open to potentially explore more within this corner of the galaxy, but it does seem like there’s no real necessity. The quiet reunion between the padawan and his former master adds a nice little bow to Kenobi’s story that pushes him forward even with the uncertainty of the future. It would be exciting to know what he was up to after protecting the Skywalkers but perhaps it’s best to leave that to our imagination.

    Source: Variety

  • SWCE: ‘Tales of the Jedi’ Will Return for Season 2

    SWCE: ‘Tales of the Jedi’ Will Return for Season 2

    Star Wars Celebration is the event that keeps on giving, as another piece of news has arrived that Tales of the Jedi is set to receive a second season. The announcement came from its creator Dave Filoni, who has slowly taken over a larger and larger role in supervising the future of the franchise. Not only is he set to direct a film that’ll culminate all the series that spun out of The Mandalorian, but generally continues his work on the animated entries of the franchise.

    He jokingly only stated that the animated anthology series “was so fun the first time, I decided to do some more” during the panel on the 15th anniversary of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. There are no details on what the next season will focus on, as the first one consisted of six episodes that split the story between Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku’s early days.

    There’s a chance we might get to spend some more time with familiar Jedi from the franchise’s past, but it does seem his focus remains with those from The Clone Wars era. It would be great if they use this anthology series to potentially add some depth to our favorites from the sequel era, especially now that Daisy Ridley is set to return in the near future with a new sequel to the sequel trilogy.

    Source: Twitter, Star Wars

  • James Gunn Reveals When to Expect Season 2 of ‘Peacemaker’

    James Gunn Reveals When to Expect Season 2 of ‘Peacemaker’

    The HBO Max streaming series Peacemaker was one of the surprise hits of 2022. Spinning out of James Gunn‘s The Suicide Squad, the series followed John Cena‘s titular character as he once again teamed up with Amanda Waller and A.R.G.U.S. to stop Project Butterfly. Even as Gunn took a new role as the co-chair of DC Studios and looks to start with a clean slate, a second season of Peacemaker remained on the slate though how it will transition into the new DCU continuity remains to be seen.

    Needless to say, Gunn is a very busy man these days. Not only is he helping Peter Safran to create and oversee the projects in Chapter 1 of the new DCU, titled Gods and Monsters but he’s also writing and directing Superman: Legacy, one of the most anticipated projects on the slate. With all that going on, fans have begun to question when Gunn will find time for the second season of Peacemaker. As is his way, Gunn took to Twitter to answer those questions.

    While talking about the upcoming Gods and Monsters slate, Gunn indicated that Season 2 of Peacemaker won’t be released until after Superman: Legacy. Interestingly enough, production on the second season of the streaming series was reported to be planned to take place after Gunn wrapped his press responsibilities for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 which means it may sit in the can for quite some time before release.

  • SWCE: ‘Clone Wars’ and ‘Rebels’ Composer Kevin Kiner to Score ‘Ahsoka’

    SWCE: ‘Clone Wars’ and ‘Rebels’ Composer Kevin Kiner to Score ‘Ahsoka’

    Since 2008, composer Kevin Kiner has created the musical scores for nearly all of Star Wars animated projects. A veteran of The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Bad Batch and Tales of the Jedi, Kiner’s original works have accompanied many of the franchise’s most beloved characters as they have made their way through the galaxy far, far away. It’s only fitting, then, that Kiner make the jump from animation to live-action with the crew of the Ghost in the upcoming streaming series Ahsoka.

    As part of the Ahsoka panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023, it was announced that Kiner did indeed create the musical score for Ahsoka, which streams this August. An argument could be made that outside of creator Dave Filoni, Kiner may know Ahsoka Tano the best, having created her theme and scoring over 200 episodes of shows in which she was often one of the main characters, including the recent Tales of the Jedi which told the origins of the character.

    Ahsoka will begin streaming on Disney Plus in August.

  • Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Seemingly Filming Again in South Africa

    Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Seemingly Filming Again in South Africa

    Sadly, there’s still no exact release date or footage of Netflix’s attempt at bringing One Piece into live-action but a post from Craig Fairbrass may have hinted that they are filming in South Africa again. For those getting worried, touch-ups or reshoots aren’t uncommon for modern productions and are just a way to take in feedback to make sure the final product is as great as it can be.

    Fairbrass, who plays the owner of the Baratie Zeff, took to Twitter to announce that he is on his way home. He confirms that he was back in Cape Town to film, but doesn’t give away how long he worked on the project. He also has his blond hair again which might be for his role. What stands out, however, is that this is seemingly his third trip there but in a past tweet, he revealed he had to leave for some time due to a COVID case on set.

    It’s unclear if they wrapped the reshoots with him involved but there’s a chance they might still be filming. Whatever their production time window looks like, it certainly is a sign that the project is closing in on its final version, and with Geeked Week a few months away, we might be nearing some more teases of the project.

    Source: Twitter