Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV

  • RUMOR: ‘The Mandalorian’ May Have Introduced ‘Skeleton Crew’s Villain

    RUMOR: ‘The Mandalorian’ May Have Introduced ‘Skeleton Crew’s Villain

    When the first episode dropped for the long-awaited third season of The Mandalorian, we met the pirate king Gorian Shard. While it’s uncertain if we might see more of him in this season, a new rumor from Bespin Bulletin may have pointed out that this was a way to set up the main antagonist in the upcoming Jon Watt‘s directed Disney+ Star Wars series, Skeleton Crew.

    There was a strong focus on the character during the episode, as his crew seemingly are obsessed with mentioning his name. They also went all out with the make-up that hinted at this character having a bigger role overall but we won’t know until more episodes are released from The Mandalorian.

    There is some uncertainty if the school that the pirates try to enter might even be the same where Jude Law‘s character works. It’s not confirmed but would make for some fun world-building by the Disney+ corner of Star Wars exploring its very specific connections.

    We’ve heard very little of the Disney+ series that is set to release at some point this year. We may get a first tease during the upcoming Star Wars Celebration and they might even confirm the appearance of Shard as one of its main antagonists. He also seems perfect for a series that wants to explore the pulpy side of the galaxy far far away.

    Source:

  • Matt Shakman Rumored to Have Struck Fantastic Deal with Marvel Studios

    Matt Shakman Rumored to Have Struck Fantastic Deal with Marvel Studios

    Following his work on WandaVision, Marvel Studios turned to director Matt Shakman to take the lead on their Fantastic Four project when original helmer Jon Watts departed. With Fantastic Four now casting ahead of a 2024 start of production, news comes that Shakman may already be lined up for a pair of Marvel Studios projects in addition to the film.

    During a segment on the Hot Mic Podcast, Jeff Snieder indicated that Shakman may be Marvel Studios choice to lead a Disney Plus streaming series focused on the Silver Surfer and is lined up to direct a portion of the Disney Plus streaming series Vision Quest. While there has been no official word from Marvel Studios concerning a Silver Surfer project, a Special Presentation introducing the character has been rumored for some time . Vision Quest, on the other hand, is known to be in the works and is reportedly headed into production in 2024.

    Shakman has a strong background in TV beyond WandaVision, having worked on HBO’s Game of Thrones. Given Vision Quest is all but guaranteed to be a sequel to WandaVision, Shakman’s participation in the series would provide an opportunity for narrative continuity and consistency to be present in the new series.

    Source: YouTube

  • Fewer Sequels, More Avengers in Store for the MCU

    Fewer Sequels, More Avengers in Store for the MCU

    As Bob Iger continues to reign in the free-spending gunslingers behind Disney’s big brands, fans of those brands continue to wonder what the future will hold. During an appearance Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, Iger gave some indication of what the future of Marvel Studios may hold.

    On the heels of a pair of sequels that weren’t the critical darlings that Disney had hoped they’d be, Iger indicated that Marvel Studios may reevaluate their approach to sequels.

    There are 7,000 characters, there are a lot more stories to tell. What we have to look at at Marvel is not necessarily the volume of Marvel stories we’re telling but how many times we go back to the well on certain characters. Sequels typically work well for us. Do you need a third and a fourth, for instance, or is it time to turn to other characters?

    Robert Iger

    It’s hard not to read between the lines of Iger’s comments and think about Thor: Love and Thunder and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. The former has been widely criticized for taking the wrong lessons from its much more successful predecessor, Thor: Ragnarok while the latter has been under fire for its drop-off at the box office.

    It’s not all bad news for Marvel Studios, though. Iger is confident that the future, which he loosely defined as the “next five years”, holds a lot of promise.

    There’s nothing in any way inherently off in terms of the Marvel brand. I think we just have to look at what characters and stories we’re mining. If you look at the trajectory of Marvel in the next five years, there will be a lot of newness. We’re going to turn back to the Avengers franchise with a whole new set of Avengers, for example.

    Robert Iger

    Interestingly enough, that newness includes the scheduled MCU debuts of the Punisher, Blade, Deadpool, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, none of whom are new to the superhero landscape, only the MCU; so roughly in the sense that a used car is new to you, though not truly new. Beyond that, characters such as Sentry, Wonder Man and Nova are known to be making true debuts, so it will be worth tracking which of Marvel’s 7,000 other characters get the opportunity to make the jump to the MCU.

    Iger’s comments on a “new set of Avengers” is also worth some thought. After having four Avengers films weaved throughout the Infinity Saga, each serving as “Phase enders”, the studio chose to reserve the Multiverse Saga’s Avengers films for Phase 6. With Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars set to end the Multiverse Saga, the expectations placed on those films is already staggeringly high.

    Source: Deadline

  • New Details Emerge on ‘What If…?’ Season 2’s New MCU Character

    New Details Emerge on ‘What If…?’ Season 2’s New MCU Character

    The first season of Marvel Studios animated series What If…? was a hit with critics and audiences. A second season was already in the works by the time the first episodes hit Disney Plus, but nearly a year and a half later, no word on its release has been revealed. There have been some tidbits about what to expect, however, including the fairly major news that a brand new character will be introduced to the MCU in Season 2.

    The news, via Boardwalk Times, confirms the identity of the new character as Kahhori, who was recently leaked via a Funko product. According to the Twitter account, Kahhori, a young Mohawk woman, will be the star of an episode that explores the impact of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy coming into possession of the Tesseract in pre-Colonial America.

    Additional details from Marvel.com describe the episode as a look what happens when “The Tesseract takes on a new life and a new mythology, transforming a lake into a gateway to the stars and leading Kahhori, a young Mohawk woman, on a quest to discover her power.” Writer Ryan Little scripted the episode in collaboration with members of the Mohawk nation and the episode will “take place in the Mohawk language” and from the perspective of the Mohawk people. The episode will see Kahhori have to “live up to her name (which means she stirs the forest in Mohawk) to recruit powerful allies into the fight to save her people and change the course of history forever.”

    Though no official word has come from Marvel Studios at this time, insider KC Walsh recently shared a potential timeline for the release of the second season of What If…?. According to his sources, the show is tentatively set to debut in early 2024. As Marvel Studios looks to find a better pace with their streaming releases, no time frame (even those originally shared by Marvel) should be considered etched in stone at this time.

    Source: Marvel.com

  • ‘Tomb Raider’ Actor to Play Kuroobi in Netflix’s ‘One Piece’

    ‘Tomb Raider’ Actor to Play Kuroobi in Netflix’s ‘One Piece’

    It looks like a member of the Arlong Pirates has been uncovered for Netflix’s upcoming live-action adaptation of One Piece. While we know that McKinley Belcher will play the big bad Arlong for some time now, we haven’t heard any news on the various members that’ll make up his group of evil Fishmen.

    His pirate crew that are making their mark on the East Blue and ruling the innocent Conomi Islands with an iron fist consisting of a small group of Fish-men from the Grand Line. While there are quite a few additional members, the main opponents the Straw Hats face are Kuroobi, Chew, and Hatchan.

    As first shared by @OP_Netflix_Fan, Warrior, and Tomb Raider actor Jandre’ Le Roux has shared in his CV that he’s taking on the role of Kuroobi. Not just that, but he also offers some insight into what we can expect from his role. He includes sword-fighting choreography for the Fish-Man Karate specialist, and highlights “fending off sword strikes and kicks” which alludes to Sanji.

    We also get another hint that the Fish-Man is going to be brought to life practically in the Netflix series. While they may still use CG to touch up some elements, he highlights that he spent his time working on One Piece, or Project Panda, “in full upper body prosthetics,” which likely made combat scenes even trickier. So, it’ll be interesting just how far they lean into the designs from the manga. Here’s hoping we get Arlong’s iconic saw-shaped nose.

    Source: iArtistManagement, Twitter

  • ‘Supergirl’ Star to Take Over as Teela in ‘Masters of the Universe: Revolution’

    ‘Supergirl’ Star to Take Over as Teela in ‘Masters of the Universe: Revolution’

    It seems like Teela will be recast in the upcoming sequel season for Kevin Smith‘s legacy sequel of the Masters of the Universe franchise. He’s currently working on Masters of the Universe: Revolution but sadly it seems not everyone will return from the previous seasons. According to Deadline, Sarah Michelle Gellar will not return in the next entry

    Instead, Supergirl star Melissa Benoist is taking over as the voice for Teela in Revolution. So far, Chris Wood, Mark Hamill, and William Shatner are the only confirmed cast for the next season. Though, we still don’t know who Shatner will play. We’ll see who else might join or take over as the series continues with a more technology versus magic focus.

    Benoist shared the following statement on joining the project:

    I jumped at the opportunity to work alongside my friend, Kevin Smith and join the Revolution family as another bold and fearless heroine. I look forward to sharing the next evolution of Teela’s story with fans

    Melissa Benoist

    It’s great to see Benoist join another major project like this and it’ll be interesting to see if Teela might have a major role in Revolution. It’s a shame that Gellar isn’t returning and perhaps she’ll find time for a small role to still remain as part of the cast moving forward without having to invest too much time. Either way, we are also likely a step closer to seeing the new Masters of the Universe finally released if they are announcing cast members.

    Source: Deadline

  • REVIEW: ‘The Bad Batch’ Thanks Its Good Soldiers for Their Service

    REVIEW: ‘The Bad Batch’ Thanks Its Good Soldiers for Their Service

    Good soldiers follow orders. The motto of the Empire’s Clone Army and the basis of the rift between CT-9904 and his Bad Batch brothers, those words are as etched in the minds of fans of Star Wars animated series nearly as deeply as in the minds of the clones. Throughout the course of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch, “good soldiers follow orders” has been the rote and retaliatory response given any time evil deeds were done by Clones in the name of the Empire. Of course, following orders in the service of evil is still doing evil (indeed the phrase seems to be a reference to the “superior orders” defense that Nazi war criminals attempted to use during the Nuremberg trials, continuing a long-running allegory within the Star Wars universe) and the phrase was never going to hide the evil acts.

    Crosshair has always been severe and unyielding. It is his nature. You cannot change that. He cannot change that.

    Tech, The Bad Batch: Kamino Lost

    After a bit of a slow start, Season 2 of The Bad Batch has quickly gotten very interesting following Emperor Palpatine’s Defense Recruitment Bill. The bill not only ushered in the era of the Imperial Stormtrooper but also emphatically ended the era of the Clones, who for all their order following, were decommissioned. The latest episode, The Outpost, is a beginning-to-end indictment of the Empire’s dismissal of the Clones and a parabolic reminder that you reap what you sow. At the center of it all is Clone Force 99’s “do what needed to be done” loyalist Crosshair who by the end of the episode finds himself in a very bad place under the special care of the series’ new bad lad, Dr. Hemlock.

    I am a soldier of the Empire.

    Crosshair, The Bad Batch: The Solitary Clone
    Lieutenant Nolan in a scene from “STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH”, season 2 exclusively on Disney+. © 2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

    Though it’s laid on pretty thick, the episode’s depiction of the dismal treatment of the Clones seems necessary as a teaching tool not for the audience but for Crosshair. From the moment the ennuyé Imperial Officer drones on to the Clones about their service to Crosshair’s mission to Barton-4 under the uber-douchey Lt. Nolan to the anticlimactic discovery of the purpose of that mission, the humdrum pacing of The Outpost lures fans into a bit of a trap: Crosshair gonna Crosshair. And then…he doesn’t.

    This is who I am.

    Crosshair, The Bad Batch: Return to Kamino

    Having a character go against his very nature, especially one whose nature has been the sole focus of nearly every interaction with the character since the show’s debut is no small thing. What’s more, having Crosshair betray that nature in order to kill Lt. Nolan over the death of a few “regs” symbolizes a near-total metamorphosis for the Bad Batch’s resident cynic. By pulling the trigger and killing Nolan, Crosshair followed his own orders and, by his own beliefs, is no longer a good soldier despite doing what he believed needed to be done. It would seem the fate of his brothers in Clone Force 99 is destined to intertwine with his once more as the new clone king, Dr. Hemlock, now has Omega in his sights. But will the reborn Crosshair soon have Hemlock in his?

  • REVIEW: ‘The Mandalorian’ Heads to the Mines of Mandalore for a Monstrous Measure of Mythos

    REVIEW: ‘The Mandalorian’ Heads to the Mines of Mandalore for a Monstrous Measure of Mythos

    Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are playing the long game with The Mandalorian and an even longer one with the story of Mandalore. A location frequently visited and revisited in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, Mandalore–and its fascinating history, culture and politics–has always been integral to the larger goings on of the galaxy and taken a pretty bad beating along the way. Over the course of the first two seasons of The Mandalorian and the first season of The Book of Boba Fett, it’s been clear that Favreau and Filoni are building towards Mandalore’s return to glory but in Chapter 18 of The Mandalorian, The Mines of Mandalore, that return to glory begins in earnest.

    As has often been said, The Mandalorian is a slow burn; however, in retrospect, it has provided Star Wars fans, both subtly and overtly, with an incredible amount of information about Mandalorian culture. “This is the Way” doesn’t carry the same meaning it did 2.5 seasons ago (that’s counting The Book of Boba Fett as the .5) because the Way has become so well-defined to the audience through the experiences of Mando, Grogu, et al. Favreau and Filoni made a decision to let the intricacies of The Way of the Mandalore be discovered over time rather than force-fed to the audience. That decision has led to a clear understanding of the differences in culture between the Children of the Watch and the rest of Mandalorian society. No greater example of that rift exists than the relationship between Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze and this Chapter exploits that rift expertly.

    Din Djarin’s visit to pouty Bo-Katan illustrates a key difference between The Children of the Watch and every other Mandalorian: faith. Against all odds, Din Djarin’s intentions to return to Mandalore and bathe in the Living Waters is an expression of the depth of his beliefs in The Way of the Mandalore; Bo-Katan’s dismissal of his quest–and her general malaise–is an expression of the lack of hers. While there’s been some controversy among fans around whether or not Din Djarin should be the one to reunite the great Houses of Mandalore and lead them to their renaissance, The Mines of Mandalore provides adequate evidence to suggest he may just be the guy. Though the depth of their zealotry seems to border on irrational, The Children of the Watch have kept the faith and Din Djarin’s experience in this Chapter rewards them for doing so.

    Chapter 5 of The Book of Boba Fett, Return of the Mandalorian, laid much of the groundwork for The Mines of Mandalore and the insane payoff within its final moments. Din Djarin’s road to redemption, as explained to him by The Armorer and Paz Vizsla, is presented as an unwalkable one. Now an apostate, his only path to being forgiven lies in the ruins of Mandalore which is believed to be uninhabitable. Moreover, the belief of the Children of the Watch is that Mandalore’s destruction is tied to a legend that points to Bo-Katan’s “undeserving” nature as the leader of the people; however, those same legends and songs, kept alive by the Children of the Watch’s adherence to The Way, prophesize a return to glory for Mandalore that will be heralded in by the rise of the Mythosaur, the heretofore unseen beasts of legend.

    2.5 seasons of The Mandalorian have partially conditioned the audience to see things much in the way they are seen by Bo-Katan. Though the Children of the Watch, exemplified by Din Djarin, continue to hold their faith as the galaxy closes in around them, how can their return to glory ever occur when it is tied to the rise of an extinct beast of myth? And Chapter 18 provides the spine-tingling answer to that question in all its glory. It’s a payoff that only works because Favreau and Filoni have let the audience slowly build their own opinions about The Way of the Mandalore and the nature of Din Djarin’s quest to redeem himself. Those who kept the faith, like Din Djarin, now see the fruits of their faith and that the future for Mandalore is bright and also probably involves Din Djarin wielding the Darksaber while riding on the back of a Mythosaur sometime very soon. It’s a story 13 years in the telling and nearly 50 years in the making and it is just getting good.

  • Disney’s ‘Zorro’ Project Adds ‘Game of Thrones’ Vet as Showrunner

    Disney’s ‘Zorro’ Project Adds ‘Game of Thrones’ Vet as Showrunner

    Back in December of 2021, we learned that Disney has cast Wilmer Valderrama as its new Zorro. Disney TV was developing the project which was going to be a period piece set in Pueblo de Los Angeles with a telenovela style. After a long silence on the project, it seems it is moving forward after all, as it has added Game of Thrones‘ Bryan Cogman as its writer, executive producer, and showrunner.

    The series is described as a “bold reimagining of Disney’s classic series for a modern audience.” Cogman makes a great get for the series, as he’s worked for eight seasons on Game of Thrones, even ending the series’ run as a co-executive producer and having written eleven episodes. He also was involved with Amazon’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and wrote the screenplay for Disney’s live-action remake of The Sword in the Stone.

    It’ll be interesting to see if they are still focusing on a telenovela style now that they added Cogman as its showrunner. His experience is more with high-fantasy series which might make for a unique take on the Zorro character, but who knows how far they’ve already gotten working on the project since that initial casting announcement over a year ago. We’ll have to wait a bit to find out what Disney’s take on the iconic caped crusader might look like.

    Source: Deadline

  • Leaked Set Photos Show Colin Farrell’s Oz Back in Action in ‘The Penguin’

    Leaked Set Photos Show Colin Farrell’s Oz Back in Action in ‘The Penguin’

    As James Gunn and Peter Safran empty the cupboards of the old DC Universe, Matt Reeves‘ Gotham-verse remains alive and well under the newly formed DC Studios Elseworlds banner. That expanding universe includes The Batman-Part II, scheduled for a 2025 theatrical release, and multiple streaming projects in different stages of development. Among those, the Colin Farrell vehicle, The Penguin, was always known to be the furthest along and now it seems production has kicked off on the project.

    Via the Daily Mail, videos and pictures from the set of The Penguin have arrived and show Farrell once again unrecognizable as Oswald Cobblepot.

    The events of The Penguin are reported to pick up right where The Batman left off and tell the story of how Farrell’s Oz rises to power in Gotham following the death of Carmine Falcone. Things won’t be easy for Oz, however as Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Maroni and her father, Gotham gangster Salvatore, played by Clancy Brown, will be standing in the way.

    Source: The Daily Mail