Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV

  • Kevin Feige Teases the Scarlet Witch’s MCU Future

    Kevin Feige Teases the Scarlet Witch’s MCU Future

    Elizabeth Olsen has become a driving force behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her character’s journey from orphan to one of the most powerful characters in the Multiverse has been one of the MCU’s most impressive, long-term character arcs and Olsen’s work in WandaVision stands among the best performances given in the 14-year history of the franchise. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness saw Wanda turn heel, fully embrace the Scarlet Witch and eviscerate some of the Multiverse’s mightiest heroes before realizing the enormity of what she’d done and bringing Mt. Wundagore down around her.

    Since Multiverse of Madness premiered early in 2022, rumors have begin to swirl that despite her apparent demise, Marvel Studios had future plans for Wanda in not one, but two projects. A solo Scarlet Witch project and an adaptation of Avengers: The Children’s Crusade have both been the source of fairly legitimate rumblings, though Marvel Studios has had nothing to say on the subject…until now. In a recent interview with Variety, both Kevin Fiege and Olsen gave some insight into what the future might hold for the character.

    As fans of the MCU might come to expect, Olsen is hesitant to reveal even the slightest bit of information about whether or not there even is a future for the character, saying “I really don’t know my future. There’s nothing that has been agreed on.” Fortunately, and perhaps a bit uncharacteristically, Feige was a touch more loquacious.

    There really is so much more to explore. We still haven’t touched on many of her core storylines from the comics. I don’t know that we saw her under rubble? I saw a tower coming down, and a little red flash. I don’t know what that means.

    Kevin Feige

    Essentially, Feige is subscribing to the narrative that many fans have been quick to point out: though the circumstances seemed dire for Wanda as Wundagore came crumbling down, there’s no reason to surmise that one as powerful as the Scarlet Witch couldn’t have survived. More than that, Feige’s praise of Olsen is effusive, calling her “incredibly humble and incredibly down-to-earth” behind the scenes while also stating that she is “a force of nature” when “those cameras roll.” To cap it off, Feige enthused that he’d “work with Lizzie for another 100 years” before teasing “anything’s possible in the multiverse!” Certainly not the type of “I-said-a-lot-without-saying-anything” answers Feige tends to give nor a nail in the coffin of the character.

    Even after being told of Feige’s comments, Olsen remained mum on the topic of her return. But with her sons rumored to appear in Agatha: Coven of Chaos, two rumored projects that would feature her and Avengers: Secret Wars ahead, it’s hard to imagine that Marvel Studios would leave the Scarlet Witch buried in the rubble.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘House of the Dragon’ – Best & Worst of ‘The Princess and the Queen’

    ‘House of the Dragon’ – Best & Worst of ‘The Princess and the Queen’

    House of the Dragon is back, and this time, people are older. The show traversed a full ten years in only one week’s time, replacing the incomparable Milly Alcock and Emily Carey with the equally-as-impressive Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke. Despite a full decade’s worth of potential character development, it would seem not much has changed when the series’ sixth episode, The Princess and the Queen, starts ticking. Princess Rhaenyra is now the mother of three children, fathered by someone who is definitely not her husband, and nobody seems to think their lack of white hair is suspicious. Nobody, that is, except for Queen Alicent Hightower and her entourage of sketchy male cohorts. Tensions start to rise as Alicent and Rhaenyra challenge each other in King’s Landing, and secrets about the latter’s romantic history begin to resurface.

    Meanwhile, Matt Smith‘s Prince Daemon Targaryan learns that married life might not be all that he’d hoped it would be, and Paddy Considine‘s King Viserys Targaryan learns that living ten years past ones expiration date might not be as comfortable as he’d imagined. From there, in classic Game of Thrones tradition, everything starts going downhill – or, more accurately, up in flames. After all, this is the House of the Dragon. Join Murphy’s Multiverse as we dig into both the best and the worst The Princess and the Queen had to offer.

    BEST – The Birth of Joffrey Velaryon

    The Princess and the Queen opened with the first of two birthing scenes present in the episode. Viewers are introduced to an adult Rhaenyra while she’s in the midst of delivering her third child, whom her husband eventually names Joffrey Velaryon after his deceased lover. It’s a messy scenario, but it’s an incredibly effective way to demonstrate just how headstrong the Princess has become in the years since fans last saw her. Immediately after giving birth, Rhaenyra receives word that the Queen would like to see her old friend’s newest son. Knowing this is likely some sort of power move, the King’s heir decides to walk Joffrey to the Queen herself, in spite of the fact she had only just pushed out the afterbirth.

    The move is perhaps one of the single coolest things any Westerosi character has ever done. This goes without saying, but as one learns in biology class, birthing a human is not an easy task. Standing up from said task, coated in sweat and bleeding, and trucking it directly to face a personal rival is the epitome of a power move, one-upping Alicent tenfold. Not only was the sequence great for the story, but the camera work was excellent as well. The first several minutes of the episode was some of the best shot footage the franchise has seen, and one can only hope it’s a sign of what’s to come in the final few entries of the season.

    WORST – Prince Aegon II Targaryan

    Folks, there’s a new Joffrey Baratheon in town. Previously only seen as a newborn baby, Tom Glynn-Carney‘s Prince Aegon II Targaryan is shown as a full-blown young adult in The Princess and the Queen. As it turns out, he’s simply the worst. From the moment he makes his onscreen debut, he’s actively working to make the lives of much more likable characters miserable. He starts with a pig-themed dragon prank on his younger cousin, moves on to – *ahem* – revealing himself to the entire kingdom, and eventually plays fairly dirty in a sparring session with the same aforementioned family member. If the history of this franchise has taught viewers anything, it’s that this behavior will get worse before it gets better. In fact, it probably won’t get better. It will just keep getting worse and then Aegon will die or he won’t. Hopefully, and this feels weird to say about a minor, the show lands on the first option. (It won’t.)

  • ‘Werewolf by Night’ Producer Teases More Monsters in the MCU’s Future

    ‘Werewolf by Night’ Producer Teases More Monsters in the MCU’s Future

    We’re only a few weeks away from the release of Werewolf by Night, Marvel Studios’ first exploration of the horror and will pay tribute to the classic Universal monster era. It being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe opens up the possibility that we’ll see even more from that corner of the world, especially with Blade on the horizon. Luckily, The Direct got a chance in an interview executive producer Brian Gay, who teased that we’ve not seen the last of these beastly creatures.

    I think one of the very cool things about the special is it’s just peeling back the corner of monsters in the MCU, right? So there’s not just the monsters that are part of Werewolf by Night, but the ones that were up on the wall, there’s some of that artwork as well. What all this lends to is the idea that for centuries there have been monsters within the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and they’ve been being tracked or hunted or kept at bay by these hunters.

    Brian Gay

    It interestingly opens up the possibility that perhaps the events of this special could unleash the beasts upon the MCU as the hunters face their biggest threat yet. Perhaps even Blade is not a vampire hunter in the traditional sense but generally acts as a monster hunter in the MCU.

    And I think, well, we don’t know exactly where they’ll pop up next, the idea is that, with this wide swath of different species and types, they’re going to pop up again. You’re going to see these guys in different ways, of course.

    Brian Gay

    It’ll be interesting to see how they further explore this part of the MCU and how it might even potentially tie into the Multiverse Saga. Of course, they may be purposefully setting up concepts and ideas that don’t become relevant until future phases but it does seem curious how they are tackling this project and what it might mean for just how crazy the MCU becomes.

    Source: The Direct

  • TUDUM: ‘One Piece’ Segment May Have Teased a First Glimpse at the Series’ Score

    TUDUM: ‘One Piece’ Segment May Have Teased a First Glimpse at the Series’ Score

    TUDUM was quite the event for everything that Netflix has planned to release throughout the following months. Sadly, there was a noticeable absence of One Piece during the Global event as it seems they aren’t ready yet to release more information. Yet, there was at least a small tease during the TUDUM Japan segment that highlighted the series is still in production.

    Given how big One Piece is in Japan, it makes sense it would still get a reveal during that segment but it didn’t include any real news outside of highlighting its main cast once more. There is however a rather interesting score being used while showcasing some segments from the manga alongside the cast video that was released when they were initially confirmed to be playing the East Blue crew, as shared by @newworldartur.

    There’s something quite cheerful about this music and it would definitely seem like a fitting score for an adventure that Monkey D. Luffy would set out on. There hasn’t been an official confirmation of who exactly is involved with the score, but speculation online has hinted towards it being The Witcher‘s Sonya Belousova. The talented researchers from @OPLAfandom released their theory early in August and the composer has released a piece that almost sounds like it would perfectly fit into the franchise.

    It would’ve been great to get some details out of TUDUM but it was a project mostly focused on current projects that have at least a set release date with only a few teases of what’s to come. So, we can only speculate if the music piece used is from the actual work from this project or is simply something they’ve chosen cause it seemed fitting. Still, if it even is just a tease of the style of the theme we can expect, it definitely feels like a perfect choice for this pirate adventure.

    Source: Twitter

  • TUDUM: Netflix Offers First Look ‘Bridgerton’ Spinoff Focused on Queen Charlotte

    TUDUM: Netflix Offers First Look ‘Bridgerton’ Spinoff Focused on Queen Charlotte

    Bridgerton has become quite popular among Netflix’s many offerings, as Shonda Rhimes takes her usual writing style to offer something drenched in the Regency era of England, taking a look at the powerful family of the same now as they attempt to find love. During this year’s TUDUM event, they unveiled a first look at the recently announced Queen Charlotte spinoff simply titled Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.

  • Sarah Michelle Gellar Teases Her ‘Wolf Pack’ Role With New Set Photo

    Sarah Michelle Gellar Teases Her ‘Wolf Pack’ Role With New Set Photo

    Paramount+ is preparing an adaptation of Wolf Pack based on Edo Van Belkom‘s book of the same name with Teen Wolf‘s Jeff Davis working on the project. It’s unclear how close it’ll stick to the original, but it will follow the core story of a young boy played by Armani Jackson and a girl (Bella Shepard) who are met by supernatural creatures after a California wildfire.

    Joining the cast is Sarah Michelle Gellar, who is most famous for her role as Buffy Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and has been building quite a career since with various projects like CW’s Ringer or even CBS’ The Crazy Ones starring opposite Robin Williams. Now, she’s set to join Wolf Pack and offered a tease of her character, Kristin Ramsey, on Instagram with a first look.

    She hinted in an interview that she initially wasn’t interested in joining the project but it was the scripts that caught her eye and drew her into this story. The chance to explore “anxiety and depression among children” using the monsters as metaphors gave it something unique that drew her to the project. So, it’ll be interesting to see what she brings to the table with this project.

    Source: Instagram, Deadline

  • REVIEW: ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ Episode 6

    REVIEW: ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ Episode 6

    She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has now revealed two-thirds of its nine-episode season. While Episode 6 was a proclaimed “self-contained wedding episode,” it was actually one of the most significant episodes in the series’ second act in terms of moving the ball. Albeit through teases, the serious end game of She-Hulk is becoming somewhat more clear despite the insistence that each week is unique to itself. The sixth episode was strong in the same areas the show has been strong: humor, absurdity, and Tatiana Maslany. But its ending cannot help but signpost that the series’ third act may be drastically different from what we have seen.

    First, the wedding plot was enjoyable, and it managed to incorporate several different unrelated elements into one space. Of course, Jen’s delicate relationship to herself as She-Hulk is prominent, but her dating life, professional success, and feelings of not being recognized or valued enough all play a major role. On top of that, Titania manages to stay involved, fan-favorite cousin Ched gets more screentime, and Patti Harrison is just a general gift in pretty much any project.

    What was perhaps most interesting about the wedding stems from the fact that it remained noticeably vague and we have not seen it end. Of course, the mysterious guy Jen connects with seems to be a prime candidate for Thunderball, the member of the Wrecking Crew we met in Episode 3. The fact that he seems to know the wedding party raises interesting questions as to who else in Jen’s life is in on the ultimate scheme to get her blood. The actual groom of the wedding was never revealed or shown, so it seems like there is a strong chance that the reveal could be significant. Still, if it is a “self-contained” episode, that would imply the wedding plot does not have much more to it, but yet it absolutely seems as though several major villains are lurking (or, in Titania’s case, very openly present) in the event.

    Given that it seems obvious that getting Jen’s blood is the goal of the mysterious “super” villain behind the scenes of She-Hulk, Titania is shaping up to be quite the assistant for the more scientifically-associated (“Science Villain”) teased villain. Titania has her own personal grudge against Jen (and their battle was almost comics-worthy), but her presence at the suspicious wedding suggests that she may also be in on a larger plot. It is in Titania’s comic book nature to work with other villains, including the Wrecking Crew. In her comic book origin story, she was more or less created by Dr. Doom. Perhaps the Science Villain is who gave her her superstrength in the first place. And if, as the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems to hint at, the Science Villain is all about hulks, what is to say Titania is not a result of related experiments?

    The speculation of who the Science Villain could be at this point is relatively mundane given the eventual return of Tim Blake Nelson as The Leader in Captain America: New World Order, but She-Hulk could always surprise. Of course, fans are still anxiously awaiting Daredevil’s arrival, and how he will fit in is still somewhat mysterious. Will he be mostly in a legal plot, or will he be a major force in helping Jen take on the final threat? It could be both, but one thing is certain—Charlie Cox is not in this episode. In any event, despite some posturing, it is hard to imagine that She-Hulk does not have significant ramifications on the wider universe after the end of the series. Even just the fact that Jen leaves a voicemail for space Bruce is making a point about other huge stories going on in this series’ orbit.

    Outside of the main agenda, the B-plot with Mr. Immortal was the type of charming that only She-Hulk can deliver. It gave Nikki and Mallory more time to shine in their own rights, and Nikki as a character seems to consistently deliver more each episode. The series is able to tap into strange, funny, and out-of-pocket concepts from the comics without having to make a major statement on the MCU. In another project, the introduction of Mr. Immortal might have had greater ramifications. Here, it was a way to send a teasing love note to the type of source material that mostly does not make it into live-action. Still, the amount of superhumans occupying Earth-616 is clearly vastly more than anyone would have guessed before She-Hulk, and that may still have at least indirect implications going into Phases 5 and 6.

    As She-Hulk finishes its second act, it is only clear that its own universe is expanding rapidly. While it still at times feels inconsistent or choppier than needed given the episodic structure, it delivers a unique charm and experience that no other MCU project has, and it does so through its overall tone but also its little details. Enjoying comicbook-y material, having multiple developed women characters, diving into humor a bit off-kilter than the MCU is used to, and taking an incredibly fun and bold swing at the series all pay off for She-Hulk. Those elements are as present in Episode 6 as ever. Still, it is a disservice to not call out the “self-contained wedding episode” as being one of the most plot-fluid episodes yet. The real villains are about to appear, and the superhero part of this MCU show is surely about to take off with it.

  • ‘She-Hulk’ and ‘Captain America: New World Order’ Connection Explained

    ‘She-Hulk’ and ‘Captain America: New World Order’ Connection Explained

    Episode 6 of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law pulled back the curtain on the series’ one ongoing mystery just enough to send theory-loving fans scurrying on a search for answers as to just who is orchestrating the attacks on Jen. The episode name-dropped a pretty impressive group of villains from the Marvel Comics and linked them directly to the quest to get Jen’s blood. Was it just an Easter egg mean to set fans on a wild goose chase, or did Marvel Studios just give fans their first hint at the plot of 2024’s Captain America: New World Order?

    That name which was so casually dropped is Intelligencia. In the MCU, it’s a website run by “manbabies”, but in the pages of Marvel Comics, it’s a loose-knit group of some of the most brilliant and terrible minds to ever oppose Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Geniuses such as Egghead, M.O.D.O.K., the Mad Thinker and, most relevant to this line of thought, The Leader were among the masterminds who chose to team up to share knowledge, build some cool stuff and, interestingly enough, engineer a way to turn General Thunderbolt Ross into the Red Hulk as a means to combat Hulk when he returned to Earth in the pages of World War Hulk.

    With rumors of a World War Hulk movie in development at Marvel Studios and the return of Tim Blake Nelson as The Leader in Captain America: New World Order, the episode’s reveal of the Intelligencia’s HulkKing working with the still mysterious people behind the Wrecking Crew’s attempt to get Jen’s blood seems fairly significant. Is The Leader the HulkKing? Or is the HulkKing someone more familiar to the series? One potential candidate is clearly slimeball Todd Phelps, who is incredibly interested in Jen’s abilities. Todd certainly is not The Leader, but could he be another member of the Intelligencia that was known to have an alias or two in his time? It would make for an interesting twist if Todd turned out to be The Mad Thinker, a Fantastic Four villain who came up against She-Hulk many times and whose creation, the Awesome Android, eventually became a staple of She-Hulk comics.

    Whoever these people behind the curtain turn out to be, it seems that as the final third of the season of She-Hulk gets underway next week, fans will need to pay much closer attention. Will The Leader make an appearance in She-Hulk? Maybe a name drop? What state of mind will Bruce be in when he returns from his trip to Sakaar and what will he have learned while he’s there? And, most importantly, with the series wrapping up in nine episodes, where will these stories be picked up? Right now, it certainly seems like the connection to the Intelligencia makes Captain America: New World Order the prime candidate to continue the story. Perhaps it’s a World War Hulk movie in disguise. Of course, given She-Hulk’s irreverent tone and disregard for sticking to the comics when it comes to bringing characters to the MCU (the Wrecking Crew, Mr. Immortal and Titania are all far cries from their comic book counterparts), it remains possible that the MCU’s Intelligencia are truly just a bunch of manbabies of little significance.

  • ‘She-Hulk’ Case Files: Who is Mr.Immortal?

    ‘She-Hulk’ Case Files: Who is Mr.Immortal?

    Court is now in session and Jennifer Walters is here to represent the defendant in the matter of Superhuman law. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has finally hit Disney+ as the next installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and seems to be one of the studio’s most unique projects yet. With it comes a whole slew of C-listers and D-Lister heroes and villains that have found themselves in legal trouble.

    The Prosecution Calls To The Stand: Mr. Immortal!

    Craig Hollis, better known as Mr. Immortal first appeared in July of 1989 in The West Coast Avengers Vol. 2 #46 and was created by Marvel Comics legend John Byrne. Just moments after his birth, before the death of his mother, Craig Hollis was visited by Deathurge who promised to look after Craig after his mother passed. Deathurge would act as a sort of imaginary friend to Craig, encouraging him to do incredibly dangerous things that would result in the death of his father after setting his house on fire. Deathurge then abandoned Craig until the love of his life killed herself, returning only to promptly leave once more. Craig attempted to kill himself but when his attempts failed numerous times, realized that he was unkillable…perhaps even immortal.

    After realizing this, Craig adopted the mantle of Mr.Immortal and jumped into action to foil the plans of some nearby bank robbers, but was quickly shot up by said robbers and left behind. That debacle inspired Craig to put together a team, thus bringing about the Great Lakes Avengers, bringing characters like Flatman, Doorman, Dina Soar, Leather Boy, and Big Bertha to the pages of Marvel Comics.

    Mr. Immortal’s abilities are pretty straightforward but come with a catch: his healing factor only kicks in when he faces life-threatening injuries. Simple cuts, bruises, and broken bones heal at a normal rate compared to him being shot, stabbed, gutted, decapitated, drowned, crushed, or any other way to kill a man. On top of all that, his body does not age as normally as others. Upon revival, however, he’s filled with an incredible rage that is difficult to knock out of him.

  • ‘Andor’ Still Manages to Follow a Traditional Star Wars Template

    ‘Andor’ Still Manages to Follow a Traditional Star Wars Template

    If you’re familiar with Star Wars, or with many other literary and cinematic works such as The Lord of the Rings, The Wizard Of Oz, Iron Man, The Matrix, Lost or The Lion King, you’ve come to be pretty familiar with the a common template of stories, hero myth pattern studies popularized by Joseph Campbell: The Hero’s Journey, also known as the Monomyth. While divided into several steps, all of which are incredibly flexible, it has three main parts that can be easily summed up as 1) The Separation 2) The Initiation 3) The Return. These are the fundamental components of each Hero’s Journey, and they can be applied in a number of ways to strengthen, examine, and develop vastly different narratives on vastly different subjects.

    With the first three episodes of Andor having been released, it becomes clear how Cassian’s journey has, for now, managed to fit the steps of the journey included in The Separation. It’s interesting to notice how a show with such a tonal departure from the most recent set of Star Wars properties, still manages to capture the essential spirit of the franchise. With little to no bells and whistles, it demonstrated that there are a number of valid approaches that can be taken when developing a project within this universe, as long as the true foundations that led to the franchises’ success are still addressed and given room to serve the story being told.

    • Ordinary World

    The first step isn’t as much a step as it is a starting point. Although it may be hard to qualify Cassian’s life when we find him as ordinary, it is still the life that he has become accustomed to. Living in Ferrix, scouring the galaxy for his long-lost sister. His attempts to lay low when traveling to other planets like Morlana One are obvious, all things that help to clearly define the world he lives in.

    • Call to Adventure

    The moment when he must decide whether or not to take a step outside his comfort zone, in order to answer the appeal of his inner quest, comes when Cassian, still on Morlana One, is faced by the two Pre-Mor Authority employees. By deciding to engage them, and later to kill them off in order to leave no witnesses, Cassian clearly goes beyond his initial mission statement and, even if inadvertently, sets in motion events that will lead to him leaving his ordinary life behind.

    • Refusal

    While making preparations to leave Ferrix for good, Cassian decides to meet with Bix Caleen’s contact, Luthen Rael. Someone who initially was to only serve the purpose of handing Cassian the necessary credits to follow through with his intentions of leaving his life behind, ends up offering Cassian something more: the opportunity to fight the Empire not as an individual, but as part of something greater. Cassian, being true to himself, initially refuses to do so, questioning Rael’s true reasons and how futile such an endeavor would be.

    • Meeting with the Mentor

    This is also the moment where Cassian, albeit unbeknownst to him, meets what is sure to become an essential figure in his forming years as a Rebel intelligence officer. Luthen Rael demonstrates to have a special interest in Cassian, admiring his capabilities and basically offering himself to provide him with all the tools that will allow him to become the fighter he was always meant to be.

    • Crossing the Threshold

    When leaving Ferrix, Cassian is overwhelmed by memories of him leaving his home planet of Kenari, knowing that his life is about to change, maybe even more than it did then. At this point, Andor genuinely enters the domain of adventure, stepping outside of his world’s known bounds and into a perilous new world with unknown laws and boundaries.

    The next step.

    Following these initial steps in the Andor storyline, and if the Hero’s Journey is to continue, Cassian will undergo an Initiation of sorts, where a Road of Trials will come before him, as he proves himself worthy of continuing on the path that The Separation has led him down. It will be interesting to understand how the way his story develops in Rogue One will affect the way Andor’s structure over its two seasons is approached. Will Rogue One serve as a metaphorical Ressurection and Return, or will those final steps be addressed in the series with the movie serving as a worthy epilogue to the story of Cassian Andor?