Welcome to another edition of Murphy’s Multverse’s Sunday Paper. With endless news and content coming to you throughout the week, the Sunday Paper is here for anyone who wants an overview of what happened in the past week. Whether you missed it all, or just want to catch up, this is the article for you. Remember to follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out our website to stay up to date. Check out last week’s Sunday Paper here.
Perhaps some of the week’s biggest news comes from two upcoming Marvel Studios Disney+ series. Despite having no release date, Wonder Man has made headlines due to some major casting announcements. For starters, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is in talks to star in the titular role. He is well-known for his roles DC’s Black Manta in the Aquaman films has also starred in HBO’s Watchmen, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Nia DaCosta‘s Candyman, and The Matrix Resurrections where he played Morpheus. Not only that, but Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk is also reportedly being eyed for a role in the series, and we have a theory as to who he could play.
Agatha: Coven of Chaos continued to make news this week with casting announcements as well. Aubrey Plaza was confirmed to be joining the WandaVision spinoff, apparently as a villain. But who? Check out our look at five characters that could be perfect for Plaza. Heartstopper actor Joe Locke was announced to be part of the cast as well. While it is unknown who he is playing, it seems likely that it could be an aged-up Billy, aka Wiccan. It was also reported this week that Ali Ahn (Raising Dion) and Maria Dizzia (The Staircase) have joined the series. Lastly, the series reportedly will have a rare nine episodes on Disney+, and Jac Schaeffer and Gandja Monteiro may direct at least one episode each.
Of course, in the final week before Black Panther: Wakanda Forever releases in theaters, there were plenty of news and interviews that dropped. Director Ryan Coogler discussed the original plot of the film before Chadwick Boseman passed away, and he opens up about the emotional journey on the new Wakanda Forever: The Official Black Panther Podcast. Interestingly, it seems as though Coogler long ago reserved the right to bring Namor into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Tenoch Huerta revealed that he could not swim before playing Namor in the film. Producer Nate Moore gave an update on the Wakanda spin-off project, and he suggested that it is not as far along as some fans might think. He also answered everyone’s favorite question: where is Wakanda Forever in the MCU’s timeline? Apparently, it is clear after Spider-Man: No Way Home and Eternals, and more or less concurrent with Thor: Love and Thunder and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Moore was also kind enough to specify that the upcoming Ironheart series takes place after Wakanda Forever, rather than as a prequel. In other Ironheart news, a set photo adds to speculation that a Doctor Strange comics character will appear in the series, and the series appears to have wrapped production.
For final Marvel news, a new rumor suggests that Sony and Disney have apparently been at the negotiating table and are closing in on a new collaborative arrangement for Spider-Man films. The rumor states that once closed, the two studios could then begin working with Holland on sorting out the terms of his deal, which would likely consist of another Spider-trilogy of Sony films produced by Marvel Studios in addition to scheduling him for appearances in Marvel Studios films.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav had some things to say this week. While he teased the “united creative approach” of the two new co-CEOs of DC Studios, he also made an odd comment about how Warner Bros. Discovery will be focusing on franchises in the future by incorrectly stating how long it has been since a Superman or Harry Potter film. While that has yet to be seen, we do know that Stargirl has been canceled, The Sandman has been picked up for a second season on Netflix, Cristin Milioti has been cast as Sofia Falcone in The Penguin series, Dead Boy Detectives added Caitlin Reilly and Max Jenkins to its cast, and Joker: Folie á Deux is set to start production next month.
This week a rumor circulated that Logan star Dafne Keen will join the cast of the upcoming The Acolyte. It was revealed that Ariel Kleiman, Janus Metz, and Alonso Ruizpalacios will direct episode blocks of Andor for the show’s second season. They’ll take over for Toby Haynes, Susanna White and Benjamin Caron who directed episode blocks of the show’s first season. It also looks like Andor Season 2 will revisit the planet Yavin, a primary location for the climax of A New Hope. Disney+ Italy also accidentally leaked a future The Mandalorian short film focused on Grogu.
Murphy’s Multiverse exclusively reported this week that Amazon Studios is developing Jeff Lemire’s The World of Black Hammer into a shared cinematic universe. Also this week, the Russo Brothers suggested that they will not work on another Marvel Studios project until the end of the decade, and they also made a disturbing comment that Disney’s upcoming live-action Hercules remake would be inspired by TikTok. HBO canceled Westworld after four seasons, The Last of Us is eyeing a January premiere, and Peacock is developing a Friday the 13th prequel series.
Raya and the Last Dragon director Carlos López Estrada set to direct a Your Name live-aciton remake. Meanwhile EA and Marvel are collaborating and working on three new games, one of which is the already-announced Iron Man game. The live-action One Piece series added a key Arlong Park character, and One Piece Film Red more than tripled 2019 Stampede’s entire U.S. domestic box office on opening day.
