Send us a message that we can respond to at the end of every episode!
We are officially on our CW era of release schedules. We do a couple episodes, take a few weeks off and come back even better than ever! That’s what we’ve done this week as we kind of just shoot the **** for lack of a better word on a few things that have happened the past couple weeks. From Jonathan Majors, to the Emmy’s/Golden Globes, to casting rumors, The Last of Us & and deeper exploration of the poisonous leak culture and speculate on how video game leaks are reshaping the landscape of gaming itself. We're serving up our take on how these leaks, for better or worse, are influencing our anticipation for titles like 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.' Join us as we challenge the status quo of media culture, and along the way, share a few personal highlights from our latest movie binges and gaming adventures.
We had a couple really great conversations. Timecodes are provided if you want to skip around to your topic of choice! Thank you to everyone who continues to support and don’t forget to subscribe to download new episodes as they become available and don’t be afraid to share a rating!
Email the pod at projectinfinitepod@gmail.com
Tweet us/Follow at https://twitter.com/ProjectInf_Pod
Follow on Facebook
Follow on Instagram at theprojectinfinitepod
Follow Court’s Film on Instagram @untilnexttimefilm
Twitter for Rob https://twitter.com/R_Peck0628
Twitter for Courtney https://twitter.com/courtkid123
In the wake of the tragic death of Power Ranger actor Jason David Frank, from this episode on, the number for the Suicide and Crisis Prevention Hotline will be displayed here: 9-8-8. It's that simple. Call or text that number to be instantly sourced to a crisis counselor. Speak with someone today if you feel alone and need help.
Send us a message that we can respond to at the end of every episode!
We are officially on our CW era of release schedules. We do a couple episodes, take a few weeks off and come back even better than ever! That’s what we’ve done this week as we kind of just shoot the **** for lack of a better word on a few things that have happened the past couple weeks. From Jonathan Majors, to the Emmy’s/Golden Globes, to casting rumors, The Last of Us & and deeper exploration of the poisonous leak culture and speculate on how video game leaks are reshaping the landscape of gaming itself. We're serving up our take on how these leaks, for better or worse, are influencing our anticipation for titles like 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.' Join us as we challenge the status quo of media culture, and along the way, share a few personal highlights from our latest movie binges and gaming adventures.
We had a couple really great conversations. Timecodes are provided if you want to skip around to your topic of choice! Thank you to everyone who continues to support and don’t forget to subscribe to download new episodes as they become available and don’t be afraid to share a rating!
Email the pod at projectinfinitepod@gmail.com
Tweet us/Follow at https://twitter.com/ProjectInf_Pod
Follow on Facebook
Follow on Instagram at theprojectinfinitepod
Follow Court’s Film on Instagram @untilnexttimefilm
Twitter for Rob https://twitter.com/R_Peck0628
Twitter for Courtney https://twitter.com/courtkid123
In the wake of the tragic death of Power Ranger actor Jason David Frank, from this episode on, the number for the Suicide and Crisis Prevention Hotline will be displayed here: 9-8-8. It's that simple. Call or text that number to be instantly sourced to a crisis counselor. Speak with someone today if you feel alone and need help.
It's the Infinite.
Speaker 1:Podcast. Go tell your friends. It's the Infinite Podcast. My God, it never ends. It's the Infinite Podcast. We're driving towards the Cube.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Project Infinite Podcast, the podcast covering the infinite and an ever-expanding multiverse of fandom, from movies, comics, tv shows, video games. We got you covered. I'm Rob. I'm here, as always, of a court. We're on a CW television show programming schedule right now. I love it. We come back from a month off, we do two or three episodes and then we go back on another rake, and now we're back again.
Speaker 1:Yeah we're back. Hey, we're back for real this time.
Speaker 2:We're back for the rest of the season.
Speaker 1:Yup full season zooms here. Oh, you guys got the villain reveal. It's great, and it's Rob, by the way.
Speaker 2:He usually do the villain reveal and then like take like four weeks off.
Speaker 1:Like I told you, I am the future flash. Can we talk about that for a second? I'm actually making an executive decision. What he used, grammar, to dedicate himself to be the villain of the season, got it. Snuck it right in under us.
Speaker 2:I never saw it coming. Yeah, some of us did. They casted Draco Malfoy to get the scent off us. They're like he surely must be the villain.
Speaker 1:So, guys, this week we're actually talking about the flash again. We're just going to do a whole flash retrospective again. You thought you were getting it once. You're getting it twice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so Ezra Miller.
Speaker 1:Nope, nope.
Speaker 2:Nope, we have enough controversy to talk about this week. I mean, yeah, so we're going to talk about I love these kind of episodes where we just kind of bounce around and we're just going to just kind of chop it up a little bit, I guess, about a couple of things that's happened over the last few weeks since we've been away, unfortunately, starting first and foremost with the whole Jonathan Majors thing. We didn't record, when this whole thing happened, that he was convicted on a misdemeanor assault charge, acquitted on another on a first degree assault charge and marveled promptly and correctly pretty much part ways with him. But I mean, I think the most important thing is, you know, as with anything, when this type of thing happens, like I don't think necessarily the right move is to be like well, what's going to happen with Marvel now? I mean, first and foremost, obviously, this is like a fluid and serious situation unfolding around him. I know he went on Good Morning America to start his redemption tour and that was a choice.
Speaker 2:I mean honestly, a lot of the things he's done since this whole thing has happened have been choices, none of which I think have been particularly effective for him.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, I don't even want to speculate on the incident at the school with the fight that he broke up. I don't even want to speculate on that situation. All we know are the facts, and the fact of the matter is is he is out, he has been charged, and that's the fact of the matter. That's just the yeah.
Speaker 2:He's awaiting sentencing. Look, I mean, this is not, it's not one of those things where I think he's completely beyond redemption. I think he just needs to kind of look within himself and make some serious changes in his life, in his personal life, in his public life, certainly and I mean, I think he just kind of needs to go away for a while to be honest and just work on himself. And who knows what. The next 5, 10. I mean, he's a young guy still.
Speaker 1:Yeah, was he 35? Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, and you know, it was a very tense situation that he was involved in and, like I said, I think he just needs to go away. I don't think he should attempt to rehabilitate his image overnight, because that's often not effective and it comes across as very disingenuous when you attempt to do that. So I think he just needs to kind of go away for a while and I think this is something he can change hopefully from and not engage in problematic behavior anymore. You know, that gets him in these situations and he puts himself in these situations and that's pretty much it. I mean, that's really all there is to say about it. I mean, a lot came out during that trial, a lot of private stuff about him, things he said, things he has done, and you know things that have happened. And he, just, like I said, I think the best thing is for him to accept this sentencing, accept responsibility for his actions, go away for a while and you know, whatever that looks like on the other side of that is what it looks like. That's really all I have to say about it. And as far as the Marvel stuff goes, I mean, you know this is something that we've kind of talked about, you know, dating back to when they started taking on this, this, this role of like. Here's our plan for the next however many years. You know, these people are all human, all these actors that they, that they put in these movies and TV shows, are all human. Anything can happen at any given time and I just, I think this is all.
Speaker 2:A lot of things have happened with with Marvel in the last few years that you know it feels, you know it almost feels lucky that we got what we got with the Infinity Saga. Like that whole thing felt like it went very seamlessly. You know we had there were a couple actor changes, a couple swaps, but I mean the last handful of years for them have just been stricken with a myriad of issues, content blowout. We've had, quote, unquote, the superhero fatigue has kind of set in. We've had the stuff like this happened.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, you know, chadwick Boseman passed away, like that's why I just don't think it's smart anymore. I think they hopefully they're learning that, hey, you don't have to. And then I mean all of the stuff with the fantastic four or two. Like you just can't bank on something being 10 years out and being successful. You just I would just pull the pull it back, pull the reins back a little bit and just kind of go one thing at a time or two things at a time Like, I think, the days where you can announce a project 10 years away is just done, because I just don't think people are going to care by the time that thing rolls around. We saw, we've seen, we've seen it happen, I think not just with Marvel, but just with anything. I think we both we both had the revelation this past week. We're like dang, like Aquaman was the first movie, superhero movie that that we didn't catch.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I guess you can say that right now that we both did not see that movie. It's just, it's crazy. Always thought that I'd never miss one and we were talking about it even deeper, even further too. I don't think it was to you as a person that I knew, but I said I haven't missed us. I don't think I've missed seeing a superhero movie in theaters since Iron man 2. Like, I think I've seen every single superhero movie since 2010. So for 13 years straight, I have not missed one in a movie theater, even through the COVID days, even through me being an actual child, like I haven't missed one. And Aquaman 2 rolls around and I just don't feel the same way that I felt before, like the obligations it feels gone at this point.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I mean it goes back to what we've been saying about the past few that we've done, like, when we reviewed them and it's you know, you kind of got to look at it now and be like, well, what, what makes your thing different, what makes your thing like, want to like, what makes you want to see it Outside of you know, just being another cog in the superhero movie machine, like I think you know, and there are still movies and TV shows that are, I think, doing that. I think I think that's possible. I think it's just the days of just putting out like a generic kind of thing. Yeah, I said that before. People just aren't going to flock to it.
Speaker 1:I made that proclamation, however, so many weeks ago that you know we were the teens, slash kids going to see these. Like I'm just going to go off the MCU start date and then like, if you want to look a little past, let's. Let's just take, you know, the Tobin McGuire, x-men, fantastic Four, that whole era, the end of Blade, all that era, right, and then, you know, promptly go into the MCU. A lot of us that were loving those things were kids and families were going to see those things. And you know, as life goes on, people get older, people get smarter. Like the days of you, like you said and like we've been saying for a long time now, the days of you just being able to release something. It's over. You can't just release something and use the namesake of your brand of sell it anymore in that realm. It's. Those days are long beyond us and you know, for the better. In my opinion, that's how it should be. You should have to work to get some of these things done, and I mean, you know this is part of a bigger conversation and possibly an episode, but you know a lot of the things I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 1:Like to have a lot of things in common. I mean, like Dune, just looking at Dune Part Two, dune Part Two has a phenomenal cast beyond it, and you know these superhero projects also have some really great casts. But what's the difference? The people working on these projects have something. I mean the team you have for Dune, and let's stay in the superhero realm.
Speaker 1:You look at the Batman itself. That's my, that's the one that I'm always going to use. You can look at Logan as well. Look at the teams that they're bringing in to make these movies. Like there's a reason those movies stick around. And there's some people that couldn't tell you the plot to Thor to like there's just a reason for it. It's just you can't just have these movies, have the Marvel logo on it and be like well, it's going to be great. That doesn't work like that anymore. That's why something like Peacemaker came out of nowhere and was just phenomenal, because it was dedication to story and to character. And how do I tell the best possible thing and how do I visually make it look good? Like all those things are important.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I think you know what, that the umbrella, that at all, that everything that you just said. The umbrella that all falls under, I think, is identity. I think these these projects, when they come out now, need an identity, and I think the past few that we've kind of gotten hit with haven't really had an identity. I think Guardians of the Galaxy 3 had an identity to it, I think I just watched that.
Speaker 1:I just watched that two days ago and you know, watching that I had this, I had this like epiphany, that like once it gets up to that level. Because you know there's the people that said, well, guardians 3, I think in my mind for them they're probably attaching Guardians 3 onto the MCU. That was current at the point and I said you're just, it's just apples, oranges and nitpicking at that point Because to see that level and then that be surrounded by, you know, close to movies like Thor, thor 4 and Ant-Man 3, like these are not the same, like these are not the same type of project. You can tell which one's a product and I've been saying this too. You can tell what's a product and what's. You know somebody's vision and art like coming to life and I think just kind of backtracking a little bit.
Speaker 2:I think Black Panther 2 had an identity.
Speaker 1:I said that to the. I will argue that to the end of the day that that is still one of the best Marvel movies that we've gotten.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I think Loki's had an identity. If you want to look at the TV shot of things, I think at least from what I've seen of it so far I think Echo has a bit of an identity. Sure, sure, I'll give you that, I'll give you that. So I think that's ultimately what's. I think, and I think the one outlier in that situation of something that I think had an identity but didn't stick was the Marvels. I think the Marvels had an identity to it.
Speaker 1:I think the Marvels had an identity, but I think the biggest issue is I think it's something we talked about in the review we didn't know whose identity was it at some points, we didn't know if it was because Nea Dacosta's identity was fully realized. But you can tell and the same thing happened in my opinion on Eternals that you can tell that Eternals got a lot more play, and I think it's because Chloe Zhao was just off an Oscar, so you're not going to tell her you can't do some of the things, but I do think they told her some of the things you really want to do. It's not going to happen and I think the reception of that got a bit confusing because I and you know you know how I feel about the Eternals. I think that is still one of the best Marvel movies and I just think people are missing the whole point.
Speaker 2:I think some people are coming around on it.
Speaker 2:I think so too, because it's not this loud bang of a movie it's supposed to play, more like a Terrence Malick movie, like it's it's weird too Right, isn't it like if you just forget the timeline for a second, if you say, just flipped the releases of, let's say, if you flip the releases of Door, love and Thunder and the Eternals, I think both those movies benefit Sure. Like I think if you release Door, love and Thunder around like the Eternals time, like you get, you're still in the midst of like that loud kind of just came out and the Shang Chi comes out in what?
Speaker 1:September? So September, November. I think people in Phase Four are like, OK, this is not too bad. The shows at that point were were pretty because that Loki would have just been around that time for a season of Loki.
Speaker 2:It's fun, it's loud, you know it's got comedy chops to it.
Speaker 1:It feels very like right for that moment and I think the direction of the MCU still had some validity to it as well.
Speaker 2:And then so, and then if you release Eternals a few years after it, I think it stands out more. I mean it stands out more in a different way. Like it stands out and like, oh, you know, say that releases around like Ant-Man, quantum Media, and then the Eternals comes out. You're like, oh, like wow, look at, this is different thing that they came out. Like it's weird. It's weird how, if you released it, if you know if you should do some shuffling of releases, like I feel like that would dictate how people feel about things.
Speaker 2:So, and I think you're seeing that now. Like the Eternals, like I go on Twitter sometimes and people are like man the Eternals actually was pretty good. I think people want that. I think people like it's.
Speaker 1:It's much more real, like even down to like some of the scenes where, like they're just it feels more real. I mean one of the big arguments to is the location and they were like we're using locations on this movie, like we're going to go to places and films. Like that resonates more with me, like that's real, like that feels real. Some of the conversations felt more real and something like that.
Speaker 2:So I mean just hopefully moving forward, that they just kind of realized that I say that every time, like hopefully, they just realized like hey, give these things identity. Like I do think Deadpool 3 is going to have an identity and I think that's because, going back to your point, I think like the people involved in it like for lack of a better word like they're not going to be told what to do, like I agree, like Ryan Reynolds and then Sean Levy have kind of garnered that with this particular franchise where, like they're kind of like in their own, like their own bubble, like kind of leaves them alone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, let them cook more or less. Why should I have to listen to anybody else? We were the franchise that came over here and made a billion dollars in an era where superhero movies weren't supposed to make that type of money. Exactly.
Speaker 2:So you know, I think, and you know I think we talked about the last time we talked Deadpool 3 is the only Marvel movie coming out next year, this year, I think very strategic. Yeah, I agree. So that's, you know, marvel, I'm never going to be like Marvel's dead until Marvel's dead.
Speaker 2:No, no, I think they can always change and they can always adapt, and I think we're in the midst of that, hopefully, speaking of things that are adapting. So Star Wars came out yesterday and said that the Mandalorian is getting a movie. So I don't think we knew that was going to happen.
Speaker 1:No, we had a feeling. No, no, no, I think we didn't know that the rumor is, what is that? The Mandalorian season four was going to turn itself into a movie. Yeah, Now I have my thoughts on this. Well, I am I don't want to be this person, but I feel as if this betrays everything that the Mandalorian season one was, every single ideology of where the current state of Star Wars was, every, and you can see it and remember we had this conversation when season two came out and it was the same conversation. It's a little remix because it was well done, but it was the same conversation we had when Spider-Man no Way Home came out. We were like we were, you know, we were Gamora and Infinity War. At what cost are you going to do this? At what cost You're going to bring Luke Skywalker in for a huge cameo, but at what cost are you going to do this? You're going to bring Toby McGuire and Andrew Garfield in. At what cost are you going to do this? So I have.
Speaker 1:I'm just a bit nervous that the entire state of Star Wars actually might have it a little worse than Marvel right now, because I was talking to you know, people around everybody's watching a soak at the time and I was like, how did you feel about the finale? And everybody's like it was all right, but I was waiting for something to happen. But why is that always the stipulation that something needs to happen for it to be a good finale or a good episode of something? And that's where we're currently living. Right now and this is going to pertain to some of the things we're going to talk about later. We had some leaks from some video games and again, I think a piece of it is the whole leak culture. The world has changed, yeah.
Speaker 2:No, that's a great point and I think I'm pretty much in agreement with it because I mean I love that point you made was so good that this becoming a movie kind of betrays the whole premise of season one, where it was like this thing that's so separate and different and it's like this, almost like an anthology almost of this. You know, Star Wars, old Western type of situation.
Speaker 1:And it was where it came out to, because this comes out in 2020, correct, yeah, 2020. This comes out, it's a flagship, along with Wanda vision of Disney Plus. And it was this lone, like you said, this Western-esque lone gunslinger. But again, to go back to our point that we just made, it was somebody's vision that wasn't incommensate of you know it. You know it still is a Star Wars thing, so you know it definitely still had homage, but it played a lot more like the original trilogy out of anything that had come out of Star Wars. And also, you're just coming off the back of. You know, rise of Skywalker takes place halfway through the show, somewhere about there.
Speaker 1:I think the first season was like episode four because of the whole force heel thing that we didn't know about until we saw that episode and then they put it in the movie. But again, my whole point is you just feel that magic of the Mandalorian, just, I feel it slipping and slipping, and slipping and it just it's, it's. It's sad that now do not get me wrong I am excited for this movie. I'm going to go see this movie. These are still characters that I love. John Paver is directing it and that's the big thing that we got to talk about is the fact that John Favreau is going to take the reins, and I think that is a decision on the part of Filoni being like I, you know, and shout out to him because some people are going to play this, oh, filoni might not be able to handle it. Sure, that's fine that he can't handle it.
Speaker 1:You're talking about a high budget movie in Star Wars where the last you know it was the last Star Wars movie, rise of Skywalker. So the last thing you did is the the whatever, whatever you know fan received in a claim whatever. The opposite of that is that's where Rise of Skywalker sits. So, obviously, if Filoni is like, all right, it's still going to be my story and I'm still going to develop these characters, but why? Why would I not get the guy that let off one of the biggest movie franchise of all time Like that's just, that makes all the sense in the world to get something that's already directed things before major productions Like Filoni's never done a major film production before. Why, why not get me? Why don't I produce it and me and Favreau directs it? That's a genius movie.
Speaker 2:And I mean, at the end of the day, like people, I feel like there's this weird kind of disassociation with John Favreau. Check, check, check his resume folks, exactly. I mean the guy has done some directors of really really great stuff. I mean Iron man obviously is a given elf. He directed chef. If you've never seen the movie chef, it's really really really good. I quite like the Jungle Book remake that he did. It's not bad.
Speaker 1:It's not, and again, that's nostalgic baited and I don't think it's his fault, like that's not.
Speaker 2:it's not. I think it was a neat kind of take on that story, so I mean the guy can direct. So I told you when this came out I was like I kind of wish Bryce Dallas Howard had done it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I keep hearing that argument online a lot that people are like you had Bryce Dallas Howard ready to go. Who's done? You know season one and two possibly two of the best episodes of the Mandalorian and she did the Book of Boba Fett episode that was the Mandalorian episode of Book of Boba Fett.
Speaker 2:I think people, I think the recency bias against is the fact that she directed that Jack Black Lizzo episode of the Mandalorian Season three, which I was.
Speaker 1:I don't think it's all her fault.
Speaker 2:No, I don't think so either, so at all, Because I mean, you know a lot of the Mandalorian, Season three kind of again leaned into the greater universe as opposed to like the season one stuff, and I think you know I'm definitely interested to see where this goes. It was, you know, I do think it was interesting that they there I guess they're titled it the Mandalorian and Grogu.
Speaker 1:Interesting title. I hope they just switch it to the Mandalorian. The Mandalorian, yeah, that's fine. You just title it the character and that's it.
Speaker 2:And then this would, so I'm guessing they're still. The plan is still to do the big, the big thing.
Speaker 1:The team up. Yeah, so be it.
Speaker 2:They're going to do the big thing later on with, with Thrawn, I guess. Yes, this is the way. I guess we could just polish off the Marvel stuff now. Sure, let's do it. So Steven Young I know both of us were quite excited, yeah, that he was going to be sentry in the Thunderbolts, yeah, especially after seeing Beef, which he just won an Emmy for and we're going to talk about the Emmys as well.
Speaker 1:I was. I was ready. I was like full out prepared for him to play Sentry. I was looking forward to his take. I was looking through some of the Sentry comics. I was just scrolling through them a little bit. I was like he's. Like I said after I saw beef, I was like he's got it, like he's got the thing and yeah, he's. He left due to scheduling conflicts. So we're going to see why and what project it could have been.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's. It's interesting because this feels like one of the first times that this has happened.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I was just thinking about that too, because what I feel happened is, I think some of these actors were doing the vice versa of what he just did, and we're just like I'm moving anything I can to make sure I'm in this movie. Obviously, this is just me, just you know talking, but I'm just going to use Paul Rudd and this as an example. Paul Rudd was in his forties, it's not like he was a younger man when he took on being Ant-Man. So imagine Paul Rudd had a romcom or something and he had Ant-Man.
Speaker 1:I'm picking Ant-Man because at this point in my career it's 24, 2013, 20 when he got cast like I have now this franchise that I'm getting inserted to as one of the main characters with sequel potential. Like it's like the sports thing where they're just like you know, these guys are like oh, we got to win the championship, I need to get paid. Like I need to get this contract, I need to make sure I'm taking care of myself, yeah, and that's fine, that's fine.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's super interesting because it's like you said. It's one of the first, I mean, he has said since that he, you know, unfortunately had to drop out over scouting conflicts. He also said that he still wants to very much be part of the MCU. He said he has some ideas that he wants to keep close to the chest. So that's interesting. So I do think he's going to be ending up in a thing. I the whole this whole thing with him was so weird to begin with because Robert it was like rumored and then Robert Kirkman, who obviously works very closely with him because of invincible.
Speaker 2:Basically it was like, oh yeah, he's in it because he did a suit, yeah, a suit fitting, so like it's pretty far along in the process to be doing all that, and then he dropped out, you know, but I do, I think he's going to obviously end up in something. I also think, maybe something that maybe go into it. Maybe there were not long term plans for a century and unfortunate, I think, because I think he maybe, maybe wants something a little more long term and permanent, which makes me think he's eyeing something potentially in that fantastic or X-Men sphere of longevity.
Speaker 1:I think he's playing his cards right too, and what that allows him to right now is play his cards right. You know, obviously at this point in his career he's come off you know, two award circuits of you know, for Minari and for and for beef. Like now he's legitimate, and he always was in my opinion. But he's now, you know, on a grander scale turning himself into like a pretty formidable actor, like somebody that's like a household and he's not like the best way I can say, he's not just Glenn from the walking dead anymore. Like he's got, like he's got these acting chops and like he's somebody that's like a name to look at, like Steve. It's to the point where, like with the Thunderbolts, but like you see, steven Young is cash You're like, oh, like now I want to see that thing. So you know I'm excited for him.
Speaker 1:I think his career has been over the last four years it's just been like an ignition point. Obviously you haven't you add invincible into that. Like he's teach somebody I just want to see in things like all the time. I just want to see him act. So hopefully he gets the right role and hopefully the landscape of the MCU looks a little bit different and he has something stable and maybe he might be one of those cornerstones in the MCU who knows?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I think that's certainly what could be, especially in the light of everything that's happening, that happened with Jonathan Majors, and I feel like this almost feels like Marvel could possibly be looking at this whole Kang the Concor thing and being like maybe we just get this over with it as fast as we can.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's get us to it, because, again, the big thing is like maybe we've even downgrade the character a bit and not make him the big Thanos villain. Maybe we just kind of use a bridge, maybe we just shove him into, like the next Avengers movie.
Speaker 1:Well, and that's what I thought. You know this is years and years of hindsight before, but that's what I always, always thought they were going to do with Kang. I just thought Kang was going to be an Avengers villain, like I'm talking in the, in the you know Infinity Saga. Maybe we just Ultron him. Yeah, it's fine. Have and again, you know what that solves your problem of now you're going to get a. Now you get the Avengers back, like that again that's the.
Speaker 1:In my opinion, for the MCU there's two priorities Get some. You know, number one, like I said, is or three get some main characters. We need some main characters. Like there needs to be people, pov characters for people to resonate with to. We need that quality back, and I'm not talking about like one project looks incredible and then the next project looks like, and then three or four like it needs to be quite I'm not talking just visual quality, quality across the whole board, like we need quality back and you know, three is, you know, do the cinema. I still am going to argue that like do do the movie making. That's what people are into now. Like Saltburn was one of the like, one of the biggest movies that was recorded on Letterbox and like that's not some massive budget superhero movie, that's just a really interestingly weird movie that Emerald Trinnell did. But but yeah, I, it's a very interesting point. I'm sorry that he couldn't play Sentry. Obviously they're going to get a replacement. Who do you want to see replace him? Is the real question.
Speaker 2:I don't know it's been. It's been so far off my radar that I haven't even been thinking about it. I don't know.
Speaker 1:I really don't know. I mean Scarsguard, big Brother. Scarsguard is probably the. Also Gosling might be an interesting choice.
Speaker 1:Because you got to, you got to play that like disheveled, but I also got to believe you, as some, like you know I got, but that's and man. That's why I was so excited for Stephen Yen, because even burning, like burning, he played like this, this, almost like this, like conniving. Obviously that doesn't play a century, but I think it's more of a range question or range answer, for Stephen Yen is like he can do a lot of stuff, so, like I, I just want to. I think Scarsguard would get that immediately, like he's just a solid answer. I think Ryan Gosling also gets that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was man. What about Ryan Hurst?
Speaker 1:Hurst was her. Hurst is not a bad option. That's not a bad, you know, also can play it. But I know that these studios are probably moving mountains to try to get him in something. It's, it's our boy from Reacher is probably Alan Richard. Alan Richard is probably like I just know these studios are like we need to get Alan Richard in an A roll soon, Like it's probably like a race to try to get him cast.
Speaker 1:He's his his, his star is rapidly ascending. It's like the last like couple months. It's like the Alan Richard show. It's, it's cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like the idea of Ryan Hurst, I like to see Anthony Star take a crack at it.
Speaker 1:I don't think he'd do it, because I think Anthony Star is not going to play anything. I'm, I'm, I'm, I don't think he's, I'm of the belief Anthony Star is never going to do anything besides play Homelander. I'm, I'm, fully committed to that idea. You know what, though, good friend? Yeah, no, it's like he's one of the. I will stand on this mountain that he is one of the greatest TV characters. Like. He's probably going to go down as one of the greatest portrayals of a television character ever Like it's like he is so synonymous with it.
Speaker 1:It's like Jeremy Strong is like as as Kendall Roy, or like you know, it's like he is just he is Homelander, like that's just the best way to say it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know Interesting. So let's talk about the, the Emmys and the Golden Globes. Let's do the award stuff.
Speaker 1:This is my bag. This is my bag.
Speaker 2:We'll do the Emmys first, because it was, because it's TV, so obviously succession was a monster winner. The Bear, obviously a big time winner. The Last of Us won a lot of the technical stuff which I think we both expected it to. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:No, I'm not. I'm not surprised. And you're in a landscape of shows that we're diving into a lot of realism outside of like what stranger things with that's last year? Like you're, you're in a in a realm where, like just in, say, the shows you just did, succession bear, like these aren't, you know, shows that have to deal in like the supernatural or anything like that Like these are very grounded shows. But you know, on an acting front and again this is another mountain I'm going to stand on I do think that the bear is like solidifying itself as like one of those shows that's like it's it's going to be on.
Speaker 1:Like I can see that show running for like another two seasons, three seasons max. But it's going to be one of those definers. Like it's so rare. Like when people look at shows like and they look at the Emmys, they're like, oh, there's so much stuff to watch. When you talk about the job, like the decade definers, like you can only pull a couple shows like succession bear. Like succession now is going to be there for the late 20s, 2010s, the early 2020s, like obviously I'm talking about the wire, the sopranos. Like when it's all said and done with the bear, like I think the bear for the 2020s is going to be like one of the single most definers of that era of television, and that's saying something because we're living in the streaming era too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's the, that's the other thing is, you know, the streaming thing. But yeah, I mean overall, I think it. I think it pretty much went the way.
Speaker 1:Yeah there's a little there's a couple of surprises Like. The weird surprises I can think of is like Nicholas Prattell not winning for the succession score, which is absolute robbery, but you know a robbery, he says it's a robbery man.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 1:Dude, do that word around. But you know, I just you know, it's just so great seeing, you know, jeremy Allen White have this type of career at this point. Like and he probably wasn't joking as soon as that first season of the Bear Drop he said like I had so many scripts at my feet and then, you know, more power to you I want to be like she's also absolutely incredible, I can. She's going to be in Captain America before I believe. Like you know, I just love that and you know I forget Iban. I forget what his last name is, but that plays Richie in the Bear, but like now he's probably going to play the thing.
Speaker 1:Like opportunity comes Once you know what you put in the work and you know that's a tough show to have. I always find it funny that shows like that and barrier in the comedy section when they're just absolutely depressing at points and yeah, but it's just so well made. I like listening to to the director and their cinematographer talk. They have some some interviews that I really enjoy. Same thing with succession. But yeah, we're in a really good era of television. This is elevated storytelling and I'm glad we're here because you know who said it. It was, it was, I think Stallone said it. He was just like you know. If you asked me to make a TV show in the 90s, I would have laughed in your face. But I going out of my way to get a TV show now, because that's how I'm going to keep myself alive at this point. Yeah, that's how I'm going to keep my career going.
Speaker 2:And then you know, the last of us unsurprisingly sweeping the guest. Oh yeah, guest casting awards with Nick Offerman and Storm Reid, which has there been a heel turn for the last of us that you felt.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I felt a major heel turn. And there's another thing that I want to talk about heel turns when you talk about the Golden Globes.
Speaker 2:But there's been a surprising turn of turn on on the last of us, which is very I do think part of it not to get political, but part of it does have to do with Neil Druckmann's kind of stance on the Israeli Palestinian conflict.
Speaker 1:I'm going to give you that. I'm going to go even further for that. I'm going to give you also the subject matter of the show. Yes, I can give you yeah, and also. This is this is what I think the biggest issue is when you're the most popular of something, people will somehow tend not to like you when they're the most popular of a thing.
Speaker 2:And I mean it also. You know it also has the stigma attached to it of the thing by which it's adapted from. Sure, I don't think a lot of people in that sphere really make a distinction If anything it's, it's a worse distinction between adapting a comic book movie and adapting a comic book and adapting a video game, if anything, I think people feel adapting a video game is even sillier than adapting a comic book. So, yeah, I mean, I mean, but this is something and I also think it has to do the show suffering from. This also has to do with the fact that people are a bit critical of the fact that, on the video game side of it, naughty Dog has done nothing over the last 20 years other than release Last of Us and Last of Us Remastered. So I think people are some people are suffering from Last of Us fatigue, sure. So I think that's definitely part of it.
Speaker 1:This. You know what this plays. As for me, it plays like everything everywhere all at once from last year for the Oscars, because I remember that and I said it once April hit and that movie came out, came out, I was like this is one of the best movies I've seen. You know what that's going to suffer from? It's going to suffer from May, june, july, august, september, october, december. That's what it's going to serve, because then people are going to have recency bias for whatever just came out, and then people are also going to be like you know, it happened so long ago.
Speaker 1:We forgot about the greatest of when it came out, yeah, but and I had a feeling it was going to happen when it came, because obviously it was the first thing that came out in 2023 was the Last of Us. I was like, oh no, as soon as these other things start coming out, people are going to just forget about how the stranglehold that the Last of Us had on everybody yeah, but nonetheless the awards were flowing in for the Last of Us. Storm Reid gets her Oscar to go along with her TV sisters and day. That's awesome, yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean Offerman gets his Oscar. I mean that was the thing right for that. For the male one. Anyway, which one do you give it to between him and Murray Barlett? But I think I think Bill is the anchor of that episode. So I think it makes sense to give it to Nick Offerman and then Storm Reid. I was not surprised, I feel exactly how you feel.
Speaker 2:But I was like, oh, like people actually recognize that, you know, because I think when we talked about the episode and it fell right exactly where I thought it would in the season, like oh, they're going to do Joel almost dying, do left behind.
Speaker 1:And or, yeah, do left behind and then do the finale, which is exactly what happened.
Speaker 2:So I felt like maybe that left behind episode would kind of get a little bit lost in how it was received. But I think we both at the time were like no, she was Outstanding, like she carried that episode. So I'm happy for her, that she kind of I'm happy for both of them because it's obviously two characters we're never going to see again and also, I knew nothing was going to beat succession in a drama category for the main stuff like nothing was going to.
Speaker 1:I am a bit surprised that Brian Cox beat out Jeremy Strong though that I was actually and also spoilers for succession. He wasn't in the whole season of succession either, but I guess his presence was there but just the work that Jeremy Strong was putting into that character since 2019, I believe that's OK. It's just, it's it's phenomenal what he's able to do with the character like that, because a character like that can play very bland and also can unresent. It's not a easily like like a rich, spoiled kid, like that's not easily like taken in by a normal person, but you know the evolution of what that character had like over the last couple of years and you know that doesn't come without Jeremy Strong. I think it's something to be, you know something to be, you know something to marvel at. So I'm really, I'm really really glad that that show exists. I won't say I was a succession denier, but I was a succession like. I'll get around to it and then when, I got around to it.
Speaker 1:I was like, oh boy, and then we have the golden gloves. This was a, this was a fun one.
Speaker 2:I mean, the golden gloves are, more often than not, a precursor to what to expect of the Oscars, and that's why it was very interesting and what you yeah, and I mean Oppenheimer Doing doing the things that everyone thought Oppenheimer was going to do and has done when I tell you I cannot wait for our DJs.
Speaker 1:Like his award campaign for it's going to be phenomenal and I know he's been waiting for this for so long and how sweet it is. He he turned, he vehemently turned his life around. Like 99 out of 100 people can say they turn their life around. He was the 100th person. Like that I have to be like like it's awesome. It's amazing, it's just like it's a triumphant story, like I can't say anything else about it. So obviously Killian Murphy wins for wins, best actor, which I don't think the only contest I can see to him is possibly Paul Giamatti, and I'm going to get to that in a second.
Speaker 1:But I mean there's, we said it when we saw Oppenheimer. We didn't even talk about Oppenheimer on here yet because we will. That movie cannot not be talked about that in Barbie at some point we will do. But it is one of the most magnifying performances I have ever seen. Like that, the somebody just said it. They said do I need to see Oppenheimer? It feels like a boring, like I know, no, no, no, no, no, no it's you know how. I knew it was the. Can you hear the music scene? I knew I was. I knew something, something was afoot. What are they saying? And what are they saying? Why can't I think of the Shakespeare play that Denzel and Macbeth Macbeth yeah yeah, something wicked. This way comes Like. I just knew something was afoot once that started, once it's just, it's phenomenal, it's just, it's a magnifying performance. We always say like spoilers for Oppenheimer, but the nuclear bomb goes off halfway through the movie.
Speaker 1:So how do you keep somebody engaged? You do what they do in the third act and you turn courts, courtroom proceedings, into the most magnetic film watch that you can have. It's just, it's incredible. So shout out to him. Obviously, I have my thought. I already said interstellar, you can. You know it's a toss up for interstellar and the dark night, in my opinion, of like what Christopher Nolan's best movie is, but this is the best he's ever directed. A movie I don't even think that's up for debate. Like the things he was pulling off is like 2018. The Braun, james like just the full fledged version of yourself. Like you are the best version of yourself. You've used your whole career to get to this point, so that was amazing.
Speaker 1:Paul G Amadi winning in a comedy category for the holdovers and I. That's a movie I hope gets a lot, a lot, a lot of love. Just watch that movie last week. That's my new dead poet society for lack of a better term Interesting. It is such a feel good movie.
Speaker 1:But I want to. I want to save this for the end, for when you ask me what I've been doing, ok, only thing that's missing. In my opinion, there's two movies that are missing. One is past lives, and I think past lives is suffering from the same, from some of the things that the last of us is suffering from. It's what everything, everywhere all at once, could have suffered from.
Speaker 1:I just think that a movie like that has been, you know, some people have, you know, forgotten, and I think it's recency, bias and you know, a lot of times movies of that sort like those more definitive I don't even want to say love story, because that movie is not a love story at all, it's just something like that. It's just it sucks, man, like it's like. I said that that might be the only movie that I would put in the conversation with Oppenheimer. In my opinion, for the best movies of the year, it was past lives and I'd said that since when that movie come out in April or May. I said like I think this movie is just a revelation of storytelling and it just it stinks like Greta Lee, like I thought she was going to get some more recognition. But you know, the Oscars are the Oscars, so hopefully some things change.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it just feels like it almost. I mean, when it comes to those the big, the big ones, it just feels like everyone's just kind of clearing the runway for Oppenheimer at this point. Because, usually what happens is like everyone knew it.
Speaker 1:And this is, you know, the conversation is like you know, is Oppenheimer one of the greatest movies period of all time? To me it is, and I think it's going to get solidified, because usually here's what happens you either sweep the technical stuff or you sweep the, you sweep the acting and then the picture.
Speaker 2:This might be one of those years or Lord of the Rings, and you do all of it, right, right, almost, except the acting.
Speaker 1:And well, that's my point because they legitimately might be able to get best. You're going to get best picture. I don't think there's. It's the best. Actually there's, that's just undeniable. Yeah, you're going to get the best actor. Yeah, you're going to get the best supporting actor, unless something happens. Something happens, I don't. I think Emily Blunt's lost traction for best supporting actress because of the woman from Holdovers. I think she's putting up a very great case for herself. But Emily Blunt at that point in the year I didn't see any contests for Emily Blunt.
Speaker 1:You're going to get best original score. You're going to get best production design, because Dune doesn't come out this year, so do. And all that was the. That was the technical fight that Oppenheimer was going to have was Dune. That was the only thing that could have given some play. But now it just feels like you have, like you said, a clear runway to. I'm talking like this might be one of the biggest sweepiers I've ever seen in the Oscars. Yeah, because, yeah, you're going to win. What's it going to lose? Production design is great, like.
Speaker 2:I mean it did, it did the Golden Globes that did lose screenplay.
Speaker 1:What did it lose to? It lost to? Did it lose the Holdovers? Or what did it lose to? No, no, no, that was drama Did it.
Speaker 2:No, it didn't lose the past lives. No, it did not lose, I just had it. I just had it and I lost it. Lost to Anatomy of a Fall. Anatomy of a Fall, ok yeah.
Speaker 1:See, I won't lose my mind if it loses like best because it's best adapted, or original original, right, yes, I won't lose my mind if it loses best original because it's going to. You're going to take all the sound mixing, cinematography. You're going to win Like you're not losing to anything else in like this is going to be like a generational type of win. It's going to be awesome.
Speaker 2:It's the Baldur's Gate three of movies. We didn't even talk about the game. We didn't talk about the game awards. I'll I'll do it at the end, see what? Oh, so Tom Cruise owns Warner Brothers now.
Speaker 1:It's about that. Pulled a Thanos, dread it, run from it. Where did that bring he?
Speaker 2:struck some deal with.
Speaker 1:I've never heard of a deal like this. Wasn't this whole thing supposed to happen with Paramount, where he was supposed to make these things? And then he's just like nah, what is he still doing that he can't. Now, that's what you say, you. You didn't see the new mission impossible where you can do anything.
Speaker 2:Um he struck this deal with Warner Brothers. That, to my knowledge, has never happened with an actor. Yeah, where he's like exclusive to them. And he's going to make. He's going to make and star in and produce a just a bunch of films. He's going to make original films. He's going to make franchise films. Tom Cruise loves movies. All yeah, you know.
Speaker 1:I've never seen anything like this. This is, this is in the modern age, this is like unprecedented, that an actor is doing this. That's just, he is John Wayne. What is happening? I mean, did he not save?
Speaker 2:cinema. No, I mean, we talked about this when we talked about Top Gun and we were like he's like the last of, like he's the last of the, the bona fide last of the movie stars. It's, it's, it's true. So it makes sense that he's going to and Warner Brothers needs it. To be honest, they need to be shot. He doesn't do TV. They need, they need, they need something like this, because I mean, we've, we've chronicled Warner Brothers, it's various struggles.
Speaker 1:This goes right. You know Warner Brothers and obviously Warner Brothers has the Turner section to it. So obviously they have all these classic movies under their belt, like it's it's a legacy franchise. It's it's like the Lakers from like a couple. It's like you're a legacy franchise, but you're going through a tough time right now.
Speaker 2:Like that's what it feels like.
Speaker 1:Like you're still the same franchise that you were. So it's, it is a. It's an interesting move. It's a move that I don't play as much as desperation, maybe, as I should. Maybe I should see this a little bit as desperation, but more because it's Tom Cruise.
Speaker 2:It feels like, hey, warner Brothers got is doing an exclusive deal with, like, bradley Cooper to do like movies and star and all this You'd be like, ok yeah like Bradley Cooper is great, but you didn't see Maestro.
Speaker 1:You know I didn't talk about Maestro for any of the awards stuff.
Speaker 2:He's not, he's not saving your company, but like Tom Cruise, it's like, do we still need this person on the team? And it's like, well, he's out there. If we can get him, we have to get him. And so they got him. So yeah, it's.
Speaker 1:I'm curious. I just thought he was so locked in with Paramount. That's kind of my thing. I was curious to see what he's going to do. Well, obviously that what they one of the rumors is they want another edge of tomorrow. They want the edge of tomorrow sequel, yeah, which I think he'll do. That. He'd absolutely do it. Yeah, I have a theory that him and James Gunn are going to sit down and maybe he takes his, he dips his toe into the superhero genre.
Speaker 2:I mean, if you're going to do something like this and you have to try to do that.
Speaker 1:Here's the thing I don't know if he'd ever dip his toes into TV, because this lantern show is supposed to be television. I don't think he would. No, but movie, sorry. But give me the. Give me whatever the the fallout from that Is he going to do there. Give me whatever the fallout of this is. So give me, let me be Hal Jordan, like, if you're going to let me do this, let me be one of the most iconic DC characters there are.
Speaker 2:And for Warner Brothers and for DC. That would. That's a. That's a you want to talk about. We talk about. You know, when we talk about video games, you talk about games that you develop, that are console sellers. If all you have to do, if you're DC and be like Tom Cruise, is going to be in a DC movie, that movie is going to make a billion dollars.
Speaker 1:That movie is going to make some change. It's going to make some money and I and also you know, and it was me watching Guardians I got it even more solidified Like I just think more. I think that DC is there. I just have a I have a good feeling. I know I'm not supposed to and I'm not supposed to have these, like you know, these early, like feelings, but I have a. I just have a good feeling about what these DC movies are about to look like under James Gunn.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you put, if you put him on the bill of a DC movie, just think about it.
Speaker 1:What if he is, how? And then the whole thing is, you just do Top Gun Maverick again, but you and I get like I'm serious and like he's the older lantern, and then you make the other main character, kyler, like Rainer, and you have John stored around because what Tom Cruise won't settle for is exactly what I talked about in this episode.
Speaker 2:Like, if he's going to do a superhero movie, he's going to do a movie. He's going to do a movie that features a superhero.
Speaker 1:Right, it's going to be a, it's going to be a picture, it's going to be a film, like it's going to be done Mission Impossible movies and he's done these loud action movies.
Speaker 2:That shouldn't have as much to them as they do, yep, but they still have that. So I feel like he would do that for a superhero movie, like he'd be like I'm making a movie here out of and and you know, to what we talked about earlier. Like the studio, the studio is not going to tell him no.
Speaker 1:Well, that's my thing too, Because he's getting whatever he wants.
Speaker 2:He's getting whatever he wants, exactly Whatever he wants, so I'm interested, I'm in, I'm locked in, so I like my theory is he's going to.
Speaker 1:He's going to get something where it's like. I think it's going to be like a Tom Cruise original. I don't know what Christopher McQuarrie's, I don't know what his role at Paramount is. That's my question, because if, if he's not like, if he doesn't have a solidified contract at Paramount, then he's probably taking Christopher Christopher McQuarrie with him and him and the two of them are going to make something original. Sure, he's probably going to get to do something really fun. I think he's going to do the sequel to Edge of Tomorrow and I think he's going to. I just have this feeling he's him and James Gunner going to do something together and he's going to. He's going to because what if the cell for you is like here Read this Jeff Johns Lantern Run, and then you get to do whatever you want out of that. What a what a cell like. You get to like one of the greatest comic runs of all time here. Like you do whatever you want to do out of this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1:I'm still holding out hope that Glenn Powell plays out Jordan.
Speaker 2:He should.
Speaker 1:It is the that might be the single most perfect casting as of right now.
Speaker 2:Speaking of DC casting, so Supergirl is is a thing that is coming, it's on the it's on the, it's on the horizon. There's so many things in the superhero universe, so three names just have been thrown out not thrown out there, but apparently they. They did a test screening.
Speaker 2:What's some reputation that Amelia Jones, meg Donnelly and to me most notably, house of the Dragons Milly Alcock have been. You know, in some sort of they're in the sphere for Supergirl, more or less Three great choices. I would love it for Milly Alcock to get that kind of shine because I think she deserves it. I think when we talked about House of the Dragon, I think she was probably in terms like because she obviously didn't have the whole season for herself, but in the episodes that she was in I think she was the best part of that show. While she was in it. I think she was incredible as Reneira and I would love for her to get that shine. But you and I are aligned in the fact that we think she should be Glenn Stacey.
Speaker 1:It's like a power grab right now. It's like you could. She either plays Supergirl, which I think she also plays as the woman of tomorrow, supergirl a lot Like she just has that. She like has that energy of what they're going for. Who was the second one, the one that was in Kota? I actually that's who I want out of the three of them.
Speaker 1:Surprisingly and it's funny because she's really just yeah she looks the least out of out of like comic Supergirl out of the three. But seeing her in Kota, seeing her in her and some other things, like I don't know why, that's the one that like I immediately like and also you've got to. She's got to go with David Cornswet too. So like I don't know why, I see the two of them playing well together. But that's just kind of how I envision it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, then Meg Donnelly is probably the least renowned.
Speaker 1:But I think looks wise. I think she has the closest look to Supergirl. So it's obviously I think we're both in agreement. When you go to cast, you always go with the best. You don't necessarily need to go with the. I need the look, you need to go with the feel. That's the number one thing.
Speaker 2:And I mean to be fair. I think Millie Alcock has both.
Speaker 1:Sure. So I just think she also has that frequency. Are you not going to talk about your thing for? Oh, yeah, yeah look, I'm telling you Whenever Rob says look, some of the greatest takes are about to be right around for top you want to put you want to put Peter Parker in a really awkward position.
Speaker 2:You cast Millie Alcock as Gwen Stacy and then you cast Sabrina Carpenter as Black Cat, because he's going to have a tough time. I just want him in trouble.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the city's going to fall and he's going to be in college on top of that. Oh, it was King pins just demolishing the city shenanigans doesn't begin to describe what would happen there.
Speaker 2:I think that would be brilliant because you just, yeah, you just, you just, and you've never really seen that before, like you've never seen Spider-Man mixed up with Gwen Stacy and Black Cat at the same time. I think that would just be fun. You gotta put. Look, he's feeling himself a little bit. He beat up the Green Goblin, he saved the universe, he met his brothers.
Speaker 1:You gotta put him on the back foot a little bit. You know he's Spider-Man now, so you know what that means. Yeah, just wait till he gets a clone.
Speaker 2:And daredevils around now. So you got to. Someone's got to keep up.
Speaker 1:Someone's got to keep up with Daredevil, maybe we have to talk about Echo, because that now has to do with something. Hmm, hmm.
Speaker 2:Hmm, daredevil, that guy was in the MCU for five minutes and he almost saved the thing. He's been in the MCU for five minutes across three different things. Yeah, like he's. How long is he?
Speaker 1:What's his runtime? He's been in it for like 20 something minutes all together and most of it was she Hulk. Hulk of it was she. Hulk Got a tape. You got a little little taste at Echo Wolf Wolf.
Speaker 2:He's back, he's back, he's back. Exactly the Riz master. Oh my gosh, he can't help himself, he can't. That's what. He can't help himself, he can't help himself. He may not be able to see, but he knows it when he feels it Come on man.
Speaker 1:Oh, I mean he has to. I would else really know Exactly.
Speaker 2:My bad, he can't help himself. That's why they got rid of Karen. They were like there's too much going on. Yeah, stuff daredevils gonna hook up with every MCU female character in existence, maybe some of the male characters too.
Speaker 1:You never know.
Speaker 2:You never know, it could happen and then so the last of us were circling back. We've circled back to the last of us because we got a heap of castings for the season 2 cast we recognize these names for of the characters and the actors. So we're rounding out the the last of us part 2 group Not rounding out, but we're getting. We we cracked the iceberg.
Speaker 1:Jackson basically is where you need like got around out Jackson, basically.
Speaker 1:So we have a young manzino as Jesse I like that a lot and it's somebody that I he he's kind of on the rise to, especially after beef. Maybe that's the pipeline, maybe I should get cast in that show and I'll have a great career, but now that's. I think that's a really good cast. It was like a casting of like who's who's one of the best looking people we can find. Also, his body of work is pretty solid. So, no, I think that's a that's a good casting. I think it's a good because he's younger too. I don't think he's like old or anything like that.
Speaker 2:I'm no, none of them are particularly old, which is good, which makes sense, because they're a lot of in their late teens.
Speaker 1:early 20s Is what Jack Jesse might be a little little bit older, but nothing crazy today, just across the wire, we had Isabella Merced cast as Dina.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was a lot of people are excited for Yep, especially since we got like a tiny, a tiny cameo of Dina last season. For those, I mean, I don't want to spoil it too much. I mean, we'll talk about, we'll probably talk about the last of us, part two in a couple weeks in a couple weeks. So I'll save the, save, the spoilery stuff. But Dina is a consequential character in the last of us, part two. So and then the big, the big one, the big dog.
Speaker 1:It's built like an ox Caitlyn Devere, as Abby Don't even don't even think about it, don't even think about it, don't even think about it, don't even think about it. You, you, you in cell mean idiotic. I don't have any more adjectives, but yes.
Speaker 2:Golden Globe nominated actress for one more time. Golden Globe nominated actress for dope. Sick and unbelievable, so leave her alone.
Speaker 1:Yes, she has not played one moment as Abby yet. No, you have not seen her in the show yet. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Abby. For those who don't know, is is important.
Speaker 1:Is she one of the single most controversial video game characters ever.
Speaker 2:She has to be on the merits of just character design and not like withstanding, like any actual controversy, right, right, you mean yeah, like actual in universe controversy.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, easily, I'm talking all time in any video game. Yeah, all time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, nothing's, nothing really comes close because anything, when you can, when you think about like controversial things in video games is usually like elements, right. So you think like granted auto like GTA. Obviously it's controversial, sure, because it's supposed to be right. Um, this, the Abby thing was just, I mean it's. I'm glad I'm talking, we're talking about this last because it's going to segue into, like the leak stuff. Um, the Abby thing started before she even got revealed as a character because, spoiler, the last of us part to got leaked, probably two weeks before it got released.
Speaker 2:Um, in the same vein that we're going to talk about, the insomniac and suicide squad leaks. Um, in the same vein that those things out leaked, this also got leaked in the sense of like it was essentially the plot, beat for beat. Um got leaked. It got some things wrong. Um, because some you know, Neanderthals got a hold of it and they were like oh, abby's transgender character, this, that, another thing. So that got. That took things to like a whole nother level because of of what happens, and I'm going to say what happens now. Spoiler alert.
Speaker 2:Don't listen to this part if you don't want to know anything about last of us part two or what potentially most likely will be coming in season two of the last of us, abby kills Joel, mm, hmm, and not like at the end of the game, some stinger.
Speaker 1:No, this is like the end of the epilogue. Is the prologue?
Speaker 2:Yeah, essentially the prologue of the game ends with what with Abby killing Joel Um, which got leaked. People were like Joel dies within the first 20 minutes of the game. People lost it, lost their minds before the game even came out, before we had even seen this character, because a lot of, a lot of the last of us part two promotional stuff was this cryptic kind of. The biggest thing was this, this trailer that came out.
Speaker 1:And you knew the only trailers that came out. Cinematic trailer Right. Cinematic trailer Ellie right. You just knew you were playing as Ellie in this game. Instead of, like you knew, ellie was going to be like a big, big element.
Speaker 2:It was Ellie in a cabin playing the guitar by herself, and you don't see Joel. But you hear her, hear his voice and he goes. What are you going to do, kiddo? And that's pretty much the trailer.
Speaker 1:That's the whole trailer. She like you super cut to her in Seattle just standing on business.
Speaker 2:So I mean, I at least I got the interpretation. I don't know if anyone else got this my interpretation from that trailer was always been that something happened to Joel, because it's a very weird cryptic trailer that you only hear his voice. We see like a door open and you see like a shadow, and you only hear his voice. He goes. So what are you going to do, kiddo? And then, like you said, there's a super cut of just gameplay, basically action. You never get the impression that there's a secondary main character. You never get the, you never get the sense that Abby is a part of this, at least a part of the gameplay of the game. Sure, and the first, the first thing that you get out of that is from this leak. That people in the leak were like you do all this is Ellie and then you become Abby and people were not happy. So, going back to the original point, like yeah, not when standing, like setting aside any outside controversy, just pure in game controversy. Yeah, yeah, abby is a controversial figure, and for just no reason.
Speaker 1:And so I mean I told you this and this is this is my whole take on the situation. And it's sad because once you get those people like that, they they just don't understand. Like you are the very person that this is targeted at, without you even realizing it. You know what Joel's death is supposed to be, brief, I don't understand why it's so difficult to understand this. It's not supposed to feel good that Joel just died and just murdered, like you see, like that's the whole point. That like Ellie's father figure is gone, like and it's not like he was like died and he was murdered abruptly, like that's real life, like if somebody you know dies, it's you're not like, well, it was, it's not. I'm not talking of old age, I'm talking when somebody you know passes away unexpectedly, you're like, you're probably not like, well, it is. No, you're like, I don't. I'm beside myself right now. That's the whole freaking point and that's why it does not feel good when Joel is murdered and Abby just had to be the one that does it.
Speaker 1:And again, going even further, what is the whole point of the last of us, part 2? There's two main themes. Number one well, if it isn't the consequences for my actions of me potentially sacrificing the entire human race. And you know what came in the form of of this woman named Abby. That's how that's. That was my grim reaper that came to me. You know what number two is the cycle of violence. Does it need to continue or does it not? That's what the whole last of us Part 2 is about. And once you play as Abby and I don't know what it was when I was playing Part 2. I talked about it on here I had like a spiritual awakening at the end of that game because I was like it was like Daddy DeVito and and always said, like I get it, like I I finally understand, like I get it. I hope some people have that same awakening, because I'll stand on this.
Speaker 1:I think the last of us Part 2 is one of the best stories told. I just think it's absolutely phenomenal. I think storytelling wise it's. I think it's it's like maybe crazy, but I think it's a better story than the last of us Part 1. Like, I think story elements beat is a better story. Like the actual, like when you tell somebody a story like the last of us Part 2 plays. You know, and the only my biggest issue with the last of us. Part 2 is pacing. I think that is the number one derailment of that game is the way the game is itself.
Speaker 2:It's structured, is just it's not, and I think I hope that the TV show is going to run, and what?
Speaker 1:did we say about season one and the whole story of the last of us, part 1? It plays a little better as a television show that it does a video game.
Speaker 2:And I think I've said this for a long time that I think the last of us, part 2, can benefit more as a TV show than as a video game, because I think you iron out a lot of those pacing problems.
Speaker 2:I think you iron out one of the issues that I have with it, in the sense that I don't really feel a ton about Abby's crew. I don't think they're particularly well developed because you're not with them for very long and I think you know, speaking of speaking of young manzino's character, jesse, I think that character can benefit a lot from a little more exploration Because he's kind of in the beginning again, I don't want to talk about the game too much because we're going to talk about it. He's in the beginning of the game for a bit and then he kind of disappears and then he's back for a bit and then he's gone. That's it. So I think that character can benefit a lot from a from a little bit and I think, based on everything Craig and Maison has said, that Part 2, last of us Part 2, is going to be probably two seasons.
Speaker 1:I can see I think they want the Jackson stuff and I obviously this is again like the whole sports contracting of like, oh, I want the championship, I want the thing to happen, and then we know I can't make some money. So, like Pedro Pascal, you know he makes you money, I'm sorry, like that's just. The truth of the matter is that man will make you money so you can keep them around for longer with. That means a whole season and then, like you know, it's going to even play even better. The whole derailment of their relationship is going to play a long season too.
Speaker 1:And then I think we're going to intercut with some you know some Abby, Lore and, to your point, like getting some of you know Abby's, like the wolf team, like some of their characters more flushed out and stuff, and then you smash them together. That's what I do If they, if you want to take a swing that would just demolish the Internet, you do. You have Joel's death be the season finale of season two and you say wait, you're going to wait a year and a half and then you're going to get the payoff. So I think that's 100% possible.
Speaker 1:I think they can totally set that up because on paper, your season two finale would probably, or your season two finale would probably be the I mean in terms of television storytelling, like that might have to be your finale in season two to keep people hooked. Like that is like all right, well, this is going to be your, this is going to be yours Excuse me, maybe it even is he walks. Maybe the whole reveal is like you know, you have your Abby stuff cut with your Ellie, joel, jackson stuff, and then like the end of season two is Joel just walks in the room with Tommy and that's it. And then it cuts and you're just like would you say your name was Joel, and then I think they can even.
Speaker 2:I think they can even play up the mystery of everything a bit Like. Maybe you kind of build up Abby is like the separate entity and you know, kind of like how the game does it, but in a more, you know, the game condenses it a bit of like she's looking for someone and you don't know who or why I love it or what, but you make her a sympathetic character. Yeah, like, maybe you just build into this, maybe you just build it into her backstory in the show of. Like someone out there killed her father. You don't know who, you don't know why.
Speaker 1:Don't tell me who. What her father did, just have her be at Wolf getting yoked, getting built, and her because I wonder who's going to play Owen as well. Like, develop, that's who you got to develop all those other characters people will fall in love with a revenge story.
Speaker 1:So if you present Abby as this character that is out for revenge or something, I'm so glad you said that, because that's another thing that just gets me so angry about people not understanding it. Yeah, it's perspective. Perspective is everything. Think about it from Abby's perspective. This psychopath murdered my father, who was trying to save the human race. I want everybody that just vehemently hates that game to say that sentence and be like if you were Abby, what would you do? You'd be oh Joel, so I don't care.
Speaker 2:Like no, you're Joe Miller from the last of us, oh.
Speaker 1:OK, you're your papa page in Pascal.
Speaker 2:You're the main character. Oh, my bad.
Speaker 1:No, I don't want to murder that man. No, I'm actually the main character now. I would give anything to kill that man, but I think that's how you can hook it. I can't talk about it, we'll talk about it.
Speaker 2:I think that's how you can hook people. You make Abby the sympathetic character that like no, I actually want to see her bring this killer to justice Again.
Speaker 1:I think something they're going to play into is like they're going to be two pieces of the same puzzle, like Abby and Ellie, like they're going to be like these two people that are, like you know, cosmically destined for each other. Yeah, yeah, I agree. What's one thing you want from the last of us, part two in the show? But all right, let me rephrase what's one epil or one prologue piece? Because I feel like the first two episodes of the Last of Us got really famous off the prologues. So what's a prologue that you want?
Speaker 2:I want to see some unintended fallout of Joel's decision. I want to see the state of the world. You think?
Speaker 1:people will find out. Well, obviously some people had to find out.
Speaker 2:Not necessarily find out what he did specifically, but like kind of show, like maybe the world's gotten worse since then. You know, maybe because like really all you see in the Last of Us, part Two is Jackson, which is great, great little community.
Speaker 1:It's a smart move. It's rebuilt.
Speaker 2:Exactly. And then you see Seattle, which is less so, but I would love to see kind of like that kind of piece of it, like no, this man's, this one man's actions had consequences on a global scale, hundreds of thousands of people. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of millions.
Speaker 2:Like maybe you show like a city that's completely overrun with infected. Maybe you just see like a random, like family just get devoured because this guy maybe had the keys to the castle and gave him away. So I think that would be kind of interesting because I think what the first season did a lot did really well on is is showing that like showing that perspective of the world.
Speaker 1:Exactly so genius.
Speaker 2:So I think, if you're going to do that again in season two, you would do it that way, like you would present it like and present it in a way that, like his actions had direct consequences not even pertaining to himself, and I think that's kind of how you also start building up that the Abbey stuff also Like you show like that what he did it wasn't the only decision. Um, a lot went into it.
Speaker 1:So I think that's that's something I hope the Scar Queen, whoever that figure was. I hope they do like a whole prologue dedicated to that. Because, again, zoom out like who are some other of these people? You know what? That would also play into that whole idea from the Henry and Sam episode, from episode five, like I think that's a really cool perspective of like just this prologue that's dedicated to like on an on outbreak day, like who are the people that like? Because we always hear about like all the destruction, like what's the other side of the coin, who are the people that held this thing together? And obviously the scars are like not the best people and their colt borderline.
Speaker 1:I can make the argument that WLF is also a cult Like maybe Jackson's like the only place that's like. Obviously there's probably more places like Jackson, but you're probably going to find a lot more places like like the scar ran Seattle than you will Jackson Like that's just out of the fact. So I just want to see maybe they pull in like an A list actor or something, because just have them cameo for like an episode and just be like this is the fallout. This is this person like this almost deified figure that turns Seattle into like this beacon of like cultists and like, but like hope to them, of like I think that would be a really good prologue to an episode and I think that would give a lot of time for Craig Mason to cook himself of like how good he is at this stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm looking forward to it and yeah, we'll probably talk about the last of us, because the remaster comes out next week, next week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 19th, 19th.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it comes out the night. So next Friday, so probably the following week, and I've been waiting We'll probably do a deep dive review, all that stuff on last of us, part two. But all that, all that being said, that kind of segwayed into the last thing. And then I wanted to talk about which was these, these leaks, leak culture, leak culture. We've been even this is like our leak culture trilogy, because I feel like we've been beating this on different degrees for the last couple of weeks, whether it's, you know, set photo leaks or casting leaks or whatever. So we had a pretty massive video game leak, two pretty massive video games leaks, one of which was against Rock City, which we start with that because the other ones, probably the other ones, more important, I think the other one is like more detrimental.
Speaker 1:So yeah.
Speaker 2:So Rock City got hacked. The Suicide Squad kills a Justice League plot essentially leaked online. Much of like I said happened with Last of Us 2. Same thing happened, kind of red thread beat by beat. Here's the plot and much like the last of us two, people were not happy. Nope, I don't want to dive into it too much, but some things happen that people are not happy with and relates to especially the character of Batman. Essentially is what it boils down to. People were not happy about how Batman is reportedly treated in this, in this game, especially being it's Kevin Conroy's final performance as Batman and look, just knocking that off right off the bat. Rock City did not know this was going to be the last time Kevin Conroy was going to be Batman, and you know. So it's unfortunate that you know this game is called what it's called and it's not a spoiler to say the plot of the game is essentially, you do the thing. For lack of a better word, you do do the thing. Well, just say the title of the game Suicide Squad kills the.
Speaker 1:Justice League. What do you mean? They're going to kill the Justice League. That doesn't make sense. How could they kill Batman in a game called Suicide?
Speaker 2:Squad kills the Justice League, so the thing, the thing that, the thing, that the title of the game says you do the thing and people are just not happy about it. I'm not happy about the game for reasons beyond that.
Speaker 2:I think the live service element of this game is a massive mistake and I feel like I'm vindicated on that. Based on some pre pre pre release gameplay, that articles that have been written, I feel like people are like why, you know, and it's funny. You know, we kind of agreed that, hey, the story probably is going to be pretty good, it might be fun, and that's what people are saying. People are saying, hey, the story beats are pretty good. I don't know if it's.
Speaker 1:I don't know if this is okay to say, but was it the Guardians of the Galaxy game that changed everything? For like? I'll add it further I think it was the Avengers game coupled with the Guardians of the Galaxy game that like changed superhero gaming a little bit, because Avengers live service does not work. Some of our favorite beats was the story of that game, especially the Kamala Khan perspective. Some fun stuff, and then the game derails itself once you, because you have to play online Like you have to you, can not, for all intents of two, size one because it just like.
Speaker 2:is the exact same build, exact same model, right, if not worse?
Speaker 1:right and I just think that's just an absolute mistake. Like that's just that's not stored. And you know, now we're in this realm, like we were talking before we hopped on here, like we were just talking about Ghost of Tsushima, like that's where we are. Like these story led games, it's like this is what people want to play now. Like people want these characters to latch on to and like these big worlds to explore, and like some like it's fun, like I just feel like we're at like a such a and those games do have place. Like you know, they're your live service games.
Speaker 1:I just don't think for a Suicide Squad game. And then my point for Guardians of the Galaxy. Like you know why Guardians of the Galaxy played so well? Because their number one concern was story. And like not this story where you know you're going to get cut off because I have to play an online mission. Like no, it was an incredibly expansive story that just had lore for days, that was lived in, that was personal, that was emotional. Like that's what's going to sell you some tickets now and sell you some games.
Speaker 2:And I'm not saying that this game can't be that, but unfortunately it's going to be undercut by all the live service stuff, because ultimately, what ends up happening with these live service games is the story is a very small part of it, because what the developers want is the long term, you know, money.
Speaker 1:Yep, that comes from, exactly from the live service. And but how did that go for Rob? Just tell me how that went for the Avengers.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean it's dead, Exactly. The game is gone, and that's the Avengers.
Speaker 1:That wasn't the Seuss. That's the Avengers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that game I mean the game's more dead. It's dead, died, died. Last year they put all the content, like all the cosmetics up, went up for free, and which you hear me out. Maybe they should have just been doing that, maybe you should have played the game in a story mode setting to unlock the cosmetics.
Speaker 1:Isn't that a crazy?
Speaker 2:concept. It's nuts. So the Suicide Squad game is, you know, history is doing the repeat itself. It's repeating itself, you're repeating yourself, you're repeating yourself, complete with the battle pass and the unlockable character, unlockable skin and even unlockable skins you know, currency based skins. It's got the loot system, like the Fortnite loot system, for lack of a better word.
Speaker 2:It's just it's unfortunate and it's just funny because, like Gotham Knights came and went, that game was without like a thought, Like that game was just out and people are like OK well, and it's just a shame too, because you know, I know, when this game first got announced and it was like Rock Steady is doing a Suicide Squad game, it's continuing the Arkham universe I was like that sounds awesome, OK, I'm in, like I'm listening, and then I started hearing more of it.
Speaker 1:And then I saw that screenshot of them and like the Fortnite S and has like, oh no, no, no, no.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I turned into?
Speaker 1:I turned into the Riddler from the Batman. No, no, no.
Speaker 2:I saw the like the, the gray and the green and the purple from the blue and the like the guns. Oh no, I saw, like the, the, the horde of, like Brainiac monsters that, like you're zipping and, to be fair, the game does look. It looks fun to actually pick up and play, but it's not something that, like you know, like I said, because I know how these live service games are, I'm going to go in it. I'm going to go into it for the story, and then the story is going to be done in 10 hours and then I'm going to be expected to just keep playing this thing every day.
Speaker 2:Spend some money on it for no reason, and I'm just not doing it. I'm not doing it Now.
Speaker 1:There is a franchise of games that do understand the story mode element and that does it extremely well. And that's Insomniac. And to our surprise, a couple of years ago I think last year we got the long awaited, you know, realization that we were getting a Wolverine game. And in my mind I was like give me Insomniac Spider-Man and mix it with Red Dead Redemption for lack of a better term and put it in the same game. I'm in, like I'm, I'm there, like this gunslinger Western superhero story with Wolverine on top of it, like that's going to play, like that's a game that I would pick up. Unfortunately, leet culture is Leet culture, so the very beta, like I'm talking, like the early pre alpha, pre alpha is the.
Speaker 2:Is the politically excuse me, the politically correct term was leaked on top of I think it was, it was in the realm of like two terabytes of data. Yeah, that this ransomware group got a hold of. They said Insomniac, give us, give us money and we will not release your data. Insomniac, rightly so, was like we're not going to do that. So they put the data out there, released some you know about, like a 10 year road map essentially for what Insomniac has been working on, will be working on. And I mean the big. The big thing was the Wolverine pre alpha footage got released. Not just got released, but got released to the point that people got a hold of playable builds. Yep, that was suits and that was stuffed out pretty quickly. Yeah, I know if you, if you partook in in downloading that and trying to put on your PC, you were located rather quickly. So that's not so much an issue. And specifically around the Wolverine stuff, people were somehow like this game looks like crap and I'm like you guys, I'm like yeah of course it does.
Speaker 1:Am I stupid? I thought that looks pretty dang cool. I thought it was looks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it looked, because people only look at like how it played in the animation stuff which are not remotely close to being done.
Speaker 1:That game's going to come out on. Whatever the next version of the PS5 is like. Whatever, like the net, like you know, when they do like their PS5 pro whatever, like. Yeah, it's going to have every single bell and whistle that you can ask for.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so people were not happy about how it looks and then a bunch of spider-man stuff got leaked, particularly that they were working on a grant. That's auto online ask spider universe game, and they probably want a multiverse thing, which I'm glad. Shelve it. Yeah, I don't. I told you I said this last time we talked on the podcast that there are two kind of major live service games that have any type of staying power. One is fortnight, one is grant, that's online, that's it. If you're gonna, if you're gonna try and do a thing and you can't challenge either of those two, don't do it, because people only have a finite amount of money and people are putting a lot of money into both of those games.
Speaker 2:So if you're not going to challenge those two titles, don't, don't remember.
Speaker 1:What was the? What was the Warner Brothers game that came out that we thought was going to just be an absolute titan of industry and just again, another one that just kind of fell by the wayside, surprisingly so it's tough, it's tough in the streets, but yeah, I mean overall, it's just it's. It is sad that these got leaked, especially that, specifically the insomniac stuff. I wanted to imagine seeing that, like, because you remember the feeling in 2016 of getting that first gameplay of Fist Tower like imagine we got that.
Speaker 2:But for Wolverine, like that first gameplay of like, oh, this is, this is how this is supposed to be, and you know a bunch of other stuff that you know is coming in the pipeline. That insomniac apparently now has to steal a Marvel. We're going to be developing some X-Men related stuff potentially like an X-Men actual game.
Speaker 1:I'm pretty sure. Wasn't there a fantastic fourth thing in there? I could be wrong?
Speaker 2:I don't think so. I think they only really hit the Wolverine stuff, the X-Men stuff, the Spider-Man stuff and then just a ration and clink thing that is in the pipeline. But I mean, at the end of the day, like it just goes back to what we were talking about and what we have been talking about, like what, who benefits from this type of stuff? Exactly.
Speaker 1:Now you just delayed because the same thing happened to Grand Theft Auto 6. You guys now just delayed the game even further that you're so desperately to cling onto. Yeah, like they think it's like a movie thing where, like you're going to do the thing, so the suit is like all right, just have the trailer. No, no, no, no, no, no, you're going to get it. Then the developers are going to be like well, we can redo anything. It's not like I have actors that were like we're going to redo some stuff now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it goes even deeper than that. You know, until, like, the actual coding, which is the Grand Theft Auto issue, is like what's the code is out there, you got to like rebuild the thing from scratch, essentially because you can't have people with access to that coding, because then they can just do whatever they want to the game when it comes out. So you got to like, man, it just sucks. It sucks. And you know, for a world where people are so staunchly supportive of like game developers and people who work for game developers being like you got to stop time crunching them and this, that another thing, like when you do stuff like this, that's ultimately who it hurts. Like you're hurting them, like you're not hurting the corporations themselves.
Speaker 2:You know you're hurting the actual hurting the people that, like, work there and work on these things, these hundreds of people that that you know there could be one person that just their job is dedicated to, like moving a character's arm or moving their character rig, like that's our whole job for months is just making sure that this character rig works. And now you, now you've reset, you know their workload and you know you would hope that the companies would understand, you know that this sucks and not crunch their employees to work 20 hour days, 18 hour days. But there's no guarantee that that won't happen because, the end of the day, the big, the big dog, the big company that's even above Insomniac is Marvel, and Marvel is going to be like, hey, where's our Wolverine game? Right? Yep, so, and that could potentially diminish the quality of the final product if they feel like they're, you know, under some type of crunch.
Speaker 2:Exactly, I think there's an element of Spider-Man 2 that's suffered possibly from that, especially as it relates to, like, certain things that may not have been in the game, that that people were expecting to be in the game. I think that has to do a lot with meeting deadlines. So, yeah, it sucks, like this whole the whole week culture thing has just gradually and gradually annoyed me more and more across all media.
Speaker 2:Across all media because you know it's. It's easy to say, oh just don't. Just don't look at it, no, it's shut up and you can't. You can't not look at it because you open Twitter. It's just, it's everywhere, it's everywhere. And then people build the opinions and everything just based off leaked footage or just the saturation in general, like not even the leaked stuff, but like just the oversaturation of like people. Just, you know, overanalyzing literally everything that comes out about a certain thing is just like something that is just exhausting Whatever happened to, whatever happened to living.
Speaker 2:Yeah, experiencing and just enjoying the thing when you get the thing you know in the great words of my man from Dune part one.
Speaker 1:I can't remember his name, that's unfortunate. What did he say? The mystery of life is is not a is not a problem to solve, but a reality to experience. Those are the bars right there. Those are the bars that be talking about and I believe that a hundred percent, like whatever happened to us, just experiencing Whatever happened to whatever, why do we have to hate everything? Why do we have to hate everything? Is a great point.
Speaker 2:We have to just hate so much. There's not many things that come out anymore with like universal acclaim.
Speaker 1:And you know, I mean you know me like I. I guess one of my things is I get cooked for liking a lot more things than people do and I'm like it's tough, Like it's tough to make stuff and to put yourself out there and to work on something Like these things are incredibly difficult. So I'm sorry if I sympathize with these people a little bit more but at the end of the day, like why is everybody so mad? Why are you so mad? Why are you so mad?
Speaker 2:It's just. It's just frustrating, because a lot of things suffer from this in the sense of like, because of the culture and the speculation culture and the analyzing every freeze frame of a screenshot. It's. It makes people go into things with these preconceived notions and these opinions that they already hate it. They already hate it before it comes out or, conversely, they say they already love it before it comes out and that's not the way these things were meant to be consumed, like they just were not meant to be. You're not supposed to have preconceived notions in the sense that, like, obviously we get trailers and we get stuff like official things that, like, people show off, but like, at the same time, even some of these companies fall for it in the sense that, like, they put out a launch trailer, they put out a second launch trailer, they put out a screenshot, they put out they do millions and trillions of interviews about the thing.
Speaker 2:Like, sometimes you just got to pull back the reins a little bit and and and just let the thing speak for itself at that, ultimately, because then people start taking quotes out of context and they start taking other things out of context and it just drives me crazy, really, does that's. That's my rant, it's my leak rant, and it's not the last one we're going to have, unfortunately, because this is where we're at. It's only a matter of time before the next thing gets leaked and we're like well, here we are again and you wonder, and like you and you wonder why people get fatigued on things, because they don't want to be constantly reading that their thing sucks before the thing is even out Exactly Like why am I working on this, if you?
Speaker 2:think it's actually, that's it. That's all I got. So, in the spirit of our return, we thought we'd bring back. Bring back a fan favorite segment, the what have you been doing segment, for lack of a better way In the great words of Matthew McConaughey Um, but y'all don't care about that.
Speaker 1:Did you just have to look up to see if you remember how you spell living? That was tough on your part.
Speaker 2:I was looking up to see if you spelled it right, yeah.
Speaker 1:I did L-I-V-I-N. Okay, um, you know, just been watching stuff, um, but you guys want to hear about the pictures, because that's why I signed my multi-million dollar deal to be here. You guys want to hear about the cinema, the pictures, um. The two I really want to talk about is one is iron claw. Um, that is one of my favorite movies of the year. Um, about the Von Herrick family. Um, headlined by Zac Efron. Uh, harrison Dickson Dickinson, um, jeremy Allen White. Uh, just phenomenal, phenomenal film. It is gut-wrenching, it is a tough watch, but it's a it's just, it's emotional, it's it deals with grief. It deals with, you know, family and your love for your family and how deep it can flow. Um, and it's just, it's overall, just it's one of those, it's one of those ones where it just stays with you, like it just it wouldn't leave me alone for days in my mind and those are the best pictures, in my opinion. It's something that Martin Scorsese said to the they asked him like, what makes a good movie? It's like it's the ones that just stick with you for a little bit and I just couldn't get that movie out of my head. It's so emotional, it's so well done. Um, I love the structure of it because, like, the first act is like wrestling cool von Erichs, and then the second act's like uh-oh, and then the third act's I have depression, like that is the structure of that movie, but it's just, it's just so well done. Um, and A24 has a hit on their hands. It's the best Zac Efron's ever been in his career, and that's saying something. Uh, jeremy Allen White, obviously it's um, he's got this good cool dichotomy between you know, just this like melancholy man mixed with like this ferociousness, which I think is really what defines him as an actor right now. Um, and it just it's just so well made.
Speaker 1:I was just a huge fan of that and I didn't think anything was gonna come close to that in my late watch of the year. And then I saw the Holdovers with Paul Giamatti and that is that movie is like when, like they went into the cinema and they were like what movie would Court Love? And then they made the Holdovers specifically for me, and I think that's not a good take on cinema and I always say this like good movies and good stories are just it doesn't need to be this thing that's either critically acclaimed or universally accepted. It's just gotta be. One person needs this thing. Um, and that was the Holdovers for me that year this year it's just it is it's like a feel it's feel good. Again, it's emotional, but just the the main characters from that movie I mean Paul Giamatti again, he's maybe at the best in his career, maybe that and John Adams are the best he's ever been in his career.
Speaker 1:Um, he's just he's phenomenal in this. It's thought-provoking and and a realm you didn't think was thought-provoking. It's still got that same energy of, like you know, those iconic 80s and 90s coming-of-age movies. It's just uh and um, dominic Sesse is a revelation. He's like 21 or something, or 20 or something like that. That that guy's got a career ahead of him, an absolute career ahead of him. So, um, he actually went to the school that they used for the movie and he just auditioned and that was his first major production and you would've thought this guy's been acting for since he was a young child, but he hasn't.
Speaker 2:So um it's a little bit of a a Monvalani situation where her first-, her first role was Ms Marvel, which is crazy.
Speaker 1:Exactly, man. What a picture. What a time. I love the movies, man. I'm like Tom Cruise of this po I'm the Tom Cruise of this podcast.
Speaker 2:You're paying your spoil, dude. I love the movies, man. You spoiled yourself. Um, I have been what have I been doing? I've been playing Baldur's Gate 3, finally. Um. So I told you I was gonna get background to the game awards and, like I said, the the Oppenheimer of the game awards this year was was Baldur's Gate 3, and it was one of the only game of the year games that I did not play this year. Um, so I finally was like, hey, I have some time, which I need, and I'm gonna play Baldur's Gate 3, and, yeah, it's it's it's good, it's as good as it's as good as advertised.
Speaker 2:Um, the character work is fantastic. Um, neil Nubon, who voices the half-elf vampire Astarion, much-deserved uh performance of the year award. Um, the world is so well-written. For those of you who don't know it's it's based sometimes it's just dragons, essentially Um, and you get these six origin characters that you can pick from. Um, or you can create your own character and and interact with these six characters, and the degree of freedom that you are granted in this game is just staggering.
Speaker 2:Um, it's unbelievable. Like the way you approach encounters. You can approach it any way you want um from just kinda rushing in there and getting it done to you can assess the situation. You can grab a bunch of barrels. You can line all the barrels up. You can shoot a fire arrow or a spell into the exploding barrels. I'm I'm in. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You can explode everybody. That way, um characters can die at will, characters can leave your party.
Speaker 2:Um, you can play the game literally however you want, um, depending on what type of character you build, kind of the paths that you're allowed to take in the sense of like hey, I killed this person, but I'm a wizard and I have the spell that lets me bring people back from the dead and I can question them. You know. But if you build like a palette and you don't have that luxury, so like that path is not available to you. Like it's insane, it's a staggering amount of freedom that you're given for any conversation. Any conversation can lead to anywhere and you know it is niche in the sense that like it's a turn-based kind of strategy combat system instead of like a big action-y thing.
Speaker 2:But man, I've been loving it and I know I'm not gonna have time to finish it, because it's a game that you can easily spend hundreds of hours with, and I'm eyeing the last of us again. So I'm gonna be playing the last of us part one again, then last of us part two when it comes out, but for now, playing Baldur's Gate 3 has been a revelation, much-deserved game of the year, consideration and a claim for it, because it's been incredible. That's really all I could say about it.
Speaker 1:I mean there's there's a reason why it's swept.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's. You know. And you know I played Spider-Man 2, I played Final Fantasy 16, I played Alan Wake, like, and those games are all great. I mean, we've talked about how 2023 was for gaming. It was insane. Any of these games could have won game of the year in any other year, but this game is Baldur's Gate 3 is special. It's a generational game, in the same vein that the Witcher 3 was, in the same way that Red Dead Redemption 2, you know, got a war 2018, gretta Thunder 5, it stands on that like that kind of pantheon.
Speaker 2:And speaking of got a war, I did play got a war, ragnarok, steel C, valhalla man. When you talk about just a flex, that's what. That's what Santa Monica Studios put out. They said they undersold it, if anything. So the game awards was like, hey, got a word. Dlc Valhalla, it's a roguelite. Got a war mode. It's free, have fun. And then I played it and I was like wait, is this some of the best story stuff that they've ever done with the? Always was with God of War man. It's incredible from just for the people, the naysayers that are like oh, the the north stuff took away from the Greek stuff because he's not mad anymore and killing everybody. Valhalla directly confronts that idea right down to it, directly relates to the Greek stuff, confronts it in the most awesome way possible. I don't want to spoil it because you know I think the ending of it is worth getting into and worth but again, lee culture. You've probably seen the ending on TikTok Twitter. I saw it like immediately like it sucks, but it was just.
Speaker 1:It is great, it was like it, just that. I mean, the monologue is just oh. Christopher judge that actually might be the best he's ever been. That saying I agree.
Speaker 2:I agree it's between that and the the scene with Athena in God War 2018. In terms of like his ability. Also, I enjoyed that. He made people. I'm just I enjoy that he made God people mad when he said the. His speech at the Game Awards was longer than the Cod.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I enjoy that, not bad.
Speaker 2:So good on him. I'm a big Christopher judge, dan. We love you, christopher judge, especially when he said you know he would not dare to attempt to replicate TC Carson's portrayal of Kratos in any type of thing. So you know, just shout out to him huge, huge respect and on that note we will be wrapping it up for this week. It's been a fun episode. I love these kind of just layback and chat and chat episodes that we that we do on occasion. But next week we're probably going to talk about Echo, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, we'll talk about Marvel's newest project, Echo. The first one of 2024.
Speaker 2:One of I think we talked about it.
Speaker 1:One of four total projects yeah, not a lot this year. What?
Speaker 2:if already came and went.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, what if? What if is gone? Maybe we'll throw in a little what, what if action in there, but that's gonna. Next week will be dedicated to Echo. We might also do a little landscape of just Marvel 2024.
Speaker 2:Maybe we just have a discussion of the first Deadpool trailer might be coming out. Super Bowl.
Speaker 1:Sunday, which makes a ton of sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's another thing. Obviously, one of our favorite favorite episodes to do is the Super Bowl, super.
Speaker 1:Bowl recap. Oscar's episode obviously will be in a little bit, but that that I'm looking forward to and maybe we, maybe we have to run up a crowd favorite the Project Infinite Awards.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, needs to come back? I'd love to. So, yeah, we're gonna talk Echo next week. I've watched three episodes. You've watched the whole thing? Yep, definitely doesn't start the way I thought it was going to, nope.
Speaker 1:Nope, I immediately texted Rob and I was just like is this through the mic? Is this I?
Speaker 2:was watching the right show, I paused by Disney Plus and I'm like, wait a minute, click on something else by accident. So yeah it's, I really enjoy where I think it's going, or not where I think it's going about it. Similar to like almost not season one of the Mandalorian, but it has that kind of Western lone gunslinger defending, defending the small town energy to it.
Speaker 1:Which I like. I think a Link with Cox is also great as Echo tremendous. I think it's something to be said about physical acting, which she does there's. There's a bit in the first episode there's a fight and she does this once. She does two things in the fight. That I'm just. I was like I love it, like I love it Just those little things that add characterization I think is pretty cool. I don't want to go too far, but she gets into a fight in the first episode and she gets put, she gets kicked and she just she hits the ground and I'm like that's just those little choices I think that are so good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah it's. She's really really, really good.
Speaker 1:I'm really really enjoying that character and obviously Vincent D'Onofrio is just magnificent as Wilson Fisk. Yeah, he has not lost once. He's. He's much better in this than he was in Hawkeye as well, and obviously it's not his fault for Hawkeye he was. He was thrown into Hawkeye because the rights got the rights got back and Marvel was just like how do we get it in there? How do we get there Double and how do we get Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio in here? Immediately Get him in there.
Speaker 2:So yeah, we'll talk about Echo next week and probably talk about what If a little bit, what if was a bit of a nothing?
Speaker 1:nothing to me, yeah what was your favorite episode?
Speaker 2:I like the. I like the finale to be honest.
Speaker 1:Finale was was cool, that Peter Quill episode, episode three, I with the eight, with the. It was the late 80s Avengers. I thought it was pretty dang fun.
Speaker 2:I liked the. I also like the first episode. Yeah, the Blade Runner. What if Nebula was in Blade Runner?
Speaker 1:and also way more emotional than I thought it was going to be to like way more stakes and way more, like you know, emotionally investing than I thought it would be. And I think, what if a good amount of the episodes also had a lot of emotional investment, which I thought was really well done?
Speaker 2:So and I also. I mean, I also I did enjoy the the new character Mm. Hmm, don't worry, I hope. I hope we see that character in some former fashion live action. I think, I think Echo set the stage for a bit of that Yep.
Speaker 1:Which we will talk about.
Speaker 2:Which we will talk about. But, that being said, we are done for this week. If you want to find us, you can follow us on Twitter at project I have underscore pod. You can follow us on Instagram at the project infinite pod. Can follow us on Facebook as well, and that's it. That's where, that's, that's the only place you can find us. Next week we're going to talk about Echo. Until then, from me, from the Tom Cruise of the podcast, he spoiled it for himself. But the Tom Cruise of the podcast, I love it. He loves it. He loves the movies. I love the movies. He loved the cinema.
Speaker 1:He's my popcorn. Nothing better than popcorn. What was that I should be doing? What was that? I don't know, but it's fine. I remember that that took over Twitter for like a week. Yeah, it was just Tom Cruise sitting in that in that couch just eating popcorn, talking about his love for movies. He's a. He's like Kobe. He's a different kind of cat he's like, like some people, love the game, I love the game, I love cinema. You guys, don't understand.
Speaker 2:He's a different kind of cat. That's all you can. That's all you can say, man. All right, guys, we will see you next week for Echo.
Speaker 1:Goodbye.
Speaker 2:Echo Peace.