Superman: Hope Reborn? James Gunn's Masterpiece?

[00:00:04] Speaker A: Or is that Star Wars? [00:00:05] Speaker B: I mean, John Williams. [00:00:07] Speaker A: So similar, right? I keep starting with Superman and ended. [00:00:09] Speaker B: Up at Star Wars. Hello everyone and welcome to Fates Wide Wheel. I am your host, Sam and I am joined this week, my co star, my partner in crime, none other than Albert Burge from Trexploration and the Quantum Leap podcast. How are you? [00:00:26] Speaker A: You gave away my secret identity. [00:00:28] Speaker B: Oh man, I'm sorry. [00:00:29] Speaker A: The hypno glasses, my friend, they're not working. All right. Yes, it's true. It's me. Thanks for having me on, Sam. [00:00:37] Speaker B: Yeah, thank you so much for being here. This is, this is a thrill. It's kind of funny because I went to see the early screening and posting about it. Yeah. Tuesday night and I was posting about it and then you commented on it and I was just sort of like, you know, it would be fun, it would be fun if Alby and I talked about, about Superman. So that's what we're here to do today. We're going to Talk about Superman 2025, written directed by James Gunn, starring David Coret and Rachel Brosnahan and Nicholas Holt, amongst others. But before we get into all of that, how are you? What are you up to these days? [00:01:10] Speaker A: I'm good. I'm still, still doing the stuff right now, mostly for Star Trek, sometimes Quantum Leap, but right now we're doing a Trek exploration. Me and Christopher D. Philippus from the Quantum Leap podcast, we been talking about Star Trek for about a year now and yeah, it's crazy how fast that goes and we're kind of finding our groove. I think we're still very long winded, both of us, so two hour shows for everything at least. But you know, it's a fun, it's a conversation and we're building a little bit of a group, a following, a crew. We're about ready to cover all of strange new worlds. We've already started recording the episodes and we have some incredible guests that I can't really announce. [00:01:48] Speaker B: Sure. [00:01:49] Speaker A: That are going to join us and, and they're not like guests that are like from the TV show or anything because so many people are doing that. [00:01:56] Speaker B: Right. [00:01:56] Speaker A: We're, what we're doing is we're pulling in other YouTube creators that talk about Star Trek often and ones that I always go to see. What do they think? What do they think? We're pulling them in to kind of see, say hi and talk to us for a couple hours about each episode. [00:02:11] Speaker B: So that's great. I love that. I, I, I, I love that spirit of collaboration and you know, I, I always, one of the things that bringing like Matt on the show and then got me on your show and all that sort of stuff is the, the fact that, you know, we were fans of one another. [00:02:25] Speaker A: Right. [00:02:25] Speaker B: And enjoyed the perspectives that everyone brought to bear. So it was really always a lot of fun whenever we did get to kind of cross over. So trexploration. And you did mention Quantum Leap. You know, it's been a little weird for me to talk about Quantum Leap over the past year. A little over a year. And I suppose we'll try to be succinct. Knowing us, that's going to be difficult. [00:02:52] Speaker A: I cannot, but maybe this guy can. [00:02:55] Speaker B: There you go. [00:02:56] Speaker A: Wait, Alby, it worked that time. [00:02:59] Speaker B: It did, yeah. It fooled me. So I'm curious just what your thoughts are now. A little over a year out from the cancellation of season two and just general feelings on the revival series again without necessarily going know, into minute detail, episode by episode, that sort of thing. Kind of an overview of how you're feeling about things now that we're a little bit removed. [00:03:21] Speaker A: I, I, I actually enjoyed it. I loved it. From week to week. All my thoughts were honest and I wasn't just trying to, you know, hype up the thing. I was being real about my enjoyment and my love for it. [00:03:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:33] Speaker A: And I, I gotta be honest, when the series was cancelled, I was hurt so bad. I was devastated because so much of my online life and my Persona, other than being a dad and a son and, and doing the things I do in, in real life, the boring part, but the fun part, you know, when. [00:03:55] Speaker B: My daughter, it's not boring with my daughter, that's for sure. Right. [00:03:57] Speaker A: She's amazing. But you know, like the stuff that I did online and my whole community and my friends group and all that stuff and like everything I did because, you know, it was a full time job for all of us. [00:04:07] Speaker B: Yeah, for a minute there for sure. [00:04:09] Speaker A: And just, just to have it pulled out and say, nope, not, not anymore. [00:04:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:13] Speaker A: I was in shock for a long time. I didn't know what to do and I kind of just, I think I went into a depression or something. I mean it was, it was just like, you know, Albie's the guy that talks about Quantum Leap and talks to everybody on Quantum Leap and his friends with the makers of Quantum Leap and now there's no Quantum Leap and what do I do? Who am I? [00:04:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:34] Speaker A: So it's weird. How did you deal with all that? [00:04:37] Speaker B: I felt very similar to that, honestly. And I think one of the things that's dawning on me right now is the last interview that I got to conduct was with Raymond Lee, and it was the only time that I chatted with him. But it was such an incredible experience. And I remember as we were kind of wrapping up, there was this feeling. Neither one of us wanted to verbalize it, but there was this feeling that there is a real possibility we might not necessarily have anything else to talk about, you know, that this is it. And in having spoken with a few of the folks involved with the show since then and over the past year and, you know, trying to keep in touch with some people, but it's hard because they're very busy people, and we don't necessarily have the same reasons to reach out and chat. Right. But, you know, in trying to keep up with folks on occasion, it's. It's strange how little we talk about Quantum Leap. And I think that that kind of. That has been true of me in general. And to go from, like you're saying, to go from talking about it all the time, I mean, I can remember especially from about January through, gosh, what would it have been? Maybe like late March or something. I was probably putting in at least 12 hours a week on Fates Wide Wheel. Yeah, probably more. But, like, there was one week, I think, where I literally, I did something like just 10 hours of interviews alone. Not to mention, great stuff, by the way, editing. Well, thank you. Thank you. I mean, you guys as well. It's funny because in the wake of the. The. The series no longer being around, there have been already some folks kind of coming into it or talking about the Blu Rays or doing little retrospectives here or there, and, And. And all I think about, you know, when I see some of that and people asking for information and wanting more special features of that sort of stuff, I'm like, you've got it. Just. Just go to Quantum Leap podcast or Faithful White Wheel, and. And there's everything you're all there want. Yeah, exactly. All the, you know, all the interviews, all the behind the scenes, all the, you know, I mean, heck, you guys even did audio commentaries for a few episodes. So loving that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, me too. Me too. [00:06:56] Speaker A: So. [00:06:59] Speaker B: It is sad. It's still, in some weird way, doesn't feel completely real. And I think part of that is because that time doesn't. It registers in a different way than the day to day. Like you're saying, there was a very singular purpose and we were very driven, and part of that, you know, derived from the enjoyment of this show. And wanting to kind of champion it in a way and say, hey, pay attention to this. This is good. The people making it are really good people, really cool people. And then to kind of have that go away, it does leave you feeling like, well, what do I do now? And luckily, you know, life presents a lot of things that you figure out what you're doing pretty quickly, but it's definitely a different vibe. And it's one of the reasons why I think for me, Fate's Wide Wheel kind of stalled out for a while because I didn't necessarily know what to talk about and more importantly, how to talk about it, because there was a formula there for a while. It's like, I know how I'm doing this. I know what I'm doing. I know what I'm trying to do. And that kind of disappeared. And there was always this plan. I've talked about it before, that Fates Wide Wheel would eventually morph into something more than Quantum Leap. But it took me time in a lot of ways, I think, to kind of just get over and process the, you know, as a fan, the loss of the show and what I, you know, what I could offer, what else I could do, and then getting busy with other things as well. You know, from. From probably October of last year through at least February or March of this year, I had no time. You know, I was working, you know, practically full time with the. The marketing job that I'm doing right now. And then I was also, you know, putting in another probably, what, 20 hours at least in theater as well. And that. And during Christmas Carol, that morphed into even more. And we were doing like eight shows a week. There were days I was at the theater for, you know, easily for eight, nine hours. So, yeah, there was. Yeah, yeah. No, it was great. It was absolutely great. And I have, you know, I have more stuff coming up. So it's. It's that idea of, like, well, I'm, you know, always keep moving, always find new things to do, yet there's hole, and I didn't know how to fill it. And luckily, you know, there are so many other things to get excited about and so many other things to talk about. And I think one of the things that is true now and was true then is I want to continue to try to be as positive as possible because it's so easy to be negative, to try to be a critic, to, you know, to. To. To farm for, you know, any kind of outrage or whatever and get these clicks and all that sort of stuff. And that's just not me and it never has been me. And I think in some ways what more appropriate topic to talk about tonight than Super A Superman, which, which, which is. Is all about, you know, positivity and hope. And one of my favorite moments from, from the film deals with that. We'll talk a little bit about that later with, you know, kind of some of the spoiler talk. But before we, before we get to that, tell me about your experience seeing the movie for the, for the first time and kind of your initial spoiler free thoughts. [00:10:04] Speaker A: Okay, well, I'll tell you how it happened. I was sad because my daughter is going on vacation with her mother and she's not going to be back for quite a while. And it might, you know, the way IMAX has been cycling through lately so fast, I was like, oh, no, we won't be able to go see it. And then I started seeing some reviews come out and I knew there were people that got screener links and stuff. I was like, okay, that makes sense. I wish I had a screener link for that. It got others, but not that. Um, and then, then I saw like reviews by people that I didn't think really would have screener access. So then I started just Googling like crazy and so did Serenity. And then we found out about the Amazon prime show and I was like, even though we have Regal Unlimited and if we waited a week, it would have been just eight bucks. We, I think we paid 80 to see it, you know, Tuesday night. But I think it was worth it. And you know, she's only watched Superman Returns because she interviewed Brendan Routh. So she watched that first. So. And she enjoyed it. So that's pretty much all she knew about Superman. But she was excited and I was excited, but a little, you know, I'm scared because, you know, you don't want to be disappointed because I, I grew up with Christopher Reeves and you know, all the Way on and Super Friends and all that stuff. And. But we got there and we got there. Luckily we got there on time. Usually we're about 15, 20 minutes late, but. Because, but it's fine with the half hour previews. But there was no previews. So we sat down. We sat down at 7pm A message from, I think James Gunn and you know, a couple of the actors, they said, thanks for watching the Amazon preview. And then it just started. [00:11:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:42] Speaker A: I was like, wow. And I hadn't even gone pee yet. So I was like, well, I guess we're holding it. [00:11:47] Speaker B: Right? Right. [00:11:48] Speaker A: Totally worth it. I loved it. I enjoyed was a fun adventure. I think a lot of people that I'm seeing online, you know, talking about it, they just have this, like, excitement again for something, anything, and. And that's what I left with. And I think a lot of people feel that after they see it. How did you feel? [00:12:09] Speaker B: Yeah. So my experience, it's interesting. I remember getting the email about the Amazon prime deal where you could do the early screening on Tuesday night. And initially, I was going to go with a friend of mine who I've seen. I went to the theaters to see Batman vs Superman and a number of other with. But we're both big Superman fans in general, and he's probably a bigger Superman fan than I am, honestly, which is hard to believe. But the way things worked out, that theater would have been like an hour away from me because he still lives in the city. And so he was going up to Skokie, basically, for anyone who's familiar with the Chicagoland area. And I live out in kind of northwest suburbs, and I was going to be even further northwest because of the new location that my store is opening up. So it was just not possible for me to go to that theater. And I kind of dragged my feet on getting the ticket. [00:12:58] Speaker A: And. [00:12:58] Speaker B: And then finally, you know, I kind of. I asked Jess, you know, I asked my wife a few times. I'm like, is it okay if I go? Is it okay if I go? She's like, yes, go, go, go, go. It sounds great. Go. And. And so finally I was like, all right, I'm just doing it. And I bought a ticket and, you know, there weren't a lot left. I think there were no, you know. [00:13:13] Speaker A: Mine was sold out. [00:13:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, I think mine was, too. And luckily I got a ticket. And, yeah, I was just so excited. And it sparked something in me immediately. It's like, I'm going to do some Fates Wide Wheel stuff about this. And. And so I did, like, an Instagram video and reel and all that. And then I got theater. And, you know, similar to you, it was like there were a couple trailers before mine. There's a Fantastic Four trailer. And I want to say maybe one other trailer. I don't remember what it was now. Oh, Cat in the Hat. It was. Yeah, I saw that. Yeah. Yeah. And then we got the message, right, From James Gunn and Nicholas Holt and David Cornswood and Rachel Brosnahan and. And, yeah, and then the movie just starts, right. And, you know, for the next two hours and nine minutes, I had no sense of time. I had no sense of, you know, there was no urgency to get out of the theater for any reason. I was completely drawn in. I loved it. I felt like the craft of filmmaking that James Gunn brought to bear on the movie is someone who is working at their best, their peak thus far. You know, maybe he'll get even better. But what he did with this movie, it's inarguably the best work that he's ever done. And, you know, the actors all showed up. Everyone was just superb. The pacing was magnificent. And even more than that, the heart of the film was. I mean, it was so on the sleeve and so well done and so much in keeping with the spirit of Superman as a character that I got emotional a number of times. And upon second viewing, I got even more emotional. There were two points in the film in particular where I got even more emotional than I did the first time I saw it. So it was. Yeah, it was an incredible experience. And just leaving, I felt this kind of high. And that's why I reached out to you, and I was like, let's talk about this. Let's do this. [00:15:13] Speaker A: Yeah. I was like, heck, yeah. And me and Renny were in the driveway when we got home from the theater and we're just, like, looking up Superman stuff, and all of a sudden your live pops up. I'm like, yes. I'm like, heart. Heart. [00:15:27] Speaker B: Yeah. No, I. And I appreciate that. And. And it was nice to, you know, A, it's always nice to feel seen. Right. But, B, it was. It was. It was nice to, you know, connect with. With you over that and have you have this. This reason to talk. Not that. Not that we need one, I suppose, but it's always good to have one. So I'm curious when you went into the movie theater, because I know that, you know, theaters are doing all sorts of things, like kind of activating the spaces in certain ways. There's. There's merchandise, obviously. There's, you know, other things going on. You get anything? Did they give you anything when you walked in? Did you buy anything at the concession stand? Did you? [00:16:02] Speaker A: Well, they didn't give me anything. The giveaways are coming out tomorrow because I won again today. The giveaways are coming out tomorrow, and they said they can't release until Friday. [00:16:12] Speaker B: At least. [00:16:12] Speaker A: This theater couldn't imax. And so, like, I didn't get the cardboard ticket. I didn't get anything special. But they had, of course, the stuff for sale out, like, a week ago. Yeah, so what we did get, we had a combo, and we got the Popcorn bucket. [00:16:29] Speaker B: Nice. Yep. [00:16:31] Speaker A: And it comes with a lid. [00:16:32] Speaker B: Wow. All right. [00:16:33] Speaker A: It's got some authentic popcorn left in it. [00:16:37] Speaker B: So movie theater popcorn. [00:16:39] Speaker A: That's pretty cool. And what was cool and the reason we got it, because we have so many popcorn buckets, I stopped buying them. But it's. It's Superman, but it came with two cups. [00:16:49] Speaker B: Oh, nice. [00:16:50] Speaker A: So. And they're lenticular. [00:16:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:52] Speaker A: And I got Lex Luthor. [00:16:54] Speaker B: Nice. [00:16:54] Speaker A: Because as you may or may not know, I interviewed Michael Rosenbaum. [00:16:58] Speaker B: Oh, nice. I didn't sense. [00:17:00] Speaker A: Yeah. And since Rennie interviewed Brandon Routh, she got Superman on her topper. [00:17:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:09] Speaker A: So. [00:17:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:10] Speaker A: And then I got the shirt. [00:17:11] Speaker B: Yeah. I. So I. Unfortunately, I don't have the cup nearby, but I did get a cup as well. It was just. It's basically like a, you know, blue cup with a red cape on it. And. And they had toppers as well. And one of them was a Superman, like a fl. Superman. And then the other one, which I was kind of like, well, it's not really a topper, but I want that one more was this really cool, like, Superman keychain. Cool. [00:17:35] Speaker A: And it's the new logo from Superman back in the day. [00:17:39] Speaker B: I, like, I went with that. And then the other thing, much like you, I ended up getting a popcorn bucket. But my popcorn bucket, I gotta say, is. Is pretty sweet. [00:17:47] Speaker A: Oh, that's so cool. [00:17:49] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like a Daily planet. [00:17:50] Speaker A: That's the 49 one. Yeah. [00:17:52] Speaker B: One cheap. Don't tell the white about that. Exactly. Yeah. [00:17:57] Speaker A: Wow. Did they put popcorn in it? [00:18:00] Speaker B: No, they did not actually put popcorn in it. But the neat thing is, is that at the. At the bottom you can see the newspaper. The other cool thing is. Yeah. The other thing that's really cool is that the cardboard, like, newspaper that they have in the. In the plastic front, as I go out of frame here, is reversible. So you can either have the Superman side, which is what it was on display, or you could have the. Good boy. [00:18:27] Speaker A: There were plushes. There were Funko Pops. There was a cup that lit up. Oh, wow. [00:18:33] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. You know, so, okay. When I saw it again today, because. That's right. I've already seen it twice. Much like. [00:18:40] Speaker A: Are we going again tomorrow? [00:18:41] Speaker B: There was some kids maybe. I don't know, maybe. Maybe there were some kids in the theater that had the light up cup. And it didn't bother me at. But then because they were turning it off and on, and there was something that was kind of like, over here, I was just sort of like, yeah, please Just leave it off. Yeah, but, but no, that was cool. I did get one giveaway, actually, so I was surprised you said that. And they gave away a comic book. [00:19:06] Speaker A: Nice. [00:19:07] Speaker B: As we were walking in, which I have not had a chance to, to, to look through, so I really don't know what. [00:19:12] Speaker A: That's cool. [00:19:12] Speaker B: I think it, it looks like it's kind of. Oh, it's actually the first issue of All Star Super Superman. That's what it is. Okay. [00:19:20] Speaker A: I might have to go tomorrow, I think. 6pm tomorrow, they said. And it's. They got mini posters, they got the IMAX cardboard ticket. And they have something else. Might be, might be that might be something else. Oh, the other popcorn bucket they had that I didn't get was a popcorn machine. You know, like a movie theater popcorn machine. [00:19:38] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:19:38] Speaker A: With the miniature Superman with the laser beams heating up the popcorn chamber. [00:19:42] Speaker B: Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. [00:19:44] Speaker A: That was 49. I was like, I don't think we need that. [00:19:47] Speaker B: Right, right. No, I know, I know that. Well, that was the thing too, is it's like I had to tell myself not to buy stuff because today when I came out of the theater, there was a kiosk that had been set up with a bunch of DC Comics and Superman stuff. Action figures, comic books, you know, plushies. Like you're saying all pops, Funko pops, all sorts of stuff. And so it was interesting to see the way that, you know that theaters are doing it. And of course, you know, D.C. and Warner Brothers have made that, you know, it's the summer of Superman, so there's all sorts of branded merchandise out there. Course, you know, one of the things you got to get your little crypto. This is the one that came out. [00:20:23] Speaker A: Crypto makes me want a CG dog so bad. [00:20:26] Speaker B: I know, right? Yeah. The McFarland Toys Deluxe Edition figure is really cool. [00:20:31] Speaker A: Oh, from this movie? [00:20:32] Speaker B: Yeah. It's got the fabric. [00:20:33] Speaker A: I haven't seen it yet. Where is that? [00:20:35] Speaker B: I got this one at Walmart. I want to say Target. It's a wired fabric cape, which is super cool. So you can kind of like, you can pose the cape and that is so cool. [00:20:43] Speaker A: I, I, I try not to go into stores anymore because the Internet says it's bad, so I don't see things as much. But that helps her budget, too. [00:20:51] Speaker B: Yes, no, I understand that. And then, of course, you can see behind me, I've got my Blu Ray set. I haven't upgraded to 4k yet, mainly because I heard the 4k transfer on Superman. The movie is unfortunately not that Great. And then I have the Christopher Reeve hot toys. Superman here. Oh, nice. Which they made. I don't know, that might be 10, 12 years old, something like that. [00:21:11] Speaker A: I think I watched the blu ray of 78, the first one, and I was surprised at, I think, was it. Is that. That one. The planet explodes and you can see it's just a model in front of a black curtain. [00:21:23] Speaker B: Yeah, pretty much. Pretty much, yeah. [00:21:25] Speaker A: Like really bad. Like somebody did it in an apartment in New York City or something. Right now maybe it's too clear, I don't know. [00:21:34] Speaker B: Well, you know, speaking of which, you bring up a good point. Like, what was your first exposure to Superman as a character? [00:21:41] Speaker A: I don't want to give away my age, but I'm told I saw the first one in the theater. Oh, I don't remember it. I do remember seeing like 2, 3, 4. Was it? [00:21:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:49] Speaker A: In the theater. Because they were always events. [00:21:51] Speaker B: Right. [00:21:52] Speaker A: My dad, you know, my dad loved me, so he took me to everything that I was excited about. And that's something we enjoyed together. [00:22:00] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I saw four in the theaters as well. We went as a. As a family. I don't know. I don't think I saw any of the others in the theaters. I may have seen three, but I don't think so. I think I had just seen them on television. Vhs. Yeah. [00:22:15] Speaker A: I rewatched them where I can remember them on tv. [00:22:18] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. But some of my earliest memories have to do with Superman because I've loved comic books since I was little. And I can remember being four years old, going into the drugstore with my grandmother and picking out comic books. And I was always drawn to the DC stuff like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern. That was kind of my wheelhouse. And, you know, some of the first comic books I ever had were, you know, were Superman comics. And one of my favorite, I remember growing up, a present I got, it was one of my favorite Christmas presents ever for a very long time, was the greatest Superman stories ever told. It was this paperback book that had like, I don't know, 20 plus issues of Superman comics, you know, all in one volume. And it included, of course, like Action Comics number one, all the way up to, like, you know, for the man who has everything, you know, some of these classic stories. Superman Red blue. Whatever happened to Superman? These, these, these stories that are just, you know, stone cold classics today. And then the 78 movie was, yeah, was the first time that I ever saw Superman on tv. But I even remember watching reruns of the Adventures of Superman, the George Reeves. [00:23:28] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, I've seen some of those. [00:23:29] Speaker B: Not all of them. [00:23:30] Speaker A: I don't think I want to. Yeah, cartoons. [00:23:34] Speaker B: Yep. Yeah, the. Yeah, the. I remember the. Obviously the Fleischer cartoons, which were the earliest ones, but then the Ruby Spears cartoons which came out I think in the 60s, I want to say. [00:23:46] Speaker A: Which one are those? [00:23:47] Speaker B: Those are the ones that. They were very similar in animation style to like Super Friends. [00:23:54] Speaker A: Oh, I did watch the Super Friends a lot. [00:23:56] Speaker B: Yeah, same here. And I. And the Superpowers toy line was something that my parents got me. And so like. And I'll never forget when I was like 5 old, I dropped Superman out the window. Why a 5 year old would be. Did he fly with the window open? No, unfortunately not. [00:24:12] Speaker A: I never didn't jump though. [00:24:14] Speaker B: Yeah, right, right. But I never found him. And then a few years later, Kenner released another Superman toy that had like a magnet in its chest with a little kryptonite ring. And so if you put it towards him, he'd fall over. But it was basically, it was the same mold as the, as the Superpowers one. So I got that one. So I had Superman again. But anyway, so, yeah, I mean, I've always loved the character. And I can remember when Superman Return came out, I got to see an early screening of that because I had a friend who worked at the movie theater. So it was literally just the two of us in the theater, you know, watching. [00:24:43] Speaker A: Isn't that the best? I used to do that all the time. I had friends, they no longer manage the movie theater, so I gotta pay. [00:24:50] Speaker B: Right, right. [00:24:51] Speaker A: You just had to bring your own cup because they counted cups. That's all I remember, really. At 2 in the morning I'd be watching the movie that came out in. [00:24:59] Speaker B: A few days, falling asleep. Right, right, right. And yeah, it's funny because when Superman Returns came out, I was kind of hungry for that type of film. And the friend who I went with who worked at the theater, he and I had also been watching Smallville a lot. I had like the DVD box sets for the first three seasons. And I want to say they were in season four or five at the time. And so we'd been watching and I liked Smallville. Smallville was fine, especially those first few seasons. But Superman Returns at the time, I remember watching it and some of those moments, like when they got it right, it felt so good to see that character on screen. And Brandon Routh was great. [00:25:42] Speaker A: Yeah, I enjoyed it. I loved it. [00:25:44] Speaker B: And then in the man of Steel, you Know, I enjoyed. I felt good about it after I saw it. And, you know, Batman versus Superman I thought was a mess. Even when I saw it, I tried to be like, no, this is okay. But one of the things that, honestly, this movie made me realize. And I, and I, and I hesitate to say this because the last thing I want to do is like, you know, tear anything else down. Yeah. You know, just to lift something else up. But if I'm being completely honest, this movie made me realize how much I had just been accepting whatever I was being given because it was like, you know, a thirsty man in the desert. It's just, give me a drop of water and I'll take it. Yep. And, and, and with this movie, that's not the case at all. Like, this movie is everything I wanted it to be and more. And the fact that it could exceed my expectations, because I have to admit, I tried not to. They were fairly high. I felt good about it going in, and I felt even better coming out. [00:26:41] Speaker A: I was scared. So, like, I didn't, I wasn't researching. I wasn't into the trailers, but I was like, it's Superman. I'll go see it. I remember when the announcements came out that James Gunn was taking over the DC universe. I love James Gunn, but what. They were canceling films that I was following. And I remember being sad because I really love Wonder woman. [00:27:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:02] Speaker A: And 84. I. I like that too. And, you know, a lot of people were poo pooing it and stuff. Justice League. I actually walked out of that film. And I've only walked out of two movies ever. And it was just like, it was like two or three and a half hours in and Ben Affleck was walking around the lake and they were just having a talk about something and I was just like, I don't get it. I, I maybe just in a bad mood. So I, I never finished that. I did watch when they redid it in black and white and full screen and for HBO Max or whatever. But I, I feel the same way because when, when I watch those films, I, I enjoyed them because they're characters. I know, but it didn't give that same sense of joy or excitement. Like, even the colors were like muted gray and everything was dark. And like, not in a good way, like, you know, like Batman 89 or something, but just in a. Here's your superhero movies, but be depressed all the time. [00:27:57] Speaker B: Right. [00:27:58] Speaker A: And this is like the exact opposite. So all those feelings I was of loss, I was having when they were canceling all These upcoming DC projects. I'm so glad now that we have such a bright future ahead of us, if. If this movie is any indication of what we're gonna be experiencing, you know, every summer. [00:28:16] Speaker B: Absolutely. I totally agree. And one of the things not to jump too far ahead, we're gonna get into full spoiler territory now. So if you've not seen the movie, go ahead and hit pause and go see the movie and come back and listen to the rest of it. Or if you don't care about spoilers, keep listening. But one of the things that I loved and I. And I took note of both times, is that this movie does not fade to black. It becomes white at the end. Like, it is bright. It is. It is. You know, it fades to white. And it's just this beautiful kind of statement, I think, to say, like, yeah, this is not your grim, dark, you know, fantasy ubermensch kind of world that we got with the Zack Snyder stuff. This is hope, this is joy, this is fun. You know, they're going to be some dark moments along the way. Sure. Because that's just life. Right. And I think that's one of the statements that the movie makes, too, is the shared experience of being human. It includes those ups and those downs, but that ultimately, this is a story about hope and love and beauty. And I really appreciated it ending on that note as kind of like an explicit statement of saying, like, this is what this new universe that we're creating represents. So let's talk a little bit about the beginning of the film. What did you think of those initial moments? Because, you know, we're treated to this Antarctica landscape, and then all of the sudden, you know, like, we've seen kind of in the trailers in that first scene. Yeah, he just hits the ground and. And. And is in a heap, bleeding, can't move. What was your initial impression of seeing Superman that way? And that's the first time we see. [00:29:57] Speaker A: Him going in, not really knowing anything about the movie. I was relieved and thankful that it wasn't the origin story. Again. Again. Again. Again. Because I don't think I could do it again. [00:30:08] Speaker B: Right. [00:30:09] Speaker A: So those, like, four sentences, like three millennia, three decades, three years, three months, three minutes, whatever it was, I'd love. Okay, I'm caught up. I know who Superman is. Most people do. Let's get on with the story. It's great. [00:30:22] Speaker B: And. [00:30:24] Speaker A: It was a perfect introduction and just throw you right in the middle. And I, I. You know, I'd seen the preview with the dog pulling them and everything. And when the Fortress of Solitude was coming up and everything. I just got really excited and I felt like that kid that was going to those Christopher Reeves movies in the 80s. [00:30:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. [00:30:44] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, I felt like, okay, I think it's gonna be okay. [00:30:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I have my guard up. Yes. No, I. And that. And that's fair. I think that I try, you know, I tried not to do that, but I think that that's a really good way of putting into kind of having your guard up, because you don't want. You don't want that hope to be dashed, you know, you want. I think you try to go into, you know, film or television and how I've always approached. And I've talked about this on the show before, that, you know, you want to go in feeling like this is going to be good Now. I can actually remember being in a directing class one time and, you know, when I was young and just not angry and everything else, I remember saying something to the effect of when I'm auditioning, when somebody auditions for me, I want them to show me what. Why I should cast them, you know, and, and, and in a very negative way, it's like, why should I cast you? You know, and, and, and, and the idea was, is, is that like, no, you know, you want everybody who walks to that door to succeed. You want them to wow you. You want them to be the one. You know, it's like you're rooting for them. You're rooting for those. Those people when they walk through there. What a horrible experience. If you're sitting there being like, show me something, kid. You know, and instead you're just sort of like, yeah, let's go. What do you got? And, and I remember the, you know, the professor saying something to that effect. And, and at the time, you know, I think I had a hard time digesting it, right? But looking back on it, I'm like, what a valuable lesson. What a. You know, just for the approach of this. This whole endeavor anyways, like, look at. Look at everything as an opportunity to be wowed, to be, you know, to be moved to. To experience something fun and joyful. So, but I understand, like, being guarded and being kind of like, okay, is this going to be the thing that I want it to be? Because I hope that it is. But one of the things that I really appreciated about the film, and it tells you this right away, is that this Superman is vulnerable. This Superman is not a God. Basically, this Superman is. Is vulnerable and can be hurt and is. Is. Is new, right? He's Been doing this for, like, three years. And. And, you know, we get that. We get the idea that those first three years were probably fairly easy, you know, and the first time that he's ever been defeated is three minutes before the movie starts. Yeah. And. And. And then seeing the fortress, like you said, I. I love that moment. I love the robots. I love the fact that this is something that they took from the mythos, which really been used in. In live action, I don't think, ever. I. You know, we'd seen it in the. In the cartoon, I believe, and obviously it was in the comics, but it was really nice to kind of see that element brought into play in the live action. I loved how alien things did feel, you know, even the look of things, and not necessarily in that, you know, talking crystals, you know, sort of vibe that the original, you know, Donner film had or whatever, but in a way that felt like this is all alien technology that has been kind of mishmashed with. With. With Earth, you know, know how. In some ways, and I appreciated that. And of course, Crypto, you know, is wonderful source of humor, but also so easy to invest in. In that dog and. And. And be emotionally involved in that. In what happens to that dog, which was nice. And. And. And then that idea that, you know, the. That 4 is. Is telling him like, hey, you're only at 80%. Maybe you should rest after they light. And, you know, and he's just like, no, I gotta. I gotta go. And jumps right back into it. And immediately, like, it just kind of feels like, yeah, this is. This is the Superman that I want to see. [00:34:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Got the first laugh of the film, I think. [00:34:17] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. And I love the fact that these. That these robots, you know, continually talk about basically not having any sort of consciousness or personality or whatever. [00:34:26] Speaker A: They totally do. [00:34:27] Speaker B: Yeah. And they're full of it. It. You know, we also see Lex Luthor and. And the character of the engineer introduced early on here. They're tracking Superman. They're trying to find out where, you know, he lives, where he goes, which is an interesting thread to pull on, because it's something that we have seen before. It's something that we saw in. In the Superman 2, for instance. And, you know, there's. There's always been that idea that, you know, people want to track where he goes, and Lex Luthor in particular has done that in multiple iterations of the mythology. I appreciated the way that this was done, and I think this is not a. This is not something that will shock anyone, because I think it's been all over the place. But Nicholas Holt is incredible as Lex Luthor in this movie. [00:35:10] Speaker A: Yes. [00:35:10] Speaker B: What did you think of his performance? And especially, like, our introduction to him in the film. [00:35:15] Speaker A: My first impressions was when I did see a few of the trailers, things was he looks so young. I'm used to Gene Hackman, you know. [00:35:23] Speaker B: Sure. Yeah. [00:35:24] Speaker A: And I was like, like, and I looked it up and he's 35. I'm like, no, that's about right. Maybe he just looks good for 35. And I thought he was great because he wasn't like the bad guy that you're not supposed to like, but you like anyway. I like he was great at being hated. And I thought he was a good legit villain. [00:35:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:45] Speaker A: And of course, I felt certain parallels with our, our real life in, in, in real life and certain people that have that role in our society right now. And I think, I think he nailed the part because I really wanted to see him be defeated by the end. [00:36:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:03] Speaker A: And he just seemed like pure evil. Not. And not two dimensional evil too, either. He was, he was a very fleshed out character, but also evil and no redeeming qualities whatsoever. [00:36:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Yes, Very well, I agree. And I love the fact that this is a character who's clearly a genius, has this, you know, just like superhuman genius about him, really. And wants so badly to be special, to be the most special person. And, and, and yet at the same time, you know, has this twisted view that by going after Superman, he's protecting humanity, which is, which is fascinating because it's like, you know, he's protecting humanity, but he wants to be the one that rules over humanity, you know? [00:36:47] Speaker A: Right. [00:36:49] Speaker B: So I loved his motivations. I loved the intensity that he brought to the role, the intelligence and wit that he brought to the role. You know, I think that the really interesting thing about this is that it is a classic example of the villain believing they're the hero. And that comes across so well. It's, you know, it's such a cliche and sometimes I feel like people say it and then I watch a movie and I'm just like, yeah, I don't buy it. You know, but with this, it's like, I bought it. You know, I think he believes that. [00:37:17] Speaker A: He'S a hero, but he also knows he's evil. [00:37:20] Speaker B: Yes. Like he, yes. [00:37:22] Speaker A: So complex. [00:37:23] Speaker B: Right, right, right, right. [00:37:24] Speaker A: I'm thinking the Russian roulette scene. [00:37:26] Speaker B: Yes, yes, absolutely. Which we'll get to in a second. I, I, you know, something else that I love is that after you Know, this. This fight with the Hammer of Baravia, you know, we. We learn very quickly that one of the things, and it's. It's in one of the subtitles, that one of the, you know, things that kind of inciting incidents before the film is that Superman stopped a war between Barovia and Jhadanpur. And that event kind of sparked off this new dialogue about what right does Superman have to do that? You know, did he overstep? Do we have to find a way to control him? And now Baravia is targeting, you know, Metropolis, home of Superman, with the Hammer of Baravia for destruction. [00:38:10] Speaker A: And he probably wasn't named that. [00:38:13] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. One of the things I thought was really interesting and it's interesting nod, and again, we're in full spoilers territory, so we're going to jump all over the place. But I loved the costume for the Hammer of Baravia because it was very reminiscent of Nuclear man from Superman 4. And I thought that this was a really interesting bit of foreshadowing because much like Nuclear man was a clone of Superman and Superman 4, we find out later, of course, that the Hammer of Barovia is Ultraman and Ultraman is indeed a clone of Superman that Lex Luthor has created. [00:38:41] Speaker A: So the clue is right there in the beginning, but we don't see it the first time. [00:38:44] Speaker B: Right, right. Yeah. And I really enjoyed that, and I will admit being familiar a bit with kind of the Superman mythos and everything, that I had my suspicions about Ultraman's identity before I even came in to see the film, because that name is the name of the evil Superman in one of the parallel Earths. And there are a couple of comic book stories where I want to say it's the Crime Syndicate, I think, is the name, or the Syndicate, something like that. It's failing me now, but basically you have these alternate versions of the Justice League. And one of those alternate versions, the alternate version of Superman is Ultraman. So I wondered if this was going to be like a parallel thing. And when they. And when we found out about the pocket universe, that's when I started to think, oh, did Lex bring a Superman from another universe in as his Ultraman? But I kind of liked the spin that, no, this was a clone. And it made me, you know, it sparked all sorts of thoughts then afterwards, especially with how, you know, he meets his demise. [00:39:44] Speaker A: Yes. So he. Yeah, I think he's gonna be Bizarro Superman because the cubes that were going into the. Into there and. How do you say Earth backwards? [00:39:54] Speaker B: I forget oh, right. [00:39:57] Speaker A: Something. [00:39:58] Speaker B: Right. Yeah. [00:39:59] Speaker A: And then he go. It gets sucked into there, so maybe. [00:40:01] Speaker B: Right. [00:40:01] Speaker A: But he's not really Bizarro that I know from Super Friends, you know. [00:40:05] Speaker B: Right, right. No, it could be. It'll definitely be a bit of a different take on the character, I think. I mean, and that was one of the things that I appreciated about the. About the film in general, is that we got takes on characters that felt very true to what we have seen before, but also had a bit of a unique spin on them. And I loved the way that this film there is indeed, just because of the nature of the character, I believe, a timeless quality about it, and yet it is very present. It very much a film that was made in, you know, for 2025. [00:40:36] Speaker A: It. It. It combined James Gunn, combined the two worlds, I think, perfectly, because you get that feeling of the 1980s Superman or the. The classic comics Superman with the color and, you know, the, The. The shorts over the tights. And also, if that character existed today, no matter what he did, you would have those people on certain channels talking crap about the guy. Right? Yes. And. And it's so. It's so of today. And I don't know how he wrote this years ago. It's got to be a couple years now. Right. Filmed it a year ago probably. And yet it's very. Today, like today. Today. This week. Right, Today. And it's crazy. It's just so on. On the. On the nose. Almost two on the nose at some points. It's. [00:41:22] Speaker B: Yeah. The. The similarities between our reality, you know, are striking. And what I do love the though about the film is that the reactions these characters have, especially Superman, I think, really illuminate how we're not quite getting it right and how we could do better. And I think that that's one of the things about Superman. Superman, to me has always. The. The thing that he is supposed to represent more than anything is how we could be better, how we could do better. And. And I think that that is kind of the beautiful thing about the character, especially, you know, kind of the whole arc that we see of Superman in the film. I don't want to give short shrift to Lois Lane either, because Rachel, not. [00:42:04] Speaker A: At all, is amazing casting, sublime. I mean, she did great. She embodied the essence of everything. I know Lois Lane to be perfectly. I was shocked. [00:42:15] Speaker B: It was. [00:42:15] Speaker A: It was just nailed it. Like she was born to play that role, I think. [00:42:18] Speaker B: Yeah. Yes. And, you know, the first time we see her and Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent, which. The other thing is we don't get to see Clark Kent a lot in this film. [00:42:27] Speaker A: Not a lot, but that's okay. [00:42:28] Speaker B: It is. [00:42:29] Speaker A: We saw him in the first film that he didn't make yet, right? [00:42:33] Speaker B: Yes. [00:42:34] Speaker A: That we saw back then. [00:42:35] Speaker B: We. [00:42:35] Speaker A: We got enough Clark in the 80s, right? [00:42:38] Speaker B: Yes, totally. Totally. Or. Or on, like, you know, Lois and Clark or even in Smallville or, you know, whatever. And so I think that, yeah, it's okay that we don't get the. I will say that in a very different way from what we ever saw Christopher Reeves do. And by way of that, you know, Brandon Ralph, because Brandon Ralph basically did what Christopher Reeves did. That David Cord sweat makes these two characters feel different. The way that Clark talks is different from the way that. That Superman talks. The way, you know, the look, obviously is different. There's so much about it that is very different. And I really appreciated that in the small glimpse that we did get. One of my favorite scenes in the movie, and I want to know what you think about the scene is, of course, the Lois and Clark interview scene, or Lois and Superman interview scene. That entire, you know, establishing their relationship, the level of intimacy that they already have. They've been dating for three months at the time the movie, you know, begins. [00:43:28] Speaker A: A lot of threes. A lot of threes. [00:43:30] Speaker B: A lot of threes. A lot of threes. And. And so I'm curious as to. Yeah. What your thoughts were on that scene, because I know I have big feelings, and I'd love to hear what you think. [00:43:41] Speaker A: Well, I. I love how, like, she was playing devil's advocate as a. As the reporter, kind of. And he was being himself. And I think the. The line that got me was people were going to die. [00:43:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:43:53] Speaker A: And all of this crap that surrounds everything nowadays where there's always negativity in every single thing. And who cares what country people are from? Who cares this or that or what their government's doing if people are going to die? That's what a superhero does. He saves people. [00:44:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:10] Speaker A: And that was just perfect. And I. I love that scene. I love. It was just a good. It's crazy, the shorthand in that scene and scenes like that between Lois Lane and Clark or Superman felt like we had already seen them get together in the beginning of the relationship, even though it was three months into the relationship. We didn't need that. [00:44:35] Speaker B: Yeah, we. [00:44:36] Speaker A: We felt it right away. [00:44:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:37] Speaker A: And I know the only thing I was confused about was, was I know he got frustrated, but, you know, he was cooking breakfast for dinner and he just left. So I. I Don't know. [00:44:46] Speaker B: Yeah, well, they. So they. They had. [00:44:49] Speaker A: They. [00:44:49] Speaker B: They'd been eating. Because that was one thing I noticed the second time I watched is that their. Their plates were on, like the. [00:44:54] Speaker A: Oh, they were eating. [00:44:55] Speaker B: Yeah. So they had already been eating with the time they started the interview. Because I did think the same thing. I was like, what about breakfast for dinner? Yeah. [00:45:01] Speaker A: Who's gonna walk out on pancakes? Even if you're having an argument, they're pancakes. [00:45:05] Speaker B: You put the toast in the toaster. I saw you. [00:45:07] Speaker A: He did put the toaster in the toaster. [00:45:10] Speaker B: That's not a metaphor. [00:45:11] Speaker A: He didn't have to. He could have just looked at it. [00:45:14] Speaker B: That's very true. That's very true. I love that we didn't get to see heat vision until late in the film, by the way, that. That wasn't just like a quick fix early on. Yeah. I mean, that scene. I agree. And for Superman, one of the things that's clear is that it is. To him, it is as simple. It is black and white when it comes to life. If people were going to lose their lives. He says it three times in the scene. You know, the first time is like, you know, they were going to kill people. People were going to be killed. And then finally, you know, he has that emotional outburst, which is so beautifully played. People were going to die. And it's. It's such a wonderful moment. And I remember when I saw it in the trailer, it gave me goosebumps, and I was just sort of like, okay, yeah, I'm. I'm in. Like, that is. That's what I want. And it's. One of the things that I want to say is that there's that very famous, or maybe famous for a time it seemed famous monologue that David Carradine has in Kill Bill Volume 2, where Bill, his character talks about the difference between Batman and Superman and how for Batman, it's a. Batman is a mask that Bruce Wayne puts on, you know, to protect his identity and to be the hero or whatever. For Superman, the secret, what he's putting on is Clark Kent. Like, that's the costume that he wears. I, at the time, loved that. I thought, yeah, it makes sense. It's great and everything. This movie, in my opinion, inverts that. And I think that by the end of this movie, even though they are distinct personalities that he uses in order to protect the people that he loves, in my mind, there is no Clark Kenton. Superman. There's Clark. There's Clark. Clark is this human being. And that's one of the things that's very beautiful about the film because even at this interview between Lois Lane and Superman, it's Clark. It's that Smallville. That's that Kansas farm boy that was raised by Martha and John. And it's. It's really beautiful, that relationship as well. You know, we. We get the phone call, which is. [00:47:07] Speaker A: Just adorable how every parent uses a phone, right? [00:47:11] Speaker B: Just yelling. Yelling into the phone. [00:47:12] Speaker A: Yelling right at it. [00:47:13] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:47:14] Speaker A: I love. [00:47:14] Speaker B: There's that moment where, you know, John's like, don't be a stranger. And she's like, your dad says don't be a stranger. He's like, yeah, Mom, I heard him. It's just lovely. And I. That's the other thing that the movie gets so right is all of these relationships just feel very real and identical, identifiable. Which I really appreciated it grounded the movie because where the movie goes, especially all the stuff with the pocket universe and how big it gets. At one point, Superman mentions an intergalactic zoo. Like, this is clearly a world that is big, a universe that is big. And I was not expecting it to go that far. And I really appreciated that it did because it let us know that there's so much more out there. And it also kind of made me think, like, oh, Superman's been to space. Like, this is a Superman that has gone other places. And of course, the cameo at the end, I think really drives it home just how big this universe is. The there again life is so important to him. And that statement, I think, holds true throughout the course of the film. Even when the Kaiju is attacking the city. You know, he's like, don't kill it. [00:48:21] Speaker A: Right. [00:48:21] Speaker B: You know, and that's when we get introduced to the Justice Gang. Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl and Mr. Terrific. What did you think of their introduction and those characters in general in reference to the film? [00:48:35] Speaker A: I liked it at first. It felt very DC where it's these, you know, comic book characters that I'm aware of and I know, but I'm not really like, I gotta see Hawk Girl or I gotta see. [00:48:46] Speaker B: Sure. [00:48:47] Speaker A: Green Lantern. You know, not right now, but, you know, like, they were there, but they weren't like. Like the Justice League and, you know, all the big ones that have their own film eventually again, hopefully. But it being Nathan Fillion, I was. I was, you know, of course, enamored and in love because I'm a huge brown coat named my daughter after. [00:49:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:04] Speaker A: Serenity spaceship from Fireflies. So having Nathan fill in and Alan Tudyk both in the same film. Was pretty good. I wish they had a scene together. Right, right. Maybe the deleted scenes. I'll buy the Blu Ray, but, yeah, I enjoy. I enjoyed that and it was cool. I was a little confused because, like, I haven't read every comic book book. You know, I basically. I know the cartoons and the old movies. [00:49:25] Speaker B: It's so. Yeah, I. You know, it's funny because when they. When they first announced that those characters are going to be included in the film, that was my first moment where I was like, oh, okay, I don't know about this. Like, I want a Superman movie. You know, I don't want this to be right. You know, I don't want this to be this overstuffed because that was my. One of the things that made Batman vs Superman difficult for me is it just felt so stuffed full of, you know, so much, and I was like, yeah, too much. Do I need that? Yeah. And so I was a little concerned. But again, James Gunn just nails it. Like, I said this to. To mutual acquaintance of ours, actually Drew Lindo. I mentioned one of the things that I felt like James Gunn did is he was able to somehow thread that needle. [00:50:08] Speaker A: You're talking to Drew about Superman. [00:50:10] Speaker B: I was. I was. [00:50:11] Speaker A: I gotta text him. He didn't text me. [00:50:12] Speaker B: He. He hasn't seen it yet. He hasn't seen it yet. [00:50:14] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:50:16] Speaker B: It. [00:50:16] Speaker A: Yeah, maybe then he'll text me. [00:50:17] Speaker B: We just happened to be chatting briefly and. And I mentioned it and I. And I feel like he's able to balance you, like the way I just dropped the name. But anyway, he's able to thread the needle and really balance so many elements in this film in a way that it ends up being. I mean, you know, the sum is greater than the parts, and that can be difficult to do because if you put too much in or you put a little bit too much emphasis over here, not enough over here, all of a sudden, it just doesn't hold together. And this holds together beautifully. I thought Nathan Fillion was amazing as Guy Gardner. He embodied that character perfectly and yet gave it some depth, which I really appreciated. You know, we didn't get a lot of Hawk Girl, so I. It was cool to see her. I really enjoy that character. The Justice League animated series. That character was amazing. A fascinating character. The old JSA comic from Geoff Johns back in the late 90s, early 2000s. Amazing character. Mr. Terrific, who's also in that JSA. He was great. [00:51:13] Speaker A: He needs his own film, of course. [00:51:15] Speaker B: Just did an incredible job. Was an integral part of the film, too. But that whole scene, even Superman saving the squirrel at one point, and he's saving all these people and trying to just. Again, it's not about. That's the thing that I love about this version of Superman. It's not about beating the monster. It's about saving the people. And that is, again, that's the true statement of who Superman is. [00:51:40] Speaker A: Yeah, it's great that he did that. I think the squirrel proved to me that he's has the power of being more aware of everything that's going on, because as things are falling, buildings are falling, bridges are falling, and he's trying to protect every single person. And a squirrel, it means that really, he's saving everybody. It's not like he's trying to save most people. He's really saving everybody. He's really Superman. [00:52:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:03] Speaker A: But, yeah, Green Lantern was great, and it was still Nathan Fillion. It was that thing that Nathan Fillion does and has, and I think it was just perfect. James Gunn, he did a great job writing it. Because these characters, so many. I think it's like the mcu, you know, you. You get a little mini origin story of every character that's in the movie and where they come from, who they are, in case you don't know. But in this movie, the Green lantern, Hawk Girl, Mr. Terrific, they just exist in the movie, Right? [00:52:34] Speaker B: Yes. [00:52:34] Speaker A: And they're. They're not like. Like, it's not dumbed down. It's like, you know, these are superheroes. They're fighting this Kaiju. You don't. You don't really need to know how he got his ring. [00:52:43] Speaker B: Right. [00:52:44] Speaker A: Right now. [00:52:44] Speaker B: Right. [00:52:45] Speaker A: Maybe later. But you don't need it right now. [00:52:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:47] Speaker A: They just exist in the world. So there's world building without world building. [00:52:52] Speaker B: Yes. [00:52:52] Speaker A: If that makes sense. [00:52:53] Speaker B: It does. And, you know, a couple things that I want to bring up in reference to that is that some of the subtleties that get dropped in that let you know about the. The world and those little, you know, Easter eggs, if you will. Stag Industries gets. You see it? It's on the newspaper that Lois Lane has framed over a fireplace. There's this stag industry, which makes it look like it's probably like her first front page or something like that. And Simon Stagg is a character in the comics who actually is like, metamorphose main antagonist. And Stag Industries appears. I want to say Simon Stagg appears in one of the. The CW shows. I can't remember which one now. Arrow, Flash, One of them. Something. But. But also Appears, you know, throughout various forms of media because he's kind of like, you know, when you don't want to bring in Lex Luthor, for instance, you bring in somebody like Simon Stagg, you know, and so that was kind of a neat nod, the. The mention of Maxwell Lord and then actually seeing Maxwell Lord, who's played by Sean Gunn, James Gunn's brother. [00:53:50] Speaker A: Yeah, Sean Gunn. That was cool. That's always a pop moment whenever he's in one of James Gunn's movies. [00:53:55] Speaker B: Right. And. And the fact that he's the one that's kind of subsidizing this. This Justice Gang as. [00:54:04] Speaker A: You'Re in. Yeah, he's in. That was great. [00:54:07] Speaker B: Metamorpho was another great character that they brought in. And again, these characters served very specific purposes. And I think that that was one of the things that I applauded the use of of each character because they filled a very important role that served Superman's story and never detracted from Superman's story. You know, a Metamorpho is a great example of that being kind of the, you know, sort of villain. And. And he never felt like a villain so much as he felt like a weapon that was being used against. [00:54:37] Speaker A: Yes, he was a prisoner being weaponized, kind of. [00:54:40] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Because he. Of course, one of the things that happens, and this has been a controversial moment for some folks I know, is that Lex ends up using Ultraman. Spoiler alert. Again, who has Superman's DNA because he's a clone, to get into the Fortress of Solitude, because the engineer was able to track Superman there in the first scene of the film. And the engineer is able to recover a message from Superman's parents. And this is a message that initially is played because it soothes Superman. And number four, Alan Tudyk's character is the one that's like, you know, he likes listening to this message. It soothes him. [00:55:14] Speaker A: Can we say Gary yet? [00:55:15] Speaker B: Yeah, we can say Gary. Yeah, of course. Yeah. And Gary. And Gary, you know, this message is one of, you know, we love you so much. We're sending you to this planet Earth. We think it'll be a great place for you, you know, use your powers for good, all this sort of stuff. And. But the message cuts off, and it was damaged, apparently, in the. In the flight from Krypton to Earth. And the engineer is able to recover the latter part of the message, and then they decode the message, and Lex, you know, beams that out all over the news and Internet and etc. And that message apparently was Actually, you know, Earth people are stupid and weak willed and you can lord over them and be their king. And you must take many wives of Krypton can all this sort of stuff. Yeah, yeah, they call it the secret harem later. And everything now that Superman was brought up to believe is being turned on its ear. And the people who have thought that Superman is this force for good now are afraid that, you know, as Lex Luthor says, he's grooming us to take over and, you know, he's earning our trust only so that he can then, you know, establish himself as the king of the world, basically. And the people start to turn on Superman. The government ends up, you know, filing out a warrant for his arrest and. And Superman goes to the Fortress of Solitude because he realizes that's the only way they could have gotten the message. Crypto's missing. He loses it. Goes to Lex Luthor, wants to know where his dog is. You know, there's this great scene. It's the first time they've ever met face to face, apparently. There's this great scene between Lex and Superman. And then eventually Superman just leaves because while this is going on Eve, Lex Luthor's girlfriend is filming him. And so that's being, of course, put out all over on social media. Like, look at this madman, you know, coming in and berating, you know, the beneficent Lex Luthor and all this sort of thing. And so Superman's looking pretty bad at this point. And then we get what is probably what might be my favorite scene in the whole movie movie as Superman comes back to his home, much like we saw earlier where Clark was in Lois's apartment. Now Lois is in Clark's apartment and she's made him hot cocoa, which is wonderful too, because something else I noticed is in the first scene when they're having breakfast, Clark is drinking milk and he has this glass of milk. And now, you know, he comes back and she's giving him cocoa. And we get so many moments throughout the film that are just sort of like this. He is the voice scout. Like he's this, you know, he's. He's. [00:57:34] Speaker A: Exact word I was thinking. [00:57:36] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's. And it's really beautiful and lovely and there's this kind of innocence about him, but it's not naivete. And that's the thing that I love. It's like this is not a naive human being. And we get that even from the interpersonal dynamics with Lois Lane. There are moments when, you know, their relations. They have a fight, for instance, and, you know, I think if he was naive, if he was this SAP, if he was, you know, whatever, he would. Maybe he wouldn't leave or whatever, but instead he's like, I think I'm gonna go. And there's this maturity to him. There's this idea. It's like, this is a guy who's probably been in a couple relationships before. Like, Lois Lane's not his first girlfriend, right? Like, this is not this naive, bumbling character. And it's really lovely. And the scene that, that, that comes after she gives him the coco I love so much because she can tell he's having a really hard time. And, you know, she's. She's talking to him and, and they're having this conversation and, you know, know she starts to talk about how they're always going to be, you know, at odds because they're so different. You know, she's this punk rock kid from Brookline, you know, and, and, and he's not. And he has this joke about like, I'm punk rock. And she's like, no, you're not. You know, you trust every. I question everything. You trust everyone. To you, everyone is beautiful. And Clark looks at her and says, maybe that's, you know, maybe that's really punk rock and it's just the most. [00:58:50] Speaker A: Punk rock of all. [00:58:51] Speaker B: Yeah, it's this gorgeous moment, and then it gets even better. And by this time I'm already getting teary eyed because of the scene. And Rachel Brosnahan, again, like, is just so good. And the chemistry between the two of them is so good. And David Cornstate is so good. And then he has this moment where he gets up and he's like, you know, I'm going to turn myself in. And he's turning himself in, not so much because it's the right thing to do, but because he thinks that's his only way to get Crypto back. And she's like, you know, and she joked when he first comes in, it's like, you have a dog. And he's like, oh, it's more of a foster situation, but we find out later. [00:59:24] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:59:25] Speaker B: But he has this beautiful line where he's like, I'll get a little emotional thinking about. He has this amazing line where he says, you know, he's alone and he's scared, and it's just this. There's so much heart to this character, and it is so beautiful. And what Lois said about him, you know, trusting everyone, seeing everyone is beautiful, and giving everyone a chance and all this hope and Everything. It's so apparent, it's incredible. And then he goes and turns himself over, of course, and then gets thrown directly into the frying pan because Metamorpho has kryptonite. And now he's on the floor potentially dying. And we also get this amazing scene you mentioned earlier, Lex Luthor killing someone with the Russian roulette scene earlier when Superman is, you know, basically slam dunked by the hammer of Baravia. There's this falafel cart operator who runs over to help Superman and he's like, Molly, I think Molly. Yeah, he's like, molly, my name's Molly. I gave you free falafel after you, you know, saved a woman's dollar or something like that. Yeah. [01:00:30] Speaker A: I shouldn't fell in love that quick. [01:00:31] Speaker B: Right, right. And, and, and he helps Superman up and it's like, you know, you've saved us so many times, maybe it's our turn to help you and that sort of thing. And, and then Lex identifies him at the time and then later on, of course, now brings him back and is asking Superman questions like, you know, where do you come from? Where your, where are your parents? Where did you land? All this sort of stuff. And, and Molly's like, I have no family. Tell them nothing. Superman, you know, just, just oozing bravery, right? [01:00:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:58] Speaker B: And. And Lex kills him. I mean, it is like the movie. And, and I didn't expect it to go there. I was shocked. [01:01:03] Speaker A: Right. [01:01:04] Speaker B: I saw it. And it's like, like, it's like that, you know, George Lucas, when he talks about like the, the, the three acts, right. Of, of Star wars and how Empire Strikes Back has to end on the, the bleakest note possible for our characters to have something to come back from. And it's like this is when the movie gets its bleakest. Right. Like it is, it is just. He's dying on the floor of this cage. He, he can't even. Like he, he can barely cry. Like, we see him muster a tear. But also, this is the thing that like prompts Metamorpho to be like, like, what am I doing? This is awful. And the whole reason Metamorphos even working with Lex is because Lex also has metamorphose son Joey held captive as well. [01:01:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:01:42] Speaker B: So he's leveraging that and then I can understand, right? Oh, yeah, absolutely. As a parent, like. Yeah. And Metamorpho has this moment where he. [01:01:51] Speaker A: You know, he's crying as well, right? [01:01:53] Speaker B: Yeah, he's crying as well. Yeah. And so he, he takes away the kryptonite because he can form the Kryptonite himself. He's this elemental man. And so he. He's actually never called Metamorpho in the film. He's referred to as Rex and the Elemental man. But anyway, he. He's like, superman, why aren't you getting better? Why aren't you getting better? And Superman's like, the sun. I need the sun. And he basically creates like the power of the sun, which helps to regenerate Superman. And then Superman's back frees Joey. We have this great fight scene. Meanwhile, another thing this movie does so well is Lois Lane's got some agency. [01:02:25] Speaker A: Like, yes, it is. Is awesome. [01:02:27] Speaker B: She's out there trying to save Superman, not the other way around. What do you think? [01:02:30] Speaker A: She's always. She's always had moxie and she's always been more than, I think, what was the standard at the time. But I think she. She is perfect in this, the agency, that she's gonna go rescue Superman. And she does. [01:02:45] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [01:02:46] Speaker A: She wasn't getting out of that pocket universe without. Without her. [01:02:50] Speaker B: No, no. And she. And I mean, she. The other thing that I love is that she gets to do a of lot in this movie. Like, not only does she go and kind of, you know, Superman is obviously, he's our main character and he's the one that I think inspires hope and, and, and, and, and prompts. It motivates the Justice Gang to go help in. In Baravia later and everything. But also I think Lois provides the vital assist in that because when Superman's missing, she goes to the hall of Justice. She meets, you know, with Guy and hawk Girl and Mr. Terrific in this hilarious, amazing scene. And eventually she's like, okay, fine, screw you guys. I'll go do it myself. And Mr. Terrific's like, all right, I'll come with you. And they have an awesome scene. There's this amazing long, like no cut scene of this fight that Mr. Terrific has while Lois is in the bubble. And it is amazing. There is not a cut in it. It is just one long shot. And it is amazing. It's. It's so cool. [01:03:43] Speaker A: The way that was the James Gunn scene I needed. [01:03:46] Speaker B: Yeah, right. And. And you know, the other thing that I loved about it is that, like, I have seen scenes like that without being specific because I don't want to tear anything else down to lift something else up. But I have seen scenes in other films, even films that James Gunn may have directed that have done similar things, but been very, very self indulgent. In doing so. Yeah. This was not. This was just like. It made so much sense. It was really cool. And it got our characters to the next point, which was really nice. [01:04:14] Speaker A: That. That James Gunn needle drop. Ish scene, I think was necessary because going into a James Gunn movie, you want that. And I think he would be disappointed if you didn't get some of that. [01:04:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:27] Speaker A: But it wasn't overdone, and it was perfect. [01:04:30] Speaker B: I agree. He. He didn't allow himself to just kind of, like, you know, paint by numbers by any means. [01:04:35] Speaker A: Yes. [01:04:36] Speaker B: You know, he was able to use. [01:04:37] Speaker A: The tool, which he could have. He's James Gunn. [01:04:39] Speaker B: Right. [01:04:39] Speaker A: He didn't have to do this, but he. He'd made something amazing. [01:04:42] Speaker B: Yeah. Yes. Yes. I think it's my favorite James Gunn movie, without a doubt, you know? And so Lois and Mr. Terrific kind of help get Superman out. But of course, by the time he gets out of the pocket universe that he's been kept in, he has kryptonite poisoning. So they have to take him home. And Lois takes him back to Smallville. They put him in bed. At this time, we find out that Jimmy, who has been. Apparently dated Eve Testmacher at one point. Yeah. Mutant. Mutant toes. Mutant toes. Yeah, but. But, yeah, she has that line. It's like you said that my feet look like somebody spilled shrimp cocktail on the floor. But she clearly is a little much for Jimmy. And Jimmy is clearly a bit of a player. Jimmy. Jimmy attracts the lady folk. There's a moment where there are a couple of whom I'm. I'm thinking might be interns are kind of fawning over Jimmy at the Daily Planet. [01:05:35] Speaker A: It's crazy for Jimmy Olsen. [01:05:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:05:37] Speaker A: Women are crazy. [01:05:39] Speaker B: And Lois even has a moment where she's like, how do you do it? But Eve is giving Jimmy information and eventually, you know, gives him kind of the. You know, the kryptonite bullet, you know, for Lex Luthor. And that's all of these sexy selfies, but in the background, selfies are so smart. Damning evidence. Yeah. Against Lex Luthor. And so Lois is like, I gotta go. And so she leaves to go back to the Daily Planet so she and Jimmy and Perry can, you know, kind of work all this out and get everything to. To take Luther down. Meanwhile, you know, another one of the scene. And this is. This had me full. [01:06:17] Speaker A: Meanwhile, at the hall of Justice. [01:06:20] Speaker B: This scene had me full. Crying the second time I saw it. Like tears streaming on my face. Clark is at home in Smallville, and he's sitting out, you Know, on the bench watching Crypto play with the cows, eating some cereal. And Pa Kent comes out, sits down next to him and just tell me what you thought of this scene. [01:06:43] Speaker A: I loved it. First off, I love the casting. I think I know the actor from, if I'm not mistaken, Identity. He played like one of the serial killers in Identity. [01:06:52] Speaker B: Oh, interesting. [01:06:53] Speaker A: So I always see that actor as that character, kind of. But that quickly went away. And I thought it was great casting. Because he looked like a dad. [01:07:01] Speaker B: Yes. [01:07:01] Speaker A: You know, he wasn't Bo or Luke Duke. I'm not sure which one. [01:07:03] Speaker B: One. [01:07:05] Speaker A: But. But he looked like a dad. And that's how dads look when you're in your 30s. [01:07:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:07:09] Speaker A: You know, because they're in their 50s. [01:07:11] Speaker B: Or 60s or whatever. Right. [01:07:12] Speaker A: And I. I thought it was just a really sweet moment and I thought. I thought it was made perfectly. I think the chemistry between the two was definitely father son energy. And that affects me because I had such a close relationship with my father. And I. I think that's when Clark realizes. Because this is after that message where he finds out his parents were really sc. [01:07:36] Speaker B: Right. [01:07:36] Speaker A: He realizes that his father is his. This. His father. [01:07:40] Speaker B: Yes. You know. Yeah, exactly. [01:07:42] Speaker A: That's. That's. That's something. It was probably one of the best dramatic scenes of the movie. Not like, overly dramatic, but just where you're so invested in these characters that you feel the heart and the pain and the support all at the same time. [01:08:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I love the way that it was written because it starts off, he sits down, he starts talking about this burrito play place that apparently they used to go to. [01:08:08] Speaker A: And he's like, you remember that? Yeah, I think Superman remembers everything, right? Pretty much, yeah. [01:08:13] Speaker B: He. Historically, the character has had an eidetic memory, so. Yeah. But there's. There's also this. He calls Lois Luann. Yeah. [01:08:23] Speaker A: Which. Which a parent would do. [01:08:24] Speaker B: Bad thing to do. [01:08:25] Speaker A: Yeah. Get everything wrong sometimes on purpose. Because it's funny. [01:08:28] Speaker B: Yes, yes. And. But it's such a beautiful, beautiful moment. And, you know, of course, he, you know, he says, beautiful. Your choices that define you. You. You know, I couldn't be more proud of you. And, And, And. And they just share this. This lovely moment. And then, you know, Martha comes out and she's like, you better see something on tv. And, you know, we start to see that Baravia is going to invade again. And it's just. Again, it's just this really powerful moment. It carries over perfectly from what we've just seen because, you know, clearly he's going to do the right thing. Like, he understands now that regardless of what his Kryptonian parents had said or sent in that message, that, you know, that that's not who he is. Like, he gets to make that choice every day. He gets to. To make the choice, and it feeds into his, you know, his kind of his last monologue to Lex Luthor that we get to in a minute. But then, of course, Mr. Terrific at the same time is dealing with the fact that Lex has now decided to open the parallel universe underneath Metropolis. And so the world is basically, literally cracking in half. And. And Mr. Tric's like, you got to help me. I can't. I can't stop this by myself. And he's like, but what about Baravia? And he's like, if you don't come here, there'll be no Baravia to save anyway. [01:09:29] Speaker A: Right. The whole Earth will. [01:09:32] Speaker B: Yeah. And so, you know, it's hitting the fan. Buildings are falling. All sorts of stuff's going on. And then, of course, we get an iconic moment where a building is getting ready to fall on a bridge. Woman can't get her car started. And right before this building is about to smash her car, there's Superman. This is a perfect time to talk a little bit about the music because they utilize the John Williams. [01:09:52] Speaker A: Yes. [01:09:53] Speaker B: Theme from the original film. [01:09:54] Speaker A: You have to. I think. [01:09:56] Speaker B: Did. You know, I. You know, it's funny because when I saw it the first time, I noticed it, but I. I didn't think about it too much. I just was sort of like, huh, I wish that they would have done this this time. I realized it was a choice. Did you notice that they never resolved the theme? [01:10:09] Speaker A: No, I did not. [01:10:10] Speaker B: So musically, it never. The theme never resolves. And I thought that was fascinating in the context of this movie because this is. This isn't Superman. This is, you know, this is Superman, but he's not quite Superman yet. And it may. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It never resolved that. [01:10:31] Speaker A: You mentioned it, but I didn't know. [01:10:32] Speaker B: Yeah. And. And I just thought that was a fascinating choice, you know, that, that, that, that musically, it doesn't yet resolve. And so it makes me wonder. It's like, wow, James Gunn, what do you got in store? You know, what are you doing to us? [01:10:43] Speaker A: Eventually. [01:10:43] Speaker B: Right, right. But we'll get it. The other thing that's great is that he inspires, obviously, the Justice Gang to go help in Baravia. Another scene that got me. And I was like, I couldn't help it at this point. I was already Losing it because of the scene, scene with him and his dad is when the kids tie the Superman symbol of the flag, that raise the flag and start chaining Superman in the face of this army and getting ready to march in and slaughter them all. What did you think of that? [01:11:06] Speaker A: And they rose the flag, like, what is that? The Iwo Jima thing? Very good. And that the kids, that they believed in Superman, and they just chanted, superman, Superman. And then everyone started chanting superman. [01:11:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:11:21] Speaker A: Yeah. It was great. It was kind of weird because I was expecting Superman to save the day. [01:11:25] Speaker B: Me, too. [01:11:26] Speaker A: He really couldn't because he had to save the Earth. And everybody that was being affected by it was like a wormhole splitting the Earth. [01:11:34] Speaker B: Right. It's basically a black hole opening up, you know, in the middle of the Earth. Going to swallow. [01:11:38] Speaker A: Yeah. There's only so much he can do. I. At one point, I was like, is he going to fly around backwards? What is he going to do? I have no idea. [01:11:45] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you know, I loved that. You know, Guy Gardner, of course, is the first one to kind of. Of show up. Well, actually, I think we might technically see Metamorpho first, but Guy Gardner is the first one to really kind of like, make the entrance and, you know, he saves the kids by putting them in a green cube. And then, you know, and he's like, superman couldn't make it. You know, sorry about that, but you got an upgrade. He starts using large green middle fingers to flip over the tank. [01:12:13] Speaker A: Guy Gardner really thinks this is his movie and not a Superman movie. Yes. Which is so great. [01:12:18] Speaker B: It is so perfect. [01:12:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:12:21] Speaker B: So perfect. You know, and we get some interesting moments that make me wonder, like, what's coming next, especially for Hawkgirl, Because Hawkgirl does something that I. It kind of surprised me, and it left me thinking, like, this is gonna mean something. I. I really do believe this is going to mean something because she. She basically kills the straight up. [01:12:42] Speaker A: Murdered that dude. [01:12:43] Speaker B: She just drops him. Yeah. Yep. And, you know, while this is happening, Lois and the Daily Planet crew have released this story on Lex Luthor. And they're, you know, they're in Mr. Terrific's little flying saucer, as Lois calls it, flying above the city. So they're not necessarily affected by what's going on down below yet. X, meanwhile, you know, has sicced Ultraman and the engineer on Superman. And they're planning to use engineers, nanites to fill Superman's lungs and kill. Kill him because he won't be able to breathe. What a great scene. And again, like, the peril and the vulnerabilities that Superman shows throughout the film, that we see him in, throughout the film are just about unlike any other version of the character that we've seen. I feel like there's usually a moment in each Superman film where things look a little dire for one reason or another. [01:13:36] Speaker A: And it's usually kryptonite. [01:13:37] Speaker B: It's usually kryptonite, Right? Absolutely. But this is at least, what, the third or fourth time that we have seen this character in serious trouble. And that is unlike pretty much any other experience we get. Any other iteration of Superman, which I really appreciated. It feels a little bit more like the kind of golden age version of Superman where he couldn't even fly. Right. He could just jump over buildings, know, but. [01:14:09] Speaker A: It'S. It's great because it make he, you know, yes, he's Superman, but he's not invulnerable. And he doesn't just have the one kryptonite. Kryptonite, right. Everything does affect him. And there's different ways to try to kill Superman. And it's not just like, blow some wind and it's done. [01:14:28] Speaker B: Right. [01:14:29] Speaker A: So that's the. I think that's the one. I think classically, the one bad thing about Superman is he's so powerful that really nothing affects him or bothers him. But in this, we were able to feel, like, vulnerable and, wow, is he gonna make it? Because you could just, like, it's so visceral seeing those nanites go down his lungs and in his nose. And how could anybody survive that? [01:14:52] Speaker B: Right? [01:14:52] Speaker A: So that was great. I, I Again, James Gunn. [01:14:56] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, well. And again, you know, one of the things that we see so often throughout this movie is that this is not a movie of about Superman beating people up. This is a movie about Superman saving people. And I love that. And it's such a stark contrast to what we've gotten very recently in cinemas with Superman, where it was about Superman beating people up and even killing people. And so I think that this just feels much more in keeping with the spirit of the character and gives us somebody to root for and somebody to hope for. And again, a character that is sometimes in peril. And so now we have a reason to be worried about him as well, which I think invests us even more in the character than if he was, like you said, that, that, you know, the godlike character that could do anything. So, you know, at this point, we're getting ready to kind of wrap things up. The. The story breaks, Lex is branded a traitor. He's like, okay, we got to get out of here. Because Superman is. Is been able to defeat the engineer and. And Ultraman. And some really cool scenes, some really cool battle scenes, especially between. Between Ultraman and Superman as the movie's kind of, you know, starting to. To wrap up. And he's able to defeat Ultraman by using crypto to destroy the drone cameras that Lex Luthor is using to control Ultraman because he has this whole playbook of moves. Yeah, yeah. [01:16:20] Speaker A: All the numbers sounded familiar too. Yeah, it was like 34B, WD40. Just like random numbers that like our other things. [01:16:28] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And so now, you know, he basically, a bus falls on Ultraman and throws him into the black hole. And much like you, I think that this could be a precursor to us seeing Bizarro at some point. [01:16:41] Speaker A: Oh, maybe that's why his face looks like that, because he got hit by bus. [01:16:44] Speaker B: Right, right. Yeah, yeah. But then Superman comes crashing through the window to stop Luther before he's gonna escape into the pocket universe or whatever. And what an awesome moment for Superman, for Clark, you know, where Luthor is just calling him this alien, he doesn't belong here, and all this sort of stuff. And that's where you got it wrong. I'm just as human as you are, you know, and I make mistakes. I love. I. You know, I get sad. I get up in the morning, I put one foot in front of the other, you know, and try to do the best I can and, you know, and try to see the best in the world. [01:17:19] Speaker A: And. [01:17:19] Speaker B: And he has this really wonderful moment of compassion for Lex where he's like, I hope one day you get to do that, too. If you could use. Basically, if you could use all of your, you know, megalomaniacal powers for good, just imagine what kind of world we could create together. It's a really beautiful, compassionate moment. And then, of course, we get a great moment of humor where Krypto comes in and. [01:17:41] Speaker A: Ragdolls him. [01:17:42] Speaker B: Yeah. What did you think of Superman's little mini model dialogue here? [01:17:46] Speaker A: I. I liked it because at this point, there's so many things in the film that are, you know, like great sci fi does. I think this would be sci fi because he's an alien. Right, right, right. [01:17:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:17:56] Speaker A: Yeah. What it does is it teaches us. It holds up a mirror to society, and it teaches us things that maybe we don't think about or people have, like, gone down a wrong path and been, like, lost their way, let's say. [01:18:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:18:11] Speaker A: And like, you know, in particular, like, bad People being in charge of institutions that are historically in, run by mostly good people trying their best. [01:18:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:18:25] Speaker A: And not everybody seeing all the bad things that these bad people that are pretending to be good people are doing. And then there's points in the thing where, like, for example, uh, like Lex, Lex Luthor, he, you know, he increasingly does more and more evil things more and more publicly. And all the people working under them are seeing these things and they all have their individual point and some don't, but they all have their individual point where they're like, this is crazy. I can't, I, I can't go along with this. And like, the parallels, you know, the, the one that sticks out in my mind is like we see, see Superman turn himself in one to find crypto. But, you know, a person that is a, you know, a hero, a good person that has a warrant out for their arrest is going to turn themselves in. [01:19:18] Speaker B: Right. [01:19:19] Speaker A: But the authorities are run by, you know, evil people. And then you have the evil minions, which is just basically ice, you know, arresting Superman and abusing Superman and not reading him as rights. And that scene really affected me because, you know, that's what's going on right now. And I was hoping that one of these people that are misled and are hurting people, maybe they're gonna be watching this film because they love Superman and they're going to this film and they're going to see themselves in that person that is doing this to Superman and maybe think, what am I doing? When did I lose my way? [01:19:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:19:59] Speaker A: So if it saves a couple souls along the way, I think Superman is going to do its job very well. [01:20:04] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that that is a really important point to make. And you know, one of the things about this film is it, again, it wears its heart on its sleeve and most of these statements are fairly explicit, but there is also a lot of subtext. And again, it might not be buried too deep. Deep. It's pretty damn close to the surface almost. So much so that maybe you can't call it subtext. Right. [01:20:28] Speaker A: There's one shot in the film where the president of whatever country that was, and Lex, I'll call him Lex. I almost called him a different name, but they're both in the same shot. And I'm like, I see that on the news very regularly up until recently. Yeah, that two shot. [01:20:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:20:44] Speaker A: So, yeah, a lot of it was on the nose. And I think one of those ICE vehicles at the end had a certain angle on the back that was identifiable. [01:20:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I, I, There's a lot on the nose there was. And. And I think that one of the things that's kind of remarkable about the. The film is that it never gets too in the weeds about that. Like, you could easily. You could easily sit back and. And not necessarily take that part of it and still enjoy this filming. Walk away feeling like you saw a really good superhero hero movie. [01:21:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:21:19] Speaker B: But what James Gunn and crew have been able to do with this film is create what I believe is a beautiful human statement about what connects us all and how we could be better. And dare I say, even though I believe that this film could and should be enjoyed globally, he has made a profoundly American film with this statement. Statement. Because we could be and in my opinion should be a country of hope and ideals and love and beauty and acceptance and acceptance and humanity. And I would even go so far as to say that I think acceptance is an incredible message of the film and that Superman himself has to learn to accept himself in a way that, I don't know that we've ever really seen. I mean, we've seen it played out in some ways, I guess, with shows like Smallville, perhaps. But even then it was. It was done in a very different manner. And I want to go back to the notion of the message from his Kryptonian parents, from Jor? El and Laura, because, again, it's been a bit controversial. Some people don't to want, like, that this happened. [01:22:42] Speaker A: That was one of the things that confused me. [01:22:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:22:45] Speaker A: And some people, I was always waiting for it to be like the engineer just like, changed the message or something. [01:22:53] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think that, you know, one of the things that Gun does and, and, and, and I will say that, you know, if I. If I'm going to get critical about anything, a nitpick anything, maybe it's ever so slightly clunky, especially when Mr. Terrific delivers the line about the authenticity of the message. But I felt like it was shored up really well, really nicely, and not in a clunky way. When Lex, you know, tells the President of Arabia, it's like, no, I didn't have to manufacture anything. This is true. [01:23:17] Speaker A: And in that situation, he would have told him the truth. [01:23:19] Speaker B: Yeah. And so for me, I really enjoyed it. And I thought it was a wonderful twist. And I think one of the reasons why I liked it so much is because, you know, again, it grounded to this character in. In his humanity even more by, you know, someone who thought for the longest time that he was who he was because of these statements that Laura and Jor El had made and that ultimately his Earth parents, you know, gave him more of his identity than, you know, these, these. These alien parents ever did. Did. And I think it says so many things about. About chosen family, found family, about adoptive family, literal and figurative, about. About, you know, the, the. The immigrant experience. The idea that, you know, and again, Superman even has a line about like, Lois challenges him is like, you know, John Purr was a. You know, it does not have the greatest track record. Human rights, all this sort of stuff. And he's like, they've changed. And even if they hadn't, that doesn't give another country the right to, you know, to hurt these people, you know, and, and this idea that. That, you know, someone who comes from another country that might be, you know, looked at as the enemy or, or the other or whatever, that, that they don't come here to, you know, to. To be the enemy, right? They don't come here to. To try to upset the balance. You know, they. They come here looking for that same thing. That idea of, like, this is, you know, if you look at it in terms. In the figurative terms, that, that every country is a family. Family. And, and the idea that, like, I need to get away from this toxic relationship with my biological family and I go to this found family where I can find comfort and love and realize myself in the best way possible, that is an incredible message. And I think that this movie gives us that message because of the way that Superman realizes that his, you know, his Kryptonian parents and what they wanted for him do not define who he is. And that, you know, the choice that he makes to, you know, to accept the. The lessons that he learned, you know, in a Kansas farm and, and the lessons that he's learned on his own in Metropolis and, you know, realizing his full potential is more meaningful than any message, you know, that. That might come from. From these other parents. You know, it's like. It's kind of like that idea of, of, of. Of if you. If you suffer from addiction and, and you. You're trying to come out of that, right? It's like you are not defined by your addiction. You know, you are defined by your choice to, you know, to wrestle with that head on and say, yes, I'm an addict, but I do not have to, you know, to give in to that. That I don't have to take that drink. I don't have to take that pill or whatever. And I think that, you know, again, there's so many levels that this film works on in allowing you know, choice and that idea that we can create the world in which we fit best and that exemplifies our best selves, that we can do that, we have the power to do that, that, that, that, that opportunity to like self actualize in a positive way that benefits everyone around us as opposed to trying to take away from someone else or judge someone else because of where they, they've come from. [01:26:37] Speaker A: And it's a lovely message. [01:26:40] Speaker B: It is. [01:26:41] Speaker A: And it shows. So short sighted for people to think, think that I'm very much a longer table than a taller wall kind of person. You know, we, we, we, we have a country here. Let's just take us for example, where, you know, we have a, a population that's getting smaller generation by generation. We're not going to have enough people to take care of the older generation soon. Uh, and there's people that want to come in and work hard and take care of their families and pay taxes and contribute to the community. Who, who cares where they came from? People are people. Yeah, let, let's join together and you know, embrace everyone. And it just seems so short sighted and just frankly stupid to try to keep people out that want to help us be a better nation. [01:27:35] Speaker B: At the end of the day, a border is just an imaginary line on a map. [01:27:39] Speaker A: Exactly. And, and this is the greatest, this is the greatest example of all because we have an alien, an illegal alien, and he wants to help us. [01:27:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:27:50] Speaker A: And there's people for their own selfish and nefarious reasons that want to get rid of them. [01:27:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you know, James Gunn went on the record saying that this is an immigrant story. And you know, and I love it. I do too. And he's caught some flack for that, you know, and Sean Gunn backed him up on it, you know, obviously. And you know, there's been, there's been much to do made on certain conservative networks about. [01:28:16] Speaker A: Yes. How do people lose their way that, that much? I don't, I can't comprehend it. [01:28:21] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I, I can't either. And you know, to, you know, to call Superman an immigrant seems like just a very basic statement to make. A very basic, true statement to make. And for people to get up in arms about it, it's like that, you know, it's like that meme. It's like, wait, Superman's an immigrant? It's like always has been, you know, always. [01:28:40] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, didn't I send you some kind of link earlier? And it's just like an example of all the different Superman or Superman's dealing with, you know, the illegal immigration status thing and, you know, talking about how we're all people and, you know, even though he's from Krypton. [01:28:57] Speaker B: Right, right. Well, and there's been a number of stories that have been told even in the comics, you know, over the past couple of decades. And I feel like there's an interesting parallel with Captain America to be made on the Marvel side of things as well, where Superman basically went on, like, a road trip to try to find America at one point because he felt like we were losing our way. And it's like, I don't know what this is anymore. And even the slogan has changed from Truth, justice and the American way to Truth, justice and a better tomorrow. And I think that there's so much value in that. And I. And I would love. I would love a point where, you know, a better tomorrow is the American way. Right. Like. [01:29:34] Speaker A: Right. But when you say truth, justice and the American way, those are count. Counter. Counteracting each other now. [01:29:41] Speaker B: Right now. Yeah. So. So I think that, you know, any. Any of the. The flak or controversy that's been drummed up by that. It's one of those cases where I feel like, I don't know if you've been paying attention and if you have been paying attention, I'm not quite sure what you're so upset about. About. And maybe you're not upset about anything. Maybe you're just manufacturing that outrage because it drives views and clicks and etc. And yes, of course it does. And it's the same thing with, you know, the. The folks that are upset by this, you know, switch and twist with the characters of Jor El and Lara. Because, again, I loved it. I thought it was great. I thought that it helped to propel this story forward. It was not an arbitrary decision by any means. It was, you know, it was. It was. It was integral to the story and to, you know, creating this character in this new, interesting way while also maintaining the integrity of the character that we've known, you know, for what, almost 90 years now, you know, and so I. I loved it, and I thought it worked really well for the character. And again, it just. It just drove home who this version of Clark slash Superman is even more. [01:30:43] Speaker A: It did work. After seeing the entire film, it confused me because I was expecting just more of the same. Same. More of the same I've been giving my whole life. [01:30:50] Speaker B: Sure. [01:30:50] Speaker A: And more of the same would have been that they tampered with the message. [01:30:53] Speaker B: Right. [01:30:54] Speaker A: But the fact that they didn't was a great. Was a great decision. [01:30:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. I agree. [01:30:59] Speaker A: But. But I was a little bit disappointed in Bradley Cooper, I gotta say. [01:31:03] Speaker B: I was just getting ready to bring him up, too. Yeah. Yeah. I love the fact that they, you know, that James Gunn found a way to. To get him into the movie. I. I thought that he worked really well as Jor El. And I think that one of the things that we're going to get the opportunity perhaps, to see, though, is maybe even if we don't see more of that character specifically, I do think that there will be some more ramifications and fallout from this, and even. Even not necessarily as it pertains to the way that the world sees Superman, because I do think that this film kind of shores things up really well for that and establishes kind of who he is and what he means to this world. But I do think that there could be other avenues to explore a little bit of that and a little bit of what Kryptonian culture was like. [01:31:47] Speaker A: Yeah, this totally changes it for me. [01:31:49] Speaker B: Yeah. Yes, I agree. And it's not, you know, and the other thing is, it's not. It's not entirely new. There have been, you know, spins on the characters before, which have made them seem a little harsher, you know, even in Smallville. And obviously, you know, Smallville played with the twist later on that it wasn't Jor El, it was Zod and, you know, all that sort of stuff. But, like, you know, you know, for the longest time, it seemed like, you know, Jerrell was kind of a bit of a dick in Smallville, you know, and. And so it's not. It's not entirely new. And so for people to, you know, get a little up in arms about it, it's. It's. It's sort of like, okay, you know, I get where you're coming from. It might be an uncomfortable choice for you, and it might not be, you know, the choice for you, but for me, I thought that it really worked. Something else that really worked is, you know, before Superman left to go turn himself in, he tells Lois that he loves her. And it's clear the first time. And, you know, it was. Yeah. After he saves the day, he meets Lois in the street. And they. They go into this building together, just the two of them, and, you know, and she kisses him and they start flying, you know, up together, and she tells him that he loves her. [01:32:53] Speaker A: That was nice. [01:32:54] Speaker B: This is, and I don't say this lightly, my favorite iteration of the Lois Superman relationship I've ever seen. I. They nailed it so well, and the chemistry between them is so well done. I'm not well done. It makes it sound like that they, you know, they worked out. It's just real. It's just. There it is. You know, they give themselves over so perfectly to the moment and, and are so alive in that moment that it works beautifully whenever they share the screen. But this moment just felt like the culmination of the relationship that had been building since the. That interview scene. And, and that where they are at the end, all that's the other thing that's amazing about this film. Everyone in this film grows. All of our characters grow throughout the course of this movie. No one is where they were when the film began. And I appreciate that and applaud that so much. What did you think of the, the Clark and Lois relationship? [01:33:46] Speaker A: I loved that Lois Lane wasn't Superman's girlfriend. I love that Lois Lane was Lois Lane. [01:33:51] Speaker B: Lane, yeah. [01:33:52] Speaker A: She had agency. She was a fleshed out character. And I, I liked the relationship and I. It's weird because I, of course, I think she was born to play Lois Lane and he's an amazing Superman. But like, me being a fan of like, I guess, romantic comedies in that structure, like, it was difficult for me to feel the, the romantic chemistry because I didn't go through the. That normal. You know, they meet, they're getting along, there's a hurdle, and then they get back together and kiss. [01:34:24] Speaker B: Sure. [01:34:24] Speaker A: You know, it was just kind of like a healthy relationship. [01:34:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:34:27] Speaker A: And they're in love. [01:34:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:34:29] Speaker A: So for me, I was missing that. But that's a Albie problem. That's not a movie problem, I think. [01:34:36] Speaker B: Yeah, but I mean, I get what you're saying, because I think that that's one of the things that we have seen so frequently. You know, we had that, you know, Tracy and Heburn, know, style relationship set up in the, in the 78 film. And I think that that carried over a bit even into Smallville. You know, Erica Durant was a great. [01:34:51] Speaker A: Lois Lane in so many films and things that I love. [01:34:53] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And, and, and I think that, you know, we got the. Oh, gosh, I'm blanking on it. Was it Lois and Superman? Superman and Lois, the, the latest television series that just ended this past season. [01:35:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Maybe I didn't watch that one. [01:35:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:35:07] Speaker A: Watch Lois and Clark, but that was a while ago. [01:35:10] Speaker B: Right, right. But I thought that, that that relationship was well done on the, on the latest TV show as well. But, but anyway, in the film, I, I just loved it. So much. I loved what these characters represented to one another. I love the way that she helped to lift him up. I love the way that he appreciated her. And like, yeah, she's so wonderful. When they announced her as being in the running for the role, I. You know, I almost feel bad for saying this because I would never again, going back to what I said earlier about auditions, I would never want any other actor to be like, no, I don't want you to have this role. But when they announced that she was in the running, it was like her and a couple of other actors. I was like, it has be to. To be her. [01:35:41] Speaker A: Like Rachel Brosnan will be voice the mannerism. It's the attitude. It's perfect. [01:35:45] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, she's just perfect. [01:35:47] Speaker A: Oh, I love that joke too. How long have they been together? I think about three months. [01:35:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [01:35:51] Speaker A: You're not hiding it from anybody. [01:35:53] Speaker B: No, no, no, no. And Perry White, of course, was. Was. Was wonderful. Played by Wendell. Oh, no, I'm Blake. You know his last name. [01:36:03] Speaker A: I got IMDb open. [01:36:05] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell me who it is. But he was in the Wire and Tremendous. And a number of other things. He's just. Yeah, he's wonderful. [01:36:15] Speaker A: Not on the front page. [01:36:17] Speaker B: Wendell Pierce. That's who it is. [01:36:18] Speaker A: There you go. [01:36:19] Speaker B: I knew I'd get it sooner or later. [01:36:21] Speaker A: The Wire, right? [01:36:21] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Wire. He's great in the Wire as Detective Bunk. And he's also in Treme. Yeah, he was great. Which is. Treme is an underrated show. If you have hbo, Max seek it out. It's so well done. Some incredible performances. [01:36:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:36:34] Speaker B: Steve Zahn, John Goodman, there's a number of really great performances in that. In that show. But yeah, that was a lovely moment. And then, and then we get the scene back in the Fortress of Solitude. And this was such a wonderful. Like, this is the type of thing that either A, gets saved for a post credit scene or B, gets done, you know, in the next movie or whatever. But no, we get it served up on a silver platter. We see Supergirl and I love this version of Supergirl. This is. You know, one of the things that I will say right away is that we see that this Supergirl clearly has been off, you know, partying. She's. She's drunk, you know, she is, Is. She's having. She's having a. A bit of a time. And Millie Alcock is, Is. Is the actor. She's also in House of Dragons playing. [01:37:35] Speaker A: She's doing that fly. Inter. Interplanetary fly of shame. [01:37:39] Speaker B: Yes, exactly. Right. [01:37:40] Speaker A: Maybe. [01:37:41] Speaker B: Yeah. There's a comic book series by writer Tom King that came out a couple years ago, I believe, called Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow. And I know that that's a heavy influence on the film that they're occurring. [01:37:51] Speaker A: Yeah. Because that was the original title of the film coming out. Right. [01:37:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:37:55] Speaker A: Now it's just Supergirl. [01:37:56] Speaker B: Right, right. And in the. In that story, you know, one of the things that. The first time we see Supergirl, she's drinking in a bar on her 21st birthday on a planet with a red sun, because like Superman says in the movie, you know, yellow sun, we can't metabol. Or we metabolize the alcohol too fast. We can't get drunk. So she goes to plants with red suns to party. And this, it could easily just be a joke, but it told me so much about the character right away. This is a character who has experienced the same trauma that Clark Kent experienced, but she didn't have Ma and Pa Kent. Yeah. And she's dealing with her trauma in a very different way than Kal El Clark, you know, Superman. And I thought it was just such a lovely contrast to Superman. And I think it sets this character up in a very wonderful way to tell a very personal, again, human grounded story with this superheroic character. And I was, you know, I was sold. Like, I was all in. I was just like. I was like, she looks great. She sounds great. I. She's great in House of Dragons. She's great actor. So, like, I'm. I'm totally sold. And I thought, like, what a wonderful gift to get. That moment at the end with Supergirl. [01:39:05] Speaker A: I think that moment introduced her great. And also humanized her at the same time. [01:39:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:39:11] Speaker A: So, like, I really want to see. See where that story goes. So I think you've got to wait a year, right? [01:39:16] Speaker B: Yeah. It comes out next year, 2026. I think it's. I. I want to say it's a. It's supposed to be a spring, so we don't have to wait a full year. [01:39:23] Speaker A: Okay. [01:39:23] Speaker B: I think we're hovering around a may release or something. So. [01:39:27] Speaker A: Yeah, if that's half as good as this, I'll love it. [01:39:29] Speaker B: Right? Absolutely. So then we get a wonderful moment, which just ties it all back into the beginning and shows us exactly how this character is to going grown again. In the beginning when Superman's bleeding and broken and put on the. The chair to be repaired by the robots and the son. They're playing the message from Laura and Jell that soothes Superman at the End we hear Gary say the same exact lines about he loves to see his parents. It soothes him. But now instead of seeing Laura and Jerell, we see Ma and Pa Kent. [01:40:03] Speaker A: Yeah, that was lovely. Yeah, I got so emotional. [01:40:06] Speaker B: Yeah, me too. And Pa Kent has this great line about, you know, see everything like it's the first time. And it's just like it goes back to what Lois said about him, you know, and the way he sees the world and how he trusts everybody. And it's like there, there's the lesson, right? See everything like it's the first time. And it's just so beautiful. It's so beautiful. And you know, as we, as we kind of wrap this up, I just, I really have one question for you, Alby. Are you a punk rocker? [01:40:32] Speaker A: Probably the most punk rock of all. What was the band that, that Superman listened to? I think it's in Universe. I never heard of them before. [01:40:40] Speaker B: The Mighty Crab Joys. It was created for that. [01:40:42] Speaker A: The Mighty Crab Joys. I was like, I gotta, I gotta look them up. [01:40:46] Speaker B: Right. The song at the end of the film is a song by the punk band the Teddy Bears with Iggy Pop. [01:40:51] Speaker A: As the, There was Iggy Pop? Yeah, I saw Iggy Pop. [01:40:53] Speaker B: And you know, the chorus goes, I'm a punk rocker. Yes I am. And it's just such a joyful, lovely title. And you know, there's so many lyrics in there that, that match really well, mesh really well with the outlook the, the that that Superman has on the world. And so it was just a beautiful, beautiful ending. And again we get that beautiful, you know, it's, it white screen instead of fading to black. We get a couple post credit scenes, one of, of Krypto hugging Superman on, on the moon, which is just gorgeous and lovely and got a lot of Oz, you know, both nights I saw it. [01:41:23] Speaker A: Yeah. Almost like they're together again. [01:41:25] Speaker B: Right. [01:41:26] Speaker A: Because I, I, I don't think it was meant to be like earlier or something different. I think maybe she's going off doing something again. And he got stuck with Crypto again, but he loves it. Right, right. [01:41:36] Speaker B: And then we get the, the final one, which is Superman and Mr. Terrific are looking at a building that doesn't match up quite right. And Mr. Terrific very humorously is just like kicking rocks, you know, and, and, and, and, and Superman has his line, dang it, I can be such a jerk sometimes. And it's just, again, it's lovely, you know, this, this sort of boyishness. And you know, he never, he never curses throughout the Film, we get plenty of damn shits and throughout the film. [01:42:00] Speaker A: But from everybody else. [01:42:01] Speaker B: Yeah, Superman, but not Superman. [01:42:02] Speaker A: You don't want that from Superman. [01:42:04] Speaker B: Dang golly, dude. You know, it's like he has these, these lovely moments and it's just sort of like. Yeah, that's, that's, that's, that's who. [01:42:10] Speaker A: I love that Superman is Superman. That person. [01:42:13] Speaker B: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. [01:42:14] Speaker A: I aspire to be. [01:42:15] Speaker B: He's a super good. He's a super person. He's a super guy. He's super. He's just super. So there. We did it. We did it. We. I didn't know that we were going to go as in depth as we did did, but, but my memory didn't fail me too much. [01:42:29] Speaker A: So those. No, I mean you said you didn't have the script. I'm not sure. You might have an eidetic memory because I saw it twice but I was like seeing it a third time when you were talking about it. So that's great. Yeah, those post credit scenes were good and I love that they didn't over promise. It's, it's all self contained in this movie. If there's never a James Gunn, Superman 2, I'm, I'm still good with this. There's. They didn't leave me hanging. [01:42:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:42:52] Speaker A: They gave me things that could happen in the future. Future. But if they don't, I'm fine. Because it was all self contained. Any middle. [01:42:59] Speaker B: Absolutely. I completely agree. The moving had. The moving. The movie had a beginning, a middle and an end. I did not feel again. And the post credit sequences being these little comedic, you know, kind of cookies as opposed to being, you know, something to tease for the next film or whatever. It was a brilliant idea because again, it's just like this movie is its own thing and you can enjoy it completely on its own own. I think if you, if you are familiar with the character, if you know the mythos, you will, you will pick up on a lot of interesting stuff and you will enjoy that and it will be great. If you know nothing about Superman and this is the first time you ever see the character, I think you're still going to enjoy the hell out of this movie because it's just such a. It's, it's just such a wonderful, beautiful film and I think that it, it's, you know, we didn't talk about it. The pacing of this movie is so perfect. Perfect. It is. It lags. [01:43:49] Speaker A: It never lags. And yet it's not too much at the same time. [01:43:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:43:53] Speaker A: Yeah, it's like the perfect amount. I wasn't ever overwhelmed. Even when, like, there's like, black hole and lava and all this stuff, I'm like, okay, this is the big CG scene. But I wasn't overwhelmed. [01:44:03] Speaker B: Right. [01:44:03] Speaker A: I was still in with the action, but story pacing was great. [01:44:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I, it was, yeah. I just, I thought that that was one of the perfect things about. In fact, I remember when I was seen the first time, I kept expecting a moment where it was just sort of like, I don't know, is, am I going to, am I going to have a moment where I'm just sort of like, okay, let's get to the next bit. Or, okay, slow down. And I never felt that. I never felt. Slow down or move it along. Never. And even the second time I saw it, like, there was a part of me that's like, okay, I see it the second time. Maybe I'm not going to be quite as swept away as I was. Maybe I'm going to, you know, and it wasn't that way at all. You know, there was, in fact, there was one point where I was like, jesus, we're already here. Like, it's like, oh, my gosh. It's like, right. Wow, it's happening. Like, here we go. Yeah, yeah, it's, it, it's just God damn. So perfectly done. I don't get it. [01:44:51] Speaker A: I. [01:44:52] Speaker B: How did he do it? How did he do it? [01:44:55] Speaker A: There was no scene where, like, I feared, like in the Avengers towards the end, where they're just everything, crash, bang, boom, blowing up, and it's way too much and overwhelming. And that's when I usually take a nap. [01:45:04] Speaker B: Right. Right. [01:45:06] Speaker A: If I'm tired, just because it's just so much thrown at you that you really can't absorb any of it. And we didn't get that. And I love that. Yeah, yeah. James Gunn, I mean, he's a genius. He's great at what he does because can you imagine writing and directing that? So whatever DC paid the man, they, he earned it. [01:45:25] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. [01:45:27] Speaker A: I think I can't remember another film in recent history that everybody that I know, at least leaving the theater is just super hyped up and excited. Excited like, like, wow, a new beginning. But like, not even that, but just like, something good. Something good. Finally something good. [01:45:47] Speaker B: I, I, I, I know. I, I mean, there were applause at the early screen that I saw. There were some applause at the, at the screening. I saw the, the, the opening day. [01:45:56] Speaker A: Show the first night, definitely because it was sold out. [01:45:58] Speaker B: Yeah. And, and, and, and, like, I. I didn't hear one bad word from anybody walking out of the theaters. I didn't. I didn't see any faces that were just sort of like, no, okay. I sat so spot on. And I feel like it's a rare occurrence for a film. And, and, and the great thing is, is that, like, we're not alone in, in feeling good about this movie. It currently has a 95%, you know, fresh rating for audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, one of the highest, you know, ever. It's got 85%, you know, critics rating, which is incredibly high as well. It's one of the highest for a superhero movie ever. And, and I'm so glad to see that, that it was on track at one point to make between, like, 90 and $120 million opening weekend. Now that's been adjusted. It's on schedule to make $200 million this weekend. So it feels like people are responding to it. And I'm so glad because I just feel like it's such a positive message, and it absolutely speaks to the. To the time in which we live, and does it yet with a. With a very timeless character and a very timeless way, because it reminds us that the most important thing is the thing that binds us all together, which is our humanity. So I. I'm. I'm thrilled. [01:47:06] Speaker A: Like, I. At one point in. In someone's life, they said, james Gunn, Superman. [01:47:13] Speaker B: Right. [01:47:13] Speaker A: I think that could be good. [01:47:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:47:15] Speaker A: And it was. And it's amazing. [01:47:17] Speaker B: Yeah. Yes. [01:47:18] Speaker A: And. And I. I think we all went in hoping, but, you know, not expecting, and we were pleasantly surprised I might go see it a third time. It's crazy. [01:47:26] Speaker B: I. I probably will, too. Yeah. [01:47:28] Speaker A: It's like the new Raiders or something. [01:47:30] Speaker B: I. I know, right? I. I can't remember the last time. Saw a movie twice, you know. Yeah. And honestly, the last time I. [01:47:36] Speaker A: In a theater, right. Sometimes I'll rewatch at home, of course. [01:47:39] Speaker B: But in the theater, I feel like the last time I saw a movie twice was more out of obligation than it was out of desire, because it was one of the Star wars movies. And I would see it on opening night, but then we'd go see it over Christmas with my wife's family. And so, like, that was almost more out of obligation than it was, like, I have to see this movie again. [01:47:53] Speaker A: But the last time I got this feeling leaving a theater was, again, I'm going to. To betray my age. Batman. 89. [01:48:02] Speaker B: Okay. Okay. [01:48:03] Speaker A: I think everybody left. Super hype. [01:48:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [01:48:07] Speaker A: And it was packed and it was, you know, shoulder to shoulder, which you never have in a theater anymore. There's always, like, cushion seats. [01:48:14] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [01:48:14] Speaker A: You know, people don't sit next to anybody. I think this first time anyone ever sat next to Serenity that she didn't know in a movie theater, but it was sold out. An IMAX theater. And they're huge stadiums. There's people sitting down in the. The front two rows, which are like in an orchestra pit. [01:48:28] Speaker B: Right. [01:48:29] Speaker A: I don't know how you can see from those. We always go in the third row, which is like, level with the floor as you walk in. [01:48:34] Speaker B: Yep, yep. No, I. I ended up sitting, like, almost all the way in the back. [01:48:37] Speaker A: But yeah, yeah, some people do. Was that a choice or was. [01:48:43] Speaker B: Was. It was. You know, I. I felt like I got the best seat that was left available. Like, I. I would have liked to maybe been a couple rows closer and a little toward. More towards center for the IMAX screen screening. I will. One of the things I will say is if you can see it on imax, see it on imax, because I do feel it was shot on IMAX cameras. It was made IMAX in mind. Like, I. I think that, like, if you can do it, see it in imax. If you can't, you'll still enjoy it. It's incredible. But. But yeah, the. [01:49:10] Speaker A: It was the second time I watched it. I saw it IMAX 3D, because the preview showing was 2D only, so I had to get up extra early to see 3D today. But. And I was still in the same seat. I think C11 is where I normally sit, which is level and right in the center. And the 3D was so good. I was, like, really scared I was gonna fall. When they were at the top of the skyscrapers, it was kind of like one of those old theme park rides where you get nauseous if it moves too quick. [01:49:40] Speaker B: Sure. [01:49:40] Speaker A: It was that good. They did really good. It was an up convert 3D. [01:49:44] Speaker B: Interesting. Okay. [01:49:45] Speaker A: But it was done so well. Well, it didn't lack anything. I mean, everything was done to the best of people's ability, I think. [01:49:51] Speaker B: I. I agree. I totally agree. And. And you know, David was just phenomenal as Superman. [01:49:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:49:57] Speaker B: And Clark. [01:49:57] Speaker A: Yeah, he's Superman now. [01:49:59] Speaker B: Yeah, he really is. He really is. Any. Any. [01:50:01] Speaker A: He's not just the latest Superman. He's Superman. He's Superman. [01:50:06] Speaker B: No. And he made the character completely his own. There was nothing about this that I was like, oh, he took this bit further from that. Or he did this. You know, it's like I, I feel like we've gotten, you know, so many iterations that have kind of been a little bit of a tip of cap to this performance or that performance or, you know, you have the, the Henry Cavill performance, which is, you know, just as very dark, very straight kind of, you know, and, and I like Henry Cavill. I'm not, I'm not trying to say that. It's just great. Different interpretation. Whereas I, I, I, I, I feel like this is so multi dimensional and so well layered and, and just a lovely interpretation of the character. And he was phenomenal. Nicholas Holt is just that Lex is, is terrifying. [01:50:46] Speaker A: He made me hate him in the best way. [01:50:49] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [01:50:50] Speaker A: Not because he sucked, not because he was a bad actor, but because he was so good at his job. He made me hate him. [01:50:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It was that I wanted to see him lose. You know, it was like, like the old wrestling thing. It's like I, I would pay money to see this guy get beat up. [01:51:06] Speaker A: Without a great villain, there's no hero, right? [01:51:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:51:10] Speaker A: Period. And you need that great villain to have the great hero. Although this, Superman was a great hero, even if he didn't have a good villain. [01:51:17] Speaker B: I think, yeah, that all goes and speaks to the heart of the character. And I think the other thing I love about it is like this Superman sees himself as a part of something bigger, you know, part of humanity. And it's again, that contrast between he and Lex because Lex wants to kind of stand a top humanity and he fears that that's what Superman is, is, is doing by being more than. But Superman doesn't see himself as being better than or more than, you know, if anything, Superman sees himself as being, you know, having a responsibility. [01:51:46] Speaker A: Yeah, he, he, he sees himself as everyone else, but he has this responsibility because he has these abilities and anyone with this, these abilities that has a heart like that and just wants to save people. Like you said, not hurt people, but save people. People. He's the perfect man for the job. [01:52:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. And I, and I feel like, again, without being specific, because I'm not trying to criticize anything else, I feel like a lot of the superhero films that we have seen over the past 15 years or so, it, it hasn't always been about the hero saving the day or saving other people. You know, it's been about the hero fighting the bad guy. You know, it's been about fighting the bad guys. And, and this isn't, this isn't about fighting. This is about, about saving, you know, and, and and like you said, he. [01:52:31] Speaker A: Was even trying to save Lex. [01:52:32] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And the squirrel. The damn squirrel. [01:52:37] Speaker A: Yeah, the squirrel. Once the squirrel was saved, I knew everyone was saved. I was running and, you know, I, I knew he could slow down time and when he protected that girl. Oh, man. Yeah. [01:52:47] Speaker B: That's an iconic shot. Without a doubt that the special effects trailers. Yeah. Oh, yeah, good point. [01:52:53] Speaker A: I, I saw nothing that was, was crappy at all. There was no, like, one shot that you usually get that maybe they didn't have time to render right or something. But, like, it was just all on point. Even the things that you knew were special effects because there was no other way that they could do it. It still looked amazing. [01:53:10] Speaker B: Yeah, I completely agree. I love the Green Lantern effects. I, I thought that those are awesome. It's got. Green Irons are my favorite characters heroes ever like this, especially the Hal Jordan version. Although I love Kyle Ren Rayner and Jon Stewart and Guy Gardner as well. But I feel like, you know, Guy is fun to see, but for me, like, you know, those other three, especially Kyle and Hal, there's a little bit more, more meat on that bone, if you will. But I love the, yeah, the Green Lantern ring effect, so I look forward to seeing more of that. But I, I, I'm with you. 100. I thought the special effects were really well done. All the stuff in the pocket universe, you know, that was crazy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was really, really good. So, yeah, I think, I think we've said, we've said everything we need to say about Superman, man. [01:53:50] Speaker A: No complaints. Do you have a rating system on this show? [01:53:53] Speaker B: No, I don't. I don't. But I'm happy to let you promote your rating system on the show. [01:54:02] Speaker A: What we've been doing, we have a rating system out of five, but you can go up till 10. [01:54:06] Speaker B: Okay. [01:54:06] Speaker A: Because I'm ridiculous. [01:54:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:54:08] Speaker A: Of silly objects from whatever we're reviewing. [01:54:11] Speaker B: Totally. I'm with you. [01:54:13] Speaker A: So what, what was that band poster again? Again? [01:54:16] Speaker B: The Mighty Crab Joys. [01:54:19] Speaker A: I'm gonna give it a 9.5. Mighty Crab Joys posters. [01:54:24] Speaker B: Nice. I love it. Yeah, I'm gonna give it, you know, the hell with it. I'm gonna give it. [01:54:31] Speaker A: That's out of five. [01:54:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Yeah. I, I, I, I'm right there with you. What am I gonna give this thing? 10 cups of hot, hot cocoa. [01:54:43] Speaker A: Oh, there you go. [01:54:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:54:44] Speaker A: 10 cups of hot served by Lois Lane. Right. Which makes it so much better. [01:54:49] Speaker B: It would indeed. It would indeed. [01:54:51] Speaker A: I can make myself cocoa all day. And all night. But unless someone that loves me, gives it to me, it's just not the same. [01:54:56] Speaker B: Exactly. I love that. I appreciate that. I was. I was recently on Fandom Entanglement and, you know, doing one of their slider episodes, and so I. Sliders, Right. Slider. Sliders episodes and sliders. Yeah, yeah. I did my sliders whisper for them, and I had to. I can't remember what I chose now. We might have been floppy. [01:55:15] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. They're using that rating system as well now. I think I invaded that show, like, big time. Oh, good for you. I've been on there a few times. [01:55:22] Speaker B: You're an inspiration to us all. Alvy. [01:55:23] Speaker A: Don't. [01:55:24] Speaker B: Don't kid yourself. [01:55:26] Speaker A: I tell. I tell Damon and Mike. I say, anytime no one else wants to do a bad episode of Sliders, give me a call. Yeah, Always do a bad episode of Sliders. [01:55:36] Speaker B: I got lucky. I feel like I got to do one of the. One of the better ones, especially one of the better ones after the first couple seasons. But that. Stay tuned for that. I don't think that episode is up yet. And this is gonna. [01:55:46] Speaker A: Right. [01:55:47] Speaker B: This is gonna drop asap. But, yeah, I don't know. There you go. I'm thrilled for what comes next from. From the DC Cinematic Universe. [01:55:59] Speaker A: I'm pumped. I'm hyped. I don't want to get my expectations too high, but I think it's just going to be a fun decade. [01:56:08] Speaker B: I agree. I agree. And I look forward to seeing what all of these actors and writers and producers and everybody that's worked on these films can, you know, can continue to bring to the table because they've started something that I feel is very special, and I feel like I'm grateful to have a movie like this to look forward to. I was sitting there as the second time I saw it ended, and I was just sort of like, I cannot wait for the 4K. Like, give me my 4K steelbook with all the bells and whistles. Like, let's go all of them. [01:56:37] Speaker A: I want to know everything about it. [01:56:39] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [01:56:39] Speaker A: Commentary. I want. [01:56:41] Speaker B: I. I want Lord of the Rings, you know, appendices, level supplemental features on this. On this Blu Ray, you know, for anybody that doesn't know, those DVDs had literally, like, 13 hours worth of documentaries, audio commentaries, etcetera, to comb through. [01:56:57] Speaker A: If not, I think we're the same like that. [01:56:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:56:59] Speaker A: Sometimes I can't wait to finish the film just so I could watch the bonus features. [01:57:04] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I. Absolutely. I used to make an event out of watching those bonus features. [01:57:10] Speaker A: So Alby, tell us an all night thing. [01:57:12] Speaker B: What's next for you where everybody can, can find you and, and, and, and what, what else we can expect to see from you and exploration or maybe even qlp. [01:57:21] Speaker A: Of course we got the QLP P. It's. We are the bonus features for Quantum Leap. Between us and you guys. [01:57:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:57:29] Speaker A: Over there you did all that stuff and it's amazing content. And I think between both shows, both channels, we got everybody and everything involved that wanted to be a part of the bonus features. So even though the Blu Rays came out with nothing except the episodes, I mean, just go to your channel or my channel over there, there. And we'll be doing some more things. Like it's harder for us to expand, I think than you because you started with the premise of kind of like Fates Wide Wheel, which is less. The Quantum Leap podcast, which is very specific. But we're talking about expanding our after show to other properties that are like spiritual successors to Quantum Leap. [01:58:11] Speaker B: Okay, nice. [01:58:12] Speaker A: And there's a couple, three that we can think of right away. So maybe we'll, we'll, you know, talk about those. And we just got some more interview opportunities coming our way for Quantum Leap actually. So yeah, it'll be fun. I am doing, of course, Trexploration with Christopher D. Philippus and we were granted like ultimate nerd status. We have Star Trek screeners. [01:58:34] Speaker B: Yes. So nice. Very cool. [01:58:36] Speaker A: And, and those are rare. I only knew one person that ever had him, like personal, personally, and they wouldn't share them with me. But I understand why you don't want to lose them. So I've seen the first five episodes. [01:58:45] Speaker B: I was gonna say I got Picard season two, I believe, or like the first four or five episodes of season two. And then for whatever reason, that evaporated. So like I didn't have the screeners after those first four or five episodes. And it was weird. I was like, wait, why don't I. How did. What happened? What I do wrong? Why did I. Yeah, we're hoping, we're. [01:59:06] Speaker A: Hoping they don't stop it. So we got the first five and I watched them the first night, of course. [01:59:09] Speaker B: Nice. [01:59:10] Speaker A: And enjoyed them thoroughly. So we'll, we're. We just dropped today as we record a recap of season one and two of Strange New World. So like kind of what you need to know. [01:59:20] Speaker B: Nice. [01:59:21] Speaker A: Before going into season three or a good reminder because it's been two years. And then, uh, we recorded the first episode of season three with Allison Pregler. And we're recording episode two, uh, in a couple days and we have a big guest for that and I'm super excited. Excited, but I can't say. And season three, episode four, oh, my goodness, the guest. So I can't say, but definitely check us out link below, I'm sure subscribe and if you like YouTube content about Star Trek, you know, the people we're going to be chatting with. So I'm excited. And, uh, of course, I think, uh, I think that's it for me. Me, right? Yes. Yes. Started a new editing business. So if you want to go to reductivearts.com if you need your YouTube videos or podcasts edited, I got me and a team of people that I love and trust working on stuff that's fantastic. [02:00:16] Speaker B: I love that. I love. I love all of that. And I'm. I'm thrilled to check out more of Trexploration. And, you know, I love you and Chris, and I'm excited that Allison's gonna be on an episode with you guys as well. [02:00:31] Speaker A: Yeah, two episodes, I think, so far. [02:00:33] Speaker B: Nice. Yeah. Because you're all. You're all swell, wonderful people. And I. [02:00:38] Speaker A: Back at you, my friend. [02:00:39] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you very much. [02:00:40] Speaker A: You're a wonderful person. [02:00:41] Speaker B: Give you a little crypto. [02:00:42] Speaker A: I don't send those hearts. Fake. Those are real hearts. I send you. [02:00:46] Speaker B: Oh, I really. I'm gonna send you a little. Yeah. A little crypto. Love. Anyway, thank you so much for being here and doing this. I really appreciate, really appreciate it. [02:00:56] Speaker A: Thank you for having me. [02:00:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:00:58] Speaker A: I was excited to gush over this movie. Well, deservedly so. [02:01:01] Speaker B: We'll have to do it again sometime. Find something absolutely. To be. To be excited about. [02:01:06] Speaker A: Sure. Anytime. [02:01:07] Speaker B: Awesome. Awesome. Well, I guess that. That wraps it up for Superman 2025. James Gunn. Directed, written, starring David Corn Sweat, Rachel Brosnahan and Nicholas Holt. What a fantastic movie. What a wonderful way to spend your. Your summer. Summer. Watching this movie multiple times in the theaters. And I. I'm already looking forward to seeing it a third time. Trying to figure out when exactly I'm going to take Jessica to see it, but. [02:01:34] Speaker A: Oh, Jessica. I was gonna say me and you. Let's go. I think we can make the midnight show if we try. [02:01:38] Speaker B: All right, well, it's a bit of a long drive for one of us, so. But I'd love to sit in a theater with you and watch this movie. I'd even share my popcorn with you. I. Alby. [02:01:49] Speaker A: Thank you. Extra butter. Salt. [02:01:52] Speaker B: Love salt, indeed. It's. It's. It's lovely to be here. It's lovely to be here with you. I think in honor of being here with you and in honor of friends lost, you know, here's. Here's. Here's. Here's a moment for Matt, who we love and miss dearly, and. Yeah, let's. Let's get out of here. Keep doing what you do. Keep being awesome. I appreciate you so much. I. Albie. Thank you all so much for listening and watching. Take care of yourselves, take care of one another, stay safe out there, and always, always remember to leap responsibly.