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2025 Pop Culture in Review
22 Plays14 days ago
Casual Nerdity rings out 2025 with Daryl & Nick looking back at some of their most highly regarded pop culture moments of the year. Comics, TV, movies, and remembering some of the people we lost in the last year.
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction & Hosts
00:00:10
Speaker
Casual Nerdity is a podcast celebrating and discussing the pop culture that we love. Movies, TVs, comics, books, games, you name it. Ari missed to talk about the good, what worked, and yeah, sometimes what didn't.
00:00:22
Speaker
All with an eye towards it's building up, not tearing down. Thanks for joining us.
00:00:30
Speaker
Welcome back to the How We Roll Gaming Podcast, everybody. i am Daryl. And I am Nick. And it's just the two of us this time around. And this episode is going to be releasing on New Year's Eve 2025. So we are going to be taking a look at the 2025 pop culture year in review.
00:00:54
Speaker
Lots of good stuff. there There was lots of good stuff all across genres, or I guess I should say media. Yeah. Across all sorts of media.
00:01:07
Speaker
And genres this year, but we know the kind of stuff that's normally in our wheelhouse, so yeah, there's a lot
2025 Pop Culture Year in Review
00:01:17
Speaker
of genres. And we could, because honestly, if we talked about everything that was really good this year, we'd probably be here for a while.
00:01:26
Speaker
we We would be wrapping up the show on New Year's Eve 2026. Yeah. yeah So we, immediately, like, when I looked at our list, it's like, no, no, that's a fair, that's a fair amount.
00:01:38
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know if there's anything, know, spoiler alert, peeking behind the curtain here. of Spoilers. But we have, you know, some show notes here where I just, you I threw some bullet points in of some of the highlights of pop culture from this year that really stuck out to me.
00:01:59
Speaker
So, Nick, if there's anything that isn't on here that you want to talk about, feel free to interject. i have some I have two things that I might interject before we get into our first bullet point.
00:02:16
Speaker
Okay, well then, by all means, go for it. All right. ah Being as one of the things that we do talk about on here is comics. It's been a big year for comics.
00:02:27
Speaker
It has, although I'm so far behind on reading my stuff that it it isn't even funny. But I'll say that the two big top dollar talks of the of the year you have been from the two main tent poles, DC and Marvel, and their respective ah newest universes, respectively the absolute universe and the new edition of their ultimate universe.
00:02:55
Speaker
Yep, the the absolute books at DC and the ultimate books at Marvel are really good. i am I am so far behind on the absolute stuff, but what I have read is just insanely good.
00:03:10
Speaker
It is insanely good. And the same with ah with Ultimate, especially Ultimate Spider-Man. is It's been a huge thing to Spider-Man fans like me, but even their Ultimate... ah their Ultimate Wolverine has been very fascinating. And like, I'm going to be really, really sad when Ultimate Spider-Man wraps up in February.
00:03:32
Speaker
i think a lot of people are going to be sad that the Ultimate Universe itself, and this is not a spoiler, they have been very open about this, is coming to a close next year. I mean, Ultimate Spider-Man is the, hands down for my money, the best thing that Marvel has been publishing all year.
00:03:50
Speaker
i definitely agree, especially if You're a Spider-Man fan, and there's no denying that mainline Spider-Man fans have not been eating well. What, you don't like Paul?
00:04:01
Speaker
You love Paul. And you love who Venom Mary Jane. Yeah, it's a dumpster fire. Yeah, it's... The only thing I like about the ah the Venom, I like the venet the costume. I like the design.
00:04:16
Speaker
ah like the gold. Everything else, no. No, bad, bad, bad, bad. Yeah, the the I really need to catch up on those. i I haven't had much time for comics reading the last couple of months. And when I have had time to read comics, I've been trying to cram ah Star Wars High Republic comics so that I can get to the point that I was ready to read the final novel in the whole High Republic publishing initiative. And I'm about at that point. So yesterday, while Barnes and Noble was having a 25% off sale and it was the last day, I made my set my way to the nearest Barnes and Noble that had it in stock and, and bought fate of the Jedi.
00:05:05
Speaker
Nice. So I'll be diving into that here soon. Now where, were those the two things or was there another item? One more in also
Comic Highlights & Discussions
00:05:15
Speaker
in comics, uh,
00:05:17
Speaker
deepb the first real major arcs of the Skybound Transformers comic has come to a close. I'm even further behind on reading the whole Energon universe.
00:05:29
Speaker
it's it's It's really good. Oh, I don't doubt it. I don't doubt it. What i did read from the beginning of it was really good, but I am just so far behind.
00:05:42
Speaker
There's, as a long-term fan of Transformers as a franchise, and especially in the comics, it has some of the most unique takes and some things that we've wanted to see from certain characters for a long time.
00:05:55
Speaker
Well, I mean, that kind of stands to reason that there's slightly askew new takes on stuff, since it all is being spearheaded by Robert Kirkman. Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:07
Speaker
But it's like the fact that he's also like taking some elements that have always been sort of played with in previous continuities, but really committing to some elements as like they finally committed to certain things and even explain some things in unique ways. It's it's a if you're if you're a fan of the franchise or you really want a fresh take on it.
00:06:30
Speaker
Definitely check out the Skybound Transformers comics. In a similar way to Absolute and Ultimate Universe are also unique and fresh takes on classic IPs. Now, granted, this is more 2026, but as long as we're talking comics, I am excited that um that it's no secret Nightwing is my favorite comics character ever, ever, ever.
00:06:57
Speaker
And thought it was Nathan Todd. Yeah, that's it. ah Comics legend Dennis Cowan is taking over the art on the Nightwing series in 2026. So I am looking forward to that because some some of the best comics to come out of the eighty s especially the latter half of the eighties was a Cowan and Denny O'Neill's question series at DC.
00:07:28
Speaker
True. That's that's true. and So I'm going to love me some Dennis Cowan on Nightwing. And there was something else coming up comics wise that had me excited. And I don't remember what it was now.
00:07:39
Speaker
I mean, we're, we're going to get another Legion of superheroes book coming out. Yeah. And, and so, you know, Unlike the last one.
00:07:50
Speaker
Hopefully this one won't suck. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. ah But um I don't think there is. Since I'm so far behind on reading my comics. I'm not so sure. DC did do something big. This this past year.
00:08:10
Speaker
Where they released their. New history of the DC universe. Miniseries. Is this true? you you've You've talked a great deal about that throughout the year. And that was written by Mark Waid, and love Mark Waid's work. And he had the unenviable task of trying to make all iterations of DC's continuity kind of fit together.
00:08:36
Speaker
And I'd be damned if he didn't do it. Based on what he said, is like he he, again, unenviable task, but it sounds like he did it.
00:08:46
Speaker
And I can't think of anyone who would be better suited for it because Wade has always loved those little continuity nuggets and making them all work. ah About the only person who I can think of off the top of my head who has anywhere near that sort of reputation for doing that is Geoff Johns.
00:09:11
Speaker
but But I think Wade is a stronger all-around writer. than John's. That's just me. like could yeah's that' it i could I can see both. Honestly, like it it sort of depends on the book, in my opinion. But I can see both of them are very passionate about all of those little continuity nuggets and little bits and pieces.
00:09:35
Speaker
Don't get me wrong. I really like Geoff John's writing. Oh, same here. like But i i i I think overall, Wade is a stronger writer ah in that I think there's, to an extent, a little too much of a reliance on member berries in John's work, whereas I think Wade is a more solid writer who looks at past continuity nuggets as a jumping-off point rather
00:10:09
Speaker
then the centerpiece of a new idea.
Marvel vs. DC: Continuity & Characters
00:10:14
Speaker
I could see that. If that makes any sense. That makes some sense. ah This totally won't cause the entire group to split apart into some sort of civil war.
00:10:23
Speaker
Team Cap all the way. Team Cap all the way. That means I have to be Team Iron Man. Yep, that means you I'm Cap, you're Iron Man. You're the one that wants to put anyone who who doesn't fall in line into a into an interdimensional gulag.
00:10:42
Speaker
Just live with it. Yep, I mean, you already called dibs, you already called dibs. Yep.
00:10:50
Speaker
Anything else, comics, that you can think of? I think that's where I am at that. Oh, by the way, speaking of comics, though, and something from, I believe it was this year, i was ah Side tangent, everyone. the Please bear with me telling Nick about a YouTube video I watched the other day.
00:11:09
Speaker
But Patrick Willem's latest latest video is about let franchises die. yeah if they don't have anything else to say, stop beating them for new content.
00:11:22
Speaker
And in talking about the Alien franchise, he was talking about something that you have been recommending to me all year. Aliens versus Avengers. Oh, yeah. and he And he loved it. he's Oh, yeah, it's really good.
00:11:37
Speaker
He's like, this is what you do when you want to do something with it. Something like this, where you have a new idea. you know Don't just keep retreading the same thing over and over because that's what worked.
00:11:50
Speaker
I thought you would appreciate that Patrick Williams was recommending that same... I do, I guess. I do feel that like now it's it kind of is a sleeper hit, in my opinion. It did really get a whole lot of press.
00:12:04
Speaker
It's really good. Really solid. and that That makes a nice segue to our first bullet point in looking at TV from 2025, which is Alien Earth.
00:12:17
Speaker
It wasn't the first thing chronologically on our bullet points that came out. It's just the first thing that I thought of to put down on our bullet points. Yes, and it's a solid series that's very ambitious.
00:12:31
Speaker
Yep, and for anyone who has listened to our sister podcast, the How We Roll Gaming podcast, we did a whole episode on how we want to bring elements from Alien Earth into the Alien RPG.
00:12:47
Speaker
Part of that is going... And the whole episode about the Alien RPG. And part of that is going to require us to reconcile the fact that showrunner Noah Hawley is adamant that this is not the same timeline as Aliens and Alien 3 and Prometheus. And this is not the same timeline. It's its own thing.
00:13:15
Speaker
so It doesn't jive with the lore that we have in the game. and So we're going to have to we're going to have to follow the ah the advice given in the title of Adam Savage's book, Every Tool is a Hammer, and hammer it in there and make it fit.
00:13:32
Speaker
But there were some great performances on Some fascinating concepts that, despite him saying he's this doesn't connect, a lot of the themes and concepts do connect.
00:13:45
Speaker
They do. So thematically, it will be easy to, you know, make it all work. It's the nuts and bolts that, ah well, that's where the hammer comes in.
00:13:57
Speaker
And, you know, something that I did not even click about just a site side note was,
00:14:07
Speaker
that doesn't really impact the story of Alien Earth. I didn't even make the connection. So i I've been listening to Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk's podcast, Once We Were Spacemen.
00:14:20
Speaker
Yes. And the latest episode was recorded at San Diego Comic-Con with Nathan Fillion talking to the creator and showrunner of The Rookie,
00:14:35
Speaker
Alexi Hawley. And several times he mentioned his his twin brother. Once he even mentioned his first name in that episode. And I didn't, it didn't click to me until just now I said Noah Hawley that that's his brother. Mm-hmm.
00:14:54
Speaker
How am I this dense? that one of my favorite shows of the year and every episode we talked to we talked about and the movie Defenders talked about Noah Hawley this, Noah Hawley that, Noah Hawley this, Noah Hawley that. And the name did not click to me until two minutes ago when I said it.
00:15:14
Speaker
Nobody has ever accused me of being terribly bright all the time.
Stranger Things: Final Season & Critiques
00:15:20
Speaker
But yeah, Alien Earth was was really, really good. ah Really impressive.
00:15:26
Speaker
Very strong performances. And again, for again based on what Noah Hawley has said arguably a good way to start off if you want it.
00:15:37
Speaker
Quick question for you. I think I might have asked this while Alien Earth was airing. Am I the only one who every time Wendy's brother was on screen, I kept expecting him to be Jack Quaid?
00:15:52
Speaker
Yes. i mean Because he he very closely resembled Jack Quaid. He does. Like, every so often, I'd be like, oh, no, that that's not Jack Quaid. there were just certain moments, I think you had it more than did, it was like, yeah, there were moments where it was like, oh, no, no, that's still the same actor. It's like, sometimes it's just like, in the right lighting, could definitely see like, that's just him. It's just Jack White. He's just phase shifted into the series for some reason.
00:16:18
Speaker
Yep. They did finally... you know sometime after um after season one ended, they confirmed and announced that a season two is on the way. So I am looking forward to that.
00:16:33
Speaker
Yes. Hopefully it will not take too terribly long to make. This is true. And there does appear to be like, they definitely it definitely receives a lot of great great buzz of attention. And considering how certain shows have shown that with positive buzz that they do get pretty much quickly pushed along.
00:16:54
Speaker
I can definitely see this one probably not taking too long to get into its second season. That's fingers crossed still. Fingers crossed. yeah Speaking of things that have taken quite a long time in between seasons, our next bullet point is not quite complete. It will be complete the night that this episode drops, and that's the final season of Stranger Things.
00:17:20
Speaker
Now, I know that you are not completely caught up. I know you have more episodes to go to be caught up with everything that is out as we record this. And I will not spoil anything from those last two episodes for you. Nor will I spoil anything for those who have not caught up and are desperately trying to do so before the new year.
00:17:44
Speaker
You know who you are. Yeah. But it it would it's I think it has been very good. Now, the online discourse is full of the usual suspects out there.
00:17:58
Speaker
The bad faith discourse. there's multiple and There's multiple angles of bad faith discourse. there There is the standard... Well, it took them too long and now all of the kids are too old. They don't look like the ages they're playing. Newsflash, their play, the main characters are high school seniors in this season and they look no different than any other would-be high school seniors in a genre show from the past 25 to years.
00:18:36
Speaker
like i grew up with with have Power Rangers. Those weren't teenagers with attitude. Those were 20-somethings with attitude. Charisma Carpenter and Nicholas Brendon were 29 playing high school sophomores in season one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
00:18:55
Speaker
if if If we could grow up with that, you could accept that they look slightly older. you You can accept that a group of actors in their very early twentyies our high school seniors.
00:19:11
Speaker
Of course, there, there is also the, the gross objectification of Millie Bobby Brown, uh, of people complaining. ah Subset, ah subset of that group, which connects with other disingenuous critiques.
00:19:27
Speaker
Yeah. like, well, she's had, she's had so much work done. You can see it. It's like, Oh my, just stop. Just stop. Then there's the people that was like ah They should have stopped this a while back.
00:19:42
Speaker
Or like, what if they did something different? it It's like, well, I don't know. Are you running one of the most popular franchises of the past decade? Now, I will admit, there is one original bad faith complaint that I have seen.
00:19:58
Speaker
And that is the Duffer Brothers, showrunners of Stranger Things, created a stage play that basically gives you the backstory and origin of Henry, a.k.a. Vecna.
00:20:13
Speaker
And they've said that it's canon. And a few small elements of that play have been referenced in context.
00:20:25
Speaker
you the The show has provided context for it this season. They have given the reference And, you know, people like, well, if they were going to make us have to watch the play to understand everything, then Netflix should have put it on, on the service, rather than...
00:20:49
Speaker
than it just being in London and New York, because it's not fair for them to to make this required viewing for us to understand everything that's going on. You know what? I have not seen the stage play. I understand everything that's going on just fine.
00:21:07
Speaker
that can... i i can And one of the few times I'll be like, okay, I can see the perspective of like, especially since this show has such a dedicated fandom and theorizing behind it.
00:21:20
Speaker
So not having a having all the pieces to a puzzle can definitely feel bad to those who like make their whole, who have get a lot of enjoyment out of the putting the pieces together.
00:21:34
Speaker
But here's the thing. None of the pieces that are quote-unquote missing fit the Season 5 puzzle.
00:21:46
Speaker
Any of the pieces that belong to the Season 5 puzzle have been given to us in the episodes. Exactly. can understand more if they didn't include these oh these references to it. And there's probably more in the episodes I haven't seen yet.
00:22:05
Speaker
But it's like, and like you said, I understand what's going on. But I can also understand like, yeah, some people would like, yeah, I would like to have these pieces so that part of the their enjoyment is putting those pieces together before they fit in.
00:22:18
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the the elements from the play are no more vital to the season than... going to draw a comparison here. People complained, or one of the disingenuous complaints about the Marvels,
00:22:35
Speaker
was that if you didn't watch WandaVision or Ms. Marvel, you were completely lost. But no, you weren't. Everything that you needed to know about Monica and Kamala and their whole story, and... Up to that point, where you can jump on.
00:22:58
Speaker
Anything that was pertinent to the movie of the Marvels was... explained and summarized in the marvels same thing with uh with everything about uh the falcon and winter soldier going into captain america brave new world yeah all you need to know that happened in as well yeah you got all the information you needed and guess what if you wanted to see more of that and get more context then here's another story over here.
00:23:33
Speaker
But i I am looking forward to the finale. I am too. it's again it's there's it's going it's Again, it has a lot riding on it, considering how many people have been waiting for this, how long it's been going on for.
00:23:50
Speaker
oh I've heard it. I just remembered another ah bad faith complaint that I read just this morning that Netflix should have released released the final season on a weekly release schedule one episode per week ah because no here's what here's where it gets fun stay with me now okay because usually I am on I'm more in favor of a weekly release so so am I so am I but stay with me here okay
00:24:27
Speaker
Episode four, the last episode of volume one of the final season, felt like a mid-season finale, so it wasn't that jarring to have to wait a month between Thanksgiving and Christmas for volume two.
00:24:45
Speaker
But the end of episode seven, the last one before the finale, doesn't feel like a natural break point. So it's not as effective leading into the finale. And I'm like,
00:25:01
Speaker
But the wait between those two episodes is is one week. It's one week, exactly the same length of time that this person was advocating for being between each episode. Yeah, nothing changes.
00:25:19
Speaker
Yes. Nothing changes at all. Yes. or Except for you waiting to see that episode and... No, that doesn't even change.
00:25:32
Speaker
It doesn't even change. It doesn't even change. And I countered with... and And you don't know this yet because you haven't gotten to that episode. And I'm not giving any spoilers here.
00:25:45
Speaker
But the structure of that penultimate episode... is pretty much the same as every penultimate episode to a season or series in genre television for, again, the last 25 to 30 years. Yeah, like, eyes I'd be so considering how big of a finale it is going to be. It's like, I was expecting, like, okay, so this will just be a penultimate episode.
00:26:19
Speaker
getting us into this perspective, kind of getting all the ducks in the row so that we can fire off on all cylinders into the ending. Exactly. And that's exactly what it is.
00:26:30
Speaker
It's not supposed to be a big, you know, oh my God moment to... It's setting up. It's setting up. It's the peak. it's like it's the It's the moment before the big dip in the roller coaster.
00:26:46
Speaker
Yeah, it's not supposed to be this big, oh my god moment to give you an incentive to come back a month later. It's also like, we are, the next next week is going down.
00:26:58
Speaker
Yeah. So and that that's how a penultimate episode works. i I honestly don't know if all of this is a lack of media literacy or the the nature of how like release schedules have been so tough chains entirely due to streaming platforms.
00:27:19
Speaker
Or the second screen problem. Mm-hmm. How many people are watching Stranger Things specifically, but anything as a whole while they're scrolling their phone?
Viewer Consumption & Release Strategies
00:27:35
Speaker
And so they're not really paying attention to the show that they are quote-unquote watching? Entirely possible. yeah That's more difficult to tell, but it is something that I've noticed. Yeah.
00:27:48
Speaker
Well, and so what one of the one of the bad faith complaints is that the writing is bad. And without going into spoilers.
00:28:01
Speaker
of For episode seven, one of the complaints is why does scene X happen? Scene X doesn't have anything to do with the plot. It doesn't have any bearing on the story.
00:28:16
Speaker
Why did they grind the episode to a halt to spend five minutes on this? Well, right before that scene and at the beginning of that scene, the character who is the focus of that scene says in so many words,
00:28:40
Speaker
This is why I am doing this right now. Because they have to spoon feed, the writers have to spoon feed that second screen audience who isn't paying attention the reasoning for why things happen.
00:29:02
Speaker
and that is like a thing that I have a lot of problems with, like especially with people that are like, Like coinciding right now is the newest season of Amazon's Fallout TV show.
00:29:13
Speaker
Which I haven't started watching yet. Enjoying it so far. But I've seen some people be like, why is X like this? Why is Y like this? It's like, well, this is going, this is an episode by episode, week by week episode release instead of all at once like last season.
00:29:30
Speaker
So like, well, you got to wait till next week. You know, to figure out where all this fits together. Maybe to try and make you think about what's going to happen next week.
00:29:42
Speaker
Maybe next week's episode will give more context to figure out what happened in this week's episode. And that's been one of the other complaints about the material from the Stranger Things play. It's like, well, this point, this point, and this point from the play haven't even been mentioned in the show.
00:30:03
Speaker
and I'm like, okay, we still have a two hour finale to go. And the points that you are bringing up specifically are the kinds of things that would fit in the what we are expecting from the finale, or they may just not be pertinent to this season of TV.
00:30:25
Speaker
Exactly. It's entirely possible that not all the pieces to the puzzle are going to be used. And so I... It's one of those things that i I try not to engage with this bad faith nonsense.
00:30:44
Speaker
But sometimes you can't help but but say, put your phone down when you're watching it and pay attention because the things that you are saying needed to occur.
00:30:58
Speaker
or be patient. Yes. And have a little bit of faith. Yeah. That the story is going to tell you what is going on If you're confused right now, that's probably because they want you to be confused right now.
00:31:16
Speaker
And I'm not going to talk about the complaints about Stranger Things anymore. We could spend a whole episode on bad faith complaints. But that's a whole different conversation. But it's like, needless to say, I haven't finished this current batch, but I'm really excited to and going to be really excited seeing this finale.
00:31:36
Speaker
Yeah. And another show that I was really excited for in 2025. And we're not having to wait overly long for the next season because it's coming out in just like a week and a half from when we record this. And I don't know if you ever got around to watching this, but I know that you heard me.
00:32:04
Speaker
I've seen three episodes of it. I, yeah I know that you heard me raving about this all year long ever since it started.
The Pit: Realism in Medical Dramas
00:32:12
Speaker
I've seen three episodes of it. I just haven't finished it.
00:32:15
Speaker
And that is The Pit. it it's it's From what I've seen, really good. Really good. Oh yeah. I, I, that's, that is a show that I almost wanted the Netflix release model of drop the entire season at once.
00:32:34
Speaker
Because yeah when every veins, yes, when every episode was over, my wife and I looked at one another and said like, okay, is it next Thursday yet? Over, over the holiday weekend, HBO was running a marathon of season one. So I caught probably half of season one again.
00:32:58
Speaker
And it was just even knowing what was coming, it was just amazing, amazing, great performances. ah There has been plenty said since it premiered about how it is the most realistic medical drama to ever be on. plenty has been said about its origins ah being conceived as and a revival of ER r and the legal hurdles with the Michael Crichton estate, not letting them make it and a revival of ER. r
00:33:40
Speaker
And it's just astounding. And there, there is a three episode arc that, in the bottom third of the season about the emergency department at the hospital that it's all set in dealing with a mass shooter event.
00:34:03
Speaker
And it is a wild, wild ride, so much so that those three hours of TV. So for anyone who hasn't seen it, let me quickly explain one of the conceits of the show.
00:34:17
Speaker
Kind of like 24 in the early 2000s, the 15 episode season one of The Pit takes place in real time, covering a single 15 hour shift in ah in a hospital emergency room. And...
00:34:38
Speaker
Those three hours are so tight and so much happens that as it was going on, A, i didn't remember it being three episodes. I thought it was two because I was going to have to leave to take my dad to the airport. And I was like i was looking at the time and I was like, okay, I'll be in plenty of time to see I'll at least get to see Robbie have his breakdown.
00:35:01
Speaker
No, no, no. I thought that was the end of the first episode. That's the end of the second one. And we had to leave as the second one was starting. So it's just incredible. It deserved its Emmy win for best series. And I am convinced that that three episode arc is what pushed it over the edge to win the Emmy.
00:35:25
Speaker
and I'm excited to get to that because you've you've raved about that that arc this whole year, basically. Oh, it it is incredible. um And, you know, little secret here. Spoilers.
00:35:40
Speaker
While we're recording this, I have the TV in the room here on and the sound off. And TNT has been running the pit. And it is on one of the, it is on the second episode of the mass shooter arc right now.
00:35:59
Speaker
And I'm looking up at it and, you know, i'm I'm not watching it. I'm paying attention to the recording, but I'm like, man, this show was good. And I'm looking forward to next week when season two premieres.
00:36:12
Speaker
and Any other TV that you wanted to bring up before we move on to movies?
Star Wars: Andor & Fandom Reactions
00:36:20
Speaker
Andor. How could I forget Andor?
00:36:23
Speaker
I am ashamed of myself. I am ashamed of myself. Andor was also amazing. I am not going to so far go so far as to be one of those people who says, this is what all Star Wars should be like now and forevermore.
00:36:42
Speaker
Because no. There's a variety of rooms for different types of Star Wars in Star Wars. Exactly. yeah this probably there some of the most intriguing and intense Star Wars projects? Yes.
00:37:01
Speaker
Without a doubt. Without a doubt. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it deserves watch. At least a try. It also had... i won't say that it had so much bad faith criticism because for better or for worse, it was right up the alley of the people who generally give the bad faith criticisms to yeah Star Wars in general.
00:37:31
Speaker
The one thing... and I alluded to it already, that kind of came into being, but you know I don't agree with, is you have the people, and we saw this happen with The Mandalorian too, oh that once there is a Star Wars project that the the usual suspects actually like, then they decide that whoever was responsible for that project
00:38:02
Speaker
should be in charge of everything Star Wars now and forevermore. We saw it with Mandalorian. Oh, give the keys to to Favreau and Filoni. Well, Filoni is now the chief creative officer at Lucasfilm, and now they hate him.
00:38:18
Speaker
ah Now they hate him, and they want him to go away, and they want him to stop doing everything, because now their golden child is Tony Gilroy. Mm-hmm.
00:38:31
Speaker
And now Tony Gilroy should be in charge of everything Star Wars. Newsflash, Tony Gilroy doesn't want to be in charge of everything Star Wars. Tony Gilroy was vaguely familiar with Star Wars when he made Rogue One and then conceived of Andor.
00:38:48
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know on the press junkets for Andor, he let it be known that, you know yeah, he he came to appreciate Star Wars and has fun with it now. But I'm going go back. I'm going to be old school here.
00:39:03
Speaker
Tony Gilroy is to Star Wars as Nicholas Meyer is to Star Trek. Yeah, that's that's... In that Nicholas Meyer was not a fan of Star Trek when he was hired to make Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan.
00:39:21
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Nicholas Meyer did not share Gene Roddenberry's optimistic appraisal of the future. And so he did not hold Star Trek precious.
00:39:36
Speaker
He did not have any particular love of Star Trek. So he was, and granted at the time that he made Wrath of Khan,
00:39:48
Speaker
There wasn't much Star Trek backlog to begin with. He was not afraid to do things outside of the Star Trek formula while still kind of working with what he understood the Star Trek formula to be. Because you Spock wasn't precious to him. So when Leonard Nimoy comes to him and says, hey, I'm really tired of playing Spock. I'll only do the movie if you kill him off.
00:40:23
Speaker
Myers' response is, okay. And Tony Gilroy is to Star Wars that same kind of thing. He doesn't hold Star Wars precious.
00:40:34
Speaker
But at the same time, unlike some other recent Star Wars creators, I'm not going to say J.J. Abrams' name.
00:40:46
Speaker
he made He made use of the story group and the other resources that he had. So he did not step on anything that had come before and used what had come before.
00:41:04
Speaker
So like in season one, ah you know there was a reference guide that had given Cassian Andor's home planet. yeah and the story And the story of season one changed that.
00:41:17
Speaker
But he threw in a line saying that what was in that reference guide was what his adoptive mother yeah claimed to be where he was from. And and yeah we there would There was already in Star Wars lore, even post-Disney rebooting of the canon, there was the Gorman Massacre yeah that played an important part in the actual springboard of bringing all these disparate rebel groups together into a single rebel alliance. It was mentioned in the Rebels animated series even.
00:41:59
Speaker
yeah And that stemmed from like a 1980-something, I don't remember when the specific book came out, the Imperial Sourcebook, from the old West End it Star Wars roleplay.
00:42:17
Speaker
And the details of it were different than what they were showing in Andor, but Andor made reference to that. That was a tragedy that had occurred previously in the planet's history.
00:42:33
Speaker
And there was a monument to it and all of that. And now another massacre is happening we in the same place.
00:42:45
Speaker
Yeah. So two for the price of one. Yeah. But you know it it was a It was really good. And like you say, there's room for all sorts of different flavors in Star Wars.
00:42:58
Speaker
But yeah, just ah just a big recommend from from us here on that. I'm sorry. I went off on on like a major, major tangent there. If you want to throw anything in, go right ahead. Oh, no, that's good. that that Honestly, if we if we talked about Andor, we'd be talking about Andor all day.
00:43:17
Speaker
Yep. So we ready to move on to movies then? Yes.
2025 Film Highlights: Sinners & Weapons
00:43:23
Speaker
Cool. So the first two that we're going to talk about were things that came up and were surprises and kind of slipped under everybody's radar.
00:43:35
Speaker
And I am sure that we're going to be seeing a lot of them in a few months at the Oscars. Yeah. And first up of those is Sinners.
00:43:49
Speaker
um A real surprise far sleeper hit. It's going to be, if it's not at the Oscars, it's definitely already making Waves is like a ah cult classic.
00:44:02
Speaker
Oh, yeah. ah I have even forgotten what it was that one of the big blockbusters that was going into movie theaters and was kind of truncating Sinner's IMAX run and people were mad.
00:44:20
Speaker
And like, like, well, the it's, what was it Superman? think it was. That it's like Warner Brothers made these contracts, not, they they were expecting Superman to be a hit, but they weren't expecting Sinners to be as big of a hit as it turned out to be.
00:44:44
Speaker
And there's only so many IMAX screens and you have to make contracts and cycle movies in and out of a IMAX. Mm-hmm.
00:44:58
Speaker
you but yeah, Sinners is a true testament to word of mouth. It's still some of the best promotional marketing that there is there. Out there, yeah. Yeah.
00:45:12
Speaker
it's There's no replacing it. Again, amazing performances in the movie. oh yes incredible It's incredible. It's definitely coming up up for at least at least nominations.
00:45:27
Speaker
And, I mean, you you have Haley Steinfeld who fought for her role in the movie. That pretty much, if nothing else does it, that is going to push her into the the next level of of roles where she's not doing you know the cute teenager slash early 20-something.
00:45:52
Speaker
Yeah. And I wouldn't be surprised. It you gave it gave her some chops. And I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up getting Oscar nomination herself.
00:46:06
Speaker
if not a win, which ah hopefully Marvel locked her into one of their infamous long-term contracts to be Kate Bishop.
00:46:18
Speaker
Because if she didn't, she's going to become more expensive if she wins yeah an Oscar for Sinners. She's going to become much more expensive. yeah Angela Bassett was already expensive.
00:46:34
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Because she had already won her Oscar. She's going to become much more expensive to the notoriously cheap Marvel. But I loved it. I did not know, because I didn't see it until it hit HBO, I wasn't able to see it in theaters, even though I wanted to.
00:46:52
Speaker
or like It was worth seeing it, yeah. ah Well, what I was going to say is, I knew more or less what it was about going in. Whereas if I had seen in the theater, I would not have known.
00:47:09
Speaker
And it it would have been a case of... Its marketing did not give away its... Spoiler alert, everybody. It did not give away the vampire twist in its marketing.
00:47:27
Speaker
And that you know thinking back you know another couple decades again, That's exactly how From Dusk Till Dawn should have done it. Yeah. From Dusk Till Dawn should not have given away the vampire twist.
00:47:42
Speaker
Because it's it did so well hiding it. I hid that from my friends when I first showed it to them back in high school. Because the only at that point, the only Tarantino film they'd seen before was ah Reservoir Dogs.
00:47:55
Speaker
So they they had no idea what they were getting into until like that happened. It like, yeah, that's how you have to do it. the The scene in their club where the music draws in for want of a better term, spirits from different points in time, past, present, and future, was just an amazing sequence. I loved it.
00:48:20
Speaker
And for those of you who haven't seen it, and sorry we spoiled the twist for you, I will advise you... way more than just a twist. It's way more than just a twist. if you're If you're watching it on HBO, please do yourself a favor and ignore the fact that it minimizes down during the credits and watch the post-credits scene. Yep. Because HBO minimizes down whether there's a scene or not.
00:48:48
Speaker
For some reason. which yeah For some insane reason. So do yourself a favor and do that. that Then there was another sleeper this year in weapons.
00:49:00
Speaker
where like i' I'd been following. It was less of a sleeper for me because it they this script has been passing around in like the horror scene for a while.
00:49:11
Speaker
Have you had a chance to see it yet? Yeah, I saw it. Okay, awesome. i last Last I had asked you about it, you hadn't seen it yet. so i But I definitely heard of Weapons has been around in like the talk of like horror fans for a while.
00:49:29
Speaker
he's like i People were jumping and it was... It's a great movie. It is. And I love its i love its structure.
00:49:41
Speaker
Yeah. like there is the that it is the way that the The structure is made to deliver maximum tension. Yeah. It's not exactly non-linear, but it's more overlapping with some non-linear elements.
00:49:59
Speaker
it's not I'd say it's more non-sequential than non-sequential. Everything yeah does fit in together, but you're sewn pieces out of place.
00:50:11
Speaker
Right. the The tension in it was just palpable. I love that we are going to get a prequel with Amy Madigan's character. Oh yeah. like We need it.
00:50:25
Speaker
Because there's not much you can do with any of the other characters as a sequel. Or anything. In fact, in fact they kind of it kind of wraps up at the end. So it's more interesting to go before.
00:50:36
Speaker
I mean, there's no kind of. It wraps up. Yeah. i Ain't no coming back from that. It has a nice little bow on it. It does.
00:50:47
Speaker
It does. but it's like But it's like, okay. But there's a story that we could tell beforehand, clearly. we And people like were like, but we need more. We can't have more after, can we have more before?
00:51:00
Speaker
And now, after seeing it, i I learned that the trailer is basically the opening two minutes of the movie.
00:51:14
Speaker
Oh, it is. it is. like The trailer was so was amazing. it everyone's been like The trailer already was really good at hooking people. It was like, you get...
00:51:24
Speaker
You get maybe, you get the idea of a premise. ye now the The downside to people being able to watch it at home now is that um there's a very good chance that there will be a lot of second screen viewing.
00:51:41
Speaker
ah and And people aren't going to be able to follow it. And then they're going to complain about how horribly written it is. You need to pay attention.
00:51:53
Speaker
There's a lot of clues. There's a lot of... It's very much if you... It benefits from a second watch as well. it's like things that you didn't clock before.
00:52:06
Speaker
You make even
Marvel's 2026 Films & Speculations
00:52:08
Speaker
more sense. It's like, okay, now I see how that all ties in. Yep. For sure. and it's just... It's a good tense-filled... Filled... Intense... Frill...
00:52:22
Speaker
ride a movie. Yep. With some stand-up performances. Very, very much. Very much. And we we also you had Marvel coming back to theaters in 2025.
00:52:39
Speaker
ah First off with Thunderbolts, which we did a whole episode on, so we're not going to talk about it too terribly much. We we said most of what we had to say about it then.
00:52:53
Speaker
we also had Fantastic Four First Steps. we have fantastic four first steps Which we also did a whole episode on, so we know won't talk much about it.
00:53:06
Speaker
But that was all leading into another big year for Marvel. Yep. Marvel it in 2026 will have first up, and and the the order of these two flipped this year.
00:53:22
Speaker
First up, we're going to be having Spider-Man Brand New Day, which... They're actually they're they're doing a better job than they did with No Way Home of keeping mum about the secrets of this movie. Which is no small feat when your star is Tom Holland.
00:53:43
Speaker
I assume they just just sedate him and and just put him in ah in a box. they They sedate him, put him in a box, and send him home to Zendaya every night?
00:53:54
Speaker
Mm-hmm. and say, keep his make make sure that he keeps his mouth shut. Now, the the one thing that I will say, you know things that we do know about it is we know that that the Hulk is going to be in it, and we know that the Punisher is going to be in it.
00:54:10
Speaker
And I just want to ask, even though I love the MCU Spider-Man movies, is it too much to ask to have an MCU Spider-Man movie where he isn't a guest star in his own movie?
00:54:26
Speaker
Can we have a Spider-Man movie with just Spider-Man and not have the movies be Marvel team-up? No. We can't? It's it's it's not allowed.
00:54:39
Speaker
Okay. Then just call them Marvel team-up. Don't call them Spider-Man. Because that was the Spider-Man team-up book for years.
00:54:50
Speaker
Yeah. Just call it Marvel team-up. Although now that I think about it, I do think it's kind of funny that the Hulk is guest starring in Brand New Day and Spider-Man and Hulk are the characters that Marvel has to be the most careful about having solo movies.
00:55:09
Speaker
hey were ah and And then there's all of the speculation about Who is Sadie Sink going to be playing? I've heard people say, oh, we think she's going to be Jean Grey. No, we think she's going to be Firestar. No, she's going to be an actual Mary Jane. Oh, she's going to be Gwen Stacy.
00:55:30
Speaker
i don't know. I don't know who she's going to be. Just let me see the movie and find out. want to see the movie. Yeah. but The movie. Yeah. Let me see the movie and find out. They're doing a very good job of keeping of keeping quiet about what she's playing. mean what's the worst It's not like they're going to introduce Paul.
00:55:49
Speaker
Don't even speak that into existence. Opening scene of Spider-Man Brand New Day. Peter you know makes a trip to Boston to check in on MJ and Ned at MIT and maybe try once again to tell them who he is. And MJ has a boyfriend named Paul, complete with man bun.
00:56:12
Speaker
There you go. You just willed that into existence, Nick. That's all you that's all on you. But then the other biggie, that they have coming after Brand New Day is Avengers Doomsday, which boy, the masses have turned on Marvel.
00:56:29
Speaker
not Doomsday. The same people who were complaining all through phases four and five about we don't care about the new characters. We want to see the old characters that we love.
00:56:46
Speaker
So what's Marvel doing? They're bringing back They're bringing back Robert Downey Jr. but as Doom rather than Tony Stark. And they're bringing back Chris Evans as Steve Rogers.
00:56:59
Speaker
And they're bringing back Chris Hemsworth as Thor. It's isn't surprising if you saw a dead bull in Wolverine. Yeah.
00:57:10
Speaker
But now people are complaining, well, Marvel is just, you know they're so desperate that they're going back to to the old actors. That's what you told them that you wanted. That's what that's what thing it's that's what you wanted. You wanted everyone back.
00:57:29
Speaker
Now they're back. And you're unhappy that they're back. And it's like, we haven't even seen what they're back here for. we haven't even seen any scene of of Downey's Doom yet. And people are like, I'm intrigued. I'm like, okay.
00:57:46
Speaker
It's an unconvincing choice. Yeah. Yeah. So I want to see what they do with it. Steve coming back. Do we even know if it's our Steve? No. Well, I think it is. And here's why.
00:58:01
Speaker
When Avengers Endgame came out and the Russo brothers were doing press and writers Marcus and McFeely were doing press,
00:58:12
Speaker
Those two camps had different ideas about old Steve at the end of Endgame. The Russos said, no Steve going back in time created a branch timeline.
00:58:26
Speaker
So he did not he was not living in the background of the MCU u this whole time. He was over in a branch timeline. Marcus and McFeely said, oh yeah, no, he's been there the whole time.
00:58:39
Speaker
And the Russos had said after Endgame was done, you know it's going to take a big idea to bring us back.
00:58:50
Speaker
It's going to take something huge to bring us back. And they have said that ah Marcus and McFeely are no longer longer working as a writing team any longer.
00:59:02
Speaker
But McFeely is one of the writers on Doomsday. And the Russos have said that they got a call from McFeely who said, i have an idea.
00:59:15
Speaker
And after hearing their idea, they said, sign us up. And like the Russo said they wanted to come back for Secret Wars specifically. So in the initial end game, it's like if they said that we're done with Marvel, but if they do Secret Wars, we want in. that's Obviously, that's the next movie after Doomsday.
00:59:37
Speaker
So a lot of the the speculation out there is that the big idea that brought them back is that what's going to kick everything off is that inherent paradox of their two ideas ah for of resolving that paradox.
01:00:00
Speaker
That Steve going back in time and staying there did create, yeah basically it kick-started in an incursion yeah by by having that paradox.
01:00:13
Speaker
So we'll see. We'll see come December. ah I've seen a lot of people say this. Also like it being in December, a big shift up from every previous Avengers flick.
01:00:26
Speaker
Yep. Which have been whole blockbuster summer blockbusters. Now I, ah I've heard a lot of people say this and I agree with it. As we know right now with the new Avatar, Fire and Ash each week,
01:00:43
Speaker
they're dropping a different teaser for Avengers Doomsday at the beginning of Avatar, Fire and Ash. I would, I think it would be really, really awesome if we see no other promotion for Doomsday until like October.
01:00:59
Speaker
Oh yeah. Like I suspect there'll probably be, if there's going to be anything, it will probably be a, be a Super Bowl trade teaser. But I think there are about all teasers throughou this i'd say just run all the teasers for fire and ass during the Super Bowl.
01:01:15
Speaker
Yeah, or put them together in one super cut. Yeah. No pun intended. Yeah. And I think they should do that. But I mean, not no new promotion until like October.
01:01:31
Speaker
Yeah. like don't Don't give us a full trailer until like October. Now, unfortunately... I say unfortunately. What we will probably see is we'll probably be see something at the beginning of Brand New Day.
01:01:48
Speaker
Likely. we we' We'll probably see... Or they could put what they did at the end of of no what of No Way Home. The full trailer is... A proper trailer is the end.
01:02:03
Speaker
is the post-credit scene. Yeah. I was about to say that too. you know so Or you know there will there will be some kind of post-credits scene that leads directly into into Doomsday.
01:02:17
Speaker
ah you know I would love if that wasn't the case, but it probably will be.
Supergirl & Female-Led Superhero Films
01:02:24
Speaker
it is it It's the only movie of the year. The only thing that's going towards it, it like they can't turn down that level of... People are going to be judging for that hype.
01:02:37
Speaker
Yep. they They cannot let the hype train pass them by. As much as I feel that like the hype would build more, the less is more.
01:02:48
Speaker
And speaking of building up hype, we also had Superman this year. Mm-hmm. That movie, we also talked about it on this podcast. We have an episode on that, so we we won't say too terribly much.
01:03:03
Speaker
ah but Especially since so the Snyderverse is Yeah, yeah. Snyderverse, totally back. Totally back. If you live in ah if you live at a different timeline.
01:03:15
Speaker
If you live in a dark in an even darker timeline than the one that we're in. That's the one where we have like goat we all have goatees. I already have a goatee, Nick. Does that mean I'm the evil mirrorvert Mirror Universe counterpart?
01:03:32
Speaker
I guess so. who That's leading into you know the next project in the DC universe. It's coming out in 26, which is Supergirl.
01:03:43
Speaker
And we we are surprised. A superhero movie starring a woman, a strong female character.
01:03:56
Speaker
We couldn't possibly be having more bad faith ah takes on on that, could we? no I'm sure people are being completely normal about it.
01:04:09
Speaker
Well, that's the problem. They are being normal when it comes to the current discourse by the usual suspects about a female-led superhero movie.
01:04:23
Speaker
Yes. So that's the problem. Or how Jason Momoa is downgrading from Aquaman to the main man. When it's the part that he wanted in the first place.
01:04:37
Speaker
And like, yeah, I want to see that. I do too. And obviously so does Momoa. and Any superhero movie, and of course, you know, Bad Faith Discourse, any superhero movie that um has a less than noble main character, I guess is the best way of putting it. You know, a character who's who's kind of a screw up and uses an 80s needle drop. Well,
01:05:10
Speaker
That's just Guardians of the Galaxy, man. That's all James Gunn knows how to do. is He can just do Guardians of the Galaxy. Newsflash, James Gunn neither wrote nor directed Supergirl.
01:05:20
Speaker
It's true. But yeah, I'm excited for that. It's going to be an interesting project. I'm just enjoying how he's been running the writing ship right now. how he's been running the ah writing sip right now now Speaking again of being behind on reading comics, because I wasn't interested in Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow when it came out.
01:05:43
Speaker
um I do plan to read Woman of Tomorrow before the Supergirl movie comes out, since it is very strongly based on Yeah. On that that. This is one of those rare occasions where they are more or less adapting an actual storyline from the comics rather than just using it as inspiration.
01:06:05
Speaker
Yeah. Like there, there are several books that looks that gun mentioned for the, for this Superman movie, but all them were like inspirations. Not one was like, none of it was like an adaptation.
01:06:17
Speaker
This one is seeming to be much more close to an add adaptation than a period. than an inspiration piece. Right. And i I do like the line in the trailer where she says, you Superman sees the best in people.
Knives Out Sequel & Fan Theories
01:06:37
Speaker
I see the truth. It's like, oh, she's so cynical. I love it. Yep. And it's like, okay, these two, it's it's a a character dealing with like a very different struggle than than Superman does.
01:06:54
Speaker
Yep. Finally, in movies, the last one that I wanted to talk about, and i I forgot to ask you before we started if you've had a chance to see this one yet or not, since it also I have is i am not.
01:07:06
Speaker
It is brand spanking new. And that is Wake Up Dead Man, or as Netflix insists that it must be called, Wake Up Dead Man, Knives Out Mystery.
01:07:20
Speaker
Which I do want, want if they if they, I want them to commit and have Knives Out be Knives Out Mystery. A Knives Out Mystery.
01:07:31
Speaker
Yes. Go full Lucasfilm Raiders of the Lost Ark renaming. But I won't say too much. And if they make it like a ah complete DVD box set of them all, I just want it to be called Knives Out Mystery box set.
01:07:50
Speaker
So I won't go too much into details with it. But who done it? I'm not going to tell you because it is a who done it. And you haven't seen it yet.
01:08:01
Speaker
I am just going to say that... Was it communism? Communism is just a red herring. ah I really appreciate, you know, we've we've kind of accidentally hit on a theme of bad faith arguments about these things.
01:08:20
Speaker
There's a bad faith argument that, you know, Wake Up Dead Man ah lee leaned too heavily into having a big celebrity cast.
01:08:34
Speaker
it's like It's like, wait, so the franchise that is known for having an all-star cast had an all-star cast, and that was a problem?
01:08:46
Speaker
It's that's kind of that's part of the selling point. It's a whodunit with a big cast of recognizable players. Yeah. That's kind of like the problem. It's kind of like one of those one of the selling points.
01:09:00
Speaker
Yeah. It'd be like going to a Quentin Tarantino movie and not being assaulted by feet. Yeah. i You know what you're getting into. It's like seeing a Zack Snyder movie and expecting it to be played at played at a regular speed yeah i without Without going into into spoilers of um um who who all or you know who did it in this, um I do want to say that one of the one of the more wholesome...
01:09:34
Speaker
bits of discourse that's been going around since wake up dead man came out has been people doing fan castings of knives out for oh you want have a better term one of my favorite I've seen, I've had two favorites.
01:09:52
Speaker
My first favorite is, ah that the dream cast of knives out for uh, daisily Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac. I've heard that. Kelly Marie Tran.
01:10:12
Speaker
Kelly Marie Tran. The cast of The Last Jedi. My other favorite, though, stop me when when you understand the connection here, is Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, Timothy Oliphant,
01:10:32
Speaker
Laurie Metcalf, Scott Foley. Yeah, I get it. All of the killers from the Scream movies.
01:10:46
Speaker
All of the actors who played the killers in the Scream movies. That'd be good. oh that would be that would be beautiful. That would be absolutely wonderful.
01:10:58
Speaker
I would be so in for that. No, but then the twist writes itself that they're all the killer. None of them is the killer.
01:11:08
Speaker
ah
Tributes to Iconic Directors: Reiner & Lynch
01:11:10
Speaker
um Any other movies that you wanted to bring up before we move on to the sad part of 2025? think we've done our best with the movies to talk today.
01:11:20
Speaker
done our best ah with the with the with the movies to talk talk today As always happens in 2025, we lost a lot of big names in the entertainment industry.
01:11:34
Speaker
ah The ones that I have out here, most of them, except for the last one that I have marked down, I just wanted to to mention in passing. And there were, of course, others, other people with big impacts.
01:11:47
Speaker
But um starting off with with comics, ah we lost... the amazing writer of stuff, Peter David. We have a whole episode about that, about Peter David, but we also lost Jim shooter who most famously was Marvel's editor in chief during the eighties when he arguably turned the ship around and Marvel was, was going down and shooter righted the ship.
01:12:23
Speaker
Um, He did not make a lot of friends riding the ship, but he he made Marvel a creative force to be reckoned with again.
01:12:36
Speaker
True. um And, you know, one of those stories where you're like, wow, you know how could, you know, why couldn't this have been my life?
01:12:48
Speaker
He entered comics as a writer when he was like 13 or 14. he He sent an unsolicited story for Legion of Superheroes to DC in the 60s.
01:13:04
Speaker
And they bought it. They had no clue how old he was. And when all was said and done, yo they they hired him. They wanted to bring him up.
01:13:18
Speaker
to the DC offices for a meeting. And he basically said, well, I'm going to have to get my mom to bring me. And they they still, they hired him and he became the regular writer of Legion as a teenager.
01:13:35
Speaker
So he he also is responsible for for better or for worse. I mean, there was a lot of good work there, but it was also the start of the speculator boom of the nineties He founded Valiant Comics.
01:13:51
Speaker
Or he didn't found Valiant. Valiant existed doing licensed video game comics. But he brought superheroes into Valiant.
01:14:03
Speaker
um And so he he made a big impact. um We also, a great big name that we lost, Robert Redford. uh huh And what was really, really amazing to me and made me feel really old was the number of people that I saw on social media who knew him only as Alexander Pierce in the MCU. u Yeah.
01:14:32
Speaker
There's a whole legacy here. There's a whole legacy here, kids. Speaking of another major legacy person, David Lince. We lost him earlier this year. Yes.
01:14:42
Speaker
Yes. I did not have him on my list. Thank you for remembering him. I thought that for some reason I thought he was last year. No, no. it was It was very earlier this year.
01:14:54
Speaker
Lynch is definitely his work is definitely an acquired taste. And it is one that I acquired. Same here in high school.
01:15:05
Speaker
It is something that is. If you haven't seen a David Lentz film, you owe it to yourself. or You may not like it, but you can definitely say that you would, if you ever stumble upon his in the future where you would recognize the style.
01:15:19
Speaker
Yep. I, for a couple of years now, because someone that I was speaking to online recommended it, I've had his memoir sitting on my bookshelf waiting read. I've heard to read very good things about it.
01:15:33
Speaker
Yep. And, And I what I'm going to I'm going to do with it, what I've been doing with most books the last few years in that I am going to um while I read the physical book, I'm going to be listening to the audio book. And he is the reader of the audio book.
01:15:53
Speaker
And i that sounds good. I have found that memoirs and autobiographies really hit me best when you the person whose story it is is telling that story. Makes the most sense. It does.
01:16:12
Speaker
I had that response to Will Wheaton's memoir, Still Just a Geek, and Bono's memoir, Surrender. So i'm going to be I'm going to be listening to the audiobook while I read the physical book.
01:16:25
Speaker
And we also, you just just because he's got a couple of, the man has a super long career, but he has a couple of iconic pop culture genre performances. We lost Terrence Stamp.
01:16:44
Speaker
Who doesn't hear his name and think Neil before Zod? Yep. that This one kind of hit close to home just because i kind of grew up alongside him in the 80s. That was Malcolm Jamal Warner. That one hurt me because Theo Huxtable was my contemporary. Mm-hmm.
01:17:09
Speaker
there's There's also... a I don't want to mention Cosby much, but Cosby's son Ennis, who was the inspiration for Theo Huxtable on the Cosby show, also passed away young. That that impacted Malcolm, and he he became, since since all of that cast were still kind of in contact, He became kind of a surrogate son for Cosby because Ennis had passed.
01:17:46
Speaker
ah Because just like just like on the Cosby show, just like the Huxtables had four daughters and one son, ah the the Cosbys had four daughters and one son. Ennis was the only son.
01:17:58
Speaker
or the big one to me that's on our list, and maybe maybe I'm saying that also just because it's the most recent, is Rob Reiner.
01:18:10
Speaker
Yeah. And ironically, the night before it happened, I was watching Spital Tap 2 The End Continues on HBO. Yeah.
01:18:22
Speaker
There's so much to say about Rob Reiner's directing career. Yeah. But one of the things that I pointed out when I made a social media post was that he was obviously very skilled as a director, but he also, you know how most directors have a style that you can look at it. you You can look at a Steven Spielberg movie and say, that's a Spielberg movie.
01:18:51
Speaker
Yeah. You can look at a J.J. Abrams movie and say, that's a J.J. Abrams movie. You can look at a movie that is in slow-mo and Hallelujah is playing and say, that's a Zack Snyder movie.
01:19:05
Speaker
Yeah. Rob Reiner's movies... didn't have that. And that's not a bad thing. That is a feature, not a bug. Yeah. Because he serviced the stories that he was telling because Princess Bride and Misery and A Few Good Men are all completely different styles of movies. Yeah.
01:19:29
Speaker
Stand By Me is a completely different movie than the rest of them. Exactly. So, you know, it's, he, he was a chameleon as a filmmaker. The only thing that you could tell, and you had to look for an Easter egg to, to see what, you to see if it was a Rob Reiner movie is that in the background, there was always an Easter egg item from his previous movie in it.
01:20:04
Speaker
Like in, in the princess bride, the the hat that he wore on screen as the director of the in-movie documentary is hanging on Fred Savage's bedpost.
01:20:19
Speaker
oh And things like that. there There was a little Easter egg from each of his previous movies in the next one. But other than that, there was no tell. And personally, The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies ever, ever made.
01:20:35
Speaker
it It truly is an ah amazing classic. it It is near-perfect movie. No, it is a perfect movie. I can't help but every time I see Stand By Me, that closing line kills me every time.
01:20:51
Speaker
oh they're that. that you know I've never had friends like I did when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone? Yep.
01:21:02
Speaker
That gets me every time. so you he he will He will definitely be missed, but all of these people have left a body of work for us to remember them by.
01:21:15
Speaker
they we add it will there will be remembered greatly by by those who who hopefully get to enjoy it going into the future. Yep.
01:21:27
Speaker
And that's my 2025 in review for pop culture. Same here. i guess we have reached the close of the episode. So I do want to thank everyone for listening to us over this past little over a year.
01:21:45
Speaker
we started in November 2024. And have we want to thank everyone who has stuck with us. um we We have some ideas for 2026. We're going to keep going through Clone Watch.
01:22:01
Speaker
We have some ideas about what to do after we finish Clone Wars. ah We've had ideas for a few other shows that we want to look at with some some other cast members.
01:22:15
Speaker
cast and hosts ah in the mix. And we're going to have another awesome year in 2026. In addition to thanking you, we want to ask you to be sure to follow us on socials, Facebook, Instagram, threads, blue sky, and Twitter X, um pick a name. yeah We are casual nerdity, all one word on all of those platforms. And, And you can help the podcast get a larger reach by giving us a review, hopefully a good one, on your podcast platform of choice.
01:22:56
Speaker
Or if you're listening through YouTube, ah do all of those cliche YouTube things. Like, subscribe, ah get notifications, all of that stuff. Yeah, good stuff.
01:23:09
Speaker
Yep, because we want all of those algorithms to get more eyes and ears on the show. Yep. not just thanks for listening, uh, all year long. Thank you for listening to this episode and we will be back next year with all sorts of fun, cool stuff. So thank you all for listening. forward to Thank you.
01:23:29
Speaker
Bye. Bye. So long.
01:23:33
Speaker
This has been casual nerdity. We hope you've enjoyed your time with us and look forward to having back.