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Creature Commandos: Episodes 1-4
330 Plays9 days ago
In this episode, we dive headfirst into the chaotic brilliance of James Gunn’s Creature Commandos. From unraveling the wild backstories of Weasel and G.I. Robot to speculating on its place in the DCU, we take a serious (but not too serious) look at the first four episodes. Plus, some surprise connections to the broader DC universe. Don’t miss it! Streaming exclusively on MAX.
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Transcript
Introduction and Hosts
00:00:01
Zuuuuu
On another exciting episode of the Animation Deliberation podcast, hold on to your butts because Max is going commando. and James Gunn's first project as head of DC Studios, Creature Commandos, is now streaming on Max. We are four episodes in and we're gonna talk about that much more right after these ads, we have no control over.
00:00:22
J Scoots
Sing along if you know the words. One, two, three, it's finally time for animation shu deliberation. A conversation and a celebration of our favorite action animated series. Yeah.
00:00:37
Zuuuuu
Yeah, welcome back to another episode of animation deliberation the podcast where we take action animation of cartoon seriously, but not too seriously We're your hosts.
Creature Commandos Discussion Begins
00:00:44
Zuuuuu
I'm Zuhar Ali And if this show isn't just Embodying our catchphrase of taking things seriously, but not too seriously like this is just peak James Gunn of like Holy crap.
00:00:45
J Scoots
And my name is J. Scottie St. Clair.
00:00:59
Zuuuuu
How did you make me like so locked into something and just make me laugh so hard seconds later?
00:01:05
J Scoots
Yes,
James Gunn's Influence on DCU
00:01:06
J Scoots
yes. Yeah, so this one has been hotly, hotly anticipated and I do think it's worth mentioning in keeping with kind of the history and tradition of this podcast.
00:01:14
J Scoots
We started by talking about talking about a DC animated property in Young Justice and here we have the official launch to the DCU from DC Studios headed by James Gunn in Creature Commandos and
00:01:21
Zuuuuu
Yeah. Mhmm.
00:01:31
J Scoots
With that in mind, I kind of went in with expectations that it was going to... you know be, I guess, sort of a hard reset or something like that. But I think that was a little unfair of me to like level those expectations at it.
00:01:45
J Scoots
So once I very quickly got a sense that, oh, this is just James Gunn you know being fully James Gunn and all of his sensibilities and idiosyncrasies, I was like, OK, now I'm on board.
00:01:46
Zuuuuu
Mhmm. Yeah.
00:01:55
J Scoots
Now that I know what this is. a friend of the show, Haley Hobbs, that's yeah also on multiverse news with me as well as source pages, she used the term soft reboot. And I think that are yeah are yeah soft launch or yeah soft reboot, soft launch, something like that.
00:02:06
Zuuuuu
You know. Okay.
00:02:12
J Scoots
And I think that is the more appropriate way to kind of go into this. Like if you have that mindset about it, like, hey, this is your first foray, but Superman, which yeah we did get the trailer for this week, is going to be the real start to this universe.
00:02:41
J Scoots
Sure. Hey. Ah.
00:02:42
Zuuuuu
perfectly.
00:02:44
Zuuuuu
I was i was corrected by my little cousin who I've been talking to a lot about MCU lately because I thought Creature Commando was going to be like the official start of James Gunn's DCU.
00:02:56
Zuuuuu
But it seems like this is just like I had so much fun with Suicide Squad. I'm just going to make something in that realm of things. I didn't want to end it with just that.
00:03:08
Zuuuuu
But this is also my first opportunity to be just unhinge James Gunn. So let's just go ahead and have fun with that.
Reactions to Trailers and Character Introductions
00:03:14
Zuuuuu
And I think it's it's really interesting comparing like what's happening with the Superman trailer to kind of my reactions to when the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer first came out.
00:03:15
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:03:25
Zuuuuu
Because the only Guardians of the Galaxy exposure that I had before that was Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and it was only like two episodes where they kind of like featured and then you never saw them again.
00:03:25
J Scoots
Okay.
00:03:31
J Scoots
of Okay.
00:03:35
Zuuuuu
So like, I was excited for something new. I saw the trailer and I was like, what the hell did I just watch? Because it was it was just such a different vibe and tone and I had no idea who James Gunn was and what to expect and this and that.
00:03:42
J Scoots
Okay.
00:03:49
J Scoots
Mm hmm.
00:03:49
Zuuuuu
But then the show then the movie happened and in its wonderful MCU standard, like it did a great job of introducing the characters. And then you learned that it was just kind of a James Gunn thing where it's like he does a good job of introducing a lot of characters at once.
00:04:05
Zuuuuu
being able to give them elaborate backgrounds in a way that's relevant and makes you care about each individual and setting up a villain that actually makes you want to hate them as a villain.
00:04:13
J Scoots
Sure.
00:04:17
Zuuuuu
Like there's something about them that's just kind of like, I really hope that you guys are able to beat this guards, the galaxy three being like the prime example of that.
00:04:25
J Scoots
Oh yeah, definitely.
00:04:26
Zuuuuu
I feel like that was that was a good way of seeing unhinged James Gunn.
00:04:26
J Scoots
Definitely.
00:04:31
Zuuuuu
Suicide Squad was just kind of like it was already at like the tail end of DCEU falling apart. And now I'm getting that like fun energy with the Superman trailer where I saw that and I was just like this is gonna be fun.
00:04:45
Zuuuuu
They're introducing so many people to get at the same time, but like, James kind of can just do it.
00:04:46
J Scoots
see it.
00:04:50
Zuuuuu
Like I have all the faith in the world that like, this can start off as a really big thing like Justice League War did, and that it can engage me and actually build something long term off of that.
00:04:56
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:05:01
J Scoots
Yeah, that's interesting because i I actually really love Suicide Squad because I did not like the 2016 Suicide Squad.
00:05:07
Zuuuuu
I like both.
00:05:08
J Scoots
Like, yeah and yeah, I usually like, I'm the guy that like, even like, you know, the movies that are not that great, I'll find something to enjoy out of it. But that's just one, i I'm sorry, I got to be a hater on that one.
00:05:18
J Scoots
I've tried to watch it multiple, multiple times and it
00:05:20
Zuuuuu
Release the air cut. I must see the air cut.
00:05:23
J Scoots
Yeah, I could take it or leave it. So all that being said, while I did have, you know, I kind of erred my grievance out front saying that the start to the DCU is a little bit softer than I was expecting, I actually find myself kind of being grateful for that because it is, to your point, it is kind of so connected to the Suicide Squad and and Peacemaker.
00:05:44
J Scoots
I love, I absolutely love Peacemaker.
00:05:45
Zuuuuu
I still haven't seen.
00:05:46
J Scoots
I think that's one of the best things we've ever gotten. So, know, Yeah, it's, it's ah ah creature commandos does exactly feel like that. He's like, I had so much fun doing suicide squad. I want to do more of that. And just like with guardians, it's like within those first two episodes, because we got the two episodes together and I i watched them together. That's how I did it. By the end of episode two, I was already like,
00:06:08
J Scoots
on some level in love with every single one of the Commandos.
00:06:11
Zuuuuu
Mm hmm.
00:06:11
J Scoots
Some you know stood out a little bit more than others, and some have already exited you know the scene, which we'll talk about. But again, it's just like what you're talking about. James Gunn just has this ability to take a ragtag crew and very quickly endear you to them.
00:06:26
Zuuuuu
Yeah. I mean, just with the newest episode, episode four alone, like creature in the Suicide Squad movie was supposed to be just like weasel.
00:06:34
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:06:39
J Scoots
Oh, weasel.
00:06:40
Zuuuuu
Excuse me.
00:06:41
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:06:41
Zuuuuu
Weasel was just supposed to be kind of like a gimmick, right? Like everything about the Suicide Squad was
00:06:44
J Scoots
Sure.
00:06:47
Zuuuuu
Their backgrounds really don't matter. They're funny. They're reckless. They're going to cause problems.
Character Depth and Storytelling
00:06:53
Zuuuuu
We have a villain in a mission. You go do the thing and then everything's, you know, probably on fire, but good right so the fact that you give me somebody like weasel who was just somebody that i was laughing my ass off in the suicide squad movie and gives such a elaborate background to him now and there's still so much more that we could learn about him it's just it's impressive how guns just be able to consistently do that yeah no one asked for that
00:07:03
J Scoots
Sure.
00:07:10
J Scoots
Right.
00:07:17
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:07:21
J Scoots
Yeah. The fact that you got me to care about weasel at all is a, is a testament to the quality of the show because yeah. Yeah. Yeah. To your point, like within, when the, in the suicide squad, when he died within like the first 10, 15 minutes, the very first one to just like drop out of the helicopter and, and
00:07:35
Zuuuuu
and laughed Yeah.
00:07:38
J Scoots
So so we think we find out at the end of the movie that he actually survived but you know even you got Pete Davidson like what is this a werewolf like I didn't sign up for this but yeah I love all of the characters GI i robot was a favorite but I could kind of tell even from the trailers I was like oh I'm gonna like this guy even yeah episode 3 like they
00:07:59
J Scoots
gave his backstory, made me fall in love with him even more. But then when he did have his sacrifice at the end, it felt okay. It was like, you know what? this This is a happy ending for this character.
00:08:09
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:08:09
J Scoots
He's going out killing Nazis with his friends.
00:08:11
Zuuuuu
When are we going to kill some Nazis?
00:08:12
J Scoots
So.
00:08:14
Zuuuuu
Are those Nazis?
00:08:15
J Scoots
Yeah, which is it's interesting that they have decided to focus in on both characters voiced by Sean Gunn in terms of giving like most of the back story.
00:08:15
Zuuuuu
Can we kill them now?
00:08:22
Zuuuuu
Yeah, right.
00:08:24
J Scoots
Well, I guess we did get a fair amount of backstory for the bride as well as Frank and Frankenstein in that in the first couple of episodes.
00:08:29
Zuuuuu
Mm hmm. Yeah, I think are will all we're missing in terms of a character background, well we're missing phosphorus and we're missing Nina.
00:08:36
J Scoots
Oh, yeah. Yes. To that, I'm very curious and excited to see what's going on with them.
00:08:44
Zuuuuu
we got a little bit of Rick Flag. And that was one of the things that didn't like make me think that this was connected was because I thought that he died, spoilers, in Suicide Squad.
00:08:54
J Scoots
Well...
00:08:55
Zuuuuu
So the fact that it was like his son and they talked about that and you learned about like how he felt about everything and his, you know, experience of why he became a soldier is just like, it's just incredible background storytelling.
00:08:57
J Scoots
Sure. Sure.
Rick Flag Senior and DCU Connections
00:09:07
J Scoots
Yeah, which is we have Rick Flag senior being voiced by Frank Grillo, who's going to appear in Peacemaker season two.
00:09:12
Zuuuuu
Love him.
00:09:15
J Scoots
And don't quote me on this, but maybe Superman. I'm i'm not 100% sure on that one. I do you have to say that I don't think the character model looks all that much like Frank Grillo.
00:09:25
Zuuuuu
Mhm.
00:09:26
J Scoots
But it still is exciting just to you know have that on the table and hear him talk about his son and and kind of the loss there and understand while he is very similar to his son, he's also very different.
00:09:28
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:09:38
J Scoots
And we're already you know getting to see those differences on display. But at the mention of Peacemaker, I do think it's interesting. We talked about it a little bit. like in the same week that we got our very first look at James Gunn's Superman with the trailer, the teaser trailer.
00:09:52
J Scoots
In this the most recent episode of Future Commandos, episode four, they have that scene where it shows Cersei's vision of the future, where Ilana is like taking over, and you have our Superman there dead, as well as a Batman that you can't really make out who he is, but he's being crucified, so...
00:10:00
Zuuuuu
Mmhmm.
00:10:08
Zuuuuu
Because a cloak is like draping over.
00:10:10
J Scoots
Exactly. but And you had Peacemaker on the the ground on the ground there, too.
00:10:14
Zuuuuu
Wonder Woman was on a stake as well.
00:10:16
J Scoots
She was. Yes. Yes.
00:10:16
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:10:17
J Scoots
yeah
00:10:18
Zuuuuu
One thing that I want to bring up before I forget, when we were going through the the time skip of Bride
Historical References and Cameos
00:10:26
Zuuuuu
running away from Frankenstein, how it was like all the different years and different things that were going off like in history.
00:10:32
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:10:32
Zuuuuu
the fact that they were in front of the mystery machine for Scooby-Doo like being in the background had me dying because it was so quick but it's like oh yeah this is still Warner Brothers stuff like they have the ability to like throw things like that in there so it was just like these different wars and different points of times you see the 20s then it's like the industrial age then it's like oh Scooby-Doo
00:10:43
J Scoots
yeah
00:10:54
J Scoots
Yeah, I can't claim credit for it. I think I can't remember what's online. It might have been like IGN or something like that. I saw an article. I didn't even click on the article. I just saw one of like, you know, on social media, they have those. It's a headline with an image. Somebody is claiming that Shaggy was in the background as one of those, uh, one of, Cersei's like acolytes with their, they're supposed to be like proud boys, but they had a different name for him in the show.
00:11:17
J Scoots
I can't remember what it was, but and but it did look like Shaggy in the background, which is hilarious.
00:11:21
Zuuuuu
Oh, yeah, I think I know what you're talking about.
00:11:24
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:11:25
Zuuuuu
Oh, man, that's great. The whole act of the whole premise of them being just a bunch of gun, love and shoot into country boys that are just like easily susceptible, I guess, to follow the cause and just the the appearance and the depiction of it was very entertaining.
00:11:27
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:11:35
J Scoots
Right.
00:11:39
J Scoots
Oh, yeah.
00:11:46
J Scoots
And it's timely, too. There are, you know, certain sections of this country where people are starting to, you know, are, you know, certain groups that feel disenfranchised.
00:11:56
J Scoots
So it kind of makes sense that it's like, hey, give us a country, we'll go off and do our own thing and have this strong Themysciran to to lead the way.
00:11:57
Zuuuuu
Yeah. Yeah.
Music Choices and Creative Expectations
00:12:05
J Scoots
Uh, not to be too nitpicky or anything like that, but one thing that did stand out to me, especially in episode two, it didn't stick out to me as much in the other episodes, but you know, James Gunn, he loves a good needle drop and more often than not, the needle drops work really well for me.
00:12:21
J Scoots
But in episode two, it was like the music was so loud and kind of blaring and I didn't think it actually matched up what with what was happening on screen all that well.
00:12:31
Zuuuuu
Hmm.
00:12:31
J Scoots
So, you know. as much as I love James Gunn he's he's gonna be James Gunn and I feel like sometimes he could benefit from by somebody kind of telling him hey you know let's
00:12:38
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:12:42
Zuuuuu
Dial it back loud.
00:12:43
J Scoots
pump pump the brakes here a little bit like even with like him appearing in the opening credits which yeah he's come out and said and like his defenders have come out and said like that was not his idea to include himself in the opening credits but ultimately he had to give the sign off on that so it's like yeah and it's it is really funny too because the way he like leans back in his chair just like in self-satisfaction like I did that I wrote that it's just like okay buddy yeah
00:12:52
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:12:56
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:13:05
Zuuuuu
Yeah. i I enjoyed it a little bit. I can see where it's just like getting a little cocky.
00:13:14
J Scoots
Sure.
00:13:14
Zuuuuu
Especially because, like I said, like he had he had to cater to the MCU stamp and the MCU way of thinking and perceiving yourself and all that.
00:13:21
J Scoots
Mm hmm.
00:13:24
J Scoots
Mm hmm.
00:13:25
Zuuuuu
So now it's just like, I think there is going to be that point where it's like you're just going to see unchained, fully free James Gunn just kind of like saying what he wants and doing what he wants before he like finally
00:13:38
Zuuuuu
dials it back a bit.
00:13:39
J Scoots
Yeah, yeah, totally. I could see that.
00:13:41
Zuuuuu
So it's one of those things iss like it's entertaining, but it's like, don't don't make us not like you for any reason, because I already try to disconnect myself from like, voice actors and producers and directors and like, id I focus on the story and I focus on the character.
00:13:50
J Scoots
Sure.
00:13:55
Zuuuuu
So it's like, I really don't want to be in a situation where it's like, I'm watching a DC project. It's like, man, I just can't stop thinking about James. and
00:14:01
J Scoots
Oh, yeah. And to be fair, it really doesn't bother me all that much.
00:14:04
Zuuuuu
we got
00:14:05
J Scoots
it's I kind of accept it as like that's part of who James Gunn is for better or for worse.
00:14:08
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:14:09
J Scoots
And I do even think back to I can't remember. It might have been season three, season four or one of the more recent seasons of Harley Quinn. But after we we knew he was going to be the new head of D.C., he put himself in like that most recent I say he put himself but he he voiced the character.
00:14:25
J Scoots
So You know, he signed off on him being in that season of Harley Quinn as well. So it was part of the ego stroke.
00:14:29
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:14:31
J Scoots
It's it's all right.
00:14:32
Zuuuuu
Sure. Just make a really good universe and don't give me any reason to hate you.
00:14:37
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:14:38
Zuuuuu
That's all I can ask for.
00:14:39
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:14:40
Zuuuuu
But I did see his, uh, tweet or his ex or whatever today about, him giving credit to the animator that did that, or like designed it for him.
00:14:41
J Scoots
Well.
00:14:44
J Scoots
Oh, yeah.
00:14:49
Zuuuuu
Like, I guess like somebody just made it and showed it to him.
00:14:49
J Scoots
OK.
00:14:51
Zuuuuu
And then like you said, he signed off on it.
00:14:53
J Scoots
Sure.
00:14:53
Zuuuuu
And then he, they like made like a happy holidays version of it that came after. So i was like that's pretty cool.
00:14:57
J Scoots
Oh, I did see that. Okay. I think, yeah, yeah. I think it was like threads or Instagram or something like that. Yeah.
00:15:04
Zuuuuu
Are
Threads App and DCU Continuity Under Gunn
00:15:04
J Scoots
One of the things, what's that?
00:15:04
Zuuuuu
you active on threads?
00:15:05
Zuuuuu
Sorry. Are you active on threads?
00:15:08
J Scoots
No, no, I'm not on, I get the advertisements for Threads, so I just see the like the little thing, and when I try to click on it, it takes me to the App Store to download it, and I'm just like, yeah, I'm just at that point.
00:15:12
Zuuuuu
Oh, okay. Yeah.
00:15:16
J Scoots
It's like, I feel like Snapchat was like the last new app, and I don't use Snapchat. It was like, I've had so many people ask me to do Snapchat, and I'll like, oh, I won't get it. I'll use it for like a day or two, maybe like a couple of weeks or something like that, and I always just uninstall it, because I'm like, nope, I just gotta to draw the line somewhere.
00:15:35
J Scoots
like I'm a pretty tech savvy person. i'm i'm I'm hip. I'm with it. But when it comes to apps, I'm just like, I got to draw the line somewhere.
00:15:41
Zuuuuu
There's a line. That's fair.
00:15:46
J Scoots
I was going to say one of the things that did. transpire within these first four episodes that I was happy to see as well. Episode four was so focused on the backstory for Weasel.
00:15:58
J Scoots
We finally got more more of Frankenstein, David Harbour's Frankenstein, which as you mentioned, getting to see like the the montage throughout the the decades and the centuries of him pursuing her.
00:16:02
Zuuuuu
and yeah
00:16:09
J Scoots
But The emergence of the the friendship between Frankenstein and Rick Flagg's senior. I'm just, I'm so here for it. It seems like it's going to be awesome. Frankenstein voiced by David Harbor, just doing great work. Like, have you seen Titanic? Misinterpreting when merit when Harry met Sally. I just, I love all that stuff.
00:16:30
Zuuuuu
Yeah, it's definitely been an interesting thing. We've this is what the third third MCU actor that's come over to the start of this project with Grillo, Sean Gunn,
00:16:39
J Scoots
Well, um, so we got, Oh no. So fourth and two, because, uh, I might mess up the pronunciation here, but Ilana is voiced by Maria Bakalov who voiced Cosmo in guardians three.
00:16:46
Zuuuuu
Harper.
00:16:53
Zuuuuu
Oh, okay, nice.
00:16:54
J Scoots
Yeah. She's worked with, with gun a couple of times now. Yeah.
00:16:59
Zuuuuu
Yeah, so it's it's fun to see like a lot of those people who are just kind of like, yeah, sure, we wanted on Hinge JamesCon project. um Yeah, that's gonna be an interesting team up because I guess it's gonna be flag versus.
00:17:15
Zuuuuu
task force m yeah that's that's going to be interesting how that how that plays out i don't see anything ending well especially with like frankenstein or frankenstein's monster um trying to get his bride back and then that's going to be and an interesting an interesting team up
00:17:18
J Scoots
Well, he's yeah, he's going to be trying to save Ilana at least initially. So. Oh, no. no
00:17:38
J Scoots
Well, the show has already showed us that it's not scared to like, you know. it's It's not going to pull any punches when it comes to like sacrificing characters, much like the suicide squad. Like we already lost GI robot Cersei while she's still alive.
00:17:47
Zuuuuu
Yeah That was wild
00:17:51
J Scoots
She's got like what looks like it's going to be a permanent and imprint on her face from Dr. Phosphorus. So yeah, any, Oh yeah.
00:18:01
Zuuuuu
That episode was an episode two of just the birth of bride and the relationship with her and how she was made and Todd and their little escapade and how he tore him apart.
00:18:17
Zuuuuu
I was just like, this is a really good episode.
00:18:18
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:18:19
Zuuuuu
but Damn, is it dark?
00:18:21
J Scoots
Yeah. It's, it's kind of interesting that there's the parallel kind of theme of, somewhat fatherly figures having pseudo sexual relationships.
00:18:32
J Scoots
Cause you have it with like Rick flag senior with Alana. There's obviously an age gap.
00:18:36
Zuuuuu
and
00:18:36
J Scoots
Maybe there's not much of as much of a fatherly relationship as like a protector relationship there.
00:18:40
Zuuuuu
Oh cuz she was very clear about what she wanted Yeah,
00:18:42
J Scoots
Yeah, I just, I'm interested to see if that's going to come back in any way thematically, because I mean, obviously Alana is hiding some stuff and has some secrets, but we'll see.
00:18:53
Zuuuuu
yeah interesting where that goes
00:18:55
J Scoots
Yeah. All right. Anything else you want to say about creature commandos before we move on to some other stuff?
00:19:03
Zuuuuu
Uh, Saoirse looks a lot like Starfire. And when Amanda Waller even said, like, something along the line of like, what is it with you, you know, redhead women dressing like that, I was like, is she actually referring to Starfire?
00:19:07
J Scoots
Okay.
00:19:18
Zuuuuu
Like, does she exist in this world or is there somebody else in the DCEU that I'm forgetting that mit matches that profile?
00:19:19
J Scoots
Huh. I wouldn't be surprised. Yeah.
00:19:28
Zuuuuu
But her calling her out for just the way that he's like, you think you just have all these powers. You can just dress however you want. Like, why didn't you guys like dress more sensible? You're offense to that was just hilarious.
00:19:40
J Scoots
Yeah. Yeah.
00:19:42
Zuuuuu
Makes me curious how our next Wonder Woman's gonna look based off of those remarks.
00:19:46
J Scoots
Oh yeah yeah and that's a good point too because I want to say it's is it called Paradise Lost? I think it is it's yeah we know that there's a a
00:19:54
Zuuuuu
That sounds familiar.
00:19:59
J Scoots
limited or mini series about Themyscira that's in development and we haven't gotten any news on it whatsoever like any casting or anything like that but James Gunn you know and his many many updates and comments as of like a couple of months ago he said like everything that's been announced or that you've heard about is an act of development is being worked on so I have to imagine that's being
00:20:06
Zuuuuu
Hmm.
00:20:21
Zuuuuu
Cool.
00:20:23
J Scoots
worked on, like you said, and I have to imagine the events of the series are being taken into consideration because Cersei is from Themyscira, and it seems like this world is kind of dubious about whether Themyscira actually exists.
00:20:36
J Scoots
But then again, in that death vision, again, we like you said, we saw what looked like Wonder Woman strung up as well. So they
00:20:43
Zuuuuu
So I guess that's good that's gonna be my final point for this is, do we feel like this is part of the new DCU or is it just a James Gunn fun project before we really dive into that?
00:20:54
J Scoots
He, I can't remember what event it was, but he came out somewhat recently with ah ah within like the last month, like three to four weeks and said, creature commandos, everything that's referenced in creature commandos is canon.
00:20:54
Zuuuuu
Because I don't think they're gonna be connected.
00:21:12
J Scoots
So if they refer to it in Creature Commandos, it's canon. So he said like, you know, Peacemaker season one, the fact that they're going to reference it in Creature Commandos, that means it's canon, except for the Justice League scene.
00:21:26
J Scoots
So yeah, it's still, it's, it's, you know, I have just kind of come to the conclusion and accepted that DC is never going to be Marvel in terms of like that tight continuity.
00:21:38
J Scoots
And that's okay. Like I think they're just more interested in the looser continuity and, and exploring else worlds.
00:21:43
Zuuuuu
Don't take it too seriously.
00:21:45
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:21:46
Zuuuuu
Okay.
00:21:47
J Scoots
No.
00:21:49
Zuuuuu
That's interesting.
00:21:51
J Scoots
And if we get to keep Peacemaker around in the great scheme of things, I'm okay with it.
00:21:54
Zuuuuu
If we get more Young Justice and Matt Reeves Batman Stay Separate, I'm happy with it.
00:22:01
J Scoots
Right. Oh, so let's talk about this real, real quickly. But what do you think about the Clayface movie news?
00:22:07
Zuuuuu
I haven't even heard that.
00:22:08
J Scoots
Are you in here? Uh, Mike Flanagan, uh, he's a horror filmmaker, but he's been talking about it since like 2021, but, uh, they gave the green lights a couple of weeks ago for him to develop a standalone clay face movie. So James Gunn said it's a DCU film, but we still don't know if it's like connected to the Reeves verse or, or its own thing or, or guns.
00:22:33
Zuuuuu
I'm just going to take everything with a grain of salt and just see how it plays out.
00:22:37
J Scoots
probably the the smartest course of action you could take there.
00:22:38
Zuuuuu
Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:40
J Scoots
So.
00:22:40
Zuuuuu
I like the idea of a horror director making Clayface, though, and that's coming from the person that has a low tolerance for whorf.
00:22:48
J Scoots
Yeah, I said on multiverse news, but I kind of hope that, you know, a show that we talked about here, Caped Crusader had that awesome Clayface episode. I'm kind of hoping, if anything, they can take some inspiration from that because I thought it was just such a wonderful interpretation and adaptation of the character.
00:23:01
Zuuuuu
Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah, I'll have to work with her. Just don't talk to anybody that may follow you do.
00:23:12
J Scoots
That's right, that's right. All right, well, I know we have some other stuff we wanna talk about, including some listener feedback, but I feel like we can't have the people waiting.
00:23:23
J Scoots
Like they came here for Creature Commandos, obviously, but there was something else that released very, very recently that I feel like we should at least address, and that being Marvel's What If Season Three.
00:23:24
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:23:29
Zuuuuu
yeah
00:23:36
J Scoots
Two episodes are available at the time of this recording, so i you disclose to me that you
00:23:41
Zuuuuu
Didn't 3 draw?
00:23:42
J Scoots
Uh, not, not at this time, it should be available tomorrow morning.
00:23:46
Zuuuuu
Oh, okay.
00:23:48
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:23:48
Zuuuuu
So I guess it will be available by the time of this recording.
00:23:50
J Scoots
and Okay.
00:23:50
Zuuuuu
By the time of this or listening.
00:23:51
J Scoots
Okay.
00:23:52
Zuuuuu
but
00:23:52
J Scoots
Yeah. So you disclosed to me that you have not had a chance to start. What if season three at all, right?
00:23:59
Zuuuuu
I have not.
00:24:01
J Scoots
So I have seen the first two episodes. And if you want to hear my spoilery thoughts, I did join Matthew Carroll on the Marvel Cinematic Universe podcast. But just to give some non-spoilery thoughts, episode one, the you know the episode titles are out there. So I can say these without spoiling. Episode one was, what if Hulk fought the Mech Avengers? And then episode two was, what if Agatha went to Hollywood? And I think episode one,
00:24:28
J Scoots
very, very cool concept. Like, you know, any, any geek or like lover of animation or anime or anything like that. You've got the Avengers and mech suits like assembling to create like a Voltron or yeah.
00:24:38
Zuuuuu
gun dumps gun dumps gun dumps
00:24:41
J Scoots
Megazord Gundam kind of thing. Uh, I think the idea was better than the execution.
00:24:48
Zuuuuu
okay
00:24:49
J Scoots
So, you know, kind of keep that in mind when you go to watch it, I'll be curious to to hear what you think.
Marvel's What If Season Three
00:24:54
J Scoots
Episode two.
00:24:54
Zuuuuu
I mean, that's kind of how I felt about season two of What If. So I guess I was kind of going into this to a low bar, which is why I wasn't like too over the moon like I was for season one.
00:24:58
J Scoots
Oh yeah.
00:25:04
J Scoots
Oh, OK.
00:25:04
J Scoots
Let's see. Yeah. OK. Yeah. Episode two, however, I thought was just the opposite.
00:25:05
Zuuuuu
So yeah, I'm i'm going in with a pretty low standard, but I was just kind of excited when I saw Gundams.
00:25:14
Zuuuuu
Oh, OK.
00:25:14
J Scoots
It was, I loved it. It had some great callbacks to, the greater MCU and some characters and some properties that we haven't had a chance to revisit. So, uh, I just, I thought it was really, really good.
00:25:25
J Scoots
And I think, I think you're really going to like that one. I think there's going to be a couple of sequences that, uh, speak to you and I, I really can't wait to hear what you, you think about those specifically.
00:25:31
Zuuuuu
Okay.
00:25:34
J Scoots
So.
00:25:35
Zuuuuu
Nice.
00:25:36
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:25:36
Zuuuuu
Yeah, because that wasn't huge on Agatha. I enjoyed it, so but I wasn't like blown away by it.
00:25:40
J Scoots
Oh, okay.
00:25:42
Zuuuuu
So yeah, I'm curious to see how that plays.
00:25:42
J Scoots
Okay.
00:25:45
J Scoots
I thought the show overall was, was really, really good. I think it's, uh, in my like top three or four shows, but spoilers for Agatha here. So, you know, in next 30 seconds, if you haven't seen Agatha or not up to date on the Marvel cinematic universe, just tune out real quickly.
00:26:00
J Scoots
But yeah, I think it was episode five when they had, you know, the the reveal that the teen was Billy and had the crown that is like a
00:26:07
Zuuuuu
I screamed.
00:26:08
J Scoots
That's a top 10, just like MCU moment period for me.
00:26:10
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:26:12
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:26:12
Zuuuuu
Yeah. And the song that it dropped to also like everything about that was just like so incredibly executed.
00:26:14
J Scoots
The Billie Eilish. Yeah.
00:26:19
Zuuuuu
It was phenomenal.
00:26:19
J Scoots
Nope.
00:26:22
J Scoots
Agreed.
00:26:22
Zuuuuu
Phenomenal.
00:26:23
J Scoots
That's probably our 30 seconds though. So, all right.
00:26:24
Zuuuuu
Yep. Leave it at that. All right. So we did get a DM from one of our newer listeners from
Listener Engagement and Anime Recommendations
00:26:32
Zuuuuu
Bailey. Thank you for writing.
00:26:33
J Scoots
Nice.
00:26:34
Zuuuuu
Hey guys, first off, great job on the show. I'm relatively new to animated shows, but decided to check out Attack on Titan and Death Note after hearing J. Scottie rave about them as great starter shows. I loved them both, but haven't been able to get into anything the same way since. Just wondering if you had any other recommendations for someone who has really only seen those two up to this point, but wants to explore more. Keep up the great content both here and across the network.
00:26:59
J Scoots
Yeah, thank you for the feedback, Bailey. And I'm i delighted that my recommendations resonated with you. So I was really racking my brain. you know I was like, I don't want to fail Bailey here. I gave them two. I gave them you know a couple of recommendations that really worked out. So and I had a couple here and there, but I kind of dismissed them because what I noticed, I think the through line between Attack on Titan and Death Note is it seems like you like things that are a little more mature, a little darker and a little more violent. So I took that into consideration. My first recommendation.
00:27:34
J Scoots
is a little bit of a lesser-known anime, but it should still be available on Netflix. It has one season out, but it's called Deadman Wonderland. And I'll go ahead and provide the caveat. Unfortunately, it does leave off on a bit of a cliffhanger, but I do i think the the season is worth your time, and I think it will speak to your your sensibilities. So I recommend that one. And then I would also recommend a little bit more of a a more recent one that's available on Netflix. It's not a anime in the traditional sense or style of animation. It it actually use utilizes 3D animation and cell shading, but blue eyed samurai. I think that's got like the story, the character development, the the gripping mystery and and violence that I think you'll really appreciate. So those are my new recommendations for you.
00:28:23
Zuuuuu
That was one where it was like the animation style threw me off even though I was curious, but I've heard like nothing but good things.
00:28:30
J Scoots
That's really good.
00:28:31
Zuuuuu
So I still just knew that.
00:28:31
J Scoots
My only, only being towards it is that the episodes are so long. Like I think every single episode is like at least an hour.
00:28:36
Zuuuuu
I think that's another reason I'm enjoying Creature Commando so much is that like they packed so much into 30 minute episodes.
00:28:38
J Scoots
So you kind of have to.
00:28:43
J Scoots
Yeah, for sure.
00:28:45
Zuuuuu
one that I think both of us can agree on that I'm surprised I didn't think of when she first asked the question is Invincible. Like if she's new to animation in general, I think and um Invincible kind of hits that line perfectly.
00:28:52
J Scoots
Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah, I would say so. If you haven't checked out Invincible, absolutely, absolutely. It's got the continuity, the world building, taking somewhat plucky protagonists and just putting them in scenarios that they really don't belong in.
00:29:13
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:29:13
J Scoots
And I think i think that is actually in keeping with both Attack on Titan and Death Note as well.
00:29:18
Zuuuuu
Death Note.
00:29:18
J Scoots
It's kind of like young protagonists being forced to grow up very, very quickly.
00:29:23
Zuuuuu
Yeah, on the on the anime realm, I told her Demon Slayer is just a great time, especially with like the movies coming to it's going to be a trilogy that's going to be in theaters to wrap up the rest of the story.
00:29:23
J Scoots
And Invincible does the same thing.
00:29:30
J Scoots
Oh, yeah.
00:29:36
Zuuuuu
So it's just a great time to like be able to binge and catch up and be part of that like theater experience.
00:29:36
J Scoots
Uh-huh.
00:29:40
Zuuuuu
That's something that, you know, the listeners are into.
00:29:40
J Scoots
Yeah. Yeah.
00:29:43
Zuuuuu
And then I told her Kaiju No. 8 just to give her something shounen that's new in only one season.
00:29:47
J Scoots
OK.
00:29:48
Zuuuuu
Chainsaw Man is just that unhinged recommendation.
00:29:50
J Scoots
OK.
00:29:51
Zuuuuu
And then Bo Fury is just a really funny, lighthearted one. And then I was surprised that Intel her spy family after that. like That's another great, lighthearted one to add to the diversity chain.
00:29:58
J Scoots
Yeah. Yeah, in terms of diversity, I think Spy Family is a good recommendation just to like, you know, dip your toes in the water and see if you like some lighter fare. But yeah, you mentioned it off here, but I think out of all the recommendations either one of us gave, I do think Chainsaw Man is probably the one.
00:30:15
Zuuuuu
Yeah. The closest that fits to Attack on Titan and Death Mountain, yeah.
00:30:18
J Scoots
Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:20
Zuuuuu
I agree with that.
00:30:20
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:30:22
Zuuuuu
so another show that you have been telling me to watch on Netflix that I finally got all the way through. Delicious and dungeon.
00:30:27
J Scoots
Uh-huh.
00:30:28
J Scoots
Yeah! Woo-hoo!
00:30:28
Zuuuuu
Quite delightful.
00:30:30
Zuuuuu
It really felt like two different shows at that halfway mark though, because it started off just like the adventure of the week and it was just fun and lighthearted, but like when the action hit, it was really good action.
00:30:34
J Scoots
Okay.
00:30:38
J Scoots
Mm-hmm.
00:30:43
J Scoots
Mm-hmm.
00:30:43
Zuuuuu
And then it just got really serious for a while. And I had no problem with that, but like, The first half of it, it would be like, let me watch something like nice and lighthearted before I went to bed.
00:30:54
J Scoots
Sure.
00:30:54
Zuuuuu
And then it just got like so serious and intense with the storyline and the way that I played out that it's like, no, now I actually have to like set time for this.
Review of Delicious and Dungeon
00:31:01
Zuuuuu
It's not the same energy that I was like consuming every day.
00:31:05
J Scoots
Yeah, yeah, it's funny. I was I was trying to get the timeline in my head and I think it's at this point it's it's almost been the better part of a year since I I did my watch of Delitions and Dungeons. So I don't remember a lot of like super specific jokes or beats or anything like that but I do remember you know the story swaths at large. I definitely remember the characters and know how how things kind of played out but just like what we were saying with creature commandos Like this show is very different from creature commandos in terms of like it's not like super raunchy or anything like that. It's very light-hearted Very relaxed kind of fare except for those moments that there are some some
00:31:48
J Scoots
action like you said and and whatnot but what it does have in common with that is it takes a ragtag crew of like really plucky characters and it's just like again I love every single one of our our main group of four there and even as our party starts to expand and and take on some new members and we have people kind of come in and out I even love those characters too like I can't remember the characters name but there's a the female dwarf
00:31:49
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:31:55
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:32:14
J Scoots
that comes back into their party for like at least a little while that has, you know, she's she's working with another, she's being paid by another party to be their their tour guide at this point in time, but really liked her.
00:32:28
J Scoots
Uh, chill Chuck. So great. Since she, of course, the way since she narrates everything he's doing when he's like preparing the dishes and then Leon is just super exaggerated reactions and willingness to just try it everything.
00:32:31
Zuuuuu
yeah She's my favorite.
00:32:41
J Scoots
And then of course, Marcel is kind of like our our group punching bag, unfortunately, but she, she takes it in stride. I mean, she's great. She's great. She's such a source of comedic relief.
00:32:52
Zuuuuu
And I think it is because just on the performance of the voice actor, just everything is just like, what do we have to keep doing this? Just the way that she delivers it every time is just kind of like, oh, you're proportional.
00:33:03
J Scoots
Yeah, yeah. But it is one of those shows. like I just would recommend it to anybody. like When I started watching it, it was something I just look forward to every day. It's kind of like you come home and it's almost like chicken soup for the soul.
00:33:17
J Scoots
it's like It's like as they were preparing the dishes and looking forward to like sitting around a fire.
00:33:17
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:33:22
J Scoots
and enjoying the meal together. It was like, I felt like I was right there with them. It's like after a hard day of work, I can just like, you know, melt into my chair, kick my socks off and have a great time with this, this little party in their dungeon.
00:33:36
Zuuuuu
Yeah, the the quote that lives rent free in my brain is when essentially was in the goblin prison with everyone and he's like looking at the goblins throw away like some of the materials is like you could be making bread out of that give it to me I can make bread bread bread bread bread bread bread
00:33:43
J Scoots
Okay.
00:33:56
J Scoots
That's great. Yeah.
00:33:58
Zuuuuu
There was so many people that wanted to send that one scene alone, too. Every time I go to like a Texas Roadhouse or something, they bring their bows. I'm like, proud!
00:34:07
J Scoots
Oh, I love that. And I do find myself like really wanting to try some of those dishes. I'm like, I would not knock it.
00:34:16
Zuuuuu
Yeah, right?
00:34:16
J Scoots
I would eat that in a heartbeat.
00:34:18
Zuuuuu
Dragonsteak.
00:34:19
J Scoots
Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
00:34:22
J Scoots
Or what was the one where they had like the. It was like the jeweled bugs or something like, well, they were like the candy coins or like the coins that like flew or something.
00:34:32
Zuuuuu
my god do you remember when he when he was like oh yeah these are all the bad ones he was like what's wrong with him it's like well it's actual gold and he like threw it over the edge like why did you tell us that that was so much money oh priceless yeah those first like 10 12 episodes are just just the category of its own it's so great
00:34:39
J Scoots
All right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. no Yeah. Yeah.
00:34:54
J Scoots
Yeah, um I look forward to when that one comes back with a new season.
00:34:58
Zuuuuu
Yeah. staying in the Netflix realm of thing, have you gotten through season two of arcane?
00:35:04
J Scoots
I have not even started it. I'll be honest.
00:35:06
Zuuuuu
Okay.
00:35:07
J Scoots
What about you?
00:35:09
Zuuuuu
I am a few episodes in. I think but I've watched what would have been like the first part because they released it in two halves.
00:35:17
J Scoots
Okay.
00:35:18
Zuuuuu
But on the positives, it's just such an incredible show, like so beautifully animated, the sound, the music. I love that every episode is titled after a song and they just like repurpose that song to this Uh, like fit through the episode like they did that in season one too.
00:35:34
Zuuuuu
but It was just like a cool thing that they just kept going And like I love lincoln park So the fact that heavy is the crown is the first song that they use it and they put in like that lighter tone And really gave her the opportunity to kind of like sing in different ways outside of like the lincoln park norm It says everything about it was just so awesome and the last episode that I watched just like
00:35:37
J Scoots
Okay Nice Okay Yeah
00:35:54
Zuuuuu
Broke me so bad just with how good it was and how everything played out that I was like I and i need to take a little break from this before I keep watching Like no wonder why this was split into as it's just it's such an emotional Show and just hits you in the feels so hard every frickin time Like talk about not pulling punches damn Beautifully beautifully done
00:36:10
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:36:13
J Scoots
Yeah. Yeah. It looks, it looks like they released, uh, the second season and three acts. So on November 9th, they did one, two, three, November 16th, four, five, six, and then the 23rd, seven, eight, nine.
00:36:26
J Scoots
So the full season.
00:36:27
Zuuuuu
Okay, so I've probably gotten to 2x.
00:36:29
J Scoots
Okay. All right. So yeah, the full season should be available on Netflix now. And I just, I just
Arcane Season Two on Netflix
00:36:35
J Scoots
kind of have to own up. Uh, I did mention blue eyed samurai earlier, but Netflix still remains to be the streaming service that like I click on the lease. Like i I have to be very intentional. Like I am going to Netflix to watch something specifically. So, uh, I do want to watch arcane season two. I liked season one very much. Uh, I think I've talked about it on the show, if not, you know, other places, but, uh,
00:36:59
J Scoots
I did think that season one took a little bit to get going. Like it had to do a lot of like set up and world building and episodes one and two.
00:37:05
Zuuuuu
Three episodes.
00:37:07
J Scoots
But once it did that, it was like off to the races and I really, really enjoyed it. So I have no doubt that once I do take the plunge, like I'll be all in and and look forward to that when it eventually does happen.
00:37:16
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:37:20
Zuuuuu
Yeah, that I mean, that was why I didn't start when I did was because the first episode was like it was entertaining, but it wasn't like.
00:37:24
J Scoots
Mm hmm.
00:37:28
Zuuuuu
mind-blowing right so it's like there was others I think Vox Machina came out like the same week or something like season one and we were covering so much at the same time at that point that I was like that just it didn't end up being a priority for me now I'm just like season two is coming out and it's like I'm glad I didn't have to wait three years like everybody else did at the same time it's just like
00:37:33
J Scoots
Very, they were very. Yeah.
00:37:45
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:37:48
J Scoots
yeah i'm I'm realizing right now I'm going to pivot a little bit. I did not include this in our outline doc, but I'm going to call an audible here. I was just thinking about it in terms of like imagining myself like queuing up Netflix and watching Arcane like in one sitting or a bunch of it in one sitting. And one show that I did do that with that released recently that I just kind of forgot about.
00:38:10
J Scoots
On Disney Plus, Pixar's dream production set in the world of
Pixar's Dream Productions Recommendation
00:38:15
J Scoots
Inside Out 2.
00:38:15
Zuuuuu
Mm.
00:38:16
J Scoots
It's only a four-part season. Every episode is like 20 minutes or less. Maybe there might be a couple that are like closer to 30 minutes, but so, so good. So delightful.
00:38:27
J Scoots
Definitely recommend it. Totally worth your time.
00:38:29
Zuuuuu
It's called Pixar production.
00:38:32
J Scoots
Dream productions.
00:38:33
Zuuuuu
Dream productions.
00:38:34
J Scoots
Yeah, so it's all, it takes place obviously like within the world of Inside Out. It's inside Riley's mind, but this is like the team that is responsible for creating her dreams at night.
00:38:44
J Scoots
So they treat it like a full like film production. It's kind of like Hollywood inside Riley's brain.
00:38:48
Zuuuuu
Oh, that looks cute.
00:38:50
J Scoots
It's really, really good.
00:38:52
Zuuuuu
I really miss the old Pixar shorts that used to start at the beginning of a new movie.
00:38:56
J Scoots
Yeah, yeah, me too.
00:38:57
Zuuuuu
I feel like whatever they can do, they're just kind of like in bodies. That is fun.
00:39:00
J Scoots
Mm-hmm.
00:39:01
Zuuuuu
Or Mike's new car.
00:39:03
J Scoots
Ooh, Mike's new car, which one was that on?
00:39:05
Zuuuuu
I don't remember what movie it started before. It was just some, it was just one of those Pixar shorts that like came out before a new Pixar movie.
00:39:08
J Scoots
Okay.
00:39:12
J Scoots
Okay.
00:39:12
Zuuuuu
And it was just 10 minutes of him buying a new car. And like, there was so many buttons, he couldn't figure out like how to turn it on. And he kept pressing buttons that kept doing like random stuff.
00:39:21
Zuuuuu
And it's like Sully was just like walking from the sidewalk.
00:39:21
J Scoots
Is that Mike Wazowski?
00:39:23
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:39:24
J Scoots
Okay, I'm gonna assume that's probably one of the car sequels or Monsters University because those are some of the few Pixar's
00:39:30
Zuuuuu
No, it was much earlier than those.
00:39:32
J Scoots
Okay.
00:39:32
Zuuuuu
It it could have been the first cars.
00:39:32
J Scoots
Cause I haven't seen those.
00:39:36
J Scoots
Maybe.
00:39:37
Zuuuuu
What movie was Mike's new car
00:39:43
Zuuuuu
Oh, it didn't say.
00:39:46
J Scoots
Yeah, whatever.
00:39:48
Zuuuuu
Damage LGBT.
00:39:49
J Scoots
I haven't watched it, but I'm sure it's on Disney Plus, so i will I'll make it a point to go go through and find all those shorts that I haven't seen.
00:39:54
Zuuuuu
Oh, it was included as a bonus feature in the DVD release of Monster's Inc.
00:39:58
J Scoots
There we go, okay.
00:39:58
Zuuuuu
OK. But yeah, it was it was fun, and I think all those Pixar shorts are on Disney Plus now too, which took them forever to do it.
00:40:05
J Scoots
Oh, for sure.
00:40:09
Zuuuuu
Two more things on our list.
00:40:11
J Scoots
All right, I'll be quick on this one. Just checking in with you.
00:40:13
Zuuuuu
Okay, because that's all you. I haven't seen either of them.
00:40:15
J Scoots
Oh, you haven't seen War of the Rohearum?
00:40:17
Zuuuuu
Not yet.
00:40:18
J Scoots
I would say save your money, wait for it to hit streaming.
00:40:20
Zuuuuu
Okay.
00:40:21
J Scoots
I did talk about on multiverse news, but I'm i'm a pretty big Lord of the Rings fan.
Review of War of the Rohearum
00:40:27
J Scoots
I saw all of the Peter Jackson films in theaters, all the hot movies in theaters, and those came out when I was in middle school.
00:40:34
J Scoots
So i I read all of the books the summer before I went to go see them in theaters. So it is a franchise that holds a very, very special place in my heart. so I was really excited for this one, like in terms of all of the upcoming properties we had for Lord of the Rings between, you know, Rings of Power season two. There's it sounds like there's a couple of other film projects in the works and stuff like that. This was the one that I was excited for. I was like, I love the two towers. I love the Battle of Helm's Deep, one of my favorite action battle sequences across any films. And, ah know, I'm a pretty big fan of anime as well. So the fact that they were going to blend these worlds, I was like, this is great.
00:41:12
J Scoots
And unfortunately the movie, like it just felt like a a total, I'm not going to say cash grab because it's been anything but that, but what it was, was it was just the studio putting out something so that they could retain the rights.
00:41:25
J Scoots
And it was just like, you know, this movie could have been, yeah, it's just because, you know, had they, you know, put this movie in the right place or set the right expectations, this movie could have been a nice like little treat or delight.
00:41:27
Zuuuuu
That's disappointing.
00:41:36
J Scoots
But ultimately what it ended up being was just a story that did not deserve to be on the big screen, I'll be honest, and even the animation. It's like, if you are gonna put, you know, the story on the big screen, the least you can do is give me some really exciting and stellar animation.
00:41:50
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:41:51
J Scoots
And it didn't even really do that. you know some of the action choreography is okay none of it was super super impressive but the worst thing that it does is that there are a lot of sequences where it's just characters like speaking back and forth arguing and stuff like that and a lot of times you know animators can get away with keeping those frames pretty still outside of like the facial expressions and whatnot but i think they felt like a burden because it was on the big screen to like, oh, let's have like the bodies moving and everything like that too.
00:42:20
J Scoots
And it just instead it really ended up feeling like super stilted and like kind of like, almost like I could I could see the puppets on the marionette string that it was like they were like being kind of like
00:42:30
Zuuuuu
They're trying to do too much with something that didn't need that attention.
00:42:32
J Scoots
Yeah, they were being jerky and unnatural, like trying to add more movement that just shouldn't have been there. So yeah, ultimately it was pretty disappointing. I think I'm not alone in that sentiment because I think it's been reflected in the, in the box office.
00:42:46
Zuuuuu
that's
00:42:47
J Scoots
I think there was very little interest in this thing to begin with. My theater was, was pretty packed, but I think that just goes to show like, you know, Lord of the Rings diehards are going to show up day one, day two it at the very least, but the bottom drops out after that.
00:43:00
J Scoots
So.
00:43:01
Zuuuuu
Yeah, and what I was telling you, I've just been having a really busy, like, holiday schedule and the whatnot, so one of my trips to DC, I ended up taking the Amtrak, and I was rewatching Lord of the Rings movies to prepare myself to go see this because I haven't seen him in so long, and I was just like, I guess I can slow down on that now.
00:43:06
J Scoots
Sure. Uh-huh.
00:43:16
J Scoots
Yeah. I would say so. I would say so.
00:43:21
Zuuuuu
That's a bummer.
00:43:22
J Scoots
Yeah. The other one is
Secret Level's Homage to Love, Death, and Robots
00:43:25
J Scoots
one that was pretty hotly, what's that?
00:43:25
Zuuuuu
Hopefully this is more positive. Hopefully this is more positive.
00:43:30
J Scoots
Yeah, so this one, I'll just like get out and say it it is secret level on Amazon Prime, which remind me, you've seen at least a few episodes of Love, Death and Robots on Netflix, right?
00:43:42
Zuuuuu
yeah
00:43:43
J Scoots
Okay, because this is like an unabashed spiritual successor to Love, Death and Robots, even with like the episode intros, they do a very similar thing to like the opening graphic that Love, Death and Robots does, which makes sense because this is from Blur Studios, which,
00:43:48
Zuuuuu
okay
00:43:59
J Scoots
If they don't, if they're not responsible for putting Love, Death and Robots out there in the first place, every season they contribute like multiple episodes to it.
00:44:07
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:44:08
J Scoots
And they're that studio that does like the highly, highly realistic, like almost photo realistic models or renders in their episodes.
00:44:10
Zuuuuu
Okay.
00:44:17
J Scoots
So this series, it you know, the the trailer and the the kind of promise and concept was it was going to revisit a bunch of like, you know, popular video game franchises and tell new stories in those worlds, kind of like Love, Death and Robots. And they released the season in two parts.
00:44:34
J Scoots
I don't have the dates right in front of me, but the first part came out a couple of weeks ago and then they had the the final episodes come out later. And the first batch of episodes when I queued up on Amazon Prime, it was really disappointing. There was like only one, two episodes that I was even like slightly interested in checking out. I was like, where's God of War? Where's Kratos? Where are these, you know, where's Mega Man? Where are these episodes that I was excited for?
00:44:58
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:45:00
J Scoots
They did release those eventually, but I only watched the episodes that like interested me.
00:45:04
Zuuuuu
Okay.
00:45:04
J Scoots
So I watched the Sifu episode, which was pretty good. I watched the Mega Man episode, which was probably the shortest of all the episodes, but I thought it was like. If you use that as like a pilot for a Mega Man series or a Mega Man film, I think that would be incredible. It would be awesome. I was really impressed with it. I watched the Warhammer 40K one, even though I'm not super familiar with 40K, Warhammer 40K. I know Henry Cavill is a big fan and has a series coming up. So I was like, okay, let me check it out. It was cool. I watched the Outer Worlds one because i've I've played Outer Worlds and I thought that one had the the most compelling
00:45:45
J Scoots
story out of all of them. I watched Pac-Man, which was just like straight up like... weird like they they just like let's yeah they were like let's just take like the idea of pac-man and like make the weirdest story from that that we can and then the final episode was the one that was like the PlayStation episode so I was gonna I was gonna say if you're gonna watch any of these I would recommend maybe the seafood one in terms of the martial arts on display I think you would appreciate that but then this PlayStation one it's kind of like it reminded me a little bit of like ready player one
00:45:51
Zuuuuu
Why did we make this?
00:46:19
J Scoots
It was like, let's just take like.
00:46:20
Zuuuuu
I was going to make the comment, I was like, did you have to watch Ready Player One to like wash away the stuff you didn't like?
00:46:23
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:46:27
J Scoots
Yeah, cause that's just it was basically like, I think I can like tell this one without spoiling it too much, but the concept of that one was like, let's have a like person on a bike riding through a city. And then you just have like the Helldivers showed up, which I know you'll love.
00:46:39
J Scoots
They were featured actually, out of all the characters and franchises, Helldivers was actually featured pretty prominently, but Shadow of the Colossus pops up, LittleBigPlanet, Kratos.
00:46:39
Zuuuuu
Yeah, that's cool.
00:46:50
J Scoots
I was really disappointed with Kratos. It was like a blink and a miss and it was like, okay, so what I saw off in the trailer, like there was another 15 to 30 seconds at the most.
00:46:57
Zuuuuu
Oh, that's a bummer.
00:46:59
J Scoots
So yeah, unfortunate, but you know.
00:47:02
Zuuuuu
Hmm.
00:47:04
Zuuuuu
Yeah, don't be surprised if I don't end up watching it now.
00:47:06
J Scoots
Uh, you know, in the great scheme of things, I would say if you have like a rainy day or something like that and want to watch like the handful of episodes that speak to you, it's worth that.
00:47:14
Zuuuuu
Sure.
00:47:15
J Scoots
But I'm not even motivated to go back and watch the episodes that like, you know. didn't, didn't grab my attention. I'm just like, yeah, that was cool for what it was. And that's kind of how I feel about like love, death and robots as well.
00:47:25
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:47:27
J Scoots
I always really enjoy it. I think some of the animations really stellar and impressive. And some of the stories like really grab me and stick with me, but it's only, it's always only like, you know, one, two, three episodes each season.
00:47:41
Zuuuuu
Real quick, did you get to watch Moana 2?
00:47:44
J Scoots
I did.
00:47:45
Zuuuuu
What do you think of that?
00:47:46
J Scoots
I thought it was okay. I i thought it was, you know, yeah, it was decent.
00:47:50
Zuuuuu
It was what I expected of it.
00:47:53
J Scoots
i I kind of went into it. I tried to keep my knowledge of the behind the scenes stuff. out of my, out of my head, but I couldn't. Uh, we did know that this like movie started off as a Disney plus series.
00:48:05
J Scoots
And then Bob Iger was like, Nope, we're going to turn it into a movie. So I felt a little bit of that in terms of like some of the side characters, like her crew members that were on her ship there.
00:48:10
Zuuuuu
and
00:48:13
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:48:14
J Scoots
I wanted a little bit more from some of those. And then like the one I'm trying to avoid spoiler share, but there's one character that's kind of like set up as a villain. That doesn't end up being all that villainous.
00:48:24
Zuuuuu
Yep. I was surprised about that.
00:48:25
J Scoots
I just wasn't,
00:48:26
Zuuuuu
And then when I saw the end credits, you know, I was like, OK, I see where we're going.
00:48:29
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:48:29
Zuuuuu
I wasn't expecting it to be building something bigger, but I didn't know about the whole series thing, too.
00:48:30
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:48:33
Zuuuuu
So that's interesting.
00:48:34
J Scoots
But, but as someone with siblings and younger siblings, I will say the relationship between Moana and her little sister, like that got me every, every time that I was like, Oh, you're tugging at my heartstrings.
00:48:42
Zuuuuu
Excess!
00:48:46
J Scoots
Like, ah come on.
00:48:47
Zuuuuu
I just, I can't get over how much I just love the facial expressions of Moana. Like, especially when they were doing, like, the dance-off, like, towards the beginning of it.
00:48:53
J Scoots
Sure. Yeah.
00:48:56
Zuuuuu
Just everything about, like, the delivery of the voices and just how they put the facial expressions on my character is just so incredible. And then nothing beats the coconuts for me. It's just, anytime the coconuts come, you can make a series on that alone and I'll be happy.
00:49:08
J Scoots
I did really love the Kakamori that like joined the crew. He was great.
00:49:13
Zuuuuu
Oh, it was awesome. Yeah, I didn't have a high bar for the movie because the first one just did so good. Like that one kind of felt like a money grab to me. Like make it just to make it.
00:49:21
J Scoots
Sure.
00:49:22
Zuuuuu
So I mean, the the comedy of it was great.
00:49:22
J Scoots
Sure.
00:49:25
Zuuuuu
The entertainment was great. And everything else is kind of like what I expected of it.
00:49:29
J Scoots
Yeah. I think I was missing, uh, excuse me. I think I was missing Lin-Manuel's musical sensibilities a little bit.
00:49:35
Zuuuuu
Mm hmm.
00:49:37
J Scoots
Can I get a chi who?
00:49:39
Zuuuuu
She who. I've been going to a lot of, like Hawaiian festivals and seeing performances and stuff.
00:49:43
J Scoots
Oh, cool.
00:49:46
Zuuuuu
Cause, like my Ate at the, at the martial arts school did a couple this year that I went to go watch. So it was, it was cool understanding like that bit of the kind of the culture of it and just hearing everybody scream like that and cheer it like that.
00:49:58
Zuuuuu
And it's like, yo, if you're hyped up for the next thing, let me hear you. It's just like, oh, it's kind of cool.
00:50:04
J Scoots
Do any of them ask for you to call them USO?
00:50:07
Zuuuuu
No.
00:50:08
J Scoots
Okay, that must be more of a like Pacific Islander, like Samoan type thing. There's a lot of people from thats that culture and where I live right now, and it's like they all want to be called USO, which I guess is like a term of endearment for like a you know a big Islander kind of guy.
00:50:23
J Scoots
It's like, if all of you want to be USO, how do I know who I'm talking about or who I'm talking to?
00:50:27
Zuuuuu
Yeah, right?
00:50:29
J Scoots
It's like somebody, not all of you can be USO.
00:50:29
Zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:50:33
Zuuuuu
So the the friends that perform are Filipino, but they...
00:50:36
J Scoots
Okay.
00:50:37
Zuuuuu
I guess they perform like with that Pacific Islander, Hawaiian-specific hula stuff, yeah.
00:50:42
J Scoots
Okay. Cool.
00:50:45
Zuuuuu
So understanding that part of it a little bit more going into that movie made it fun.
00:50:52
J Scoots
For sure. For sure.
00:50:54
Zuuuuu
Yeah, I think that's all I got at the top of my noggin.
00:50:58
J Scoots
Yeah, yeah, this was fun little catch up. I'm glad we got to talk some creature commandos, a little what if, some delicious and dung.
00:51:03
Zuuuuu
Yeah. Do we know how many creature commando episodes are going to be total?
00:51:08
J Scoots
I can find out. I want to say eight off the top of my head, but it might be 10.
00:51:16
Zuuuuu
So we could possibly reconvene at a finale unless there's an episode that's like, damn!
00:51:22
J Scoots
Right. Right. Uh, looks like it's going to be, oh, there's only been seven announced. That's weird.
00:51:29
Zuuuuu
huh
00:51:29
J Scoots
It's weird. Odd number.
00:51:32
Zuuuuu
Season break? Mid-season break?
00:51:34
J Scoots
No. And the weird thing is, is that we actually, you might be right. Maybe it is a mid season break because we have episode titles for up through episode six, but then episode seven just says TBA, even though it does have a release date, it's supposed to release on January 9th.
00:51:53
Zuuuuu
Okay.
00:51:54
J Scoots
So interesting.
00:51:55
Zuuuuu
Maybe it's one of those things where it's like the title is a spoiler.
00:51:58
Zuuuuu
So they're just not going to put it out until yeah, that' that's fair.
00:51:58
J Scoots
That's what I'm thinking. Yeah. That's what I'm thinking. Yeah. We shall see.
00:52:04
Zuuuuu
Cool, man.
00:52:05
J Scoots
Yeah. Well, thanks for doing this. Anything you want to let the people know about as we wind down here?
00:52:10
Zuuuuu
Yeah, the NFL regular season's gonna be wrapping up in two weeks, so be sure to catch 3-2-3 with Reed Murphy, where I show up every week to give my picks. Of course, we still have playoffs until February, but my time being recurring guest there is coming to a close. But yeah, that's kind of really the only public thing I've been having going on.
00:52:32
J Scoots
All righty. As for me, I am doing a fair amount of podcasting these days. So over on the always watching feed, Haley Hobbs and I. have been covering silo season two on Apple TV plus.
00:52:44
J Scoots
So please go check that out. Uh, I mentioned it, but I've been joining Matthew Carroll to cover, uh, what if season three, so Sue hair, depending on your availability and interest, uh, maybe we'll have you hop on for one of those episodes.
00:52:57
J Scoots
I think that'd be good.
00:52:58
Zuuuuu
Cool.
00:52:59
J Scoots
And then, uh, multiverse news every week talking about the latest and greatest in the world of movie and TV news. So check it out. All right.
00:53:07
Zuuuuu
While you're on Apple TV, have you watched shrinking?
00:53:11
J Scoots
I've seen the first episode and I loved it. I just haven't watched anything since then. I don't know why.
00:53:16
Zuuuuu
It's just incredible. I'll leave it at that.
00:53:18
J Scoots
Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's on the list. I want to go back to it.
00:53:22
Zuuuuu
Cool.
00:53:22
J Scoots
Uh, cause I, I did like the first episode a lot already.
00:53:25
Zuuuuu
season three is wrapping up if it hasn't already by tomorrow. So yeah, yeah, that's that's what I've watched every week since episode one.
00:53:29
J Scoots
Hey, that was fast.
00:53:33
Zuuuuu
It's just incredible.
00:53:34
J Scoots
Okay. All right. Cool. Well, on that note, thanks everybody for tuning in. That's T double O N I N.
00:53:41
Zuuuuu
And as always, stay well.