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A Wonderful Marvel?! Let's Discuss Wonder Man
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In this episode, Satsu and Andrew discuss the latest Marvel series Wonder Man! But despite never hearing about this character, what will the duo think? Is this bogged down by past references? Or is it a refreshing take within the superhero genre? Grab your scripts as we get into character to discuss Marvel Studio's Wonder Man!
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Transcript
Andrew's Return and Superhero Identity
00:00:03
Speaker
Stop right there, criminal! Nah, that's not it. Stop, criminal scum! Nah, that's not it either. Hey, Ding Dongs, I'm back from my trip abroad. Satsu, what the heck are you wearing? Oh, hey, Andrew. Check it out. I'm in my superhero era. Introducing the Podcast Man. So, exactly the same as before? Well, yeah. Yeah, but I've got swishy cape, look! No capes. Aw man. And what's all this for? Well, I thought seeing as Disney are trying to add more characters into the MCU these days, I could join the fray, but I just need a better name. Well, it's no wonder, man, that you can't think a good name. Wait a minute, that's a perfect name! From now on, call me Good Name Man!
00:00:47
Speaker
I give up. Welcome to Shatsunami. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Chatsunami. My name's Chatsunami and joining me today is none other than the one andum superhero wonderman whyw himself is and it is Andrew. Andrew, I am so sorry for revealing your secret identity.
Recording Challenges and MCU Disinterest
00:01:08
Speaker
I'm very honoured, I kind of thought I'd be the Barnaby in this situation so i I'm appreciating that you're giving me that whole wonder man and credit. And Chatsunami, we're all wonder men for a price. Ha ha Anyway, how are you doing tonight? I'm doing well. This is the first recording that I've done since coming back from my trip in the UK and first recording since must have been December for the Christmas episodes that we did. So I'm really excited to be back in the studio and it was really nice to see all in the UK for a little bit. And yeah, and also now officially a Canadian citizen. Oh, congratulations for that. It just clicked with me there when you were saying that. Not about the Canadian citizenship, that is awesome.
00:01:44
Speaker
But the fact that this is the first episode that we've recorded of 2026, because I remember when you were making arrangements to come over and everything, and we were messaging each other back and forth being like, okay, we have to record before you leave, otherwise these episodes aren't going out. It's like, you know those stereotypical Christmas film plots, where it's like, we've got to do this again. Christmas won't be saved.
00:02:09
Speaker
We managed to record all the Christmas episodes before I left to go to the UK. We talked about maybe doing a recording together while I was there, but it just didn't quite work out time-wise. But we were able to meet up in Scotland and hang out with both our partners, and got to beat my son as well, which was very nice. Honestly, it was fantastic meeting up with you because, again, this really the extent of our vocal interactions, isn't it? I mean, we both message each other all the time, you know, and we'll send the odd voice note or two. But yeah, it was quite nice being able to actually meet up physically because I'm saving the pennies to come over to Canada just so I can be like, right, Andrew, we need to do an in-person episode just to show up Martin McAllister. I feel like you're not the only one who can do in-person episodes. Doesn't even have to be in the car. We can go somewhere and do a proper episode. Martin, please don't beam me up. You'll be in Canada. There's nothing he can do. Well, you never know. But anyway, fearing for my life aside, yeah. Today, we are, of course, going to be talking about to say something that I didn't really expect to be talking about and again it's not really as in oh it's a surprise it's just more because as we kind of alluded to today we're going to be talking about the latest Marvel TV show called Wonder Man and well are Marvel in their fifth phase or yeah are they at? Oh god they were in phase six. Phase six oh jesus that's even worse you know I was going to be like oh yeah I didn't really keep up with phase four but that's phase five's I hope. and it's like, oh dear, I think I've skipped past that. Yeah, I'm going to be honest, see, and this isn't a revolutionary take, but I feel as if after Endgame, I kind of fell off the MCU hype train. I did check out a couple of the TV shows, you know, like WandaVision, The Falcon and the Soldier, those kind of shows. I watched a bit of Loki, but I'm going to be honest, it wasn't my cup of tea. I thought it was all right, but everything leading up to the Kang dynasty, and then they canned that for obvious reasons. But yeah, see when you heard about this particular show for Wonder Man, what were your thoughts? Did you hear anything about this show before it came out? So I didn't really have any interest in it when it was announced. I was like, so it's just like a dude? Because I didn't really understand what the story of the character was.
Wonder Man's Intriguing Start
00:04:24
Speaker
I wasn't as familiar from the comic side of things with Wonder Man. So everything around the property was a complete kind mystery to me. I decided just when it came out on Disney+, it would have been the day of the day after, and I had some free time that I was like, all right, what, I'm going to watch this. And I was really intrigued by the first episode, and also the fact that they brought back Ben Kingsley's character, Trevor, who was previously the Mandarin in Iron Man 3. was like oh i really disliked him in previous use of this character but they made him so much more interesting here and i was so captivated by ben and by yaya i thought they were both fantastic immediately and so i was really really interested in what was happening and how they kind of looped in this kind of hidden power that he has so i saw very little promotional material going in other than that initial announcement and so i was kind of curious what other people's bubble was like if they were seeing lots of promotion for or not. And I saw on Twitter, some people echoing what I thought of, I've not seen anywhere, anywhere. And then people were responding like, well, you've clearly not in the right bubble. I see loads of TV ads for I see posters up everywhere for it. Disney are like really pushing this. Other people saying like, I don't think Disney are pushing this very much. So curious, how much promotion did you see for this prior to it coming out or prior to me even suggesting to you that watch it? So I saw bits and pieces scattered over the internet. You know, would see the odd ad for it or things popping up, even on TikTok, Instagram, all those places, which you can find, Chatsunami, wink, wink. But no, jokes aside, I remember seeing, even on YouTube, I saw some videos and my favourite one, I have to say, at the same time, I genuinely didn't really understand what I was watching. And it was video of Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery. Totally don't have the names up here like interesting and yaya abdul matine ii who plays simon williams the way they framed it was you know those really weird celebrity interviews that they do nowadays where it's like initially they're sitting on chairs and they're having this really deep conversation actor-on-actor kind of type thing uh-huh but then all of a sudden one of the production aids comes in and gives them like a plate of chicken wings or something and know the logo flashes up it's like celebrities with chicken or something like that and then the character simon williams he's trying to talk about his experience with wonder man but as he's doing that the production aids come in again and they give them puppies yeah that's the one And then they come in with all these really stupid things. Can you say modern slang terms? And like, they do all these kind of like weird gimmicky interview things that you see now, but they're doing them all in character, which is really interesting. And yeah, I have to say, see when I was watching it, initially I was like, is that being Kingsley playing himself? Or is this the character from Marvel? And then obviously once they brought out the chicken and everything and the puppies, I was like, okay, this must be a bit. But after that, I had... have no idea what Wonder Man was. And Wonder Man, to borrow a phrase from Star Wars, is a bit of a glupshittle character, isn't he? Apparently he's a real character in the Marvel Universe, but I have never heard of him. And I think that is the case for a lot of MCU characters, unless you're like a diehard fan or, you know, a veteran fan or whatever. He's not like an A-tier type character. I don't think he's super niche. I wasn't really familiar with him, but I also don't have the same level of knowledge of Marvel comic characters as I do of DC characters. I didn't grow up with that as much as a kid. The MCU was large and like the old school Spider-Man show, some of the old Avengers cartoons. But like the MCU is kind of my main introduction to Marvel characters, whereas I had much bigger or rather deeper knowledge DC through shows and comics and movies and stuff that I watched as a kid. So I've seen that Wonder Man did appear in other properties and Marvel cartoons
Unique Elements of Wonder Man
00:08:25
Speaker
and stuff like that. I'm not that familiar. But Wonder Man in the TV series is a movie character from the 70s or something. And then it looks like our character, Simon Williams, kind of becomes him through both playing him in the remake of that movie, but then also kind of embodies him in real life. with his own superpowers. So I assume that he's going to take on the mantle of Wonder Man in real life, in addition to playing him on the screen. The whole premise of this, for anyone who doesn't know, is Simon Williams is a somewhat failing actor and everything, and he finally gets the opportunity to audition for his favourite superhero, Wonder Man, which is weird how he never showed up in Endgame, but anyway...
00:09:09
Speaker
No jokes as aside, as you said, it's him trying to also hide the fact that he has these superpowers as well and there's this kind of duality of him just trying to live as Simon Williams versus him becoming Wonder Man and I have to say that whole intro scene where it's him as a kid watching the cinema screen, it gave me Jingle All The Way vibes. I don't know if you've Yeah, I can see that. It was very kind of Flash Gordon yeah meets Power Rangers type action. It was very interesting and it was funny that he resonated so much with this character. It seemed to be a case of something that his dad loved when he was younger and he was then introducing it to his son at a young age who then grew up.
00:09:51
Speaker
And so it's like several kind of generations removed. that You're getting a flashback. to a showing of an older movie. Honestly, it was fantastic the way they did it. See, without any further ado, speaking of flashbacks, or I should say flash-forwards, will we just dive into why this show is a surprise hit from the MCU? Yeah, definitely. Let's power up and jump right into it. And of course, we'll be right back after these messages. Get your hot potato bag things. It's the scaldiest.
00:10:21
Speaker
Welcome to Chatsunami, a Scottish variety podcast that discusses topics from gaming and films to anime and general interests. Join me, your host, Satsunami, as well as the rest of our Chatsunami team for our takes on these very important pop culture topics. Sir, it's clearly a trap. I accept your page! That happens three times in the film. Every time that general goes, don't do this one thing, goes, do you know what I'ma do? That's the exact thing.
00:10:49
Speaker
Does it well? She had the pointy teeth? What was that about? She looked like Bilbo when he wants the ring back. She turned into it. I just want the lightsaber one more time. Parasite says, no, you will get back into your office and work. No, says the man in Zoom. yeah Trousers are for the working man. You're bursting into your hotel room. Honey, we need to go.
00:11:12
Speaker
Leave the kids. You can milk an odysh. Oh.
00:11:19
Speaker
That's the worst thing you've ever said on any of the episodes. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you can check us out at our website, chattsunami.com, as well as all good podcast apps. As always, stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, stay hydrated.
00:11:35
Speaker
Stay classy and have a banana. This has been chattsunami. I'm sorry.
00:11:51
Speaker
Hi, I'm Sean McCabe. And I'm Carrie McCabe. We are, well, married, obviously, but we're also obsessed with the darker side of things. True crime stories, alien abductions, poltergeists. If it leaves you scratching your head and keeping those lights on at night, we want to hear about it. and That's why we host the podcast Ain't It Scary with Sean and Carrie.
00:12:11
Speaker
Every week, we bring our listeners a true story guaranteed to send chills down your spine. From history's most brutal serial killers to the mystery of spontaneous human combustion. Yep, lots of these stories leave unanswered questions behind, and you'll get to poke through the rubble of the evidence with a hardened skeptic. and someone whose mind is more open to fun. Yeah, that's what I was going to say.
00:12:34
Speaker
The show really feels like just kicking back with us at home and chatting about monsters and tragedies, but having a few laughs along the way. Just like we'd be doing if the mics were off, frankly. You can find Ain't It Scary with Sean and Carrie wherever you get your podcasts and on social media at ain'titscary. Come play with us.
00:12:52
Speaker
Forever and ever and ever.
00:13:01
Speaker
And we are back. So let's start with the characters in this, because I don't know about you, but and I'm saying this in a very general sense, but see for the majority of MCU television shows in Disney+, plus would you say that they prioritise the spectacle of it all with actions and the set pieces compared to what Wonder Man tries to do with having a more nuanced look at the characters? Yes and no. Because I think one of the big criticisms I would have, and I'm not alone in this, I've seen this echoed elsewhere, is a lot of the Marvel TV shows will start off with a very, not necessarily grounded, but seems more grounded kind of interpretation of these characters and kind of developing the story in that way. And then it will always culminate in this big final laser beam type battle that kind of really devalues the stuff you've been seeing before and it ends up being cheap CGI whereas you don't really get that with Wonder Man you do have him demonstrating his powers and there's obviously the kind of CGI aspects to that but it never feels it's complete departure from the rest of the show it all still feels very integrated into what the show is telling you and continuing this very character driven story that's being told Yeah, because I have to say, and I don't know if you felt the same way as well, that when I was watching this, I actually forgot at times it was a superhero show. You know, i mean, obviously you have the moments where Simon can control this energy that culminates into super strength and everything, and he can channel this energy, but at the beginning of the show, he's very emotionally volatile and everything. He's very much set in these ways, and I have to say, when I saw the first scene, see when he's sitting on the chair and he's reading these lines and editing them and then it's like the toilet right across from him and it's like the cramped room. I genuinely thought that was his apartment. I didn't realise it was a trailer until the guy knocked on the door. I was like, wow, a thousand a month in New York? Wow, that's great. Honestly, I think I've seen too many of those. You know the horror posts where it's basically like a cupboard in London and it's like, oh, 2,000 a month is a bargain. Yeah, it did kind of come across like that. I think I had a similar reaction when I first was watching it and he was preparing himself in the trailer, which I was surprised that he got a trailer.
00:15:22
Speaker
I don't know enough about a lot of these film and television productions, but that he seemed to be a pretty minor character. Well, he's minor enough that he got written out of the show, but he had his own trailer to practice his lines in for this TV show that he was on, American Horror Story. So, See, that is the only downside, and I'm going to get this out of the way fairly early on, but that is one of the things that I wasn't a big fan of in this show, that it felt that whenever they talked about a TV show, it was a TV show that most likely was going to be on Disney+. plus So it's like, oh, it's American Horror Story, oh, it's this and that. The weirdest one that really threw me through a loop. Is it Baby's Day Out? No, not Baby's Day Out. It was Coronation Street of all things. Oh, yeah. As of recording this episode, Coronation Street, for some weird reason, has been put on Disney+. Oh, really? Yep, I don't know why. at least in the UK it has. I really don't know why. i think it's on BritBox over here and in the US. I don't think that it is on Disney+. plus here I'm going to be honest, I don't think people are rushing for a VPN to watch. on a nation street they also reference the rookie i don't think the rookie is a disney owned property yeah but remember they've got their fingers and like a lot of pies in that regard but it's like they own totally not looking up disney plus right now like do they have it i mean it's probably only in america but oh it is in fact on disney plus see if it's mentioned yep the rookie i can see it and rookie of the year and the rookie and doogie how's it what why is that coming up with the rookie anyway so This isn't a Disney Plus review. It's like a baseball thing or something. The Rookie's a police show, but I don't know if Rookie of the Year or Doogie House or something's a baseball thing. So there's The Rookie, which is, as you said, it's the police show. And then there's The Rookie, which, again, The Rookie, which is a baseball thing. Yeah, so fun times. So in other words, if you're starting a podcast, don't call it The Rookie. Or do, you know, I can't tell you what to do. But... Yeah, that felt quite jarring when you're thinking about how this is the same world as s Spider-Man and Captain America and things like that and supernatural entities. And it's like, yeah, there is no way in hell you're watching Coronation Street. thing you'll occasionally see little hints to the world as well he was on the production lot and you could see that they looked like there was some sort of steve rogers movie that it was in production or something like that oh the musical yeah oh was that the musical i think it was yeah it was like rogers or steve or yeah know exactly the part you mean when he's coming in his trailer and he's going out yeah and there's the big banner for it which i think is a real musical actually i could be wrong but i'm sure disney but made it a thing that's funny and there was on von kovac's inspiration wall, there loads Marvel characters on there for like inspiration for Wonder Man. I wasn't sure initially what to think of Simon Williams as a character. And again, it's not because the actor played it terribly or anything, or it wasn't because of clunky writing or anything, but it's the way he saw, maybe it was just because I saw a little bit of myself when I was looking and thinking, oh my god, he's such a perfectionist. As you said, like he talks himself out of a really good job being on American Horror Story and all he has to do is just sit there and get his head quote unquote bitten off. But he keeps saying, oh, I want to add this depth, to this layer. And I have to say, I could understand the frustration of the production team because an actor... Yeah.
00:19:07
Speaker
that is a really good way of characterizing it that when he's on actor mode it's like all of a sudden he is focused on embodying that character you know whether it's a small bit part or whether it's going to be a major thing later on but he really gets in his head doesn't he Yeah, he wants to try and add a layer of depth so he can feel the role. And so he decides that he needs to add more lore to a character that doesn't really have lore to it. And so he does lots of his own rewrites to a script to base what his own lore suggests. And of course, everyone around him just finds that so frustrating because it's adding more work to them. And it's also kind of questioning their own creative process. I initially watched the entire thing by myself because I had the free time to check it out and I wasn't sure that my partner would be interested. But then I managed convince her to check out the first couple episodes recently because I was like, to have a refresh of the show. So it's fresh for talking about on this episode. And so we watched the first couple of episodes. And that first episode, my wife was so frustrated with Simon and when he was doing the whole rewrite thing. And then when he went for the audition and he took the guy's pen and she was like, he's taking that pen so he can do some rewrites, isn't he? They don't like you doing that, Simon. They don't like you doing that. I thought that was really funny that she's like immediately really disliked him messing around with the script, but has very much warmed to him and particularly Trevor. She loved Trevor, but... were then able kind of push through and what I thought would be like a bit of slug convincing her to watch more of the show like we were already watched all but the last two episodes up until yesterday so we'll probably watching some more that this weekend yeah because that is something that I found really interesting about this show was just how accessible it was because the only thing that you need to know is and even then you don't really need to know it but the Mandarin played by Ben Kingsley of course at the very beginning he gets arrested at is it LAX or something yes It will be LAX, yeah.
Trevor's Role and Plot Development
00:20:57
Speaker
Yeah, and he gets arrested by the FBI because I think he got broken out of prison early. In the events of Shang-Chi, I think. Yeah, right, yeah. Because I remember he popped up and I was like, why is he here? I was like, okay, great. But I was like, why is he here? And then essentially begins that he gets interrogated and they say, either you go to prison or you help us expose Simon Williams because they suspect he has superpowers, which they're right. They find out that he does, but they can't quite prove it. And it is so American because it's like the reason that they need to imprison him is because they need to justify the budget for this maximum security prison for superpowered people. and i was like oh my god that's such an american plot yeah it really is the whole sort blackmailing him to kind of cooperate and stuff along with the fbi felt very on the nose very current topic and yeah that essentially gets the ball rolling for the events of the show where trevor essentially suggests that oh they need to try and lure him in with a particular project that he's going to gravitate towards and that of course, is Wonder Man, which, as we established before, he's a massive fan of it. It's his lifelong dream, even to be a bit part in it, but he just, he really wants to be part of it. And then, of course, he manages, spoilers, he does get the role of him. But he does so through trials and tribulations and things. But as I was saying about Trevor, who, as we were saying before, he plays the Mandarin and, well, technically the Mandarin, basically the villain of Iron Man 3. But then the twist is that he is just an actor that was hired to be somebody else. And it turns out he's innocent in the actual planning of everything. So whenever he pops up again, it's always that joke of, oh, it's the Mandarin. And I have to say, initially, I thought I'm going to get sick of this joke, aren't I? But I really didn't. always find it really funny that with Simon, everybody wanted to know the man behind Wonder Man, whereas with Trevor, they wanted to know the Mandarin behind. behind the band if that makes sense it was just a complete inverse it's like they didn't care about the person they wanted to know the character whereas with simon it was like they wanted to know about him and everything they just didn't want to know about the character that it was going to play it was so good and i mean see the relationship together is absolutely fantastic isn't it their chemistry is unbelievable it's so fantastic in this show And as you mentioned, I can't remember if I said this pre-recording or if it was earlier in the recording about how I really dislike how Trevor was used in Iron Man 3. Or rather, not even how he was used, his inclusion at all. Because I thought that making the Mandarin actually end up being Guy Pearce.
00:23:47
Speaker
There was the bad guy in that movie. He was like, I am actually the Mandarin. And Ben Kingsley's character was actually just some high-waisted dude who was tricked into playing a role. I really disliked that movie, and that was kind of a large part of what I disliked in that movie. So when they brought him back in Shang-Chi, I was kind of like, oh, God, why have they brought him back into this? I'd rather we just forget about him. And then when he was in this, I was like, all right, no, this is fantastic. I love what they're doing with the character. I love how they brought him so low and how they give him his origin story, of how he became... the Mandarin in this role like how he was tricked into it there's everything about Trevor's character was so interesting he came across so much more endearing you felt so sorry for him in large parts of the show I mean it's no secret Ben Kingsley is a phenomenal actor he's an Oscar winner he's been in so many movies and I'm sure other TV shows so that's it's not breaking any your ground to say that Ben Kingsley is wonderful but he working alongside Yaya Abdul-Mateen They were both so, so good together and I was really, really impressed and I'm really looking forward to what happens now with both these characters. Yeah, I'm totally with you because i remember his cameo in Shang-Chi and everything and I thought, yeah, i feel like his comic relief-ness really spent. What could you do with him? You already had Awkwafina in that movie. Now you've got another one. Oh God, don't remind me.
00:25:08
Speaker
You had that, and yeah, you thought, well, what can they do with them? I don't think this is a hot take or anything, but I genuinely think the majority of people were so surprised at it. The only, again, the only maybe minor criticism is I wish they explained that a little bit more at the beginning, why he was arrested by the FBI and things. I think maybe they did, but I remember I was watching the first couple of episodes with my partner, and she was like, who's that? Why is he arrested? And I had to explain briefly that, oh, he was a Mandarin in Iron Man 3, got arrested, he's actually an actor. And to be honest, other than that one sentence of explanation, I was so shocked at how accessible this show was. Because usually for these shows, it's like, oh, you have to know about the lore and everything. Like for WandaVision, for example, oh, you have to know about Endgame and everything. You have to learn about her relationship with Vision and blah, blah, blah. And you have to watch Age of Ultron as well to kind of understand her relationship with her brother and her backstory. And then it helps to have watched the Fox X-Men movie, X-Men Days of Future Past, because there's then a reference to that in it. Yeah. It is a bit tiring. I can see the same argument for Star Wars, for example, where there's some shows as well you watch and it's like, who's that guy? What did they do? Oh, do you not know there were a background character and this and that? You're like, yeah, okay, I can see why new fans would be put off by that. And especially for the MCU, because there's just so many characters. And that's not a bad thing, because it's been going on for decades. you look The Mandalorian and you have What's-Her-Face from The Clone Wars. Ahsoka. Yes, her, but also one that was The Mandalorian as well. She has, like, the sword. Oh, Bo-Katan, yeah. Bo-Katan, yeah. And you have, like, in Mandalorian, you have Bo-Katan, who was from Clone Wars, and Ahsoka, who was in the Clone Wars. You don't need to watch those shows, but certainly helps to have a familiarity with those shows. Yeah, especially that episode when Ahsoka pops up and she's talking about Thrawn and everything, and I'm like, yeah, I'm not watching this with anyone. Oh god, yeah, no, I hadn't watched Rebels, so I had no idea who Thrawn is. To be fair, he's a cool character, but that's for another episode. because I could go on about the check out the books. Anyway, but going back to what was saying, genuinely was so appreciative of how creative this show
Accessibility and Character Focus
00:27:31
Speaker
was. And again, anybody who's maybe not into the MCU or who has dropped off for a while can just jump into this. When I was having my wife introducing her to the show, often we'd go watch an MCU movie or when we watch from the shows, I used to say, okay, you've seen x thing so you know this just as a reminder for this kind of thing but as you said i said the only thing you need to know is the the character of the mandarin from iron man 3 and she kind remembered that little bit that's it that's all you need to go going in i was so happy that as you say that it's so accessible you don't need to really explain things things don't really come up during the show where you have to be like oh the reason this is happening is because of x because it's so isolated from that This maximum security prison is referenced in other Marvel properties. And I saw someone pointing out that every time it's referenced, the geography of it completely changes. Sometimes it's like on top of this hill and sometimes it's surrounded by this whole industrial center. Sometimes it's in this remote in Wonder Man. It's out in the boonies somewhere. It keeps changing location. But one thing that I have to say that I also loved about it was just the fact that they took a lot of creative chances with this one and honestly I loved it all the more for it because you wouldn't expect oh a person trying to hide his superpowers and he's auditioning for this you'd think oh it might be boring and I think the reason it's not is because of the actors of course but what do the other ones and I just want to point out I think it's episode four or five The Doorman yep that's the one Yeah, episode four. Yeah, where they explain, and this is a whole episode where essentially Trevor and Simon aren't really in the episode. think they're in it at the very end, but even then it's more them reacting to the situation. And it's all shot in black and white, which I thought, okay, full choice. Very Twin Peaks The Return, but okay. But yeah, they explain how there is a law that says that super-abled people can participate in ad campaigns and such. Personally, I think surely the doorman isn't the first superhero to have caused an incident, surely, on set. But the reason because it follows this character who literally is a doorman at a club, and then he basically does not fall into a hole in the middle of... the street some like ooze is coming out of a dumpster it's examining the ooze which seems to be creating this almost like void and he looks into the void and then all a sudden he's in this ultimate door dimension and then he wakes up and he's of like what's going on and yeah then he finds out he's got these pibbers that allows them to walk through solid objects and things but it also allows people to walk through him but thereby walking through whatever's behind him so the reason he gets his claim to fame is and i can't believe i'm saying this sentence he goes into a club where josh gadd the voice of olaf is performing and the door accidentally gets stuck and there's a fire and they all get trapped and he goes through and he manages to save them all by getting them to walk through him I love, sorry, I love the use of Josh Gad in this. Oh, it's so good. I was so sceptical when I saw him in there and was like, oh God, bringing Josh Gad into this is more Disney synergy type stuff. And he was referencing Frozen Olaf stuff all the time. He seemed to be like DJing the set and this club and kept referencing the fact that he was Olaf. But they made almost like a parody of it. He was swearing, which was surprised they allowed them to be doing that almost as the character of Olaf. and then what eventually then happens to him towards episode. It's so brilliant how they handle Josh Gad as a character in this. Yeah, was with you there. I honestly thought, oh, there's the Disney guy on a Disney show. They also reference him, I think, in a TMZ segment where they're like, oh, where's he gassed gone? Oh, ha ha. Because they played LeFou in the Beauty and the Beast live adaptation, which is probably not one going to be reviewing. anytime soon for both our mental well-being but yeah it ends up this character the doorman eventually just becomes this meme where they're getting them to sell products he's got a cat race like ding dong and everything it almost reminds me of and there's an exact scene for this where remember that i didn't do that episode in the simpsons where bart gets invited onto honan o'brien and he's like oh i'm not just a one-line wonder did you know that the amazon rainforest and blah blah blah and he's like just say the line he's like i didn't do it say ding dong yeah say ding dong and yeah he says that he wants to get into acting and yeah just no one really takes him seriously but he doesn't really help himself on the other side but again it's like a really complex situation and it's so fascinating It's like a Black Mirror episode. It's almost like careful what you wish for thing. But so sad because he was so content in the life he had. And so really, it's just a matter of circumstance happened to him. And he kind of went along with things like he wasn't trying to overreach himself with a lot of this stuff. It was just such an awful situation. Of course, he gets offered a large amount of money by Josh Gadz, who he's already friends with. He's like, okay, yeah, sure, I'll do this. And then Josh Gad convinces him to be part in a movie as well. And he's like, okay, I'm not an actor, but if you think I should, can give it a go. And then Hollywood just keeps sort of sucking him in and making him do more and more. And then the more that he does, the more people get sick of him. And then he starts spiraling as a result. It's such a beautifully written kind of representation of Hollywood, but also from the lens of someone who, if someone did have powers, that they would have their five minutes of fame and it would get abused in that way. And then no one would be interested after that. Because you do see it when he's trying to live stream and they're saying, is it the baked potato in a bag or something? Something like that, yeah. Yeah, it's causing these burns for people. And he's caught them in the back of his car. But he's also disingenuously live streaming being like, oh, don't worry, guys, I had no idea about this and everything. Again, it is just such a shame that you see him go down this path and eventually loses control of his power because a stunt gone wrong, Josh Gad leaps through him and we don't know where he is. Presumably he's in that door dimension.
00:33:41
Speaker
And he's just gone. Which I have to say is a bold move, Disney. That you're just like, yeah, Olaf, go to the void. Go to the Shadow Realm. Olaf's dead, Kits. Olaf dies in Frozen 3. Enjoy that bedtime story. Olaf dies in every adaptation of Frozen, because I'm pretty sure he dies in the first one. I think he then gets brought back, and then I think he dies again in the second one. yeah, they just keep bringing them back. He's like a magic snowman. They're like, yeah, he can die, technically. He's like a robot. We'll be fine. But for that episode as a whole, I genuinely think not only is it interesting that for an eight-episode series, these because we've literally got one that goes back and explores Simon's culture and, you know, his family as well, we literally get one side episode where he goes for his mum's birthday and you learn that he is Haitian creature real i think and it doesn't feel as if they put it in for the sake of saying oh look this person is from this particular area it felt so natural the way they incorporated it and have to say i did find it funny when trevor wants to go along purely just to get information because he finds out that there was an incident with simon when he was younger they started a fire accidentally because of his powers and of course his family are really suspicious all them being like Trevor why you here and he's just like this king this silver tongue devil isn't he just going around being like oh this is great that's great I mean I really liked that episode I have to say it's no doorman but it was good It was really interesting. And Simon's mom is so sweet as well. yeah Myself and my partner loved her and the family. and it did feel very realistic of he's brought this guy with him to the party who no one knows.
00:35:20
Speaker
Simon's brother Eric is like, who are you? Why are you here? He's asking always like very personal questions of everyone. There was one scene where Simon's talking to his cousins and his cousins just break out into Creole and to start like trashing Simon right next to him. And it's like, why would you assume he doesn't know Creole? Yeah. It's so bizarre to do that right in front of him, just assuming that he probably doesn't speak enough Creole to know that you're making fun of him. Because I love how that loops back later on. you know, you can see, and this is what I love about the show, just the characterization, it's the fact that you can see that he has, other than with his mum, but with everyone else, he has quite a strenuous relationship with all of them, you know, especially with his brother and sister-in-law and things, and that comes back later on when again spoilers but he gets the role of wonder man and he's on set and there's this really infamous character assassin who comes to interview both of them and i love that see up until the reveal of when simon eventually finds out that trevor's been lying to him which is such a poignant scene but before that it's just so funny where simon and Trevor are trying to pretend to be these super good people where it's like oh we love this particular member of the crew oh get those chocolates it's like $600 for these particular chocolates I just love do we love her that much it's like Yes, we do. When he's saying to one of the runners, which I love that as well, the I mean, I know it's their job, but the runner is saying, oh, do you want this? Do you want that? And he's like, yeah, yeah, no, I'll have this, I'll have that. And he's so used to that thing, now he's the big star. But as soon as this interview is there, he's like, no, I always get my stuff. by myself and Joe like oh god again i was cringing but not in a oh this is bad just in a I can see why he's doing it you know yeah it was so awkward yeah I completely agree one semi-criticism I had it's not too much of a criticism really it's
00:37:17
Speaker
how on the nose they were a little bit with the whole parallel storyline of barnaby betraying wonder man in the script they're cast in the parallel of trevor portraying simon and so i did think and i was sort of showing to my wife about this about but how on the nose that is and they were like yeah that is a bit silly that they've done that but i didn't mind it i still felt like it was still done pretty well and it kind of was a fun scene as well when they were driving chasing that kid that saw simon use his powers and trevor's reading the script that was just been sent over and so was like i have time for this trevor i don't have time for this and then trevor's like barnaby betrays wonder man and seven pulls the car over i loved that he's like what maybe it's just because i'm so used to you know a lot of the marvel shows having all these quippy characters like the marvel humor which has become synonymous with both the films and the tv shows i just love how this felt i mean there is clips and things but it did feel genuinely natural at times yes For sure, the comedy was very natural, very rooted down to earth in like how it was presented. It didn't feel forced. You didn't have a random side character being like, get a load of this guy. Are you really called the lizard type thing? It felt much more natural, not necessarily like sitcom-y, but it just kind of flowed a lot better than your typical Marvel property. Even the side characters did a really good job. I mean, there was X-Mail who plays, i think, Janelle Jackson, you know, his agent. She did a good job when she was there. You had Zlatko Burek who played Von Kovac, which I have to say i did like whenever he popped up on screen because he did remind me of you know these very old school type directors who are like rip up the scripts and act from your heart and everything there's a particular episode where they go to his house this director to audition for wonder man and not only did i audibly gasp there's a dream sequence where he punches a hole in somebody's head i genuinely thought that was real i even i was going oh Oh my god! Yeah, I had that moment as well when I first watched it. And then when watched it for the second time, I turned to the side and saw my wife mouth agape. And she was like in complete shock of like, oh my god, I can't believe he's done this. They sit on it for such a long time ah to make you think that it's real. Could have so quickly flipped it to be the dream, which of course ends it was a dream. But they sit on it just long enough that it makes you convinced that it is in fact real. My heart was racing after that. I was like, don't do that to me. Like, oh, completely turning from a comedy to a horror in a split second. Episode six was brilliant for that. The whole setup in Von Kovac's house was really good and the competition they were having with the other actors and seeing them kind of like back and forth. And there was a scene, and I was noting with my partner was watching other day, where Trevor gets paired with this um other actor and they play a scene which the other actor walks out of the room to continue the scene to another room. yeah You can tell the difference between Ben Kingsley, this like fantastic actor, and this other person because Ben Kingsley is saying next to no words. There's a difference between acting and overacting. The other guy was very clearly overacting whereas Ben Kingsley's very kind of subtle interaction with the scene. That's so much more depth to it. It was so more believable than the other guy. Because have to say, of all the things, a Pretty Woman reference was not in the bingo card. You know that way when you're listening to Simon's quote-unquote improv, I was listening to it thinking, I'm sure I've heard that somewhere before. And then one call that comes out, he's like, ah, you did a scene from Pretty Woman. And I was like, oh, that's where it's from. I've not seen Pretty Woman, so I didn't realize until Von Kovac said that, that that's what it was. And so i was like, oh, Simon's doing something really interesting here. And then Von Kovac was like, not what I was looking for. and I was like, oh, no. Simon, you're the guy who gets into a character, into a scene, and yet you're just parodying something else. It was very un-him, and so that's why Von Kovac was so upset. I know it immediately upon seeing Von Kovac.
00:41:18
Speaker
It was the actor, Zatko Buric. He plays the dictator in the most recent Superman movie, the James Gunn one. Oh. He kind of comes across as like a Netanyahu type character in Superman that he's kind of portraying. bit more silly, I guess. Comic book adaptation. Yeah, exactly. And so I immediately recognised it. I was like, that's so funny that he's been in these two kind superhero properties within the space of seven months of each other after me never having seen this guy ever before. Kovac is getting the rules, isn't he? Yeah. well i also it was interesting and i said this to my wife that when you go into von kobach's room of inspiration and they start talking about like he's got this like wall of things that are on his subconscious for the movie and he talks about this song and introducing the film i was like i don't know that much about james gunn but like this feels almost like a reference to james gunn and his process and setting the scene with a particular song because like james gunn has always got a song playing through a particular interesting scene or introductory scene. So I wondered if that was supposed to be kind of a reference to James Gunn. Because at times almost was worried he was going to go full David Lynch-esque where it's like, oh, feel the rhythm and everything. And that is something that I did like, that all of them were just sucking up to him in a way. You know, I mean, maybe they felt like that, that, oh, it's true, yeah, feel the music and the scene. Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme. Yeah, but it was only miss Simon that was like, what?
00:42:39
Speaker
Yeah. Excuse me? And have seen a lot of people say that, I mean, obviously it's not been confirmed or anything, but some fans have said that he feels very autism coded at times. Yes, I said as much as well in the first episode when my wife was sort of saying like, why is he doing this with the script? And I was like, I don't think he can help. I think he's a little bit autistic. As someone on the, I'm on the spectrum myself, like if I did quite relate to a lot of his kind of impulses in that way. Because, I mean, you do see it with a lot of his behaviour, like the chronic overcorrecting a script all the time, you know, whenever he went into any audition, having to have this routine and to be able to say, right, this is what we're going to do with this. And the fact that Von Kovac challenged that and said, no, I want you to forget everything and just go in with,
00:43:28
Speaker
how you feel and whatnot, and him really struggling with that, I thought that was so interesting to do, because it could have easily been the, oh, he just aced it because, you know, oh, I saw something in your kid, that kind of thing, but they didn't do that, they didn't take the quote-unquote easy way out with that, they challenged him, they pushed him out his comfort zone, and there were so many moments where there's bits of him trying to hide who he is, and then other times where he can't help the outburst against people, and I mean, they even bring that up in a think episode seven when their romance comes to the peak of the relationship and they're just both so buddy buddy with one another and then when that revelation comes that trevor has been spying on him the entire time he has a literal mental outburst like he just blows up the studio it's like jesus christ man yeah it's honestly just such a really interesting take isn't it on the character dictor It is. is really interesting. Genuinely, he is quite a dangerous person because he can't really control these powers. So you can understand why there'd be a desire to at least rein him in. think that what needs to happen is for him to be taught how to control his powers rather than just arrest arresting him and prison him, throwing away the key, which so think seems to be what the intention is there. You can understand that. And I don't know if you've been seeing this as well, but the assumption about Simon is that he's a mutant.
00:44:50
Speaker
Oh. Oh, interesting. That he's not the first mutant in the world, obviously, because... Superheroes exist. Not necessarily that superheroes exist, like because there's a difference between superheroes and mutants. Like, mutants are born with this specific gene, and he seemingly has the mutant gene, which, I guess, often gets activated in adolescence, and I guess the fire incident was the activation of that situation.
00:45:10
Speaker
But it'd be interesting if that is their introduction of mutants into the MCU. I know we've had Deadpool Wolverine is technically an MCU movie and they interact MCU stuff into that. But because mutants haven't directly interacted in our world timeline with most of the other Marvel-y type stuff, it feels like that's kind the first introduction of mutants and so I'll be interested to see if that's where they go with that going forward and it sounds like they're going to be mean there's definitely mutants introduced into the MCU in Doomsday, Avengers Doomsday and it sounds like also possibly in the new Spider-Man movie that's coming out in the summer so be interested to see where that goes with that No, that's actually an interesting point, to
MCU Mergers and Hollywood Cameos
00:45:48
Speaker
be honest. Yeah, because for obvious reasons and copyright galore, we love a bit copyright, that between characters like the X-Men, Spider-Man, and I want to say the Fantastic Four, we're also in that kind of bubble, that some of them belong to Sony or Fox or whatnot, and they're slowly getting merged into the big... Disney Plus blob. Yeah, no, that would actually be really interesting to see if they do go in that direction further on, if they keep him as just a superhero. The one character that I'm really surprised got out unscathed was Joe Pantoliano. Yeah, he got out with his life in that one. on but did like his character they were so mean to trip pantoliano they were because that is something that i do like see when they get a person to play themselves and they always poke a bit fun about it and it's the same with josh gadd because i'm gonna be honest i don't know the guy personally but i do think it's quite funny as we were saying what they did with him and now with joe pantoliano as well i thought that kind of blending between superhero hollywood versus real life hollywood that kind of blending together it was just really well done i'm not gonna lie i really appreciate the kind insight into a lot of hollywood in the show the episode self-tape which i think is episode two kind of showing what actors go through to send off these recordings in the very first episode you see he goes to a physical audition but it seems that that is not necessarily the main way of doing auditions now that a lot people have to send off these recordings of themselves for the casting director to kind of look through rather than having physical audition and that there's industries that are set up specifically for actors in LA. There was a self-tape studio that he went to because of Hollywood having so many actors needing to do these types of things that there's entire industries that you wouldn't even think of where we've come from specifically for that. It's very interesting. Yeah, because, mean, I'm not an actor in real life, shock horror, but even when I used to go to a theatre group thing when I was younger, but yeah, I can't really imagine how must have changed from back then to nowadays with the rise of, you know, the internet and everything, and I mean, the rise Zoom calls over locking. Especially, they just said, you know what, let's cut out the middle, man. Because see all these films that we've watched in the past, really any aspiring actor in the big city, whether that's LA, New York or whatever, you always have those scenes where they're nervously shaking and the corridor and they're holding the paper and they're like, oh, I gotta get this big break and everything. And yeah, okay. It might not happen this much anymore. So it's almost like a homage to that time. I'm not saying that physical auditions don't still exist, but it's quite interesting how it was almost a love letter, because I've heard people say that as well about this show, that there's a lot of technical and behind-the-scene details that they seem to get right, you know, talking about the production and, oh, we're going to do this, we're going to go to set, we're do blah blah blah again I can't fully appreciate it because I'm not part of that industry but I do find it interesting that they went the extra mile there was a time years ago now that I had wanted to get into acting they want to get into specifically voice acting And I did create audio recordings of myself saying lines to kind of show, like have to create like a portfolio that you then send off different casting directors for different roles. And I remember going through that process. It's quite demoralizing. And it also requires certain understanding of technology, which growing up, I always kind of thought about you get brought into these studios, into their professional recording studios and sessions and you do your lines there. But now everything is so remote that you need to have that technology yourself and the knowledge of how to use it, how to do it, how to even send it. Just knowing that once you record your audio file, the method and type of file it needs to be in to be able be sent, that it's not going to be too large of a file to be able to be probably sent, that it's going to be a clear file, removing certain background noise, which you're all too familiar with as a podcast host and editor. Oh, I don't know what you're talking Yeah, for sure. I just outsourced it to Martin McAllister. that was an option. For legal reasons, that is indeed a joke.
00:50:02
Speaker
I do everything. I hope Martin hears this one. Yeah, I hope so as well. Martin, it's time to step up. up But no, it is interesting sort of having that background and seeing what they're going through in there. And and again, it was very brief time that I was doing this because it didn't really seem possible for me based on what I had available to me. So I just stopped trying to do that. But even from just the brief kind of time I was doing that, like I could see familiarities there and very much sympathized with you have to find somewhere quiet and getting the right equipment and all that type of stuff. So it was really interesting. But just kind of jumping into the final episode of the show we're following Simon destroying this part of the studio and then the kind of heat coming back onto of the FBI or rather the, don't remember what the actual agency was called now, that was like the Department of Collateral Affairs or something
Clever Plot Twists and Diverse Representation
00:50:47
Speaker
like that. Department of Control, department of damage control I think. that they were like, alright, we've got him now, we've got some evidence that he's definitely dangerous, and that Trevor puts the glasses back on, filmed another scene where he says, I'm the Mandarin, I'm back. I was the one who destroyed that set as a terrorist act to try and save Simon. That was such a sad scene, though wasn't. ah It was really, really sad. And then I thought that that was how they were going to end it. And then cut to this whole bit of Simon in the future having made it as a movie star now. Joe Pantoliano having taken over Trevor's role in Wonder Man. That he was now seemingly with this guy out in the middle of nowhere. And the understanding that he's doing a role about either him or the type of life that he leads. And I was really kind of confused. don't know what your feelings were while you're watching this, but i was reallyconf confused what was going on there. I was like, is this guy like a football coach or something? He's going to do a biopic about this football coach and we're just kind of following his later career now. Like, what's happening here? Were you expecting like a Field of Dreams type thing? Not necessarily Field of Dreams. i' more like Remember the Titans type thing. And so then when he took him to the ah the high security prison, I then realized what was happening, that he was under the guise of making this movie. He tricked this guy into leading him into the prison so that he could try and free Trevor, who was done so brilliant it what were your kind of thoughts on this whole kind of lead up and the reveal there honestly i was the same because when i put that on i actually had to rewind it because i think it begins with as you said that trevor's taking the fall for the explosion and everything what i find kind of weird sorry this is a nitpick but find it kind of weird that he kept the costume for the mandarin it's like when he did the speech saying whoa death to everybody and blah blah blah i was like oh you really kept that mandarin costumed He must have like rented some stuff though, because he had the beard back on, didn't he? Yeah, i think you're right. And the beard was his proper beard when he was the original Mandarin. It wasn't a fake beard. I wonder if he had it in, you know, one of these storage lockers or something like It's like Spider-Man 2 all over and again. He just gets to suit back. The only difference, of course, I'm not... a hero, but not that kind of hero. But yeah, after that, and he goes to the premiere, and everybody loves Wonder Man. And it's so cheesy and over the top, but everybody just loves it. His brother's crying. And yeah, I looked away for a couple of seconds, and then all of a sudden, he was in this rural town in the middle of nowhere, and... Yeah, I had exactly the same thing. I was like, oh, is this? And I don't know why I came to that conclusion. I thought, is this the old Wonder Man actor or something like that? And I was trying to piece it together. And I genuinely, I was like, I've got no idea what's going on. And then, as you said, it wasn't until we got to the high security prison that was like, oh my God, that is so clever that they've just been building up. And that is something that I genuinely love about this show is mean obviously it's got a silly moments but it does treat its audience relatively maturely for the most part and especially for things that they don't really telegraph it unless you're looking like a marvel youtuber you're not looking in the background to be like oh that's wolverine's claws but you know you're not no offense those guys but you're not really expecting that if it's your first time watching it if you're a casual viewer it's just that lets there be this kind of slow build-up and even with the action scenes and other ones like see when they go to what they think is a drug dealer's house but it turns out they're just making snacks and they have this big argument about if you can schedule a youtube video from a gopro which say all see in all seriousness i'm actually surprised that you can't do that in a gopro nowadays because i know there's some cameras that have a live feed because you can put stuff on like twitch and stuff and kick if you're a horrible person. I'm not the BBC. You don't need to say other streaming platforms also exist. Well, there's that. There's YouTube. YouTube Live. Yeah, okay. No, but I did enjoy that back and forth. My wife really loved the scene when they were in the club and Trevor turns to Simon to ask if that's technologically possible to do and he goes, you're the tech whiz. You have all those apps on your phone. I love that. I mean, my wife first... laughing so one final point that i want to bring up for this show and it's something we haven't really brought up because technically it's not really a big part of it but it's simon's relationship with his well girlfriend in the first 10 minutes of the episode and then becomes his ex-girlfriend that was a rough day that was a really rough day especially when our reaction's not honey i can explain it's i thought your shoot was over by five o'clock I know. That was so uncool. I'm sure her reason for leaving him is totally justified. that He did not seem like he was in a very good place. He did seem like quite a selfish person for the most part. There's a reason that everyone in his life seemed to push him away. But you can't just leave under the cover. It's under the cover of night. It was during the day. But like leave without telling him. can't sneak away. That's so uncool. Unless you are concerned for your own well-being, like if it was an abusive situation, for a sure, girl, get out of there. But like, it did not seem that way. If that was the situation, you should review this character in a very different light. They meet later on in the show, I think it's episode six. Simon
00:55:58
Speaker
i want to say they have met at the bar and i have to say the only reason that he wants to meet artist is because it's when he's getting interviewed by that profiler for the magazine and he wants to know what she said to her and again that adds another layer of simon although it doesn't seem like a malicious person you can see that sense of almost self-preservation if that makes sense you know he's convinced that all his brothers absolutely been horrible and said oh simon's terrible and all his ex-girlfriends out to get him and then it's him slowly realizing that there is more to life than just his narrow view of yeah i've got to act this character i've got to do this and i feel as if Trevor really helps with that as well. The fact that they've got such a budding bromance going on, which is weird because they've got more chemistry than they do. I mean, they've not got badge chemistry, but yeah, it says a lot when it's like, yeah, I want to see more of Trevor and Simon rather than Simon and Vivian, yeah. I did say my partner the other day that on episode three, when they were the mama's birthday party, that given the fact that no one really likes Simon there and that he has no friends and stuff, and so and he's just bringing this random dude with them, there's a very good chance that the people there assumed that this was his boyfriend, because like they probably don't know much about his love life either, and it is a bit weird just bring this guy along. Yeah. Yeah.
00:57:20
Speaker
Honestly, I can't say anything against that. You're 100% right. It's just like you sit there going, huh, okay. This is interesting. But you see, as a closing point, honestly, I really loved this show. I genuinely am surprised. And again, this might be a Luke-worm take, a Luke Cage-worm take, haha. But I genuinely can't believe how creative both the writers, the directors, and especially the actors in this were in pulling off something like this. And I think... They have, and I don't know off the top of my head, so apologies, but it's the fact that they labelled this as more is it Marvel Spotlight or something show? Yeah, I noticed that. It seemed like they were trying to present it as a more premiere type thing and be taken more seriously. Yeah. Yeah, because usually it's like, oh, look at the comic book flipping. I know they do that mainly for the films, but they've done it for, I'm sure they've done it for the shows, unless I'm gaslighting myself. But it did seem as if it had a bit of a more mature air to it, which, again, we know it's superheroes and things like that. But honestly, between the characterisation, between the presentation, between them just... taking the time as well to tell a story you know it didn't feel as if for the most part anyway it didn't feel as if they were rushing through anything they knocked out the park and this would be the bit where i usually go oh i can't wait for season two i'll hold back and saying that not that i think they will mess it up or anything but you know that way where you're thinking yeah something's gonna happen or what if it doesn't get a season two or i do think it works perfectly If it's just a single season, if it's just a little mini series like this, I would be happy.
00:58:59
Speaker
That being said, I wouldn't be disappointed with a season two. I want to see more of these characters, whether that is now being introduced into the cinematic universe and that these characters are there. I mean, Trevor's already been in two Marvel movies and whether or not Simon is then going to be brought into the movies from this point or if they will continue with the show. I don't know what Ben Kingsley's career situation is, because I think of him as such like a high-profile actor, so I'd be surprised if he's as available as he is for more TV series like this, even though they are fairly short. Yeah, but on the flip side, we're talking about Disney money here for Ben Kingsley.
00:59:35
Speaker
That's true. the true cash grab. I mean, there's Ben Kingsley rates and then there's Disney Ben Kingsley rates. I mean, this guy is going to be eluded by the end of this. It's like a five minute promo. Don't mind if I do. I mean, have to say from all the promo stuff, it doesn't seem as if they're rolling their eyes going, oh, it's a stupid superhero flick or anything. They seem really into it. The fact that they've been doing all this stuff in character, I think says a lot. I think they seem to really enjoy what they've been doing. What I find interesting is how Wonder Man has done it where you can totally believe that this technically is in the same universe as Spider-Man, Captain America, Man. Two of them are dead, but bear with me. Well, Steve Rogers is also coming back. Well, yeah, we'll see how that goes.
01:00:22
Speaker
You're right, though. The check cleared, Satsu. Oh, okay, okay. Yeah, that's fair. I can hear the PayPal notification call off. In short, though, I do love how this is its own side thing. This whole series, and I mean this as complimentary as possible, this whole thing feels like a side quest. And I love it all the more for it, that it's just its own thing, there's no world-ending stakes, there's not any laser beam fights, or, oh no, the aliens, or, oh no, Loki's gonna steal the show. It's just two guys in a world of superheroes trying to get auditions. for this 1970s slash 80s superhero. Honestly, I love it. If you haven't seen it, definitely go check it out on Disney Plus, because even though we've spoiled it, I would still recommend, if you're still here and you're listening, and yeah, go see it. If you've got Disney Plus, obviously, but go see it. if you got any final thoughts for Not too much more than what you've already said to be honest. You've summed it up perfectly from what I would say. i agree. Please do support this show. Disney and Marvel aren't exactly yeah these small indie production studios, but by streaming the show and getting the numbers up for it, it shows we want more of this, that this is good. And that I don't necessarily want to get too much into this, but there has been a lot of issues where shows where a lead of color doesn't do as well for these superhero projects. And so when it does do well, it shoves that in the face of the naysayers that the go woke, go broke type people are then wrong. So it really does help to support these projects that are led by people of color, by any kind of minority voices. I think that it's really important to support this. Again, I recognize this is Disney. This is Marvel. They have their own issues in addition to being huge conglomerates. But show your support for the things that are worth supporting. And this, I would say, is one of them. This is one of the best Marvel projects to come out in a very long time. It's probably the best MCU show. And I did enjoy a lot of the MCU shows, even a lot of the ones that other people weren't super into. I have enjoyed most of what the Marvels put out show-wise. I say most. There's definitely some stinkers in there. Cough. Cough. cough, what if, cough. Oh, really? I hate what if. But this is certainly something that should get some attention. And again, don't really need much background information to check it out. Please do recommend if you've already seen it, but you think that might be worth recommending to someone else, but you're unsure because they're not that super into superhero type stuff, recommend it anyway, because I think it's accessible even for those outside of the superhero kind of lens. No, I couldn't agree more with that, genuinely. As we said, it is such an accessible show to either fans of Marvel who already you know the ins and outs so of the universe, they've all got Spider-Man bedsheets ready, and say for the more, they know nothing about Marvel, they know nothing about superheroes, they're not big fan. As you said, yeah, this is the perfect show to get them into. And God help anyone who says, oh, do you know what's a great show to get you started in Marvel? Moon Knight? It's like, no. and i hated midnight but again i'm not a mega fan but i semi know what it's about i think we're gonna need to do a ranking of i mean i don't know how many of these shows you've watched but maybe a ranking of these shows at some point and have a bit back and forth because i'd be interested to know your take on some and think a good episode to do oh yeah absolutely we should probably have well we can't have a marvel month because it'd be like a marvel year to Frank there's so much you could do a Marvel TV series month you can pick and choose we've already done a spider-man month and there's nine nine of those movies plus all the TV shows plus all the comics plus all the games and cartoons and all that kind of stuff so it's the scope to do that I think I would love to do some more Marvel stuff because it's kind of one those things where we've not really ventured much into other than i think spider-man i think spider-man is the only one we've done in think you're right to be honest hmm
01:04:09
Speaker
It's like there's over 250 episodes of this podcast. Real talk here, I've always thought about doing the Marvel month or something like that. But again, because there's so much of it, it's like, do you take one film like, oh, The Avengers, Age of Ultron, Endgame, you know, take those films. You could do by phase, I guess. And just kind of talk very generally about what you think of that phase, what were the hits, what were the misses type thing. we We're getting into the weeds now, live on the episode. Yeah, true. But I think there's a lot of scope for doing some of Marvel stuff. And if you guys want to hear us talk about it, let us know. If this was not your cup of tea, if you think that there's enough talked about of the Marvel Universe, and we don't need two more guys adding their voices to it, then that's fine too. yeah. Yeah, let us know if you like this. Download this episode as many times, much like Wonder Man. We need that support. We need that support. And if you would like to support us, thank you for the segue, Andrew. Then, of course, you can check us out at our website, chatsanami.com, as well as all good podcast apps. You could say I'm like the doorman and to that next part of the promo. Ding dong indeed. I don't know any other jokes. I don't know the character. of Yay, ding dong!
01:05:16
Speaker
All of our jokes about this episode have just been related to the doorman. And what a character, come on. Doorbells out for doorman, come on now. Get your ding dong out for doorman. And if you would like to get your ding dong out for doorman, you can indeed check us out on our Patreon page. Oh god, don't send us to your ding dong on Patreon. Yeah, for legal reasons, do not send.
01:05:35
Speaker
Do not do that, I swear to god. Ding dong DM. look give them ideas come on now but yeah if you want to check out exclusive episodes early access and jokes aside we will not be showing ding-dongs then can check us out on the patreon page patreon.com forward slash chat tsunami and yeah huge shout out to our pandalorian patrons robotic battle toaster ghosty and cryptic 1991 thank you so so much much for supporting the show this podcast is of course a proud member of the popat collective for more information check us out our twitter slash x page at popat collect but until next time thank y you all so so much for listening to this episode stay safe stay awesome and most importantly stay ding dong hydrated keep your ding dong hydrated