Muse

Welcome to Raging Bullets, a comics fan podcast, Season 2, Episode 775. We begin our Superman review.

From the sleepy suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, there are assembled the world's two greatest podcast hosts, created from the cosmic legends of the universe, Sean Whalen.

Welcome to Raging Bullets, a DC Comics fan podcast. I'm a big fan of variant colors. My love for Batman is that stuff. Let's talk some comics.

And Jim Sekulat.

How's it going, eh?

You know me and Superman, I'm really loving what we're doing. Raging Bullets is a spoiler podcast.

Their mission, to discuss DC Comics in books, movies, and television several times a month in one- to three-hour episodes. And to serve all mankind. Outstanding!

Welcome to Raging Bullets. I'm Sean Whalen, Dr. Norge, and I'm joined, as always, by my co-host, Jim, the sensei of the whatnot, the Duke of, you know, the Sulta Strategery, the minister of more gooder, brings new meaning to the word humoranerism, or whatever it was. And, of course, is the elder statesman of the podcast, Segulin. How's it going, eh? Jim, on this episode, we are going to be reviewing the Superman film by James Gunn, with a very in-depth discussion on it. We are sponsored, as always, by DCBService and InStockTrades.com. Mr. Segulin, what is going on over at DCBService.com?

We have Batman No. 1. Yes. Relaunch of Batman, written by Matt Fraction, 48% off, only $2.59. Plus, we have multiple variant covers. I think, yeah, it goes up to high, you know, the number of variant covers. Also, all with various discounts. So, thank you, DCBS.

Have you been looking at those covers? They look sweet!

Yeah.

Yes.

Well, I get a lot of the covers, so I do appreciate the discount, because I get the variant covers. And I see a Jim Lee variant cover. I'm like, yes, I always like those. Scott Campbell, J. Scott Campbell, you know, 100% going to jump on that one. The mark, and I always mispronounce his last name, S-I-L-V-E-S-T-R-I, Silvestri. Mm-hmm. His variant cover looks absolutely brilliant. Yeah, his artwork's great. I'm like, oh my God, I want that.

Yeah, yeah, it's going to be super cool. Over at InStockTrades.com, I did a search for Superman, just figuring for right now, we're jonesing with the film and everything like that. What kind of stuff's out there? They have, you know, the Death and Return of Superman. This is regularly $59.99. It's 40% off, only $35.99. Superman Day 2025, Superman Unchained, the collected edition. The Deluxe Edition, I should say. $49.99 regularly, 50% off, only $24.99. Funeral for a Friend, Trade Paperback, Volume 2, $19.99 regularly, 40% off, only $11.99. Superman, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, the Deluxe Edition. Alan Moore, this is a brilliant story if you've never read it. $29.99 regularly, 40% off, only $17.99. And of course, the Superman, the Man of Steel Hardcover, Volume 1. This is the John Byrne reimagining. Super cool work. $49.99 regularly, 40% off, only $29.99. If you're like jonesing for Superman looking to get this stuff on a discount, do yourself a favor. Do a search for Superman over at InStockTrades.com and save some money. I want to thank DCB Service and InStockTrades.com for continuing to support our show. Mr. Segulin, what kind of a podcast are we?

Raging Bullets is a spoiler podcast. We go in-depth into plot lines, story twists, and whatnot of the Superman movie. So if you haven't seen the movie, you may want to come back later so you can better enjoy the show.

Let's talk some film.

Carter Hall, scientific genius from a far-off world, flies into action as Hawkman.

Jim, Superman was released. I mean, and what a thing. We've both seen it twice at this point. Why don't we just go ahead and just jump into initial impressions? I know that's kind of a loaded thing, but just where were you at initially? So you've seen this film twice now. I know you saw it on opening night, and then you saw it again yesterday, which was Saturday at this point. So tell me, what was it like for you?

Well, the first time I actually saw it in the 3D theater. So that was kind of a neat experience. I'll be honest with you. I had a couple moments where I had to take the glasses off because I was getting nauseous because you know me, and with the 3D effects sometimes affects me. It gets to me. So I had to take the glasses off a couple of times. But as a general rule, it was a really cool experience. But it's so 100% recommends people see it that way because it does add a little bit of something to the cool factor. But then the second time I saw it, I saw it with my sister and my nephew. So that was a neat experience.

experience that the three of us went and we're all having we all had a ball it was all it was one of those things from beginning to end of the movie both times i was grinning from ear to ear you know it was one of those things bad just going back and i was like there's such a feeling towards uh the christopher reeves superman and again i'm not saying it's the same story i'm not saying he played it the same way but i had that same feeling i had when i was sitting in the audience watching that on the big screen going superman this is good i kept i had this goofy grin throughout and it's it's still both times i still had it you know so for me this was just a pure joy one i think this is a great movie two i think this is a great superman movie you know so when you have something hits on both levels you know i think that for me is what you want in a superhero movie you know you want a movie that has the superhero aspects that are just like yes but you want a good solid movie on its own you know james gunn knows how to do a movie he kind of understands the you know he's okay in that job he does a pretty good job but he knows how to make a movie so this is a great movie and this is a great superman movie on top of that so i was incredibly happy both times i'm thinking i'm i'm probably i'm definitely going to see it a third time i was thinking about today going again today but we got some stuff popping up so i can't go today so i'm going to try to figure out maybe maybe sometime during the week or maybe next week and i'm going to go see it again while it's i want to catch it again in the big theater in this on the big screen because that really does add something to uh the watching on the big screen there's a lot of movies i want to see on the big

screen right now like this is this summer has been one where there's been a lot of big tentpole movies but there's also some smaller movies that are out there that i'd like to see on the big screen i'm i'm a big screen guy i like seeing movies on the big screen so for me to tell you right now that i've seen it twice and i want to see it a third time on the big screen says a lot because i'm having a time factor issue as far as seeing movies i used to see a lot more in the theater than i do now and i'm finding just with my schedule i'm just not able to do that as much so for me to sit there and say i will bump something to see this again in the screen in the big screen um says something about the film uh this was one i really really really liked it the first time i loved it the second time and and i think the difference was this film's got a lot going on i was talking to my my other friend jim um about this one and he was talking about how uh he he gave the movie a b and it was due to not a negative way it was just due to the fact that there's a lot going on and he preferred a more focused film i told him i said you really should see it again because i do think the second time around when you've had a chance to really like kind of grasp everything you focus i think you're able to focus more on so much more of what's going on in this film because they cut he covers a lot of ground in it yeah there's a lot going on with i think a well-developed introduction to a justice league concept i love that it's the era that he's kind of introducing in a different way in a way that makes sense i think one of the things that he did here that's a key is he recognizes you have to cater to an audience who hasn't read all of this stuff so if you're going to introduce that era of the justice league you can't you can't put so much content in there that's not accessible and uh he did a lot in this film as far as trying to introduce this new dc most importantly what he did with this is what i love in superman films in general it's and they were gonna have to really delve into this on its own and i think it was where we start let's talk about clark and lois because i think we need to and we can talk about them individually we can talk about them together but to me the chemistry between the two leads in this was critical i from the first viewing and even more so in my second viewing i really love seeing these two on screen i feel like christopher reeve and margot kidder had that i got why he was in love with her i got um her strength i got all those pieces from that era i feel like in a today very current contemporary sense i get why these two are an item i get why there's something going on and i like that he didn't have to start at the beginning of their relationship in order to do that we're dropped into a couple that's been together for a little bit of time trying to figure out what that means she already knows who he is we've gotten past that whole point and she's having real conversations about what it means to be superman and and this dual identity piece and i just really loved the fact that i believed in her

as much as i believed in him uh and i think that's a it's a really critical piece is that relationship's important and if you haven't gotten that right when they separate and there's points in time where you see lois scenes they you should be just as interesting and intriguing as this Clark Superman scenes. And I felt like this film nailed that.

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She's great casting.

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He's great casting. And I like them.

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I wanted to see them always converge.

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It's nice when you've got them separate and you're like, but I want them back together.

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And that should be what you want from a strong relationship between two characters. And I think that casting is something that really stood out for me as being something that was very believable, very authentic. And I would love to have been a fly on the wall in the room when they were doing the, and I hope it's something we get in the extras when this film's released, is maybe seeing some screen tests or something like that with these two. What led them to go, these are the two? Oh, God, yeah. Because it really works.

Yeah. And again, I'll 100% echo everything you were saying. Completely agree with you on that one. I love these two. I now have a new favorite movie, Lois Lane. I now have a new favorite. I divide the favorites between the TV favorites and the movie favorites because it's not fair comparing them. Sure. Different development. She is now my new favorite movie, Lois Lane. Who's your favorite TV, Lois Lane? That is the recent TV one. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. And again, it's- From Superman and Lois. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For the longest time, it was Lois and Clark, you know, and I was like, you know, my favorites because it was such a long TV run. Yeah. And she beat out Smallville, Lois Lane, who was also a great character, but I still like then, you know, then the new one came out. Oh, okay. Now I got a new TV favorite. But, you know, so she beat out all, she's now my new favorite Lois Lane. And again, I always say, why does somebody with godlike powers love a mere mortal woman? Because she's not just a mere mortal woman. She's Lois frickin' length. You need to have that rock star, the punk rock attitude. I love when they pulled that into her. And they just, that shows just that pure tenacity that she's got. And she just goes after it. You've got to have that power. You've got to have that confidence. You've got to have the look. And again, all the actresses who played her in the past have all had that great look. They've all looked nice. You know, so you're like, physically, oh, I can completely understand. But it goes beyond the physical. It has to. It has to be that personality. It has to be that edge, that honor, that integrity. You need to have that. And they 100% had it. And again, I completely agree with you that we've got brilliant casting, brilliant, you know, just absolute. The dynamic between these two, it felt real. And that for me, like that, you go to like, you talk about the points when they're together on screen. And then when they're apart, you want them together. That final end scene with them together. I tell you, even though it was in the trailers, when it happens on the big screen, I know the audience I was in, I was like, oh, that's cool. You know, even though we've all seen the scene in the trailers, we still get that moment. I mean, it still has an impact. Even second watching, it still had that impact where you're like, oh, here it comes. Here it comes. Yeah. You know, I loved how they built that. You know, it gets you thinking, I want to see more. I want to see more. I want to see the next movie. I want to see these two further together. I want to see how they explain her and, you know, when she and Clark now have to get together. Because everybody knows, well, they're suspecting that she and Superman's kind of got a little thing going. You know, how are they going to explain when she starts dating Clark instead? Things like that. I started immediately thinking off page. I'm like, oh, that's going to be awesome.

The comics did that, though, so well. So, I mean, I love that he's, Gunn's clearly pulling in some elements that worked really well in the comics. With the fact that Lois clearly, I mean, it's the guy she loves. So, you know, she knows that, like, it's the same dude and has to skirt the line of everyone else can't know that. So, there's times where there's some questions about Lois and what Lois is doing. And I loved the part where, I know I'm jumping ahead, where the chief, you know, turns over to Jimmy and goes, how long has that been going on? Yeah. I thought that was great. I mean, it was the thing that I did like about this is, and I want to be careful how I say this, they both feel young. And what I mean by that is he clearly are seasoned in what they do. He's not just starting off as Superman. He's been Superman. But it feels like a young Superman. She feels like a young Lois Lane. Both of them, you know, clearly are rock solid in everything that they're doing, both aspects in and out of costumes, Lois in her job. All of those things are in there. But they're human. They're flawed. But not so flawed that you don't see their intense strikes. I think there's a balance there that has to be achieved where you, everything you were saying about what you love about Lois comes through on the page. On the screen, I should say, on this one. You get the same thing with Superman. I mean, this does, I mean, honestly, this one feels like a con. comic book and in all in all of the right ways. And I just I love that fact that the two of them, both Superman and Lois, without going too far with it, have their share of trying to be more, trying to be better, questioning themselves. And I think that there's the messaging of Superman a lot of times. And I'm not going to get political with this. I'm going to say the piece over there. I read a couple articles about this being super woke. I'm like, isn't that what Superman is? And I mean, I mean, I want to be very clear. I'm not saying that from the political way that we use the term woke right now. I'm looking back at the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve. Let's go back to those. Superman is always supposed to be this ideal of this person who is so good and we like want to be better because we've been watching him. And I felt like he nailed that in this. And I feel like any of the messaging in this that was around that was that purpose of just saying that he wasn't perfect. And I like that. That makes him accessible to us. But he is better. He's good. Like he's this really good guy on a level where you sit there and afterwards with the Superman film, I feel like it did that with Christopher Reeve. I feel like I'm a better person because I watched Christopher Reeve movies. And that's not political. That's everybody. We could all watch Superman and Christopher Reeve and get that piece. I feel like this film does that, too, in all the right ways. This feels like it belongs in the Superman universe should make you strive to be something more.

And and and honestly question ourselves as a society in the areas where sometimes we aren't. Yes. I mean, that for all of us. And that's an inclusive thing when you do that. So it was it was I like that part of the film. I really I felt that that was that that nailed something that I loved from the Christopher Reeve movies, but also didn't do it in a way where it came off as a like this backhanded scolding. It was like there was something hopeful in all of this. Like we can all do this. Like it ended like just had that beginning, middle and ending where afterwards you feel good.

And that's something important. It the old the old joke that's out there. Marvel movies, lights, camera, action, DC movies, camera, action. You know, yes, where they know it's got that darkness. This one is lights, camera, action. This is very bright and very open and just very, very positive. Superman. And one of the biggest criticisms of some of the past Superman movies have been, oh, it's too dark. Superman wouldn't do that. Oh, there's no point in this movie. Do I sit there and say, no, Superman wouldn't do that? We have some great Superman moments. We have some great Lois moment, some great Clark Kent moments. We got some great just moments that I'm watching this and I'm seeing a living version of the comic let out. And it was like little sequences. You know, I love when, you know, all the various times when you see Superman in the middle of the fight, saving innocent people, he saved a squirrel. He saved a squirrel. That was cool. Come on. How awesome is that? I cheered first time. I cheered second time. I'll probably cheer the third time just because that is so, such a pure Superman moment. And I love what that they put those, those bits in there, especially like when he, the one fight scene with the Kaju where he gets a thing and after you guys, okay. Okay. You know, making sure that people are fine. You know, it's just little stuff like that, that you got to have in there, you know, to keep things going, to keep it, you know, very real, keep it very pure to Superman. And as you said before, Superman is very, if you want to say, well, say fine, say, whoa, I always say he's accepting of everybody. He's a good guy. He's a decent human being, even though he's from Krypton, he's still a human. I loved, they had that whole, you know, that thing at the end there where he actually goes into like, I'm very human. I make mistakes. I loved that bit because that right there is a moment where you take this guy with God-like powers and you bring him back down to all of us. So we all can relate to him. This is why, you know, he, the big ass on his chest isn't for Superman. That's, that's the family crest, but also it's hope. Yeah. He is hope. And I love that they kept bringing that in where it was just, you know, just as you think things are going to get, go down, he can rise up. It's a gut check time. He builds up, he fights back. He brings the impossible and saves the day. It's some great positive energy that I just, well, I walked out of the theater, just great. As I said, I was grinning from ear to ear. I love that a movie can do that for me.

This proves though, some of what I've been feeling all along when there was the superhero fatigue that they're saying is out there and that type of thing. I don't think that's the case at all. I think what people want is they want high quality films that feel unique, feel fresh, feel different. They feel like they're not being given the same thing over and over again. And what I think. This film achieved was it feels like a DC movie. And I love the Marvel films. I'm a big fan of them. I love the Marvel Universe. I'm a big fan of it. But to me, what really works about the DC Universe at its best is when it's not Marvel. And I mean that when Marvel's not trying to be DC. I think there's a certain foundational core of both universes. That when they embrace what they're what they are at the core, it works. Superman feel this felt like a DC Comics movie. This is the first one. When I look back at the ones that have come, you know, post. I would actually go post Superman 1 and 2. This is the first one. And I don't I'm not going to pretend that this is Superman 3. I'm not in that mindset. I feel like this is something new. But I feel like it fits in that realm. Superman 1 and 2 are universally rewatchable for me. I can plop those on at any point in time. I can jump in on them at any sequence. This film, I haven't had the benefit of that yet. So like where it falls in rankings for me, it's like Superman 1, Superman 2 and this film. This film may move further up the ranks after it's been released. You know where I can own it. I've already preordered it. And honestly, I preordered it after seeing it the second time. I was like, I literally came home and like, I want to own this. It's kind of like anybody listening to me. Like, yeah, like you weren't going to own it anyway. Right. But there was a different I mean, there's a different vibe as far as the sense that I needed to feel like I'm going to own it because I liked so much the second experience of going to see this thing. But that's where it falls for me right now. It's Superman 1, Superman 2, both versions of Superman 2, by the way. And because I there's things I like of both cuts that like the second I can watch either or. And I'm very I'm a happy camper. And and then this film, at least so far, we'll see. We'll see you. Time will tell on this piece. You know, does it does it have that rewatch ability? So far, I'm with you or two viewings in. I'd like to go see it again. One thing I'd like to talk about with you is trailers. Right. So we talk sometimes on the show about a certain point in time where with a film, I'm done. I don't need to see any more trailers at this point. I just want to see the movie. They did a really good job with the trailers for this because I had no idea how where the story was going to start or what the pacing was going to be. So much of the trailers were right where the film starts. Yes. So I felt like there were a lot of great surprises in this film because of it. I appreciated the film's opening.

The fact that it was James Bond style opening, you know, where you've got this big event. Superman got his butt kicked. I liked the text that kind of gave us the back story as far as metahumans have been around for 300 years in this world. I mean, which is really, really interesting here. And Superman has been established at this point. This is the first time that he got his butt kicked. And we're left with him in that place because of the fact that he made a decision about taking a stand on a political situation. We're left with that piece and that wonderful sequence with Crypto, which I can watch over and over and over again. But that was how the film started. And that was so much of the original trailers. I love that.

Yeah. Oh, God. Yeah. And I'll tell you, one of the things, you know, everything you said about the opening with the trailer, opening with the comments, that for me was absolutely brilliant. We didn't go back and we didn't need to rehash the origin of Superman. We didn't rehash the first appearance of Superman. We're three years into it. We're 30 years when Clark arrived on the planet and 300 years from the introduction of the concept of metahuman. That for me was an absolute brilliant idea. And I also love the fact that they didn't show us that initial fight. You know, we got plenty of action. We didn't need to see Superman get his butt kicked. Right. That was perfect way they did it, where it comes crashing in. Because, again, I remember when we saw the trailer, we were talking about, that's him crashing in. That wasn't a hard landing. That was, you know, wonder what hit him. And then we were, and I remember I was thinking maybe that it was that Kaju that hit him and sent him flying. And that was one of the things I was thinking, we didn't even see the fight sequence. That, for me, was a brilliant idea and a brilliant way to handle it. I loved that. And, again, the introduction that we saw, most of the scene with Krypto in the trailer. But we still, that dog was awesome. That sequence was awesome with Krypto. You know, and just the lead up to it. And then you get the parts where you see it in the trailer. But they did a good job with the trailer teasing some stuff, but not showing us everything.

And that's perfect. To your point, we got to see that sequence from the trailer again. But then we got to see where it went.

Yeah.

Right away in the beginning. So even before we got to the opening credits of the film or the opening super...

Superman sequence right there. What we got with that was something else. We got the introduction of the fortress. We got the introduction of the robots. We got to see Superman. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We got to see the suit. I love I love that we got to see them, you know, heal Superman and how that whole piece worked. I love that the fortress moved. Yeah. Like that was sweet. I really enjoyed everything about how the fortress worked. I like that he ultimately you discover that he got beat up by himself or a version of himself as the film works out. You sometimes don't need to see all of that. And I agree with you on that. I think that was a brilliant choice because this film has a lot going on in it. And I think there comes a point in time where you've got to make a economics decision this first time and go, do we really need to see that? Or can we just kind of fill the blanks in when we get to the point of the reveal of who he's actually fighting anyway? And I think that that was a brilliant choice. We didn't need to see all of that. It would have been a waste. It

would have been a waste of time, actually. I know. And I love the fact that like you and I knew who Ultraman was. Yep. But it wasn't exactly who we were thinking. It wasn't an alternate Earth version. Right. I was not thinking clone. I was thinking, OK, this is going to be an alternate version because we see that Lex is able to access the pocket universes. That's probably how he got to Ultraman and all that stuff. And I'm that's all. I had this whole thing running through my head. And like, no, there's a clone. I'm like, oh, that is awesome. I love the fact that, you know, we're going into it thinking, OK, it's got to be just another version of Superman. No, it is

this version of Superman. And he could have been sent to Earth three with the way it ended. Yes. You know, I mean, which is one of the I don't need that, you know, if they're not going to go that route. But he certainly could have been. Yeah. And and I like that that opened a gateway for that possibility down the road. I honestly think maybe they should wait a bit before doing stuff like that just because Marvel's done so much of it lately. And that's not a knock on Marvel. It's more of a I think what they've got to really focus on right now is not being Marvel. Yeah, because I think for the sake of a film going audience, you need what you did with this. And I think it's good for Marvel movies and it's good for DC movies if they focus on that, because I feel like if you embrace what's different and it offers something unique, you're going to be pulling people both Marvel movies with, you know, their big epic because here's what I don't want right now. They're doing all the Secret Wars alternate universe stuff over Marvel. Now we're going to have DC doing all that right now on the screen. No, let's let's let's do something a little different. I like the idea that it seems like James Gunn's doing these contained projects where it's we doing Clayface, which is going to be an R rated movie. And, you know, got all this kind of cool stuff going on with that. I like that these projects seem to be greenlit based on unique scripts and that the films totally are going to be driven by what's best for the property. And that makes a ton of sense. I think these things will somewhat be interconnected, you know, like kind of like Peacemaker is going to be with this when it makes sense and not when it doesn't. And that makes a lot of sense too to me. All of this is kind of working together. There's stuff they're doing with animation right now, like creature commandos and stuff like that has been top notch. So if this is the way they're rolling it out, they're giving us a unique flavor that is very complimentary to the fact that on the Marvel side, they're doing their stuff too. I think you need to do that. You need to give people a reason why, why, what's different about this? Why do I want to be engaging with this in a unique way? And this, if this is the template of what they're doing, keep following this, be, be more conservative in the sense that don't feel like you've got to keep rolling out movie after movie after movie or project after project after project greenlight the ones that make sense. I mean, we've got a Green Lantern show coming, dude. Yeah. I mean, it's, this is stuff that like I only dreamed of and, and all that stuff is a potential to feel very, very different and very, very fresh. I think that's good for all of superhero content. When you've got more of that coming out, reminds people of why they were drawn to it to begin with. I think this is just a good time back to, back to the film and the robots and all those pieces. We got the opening credits. I've got to say when he was swooping on in, when he got to see that flight. The best of Superman is when they make flying feel majestic and fun. He's smiling. It's

fun. It's, I love dark. I'm a Batman guy. I've said it on the show many, many times. Batman's my guy that brought me to the dance. It was Spider-Man and Batman. Batman always had the edge, right? It's, I'm a Batman guy. So the darker hero is the one that I like. I like the dark night. I'm, I'm, that's my guy. Superman. I undersell this and I've said that before too. I've loved Christopher Reeve's Superman. Always loved it. When there was other theaters, something majestic captured it. And then. type of thing because he smiles it's fun it's different it's unique i really really loved that david when he's flying in and you get to see him with the superman symbol he's got the smile on his face he's spinning you know like doing like little tricks and things as he's going through he's enjoying it it makes you want to fly you shouldn't when you see somebody flying you should

want to fly he made me want to fly oh god yeah and again that that sequence again that whole opening sequence we said loved loved the interaction with crypto love when he got to the fortress and just you know the one thing i absolutely loved was when he's playing his message from his parents yeah you know and they're like you know and just you know just how that plays out later on you know and again it just you know the layering storytelling that they did with this we got jumped in as you said three years into the superman universe but there was still plenty to reveal to us oh yeah still plenty of the story now you know the rest of the story kind of add to add to it i think that for me was something else i loved about the story being told in that you know because again we're all seeing the message from his parents we're like yeah of course that's why they sent him to earth yes that all makes sense because it's so you we're so used to seeing that side of you know you know of you know jor-el and you know and that's something like yeah of course that's why he's there and that's you know it was a really neat thing and we didn't think anything of it until later on in the movie when oh by the way here's the rest of the message and i loved how they played that because it was that you know you know soup's beaten down this comforts him this is saying you could see him just you know as as the sun's hitting him and he's healing and i love that when he was healing it was hurting yes he had broken bones he had internal injuries and he's healing he's like you see him in pain and you actually hear a couple crack crack as the bones are healing and stuff that for me was a really cool moment you know but also again overlaying of the parents overlaying of why he's doing this he was only at 85 and he was going back for round two because he's needed you know and again gary gary steals the show by saying are you sure that's why sir you were at 100 and he beat you before you know little funny moment leading into it it's they did a brilliant job of little funny bits humanist moments those epic of like you said where we want to feel like we can fly we want to feel like we can be superman they did a brilliant blending of these things what's a humanist moment you're going you're going on so quick there you mean humorous moments or a humorous and well a combination i'm not i'm really not trying to be a jerk it's because here's the

thing i was actually glued to your rant because i was sitting there like engaging with it and i'm

nodding along so i really want to know what you meant okay a human moment that is very humorous so it was a combination you know humanist moment all right i'll take it yeah i'll take it so this was so you were definitely like you were definitely slamming two words together on purpose well no i accidentally it was an accident oh okay but but you're like you're like in my head i was saying that all right all right i like it i like it yes because again you get those serious moments where they're like a serious moment where you're like you know kind of like kind of moment and then you get a funny moment you know this combined the two into one and it was a brilliant usage yes you know you could you can use humor can take away from a serious moment or it can accentuate it and this this this accident you know so that again so accidental word throwing them together but the

intention was always that i'm glad i asked i really was not trying to be a punta i thought it was funny but uh so i'm there was that element of it but i i figured that there was going to be you were you had a really good rant going there and i'm like oh let's talk let's dive a little bit further into that what did you think about because there's been some controversy is not the right word but some questions over the fact that this superman's a little weaker i didn't i didn't take it that way i just took it that we've given him a threat that like will show his vulnerabilities which i really liked i found that that was a thing to me that was something i thought was a strength of this film i like when we see a superman that i still feel like he's you know superman you know we got the music in there so i mean we i felt like he was that guy but i felt like we were exploring a different so it's something we've seen with christopher reeve's superman we saw the vulnerabilities with him and i think that's sometimes forgotten if you watch all four of those movies you get to see a pretty wide range of uh what superman goes through particularly three and i'm a fan of three by the way three does the and and two actually two does a lot of the vulnerability pieces because he has to make a choice with with regards to his powers and stuff like that and trying to live a human life and make some vulnerable decisions there too so i felt like we get to see some of those pieces in a unique way without taking away his powers right you know in this

you know in this you know in this you know in this you know you know

one. So I thought this was an interesting way of doing it. And I thought that they did this really

you know in this you know in this you know in this you know in this

well by having embracing the evil that can be Lex and using Ultraman, I thought in a and not just Ultraman engineer. Yes. We shouldn't forget engineer engineers, one of those characters that I think is easy to forget. It's it sounds bad when I say easy to forget. But when you're like,

you know in this

we've got Superman's clone Ultraman in there. Engineer was a cool choice. Yeah. So I liked what they were doing with the two of them. But he's he's dealing with a significant threat. What did you think about the choice for this Superman to get beat up quite a bit?

Well, OK, so anybody who says he's weaker, I just throw out the fact that he picked up a building. So he's not weaker that there's no way you can say he's weaker. And he caught a weight. He caught a

building. He caught a building. Yeah. Because there's a difference with momentum of that piece. You think about what ends up happening. It's not just lift deadlifting it. It is a building that now it's got momentum coming down. Yeah. And it's going to crush a car. He caught it while flying.

He wasn't even his feet were not touching the ground. So we still have a very powerful Superman. Yeah. His power levels are very Superman. The reason Ultraman can do as much damage to Superman. One, Lex explained it, that he beefed up the power set. Yeah. Two, there is no holding back. Right. This version, you know, Superman always pulls his punches, even when he's up against something as powerful as this. He just naturally does it because he's a good guy. Ultraman has none of that, does not have that filter. Also, Ultraman does not have the human side, the humanity that Clark has. So again, there is that level of power that, you know, everything we saw Ultraman do, Superman could do if he completely just unleashed every single thing he had in him. We're seeing power levels that Superman could have, but he chooses not to have it. You know, there's a, you know, it's a, it's whether it's conscious or subconscious level in him, he is not going to that, you know, that over the edge kind of power because he doesn't want to inadvertently hurt somebody. He needs to control his energy, control his power, you know, control his heat vision so he's not, you know, frying everything around him. It's, there's all types of stuff that Superman naturally does, which is why Ultraman wins the fight. Well, wins all the fights, except for that final one when Soup is one able to unleash, but also Superman takes away... Crypto, get the toys. Yep. So cool. Oh God, dude. I, every single time I've cheered for that scene, you know, and even the second time, cause I was sitting there and I knew it's coming. I've got, you know, my sister and nephew on either side of me and said, I'm just grinning, I'm just giggling as it comes to there. And then, you know, when she does that, my sister next to me goes, good boy. You're like, dude, I loved, again, I love the fight sequences. This was, this really does show, you know, how Superman has these godlike powers, but he can actually have a, you know, he can fight somebody who could go toe to toe with him, who could do this. And you need to have that. You need to have that kind of fight.

I agree with you. It was, that part was something that was really interesting through all this. Did you read the most recent issue of Action Comics, Mark Waid's first issue? No, I haven't had a chance to. So I highly recommend it to anybody listening to this. It's a Superboy story and he's just taken over, Mark Waid. And he does this story that introduces, like it's, it's Superboy in one of his early times, like donning the costume. So the costume's not even finished, so to speak, in the way that, you know, it looks like a younger Superboy costume, but embraces the idea of what you're talking about. Getting ready to punch something and he has to start questioning it. What is that going to do? And what can this other person, you know, this other entity take? So yes, he hesitates for all the right reasons. I'm not going to go too much more into it. I don't want to totally spoil that issue because we're not talking, but I would say if you haven't read the most recent Action Comics and you're into this concept of how did Superman develop that way? It's really a good, I mean, it's a good issue overall. A lot of Montpaw Kent stuff, a lot of foundational stuff. I mean, it's, it's a, it's a rich issue. Superman's, by the way, anybody listening to this right now, if you're not reading the current Superman books, do it. Yes. They have got some amazing creative talent on Superman Action Comics and Superman Unlimited right now is really great. Another book I want to recommend right now, just because I'm in a, I'm in a Mark Waid mode at the moment. Did, did you read the, start reading The Last Days of Lex Luthor? Yes. With Brian Hitch. There was like a delay between some of the issues. Yes. So it started releasing again. So issues two and three are out for that. That book is outstanding.

yes like i'm very superman happy right now for obvious reasons you know because of this but it's there's a lot of great superman content out there right now last days of lex luther though is one anybody out there if you like you had picked up the first issue and then kind of forgotten about it because of some of the delays that happened and when those this book is worth picking up so like jump back into it and if you missed it this is a good time to jump onto it because it's releasing again now so uh that story it's a black label book yeah you know which usually means quality and it's mark wait and brian hitch come on i mean it they deliver so it's it's worth sometimes there's things that are worth waiting for this is a story that's worth waiting for where it all fits though is right now if you're into lex luther and you're looking for more content pick that up because it's a great story of the two of them together that's well worth following through so bradley cooper's jerell i did not know that was a thing i didn't know and i was like looking at i'm like that looks like bradley cooper but the way that they did like the filtering because of the fact that it was like the hologram i thought that was cool i thought it was very cool because it felt like high tech it's all takes a lot nowadays because our technology has moved so much farther ahead than it was like in the 70s that it takes a lot for me to kind of go wow that looks pretty high tech the fortress of solitude did that yes i felt like wow this is advanced and that like that sense of wonder is really important to me i'm glad that it was very reminiscent of the ones that we saw back in that era but they weren't afraid to say we need to kick this up another notch it needs to feel amazing today not just a nostalgia not and i think that's the important thing that this film captured they did the right amount of nostalgia without being beholden to nostalgia embracing the fact that this is a new film that we're heading in a new direction while at the same time saying yeah we want you to get the right feels from the past they did that appropriately so because i feel i felt like this felt like something completely new it didn't feel like it was connected to the first movies did not need to be connected to the first movies but it did like the right you gotta put the theme in a little bit you gotta do all those little pieces in the right ways i felt like it was very good like this could be a first superman movie i would show somebody yeah and just say you can go ahead and see

this it kind of reminded me of what star trek did with the variations on the enterprises you know a to d and then the way they'll you know when you look at what um the original series you know enterprise look like versus what next generation look like how dramatically it looked more high tech enterprises enterprise right enterprises enterprise and that was a funny thing because a lot of people commented on that one saying that one took place before the original series and it kind of looked more advanced you know yeah yeah yeah yeah but if you compare that one to next generation you could see that evolution evolution to there even as well so i think that's kind of stuff they did with the fortress where we get that classic you know crystal structure but you've got the tie tech in there the computer tech the you know you know this the the way they did again like you said they have a nice nostalgia nod but it's not beholden to that it can only look like this no we need to make this look a little different we need to make this improve it because present day audience if we looked at the seven you know the 76 version we would be like we kind of have tech better than that so they needed to have something you know that would to the today's audience as well as to the some of the the future audience that we get so i love that i again they did a really good job with some of that stuff and again you mentioned before with lex luther what you know what i'm going to tell you something i now have a new favorite movie lex luther this lex luther has finally beaten gene hackman for me yeah and gene hackman always was my favorite all the other lexes were good and i'm not knocking any of the other versions but you know there was always just something i was like i always kept going back to gene hackman this lex luther has beaten that so i now have a new favorite movie lex luther again doesn't go against a michael rosenbaum who's my favorite tv lex luther but it's in the movie genre this is now the number one lex luther for me because they did a brilliant job with just the nature of lex luther and i think that is something where i love the fact that this lex kind of you know can admit to yeah i am obsessed with you i'm obsessed with killing you because you are the one thing that is ruining human society i must save society by killing you and i love the fact that he's able to admit his own his own weaknesses but then takes his weaknesses and says but But it's really a strength. It's really for this. So he doesn't completely admit his own falling. If he could truly admit his own falling, work through it, he actually would work with Superman and make society a better place. But he still has that classic character flaw. And I love how they showed him having it. And he kind of has a moment where he admits it, but he truly doesn't admit it, which is why he keeps doing what he does. And it was absolutely brilliant. I love this version of Lex.

I do, too. I think what was nice about this one is we get to see an evil Lex. Lex, over the years, in comic book storytelling, even. So if you're listening to this and you're kind of like, well, there's so many different versions of Lex in the film. They're in the comics, too. I mean, he has reinvented himself like people do. I think one of the things we forget, people reinvent themselves all the time, right? So Lex is one of those characters that has done that in the comics many, many times. And I felt like this really embraced a comic book version of Lex that very much has been well written over the years. He presents himself very. I mean, like he was using the media in ways that I feel are very much what you can do with the media today in a contemporary fashion. I mean, look what was happening. I mean, we are a society. And this isn't getting preachy. It's just kind of just the reality. We look at headlines, right? You see headlines on Facebook. You see them on Instagram. You see them on news. And a lot of times people read the headlines and they don't read the article. Yeah. And reality of the fact that we're very reactionary to headlines and headlines are like they appear everywhere, right? You get the hot headline and it's appearing on one media. Somebody else has got to react to it. And when they're reacting to it, a lot of times it's clickbait, right? They change wording to make it a little more incendiary. A lot of times just to get you to click because clicks are everything. It's how they get advertising. So everything's clickbait nowadays. It played off of that. That's where it feels very, very contemporary and shows the dangers of that in how we absorb and continue that piece. And I think that's something that there's nothing. I felt like that was something where I was like, wow, that was cool because you could see how all of this played out. There was a logic to what was happening. And that's the piece where I think the film, I think, did a really good job of being today was that there wasn't a whole lot in it that like you sit there and go, OK, that doesn't make sense to me that that part really worked for me because it goes into some very, very cool high end concepts when we're talking about extra dimensions and things like that, that Luther's discovered. And we get to see him be the scientist and the fact that he's got researchers and he's willing to go where angels fear to tread because of the, you know, for his own purposes. And it gave us a reason why. And I want to go to this one. One of my favorite supporting characters in this was Mr. Terrific. Oh, my gosh. Was the casting of him great and the usage of him great? There is that sequence where he and Lois break off and we get to see he puts the force shield around Lois. Yeah. And we get to hang with Lois because we are watching what he is doing with the T-spears and him fighting against large numbers against them. And she's afterwards saying exactly what we're thinking, how cool this is.

And I loved her portrayal of that sequence because it really was one of those things where it was the right level of her. You could feel the danger through her, but she didn't break down because we got to see her strength. She didn't break down to it. But yet she was still kind of like, if this dude isn't doing this, I'm probably dead or captured right now. This was cool. It was really a great sequence of events and got to showcase a DC hero because then he's doing all the smart stuff. Yeah. And I felt like seeing him as an action hero and seeing him do all the brainy stuff that he would do was a nice introduction to who Mr. Terrific was. This was a great handling of that character. I loved him on screen.

I'll tell you, I love that you just said that it was the physical side as well as the action side. Yes. I mean, physical side as well as the intelligent side. Right. You know what I mean? I do. But that is something that I love about Mr. Terrific is that he has that multi-fascent tool. And that was something I was wondering how they were going to handle that. And I'm glad that they let us see he can physically go. Yeah. You know, he was a decathlon. He was a decathlon, you know, decathlete before as well as this, you know, brilliant scientist. So you need to have those dual sides of him. So I was very happy with him. And then also the casting of him. You know, this was another one of those spot on. I love the casting of him. I think they did a brilliant job with that. And it's neat seeing his interaction with Lois. They also had, again, it's, I think...

I don't know if it's, you know, if it's her or if it was him or what it was, but it's, you know, she interact anytime she's interacting with somebody. It was just absolutely brilliant. It was just it fit. So I don't know if it's her acting abilities that she can mesh well with anybody or if it's just, you know, again, direction by the director script, how it went out. But every sequence that she's interacting with somebody is absolutely brilliant. So, again, you know, if it's because, you know, Clark had some really cool moments with everybody as well. So I can't say he didn't. But there was something about her when she was interacting with the different people.

The garage door sequence. Yes. She's like, so you've got this advanced tech in here, but you can't get a faster moving garage door. So great. I love stuff like that. It was a great humor was handled really well in this. Yeah, because what you want to do is, you know, it's something that was definitely prevalent in Guardians of the Galaxy, definitely prevalent in Peacemaker. But you don't want to make this those. But humor is something that's always welcome. And it needs to be done with the right level of balance for the kind of film that you're making right now. And I felt like they did a really good job with this as far as having those moments that were because it's endearing. Right. Yeah. And I felt like it totally fit everywhere that they used it. They never took me out of the intensity. They never took me out of the seriousness with it. It just fit where it was appropriate and gave personality. It made me feel that these were real people, which is something that's really important when you're going. And I think that helped with some of the interactions that you were talking about earlier. Why did she and Terrific feel like there was such chemistry there? Because they let there be some chemistry. Yeah. And that part's really, really important. And it worked really well. I think it worked not just with him. It worked with Guy Gardner. It worked with Hawkgirl. I'm going to say one thing that I had a little tiny issue with. Tiny. I didn't need the Hawkgirl scream. Yeah. I mean, it's tiny because I liked her. I thought Isabella Merced, Isabella Merced, I'm butchering her name and I apologize. I love her in The Last of Us. She's in The Last of Us season two. Fantastic. She's fantastic in this. She's Cleveland. She's a Clevelander. Cleveland's own. Yeah. So, I mean, she, you know, her, a lot of her theater background came from being on the Cleveland theater scene. So she's great in this. I really like her as Hawkgirl. The scream thing, I was like, oh, I don't know that we needed that. I like everything else about her, though. I thought the costume was great. I thought the action was great with her. I liked, like, the leader of the country. She sold him over there and she's like, Superman wouldn't want you to kill her or anything. She's like, I'm not Superman. I loved, and I loved that we don't see what happens. We just see the, what was it, Pepto-Bismol? Yeah. Drop into the cup. I thought that was such a good sequence. So don't get me wrong by saying that I had a minor issue with that. I love the Hawks. So there's certain little things that I'm kind of like, I don't know that I needed that. Only because I love the character so much, I feel that way. I thought she was great in this and I want to see more. Like, that was something I thought that was really great with Terrific. Guy Gardner and her, which we'll talk more. I know we're going to talk more about Guy Gardner. But I thought that was something, all three of those characters were really well introduced.

It's funny with, you mentioned her. My sister actually saw her in Annie in community theater. Sweet. Yeah. Because Mary and I were talking about, she's like, oh yeah. Saying how she's Cleveland's like, yeah, I saw her. She's very good. Yeah. And so it's kind of a neat thing that, you know, one, and everything you said about her, I agree with you. And the scream, I'll be honest with you, it didn't really register with me.

Tiny. Tiny. Tiny. Yeah. I would be remiss if I didn't mention it just because of the fact that, you know, it was part of my experience. But not, it didn't, I love the character. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And they did enough with her that, again, I loved how she's like, just, you know, when they're throwing out the name, not the name, not the name, we voted against the name. But just that personality really did come out. And it did, to me, it seemed true to my understanding of who she was outside of the mask. Yeah. Outside of being Hawkgirl, her personality was, to me, came through solid. Yes. And again, they did very little time, you know, and you still, we, we both still had that comfort with her, you know, and then just the general. I want more. Yeah. Oh, I 100% want a Justice Gang movie. And I wanted, I wanted them to start off calling themselves the Justice Gang and then turn into the Justice League. Because I sold, you know, 100% they laid some brilliant groundwork on all of these characters that they could take it on to the next level. And it was funny, you talk, we said we're going to talk more about Guy Gardner, but when The Justice League.

Nathan Fillion. Oh, my God.

I know.

So good.

My story is not about this game. Okay.

Perfect casting.

I just haven't been here, I just haven't.

Brilliant job.

I don't know. I don't know.

And it was funny because, again, I was talking to my sister.

I don't know. Okay.

She's like, before the movie started, she's like, is he a good guy or a bad guy?

Nothing. Nothing. What, Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

I'm like, well, he's a good guy who's not a good guy. He's a guy guy.

He's a guy guy. He's a guy guy.

And as soon as I said that, my sister started, oh, my God, he's going to do a brilliant job with it. Because she loves Nathan Fillion as well. You know, it's funny because she went to the movie wanting to see a couple of different people that she knows from various TV and movies and whatnot. And his portrayal of Guy Gardner was absolutely perfect. I mean, 100 percent spot on to who Guy Gardner is. And I loved that in the beginning. You know, you really just see the jerk side of Guy Gardner. And then by the end of the movie, he's still a jerk, but he's less of a jerk. There's still you're starting to see the birth of the hero that could the true hero that is on the underside of Guy Gardner. Guy Gardner always was a good guy, but he's kind of got that bravado. He's kind of got that personal issues in his life that make him act like a bit of a jerk. You know, and I love the fact that we get that groundwork that, yes, Guy is a guy, but he's not, you know, what he's not a bad guy, you know. And I love just seeing that nice balance they did with him. And I love the usage of the ring. I thought they did a brilliant job with not being so over the top. But it was still because Guy isn't over the top with his ring. Right. Hell, John, John does some intricate details because he's got that architecture mindset. Guy uses big baseball bats and a finger, you know, to knock people around.

I love what you're saying is he's flipping off tanks that he wasn't being over the top.

Well, that wasn't, you know, because it was just a giant finger. That was pretty, it stood out. I'm just saying.

Well, but again, that's Guy. I like when he muzzled, you know, with that. I mean, the giant creature and stuff like that, it was, I, Guy Gardner in this, I thought, did a really, really good job. I love, I like when the kid, I, it was one of those things where they were telegraphing what was going to happen. But execution is everything. And you knew when the kid had that up there that it wasn't going to be Superman coming. We knew that as viewers. Superman, you know, pretty much established at this point that he called in some friends. But when Guy shows up and that goes over there, there's something about the pacing and the moments of it that just make it special. And he sits there and goes, Superman's not going to be able to be here, kid, but you got an upgrade. And I just loved everything about that. It was so, so cool. And when they, then, then them fighting together. Can we talk a little about Metamorpho? Yes, please. Because that was one that was a surprise to me that Metamorpho was going to be in there. Really creepy, really creepy version of Metamorpho and a blackmailed Metamorpho. It was, I will say, if there's another character that it's handling made me a little uncomfortable, it was Metamorpho. Not because I think it was bad. It was because of the fact that we see a Metamorpho that has been beaten down. You know, he's blackmailed with a baby over on the underside. He, we don't, we get to see him, you know, like he's acting on behalf of Luthor in those moments. And I was like, ooh. I like that he eventually cracks and we get to see him start to become more heroic. Start to behave more heroically. Because he needed that in this film with the character. I did not know he was in this. That was a really good surprise. I'm, it sounds like I'm critical of how they were using him. I'm not. It's, I want to see my heroes be heroes, you know, in one of those things. So when, when you take a situation where you've done in a way that makes sense, like why he was behaving the way he does, makes sense. Yes. I was glad that, that he had a redemption arc in this. Like they did a lot in this film. They gave Metamorpho a redemption arc in this. That like was very, very satisfied. And I was glad to see him have that at the end. And it made me want to see exactly what you're talking about. I want to see a Justice Gang movie. Because I want to see those characters really interact. In that sequence with Guy, when you see Metamorpho in the background and you see him coming in. Boy, did they do a, I never thought about how cool Metamorpho could look on the screen when you really embrace his power set. Anytime they used him, when he was changing into different elements and using the poison. And then when he was coming on over the sand and you got to see that visual. Oh my gosh. Was that stunning? Like stunning special effects. I'm so glad our Metamorpho on the big screen like this came now. Because we could do stuff like this. Oh my gosh. It was breathtaking. Really good use of the character.

And again, like you, I agree. I loved Metamorpho. I love the fact that they gave him this redemption arc. When he first comes in, you see him kind of like just downtrodden. And, you know, when you find out that Luther's holding his kid, holding his baby, you know, going to kill his baby if he doesn't do what he wants, you know, and so Metamorpho transforms into the kryptonite. And so he's keeping Clark down with that. And I love the fact that we see that and you never see, you know, Metamorpho embracing the dark side. You know, he's always against it. Even when Clark tries to talk to him, don't talk to me because it's so conflicted in him. He doesn't want to do this, but he has to. And it's that final cracking moment when he's like, I can't do this. You know, you have that moment where you're like, if people were blackmailing you, have your child saying either we killed your child or you do this. You know, that was what was keeping him. But that final moment is like, I stand all I can stand and I can't stand. He's noble. And I love when he came out and he finally drops the kryptonite and he's like, you know, and he needs, he's like, I need the sun. And he's like, well, I can't create the sun, kind of. And I love, he's like, helium, hydrogen. And he starts throwing out all the chemical components that make up the sun. And I was like, oh my God. And it was funny because the first time I was watching, I was like, I never thought he could do that. But that's absolutely brilliant. Because again, he could control the elements and he, bam, creates a sun in the jail cell to heal Clark. That for me was one of those really cool usage of metamorpho that I was like, oh man, that is awesome.

I also like they didn't leave him just in that prison. Yeah. They did bring him into the later sequences showing that, you know, he feels, because I think sometimes you make a mistake in a movie where you take a hero like that. And you beat him up like you did in this film. And you started by beating him up, which is the part where I was uncomfortable at first. I'll totally admit that. I'm like, oh, I don't want to see metamorpho like this. Then, then he wasn't. I loved that. And I mean, I think that was really important balance.

And the cool thing, like with him showing up at the fight was no one called him. Clark didn't call him in. No. He was watching on the movie with his wife and his kid going, I've got to do something. Yes. Superman can't be there. And I love that again, really does show his redemption arc.

And I love the stag industries and all that kind of stuff. Oh, God.

Yeah.

Yeah. I was geeking out.

Yes. That was absolutely brilliant. So they did a great job with him. And it's funny, you know, with the baby and the classic Superman moments when they're escaping from the prison where Clark is holding a baby and fighting off the bad guys and getting dropped down into the Proton River and getting thrown. And the whole time he's got the baby in one hand. Classic Superman moments where while he's being, you know, got to protect this small child, he's getting beaten up. So he can't just fully unleash. I loved the usage of the baby in there. Now, granted, there was a little bit of, you know, a little bit of concern and like they're not going to kill off a baby, are they? Because I was a little worried about them killing off a baby, just like I was worried about them, what they're going to do to crypto when, you know, engineer first captured crypto. Yes. But I did love the fact that you do have that happy moment where you see, no, the baby's fine. Clark did, you know, his Superman thing. You know, so that for me was a really cool sequence. What do you think about Supergirl? I love that. You know, I thought that was cool. And again, shows further why crypto has no boundaries that the true owner, you know, the cryptos human is doesn't put any boundaries. She's just, again, the they're taking from kind of the personality a little bit from what we saw in the Tom King series.

Yeah. And even the Michael Turner, like when they did that reboot of her, that type of thing where this is a Kara that has a little bit of an edge and an attitude. But then she grew. We do see her grow out of that.

Yes.

I think this movie is supposed to be based on the Tom King.

Yeah. And I think I'm assuming in her movie, we're going to see that evolution from this kid that who's going to planets with a red sun party and like a rock star, you know, to the more responsible superhero. I'm assuming.

Yeah. I can't. I can't wait to see that. Yes. I thought the introduction was really good. I think it made a lot of sense. I liked the again. And there's sense for humor where we see this is this is unhealthy. I like the robots like this is unhealthy. And I like it. If I were human, I'd be worried about her. Yeah. He said something like that. I was like, the robots were the robots were a hit. I really enjoyed the robots.

Yes. We got to have more super robots. We got to have Gary in there. Yes. You know, what do you know? You know, the one little I'm hesitant to say criticism. OK. But I do got to do comment on with Ma and Pa Kent. Now, I loved how they were written. I love how they were used. Mm hmm. I 100 percent. The only thing is Ma Kent's accent threw me off. Now, the actress is born in Tennessee and she's got her Tennessee accent, which is very. Well, that's very interesting.

I mean, it's a an equity platform. I love how they were in that winning now. Yeah? No, but I don't think so.

And again, that's her real voice.

I don't think so. Thank you. This brings me to another raise. That's nice.

That wasn't a put on accent. That's her actual voice. But Kansas accents are dramatically different than a Tennessee accent. And I think that's something that did throw me off initially when I first heard her speaking. Because I'm like, my first reaction, that's not a Kansas accent. But then as the character's going on, that was Ma Kent. So she did a brilliant job. So again, I don't want to knock anything on that. But I do got to mention, it's kind of like you and Hawker with the scream.

Oh, no, I agree. I actually agree.

It did trigger in me. And I was like, it was funny. My sister even commented on it as well. She was like, that's not a Kansas accent. Why'd they go with that? And then later I looked it up. I'm like, no, that's her real voice. So she wasn't putting on an accent. That's just her voice. And I'm like, OK. But she did a great job of being Ma Kent. And Paul Kent did a brilliant job. I love this Paul Kent. He was awesome. So again, it's kind of neat seeing just the, you can have those moments. Because for me, and I know for you, Paul and Ma Kent are a huge part in a Superman story. And especially in this one where we see he's initially leaning on what his Kryptonian parents said. Then when he finds out his Kryptonian parents weren't all what he thought they were, he leans on his human parents. And I thought that was a really cool evolution of who the story and what, you know, who Clark is. Clark isn't Kryptonian. Clark is an Earthling. Clark is the son of Jonathan and Martha Kent.

I liked Ma and Pa Kent. They were a little off from what, like, I normally like for Ma and Pa Kent. Here's the problem. We've seen so many TV portrayals of Ma and Pa Kent that I love. I've kind of walked into film with, like, my idea of them. I liked them in this. So it sounds like, again, like this heavy criticism. I enjoyed the humor moments of mom, like, leaning way too close into the phone and stuff like that because I felt like there was some legit there. I didn't know. I don't know. I didn't love the choice of the dad being the crier. You know, where they were kind of using that piece. He's getting emotional again and that type of thing. He's just a bomb again. I didn't hate that, though. You know, I mean, it's like one of those things where I'm like, I don't know that I would have done that, but I didn't hate it either. It was kind of, it is what it was. Yet, where they corrected it was that moment when Superman clearly needed a dad because he found out something horrific about his birth father, which we have to talk about that. And birth mother, as far as, you know, is that legit and all those pieces over there. But let's set that aside for one second. He needed his dad here and Jonathan Kent stepped up and was Jonathan Kent in those moments. And that was where I was like, OK, my nitpicks, which they were and they're there, kind of were overshadowed by this monumental moment between Superman and dad that I'm like, oh, I love this. So that's anything in the film that I found that I had everything in there was minor nitpicks. But there were there's there's some throughout the film where there were little things that I'm like, oh, I don't know that I would have done that. Oh, but then they did this. And then like I quickly corrected it. So it was very much like a shell game of that nitpicky thing quickly goes into the background, especially my second viewing. There were things that in my first viewing, now that I'd gotten over it, that I really enjoyed the film the second time through because I knew where everything was going to go. So those things didn't have as much impact on me the second time through as I don't know if you experienced that. But I found that like the the Ma Kent, I agree with you. I caught that, too. And the second time through, I'm like, oh, not as much an issue this time around because I've already gotten over it. You know, yes. But it is a thing. It's a thing. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm glad you brought it up because I think it's it's there was some choices that were made in this. And those were conscious choices when they were making casting and they were making script to make those choices. And not all of them worked perfectly. But I felt like this the the total package made up for the little pieces along the way that I was kind of like, oh, I don't know that I would have done that. But yeah.

Yeah. And with again, as I said, with Ma and Pa Kent, you know, definitely the second time it didn't even phase me, you know. But, you know, that moment between, you know, Clark and his dad was absolutely brilliant. And that, you know, and that was an area where I love the fact that, you know, he did turn into that mound of gush because I'm so used to a more stoic Pa Kent, you know, because it's the the hardened farmer who doesn't. You know, I love the fact that they did shift it a little bit and make him more of that mound of goo. I kind of I did kind of like how he is more of the emotional kind of guy. But there is still that wisdom that is Pa Kent. And I thought that, again, they did a brilliant job with that part of the story and that part of the.

and right when Clark really needed his dad to be there for him to say the right things he did. And that was, you know, a really cool, again, those are the cool Ma and Paul Kent moments that I love.

So let's talk a little bit about the Daily Planet bullpen, if we could, because this is something, I mean, the film really did do a lot. Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard. Are you a Saturday Night Live fan? I mean, did you watch Beck Bennett when he was on there? So I felt like that was brilliant casting. I thought he played a great, I love the character. Steve Lombard, I've always enjoyed him in the comics. When well-written, he becomes kind of that character. I think Beck Bennett embraced the character while adding the right, like, I love when they get into the terrific craft. Why don't I have a seat? It was perfect and not overdone. That's one of the things I mentioned earlier. I love humor in a film. I did not want this to be Guardians of the Galaxy. This was not. That humor worked perfectly in the sequence. It was short, it was quick, and we moved on. And I think that's the difference, whereas in Guardians of the Galaxy, that sequence, rightfully so, because of the nature of the Guardians, probably would have been a little bit longer or a little bit, you know, the humor, we would have leaned in a little more to the humor of it. And that would have been more appropriate for that world. I like that he recognized to tone it back a bit in this film, put the humor in there, and it worked. Beck Bennett was great, I felt like, in this sequence. I liked when he pulled off the Superman pin. I thought that was such a good sequence where it was subtle. You know, there's little things that's showing his reaction now to, again, the headline, which I thought was so interesting. That part all worked really, really well as we were going forward. But he was great as Steve Lombard.

Oh, big time. Well, I love it. Completely agree with you, and especially glad you pointed out the pull-off that. That subtly a way of pulling off the Superman pin was absolutely perfect. Yep. You know, that, because again, you've got this bravado over-the-top character who does something very subtle. You know, and again, it shows that that's his, that's the true Steve there, whereas the energy that he puts out when he's being just over the top, that's his mask. The true guy was taking just quietly taking that off.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He didn't, you know, he didn't go, oh, this is horrible. No, he just quietly took it off. And I thought that was a really cool usage. Now, somebody else from the bullpen that I absolutely loved the casting, loved the writing, loved the work, was Olsen. Oh. Guess what? I now have another new favorite Jimmy Olsen movie. You know, this guy, absolutely perfect on the casting on Jimmy. This is Olsen Buck from the comic book. Yes. You know, he's got, he's not just the, golly gee, well, he was, no, he is an equal part of the bullpen. He is, brings something to the table other than a kid with a camera. And I thought that was absolutely brilliant. I loved, again, the, from the Righteous Gemstones when I first saw that actor, you know, he played Gideon on the show and he did a brilliant job there. Again, continues to do a brilliant job. I love this version of Jimmy Olsen. So happy with him. And I love the fact that he and Lois were, you know, going back and forth and he was part of the team. Yep. He's not just, you know, not just an extra, you know, so that for me was a really neat stuff going on. You know, that, again, the bullpen felt like the bullpen. It felt like a modern production. I love when they actually post the article. It's the multiple versions of it. You know, throwing the online version, throwing the publishing version, throwing all the, you know, all the variations that are out there. You know, modern newspaper has to improvise, adapt, to overcome and to survive. We're seeing a little bit of that going on in that movie and how they played it out. That, for me, was absolutely brilliant. It felt relevant.

Yes. Which is, which is really important today. It needed to feel like they were a part of the news media today. Yeah. And, and that they were viable, which was really great. Cat Grant, I thought that was, that was really good casting too. I'm just adding, you want to have this sense of feeling the Daily Planet environment. I thought she was really good casting. I like, I like the,

the little flirtation she had with Clark. Yes. Yeah. I thought that was a neat thing because, you know, right now they don't, no one knows that Lois and Clark are together. Right. You know, and so she, you know, I, you know, I love the fact that because in the comic, she always had like an attraction to Clark because he wasn't like anybody else. He didn't, first thing, he didn't look at the chest. He always made eye to eye contact with Cat whenever he talks to her because he's Clark Kent. He's a gentleman, you know, and I love the fact that that's something she always was attracted to Clark even though, you know, Clark has this dopey physical, you know, appearance to everybody else. She recognizes, oh, this is a good guy.

Can we talk about his appearance for a second as Clark Kent versus Superman because I thought this was brilliant because he was joking. about the glass or not really joking he was mentioning the glasses with lois before it's not just the glasses yep i like that he does a little thing with the hair they did that in one of the recent comics it may have been the mark wade comic that i was referencing in action comics where they started doing a little bit of that and i really like it it's sometimes i i kind of i groan when like we feel like we have to take some of the film elements and put them in the comics in this case it's one that like no no please adopt that because i actually like the idea of the fact that you must up the hair a little bit and you don't have that little curl and that type of thing yeah like why would you keep that look like change it up a little bit it was really visually effective because he did look different like i really liked that when he's in superman and he's got that clean hair and then when he's in clarket he's got that little must up with the glasses look he it works it really does work uh it was it stood out for me it was a brilliant choice in this film

well also the glasses were the hypno glasses yes the 70s i love the fact that they brought that back yeah you know when they first when you know guy gardener first throws it out there oh you know about the hypno glasses like if i didn't you just spoiled it you dummy you know you know and i've read a couple people have issues they've had issues with the hypno glasses i absolutely love the fact that they brought it back yes you know again this is silver age superman this is classic story superman but i also agree with you on the changing of the physical hair well changing of his this the

way he is if you have an issue with the hypno glasses aren't are you ignoring the rest of the stuff like it's not just the glasses yeah i mean the dude's look like was completely different i thought that was just i thought it was a very very good choice so if you're a new person that's like today i'm going oh why don't they all know that he's superman i don't know maybe because of that i'm

trying to think of i can't think of her name there's some female actress who always has like the bangs in you know every character she's played in movies uh-huh and then you see her on the red carpet and people don't recognize her because she doesn't have the bangs yeah yeah yeah you know and i can't think of what her name is right now it's going to drive me nuts but you know you see it constantly where you change the simple thing about your body sure and it can completely disguise how people see you you know you go back to batman how he put the big giant scar on his face when he's you know undercover because all people see are the scar they don't see the rest of the face and it's just bruce wayne with a giant scar nobody knows it's bruce wayne because of that there's little things you can do to disguise who you are very easily and glasses do change you know the way you physically look whether you have them on or not so it's you know i i again i can't see this

jim's wearing glasses he literally just took them off and i was about ready to say to him because something gets lost right now it's like i was recording with two different people we're one of the things we're doing now that we haven't done in years jim and i used to record in the same room well now we're recording uh online and we've been recording for years with skype but in the switch we're using zoom right now and for the first the last few episodes we've been doing it via zoom with cameras on which is kind of helpful in knowing when each other wants to speak and stuff like that i'm hoping it's noticeable to you if it's not it's helping us at least yeah but you'll do certain things now because we can see each other and i was like laughing because i'm like nobody else is going to see this you know no no but it was good it was good with what you were doing because it illustrated a point as far as how that it does it does look different with and without i'm trying to think there's nobody else in the bullpen that other than perry white i thought wendell paris's perry white was great i mean

he's an amazing actor yeah i 100 when i saw him casting like okay he'll do a great job and he did and it's it's it's funny because he always plays cops and commissioners and that kind of side so him playing perry white worked great and now one moment a point a perry white point that i loved was when they're writing the article they're flying in the t they're flying in the t-jet or whatever mr trivix plane is called uh and you know lois is dictating to jimmy jimmy's doing it perry even though perry was sitting there the whole time he still reviewed it again he'll give it a final review the final copy and i love that little attention to detail that he perry white is a true editor he 100 would want to have a hands on that just to make sure it's 100 okay even though he was there while the article was being written he still has to make sure because again it's his name that goes out there and i think that that was a really cool capturing of a true you know a true journalist a true editor so but yeah everything they did with him was absolutely spot on because again he's a great actor so and the casting we've commented on multiple times has been absolutely brilliant and you know i love the fact that it's not just the casting of lois clark you

Lex that were like, yes, this is amazing. All the side pieces are all the side characters. All the supporting characters were absolutely brilliant. And, you know, and I love the fact that they gave Otis an upgrade. Otis definitely is an upgrade from the previous version. This Otis actually was very intelligent, very competent, very, you know, was a really cool character. But also Miss Tessmacher. I thought that was a neat Eve Tessmacher. I thought that was another neat character that, you know, they kind of, you know, how she ends up being the ultimate downfall to Lex Luthor. I thought that was brilliant.

Well, she was in the first Superman movie, too. Yeah. Clevis Thornwaite, Michael Ian Black, you know, played that character. At first, I was with my buddy Phil when we were, we saw it the second night. And we went to an event in Cleveland that was at the Capitol Theater, which is a historic theater. It's over 100 years old. That was restored. But they did a, House of L did a podcast afterwards, which was really good. People like Brian Michael Bendis were there. Philip Kennedy Johnson was there. I'm going to do a disservice because there was a number of comic creators who were there that were part of this event. So apologies. I'm not trying to disregard anybody that was there. It was just a really cool event. And they were up on stage just talking through their experiences with the film. What were the things that they liked? What characters did they like? They were also promoting that there was an event the next day on Saturday at the Cleveland Public Library, where they were doing like a mini comic convention of sorts. It was geared toward, there was a lot of it that was geared towards kids, which I thought was great. But they also had panels that were there with each of the creators mentioned. It was nice to see Cleveland. And it was the Siegel and Schuster Society were putting on this event. And it was Michael San Giacomo from the Cleveland, who used to be with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, did all the comic stuff. He's great. He was there introducing it. So there was some really cool people that were involved. He's the vice president of the Siegel and Schuster Society. So they were talking about the statue because there is a statue coming to Cleveland commemorating Superman that is going to be in this whole little like welcome area that's going to be August 2nd that it's going to be unveiled. So anybody out there that has been like hearing about this statue and is interested, that's going to be something that's unveiled in Cleveland, August 2nd. So if you make a trip to Cleveland, make that part of your destination to go see this really cool statue because it's a golden age Superman. And looking up at him is a Siegel and Schuster. And one of their wives is looking up in like the role of the reporters, like looking up as Superman. It's a really cool statue. You can look online and actually see some of the markups of it from the Siegel and Schuster Society. But they were talking about that. House of L did a really cool podcast. They've been around for 20 years. So they started shortly before us. And I don't know if they started podcasting then or if they had an online presence. I'm actually looking at the history of them. I've known about them for years. But back in those days, I didn't back when they first started. So I just want to shout them out because they did an excellent job. It was really a very, very cool event. If you're not listening to House of L, it's a Superman podcast. Check it out. It's really, really cool. And I really enjoyed the event at the Capitol Theater. But it was nice to see all of those creators there and see them talking about it. But my buddy Phil was asking about, switching back to Michael Ian Black, because that's where we got to this. He was asking if that was Jack Ryder. And I didn't remember them naming him. It's not. It's Clevis Thornwaite. It was a character that was created for this, works for the spear.

But Michael Ian Black, I thought, did a very, very good job. And I liked how he was totally engaged with Lex Luthor until he wasn't. Yeah. And so, like, we've had him on many times. And who knew?

He was a traitor.

Yes. Yeah, exactly. I mean, it's funny how the media turns so quickly. And I thought that was just really, really well handled in the story. I thought he was really good casting. I like him in general. I think he's funny. I think he's incredibly talented. And I like when he's able to put in that balance of being serious when he needs to be. But he's always, like, likable and accessible. And you could see him playing somebody in the media that would be a newscaster or a personality like this that would be doing it and being somebody that people would be engaged to watch like that. So I thought that was really a good casting choice.

And again, you're commenting on the media turning on people. That's very accurate to nowadays. Oh, yeah. How quickly people flip. And I remember watching the trailer, you know, with everyone throwing stuff at Superman and all that. And I did remember thinking, why are they turning so quickly on Superman? What happened? And I love the explanation that how they did this, where this has been like, again, Luther playing the long con, where he started with just the general media because he's got his, you know, the monkey bots just throwing out all that hack. Hashtag hate, you know, going towards Superman, which cracked me up.

He's got his own. He's got his own.

But then that final nail in the coffin with the parents' message.

Yeah. He's got his own HAVE- the monkey bots just throwing out all that. Like, buzzet things. Yeah. Well, it's the monkey bot sort of probably offensively. Like, buzzet things.

And I loved how they did that, where it was building, building, building, and finally the big bam, dropping the A-bomb on them about how Superman was sent there to conquer us.

You know, they throw out all that. Like, buzzet things. Yeah. Like, buzzet things. You know, they throw out all these times. They can actually throw out theotoncoin stories to remember assuming вой anything like this guy. Or the monkey bots just throwing out all that has things.

Superman was sent to Earth because his parents sent him there because they said humans were simple people and you would be able to conquer them. Take many wives, have a superherum, spread your Kryptonian DNA across the planet. I thought that was an absolutely brilliant, brilliant way to get people to turn on a dime at Superman. I thought that was absolutely wonderful handling of it. Great story. But also, again, I loved Lex's handling of it. When Lex is on the show and he's getting emotional and all that, he's like, I'm scared. That right there, that was, again, brilliant acting, brilliant Lex Luthor playing people. If anybody had any doubt right there, that would bring it home. You know, I thought that, again, absolutely brilliant usage of Luthor in there. Usage, again, Michael Ian Black, again, he's a great actor. I love seeing him and stuff. But a cool story out there. And I love the fact that this was actually the true message from the parents. Yep. We've seen Kryptonians be jerks towards humans. There is the one version where Krypton landed on Earth and the first thing they did was they conquered Earth. You know, and Ma and Pa Kent weren't the people who raised Clark. They were slaves to, you know, Clark and this and that. And, you know, I love how, you know, we saw some, they took, again, elements from the comic book and brought it into the movie. It felt really true and rang pure to classic Superman stories. That was for me. And again, I've known all this and it still was a surprise to me. I'm like, yeah. Oh, that's brilliant. I love that there's so many elements in this movie where even though longtime Superman reader, it still surprised me. And I was like, oh, that's brilliant. And I love the fact that the trailers didn't spoil that. I would have been so furious if the trailers spoiled that. And they didn't.

Other films could learn from this trailer. Yes. Because there's some where they give you too much. Yeah. And I felt like this did a great job of exciting you. They did different trailers every time, you know, so, I mean, with the fact that there were certain elements that appeared every time, but they did mix up the trailers a bit. But they did a really good job of not over-teasing. And anything that was shown in the trailer had a follow-up that you wanted to see. So I thought there was really an example of a trailer being a true teaser trailer. I hate when you walk into a movie and you feel like, I've seen one trailer too many. Now I already know where this whole thing is going to go. So I didn't know with this in all the right ways. And that was, it was just very, very well done with what the choices of what content to reveal.

Yeah. Oh God. Yeah. And again, the fall and then rise back up a Superman. You know, in this movie, we talk about how much they did so much in there. They gave Metamorpho a 100% brilliant arc. They gave the Justice Gang great development. You know, Lois and Clark relationship. You know, it had its highs and lows and peaks and valleys. And they did a brilliant job with that. Same thing with the, you know, the people at Metropolis. You get this where everyone turns their back on Superman and then they're back to liking him. And it's not just Superman saved me. It's like Superman, we are wrong. And I love the fact they had the one reporter say, Superman, we owe you a great apology. We're, you know, we're led astray. You know, it was the whole Luther is the true villain here. Not you. We're sorry. And I'm glad they actually showed that. In the media. In the media. Yes.

Because it's really critical if you're going to go on afterwards and say, well, why are people now behind him again? You have to undo it in the media. Yeah. Because of the fact that the damage was done. The only way to undo it is to blast it out the same way that it was blasted to destroy him. And that part worked really, with it being Lex, being, like everyone would be clicking on Lex. So you could see why all of a sudden people would be behind Superman again. That worked. But it's really important nowadays because otherwise it's kind of like, well, yeah, but wouldn't there be a bunch of people that don't know that he's a good guy now? Nope. They took care of all that. That was really, really well handled in this. I was geeking out over that particular piece. Can we talk a bit about Cleveland in this? Because it's one of the things, I went with my wife the first night and two of my friends. And my wife kept saying throughout it, that's Matter Headlands. That's, because my wife saw that. My wife was, my wife works for a memory care facility and she takes the residents on tours. So she was looking for places to take them. And one of them was.

is Mentor Headlands, and that was when this was shooting. So she was driving down by there and got to see the tents and the shooting. So everything that was in the film, you got to see parts of it. I mean, it was a closed set, so I mean, it wasn't like she was on set. But, I mean, it's Mentor Headlands. You can see a lot. And it's cool to see those sequences. So the beach sequences where you're seeing them go through the other dimensions, those were all shot locally here in areas where we've walked. And it's so cool to see that. The sequences in the Daily Planet and Metropolis proper, a lot of that was shot in Cleveland proper. The area where Superman and Lois in the end are having that sequence where they're flying into the air. I'm like trolling my finger because they were doing that. That is the arcade, the old arcade, which is a, I mean, I've walked there. You've walked there many, many times. And it's such a beautiful facility for that. They did a great job of adding the right amount of Metropolis feel to Cleveland in what they did. And I thought that part worked really well. But it was great to see some of these locations. I'm geeking out as far as, so if you're somebody who's like a Superman historian, you're like, it'd be nice. It's nice to see Superman embracing its history. Oh, my gosh, did they in this? You know, this, Cleveland is where this was founded. And Metropolis is Cleveland in this film. I mean, oh, my gosh, I know these areas. And we've walked through these areas time and time again, never dreaming that these big, vast areas would eventually be used for a Superman movie.

The sequence when they were in, when the Justice Gang first confronts Superman about the super harem. Yes. That's the key tower. Yes. And that's the bank I work for. So it's their main lobby. You know, so that was kind of neat. And then. I didn't see you intervening, though, Jim. Where were you? They wouldn't let me. Yeah. I'm out. I'm out the west side. Yeah. But the Hall of Justice, by the way, is Cincinnati train station.

Yes. Yeah.

Yeah. So that's kind of that was kind of neat. Again, I'll see. I'm going to not Cleveland, but still Ohio. So we take that one.

My buddy, Kurt, was pointing that out after the movie wrapped up. He's like, that's in Cincinnati. He said, I think I know where that is.

Yeah.

And he pulled that up. That's really cool.

Oh, God. Yeah. That was that again. And then, you know, all the fight sequences that happened on public square. Yeah. The war memorial that's, you know, right in the heart of heart. Public square was featured very nicely. Yeah. There's multiple shots of in Cleveland. And I love the fact that I know. Okay. So I saw Juergens Street, Wade Street. Yeah. Siegel and Schuster were names of businesses by the Daily Planet. So those are kind of cool. Those are the only ones I saw. Did you see any beyond that?

I didn't see any beyond that, but I feel like there's more. Yes. And I feel like this is going to be a movie where there's a lot of Easter eggs that I didn't catch. I caught more the second time through, if that makes any sense.

Yeah.

And I feel like when this is a film I know I'm going to rewatch and study over and over again. I mean, from this kind of, by the way, I don't have notes in front of me, which I normally do when we do these. I didn't need them today. And I just, I knew I had a lot of content in my head based on that I wanted to talk about. But normally when we do a film review like this, I've got extensive copious notes. So that way we can kind of go through chronologically the film and speak about it. I didn't do it with this one only because of the fact that I was like, I don't need to. I'm ready to regurgitate this right now. And that's unique. I feel like there's so much more I want to engage with this film and see it again. Just because I think you're right. There's more Easter eggs there. And there's a lot of things that I feel like I missed. I felt like the second time through I enjoyed it more because I felt like I caught more. Yes. If that makes sense. And I engaged with the story in a different way than the first time through. Where I'm, I think the first time through you're trying to settle in and get used to the world that's being crafted. Whereas I understood the rules we were playing by the second time through. So I got to enjoy it more. Yeah. And I encourage anybody to listen to this. If you only see it once, see it again. It was, I don't know if, I don't know if it was for you. It was better for me the second time. It's a weird thing to say, but it was. I knew everything that was going to happen, but I felt like that allowed me to better enjoy it and engage in it. Oh God, yeah. This was fun.

We talk, I talk about my multiple read-throughs on comics. And, you know, definitely with the movie. This was the second watch through. I loved it even more. And again, there are sequences where I kept, you know, I say, I laughed and I cheered every single time. Like the crypto stuff. I loved those crypto sequences. And first, second time, I'm still sitting there going, good boy, good boy, good crypto. You know, get the toys. You know, little stuff like those moments were just like absolutely wonderful. Well, and I'll tell you, the person.

The person.

I really also did appreciate even more the second time was Engineer.

You know. You know, he's a person. I think. You know, he's a person.

We mentioned her earlier, but I want to talk a little bit more about her.

He's a person. He's a person. He's a person. He's a person. He's a person. He's a person.

Please.

He's a person. He's a person.

Because she is an absolute brilliant character.

He's a person. He's a person.

Because first time watching it, I'm thinking, Mercy.

He's a person. Yeah.

Okay, they're doing this as their version of Mercy.

He's a person.

And she's beyond that level.

He's a person. He's a person. Yeah. He's a person. He's a person.

The character isn't just a support piece for Lex.

They're person. He's a person. He's a person.

She's her own individual entity. And I love the fact that there is some complications where she is fully embracing Luther's interpretation of who Superman is. How he is the alien threat. And she's like, I gave up my humanity to kill him. She 100%. She's not just a piece in the puzzle. Just a pro-Luther thing. She is 100% anti-Kryptonian. Anti-Superman. And I love just that kind of, you know, getting a little bit understanding of more who she is. She's a character when they do the next movie in this franchise. I hope she's around. Because she 100% was a brilliant villain for Superman.

I like that he was trying to appeal to her. Yes. You know, that worked out. You know, just saying it doesn't have to be like this. And, you know, he was really trying to, like, engage with her and make that work. I love that they brought a Wildstorm character into this.

Yes.

You know, and it made sense for the engineer to be the one and the way that they were using it. I really enjoyed seeing her. If you haven't engaged in Wildstorm, there's a great chance to. There was two different engineers in the Wildstorm universe. Yeah. And this is based on one of them. And the concept very much comes straight from the comics. And it's something that I'm glad that they pulled into this piece. And I'd like to see more. I'm assuming they introduced some of these concepts to see if they could do something with them beyond this. And I'm hoping we get to see that. I, you know, depending on the story. I like that storytelling, at least of everything Gunn said in an interview, storytelling and script is driving the introduction of characters and the movies that are being greenlit and the projects that are being greenlit. And they've canceled projects already where the script got kind of stuck in limbo. And I think that's going to serve them well because this was very story driven. And I loved the story. And I think that's really a key when you're bringing somebody out to the movies. It's not about whether it's a superhero movie or not. It's really not. When it's a film going audience, people want to see good movies where they're entertained and the stories are engaging and they transport them to places. I think the superhero fatigue that they're talking about, it wasn't that. It's a matter of are people engaged in the stories? I liked all of them that have come out. But there's clearly they were not all equal. And I don't think they were all accessible. I feel this one was very accessible. And I think there's a difference between that. This was not made for a small core group. This was made for a much larger audience. And I'm hoping the box office shows. I think so far it is. I know it did very, very well, at least initially. I hope long term that it continues to show well and it makes big money just because I feel like this story is worth it. And I feel like it sends messaging to both DC and Marvel as far as what people want out of these type of movies. Because I think that's what they really need to learn right now. I don't think fatigue is a thing because it's like saying there's fatigue with the horror genre. There's fatigue with this genre, with that genre. I don't believe in that stuff. I believe sometimes when you're churning out the same stuff over and over again, people are like, okay, I saw this three months ago. That doesn't mean that it's bad. It just means that, like, I want to see something new. I want to see something fresh. And we get that in comics all the time. Something new and fresh. And I feel this was a new and fresh comic being put on the big screen. And I feel like that's the key of what worked here. It's why do comics need revamps every so often? Why do they need creative changes every so often? It's so you get this. And I think film needs the same thing. Film can learn a lot from comics. As far as what works in comics, what works in sales numbers, what works in attracting people to books, I think can work in film as well. And I think that this is where this is succeeding. What else? Is there anything? Engineer was a great one.

I'm glad you brought her up again because I thought that visually was super cool. That sequence inside the Fortress of Solitude was wicked, wicked cool with the robots. It's so funny that I loved Ultraman in those sequences, but she was the spotlight. Yes. In those.

Some of the freaky stuff she was able to do. And I loved how she was able to take down Clark. You know, in that fight, in that one fight sequence, when starts putting all the nanobots inside him, inside his lungs. And they love the fact that they addressed it. Because the ones like, can she hold, he held his breath for over an hour? He needs air in the lungs.

lungs sending the nanites right into the lungs which means they accounted for that right because again it's lex luther he thinks of all this stuff you know brains beat brawn and i love how that

kept the sort of injury of lex luther kept coming into play sort of though the determination of superman ultimately won out in that sequence right because superman did not give up that's one of the things i'm to me i like it when superman what's the power of superman it's not that superman can punch anything and just solve his problem it's the fact that when the chips are down his determination it's like superman doesn't quit yeah so superman flew into the sky and you know kept going up really really high and then came back down like a missile and it it in that sequence his handling what was i'm not quitting i like i get what you're trying to do to me right now i am not quitting i like that there was that sense of danger and overwhelming like how is he going to get out of this i did not see it going the way that it did and man was that cool part of me was thinking when he was flying

straight up i was thinking that it was going to be an outer space thing that she couldn't survive in outer space you know and like oh no he's going up and then crashing down because and she's like

we're going to be crushed if we do not like he's the only one protected right now yeah you know i like that she was basically saying you know like i just put him in a shell yeah and i'm not and i love that the dialogue was critical there i really liked her portrayal as an actress like because alterman's got the mask on and we're not getting the personality out of him because of how he's being used like a drone you needed her in that sequence the actress really did a tremendous job of giving you the sense of danger because she was all in it to win it until like wait a minute i'm gonna die here

yeah i'm not okay with that and i love that lex told her to disconnect i agree i love the fact that lex recognizes oh crap she's gonna die yeah that for me was a brilliant usage of lex luther again it's showing that he you know yeah lex has got a mindset of hey you gotta break you know to make an omelet you gotta break a couple eggs but he recognizes i can't lose engineer you know and i thought that was brilliant again great lex moments and i love the fact that you know in the end of that fight that's what took her out of the fight and we never see her again so she's still on the board so yeah they captured lex luther but i think she's still out in the out there in the universe somewhere so in my head the second movie the reason luther gets broken out of whatever prison they put him in is her i see the sequence whether it's the beginning of the movie or the end of the movie where she breaks luther out of prison because i think she's still free and out there and obviously luther is going to prison so whether they use him in the second movie or they use him in the third movie i think she's going to be the key piece to getting him out of prison and again i'm creating what i think is going to happen based off of this movie i've got no indicators no rumors no nothing this is just purely in my mind what you know where the story can go after this because they did such a brilliant job with her making her you know 100 she's all in on luther it's not just you know you know she's not just a cog like the people who were in the action in the com the command center who were helping you were monitoring the bots and all that they were just tools they were just pieces of the puzzle they were employed by luther even the one guy you know kept saying hey we got to shut this down we got to shut this down she's you know she was 100 pure luther is 100 correct she's full-on loyal

to luther and i love that molly uh who was the uh falafel vendor who was killed during this i really liked the casting of him i liked the usage of him we needed to see him beforehand that he was willing to like superman i need to rush out and help him he bought falafel before you know it was what it was i like the fact that metropolis is living and breathing and these people have a friendship with superman and they you know recognize that i always loved that in comics about characters i liked that they brought that into this i'm i i you know obviously you never want to see a character get killed but i like the usage of him and the fact that his death meant something it it was you saw it shatter superman and you saw what it did to metamorpho and it was really the straw that broke the camel's back for metamorpho remember it was like you can save my kid like you know i liked that he was crying and crushed and we needed that moment to see that when it happened i none of that would have mattered if we just brought him in and he was a random unknown the fact that we got to see him organically earlier and then when they brought him in it was somebody we've already established a relationship with it meant something more that was really well handled in this and added another layer to just you

how ruthless Lex Luthor is. Yes. And that he was going to keep bringing people until he got what he wanted from Superman. Yeah. And it's stuff that Superman couldn't give. I mean, Superman's not going to give up his parents.

Right. And I love the fact that he, you know, that Molly was like, I don't have a family. I don't have anything.

Yeah.

Don't give him anything. Don't tell him anything. Hey, Robert Coleman. That was, yeah, I know. That was just like one of those true, just like, you know, if you or I were ever in that kind of situation, I would hope we would have the same courage to do that and say, don't give in. Don't give him the answer. That's a true gut check moment. That's a tough one.

I would have given lots of reasons why you were expendable. I would have been really heroic. No. Here's a moment for you, buddy. No, no, you're right, actually, though. That sequence was one. I like when you see the citizens that are inspired by Superman, inspired by that world. And I think that's really what we're talking about here is the fact that in Superman comics and in Superman storytelling at the best, the citizens become these great, engaging characters. And you and I are both friends of Vivo and, you know, the characters like that that are in this. And I feel like this character filled that kind of role, right? Yes. And I love that kind of stuff where it only works if you've introduced him properly and we actually care by the time we get to that sequence. And then you're right. You, as a viewer, hope that you are that good, that you would do that same thing. And I think you're nailing that piece. I really don't want to detract from what you're saying there because I think your point's well met. And I think it's what I love about Superman films. Like, this made me smile afterwards when I was done. It made me want to be a better person after what I was done. Christopher Reeve films have done that. That's really the best of Superman. If this is your first Superman film and you haven't watched any of the classics, watch, I'd go back to Superman 1 and 2 immediately and watch them. And then, like, sit there and go, compare it to this film. And you're going to see how this is a modern reimagining of how you do Superman today and yet still capture that same sense of wonder and humor. And he was vulnerable, like, the vulnerable piece, the criticism of that. I'm kind of like, I don't know. He gets beat up really good in Superman the movie. He gets beat up really good in Superman 2. I don't know. What movies are you watching where this dude isn't getting beat up? I heard that as a criticism that, like, he gets beat up too much in this one. And I'm like, I don't know. Christopher Reeve's Superman wasn't, like, you know, scar-free. I mean, he had that, like, kryptonite chain put around his neck and, you know, was drowned.

Yeah, but again, as I said before, I think we really still are seeing epic power that Superman has. I agree. I like the fact that, you know, it's, this was, again, this was a really good Superman movie. I loved the Superman movie. And again, it's funny because we both have compared it to the first, you know, Superman 1. And, you know, it's one of those things where, which do you say is better, this one or that one? Too soon. And for me, I can't, yeah, I can't compare them. I really can't say which one I like more. All I can say is, I had that same positive energy walking out of this one that I did, you know, Superman 1. And Superman 1 was when we were kids.

Right.

And I still was, I'm still able to go back to that. Again, I get a grin. I had a goofy grin on my face the whole time I was watching it. And I, and I love the fact that I enjoyed it so much that I've been telling people, you have to see this movie. You know, the day after I, you know, cause I saw it on Thursday. So Friday morning, I immediately, when I logged on to work, threw out a bunch of messages to all my friends who, you know, who like superhero movies. And I said, you've got to see this. Trust me, you will like this. You know, and a couple of them, I even gave them the guarantee saying, Hey, you go to the movie. If you don't like it, you let me know. I'll pay you back your ticket. That's how good this movie is. You know, and it's, I've told three people, you'll pay back their tickets. Right. I said, if you don't like it, Jim will pay you back. Yeah. But it's, again, this was a fabulous movie. And again, it's a fabulous movie, but also a fabulous Superman movie. This was, this was what I, I was, I was so hoping this is what we were going to get. This is beyond what I was hoping. Yeah.

I don't, I don't hesitate to say that. I was hoping it was going to be fantastic and that I really love it. After seeing it the second time, I'm just realizing this is beyond, I made me feel like a kid again. Yeah. And in the sense, and I'm hoping that it continues to hold that kind of grasp on me. I'm hoping it's doing that for a new generation though, because, you know, the Christopher Reeve movies, there's a reason why I keep referencing them and you referenced them as the Superman film from our childhood. And it still has that rewatch ability today. I'm hoping for a new gener, I'm hoping it does it for me, you know, like I want this to be another one that is like on that, rewatch list where I'm, I need some comfort food tonight. You know, how about Superman? You know, the James Gunn one. Yeah. I kind of want to watch that. I'm hoping this is that another one of,

those type of movies for me because I love when those get added to my library just for that reason. But I'm hoping for a new generation that this becomes that film for them and that they get the love for this character because that's how the character is sustainable is when you do stuff like this and make it relevant for them. Yeah. So it's cool. Anything else about this film that you want to share? I think we're, I think we've covered it all, man. I just want to shout out real quickly later this week on Thursday on Is It Jaws, we're going to be recording an episode with a nut, with a whole panel on doing a review of the film, which, you know, here, Jim and I do the conversation piece. We're going to do, and I'll, I'll share my review comments there. I mean, obviously some of this is not going to be a surprise because you're hearing my comments here, but we get into the mechanics of the film and all those kinds of stuff. So I feel it's going to be a real complimentary episode of this one. So if you haven't heard Is It Jaws before, we will have a whole panel on there reviewing the film using the Jaws one through four scale. So please check that out. I think it'll be, there's certain comments that I will be sharing on there that just because of the nature of doing a review, we're going to talk on that end. But Jim, this was fun as always. It feels like, it feels like another one of our films, you know, it was so cool. Hope this craft can withstand this powerful force. Ragingbullets.com is our show website. That's where you can find details on upcoming episodes. It feeds into X slash Twitter. It also feeds into our Facebook fan page. We are proud to be part of an amazing Facebook group community. It's great to see people posting their accounts, the news articles, thoughts and updates. I find just various information there. It's the first place I look for news and I want to thank everyone who posts there. It means a lot to me. Thank you for the things you do to keep me up to date and what's going on in the world of comics and related pop culture. So it's a great, safe community. If you've got a blog or a podcast and you want to shout it out there, please feel free to do so. This is a community here and we want to promote other people. All I ask is if you do the same, please promote us over in your area as well. Just to get the word out about all of us. It's a one big happy community. We are sponsored as always by DCB service and in stock trades.com. Mr. Seglin, what's going on over at DCB service.com?

We have Batman number one, a fresh new relaunch, 48% off only two 59, as well as all the various variant covers also with various discounts. So thank you DCBS.

Over at in stock trades.com. Like I said, I did a search for Superman right now. Just a ton of quality work here. Like they have the absolute all-star Superman hardcover. This is the 2024 version of it. 125 regularly 40% off only $75. Great chance to get this. If you missed it, Superman, the golden age trade paperback, trade paperback volume five, 39.99 regularly 40% off only $6.24. So there's some great deal to deals. If you're looking for an opportunity to grab, you know, I got 20 bucks. I like to grab a couple of books. You can do that here and get some great comic book reading for a very low cost from our sponsor in stock trades.com. I want to thank DCB service and in stock trades.com for continuing to support our show. The about a section of our show website is where you can find out how to connect with us on social media and gaming platforms. I'm a regular co-host on is it jaws. We release bi-weekly. It's a film review podcast. Paul Spataro was kind enough to invite me to join that podcast. And if you're interested in film reviews, please consider checking us out at is it jaws our next episode, Jim and I are going to be back and we're going to be talking for the next couple of weeks, Superman, the rise of the superwoman. We will see you then. Bye.

Strategy. What is that supposed to mean? That's a word that I have never seen. Do you exist? Strategy. Suddenly. I don't feel as smart as I used to be. I couldn't find it in a dictionary. Oh, what the heck is strategy. Why I need to know? I don't know. It's just my way. I asked a friend I know and they told me go away. Strategy. Maybe it's something that is wrong with me. I may need a pill from the pharmacy. Maybe that will cure my strategy. Strategy. Strategy. Why I need to know, I don't know, it's just my way. Just because I don't know, I'll just say it anyway. Strategery. A definition isn't meant to be. Or at least one that I can see. I'm so confused, strategery.