Episode 82 - Wonder Woman (2017)

It's the movie that saved the DCCU!

We couldn't wait, and just dropped everything to go see Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman in theatres! SPOILER! isn't in this, she's in the Bat-family. But Spoilers anyway.

Why/how/wherefore shoehorn the Greek Pantheon into a mismatched Judaeo-Christian monotheistic box?  How much should the political views of an actor or artist affect your experience of their work? Will we ever have more heavy-hitting female action protagonists than you can count on one hand? Is it possible to do a superhero/war movie in a war with no good guys or bad guys?

Are you going to find another stupid movie podcast that compares and contrasts Liberation Feminism with Equality feminism? No, you're not.

All this and Ainsley drops some knowledge bombs of Greek history and the mythology surrounding Amazons, while Anthony and Andrew weep at the prospect of eventually having to probably watch Batman v. Superman!

Episode 81 - X2: X-Men United (2003)

There's Something About Wolverine!

We visit what Wizard Magazine called the "Best Superhero Movie of All Time" and figure out if we can find one mistake in that venerable publication's sterling history with X2: X-Men United!

Is everyone okay with this "I can kill the world with my brain" machine Xavier is just using as an overclocked peeping tom machine? Does this movie feature the first trans-character in a superhero film? Is the destructive power of world-ending supercomputer an apt metaphor for the breaking down of an imperfect society to better allow for marginalized minorities?  How horrible a history teacher would Wolverine have really made?

We actually love Wizard Magazine guys, so don't write us letters. We also love superpowered fiction as metaphorical social commentary, and this one might do it better than any of them! Tune in to listen to two cis-hetero-white guys talk about race, sex, and gender relations and discrimination has to do with X2!

Episode 80 - Hercules in New York (1970)

Far in the dim past... when showbiz and bodybuilding merged into shoddybuilding... we got to have a Schwarzenegger love-fest with his first "major" movie in which he's learning English and playing one of the world's first superheroes, or certainly most prominent capital "H" heroes, with the 1970 bizarreness Hercules in New York.

How easy is it for a seasoned merchant crew to hand an OS rating to a random castaway? Is Arnold Stang just what you get if you took Woody Allen and removed the raw animal magnetism? Has there ever been a better wrestler than Biffer Benson? Why is Zeus totally negging Herc?

Come with us in restoring this movie to the Olympus that is the Schwarzenegger film canon!

Episode 79 - The Silenced (2015)

Ainsley returns just in time to help us through a creepy inversion of Captain America's origin story with the 2015 Korean thriller The Silenced.

The classic Simon and Kirby supersoldier story takes on a decidedly more gruesome turn if you remove consent. Why haven't writers been comfortable with female power fantasy for the last thousand years? Is it better to throw a superhero into a real-world issue or used powered fiction as a metaphor? Why does everyone hate Japan? I mean still.

Once again, as with Stranger Things, making girls into superhumans results in terror instead of high-heroics. Listen as three white North Americans dive into the thorny history of pan-Asian political history. What could possibly go wrong?

Episode 78 - Dick Tracy (1990)

We've talked about it enough, so we might as well do it. We gather for a meeting with Jesse Codner to discuss 1990's Dick Tracy.

What the heck does everyone in this movie have against Tess Trueheart? What was the name of that lizard dog in Star Wars? No, the other lizard dog. What is the secret behind the incalculable, alluring animal magnetism of Mumbles?

You should really go check out Ivory and Horn's amazing replica wrist radio, pick up a sweet watch, and help them (and Andrew) put together a REAL working wrist radio for 2018!

Then go watch Dick Tracy again while wearing it. No, YOU'RE a dork. Tracy.

Episode 77 - Supaidaman (1978)

Duck putties. Anyway, turns out 70's Japanese Spider-Man is a lot cooler than yours.

Did Power Rangers actually rip off the idea of giant robots from Spider-man? How much cooler would Spider-man be if he just screamed "I am an emissary of HELL!" before attacking people? Are all spiders this vindictive? Do spiders have nipples?

Recording this episode is full of gross discoveries and revelations, but the Supaidaman show is pretty great. Yeah yeah yeah WOW.

Episode 76 - Scooby Doo Meets Batman (1972)

For this terrifying tale of spooks, monsters, and money laundry, Justin Tucker from the upcoming Monster Squad Minute joins us to tackle one of the great legendary team-ups we never expected to see when Scooby Doo meets Batman and Robin!

Why does a cartoon have a laugh track? Is the Wayne Corporation in the business of putting well-meaning amusement parks out of business? How many Casey Kasem's can we cram into one cartoon? Was Joker a part of the Weapon X program? Just how hot are Anthony's attractive cousins?

Time to find out who the REAL world's greatest detective is: Batman v Velma Dinkley. Fight!