Across the Omniverse

Believe it or not this week I'm not complaining. The penultimate episode of  Loki  season 2 is a lot of fun and has the kind of lovely strangeness that's been missing. It also has the Velvet Underground... and  that  I complain about, believe it or not.  Plus: hot takes on that big Variety piece about Marvel Studios, and which parts sound kind of like BS. Who is throwing Nia DaCosta unde...

This week's  Loki  ends on a major cliffhanger, but is the journey to get there worth it? On this episode we try to figure out what the different characters actually want, and what the stakes of the show are - things you would hope the program made clearer! Before that - a revisit of  Infinity War  and  Endgame  leads to discussion about why Phase Four feels so different, excitement-wise, fro...

What does everybody want in this show? This week we talk about some muddled motivations and some muddled stakes, but do those things mean the episode isn't enjoyable? Not necessarily! Also: we're reading  MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios  and it's giving me memberberries about the days when I was in the scooping game. Come join the Patreon at www.patreon.com/cinemasangha !

This week it's a twisterooni, as I am the one nitpicking and Derek is the one defending. However we both agree this episode's cold open was designed to make us feel like we missed a whole episode of the show.  Plus there's news! A bunch of trivia questions whose answers just don't feel right! Plus I reveal the dark reason I won't review the new book  MCU: The Reign of Marv...

After  years  we get the second season of  Loki , and it starts off with a bang. This episode also starts off with a bang as I tell a tale from my old drinking days when I tried to get into a fight with someone involved with the production of this episode. Who? You'll have to listen! Also this week: Derek gets to be the one who laughs at a mispronunciation, we remember how much we love Owen W...

The cosmic conclusion of the nine part  Secret Wars II  saga is upon us! This week we have only one crossover, an epilogue with the Avengers, and otherwise this whole episode is going to be about baby killing. Yes, you read that right - baby killing is a main component of this final issue of the superhero crossover comic book series.  Did you enjoy  Secret Wars II  as much as we did? Interested in...

The Beyonder has had enough. This universe, and all of the desire and disconnection he has found here, has driven him to the brink. The only option left to him is to destroy it all so that he can once again be alone. But can Marsha cuck Owen Reese, the Molecule Man, hard enough to save reality? This week's crossovers include some of the best books we've read in this whole little project....

The Beyonder has a lot to think about, and this issue that's pretty much all he does - sit and think. But this guy has an impact on the world even when he's just parking his kiester on a rock in the South Pacific, and first he gathers a crowd of followers and then a group of villains, sent by Mephisto.  This episode we talk about how Puma should be the star of a Sony movie, what Peter Pa...

The Beyonder has turned away from his despair, and now he wants to help people. But this bugs Captain America and Mister Fantastic who  yet again   do nothing about the Beyonder but do continue to threaten him. The Marvel cosmic beings show up in this issue, and something happens that finally gets Molecule Man off the couch.  Plus we have a whole bunch of crossover comics, including a  Thor / Powe...

This week The Beyonder gets real sad and goes emo with a 13 year old girl, who ends up being a significant recurring character in the X titles! The Avengers pull a Ray Stantz, and Derek wonders if Iman Vellani is scabbing by promoting her new  Ms. Marvel  comic book.  Next week's  Secret Wars II  is much more crossover heavy than some of our recent issues, and one of the comics you need to re...

The Beyonder goes to pound town this issue as he seeks to understand this crazy little thing called love. What is love and desire? And can he make Dazzler love him? This week sees us having a big argument about  Dune Part II  moving and the Oscars in general, as well as, believe it or not, a big argument about the existential philosophy of an issue of  Rom: Spaceknight .  Next week the Beyonder ge...

This week The Beyonder takes over the whole world - but can that satisfy him? We also have a mixed bag of crossover comics; there's Derek's favorite ever issue of  The Incredible Hulk  and there's an issue of  Daredevil  that saw Denny O'Neil quit the book. It's a mess, but is it purposefully recalling the temptation of Christ in the desert? Next week: the Beyonder tries t...

When is a crossover not a crossover? When it happens in only one panel of the comic book in question, I'd say.  This week we follow the Beyonder to New York City, where he bumbles around and learns to poop. Then we get two fantastic Spider-Man crossover comics and a  Fantastic Four  issue that is, crossover or not, just kind of bad.  Next week: the Beyonder takes over the world! Here's y...

This week we're doing a big pivot. Now that Secret Invasion has finished we have decided to not return to X-Men: The Animated Series just yet. Instead we're going to spend the next few weeks reading Secret Wars II and all of the associate crossovers. Yes, it's a trip back to 1985 to talk about the granddaddy of all crossover event series. Secret Wars II is weird and shaggy and an aw...

Well that's a let down.  The  Secret Invasion  series wraps up with a whimper, and it didn't have to be this way. There is stuff that happens in this episode that, had it happened in episode three, would have made this series an all-timer.  After this episode the hierarchy of power in the MCU is changed, but will anyone care or ever reference it? Next week we begin a new project here: a...

Things start coming to a head this week on  Secret Invasion , but they also kind of stop making sense. Lotta plans that aren't very coherent and some weird decisions and just some other things that don't hold up under too much scrutiny. But we also get a pretty good shoot-em-up, so maybe it all evens out. Then again, there is also a cameo that absolutely no one on Earth cared about, whic...

It's strike time, baby. Hollywood is shutting down and we spend a little bit of time talking about this, and about Disney's Bob Iger and his big fat mouth. We also have some (limited) news, including intriguing casting on James Gunn's  Superman: Legacy . If you don't care about all that good stuff skip to  This week's  Secret Invasion   has good booze and a middling firefi...

Let's get one thing out of the way: my audio isn't great this episode. I tried to adjust it best as possible, but I'm not a podcast engineer. I'm taking steps to make the next episode sound better.  On to the show - the third episode of  Secret Invasion  gives us more spy tropes as well as what feels like an honest to God romance between Nick Fury and Talos. Am I shipping them?...

Do you like dialogue scenes? Because this episode has some good dialogue scenes, including what could be Nick Fury's best scene and best line.  Before we get to the big reveals about the Skrull invasion, we spend a little time talking about blinds (you know, on windows), the  Superman: Legacy  casting, and we have some truly bad trivia. Then it's time to argue endlessly about whether or...

We've been away for a bit but we have returned with the latest Disney+ MCU show,  Secret Invasion . Loosely based on a comic book event, this show finds an old and decrepit Nick Fury dealing with a Skrull invasion of Earth. But what are we dealing with? Is it a gripping spy drama or kind of a boring slog? Before that we have some news, and we argue vociferously about the state of the studios,...

If you've noticed this podcast being non-existent for the past few weeks it's because my beautiful, beloved wife was in the hospital and then, on June 9th, passed away. I was there with her as she drew her last breath and I held her and loved her as she left us.  Last week we buried her, and I delivered a eulogy. Before we get back to our regularly scheduled programming I wanted to take...

Hey, this podcast hasn't happened in a minute. What's going on? Well, I'll tell you. This episode is just a catch up, where I talk about some of the very heavy updates in my life over the past two weeks - as well as the beautiful and uplifting updates. We also cover some of the more interesting news that we missed over the past couple of weeks, everything from Marvel to DC to  Star...

This week the trivia questions almost kill me. They're funnier than the jokes on The Bad Batch! We also talk about a whole bunch of news, including some wild  Fantastic Four  rumors that people are straight making up. Just pulling right from their bholes. All of that goes until 40:03, and then we get to the meat of the  X-Men  episode, which sees Wolverine getting out of a car in a way no per...

This week we argue about the TV show  Jury Duty  and  about Adam Driver. News! Views! The usual stuff that, should you want to skip it, ends at 37:17. The main episode this week is pretty much a repeat of last week - it's the  Back to the Future Part II  of the  X-Men  show. But not as good. Plus: Cable passes on his cybernetic arm to his child.  We shall return next week with more X action....

This episode of  X-Men  is just us watching Cable watch an episode of  X-Men . Very meta! Cable is in a crummy future and must, for some reason, decide whether to stop it from ever happening. The Legacy Virus makes its animated debut, and we go on an extensive side journey through racial slurs for white people. Plus: news! Although you know you want to hear the list of racial slurs, that's re...