Cinematic Universe

SSSSMOKIN! SOMEBODY STOP ME! THAT'S A SPICY MEATBALL! And other such things that you undoubtedly heard (and maybe even shouted) thousands of times in the playground in the mid 1990s. Yes, we went there: it's Jim Carrey in Chuck Russell's adaptation of the Dark Horse comic The Mask . In the news, meanwhile, we mostly talk about Spider-Man: Homecoming because, well, it's us. Hosted on Acast. See aca...

Joe talks Doctor Strange , Spider-Man: Homecoming , Thor: Ragnarok , Defenders , Cloak and Dagger and a whole bunch more in a bumper news section. Then it's on to last week's comics recommendations: Greg Pak and Aaron Lopresti's Planet Hulk: Anarchy and Kieron Gillen and Kano's Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A bit of a change of pace this week, as we look for the first time at a direct-to-DVD animated adaptation, with Sam Liu's 2010 film of Planet Hulk . As well as discussing this specific film's merits, we talk more generally about the genre: do these adaptations generally work? What, if anything, do they offer that a live-action film or the original comic can't? And are there any comics we'd like to...

A big pile of DC-related news heads up this week's minisode, before Joe moves on to the Batman v Superman -inspired recommendations of (obviously) The Dark Knight Returns and (slightly less obviously) Superman & Batman: Generations . But #WhoWillWin in this epic battle between Frank Miller and John Byrne? We promise we won't make you wait two and a half hours to find out. Hosted on Acast. See acas...

Do we really need to introduce this? It's our Batman v Superman episode: you should know the drill by now. Listen on to find out whether another Zack Snyder film made Seb throw up, or whether the unlikely scenario of Seb and James somehow liking it more than Joe did came to pass. And as usual with new releases, we've done a spoiler-free instant reaction section (recorded in a central London pizza...

Last week's Man of Steel -inspired comics reading was made up of two books that Seb has very different feelings about: Mark Waid and Leinil Yu's Birthright and J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis' Earth One volume 1. But did Joe agree on either or both counts? Find out in this week's minisode. There's also the usual roundup of the week's comic book movie news - including the trailer-based appea...

We finally reach The Movie That Literally Made Seb Vomit; but in case you were worried our Man of Steel podcast was going to be two hours of relentless negativity, we've drafted in Rhys Williamson - who actually liked it - to provide some balance alongside Joe and Seb. That's after news discussion around Joseph Gordon-Levitt's departure from Sandman , and Sony's announcement of Venom . And no, the...

Inspired by Ghost World , this week's comic book recommendations are both indie titles: Jeff Lemire's Essex County , and Adrian Tomine's Optic Nerve: Sleepwalk and Other Stories . In the news, meanwhile, Joe looks at Finn Jones being cast as Iron Fist, and that seemingly inevitable Gambit delay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A film about two sarcastic, alienated outsiders trying to make sense of the baffling world around them? Can't imagine why that would appeal to us at all. Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes' 2001 masterpiece ends up giving us our longest episode yet - although that's partly because of how long Seb spent talking about DC Rebirth at the start... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...

Joe looks back at a big news week, from Deadpool 's astonishing box-office take to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 's shooting and casting announcements. Then it's on to last week's recommendations, the first volumes of Cable & Deadpool (2004) and Justice League International (1987). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cinematic Universe meets The Merc With A Mouth as Joe, James and guest Amon Warmann discuss the latest cinematic release from Fox's X-Men universe - the R-rated superhero movie, Deadpool, starring Ryan Reynolds and directed by Tim Miller. Don't worry if you haven't seen the film - we start off with a fairly hefty spoiler-free discussion so that you can still listen to the podcast even if you haven...

To plug the gap before our imminent release-week Deadpool review episode, Joe and James have got together to bring you a special "Deadpool For Dummies" primer episode - including answers to some listener questions! So you'll have no excuse for not knowing who the guy is when you go to see the film on Friday. And once you have done, come back for our main ep! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Joe was so keen for pun-ishment this week that he accidentally read twelve additional Punisher issues that hadn't actually been recommended to him. As it is, though, he finally got around to checking out Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's Welcome Back Frank and Garth Ennis (again) and Dougie Braithwaite's Mother Russia ; but you might as well also hear what he heard of the opening arcs of the Garth En...

This week, Seb and James have maybe their biggest ever Marvel-vs-DC argument, over two characters they don't even really like that much. Then it's on to a bit of news discussion - including some cheery speculation over Civil War 's potential deaths - before moving on to the main event, the 2004 Thomas Jane-starring adaptation of The Punisher . Nobody could argue it's a good film, but is it one we...

Joe looks at a busy week of DC news, with THAT Suicide Squad trailer and the first Wonder Woman footage. Then there's a quick stopoff for news on Deadpool and Jessica Jones season 2, before a look at this week's Amazing Spider-Man comics recommendations: Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli's Spider-Men , and Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo's Shed . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...

With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility. Unfortunately, you won't hear those words in this week's film, as we're looking at Sony's spectacularly unnecessary franchise reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man . Er, we may have just spoiled whether or not we think it's any good. But you should listen anyway. PLUS! Stay tuned to the end of the pod (even if you're the kind of person who normally skips the...

In the second half of our 2015 retrospective, we rattle through a few more categories than in the first half, as we decide which of the films and TV shows we covered last year should win the awards for Best Song, Best Costume, Best Villain, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Worst Film and finally our Best Film of the lot. Plus, we recommend a couple of 2015's best comics th...

It's the inaugural Cinematic Universe End of Year Awards! In the first half of our two-part special, we look back over all the films and TV shows - whether new or old - that we covered in 2015, and hand out arbitrary awards in a range of categories. This time around you'll hear our thoughts on the best supporting actors and actresses, our favourite heroes, the best relationship/couple, the movies...

Joe rounds up a relatively quiet pre-Christmas news period with some chat on Deadpool , Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 rumours and Wonder Woman ; before moving on to the Iron Man 2-inspired comics recommendations: Secret Avengers #1-5 by Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato Jr, and Iron Man: The Secret Origin of Tony Stark by Kieron Gillen, Dale Eaglesham, Greg Land and Carlo Pagulayan. Hosted on Acast. S...

It's a mammoth news section before we even get to the movie this week, with THREE trailers to discuss ( Batman vs Superman , Civil War and X-Men: Apocalypse ) AND that recent twist in Supergirl . After that, we get back into the MCU with Jon Favreau's Iron Man 2 - is its reputation as the black sheep of the franchise deserved, or is there more to it than it's normally given credit for? Hosted on A...

In a change to our scheduled programming, Joe, James and special guest Caroline Siede look back at the latest Marvel/Netflix series: Jessica Jones . Does the series live up to our impossibly high expectations of an Alias adaptation?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe's homework in the wake of Kick-Ass was to read one of James' favourite comics ever and one of Seb's favourite comics ever. So let's hope this went well, otherwise he's probably fired. Meanwhile, there have also been a few movie trailers of note that we'd probably better get around to discussing in the news section. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe, Seb and James tackle one of the most controversial superhero movies ever made, in the shape of Matthew Vaughn's 2010 adaptation of Kick-Ass . In the news, there's time for a bit of chat about our initial impressions of Jessica Jones (but don't worry, we don't go spoilery beyond the first episode) as well as the new round of casting news as Wonder Woman enters production, and some rumours abou...

Joe takes a look at the week in comic book movie and TV news, before launching into his thoughts on last week's Hellboy -inspired comics recommendations: Hellboy volume 3 ( The Chained Coffin and Others ) and The Umbrella Academy volume 1 ( Apocalypse Suite ). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe and Seb are joined by special guest Michael Leader of Film4.com to discuss Guillermo del Toro's fondly-regarded 2004 adaptation of Mike Mignola's Hellboy . In a quiet news week, meanwhile, we take the time for a (mostly non-spoilery) chat about what we thought of Supergirl 's first couple of episodes, and a picking apart of that first Preacher trailer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy fo...