Cinematic Universe

Showtime, A-holes. The Cinematic Universe family of Joe, Seb and James are here to give our thoughts on James Gunn's newly-released Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 . As usual, there's no news section, but instead there's a quarter of an hour of spoiler-free opinions before we launch into a spoiler-filled chat - just in case any of you haven't seen the film yet. But really, would you be a Cinematic...

It's a very special episode of Cinematic Universe, as not only do we finally get on to 2012's The Avengers, but the episode was recorded with all three of us in the same room! It was also recorded quite late at night, and after we'd just had an abortive attempt at recording a commentary on the film - but you can hear more about that in the episode. We've also convened this week to do an UP-TO-DATE...

It's another of our patented Megasodes, as Joe combines two minisodes' worth of content into one convenient package. The Tank Girl and Fantastic Four- inspired comics recommendations are The Ballad of Halo Jones , 21st Century Tank Girl , The Trial of Galactus and Ultimate Fantastic Four , and there's also a partial roundup of the latest news - with more to follow when we convene for our next full...

Much derided ever since its original release, does Tim Story's 2005 adaptation of Fantastic Four stand up any better since the Josh Trank one came out? Was it ever even really that bad in the first place? Find out as Joe, Seb and James look back at Chris Evans' first superhero movie. There's also some slightly out of date news (we recorded this one weeks ago, but we thought you might still want to...

The Podcast Defenders assemble for the first time, as Joe brings together Caroline Siede, Amon Warmann and Al Kennedy to discuss the show everybody's talking about: Riverdale ! No, wait, it's Iron Fist . Can we find anything to say that the internet hasn't already done to death over the past fortnight? What do you think? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's only taken us 50 regular episodes, but we've finally found a comic book movie directed by a woman! The movie in question is, of course, Rachel Talalay's 1995 cult classic, Tank Girl . But will newcomers Seb and Joe love it as much as James has spent the last two decades doing? And if you want to skip to a specific part of the episode, here are the relevant timecodes! 00:00 - Intro / Explain a...

In the first of a new occasional series of bonus episodes, Seb is joined by special guest David Hartrick to discuss one of their favourite ever long-form comics stories: the early '90s Death and Return of Superman epic! Warning: there will be Super-mullets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe rounds up the latest comic movie and TV news - and that Jeff Goldblum picture - before giving his reaction to a cheery set of Logan -inspired comics recommendations in the shape of Old Man Logan and The Punisher: The End . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 2017 releases continue apace as Joe and James are joined by returning guest Michael Leader to talk through the final chapter of Hugh Jackman's seventeen-year-long journey as Wolverine, in James Mangold's Logan . It might be emotional, folks. As ever with new releases, there's no news roundup this week, and we do a bit of spoiler-free chat before delving into specifics after the first hour. Hos...

After a combination of early-records and new release episodes, we're left with an absolute wealth of news to catch up on this week - plus, we've got two eps' worth of comics recommendations to get through. So strap yourselves in as Joe brings you another MEGASODE, giving his thoughts on the Mask of the Phantasm and Lego Batman Movie inspired recs, as well as bringing you the latest on whether or n...

We have a very special guest on this week's show, as Emmy Hunt (aged 3) gives us her opinion on The Lego Batman Movie . Hopefully it goes down better with you lot than her father's opinion on Mask of the Phantasm did. In addition to discussing (in spoilerific fashion) the first comic book movie release of 2017, meanwhile, we also take some time out of the news section to give our early thoughts on...

It's an animated Batman movie in February 2017... but no, we're not talking about The Lego Batman Movie (that's coming next time out), but 1993's Mask of the Phantasm . Does this foray into animation come out better than Planet Hulk did? Is it, in fact, the definitive screen take on Batman? In a rare twist, Batman: TAS fan Joe is actually the expert on the source material this time around - but ca...

Joe runs through the latest comic book movie and TV news before taking a look at the Superman II-inspired recommendations from the 60s, 80s and 00s: The Death of Superman , The Price and Last Son . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Another topical one, as the White House finds itself invaded by a fascistic dictator, and... oh, man, it's just not even funny any more, is it? God knows what it'll be like when we get onto V For Vendetta . Anyway, this is Superman II , the 1980 Richard Lester classic, you all know it by now - and while we've focused on the original theatrical release, we do also talk about the 2006 Richard Donner...

Joe looks at the incredibly topical Captain America Comics #1 from 1941, as one of two recommendations based on The First Avenger . He's also got the first volume of Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting's 2005 run to look at, but let's face it, in January 2017 it's all about the Nazi-punching. Oh, and yes: we do know that it was Joe Simon as well as Jack Kirby who did the original Cap stuff, just in case...

It's time to stick a fork in 2016, as we round off our epic-length (and mildly booze-driven) end-of-year awards ceremony! In this half, we cover such categories as Best Director, Best Villain, Best Casting, Best Bad Movie, Best Screenplay, Best Couple - and the big ones of Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Film. Plus, we have a new inductee - or is it inductees? - into the Hall of Fame, Seb and Ja...

Yes, the new year may have begun, but we've still got one last lingering thread of 2016. Two threads, in fact, as our annual awards shebang is so long that we've once again had to split it into two episodes. So listen on to hear our winners in the categories of Best Supporting Actress, Best Score, Best Hero, Best New Film, Best Supporting Actor, Best Costume, Worst Film and Best Song - and then co...

Just sneaking in in time to be eligible for our 2016 awards, it's the first Peggy Carter film! Spoiler alert: we like this one quite a lot. Spoiler alert: that means the podcast is quite long. Especially since it also contains our long-awaited Spider-Man: Homecoming chat. But what better way to round off the year than Joe, Seb and James talking about a movie that we all love, and a movie that we a...

Merry Christmas! We didn't actually originally intend to be putting out an episode today, but that's how the schedules have fallen as we run through our end-of-year catching up. So in advance of our upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger and Best of 2016 Awards episodes, here's Joe with a look back at Seb's Constantine -inspired recommendations: the Garth Ennis, Will Simpson and Steve Dillon...

A movie in which a grumpy blond Scouser is played by Keanu Reeves in the wrong-coloured trenchcoat? Seb's surely not going to like this... or is he? He and Joe are joined by special guest Sarah Dobbs to discuss Francis Lawrence's 2005 movie Constantine , based on the comic Hellblazer . We also look back at the new  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 trailer, and are unnecessarily mean about The Inhuma...

Hey, remember when we all saw Doctor Strange ? It was a few weeks ago now, but after a couple of bonus episodes in the meantime, Joe is finally getting around to talking about the recommended comics The Oath and Season One , plus the recent Doctor Strange series that he's actually been reading off his own back! There's also time for a long-overdue catchup on the latest comic book movie and TV news...

Between full episodes, minisodes and bonus eps, we've reached our 100th edition! To celebrate, we recorded this special bonus episode at the Thought Bubble convention in early November. Sadly, James couldn't make it to the event, so Seb and Joe are joined by Rhys Williamson as we look back at how the last two years have turned Joe into a bona fide comics reader. How has he felt about plunging into...

In a first for Cinematic Universe, neither James nor Seb are on the pod! Instead, Joe is joined by Caroline Seide and Amon Warmann to discuss the first season of Netflix's Luke Cage in our latest TV review special. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Again, a slightly later than planned episode due to a couple of technical issues with the recording - but at least it's given more of you a chance to see the film! So join Joe, James and special guest Matt Looker as we look at the final comic book movie release of 2016: Marvel's Doctor Strange . As usual, we've done a spoiler-free reaction section at the beginning (in case any of you haven't seen...

This one's practically a megasode, as there's an awful lot to get through while we attempt to wrestle the podcast back onto a more regular schedule. Our Doctor Strange episode will be with you later in the week, but in the meantime, it's about time Joe got around to catching up with those X-Men comics recommendations. They were the first volume of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's New X-Men ( E i...