Superhero Cinephiles

Derrick Ferguson passed away on April 4, 2021. Perry shares some of his thoughts and memories of his friend and co-host.

We've had some scheduling difficulties this week, so even though we've both seen Zack Snyder's Justice League, we haven't had a chance to sit down and talk about it. So instead, we're re-broadcasting our episode discussing the theatrical cut of Justice League. Listen again to prepare yourself for our upcoming discussion of the Snyder Cut!

Now that WandaVision is complete, we revisit the film that introduced the Vision and Scarlet Witch. We talk about why even though many consider it the redheaded stepchild of the Avengers films, we both love it. We praise James Spader's underrated performance, discuss how Hawkeye is the glue of the Avengers, and explain why we think Aaron Taylor Johnson is a superior Quicksilver to Evan Peters....

With the Snyder Cut release upon us, we look back at the Ultimate Edition of Batman v Superman and find it's still pretty much as terrible as the theatrical cut. From everyone in this movie being a total asshole to the plot holes and the head-scratchingly bizarre portrayal of Lex Luthor, the only real bright spots are Ben Affleck, Jeremy Irons, and Gal Gadot.

Batman Ninja is an anime take on the Dark Knight in feudal Japan and it was met with near-universal acclaim. We did not feel the same. While there were things we liked about the movie, ultimately it felt like a lot of poor storytelling by people who have never read a Batman comic matched with some pretty visuals.

Our black superhero spotlight ends on a high note when we watch Guillermo Del Toro's pitch-perfect Blade II. There's not a lot we don't discuss, from the wonderful direction to the performances with special emphasis on Snipes, Perlman, and Kristofferson, and why Marvel can't seem to make Blade work in the comics. All this, plus we talk about the ongoing saga of the Joss Whedon abus...

Yeah, you read that right. We're actually watching Steel, the 1997 film that makes Batman & Robin seem like The Dark Knight. And it's every bit as bad as we remember. From how Shaq is the least intimidating guy in this movie, to the floppy rubber suit, and the most stereotypical black kid ever, all of it will feel our wrath.

Our black superhero spotlight continues as we watch Project Power, the recent superhero film from Netflix. There's a new drug on the streets of New Orleans called Power, which gives users superhuman abilities for five minutes. Although billed as a Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt movie, the real star is Dominique Fishback's performance as aspiring rap artist Robin. Plus, we talk about Z...

Our annual spotlight on black superhero movies returns by spotlighting a black superhero movie you've probably never heard of. Perry and Derrick discuss 2016's Sleight, which has shades of Unbreakable and some truly memorable performances, including a side of Dulé Hill that surprised them both.

Wonder Woman 1984 has debuted on HBO Max and we can't really understand why Patty Jenkins would set this in the 80s and then not really use the era to her advantage. We also have comments about Pedro Pascal's Trumpian Maxwell Lord and critiques about a bunch of choices made in this movie. But it's not all bad—we've got some positive thoughts about the performances, particularly Chr...

In a belated Christmas gift, Derrick picked Deadpool 2 for this week. We talk about why we think this is an improvement on the first film, address the issue of fridging Vanessa, and praise the character interactions. On another note, we also discuss the current controversy over the Punisher's logo. Now when can we get Zazie Beetz in a Domino movie?

We had some unexpected technical difficulties this week so we weren't able to record a new episode. Instead, since our next movie is Deadpool 2, we decided to rebroadcast episode 9 where we covered the first Deadpool movie. Enjoy and we'll be back soon with our episode on Deadpool 2!

For our first documentary, we talk about The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened. For those who don't know, an adaptation of The Death of Superman story called Superman Lives was supposed to be directed by Tim Burton and feature Nicolas Cage, but after a long and torturous production, the plug was pulled. This documentary goes into the movie's development process, featuring interviews w...

Our 50th podcast episode and first video episode! We watch The Avengers together and provide commentary as we go. Cue up the movie and watch along with us!

With our big fiftieth episode just around the corner, we chose to watch the movie that started the MCU and helped reinvigorate the superhero genre—2008's Iron Man! Looking back, we reflect on how much of a surprise some of the casting choices were and how nobody expected Iron Man to be the lynchpin of the Marvel Universe.

With all the delays and reshoots, Josh Boone's New Mutants may be the most cursed superhero movie to date. But now that it's finally on VOD, we gave it a watch and found it to be better than we expected, though not without its flaws. On the good, there's the cast of young actors (particularly Anya Taylor-Joy) and on the bad, there are some questionable story choices and the baffling de...

Want a good movie to pair with Brightburn? Derrick's got the perfect suggestion for you—2012's Chronicle, the movie that launched Michael B. Jordan to the top of people's watchlist. We take out our frustrations on the "found footage" technique, explain why Max Landis is a piece of shit, and wonder just how suits watched this movie and then said, "Josh Trank is the perfect c...

After spending many digressions in past episodes talking about it, we finally sit down and watch Justice League. Despite being a movie that pretty much satisfied no one, there are still things we found to like—such as (most) of the cast and the action scenes. But we also go into the things where it missed the mark.

In this episode, we discuss the very funny, very entertaining, very over-the-top Kick-Ass! They talk about their thoughts on Mark Millar adaptations in general, rave about the performances (especially Nicolas Cage and Mark Strong), and discuss how this movie takes you from the mundane to the insane without you even realizing it.

Just a little after Halloween, we've got a horror-themed superhero movie for you to check out. What if Superman wasn't a wholesome farmboy but instead a twisted little bastard? That's the concept behind Brightburn, the movie we discuss. We gush over Elizabeth Banks, talk about the way this movie blends the horror and superhero genres together, and pontificate on why we don't see mo...

A couple of episodes ago, we talked Ang Lee’s Hulk. So what better choice this week than its successor, the 2008 semi-sequel The Incredible Hulk? We compare it to Lee’s version, talk about the things that set it apart, and about how it’s the redheaded step-child of the MCU. Also: we react to the news that Jared Leto is returning as the Joker in Snyder’s Justice League. And we have…thoughts.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is probably the only superhero movie that everyone loves, even Derrick (who doesn't really like Spider-Man). We talk about the wonderful voice acting, the stellar animation, the seemingly simple yet actually complex storytelling, and about how this is a movie people will watch over and over again.

Ang Lee's Hulk was pretty much despised by everyone when it came out—except our hosts. Perry and Derrick dive into why they like this unappreciated gem of superhero cinema, address the clear flaws it has, and how it's aged over time and influenced other superhero movies since. But one thing we can all agree on—that climax was incomprehensible.

When Constantine starring Keanu Reeves came out, fans of the character were pissed because of how different it was from the comics. But in retrospect, it's actually a pretty damn good movie. We talk Keanu's career, Derrick's thoughts on Shia LaBeouf, and Peter Stormare's take on Lucifer.

Frank Miller's take on The Spirit opens with Gabriel Macht and Samuel L. Jackson fighting in a pool of literal crap...and that's really the perfect metaphor for this movie. It's the first film the guys review that they hate, and Perry swears to one day make Derrick pay for forcing him to watch it.