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The crew is back to discuss the last three episodes of Discovery, which we all agree were entertaining but not up to the standard Discovery set with its first two seasons.  We don't appreciate them putting Owo in peril or making her the great savior, the Sphere was not used well at all, the source of The Burn seemed tacked on, and while we have wanted Burnham in the captain's chair, how she arrived to it was a disservice to her character and the show.  We also discuss the transition from CBS All Access to the Paramount Network and other Star Trek industry news. 

 

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The first series from Marvel Studios on Disney+ is here and of course we have to add it to the Super Tuesday Recap rotation. WandaVision is different and weird (and scary if you know where they could possibly be going). The first two episodes dropped on Friday and honestly, they generate more questions than answers. On the surface the show has some really great homages to sitcoms from the 50's, 60's & 70's. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany seem to be having a blast with it. But just under the surface there are references and reveals that could have big impacts on the MCU. First of all, we've got ourselves a new agency (officially) to deal with. The S.W.O.R.D. (the Sentient Weapons Observation Response Department) is clearly playing a role in series. Also there are some interesting characters that pop up in some of the references (Go rewatch the animated opening to episode 2 again). Then there's just some of the things that we've all kinda forgotten. Like all of the trauma that Wanda has gone through since Age of Ultron. The fact that both Wanda and Vision are directly tied to the Mind Stone. Funny thing is, while we know she's really powerful, we don't really know what Wanda's real powers are. And in the first episode we watch her turn raw chicken into eggs. Then literally create life by making herself pregnant. We should all be very afraid.

Listen as Kriss, Ro and Dpalm talk about these 2 episodes and try to connect some dots and hints that might give clues as to what the show is doing. We have lots of thoughts and honestly, can't wait to see what Feige and crew are really up to.  

 

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First Character Corner of 2021 and we timed it to come out the same weekend that Marvel premieres its first Disney+ TV series: WandaVision. So, of course we had to tackle the Wanda Maximoff, The Scarlet Witch and her husband (ex-husband technically) Vision. These two characters actually have a pretty robust history and in the case of Wanda, have some pretty serious consequences in the Marvel Universe. The fallout from House of M significantly changed the status of mutants and led to some major moments. Hope wasn't wrong when she said she blamed Wanda for everything. Both Wanda and Vision have some deep cut connections to the Golden Age. And for those that have seen the first two episodes of WandaVision, getting some of the background gone on these characters will probably make you look at those first two episodes less as a sitcom and more as the setup for a horror story. 

Issues:

* Uncanny X-Men #4 - First appearance of Scarlet Witch and her twin brother, Pietro/Quicksilver

* Avengers #16 - Cap's Kooky Quartet. Wanda & Pietro join the Avengers

* Avengers #57 - First appearance of Vision

* Avengers #108 & 198

* Avengers #128 - Agatha Harkness becomes to the magical mentor of Wanda

* Avengers #133 - 135 - Full origin of Vision revealing his connection to the android Human Torch

* Giant Size Avengers #4 - Marriage of Vision and Scarlet Witch

* Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1982)

* Issue 4 - Magneto revealed to be the father of Wanda and Pietro

* Avengers #242 - 243 - Vision becomes leader of the Avengers

* Avengers #251 - 254 - Vision tries to take over the world's computers. Is stopped and then monitored by world governments

* Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985)

* These 12 issues lead to the birth of Wanda & Vision's twins: Tommy & Billy

* West Coast Avengers #42 - 5 - Vision Quest. Vision is dismantled and put back together without human emotion

* West Coast Avengers #51 - 52 - The truth about Wanda & Vision's twins is revealed

* Avengers Vol 3 #10 - Wanda brings Wonder Man back from the dead

* Avengers vol 3 #500 - 503 - Disassembled. Wanda remembers the truth about her twins and things go very very badly

* House of M

* Wanda makes her way to #2 on the All Time Mutant decimation list with three simple words: No More Mutants

* Children's Crusade

* Wiccan and Speed search for Wanda who they believe they are the reincarnated souls of her twins

* Avengers vs X-Men

* Uncanny Avengers - The "Unity" squad. 

* Vision (Tom King)

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Full disclosure: When Phenom and I sat down to record this review we waxed poetic about how unrealistic it is to have karate gangs roving the streets of the Valley but after the events of January 6th, that doesn't seem like such an unlikely prospect. 

Season 3 of Cobra Kai marks the show's official move from YouTube to Netflix and while the show never struggles to deliver on the fun and the laughs, the pacing of this season leaves a lot to be desired. There's a lot for the fans who love the nostalgia of the original films, we just wish the show swapped out some of the nostalgia to focus on the young people who are falling victim (literally and figuratively) to the sin of the previous generation. Even though, Miguel is on the road to recovery, Robbie and Tory continue to slip further from the light under Kreese's manipulations. And while the introduction of Kreese's backstory leads up to the return of a fan favorite, there's no amount of storytelling that can make up for that man's machinations. 

Overall, Cobra Kai remains insanely binge-able but we both wished the writers had kept the fast, driving pace the show perfected while on YouTube. 

You can watch all 3 seasons of Cobra Kai, streaming now on Netflix. 

 

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It's here. The final Insanity Check (sorta). Kriss brings on two of his favorite guests, Rod & Karen from The Black Guy Who Tips for this final episode. There's plenty to talk about since the last episode. Joe Biden won the general election and has won it like 30 more times since November 3rd. Trump has continued to lose it since then and all it has done is shown how insane and dangerous his conspiracy theories have been. Way too many people are willing to either believe his lies or play along with them for their own personal gain. But it doesn't stop with just the nutcases on the right. The white leftist dudebros are also showing their colors as they've finally turned on The Squad and it's hilarious because of how predictable it's all been. But we can't end the Insanity Check without some good "Great Moments in White Privilege" as well as some examples of scientists apparently not paying attention to the warning messages we get from SciFi movies.

Topics:

* Joe Biden won the election. Then he won it again. Then again. Then again. And again

* White leftists turn on The Squad for...*checks notes* voting for  Pelosi as House Speaker instead of letting it fall to a Republican

* Adolf Hitler wins Namibia election

* Well...it's not technically cannibalism

* Great Moments in White Privilege

* Aunt Becky picked her own prison and then didn't have to  stay in  it long

* US teen finds out the hard way that white privilege doesn't carry over to the Cayman Islands

* Do You Even Sci-Fi Bro?

* Planet of the Apes:  Scientists splice human genes into monkey brains...what could go wrong?

* Making robots from living cells...because why stop the madness with 2020?

* Racist white dudes prove why aliens will never visit us

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The Discovery crew returns!  We discuss saying goodbye to our favorite sociopathic Empress, the search for Saru's catch phrase, and process how we are feeling about Star Trek returning to a potential episodic television series as opposed to an arc based series.  It's a shift, for sure...but after two strong storytelling seasons it is a bit discombobulating for us.  Great performances still remain, however, and we will be here for the long haul. 

 

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It's the end of the decade that's been the year 2020 and we're here with the final Mailbag of this long, rough year. The good news is that we're wrapping up on (mostly) a good note because the Disney Investor Day presentation gave us so much to be excited for from LucasFilms and Marvel. The next few years are going to bring us a lot of new Star Wars and it feels like they're following the Marvel method of telling these interconnecting stories using Disney+ shows. And on the Marvel side? Well we're getting:

* Ironheart

* Armor Wars

* Secret Invasion

* Ms Marvel

* She-Hulk

* and so much more

We got trailers for Captain America...I mean The Falcon and The Winter Solider, Loki and What If? 

And on top of all that, the First Family is finally getting the Marvel Studios treatment. Fantastic Four is in development as a Marvel Studios property.

Of course we couldn't get out of the year without more news from WB/DC. First, WB has gone full desperate and is putting their full 2021 slate of movies on HBO Max. We know its desperation because they didn't tell any of the exhibitors, partners or directors they were doing it. And some people are NOT happy about that.  On the DC side, we have at least an ounce of a hint of some type of planning for their future. Here's the link to the interview DC Films President Walter Hamada did with the New York  Times. It's an interesting piece that gives a little bit of hope (but also some worry) about the future of DC Films and if they can turn things around. The good news is, they seem to understand they need more collaboration. The bad news is, AT&T seems to be pushing really hard to force them to put things on HBO Max.

But really, with all the stuff coming to Disney+ between Star Wars and Marvel, we can't leave 2020 upset at this point. What a time to be alive.

Kriss and Dpalm record the Mailbag at the end of every month. If you want to send in your own questions and thoughts, email us: [email protected]

 

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We're cutting it close but we're squeezing in a final Character Corner/Pull List episode of 2020. This has been a long, stressful year that's disrupted our  normal schedule but we didn't want to close out the year without one more episode. Plus, despite everything going on, it's actually been a really great year for comics. There's good stuff all around. Kriss has finally jumped into the Power Rangers books that Dpalm recommended and he really has been enjoying reading them. On the DC side, Scott Snyder's Dark Knights: Death Metal is coming close to an end and it's really good. As we've mentioned before, Death Metal has been a really good commentary on DC in trying to clean up the mess of their multiverse and their history of erasing their history. Hopefully they'll keep it up after this is all over. Oh and Tom King is back to wrap up his Batman/Catwoman story. 

On the Marvel side, there's plenty to go around. There's the Star Wars books, particularly Darth Vader and when you couple those with the announcements from LucasFilms and it's all very exciting. Captain America is great, Miles Morales' Ultimatum story has wrapped up and there's plenty more. But the real thing to talk about is what Hickman is doing with the X-Men. Dawn of X has wrapped up with the X of Swords and Hickman once again proves he's playing the long game. As the man who wiped out the Captain Britain Corps, we didn't expect him to be the one to bring it back and then to do it through a X-Men story but that's exactly what he did. We're excited to see what he's going to continue to do with these X-Books and what's coming with Reign of X. 

Oh and for 2021, we're getting back to the basics. We'll be kicking off 2021 with a Scarlet Witch and Vision Character Corner to coincide with WandaVision. And we're going to also then do a Comic Book Book Club on Invincible. So stay tuned.

Issues:

* Power Rangers

* Saban's Go Go Power Rangers Vol 1 - 3

* Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Vol 1 - 6

* Star Wars: Darth Vader #7 & #8

* The Flash #763 & #764

* Dark Knight Death Metal

* Dark Knights Death Metal #6

* Dark Knight Death Metal - The Last Stories of the DC Universe

* Dark Knights Death Metal - The Secret Origin

* Dark Knights Death Metal - Speed Metal

* Action Comics #1028

* Batman/Catwoman #1

* Captain America #25  & #26

* Miles Morales: Spider-Man #21

* Excalibur #1 - #11 (Essential for the lead up to X of Swords)

* X of Swords

* Excalibur #12

* X-Men #12

* X  of Swords: Creation #1

* X-Factor  #4

* Wolverine #6

* X-Force #13

* Marauders #13

* Hellions #5

* New Mutants #13

* Cable #5

* Excalibur #13

* X-Men #13

* X of Swords:  Statis #1

* X-Men #14

* Marauders  #14 - 15

* Excalibur #14

* Wolverine #7

* X-Force #14

* Hellions #6

* Cable #6

* Excalibur #15

* X-Men #15

* X of Swords: Destruction #1

* X-Men #16

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Over the past decade, Pixar's excelled at building deep existential dilemmas into touching animated feature films. Director Pete Docter (Inside Out, Up), in particular. Docter's known for his skill in blending weighty themes into emotionally charged, yet charmingly joyful, treks through the human psyche. So, it only makes sense that Pixar paired him with Kemp Powers (One Night in Miami) as co-director and co-writer on his passion project Soul. 

You'll be pleased to discover that Soul leans into what Pixar's best known for, creating an immersive world of visual and sensory delights woven into a thoughtful and emotional journey. 

Teaching, Dream Chasing, and all that Jazz 

Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) is a jazz musician making his living as a middle school music teacher. Jazz feeds his soul but it doesn't pay his bills. Gardner dreams of performing onstage. But it's starting to look like that's a dream he'll never realize. His mother, Libba (Phylicia Rashad), wants him to accept an offered permanent position teaching and give up on pursuing jazz as a career. 

Jamie Foxx voices Joe Gardner in Soul. Photo Credit: Disney/Pixar

Just as he's losing hope, a call from Curley (Questlove), a former student leads to an unexpected audition. Gardner secures a spot playing with renown jazz musician Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett). It's his chance to play at the world-famous Half Note jazz club. On the cusp of realizing his dream, he rushes towards home. One moment of inattention leads to an accident that jettisons him out of his body and on his way to the Great Beyond.  

Gardner comes to in his spirit form and, upon realizing he's no longer among the living, refuses to accept his fate. 

Refusing to Give Up and Discovering Your Spark

The meat of this film encompasses Gardner's attempt to avoid going into the Great Beyond. The visuals for the hereafter, by the way, are startling and more than a touch mesmerizing. The blend of a soft color palette and sharp angles creates a stark contrast to an Earth pulsing with life in such bold color it's almost tangible. 

Rachel House voices Terry in Soul. Photo Credit: Disney/Pixar

Gardner's escape efforts land him as accidental mentor to a seemingly cynical 22 (Tina Fey), an unborn soul, in the Great Before. As 22's latest mentor, it's Gardner's job to help them discover their spark and earn their pass to a life on Earth. From this point on, expect hilarity, tear-jerking moments, and pithy banter. 

Shortcut Back to Earth

Gardner just knows his reason for living is jazz. It's hard for him to see his life from any other perspective. Until he's forced to. Inspiring 22 to want to have a life proves a daunting task. But guiding the reluctant soul to their own "spark" is secondary. It only matters as a means to get him a pass back to Earth in time for his gig.

Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey voice Joe Gardner and 22 in Soul. Photo Credit: Disney/Pixar

And this is where Soul really finds its footing (and will lose a bit of ground with some). Watching as this pair blunder their way through life's turns, is both hilarious and ironically enlightening. 

Throughout, a non-corporeal Joe is still distinctly himself. He's also still self-involved in a way that's well past obsessive. The bedrock conviction that jazz is his life blinds him to the fact he's not really been living. A never-been-born 22's convinced they've seen enough of life to skip it altogether. What each discovers, about themselves, and each other,

2017’s Wonder Woman felt like a game changer for WB’s DCEU. After several misfires with Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, it felt like maybe, just maybe, the DCEU was getting back on track. The film wasn’t perfect (by any means) but Patty Jenkins was able to bring the icon that is Diana Prince to the big screen. To this day the No Man's Land scene is still talked about and the way that Gal Gadot embraced the role solidified her as Wonder Woman. That’s what makes Wonder Woman 1984 such a disappointment. It’s hard to understand how we went from an extremely competent first solo outing to a convoluted mess that looks like it has unfinished special effects, lackluster fight scenes, underused performances from Pedro Pascal and Kristen Wig and most importantly, a script that should be an embarrassment to all those involved. And don't get me started on how this film is set in 1984 and yet doesn't have a memorable soundtrack. How is that even possible? 

Where to begin? Let’s start with how this film looks. WW84 reportedly had a budget of $200 million and I’ve been spending the last 24 hours trying to figure out where it was spent. There’s an awkward looking scene in the trailers (one of the first clips ever released) of Wonder Woman running where you can clearly tell they put Gadot on a treadmill then edited the background to look like she’s running in the streets. It looks very weird but we all thought it would be fixed. It wasn’t. Not only was it not, but scenes like that are throughout the entire movie. In the first 20 minutes of the film there’s a scene where Wonder Woman is stopping some criminals in a mall. The scene is shot so awkwardly and poorly, I thought they were doing it on purpose to suggest that it was really a cheesy, 80’s movie someone was shooting. What's worse is EVER big action set piece is like this. It feels like you're not watching a 2020 blockbuster but a 1980's film on VHS.

What’s frustrating is that, we’ve seen so much better from the DCEU. The fight scenes in Birds of Prey from earlier this year are so much better than WW84. The special effects and CGI of Aquaman blow this film away. If you go all the way back to 2013’s Man of Steel, we’ve seen a female super-powered character use speed in fights and it look amazing. Yet in this film, watching characters run and fight gives you the feel of watching a 70’s Superman film. The movie looks so bad at times you may pause it and then start messing with your TV's settings thinking it's something on your end. It's not. The film just looks bad.

Like it’s predecessor, WW84 doesn’t do the film’s antagonists any justice which is a shame considering Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva and Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord are actually pretty good. If you’re looking for the comic book versions of these characters you’l be disappointed but at this point in the DCEU, it’s to be expected. Where this film fails is that it doesn’t give them enough time to shine (because it’s too busy focusing on a love story between Diana & Steve) and then completely removes all of the stakes by the end of the film. There may have been some worry about how Wiig would pull off this role and I can happily report that those worries were unfounded. She does an excellent job in the role and honesty should have been the main antagonist of the film and really leaned on the bond then eventually conflict between Diana and Barbara. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen because WW84 seems to have forgotten one of the biggest appeals of the first film: Men aren’t necessary for this story. Both Diana and Barbara are inexplicably tied to male characters that could have easily been cut out of the film. Pascal’s performance is good but the audience also isn’t given the motivations behind the character to actual care about him until nearly the very end.