Multiple Nerdgasm

Luke’s back from the actual flu (not the fake flu, the ‘couldn’t get an achievement for 5 days’ flu), and Matt’s walking around post-spinal surgery like a champ, albeit with a physiotherapist who apparently learned her craft from a Bond villain

Topics discussed

• End of Oak Street review
• Silo season 3 review
• Bluey 3D movie announcement backlash
• Dave Bautista officially cast as Kratos
• X-Men cast revealed (Rogue, Mr. Sinister, Storm & more)
• Disney's pre-Avengers Doomsday watchlist
• Dave Harbour's 'You're Tony Stark' line speculation
• Reacher season 4 premiere
• Bruce Campbell retires from playing Ash
• Bruce Campbell says Evil Dead needs to lighten up
• Star Citizen developer stream disaster
• Wolverine game graphics backlash
• Dune Awakening update
• PAX pass giveaway announcement

Links

We’re back, baby! Matt had surgery, Luke got sick, got better, went back to work, and got sick again with something different. Classic Luke. Anyway, we pushed through because we missed you.

Topics discussed

• Spider-Man: Brand New Day reaction & villain reveal
• Spider-Man Brand New Day fart-evacuation incident
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi retrospective tangent
• Ryan Gosling cast as Ghost Rider
• Samara Weaving cast as Emma Frost
• Blade movie in limbo after Mahershala Ali exit
• Avengers: Doomsday Comic-Con ad fines
• Region Locked Kickstarter (Aussie game documentary)
• Send Help movie review
• James Bond casting announcement expected this year
• Daniel Craig Bond era rewatch reflections
• Case of the Golden Idol playthrough
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 impressions
• Thimbleweed Park 2 announced
• Elder Scrolls 6 demo & inflatable rat protest
• Dave Bautista in talks for God of War's Kratos

Links

This week we wonder how Nolan made a $250 million movie that looks like The Odyssey, while Moana 2 cost the same amount and looks like… Moana 2.

Topics discussed

• The Odyssey (Nolan) review
• Elliot Page casting backlash addressed
• The Odyssey vs Moana 2 budget comparison
• Obsession rewatch & press tour
• Obsession actress's Call of Duty fandom
• Avengers: Doomsday trailer breaks view record
• Channing Tatum cast as Gambit
• New Spider-Man & Tom Holland/Zendaya
• Mandalorian & Grogu box office vs digital numbers
• Disney confirms end of The Mandalorian
• Star Wars canceled projects (Taika Waititi, Patty Jenkins)
• Starfighter lightsaber battle controversy
• Star Wars sequel trilogy retcons (Palpatine, Mara Jade)
• Blade Runner 2099 teaser trailer
• Prime Video's expanding slate & James Bond acquisition
• Lord of the Rings Extended Editions & Peter Jackson's Hobbit critique
• Man of Steel vs Superman (2025) action-stakes comparison
• Mad Max: Fury Road practical effects praise
• The Odyssey Cyclops/giants practical vs CGI debate

Links

Luke is back from hospital where he apparently has built up a full tolerance to ketamine (‘I have no idea what people are going on about’) and Matt is falling apart at the spine. It’s fine. Everyone’s fine. Somehow they still watched a bunch of movies and have opinions.

Topics discussed

• Luke's ketamine hospital treatment update
• Evil Dead Rise review
• Obsession review
• Hokum review
• World Cup final & FIFA corruption
• Trump red card controversy
• Sydney Sweeney's Sleepy Hollow adaptation
• Sydney Sweeney & Michael Bay's Outrun
• Danny McBride directing new GI Joe
• id Software staffing clarification
• Elder Scrolls 6 update & Fallout remasters
• Doctor Who cancellation statement
• Live-action Moana box office bomb
• George Lucas comments on AI
• AI coding tools & Claude Code
• AI art ownership lawsuit

Links

So Taylor Swift got married, Adam Sandler officiated (yes, really, no one knows why either), and you could buy ‘wedding memorabilia’ off a New York street artist - including a used ovulation test - for $25. We live in a society.

Then there’s the Xbox stuff, which is a lot. Like, a LOT. Thousands of jobs gone, Double Fine just… set free, id Software’s programmers shown the door (great for the legendary game engine people, obviously), and Obsidian pulled off Avowed 2 to go make Fallout instead. The good news: this is what everyone wanted since New Vegas. The bad news: it’s happening because Microsoft bought literally everything and then panicked.

Sony’s having a bad fortnight too. No disc drive on PS6, and they’re nuking 551 movies from people’s PlayStation libraries because the licenses ran out. You know, movies people paid for. Bought. Owned. Allegedly.

Armie Hammer took a role in Uwe Boll’s new film without reading the full script, then rang his publicist crying after he saw it. He did say he’d do the sequel for ’life-changing money,’ which is a very reasonable position. Mindhunter is dead forever and Fincher hates that you keep asking. Ludwig got renewed for season 3 before season 2 is even out, which - watch Ludwig. And Supergirl bombed harder than Blue Beetle, which is impressive given that nobody remembered Blue Beetle existed.

Topics discussed

• Taylor Swift wedding & garbage sale
• Xbox mass layoffs & studio resets
• id Software layoffs
• Obsidian moves to new Fallout game
• Valve comments on Steam Machine pricing
• RAM and storage price surge
• AI bubble & rising AI costs
• Sony ditches PS6 disc drive
• Sony deletes 551 licensed movies
• PS Plus cancellations in protest
• Uwe Boll's Citizen Vigilante distribution
• Armie Hammer's comeback backlash
• The Odyssey reviews & IMAX debate
• Mindhunter officially cancelled
• Ludwig renewed for season 3
• Last One Laughing (Australian) reaction
• Supergirl box office bomb

Full show notes and links: https://multiplenerdgasm.com/656-firing-squad/

Luke went to see Supergirl and came back mostly flat. His verdict: he laughed once.

Topics discussed

• Supergirl movie review
• DC movie slate (Man of Tomorrow, Clayface, Batman Part II)
• Clarkson's Farm season 5
• Prostate cancer screening discussion
• World War Z sequel announced
• Zombie movie lore (Return of the Living Dead)
• Xbox price increases
• AI and automation job concerns
• Steam Machine pricing & review
• GTA 6 physical copy is a code in a box
• Resident Evil 5/6 remake cancellation & Haiti zombie lore
• Anthony Stewart Head pronunciation follow-up
• Richard Garriott reclaiming Ultima rights

Links

Matt beat an innocent stranger to death with a rock this week. Listen to find out what the hell that’s about.

We get into the Xbox chaos (Ninja Theory gone, Elder Scrolls 6 still apparently coming in 2028 or possibly never, Tim Schafer potentially going indie), the Commodore flip phone that blocks social media and may or may not be purchased by Luke on the spot, why Ridley Scott doing Treasure Island feels weird, and the very depressing news that Europe can’t legally force publishers to keep game servers alive.

Also Matt’s daughter is already better at the Bluey game than he is, which tracks.

Topics discussed

• Rust gameplay story (naked beach murder)
• Xbox 'reset' layoffs & studio closures
• Ninja Theory shut down
• Xbox Game Studios boss resigns
• Elder Scrolls 6 delayed to 2028
• Compulsion Games & Double Fine going independent
• Gears of War: E-Day reveal
• Halo Combat Evolved remaster
• Free GTA V current-gen upgrades
• GTA 6 anticipation
• Assassin's Creed Black Flag remake
• Ridley Scott's Treasure Island with Hugh Jackman
• Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively controversy
• Commodore flip phone (Call Back)
• EU rejects mandatory game preservation law
• Trump phone review
• Achievement-farming gamerscore prank
• Bluey Xbox achievements

Links

Luke spent many hours at the cinema this week, drinking his way through five movies, then got on a kick scooter and came straight to record a podcast.

Topics discussed

• Scary Movie reboot review
• Masters of the Universe review
• Masters of the Universe box office flop
• Disclosure Day (Spielberg) review
• Spielberg filmography ranking
• Back Rooms (A24 horror) review
• Obsession movie review
• Spielberg James Bond pitch
• George Miller's Mad Max plans
• CGI in modern movies vs Fury Road
• iPhone battery replacement saga
• WWDC: new Siri powered by Gemini
• AI photo editing ethics
• Shooting travel photos on film

Links

Luke’s heroics at a pub meat raffle set the tone for this week’s episode. When a man grabs a woman’s arm on the dance floor he’ll be there, like a red bearded Batman.

An 83-year-old man’s retirement fund - a warehouse’s worth of vintage Star Wars LEGO he’s been sitting on since the ’90s - is stuck in the middle of one of the strangest internet dramas going right now. Bricks and Minifigs, Antifa, a YouTuber getting arrested in corporate lobbies, a police raid on an Airbnb to search for stolen LEGO, and a Patreon CEO publicly telling a franchise to get stuffed. Nuts.

That’s not all: Matt has sunk 131 hours into Dune: Awakening and it’s coming to Xbox and Game Pass in September, which means he and Luke might actually play it together (for about two weeks before their schedules implode). Uwe Boll is back with a potential Batman/Punisher ripoff that Warner Bros. forced him to rename. Luke cannot play Wolverine because Sony exist. And the Buffy the Vampire Slayer LEGO set - the library AND The Bronze, with minifigs - is officially under review after clearing the Ideas supporter threshold.

Topics discussed

• Meat raffle heroics story
• Scary Movie vs He-Man box office
• Masters of the Universe: Jared Leto
• New Wolverine gameplay reveal (PS5 exclusive)
• Alien Isolation 2 reveal trailer
• 007 First Light progress
• Dune Awakening console release & Game Pass
• PlayStation State of Play announcements
• GTA 6 anticipation
• Achievement-farming spot-the-difference shovelware
• Uwe Boll's Citizen Vigilante
• Bricks and Minifigs Lego Star Wars dispute
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer LEGO Ideas set

Links

Luke Skywalker blowing up Jabba’s sail barge is the greatest war crime in Star Wars history. Not the Death Star - a military target, the sail barge full of slaves and service workers. Luke knew exactly what he was doing and he chose evil. This is the kind of analysis you get here.

Topics discussed

• Neighbours vs Zombies Halloween special
• The Mandalorian and Grogu review
• Mandalorian and Grogu box office performance
• Golden Trailer Awards winners
• YouTube AI video labeling policy
• AI-generated thumbnails discussion
• 007 First Light impressions
• The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition on Game Pass
• Stardew Valley on Switch Lite
• Repo! The Genetic Opera theatrical revival
• Masters of the Universe: Jared Leto controversy
• Jury Duty season 3 renewal
• The Rehearsal season 2 discussion
• Nicolas Cage and Christopher Nolan
• Subnautica 2 $250 million bonus dispute
• ScreenRant clickbait rant
• Destiny 2 cancelled, Bungie layoffs
• Marathon review bombing petition

Full show notes and links: https://multiplenerdgasm.com/651-grow-goo/