Our Opinions Matter Pod

We're back on the Road to Avengers: Doomsday, and this time we're revisiting Avengers: Infinity War.

From Thor's arrival in Wakanda and Doctor Strange fighting Thanos to the Snap and the Avengers' devastating loss, we're talking about why this crossover still works so well.

We also discuss Marvel's handling of Hulk, the missing Smart Hulk payoff, and what Doctor Doom needs to get right in Doomsday.

Can Marvel recreate the magic of Infinity War without just repeating it?

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VisionQuest Episodes 5 and 6 give us more Ultron and Jocasta, a return to Madripoor, and some major developments for Vision and Tommy.

Episode 5 was great, with some of the strongest character interactions and visuals of the season. Episode 6 brought more action and revelations, but we're still waiting for the larger mystery to come together.

We discuss Ultron and Jocasta's relationship, Vision's growing connection with Tommy, the return of a character from Iron Man, and the questions surrounding the mysterious Client.

Spoilers for Episodes 5 & 6.

Which episode worked better for you?

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DC and Marvel have plenty to talk about this week!

In Nerd News #2, we're discussing Clayface's opening weekend and what it could mean for DC's horror future, including Scarecrow, Poison Ivy and Swamp Thing.

We also get into the reported Bane and Deathstroke project, Alan Ritchson's possible DCU roles, and Matthew Lillard joining Man of Tomorrow.

On the Marvel side, Jonathan Hickman's comments about Avengers: Doomsday have us looking ahead to Secret Wars, the future of the MCU, the X-Men reboot and Star-Lord's return.

Could Secret Wars reshape the MCU? And who would you cast Alan Ritchson as?

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Some topics include unconfirmed reports and speculation.

Marvel's VisionQuest is finally starting to win me over!

Episodes 3 and 4 deliver two very different experiences. Episode 3 gives us some of the best character work of the series so far, especially through Vision and Tommy's growing relationship. Episode 4 shifts into a detective mystery involving Jocasta and ends with a major Ultron development.

In this episode of Our Opinions Matter, I'm breaking down why Vision and Tommy's emotional journey worked so well, the surprisingly touching funeral for JARVIS, and how Tony Stark's AIs are exploring the same questions about identity and humanity as Vision himself.

We also discuss Paladin's connections to the wider MCU, the introduction of Jocasta and her comic-book origins, the original Human Torch Easter egg, and James Spader's fantastic performance as Ultron.

There are a few storytelling decisions I'm not completely sold on, particularly how Jocasta draws Vision into the mystery, but overall these were two really strong episodes.

Episode 3 was amazing, Episode 4 was great, and I'm genuinely invested in where this story is going.

Full spoilers for VisionQuest Episodes 1–4.

What do you think Jocasta is trying to unlock? And has Ultron been manipulating Vision all along?

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Welcome to the first episode of OOM Nerd News, a new series from Our Opinions Matter covering the biggest DC, Marvel, comics, movie, and television announcements worth discussing.

We're kicking things off with a packed week of DC news!

The Batman Part II has an unexpected production update, with Steven Soderbergh stepping in to help Matt Reeves finish principal photography. We discuss why the announcement initially raised some concerns, why we're cautiously optimistic, and what makes Reeves' Gotham so distinctive.

Then we're diving deep into Mister Miracle! Josh Hutcherson has been cast as Scott Free, Mackenzie Davis is Big Barda, and Nathan Fillion is returning as Guy Gardner. We talk about the casting, Tom King and Mitch Gerads' acclaimed comic, the role of Darkseid, and our theory about how the series could adapt the comic's reality-bending story while fitting into the wider DCU.

We're also discussing:

• James Mangold's long-awaited Swamp Thing project

• DC's Absolute Justice crossover and the possibility of an Absolute Justice League

• Early reactions to Clayface and why its body-horror direction has us excited

• Whether DC Studios should prioritize distinctive standalone stories over constant universe-building

And since this is our first Nerd News episode, we'd love to hear what you think of the format!

Question of the episode: How should Mister Miracle handle the comic's biggest twists and character deaths while remaining part of the DCU?

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Spoiler warning: Contains significant spoilers for Tom King and Mitch Gerads' Mister Miracle comic series.

Marvel's VisionQuest has officially kicked off, and the first two episodes have given us a lot to talk about.

Paul Bettany is back as White Vision, James Spader is having a blast as Ultron, and the series is already exploring some pretty interesting questions about identity, family, memory, and what it actually means to be human.

But are we completely hooked yet? Not quite.

In this spoiler-filled discussion of Episode 1, “No Strings,” and Episode 2, “Theseus,” we break down what we're loving so far, what's still taking its time, and why the show's production design might be one of its biggest strengths.

We're getting into the different AI personalities living inside Vision's mind, the connection to Tom King's The Vision comic, Thomas Shepherd's introduction, the Ship of Theseus, Paladin's mysterious employer, and the heartbreaking sacrifice of JARVIS.

Plus, we talk about the VisionQuest experience at New York Comic Con and how seeing those portraits and props in person made watching the show even cooler.

And of course, there's the biggest question hanging over everything:

Is Ultron actually helping Vision become more human, or is he slowly setting himself up to take control?

There's some genuinely great character work happening here. Now we want to see whether the larger mystery can deliver.

What did you think of the first two episodes?

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Spoiler warning: Contains spoilers for VisionQuest Episodes 1 and 2, WandaVision, and Agatha All Along.

The Avengers made Marvel's biggest experiment work: take a group of people who don't particularly like each other and somehow convince us they belong together.

Fourteen years later, Avengers: Doomsday has the same problem on a ridiculous scale.

This time we're not just dealing with Iron Man arguing with Thor or Steve Rogers trying to keep six Avengers focused. We've got Avengers, New Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Wakandans, multiple universes—and Doctor Doom sitting right in the middle of it.

So for this Road to Avengers: Doomsday rewatch, we're going back to 2012 to figure out why the original Avengers actually worked.

We get into how quickly the movie establishes each Avenger's personality, why letting them fight and disagree is essential to eventually making the team believable, Steve becoming the field leader, Loki accidentally creating the Avengers in both comics and the MCU, the escalation from the Tesseract to thousands of incursions, and why we desperately miss this version of Hulk.

Then there's the bigger Doomsday problem:

Who the hell leads everybody?

Steve Rogers? Sam Wilson? Reed Richards? The X-Men? And what happens when saving one universe might mean another one doesn't survive?

And maybe most importantly—what happens if Doctor Doom doesn't walk into the room offering a fight?

What if Doom offers them a solution?

Because the worst version of Avengers: Doomsday is just a parade of characters showing up so everyone can cheer.

The rotating Avengers shot in 2012 worked because the movie spent two hours making us believe those six people had finally become a team.

That shot was the payoff. It wasn't the story.

Avengers: Doomsday doesn't just have to assemble everybody.

It has to earn another Avengers moment.

Road to Avengers: Doomsday continues as we figure out what each movie adds to the board.

We're finally jumping into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics—and somehow we picked one of the strangest possible starting points.

TMNT: Black, White & Green isn't one continuous story. It's four issues filled with short stories from completely different creative teams, all telling their own version of the Turtles using only black, white and green.

Which makes this thing almost impossible to rate.

Some stories had us wishing they were full six-issue arcs.

Some felt like they ended right when they were getting interesting.

And at least one had us wondering what the hell we were even reading.

Miguel and Luis get into the best and worst stories, the wildly different artwork, whether eight pages is actually enough to tell these stories, why the Turtles still feel surprisingly consistent across completely different creators—and Luis somehow changes his rating in the middle of the episode.

Then we get into the important shit:

Who's the best Ninja Turtle?

And with this book officially kicking off our TMNT comic journey, we're already looking ahead to the big one:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin.

John Stewart is finally Green Lantern. So why didn't it completely feel like it?

The Lanterns Season 1 finale answers the murder mystery, reveals what really happened to Hal Jordan, gives us Noah's Manhunter truth, closes the book on Hal and John in a surprisingly emotional way, and finally puts Hal's ring in John's hands.

And a lot of it works.

Noah and John becoming two sides of the same question about programming versus choice? Works.

Hal finally being given the opportunity to hold onto life and choosing to let go instead? That got me.

John rejecting everyone else's plan for his life and creating his own Green Lantern oath around the words “I choose”? I actually like it more the longer I've thought about it.

But then John finally flies.

This should've been the moment where, after eight episodes, I went:

There he is. That's John Stewart. That's Green Lantern.

And…I didn't.

So we're getting into everything from Kerry and Noah to Hal's goodbye, John's new oath, Sinestro's strange fear-infused Lantern, what John actually is now, and why I don't think this finale needed a giant CGI battle—but desperately needed one definitive Green Lantern moment.

Because I think Lanterns understands John Stewart incredibly well.

I'm just not sure the finale completely understands the fantasy of being Green Lantern.

And somehow the biggest question I'm leaving Season 1 with isn't what happened to Hal Jordan.

It's:

What the hell kind of Green Lantern did John Stewart just become?

Steve Rogers already got one of the most complete endings in the MCU—so why are we going all the way back to Captain America: The First Avenger before Avengers: Doomsday?

After this rewatch, I think I finally get it.

The First Avenger isn't really about Steve Rogers becoming Captain America. It's about proving that he already was. Before the serum, the shield or the costume, Steve was the guy willing to jump on the grenade for everybody else.

And that's what makes his return so interesting now.

We get into skinny Steve, the grenade scene, Captain America becoming a product before becoming the hero, Bucky's beginnings, the Tesseract and Red Skull, Steve/Bucky/Sam and the legacy of Captain America, and what it could mean for Steve to encounter Doctor Doom wearing Robert Downey Jr.'s face.

But the biggest question comes from Endgame.

Steve finally stopped sacrificing. He chose Peggy. He chose a life for himself. Now Loki has shown up at their door, and Anthony Russo says that's where Avengers: Doomsday is “born.”

So what if Doomsday happens inside Steve's Endgame ending?

Could Steve leave Peggy, survive Doomsday, return home, live his life, and still eventually become the old Steve who gives Sam the shield?

That's speculation—but it's one way Marvel could bring Steve Rogers back without undoing the ending that made his entire MCU story work.

Road to Avengers: Doomsday continues as we figure out what each movie adds to the board.