Our Opinions Matter Pod

Rewatching X2 changed how we're looking at the returning X-Men in Avengers: Doomsday—and it has surprisingly little to do with William Stryker or a bunch of Easter eggs from 2003.

X2 gives us a much better look at Professor X, Magneto, Cyclops, Mystique and Nightcrawler, but more importantly, it shows what happens when characters with fundamentally different beliefs are forced onto the same side by an existential threat.

We get into Nightcrawler's faith, Bobby and Pyro taking completely different lessons from the same experience, why Magneto barely needs to recruit Pyro, Stryker and Weapon X, Mystique being one of the movie's MVPs, the ridiculous Marvel names hiding on Stryker's computer, Jean Grey becoming Phoenix, and why we're begging Marvel to finally let Cyclops matter.

X-Men introduced the argument. X2 puts that argument to the test.

So when these characters collide with the rest of the Marvel universe in Avengers: Doomsday, will they actually agree on what survival looks like?

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

Lanterns Episode 7, “The Jordan Boys' Legacy,” finally pulls back the curtain on Hal Jordan — and somehow makes his greatest strength and his biggest flaw feel like the exact same thing.

Miguel breaks down Hal's relationship with his father Martin, the meaning behind the baseball and Hal's inability to let go, the Jordan family's generational trauma, and why the episode completely reframes Hal's claim that he's “fearless.”

We also get into John Stewart's strange connection to his constructs, the surprisingly emotional relationship between John and the Halogram, why Noah and Kerry still feel suspicious, Hal's secret portal to Anton's destroyed world, the Manhunters, and Sinestro waiting at the end of Hal's trail.

With one episode left, we're asking the big questions: Who killed Hal Jordan? Why did Hal have that portal? Who freed Sinestro? What is going on with Noah? And is the show's increasing focus on fear setting up something much bigger for the Green Lantern mythology?

Full spoilers for Lanterns Episode 7.

Follow Our Opinions Matter:

YouTube — @ouropinionsmatterpod
Instagram — @ouropnionsmatter25
TikTok — @ouropnionsmatter25
Threads — @ouropnionsmatter25

#Lanterns #HalJordan #GreenLantern

Did Tom King ruin Adam Strange — or did Strange Adventures make him more interesting by tearing down the mythology surrounding him?

Miguel and Chris dive into Strange Adventures by Tom King, Mitch Gerads and Evan “Doc” Shaner, the DC Black Label series that transforms Adam Strange's heroic reputation into a mystery about war, truth, deception and the stories we choose to believe.

We discuss why both of us landed at 9.4/10, why Chris considers it his favorite comic of all time, the backlash from Adam Strange fans, Mister Terrific's investigation, Alanna discovering the truth, Adam's deal with the Pyykts, Aleea, the ending, and whether Mister Terrific ultimately tells the truth himself.

We also dig into Tom King's real-world inspiration for the story and how his background helped shape a comic about the uncomfortable distance between a celebrated hero's mythology and reality.

Full spoilers.

Follow Our Opinions Matter:YouTube — @ouropinionsmatterpodInstagram — @ouropnionsmatter25TikTok — @ouropnionsmatter25Threads — @ouropnionsmatter25

#StrangeAdventures #TomKing #DCComics

Ten years after Rushville, John Stewart has built an entirely new life. Hal Jordan spent that decade paying for what happened. And now Hal is dead.

We're breaking down Lanterns Episode 6, “Bad Optics,” including John's return to Rushville, Hal's suspicious murder, his warning that nobody should know he met with John, the mysterious Green Lantern vault, Sinestro's escape from the Science Cells, Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner entering the story, Carol Ferris, Hal's surprisingly emotional funeral, and the larger DCU references to Superman, Batman, Starro and Midway City.

But the biggest change may be John himself.

Ten years ago, everyone else told John Stewart what the Green Lantern ring was supposed to mean for his life. He rejected it.

This time, nobody makes the decision for him.

John chooses the ring himself.

With Hal's killer still somewhere in Rushville, Sinestro loose and only two episodes remaining, we're getting into everything Episode 6 sets up for the end of Lanterns Season 1.

Our Opinions Matter

Marvel officially put X-Men (2000) on its Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday watchlist — so we're going back to where the modern superhero movie era, and Kevin Feige's Marvel career, really started.

Welcome to Road to Doomsday.

Instead of simply reviewing movies we've already seen, we're working through Marvel's Doomsday watchlist and asking why each movie or show might matter now.

For X-Men, that means going back to Hugh Jackman's first Wolverine, Patrick Stewart's Professor X, Ian McKellen's Magneto, James Marsden's Cyclops, the mutant-registration debate, the infamous “yellow spandex” joke, and a movie that helped establish what modern Marvel movies could become.

We also look at Marvel's long road back to the X-Men through No Way Home, Multiverse of Madness, Ms. Marvel, The Marvels and Deadpool & Wolverine — and why seeing these Fox-era characters return around Avengers: Doomsday makes Marvel's decision to specifically assign X-Men and X2 so interesting.

Are we supposed to understand the entire Fox timeline?

Or does Marvel simply want us to remember these versions of these people?

And if Doomsday puts entire universes in conflict, could Xavier and Magneto's original argument about coexistence versus survival suddenly become much bigger than mutants and humans?

Next on Road to Doomsday: X2: X-Men United.

Our Opinions Matter
YouTube — @ouropinionsmatterpod
Instagram / TikTok / Threads — @ouropnionsmatter25

John Stewart finally gets the Green Lantern ring he's spent his entire life chasing—and almost immediately realizes he doesn't want it.

Lanterns Episode 5, “Lights Out,” is our favorite episode of the season so far and our first 10/10.

We're getting into Hal and John's brutal fight over the ring, Zoe's Manhunter endgame, Rushville being destroyed, John's sniper moment, the best Green Lantern action and constructs of the season, the Guardians' role in everything, and the possibility that Anton's story is pulling from some very interesting Atrocitus lore.

But the ending completely changes the question we've been asking about John Stewart.

His parents raised him for this. The Guardians manipulated him toward it. Hal destroyed pieces of himself trying to keep it. And when John finally becomes Green Lantern, he feels empty.

So we're not asking when John gets the ring anymore.

We're asking what finally makes becoming Green Lantern his choice.

Our Opinions Matter
YouTube — @ouropinionsmatterpod
Instagram / TikTok / Threads — @ouropnionsmatter25

Full spoilers for Lanterns Episode 5, “Lights Out.”

Lanterns Episode 4 finally reveals the Manhunter—but the bigger story might be what that reveal does to Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

We get into Zoe's secret, Sinestro manipulating Hal, the Guardians manipulating John, Hector Hammond's fake-out, John's increasingly comic-accurate constructs, and why Hal and John's completely different ways of thinking actually make them a great team. Then, right when they're finally honest with each other… John lies.

Our Opinions Matter
YouTube — @ouropinionsmatterpod
Instagram / TikTok / Threads — @ouropnionsmatter25

Lanterns Episode 3 completely reframes John Stewart by revealing just how much of his life was engineered around becoming a Green Lantern. We break down Bernadette's decision to raise John without fear, his military history with Hal Jordan, why the Guardians want him to replace Hal, Birdie, his comic-accurate construct precision, and whether becoming the “perfect” Green Lantern was worth what it cost him.

Watch Lanterns on HBO Max:
HBO Max — Lanterns

Our Opinions MatterYouTube: @ouropinionsmatterpodInstagram / TikTok / Threads: @ouropnionsmatter25

Lanterns Episode 2 just gave us a LOT more to think about.

This week on Our Opinions Matter, we break down Episode 2, “Trust Fall,” as the mystery in Rushville gets even stranger. John Stewart discovers a bizarre new ability, the Manhunters officially enter the story, Hal Jordan continues being the world's most questionable Green Lantern mentor, and one of the biggest characters in Green Lantern history finally arrives:

Sinestro.

But his appearance leaves us with an even bigger question — what exactly does Sinestro know about John Stewart?

We discuss John's mysterious bird construct, Hal and John's increasingly complicated relationship, the Manhunter threat, William Macon and Rushville, the expanding Green Lantern lore, and how everything we're seeing might connect to Hal's eventual fate.

Plus, we update the OOM Lanterns Theory Board with our biggest theories after Episode 2.

⚠️ Full spoilers for Lanterns Episode 2.

What do you think Sinestro knows about John? And who do you think the Manhunter actually is?

#Lanterns #GreenLantern #DCU #JohnStewart #Sinestro

My Adventures With Superman Season 3 is officially over, and this might be the messiest season of the series while also delivering some of its best Superman moments.

We're breaking down the complete season—from Clark and Lois dealing with their future, Jimmy and Kara's relationship, Superboy and the future timeline, to Cyborg Superman, Lex Luthor, Eradicator, Krypto and a finale that reminded us exactly why this version of Superman works.

Season 3 takes major inspiration from DC's classic Reign of the Supermen storyline while remixing it through the show's anime-influenced style. The creators have also discussed influences including Dragon Ball Z, something that becomes VERY apparent once Season 3 starts throwing hands.

There are some fantastic ideas here, great character moments and one hell of a finale—but the season's structure doesn't always bring those pieces together as smoothly as it should.

We start spoiler-free before getting into full Season 3 spoilers.

What did you think? Did Season 3 work for you, and where should My Adventures With Superman go next?

#MyAdventuresWithSuperman #Superman #DC #DCComics #DCAnimation #ReignOfTheSupermen #OurOpinionsMatter