One of Todd’s favorite actors for elucidating, perfectly, what makes one performance work where another doesn’t is Griffin Newman, who plays Arthur, the moth-man sidekick on Amazon’s The Tick. Newman also co-hosts the podcast Blank Check With Griffin and David, where his discussion of acting frequently helps explain things like why one of the hardest characters to play is someone who’s unfailingly good and decent (because the psychology can be harder to tap into) and why Newman so reveres Philip Seymour Hoffman’s work.

That meant when Todd wanted to make a list of the five best superhero performances of all time, Newman was a natural choice to join him. The two trade lists back and forth, and Newman’s is just as idiosyncratic as you’d hope (just wait until you hear which performance he picks from the Marvel universe!), but with some great, deep defenses of his choices. You can also listen to Todd speak up for Christopher Reeve as Superman, which will surely be a controversial choice.

Newman also talks with Todd about what it means to wear a superhero suit on The Tick every week, as well as just why he so admires Michael Keaton. The discussion is mostly about superheroes, but it’s also about finding the emotional realism of a character, even when you’re stuck in spandex.