Marvel Studios What If…? Season 1

Hey, this is Josh Keaton, and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. I am the Watcher.

I am your guide through these vast new realities.

Follow me, and ponder the question... What if?

Hello and welcome to an all -new generation of

ToonCast. This is our 234th episode and I am

one of your hosts, TF2 and Mike. Joining me is

one part of the BAM crew. It is the BAM crew's

member, Allison, from the Superman and Lois tapes

done by Michael Bailey along with Bethany. Hello.

Hello, how are you today? I am good. That sounds

like there's a but somewhere in there. There

probably is. And we are welcoming you to ToonCast

and the GeekCast Radio Networks. Hashtag Superhero

Saturdays, because over the next 10 weeks, we

will be giving you our spoiler -filled Your Warning

Is Now, and then I'll have the Joker warn you

later, because I just think it's funny putting

a DC villain in a Marvel show. These are going

to be spoiler -filled discussions of Marvel Studios'

new animated series What If on Disney+. So, Allison,

let me ask you this. What if you never read a

comic in your life? Who would you be? Oh, wow.

See, this is why I didn't show you this part.

Probably a very boring person. Dang, a lot of

my identity actually comes from Robin. So it's

like, all right. Yeah, no, I would probably be

a completely different person that I. can't even

fathom existing in this reality, which fits well

with this show, honestly. Yes, that was kind

of the plan here. Yes. And for me, you know,

comic or cartoon, since this is actually our

cartoon review show, if I had never watched cartoons,

any cartoon, it doesn't matter if it's superhero

or whatever, because let's face it, you know.

Most people saw all the superhero cartoons of

the late 60s and 70s in the middle of the 80s,

at least most people my age anyway. And yeah,

like you said, I don't even know. Yeah, no clue.

No clue whatsoever. So as I said, we're here

to discuss Marvel's What If season one, episode

one. Have you read the comics before? I know

of the what -if comics existing and what their

concept was. I think I have one with Hawkeye

somewhere in my cabinet box, but that's not one

of my main pulls. Yeah, no. I completely missed,

though, because I wasn't really majorly into

comics as a kid or as a young adult even. Now

I'm in the mid -age at this point. Until I started

my other show, The Pull Bag, about eight years

ago, I wasn't reading comics on the regular.

So I had completely, like, we're probably going

to have a whole month or two. dedicated to the

What If comics because I just added all the original

volumes on Comixology to my wish list. So I think

this is going to be cool. We're both kind of

coming into this fresh. We know what the general

gist is. It's basically, you know, what if what

actually happened didn't happen and one thing,

one change affected everything else and made

a whole new universe. But in another universe,

a single choice created a whole new hero. All

this to make one super soldier. Paris has fallen.

London might be next. If this works, you could

end the war. We mere mortals can only dream of

doing such things. Agent Carter, wouldn't you

be more comfortable in the booth? No, I'd prefer

to stay. There. That's the moment. And I love

that they're doing this. I love that it's animated.

I think that is so cool. Yeah, and their focus

is primarily doing the MCU history as opposed

to the regular comic book history because they're

trying to make this accessible to fans who've

only watched the movies and don't have any of

the knowledge with the comic book side. Right.

And I think that is really cool. I think that's

good. Even for us that have watched all 30 films,

28 films, I don't even remember now anymore.

There's a lot of them, folks. There is something.

I think it's like 20 -something, actually. Oh,

it's 22, 23. See, it always gets confusing for

me because everybody wants to lump in Incredible

Hulk, the Edward Norton Hulk movie, and I'm like,

the only reason why that's... actually considered

canon is because of the end credit scene. That's

the only reason. And after all that movie did

something really made me the man rest in peace.

Cause he's been gone for a while, but that movie

killed Stan Lee and his cameo. That was, Oh,

you know, let Stan Lee drink poison soda. Yeah.

Anyway. Well, it's also actually used in some

like in Avengers when Tony Stark does the whole

blowout of, Steve, uh, Thor and Hulk. Those are

scenes from the, from the incredible Hulk playing

on the video there, you know? Oh, that's right.

Yeah. So, and I think there's like one mention

of something, but Bruce has basically, I think

that's why his whole running away worked so well.

Cause he's avoiding everything in his life from

that moment. So it's not going to come back up

for him. Yep. What are your, if you can, I don't

mind if we're here for a while, but what is your

history with the MCU? Have you seen them all

in theaters or have you only seen a select few

of them in theaters or what's your, how did your

love of the MCU start? Um, well, I, I do remember.

you know, watching Iron Man's probably on TNT

just because I was a Robert Downey Jr. fan when

I was younger and I wasn't a Robert Downey Jr.

fan when those first started coming out. I know

for a fact that I saw Thor in the movie theaters

because I was on a horrible date, but I was on

a horrible date that went wrong. And I think

he got I think the guy was a little upset because

I was paying more attention to the movie than

to him. Because I'm like, you took me to a comic

book movie. There's a Hemsworth on the screen.

There has a Hawkeye on the screen, even though

they don't name him. I'm like, you're not that

pretty. It's funny. Yeah, I remember 2008 very,

very well. I saw both Iron Man and the Dark Knight

in theaters. When it comes to Iron Man, for me,

it's all about the old 1994 Fox Kids cartoon.

And I've read some of the comics since the movie,

but I was not an Iron Man reader kind of thing.

Outside of the MCU, the one crowning jewel, in

my personal opinion, in Robert Downey Jr.'s filmography

is Chances Are from 1989. Oh, gosh. I have to

now pull up IMDb and see if I can remember what

movie. It's him and Sybil Shepard and he dies

and he comes back. It's basically Ghost, but

it's, yeah, it's a little funny. Yeah, I think

I remember. I do remember that. I don't remember

having seen all of it, honestly. Yeah, it was

a little weird. All right. Marvel, what if the

basic premise here, and I know on your other

show you're... Other Michael likes to do his

own synopsis. I just, I'm not, I'm creative,

but I'm not that creative. Well, he's doing more

of a treatment that he is a synopsis. That's

true. Him and his flow charts that Bethany wants

him to do. Hey, they're 12 away now from getting

that one. Basically, What If explores the various

alternate timelines of the multiverse in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe, and they take, as

we've already said, one major moment in the first

episode that we're going to talk about, because

there is only one episode. Yeah, we're going

to talk about that one. Yeah, I was expecting

to see, and I haven't checked all the comic book

sites or anything like that. And I haven't checked

all of Disney's Disney Plus and Marvel and all

that. I haven't checked all the social media

stuff. I was expecting to see, like, an episode

title for the second episode, which is coming

next week. And nothing yet. I'm sure it'll be

out. But basically, for the next ten weeks on

Wednesdays on Disney Plus, you're going to be

able to watch Marvel What If. And the first one

is Marvel What If. Captain Carter were the first

Avenger. That was brilliant! Let's give it another

go. Yep. This was awesome. Yeah, it really was.

I have to admit, I was all down for this one.

I didn't know if I was going to like the style

of the animation. but once you got to really

see it on the screen, all moving together and

not just those really short clips, you know,

that, that really brought it home. I I've, I've,

I've loved basically it for the entire time it

was going. I just kind of was sitting in my bed

while I'm laying in bed bouncing. Yeah, I, it's

not, I don't want to say that it isn't true traditional

animation, but it's not, it's not 3D. I mean,

it is, you know what I mean? It's not, it's not

complete CGI kind of stuff where the style of

it feels like. a superhero cartoon versus something

feeling like a robot cartoon or a Steven Universe

or whatever. It specifically has its direction

and style, and oh man, I love it. I wasn't sure

how they were going to work in Peggy getting

the... the, like what the choice was she was

going to make. And obviously the choice is that

she goes and takes the serum herself. And I find

it funny that Steve stays skinny. I don't find

it. I guess I don't find it funny, but I find

it ironic that because she had, he got shot.

I thought when, when the soldier shot him, I'm

like, well, there goes Steve Rogers. He's dead.

Like literally, I thought he was going to die.

I didn't realize he was, you know, he's just

wounded at the time. And I'm like, oh, so that's

the choice. And I got to say, I love Jeffrey

Wright as the Watcher, as a Watu. That is awesome.

His voice for the narration is amazing. What

were your thoughts like the first five couple

of minutes into this thing? Yeah, I was always

wondering how Peggy got in the pod was going

to be done. Because if they were keeping Steve

there, that was the only reason Steve got into

the army, was to go in that pod. So, seeing that

she jumped in, you know... A, just shows you

her dedication to the country, you know, and

to S .H .I .E .L .D., though I think it was just

SSR something at that point? Yeah, it was the

SSR, yep. Yeah, so there's that. You also see

that Steve becomes further disabled. after the

gunshot, which you see a little bit later. But

I like that they didn't take away Steve's drive

to do something. And that later in the episode,

it shows back up. But they kept their characters

perfect from the way that that core character

essence of who they are, that stayed completely

true through the entire thing. And that really

shows that whoever was writing these scripts

and was taking the thoughts of going down this

path of where they would go, really used, um,

you know, those characters and their personalities

to guide those choices that they make next after

the fraction point. Um, absolutely. Cause that's

like one thing, like what ifs, you know, kind

of like almost hinge a little bit on like fan

fiction verse. Cause these are where people are

coming up with ideas that are not, you know,

the original canon. So, and I love fanfic writers.

That's where I started doing my own fiction writing.

And that's how I always felt. You knew who the

real, you know, writers within fandom were is

because they were able to find those essences

of characters. And no matter what you did with

them, when you changed their setting, their worlds,

you know, even if you change their species, you

know, you still can look at that character and

say, yes, that is Peggy. Who is Peggy Carter?

That is Peggy Carter. You know, just from that.

Yeah, absolutely. Her character didn't really

change from the main universe. She just made

a choice where she was. Like, the whole thing

with, oh, you shouldn't even be in the room.

The whole woman thing of those times and whatever

else. Literally, I felt like I was watching an

animated version of Agent Carter, which should

have gotten a second season. But anyway. Yeah.

You know, so it's just one of those things where

it's like, Yeah, her character is... I think

where Hayley Atwell, as the voice actress, because

obviously she's the one that plays the character

in live action as well, I think where she got

to shine is once Peggy got the shield and the

suit and all of that, and you can hear a little

bit of... Not necessarily difference, but obviously

more excitement when she's out. She never had

superpowers before. She was always just kick

-ass Agent Peggy Carter. So when she has the

shield, she's like, I love this thing. Where

have you been all my life? Where have you been

all my life? I think she loves the shield more

than she even loves Steve at this point. Yes.

I think some fans had said, I think I read somewhere

on Twitter or Facebook or somewhere where they're

like, they missed an opportunity on calling her

Captain Britain. Isn't that a different character,

though? That is. There actually is a Captain

Britain in common. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's

actually Lance from Agents of S .H .I .E .L .D.

Hmm. The one that, yeah, the one who dates. Oh,

no, sorry. Captain Britain is Dr. Brian Braddock.

Was he actually in... He's actually played by

Charlie Adler, which means that he's been in

a live adaption somewhere along the way. Weird.

Either way, I mean, Captain Carter works for

me. I mean, I think that's just... Because, again,

it goes into her whole thing, you know, where

the idiot, you know, general or whoever he was,

well, you're just an agent. Well, I guess you're

going to have to promote me then, aren't you?

Captain has a nice ring to it. Yeah. You know.

And that works. I thought that was her. Yeah.

She's not just Britain. You know, she has been

in America. She's fighting with the, you know,

the American army. Yeah. She just happens to

have been born in Britain. Yeah. It's just one

of those things where I think what they were

doing here is the same thing as what was done

in the Agent Carter TV show. Obviously, men and

women at that time were not considered equals

kind of thing. And they were trying to show that

here, and obviously she shows him up. As rightfully

so as she should. She's a kick -asser. Oh, yeah.

Having the ability to become a physical kick

-asser, you know, I think that just, the joy

she has on her face as she's like running up

beside the Nazi on the motorcycle and just like,

you know, making a joke before hitting him, you

know. Steve Rogers in comic books, not so much

in MCU has that same type of, you know, smart

ass, smart aleck attitude. So, you know, it's

nice to see that on her where she's, you know,

kind of always played a little serious, you know,

kind of seeing her have fun and really just enjoying

these abilities. You know, it's not like, It's

a duty to her, but it's not a... It's not a burden

on her. You know, she's happy doing this. Yep.

Absolutely. As the episode goes on further, we

get into this whole thing with Red Skull and

basically... As we said, folks, it's a tipping

point of, oh, it's basically, as we said, what

if Peggy Carter became the first Avenger instead

of Steve Rogers? So it's basically Captain America,

the first Avenger, as far as the overall plot.

So there really is no spoiler there, except for

one thing at the end, because, oh boy, that's

not exactly what I was expecting. Not exactly

what I was expecting either, but... The other

big spoiler then becomes, even though he's given

a different name, Steve Rogers becomes the first

Iron Man. Yep. So that was cute. Even though

it's more like Iron Giant, but it's still...

Kind of, yeah. For that time period, you know...

Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I mean... And of course

Howard Stark is going to create an Iron Man.

you know, of course he's going to be. So, so,

you know, I, I think that means then that, you

know, in shield somewhere there is in there,

this world, there is a rusting, you know, giant,

you know, Iron Man, Nazi stomper. Yes. Yeah.

I, I, I don't necessarily like the name Hydra

Stomper. It's okay. It's not eloquent, but hello,

he was literally stomping on the Hydra agents

and all of that. Yep. I was not... I was and

I wasn't expecting what happened with the Red

Skull. I was like, okay, well, I guess there's

no putting him on 40 years of suspended animation

anymore. You just... kill the guy. Hmm. Since

when did dames fight like that? Since today.

Understood. I love that Bucky and the rest of

the commandos are like, oh, okay. Well, she's

the leader. She's the this. She's the badass.

They don't bat an eye at it. Yeah, you had Duggan

who was just like, so, you know, about the dames

fighting and then, you know, he watches her kick

ass and he's just like, okay then. And you're

just like, yeah. Also, I was like, I was excited

to actually see Bucky in the cage and not, you

know, on the table. Yes. Because... You know,

Bucky would have been on the table in the original

instance, but I think that's because they captured

Zola, you know, in that bit before. They never

got to actually do anything to him. Yeah. Yeah,

so Bucky doesn't, at least in this specific story,

because this isn't... Well, I did mention this

at the beginning of the podcast. This is an anthology

series, so the next episode isn't necessarily

going to tie into... this specific episode. They're

all different moments in time within the Marvel

Cinematic Universe that are taken, like I said,

one choice changes everything. So I don't think

unless they decide to do a what if Bucky wasn't

the Winter Soldier thing. I want to think actually

Bucky, there is going to be more of him. Because

Sebastian Stan had so many things on his contract

that I wouldn't be surprised if he's still working

some of those off. He actually could be the voice

for Bucky. In fact, I think the only person who

didn't revisit their original role was Chris

Evans because that's Josh Keaton voicing Steve.

Yeah, I was very surprised because I knew I had

seen the original trailer for this that they

put out. And that was the first time I had seen

it. It was the first time I learned about it

kind of thing. So I didn't know what they were

going to do. And then I realized, oh, they're

using some of the MCU actors, but not others.

And I was like, wait a minute. Who's going to

be Skinny Steve? Yeah. And I was like, oh, as

soon as I heard the voice, I'm like, hey, that's

Josh Keaton. That's Green Lantern. That's Spider

-Man. That's the dude that I interviewed like

a decade ago, I think. Yeah, yeah, we did interview

him, I think, back in 2011, 2012. Yeah. I forget

when did we do that interview. Anyway, yeah,

no, I wasn't sure at first until I saw the credits.

I was like. Wait a minute. I think I know that

voice, but I'm not sure. And he did a really

good job trying to get as close to Evans as he

could. Because there were moments where I was

like, is this Evans? Yeah. Yeah, there absolutely

were moments of that, like, wait a minute. And

then I think that Disney Plus or Marvel Studios

or whoever, I think they're specifically not

telling us. Who is voicing Tony because it isn't

Robert Downey Jr.? I know it's not. I can watch

that trailer a thousand times and tell you the

guy saying Tony's lines is not Robert Downey

Jr. Wait, Tony's lines? Yeah, in the trailer.

In the overall trailer for talking about the

actors that returned but didn't, Robert Downey

Jr. did not do those lines. 95 % sure that they

have somebody else playing the voice of Tony

Stark in this. Well, and if I recall correctly,

Endgame was the last piece of Downey, Evans,

and Hemsworth's contract. Well, Hemsworth signed

back on for more, but Evans and Downey are off

contract now. That kind of stinks. Yeah, well,

Black Widow movie is the last one of Scarlet's.

Yeah, that kind of stinks. But that doesn't mean

that they can't have a new contract signed if

something comes up and they're available and

want to do it. True, absolutely, yeah. But I

mean, especially when it comes to cartoons, as

long as the voice makes an effort, To do that,

it can usually be fine. I mean, look at the difference

between, what is it? Avengers Earth's Mightiest

Hero and then Avengers Assemble, which is supposed

to be a continuation of Earth's Mightiest Heroes

because they do refer to a couple things in there.

But some of the voices have changed and you can...

You can kind of hear it, but at the same time,

they're working really hard to try and emulate

the voices from the previous one. Yeah. I don't

know. I know this is just a ten -episode, one

-season animated series, but because it is the

Marvel Cinematic Universe... That is incorrect

information. Really? Yes. It is actually only

a nine -episode. season one because they have

had to push one episode to season two because

oh really yep oh wow okay well that changed in

a heartbeat i was like yeah a minute when did

that they reported that a few days ago they did

that when they reported um what the next two

episodes of the Disney of the What If episodes

are going to be about. They don't have titles,

but they fleshed out what they're about. Yeah,

it was on the 10th that I read about it. Wow,

I guess I missed that news. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah,

it's where is it? Okay, then. Producer Brad Winderbaum.

said there was an episode that just wouldn't

hit the completion date, but luckily we do get

to see it in the second season of the show. There's

going to be another nine -episode run for season

two. I see. Okay. All right. Well, there you

go, folks. 18 episodes. Yep. Now I just wonder

when season two is going to happen because we

know that it's the next nine weeks. The reason

why I originally said before we got the updated

info was how I pitched having you on and having

us do this was you're dying to do a Hawkeye podcast.

Oh, yeah. So I'm like, hey, by the way, you show

up and talk. I can do all the work. At some point,

folks, over on Studio 2009, we'll do a Hawkeye

show. But no, this first episode of What If,

I thoroughly enjoyed it, from the animation to

the voice acting, even the voices that are different.

Like I said, I interviewed Josh Keaton back in

2012, so it's almost been 10 years. It'll be

10 years next year since I interviewed him. And

I'm like, oh, I know. Almost everything that

guy has voiced in the last 10 years is so cool.

And again, it's skinny Steve Rogers. Yes, it

would be awesome if Chris Evans was here. He's

not. We have to deal with it. It's fine. It's

not like it's the end of the world. Is there

other things you want to bring up? Is there other

we can't. Should we mention the wonderful line

that Bucky has on the train? Or do we want to

leave that as a secret to the audience? Maybe

I should just insert it right here. Thanks. You

almost ripped my arm off. Yes. Yes. Because that

was beautiful. And you're just like, oh, I see

what you did there. I, I also, the, the, the,

the way that Steve and Peggy end in the, in,

in that moment before Peggy goes on her time

jump, you know, that was beautiful bringing that

back to the moment where, where Steve was crashing

the plane. That was a beautiful moment there.

That was so awesome. I guess we should also,

since we are doing spoilers, we should also tell

everybody the moment that this episode kind of

jumped the shark with what Red Skull was hoping

to... He wasn't necessarily hoping for that champion,

but he was hoping for some sort of champion and...

Giant tentacle monster? Really? Well, I was expecting,

like, you know, the Chitauri to start coming

through. Yeah. But no, instead we got, you know,

an actual Hydra. I don't know. Yeah, I assume

that's what, yeah. Cthulhu? I don't know. Oh,

man, if it's Cthulhu, then now we can tie the

Marvel Cinematic Universe to everything Cthulhu

ever appeared in. Great. I don't know. And like

I said, I'm... because it is an anthology story

and this is specifically kind of tied to Captain

America, first Avenger, Captain Carter, first

Avenger. I kind of don't mind that the red skull

is dead. I know that sounds bad, but that moment

I was like, Oh, well, wow. Okay. No more him.

Well, you know, that's fine because anyway, he's

just going to end up, you know, going up to Vormir

and, you know, being the Soulstone, you know,

person. That's true. Yeah. You know, and then

like you said, the whole tentacle thing and the

only way they could stop it is Peggy pushing

it back and... Okay. I am a trained sword fighter,

I have to say. Okay. And the fact that she just,

like, pulls this sword, and mind you, she's also

got the British origin, so of course you think

of Arthur at that point. Oh, yes. You know, pulling

the sword out of a stone wall, you know, and

then going to hacking at tentacles. I am just

like, girl, yes. Yeah. I just want, like, you

know, a fan art of that. Just that cell from

that animation for my wall. Because that is,

like, my fangasm moment there. Yeah, absolutely.

It is such a moment of, holy crap, she just did

what? Yep. So, as I said, she pushes back the

giant Cthulhu tentacle monster, whatever we're

going to call it. And, yes. Oh, that's why. Okay.

My brain is thinking, oh, Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Oh, right. First Adventure was the 70 -year mark.

Duh. I'm thinking in today's terms. I'm like,

wait a minute. It's been a lot longer than that.

like today after Endgame, but that's not when

this, this, okay, I got it. But it's just one

of those things where it's like, oh, okay. So

we get Samuel Jackson as Fury and we get Jeremy

Renner as Hawkeye. Yay! I was so happy when I'm

like, I'm like, wait, wait, wait. Oh, we're going

there. Hi, baby. How are you? Yeah, that's me

when I was looking at the screen. Ma 'am, please

put down the sword. Sir? That's Captain Carter.

Where's Steve Rogers? The war ended almost 70

years ago. You're going to be okay. Of course.

We won the war. That's funny. So yeah, she comes

out and the war is over. We won. And we get the

closing narration by Jeffrey Wright. Her one

choice gave birth to a whole new history and

gave the multiverse a new hero. As for me, these

are my stories. I observe all that transpires

here, but I do not, cannot, will not interfere.

For I am. The Watcher. I kind of feel sad for

her in a little way of having that be there.

Because some, you know, we see in MCU, you know,

we have that ending where Steve goes back in

time and they have their happily ever after.

But in a lot of the worlds, Peggy ends up married

to Bucky. You know, so that and then Bucky, because

these are the ones where Bucky didn't become

Winter Soldier. So this is where Bucky grows

old and Peggy and him get married. And, you know,

you're kind of like, OK, well, then do Steve

and Bucky just get married? Because, you know,

that. Those two are inseparable. So are they

just going to do like the bachelor bro life for

the rest of their life? I think Sam might have

something to say about that. Sam would be happy

because then that means that Bucky isn't going

to be hitting on his sister. That's true. While

I love a good Stucky story, which is the Steve

Bucky ship, there is an amazing Winterhawk community

on AO3. And I just love popping through and reading

their stuff with that. Because that comes back

to the Tales of Suspense issue 100, where Clint

and Bucky team up to find out. if Black Widow

was alive post -Secret Empire. And yeah, it's

like, if you thought Sam and Bucky were buddy

cop, you need to go and read about Clint and

Bucky. And then they come and revisit it again

in the current run of Black Widow by Kelly Thompson

in the first six issues. They revisit the bickerness

between the two of them. And you're just like,

yeah, you know, you two are married. That's it.

That's funny. Yeah. Yeah. I am very excited.

And the thing about the What If series, the animated

series that we're now getting is. I blame the

fact that I was watching the movies that made

us earlier today. I was watching the Forrest

Gump episode. This cartoon series is like a box

of chocolates. You never know what you're going

to get. So I'm very excited to see what kind

of discussions we have over the next eight weeks.

Because, man, it's going to be... The other eight

episodes are as good as this one is, and I have

no doubt that they will be, because I was surprised

with this. Like you said, this is kind of like

fan fiction writing a little bit, because you

have to figure out what would happen if Steve

Rogers did not become Captain America. And what

they gave us was a compelling, emotionally driven,

exciting action -adventure love story. Yep. And

they managed to cut the movie down to 33 minutes.

So... Yeah, I can't imagine if all 23 films were

33 minutes. Oh boy, that would be... That would

be doable in a day. Yeah, kind of. Probably would

be. Yeah, because it would only be maybe about

12 hours. Yeah. I wish I could have been one

of those people to go to one of those movie marathons

where it's like, hey, get ready for this by coming

to the theater and spending all day and all night

watching all of the movies up until whatever

the one that was currently being released at

the time. Endgame. That was for Endgame. Oh,

that's right. It was for Endgame. Yeah. Very

cool. Very cool. Yeah, no, my auditory... would

have died probably within the fourth one because

I can enjoy movie theater still, but for some

reason, the levels of noise that I hear, there

are times where if there's a loud, high -pitched

noise within explosions and such, that will actually

really... aggravate my ear and I can't hear.

So I've started taking either disposables or

a hard set of earplugs with me. So that way I

can still enjoy it and not have that vibration

level in my ear. But at the same time, no, I

could not do 22 movies in a row. I just would

not physically have been able to sit through

it just with my ear issues alone. Not to mention

I probably fall asleep during Dark World. I think

everybody fell asleep during Dark World. And

honestly, Helmsworth or no Helmsworth, I did

not like the first two Thor movies. I don't know.

I think they tried to be a little bit more high

level than they should have. I think they should

have enjoyed the... more comedic side that they

did when they decided to go full Kirby. But I

have to admit, at the same time, I feel that

when they are in Ragnarok, The play that goes

on between Matt Damon and I can't remember who

the other person is on the stage playing Thor.

But I think that is them actually making fun

of the previous two movies and the seriousness

of them. Probably is. Yeah. I personally cannot

do a show like this without mentioning not only

the music from the trailer, which I did link

to you on Twitter. I'll have to send you the

link for what I'm about to talk about in a second.

Okay. But they are releasing Laura Karpman. Did

I say that right? Yeah. Laura Karpman is the

composer for the What If series, and they are

releasing episode soundtracks on Spotify. And

I listened to the first one. There are 17 tracks

here. Oh, it's one thing for me I love doing

is I just love putting my headphones on after

I've seen a movie or whatever it is. And if the

music within the movie hits me a certain way,

the score of it, not necessarily, you know, an

actual. song, like a soundtrack song, but if

the score hits me, I need to experience it outside

of the movie, and I love doing that. And the

music for this episode was so good. I honestly

thought Brian Tyler or somebody or whatever was

back, and I was like, wait a minute. Hmm. Because

the person who did the trailer music for the

What If trailer is different from Miss Cartman

here, who did the... I believe she's doing the,

the score for the whole series. So each week

I will mention the, the score and stuff, even

though sadly can't put music in podcast is, Oh

my God, record companies. Yeah. You have to do

three seconds or less. Yeah. Even then sometimes

you get hit, which, so I don't even do, I won't

do it anymore. Just can't. You could try to hum

it on a kazoo. Because then you're making your

own because you're not hitting all the right

the right notes for me. Okay, so just before

we get out of here, some expectations or some

future for your what -if kind of thing. Did this

episode keep your interest throughout? Was there

a moment where you were like, That's not so great.

No, honestly, it's the right length. It's an

amazing story. The characterization and voices

are completely on point. And I honestly would

have been happy watching them just redo the entire

two -hour movie in this format. with what they

had going, because it was that good. Yeah. I

think we both know that the answer to the next

question is yes. Are you itching to watch the

next episode now? Well, of course! Yeah, well,

I'm excited for it for another reason, which

I'm sure you'll agree with. The next episode

is the one, what if T 'Challa became you know

Star Lord yeah and it's Chadwick's last performance

yes and so I am really excited because the idea

of T 'Challa being taken and Instead of having

this life of like the strict, you know, rigidness

of growing up a prince. And instead, you know,

the wild west of space, you know. It's going

to be interesting. It's going to be interesting

to see how they do his character development

while keeping true to who he was as a child.

You know, and also what that might entail, because

we know that the reason that Peter was taken

in the first place was to go back to Ego, his

dad. And so what is that going to mean about

T 'Challa's lineage at this point? Is that going

to be the fraction point where, you know, it

wasn't? You know, it wasn't, you know, Peter's

mom, but it was, you know, the queen of Wakanda.

Yeah. You know, getting it on Zeus style with

somebody pretending to be her husband. You know,

so it'd be interesting to see, you know, how

they take those moments of what makes up Star

-Lord and reinserts them on. On T 'Challa. Yeah.

Yeah. It's going to be interesting to see what

that one is because again, you know, like you

said, I always find it even now, like if people

have passed, I usually can't watch. Like if they

like, for example, when Alex Trebek passed, I

still hadn't, I hadn't caught up with. the jeopardy

episodes that I had on my DVR that he, that he

was still the host. He was still alive kind of

thing. So same kind of thing here with, with

Chadwick. It's like, Oh man, but he's no longer.

What if I like, what if we like this so much

that we, we say, not that we're going to say

this and we probably should avoid saying this.

oh man, I want to see more of him doing that,

because obviously we can't, because he's no longer

with... That's the thing about releasing things

posthumously, is like, yay, he has one more thing

to give us, and that's awesome, because he was

such a giving person, and the way he played T

'Challa was amazing. I can't see anybody else

playing that role now. Well, and here's the thing.

I mean, also, look at how technology is changing.

Look at the Star Wars movies for what they did

to and with the Mandalorian with, you know, not

only de -aging, but they were able to create

lines of dialogue for people who have been gone

or recently passed by taking their dialogue from

all the previous instances in that. you know,

franchise and building a sound library to be

able to, to do that. And, you know, the, it would

come down to the Bosman family on whether or

not they would want that to happen for to chop

for, for Chadwick's voice to continue being for

T 'Challa in the animated side. But, you know,

I kind of think that it would be, In one way,

you know, it would be a great way for his legacy

as T 'Challa to continue. But in the other hand,

they're actually, they just, well, they've had

a person who's going to be voicing T 'Challa

in the Avengers video game. And he is really

good. Like he's, he's maybe like only a decibel

or two off. from being the voice that we think

of when we think of Black Panther. Very cool.

I'm so excited for the Wakanda expansion to be

released in four days from our recording date.

Well, three days from when the airing date is.

There you go. So I'm like really excited for

that because they have put a lot of hard work

into this Wakanda expansion. And I am going to

just be blown away. I already know because the

things that they've released so far with just

the mapping and the world and the attention they're

putting into the costumes and everything. Yeah.

Yeah, it's going to be awesome to see. I follow

a guy on YouTube called TheRadBrad, and he does

playthroughs of video games and things like that.

I watched his playthrough of the Avengers game

and the Spider -Man games and everything else.

I'm like, oh, that is really, really cool. So

it's going to be interesting for when I get to

see that, for when he starts that up again, if

he's going to do it. All right, final thing.

This is a zero to five scale with half points.

What would you rate this episode, zero to five?

Right now, with what we've seen and the fact

I'd be happy to have a two -hour version of it,

I'm going to go for five. I mean, there really

wasn't anything I could critique on. Yeah, the

only critiques I have are really, really small,

insignificant little things because of how I

am, and I'm not a monster guy. I'm just not.

I was five years old when I saw it. Nightmare

on Elm Street and Freddy Krueger scarred me for

life. I have a healthy respect for the horror

genre, but it's just not my thing. And some of

the tentacle stuff on this monster, I was like,

but at the same time, that doesn't take away

with every other good thing that this first episode,

that this story of this anthology series did.

So I am also going to give it a five. We are

going to take a quick break. You're going to

hear from our buddy Wes Howard from Popping Off

Toys because I made him do a promo for his shop

and website. So we will be back after this. And

it's right down the street from me. That's right.

She stalks him every day. Not really. I'll cut

that out, obviously. No, you don't have to. He

knows that. Hey, it's Wes from Popping Off Toys.

Wanted to let you know about PoppingOffToys .com.

We can be your number one source for Funko collectible

figures to add to your ever -growing collection.

If you're in Nashville, Tennessee, we actually

have a retail store that you can come by. 5916

Charlotte Pike. And for the rest of us, PoppingOffToys

.com is always open, and you can check us out

on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even TikTok.

And the name is just simply Popping Off Toys.

Thank you so much, and always keep it popping.

All right, we are back here on ToonCast. Anything

else you want to say? Anything you have to promote?

Anything going on in your life you want to let...

These lovely listeners of mine and ours now that

you're on this show know about yourself. Well,

we have Dragon Con in three weeks. And if you

are going to brave the con crud that may be delta

shaped. You may be able to find me. I'm going

to be doing a couple of different panels. I teach

writing workshops in the Hourly Writers Workshop

track. I'm also going to be doing a Superman

and Lois panel. I'm going to be doing a Discovery

of Witches, the television show panel. And I

am going to be doing with the apocalypse track.

I am going to be, uh, doing aliens versus zombies,

which is a fun, uh, semi drunken. What if of

its own where we, uh, we take, uh, we pull an

alien type and a, um, and, uh, a zombie type

out of a, out of a, out of a hat and also like

a setting. And then we decide who's going to

win in the battle of aliens versus zombies based

on the setting and the two types of the two types

of creatures. Wow. Yeah. We've been doing this

at the apocalypse track for three years minus

COVID year. Unless we did do it COVID year. Did

we do COVID year? I don't think I was on it during

COVID year. But yeah, we've had fun with this.

It's usually more towards the Dragon Con at dark

times because we have found that adult beverages

help with the siding factors. So, yeah, so you

can find me in the usually in the the the panel

guide or on the app as Allison Sky Richards and

come say hi. Tell me all about how you guys are

feeling about this show, what you would love

to see on the upcoming Hawkeye, one that I'm

going to be doing here with Mike. Absolutely.

Yep. And, of course, I asked him for this, but

he hasn't sent it, so whether it's in here somewhere

or not, folks, you can also check out Allison

every week -ish, at least for the next week or

two. When I'm not on different missions. Well,

yes, but you had to complete your education,

so that's, you know. Yes. So you can catch Allison

along with Michael Bailey and Bethany over on

the Superman and Lois tapes from the Fortress

of Bailey to podcasting network. And now I get

to run through this outro for our show because

I haven't done this in a long time. Oh, wow.

All right, Toonsters. As always, we want to thank

you for joining us here on ToonCast. If you'd

like to get in contact with us or leave feedback

for the show, there are several ways to do so.

You can visit the website geekcastradio .com

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You can follow at GCRN TuneCast for the show

or TuneCast Beyond. That was the sequel show

to the show, but that show ended because I restarted

this show, if that makes any sense. I will only

say that at this point. I'm not saying that in

the future. I am, of course, at TFG and Mike.

Allison, what is your Twitter if you'd like to

give it out? It is AliSkyRichards, A -L -I -S

-K -Y -R -I -C -H -A -R -D -S. Become a fan on

Facebook. Go to facebook .com slash geekcastradionetwork.

You can also search out TuneCast, all tunes all

the time over there, as well as the Superman

and Lois tapes. And I think Michael also has

Fortress of Bailitude over there. I don't know.

Fortress of Bailitude is the overall. Yeah, I

know. Yeah. I just don't know if he actually

has an overall page over there. Anyway, we hope

you enjoyed this episode of ToonCast and wish

you will join us next time when we will be giving

you our spoiler -filled thoughts on Season 1,

Episode 2 of Marvel Studios' What If? For now,

I am TF2 and Mike with... Allison Richards. Thank

you for listening until next time. Oh, and unleash

the tune in you. Beyond good, beyond evil, beyond

your wildest imagination. We hope you enjoyed

this episode of Twink. God, I got to do that

again. It's like I had a hair in my mouth. What

the hell? See, I haven't done this. I haven't

done this specific one in a while. Yeah. You

okay? Yep. Good, because we don't have all day.

Yay.