Altered Geek Unlimited – Superhero Film Interview

Hi, this is Pat Fraley, purveyor of Dr. Gendelian

Void, and you're watching Altered Geek. Hello,

and welcome to Altered Geek Unlimited. I'm your

host, Steve Megatron Phillips, and no, nobody's

joining me this week. The thing is... Well, my

son was just born, so I'm going to be MIA for

a couple of weeks. So they're going to be pre

-recorded shows. So here's an interview with

Mike and I with Olivia from the UK. So the first

question is, it seems superhero films have been

targeted specifically for a Western audience.

As you don't see many films based on any sort

of manga. Do you guys know what this is yet?

Manga? Yeah. Yes. Okay, cool. Do you agree or

disagree, and why? I mean, I agree that that's

what's happening. We haven't seen any films based

off of anime or manga yet, but I know that they're

working on stuff. Ghost in the Shell is one that

they're working on specifically, and they did

have a failed Dragon Ball movie a couple years

back. There's that, and Fox has a draft for Cowboy

Bebop sitting around. Sony is working on Robotech

or Macross. Okay, cool. So do you think that

these films will be popular within a Western

country? So say, obviously in the US or the UK,

do you think that they'll get a wide audience?

Yes, I think they will because the properties

that they're going after are the more well -known.

um anime titles like you know like steve said

ghost in the shell macross and cowboy bebop okay

cool um right so next question is in your opinion

are the superhero films doing the comics justice

if not how would you yourself keep them up true

to the story i apologize can you repeat the question

yeah no that's fine um in your opinion are the

superhero films doing the comics justice if not

how would you yourself keep them true to the

story? I think you're asking if the comics are,

you know, the cinematic version of the comics,

are they true to the story or how can they be

kept closer to it? Yes. Okay. I like the Tobey

Maguire Superman. Spider -Man wasn't true at

all, but now the Amazing Spider -Man, you know,

is a lot more true to the comics. Go on, sorry.

Honestly, when it comes to comic book movies,

I like the ones that don't adhere to the comic

book because I like seeing new takes on the same

characters. I was more of a fan of the Amazing

Spider -Man Spider -Man than I was of Tobey Maguire's

Spider -Man, but not because of how he... differentiated

from the comic or one was closer than the other

it's just different takes on the same character

if I wanted to for example if I wanted to read

X -Men Days of Future Past which was a comic

a mini series in the comics and obviously a feature

film I would rather read the comic than see it

retold I think that's where a lot of comic book

movies get held up is when they try to straight

up do a literal interpretation of a comic book

because then fans have expectations that need

to be met versus taking those characters and

giving them a new twist or a new story yeah okay

for myself like i i don't i don't read a lot

of comics i mean i used to and i i do here or

there but i find it's easier especially for like

when i'm watching something from the marvel cinematic

universe i tend to enjoy the films more because

i have no idea what the comics are playing into

yeah into it um i know that some of them do tie

in but they it doesn't resonate with me whereas

like uh i'm more of a dc fan so whenever something

comes up from that it irks me if it doesn't match

the comic because i'm like mike said i'm expecting

something to hit that same note okay cool well

you guys are the first two that have actually

said that you're not really not bothered you're

more interested in seeing what they can do on

it. I've had a lot of people say that they get

really irritated with them not keeping to the

original story. I just like seeing something

different. If I wanted to see the same old story,

I'd just read the comic all over again. I'm more

of a stickler on keeping the character appearance

and personality closer to the comic. Yeah. The

story itself, I'm more fluid with. I'd rather

see them come up with something new. Okay, so

you said that you're quite a big fan on DC and

you'd like to see them stick to the characters.

How do you feel about Aquaman? Because they've

released... Oh, what's his name? Oh, good. The

guy from Game of Thrones. Yeah. Jason Momoa.

Yeah, that's it. I can never say his name properly,

sorry. Yeah, they've released him and obviously...

Well, I think personally that DC are a lot darker

than Marvel. And obviously Aquaman in the comics

is very colorful. So how do you feel about his

representation in the film? Do you want to go

first, Steve? Yeah. Being that we haven't seen

him yet in action, it's kind of hard to judge.

Both Mike and I have been kind of bouncing back

and forth ever since the initial Batman v Superman

info on Ben Affleck dropped. So we've kind of...

come to this realization that it's kind of hard

to judge them before we see them. And with the

vision that DC is going for, they're not colorful,

they're not lighthearted. I know that Marvel's

starting to go in that kind of dark direction,

but Warner Brothers and DC have been kind of

in that dark area for a while with the Nolan

films. So with them coming up with these new,

darker interpretations of the characters, we're

still keeping some of the personality traits.

And some of the appearance aspects, I think they're

going for a more gritty version of Aquaman to

kind of make him relevant in today's world. Whereas

when most people think of Aquaman, they think

about the 70s Super Friends cartoon where he

talks to just fish. So they're all like, oh,

Aquaman's not all that great because of this,

but they're dating themselves back to the 70s.

Whereas nowadays, it goes to the writing and

how they use him. And since this will be the

first time we haven't, or the first time we'll

have seen him in a film at some point, whenever

that is, it remains to be seen how well they

use him. Okay, cool. Yeah, I pretty much agree

with what Steve said. I mean, we've only seen

a photo. We have no idea how the character, you

know, carries himself or the actor carries the

character or anything like that. And I, for one,

have always found I... kind of like with steve

there i kind of always found aquaman to be a

joke but i like i mean the way that they've they've

designed the character i um i don't have anything

against it i it makes me want to see what they're

going to do with that character and i think that

if they had given me the the orange and green

spandex that aquaman is known for i think there's

No way I would have wanted to see that movie.

I think it would have played into that stereotype

of him being that 70s version more so than where

they kind of broke the mold here. Okay, cool.

So that sort of leads me on to my next question.

Well, you kind of just answered it really. I

was just going to ask, in your opinion, do you

think hero films have become a lot darker today

or is it just DC that have become darker? I don't

know if DC's become darker. I think they just

hit on something with the Nolan movies. Actually,

my personal opinion as far as what happened with

the DC movies is I think there was a moment where

they thought they might be able to get Christian

Bale to play Batman opposite Henry Cavill's Superman.

And so with Nolan being an executive producer

on Man of Steel, they wanted to keep the same

tone. or color palette, if you will, as the Batman

films. And, well, we've all come to see that

that hasn't worked out. So now they're kind of

stuck with this look. But I don't think it's

a bad one because it sets them apart from the

Marvel movies. If you see a DC trailer, you know

before it gets to a title card that it's a DC

movie versus... A Marvel tends to be a little

more colorful. Even when they go dark, their

characters are still colorful. So you know that

that's a Marvel movie. And whenever someone says,

I don't like that they're going gritty, I just

think if I want to watch a colorful movie, I'm

going to watch a colorful superhero movie. I'll

watch Marvel. If I want to feel something that's

a little more adult and maybe geared towards

me and what I like to see in movies, I'm going

to watch a DC movie. Okay, cool. I kind of agree

with that. You can really tell the difference

between the two. For me, the Marvel films are

just brighter in color anyway. It's kind of a

staple of Warner Brothers anymore anyhow, though.

A lot of their stuff is kind of dark. Look how

fast Harry Potter got dark. Oh, no, it went from

bright and colorful to just that same color palette

that we're in with the Nolan films and the Batman

vs. Superman trailer. So that's kind of their

thing, and because Harry Potter and the Nolan

films worked out so well for them, they're kind

of sticking with that. Whereas Marvel, all their

characters have been pretty much shiny, colorful.

Despite the series getting darker as it goes

along, it's still keeping with that color palette.

It's just that the grit has started to show.

The themes are getting darker, but the films

aren't getting darker. Yeah, that's what I meant.

Okay, cool. So, in the last 15 years, what superhero

film do you believe has stuck to the original

storyline and characters? The best, sorry. Like

within, like, comics. Oh, man. That has stuck

with the comics storyline the best? I mean, to

you guys, like, so it could be anything from,

like, character costumes to character representation

to storyline or villains or anything. Does Blade

count? Yeah, Blade counts. Um... Jeez. I mean,

I think... Okay, it's interesting because there's

been... The problem you run into here is there's

so many... Even in comics, there's so many interpretations

and reboots of any given character. Their origins

have been rehashed so many times to make them

more contemporary and keep them fresh with the

changing times. I mean, there's stories where

Batman doesn't walk out of... when his parents

are murdered you know one is like he was at a

play the other one he was seeing the mask of

Zorro like it changes all the time um it depends

on who's telling the story really yeah so it

on one hand like you could look at like the Nolan

movies as being the closest to and like and interpret

it like Batman Begins is probably like would

be the closest I think um Batman Begins and The

Dark Knight would probably be the closest. I

think Rises deviates a little bit too much with

the characters. Well, Dark Knight Rises, though,

it pulled from six different comics plot lines

from Batman that they were made at different

times, so it kind of doesn't really fit. I would

even go so far as saying Man of Steel could fit

with the exception of the ending where he kills

Zod. Zod, yeah. I don't think there's one that

truly is... Well, 300. There. That's the closest

one. Batman, Mask of the Phantasm. 300 was pretty

much shot for shot, the comic. Yeah. Okay. What

did you guys think when he killed off Zod at

the end? Were you disappointed? Were you like,

oh my god, why did he kill him? What is going

on? Or were you just like, okay, cool, they've

done this. What are they going to do next? I'm

not a huge fan of Man of Steel anyhow, but that's

because I don't really care for the character

of Superman all that much. And I also didn't

like the tone of the film itself, like the dark

color palette. I liked it with the Nolan films,

but I didn't like it with that. Getting back

to the actual question, I didn't... He didn't

care one way or the other because in one regard,

what was he going to do with him? And he was

so new to being a hero because he was kind of

thrust into that position because Zod came hunting

him down, knowing that he was there. So it was

pretty much, you know, do I let this guy continue

to terrorize people and let him live? Or, you

know, do I kill him? You know, just end it. And

he's so raw of a hero at this point that he's

not actually Superman. He's just the Man of Steel

at this point. There's no real code to tell him

how he should operate yet. So in that essence,

I feel that he did what was right in that situation.

Yeah. But a lot of fans have gotten backlash

because, oh, Superman doesn't kill, even though

in recent years in the comics, he does. Yeah,

I got a lot of angry emails. actually from comic

fans saying that they were really annoyed that

he killed him. I mean, in the Injustice Cods

comics, Superman killed the Joker because he

killed Lois Lane. Yeah. Who was pregnant with

his child. And then that just set him on a worldwide

cleansing of the earth of people that were bad.

So, I mean, it depends on the interpretation.

But anymore, it seems like Superman is willing

to do what's necessary to prevent a further evil.

okay cool mark have you got any um yeah i i agree

with what steve was saying for the most part

i mean that's one of the things like i mean they

didn't call the movie superman They called it

Man of Steel, and that's one of the things I

kind of kept coming back to in arguments I would

have with people, you know, saying that they

don't like the ending of the movie. And it wouldn't

even just be the whole, like, you know, him killing

Zod. It would be all the destruction in the last,

you know, quarter of the movie. Just everyone

being like, that's not Superman. He would have

done this and that and the other thing. And I'm

like, he's not Superman. He's Clark Kent. He's

still Clark Kent. He doesn't know what he's doing.

He's just doing what he can to make it stop the

best way he knows how. He doesn't have the superhero

code yet. No one's beaten it into him yet. That's

what Batman vs. Superman is for. Was I surprised

that they went there? Yeah. Was I offended by

it? No. I also agree with Steve. I don't find

Superman to be that interesting of a character.

But I did enjoy man of steel um but i think i

wonder if people were more mad because he just

because it was zod that he killed yeah i think

it could be that yeah i got a lot of angry emails

about it and they were just up they like really

they were going on for a good like five paragraphs

of why they were pissed off about it so I just

wonder if it was because it was Zod. Like, if

it had been any other, like, if it had been,

like, Bizarro Superman or Metallo, would people

be that crazy? Like, I don't know. You're not

just popping into my head. That's actually interesting.

Okay, so next question. Do you think it would

appeal to a more niche audience or superhero

fans of the comics if the film companies were

to be... Twitter based films on unheard of superhero

comic characters or like villains or like Cable,

Solomon Grandin and Pop Goblin and stuff like

that yes and I think that just comes from I mean

you can look at like the original Blade that's

kind of an unknown property and came out of nowhere

and it didn't It's a niche superhero movie. Yeah,

it got three movies and each one made a little

more than the last one, but it never really took

off like a Spider -Man does or like a Batman

did. And then you have... Oh, I had another one.

I don't know, Steve? I think it kind of helps

that they... I think it would help if they went

to more obscure characters, only because we've

seen a lot of these characters beaten to death

over the last 20 years, some of them longer than

that. Take, for instance, how many reboots of

Spider -Man we've had. This will be the third

time coming that Marvel now has control of. And

we've had how many Batmans in the last 15, 20

years? You know, even X -Men now at this point

are Fantastic Four. I mean, they've been rebooted

at least two, three times in the last 20 years.

I think people have already gotten the gist of

the story with some of these characters. I think

it would help to bring in more obscurity and

more diverse characters that people are familiar

with, but haven't seen on the big screen yet.

Or even if they're not on the big screen, like

in some instances, I think having the... Having

them come to TV is a better instance in some

characters' instances, but either way, there

are some that should be brought to the front

line and put some of these other ones to the

back burner for a while. Punisher. That was the

other one I was thinking of. That's it, yeah.

Punisher, like that. I mean, we've had three

movies, if you count the 80s or something like

that. Yeah. The two most recent ones, they weren't

the box office successes that other superhero

movies have been. He's a niche character. Ghost

Rider, too. Yeah, Ghost Rider. That's another

one. They've tried that. I think the interesting

outlier here is Ant -Man. We have yet to see

how that's going to do. But the precedent here

is Guardians of the Galaxy, which is like...

Nobody but the diehards knew who they were, and

that was one of the most successful movies of

last year. But that is the Marvel branding. In

my opinion, the Marvel Studios logo has become

the same thing as the Pixar logo. You see that

Pixar logo with the lamp, and you know what you're

getting. You see the Marvel Studios logo, you

know what you're getting. I think people just...

They come out to see that movie. But I think

there's a way to include niche characters, whether

they start out as a character inside of a movie

and get their own, or like we saw Daredevil,

who's a niche character. He moved down to Netflix,

and they knocked the ball out of the park with

that one. Yeah, I think the TV program of Daredevil

is better than the actual film. Oh, yes. Yes,

it is. There's more time to flesh it out. Yeah,

definitely. Definitely. Right, okay, so back

to Batman v Superman. Do you think that it was

just based on... Do you think it was based, sorry,

to get a reasonable profit out of it? Or do you

think they actually want to give something to

the fans that they haven't seen before? I think

obviously they're going to make a profit out

of it anyway. But I mean, do you think their

idea was for the fans and they want to like show

the fans something that they haven't seen before?

Or was it just for profit? I think it's for both.

Obviously, all these films are made for profit

or they wouldn't keep making more superhero films.

But I mean, just look how many have come out

since. I mean, really, we only had Superman or

Batman that were. worth anything before the late

90s when they started coming out with like the

x -men films and spider -man and and then it

just kind of it blew up from there so i mean

yes i think the profit margin does come into

play but i also think that uh um they do they

they try and give the fans because comic fans

are very rabid in the sense that we like to see

more of it Even though we complain as much as

we do. Yeah. There's still not the inkling that

we won't go see the film because we will. And

they know that. And that's why they keep making

more of them. The only thing that's kind of bad

about that is they start running out of ideas

and kind of backpedaling in some areas where

they start stealing stuff from the comics. Batman

v Superman, for instance, it's the Dark Knight

Returns mixed in there with something else, you

know, with part of the original idea. It's just

how well they pull it off. I mean, obviously,

you know, with the trailer, I'm enthused now

after seeing the trailer, so despite all the

random cameos that may show up, but yeah, I think

that's my answer anyway. Okay. I also think it's

for both. Again, every studio is profit -driven.

You'd have to be crazy not to be. I think it's

for the fans because I think Zack Snyder tries

to make movies that at least his fans want to

see. I thought he was a good choice for Man of

Steel because I think he can show action better

than most other directors can. I think it's being

made for the fans and for a wider audience as

well. I don't know why you can't be both. I've

always hated the term sellout. Just because you

make money off of doing something that you love

isn't a bad thing. I think people just get mad

when people are making money doing something

that they love. Batman and Superman obviously

is not based on a comic. So what comic book conventions

or what conventions of other superhero films

would you like to see later in this film? What

do you mean Batman versus Superman is not based

on comics? Like the story as a whole. Well, part

of it is actually... Yeah, go on, sorry. Part

of it is actually based out of The Dark Knight

Returns, though. Because the tail end of that

comic is, in that one anyway, is where the government's

telling Superman to put an end to Batman making

a riot in Gotham City. And so the two of them

duke it out in the middle of a deserted street.

And Batman's in his plated armor, pummeling Superman.

And it's basically a grudge match where Batman

outsmarts Superman and takes him down. with Kryptonite

at the help of Green Arrow, Oliver Queen. But

that particular fight and the armor and all that

kind of stuff, they kind of recreated it in the

trailer. They're going to use part of that element

in Batman v Superman, but I think they're going

to flip it on their head. I think this is going

to be Batman going after Superman because he's

making the riots. So it's going to flip that

element. But it's still going to be a lot of

it played out of that comic. Okay. Mike? Yeah,

Steve and I have talked a lot about this over

the last two weeks. So I agree with what he's

saying. A lot of it is going to come out of a

comic. If anything, the one thing that's going

to differ heavily from any comic that I've seen

or interpretation of Superman is that he's going

to be... For at least a certain portion of the

film, he's going to be posed as the villain until

the actual villain reveals itself. I think that's

going to be what's interesting about it. Yeah.

Okay. Cool. Obviously, with the casting of Ben

Affleck as Batman, and his past performance in

Daredevil, how do you feel about his casting?

This is a funny one for us. The costume, we actually

predicted it before they ever showed an ounce

of it. Oh, really? Yeah. Well, the funny thing

is we have this podcast that we run, Altered

Geek Unlimited, and upon its initial inception,

we came across the news of the same night we

started it, Ben Affleck being cast as Batman,

and we kind of gave our why, yes, and no of him

being cast. We actually came up with what we

thought would be the ultimate Batsuit, and when

they revealed it, we just started laughing because

it was exactly what we predicted. All right,

interesting. Yeah, with his casting, we kind

of went through the whole, with every stage of

grief there was, and it all happened, like, in

real time while we were recording the podcast.

It was quite interesting, because I think five

minutes after we hit record, the announcement

that Affleck had been cast as Batman came across

our Twitter feeds, and we broke into our record

talking about why it was a bad idea, and of course

we ran through all the jokes and everything,

and then we stumbled into, okay, well, you know,

he's done Argo and some other high -profile things,

and he's come a long way since then, and then

it just kind of... Then by the end of the episode,

we had already reached acceptance. It was quite

interesting. See, again, I've got a lot of angry

emails saying that they don't think it's going

to be up to them. Don't get me wrong. I wanted

to see Bale. I mean, the more I read about the

Batman that they wanted to put on screen and

stuff, I was kind of like, why can't this be

Bale's Batman? That I still haven't really come

to terms with. I'm fine with Affleck being him.

The hardcore geek side of me just wishes it was

still Bale. I'm totally fine with it. Like I

said, I'm all for seeing new interpretations

of things. I don't need to be stuck with the

same guy playing the same role for forever. To

me, I haven't liked... I mean, I did like the...

the battle -ish armor of the Nolan films. But

to me, this is the first Batsuit I've actually

100 % liked. Yeah. Yeah, I got a lot of response

about the Batsuit, actually, and they said that

they really liked it. But obviously, I think

people are just more worried about the character.

I think those people need to watch Ben Affleck's

more recent films. Yeah, I'd say that. He's more

versatile now, whereas before he was kind of

a joke in everything he did. Yeah, definitely.

They definitely need to get over themselves.

I mean, I can watch Affleck and Argo. He did

Gone Girl, too, and that was pretty intense.

Yeah, that was really intense. There were two

movies that he did really close together, and

I watched both of them. I know one was Argo and

something else. But I watched them. I sat down

and watched them all the way through. I was like,

OK, fine, we're done. You know, we've got our

next Batman. Let's move on with, you know, next

concept here. And when the Daredevil TV show

came out, I, you know, I marathon that like most

everybody else did. And then I was like, you

know what? I want to subject myself to the Daredevil

from 2003. I made it about 30 minutes into it.

I was like, this is horrible. And it wasn't necessarily

like. Affleck that was bad. It was just the writing.

But it also showed how far superhero movies and

Affleck has come in 12 years. Yeah, definitely.

I think those people just need to get over themselves.

I'll tell them. So with Batman versus Superman,

who would you choose? Obviously if it wasn't

Bale. And if it wasn't Affleck, who would you

choose to be Batman? Who personally would you

think would take on the role really well? Or

do you think it would still be Val or Affleck

would be interesting? If it couldn't be either

one of them, I would go with the guy that was

supposed to play Batman in the original Justice

League movie from 2005, which was Armie Hammer.

Oh, okay. You both agree on that then? Yep. Okay,

cool. That was short. What are your thoughts

and opinions on Marvel not bringing Andrew Garfield

back to The Amazing Spider -Man? I'm bummed because

I liked Garfield as Peter Parker. I liked the

first Amazing Spider -Man. The second Amazing

Spider -Man had its... It was a mess. There's

no saving that one, but I liked Andrew Garfield.

I think I was more bummed about him not coming

back for the simple fact of now he can be the

Spider -Man that everyone wants him to be because

we all know that Marvel has Spider -Man scripts

written already that they can just make. They've

been waiting for this moment since they started

the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I just feel bad

that he can't, he's not going to be a part of

that. Because he's too old. It's not even that.

I think it's just they want to, they don't want

the baggage that, they don't want to include

Amazing Spider -Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

And that's what happens if you have the same

actor play the same role. Yeah. I mean, it's

sad to see him go because I think even though

he's like, what, 30 -something, he still looks

pretty young. He looks younger than I do. I think

he's like 26, 27. I don't think he's quite that

old. But, yeah, I mean, I think he was an excellent

Spider -Man. I don't know about the Peter Parker

part because he was kind of a hipster instead

of the dorky nerd that was being left alone.

I think Tobey Maguire fit a better Peter Parker,

but I think that Andrew Garfield was a better

Spider -Man. For me, I didn't care for Tobey's

interpretation because I think he went too far

to the nerd side of it. He did. I think there

needed to be a balance between the two, though.

I never felt him being... Tobey Maguire's Spider

-Man never came off as smart, where I got the

smart Peter Parker out of Garfield's. Well, he

had to make his own web shooters. The other one

had him stuck in his wrist. So there's that.

but what it really comes down to is when it comes

to spider -man i'm an ultimate spider -man fan

and that was what garfield brought for me was

ultimate spider -man to the big screen and so

i was used to him being the more outgoing you

know like he knows he's spider -man so he's he's

okay with himself not like i have to have like

a secret identity like when people can see that

i'm just a you know a nerd um so i just i just

appreciated it i didn't get the whole i mean

i can see how people were you know calling out

the hipster thing and stuff like that but whatever

that's just like that's keeping the character

like present you know yeah okay cool um well

obviously they there's rumors about who is going

to be the new spider -man and just out of interest

who would you guys like to see as a new spider

-man if you could pick anyone um andrew garfield

well you'd still remain andrew garfield yeah

yeah i mean they're i mean they could just not

you know i mean they can just say that those

movies don't you know aren't the same thing they

could even give it like they wouldn't even have

to call it like amazing spider -man 3 they could

just call it spectacular spider -man or ultimate

spider -man just have it be a new Not Spider

-Man The Next Avenger. No, I kind of agree. I

think I'd rather see Andrew Garfield continue

it because I don't think he did anything wrong.

I think that second film is just written so bad

that it bombed that entire franchise at Sony.

But the rumor is... How do you say his name,

Steve? Asa Butterfield. I'm okay with that, too.

i relate okay cool so i i've always like see

the ultimate the ultimate universe of characters

they've always skewed a little younger um and

so i've liked the younger like in high school

peter parker because i've kind of found him to

be a little more relatable than the the 30 something

working for you know a newspaper um and then

the same thing kind of goes for like the new

fantastic four i was a big fan of ultimate fantastic

four and those characters were all younger like

in their teens and doing the kind of stuff that

they do and i always found that more interesting

than adults that baxter building well that and

like adults having those same things and having

adult type problems to deal with on top of Being

adventurers, that's not fun to me. I'd rather

see really intelligent kids get into mischief

and have to get out of it. Okay, cool. Just don't

be surprised if Agent Coulson comes in as the

principal of Spider -Man. That would be fantastic.

That would be awesome, actually. What is your

take on the Fantastic Four? Because obviously

they've casted. um michael jordan as johnny storm

and obviously he's a black actor so how do you

guys feel about this i'm fine with it i honestly

don't care like on that aspect because that's

this is like a completely off the wall different

interpretation of fantastic four um different

than the cosmic rays and you know the previous

iteration so i mean i think it's good to separate

themselves and kind of do something different

from time to time um some characters it works

with changing them and then some of them it doesn't

but you know this i don't think it's a big deal

i'm good with it yeah i don't think it's a big

deal one of my favorite one of my favorite reactions

when that was cast and people were blowing up

around the internet you know like that's dumb

he's not johnny storm's white and all this other

stuff My favorite tweets was the guy's on fire.

You can't tell what color his skin is. That is

actually good. So as long as he like, as long

as he's just as cocky or more cocky than Chris

Evans was. Yeah. And from what I've seen of him

in Friday night lights, he can do it. Yeah. Okay.

Um, what are your thoughts on reboots? I know

we've sort of covered this. But how do you feel

about them? Like, when a new one comes out, are

you interested to go and see it? Or are you just

like, oh, for God's sake, like another one? Are

we talking about reboots in general? Yeah, like

of any films, really. I mean, obviously it happens

within superhero films, but any films that you

can think of. I'm a fan of reboots for two reasons.

One, because... The original will probably get

some amazing Blu -ray release that it probably

never would have seen if the movie hadn't been

rebooted. So that's fantastic. If you're a fan

of the original one, you get an updated, cleaned

up print, brand new transfer, all the special

features, bells and whistles, whatever. And the

other thing is, I like seeing a new take on something.

I had a lot of fun. Like I liked the original

RoboCop. I had a lot of fun with the new one.

I can't really think of a reboot that I didn't

not like because I kind of tried to look at it

like, you know, what did, you know, I don't really

try to compare it to the original one. Let's

kind of take it as like, you know, what's this

guy, what's this guy going to do different? What's

this guy going to tell me differently that the

other guy didn't tell me? So. As long as it's

not the exact same thing again, which I think

Amazing Spider -Man was a little bit guilty of,

but they tried to put a different spin on Peter's

parents, which was at least mildly interesting.

Okay. I'm somewhat of a fan of reboots. I think

in some instances it helps revitalize a franchise

that may have otherwise choked itself to death.

But at the same time, I don't want to see a reboot

for the purpose of them creating a cinematic

universe to try and copy Marvel. There you go.

Point in case would be Ghostbusters, Transformers,

because they keep making sequels and reboots

of them. And I don't care if they change the

characters. Like, for instance, everybody's pissing

and moaning about Ghostbusters being an all -female

cast and then them making another male cast Ghostbusters.

I could care less who's cast in it. It's just...

It better be funny. I don't... What's that? It

better be funny. That's all that matters. Yeah,

it better be good for one. And two, because they

never live up to the expectation of the original.

That's one thing that always happens is there's

a comparison. The other thing with that is I

don't want to see a franchise like Back to the

Future get remade. Yeah. because it's so iconic

i mean yeah it's dated it's badly dated but i

don't want to see it get replaced either whereas

like robocop yeah it works in today's age redoing

it because it just looks so like that total recall

not necessarily good films like either set but

it's a nice new interpretation of it so i mean

it kind of works in some instances and some it

doesn't i want to see a remake of escape from

new york that's what i want What would you want

to see, Steve? If you could remake any film,

what would you want to see? You know, I don't

know because I like all the original films that

I've seen. They have their place in my nostalgia

bank and I really don't want to see them get

ruined. I have another one. Flight of the Navigator.

Again, two movies I've never heard of. But yeah,

I can't find anything that I'd like to see rebooted,

really. Okay. Since X -Men 2000, there's been

an average of six superhero films every year,

which I find pretty cool. Do you think this is

making the experience for the audience less unique?

And if you do, why? Personally, I don't because

they're not being made by the same studio and

they all have a different vision. We talked about

this at the beginning, but the difference between

a Marvel film and a DC film, their tones are

different. As long as they're not all trying

to copy each other, they're trying to all do

their own thing, I think you're okay. It's the

same thing. You have so many animated movies

every year. Do you think that really ruins all

the animated movies? I don't know. Yeah, I kind

of have to piggyback on that. Okay. Why do you

think there's been such a big growth in the superhero

genre? I think it's turned into a cash cow. just

because each success that they have causes these

studios to say, what can we do next? What can

we pluck from obscurity? Who do we think is popular

enough to create a film universe with? And we

got all those X -Men films, we got Spider -Man

films, and then more Batman films and so on.

And, you know, Iron Man was really the first.

I would say Iron Man was really the first one

to kind of pop that bubble, as it were, and cause

everybody to really look seriously at a superhero

film. Because I think around the same time we

had that bomb of Spider -Man 3. Yes, that was

the year earlier. Yeah, that's what I mean. And

Iron Man, I think, was the first film that everybody

started looking at superhero film series and

saying, hey, these can be good. And then it kind

of just went through a whirlwind, and now every

year we're getting more and more superhero films,

whether it be more Captain America or Avengers

or Iron Man or Batman, whatever. They're all

coming out around the same time. And you're seeing

at least, I've counted, there's usually one to

two movies every month, except for May, it's

usually three superhero movies. Yeah. Okay. Mike,

have you got anything on this? Yeah, pretty similar

again, except I don't know if I would, I think

I would back it up to Batman Begins as being

the turning point, really. See, I don't even

remember that film when it came out. the thing

about Batman begins, it didn't have, it, it showed

people that films could be good, but it didn't,

it wasn't the box office success that of everything

that followed it because it, um, it, it was trying

to get over, uh, what was it? Batman and Robin.

Yeah. Um, so a lot of people didn't, you know,

didn't go to see Batman begins in the theater

because It was fighting against that. And then

two years later, you ended up with the bomb that

was Spider -Man 3. But again, that movie was

a box office success because it was feeding off

of Spider -Man 2 before it. So there was that

stumbling block there. I think it was like Spider

-Man 2 and Batman Begins that showed people that

these movies could be good if they were handled

the right way. And then Marvel got their head

out of their ass and decided to make their own

movies and knocked it out of the park with Iron

Man. Those three movies, I think, showed people

what a superhero movie could be. and it's just

gotten bigger from there and it's kind of it's

you know it feeds back in on itself right so

you've got the you know they they create the

movies they become popular and that in turn reflects

on comic sales and then you've got the tv shows

and just it's a big cycle big old bicycle that

uh marvel's got going on now and just keeps printing

them money yeah um would you like to see uh Or

do you reckon it's like a complex storyline,

like Watchmen, even The Incredibles? I think

that's what DC is giving us. Okay. As far as

complex storylines go, which still remains to

be seen. I mean, the Batman movies were kind

of a little complex. I mean, the X -Men movies

dealt with the same kind of stuff that... Incredibles

did. They didn't want heroes around. People don't

want the mutants around. I don't know. I think

we're getting that stuff. I would like to see

more of it just because I feel like that just

is a little more meaty for me to watch, but I

don't mind the popcorn stuff. Yeah, same opinion.

Okay. think they should try and stay away from

superhero origin stories yes um in fact as far

as i know going into phase three marvel's done

with origin stories even with their slate of

heroes that they've announced that have never

had a movie um they're all just going to be there

are going to be movies from the standpoint of

all these characters have been living in the

cinematic universe. So you're not going to see

how Doctor Strange became Doctor Strange. You're

just going to get to see him being Doctor Strange.

There might be brief flashbacks, but it's not

going to be like the beginning of the movie.

He's not Doctor Strange. And that'll be interesting

to see how that works. I mean, they showed that

they can do it with Daredevil. I think that's

the only character they've been able to do that

with so far. So it'll be interesting to see how

it works out for them. I have the same opinion

there too. All right. I mean, to me, Loki is

the perfect anti -hero. But I had a lot of feedback

saying that it annoyed a lot of people that Marvel

turned the only like... good villain that they

had at the time into an anti -hero in Thor the

Dark World what do you guys think of that I think

he's always been an anti -hero yeah I don't think

he's ever I mean yeah he they made him into the

villain for um sure he comes off as a like a

villain even in Thor the Dark World I think he's

a villain but I think he's just out trying to

do what's best for him or what he wants which

is what I don't know. I'm lost. Really, his ultimate

goal is to be the king of Asgard, have the power,

and have what's best for him. Even in all of

those, his whole thing in Avengers, he was really

trying to get the throne anyway because he was

banished. Yeah, I mean, I didn't really understand

what people were really going on about when they

said they were... He is now an anti -hero instead

of a villain. I mean, I thought he'd done alright.

Well, really, the only reason I watched the films

was because of him. Because I thought he was

a good character. I just loved watching him.

I thought he played a really good anti -hero.

But a lot of people said back that they're just

pissed off that he's no longer the villain that

they wanted him to be. Well, he can still be

a villain and an anti -hero. He kind of reminds

me of the character of Q in Star Trek. Yeah.

He kind of rides that fence. He's kind of just

there doing what's best for him, but there's

a notorious side to him, too. It depends on what

part of the story, which role he plays. I think

he's always out to serve his best interest. I

don't think Thor 2, I don't think he was an anti

-hero. I think that was like the enemy of my

enemy is my friend. Yeah. Which is why he helped

Thor. Yeah. So I don't think he's like an anti

-hero. He's just like, oh, well, these guys are

trying to take my throne. Well, I don't want

them to take my throne. So I'm going to help

my brother here defeat them. And then I'm going

to go back to trying to take the throne. Yeah.

Which he did. So again, you're interviewing comic

book fans. Yeah. That's what you're going to

get. What are your thoughts on the cast of the

Suicide Squad? Who do you like and who don't

you like? I don't know too much about most of

them. I know Will Smith, obviously. I know that

that typically is a white guy there. I could

care less. It doesn't matter to me because it's

a new interpretation. It's no different than

them changing Nick Fury. in iron man 2 to be

uh sam jackson i'm sure that at some point he

that was an ultimate comic thing yeah which which

i'm sure that that was the case i'm not familiar

with the comics so to me the last i'd seen of

nick fury was in the animated uh uh spider -man

cartoon in the 90s david hasselhoff Got it. And

David Hasselhoff. So, I mean, that's what I saw

when I saw Nick Fury. And then when I saw Sam

Jackson, I was like, oh, that's kind of cool.

So, I mean, I think in that essence, it gives

us a different approach to the character. Again,

same thing with the Human Torch. But I like that

they're going to have Harley Quinn in there for

the first time, having her as a character. They're

going to have the Joker in it, obviously. Batman's

going to be making a cameo in there at some point.

I don't know. I'm kind of optimistic. I think

if done well, it could be another Guardians of

the Galaxy element. Yeah, I agree. With the DC

stuff, I take most of their announcements with

a grain of salt, but I haven't heard any one

casting or any one plot rumor or anything like

that that's made me go, oh man, I don't want

to see that movie. They're just going to tank

it. I really do. I'm okay with it. I mean, I'm

not overly familiar with DC characters outside

of the Justice League and stuff like that, but

I'm familiar with all the characters they've

cast and 90 % of the actors they've cast in those

roles, so sure. We'll see what they can do. Okay,

cool. I mean, to me, I'm not looking forward

to seeing Cara Delevingne make an appearance

in it, but that's the only one that I can...

think of really I mean I think they've done pretty

well over all I mean well it'd be interesting

to see what Jesse Eisenberg's like playing Lex

Luthor I think that'd be pretty interesting but

other than that I'm not really I think they've

done well casting I think the most interesting

thing about it is they're willing to do Killer

Croc yeah That is probably the most interesting

thing I've gotten out of all of this. I agree.

Yeah, I mean, it'd be interesting to see. I can't

say his name properly for the life of me, so

I won't try. But yeah, I think from what films

I've seen him in, like The Mummy Returns, it'd

be interesting to see him play that role. Right,

okay. Do you think this film will be successful?

I know we've just sort of talked about it with

the characters and everything, but you personally,

can you see the film being successful? Yes. Mainly

because you're going to get everyone looking

to see... I don't think... I think every movie

that DC's making right now is going to... make

money because everyone every geek that's out

there everyone that's tired of the marvel stuff

is going to tune in to see what dc is bringing

differently to the table and everyone's gonna

i'm like 90 certain the joker is in suicide squad

so that everyone turns up to see what the new

joker is all about yeah like that's and that

right there is the license to print money for

that movie um Whether it'll be good is a completely

different thing, but I don't think DC, Warner

Brothers, has anything to worry about making

money on any of their upcoming projects. Okay,

cool. Have you got a different perspective, Steve?

No. Okay. Do you think there should be better

supervillains within these films, or are you

pretty chilled out with the villains that are

already within the films? I wish they'd stick

around. I think it would just help flesh everything

out. I don't know why they keep killing him off.

Yeah, there's no reason for it, really. The one

interesting fan theory that I've heard with the

Marvel stuff is that way out left field stuff,

but that Red Skull is actually Thanos. Oh, really?

um this was like a crazy fan theory um no no

basis in reality but the guy just basically backs

it up because the last time you see red skull

he was dropped in another galaxy from the cosmic

cube and that was like you know in the films

what 60 70 years ago and he's never seen again

so we don't know thanos's origin i mean it i

mean Comic book fans know where Thanos comes

from, but that doesn't mean it's the exact same

thing in the cinematic universe. Whether Marvel's

willing to upset fans that much by not having

the exact same thing remains to be seen, but

I'm just saying it's a crazy theory, probably

because the guy didn't want Red Skull to be dead.

But at the same time, you have to look at most

of the villains that would have been around.

Like, I mean... The Mandarin was kind of always

overshadowing the Iron Man movies. And they kind

of, with one of their one shots, they kind of

fixed that. Like the Mandarin is still a presence

in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Probably won't

see him on screen for whatever reason. But...

Dang it, I lost my train of thought. Oh, I don't

know if anyone would buy Red Skull still being

a threat. you know 70 years later um so some

some things i can see just making sense from

the amount of time that has passed and stuff

like that but i don't know i don't think that

tony needed to kill all of his villains no what's

um your perspective on it for you is it pretty

much the same it's pretty much the same i i think

that they could do without having to kill off

villains every single film Okay, cool. Who do

you trust more, Joss Whedon or Zack Snyder? To

create comic films, obviously. Dead serious answer,

no joke, Zack Snyder. Oh, really? You're the

first person that said that. I knew I would be,

and I'm not saying that just to be contradictory.

I don't think Joss Whedon is that great. Okay.

Um, I'm one of the few people that I, people

so overhyped Avengers talked it up so much as

like the end all be all the greatest movie like

ever made. And it was that way because Joss Whedon

made it that I have no choice but to counter

that with, I didn't like that movie. Like for,

for me, for me, for, for me saying, I don't like

that movie when everyone else is praising it

brings it down to like, I like the movie if that

makes any sense to you like I can I can like

I can have a legitimate conversation with somebody

and be like yeah I like the movie but if that

person starts like if that conversation starts

with the other person saying that movie was like

the greatest superhero movie ever I have to respond

with I didn't like it um and one of the reasons

for that is because I don't see how Avengers

couldn't have been anything other than what it

was Yeah. Like every movie in phase one was leading

up to Avengers hook, line and sinker. Like there

was no way it couldn't have been that. And I

think that Marvel could have put anybody in that

chair and it would have turned out more or less

exactly the same way. And so to a certain extent,

it may have actually looked better than it did

because that movie looks like. a piece of garbage.

Um, but I mean, the only thing Whedon's done

that I like is Firefly. And I don't know. I just

don't think he's that, I don't think he's amazing.

I didn't care for his run on Astonishing X -Men

in the comics. Um, I can't stand most of his

TV, any of his TV shows other than Firefly. And

I don't think. I don't know. I've liked more

of Zack Snyder's movies than I've liked of Joss

Whedon's. And I think that, especially since

Zack tackled Watchmen, which nobody thought was

doable, I feel like he just has a more... I think

Snyder's more willing to put on screen what the

fans want to see. and that to me makes me more

excited than anything Whedon would put on screen.

Okay, cool. Steve, do you agree or do you disagree?

I'm kind of on the fence on that, because I'm

not a fan of really either one. Oh, right. I

haven't heard one either. I liked what Whedon

did with what he was given as far as Avengers,

and I won't know yet on Avengers. Age of Ultron

until I see it, but I don't have any doubts that

it'll be good to some regard. But again, he's

just directing. Everything's kind of set in place

anyway. I'm not really a director follower unless

I don't like a mass amount of their films. Snyder,

I liked. Sucker Punch and really the other ones,

I haven't seen any of them, but I have no interest

in seeing any of them, so I don't know how well

they would be either way. And Whedon, him and

I think his brother or somebody is doing Agents

of S .H .I .E .L .D. I'm not too thrilled with

a lot of that unless it's around a movie. And

then a lot of his TV shows, I'm not a fan of

any of them. I've watched a few of them here

or there, but it's not enough for me to really

get into. The only reason I'm honestly watching

Agents of S .H .I .E .L .D. is because Coulson's

in it. And that's really the only reason I'm

watching that show, because it's not really that

good, and again, it kind of calls back to him.

But like I said, I'm not a fan of either one,

but I think if they're given the right material,

and depending on their level of enthusiasm, Snyder

just seems more genuine. And he's willing to

kind of give the fans kind of that fan service,

but also, well, I mean, hell, just look at what

he and J .J. Abrams have been doing back and

forth between Star Wars and Batman vs. Superman,

just with their random images and everything.

So, I mean, it's, I don't know, I'm kind of on

the fence between the two anyway. I'm kind of

curious as to who you've been interviewing now,

if I'm the first person to say Zack Snyder. Oh,

well. You must be interviewing some diehards.

I've done a big Google, and I was just like,

right, I need some comic book diehard fans. And

I just typed in, like, comic book websites and

comic book fan websites and stuff like that.

So I've literally been interviewing guys that

have set up websites, like, dedicated to comic

books sort of thing. And I just asked them, I

was like, right, who do you prefer? And they

all said just so. so far anyway I mean I'm still

waiting for a number of emails back but a lot

of them have said jobs I'm sure if we had other

people here from the network interviewing with

you and I had said that I would be buried and

shamed off of this microphone right now so that's

right I probably would be too because I don't

care for either one well you're both very interesting

to interview because that is first obviously

both of you have said the first real answer,

because everyone's agreed with each other, so

I'm sort of like, right, okay, I need a bit of

diversity here. Good. Obviously, there's a rivalry

between Marvel and DC. Do you think this puts

pressure on them to create new releases before

the other one? I think it pressures them to,

like... Well, let's be honest. All the releases

have been set for the rest of the decade. So

now I think it just comes down to, like, and

it's a win -win for the fans, right? Because

we get to see what Marvel's doing. We get to

see what DC's doing. But I think what it's going

to come down to now is casting announcements.

And, like, the stuff we've seen, like, okay,

so Marvel's going to announce Spider -Man here.

What is Warner Brothers going to counter with?

like are they going to give us like an image

of uh like the new are they going to announce

like who's playing green lantern are we going

to get an image of the flash like it's that's

what it's going to be because like i said the

entire slate for these movies is done for the

rest of the decade and now it's just casting

and like story announcements and director announcements

like yeah so and that'll be fun to watch unfold

and i think it's just going to be you know We

get to see them try to top or steal the news

cycle from the other guy. Okay, cool. Do you

agree, Steve? Yeah. Okay, so do you think, obviously,

them releasing these films, I wouldn't say a

rush to release the films, but obviously definitely

competing between each other, do you think this

affects the quality of films being produced and

released? I don't think so. I think Marvel Studios,

especially with Disney behind them, is big enough

now that they can have multiple movies in production

at once. Their schedule is two Marvel movies

a year, and that's also a task that Disney put

on Pixar. They haven't really delivered that

yet, but they too, I mean, Pixar has multiple

movies going on at once. that studio is not just

working on one movie until it's done. There's,

they've got like four projects going on at once.

Um, and Marvel can do that. I mean, and, and

DC water brothers obviously has the money to

do that too. It's not, I mean, it's not, I don't

feel like it's the, um, I think, and I could

be wrong. I think you're looking at it the way

that like the, um, the twilight movies were made

or, um, insurgent or the the the insurgent series

or divergent series is being made where it's

there's one every year and the next one's shot

as soon as that last one is done and they're

racing towards that deadline what we're seeing

is um these these movies are they're you know

a movie's announced and it's like two years down

the road and then another movie's announced and

it's like a year after that one but it's starting,

like each movie's getting two years, we just

don't see it. Okay. Rather than, you know, everyone

racing towards a release date, although they've

locked in release dates now, but you look at

how they've placed them out, they're not rushing

towards a release date. Like the Divergent series

or Saw or like those types of movies. Okay. Steve,

do you agree? Yeah. There's just one more question,

obviously, because it's getting late. I don't

want to keep you guys. What comic hasn't been

created into a film you guys would think would

bring in the largest profit and would be a film

success? Obviously, I know there's loads and

loads of comics, but to you, what would be a

really interesting film that would bring in a

lot of, obviously, revenue for the company? And

stuff like that. What would you like to see?

The one that jumped into my mind when you asked

that question, and this is going to make me look

so bad. It's not really a superhero comic, but

it's a comic called Sex Criminals. Called what?

Sex Criminals? Yes. Interesting. I haven't heard

of it. It's actually a really good read. I'm

not sure what your tastes are or anything like

that, but it's a really good read. I know it's

being made into a TV series for Starz or Showtime,

but for some reason when you said, what comic

book would you like to see made into a movie,

that was the first one that jumped into my mind.

Mostly because any other comic that I read or

enjoy reading has a movie franchise already.

Okay, and Steve? Unfortunately, my answer is

going to be very boring. I don't read any comics

other than what's already got a franchise established,

mostly because they cost so much. So, like, for

instance, me, it's like Batman. The only thing

I could possibly think is Batman Beyond. Okay.

Because... It would be a totally different universe

you'd be in the future. You could have a different

Batman and still have Bruce kind of behind the

scenes. The way I'd see it almost would be casting

Keaton as the old man Bruce that's in the cave

directing the young Batman replacement. Okay.

Well, thanks for that, guys. Sorry to keep you

so late, but thank you for all your input. And

I'll email you when I... release the thing on

my blog. Awesome. Good. Okay. And I'll send you

this. Oh, yes, please. Hey, thanks guys. Yep.

Bye. Bye. Bye.