Cinematic Universe

Showtime, A-holes. The Cinematic Universe family of Joe, Seb and James are here to give our thoughts on James Gunn's newly-released Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. As usual, there's no news section, but instead there's a quarter of an hour of spoiler-free opinions before we launch into a spoiler-filled chat - just in case any of you haven't seen the film yet. But really, would you be a Cinematic Universe listener and not have seen this film yet? Timecodes: 00:00 - Intro/Explain a Concept 06:05 - Spoiler-Free Discussion 23:18 - Spoiler-Filled Discussion 107:10 - Comics Recommendations 113:02 - The Pitch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a very special episode of Cinematic Universe, as not only do we finally get on to 2012's The Avengers, but the episode was recorded with all three of us in the same room! It was also recorded quite late at night, and after we'd just had an abortive attempt at recording a commentary on the film - but you can hear more about that in the episode. We've also convened this week to do an UP-TO-DATE bit of news chat, since it's been a while since we had one. And Patreon subscribers should watch out early next week for a special, exclusive bonus bit of audio related to this episode! 00:00 – Intro/Explain a concept 04:19 – News 35:18 – Avengers film chat 1:52:50 – Comics recommendations 1:59:38 – The Pitch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's another of our patented Megasodes, as Joe combines two minisodes' worth of content into one convenient package. The Tank Girl and Fantastic Four-inspired comics recommendations are The Ballad of Halo Jones, 21st Century Tank Girl, The Trial of Galactus and Ultimate Fantastic Four, and there's also a partial roundup of the latest news - with more to follow when we convene for our next full episode, imminently! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Much derided ever since its original release, does Tim Story's 2005 adaptation of Fantastic Four stand up any better since the Josh Trank one came out? Was it ever even really that bad in the first place? Find out as Joe, Seb and James look back at Chris Evans' first superhero movie. There's also some slightly out of date news (we recorded this one weeks ago, but we thought you might still want to hear what we thought of those Spidey and Justice League trailers), and after fifty episodes with the original logo, we've rebranded a bit! Hope you like the new look. Timecodes: 00:00 - Intro/Explain a Concept 12:35 - News 38:44 - Movie Discussion 99:30 - Comics Recommendations 106:30 - The Pitch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Podcast Defenders assemble for the first time, as Joe brings together Caroline Siede, Amon Warmann and Al Kennedy to discuss the show everybody's talking about: Riverdale! No, wait, it's Iron Fist. Can we find anything to say that the internet hasn't already done to death over the past fortnight? What do you think? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's only taken us 50 regular episodes, but we've finally found a comic book movie directed by a woman! The movie in question is, of course, Rachel Talalay's 1995 cult classic, Tank Girl. But will newcomers Seb and Joe love it as much as James has spent the last two decades doing? And if you want to skip to a specific part of the episode, here are the relevant timecodes! 00:00 - Intro / Explain a Concept 10:30 - News 48:00 - Movie Discussion 102:35 - Comics Recommendations 107:30 - The Pitch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first of a new occasional series of bonus episodes, Seb is joined by special guest David Hartrick to discuss one of their favourite ever long-form comics stories: the early '90s Death and Return of Superman epic! Warning: there will be Super-mullets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe rounds up the latest comic movie and TV news - and that Jeff Goldblum picture - before giving his reaction to a cheery set of Logan-inspired comics recommendations in the shape of Old Man Logan and The Punisher: The End. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 2017 releases continue apace as Joe and James are joined by returning guest Michael Leader to talk through the final chapter of Hugh Jackman's seventeen-year-long journey as Wolverine, in James Mangold's Logan. It might be emotional, folks. As ever with new releases, there's no news roundup this week, and we do a bit of spoiler-free chat before delving into specifics after the first hour. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a combination of early-records and new release episodes, we're left with an absolute wealth of news to catch up on this week - plus, we've got two eps' worth of comics recommendations to get through. So strap yourselves in as Joe brings you another MEGASODE, giving his thoughts on the Mask of the Phantasm and Lego Batman Movie inspired recs, as well as bringing you the latest on whether or not Matt Reeves is actually directing The Batman or not. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have a very special guest on this week's show, as Emmy Hunt (aged 3) gives us her opinion on The Lego Batman Movie. Hopefully it goes down better with you lot than her father's opinion on Mask of the Phantasm did. In addition to discussing (in spoilerific fashion) the first comic book movie release of 2017, meanwhile, we also take some time out of the news section to give our early thoughts on Legion - as, in an increasingly rare occurrence, we actually all watched the first episode of something in the week that it aired! We won't see the likes of these days again. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's an animated Batman movie in February 2017... but no, we're not talking about The Lego Batman Movie (that's coming next time out), but 1993's Mask of the Phantasm. Does this foray into animation come out better than Planet Hulk did? Is it, in fact, the definitive screen take on Batman? In a rare twist, Batman: TAS fan Joe is actually the expert on the source material this time around - but can he explain to Seb and James a cartoon concept that as comics fans, they just don't understand? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe runs through the latest comic book movie and TV news before taking a look at the Superman II-inspired recommendations from the 60s, 80s and 00s: The Death of Superman, The Price and Last Son. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Another topical one, as the White House finds itself invaded by a fascistic dictator, and... oh, man, it's just not even funny any more, is it? God knows what it'll be like when we get onto V For Vendetta. Anyway, this is Superman II, the 1980 Richard Lester classic, you all know it by now - and while we've focused on the original theatrical release, we do also talk about the 2006 Richard Donner Cut, too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe looks at the incredibly topical Captain America Comics #1 from 1941, as one of two recommendations based on The First Avenger. He's also got the first volume of Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting's 2005 run to look at, but let's face it, in January 2017 it's all about the Nazi-punching. Oh, and yes: we do know that it was Joe Simon as well as Jack Kirby who did the original Cap stuff, just in case anyone wanted to write in and complain about Joe's mistake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time to stick a fork in 2016, as we round off our epic-length (and mildly booze-driven) end-of-year awards ceremony! In this half, we cover such categories as Best Director, Best Villain, Best Casting, Best Bad Movie, Best Screenplay, Best Couple - and the big ones of Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Film. Plus, we have a new inductee - or is it inductees? - into the Hall of Fame, Seb and James talk about their favourite comics of 2016, Joe picks out the best thing that was recommended to him last year, and we pick some of our favourite Pitch segments. Phew. Never let it be said we don't cover these things exhaustively. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yes, the new year may have begun, but we've still got one last lingering thread of 2016. Two threads, in fact, as our annual awards shebang is so long that we've once again had to split it into two episodes. So listen on to hear our winners in the categories of Best Supporting Actress, Best Score, Best Hero, Best New Film, Best Supporting Actor, Best Costume, Worst Film and Best Song - and then come back in around a week's time for the rest! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Just sneaking in in time to be eligible for our 2016 awards, it's the first Peggy Carter film! Spoiler alert: we like this one quite a lot. Spoiler alert: that means the podcast is quite long. Especially since it also contains our long-awaited Spider-Man: Homecoming chat. But what better way to round off the year than Joe, Seb and James talking about a movie that we all love, and a movie that we all expect to love? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Merry Christmas! We didn't actually originally intend to be putting out an episode today, but that's how the schedules have fallen as we run through our end-of-year catching up. So in advance of our upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger and Best of 2016 Awards episodes, here's Joe with a look back at Seb's Constantine-inspired recommendations: the Garth Ennis, Will Simpson and Steve Dillon Hellblazer arcs Dangerous Habits and Fear and Loathing. There's also a run through some of the recent comic book movie news that you may have missed, but let's face it, probably didn't. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A movie in which a grumpy blond Scouser is played by Keanu Reeves in the wrong-coloured trenchcoat? Seb's surely not going to like this... or is he? He and Joe are joined by special guest Sarah Dobbs to discuss Francis Lawrence's 2005 movie Constantine, based on the comic Hellblazer. We also look back at the new Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 trailer, and are unnecessarily mean about The Inhumans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey, remember when we all saw Doctor Strange? It was a few weeks ago now, but after a couple of bonus episodes in the meantime, Joe is finally getting around to talking about the recommended comics The Oath and Season One, plus the recent Doctor Strange series that he's actually been reading off his own back! There's also time for a long-overdue catchup on the latest comic book movie and TV news. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Between full episodes, minisodes and bonus eps, we've reached our 100th edition! To celebrate, we recorded this special bonus episode at the Thought Bubble convention in early November. Sadly, James couldn't make it to the event, so Seb and Joe are joined by Rhys Williamson as we look back at how the last two years have turned Joe into a bona fide comics reader. How has he felt about plunging into this new world, and what has he learned? In addition, we've got contributions from across the weekend by a range of friends and special guests, including Kieron Gillen, Chris Hewitt, Al Kennedy, Ryan North and Erica Henderson! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a first for Cinematic Universe, neither James nor Seb are on the pod! Instead, Joe is joined by Caroline Seide and Amon Warmann to discuss the first season of Netflix's Luke Cage in our latest TV review special. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Again, a slightly later than planned episode due to a couple of technical issues with the recording - but at least it's given more of you a chance to see the film! So join Joe, James and special guest Matt Looker as we look at the final comic book movie release of 2016: Marvel's Doctor Strange. As usual, we've done a spoiler-free reaction section at the beginning (in case any of you haven't seen it yet) before moving into more detailed, spoiler-filled thoughts later on. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This one's practically a megasode, as there's an awful lot to get through while we attempt to wrestle the podcast back onto a more regular schedule. Our Doctor Strange episode will be with you later in the week, but in the meantime, it's about time Joe got around to catching up with those X-Men comics recommendations. They were the first volume of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's New X-Men (E is for Extinction), plus a whole heap of grab-bag single issues from across the years recommended by James. In the news section, meanwhile, there's a specially recorded bit featuring Seb and James, as the three of us take a look at those Logan and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 trailers that dropped a couple of weeks back. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A week later than planned - thanks to a technical glitch and editing saga that's too annoying and tedious to even relate - we look at Bryan Singer's 2000 franchise-starter, X-Men. There's also time for a bit of a news catchup - although because this episode was recorded almost a fortnight before release, we haven't yet got to the Logan and GOTG Vol 2 trailers that came out this week. We will, though. We will. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brexit? Pah! This week's bonus Cinematic Universe episode comes to you from PARIS, where James found himself at a junket for Netflix's brand new Luke Cage series. So listen on for exclusive interviews with showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker, and cast members Mahershala Ali (Cottonmouth), Simone Missick (Misty Knight) and Luke Cage himself, Mike Colter! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Nick Fury vs Dirk Anger, as Joe looks at our recommendations of Jim Steranko's classic late '60s S.H.I.E.L.D. run, and Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen's equally classic early 2000s Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. It's like Shakespeare, but with lots more punching... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back from our summer sort-of-break, with a look at a true classic of the genre: the 1998, David Hasslehoff-starring Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV movie! The question is, is it the worst live-action property to feature the words "of S.H.I.E.L.D." in its title, or not? We also take a run through the latest comic book and TV movie news, and look at some early DC Rebirth recommendations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The minisodes go mega, as Joe returns from his honeymoon to catch up with a whole load of news, and then two episodes' worth of comics recommendations. Appropriately enough for Batman Day, he gets through Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's The Long Halloween, Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo's Joker, Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke's Trail of the Catwoman, and the Batman: Harley Quinn collected anthology. Phew! Normal Cinematic Universe service will resume next week, with our next full episode, and then we should be back onto a regular schedule. Thanks for your patience during our summer break! And head on over to CinematicMultiverse.com if you want links to where you can find this episode's comics to buy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's another one of our occasional news specials, as Seb and James catch up with the stuff that's been going on while we've been putting out pre-records and such. We tackle a range of topics including the Hulu Runaways announcement, Doug Liman jumping ship from Gambit to Dark Universe, the What Thor Did During Civil War short, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, Zendaya's (probable) casting as Mary Jane Watson, and a bunch more besides. Plus, we recommend two comics that we probably won't ever find an excuse to recommend on a regular episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a special pre-recorded episode, filling the gap while Joe is away on honeymoon, we look at Tim Burton's 1992 sequel Batman Returns. Is it the best of the '90s Bat-films? Heck, is it the best Bat-film full stop? As it's a pre-record, there's again no news chat this week - but we do find time to explain to Joe just what "cheesecake" art means. And James and Seb will be back with a catchup news minisode next week... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this time-crossing minisode, the Seb of this week runs through the latest news before handing over to the Joe of a couple of weeks ago, as he gives his thoughts on the Spider-Man 2-inspired comics recommendations of Web of Death and My Uncle... My Enemy. And keep listening for an update on exactly where our schedule is up to while we cover for Joe's wedding-induced absence! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you had enough HOT TAKES on Suicide Squad yet? Hopefully not, as we've finally got around to giving you ours, in our last regular episode before Joe heads off to get married and stuff. Unfortunately (or possibly fortunately, from his perspective) Seb was too unwell to get to see the film over the weekend, but happily Joe and James are again joined by Amon Warmann to discuss the film that's sparked fervent debate about just what's going on with all of these superhero movies and are they actually any good for us? But more importantly... what did we think of the film itself? For those who were wondering, by the way, we haven't forgotten about the Spider-Man 2 minisode - it's just that we wanted to get this one out in as timely a fashion as we could manage. We'll get back to that minisode next week, and the following week we'll have the first of our pre-recorded episodes (the identity of which is revealed, as usual, on this week's pod). At some point things will settle back down into a normal schedule, but August is going to be a bit unusual, so please bear with us week on week! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back in 2004, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 was immediately considered one of the greatest superhero films ever made. Have things changed in 2016, or does it still stand up as one of the best? Find out, in the latest edition of our occasional series, Seb And James Have Very Strong Feelings About Spider-Man! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With so much news coming out of SDCC this year, we needed an entire bonus podcast to cover it all - so listen on for a whopping hour’s worth of chat from Joe, Seb and James on all things DCEU, MCU, Flarrowverse and a lot more besides. And we’ll be back in just a few days’ time with our next full-length episode, on Spider-Man 2! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been a very Thor week for Joe. So Thor, in fact, that he got a migraine and so had to delay this week's minithode. Anyway, having got the puns out of our system, let's take a look at J. Michael Straczynski and Oliver Coipel's Thor (2007) vol. 1, and Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee's Thor: The Mighty Avenger. There's also a roundup of some news bits, although note that the ep was recorded before SDCC kicked off in earnest - so we'll catch up with all the goings-on from there on our next full ep! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a bit of a different one this week: with Seb absent, the talking is down to just Joe and James; and we're also trialling leaving out the news section on some episodes, in order to get to the film discussion more quickly. Fortunately, we're otherwise on familiar ground as we return to the MCU and kick off a pretty impressive sequence of films with 2011's Thor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a quiet old time for news, which actually gives Joe the opportunity to get straight into last week’s comic book recommendations instead. So listen on to hear what he made of Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba’s Casanova: Luxuria, and Warren Ellis and Jason Masters’ James Bond: VARGR. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe and Seb are joined by writer, script editor and avid "Tweetnoter" Andrew Ellard to discuss Matthew Vaughn's 2015 Kingsman: The Secret Service. How does the film stack up to the Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons comic on which it's based? And, perhaps more pertinently, how does it stack up to the James Bond canon that it's so clearly pitching as a postmodern take on? The resulting chat is so long that we actually had to cut out one of the news bits - so hopefully you'll think it's worth it... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Due to scheduling problems we have a week's gap before our Kingsman: The Secret Service episode, so Joe and Seb thought it was about time they got around to having a big old chat about their favourite superhero TV show of recent years: The Flash! Expect spoilers for both seasons so far, as we talk about just why we like the show so much, and our hopes and expectations for the upcoming third season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a light news section this week, which is good, as Joe has probably his best week so far for good comics recommendations to talk about: the first two volumes of Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and the first volume of James Robinson and Tony Harris' Starman. But did he like these books as much as Seb and James do (which is to say, a heck of a lot)? You'll have to listen to find out, as if that wasn't obvious. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cinematic Universe goes steampunk... sorry, "dieselpunk"... for the film that ended not one but TWO Hollywood careers. Yes, it's The League of Extreme... sorry, Extraordinary Gentlemen! In the news, meanwhile, we react to the Captain Marvel casting chat, and the shifting sands of the DC movie universe. Oh, and just so you know, there are Flash season two spoilers in the introductory question section, so skip on a bit if you haven't yet caught up with the finale. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been a little while since we've had a proper news roundup, thanks to a glut of new-movie-release episodes, so Joe finally takes the opportunity to catch up on the last few weeks' worth of stuff. Then it's on to discussing James' X-Men: Apocalypse-inspired recommendations: The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix and Uncanny X-Force: The Apocalypse Solution. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The deluge of new-release episodes continues, as Joe and James are joined by special guest Neil "Incredible Suit" Alcock to discuss the ninth (NINTH!) X-film, Bryan Singer's X-Men: Apocalypse. As usual with new films, there's some spoiler-free chat at the start (despite James' best efforts) before a more full-on spoiler-filled discussion. PLUS, we've got a very special new competition you can enter! You don't even need to listen all the way through to hear it because we're that nice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Now that you (and we) have all had time to finish the second season of Netflix's Daredevil, Joe, James and special guest Caroline Siede look back over the series to see what worked, what didn't, and generally chat about how great The Punisher is. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a special bonus episode recorded just before it was confirmed that Agent Carter had been cancelled, Joe, Seb and James look back at the second season and discuss why it was one of our favourite superhero TV shows of recent years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been longer than normal since our last news roundup, due to our release-week episode of Captain America: Civil War - so Joe catches up with the latest happenings and scuttlebutt in the Marvel, Fox and DC movieverses before moving on to discussing last week's comics recommendations: Captain America: No Escape by Ed Brubaker and Butch Guice, and Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two sides. One conflict. You know the drill: it's CaptainAmerica: Civil War, and we're all a bit excited. But are we#TeamCap, #TeamIronMan, #TeamSpidey or #TeamMarisaTomei? Find outon our special release-week episode. As ever, there's no newsroundup this week, but we do a chunk of safe, spoiler-free opinionchat before delving deep - and we do mean deep - into the specificsof the film. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well, that Michael Keaton Spider-Man thing went well,huh? Joe discusses that, the final X-Men: Apocalypsetrailer and various little bits of casting news in our latestminisode. Then it's on to last week's The Mask-inspiredcomics recommendations: (unsurprisingly) The Mask by JohnArcudi and Doug Mahnke, and (slightly more surprisingly) TheMatrix by the Wachowskis and... loads of people. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.