Summer Blockbusters: What to Expect from Superman, Jurassic World, and Fantastic Four

Will Rose: 00:01:10

Fellow geekologists. Welcome to another episode of what's News? Where we're going to geek out on all that is in culture that pops and that we're geeking out on.

And yeah, it's been a hot minute since I've been on one of these episodes.

So I'm looking forward to this big time because I'm hanging out with some of my fellow geeks and we're going to geek out hard on summer blockbuster movies. All right. There's no shortage of things to geek out on. And this is the summer movie edition. And we're. We're titling this.

We're titling this as a special special title and getting clever. Welcome to another episode of Prepping for Jurassic no. Super Dastic four.

You know, I practiced that, like, over and over and over again and still didn't get it right. Andy. I don't know what the deal is. You know, it is what it is.

Andy Walsh: 00:02:06

Only perfect. Practice makes perfect.

Will Rose: 00:02:08

That's right. That's right. Yeah. Welcome Geekology. This is, this is super fun. I.

I'm with my friend Kevin, my friend Andy, and I've already seen some summer movies and I'm really looking forward to what's coming. The big three that we're going to talk about what we're prepping for here in a. In a little bit.

We're going to get into some lightning round here in just a minute. Before we do that, we're going to.

Before we do that, I want to thank our supporters, our subscribers, those who smash that, like, button and on this video here on YouTube, if we get 50 likes on this video, I, I may, I just may frolic through some flowers. I, I don't know. I think I need to mix that up. It's not really luring anybody to smash that, like, button. So.

So, Kevin, do you have any ideas of what I could do if we get 50 likes on. On this YouTube video?

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:02:58

What if you give an end viewers an inside look at your fortress of solitude? So your geek cave, like, is that. I know we have your background here, but what if you get to have you frolicking through your portraits of solitude?

I mean, that could be something. Yeah. Frolicking through boxes of comics. I just, I think that would be really interesting.

Will Rose: 00:03:20

And I have so many. And I have so many. I would be happy to do that. That, that people, people may smash that, like, button with that.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:03:27

Yeah.

Will Rose: 00:03:28

So. So here we go. We're going to Prep for Super Dr. Tastic 4. But before we do that, we get into the lightning round. Yes, we are. Yeah. So, Andy, what is it?

Kind of. Are there some summer movies? Are there some things you've been watching that. That we really just do some quick hits here. Sure.

Andy Walsh: 00:03:51

So top of mind for me is the Mission Impossible. That's the most recent thing that I saw in the theaters.

Will Rose: 00:03:56

Okay.

Andy Walsh: 00:03:57

And, you know, I probably would put it maybe the weakest story of the Christopher McQuarrie mission impossibles, but, man, still a lot of fun at the movies. Tom Cruise doing his thing of risking his life for our entertainment. Some fun twists and turns.

The thing that most struck me coming out of this one is I have never seen a movie that felt more like reading a comic with editorial footnotes of see Amazing spider man number 375 webheads.

But I don't know if you've seen it, but this movie just had that feeling of, hey, we're not sure if you remember everything that happened before, so we're going to make sure you know where it happened, what happened.

Will Rose: 00:04:39

Yeah, yeah.

Andy Walsh: 00:04:40

Don't let you forget it.

Will Rose: 00:04:41

I may need those tutorials. It's definitely on my list to see. I remember we see.

I ran through all of them leading up to last summer's and we were like, yeah, we're going to see every single Mission Impossible for the next one. And then now this one dropped and there's so much going on our lives and so many of these are like, oh, we'll get to it eventually.

But, yeah, definitely want to do it. And I don't even remember what the story is, but I know I'll get to see Tom Cruise running.

He'll be on something, jumping off something and doing his. All his stunts and we'll hear some music and all that kind of action. So. But it's interesting that, that, yeah, there's editorial notes of.

In case you forgot, there's. There's other movies where things happen that you probably need to remember. That's pretty funny. Yeah. Love it. Love it. Kevin, how about you? What.

What have you been. What's in your lightning round there?

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:05:26

So I've seen about half of these movies and I agree very much with Andy's assessment on. On Final Reckoning, it is the. It was a great Memorial Day watch. I mean, I do think it is the weaker.

Having I rewatched all the Mission of Possible movies right before, and it's like the weaker of the stories, but it was still, I think, better than 90% of action movies. But the one I really want to highlight on this list here is the Life of Chuck. I caught an early screening of it at the Alamo. And also.

Well, you're going to freak out here when I tell them. But I have to tell this line. I do it. But so yeah, I got an early screening. I loved it.

I think it's a really powerful film and based on a non horror Stephen King story written and directed by Mike Flanagan, who's the guy who did Midnight Mass, Hanukkahville House, all that. And so, so the day after I saw it, I don't post on Blue sky that much and I only have like less than 100 followers on there.

But I wanted to really promote that movie and I wasn't surprised by this part. That sort of. So like I tagged Mike Flanagan in it and he reposted it which that was cool. But that wasn't even the, that was not even the biggest.

You're gonna freak out at the next part because like obviously he wanted to promote the movie and he was reposting a lot. Pretty much if you tag him and you say something nice, he'll repost you there. That is the cool thing about platforms like that.

The real talk was about a week later I was checking my notifications and none other than Mark Hamill liked my post on there because he follows my. Yeah. Oh. So I always. Yeah, that was.

Will Rose: 00:06:59

That is that. Yeah.

If you would have told you know, eight year old Kevin when he was watching Star wars one day, Luke Skyper Skywalker would like, like his like his thing.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:07:14

Two sentences I wrote. He, he, he, he liked it. Like I'll take it.

Will Rose: 00:07:18

Yeah.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:07:18

No. Okay. And I do have to. I mean the performances are amazing. He's fantastic. Tom Hiddleston, Karen Gillen, she watched All Age of Four.

It's a phenomenal cast. I really think that is the movie that like we need right now. So I cannot recommend that.

Will Rose: 00:07:32

Nice.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:07:32

And then yeah, others on here, just quick hitting like I, I enjoyed the how to Train youn Dragon remake a lot. I took my niece to that. I'm. I'm a big fan of the original trilogy. So this one is pretty much a direct like shot for shot remake.

But the reason I'm a little more open to it here is because a one like this lends itself to a live action interpretation even more so than a lot of the Disney live action ones that are more. A lot of them lack more of a like soul and heart to them. This one was very passionate and visually spectacular. So I enjoyed a lot.

And it's actually the director of the original did the live action as well. So highly recommend that nice.

Will Rose: 00:08:14

Yeah, I'm with you too. I've seen a handful of these that are on our screen right here on those who are watching on YouTube. Not only listening, but watching on YouTube and.

And there's definitely those that I. I want to see that are on my list. I. I went to go see on Father's Day. I was like, hey, fam, let's do a movie. Then a dinner or dinner and a movie.

And we went to go see the Phoenician scheme. And we are big Wes Anderson fans. And I, you know, Wes Anderson, you. You either love them or maybe.

I don't know if there's like a middle ground for Wes Anderson. Is there a middle ground? Most people are kind of like, is this. My style is. I'm there for the quirkiness and the direction shots and being made and.

And my. My daughter's a fan. So I was like, I'll go see this when the cast, of course, always just outstanding.

It's just every A list actor you could ever think of. But we have Benio Del Toro who just knocks it out of the park. And then there's another actress in here, Mia Trappleton. I think that's Threpleton.

I don't know how to pronounce her last name, but she. She plays his daughter and a nun through this, and she's just absolutely fantastic.

I can't tell you what the main plot is or what the moral lesson is or how things played out to the end. I don't know if I understood everything that happened in this movie, which is kind of like Wes Anderson movies, but they. Every sentence was clever.

I didn't want to leave to go to the bathroom or get more popcorn because I scares gonna miss something or a phrase that. That hinged on the whole movie. And it was just very, very clever. And I really highly enjoy. It's very entertaining. So I.

If you like Wes Anderson, it is about as Wes Anderson as. So go. Go see it if you're a Wes Anderson fan. You guys interested? Are you guys Wes Anderson fans at all? I am.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:10:01

I haven't got a chance to see this one yet because basically I was at Alamo like a lot for a week there because I had a caregiver have more time and stuff. So I was like going to movies button then. I haven't got a chance to see this one yet, but I will. I'm a big Wes Henderson fan. I.

Rushmore is one of my favorite movies ever, and I wrote about him in college. And so I'm Very in tune with his style. The last few movies of his, I haven't loved as much.

I think Grand Budapest Hotel was his last, like, great one. The last few have been stylistically fantastic. Just. I haven't been as engaged with the narratives, but I am going to see this one.

But I'm going to Disneyland next week, so that's. I've been saving money for that, so I'll probably see it when I get back.

Will Rose: 00:10:43

There you go. There you go. Cool. Cool, cool. Andy, how about you? You're a Wes Anderson guy.

Andy Walsh: 00:10:49

I've enjoyed the Wes Andersons that I have. I'm interested in this one. My kids actually went and saw it while my wife and I were at the symphony the other day, and they.

They had a good time with it. They thought that I would like it. They recommended it. It was my son's first Wes Anderson experience. To the best of our recollection, he was.

I think he's still kind of processing what. What he experienced.

Will Rose: 00:11:09

Yeah, yeah, that. That is it. I mean, with all these movies, like, we. We process what we've seen, or we. We bring into it some expectations, and then we process the end.

Was it worth it? We're there to be entertained, and we'll talk about kind of expectations, manage those, or how we. How we're dealing with it. But.

But, yeah, I was thoroughly entertained, and I think that's what it does. It. You know, it puts something out there, and. And you. You got to think through what. What did I just see? And.

And I take some time to think about it afterwards. So, yeah, I. I recommend it. And. And hope that. Yeah. Let us know in the comments. Folks, your thoughts on your Lightning Rounds edition of this.

What have you seen? What have you not seen? What are you looking forward to. To see? But. But here we go. It's time to get to the big Three, y' all. You guys ready?

Let's do it. Let's. Let's do it. All right, here we go. The Big Three.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:12:04

For.

Will Rose: 00:12:04

For longer than a year. I couldn't be more excited about. About these movies. We have Jurassic world coming out July 2nd. We have Superman coming out July 11th.

Fantastic Four July 25th. And in terms of, like, they're all kind of mini reboots, wouldn't you say? I mean, they.

They have some different casts, have different things going on. You have James Gunn picking up the DCU and running with it. Yeah. The Fantastic Four, kind of legit in the MCU proper, per. Per se.

And then A Drastic World. Yeah. New cast. And. And they're kind of more dinosaurs, more stuff. So there's some reboots here. So let's, let's hop in and, and chat.

What, what are we most geeking out about? If you had to pick one out of three, you have to pick one of these. Can't, it can't be a tie. It can't be, you know, 1.5 or that kind of thing.

But if you're gonna pick one thing you're most geeked out about with these movies, what are you gonna be? Kevin, we'll start with you.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:13:04

Well, it's no competition for me whatsoever. I think anyone who's listening to the podcast for a while knows how stoked I am for Superman coming up.

I'm longtime DC fan and particularly with everything about this movie in terms of the comics that its influence on some of my absolute favorites. I mean James Gunn has pointed to Superman for all seasons. Superman, Birthright, All Star Superman. All of those are some of my favorite stories.

He's also drawing heavy emphasis for emphasis from the animated universe. So this is no question I've consumed every piece of media and news about it in the past few years.

Fantastic Four I'm so excited about, but it just, it pales in comparison. I am excited to have, like you said, kind of a proper Fantastic Four being integrated into the mcu. And it'll be, I think it'll be really good.

But it's just like I've waited so long for a proper, really good modern Superman movie that just, you know, feels right and that gets the character and, and I mean look at Jimmy Olsen right there. I mean that you could not have it. That's the amazing thing too, I bet. So I've been Gideon, Gideon, Gideon for my gemstones.

Could not be better casting.

And the thing is too, I told Andy this on a complicate catch up but I listened to the DC Studios official podcast which you can find on Max or Spotify and they've been interviewing all the cast members leading up to the movie and every one of them just feels so right for the character. The guy who playing Mr. Terrific, the one playing Hawker, all who's from Last of Us. They all are just so well cast.

I just cannot wait for this universe. So it's I mean easily Superman. And no offense to Jurassic park fans. Andy, I see your shirt. I. I just like I.

The only one on this list I really couldn't care less about is it's really, I mean and it's not. I don't. I'm just totally indifferent toward I like, I've of course seen the original.

I think I saw the first Jurassic World, but it's as big a Spielberg fan as I am. It's just weird. I've just never really been into this franchise.

So, like, I appreciate the first one for what it is, but I couldn't really tell you anything about the sequels to the Cast or anything. And pretty much the only thing that would compel me to see the new one is if like friends invite me and the cast.

I mean, you know, ScarJo and I think Marshali is in this one too. So that's about the only real draw for me there.

But beyond that, I just, you know, I've I with Spielberg, like et, Indiana Jones, Close Encounters, Jaws, all of those are my bread and butter. But for whatever reason, I've just never that into dinosaurs. So I'm just like, I don't know really anything about that. Yeah, yeah.

Will Rose: 00:15:41

Shots fired. Never been a dinosaur. Send your emails to Kevin Schaeferahoom.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:15:48

Tweet at me.

Will Rose: 00:15:50

Blue sky.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:15:52

Blue sky, exactly. Yeah. But the only caveat to that is I was a massive Power Rangers fan growing up and, and pretty much so.

I mean, there's the, like, they had the dinosaur like, tie in Mighty Morphin. They had like dinosaurs that their costumes were based on. But even then that's a loose thing. But that's about it.

Will Rose: 00:16:09

Yeah, I like it. I like it. Yeah. All that valid, valid geekology right there, Kevin. All right, Andy, how about you?

What are you most geeked out about when it comes to the big three here?

Andy Walsh: 00:16:20

Yeah, if I had to pick the one that I think is the most likely to be a success, I think for all the reasons that Kevin enumerated, the Superman one looks. Looks the most solid. I, you know, I expect to have a good time with that.

I don't think I have made it through a trailer for this film without getting a little bit emotional. I think that it's pulling at the. The Christopher Reeve heartstrings. It's got the John Williams theme with a little bit of a different orchestration.

So it sounds fresh but also familiar. You know, like I said, great cast. So I think, you know, I think that that one is the most likely to soar to apologetically.

But the one that I think I'm most invested in, like, I want it to do well. And if it does what I think it could do, it might hit for me a little bit more personally is the Fantastic Four film.

And that's, I think a large part because of the Ryan North Comics that I have banged on about on the comic book podcast episodes numerous times. They have just really, you know, I wasn't not a fan of Fantastic Four and I've enjoyed some other runs.

You know, Hickman Fraction, you know, some of the original Stan Lee stuff is obviously all. And Jack Kirby stuff is all great, but this, but Ryan Northman is just getting me into Fantastic Four at a whole other level.

And so, you know, this film. So. Yeah, so I'm just kind of primed and super excited for more Fantastic Four, like high concept sci fi kind of stuff.

And so if it gets into that sort of domain and it's been hard to tell from the trailer so far what, what kind of movie it's going to be beyond just there's blackness and the Fantastic Four. So I don't know. Right. It could be, could be dumb, it could be awful. It could be yet another, you know, failed Fantastic Four film.

But I think it has the potential to, to hit some high heights or at least to hit the kind of notes that I'm looking for in a, in a summer sci fi film. And also if Superman doesn't turn out that great, I can always go back and watch the Christopher Reeve films.

Jurassic World film turns out to be yet another sort of like two to three star. Yep, they made very good dinosaurs and did the same plot again as the past few films have been great. That's fine.

I can always go back to the Spielberg original. But man, we need a good Fantastic Four film. They put one out every 10 years like cop, Quark, and it's time for one of them to really, really hit.

Not that, you know, that the first one didn't have its charms and the second one had a good cast, but one that just kind of sings on all levels, man, that would be great to see. And Matt Shackman did some good work with WandaVision and so I'm optimistic.

It's, you know, it's a good, good cast and coming at a time where the MCU could really use a, a big win. So I'm, I'm hopeful. I'm kind of the most invested in, I really want this to do well and I will be very sad if it doesn't in a way that the other two.

I want them to be good also. But I'll be, I'll be okay if, if they're only just decent.

Will Rose: 00:19:26

Yeah, like. Yeah, go ahead.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:19:29

Oh God. Well, I'll add it.

Will Rose: 00:19:31

No, I was just going to say like the, the timepiece of it and that it's kind of Retro, but. But not like. And so they're going to bring it into the mcu. They're really banking on this. But even the image you put up here on.

On YouTube of like baseball cards, basketball card with gum, you know, that like, they're really hoping there's a throwback to like 70s, 80s and the original kind of feel to first family of Marvel and. And then hopefully that'll launch into a new, new era of MCU post thunderbolts and what could be coming up soon in terms of one world under Doom.

So I, I think you're. You're absolutely right. They. They need a big. They need a big wind here and let's see if they can do it. Kevin, what were you going to say?

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:20:15

No, I was going to say that. Andy, that's a really good point about. I know I said I've been waiting so long for a really good modern Superman movie, and I have.

But at the same time, let's just say I don't want to imagine. Hopefully this movie will be great. But even if it's not that good, there is still some great Superman adaptations that still exist.

The Christopher Reeve movie, Superman and Lois, which I've been going through now, like, I watched back when it premiered, and now I'm going through all that. That is a great show. Smallville, the Animated Series. So there are a lot of good Superman adaptations out there.

I just like, as someone who was more disappointed by the angle they went with in the Snyder era and man of Steel, you know, I just wanted a more proper depiction of the character. And I'm really excited that. Of the tone of this movie. But yeah, I have all those examples.

No, for Fantastic Four fans, the hardcore ones, you all need a really good, like a movie. So I agree there.

Will Rose: 00:21:14

Yeah. So. So I'll chime in here. My. Of all these three, you think the Marvel guy, the guy who grew up on Marvel Comics, would pick Fantastic Four? But I'm.

I'm all about Superman. I could be more geeked out and excited about the Superman movie and James Gunn. I trust the cast looks great. The trailer wrecked me on so many levels.

I here before, but man, we get crypto. Come on. Like, I'm. I. They're marketing with that. Man, James Gunn, you're genius. But I.

That from the look of the trailer and the tone and like, what James Gunn has done with Gardens Galaxy and Suicide Squad and what he's done with Peacemaker stuff, I. If, if he's gonna lean into like authentic Superman, I. I totally trust him and I Couldn't be more excited now.

I just got back from Hawaii and I actually went to the ranch in the place where they shot Jurassic park in the beginning. The first tree they hand the hide behind with a stampede of dinosaurs that jump over them.

I went to that tree and that on the ground and got my picture taken by there. So I'm, I'm all about dinosaurs. I love it. And I'm all about Marvel and Fantastic Four and just them being launched into MCU proper.

But, but I think, I think Superman. I'm, I'm there.

1, 100 and yeah, the marketing when it comes to crypto being on boxes and dog treats and even a comic, I'm gonna talk about here in a min. I, I'm there. I can't, I can't wait. I couldn't be more excited about that. Yeah, my mom's birthday is July 10th and I'll be in Wilmington with her.

But I also like, oh, what that night when she goes to bed, I might go to a midnight show or definitely 11th, I think. I think that's gonna happen. I think that's gonna happen. Cool. So let's, let's, let's shift a little bit. There's what goes most geeking out about.

How are we getting ready for these movies? I do plan to see all three. I'm more excited about Superman, but I'm gonna see all three in the theater. That's my plan.

But I am getting, getting ready for this. I, I will share. Just kind of piggybacking on what Andy was saying.

Ryan north, what a fantastic comic book creator and author and he's knocking out of the park with Fantastic Four. But today in my pool box was Crypto, the Last Dog of Krypton, number one, written by none other than Ryan North.

And what a charming, cute, incredible, heartbreaking story for this dog that, that I, that I absolutely loved. Love this comic this week. So, yeah, I'm, I'm watching. I mean, I'm, I'm watching Superman, the Animated series.

I'm going back to my adventures with Superman. I'm reading there. DC is calling this the summer of Superman. And so they're relaunching new number ones and really pulling him out and lift.

I think DC marketing, when it comes comics are doing a great job, at least for hardcore comic book fans like me, to really jump on. I, I read Superman. I like Supes.

He is one of the original heroes that, that I grew up on with the super friends and the big three of Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman. So I, I really Love him. But, and I've seen all the movies and it was there, the Christopher Reeves one when I was a kid and, and love those.

But I, I'm. That's how I'm getting ready. I'm. I'm all in.

When, when they put out a new number one or said, hey, if you like Superman and you're ready for this summer's movie, read this. I'm. They got me, they got my, they, they got my wallet and what's in it. So that's, that's how I'm getting ready.

And of course, Fantastic Four, like all things Pedro Pascal. Like what, what I have not seen him in. You know, he's, he's all over the place. He's there. He's awesome.

And then, and then, yeah, I was actually in the valley of the ranch where there were Jurassic CGI dinosaurs. So I think I'm ready. I think I'm ready, guys. I couldn't be more ready. Andy, how about you? What are you getting ready for?

How are you getting ready for. For these movies?

Andy Walsh: 00:25:59

Yeah, you know, like you, these, these are three, you know, bang on. If we can get to opening weekend. That's the plan with the whole family.

Everybody's into these films and these franchises in terms of, you know, pre watching, pre reading things, I'm not sure that I'm, that I need to get that much more excited and, and since all of them are kind of, you know, fresh starting out points, like there's not a lot of backstory that we need to remember. And also just time teaser.

I probably want to spend more of my time revisiting Peter David comics in preparation for that episode than necessarily reading Jurassic park. As excellent of a book as it is.

So I think probably just practically the thing that I'll be doing to get most ready for these films is revisiting the film scores of previous films. We've got some great music by John Williams for Jurassic park and Superman. Right.

Those are in heavy rotation as it is already, but you can go dive a little bit more deeply into those. Michael Giacchino also did some good music for some of the more recent Jurassic films. That's a good listen. And here's a weird fact.

The: 2015

else, we got that out of that: 2015

Told the other composer is Marco Beltrami, who is no slouch, but a more familiar name to the world of film music and even superhero film music. I believe he also did some of the Wolverine films, the Logan and so forth.

But yeah, so I think that would be my main kind of getting myself psyched is just revisiting the sound worlds of these characters.

Will Rose: 00:28:14

Yeah, I like that.

Andy Walsh: 00:28:15

Now that I know about. I missed that crypto comic, that existence of passing by.

So now that I know there's a Ryan north crypto comic creation, I'll have to check that out too.

Will Rose: 00:28:23

Gotta get it. You gotta get it. It's so good. It's so good. Kevin, how about you? How are you? How are you preparing?

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:28:29

back at the very beginning of: 2024

It is odd that that's one that I missed.

But like, I grew up on the animated shows and then I was a big fan of the Arrowverse, like in college, but for whatever reason, like Smallville, like, I was at the perfect age to watch it as a kid. But I just, you know, like, I just, you know, finally started eight years later, but I started that. And then there's so many other.

So my adventures with Superman, Superman, the animated series, revisiting that, Superman and Lois. Like I mentioned earlier, I got to see. I've seen now Christopher Reeve, Superman twice on the big screen.

One at Alamo a few years ago, and then earlier at this. At the beginning of this year, they were playing at Carolina Theatre in Durham as part of film fest there.

So getting to see that on the big screen is always a treat. And then also right now, I'm listening to the audiobook of Superman, an unauthorized biography by Glenn Weldon. That's a book I highly recommend.

the character dating back to: 1938

And it really does a great job encompassing everything from the comics history, the multimedia history, the, you know, controversy with Jerry Siegel and Joe's sister. Getting pushed aside and fighting for creators rights for the longest time and getting entangled in lawsuits there. It's a fascinating book.

So highly recommend that and the audio. Like, I actually don't do a ton of audiobooks. I prefer either in print or digital.

But the reason I had this one on is the narrator is George Newburn, who voiced Superman in Justice League. So it's really cool having like a Superman voice actor do the narration of the book. So highly recommend that one. So, yeah, Superman Preparation.

Will Rose: 00:30:30

What's the name of that book again? Kevin, what's the name of that book?

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:30:33

Yes, it's called Superman An Unauthorized Biography by Glen Weldon. I. I have to look up what year it came out. I, I have initially heard about it on screen. Crash. And then I looked it up and yeah, I.

It's an excellent book. So very comprehensive and highly recommend that. So. Yeah. And then comics wise too, I mean, doing a reread of.

I did a reread of Superman for all seasons a while ago.

I'll do one more of All Stars of All Star Superman, which you have there on the screen that is a classic that James Gunn has said has heavily influenced him there. And then. Yeah.

I'll be talking on the next comic book catch up episode tomorrow about Superman Unlimited number one, which I don't know if you got to see that. That was very good. Yes.

Will Rose: 00:31:18

Right.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:31:19

No, that is Dan Slott, which is like. Yeah, yep. His first DC ongoing comic, which I don't know how Christian Ashley will react to that one. I know he's got a lot beast down slot, but.

But it's a good one. But. Yeah, but there's a lot of Mark Wade stories too. Birthright is one of the best.

Will Rose: 00:31:38

Yeah.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:31:38

So. So yeah, Superman Preparation. I don't think I could be more ready at this point, but it has been ongoing.

Again, it's a movie I've just been following ever since it was announced and just relentlessly consuming every bit of news about it. There was also a really good interview with James Gunn in Rolling Stone the other day that I highly recommend. So that was great too. But.

And then as far as the others. So for Fantastic Four, again, I don't know. I.

I need to check out the Ryan north run, but I was just gonna ask you guys for some other like, I guess it has. Of course, I mean the characters are great. I have like some of the Marvel masterworks original stuff, so the original stories.

But I would love for some recommendations for if you have any kind of like either one off stories or some like you know, essential graphic novels to read before I have my tickets for both and Fantastic War and we've got about a month still Fantastic Four.

So if there's any like from you two who are huge Marvel fans and big time readers there, if there are any comics you really think I should check out before the movie, I would love to know.

Will Rose: 00:32:43

Nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Check out that Ryan north run and, and yeah, I think man, your recommendation about like that biography because Superman isn't like the first superhero of all time, but he's definitely the original, the OG of superheroes of like the last hundred years. Right.

And so you can make the case that the Norse gods and the Greek gods were the original like Justice League Avengers and Misfits and, and, and kind of superheroes that people geeked out on. But I, Superman is, is from the beginning. It kind of all started there.

Everybody chased that, that money and that kind of popularity all the way through for, for 100 years or so. So I wouldn't mind checking that out. And then, you know, the Fantastic Four are the first famous, the one that Stan Lee kind of launched it.

So, so jump in, you know, to the, to the old school Stan Lee Jack Kirby original Fantastic Four run that, that, that, that they created because that's really what created the, the Marvel Universe as, as we know it.

I would say I don't and I don't know if you have any other things you want to add there with, I mean as a, as a scientist, you know, of course, should we make, make dinosaurs? Should we create them? In terms of recommendations there.

Andy Walsh: 00:33:54

Yeah. I'm struggling to come up with specific single issues because I get that you don't want to read a 50 issue run.

The first thing that popped in my mind, partly because it's right there on the screen and partly because you get a two for one is there was a Ryan north story and I apologize, I'm not remembering the issue number off the top of my head where the Fantastic Four wind up in a dimension wind up on Earth where all the sapient beings are dinosaurs. Right. So you can see cover art there.

Will Rose: 00:34:20

Yes, it's so good.

Andy Walsh: 00:34:21

There's a dinosaur Thor and the dinosaur Captain America and so forth.

So they, they are interacting with the dinosaur Avengers and some other dinosaur villains and so forth, while the, their dinosaur counterparts, the dinosaur Fantastic Four wind up on Earth616 and you know, hijinks ensue from that as well. It is, it's a two parter, I believe.

Will Rose: 00:34:44

Yeah, you're right.

Andy Walsh: 00:34:46

Then it kind of Comes. It's come back in. In one world under Doom. But yeah, that was a fun story.

Will Rose: 00:34:52

Doom. There's a dinosaur Doom. And it comes back. It comes back around. Tyrannosaurus Rex, Doom in Doom armor. You know, come on, that comics.

What are we doing?

Andy Walsh: 00:35:04

Yeah, and then there was. There was another. There's another really good one that was done in one. And most of the Ryan north stories are done. Done in one issue.

So really you could almost pick up any random issue from his run and get a complete story and get kind of the vibe.

But there was another one in particular that was really good where they interact with a sentient AI that was originally created by somebody with nefarious purposes.

But then the AI kind of becomes independent and there's just kind of this ongoing back and forth of them trying to figure out how to even communicate with this AI that doesn't have a physical body and has a very different kind of mental process.

So it touches on those kind of themes of how do you communicate across barriers of not just language, but sort of experience and different types of consciousness and so forth. Some really clever ideas in there. Some. Some fun back and forth between Reed and this AI. And so that's another great story. I will have to.

We'll have to find some way to get issue numbers out to folks. Maybe I can drop it in the comments of the YouTube video in the future.

Will Rose: 00:36:08

But there's enough AI Google stuff there. You just say Fantastic Four, Avenger dinosaurs. They'll. They'll. They'll let you know.

But I love that pool because it does combine fantastic and Jurassic park and it's just all mingles together where every. They know what they're doing. They know what they're doing. And it's fun. I'm there for it. I'm there for it. Great. Great.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:36:25

Also, just to clarify, I. I definitely don't want to make it sound like I'm dissing on the Jurassic park franchise. It's just like one, I'm just like, not that it.

But I know it is like, you know, beloved by so many. And I'm absolutely happy that if this movie does well, I hope it does. But yeah, I would be interested. I would be interested in if they ever were to.

Because I know, like, particularly because I know the Krypton book is a lot darker.

I would be interested if the Jurassic park franchise was ever bold enough to go into a more horror angle because they've always had more of an adventurous tone to it. And if they went full on sci fi horror, I Think that would be something to really possibly separate it from previous installments.

Will Rose: 00:37:03

I remember a conversation I had with my camp director. I was working at summer camp this summer that came out. We all went to see it. We all loved it.

I didn't read the book, but I remember coming back back to camp and our camp director, Luke Luther, dude, I got back, he was so mad because he had read the book and it freaked him out and it scared him and he was like they, they Disney fight it. They made it soft. They made it like this. He goes, I want. He was his talk about expectations and your geek. We. I don't.

Didn't know what a geekologist was back then at that time, but we were all still doing it whether we knew it or not. And, and Luke was like so pissed that, that they made it a kitty movie and they didn't make the exactly way that made him feel when he read the book.

So made me want to say like maybe I need to read this book and see what the tone is leading into it. But. But yeah, yeah, big dinosaurs chasing you can be scary. Let's make the horror element.

Andy Walsh: 00:37:54

You know, they've made some noises that. That's the direction they're going with this, with this new film.

There's been some, some news posts online about revisiting sequences that were planned for the first movie or things from the book that they didn't adapt previously. We'll see if that comes through. I believe it's still a PG13 film.

It's still, you know, hoping for that, you know, four quadrant blockbuster kind of audience. So we'll see if it, if it actually is any different than any of the others. But I think they have made noises in that direction. But you know.

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if you went back and found that they've said that in the past and then we got the films that we got. So take that with a grain of salt. But you know that that idea is out there.

Will Rose: 00:38:34

Yeah, I hear you. Good, good stuff.

All right, so we all know we got, we got to listen to sue some, some geeks out there and we're getting read this, these movies and yet. Listen. Do you hear in a distance. Listen. Yeah, those, those are the geeks you're crying out. We want a good Fantastic Four. We want a good Superman.

We want a legit Jurassic Park. And so how, how do we manage expectations? We could be more excited. I'm trying to go in with reasonable expectations.

I've been lured and duplicated by great trailers. They were giving Out Oscars for trailers, man.

There's plenty of people out there who deserve Oscars, but yet didn't quite match up to the movie that I went in to see. How are we managing our expectations leading to these movies? We're excited. Couldn't be more excited. Kevin, we'll start with you.

You're excited about Superman. You're prepping for it. Again, we alluded to it earlier about like we all have stuff. We still have stuff we really love.

There's long histories with these franchises that we can go back to. Consumer stars, fans. You can go back to the movies that you love. They will never take that away. But how you managing your managing your expectations?

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:39:48

I will say it is challenging in this case in particular because I am so excited.

I haven't been this stoked for a movie in a while because like, I mean probably like going back to when Force Awakens came out, you know, like there was so much hype and expectation for that and I still enjoyed Force Awakens a lot. But like, you know, I know that's a whole lot of conversation. The sequel trilogy. Yeah, but you know, it was like.

But you know, in recent years though, there have been ones where I'm like, hey, if it's great, that's awesome. But I'm also not going to be that disappointed if it's bad because like, okay, there are plenty of other good superhero movies out there or whatever.

But yeah, this one I have built up a lot of expectation and I'm trying to tamper it. I'm also so just looking at this slide, here it is.

So if you want to know like how, you know, the Superman franchise in 70s and 80s went from Christopher Reeve, Richard Donner, Superman to Quest for Peace. It is a fascinating history. I mean to like why the tone shifted, how Richard Donner got let go, all these things happening behind the scenes.

It is a fascinating story. So I do recommend that.

But I like, I will say I think it's safe to say that like even if I don't like the movie as much as I'm building it up to be, I, I think it's safe to say that it's not going to be a Superman 4.

So I like, I mean I think maybe we like the worst that could happen is maybe we'll get something that's more along the lines of like Superman Returns at the but it's like, okay, not nearly as great as we expected, but still has its elements there.

I, I still am very hopeful for the movie, but I don't think we're gonna get something that is a complete bomb just based on everything about the characters. At least, that's the thing. At least like the character casting and everything else has been and so spot on. So we'll, yeah, we'll see.

But, but yeah, I think I'm just trying to, you know, I, I, I think the excitement is important because so often in this day and age, geek culture has become more cynical and you're very quick to, you know, judge movies before they even come out.

And so I think it's exciting for me to have a really giddy optimism about something like this and for it to have a very likely all of us have had an emotional reaction to the trailer, you know, so I don't regret having all the optimism and the joy built up to it. Even if it's not as good as I hope it will be. And if it is, that's even, that's great.

But yeah, I, I, I don't reg, this is an instance where I don't regret all, you know, having a lot of optimism, a lot of build up to it because it's just been a really cool, I mean, just in terms of how this movie came together and how the reboot happened. I mean, just a few years ago the Rock was talking about taking over D.C.

and there was just so much, I mean, there was so much going on and so much friction in the DC universe behind the scenes.

The fact that now we're in this moment where, yeah, this Superman movie is coming out, it's happening, and James Gunn is, you know, has more projects on the way, I think that's really exciting. It's a new era, this is, and it's okay to have just unfiltered optimistic joy about it all.

Will Rose: 00:43:01

Yeah, part of that, that the journey going into it is like leading up to it, right? Like the trailer and the excitement to go.

And I think what we've tried to say here at Systemic Ecology is that like, yeah, go in with, with standards, go in with your fandom, but also remember that like a ton of people put a lot of hard work into this and a lot of actors and directors and you read that in Credit Scene where just a long list of names who've worked on it. There's a lot of love, sweat and tears went into this. So be gracious.

You can not like something, but you can also not like it and not be a jerk about it and say, like, maybe that wasn't for me. So I think managing your expectations, being realistic with expectations, being honest with how you're feeling and why you're feeling it.

But I think a lot of how we, how we are good stewards of our fandom and our geekology is, is why we're here as a, as a podcast, as a, as a movement, as a community, to help us kind of process through these things and share what we like, what we don't like, and then help people see things from a different angle.

So that's kind of why we, we, we prep for these things and then talk about our expectations and then also, you know, process it at the end and be realistic with it too. So, yeah, that's our swear of advice when it. Andy, how about you, bud? How are you? How are you handling your expectations leading up to these?

Andy Walsh: 00:44:25

You know, the thing that's kind of most on my mind, and I apologize, this is going to. A little, little sentimental, but, you know, I think you can have a positive experience watching a film, even if the film itself isn't great.

And why that's on my mind. You know, Superman 4 I put up here because I just went in and said, what's the lowest ranked movie of all these different franchises?

Just to kind of remind us where, where they've been, what are the highs and lows. But Superman 4 for me will always be a positive memory because it's one of the fewer.

Possibly the only movie that I saw in the theater was just my grandfather and I. He was a, a World War II veteran and he got tinnitus because he was a airplane mechanic in World War II.

And so all that time up close without ear protection, again against airplane motors left with tinnitus. And so he tended to avoid loud experiences like it, you know, my graduations and whatever, like, events like that.

He would kind of hang out in the outside or in the background to avoid the noise. But he, so he didn't really go to the movies, but he took me to see Superman 4. He wanted us to have that experience together.

He was excited that there was a Superman movie that we could go see together in the theaters the first few, you know, where I was too young to see in the theaters. And so that was a, you know, that was a positive, a positive memory, even if the film, you know, hasn't stood the test of time.

And, you know, this summer, looking ahead, the summer, you know, my son started college last year. My daughter is off to college in the fall. She's going all the way to Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada.

So leaving the country and going several thousand miles away, obviously they'll be back home. Obviously these are not the last movies that we will see together, but this is definitely a moment of change in our family.

And so I think it'll be fun to go and see all these movies together. The four of us just have the experience of being together, even if all the movies are a bit goofy.

Will Rose: 00:46:14

So I'm. I love that. I love that. Yeah, yeah. And. And again, like someone's worst movie is someone's favorite because of a certain reason.

And we got to remember that too, going in into these things. And yeah, I mean there are those who manage their expectations by seeing no trailers and no hype and then go into the movie kind of cold.

So they can do that.

And some like want to read up all about it and, and really get know everything they need to know about the movie before going in so they can be well informed. And I think there's no wrong or right. It's just kind of how you do those movies and it lead into it.

And then, you know, sometimes these movies are a victim of its own kind of hype machine because they're under a lot of pressure to make money and executives and so yeah, they're going to promote like if a certain thing doesn't do well, like, well, the marketing wasn't great, but then, you know, then it doesn't do well. You're like, well, you set expectations too high and nobody liked it and blah, blah, blah.

So yeah, all that's a big part of how we do this geekology together. I think for me, how I managed, I mean, I couldn't be more excited about Superman.

And I really want a fantastic for to succeed and you know, I don't really have many expectations dressed where other than like, let's see some dinosaurs. And I was there and why it's also some place where they shot this stuff. Let's see how they do it. Let's see the story they tell.

But, but I, but I think for me the most dangerous expectations out there is with Superman because I'm so looking forward to it and I don't want to be disappointed. And halfway through I go, what are we doing here?

But, but again, I, I really trust the people who are making it and I'm going to go in with kind of open mind, open heart to let them tell the story that they want these movies and then we'll talk about it after and, and figure it out. So any other. Other words of wisdom out there to our listeners and fans that we need to like share with them as they go into these movies this summer?

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:48:52

I think for fantastic Four. I'm just not worried because they've already scratched the bottom. The bottom of the barrel quite a few times. So it. It's kind of like it.

It can't be worse. I don't know. Yeah, gotcha. I think at. At the least, we've got a good cast and the effects look like.

And Galactus looks amazing from that image that they've shown. So I. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't even have to be amazing if it's. If it's a decent movie that's better than where they've been before.

Will Rose: 00:49:21

I'm ready for the. The. The trolls to launch about the female Silver Surfer and gender swapping and that kind of thing.

But again, the actress who's a part of that, I'm a big fan of. And let's see how they tell that story. If it's from a slightly alternate dimension and they're gonna bring the mcu, you know, why not.

Why not do something a little different and. And see what they can do there? So let's see. Let's see how they tell that story and any other.

Andy Walsh: 00:49:46

Yeah, I hope she has the Anna Delvey voice.

Will Rose: 00:49:49

Yeah, Yeah, I would.

Andy Walsh: 00:49:50

I think that would just melt people's brains. But, you know, it's. It's an alien. It's an alien accent. No, no human being has ever had that voice before. So I think it would fit it.

Will Rose: 00:50:01

Let's do it. Let's do it.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:50:03

Oh, I should say.

Andy Walsh: 00:50:03

Cool.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:50:03

One more. One more thing about that. If let's say fantasy 4 isn't that good, there is always one great fantastic 4 movie we have, and that is the Incredibles.

So that, you know, that's still movie ever.

Will Rose: 00:50:16

There you go. You just won Christian Ashley back. You saw. You brought up Dan Slot, and now you brought up the Incredibles, and so now Christian Ashley is back on.

On the thing. Sorry, my lights just went out back on. The lights went out on me on Incredibles. You're like, that's it. We're done. So good. Good. So good.

All right, so let's move into recommendations. Like, in terms of, like, what we've talked about, what you recommend.

Maybe it's a book, maybe it's a comic to get ready for these moves, or if it's something out there that's already out there, that. That you think people should watch, that you saw that we didn't get to in the lightning round. Some recommendations.

Real quick hits around recommendations. You know, Kevin, you mentioned. Hey, we have. We have the news of Spaceballs, too.

Are you going to recommend that yet, even though we haven't seen any footage at 100.

Kevin Schaeffer: 00:51:01

Oh my gosh. Okay.

I love too how they announced it with like the crawl there saying like we've had, you know, like they ran through like all the Star wars movies and all the spin offs and then we've had what We've had an animated Lion King movie. A live action animated Lion King movie. A live action animated Lion King prequel. Like I was in tears there. So yeah, that was brilliant.

But yeah, absolutely. Spaceball. Time to beyond that, I would say. Yeah, definitely the Superman biography book that I was talking about.

I think that's essential reading for any comics enthusiast, pop culture enthusiast. It's a great book.

And also Superman for All Seasons is again one I mentioned earlier as one of my favorite Superman stories of all time that I reread quite often. And it was the inspiration for Smallville. It was a huge inspiration. Inspiration for James Gunn that by Jeff Loeba. Tim Sale.

That one never gets old, so highly recommend that one.

Will Rose: 00:51:58

They gave out the first issue of that at free Comic book day this year because they're just getting people ready for that stuff. So I did grab that. I haven't read that graphic all the way through, but I had that first issue and really liked it.

Tim Sale couldn't be a better legendary comic book artist when it comes comes to that. So. Yeah. And if. Yeah. Recommendation. Go go watch the. The opening crawl to the teaser for Spaceballs 2. You will not be disappointed. It's classic.

Andy, how about you? What are you recommending?

Andy Walsh: 00:52:25

Yeah, if I can get out of the movie theater and onto the sofa for a minute, I would recommend the Murderbot TV show on Apple tv. Plus, if you are not familiar, Murderbot started as a series of novellas by Martha Wells. I think there's six or seven of them out by now.

And they are fun sci fi stories in a world, you know, where humans are expanding out into the galaxy, all kinds of star systems and they have these autonomous security robots that go with them to keep them safe. And the.

So that's the Murderbot is the title character is one of these security robots who manages to hack the code that keeps them required or keeps them required to obey orders. And so they become. Become more autonomous and they just go on adventures.

And really what they want to use that autonomy for is to just stay at home and watch tv. They, you know, they're willing to do their job if they have to.

They were willing to interact with people if they have to, but really just, they just want to be left alone to watch their tv, to watch their stories. And so it's a very relatable kind of, kind of story. And so they've turned that into a live action TV show that has been a lot of fun.

Definitely R rated. So not for the little kids, but, but a lot of fun in a faithful adaptation. And then also Fantastic Four prep. It's poker face time.

Poker Face season two with Natasha Leone is. I don't remember if we know who she is in Fantastic Four or not, but she has been announced as part of the cast of Fantastic Four.

Will Rose: 00:53:54

Nice.

Andy Walsh: 00:53:54

And so if you need a little bit of Natasha Lyon Prep. Poker Face is Rian Johnson's series. It's a kind of Matlock throwback of murder mystery TV show. But you know who did it from the start.

It's not about who did it, it's about how they did it and how Natasha's character figures out how they did it. So just fun mysteries in the vein, if you like Knives out and Glass.

I mean, and that story, it's more of that kind of twisty, turny, snarky, fun murder mystery plot. So those are my, those are my recommendations.

Will Rose: 00:54:27

Yeah, I like that. Natasha Leone. My family ran into her at New Year's Eve in Puerto Rico and they were like, like, we think we know her.

And then they looked her up and they're like, yep, we do know her. She's an actress. And they like gave each other winks and smiles at a party in, in Puerto Rico. So I think that's a good recogation.

We have to pull that up. I love it. Yeah. And then we have Christian chiming in Here with Aliens vs Fishers has been pretty solid. The final issue came out today.

As of recording this going live. I, I agree. The art side, RIBC Hickman. If you like the Alien franchise, man, it's, it's really, really, really. So I will recommend Crypto. Crypto.

The Last Dog of Krypton, number one. Ryan North, Mike Norton, Ian Herring, DC Comics. Ryan North, Ryan dc. And yeah, I couldn't be more.

I love dogs, I love Superdogs and I, I love Superman and I love comics and I like what Ryan north does. So, man, you put all those together, man, that's a dang good comic. And I don't know if how long this series is going to be.

I'm sure be a short, short series, limited series. But I will definitely get. I will, I will definitely.

I, I even know how it's going to end, but I'll probably have this trade paperback answering wishes on On My Shelf. So love it y' all. Chime in and let us know in the comments. What are you geeking out on? What movies you're most looking forward to?

How you manage your expectations.

Let us know if there's a movie that we haven't talked about that you saw this summer or anytime that you're like like hey, I would really love to hear you guys banter and geek out on this particular movie. Would be. We'll be happy to do that. Reach out to us. Let us know. We are super excited to geek out with you over this summer.

We will keep this podcast going. Thank you supporters and listeners and those who share with your friends and Patreons patrons. Thanks.

Thanks so much for for geeking out with us and we'll come back around after after we've seen these movies we could do another follow up about what we think about them. So stay tuned when it comes more to geekology. Andy, Kevin, myself, Will others and Christian who was watching online and chimed in the comments.

Thanks. We love you guys. And remember, share the faith. Share the geek.

Andy Walsh: 00:56:55

Sam.