Pop! Pop! A Pop Culture Podcast

The Multiverse of Madness is finally upon us! Patrick Geraghty, an old friend of the podcast, joins us this episode as we finally get to talk about the strangest MCU installment yet!  

Moon Knight is UPON US! We break down the premiere episode of the highly anticipated first foray into the MCU's dark underworld. and then yeah, we also unfortunately talk about Morbius (boo) and holy shit is it terrible.  

Not much going on since we last podcasted so we break down some news from over the last month and talk about what we've been watching.  Spider-Man crosses $600 million domestically, the Morbius (boo) director straight up SPOILS the post credits scene, Tom Cruise goes to war with the studio over the MI:7 budget, Barry Keoghan's Joker is revealed in a The Batman deleted scene AND so much more on this episode of Pop! Pop!

Simply: The Batman.    But also we have Carsen Greene from The Movie Mavens Podcast on the show today to help us break down why (or if?) this iteration of The Dark Knight is the best one yet. Follow Movie Mavens @MovieMavens on IG and listen to their show anywhere you get your podcast fix. 

Two shows, two finales, but only one of them doesn't suck. We don't want to point fingers, but there's a reason we demoted Book of Boba Fett from the main topic originally... Book of Boba Fett tries hard to salvage its subpar first season but only Peacemaker delivers on all fronts.  Joel also has the longest "what we've been watching" ever, which is a first for him.  

We come back to continue reviewing this season of Peacemaker AND The Book of Boba Fett got so damn good that we had to make it a main topic again… kudos to them & Bryce Dallas Howard specifically. 

"My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at meeeeee" That's right, Scream is back in theaters and it's even more meta than Matrix Resurrections (if you can believe that) Scream '96 is a classic and the gang discusses if this Requel holds up or not.  Then we dive into Peacemaker episodes 1-4, and it turns out the only thing needed to get Joel to LOVE something in the DC universe is: James Gunn. If you ever skip this opening title sequence, you're dead to us. (we continue talking about Book of Boba, but none of us are impressed enough to make it the main topic anymore. Skip to what we've been watching if that's what you're here for)

There's so much goddamn news in this episode that's why it's over 2 hours long... People have died, people have farted in jars, and there's even some DC news! We break down the first two episodes of The Book of Boba Fett and honestly, it's a much smaller segment than all of the news... which I think says something. It's FUN... but do we like it!? 

Hawkeye closes out with some big surprises and cameos but what does it mean for the MCU & will it warrant a season 2!?  Then Taylor and Joel are at odds (rare) about if Matrix Resurrections sucks or not... uh oh. 

There's not much to say about this except that we review the best damn Spider-Man movie to ever exist. 

In true Pop! Pop! form we all got a little busy (Joel got stuck in the UK) so this podcast is going to be about the first 2/3rds of the new Hawkeye show.  Clint Barton goes street level in the new D+ show based on a comic by Matt Fraction and there's loads to love here.  Clint & Kate's chemistry is absolutely electric and there are cameos galore to be had! 

Eternals is out and has been getting a lot of flack from reviewers; we break down who liked it, who didn't, and if the critics are right.  And, as always, it wouldn't be a Pop! Pop! episode if we didn't talk about Spider-Man... So thankfully, a whole-ass new trailer came out for NWH and yeah... Joel loves it.   

DCFandome was last weekend (the weekend prior? I don't know) and we got a fuckload of trailers as always (one other time) but the one that the whole world really cared about was The Batman trailer.  R-Pattz debuts his Batman voice and we get a much deeper look at the world of The Batman compared to the first teaser.  Let's just say... we are all pleased.  AND THEN! Everyone saw Dune... there are some differing opinions about this movie here, so better to just tune in and listen for yourself! (Joel loved it) 

Lots going on in this episode folks, but the first thing is LAUREN IS BACK FROM THE UK! We're back in Taylor's garage for our first in-person podcast in over a year! Damn it feels good.  We finish up ... What If? and talk about the finale & what season 2 could look like as well as talk about an episode that never made it to air.  Lauren and Joel saw Venom: Let There Be Carnage (sadly) and I'm sure you can guess how it was received... and to round it all out, the entire gang saw No Time to Die 30 minutes before this podcast was recorded.  What happens to Bond? Who's going to be the NEXT Bond!? WHY is Bond!? All these questions answered and more in this week's episode! 

Today we're taking a look at the previous three episodes of ... What If? before we get into the final two episodes to come! We also break down yet another Marvel/Disney lawsuit and poke fun at the casting choices for Nintendo's recently announced Super Mario Bros movie. 

Marvel's Phase 4 OFFICIALLY kicks off (theatrically) with Shang Chi, and holy shit does it deliver some kick-ass action and one of the better origin stories in the MCU to date.  We also revisit the world of weird in the next two episodes of ... What If? 

Kevin Feige finally gave us peasants a crumb of happiness and released the No Way Home trailer. DOC OCK! PUMPKIN BOMB! PROBABLY, MAYBE MATT MURDOCK!  There's so much to gush about in this trailer, and boy do we ever... you know how we love Spooder Mans. Also, I didn't wanna release two episodes in the same week so we also talk about the first two episodes of ... What If?  Enjoy, nerds. 

Look... Joel has to get a Suicide Squad tattoo, so that should tell you everything you need to know about how we felt about this movie... but maybe give it a listen for the in-depth talk.  There's also some news about Scar-Jo trying to put the big Mouse in his place, and a long What We've Been Watching segment where we shit on M. Knight Shyamalan and discuss "high art films." 

Technically this is Loki episode 5 AND 6, but obviously we all really wanna talk about that FINALE BABY!  Also, Black Widow was released alongside Loki, so we couldn't help but make that the main event of our "what we've been watching" segment.  SO MUCH MCU! 

Before we get to our review of episodes 3 & 4 of Loki, in which we gush over how this show just keeps getting better, we talk about the trailer for Shang Chi and how some new Spidey merch that dropped for No Way Home hints at some possible plot details.  In our Loki review we basically just theorize how Kang possibly plays into everything... and how much we love Alligator Loki. 

The God of mischief is back from the dead with his own MCU show, and by god, it's just as good as everything else the MCU has given us thus far.  The Multiverse of Madness is coming, and it's coming fast! 

Sadly everyone has been out of town so this podcast is a little late, but we finally review the final two episodes of The Falcon & the Winter Soldier! Joel and Taylor also saw Mortal Kombat and Nomadland while Lauren watched Promising Young Woman.  There's also some good old-fashioned Zack Snyder shit-talking for good measure.  

Everyone watched Godzilla vs Kong, Joel and Taylor got to hang out in person for the first time in over a year and of course, we review The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episodes 3 & 4.  John Walker might be a good soldier, but holy shit is he not a good man.  Steve Rogers is rolling over in his grave... or in his bed on the secret moon base... wherever he is.  

Wandavision finished TWO whole weeks ago and we've been famished ever since... but alas, Falcon & the Winter Soldier is here to save the day.  The next installment of the MCU Phase 4 is here and we break it down.  BUT! Not before we talk about the new Suicide Squad trailer AND about how Joel actually watched... THE SNYDER CUT! DUN DUN DUN! 

Literally nothing else in this episode but the WandaVision finale review! How does the first chapter of phase 4 close out!? Tune in to find out!  

Spider-Man 3 gets an official title and Mortal Kombat releases its first trailer... but we know why we're all really here: WandaVision episodes 7 & 8.  We watched them, and we're here to talk about them. I don't want to hype it up too much... but WandaVision episode 8 was ONE OF the best pieces of Marvel media ever made.  THE FINALE IS THIS WEEK! WOO! 

Just a couple of news bits before we revisit Westview and see what Wanda & Vision are up to! Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey have been cast in HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us as Joel & Ellie respectively; Gina Carano has been officially fired from the Mandalorian while Joss Whedon's past behavior on set has finally caught up with him.  Back in the MCU we find Wanda and Vision at odds over what's happening in Westview while Evan Peters has shown up as Wanda's dead brother Pietro... Just when we thought shit couldn't get ANY crazier...

We just recently podcasted so there's not much news to talk about, but there WAS a Godzilla vs Kong trailer! We break that down and then dive right into WandaVision episodes 3 &4 ... Shit is starting to get WEIRD! 

Episode 69! Nice!  There's a massive amount of Marvel news this podcast; Thor 4 casting rumors, Daredevil rumors, Moonknight casting news AND some Deadpool 3 news for good measure. We also spend a little bit of time talking shit on the Snydercut because why wouldn't we?  But the real big juicy stuff here is that phase 4 has OFFICIALLY STARTED with the first two episodes of WandaVision dropping on Disney+.  We break them down and jump on the fanboy theory train! All aboard! 

The second season of the Mandalorian wrapped up with the craziest cameo in Star Wars history AND WE GUSH ABOUT IT! Then we break down everything that was revealed at Disney Investor's Day (Star Wars, MCU & then some) and speculate what the future of all of these franchises holds. 

The shortest "What We've Been Watching" of all time as we all watched the same movie so we could talk about it -- Mank.  Somehow we talked about new Spider-Man news without making it the main topic OR making it a 3-hour discussion! Alfred Molina joins Jamie Foxx as the second non-MCU-Spidey villain to be in Spider-Man 3, as he's been added to the cast to reprise his role as Doc Ock.  We're all mad about it.  Finally, WB dropped a BOMB on Hollywood, announcing that they would release their ENTIRE 2021 slate on HBO Max on the same day as their theatrical release. It's a huge shakeup of the way films have always been released and we break down whether it's a temporary strategy for Covid-times or the way of the future. 

We accidentally took a month off and have SO MUCH NEWS to catch up on.  There wasn't a frontrunner for "main topic" so we just spend the last bit of the podcast talking shit (as usual) on The SnyderCut following the news that his $70 million reshoots are only going to result in 4 minutes of new footage for the release...  

Taylor finally sat down and watched the rest of The Boys Season 2 so here we are reviewing it!  Season 1 was one of the best things Amazon has ever put out and goddamn does this season even top THAT!  We can't wait for season 3 to watch even more nazi-stomping. 

Jamie Foxx has been confirmed to be in Spider-Man 3 as Electro and Benedict Cumberbatch's Dr. Strange will also be in the movie... does this mean that we'll be getting the multi-verse in Spider-Man 3 and will the other Spider-Men be in it!?  It's very surprising news, and to some... it's worrisome. 

We lost the King of Wakanda recently and it came as a shock to EVERYONE.  We honor Chadwick Boseman and say our goodbyes.  In some less depressing news, Jonathan Majors has been cast as Kang the Conquerer for Ant-Man 3!  Is this the new MCU Saga villain? Or will he be more of an Ultron mini-boss situation?  We break down all the implications and MORE! 

A lot of stuff happened at DCFanDome over the weekend but let's be honest, we're here to talk about The Batman.  We break down everything from the Black Adam concept art to the goddamn Snyder cut trailer, but all hail the Battinson! 

This week is a pretty heavy news-cast!  Nia DaCosta (Candyman, Little Woods) has been tapped to direct Captain Marvel 2; she'll be the first African-American woman to direct a major Marvel film.  Quentin Tarantino's mythical Star Trek film is finally no-more, he's confirmed that he's dropping out.  Disney has mangled the 20th Century Fox name, removing the "Fox" title entirely and just calling it "20th television."  Shawn Ashmore has been added to season 2 of The Boys, The Fresh Prince is getting a gritty dramatic reboot, and Olivia Munn is reportedly returning to her headlining role of G4TV.  The main topic this week, just because it's Spider-Man, is that the third film might be called "Homesick."  Is he on the run? In hiding? Does he have Covid!? We break down all the implications!

There's a bunch of rapid-fire news this week: Courteney Cox returning for Scream 5, The Rock buys the XFL for some reason, a new Suicide Squad logo for James Gunn's birthday, Captain Marvel 2 gets a new director and RIP Wilford Brimley. The meat and potatoes of this episode is the big news that Mulan will be releasing on Disney+ for an additional $30 on top of your Disney+ subscription. Good idea? Bad idea? We break it all down!

There are a few major news pieces such as another (unwanted) update on The Snyder Cut, the titillating finale of the Universal & AMC war, and finally a firm decision on what's happening with Christopher Nolan's Tenet.  After the news roundup, we dive into SDCC @ Home - discussing panels we all saw and whether or not the virtual con was able to fill the shoes of its real-life counterpart. 

Pop! Pop! first and foremost wants to voice their support for Black Lives Matter! If you don't, you should probably stop listening to us. In this episode we talk about the new "Bill and Ted 3" trailer, the trailer for Star Wars' new videogame "Squadrons," and how "Evil Dead" is going on a roadshow! Then Joel rages over toxic fanboys getting what they want from HBO, who's putting 20 million dollars into "The Snyder Cut" ... which supposedly already existed, but apparently not.  To round things out, the crew discusses whether or not Hollywood is ready to open again smack dab in the middle of a pandemic.  From AMC theaters to productions returning to filming, we cover it all! 

Comic-Con has officially been canceled so this podcast is just 2 hours of Joel crying... JK! While SDCC isn't happening this year, Star Wars celebration has yet to cancel amidst the growing Covid-19 concerns. Other topics this week include: Sony stupidly names their stupid Spider-Man universe, Vid Diesel and the producers guild butt heads, the Russo brothers are working the live-action Hercules remake, and for one year only streaming films will be eligible for the 2021 Academy Awards!  This week's main topic follows up with AMC's drama from the last podcast.  Universal and AMC seem to be fighting, resulting in AMC saying they'll no longer screen Universal movies! GASP! 

Look, there's not much going on in the world, we talk about what we've all been watching (yes that includes TIGER KING!) and then we discuss the sad reality that AMC may have to close its doors forever! 

With everyone on quarantine, we unfortunately have to deliver you all another skype-cast (well, google hangouts this time) With Hollywood shutdown indefinitely, not only have all three of us been affected work-wise, but dozens of blockbusters including Black Widow, Wonder Woman 1984, James Bond 25... and many more have been delayed until later this year! Films currently in production, like Mission Impossible 7, have also been put on hold until further notice.  Amidst all of this, some studios are opting to release their films straight to VOD... how will all of this change the shape of the industry and will we ever see a movie in theaters again!? Tune in to hear our thoughts on where the global pandemic could push our industry!

The gang is back!  Bust our your beret because there's a new Wes Anderson movie trailer out!  Marvel has tapped Sam Raimi to take over for Doctor Strange 2 and Joel busts out his tinfoil hat to try and connect this news to the Sony Spider-Verse!  We look back at our Oscar predictions and weigh them against the results and we break down the first ever footage of Robert Pattinson in the new Batman suit!  There's much more news stuffed into this episode but the main course is a Birds of Prey review! I bet you can guess who in this group wasn't a big fan...

Welcome back nerds! There were a ton of new trailers this week!  We have ANOTHER New Mutants trailer, we see Jared Leto get emo in Morbius, and Daniel Radlcliffe gets fucking guns bolted to his hands in Guns Akimbo!  We break down the news that Scott Derrickson has sadly exited the Dr. Strange sequel, HBO is not going to pursue a Watchmen sequel, and Colin Trevorrow's (boooo) Star Wars episode IX script has leaked... uh oh...  We round out this episode with a breakdown of all the 2020 Oscars nominees!  All of this AND MORE on this week's episode! 

The gang has been watching A LOT lately; Jumanji 2, Marriage Story, Mrs. Maisel, The Expanse! This week's "What We've Been Watching" is STACKED.  Before the main course, the news of the week has rumors of a Moon Knight casting, the Agents of Shield going galactic, and a certain Nickelodian obstacle course show coming back... for adults.  Then we take a deep, deep, deep, dive into STAR WARS: The Rise of Skywalker.  Surprisingly (or maybe not?) there are some differing opinions on the movie.  Tune in to find out who hates or loves what, and WHY!?

There really wasn't any huge news this week, and we all couldn't make time to see the same movie... So we're bringing back the all news cast!  If I previewed all that here, you'd have no reason to listen to the episode... So just listen to it already!  Alright I'll give you a little taste... We talk some MAD shit on people who tweeted about releasing the Snyder cut...  

It's our 50th episode! 50! Over four years! And in true Pop! Pop! fashion... We did absolutely nothing special for the occasion.  We are consistent (??) though because we've got some nerd news for you all! Colin Farrell and Andy Serkis have been tapped to play The Penguin and Alfred resptively in the upcoming Matt Reeves' Batman film; Benioff & Weiss have "exited" Star Wars, and by exited, we think they got fired; Ant-Man 3 and Into the Spiderverse 2 have finally been confirmed and to round the episode out, we review the sequel to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, Doctor Sleep! 

Not much else here, guys, just a review of Taika Watiti's JoJo Rabbit! 

Taylor hated Gemini Man, Joel loved El Camino, and Lauren didn't see EITHER of those movies!  Paul Dano & Zoe Kravitz join Dick Pattinson in Matt Reeves' The Batman, Kevin Feige consolidates MORE power over at Marvel, and we all shiver with pleasure over the Rise of Skywalker trailer!  We round this podcast out with a concise little Zombieland 2: Double Tap review!  (it's a short review for a reason... )  All of this AND MORE, on this week's episode of Pop! Pop! 

Uh... Look, I didn't take show notes. We talk a lot of shit and then review the Joker! OH AND THERE'S FOUR PEOPLE ON THIS EPISODE! WOO!