Podcasts about Nick Fury

It's Marvel Monday and meet Marvel's most powerful hero! ABOUT CAPTAIN MARVEL Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR CAPTAIN MARVEL March 8, 2019 | Theatrical Release CAST & CREW OF CAPTAIN MARVEL Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck Writers: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet Cast: Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury BRAN'S MOVIE SYNOPSIS Carol Danvers is living her best amnesia life on the Kree homeworld of Hala under the name Vers. Got it? Good.  She's got superpowers, cool space suits, and a mentor named Yon-Rogg who constantly tells her to stop feeling. The Kree government, which is basically run by a giant AI lady, insists that the evil shape-shifting Skrulls ruined her life and since Carol remembers absolutely nothing, so she just rolls with it. While on a mission to rescue a Kree spy, things immediately go sideways. The Skrulls capture Carol and start digging around in her memories, discovering that she used to be an Air Force pilot on Earth. Their leader Talos becomes very interested in a scientist named Dr. Wendy Lawson and a mysterious light-speed engine. Carol escapes before they get all the answers and crash-lands straight into a Blockbuster Video in 1995 Los Angeles. Her arrival gets the attention of a young Nick Fury, who still has two working eyes and spends most of this movie being confused. After a series of chases, explosions, and Skrulls impersonating anyone they want, Carol starts uncovering pieces of her past. She learns that she wasn't born on Hala at all—she was an Air Force pilot presumed dead after a crash years earlier. As Carol & Nick follow the breadcrumbs, she reconnects with her old friend Maria and Maria's daughter Monica, who are understandably shocked to discover their dead friend is actually a space superhero. Meanwhile, Talos finally reveals that the Skrulls aren't conquering villains at all—they're refugees looking for a home. Turns out the Kree may not have been entirely honest. The biggest bombshell comes when Carol remembers what really happened. Dr. Lawson was actually Mar-Vell, a Kree scientist secretly helping the Skrulls. Shes killed while taking control of an experimental energy source. Carol destroyed the engine to keep it from the Kree, absorbed its energy in the explosion, gained incredible powers, and then had her memories erased so the Kree could turn her into a weapon. The gang tracks down Mar-Vell's hidden space laboratory, where a bunch of Skrull refugees have been hiding. Unfortunately, Starforce shows up, the Kree try to reassert control, and Carol gets dragged before the Supreme Intelligence. She destroys the device limiting her powers and finally goes full Captain Marvel. What follows is a one-sided beatdown thanks to Captain marvel.  With the Skrulls safe for the moment, Carol decides to head off into space to help them find a permanent home. Before leaving, she gives Fury a special pager for emergencies. Fury later loses his eye in an incident involving Goose - a cat who is actually an alien who is also holding the Tesseract in its tummy. Looking at Carol's old Air Force call sign, he lands on the perfect name: The Avengers Initiative. In the mid-credits scene, the pager goes off and Carol returns to Earth Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtubeInterested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  ABOUT AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe. AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR April 27, 2018 | Theatrical Release CAST & CREW OF AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Writers: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Stan Lee Cast: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man Chris Hemsworth as Thor Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther Zoe Saldaña as Gamora Karen Gillan as Nebula Tom Hiddleston as Loki Paul Bettany as Vision Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier BRAN'S MOVIE SYNOPSIS So, they get right to it. Bad boy Thanos gets an infinity stone, the Power Stone. His play is to get all six Infinity Stones and wipe out half of all life in the universe.  His first stop is the ship carrying the surviving people of Asgard. Thanos easily overwhelms the remaining Asgardians, beats up Hulk, and steals the Space Stone from Loki's Tesseract. He then kills Loki. Thanos then destroys the ship and continues his hunt. Edris Elba helps make sure that Hulk returns to earth, where he crashes through the New York Sanctum. Back as Bruce, He warns Doctor Stephen Strange and Wong that Thanos is coming.  Tony Stark joins the conversation. Before he can call Steve Rogers to get the band back together, they attack the city to claim the Time Stone from Strange. Spider-Man is pulled into the chaos, and after they captures Strange aboard his spaceship, Stark and Peter Parker secretly hitch a ride into space to rescue him while Wong remains behind to defend the Sanctum. Meanwhile, the Guardians of the Galaxy answer a distress signal and save Thor floating in space. They agree they need to work together to stop Thanos. But they're too late. Thanos already possesses the Reality Stone and uses its power to manipulate everything around them. He captures Gamora after learning she knows the location of the Soul Stone. Desperate to save her adopted sister Nebula from torture, Gamora tells him where the stone is .  When they get there, the keeper of the Soul Stone, one Red Skull, reveals the price required to obtain it: the sacrifice of someone truly loved. In one of the film's most tragic moments, Thanos throws Gamora to her death, earning the Soul Stone. Vision and Wanda are ambushed in Scotland by Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive, who attempt to rip the Mind Stone from Vision's forehead. Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon arrive just in time to save them, bringing the wounded Vision back to the Avengers Compound. Vision urges Wanda to destroy the Mind Stone and kill him if necessary to stop Thanos, but she cannot bring herself to do it. Instead, the team heads to Wakanda, believing Shuri may be able to safely remove the stone without sacrificing Vision's life. Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange end up on Titan and come face to face with Star-Lord, Drax, and Mantis and they realize they're in the same team.  Using the Time Stone, Strange studies millions of possible futures and discovers only one path where they succeed. Together they execute an elaborate plan to restrain Thanos and remove the Infinity Gauntlet. For a moment, it almost works—until Nebula reveals that Gamora is dead. Overcome with grief and rage, Star-Lord attacks Thanos, ruining the team's hold on him. Thanos breaks free, defeats everyone, and nearly kills Iron Man. To save Tony's life, Doctor Strange willingly surrenders the Time Stone, despite knowing how dangerous it is. In Wakanda, the Avengers prepare for an all-out invasion from Thanos's army. Bruce Banner, unable to transform into Hulk, enters battle wearing the Hulkbuster armor. The tide finally turns when Thor arrives in spectacular fashion alongside Rocket and Groot, tearing through Thanos's army with his fresh new hammer/ax combo, Stormbreaker. Despite their efforts, Thanos himself eventually reaches Vision. Wanda heartbreakingly destroys the Mind Stone—and Vision with it—just before Thanos can claim it. But using the Time Stone, Thanos reverses time, restores Vision briefly to life, and violently tears the stone from his forehead, killing him again. With all six Infinity Stones finally united, the Infinity Gauntlet is complete. Thor attacks and buries Stormbreaker deep into Thanos's chest, but Thanos coldly tells him he “should have gone for the head.” He snaps his fingers and vanishes. Across the universe, half of all life immediately turns to dust. Bucky Barnes, Black Panther, Groot, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Star-Lord, Drax, and Mantis all fade away. On Earth, Nick Fury manages to send a desperate signal from a mysterious pager moments before he too disappears. The survivors are left shattered and defeated. Tony Stark and Nebula are stranded on Titan. The remaining Avengers stand in stunned silence in Wakanda. And somewhere far away, Thanos sits alone on a quiet planet, watching the sunrise over a universe he believes he has finally “saved.” Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtubeInterested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode Summary The Boys is officially over, and Frank and Thomas dig into a series finale that split the internet right down the middle. They break down why Homelander's fall hits harder than the backlash suggests, where Kimiko's powers felt rushed, and how Butcher's heel turn landed for comic readers versus everyone else, before scoring both the finale and the full 2019 to now run. From there, they jump to the big screen for The Mandalorian and Grogu, a movie they both enjoyed while admitting the plot is paper thin and the whole thing feels like stitched-together episodes. The centerpiece is a long-awaited sit down with Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, who returns as Uncle Iroh in Avatar: The Last Airbender season two on Netflix and plays Captain Carson Teva in the Star Wars universe. He opens up about adapting a beloved animated series, why he avoids the deep lore cuts when building a character, the reckoning Iroh faces in the live-action version, and the everyman appeal of Carson Teva. He also reflects on Kim's Convenience, the season six that never happened, and why he thinks tearing down something new before watching it is a waste of energy. Timestamps and Topics 00:00:00 Intro and Weekly Catch-Up 00:03:52 The Boys Series Finale Review 00:25:27 The Mandalorian and Grogu Review 00:47:01 Interview With Paul Sun-Hyung Lee 01:20:55 Rapid Fire Questions 01:24:06 Network Updates and Weekly Recommendations Key Takeaways The Boys finale earned an 8 out of 10 from both hosts, with the full series landing at a 9, praised for ending on a hopeful note that the good guys can actually win if they stick together. Homelander losing his powers reveals who he always was underneath the facade, a takedown the hosts rank among the best villain endings on TV, even if the way he lost them through Kimiko felt like a quick fix. The Mandalorian and Grogu works as crowd-pleasing, kid-friendly Star Wars but lacks a real character arc, scoring around a 6 to 7 with both hosts feeling it plays like several episodes cut together. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee approaches adaptation by serving the scripts rather than chasing deep lore, and the live action Avatar gives Iroh a real reckoning for his role in the siege of Ba Sing Se that the cartoon glossed over. Carson Teva works because audiences connect with the grounded everyman in a universe full of Jedi, a role compared to Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, and even R2-D2. Kim's Convenience remains a point of deep pride for Lee, who still wishes fans had gotten the Appa and Jung reconciliation from the original play, but stands by going out on top. Quotes "When those were stripped away, he no longer could act like the same person." (Thomas, on Homelander) "The good guys can just straight up win." (Frank, on the finale's message) "We're so specifically Korean that it becomes universal." (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, on Kim's Convenience) "If you don't watch it, you can't talk smack about it." (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, on hating something unseen) "Go out on top if you're going to go out." (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, on ending Kim's Convenience) Call to Action If you enjoyed this one, subscribe so you never miss an episode, leave us a review wherever you listen, and share it with a friend who needs convincing on the finale. Tag us and join the conversation using #GeekFreaksPodcast. Links and Resources GeekFreaksPodcast.com is the source of all news discussed during the podcast. Follow Us Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegeekfreakspodcast Threads: https://www.threads.net/@geekfreakspodcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GeekFreakspodcast Listener Questions Got a hot take on The Boys finale, a defense of The Mandalorian and Grogu, or a question for a future guest? Send us your reactions, questions, and topic ideas. We read them, and your suggestion might shape an upcoming episode. Apple Podcast Tags The Boys, The Boys finale, Homelander, Butcher, Kimiko, Eric Kripke, The Mandalorian and Grogu, Star Wars, Grogu, Pedro Pascal, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Uncle Iroh, Avatar The Last Airbender, Netflix Avatar, Captain Carson Teva, Kim's Convenience, geek culture, pop culture podcast, TV reviews, movie reviews, Geek Freaks

"Battlefield Earth for Christians.”This week's scariest movie is... Constantine. This film has everything: the would-be Nick Fury of the Christian Expanded Universe, John Constantine the Baptist, And your parents' smug satisfaction. If you love holy brass knuckles, kitty-powered trips to hell, and fake relics with real confidence, this episode's for you!Please Subscribe, Rate, and Review The Horror Virgin to help more people discover our community.What did you think of our episode on Constantine? Tell us on social media @HorrorVirgin FB/IG, @HorrorVirginPod TwitterUp Next: Mother! (2017)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Your Stupid Minds covers FOX's backdoor pilot for a show all about Marvel's 92nd favorite character. The problem being that it came in fourth in the ratings and was never picked up as a series. It's 1998's Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Starring David Hasselhoff, Lisa Rinna, Sandra Hess, and Ron Canada. After HYDRA kills Clay Quartermain in a raid on a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, Nick Fury (Hasselhoff) is brought back on after being unceremoniously kicked out five years earlier for being too cool. He abandons the gold mine he's hiding out in for the last half decade and gets back to work. Fury reunites with his former lover and future series love interest that never was Contessa Valentina 'Val' de Allegro Fontaine (Rinna), some nerd Alexander Pierce (Neil Roberts, and yes that Alexander Pierce from Winter Soldier, but British for some reason), and a psychic and get to work stopping HYDRA. Andrea Von Strucker (Hess) has reignited her frozen father's dream of HYDRA world domination and Nazi-style terrorism, and is also Viper. She gets the drop on Fury, and drops some tree frog poison onto his lips via her lips. He has 48 hours to live, but Fury ignores tech genius Gabriel Jones's (Canada) advice of hanging out in the infirmary until he dies, and goes on a quest to save his own life instead by extracting Andrea's blood for an antidote. HYDRA is also planning to shoot deadly virus missiles in the general direction of the World Trade Center (collar tug) so they have to stop that too. Screenwriter David S. Goyer borrows a story idea he'll have 14 years later in The Dark Knight Rises and Val tracks a series of dummy trucks in the hopes of finding the one with the real virus bomb. Fury invades the HYDRA compound in New Jersey and is immediately captured, but not before stashing his robot doppelgänger somewhere in an unfilmed scene. He uses said doppelgänger to fake his own death long enough to capture Andrea and extract her blood (they also thwart the missile launch), but she escapes with her dad's frozen corpse pod that she apparently strapped rockets to. Luckily, all these loose ends are ready to tie up in FOX's new Nick Fury series that everyone will love and definitely wouldn't have moved around the schedule three times before being unceremoniously canceled after six episodes.

After a lengthy absence, B. Cox returns to review hip-hop legend T.I.'s explosive fourth album King as it turns 20.After stepping onto the scene and making himself known with his debut album, 2001's I'm Serious, the Atlanta rap star made further waves and saw larger success with his sophomore and junior albums, 2003's Trap Muzik and 2004's Urban Legend, respectively. He was looking to take the next step with this effort and make a claim as the professed "King Of The South" at a time when Atlanta hip-hop made its way to being at the epicenter of the industry. The album featured an all-star cast of producers and featured artist. It was produced by the likes of DJ Toomp, Mannie Fresh, Jus Blaze, The Neptunes, Kevin Mack, Nick Fury, Kevin "Khao" Cates and Swizz Beats while featuring artists such as UGK, Young Jeezy, Common, Young Dro, B.G., Young Buck, Pharrell and Jamie Foxx among others.The album's release coincided with the release three days later of the feature film and cult classic ATL, which was T.I.'s feature film debut and it also served as the de facto soundtrack. The album had four power-packed singles including the smash lead single "What You Know", which served as the movie's default theme. It was a huge success commercially, selling over 500,000 units the first week and is RIAA-certified 2x platinum. It solidified T.i. as a megastar and a major player in not only Atlanta's rap atmosphere, but the industry at-large for years to come.Show NotesOkayPlayer: The Once and Expeditious King: T.I. on 'King' 20 Years Later, His Latest Album and Morehttps://www.okayplayer.com/the-once-and-expeditious-king-ti-on-king-20-years-later-his-latest-album-and-more/1426138Yahoo: T.I. says it's 'wild to think that' his album 'King' is 20 years oldhttps://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/music/articles/t-says-wild-think-album-100000151.htmlWSB 95.5 Atlanta Talk & Music: Atlanta icon T.I. celebrates 20th anniversary of King album and its undeniable impacthttps://www.wsbradio.com/news/local/atlanta-icon-ti-commemorates-20th-anniversary-king-album-its-undeniable-impact/XD322ZV6JBHI5FJRHTJQOSPU5Y/Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

(Originally recorded 04.29.26) We're back! Both of your friendly neighborhood hosts had trips since last we convened.  These are discussed.  Find out about Stephe in Tennessee and Bruce in Costa Rica. Then we hopped right into the meat of this week's episode. Bruce came up with an idea.  Think "F*ck, Marry, Kill" but with the entire MCU catalog to choose from.  No we're not getting carnal or betrothed.  Instead we Keep one property exactly as is.  We Delete on from existence in its entirety and we Change one to better suit our nerd ideals. I can promise no duplicate choices were made. There is some extra nerdy discussion of things we didn't choose and why.  We get off on a tangent trying to take Nick Fury from WWII all the way to the early days of SHIELD in the swinging sixties. That one yields some very fun results. Stephe talks briefly about Dungeon Crawler Carl. (hint - he hasn't started it yet) He hasn't watched Daredevil:  Born Again either. Bruce goes into a deep dive on Chuck Dixon's Levon series, the source material for last year's A Working Man. And, of course, we play "What's on Your Desk?" We're back and we're ready to roll!  Join us!

Jim Steranko's Nick Fury stories from the late 1960s are lauded for the artwork, especially in the stories after Fury got out of Strange Tales and into his own book. The stories are wacky and kind of haphazard. The layouts are sometimes very innovative, but the storytelling is not always clear. Are these stories worth reading today? Tim and Kumar complete their review of Steranko's Nick Fury. Also, we hear from some listeners, and Tim explains the history and mystery of our podcast feed! Brought to you by: Waxy Buildup podcast Our supporters on Patreon

Join The People's Server on discord here: https://discord.gg/wwG6KJF64p This episode features a deep dive into Marvel Champions, focusing on Nick Fury, hero strategies, scenario preferences, and the art of flavor text. The hosts discuss their favorite heroes, deck-building tips, and community insights, offering valuable tips for players of all levels. In this episode, we explore Nick Fury's card art, mechanics, and thematic design, along with deck strategies and gameplay insights. Perfect for Marvel Champions fans looking to deepen their understanding of Nick Fury's kit and optimal playstyles. LACK OF SUBLETY'S deck: https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/61759/going-with-the-flow-winning-hand-ep-96-1.0 Boomguy's deck: https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/56937/old-saint-nick-1.0 Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Winning Hand Podcast 02:59 Getting to Know Lack of Subtlety 06:07 Favorite Heroes and Scenarios 09:09 Exploring Leadership in Marvel Champions 11:59 Player Count Preferences 14:48 Listener Email: Flavor Text in Marvel Champions 20:51 Recent Gameplay Experiences 26:45 Powerful Card Mechanics 30:18 Deck Building Strategies 33:30 Character Preferences and Gameplay Experiences 33:36 Con of Heroes Preparation 39:04 Card of the Day: Concentrated Fire 52:22 Navigating Nick Fury's Stealth Mechanics 54:38 Understanding Attack and Scheme Interactions 57:33 The Fun Factor of Concentrated Fire 59:37 Final Ratings and Overall Impressions of Nick Fury 01:04:44 Deck Strategies and Recommendations 01:24:07 Outro

This week, we welcome back Brett and Hannah! We check out trailers for “Coyote Vs ACME” and “Clayface.” Then, it's Robert Palmer's weird video themes, breaking down the progress of James Gunn's DCU, and making the staff at Cox Cable do just the worst things. Plus, David Hasselhoff as Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.D, and the Murder She Wrote movie.

In this episode, we continue our deep dive into the Nick Fury hero kit, and are joined by first time guest and woodworker extraordinaire, D20 Woodworking!  D20 Woodworking's deck: https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/61514/secret-agent-practiced-plan-and-a-yard-full-of-minons-1.0 Boomguy's deck: https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/57301/big-swingin-nick-1.0 Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Winning Hand Podcast 02:54 Listener Questions and Content Discussion 06:17 Getting to Know D20 Woodworking 10:01 D20's Content Creation Journey 14:10 Advice for Aspiring Content Creators 18:16 Recent Gameplay Experiences 24:09 Card of the Day: Secret Agent 34:33 The Joy of Revisiting Heroes 35:08 Analyzing Nick Fury's Card Power 36:51 Strategies for Building Nick Fury Decks 39:56 Fun Factor of Secret Agent Card 44:28 Final Ratings and Thoughts on Secret Agent 49:46 Overall Impressions of Nick Fury 52:09 Deck Sharing and Strategies 01:04:23 Parting Thoughts and Community Engagement 01:06:23 Outro

The Daily Quiz - Entertainment, Society and Culture Today's Questions: Question 1: Which popular '90s show featured the character of Ross Geller? Question 2: Name the movie that matches the following plot summary: 'A former detective becomes obsessed with the woman he has been hired to trail.' Question 3: Which of these languages would you find spoken in Pakistan? Question 4: Which animal would you associate with the Porsche logo? Question 5: Which actor has appeared in both Django Unchained and Moneyball? Question 6: Which actor plays the role of Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Question 7: What is the plot of the movie Schindler's List? Question 8: In which year was The Great Escape released? This podcast is produced by Klassic Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  In this episode, we explore the nuances of Marvel Champions, deck testing, hero rankings, and (with Con of Heroes 2026 coming up) we talk a bit about con etiquette with seasoned players. Discover insights on deck building, hero fun factor, and how to make the most of your con experience. Join us as we explore the intricacies of Fury's Flying Car, a standout card in Marvel Champions, and discuss Nick Fury's deck strategies, community experiences, and the thematic design behind this iconic support. Perfect for players looking to deepen their understanding and enjoy the game more. Hitbuttons' deck: https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/61327/superfly-tnt-winning-hand-episode-94-fury-s-flying-car-1.0 Boomguy's deck: https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/57301/big-swingin-nick-1.0 Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Winning Hand Podcast 01:55 Meet Hitbuttons: A New Guest in the Community 03:13 Hitbuttons' Journey with Marvel Champions 05:10 Favorite Heroes and Deck Strategies 08:06 Discussing Favorite Scenarios in Marvel Champions 11:17 Player Count Preferences and Community Engagement 13:25 Listener Email: Deck Testing vs. Playing 16:01 Understanding Card Power Levels and Fun Factor 24:44 Main Character Syndrome and Game Etiquette 26:50 The Role of Fun in Hero Evaluation 28:26 Subjectivity in Deck Rankings 33:04 New Packs: Wonder Man and Hercules 35:07 Preparing for the Khan of Heroes 38:48 Deck Selection and Etiquette at the Con 41:24 Navigating Player Dynamics and Expectations 44:52 Community and Social Interaction at the Con 48:49 Final Thoughts on Con Etiquette 55:46 Card of the Day: Fury's Flying Car 01:03:26 Nick Fury's Flying Car: A Game Changer? 01:09:00 The Fun Factor of Fury's Flying Car 01:13:40 Final Thoughts and Ratings on Fury's Flying Car 01:18:00 Deck Showcase: Hitbuttons' Dive Bomb Deck 01:27:00 Boomguy's Justice Deck: Bad Mother Tucker 01:34:32 Outro  

Are you looking for a message that really hits home? In this recording, Nick Fury shares his incredible story of surviving death three times to remind us that God always has a plan. This talk is the start of a series called Built on the Rock and focuses on the Rock of Salvation. Nick walks through the famous story of Lazarus in John 11, but he adds a lot of personal insight and research that makes the verses come alive. He explains that Jesus is the resurrection itself and why He chose to wait four days before performing one of His greatest miracles. You will also learn about the stones we all have in our lives, like doubt or fear, and why we need to be involved in moving them out of the way. The message wraps up with a powerful reminder that we need community to help us through the process of restoration. If you need to hear that your current valley is actually a place for growth, this is definitely for you.

Join The People's Server on discord here: https://discord.gg/wwG6KJF64p In this episode of the Winning Hand Podcast, Boomguy and LazyTitan are joined by community stalwart VJakson, and we embark on a month-long deep dive into the character of Nick Fury! We discuss our personal experiences with the game, and we learn about Vjakson's favorite heroes, and we talk about strategies for teaching new players the game. We get into some of the weird lore of Nick Fury, his abilities, and the (AMAZING) art design of his cards. Is his real name actually Marcus? Find out in episode 93!  Boomguy's deck: https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/61180/big-nick-energy-episode-93-1.0 VJakson's deck: https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/61175/don-t-hate-the-playa-hate-the-scheme-wh-ep93-1.0 Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Winning Hand Podcast 02:52 Deep Dive into Nick Fury 05:28 Player Experiences and Favorite Heroes 08:04 Game Mechanics and Player Strategies 10:48 Teaching New Players 13:45 Player Count Preferences 16:45 Recent Gameplay Experiences 19:26 Exploring Adam Warlock 22:17 Deck Building Challenges 25:22 Custom Leaders and Theory Crafting 28:34 Nick Fury's Abilities and Gameplay 42:45 Nick Fury's Stealth Suit and Art Design 48:01 Nick Fury's Character Background and Legacy 52:02 The Evolution of Nick Fury in Comics 58:09 Nick Fury's Gameplay Mechanics and Strategy 01:02:52 Thematic Representation in Nick Fury's Design 01:09:17 Balancing Power and Risk in Gameplay 01:23:17 Final Thoughts on Nick Fury's Hero Design

It's Marvel Monday and the Avengers are back to face their greatest threat yet(?)! ABOUT AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong and it's up to Earth's mightiest heroes to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plan. AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON May 1, 2015 | Theatrical Release CAST & CREW OF AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON Director: Joss Whedon Writers: Joss Whedon, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby Cast: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk Chris Hemsworth as Thor Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye James Spader as Ultron Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch Paul Bettany as Jarvis/Vision Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon BRAN'S MOVIE SYNOPSIS Meet the Avengers — back together again because apparently no one else can handle a simple “let's raid a HYDRA base” situation. Their mission? Break into Baron von Strucker's operation, stop some deeply concerning human experimentation, and get Loki's scepter back where it belongs. Easy enough… until they run into Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, a pair of enhanced twins with super speed, mind games, and enough power to make everyone very uncomfortable. After recovering the scepter, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner do what Tony Stark and Bruce Banner always do: they mess with something they absolutely should not mess with. Hidden inside the scepter is the advanced intelligence they think can finally complete Ultron, a global peacekeeping program Tony has been dreaming about. Unfortunately, Ultron wakes up with exactly one idea in mind: humanity has got to go. He destroys J.A.R.V.I.S., wrecks Avengers Tower, steals the scepter, and heads out to build himself a better future… one without people in it. Ultron recruits Wanda and Pietro by showing them Tony's greatest hits in collateral damage, and together they set out to collect vibranium for whatever nightmare project he's cooking up. When the Avengers try to stop them, Wanda gets inside everyone's heads and forces them to confront their worst fears. Things really go off the rails when she manipulates Bruce into becoming the Hulk in the middle of a city, leaving Tony to suit up in the Hulkbuster armor and punch his friend through several buildings. Not great for public relations. With the team shaken, divided, and freshly hated by the public, Hawkeye brings everyone to the one place no one saw coming: his secret farmhouse, where he casually reveals that he has a wife, kids, and a whole hidden life none of them knew about. It's a surprisingly grounding stop for a team on the verge of collapse, and it gives them just enough clarity to realize Ultron's plan is much bigger than they thought. Once Wanda sees that he's not trying to save the world but end it, she and Pietro switch sides and join the Avengers. Things escalate quickly when Ultron kidnaps Natasha, forcing the team into another rescue while also arguing over whether they should trust the strange new synthetic body Tony and Bruce have been building. Thor returns just in time to supercharge the process, explaining that the gem in Loki's scepter is tied to something far more powerful: the Infinity Stones. The result is Vision, a mysterious new being who immediately earns everyone's trust by casually lifting Thor's hammer like it's no big deal. The final showdown takes the team to Sokovia, where Ultron has used vibranium to turn an entire chunk of the city into a floating extinction-level weapon. If he can lift it high enough and drop it, humanity is done. So naturally, the Avengers split up to save civilians, battle an endless robot army, rescue Natasha, and stop the apocalypse all at once. Nick Fury even shows up in a Helicarrier because if the sky city is going down, he's not about to miss it. The battle comes at a cost. Pietro sacrifices himself to save Hawkeye and a child, Wanda unleashes her grief in spectacular fashion, and Hulk ultimately chooses to disappear rather than risk hurting Natasha or anyone else again. In the end, Tony and Thor destroy Sokovia before it can wipe out the planet, and Vision finishes off Ultron for good — or at least as “for good” as these things ever are. By the end, the original team has changed. Thor heads back to Asgard to investigate the larger cosmic mystery. Tony steps away. Hawkeye retires. And Steve Rogers and Natasha are left to train a new generation of Avengers, including War Machine, Falcon, Wanda, and Vision. And just when you think it's over, Thanos puts on a gauntlet and basically says, “Fine. I'll do it myself. Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtubeInterested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Week 2 of my Road To Doomsday is coming up and it spans Nick Fury's Big Week.I discuss those movies and Marvel One Shots as well as the process of creating the content for this.project.Entries reviewed were Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Marvel One Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer, The Incredible Hulk, Marvel One Shot: The Consultant and Thor.

his episode, we take a trip back to London during WWII to visit with Sgt. Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos, covering issue 4 of the Marvel Comics series (released in 1963). We break down this war story and discuss some war movies!   You can find all things Jacked Kirby (including links to listen to the show, our social media pages,  t-shirts) on our FlowPage; WWW.FLOW.PAGE/JACKEDKIRBY if you like the show, share the show! Like posts, tag friends, share our stuff, and rate & review the show wherever you can! Thanks! 

Join The People's Server on discord here: https://discord.gg/wwG6KJF64p In this episode, LazyTitan and Boomguy talk about their favorite heroes, starting with #1 and working their way down their respective lists. Ever wondered why we love what we do? Who's your pick between these two?

Somehow it's taken us 20 years of podcasting to get to Jim Steranko's fabled run on Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. But is the early stuff really so fabled? There's lots of action and it's exciting, but don't dare think about it too much, because the seat-of-the-pants plotting is all over the map, and the anatomy … Continue reading #870 Steranko's “Nick Fury,” pt 1: Spy or superhero?

Tony Stark's complex journey as both hero and villain takes center stage as Christian Ashley and Kevin Schaefer dive deep into the MCU with their review of the first two Iron Man films and the Incredible Hulk. They kick things off by pondering whether Stark is truly the greatest hero or just a glorified villain, setting the tone for a lively discussion that blends nostalgia with critical analysis. This episode is all about revisiting the roots of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially as anticipation builds for Avengers: Doomsday. Each film is examined not only for its standalone qualities but also for how it lays the groundwork for the larger narrative arc of the MCU. With a relaxed vibe and plenty of witty banter, listeners are in for a treat as they navigate the highs and lows of these iconic films, celebrating the moments that made them classics while also critiquing the missteps along the way. Christian Ashley and Kevin Schaefer dive deep into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in their latest episode, focusing on the first two Iron Man films and the 2008 Hulk movie. They kick things off with the pivotal question: is Tony Stark the greatest hero or villain of the MCU? This episode serves as a rewatch guide in anticipation of the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, making it a perfect time for fans to revisit the roots of the MCU. The duo reflects on how Iron Man, released in 2008, was a game changer, reintroducing the character to a wider audience who may have only known him as a B-list superhero. With a relaxed banter, they unpack not just the action sequences but also the character arcs, particularly how Stark's journey from a self-absorbed billionaire to a reluctant hero is masterfully portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. They discuss the underlying themes of redemption and moral responsibility, as Stark grapples with the consequences of his past actions, a narrative that resonates throughout the MCU. As they transition to the Hulk, Ashley and Schaefer tackle the film's mixed reception, reflecting on Edward Norton's portrayal of Bruce Banner and the movie's approach to establishing Hulk's backstory. They appreciate the film's attempt to give a heartfelt narrative despite its CGI shortcomings and how it laid the groundwork for Hulk's later appearances in the franchise. Their discussion highlights the film's relationship dynamics, particularly between Banner and Betty, emphasizing how this iteration of Hulk adds depth to the character's motivations. The episode wraps up with a spirited analysis of Iron Man 2, where the hosts critique the film's struggle to balance character development with the expanding universe of the MCU. They note that while Iron Man 2 may not stand as strong as its predecessor, it still offers memorable moments and significant character growth, particularly through Tony's interactions with Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff. Overall, this episode serves as a comprehensive retrospective on early MCU films, exploring their lasting impact on the franchise and setting the stage for future stories to unfold in Avengers: Doomsday.Takeaways:The hosts dive deep into Tony Stark's dual nature as both a hero and a villain in the MCU, sparking a lively debate that's both insightful and humorous.Christian and Kevin reminisce about their first impressions of the Iron Man movies, emphasizing how groundbreaking they were in shaping the superhero genre.The episode highlights the importance of character development in the MCU, especially how Tony Stark evolves throughout his films, making it relatable for viewers.Listeners are treated to a nostalgic rewatch of the Incredible Hulk, discussing its underappreciated elements and the challenges of introducing such a beloved character.The hosts explore the missed opportunities in the Hulk film by not fully utilizing its villains, paving the way for a greater discussion about character arcs in superhero films.In a playful banter, the duo shares their thoughts on Iron Man 2's mixed reception, pointing out how it straddles the line between character study and franchise building..Be sure to check out our merch, find extra content, and become an official member of Systematic Geekology on our website:https://systematic-geekology-shop.fourthwall.com/.Listen to all of our Marvel episodes:https://player.captivate.fm/collection/fb519d38-2d9b-4f82-b041-81b81613543c.Listen to every episode with Christian:https://player.captivate.fm/collection/ebf4b064-0672-47dd-b5a3-0fff5f11b54c.Don't miss any of our other episodes with Kevin:https://player.captivate.fm/collection/84fd7d06-cf1f-48e5-b358-09a01c5a6bc9Mentioned in this episode:Systematic GeekologyOur show focuses around our favorite fandoms that we discuss from a Christian perspective. We do not try to put Jesus into all our favorite stories, but rather we try to ask the questions the IPs are asking, then addressing those questions from our perspective. We are not all ordained, but we are the Priests to the Geeks, in the sense that we try to serve as mediators between the cultures around our favorite fandoms and our faith communities.Get Your SG Merch now!Check out the link to see all of our different t-shirts, backpacks, drinking glasses, pajamas, and more! SG on FourthwallFollow us on Instagram and BlueSky to keep up to date!Follow our show on our socials to keep up to date and get some exclusive content and fun memes!The Anazao Podcast NetworkBe sure to check out the network website to see other podcasts trying to engage honestly with Scripture, Theology, Pop Culture, Martial Arts, Science, and more!Anazao Podcast NetworkJoin our Facebook group and Discord ServerFind our Facebook group, "Priests to the Geeks", then join our Discord server with this link to continue on the conversation with us!Discord

It's Marvel Monday and we're diving into another Captain America movie! ABOUT CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER As Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world, he teams up with a fellow Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D agent, Black Widow, to battle a new threat from history: an assassin known as the Winter Soldier. AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER April 4, 2014 | Theatrical Release CAST & CREW OF CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Cast: Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon BRAN'S MOVIE SYNOPSIS Steve goes for a run but he's fast so it's funny. He meets a guy named Sam and they yuck it up a bit. Natasha picks him up. They have a mission to attend to! Even though they're on the mission together, Black Widow actually had a different mission than Cap. He's not happy about it and tells Nick Fury as much but Nick doesn't care. So Nick goes to decrypt the data that Natasha gave him but he can't which he finds suspicious. When he goes to meet up with another agent, he's ambushed by a group of people. It's not good. After a big fight, we see someone called the Winter Soldier walking towards him. Fury is able to escape before the Winter Soldier gets to him. He's able to get to Steve's apartment and tells him what's happened and hands him a flash drive of the ship's data and tells him to trust no one. Bad news gang - Nick Fury is dead. Natasha is confused why Nick was in Steve's apartment. Steve is now a fugitive and it doesn't take long for people to start attacking him. Luckily, Natasha is on his side. They are able to find the location of an old SHIELD base in New Jersey. While heading there, they have to kiss to get people off their case, obviously. They get to the base and head to the basement and Natasha is able to get the computer to boot up. The computer now holds like the consciousness of Arnim Zola from Red Skull fame. Turns out SHIELD recruited Zola to reform Hydra. Turns out, it didn't work and now they have the Winter Soldier doing their dirty work. Rogers and Romanoff almost get stuck in the bunker when a missile hits it. Winter Soldier is told to get them. Feeling like they need help, Cap decides to bring Sam into the fold from that time he met him while running. They try to get some insight from a Hydra mole but the Winter Soldier shows up. Big fight, big fun. But Steve recognizes him within his mask, his ol' pal Bucky Barnes. But Bucky doesn't know what he's talking about. They're captured by the baddies but Agent Hill breaks them out and brings them to a secret hideout where they find out that Nick Fury is alive. They hatch a big plan that involves Black Widow going full Mission Impossible with a face disguise to break into Hydra with the plan of leaking all the info. Nick Fury shows up to help make things happen. Meanwhile, Cap and Sam struggle with Bucky Barnes. It's not looking good for Cap but Bucky Barnes ends up rescuing him before disappearing. With S.H.I.E.L.D. in disarray, Romanoff appears before a Senate subcommittee to defend her and Rogers's actions. Fury, under the cover of his apparent death, pursues Hydra's remaining cells. Rogers and Wilson decide to find Barnes. Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtubeInterested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What makes a character so compelling that readers will forgive almost anything about the plot? How do you move beyond vague flaws and generic descriptions to create people who feel pulled from real life? In this solo episode, I share 15 actionable tips for writing deep characters, curated from past interviews on the podcast. In the intro, thoughts from London Book Fair [Instagram reel @jfpennauthor; Publishing Perspectives; Audible; Spotify]; Insights from a 7-figure author business [BookBub]. This show is supported by my Patrons. Join my Community and get articles, discounts, and extra audio and video tutorials on writing craft, author business, and AI tools, at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn This episode has been created from previous episodes of The Creative Penn Podcast, curated by Joanna Penn, as well as chapters from How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book. Links to the individual episodes are included in the transcript below. In this episode: Master the ‘Believe, Care, Invest' trifecta, how to hook readers on the very first page Define the Dramatic Question: Who is your character when the chips are down? Absolute specificity. Why “she's controlling” isn't good enough Understand the Heroine's Journey, strength through connection, not solo action Use ‘Metaphor Families' to anchor dialogue and give every character a distinctive voice Find the Diagnostic Detail, the moments that prove a character is real Writing pain onto the page without writing memoir Write diverse characters as real people, not stereotypes or plot devices Give your protagonist a morally neutral ‘hero' status. Compelling beats likeable. Build vibrant side characters for series longevity and spin-off potential Use voice as a rhythmic tool Link character and plot until they're inseparable Why discovery writers can write out of order and still build deep character Find the sensory details that make characters live and breathe More help with how to write fiction here, or in my book, How to Write a Novel. Writing Characters: 15 Tips for Writing Deep Character in Your Fiction In today's episode, I'm sharing fifteen tips for writing deep characters, synthesised from some of the most insightful interviews on The Creative Penn Podcast over the past few years, combined with what I've learned across more than forty books of my own. I'll be referencing episodes with Matt Bird, Will Storr, Gail Carriger, Barbara Nickless, and Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer. I'll also draw on my own book, How to Write a Novel, which covers these fundamentals in detail. Whether you're writing your first novel or your fiftieth, whether you're a plotter or a discovery writer like me, these tips will help you create characters that readers believe in, care about, and invest in—and keep coming back for more. Let's get into it. 1. Master the ‘Believe, Care, Invest' Trifecta When I spoke with Matt Bird on episode 624, he laid out the three things you need to achieve on the very first page of your book or in the first ten minutes of a film. He calls it “Believe, Care, and Invest.” First, the reader must believe the character is a real person, somehow proving they are not a cardboard imitation of a human being, not just a generic type walking through a generic plot. Second, the reader must care about the character's circumstances. And third, the reader must invest in the character's ability to solve the story's central problem. Matt used The Hunger Games as his primary example, and it's brilliant. On the very first page, we believe Katniss's voice. Suzanne Collins writes in first person with a staccato rhythm—lots of periods, short declarative sentences—that immediately grounds us in a survivalist mentality. We care because Katniss is starving. She's protecting her little sister. And we invest because she is out there bow hunting, which Matt pointed out is one of the most badass things a character can do. She even kills a lynx two pages in and sells the pelt. We invest in her resourcefulness and grit before the plot has even begun. Matt was very clear that this has nothing to do with the character being “likable.” He said his subtitle, Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love, doesn't mean the character has to be a good person. He described “hero” as both gender-neutral and morally neutral. A hero can be totally evil or totally good. What matters is that we believe, care, and invest. He demonstrated this beautifully by breaking down the first ten minutes of WeCrashed, where the characters of Adam and Rebekah Neumann are absolutely not likable, but we are completely hooked. Adam steals his neighbour's Chinese food through a carefully orchestrated con involving an imaginary beer. It's not admirable behaviour, but the tradecraft involved, as Matt put it—using a term from spy movies—makes us invest in him. We see a character trying to solve the big problem of his life, which is that he's poor and wants to be rich, and we want to see if he can pull it off. Actionable step: Go to the first page of your current work in progress. Does it achieve all three? Does the reader believe this is a real person with a distinctive voice? Do they care about the character's circumstances? And do they invest in the character's ability to handle what's coming? If even one of those three is missing, that's your revision priority. 2. Define the Dramatic Question: Who Are They Really? Will Storr, author of The Science of Storytelling, came on episode 490 and gave one of the most powerful frameworks I've ever heard for character-driven fiction. He explained that the human brain evolved language primarily to swap social information—in other words, to gossip. We are wired to monitor other people, to ask the question: who is this person when the chips are down? That's what Will calls the Dramatic Question, and it's what he believes lies at the heart of all compelling storytelling. It's not a question about plot. It's a question about the character's soul. And every scene in your novel should force the character to answer it. His example of Lawrence of Arabia is unforgettable. The Dramatic Question for the entire film is: who are you, Lawrence? Are you ordinary or are you extraordinary? At the beginning, Lawrence is a cocky, rebellious young soldier who believes his rebelliousness makes him superior. Every iconic scene in that three-hour film tests that belief. Sometimes Lawrence acts as though he truly is extraordinary—leading the Arabs into battle, being hailed as a god—and sometimes the world strips him bare and he sees himself as ordinary. Because it's a tragedy, he never overcomes his flaw. He doubles down on his belief that he's extraordinary until he becomes monstrous, culminating in that iconic scene where he lifts a bloody dagger and sees his own reflection with horror. Will also used Jaws to demonstrate how this works in a pure action thriller. Brody's dramatic question is simple: are you going to be old Brody who is terrified of the water, or new Brody who can overcome that fear? Every scene where the shark appears is really asking that question. And the last moment of the film isn't the shark blowing up. It's Brody swimming back through the water, saying he used to be scared of the water and he can't imagine why. Actionable step: Write down the Dramatic Question for your protagonist in a single sentence. Is it “Are you ordinary or extraordinary?” or “Are you brave enough to love again?” or “Will you sacrifice your principles for survival?” If you can't answer this with specificity, your character might still be a sketch rather than a person. 3. Get rid of Vague Flaws, and use Absolute Specificity This was one of Will Storr's most important points. He said that vague thinking about characters is really the enemy. When he teaches workshops and asks writers to describe their character's flaw, most of them say something like “they're very controlling.” And Will's response is: that's not good enough. Everyone is controlling. How are they controlling? What's the specific mechanism? He gave the example of a profile he read of Theresa May during the UK's Brexit chaos. Someone who knew her said that Theresa May's problem was that she always thinks she's the only adult in every room she goes into. Will said that stopped him in his tracks because it's so precise. If you define a character with that level of specificity, you can take them and put them in any genre, any situation—a spaceship, a Victorian drawing room, a school playground—and you will know exactly how they're going to behave. The same applies to Arthur Miller's Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, as Will described it: a man who believes absolutely in capitalistic success and the idea that when you die, you're going to be weighed on a scale, just as God weighs you for sin, but now you're weighed for success. That's not a vague flaw. That's a worldview you can drop into any story and watch it combust. Will made another counterintuitive point that I found really valuable: writers often think that piling on multiple traits will create a complex character, but the opposite is true. Starting with one highly specific flaw and running it through the demands of a relentless plot is what generates complexity. You end up with a far more nuanced, original character than if you'd started with a laundry list of vague attributes. Actionable step: Take your protagonist's flaw and pressure-test it. Is it specific enough that you could place this character in any situation and predict their behaviour? If you're stuck at “she's stubborn” or “he's insecure,” keep pushing. What kind of stubborn? What kind of insecure? Find the diagnostic sentence—the Theresa May level of precision. 4. Understand the Heroine's Journey: Strength Through Connection Gail Carriger came on episode 550 to discuss her nonfiction book, The Heroine's Journey, and it completely reframed how I think about some of my own fiction. Gail explained that the core difference between the Hero's Journey and the Heroine's Journey comes down to how strength and victory are defined. The Hero's Journey is about strength through solo action. The hero must be continually isolated to get stronger. He goes out of civilisation, faces strife alone, and achieves victory through physical prowess and self-actualisation. The Heroine's Journey is the opposite. The heroine achieves her goals by activating a network. She's a delegator, a general. She identifies where she can't do something alone, finds the people who can help, and portions out the work for mutual gain. Gail put it simply: the heroine is very good at asking for help, which our culture tends to devalue but which is actually a powerful form of strength. Crucially, Gail stressed that gender is irrelevant to which journey you're writing. Her go-to examples are striking: the recent Wonder Woman film is practically a beat-for-beat hero's journey—Gilgamesh on screen, as Gail described it. Meanwhile, Harry Potter, both the first book and the series as a whole, is a classic heroine's journey. Harry's power comes from his network—Dumbledore's Army, the Order of the Phoenix, his friendships with Ron and Hermione. He doesn't defeat Voldemort alone. He defeats Voldemort because of love and connection. This distinction has real practical consequences for writers. If you're writing a hero's journey and you hit writer's block, Gail said, the solution is usually to isolate your hero further and pile on more strife. But if you're writing a heroine's journey, the solution is probably to throw a new character into the scene—someone who has advice to offer or a skill the heroine lacks. The actual solutions to writer's block are different depending on which narrative you're writing. As I reflected on my own work, I realised that my ARKANE thriller protagonist, Morgan Sierra, follows a hero's journey—she's a solo operative, a lone wolf like Jack Reacher or James Bond. But my Mapwalker fantasy series follows a heroine's journey, with Sienna and her group of friends working together. I hadn't consciously chosen those paths; the stories led me there. But understanding the framework helps me write more intentionally now. Actionable step: Identify which journey your protagonist is on. Does your character gain strength by being alone (hero) or by building connections (heroine)? This will inform every plot decision you make, from how they face obstacles to how your story ends. 5. Use ‘Metaphor Families' to Anchor Dialogue and Voice One of the most practical techniques Matt Bird shared on episode 624 is the idea of assigning each character a “metaphor family”—a specific well of language that they draw from. This gives each character a distinctive voice that goes beyond accent or dialect. Matt explained how in The Wire, one of the most beloved TV shows of all time, every character has a different metaphor family. What struck him was that Omar, this iconic character, never utters a single curse word in the entire series. His metaphor family is pirate. He talks about parlays, uses language that feels like it belongs in Pirates of the Caribbean, and it creates this incredible ironic counterpoint against his urban setting. It tells us immediately that this is a character who sees himself in a tradition of people that doesn't match his immediate surroundings. Matt also referenced the UK version of The Office, where Gareth works at a paper company but aspires to the military. So all of his language is drawn from a military metaphor family. He doesn't talk about filing and photocopying; he talks about tactics and discipline and being on the front line. This tells us that the character has a life and dreams beyond the immediate scene—and it's the gap between aspiration and reality that makes him both funny and believable. He pointed out that a metaphor family sometimes comes from a character's background, but it's often more interesting when it comes from their aspirations. What does your character want to be? What world do they fantasise about inhabiting? That's where their language should come from. In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a spiritual hermit, but his metaphor family is military. He uses the language of generals and commanders, and that ironic counterpoint is part of what makes him feel so rich. Actionable step: Assign each of your main characters a metaphor family. It could be based on their job, their background, or—more interestingly—their secret aspirations. Then go through your dialogue and make sure each character is consistently drawing from that well of language. If two characters sound the same when you strip away the dialogue tags, this is the fix. 6. Find the Diagnostic Detail: The Diagonal Toast Avoid clichéd character tags—the random scar, the eye patch, the mysterious limp—unless they serve a deep narrative purpose. Matt Bird on episode 624 was very funny about this: he pointed out that Nick Fury, Odin, and eventually Thor all have eye patches in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eye patches are done, he said. You cannot do eye patches anymore. Instead, look for what I'm calling the “diagonal toast” detail, after a scene Matt described from Captain Marvel. In the film, Captain Marvel is trying to determine whether Nick Fury is who he says he is. She asks him to prove he isn't a shapeshifting alien. Fury shares biographical details—his history, his mother—but then she pushes further and says, name one more thing you couldn't possibly have made up about yourself. And Fury says: if toast is cut diagonally, I can't eat it. Matt said that detail is gold for a writer because it feels pulled from a real life. You can pull it from your own life and gift it to your characters, and the reader can tell it's not manufactured. He gave another example from The Sopranos: Tony Soprano's mother won't answer the phone after dark. The show's creator, David Chase, confirmed on the DVD commentary that this came from his own mother, who genuinely would not answer the phone after dark and couldn't explain why. Matt's practical advice was to keep a journal. Write down the strange, specific things that people do or say. Mine your own life for those hyper-specific details. You just need one per book. In my own writing, I've used this approach. In my ARKANE thrillers, my character Morgan Sierra has always been Angelina Jolie in my mind—specifically Jolie in Lara Croft or Mr and Mrs Smith. And Blake Daniel in my crime thriller series was based on Jesse Williams from Grey's Anatomy. I paste pictures of actors into my Scrivener projects. It helps with visuals, but also with the sense of the character, their energy and physicality. But visual details only take you so far. It's the behavioural quirks—the diagonal toast moments—that make a character feel genuinely alive. That said, physical character tags can work brilliantly when they serve the story. As I discuss in How to Write a Novel, Robert Galbraith's Cormoran Strike is an amputee, and his pain and the physical challenges of his prosthesis are a key part of every story—it's not a cosmetic detail, it's woven into the action and the character's psychology. My character Blake Daniel always wears gloves to cover the scars on his hands, which provides an angle into his wounded past as well as a visual cue for the reader. And of course, Harry Potter's lightning-shaped scar isn't just a mark—it's a direct connection to his nemesis and the mythology of the entire series. The rule of thumb is: if the tag tells us something about the character's interior life or connects to the plot, it's earning its place. If it's just there to make the character visually distinctive, it's probably a crutch. Game of Thrones takes character tags further with the family houses, each with their own mottos and sigils. The Starks say “Winter is coming” and their sigil is a dire wolf. Those aren't just labels—they're worldview made visible. Actionable step: Start a “diagonal toast” notebook. Every time you notice something strange and specific about someone's behaviour—something that feels too real to be made up—write it down. Then gift it to a character who needs more texture. 7. Displace Your Own Trauma into the Work Barbara Nickless shared something deeply personal on episode 732 that fundamentally changed how I think about putting pain onto the page. While starting At First Light, the first book in her Dr. Evan Wilding series, she lost her son to epilepsy—something called SUDEP, Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy. One day he was there, and the next day he was gone. Barbara said that writing helped her cope with the trauma, that doing a deep dive into Old English literature and the Viking Age for the book's research became a lifeline. But here's what's important: she didn't give Dr. Evan Wilding her exact trauma. Evan Wilding is four feet five inches, and Barbara described how he has to walk through a world that won't adjust to him. That's its own form of learning to cope when circumstances are beyond your control. She displaced her genuine grief into the character's different but parallel struggle. When I asked her about the difference between writing for therapy and writing for an audience, she drew on her experience teaching creative writing to veterans through a collaboration between the US Department of Defense and the National Endowment for the Arts. She said she's found that she can pour her heartache into her characters and process it through them, even when writing professionally, and that the genuine emotion is what touches readers. We've all been through our own losses and griefs, so seeing how a character copes can be deeply meaningful. I've always found that putting my own pain onto the page is the most direct way to connect with a reader's soul. My character Morgan Sierra's musings on religion and the supernatural are often my own. Her restlessness, her fascination with the darker edges of faith—those come from me. But her Krav Maga fighting skills and her ability to kill the bad guys are definitely her own. That gap between what's mine and what's hers is where the fiction lives. Barbara also said something on that episode that I wrote down and stuck on my wall. She said the act of producing itself is a balm to the soul. I've been thinking about that ever since. On my own wall, I have “Measure your life by what you create.” Different words, same truth. Actionable step: If you're carrying something heavy—grief, anger, fear, regret—consider how you might displace it into a character's different but emotionally parallel struggle. Don't copy your exact situation; transform it. The emotion will be genuine, and the reader will feel it. 8. Write Diverse Characters as Real People When I spoke with Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer on episode 673—Sarah is Choctaw and a historical fiction author honoured by the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian—she offered a perspective that every fiction writer needs to hear. The key message was to move away from stereotypes. Don't write your American Indian character as the “Wise Guide” who exists solely to dispense mystic wisdom to the white protagonist. Don't limit diverse characters to historical settings, as though they only exist in the past. Place them in normal, contemporary roles. Your spaceship captain, your forensic scientist, your small-town baker—any of them can be American Indian, or Nigerian, or Japanese, and their heritage should be a lived-in part of their identity, not the sole reason they exist in the story. I write international thrillers and dark fantasy, and my fiction is populated with characters from all over the world. I have a multi-cultural family and I've lived in many places and travelled widely, so I've met, worked with, and had relationships with people from different cultures. I find story ideas through travel, and if I set my books in a certain place, then the story is naturally populated with the people who live there. As I discuss in my book, How to Write a Novel, the world is a diverse place, so your fiction needs to be populated with all kinds of people. If I only populated my fiction with characters like me, they would be boring novels. There are many dimensions of difference—race, nationality, sex, age, body type, ability, religion, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, class, culture, education level—and even then, don't assume that similar types of people think the same way. Some authors worry they will make mistakes. We live in a time of outrage, and some authors have been criticised for writing outside their own experience. So is it too dangerous to try? Of course not. The media amplifies outliers, and most authors include diverse characters in every book without causing offence because they work hard to get it right. It's about awareness, research, and intent. Actionable step: Audit the cast of your current work in progress. Have you written a mono-cultural perspective for all of them? If so, consider who could bring a different background, perspective, or set of cultural specifics to the story. Not as a token addition, but as a real person with a real life. 9. Respect Tribal and Cultural Specificity Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer on episode 673 was emphatic about one thing: never treat diverse groups as monolithic. If you're writing a Native American character, you must research the specific nation. Choctaw is not Navajo, just as British is not French. Sarah described the distinct cultural markers of the Choctaw people—the diamond pattern you'll see on traditional shirts and dresses, which represents the diamondback rattlesnake. They have distinct dances and songs. She said that if she saw someone in traditional dress at a distance, she would know whether they were Choctaw based on what they were wearing. She encouraged writers who want to write specifically about a nation to get to know those people. Go to events, go to a powwow, learn about the individual culture. She noted that a big misconception is that American Indians exist only in the past—she stressed that they are still here, still living their cultures, and fiction should reflect that present reality. I took a similar approach when writing Destroyer of Worlds, which is set mostly in India. I read books about Hindu myth, watched documentaries about the sadhus, and had one of my Indian readers from Mumbai check my cultural references. For Risen Gods, set in New Zealand with a young Maori protagonist, I studied books about Maori mythology and fiction by Maori authors, and had a male Maori reader check for cultural issues. Research is simply an act of empathy. The practical takeaway is this: if you're going to include a character from a specific cultural background, do the work. Use specific cultural details rather than generic signifiers. Sarah talked about how even she fell into stereotypes when she was first writing, until her mother pointed them out. If someone from within a culture can fall into those traps, the rest of us certainly can. Do the research, try your best, ask for help, and apologise if you need to. Actionable step: If you're writing a character from a specific culture, identify three to five sensory or behavioural details that are particular to that culture—not the generic version, but the real, researched, lived-in version. Consider hiring a sensitivity reader from that community to check your work. 10. Give Your Protagonist a Morally Neutral ‘Hero' Status Matt Bird was clear about this on episode 624: the word “hero” simply means the protagonist, the person we follow through the story. It's a functional role, not a moral label. We don't have to like them. We don't even have to root for their goals in a moral sense. We just have to find them compelling enough to invest our attention in their problem-solving. Think of Succession, where every member of the Roy family is varying degrees of awful, and yet the show was utterly compelling. Or WeCrashed, where Adam Neumann is a narcissistic con artist, but we can't look away because he's trying to solve the enormous problem of building an empire from nothing, and the tradecraft he employs is fascinating. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, readers must want to spend time with your characters. They don't have to be lovable or even likable—that will depend on your genre and story choices—but they have to be captivating enough that we want to spend time with them. A character who is trying to solve a massive problem will naturally draw investment from the audience, even if we wouldn't want to have tea with them. Will Storr extended this idea by pointing out that the audience will actually root for a character to solve their problem even if the audience doesn't actually want the character's goal to be achieved in the real world. We don't really want more billionaires, but we invested in Adam Neumann's rise because that was the problem the story posed, and our brains are wired to invest in problem-solving. This connects to something deeper: what does your character want, and why? As I explore in How to Write a Novel, desire operates on multiple levels. Take a character like Phil, who joins the military during wartime. On the surface, she wants to serve her country. But she also wants to escape her dead-end town and learn new skills. Deeper still, her father and grandfather served, and by joining up, she hopes to finally earn their respect. And perhaps deepest of all, her father died on a mission under mysterious circumstances, and she wants to find out what happened from the inside. That layering of motivation is what turns a flat character into a three-dimensional one. The audience doesn't need to be told all of this explicitly. It can emerge through action, dialogue, and the choices the character makes under pressure. But you, the writer, need to know it. You need to know what your character really wants deep down, because that desire—more than any external plot device—is what drives the story forward. And your antagonist needs the same depth. They also want something, often diametrically opposed to your protagonist, and they need a reason that makes sense to them. In my ARKANE thriller Tree of Life, my antagonist is the heiress of a Brazilian mining empire who wants to restore the Earth to its original state to atone for the destruction caused by her father's company. She's part of a radical ecological group who believe the only way to restore Nature is to end all human life. It's extreme, but in an era of climate change, it's a motivation readers can understand—even if they disagree with the solution. Actionable step: If you're struggling to make a morally grey character work, make sure their problem is big enough and their methods are specific and interesting enough that we invest in the how, even if we're ambivalent about the what. 11. Build Vibrant Side Characters Gail Carriger made a point on episode 550 that was equal parts craft advice and business strategy. In a Heroine's Journey model, side characters aren't just fodder to be killed off to motivate the hero. They form a network. And because you don't have to kill them—unlike in a hero's journey, where allies are often betrayed or removed so the hero can be further isolated—you can pick up those side characters and give them their own books. Gail said this creates a really voracious reader base. You write one series with vivid side characters, and then readers fall in love with those side characters and want their stories. So you write spin-offs. The romance genre does this brilliantly—think of the Bridgerton books, where each sibling gets their own novel. The side character in one book becomes the protagonist in the next. Barbara Nickless experienced this firsthand with her Dr. Evan Wilding series. She has River Wilding, Evan's adventurous brother, and Diana, the axe-throwing research assistant, and her editor has already expressed interest in a spin-off series with those characters. Barbara described creating characters she wants to spend time with, or characters who give her nightmares but also intrigue her. That's the dual test: are they interesting enough for you to write, and interesting enough for readers to demand more? As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, characters that span series can deepen the reader's relationship with them as you expand their backstory into new plots. Readers will remember the character more than the plot or the book title, and look forward to the next instalment because they want more time with those people. British crime author Angela Marsons described it as readers feeling like returning to her characters is like putting on a pair of old slippers. Actionable step: Look at your supporting cast. Is there a side character who is vivid enough to carry their own story? If not, what could you add—a specific hobby, a distinct voice, a compelling backstory—that would make readers want more of them? 12. Use Voice as a Rhythmic Tool Voice is one of the most important elements of novel writing, and Matt Bird helped me think about it in a technical, mechanical way that I found really useful. He pointed out that the ratio of periods to commas defines a character's internal reality. A staccato rhythm—lots of periods, short sentences—suggests a character who is certain, grounded, or perhaps survivalist and traumatised. Katniss in The Hunger Games has a period-heavy voice. She's in survival mode. She doesn't have time for complexity or qualification. A flowing, comma-heavy style suggests someone more academic, more nuanced, or possibly more scattered and manipulative. The character who qualifies everything, who adds sub-clauses and digressions, is a different kind of person from the character who speaks in declarations. This is something you can actually measure. Pull up a passage of your character's dialogue or internal monologue and count the periods versus the commas. If the rhythm doesn't match who the character is supposed to be, you've found a mismatch you can fix. Sentence length is the heartbeat of your character's persona. And voice extends beyond rhythm to the words themselves. As I discussed in the metaphor families tip, each character should draw from a distinctive well of language. But voice also encompasses their relationship to silence. Some characters talk around the thing they mean; others say it straight. Some are self-deprecating; others are blunt to the point of rudeness. All of these choices are character choices, not just style choices. I find it useful to read my dialogue aloud—and not just to check for naturalness, but to hear whether each character sounds distinct. If you could swap dialogue lines between two characters and nobody would notice, you have a voice problem. One practical test: cover the dialogue tags and see if you can tell who's speaking from the words alone. Actionable step: Choose a key passage from your protagonist's point of view and read it aloud. Does the rhythm match the character? A soldier under fire should not sound like a philosophy professor at a wine tasting. Adjust the ratio of periods to commas until the voice feels right. 13. Link Character and Plot Until They're Inseparable Will Storr made the case on episode 490 that the number one problem he sees in the writing he encounters—in workshops, in submissions, even in published books—is that the characters and the plots are unconnected. There's a story happening, and there are people in it, but the story isn't a product of who those people are. He said a story should be like life. In our lives, the plots are intimately connected to who we are as characters. The goals we pursue, the obstacles we face, the same problems that keep recurring—these are products of our personalities, our flaws, our specific ways of being in the world. His framework is that your plot should be designed specifically to plot against your character. You've got a character with a particular flaw; the plot exists to test that flaw over and over until the character either transforms or doubles down and explodes. Jaws is the perfect example. Brody is afraid of water. A shark shows up in the coastal town he's responsible for protecting. The entire plot is engineered to force him to confront the one thing he cannot face. Will pointed out that the whole plot of Jaws is structured around Brody's flaw. It begins with the shark arriving, the midpoint is when Brody finally gets the courage to go into the water, and the very final scene isn't the shark blowing up—it's Brody swimming back through the water. Even a film that's ninety-eight percent action is, at its core, structured around a character with a character flaw. This is the standard I aspire to in my own work, even in my action-heavy thrillers. The external plot should be a mirror of the internal struggle. When those two are aligned, the story becomes irresistible. Will also made an important point about series fiction, which is where most commercial authors live. I asked him how this works when your character can't be transformed at the end of every book because there has to be a next book. His answer was elegant: you don't cure them. Episodic TV characters like Fleabag or David Brent or Basil Fawlty never truly change—and the fact that they don't change is actually the source of the comedy. But every episode throws a new story event at them that tests and exposes their flaw. You just keep throwing story events at them again and again. That's a soap opera, a sitcom, and a book series. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, character flaws are aspects of personality that affect the person so much that facing and overcoming them becomes central to the plot. In Jaws, the protagonist Brody is afraid of the water, but he has to overcome that flaw to destroy the killer shark and save the town. But remember, your characters should feel like real people, so never define them purely by their flaws. The character addicted to painkillers might also be a brilliant and successful female lawyer who gets up at four in the morning to work out at the gym, likes eighties music, and volunteers at the local dog shelter at weekends. Character wounds are different from flaws. They're formed from life experience and are part of your character's backstory—traumatic events that happened before the events of your novel but shape the character's reactions in the present. In my ARKANE thrillers, Morgan Sierra's husband Elian died in her arms during a military operation. This happened before the series begins, but her memories of it recur when she faces a firefight, and she struggles to find happiness again for fear of losing someone she loves once more. And then there's the perennial advice: show, don't tell. Most writers have heard this so many times that it's easy to nod and then promptly write scenes that tell rather than show. Basically, you need to reveal your character through action and dialogue, rather than explanation. In my thriller Day of the Vikings, Morgan Sierra fights a Neo-Viking in the halls of the British Museum and brings him down with Krav Maga. That fight scene isn't just about showing action. It opens up questions about her backstory, demonstrates character, and moves the plot forward. Telling would be something like: “Morgan was an expert in Krav Maga.” Showing is the reader discovering it through the scene itself. Actionable step: Look at the main plot events of your novel. For each major turning point, ask: does this scene specifically test my protagonist's flaw? If not, can you redesign the scene so that it does? The tighter the connection between character and plot, the more powerful the story. 14. The ‘Maestra' Approach: Write Out of Order If you're a discovery writer like me, you may feel like the deep character work I've been describing sounds more suited to plotters. But Barbara Nickless gave me a beautiful metaphor on episode 732 that reframes it entirely. Barbara described her evolving writing process as being like a maestra standing in front of an orchestra. Sometimes you bring in the horns—a certain theme—and sometimes you bring in the strings—a certain character—and sometimes you turn to the soloist. It's a more organic and jumping-around process than linear writing, and Barbara said she's only recently given herself permission to work this way. When I told her that I use Scrivener to write in scenes out of order and then drag and drop them into a structure later, she was genuinely intrigued. And this is how I've always worked. I'll see the story in my mind like a movie trailer—flashes of the big emotional scenes, the pivotal confrontations, the moments of revelation—and I write those first. I don't know how they hang together until quite late in the process. Then I'll move scenes around, print the whole thing out, and figure out the connective tissue. The point is that discovery writers can absolutely build deep characters. Sometimes writing the big emotional scenes first is how you discover who the character is before you fill in the rest. You don't need a twenty-page character worksheet or a 200-page outline like Jeffery Deaver. You need to be willing to follow the character into the unknown and trust that the structure will emerge. As Barbara said, she writes to know what she's thinking. That's the discovery writer's credo. And I would add: I write to know who my characters are. Actionable step: If you're stuck on your current chapter, skip it. Write the scene that's burning in your imagination, even if it's from the middle or the end. That scene might be the key to unlocking who your character really is. 15. Use Research to Help with Empathy Research shouldn't just be about factual accuracy—it's a tool for finding the sensory details that create empathy. Barbara Nickless described research as almost an excuse to explore things that fascinate her, and I feel exactly the same way. I would go so far as to say that writing is an excuse for me to explore the things that interest me. Barbara and I both travel for our stories. For her Dr. Evan Wilding books, she did deep research into Old English literature and the Viking Age. For my thriller End of Days, I transcribed hours of video from Appalachian snake-handling churches on YouTube to understand the worldview of the worshippers, because my antagonist was brought up in that tradition. I couldn't just make that up. I had to hear their language, feel their conviction, understand why they would hold venomous serpents as an act of faith. Barbara also mentioned getting to Israel and the West Bank for research, and I've been to both places too. Finding that one specific sensory detail—the smell of a particular location, the specific way an expert handles a tool, the sound of a particular kind of music—makes the character's life feel lived-in. It's the difference between a character who is described as living in a place and a character who inhabits it. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, don't write what you know. Write what you want to learn about. I love research. It's part of why I'm an author in the first place. I take any excuse to dive into a world different from my own. Research using books, films, podcasts, and travel, and focus particularly on sources produced by people from the worldview you want to understand. Actionable step: For your next piece of character research, go beyond reading. Watch a documentary, visit a location, talk to someone who lives the experience. Find one sensory detail—a smell, a sound, a texture—that you couldn't have invented. That detail will make your character feel real. Bonus: Measure Your Life by What You Create In an age of AI and a tsunami of content, your ultimate brand protection is the quality of your human creation. Barbara Nickless said that the act of producing itself is a balm to the soul, and I believe that with every fibre of my being. Don't be afraid to take that step back, like I did with my deadlifting. Take the time to master these deeper craft skills. It might feel like you're slowing down or going backwards by not chasing the latest marketing trend, but it's the only way to step forward into a sustainable, high-quality career. Your characters are your signature. No AI can replicate the specificity of your lived experience, the emotional truth of your displaced trauma, or the sensory details you've gathered from a life of curiosity and travel. Those are yours. Pour them into your characters, and they will resonate for years to come. Actionable Takeaway: Identify the Dramatic Question for your current protagonist. Can you state it in a single sentence with the kind of specificity Will Storr described? Is it as clear as “Are you ordinary or extraordinary?” or “Are you the only adult in the room?” If you can't answer it with that kind of precision, your character might still be a sketch. Give them a diagonal toast moment today. Find the one hyper-specific detail that proves they are not an imitation of life. And then ask yourself: does your plot test your character's flaw in every major scene? If you can align those two things—a precisely defined character and a plot that exists to test them—you will have a story that readers cannot put down. References and Deep Dives The episodes I've referenced today are all available with full transcripts at TheCreativePenn.com: Episode 732 — Facing Fears, and Writing Unique Characters with Barbara Nickless Episode 673 — Writing Choctaw Characters and Diversity in Fiction with Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer Episode 624 — Writing Characters with Matt Bird Episode 550 — The Heroine's Journey with Gail Carriger Episode 490 — How Character Flaws Shape Story with Will Storr Books mentioned: The Secrets of Character: Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love by Matt Bird The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr The Heroine's Journey by Gail Carriger How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book by Joanna Penn You can find all my books for authors at CreativePennBooks.com and my fiction and memoir at JFPennBooks.com Happy writing! How was this episode created? This episode was initiated created by NotebookLM based on YouTube videos of the episodes linked above from YouTube/TheCreativePenn, plus my text chapters on character from How to Write a Novel. NotebookLM created a blog post from the material and then I expanded it and fact checked it with Claude.ai 4.6 Opus, and then I used my voice clone at ElevenLabs to narrate it. The post Writing Characters: 15 Actionable Tips For Writing Deep Character first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/nostalgia #rulapod #sponsored Avengers Month begins with the film that cemented a cinematic juggernaut. Does Nostalgia Critic still think it holds up after all these years? Let's take a look at Marvel's The Avengers. Come see us at Cedar Falls Comic Con - https://www.cedarfallscomiccon.com/ Come see Doug & Brad March 13th-15th - https://gameonexpo.com/ Join our YouTube Members - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiH828EtgQjTyNIMH6YiOSw/join Last weeks Nostalgia Critic - https://youtu.be/P7TDok34AmA Check out our store - https://channelawesome.myshopify.com/ Support this month's charity - https://solvecfs.org/ Marvel's The Avengers (titled Marvel Avengers Assemble in the United Kingdom and Ireland and commonly referred to as simply The Avengers) is a 2012 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sixth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Written and directed by Joss Whedon, the film features an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner as the Avengers, alongside Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, and Samuel L. Jackson. In the film, Nick Fury and the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. recruit Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton to form a team capable of stopping Thor's brother Loki from subjugating Earth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Exploding Cars, Singing Nuns and Quipping Killers:Greg and Joe tackle 2017's The Hitman's Bodyguard, a movie that asks the age-old question: What if Deadpool and Nick Fury had to road trip together while everyone tried to kill them?Ryan Reynolds plays Michael Bryce, a once-elite bodyguard whose life has fallen apart, and Samuel L. Jackson is Darius Kincaid, a legendary hitman who needs to testify at The Hague. The twist? They hate each other. The bigger twist? They have to work together to survive.Directed by Patrick Hughes (who clearly loves explosions and banter in equal measure), this movie delivers high-octane action sequences, absurd comic timing, and Salma Hayek absolutely stealing every scene she's in as Kincaid's imprisoned wife who might be more dangerous than both of them combined.Is it ridiculous? Absolutely.Is it self-aware? Painfully so.Does it feature Samuel L. Jacks on singing "I Will Always Love You" while driving a boat through Amsterdam? You're darn right it does.Greg and Joe buckle up, check their routes, and discover that sometimes the best protection is a good offense (and a lot of swearing).As with every episode, this is the conversation that needed to happen about this movie. Also: Drinking Games, Important Questions, Joe's Back of the Box, and more.If you'd like to advertise with us or sponsor us, please e-mail greatbadmoviesshow@gmail.comSubscribe to Great Bad Movies wherever you listen to podcastsMore Great Bad Movies online:InstagramGreat Bad Movies WebsiteYouTubeEmail us at greatbadmoviesshow@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Agradece a este podcast tantas horas de entretenimiento y disfruta de episodios exclusivos como éste. ¡Apóyale en iVoox! En este nuevo spin off de La Guarida del Sith, abrimos micros antes y después de grabar para hablar sin escaleta y sin filtro. Comentamos Superman y lo que puede suponer para el nuevo rumbo de DC. Expectativas. Miedos. Confianza medida. Nos metemos en el terreno pantanoso de las adaptaciones que nunca llegan o siempre decepcionan: Nick Fury, Doctor Doom y Ghost Rider. Qué falla cuando saltan del papel a la pantalla. Qué necesitarían para funcionar. Viajamos al oeste con Back to the Future Part III y defendemos su lugar dentro de la trilogía. Nostalgia sí. Análisis también. Y cerramos con Pulp Fiction, estructura, diálogos y por qué sigue siendo referencia obligada en cualquier conversación cinéfila. Charlas cruzadas. Risas fuera de guion. Opiniones que no entraron en el programa principal. Esto es Los Postcréditos. Sin montaje heroico. Solo conversación real.Escucha este episodio completo y accede a todo el contenido exclusivo de La Guarida del Sith. Descubre antes que nadie los nuevos episodios, y participa en la comunidad exclusiva de oyentes en https://go.ivoox.com/sq/31122

It's Marvel Monday and it's finally time to watch the first Avengers movie! ABOUT THE AVENGERS Earth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are going to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity. AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR THE AVENGERS May 4, 2012 | Theatrical Release CAST & CREW OF THE AVENGERS Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk Chris Hemsworth as Thor Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye Tom Hiddleston as Loki BRAN'S MOVIE SYNOPSIS SHIELD is freaking out because they got an energy reading from the Tesseract. They have no idea why, so they're trying to get everyone out. Nick Fury comes in to talk to the scientist and catch up with Clint Barton, aka Hawk Eye, who he's stationed in the corner of the factory just to keep an eye on things. Suddenly, a laser shoots out and opens up a portal. Loki comes walking out. They tell him to stop and he starts shooting stuff. He pulls Clint under a spell to help him steal the Tesseract. Nick Fury decides it's time for operation Avengers. So he calls Agent Natasha Romanoff to travel to recruit Dr. Bruce Banner. No one knows gamma radiation like Bruce and that's the key to tracking the Tesseract down. SHIELD gets to work on getting Steve Rogers & Tony Stark on board. Loki is mad Thor is king, so he is working with this thing called "The Other" who just wants a bunch of worlds. Loki agrees to help get him the Tesseract which will help him take over worlds and then he'll give Loki Earth. So Loki goes to Germany so that Clint can steal stuff needed to stabilize the Tesseract. The Avengers show up and Loki surrenders. Movie over. Jk. Thor arrives and frees him, hoping to convince him to abandon his plan and return to Asgard. Stark and Rogers find them again and Loki is imprisoned in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying base. The Avengers argue about how to best handle the Loki situation especially after finding out that their plans for the Tesseract aren't to use it for good. They talk to Fury about it and he tells them they're making weapons to use against aliens. Needless to say, the Avengers are not doing well. They don't like each other. They argue about everything. And they're being attacked by Loki's baddies, including Clint. This attack makes Bruce very angry and he turns into the Hulk. He chases after Natasha and hits her. Before he can do more damage, Thor shows up. Unfortunately, Loki ends up getting away & sending Thor falling to what might be his death. Loki then escapes after stabbing Agent Coulson. Fury uses Coulson's death to motivate the Avengers to work together as a team. Loki uses the Tesseract to open a portal above Stark Tower in New York City, allowing his baddies to attack. The Avengers, as they now call themselves, work together to protect New York. The Hulk knocks Loki out while Black Widow finds out that Loki's scepter can shut down the Tesseract. Fury's bosses don't trust the Avengers, so they shoot a missile at New York City. So Iron Man flies to intercept the missile and flies it toward the wormhole. Right when he pushes it through, Black Widow closes the wormhole but Stark is unconscious. The Hulk catches him and the Avengers wake him up. Thor moves Loki and the Tesseract to Asgard, where Loki will face justice for his crimes. Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtubeInterested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's Marvel Monday, and today it's Captain America's turn!ABOUT CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGERSteve Rogers, a rejected military soldier, transforms into Captain America after taking a dose of a "Super-Soldier serum". But being Captain America comes at a price as he attempts to take down a warmonger and a terrorist organization.AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGERJuly 22, 2011 | Theatrical ReleaseCAST & CREW OF CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGERChris Evans as Captain America/Steve RogersHugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt/Red SkullSamuel L. Jackson as Nick FuryHayley Atwell as Peggy CarterSebastian Stan as James Buchanan 'Bucky' BarnesBRAN'S SYNOPSISThe movie kicks off with some scientists in the Arctic finding an old aircraft with someone frozen inside along with a circular shield. WHO COULD IT BEEEEEE?Flash back to March 1942, during World War II. Nazi dude and Hydra leader Johann Schmidt steals a mysterious glowing cube called the Tesseract, which possesses untold godly powers.In New York City, we meet little Steve Rogers. All Steve wants more than anything is to be in the Army, but he's rejected due to being a tiny boy. Dr. Abraham Erskine overhears Steve talking to his buddy Bucky Barnes about how badly he wants to serve his country, so he allows Rogers to enlist.What Steve doesn't know is that Dr. Erskine is interested in Steve for something called the "super-soldier" experiment under Erskine, along with British MI6 agent Peggy Carter. Once Steve selflessly jumps on a grenade as part of a test, they know he's their guy. Erskine tells Rogers that Schmidt once took a prototype version of the super-soldier formula that gave him superhuman strength but painfully changed his appearance. So, ya know, keep that in mind.It's lab time. Steve gets hooked up to this equipment and injected with all sorts of stuff and then put into this chamber. He's yelling and screaming but tells them to keep going. Once over, Steve comes out of the chamber and is frickin' jacked.Turns out Schmidt sent an assassin to kill Erskine who gets away in a car. But Steve is now a super soldier, so he just races him down by running after him. Before Steve can question him, he kills himself with a cyanide capsule and destroys the formula while he's at it.Steve doesn't get to super soldier much. Instead, he's sent on a tour as "Captain America" to sing & dance and promote war while scientists study his blood and attempt to reverse-engineer the formula. But when Rogers finds out that Bucky is MIA, he demands to fly behind enemy lines to find him. Turns out it was Schmidt all along. Steve confronts Schmidt. Schmidt's mask is taken off to reveal he is red. I suggest we call him "Red Skull".Steve, Bucky, and some other freed prisoners form a band...of brothers... called the Howling Commandos. Steve gets a new suit in the process and potentially a new gal 'cause the sparks between him and Peggy Carter are off the charts!Using information extracted from Zola (Red Skull's little henchman), the final Hydra stronghold is located, and Rogers leads an attack to stop Schmidt from doing all the bad things he wants to do. Right before Steve climbs aboard Schmidt's super-bomber, he and Peggy kiss big ones!He hops on the plane just before it takes off and they fight. The Tesseract is freed from its container, and Red Skull uses it to open a portal. The Tesseract then burns through the plane and falls into the ocean. Steve knows he has to go after it, so he radios Peggy to say goodbye and then crashes into the Arctic. Everyone assumes Steve Rogers died after they ultimately find the Tesseract on the ocean floor.Steve wakes up in a 1940s-style hospital room. He hears a radio broadcast of a baseball game that he attended in 1941 and becomes immediately suspicious. So he breaks out of his room and runs into Times Square, blown away by all the screeeens! Nick Fury shows up and tells him that he has been asleep for almost 70 years. In a post-credits scene, we basically get an Avengers trailer. Fury approaches Rogers and proposes a mission with worldwide ramifications. Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtubeInterested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Chichester Chats Ep #53: Nick Fury - Agent of Shield: Cold War   Welcome back to the Chichester Chats! This time Phil, Lilith and Justin chat with D.G. Chichester about his Nick Fury story from Nick Fury: Agent of Shield #25-#29 (July-November 1991) featuring Baron Strucker and Hydra's attack on a resurrected Shield organization, and a battle for an ultimate weapon in the Arctic Circle with special guest Wolverine.   Tune in today and don't forget to review the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and anywhere else you can!    Chichester Chats Links  → Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/capesnetwork.bsky.social → Twitter https://www.twitter.com/ChichesterChats → Instagram https://www.instagram.com/capeslunatics/ → Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ChichesterChats → YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/CapesandLunatics   ==================  

It's time for a new Marvel Monday episode with the 2011 Thor.ABOUT THORThe powerful but arrogant god Thor is cast out of Asgard to live amongst humans in Midgard (Earth), where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR THORMay 6, 2011 | TheatersCAST & CREW OF THORChris Hemsworth as Thor Anthony Hopkins as Odin  Natalie Portman as Jane Foster Tom Hiddleston as Loki Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis Clark Gregg as Agent CoulsonBRAN'S THOR SYNOPSISThree scientists — Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, and Darcy Lewis — are driving a van through the desert when they witness a lightning storm forming. Jane isn't surprised, though, because she believes she can predict the appearance of wormholes. Suddenly, the van hits a man. He's hot. And breathing.We're then given some historical context. In 965 AD, the Frost Giants invaded Earth in Norway, using the Tesseract in hopes of taking over the planet. Luckily, the Asgardians showed up, forced the Frost Giants to retreat, and took the Tesseract with them.We learn that Odin is telling this story to his two sons — one blond, one dark-haired — explaining that both are worthy, but only one can be king. A classic way to pit two brothers against each other. That always ends well!Flash forward to present day: Asgard is pumped because blond-headed Thor is about to be crowned king. And wouldn't you know it — Loki is insanely jealous.Before Thor can be crowned, the Frost Giants break into the vault that houses the Casket of Ancient Winters. Thor loses it. He flips a giant table and demands retaliation. Odin says no and reminds him that he is not king yet.Thor says “heard that” and immediately travels through a portal to confront the Frost Giants himself. A fight breaks out. Loki discovers that the Frost Giants can't harm him — his skin even turns blue like theirs. Odin shows up, stops the battle, apologizes to the Frost Giant king, and brings everyone home.Odin is furious with Thor. He strips him of his powers and banishes him to Earth, where he crash-lands in the desert and gets hit by a car — bringing us back to the beginning.Thor wakes up acting completely unhinged (by Earth standards), so the locals tase him and take him to the hospital. He escapes, only for Jane to hit him with her car again. They start spending time together and discover a mysterious “satellite crash.” Thor immediately knows it's his hammer.Unfortunately, the area is now under government control. Thor still tries to retrieve the hammer, but fails — he can't lift it.Back in Asgard, Thor's friends suspect Loki has been up to no good. Loki confronts Odin and learns the truth: he isn't Asgardian at all, but a Frost Giant taken as a baby and raised by Odin. Loki does not take this well, yells at Odin, and the stress sends Odin into a deep magical sleep. Loki is now acting king.Loki travels to Earth and lies to Thor, claiming Odin is dead and Thor can never return to Asgard. Thor tells Jane the truth about who he is — and she handles it shockingly well.We then learn it was Loki who secretly let the Frost Giants into Asgard earlier, setting everything in motion. Loki makes a deal with them: they can return to Asgard to kill Odin and reclaim the Casket, and in return they'll leave peacefully.Loki sends the Destroyer — a giant murder robot — to Earth to kill Thor. Thor helps evacuate civilians and then confronts the Destroyer, offering his life in exchange for the humans' safety while Loki watches from Asgard.The Destroyer responds by basically killing him.But Thor's selfless sacrifice proves he is worthy. His hammer flies out of the ground straight into his hand, restoring his powers and armor. Thor defeats the Destroyer and tries to return to Asgard, promising Jane he'll come back for her.Thor confronts Loki, and they battle on the Bifrost bridge. The bridge collapses, Odin saves Thor, and Loki — clinging to Odin's staff — finally lets go and falls into the void.Dead???All is well in Asgard, but not in Thor's heart, because he misses Jane. Don't worry though — she's got a new lab and is determined to find him again.In the post-credits scene, Erik Selvig is brought to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility where Nick Fury reveals a mysterious glowing cube and asks Selvig to study it. We then see Loki secretly influencing Selvig's mind.Nothing ominous about that at all. Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtubeInterested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for another Marvel Monday.  This week, it's time to catch back up with Tony! ABOUT IRON MAN 2With the world now aware of his identity as Iron Man, Tony Stark must contend with both his declining health and a vengeful mad man with ties to his father's legacy.AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR IRON MAN 2May 7, 2010 | TheatersCAST & CREW OF IRON MAN 2Robert Downey Jr. as Tony StarkGwyneth Paltrow as Pepper PottsDon Cheadle as RhodeyScarlett Johansson as Natasha RomanoffBRAN'S IRON MAN 2 SYNOPSISThe movie kicks off in Russia, where news has spread that Tony Stark is Iron Man. We meet Ivan Vanko, who is attempting to build an arc reactor like the one keeping Tony alive. His father, Anton Vanko, helped create the original arc reactor prototype alongside Tony's dad, Howard Stark.Six months later, Stark is constantly bragging that his Iron Man armor is helping maintain world peace. He's summoned to a government hearing where officials demand that he turn over the Iron Man technology. Tony's rival, Justin Hammer—now the military's main defense contractor—is also there. Hammer presents evidence showing that foreign nations are close to developing their own versions of Iron Man suits. Stark refuses to hand over the technology, insisting that other countries and competitors (including Hammer Industries) are decades away from recreating his work and that the armor is his personal property.Meanwhile, the core in the arc reactor that keeps Stark alive and powers the armor is slowly poisoning him. Believing he's running out of time, Tony suddenly names Pepper Potts the new CEO of Stark Industries and hires someone named Natasha Rushman as her replacement.After discovering he's more than 50% poisoned, Stark impulsively decides to drive in a Formula 1 race. Mid-race, Vanko shows up and attacks Tony with electrified whip weapons. The fight is intense, but Tony uses the Iron Man suit to defeat Vanko, who is arrested. However, Justin Hammer has Vanko's death faked and breaks him out of prison, recruiting him to help take Stark down.Feeling overwhelmed by his impending death, Tony throws himself a birthday party and gets completely wasted while wearing the Iron Man suit, showing off party tricks to random guests. His friend, Colonel James Rhodes, shows up to intervene. Rhodes puts on Stark's Mark II armor, fights Tony, and ultimately delivers the suit to the military.Feeling sorry for himself, Tony sulks while eating donuts inside a giant donut. Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., arrives and asks to talk. He reveals that “Natasha Rushman” is actually undercover agent Natasha Romanoff. She injects Tony with something that will temporarily keep him alive longer. Fury also reveals that Howard Stark was a founding member of S.H.I.E.L.D., whom Fury knew personally.Fury gives Tony some of his father's old materials, including a hidden message embedded in a model of the 1974 Stark Expo. Tony realizes the model contains a diagram for a brand-new element. With J.A.R.V.I.S.'s help, he successfully synthesizes it, curing himself and upgrading his arc reactor.Meanwhile, Vanko refuses to build traditional combat suits for Hammer, instead creating a fleet of armored drones. Hammer, annoyed but desperate, rolls with the idea and plans to debut them at the Stark Expo.Vanko contacts Stark, revealing that he's still alive and promising revenge. With his new element untested in real combat, Tony suits up anyway and prepares for whatever comes next. Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtubeInterested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this new series, LazyTitan and Boomguy talk about their favorite heroes, starting with #1 and working their way down their respective lists. Ever wondered why we love what we do? Who's your pick between these two?

Episode Notes Things in the 90s were a little too loosey goosey in terms of true technologically powered security. A lot of our modern day security features - on our phones but also in buildings with state secrets - is thanks to the meddling of Nick Fury and Carol Danvers! Plus, speaking of spy stuff, our guest Ty (from https://www.sidecharacterquest.com ) has a new entry for the segment: Spycraft Life Raft! Today's scene can be found at: Captain Marvel [44:07-45:20]. You can find us on Bluesky @timelinescav ! And individually you can find your hosts at @jamienerdgirl and @ColinMParker. BIG thank you for the intro and outro music from @NBramald! Check out his website at https://www.nickbramaldcomposer.co.uk. If you need music for any occasion, he's your man.Read transcript

THIS WEEK: • CAPTAIN AMERICA #6  • THE MORTAL THOR #6  • ROGUE #1 (Pals Pulls) • DC KO GREEN LANTERN GALACTIC SLAM #1  • WONDER WOMAN #29  • ASSORTED CRISIS EVENTS #8 Become a Patron  - https://www.patreon.com/thecomicspals?fan_landing=true Subscribe on YouTube -  youtube.com/thecomicspals?sub_confirm... Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/6RAX3sT Watch us LIVE on YouTube every: Thursday at 8 PM EST for Pals Pulls Saturday at 10:15 AM EST for The Comics Pals Podcast Pals Previews Uploaded Every Monday at 1PM EST Grab some merch here: https://streamlabs.com/thecomicspals/merch ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PodBean: https://thecomicspals.podbean.com/ X: https://twitter.com/thecomicspals  Bluesky: ‪@thecomicspals.bsky.social‬ Instagram: https://instagram.com/thecomicspals  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Pals: Sean: @SeansSoapbox Tyler: @TheTylerOlson Marco: @mrmarcoanimoto

In this episode of the Winning Hand podcast, host Boomguy welcomes first-time guest AbisMol and longtime co-host LazyTitan to discuss their experiences with Marvel Champions. They explore various aspects of the game, including favorite heroes, scenarios, and deck-building strategies. The conversation delves into recent gameplay experiences, including a challenging campaign against Mysterio, Boomguy's recent obsession with Nick Fury, and then showcases the importance of podcast reviews. The episode concludes with an in-depth discussion of the card of the day, 'Ready for a Fight,' examining its mechanics and impact on the game as a whole. Boomguy's deck: AbisMol's deck: Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Winning Hand Podcast 02:03 Meet Abhi Small: Content Creator and Deck Expert 04:19 Deep Dive into Iceman: Strategies and Insights 06:44 Exploring Favorite Heroes and Scenarios 10:17 Aspect Preferences: Justice, Leadership, and More 12:47 Getting into Marvel Champions: Abhi's Journey 16:58 Recent Gameplay Experiences and Challenges 19:11 Discussion on New Heroes: Hulkling and Tigra 20:54 Sinister Motives Campaign: A Challenging Experience 22:42 The Challenge of Mysterio 24:44 Deck Strategies and Adjustments 26:35 Nick Fury: A Favorite Hero 29:16 Card of the Day: Ready for a Fight 35:38 The Power of Ready for a Fight 44:34 Is It Broken? A Discussion on Balance 53:19 The Impact of Game Mechanics 55:29 Redefining Protection in Gameplay 57:32 The Fun Factor of New Cards 01:03:29 Final Thoughts on 'Ready for a Fight' 01:09:52 Deck Showcase: Stupify 01:19:14 Deck Showcase: Sigh Lockdown

In this episode of the Winning Hand podcast, hosts Boomguy and LazyTitan review the year 2025 in Marvel Champions, discussing the highlights, new content, and overall experiences. They rate the year, reflect on the new conventions, and explore the impact of mod sets and design changes. The conversation also delves into the heroes and villains released, as well as their favorite mod sets and artwork from the year, emphasizing the community's growth and the evolving landscape of the game. The conversation culminates in a celebration of their top heroes, with a particular focus on Nick Fury, Silk, and Shuri, highlighting their unique gameplay mechanics and thematic elements. Decks of the Year Boomguy: 1. Suicide Mission Leader 2. Tony Stark, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3. "Nyet."  LazyTitan: 1. OVERKILL EM 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO 2. Wow! We solved minion collecting! YIPPEEEE! 3. This Deck is Bad.  Chapters 00:00 2025 Year in Review Overview 02:40 Content Highlights and Ratings 06:03 General Themes of 2025 12:02 Caleb Grace's Departure and Design Impact 15:10 Transition to Eclectic Hero Waves 20:05 Mod Sets and the Thunderbolts 23:54 New PvP Mode Insights 25:12 Embracing Change: Opinions on PvP in Marvel Champions 27:30 Exploring New Releases: Villains and Heroes of the Year 31:55 Diving into Mod Sets: A Year of Variety 39:24 Heroes of the Year: Favorites and Disappointments 45:05 Celebrating Art: The Best Card Designs of the Year 55:34 Art Appreciation in Gaming 57:19 Favorite Nemesis Minions 01:00:53 Obligations and Their Impact 01:04:44 Team Up Cards: Synergy in Action 01:12:21 Favorite Aspect Cards of the Year 01:24:11 Leadership Cards Overview 01:30:10 Protection Cards and Strategies 01:33:32 Favorite Scenarios of the Year 01:37:46 Deck Building Highlights 01:50:04 Favorite Heroes of the Year

Welcome to Issue 302 of Critical Encounters, a podcast about Marvel Champions, a Living Card Game by Fantasy Flight Games. Here we take a good look at that most critical piece of the game, the Encounter Sets. We'll discuss those poorly understood characters, unfairly labeled Villains, and their various plans to shape humanity and benefit the planet, as well as those so-called heroes intent on thwarting them. In this Shadow of the Past issue we look at the first nemesis from the Agent's of SHIELD wave for Nick Fury, Orion! You can find us on Discord as: Vardaen, bigfomlof, Lexicon, and LACKOFSUBTLETY Email us at: criticalencounterspod@gmail.com Follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/criticalencounterspod/ Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg-r6-EooHoJGa1RRsH7i3w Find our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/criticalencounterspodcast Find our Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/vardaen You can also find our Discord Channel on the Marvel Champions Monthly Discord Server. "The hunter has returned. Now...now we will rebuild Leviathan from the bones of the new S.H.I.E.L.D. And once more, the world will tremble." - Orion  

DC has added two more Compact Comics to its 2026 release schedule. The French comics festival Angoulême has officially been canceled. Marvel is collecting Garth Ennis' Punisher and Nick Fury stories in one omnibus.SUBSCRIBE ON RSS, APPLE, SPOTIFY, OR THE APP OF YOUR CHOICE. FOLLOW US ON BLUESKY, INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK, AND FACEBOOK. SUPPORT OUR SHOWS ON PATREON.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today we are discussing Season 20, Round 2 of the Solo Champions League: Leadership heroes vs Standard Collector + Galactic Artifacts + Sauron. This episode has many guests each join the pod for conversations: Olivieros aka josseroo jr, Kakita Jamie, Babycorn and TJJJ. I played Magick, TJJJ played Iceman and the rest of those fun people played Nick Fury, but not all the same way.Joss' YouTube Channel (Solo Champions League Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8M_m6TeG3LAzrIZ4o1jkRQSolo Champions League Discord: https://discord.gg/dnq9gUPfGHOfficial website for SCL: https://www.bearoverinnsmouth.com/solo-champions-leagueMODOK league website: https://modokleague.wordpress.com/

Grab your cigar and your eye patch, we're going spying. For this week's episode, it's back to comic book trivia with Nick Fury Trivia. Marvel's spymaster has a long and storied career that we'll be diving into. Connect with the show: DorkyGeekyNerdy.com Patreon BlueSky Facebook Spotify Discord Reddit

Episode Notes It doesn't matter who you are or where you work: if Nick Fury gives you any kind of sign to clear out, you clear out. Now, tell us something the Skrull wouldn't know, or you're not allowed to listen to this podcast anymore! Today's scene can be found at: Captain Marvel [37:58 - 38:19]. You can find us on Bluesky @timelinescav ! And individually you can find your hosts at @jamienerdgirl and @ColinMParker. BIG thank you for the intro and outro music from @NBramald! Check out his website at https://www.nickbramaldcomposer.co.uk. If you need music for any occasion, he's your man. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.Read transcript

Grab your cigar and your eye patch, we're going spying. For this week's episode, it's back to comic book trivia with Nick Fury Trivia. Marvel's spymaster has a long and storied career that we'll be diving into. Connect with the show: DorkyGeekyNerdy.com Patreon BlueSky Facebook Spotify Discord Reddit

Today we talk about a Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader Dugan, better known as Dum Dum Dugan, who was a British man (until they retconned him to be from Boston) who fought alongside Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos in World War II and it kinda all goes poorly for him from there. What we were up to this week: Briar got some really good artistic Gothic Horror in with Frankenstein (2025) and the Universal Monsters Dracula Black & White Special Olivia read more Something is Killing the Children (and mentions the Swamp Thing is Killing the Children crossover), and has been reading through a lot of the Age of Revelation comics, including Cloak or Dagger (2025) #1, Omega Kids (2025) #1, and X-Vengers (2025) #1. ALSO READ ABSOLUTE BATMAN ANNUAL 2025 GO BATMAN. Thanks to Victoria Watkins for our icon! Support Capes and Japes by: Checking out our Patreon or donating to the Tip jar Find out more on the Capes and Japes website.

Shang Chi, Nick Fury, Spider Man and Black Widow try to stop Viper from crashing the SHIELD Helicarrier into a Congressional Hearing.Issue Covered: Marvel Team Up Issue 85

After Viper takes over the helicarrier, Nick Fury enlists the aid of Shang Chi to help him take over the SHIELD base while Spider Man and Black Widow sneak aboard.Issue Covered: Marvel Team Up Issue 84

Nick Fury once said, “There was an idea…” That idea didn't end with the Battle of New York — it became the blueprint that built an entire cinematic universe. In this powerful reflection, Eric Sequeira (aka Mr. Honest) lines up Phase One against the Multiverse Saga, exploring how Marvel's early conviction, patience, and character-first storytelling still echo across today's multiversal landscape. From Iron Man's gamble and Cap's conviction to Doctor Doom's looming debut in Phase Six, this episode asks what the MCU's future can still learn from its humble beginnings. A celebration of belief, legacy, and the ever-evolving heartbeat of Marvel. Because the idea was never just about heroes — it was about us.

Actor Dean Redman guest stars as Marquis in the pilot episode of the new TV series “Boston Blue.” Dean's character is brought in for questioning regarding a murder. “Boston Blue” premieres Friday, October 17 at 10:00 PM ET/PT on the CBS Television Network, streaming on Paramount+ and on CTV and CRAVE in Canada. Dean is a well-known, accomplished actor with over 100 film, television and voice acting credits to his name. He is most notable for his strong performances in major Hollywood Blockbusters, such as Legendary/Blizzard Films' “Warcraft,” where he took on not one but two major character roles.  He is equally known for his aggressive performance in 20th Century Fox's Oscar-nominated epic “War For The Planet Of The Apes”  Redman has an extensive background in martial arts, weapons, firearms and stunts, all of which prepared him for such roles.    Dean has appeared in a multitude of network television series, such as “Dark Angel,”  “Stargate SG1,” “The X-Files,” “Smallville,” “Superman and Lois,”  “Virgin River,” plus notable Hallmark and Lifetime movies “The Yoga Teacher Killer', V.C. Andrews' four-part mini series “Dawn” and a villain of the Christmas Mega hit “Sugarplummed.” He is also well known for his distinctive, deep, smooth, and smoky voice, which he has lent to Marvel's “Nick Fury” in “The Ultimate Wolverine Versus Hulk” series,“ Iron Man Armored Adventures”, Unagami in the Lego Series “Ninjago,” Dutch in the anime series “Black Lagoon”  the villain General Baran in “Dragon Quest” and a long list of animated series over the years.    Want to watch: YouTube Meisterkhan Pod (Please Subscribe)

Go to WeWantPicks.com/OFFER and use code ANDSTILL and claim your 10% discount. FOLLOW the team on Instagram | @weighingin | @therealpunk | @podcastdave | @georgeharris48 Intro 00:00 Oliveira vs Gamrot 05:48 Figueiredo vs Jackson 13:54 Luque vs Alvarez 18:10 Diniz vs Pinto 25:41 Ramos vs Ofli 27:10 Almeida vs Aswell 31:14 Filho vs Carpenter 35:20 Petrino vs Petersen 36:09 Mesquita vs Alekseeva 37:59 Rocha vs Nicoll 38:58 Can you be punished for your opponent missing weight? 40:23 Raja Jackson pleads Not Guilty 54:38 Should Merab be higher than Islam on the P4P list? 56:54 Dana denies Jones vs Pereira rumors 1:00:06 Is Khabib the Nick Fury of MMA? 1:04:17

[School of Movies 2025] Here is a film we were very excitedly waiting for. We had already been waiting an age for the first Captain Marvel movie in 2019, a project that would have been put into effect had Ike Perlmutter not maintained for years that female-led superhero films wouldn't make money. The thing swept in just over a billion dollars and made a lot of boys on YouTube very cross. Four years and a pandemic later, two Disney Plus monoseries emerged over that time, the celebrated WandaVision, which featured the returning little girl Monica Rambeaux, now an adult and working for Nick Fury, and then there was the underseen Ms. Marvel, featuring the equally long-awaited first appearance of the endlessly charming Kamala Khan. Electing to bring together these three ladies in a spacefaring adventure was neat, however, as you'll hear from our extensive talk on the structure and narrative, nobody was well-served by the direction this took, least of all the excellent director of Candymen (2021), Nia DaCosta. Plus, I've forgotten the name of the villain! Next Week: Agatha All Along

“It's an R&B Blade.”This week's coolest horror movie is... Sinners. This film has everything: A team up so legend Nick Fury would be jealous, Uncles reminding the nephew to eat, and both Michael A, and B Jordan's doing their best to protect their culture. If you love demon-slaying jazz clubs, delightful doormen named after bread, and learning that the clitoris is not in the glovebox, this episode's for you!What did you all think of our episode on Sinners?Tell us on our Socials @HorrorVirgin on Facebook, BlueSky, and InstagramHelp Support our HV Family: www.Patreon.com/HorrorVirginUp Next: Wrong Turn 2 (2007)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.