The Odyssey (2026) vs. Spiderman: Brand New Day

We’re bringing back the battle, baby! To kick off season 8, we’ll be pitting Tom Holland and Zendaya against…….you guessed it - “Zendaya and Tom Holland!” The current King and Queen of Nerdy cinema are ruling the box office right now, appearing in both Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and Destin Daniel Cretton’s marvel debut, “Spiderman: Brand New Day.” Which of these two epic films can we convince Laura to go see in the theatre? Stay tuned to find out!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Samantha Morton is a fantastic fantastic actress. She was she was the the one of the three seriously? Oh yeah. But she was the actress who did in Minority Report with Tom Cruise. She was the the the recognition bald lady. Oh buzz. And she was like, Don't go home, he knows. And you're like, oh she's a fantastic actress. She was also in the movie Coming to America.

SPEAKER_05 0:25

Oh, that was so sad.

SPEAKER_04 0:27

Oh my goodness. Anyway, she plays the creepiest character.

SPEAKER_03 0:32

Medusa?

SPEAKER_04 0:33

No. I was wondering. It's not Medusa.

SPEAKER_03 0:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 0:36

But she plays Circe.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

I think it's Circe.

SPEAKER_04 0:38

Circe? Anyway, don't eat her soup. That's all I'm gonna say. Turn she into a don't eat the soup.

SPEAKER_06 0:46

Luke. Luke. Luke. Don't eat it. Luke, I I I just love that you're here. All I got to say is don't eat her soup. No! Don't eat it.

SPEAKER_04 0:57

Especially there were some clues, guys. You know your nerdy.

SPEAKER_05 1:01

Nostalgic.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Madly inappropriate. This is nerd hat. Nerd hat. I'm with later. Why am I robot?

SPEAKER_06 1:14

Nerdhatter. Hey. And we're back. We're back. Where people talk about things and I sit here and judge.

SPEAKER_04 1:24

Guess who's back? Guess who's back? Guess who's back? All of us.

SPEAKER_06 1:28

And then some.

SPEAKER_04 1:29

We've been gone, Richard. We've been gone for three months. We we took a sabbatical, or I took a sabbatical.

SPEAKER_06 1:34

Because we're tired.

SPEAKER_04 1:35

Yeah. And Laura was working over the summer at Sawtooth, so I had the kids eight, nine hours a day. And yeah. Just busy and tired. So we took the summer off, most of it. And we're back.

SPEAKER_06 1:47

Today we have a little giggler over here. That's not true. Today we have we have a visitor, his guest. His guest.

SPEAKER_04 1:55

I have no idea. I have no idea what I'm doing here.

SPEAKER_06 1:58

This is my brother, Luke Barales. He's great.

SPEAKER_04 2:02

Okay, so we went on sabbatical. Now we're back. Decided to just start a new season because it's been three months. So this is season eight. Welcome to season eight. Yeah. So we're, I think going forward, we're gonna have our seasons run basically the length of the school year. So roughly from mid-August to mid-May. So like River Run is kind of gonna be the finale of this season, more or less. So we're looking forward to that. But yeah, yeah, a little different this year.

SPEAKER_06 2:29

Very, but cool and same.

SPEAKER_04 2:31

So we have a special guest with us on today's episode. Hi.

SPEAKER_06 2:36

This is my brother Luke Morales.

SPEAKER_04 2:39

I've never done this before, and I feel unsure how it's gonna go.

SPEAKER_06 2:42

I feel that way.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Well, that's super that you're being, you know, you're being interviewed for a full-time placement.

unknown 2:47

No.

SPEAKER_07 2:48

Wait, what?

SPEAKER_01 2:49

I do. He's upset about his salary. I thought I am. He pays me nothing.

SPEAKER_04 2:57

I pay myself nothing.

SPEAKER_06 2:59

We we pay you in in beverage.

SPEAKER_04 3:01

What's your problem? So I'm very excited though to be on it, frankly. Severe. And I am bitches. No. I am interested in what's going to happen today on this thing we're doing.

SPEAKER_06 3:12

Same seeds.

SPEAKER_04 3:13

Yeah, we've been meaning to have you on for a while, and we had a good opportunity because you and I went to see the Odyssey in fake IMAX.

SPEAKER_06 3:21

Fake IMAX?

SPEAKER_04 3:23

It's still a big screen. It was Richard has a higher standard than me. And I will say it was incredibly loud. Okay, okay. I covered my ears like an older person.

SPEAKER_06 3:35

That I'm so glad you're here because you make me feel like that crazy. Because I would have been doing the same thing.

SPEAKER_04 3:41

I think I'm losing my hearing for real.

SPEAKER_06 3:43

I don't are you really?

SPEAKER_04 3:44

I have a good ear now, like George Bailey. I'm like, what's up there? Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_06 3:50

Is it? I think I'm here. Wait, you just downloaded. Zoozoo.

SPEAKER_04 3:54

No, for like a year or two, I lean in with my good ear. Have you had it? Have you tried cleaning it out?

SPEAKER_06 3:59

Who tried cleaning it out?

SPEAKER_04 4:01

No, actually, my wife asked that too. Like an individual ear candles where you light one in. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_06 4:08

There's this little machine you can put on your ear. It's like a little, it's a little washing machine, and it puts saline solution in and it stops.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

I have that for my nose.

SPEAKER_06 4:18

Yeah, exactly. It's like it's like a netty pot for your ear.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

It's like well, the neti pot, it sucks in from one nose, it comes out the other nose. Does this thing go in one ear and come out the other ear? I've heard that these are old wives' tales, guys.

SPEAKER_04 4:32

Only if you got nothing going on upstairs. Only wives on school.

SPEAKER_06 4:37

Yeah, see, I know, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:39

These are awful. So only women's tales.

SPEAKER_06 4:42

I have found that I do this whenever people are like, hey, Lloyd, what do you do? And I'm like, hmm.

SPEAKER_04 4:47

Old parents' tales.

SPEAKER_06 4:49

No, I do this because I can't hear. I can't. I think honestly, it's my ADHD hearing everything in the room and trying to tunnel in on just that one person.

SPEAKER_04 4:59

I will say that we also are doing this with multiple little children. Little children. Well, there's no margin for people like pausing and seeing that you're like on the toilet and stuff.

SPEAKER_06 5:10

My goodness, so much toilet.

SPEAKER_04 5:12

Well, I'm really glad to be here to talk about these things.

SPEAKER_06 5:14

I'm glad you're here too. This is great.

SPEAKER_04 5:16

I was cracking my neck. Sorry, is that weird? No, it's fine. Look like crack crack.

SPEAKER_03 5:21

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 5:22

In Ireland, they say crack to say fun. Oh, yeah. Creek. Crack. Creek. Crack. Let's have some creek. Let's do it. Oh, wait, that's more Scottish.

Topic Introduction

SPEAKER_06 5:31

Considering that none of us are Irish, how about we go ahead and the topic for today? Because I am semi-intrigued.

SPEAKER_04 5:39

We're bringing back the battle, baby. So we did not do a single battle episode season seven, but season six was eighty percent battle.

SPEAKER_06 5:49

90% judgment.

SPEAKER_02 5:51

Yeah, Laura was the judge.

SPEAKER_04 5:53

Will and I were in most for most episodes, with a few exceptions, we were making pitches and uh pitting two properties against each other. So this week we are doing Tom Holland and Zendaya versus Zendaya and Tom Holland. Oh yeah, and throw in John Burnthal too, because he's in both of these movies also. There's three people.

SPEAKER_06 6:13

He is so plays the Punch Puncher or all the Walking Dead boy guy? The guy.

SPEAKER_04 6:20

I don't know if he was ever on Walking Dead. He was films. He's like on everything. John Bernthal shows up in everything. But he seems like a genuinely good guy. Really? I've only seen him play slutty. No, he's he plays in real life. He's pretty good.

SPEAKER_06 6:36

I I heard that actually today on the Insta's. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:40

Yeah. So it's okay. So it's the triumvirate of Holland Zendaya or Tom Zendaya and John Bernthal.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Well, no, yo, you said there was a different Tom in the Odyssey, right?

SPEAKER_04 6:51

No, it's Tom Holland is in both of these. Zendaya is in both of these. They're like doing everything as a couple now. So like, hey, we're married. Let's be in two movies together at the same time.

SPEAKER_06 7:01

They're married. Isn't that cute?

SPEAKER_04 7:02

Congrats, Tom Dea.

SPEAKER_06 7:04

I know she's taller than him. It's a that's all right. That's totally fine. They're pretty, they're pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04 7:10

Conkers.

SPEAKER_06 7:11

Okay, so it's okay that she's taller than him.

SPEAKER_04 7:13

They're like the world's most famous couple right now.

SPEAKER_06 7:15

Talk about it.

SPEAKER_04 7:16

So anyway, it's great. Chris Renolan's The Odyssey versus I'm gonna get his last name is Creton.

unknown 7:23

Huh?

SPEAKER_04 7:24

Daniel, no, Destin Creton, I think is the name of the director of Spider-Man Brand New Day. I'm I know I was getting a name wrong. Apologies, Mr. Creton.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 7:33

But uh not that kind of Cretin. It's C-R-E-T-T-O-N. Anyway, Spider-Man Brand New Day versus the Odyssey. So Will is gonna kick us off. He's gonna pitch Spider-Man.

SPEAKER_06 7:44

If you can.

SPEAKER_04 7:45

If you can. Yeah, he's gonna he's got five minutes to try and convince Laura. Well, five minutes to make his initial pitch, we'll say, and then Luke will follow with his pitch for the Odyssey, and then we'll have discussion and debate and questions.

SPEAKER_06 7:59

I'll have you know, Will, that I've seen some of the Spider-Man's possible. So I came prepared and carrying my baggage with me. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 8:10

So sorry, that was so loud. I should not laugh. Get that good belly left.

SPEAKER_06 8:17

So yeah, I I just I have lots of opinions just on these three versions of the same character. So, like, you know, are you are you trying to scare him? Yeah, no, because he's really good. He's he so far, Will Will's fine. He's we go way back.

SPEAKER_04 8:34

He's born about as often as I have. Like he's he's done well.

SPEAKER_06 8:37

Yeah. Either my standards are lowering or you guys are getting a lot better at pitching your your your value.

SPEAKER_04 8:44

I assume it's you.

SPEAKER_07 8:46

Assume it's me.

SPEAKER_04 8:48

You've been hanging out with us too long.

SPEAKER_06 8:50

Uh that's okay. That's okay with me. That's fine.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

So king it's black freaking though.

SPEAKER_06 8:54

No, how about this? It's like I'm I feel my my worldview is like, why do we need to keep making hero movies? Also, what about money? I yeah, but so I'm not interested. I'm just not interested. So go ahead, Will.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Spider-Man brand new day because it's not Ant-Man.

SPEAKER_06 9:13

I'm kidding.

SPEAKER_04 9:16

All right, so so I'm gonna actually time you. So let me know when you're ready and I'll hit go. Go start.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

All right,

Spiderman: Brand New Day Pitch (Will)

SPEAKER_01 9:23

start now. Five minutes. Top 10 reasons to watch Spider-Man brand new day. It's a brand new day. Two, Peter Lonely. Three, what X-Men. Four. I don't know. Five. The Hulk's back. Why why why is he better? We don't know. Nothing at this character has no backstory between films because he's just there. Okay, I'm being silly. Okay, let's get back to uh I don't know. Let me get serious for a second. So, uh Spider-Man Brand New Day, why would you watch this film when you've watched every other Spider-Man film that Tom Hahn has done and you're like, this is not my Spider-Man. But if you like Tom Hahn, that's great. But what I'm trying to say is that this fourth installment in the MCU Spider-Man franchise is the first and so far only Tom Hahn Spider-Man film that I actually felt was a Spider-Man. Now, let me explain that. This film didn't feel like MCU Spider-Man, it felt like Spider-Man. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_06 10:28

No, keep going.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

People are comparing this film to Spider-Man 2, Toby Maguire with Doc Ock. It's a grounded film. I think this is a Spider-Man that I don't know about others, but I've wanted to see from the beginning. This is the with great power comes great responsibility, Spider-Man. And the Spider-Man Tom Hahn was playing before this was not that. It's it's like this version of Spider-Man didn't have an Uncle Ben that died. But now that since the last movie, Aunt May died, we have a Tom Hall Spider-Man that actually feels like Spider-Man. And there's a lot of good stuff. I mean, there's uh a surprise character in the in the movie. There's uh like I said, the Hulk does come back. Uh I wish that they would explain why he's been he's turned back into Bruce Banner, because he was Smart Hulk previous to this. And apparently the She-Hulk series is still canon because I've heard reports that Hulk's son Sekar or Scar, whatever his name I think is Scar, is on Bruce Banner's desk at the college or something. But any I haven't seen that myself, but I heard that later after I watched it. But uh yeah, just nothing to do with Spider-Man, just a little pet peeve of mine that the Hulk doesn't get proper world building because and stories because he's apparently not actually legally owned by Disney right now or something. But but uh no, I mean not to make movies. They can make comic books and animations, I guess, but it's I think it's what is it, Universal that actually has the rights to Hulk right now. So Hulk can only be a supporting character, he can't have his own movies or anything.

SPEAKER_04 12:03

We did have the Edward Norton film that was technically MCU.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

Yeah, but that was uh in partnership with Universal, and so that film didn't meet Universal's expectations, and so therefore they thought Lord's gonna judge you points for the Hulk. I know. So, anyway, so this Spider-Man, I don't know, he's just a very grounded Spider-Man. Burnthaw's Punisher is in here, and uh yes, Spider-Man will not let him cuss. He webs his mouth shut because this is like PG 13 Punisher. But but he does a really great job. He does a Bernthal does a really great job playing his character from the Daredevil uh and and other his own Netflix series. I don't know if the police officer friend of Spider-Man's is from the comics or not, but that was a good element. It's kind of like the Commissioner Jordan.

SPEAKER_04 12:51

We're down to 20 seconds here.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

Okay. You know what? I I think that you should see this movie because it's just it's good. It's this is the only Tom Hall and Spider-Man film other than No Way Home that I would watch a second time. I'm not saying that they're bad. I'm just saying that it was good. It was that good.

SPEAKER_06 13:08

I believe you will, or do I?

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Micro. All right, okay I'll let you finish, but excuse me. Did you just was that you deciding? No.

SPEAKER_06 13:17

No, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

She's writing down her grocery list. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 13:23

What's wrong with that? At least, at least I have a list.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

You're right. She's writing down ideas for new paintings.

SPEAKER_06 13:30

That's not far off from normally what I do. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

All right.

SPEAKER_04 13:35

All right. You ready, Luke? I'm ready. Here

The Odyssey Pitch (Luke)

SPEAKER_04 13:38

we go. And go. All right. I've prepared. I have thoughts. And I'm excited.

SPEAKER_06 13:43

I'm scared.

SPEAKER_04 13:44

All right. Okay. Imagine you are interested in watching a movie that's, you know, you're like interested in a Marvel movie, but you're a little bit like, haven't we done this already? Maybe 18 times.

SPEAKER_03 13:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 13:58

But you're like, you know what though? I still want there to be in this movie far too many famous people. I want the 18th iteration, if you honestly. I literally want there to be everyone who's been in Marvel to be in this movie. And then some. And then you're like, you know what? Let's throw in the mighty Joe Young lady, Charlie's Theron, right? And you're like, let's let get Lupita in there. Oh, I do like that. She was actually in Black Panther.

SPEAKER_06 14:27

She has such great skin.

SPEAKER_04 14:29

Black Panther won and beautiful. And then you're like, you know what, Anne Hathaway, I just want to really go Princess Diaries, but be serious. Let's take Princess Diaries and go Le Miserable. I dreamed a dream. Because I want to see But you're like, you know what, this isn't going to work. And so you're like, you know what? Actually, let's have Christopher Nolan direct it. And you're like, well, maybe it'll work. I don't know. I've just heard things about it. And you're like, maybe it'll work. And then you're like, do I actually go to the theater to do this? Do I pay extra to see it on a big screen? And then you do, and you go in the theater and you're like, oh, I recognize these story elements because I watched Wishbone when I was a child. What? That's the story. I don't even know if this was a dog narrating this. Wishbone? Was it on the children's book of virtues? Where are we? Is this PBS? Are we on AVC? Are we on PBS? Did I already say PBS? Anyway, and so you're just walking through this tunnel of like random illusions. You're like, why do I know this story already? Why am I feeling things? Why do these famous people just disappear into their roles? Because they're good actors. I mean, Edward Cullen is a fantastic actor. And you're like, who knew this? He's stupid. You're kidding. You would hate it. You would hate it and you'd like it because he's so bad. And then he's like, totally. Anyway, he's super creepy. And then you're like, okay, and he's just he's going along all of the things. And then there's a stupid, I'm not gonna spoil it, but let's just say it involves a dog and this moment of revelation. And I literally cried.

SPEAKER_06 16:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 16:11

I cried. And I was like, don't feel things, Luke. It's just Matt Damon, it's just a dog, and it's just the little Spider-Man guy. And I'm feeling things. And it was uh impactful. So all of that to say is that if you're interested in Marvel, but you don't really want to see any Marvel anymore, you're interested in Christopher Nolan because he's done movies that also spanned you know the DC universe. And if you're interested in super famous people but forgetting they're famous because they're in a good movie, okay, and you're interested in reliving your childhood through a cathartically weirdly emotional experience on the big screen, I would really say you should go see the Odyssey. I actually this is total I'm totally pulling a family card though, because I was like, I could take family members to go see this and we could experience things.

SPEAKER_06 17:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 17:03

Yeah. One last thing.

SPEAKER_06 17:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:05

One of the movie scenes that got me the most was when because I didn't I I feel like Matt Damon is too Matt Damon to be anybody else.

SPEAKER_06 17:15

You're not wrong.

SPEAKER_04 17:16

Right?

SPEAKER_06 17:17

You're not wrong.

SPEAKER_04 17:17

But the scene with the sirens where Odysseus is like, I'm gonna time tie me to the mast, and I'm gonna I'm gonna hear the sirens, and everyone else put wax in your ears, and I'm just like, whatever, that's such a stupid idea. Like, just don't do that. Don't be stupid. It is the most amazing moment in like a Christopher Nolan the sound goes out, and all you see is Matt Damon weeping because as his narration starts to talk about everything that you want that you are and itch you're trying to scratch it, but maybe you finally scratch it only to realize that everything you wanted that you already had and you lost it. And it was really good.

SPEAKER_06 17:58

Okay. Wow. I I'm upset and excited. I'm gonna I'm confused.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

You're confused about that what that movie is now, and also the only thing I thought my movie was the superhero comic book of joy. Apparently, Luke felt a spectrum of something. I felt spectrums of things.

SPEAKER_04 18:23

I've tasted the rainbow.

SPEAKER_06 18:25

What does that mean?

SPEAKER_04 18:26

The sour skittles of the rainbow.

SPEAKER_06 18:28

The sour skittles the one that makes your the top of your mouth hurt because you're

Discussion

SPEAKER_06 18:33

I I was taken to several different places that I didn't really want to go, but now that I'm there, I'm not angry about it. So I'm gonna ask a series of questions to both of you, and I am very curious.

SPEAKER_04 18:45

Can we like argue with each other and stuff?

SPEAKER_06 18:47

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 18:48

All right, Will, get ready. Orange is the color.

SPEAKER_06 18:53

First off, this is for Will. Will, I have a question. Actually, both of you could answer this question.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

The answer is Nebraska.

SPEAKER_06 19:02

I am curious, because you got both of you took me to places. You did. You did you took me places. But I am curious, Will, what is the movie about? And the same for Luke. What was the movie about?

SPEAKER_01 19:14

Yeah, we didn't really explain that. So it's like what was the plot? Spider-Man is trying to stop a girl with psychic powers who can control people and basically possess them. But as it turns out that even though she's still the villain, she's not actually the villain because there's a bigger villain who turned her into a villain because crap happened and she got upset. And uh so Spider Spider-Man is, you know, he just won't leave it alone because with great power comes great responsibility. Oh, it's the Hulk darn. Okay, that was a joke. Uh okay. Yeah, yeah. The psychic girl, the psychic girl controls the Hulk at one point in the film. And meanwhile, Spider-Man is going through some sort of transformation. I was expecting to see what's called.

SPEAKER_06 19:55

Keep going.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

He's like 30.

SPEAKER_06 19:57

No, the little boy's 30.

SPEAKER_04 19:59

He's old, he's older.

SPEAKER_06 20:00

He's so precious. He's so precious. I just want to scoop him up. I really do.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

Just scoop and pop him on the head. He's like, Give him a lifeful non-alcoholic beer. It's called Barrow.

SPEAKER_06 20:11

Sweet. Little buddy. All right.

SPEAKER_04 20:14

Peter ages four years during the movie. By the time most of it happened, he's like the timeline goes like twenty over four years within the movie? Yeah, it's like twenty-two.

SPEAKER_03 20:24

Okay. But he's not, but okay Peter Perk. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 20:27

So so there's a bad person, there's a there's a villain trying to take over people's minds.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Yeah, in order to rescue someone that we don't know about for most of the film that was taken by the real bad guys, which we thought were to be good guys. Uh, and I don't care what you say, she's still psychic girl still killed people, she's still a bad guy, but but uh I don't know, you know. I mean, she what would you do in that situation? Anyway, so uh Spider-Man is the basic plot is he's trying to stop the psychic girl from doing any more damage while trying to he's very lonely and sad because the magic man wreaks everybody's memories of him. So uh he's uh that stops are strange, by the way. But anyway, so he he's balancing, trying to hopefully get some of his friends to remember who he is. Spoiler, no, I won't give a spoiler. Anyway, so mixed with uh he's undergoing a transformation to where his spider DNA is starting to gain ground on his human DNA. I was expecting, I will give you this spoiler. I was expecting to see something from the comics and old 90s cartoon show called Manspider, but it didn't happen.

SPEAKER_04 21:42

Is that like mansplaining?

SPEAKER_01 21:46

Yeah, it's like man bat from Batman. That's right. It's it's a giant spider in a Spider Man costume.

SPEAKER_04 21:55

A man spider. I'm not Spider Man anymore.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

So, so Well that didn't happen. I I found out from behind the scenes that they actually discussed bringing in Man Spider, but decided they didn't want to scare the kids.

SPEAKER_06 22:09

Alright, so I'm gonna pause you there. Thank you and good night. Hey, Luke, Luke, Luke, similar question. What was what was the movie about? I will say the only thing I know about the story is from Wishbone.

SPEAKER_04 22:21

All right, so like everything you okay. I was not very interested in it, honestly, because I was like, it's gonna do a road trip movie. Trojan horse, there's the the the guy, the cyclops guy chasing them out of a cave. Oh no. There's the lotus flowers where they forget everything. There's just island after island after.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

So you're saying the Odyssey is a road trip film.

SPEAKER_04 22:46

Yeah, but the Greek myth is a road trip film. But what does is he weaves them back in in this nonlinear way. And so the whole narrative becomes this question of like, do we believe that hope, like that we can actually have hope? And do we believe that even after we have failed, we can still make good choices?

SPEAKER_06 23:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 23:07

And so I don't think this was actually in the Greek myth back in the day, but there's a huge undercurrent of like crap. This is in me. What do I do now? Like, can I go home after what I have done? And I loved it.

SPEAKER_06 23:23

Okay. Okay. Thank you for that. In in cliffhanger as much. Okay. So uh, Will, I ask this question every time. Did you cry? That's not I've never asked you that. I could you I know you did. Um no, well, out of all of the characters, was there character development amongst any of the people on the movie that you were like, wow, like relatable?

SPEAKER_01 23:46

Well, I guess so. Who? Well, John Perth Paul's character, the Punisher, goes from the Spider-Man's annoying, I'm gonna kill him, to oh my gosh, I'm I need to save Spider-Man or something.

SPEAKER_06 23:56

And then wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. It goes from what to what?

SPEAKER_01 24:00

I I don't really think there's a great deal of character development. I mean, I think there is with the Spider-Man character. I was talking about the Punisher earlier, but I don't really think that's like gigantic. It's just he goes from beginning of film being annoyed by Spider-Man to becoming a genuine ally. Okay. But Spider-Man himself, Peter Parker, Tom Holland's character, uh, I think he goes through a phase of acceptance. Was this phase seven? Maybe that's not the right word. He he learns to accept that his friends don't remember him and probably never will. And he also eventually accepts the changes that are happening in his genetics, which uh I was disappointed because I thought we were going manspider, but whatever. But anyway, so I didn't think it was any payoff with that, is what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_04 24:46

He does start shooting webs out of his wrists, just like Toby McGuire.

SPEAKER_06 24:50

Oh, I thought you were gonna say anus. No, I really thought. I was like, Are you serious?

SPEAKER_04 24:56

Yes, it does come out of my that's what mansplaining is.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

Spider-Man splating.

SPEAKER_06 25:03

Cool. Thanks, Will. All right.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

I don't know if I was done or not, but I think I'm done.

SPEAKER_06 25:07

You weren't. You weren't. Keep going.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

I don't remember it was. Moving on.

SPEAKER_06 25:11

All right, good night, guys. This was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

Character development. Well, I guess you could say there was character development with the mysterious psychic girl whose name I shall not reveal.

SPEAKER_06 25:20

What? Nope. Tell me what it is. I'm not gonna go see it. Just go ahead. Spoiler warning, folks. Spoilers, spoilers.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

If you haven't seen spoiler, I don't think Richard's mic's working, so spoiler alert. Is she Phoenix, Dark Phoenix or something? She's Gene Gray. Okay, so while you were talking, and not to back up Laura, did you know that name or you just like mocked me?

SPEAKER_06 25:41

I know Gene Gray. I know things.

SPEAKER_04 25:44

But I just want to say this does support my categorical wonderment that I was like, this is feels like it's just repeating Dark Phoenix, which has already been made. But they just merged it with Spider-Man. Sorry, I'm defeating your your side. You keep talking.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

There there's no mention of mutants or X-Men. Throughout the film, she's just said that she's just a high-level telepath. I will say that normally uh I think most depictions of Gene Gray.

SPEAKER_06 26:11

Hold on. You took out wait, well, pause.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

When does it be?

SPEAKER_06 26:16

I have so many more questions. All right.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

I am gonna-gray to answer Luke's question. This Jean Gray, you would normally start Jean Gray would normally be a good guy that becomes a bad guy, which becomes controlled by the Phoenix force. But in this iteration, Gene Gray is just murderous, okay? So go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 26:32

All right, that's not cool, but there's more to it than that.

SPEAKER_06 26:36

All right. Will, because I know you I am curious what you meant by feels like the real Spider-Man comment. Like this character felt like the real Spider-Man. Do you are you referring to the comics?

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Referring to yeah, the comics, I guess a little bit to the 90s cartoon, the original Toby Maguire Spider-Man, except less camp. This one's really grounded. You said less what? Camp. Camp? Okay, when I was young, I liked the Toby Maguire Spider-Man film. So then when I was old, I rewatched them and I said, wow, this is really campy.

SPEAKER_06 27:09

No, you need to say another word other than campy, because I don't understand. What do you mean? What you mean? Teach me, my teach me, my guy.

SPEAKER_04 27:16

Teach me how to Dougie. Campy. Like like ch cheesy uh star of bad props in old Star Trek movies.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

It was very No, no, the acting was campy and cheesy.

SPEAKER_06 27:27

Thank you. No, no, well, like I think that was because I felt I felt it was the acting was odd.

SPEAKER_04 27:35

The bad Peter was a little bit more than a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

Yeah, Toby Maguire.

SPEAKER_06 27:37

No, like all of the characters were weird.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

But I mean in the in the Toby Maguire films. I mean right. So this Spider-Man is very grounded and realistic. Uh Toby uh not Toby, Tom Holland plays a Peter Parker Spider-Man, but I'm thinking it helps that since Doctor Strange erased everyone's memories, that we can do kind of like a soft reset on the Spider-Man character in the MCU to correct some some things and directions it was going. Tom Hall and Spider-Man's always been fun, but it's not been grounded. It's not been, you know, with great power, it comes great responsibility. There's not there's not not been I don't know how to describe it, but but this film, it didn't cause I don't I think there's something wrong with your webcam. But uh there I'm having a hard time thinking.

SPEAKER_06 28:23

No, you're fine.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

I He wasn't fighting space aliens, he wasn't go are you still there? We can still hear you fine. I'm just gonna put battery in the camera. Okay. It was just grounded. It was crime in New York. We got to see uh a little segment of what he had been up to since last movie, so he's got a rogue gallery of villains.

SPEAKER_06 28:45

Hey, Will, I'm gonna I'm gonna cut you off real quick. That's fine. I'm gonna I'm gonna ask you one last question, then I'm gonna switch over to Luke real quick and try to answer this quickly or leave. No. Was there any part of the movie that you where you were taken? You're like, like, when I say taken, I mean like captured, enchanted, whimsified. Like when you like, was there any moment in the movie where you're like, What, okay, I am in a theater. Whoops, forgot. Like, was there any point in the movie that that happened?

SPEAKER_01 29:15

Well, sure. In the very beginning, for some odd reason, due to my brain, when Tom Hall and Spider-Man jumps off a youth skyscraper, I got scared, but Okay.

SPEAKER_06 29:24

All right, okay, okay. Fear. Fear captures you. I got it.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

I'm not sure that counts exactly. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_06 29:35

Okay. I will take that.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Well, I was surprised when Gene Gray was revealed.

SPEAKER_06 29:41

You were surprised when what?

SPEAKER_01 29:42

When Jay Gene Gray was revealed to be uh that's who that was. Because it's a very good buildup.

SPEAKER_06 29:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

Until we find out that Gene Gray from the X-Men series is in this film. Played by a new actress, of course. This is the MCU version of Gene Gray.

SPEAKER_04 30:00

Excuse me, Sadie saying, Robbie, this is we're spoilers anyway.

SPEAKER_06 30:04

Um, all right, hey, well, I'm gonna I'm gonna Okay, ask me that same question. Okay, kind of. So I'm gonna go to my little notebook of questions with my little dyslexic notes. Okay, Luke, did you cry? Yeah, I cried. That already happened.

SPEAKER_04 30:19

Definitely cried. I cried there were two times. Well, there was one time I definitely cried, and there was another time there were tears welling.

SPEAKER_06 30:24

Okay. So that counts for a man. No. Oh my gosh. So Real Man cry cry during the movie. I'm assuming the answer is yes, but I've heard a lot of like, oh, it's Chr Christopher Nolan did it. Like the sound is gonna be all these things, and this is it's just gonna be so good. I'm not I'm not making fun of your voice. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_04 30:47

So I could take it.

SPEAKER_06 30:48

No, no, no. I was I was talking to Richard.

SPEAKER_04 30:50

But uh if it had been like in a if it had been in like a true IMAX theater, like the OG IMAXs with good sound mixes, it would have been better. But we would have had to have gone to Buford, Georgia for that, which would have been a four-hour drive.

SPEAKER_06 31:05

And we hate Georgians, so no. I'm just kidding. You people in Georgia, you're all right. You are all right.

SPEAKER_04 31:11

There's a large fan base in Buford. Buford is the closest 70 millimeter league.

SPEAKER_06 31:16

That's crazy. That's crazy. Let's go on a road trip sometime. Let's go on a road trip sometime.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

That would have been like let's don't say we didn't gas.

SPEAKER_06 31:24

I like that. I like that, Will. All right, back. I want to know about the atmosphere, Luke. Like, were you taken? Taken away.

SPEAKER_04 31:33

I was taken multiple times. Okay. But one one I want to I want to call out, and this not a spoiler, because if you have been exposed to Greek mythology, Jesus comes back. No. Samantha Morton is a fantastic actress. She was she was the the one of the three Cersei? Oh yeah. But she was the actress who did in Minority Report with Tom Cruise. She was the the the recognition bald lady. Oh, buzz. And she was like, Don't go home, he knows. And you're like, oh she's a fantastic actress. She was also in the movie Coming to America.

SPEAKER_05 32:10

Oh, that was so sad.

SPEAKER_04 32:11

Oh my goodness. Anyway, she plays the creepiest character.

SPEAKER_03 32:16

Medusa?

SPEAKER_04 32:17

No. I was wondering. It's not Medusa. Okay. But she plays Circe.

SPEAKER_03 32:22

I think it's Circe.

SPEAKER_04 32:23

Circe? Anyway, don't eat her soup. That's all I'm gonna say. Don't she into a don't eat the soup.

SPEAKER_06 32:31

Luke. Luke. Luke. Don't eat it. Luke, I I I just love that you're here. All I got to say is don't eat our soup. No! Don't eat her soup. You shouldn't.

SPEAKER_04 32:42

Especially there were some clues, guys. No, you're hungry. Don't eat the soup. Okay. This is But when you do get ready.

SPEAKER_06 32:48

Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_04 32:49

I am so good. I'm bad.

SPEAKER_06 32:51

I never knew I'd be taken by soup. What about this? Again, I have so many questions.

SPEAKER_04 32:56

So I want to literally just talk to you about this movie.

SPEAKER_06 32:59

Character development, though. Yes. Land. Land summary.

SPEAKER_04 33:02

Yeah, and I'm I mean, I think this is where it it deviates from the Greek, the Greekness of it. In that I don't actually think Odysseus was like, I've got to go home because I'm faithful in my heart. Matt, the Matt Damon character? No, no, no. Like the original Greek guy. Like I think there are several islands where they got together, they laced they enjoyed themselves with various lots of things.

SPEAKER_03 33:25

Yeah. Odysseus. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:28

But in the Homer's Odyssey, there was a lot of immoral, non-Western enjoyment. But they also didn't care about murdering a bunch of people, too. So there's a lot more, I think from a Western perspective, they bring in a question of like values and and do I what have I done? Those sorts of things, which I think is fairly human. Okay. Even if you're Greek. That feels that felt so bad.

SPEAKER_06 33:54

We love you, Greece. We love you, Greece.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

I do love Greek people. I love my biggest. I especially love Greeks on my french fries.

SPEAKER_06 34:00

I want to know more. Or do I?

SPEAKER_04 34:03

Was that like I don't understand dressing or cannibalism?

SPEAKER_06 34:06

I don't know.

unknown 34:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 34:08

Grease.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

I'm sorry. I thought the sauce was because he No, he's such a bad thing. And then I was laughing. You had thought I had said. Anyway, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:19

Lots of character development. And I I think you would appreciate. Yeah, you would appreciate where it goes.

SPEAKER_06 34:25

And but we're we're okay.

SPEAKER_04 34:27

Man. Yep, I was taken.

SPEAKER_06 34:29

But were was there any point where you were inspired? I know we're keep going, but nope. Nope. We're gonna we're going to he doesn't need to leave. I know. We're not gonna say that. Inspiration, not for you today. Okay,

And the Winner is.....

SPEAKER_06 34:41

guys, so I am torn as always, but I know my answer.

SPEAKER_04 34:45

And it has nothing to do with nepotism.

SPEAKER_06 34:47

Why what makes you think it's you?

SPEAKER_04 34:49

Because I want to watch the Odyssey again.

SPEAKER_06 34:53

As far as let me see. I think with with how about this? I would because you gave away a character, a main character, like Gene Gray in it, I'd like to go. I don't no no no no, I know. I was just re reconfirming that you spoiled so much for everyone. No, so no, like I just for our time's sake, I can't spoil the Odyssey.

SPEAKER_01 35:20

It's it's been out for thousands of years.

SPEAKER_06 35:22

I know, I know, I know.

SPEAKER_04 35:24

Um she already saw it on Wikipedia.

SPEAKER_06 35:27

I I would I did this with Rachel too. It was really tricky. With Rachel's my wife, Rachel is his his wife.

SPEAKER_04 35:35

She's great.

SPEAKER_06 35:35

Um, she's so great. With Spider-Man, I I still am not like it feels like it's done over and over and over again, not because of you, Will, but because of Spider-Man. And I got so confused. No, no, no. I just got confused when they made the what's his name? Andrew Garfield. I was like, didn't Toby McGuire just come like I'm sorry. What why did we need more? And then Tom Holland in his youthfulness comes into the scene, like, I'm British, but I'm not gonna be British for Spider-Man. So I just I had a I I had a hard time staying glued, but I would see it though.

SPEAKER_03 36:15

Wait, did you just let him okay?

SPEAKER_06 36:17

Not in the theater.

SPEAKER_03 36:22

Wait till it comes out and does it.

SPEAKER_06 36:23

So I I I would see it not in the theater. I would go ahead and see Odyssey in the theater, but only by a smidge, though.

SPEAKER_04 36:31

Like I'm really like not I think you should give me more than a smidge.

SPEAKER_06 36:35

I just it's not you. It's it's the movie. I don't like going to theaters, period.

SPEAKER_04 36:40

That's fair. I don't like spitting money. And I no, I really just I wonder, I wonder, Rachel, if you hear this later, that there are places you would appreciate the Odyssey. There's also a rated or element of violence that you probably wouldn't appreciate. So we can talk about it.

SPEAKER_06 36:58

Cannibalism. I need my brain, I need to be knitting, sorting socks, or washing dishes while I'm washing watching something. I can't, I can't I brought the raw, I was crocheting, I brought the wrong hook. It was the wrong size. So I tried to crochet with my fingers. That is not the same experience. So I for s for immer immersement, immersement sake, immersion sake, I would go and see Odyssey on the big screen. But again, I I'd have to be taking so much with me. I I can't just sit there and absorb. I have to be doing it at the time.

SPEAKER_04 37:32

I think that's a completely reasonable thing.

SPEAKER_03 37:33

And it's rare.

SPEAKER_06 37:34

It's what? Oh, that guy is feel like it, but it's they did a good job with it.

SPEAKER_03 37:39

Guys, it's three casing was great.

SPEAKER_06 37:40

Three hours long.

SPEAKER_03 37:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 37:42

Three fucking hours long. I guess it's fine. I guess it's fine. All right.

SPEAKER_04 37:47

Yeah, and I loved both of these movies in the theater, but if I was gonna shell out some money to go see one twice, it would be the Odyssey as well. But I also I loved both of them. And while we're confessing truths, I haven't seen Spider-Man.

SPEAKER_06 38:00

Any of them?

SPEAKER_04 38:00

No, no, I've seen I saw one on an airplane and I fell asleep part part way through. And I actually still mean to because Rachel really loves Doc Ock. And so we've been meaning to go through the city.

SPEAKER_06 38:10

Oh, is that the that's Spider-Man 2 is awesome. Is that the um octopus man?

SPEAKER_04 38:14

The octopus man comes back in Spider-Man, whatever the one is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No way home.

SPEAKER_06 38:18

Yeah, there's too many movies. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_04 38:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 38:20

I I click click. All

Closing Thoughts

SPEAKER_06 38:22

right. So because of our time and our lifestyle, we need to go. Our lifestyle meaning offspring.

SPEAKER_01 38:28

Thanks, Will. It's been fun. You Kate, you take care of it. Thanks. You too. We'll take care of it. For the record, I'm not gonna see the Odyssey, but if but from these two pitches, I would see the Odyssey.

SPEAKER_06 38:38

Thanks. What's the story, wishbone?

SPEAKER_01 38:41

It seems like the more meaningful, worthwhile film, but I uh but my tastes are garbage, so give me that fighting and I don't think they are well.

SPEAKER_04 38:52

You know, when when I when I heard that it was Gene Gray, I actually made me not want to go see it, even though I'm mildly interested in seeing it. Sadie Sync did a really good job. I believe Zady. I believe you. I just actually didn't I didn't ever see Dark Phoenix. I think I fast forwarded it through the special effects.

SPEAKER_01 39:07

Don't worry, that was a bad X-Men film.

SPEAKER_04 39:09

Yeah, both.

SPEAKER_06 39:11

I liked it, Mr. Mr. What No. No, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 39:16

I like the original films.

SPEAKER_06 39:18

What's that from? Is that the never ending story? Bastion, save me. That's gonna be another episode. All right, guys, we're gonna have to wrap it up. Yeah, this has been fun, enlightening, thrilling, even.

SPEAKER_04 39:32

Next time. Lori, have you decided what we're gonna cover next?

SPEAKER_06 39:35

No, not one bit.

SPEAKER_04 39:36

All right. Well, I will come back to you. Guys, it's gonna be really fun. And announce that.

SPEAKER_06 39:40

Never ending story.

SPEAKER_04 39:46

Thanks for joining us as always. Until next time. Until next time. Okay, Sarah Nara. Live long and prosper.

SPEAKER_06 39:52

Good night, bitches.

SPEAKER_04 39:54

What's yours, Luke? What's yours, Luke? Oh, yeah. I don't need one. I'm this is the I don't know if I'll ever be back.

unknown 40:00

Ha ha ha.

SPEAKER_04 40:01

Oh, thanks.

SPEAKER_06 40:01

No, just that's great. I don't know if I'll never be back. That's good.

SPEAKER_04 40:05

This could be just not mine. That's all.

SPEAKER_02 40:10

The NerdNet Podcast was crafted without the assistance of Generative AI. It was produced, recorded, and edited by Richard Best. The human. Copyright Internet Productions 2026. You can follow us on Instagram at Internet Podcast or Facebook at Simply the Internet Podcast. You can also find us on all your favorite podcasts. Stay tuned until next time.