The People v Batman v Superman

Chris and Dennis return for a review of Wonder Woman!    

We begin our journey through the history of DC Comics on the big screen with Superman and the Mole Men from 1951. We have an interview with Superman expert Jonathan Morris, creator of the website The Chronological Superman, as well as an interview with Paul Bernbaum, screenwriter of the 2006 film Hollywoodland, which tells the story of the mysterious death of George Reeves, the actor who played the Man of Steel in The Adventures of Superman. Along the way, we also talk about "The Superman Curse" and how it has affected various people associated with the Superman movies. Time Codes 00:00:58 - Intro / Superman and the Mole Men with guest Jonathan Morris 01:05:04 - Kellogg's Adventures of Superman Commercial 01:05:48 - Chris and Dennis talk about "The Superman Curse" 01:19:51 - Hollywoodland trailer 01:20:49 - Interview with Paul Bernbaum, screenwriter of Hollywoodland Links: The Chronological Superman In Der Fuehrer's Face

We may be done talking about Batman v Superman, but we'll still keep you updated on other DC Comics films hitting the big scree, Here is our mostly spoiler free review of the new Lego Batman Movie, the follow up to 2014's Lego Movie. Should you see it? Of course! Listen to find out why.

It's the final episode of the podcast. Superman is dead and we just can't summon the willpower to go on. We take some time at the top of the show for a bit of reflection on Batman v Superman and the experience of producing a weekly podcast for half a year. Then we get to the scenes in question, finding some truly weird and surprising Easter eggs, even in this very sombre epilogue. We want to thank everyone who listened to the show, especially those who have been with us from the beginning and those who have joined in the conversation online, even if you disagreed with our opinions. Also, stayed tuned for info on our next show, called DC Legacy Filmcast.

Comedian Kevin Avery joins us for the second big fight scene of the movie. In addition to standup comedy, Kevin is formerly and Emmy winning writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and co-host, along with W. Kamau Bell of the podcast Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time, Period. Taken as its own thing, we all kinda liked the big fight scene between Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Doomsday, with a few reservations. But seriously, why didn't Superman just hand the Kryptonite spear to Wonder Woman?

Buckle up, because we haven't seen a rant quite like we got out of this week's guest. Chris Sims of Comics Alliance and War Rocket Ajax joins us to talk about the Superman v Doomsday fight and we find ourselves in the unlikely position of actually defending the film for once. To put it lightly, Chris didn't like it. We also go deep into the history of DC Comics and talk about the essential nature of Batman and Superman through the decades and how the film missed those characterizations by a mile. And, we explore an very surreal product placement tie-in that gives us a glimpse of an alternate DC film universe in which things aren't so dreary. This episode brought to you by Turkish Airlines.

The Batman v Superman fight has come to its conclusion as Batman races off to save Martha. If Batman has seen the light, do we see any change in his character? The warehouse fight scene doesn't seem to hold any clues to Batman's transformation because this is the most brutal superhero fight scene we've ever witnessed in a film. Batman takes out two dozen henchman to save Superman's mother. We also get our first glimpse at Superman's ultimate foe, Doomsday.

The big fight scene between Batman and Superman is finally here and we've got a returning guest, Oli Pettigrew, who has brought along his wife, Linda Black, who he credits with teaching him everything he knows about comic books. We talk about the debt this scene owes to The Dark Knight Returns, find some very obscure easter eggs, and discuss the controversial "Martha Moment." We end with some hope for future DC Comics movies. You can follow Oli and Linda online at @oli_pettigrew and @lindaxenia    

In this episode we are joined by Bob Leeper of NerdvanaMedia.com and the Phoenix Film Critics Society to talk about a scene involving Lex, Lois and Superman. Lois is kidnapped by Anatoli and delivered to the top of LexCorp Tower. Lex proceeds to toss her off the building, knowing that Superman will come to her rescue. He does, of course, then confronts Lex. Luthor tells Superman he will have to bring him the head of Batman or Martha dies. Superman then tells Lois that he has to go to Gotham to kill the Batman. This episode brought to you by Terrio Janitorial.

In a scene that was deleted from the theatrical release, we learn that the reason Superman failed to act during the Senate bombing was that the wheelchair bomb  was lined with lead. Clark Kent finds his Earth father, Jonathan Kent, atop a mountain and has a conversation with him. Is this a dream? A hallucination? A peyote trip? We'll never know. Bruce Wayne tells his surrogate father, Alfred, that the work he has done as Batman has been meaningless as long as Superman is a threat to the planet. Dennis treats us to a comprehensive history of the Wayne family. Will Bruce be the last one of his line? And we take a short trip to Ralli's Diner, where Martha Kent is kidnapped.

On this episode we're joined by Dr. Christine Schreyer, the anthropologist who created the written Kryptonian language for Man of Steel. She tells us of some easter eggs hidden in the language that have a surprising relationship to Batman v Superman. We also talk about other aspects of Kryptonian culture present in the film, as well as Superman's Canadian heritage. And don't forget about the ongoing superhero battle in the cereal aisle, where you can see some of Dr. Schreyer's work on Superman Caramel Crunch. (By the way, it's way better than the Batman Chocolate Strawberry cereal).

We're dealing with the aftermath of the Senate bombing as Batman breaks into LexCorp and steals the Kryptonite, and Lois and Superman have a deep conversation where it looks like Superman has all but given up. Lex enters the Kryptonian ship using General Zod's fingerprints. The we have a montage of Bruce Wayne training, constructing Kryptonite weapons and browsing Lex's secret files. He gets a glimpse of other metahumans, including and old photo of Diana that has leaves him wondering, "Who's that girl?"

In this episode we're joined by film critic for the Arizona Republic, Barbara VanDenburgh, to talk about what is probably our least favorite scene in the film. Superman is called to testify before Congress on his involvement in the desert of Nairomi. Instead of being a grandly inspirational "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" moment, the hearing is interrupted by a horrifying explosion before Superman can even utter a word. This scene demoralized us so much that it was difficult to get through the rest of the film. This episode brought to you by Granny's Peach Tea.

Lois is back on the trail of the mysterious bullet, as she meets with Secretary Swanwick in DC. Senator Finch gives a press conference. Lex Luthor stares at some Kryptonite. Clark visits his Earth mom. Kahina Ziri rides the bus. And to close out this episode, Lois visits Secretary Swanwick again. Also, we talk about some of the listener feedback we've been getting. Apparently, some people aren't too happy that this podcast exists.

We're joined by Professor of Film Studies at Arizona State University, Jeremy Carr. While not a huge comic book fan, Jeremy is a film buff, and as a standalone film, he kinda liked it. We're talking about the scene in which Bruce tells Alfred that he has decided to kill Superman, as well as the scene where Clark Kent meets the dead inmate's baby mama. Both of these scenes are the moments that cement the central conflict of the film.

We have a very special guest on this episode - comic book artist Jamal Igle, whose DC Comics work you may have seen on Firestorm, Supergirl and Nightwing, or from his creator-owned project Molly Danger. Welcome to Bruce Wayne's nightmare, as he emerges from a bunker into an apocalyptic future in which Superman is a fascist with his own army and Darkseid's parademons roam the skies. We try to figure out just what the hell is going on here. We also talk about the history of Jack Kirbys Darkseid and the Fourth World and how the DC video game/comic series Injustice influenced this scene.

Clark Kent calls his mom in the middle of the night and doesn't quite get the advice he was looking for. Lois Lane visits Dr. Jenet Klyburn (Jena Malone), a character who was cut out of the theatrical version. Clark does some research into The Batman and finds some DC easter eggs. Wallace Keefe gets a present from Lex Luthor, and the bat-branded inmate gets shanked in the prison yard.

Great Ceasar's Ghost! It's an all Superman episode! We're joined by Superman superfan Jeff Moriarty to chat about the Man of Steel. We're covering the montage sequence of Superman performing heroic deeds, but does it really feel heroic? Why doesn't Superman seem to be enjoying this?  Do we really need a montage? We compare this Superman to previous versions, including Man of Steel, Superman Returns and the original Richard Donner Superman films.

In this episode Chris and Dennis follow Bruce Wayne to an underground fight club. What's that? We're not supposed to talk about fight club? Sorry. We didn't know the rules... Then we head to Daily Planet, where Perry White is being a jerk to Clark Kent because Clark thinks the paper should do some actual journalism. Senator Finch pays a visit to Lex Luthor, who is getting philosophical and vaguely threatening. Then we take a trip into Bruce's mind during a dream sequence, where he finds darkness and no parents. This episode brought to you by Granny's Peach Tea©

Chris, Dennis and guest Heather Herr @MsHerr talk about fake eggs, Metropolis real estate prices, and the importance of journalism, in addition to getting philosophical about super heroes. It also turns into a bit of a DC vs Marvel discussion, but fortunately, no one got hurt.