This week we breakdown the pop culture news of the week, we jump into what we have been doing this week before hitting our main event - Revival Season One.
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This episode of Geeks Unleashed, "Episode 207 - The Black Phone 2," hosted by Mark and Stef, is a Halloween-themed discussion that covers gaming news, a new movie trailer, and a deep dive review of a horror sequel.
The main segments and topics covered include:
Gaming News: Xbox & Exclusives
The hosts discuss the major news that the flagship Xbox franchise, Halo, is coming to PlayStation, starting with a remastered campaign of the first game [01:33:42].
They view this as a continuation of a trend, noting that Forza and Gears of War exclusives have also gone multi-platform. Steph suggests that the future of gaming is about convenience, and console exclusives are no longer the "make or break" factor they once were [01:15:10].
Mark expresses disappointment over the Game Pass price increase, calling the jump to $30 "a lot" [01:17:08].
Scream 7 Trailer Reaction
The hosts react to the new Scream 7 trailer, with Mark expressing his annoyance about the controversial firings/departures of Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega [26:22].
Mark is pleased that Neve Campbell is returning to the franchise [27:24] and notes a cool callback: her daughter is named Tatum (after her friend in Scream 1) [27:41].
They also discuss the fan theory about Matthew Lillard's character, Stu, potentially having survived the events of the original film [31:53].
The majority of the episode is dedicated to reviewing the sequel, The Black Phone 2, which Mark and Stef agree is a clear cash grab after the success of the first film.
Story Shift & Focus
The first film was a "horror thriller," but the sequel is a full-on "horror supernatural" film, focusing more on the sister, Gwen, and her psychic abilities [53:37].
Both hosts were disappointed by the shift, wishing the sequel had instead focused on the brother Finny's trauma after his experience with the Grabber [56:57]. Steph was particularly turned off by the introduction of dream fighting, comparing it to A Nightmare on Elm Street (Freddy Krueger) [58:47].
Criticisms & Praises
Major Criticism: Despite the R/18 rating, no one dies in the entire movie, other than the three victims killed before the film's events [01:03:00].
High Points: They praised the acting (especially Ethan Hawke as The Grabber) and the film's visual style/cinematography [01:00:58].
They enjoyed the redemption arc for the father, Terrence, who has gotten sober after the first film and is dealing with the family's legacy of "the shine" [01:03:43].
The character of Armando, the camp supervisor who dedicated his life to finding the bodies of the original victims, was praised as a compelling figure [01:07:24].
Sequel Thoughts
Mark (3/5) and Steph (2.5/5) would not rewatch the film.
Mark suggests a prequel focusing on The Grabber's origin story as the best way to continue the franchise [01:21:16].
For Halloween, Stef shared a few horror recommendations:
Overlord (2018)
The Sickening (Korean/Taiwanese zombie film)
Night of the Comet (Classic '80s horror)
The episode closes with a discussion of older music players like the Walkman and MiniDisc, and the announcement that next week's episode will be a review of Revival Season 1.
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We kick off the episode with a major Pop Culture News dump, detailing how the long-gestating Something is Killing the Children adaptation is evolving into a Blumhouse film and adult animated series, followed by a deep dive into the shocking confirmation that the Transformers / G.I. Joe Energon Universe comics are being adapted into an adult animated series with a gritty, Invincible-style tone. After our segment on What We've Been Doing This Week, the main event is our full, spoiler-filled review of Gen V Season 2, where we break down the dramatic fallout of Andre Anderson's death, the terrifying new direction of Godolkin University under Dean Cipher, and how the explosive finale sets up a new status quo for the main series, The Boys Season 5.
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Join us as we dive headfirst into the biggest announcements and wildest moments from New York Comic Con 2025! This episode breaks down all the major comic, TV, and movie news straight from the Javits Center.
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New co-host Stef joins Mark to tackle the week's biggest geek news!
Before their main event, they talk about the film Nine, then jump into the latest updates on the upcoming sci-fi sequel Tron: Ares, and discuss Mark Waid's latest work on the Justice League Unlimited comic.
Finally, they dive headfirst into a SPOILER-FILLED discussion breaking down the massive Peacemaker Season 2 finale, covering its DCU implications and the shocking end for Chris Smith!
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In this episode we reflect on the last 5 years as we say goodbye to Jasmin. At least for now.
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We're seriously on a roll this year covering CURRENT films! This week, we're joined by a friend of show, Chett Eye Knight! He even told us about the time he met Alex Hyde White -- yes, the ORIGINAL Mr. Fantastic! The Geeks and Chett discuss Fantastic Four: First Steps, and if the length of this episode is any indication, we think it's safe to say this one was a unanimous hit!
TRACKLIST:
1:43 - Our guest, Chett, introduces himself!
10:42 - Geek of the Week - Chett: Killswitch Engage concert; Aliens vs Avengers; Jasmin: Mercy For None (2025, Netflix); Mark: Get Out (2017), Oasis concert at Wembley Stadium
23:45 - Film summary and fun facts
34:24 - Fantastic Four: First Steps review
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We are joined by Sheena from Melanin 'N Manga this week to help us breakdown the newest re-brand and first film entry into our pal Jimmy Gunn's new DC-verse. There was one really big dissenter here... Can you guess which one of us almost didn't give this film a rating at all??
TRACKLIST:
1:32 - Our guest Sheena of Melanin N Manga introduces herself!
3:13 - Geek of the Week - Sheena: Peacemaker (HBOMax 2022), K-Pop Demon Hunters (Netflix 2025); Jasmin: Devil May Cry (Netflix 2025); Mark: I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)
15:30 - Film summary, first appearances, and fun facts
27:51 - Superman review
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Five years of podcasting -- can you believe it?! We started this podcast at the height of COVID in 2020, several years after we'd shut down our Geeks Unleashed website. We were nervous, we wondered if people would like us and listen in. And we must be doing something right, because we're still here five years later! And we have even MORE changes coming this year!
Thank you for five years of listens, comments, DMs, and a BIG thank you to all the friends we've made along the way! Here's to another 200 episodes!
We thought we'd change it up for this one. Each of the Geeks brought a movie to battle with. We're pitting our 90s faves against each other! WHO WILL WIN??? On one side of the ring, we have Mark making his case for Empire Records. And on the other side, we have Jasmin bringing The Fifth Element into the fight. Which gets your vote?
TRACKLIST:
1:36 - Guest introductions! DeVaughn of Good Game Guys, Steph of MissingLynk Comics; and our OG member Stephen Fox of Fox Storytelling
3:07 - Jasmin makes her case for The Fifth Element, including fun facts
10:58 - What the guest panel thinks of The Fifth Element
47:06 - Jasmin's closing arguments, hoping to win votes for her film choice
50:14 - Mark makes his case for Empire Records, including fun facts
1:03:18 - What the guest panel thinks of Empire Records
1:37:04 - Mark makes his closing arguments, hoping to win votes for his film choice
1:38:25 - The votes are in!!! Who wins the battle of episode 200???
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Here we are at episode 199, and we've brought back another fav guest! This time, we're chatting with Shawn Pryor again, who last joined us on episode 78 for our conversations series. In this episode, we're taking it all the way back to 1978 and to THE most expensive Japanese film ever made (at the time): Message From Space.
TRACKLIST:
1:41 - Shawn Pryor reintroduces himself and we talk in depth about one of his latest book, Kaiju Unleashed
14:00 - Geek of the Week - Shawn: Detective Beans by Li Chen
18:36 - Shawn talks to us about why Message From Space is one of his favorite movies of all time.
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Another FUN episode where we get to geek out with one of our podcast buddies, Cookie! He's been MIA from our nerd world for a while because he and his wife recently had a baby, and that's a time consuming task! Join us for a meandering conversation through the world of Tolkien -- from the books, to the films, and to Jasmin winning a speech tournament for speaking Elvish in college! Let's jump right in to Lord of the Rings: Two Towers.
TRACKLIST:
1:20 - A re-introduction to Cookie from Just A Little Podcast
9:54 - Geek of the Week
30:53 - Cookie tells us why Lord of the Rings: Two Towers is one of his favorite films of all time
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Moving right along, we're talking about yet another 1982 film: Blade Runner! Derek is actually an OG Geeks Unleashed crew mate! He used to write for us back when we had a website -- around 2013. This week, we're talking about one of his favorite films of all time and how it had such a genre-bending impact.
TRACKLIST:
1:54 - Derek reintroduces himself!
13:37 - Geek of the Week
18:22 - Film summary and introduction
20:33 - Derek talks us through his love of Blade Runner
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Here we are on our road to episode 200!! And for a treat, we wanted to bring back a few of our favorite guests to see chat about THEIR favorite films! Up first, we've got Adam from GoFigure here to chat about a cult classic, Beastmaster (1982).
TRACKLIST:
1:38 - Adam reintroduces himself and we discuss the nostalgia of childhood action figures
14:39 - Adam's Geek of the Week: JoeFest 2025
24:03 - Summary of Beastmaster
26:40 - Adam's favorite trivia about the film
29:35 - Would we ever see a film like this again?
36:01 - Adam tells us all about why this is one of his favorite films of all time
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And just like that, our Big Guns MCU run has now come to a close! We started back at the beginning with Iron Man and have since covered 17 years and 18 films worth of fandom -- WOW! Be sure to let us know what your favorite was that we've covered!
TRACKLIST:
1:16 - It's time for the LEAD UP into our 200th episode!!!
2:21 - Geek of the Week - Jasmin: Grimm; Mark: Anora
18:11 - Film summary and fun facts
28:00 - Thunderbolts* (2025) review
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Now we're current! This is our first of two MCU features released in the same year we're recording! The last time this happened was with Deadpool and Wolverine. Our original Big 3 have left and now we're starting to rebuild with new characters. What did y'all think of this first Cap film without Steve Rogers?
TRACKLIST:
1:14 - Geek of the Week - Mark: Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning; Jasmin: Dandadan
27:16 - Film summary and fun facts
36:21 - Captain America: Brave New World (2025) review
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Over the MAJOR climax point and into a new phase we go with Thor: Love and Thunder! This movie received a lot of hate when it was first released... But was it warranted? The original audience and critical reception was enough to keep Jasmin out of theaters -- so this was her first watch, and Mark's only rewatch of this film.
TRACKLIST:
1:36 - Mark met another GUer in person who used to write for the Geeks Unleashed website!
3:51 - Geek of the Week - Jasmin - Waco: American Apocalypse and Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror (both on Netflix); Mark - Zero Dark Thirty; Ad Astra; La La Land; Us; and Midsommar
22:16 - Film summary and fun facts
29:36 - Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) review
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10 years and 22 feature films have brought us to this moment. Avengers End Game is the culmination of a collective fandom! Pulling in a worldwide box office of over $2.7 Billion dollars, this film is the second highest grossing film of all time. As fans of the MCU, we truly felt like 10 years of fandom received a massive payoff by way of this movie. Emotional, funny, thought provoking, and let's not forget action packed -- Avengers End Game does NOT disappoint.
TRACKLIST:
1:17 - Quick catch up with the Geeks!
8:05 - Geek of the Week - Mark: Sinners (2025); Jasmin: The Residence (2025, Netflix)
25:31 - Film summary and 10 years of of the MCU
36:32 - Avengers: End Game Review
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It's all come to this!!! The beginning of the end has finally landed and let's not even beat around the bush - this film is just as great now as it was then.
TRACKLIST:
1:36 - Geek of the Week - Jasmin: Twisters (2024); Mark: Stolen Girl (2025, Disney+)
13:22 - Film summary and fun facts
28:19 - Avengers: Infinity War review
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We're doing something we've never done before on the pod, and replaying an old episode! We've got a new intro and a new outro for the episode, but we wanted to include Black Widow in the big guns run! So here it is!! We were joined by Erin of Girls Talk Comics back in 2021 on episode 59. And if you've been following our series so far, you'll know we've noticed a trend in how our ratings change as we rewatch these films.
TRACKLIST:
1:13 - Black Widow as a "big gun" of the MCU;
9:16 - Revisiting Black Widow in 2025
20.42 - Original Black Widow review from episode 59 with Erin of Girls Talk Comics
1:28:52 - We re-rate Black Widow now
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Talk about a tonal shift! This third entry into the Thor franchise is not even in the same universe as the previous two films. It's bright, with an epic soundtrack, and Chris Hemsworth being used to great effect for his comedic timing! What do you think of this shift for Thor?
TRACKLIST:
4:51 - Geek of the Week - Jasmin: G20 (Prime, 2025); Mark: Death of a Unicorn (2025)
12:41 - Film summary and fun facts
25:16 - Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Review
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