It was Independence Day this week, but ironically this episode keeps reverting back to kings. Amazon looks for a director and an actor for His Majesty's secret service in the Bond franchise, Stephen King's The Stand gets a new adaptation and Richard Bachman (re: Stephen King, again) gets a trailer for Edgar Wright's new version of The Running Man. Meanwhile, Paramount guarantees their huge merger with Skydance by bending the knee to a man who thinks himself king. Steam and Nintendo offer feasts (of deals) fit for a king, including discounts on many Mushroom Kingdom related titles. It's a real game of thrones around here, I tell you hwhat. That's a little King of the Hill reference. Thought you might enjoy that.
Music: "Sweeter Vermouth" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Welcome back to the show our resident Nintendo expert, Chris! After a week with the new Switch 2 and Mario Kart World, Chris has lots of complicated feelings and observations about the reported sales success of the new console. But first...lots and lots of fast-food discussion, the box office misfire of Ballerina, bittersweet news for both Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Dr. Who, and Spaceballs: the Legacy Sequel. Also, some various flavors of Batman to choose from at your local comic book store and a giant-size Pride Month special from Marvel.
Music: "Sweeter Vermouth" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Take a break from your shiny new Nintendo Switch 2 to help answer a few questions here. Can Lionsgate's new movie, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, overcome its clunky spin-off title to dethrone Lilo and Stitch? Will North America embrace the most popular fast-food chain from the Philippines? Can Noah Hawley translate the Alien franchise to cable television success? Meanwhile, a grisly tragedy overshadows the triumphant return of King of the Hill, James Bond (finally) gets a new videogame from the developers behind the splendid Hitman series, and Marvel Knights: The World to Come introduces a new Black Panther that...well, let's just say it's a controversial pivot.
Music: "Sweeter Vermouth" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
It's a battle royale at the box office this Memorial Day weekend, Ethan Hunt versus Stitch. Meanwhile the latest Hunger Games prequel drums up a lot of interest just off its spot-on casting announcements. We have a TV review round-up for The Last of Us, Poker Face, and Duster, followed by Kyle's comic book Picks of the Week (POW! if you will). Also, Randy Pitchford weighs in on the $80 price tag of Borderlands 4, not in a cool way. Fortnite gives the world a Darth Vader chatbot no one asked for or needs. And an oft-mocked fast food chain tests out an admittedly tasty sounding sandwich.Music: "Sweeter Vermouth" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Final Destination: Bloodlines opens this week, hoping to pull off a box office heist before Ethan Hunt and Stitch arrive. Superman gets a new, exciting trailer that really nails down the character himself. Andor ends (sniff, sniff) and The Last of Us was just kinda okay this week. Max, formerly HBO Max, formerly HBO Now is now...HBO Max...again. A Game of Thrones spinoff gets delayed, while the already long-delayed Ironheart finally makes its way to Disney Plus. Ubisoft pushes back most of their 2026 releases, and Doom: The Dark Ages is a very different beast than its predecessors. Also, get ready for Local Comic Shop Day in September, and get excited for Ben Grimm vs. the entire Marvel universe.
Music: "Sweeter Vermouth" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Disney and Marvel Studios play the name game and spoil their own movie two days after it releases, Grand Theft Auto 6 gets delayed (but releases a nifty trailer), Andor bends the Star Wars canon slightly, Yellowstone gets a much more traditional geezer-aimed spinoff, and the Blues Brothers return in comic book form! Meanwhile, a new Stephen King adaptation, leaked pics of an Xbox-branded handheld, and a local coffee chain is set to expand into a national player.Music: "Sweeter Vermouth" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Subway is closing a record number of stores across America, probably related to their latest fetish for random snacks shaped like a 2x4. Natasha Lyonne is making an "ethical AI" movie, whatever that means. Pedro Pascal throws some much deserved insults at fellow WBD asset JK Rowling while JJ Abrams and Josh Holloway reunite for a '70s crime series. EA fires hundreds of workers and cancels some games, meanwhile Borderlands 4 gets a new release date. Alliance Entertainment backpedals from buying Diamond Comics, and that means Free Comic Book Day lives!
Music: "Sweeter Vermouth" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Kyle takes a short break from Star Wars news (and non-news) to talk Ryan Coogler's Sinners, the Fantastic Four: First Steps final trailer, and lots of new features coming to Mario Kart World on the Switch 2. Elsewhere, HBO's spring premieres for The Last of Us and Hacks get a quick review, and DC comics wants to declare 2025 (George Costanza voice) The SUMMER of Superman!
Kyle is joined by Chris to talk about the wild Nintendo Direct showcasing the Switch 2. But first, a new Spider-Man movie title! A Quentin Tarantino sequel directed by a very different director! Premiere dates for long-dormant South Park and Rick and Morty! And the loss of a terrific actor.
Marvel Studios assembles (very slowly over several hours) the full cast announcement for Avengers: Doomsday, meanwhile Nintendo has one final bittersweet Direct event for the original Switch. Also...is there actually a lot of demand for more Star Wars: The Acolyte? Streaming analytics data may surprise you. Also, another good actor signs on to the (likely not very good) Harry Potter television series, and Diamond Comic Distributors' assets and contracts have been bought by another company who may or may not know what a so-called 'comic book' actually is. All this and more, including a couple of really bad impressions!
During a particularly slow week at the box office, a secret Looney Tunes movie sneaks into theaters despite Warner Bros Discovery trying their best to wipe the beloved cartoons from existence for tax purposes. Meanwhile the Power Rangers might get Disney Plussed, and Assassin's Creed: Shadows meets expectations. Finally, a new 'weird western' comic book preview from a noted TV writer, and is Batman fighting a sentient tenement building now?
Disney fumbles the press tour for Snow White and then stumbles over a Tiana animated series. Noah Hawley's Alien: Earth series for FX gets a spaceship housecat perspective in its latest teaser, and literally every Stephen King work is being adapted over again. Niantic, the developer of Pokemon Go, has been acquired for billions of dollars, and Microsoft takes the Xbox brand mobile with a new PC gaming handheld. News of a new Thunderbolts* comic to coincide with the movie as well.
After a quick post-mortem of the Oscars (and the dead-on-arrival stream of the ceremony on Hulu), take a wild guess what Hasbro property is finally--finally--being made into a movie after decades of false starts. Then, a rare look at footage from a CW pilot so bad that it never even aired. More nostalgia cropped up when Tony Hawk announced the remaster of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3+4, and the wildly expensive and various versions of that remaster. Finally, a quick couple of comic book recommendations from this last week's new books, and a Batman announcement that will really grab you...if you happened to have warm and fuzzy feelings for Batman comics exactly from 2002-2003.
Is Kathleen Kennedy actually retiring? Maybe. Is there going to be another Shrek sequel fifteen years after the last one? Absolutely. Did Kyle remember to talk about Pokemon Presents? Signs point to yes. There's also a huge list of guest stars for the upcoming season 2 of Poker Face on Peacock, a first image of HBO's Lanterns, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Shadows woes, and an intriguing new digital comic book platform arrives at a time when most others are shuttering.
Take a good hard look at Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and engage in some casting speculation. Then mourn the conscious decoupling of the Broccoli family from the James Bond franchise (who will now be handled completely by Amazon...yipes). SNL50 has a ratings success last week, and there's an update on a possible Scrubs reboot. Marvel Rivals is the biggest video game in the world right now, so naturally they fired a bunch of people for that achievement. Finally, some good old fashioned "Whatcha reading lately?" wherein Kyle talks Green Lantern Corps #1 and the return of The Bad Batch to Star Wars in comic book form.
For Valentine's Day, enjoy a sandwich made for two. First off, a round-robin look at a bunch of new movie trailers and teasers followed by some deeply concerning TV casting news. A quick rundown of some of the more interesting previews in Sony's State of Play event, then a look at the Eisner Awards judges panel for excellence in comic books throughout the year. And, as a final chocolate in this box of sweet headlines, a return of Marvel's big power couple teaming up for a miniseries.
It's Super Bowl week, and that means lots and lots of overblown advertisements, with some occasional genuine entertainment mixed in for flavor. Trailers for Fantastic Four: First Steps and Jurassic World: Rebirth capture everyone's imaginations, while Kyle updates you on his Academy Awards homework. A brief rundown of some of the biggest Super Bowl commercials precedes the very big television news: Buffy the Vampire Slayer is set to return on Hulu! Elsewhere, the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3 has its release date leaked, Marvel Rivals gets a mundane patch, and Dark Horse Comics has both good news and bad news going into 2025.
Captain America: Brave New World is on the way, and that means Anthony Mackie is tripping over himself on the promotional tour and Chris Evans is shooting down rumors that he's coming back to the MCU. Meanwhile, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man lands on Disney+ and George R.R. Martin takes a break from not writing to give his seal of approval to the latest Game of Thrones spinoff. Kyle gives a rundown of today's video game release, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, and dives into two different news stories about Nintendo copyright infringement. Then, the comic book world formally divorces itself from Neil Gaiman with an announcement from Dark Horse Comics.
Back from hibernation! The only entertainment news that's fit to put in your ears! The Sandwich is back, baby! Kicking off 2025 with some talk of the Academy Award nominations and how many of them Kyle just plain hasn't heard of or seen, because he's an uncultured swine. Elsewhere, a casting rumor for a Star Wars show and legal drama surrounding a foul-mouthed cartoon show that you'd swear went off the air years ago. Microsoft held their Developer Direct teasing the triumphant return of the Ninja Gaiden and Doom franchises, and some hearsay regarding Nintendo's new Switch 2. Finally, the Star Wars comic books from Marvel finally delve into the 30 years of New Republic adventures before the Force went and awakened.
Hogwarts Legacy is finally releasing this week, and only IGN has bothered to review it. How controversial, how brave of them. But that means we can read through their review and draw our own conclusions about the game...without any intention of playing it. This is not a game journalism podcast. Elsewhere, the Avatar sequels are shaping up to be a saga worthy of The Godfather...in spaaaace! Also, James Gunn is actually driving up the sales of classic comic books with his DCU slate announcements, and thanks to the guy who gave us the Yellowstone Expanded Universe of high-priced spinoff shows, Showtime can eschew fresh new material for bizarre new desperate squeezings of Dexter and Billions.
