Episode 102 - Black Adam: A History Lesson with Hans Martin Jr. and Steven Angulo

Who is the ancient champion who wields the Power of Shazam? Case and Jmike are joined by Hans Martin Jr. and Steven Angulo to discuss the history of Black Adam.

BONUS: Stay tuned to the video for our crossover episode of The Real Movie Critic Vs. The CineGuy, where Case and Jmike join Hans and Steven to review the new film, Black Adam.

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Transcription

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00:00
Case
So any questions? Like, whatnot? Like, I don't have, like, a big spiel prepared. I'm just going to, like. I'll start with, like, a basic meta history, like, history of the character as a. As a comic book character, as opposed to the specific, like, iteration of black Adam that's currently canon. And then we can, you know, we'll open it up for, like, general questions, and we can just talk about the character for. This is great. Basic thought.

00:19
Hans
Yeah, it's good for me to learn and then look forward to it in a movie.

00:22
Steven
And do you see me here?

00:48
Case
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Men of Steel podcast. I'm case Aiken, and as always, I'm joined by my co host, J. Mike Falsen.

00:54
Hans
Hello.

00:54
Jmike
Welcome back, everybody.

00:56
Case
Welcome back, indeed. Today is a very special episode because we are about to take a step back into theaters for what you might say is a real movie. And thus. Yeah, no, I hope, because coming up is the rock vehicle black Adam. And I wanted to do a little bit of a primer on the character. So for this episode, we are joined by Hans Martin Junior, the real movie critic.

01:24
Hans
What's up, y'all?

01:24
Case
And Steven Angulo, the synagogue.

01:26
Steven
Why, hello.

01:28
Case
Yeah, so we just wanted to do a primer on the character of Black Adam. And part of this is motivated because we want to talk about the movie Black Adam when it comes out. And that's going to be over on your show. The real movie critic versus the synagogue.

01:41
Hans
Oh, yes. Looking forward to it, indeed.

01:44
Case
But over here, we wanted to have just a general conversation about the character, what we're expecting for the movie, maybe a little bit, but I figured we'd open with me saying a basic, broad history of the character as a comic book character, and then we can have some conversations about that, all because that's a thing that we like doing on this show. And it's been a while because of, you know, stuff in the world.

02:07
Jmike
What do you mean, Kate? What kind of stuff in the world?

02:10
Case
Yeah, yeah. Well, and also, like, releases have been coming at weird times. Like, they keep sneaking up on me or they come out in theaters and then also on streaming, and it's like, when do we do it relative? Like, if can I make it in time for the weekend, or do we wait for it to come on video, but not this one, because this is a movie I have been, like, I've been asking for since I was in high school in, like, 2001.

02:33
Jmike
Is there a particular reason why, Case? Is there a reason why?

02:37
Case
Well, as listeners of the show should be aware, the Shazam property of comics is my favorite comic of all time. Captain Marvel. That Captain Marvel, the Shazam. Captain Marvel has always been my favorite character, and it's, he's thoroughly tied to the Superman archetype. So that's. It's all a big whirlwind of love for this type of archetypal figure. But I do love me some Captain Marvel. And Black Adam is traditionally his arch nemesis, sort of. And I'll talk about that in a second. And the rock, I have always thought, would be great for the part going back to the Scorpion king.

03:13
Hans
Really?

03:15
Case
Wow.

03:16
Jmike
Wow.

03:16
Hans
The Scorpion King.

03:17
Case
Wow. Yeah. And, like, I wasn't sure about it during the mummy two, but once he got his own movie, and I was like, oh, it's egyptian Conan the Barbarian. I mean, he has come to parts for you.

03:27
Hans
It's come a long way from his act. This is the Scorpion King.

03:30
Jmike
Yeah, yeah.

03:31
Case
Well, I mean, you know, like, he looked badass in the mummy two for the, like, what, five minutes he was.

03:36
Hans
On screen, and the horrible CGI at the end.

03:38
Case
Yeah, well, right, and then we don't talk about that. Totally miscast by the CG construct. That was a thing of nightmares and not for the reasons they wanted it to be, but. But, yeah, like, once they did the movie the Scorpion King, which is a flawed movie, but it's. It's interesting. Like, I think it has, like, a really cool design, and he was playing this, like, cool egyptian barbarian character. I was like, oh, yeah, I have two very distant characters I would love for him to play, and both of them are in this movie that's coming out because there's Hawkman, who notoriously is a reincarnated egyptian pharaoh who wields maces and cracks people over the head with it. And then there's black Adam, who has ties to Egypt, and they change depending on which version we're talking about.

04:25
Case
Not that he's more complicated than Hawkman. Hawkman is way more complicated to explain. We don't have, like, five actors, but, yeah. So let's start with just, like, a general conversation about who the character is. So obviously, he has close ties with Shazam. And by that, I mean both the wizard, but also then the property. And, you know, however you want to say the character, he normally is depicted in a black version of the same basic costume as Captain Marvel, and that's because he is a champion of the wizard Shazam. He is supposed to be an earlier champion in the history of characters being given this power, which includes Shazam. Most versions of Shazam are depicted as having been gifted powers by the gods and having a similar transformation mechanism between his fully mortal form and his empowered form.

05:14
Case
And there's a transmutational effect when you gain these powers that change things, like your longevity, your physical appearance, in both the obvious way, Captain Marvel becomes an adult, but there is a little bit of a question of, is he becoming an adult version of him, or is he becoming an adult version of something else? Like, there was this idea in the nineties that he was actually turning into his father. He was literally invoking the visage of his father as this protector type character. So there's a transformational aspect to it, but he's still fundamentally Billy transformed through this magic kind of as a conduit, because then there's a conversation of, is he actually Billy in terms of personality? Like, is he Billy, but is it big, or is it, then is he his own character as Captain Marvel, even if that transformational effect is occurring?

06:08
Case
Long story short, Black Adam has something kind of similar going on. So the idea was that Black Adam who was introduced. Playback. Actually, I have the date in front of me. It was 1945. So it goes back a pretty long way in the comic book Pantheon. But the twist on that one is that Black Adam actually only had one appearance back in the Golden Age because he dies at the end of his first appearance and was not brought back. And when Captain Marvel folded in, like, 1950 ish, wherever, like 50, maybe a little bit later, maybe it was like 53. Whenever the whole, like, Fawcett collapsed situation occurred. Because of the DC lawsuits, Black Adam had not reappeared in any meaningful way. It was only when DC later bought the property and brought him back that he was reintroduced as a big character.

06:54
Case
The idea was old school. Black Adam was an egyptian character who was empowered as an adult by the wizard Shazam and became the champion Teth Adam at the time, or mighty Adam, pardon me, in the. In the old comics. So he was. He was mighty Adam. He was the hero of Egypt. He was, you know, just a regular superhero. And he had the exact same situation as Shazam, although a different pantheon of gods. So it was Shu Haru, Aten, Zehuti, Aman, and Meihan, I think. Is the breakdown on that one.

07:35
Jmike
Right now.

07:37
Case
Yes. I mean, no matter what. Yeah. Shoot.

07:42
Hans
Oh, shoot.

07:42
Case
Horus, amon, zahuti. Atten. Mayhem. Sorry. Azutai.

07:47
Steven
It's like that sovereign prince of Egypt playing with the big boys now.

07:53
Case
Well, and so it's the same basic idea that he's getting these attributes from these deities. And it's a fun flex of like, oh, egyptian pantheon. That's cool. Long story short though, this character, mighty Adam, once he gets his powers and he saves Egypt from, like, whatever forces they're fighting immediately is like, well, obviously, I'm your king now, right? And they're like, I get it. Did we agree to this? And it's like, well, I guess you have to, right? And then it's like, yep, I'm the king. And Shazam is like, hey, that's like, literally what I said, don't do. And instead flings him to the farthest corner of the universe. And so this is in ancient egyptian times. And so ever since that point when that occurred, black Adam has been flying back from the farthest corner of the universe. Finally arrives in 1945.

08:46
Case
And so he shows up and the marvels confront him. And at this point, we have gotten to our classic Marvel family of Billy, Mary and Freddy and also Uncle Dudley. Like, Uncle Marvel. And at this point, the lieutenants marvel are less seen figures in this hall. The Shazam family is very big. Even before we got to the modern day shazamily, there's always been a lot of characters in this whole roster of individuals.

09:13
Jmike
They're bigger than the Bat family.

09:14
Case
I mean, they're the ones who started the idea of a family. You know, like Batman had Robin as like, the first, like, sidekick family.

09:24
Hans
Was that your Vin Diesel voice?

09:25
Case
Yeah, that's right. God, can you imagine, like, Captain Marvel reinterpreted through the lens of fast and the furious. I guess that's not that crazy. Because of Aquaman, Justin Lin.

09:39
Jmike
Oh, yeah, you're right.

09:40
Hans
Yeah, true.

09:41
Jmike
It can happen.

09:42
Case
Yeah, that's entirely possible.

09:44
Hans
But so they got beef now. The rocket, Vin Diesel got beef. It's probably not gonna happen.

09:50
Case
Well, I'm just saying through the lens, like it just shot. Because, like, I'm not saying recast him as Vin Diesel. But if it became very much, it's just like, hey, you're messing with my family. You're messing with my shazamily.

10:02
Hans
I would watch that. I'm not gonna lie. I would watch that.

10:04
Case
Yeah, no, I would watch that a billion times. But anyway, so black Adam finally arrives. It took him from at that point, what, like 8000 years to fly from depending on, I don't know what point in Egypt. You know, the whole, like the egyptian, like the Bronze Age Egypt that we understand to exist went for 6000 years. And like, we very easily blur the details of like, what happened in the old kingdom versus the middle kingdom versus the new kingdom. And, like, the new kingdom is called that because it's still 2000 years old. Like, you know, we're talking about, like, a really crazy scope of time. And I have no idea where, like, black Adam was supposed to be from in that original story. Like, it. It was back there. Like, there were pyramids, something like, whatever. Anyway, but he arrives in 1945.

10:53
Case
He confronts the Shazamily, and they can't really beat him because he's exactly their match in terms of powers. Later versions will do stuff to explain why there's discrepancies on this one, but he's just, he's a perfect match at this point. And, like, they're all effectively unstoppable. So, like, an unstoppable thing against an immovable object and, like, yeah, nothing really happens. So what ends up saving the day initially when the, when this confrontation occurs is that Uncle Dudley, who is a character in the Captain Marvel Mythos, but is not really in Shazam. I think they make a reference to him in the most recent movie, but it's not, like, front and center. It's a, it's a silly thing. It's hard. It's hard to properly explain.

11:37
Case
Uncle Dudley is a character who dresses up in a Captain Marvel costume but actually has no powers and just pretends to be part of the family. And they're all cool with it because they love him. But, yes, exactly. Like, Superman's like, sure, buddy, you can travel with me. But so Uncle Dudley, Billy's uncle Dudley is like, yeah, you know, we're all matched here because of, you know, that. And then he, like, stumbles over the name for the wizard a couple of times, and, like, black Adam goes like, you idiot, it's Shazam. And then gets hit by lightning and turns into his mortal form of Teth Adam. And then, because he's been alive for thousands of years, but just preserved by being in his black Adam form, his body then withers away to dust. And that's just it. That was it for Black Adam.

12:24
Jmike
Wow.

12:25
Hans
So he does a lot, this guy.

12:27
Case
Well, yeah. So he flat out just, like, died right there was gone. Because the, and that this sort of also addressed, like, all right, so what's the deal with their powers? Like, how does it work? And it's like, all right, yeah, the Billy Bob or, like, the captain Marvel body will continue to function, but, like, Billy is still aging behind the scenes. Like, he's not. Like, it's not miracle man where it's, like, literally on pause, depending on which body's out there. So, like, this was the first time where they really kind of addressed, like, all right, what is Billy's age being slowed down by turning into Captain Marvel? Like, what's going on there? And, yes, apparently it is, but nothing can happen to him in the interim. So it's not like. It's not like mighty man where if he.

13:05
Case
Where he has to turn back into the normal form in order for. Because that body still has to eat and, like, take. You know, like, still has to function, and if it's, like, stuck in the mighty man form, it's actually, like, wither. Withering. Withering away and dying in a different reality. So in this case, it's in stasis, but it is still aging normally. So, yeah, so that. That was it for. For that era. And that's because, like, there are a lot of characters in the Captain Marvel pantheon that can fight Captain Marvel. So, like, black Adam wasn't particularly, you know, he was not particularly special, and he actually was the least visually distinct of them all, because there are. The biggest one, actually, back in the day is a character named Aybak, who had the same basic deal. It was like Ivan the terrible.

13:47
Case
I forget the whole breakdown. Attila the Hun. It's also an acronym situation. But he could fight Captain Marvel pretty regularly. Savannah's son actually was able to fight Captain Marvel, but that was more back when Captain Marvel wasn't really established, as powerful as he would become in the course of it. And then there was Sabac, who was a demon themed version of the same concept of, like, say. Then say the word and then take the powers and that character. So it was like Satan, Azazel, beelzebub, like, that whole situation right there. That character actually was not a Captain Marvel villain so much as a Captain Marvel Junior villain, because Captain Marvel Junior was also fiercely popular.

14:28
Hans
I didn't know there was a junior.

14:29
Jmike
Wow.

14:30
Case
Yeah. Yeah. So it's Freddy. It's the one on the crutches in the first movie.

14:35
Hans
Gotcha.

14:35
Case
Gotcha.

14:36
Hans
So, Nicole Junior.

14:37
Case
Yeah. So he was Captain Marvel Junior, but his special word to transform was Captain Marvel, because he drew his powers from Captain Marvel, not from Shazam.

14:45
Hans
Oh, my goodness.

14:46
Case
And so every time he said his actual name, he would transform, and it was like a joke. It would be like, hey, what was your name again? You can call me Junior.

14:55
Jmike
Gotcha.

14:56
Case
Right. And that was kind of a fun device there. Captain Marvel Junior was Elvis Presley's most favorite superhero. And that's why all of his costumes later in life had that Captain Marvel design to it because he was obsessed with Captain Marvel Junior. Interesting, fun little tweak there. Anyway, Captain Marvel Junior had his own book. He had plenty of stories by himself, and generally they were more adult themed, ironically. And so Sabac was his rival character because they could get away with a little bit more demonic imagery and whatnot in that book, whereas the main captain Marvel book was a bit more cartoony. So, you know, it's weird which book is which, but, I mean, they're both teen, you know, they're both, like, child slash early teen characters who transform into superheroes. Just one turns into an adult superhero.

15:40
Case
But, yeah, so, you know, lots of villains back in the day, and also, like, comics weren't quite as driven by, like, big fights, although there are some. There's actually a really cool Captain Marvel fight with a character who looks a lot like Black Adam called Mister Z. And that issue was drawn by Jack Kirby. And it's just a throw down fight, like, where they're, like, ripping through buildings and whatnot. It's really cool. And like I said, he looks just like black Adam, but has, like, a mustache and a z instead of a lightning bolt on his chest. And then it turns out he's.

16:09
Jmike
A robot, but evil twirling.

16:17
Steven
Why Otta?

16:20
Case
Yeah, but, I mean, you know, it was the style at the time, but it turned out that was a robot, and it was a one off because, like, Jack Kirby did some Captain Marvel stuff, but he wasn't, like, the main artist on the book ever. But it just, it shows, like, the evolution of, like, where comics would eventually go to anyway. So cut to DC sues Fawcett Comics because Captain Marvel supposedly is too much like Superman, even though at the time Captain Marvel first appeared, Superman could not fly. So in terms of their powers, there was a big discrepancy there. But that whole thing kind of shifted around, and courts dismissed it, and then certain courts would accept it when they appealed, and then Fawcett would appeal and counter. There was a whole thing, and it went on for years.

17:01
Case
And eventually, like, even though there are multiple rulings that came down on DC's side, the big reason why the comic company folded was just because at this point, comics as a whole had started to fade in terms of popularity, and this had been very costly. So regardless of, like, the actual rulings involved of, like, can you use this character or whatnot? It was just like, this is just cut our losses. We don't want to deal with this industry anymore. It is too expensive. Everything's too annoying. A lot of books were moving away from superhero comics at this point. Like, it was just the time. It's the end of the golden age, and then you have this, like, little gap of time where there's only a few superhero comics being published. And instead, it's mostly funny animals and romance comics and horror comics.

17:45
Case
And weirdly, during this period, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny continues being published because he's a funny animal book. And it's like the rights are bought out. And that's why there's a different costume design for him for a while there. And over in Great Britain, where superhero comics didn't really die out, that's where Marvel man comes in, where they take the Captain Marvel concept, and then they just rewrite his origin to be science instead of magic. But it's the same kid turns into an adult superhero thing. And their version of Black Adam was nasty man.

18:15
Hans
Nasty man. Really?

18:16
Case
Yeah. Oh, my gosh.

18:19
Jmike
Why?

18:21
Hans
The name?

18:21
Case
Yeah. And his sidekick, kid nasty man.

18:24
Hans
Kid nasty?

18:25
Jmike
What?

18:25
Case
Yeah.

18:26
Hans
That sounds like a rapper from today, actually.

18:29
Steven
Oh, my.

18:31
Case
Wow.

18:31
Hans
Kidnasty.

18:32
Case
Yeah. Like, weird stuff going on over there. Anyway, so the Flash shows up in showcase. What does it showcase? I forget which issue exactly. But anyway, the Flash shows up in his first appearance, or the Silveridge Flash burial. And that's considered the start of the Silver Age of comics. So that launches DC's line at that point. So you get Flash, you get Green Lantern, you get, eventually, Justice League and Martian Manhunter. Well, Martian Manhunter, then Justice League. And simultaneously, the publishers for, at the timely comics, or I think they were, atlas, at this point, would regularly play golf with the publisher for DC. And they would talk about how, like, successful these books are going. And they. So the publisher for Atlas went to his editor in chief and said, hey, superhero comics are really popular, especially team books. You have to do one.

19:23
Case
I am requiring you to do so. So this company that had been surviving on these, like, weird monster comics, that they would do a lot of kaiju kind of stuff. So this editor in chief, Stan Lee, goes to his artist for his monster books, Jack Kirby, and they make the Fantastic Four. And then the comic company becomes Marvel. And there it goes. And then this becomes the Silver Age comics War, the real big two fight. Because the golden age didn't have a direct equivalent to DC the same way. So this starts, it's kind of like the 16 bit era with Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. This is the real point of competition between lines. There's still other lines out there, and people are doing books and so forth, but these two are going at it.

20:04
Case
Then we get to the seventies, and there's, like, there's a lot of, like, fan response to, like, the old Captain Marvel stuff. So first up, Marvel Comics rushes the character of Captain Marvel into existence, which is the Mar vell version, which is like an alien spy on Earth, so that no one. So that they can hold onto the name Captain Marvel, because at this point, they're Marvel comics. So they wanted the name to be locked down. DC, wanting to get ahold of this character, who had previously been so popular, does so and is not allowed to call the book Captain Marvel because of trademark issues. It's not that they can't call the character Captain Marvel, and, in fact, they can even say Captain Marvel on the COVID They just can't call the title of the book Captain Marvel or some variation of that.

20:49
Case
So, like, when they relaunch a series of Captain Marvel books after testing the waters with a character called Captain Thunder, who is just Captain Marvel, but with a sun design for some reason, on his chest, and draws nature powers instead of greek gods. But he, like, he's from another earth, and he's. Well, so it's the same red. He looks just like Captain Marvel, except the sun instead of a lightning ball, but, yeah, no, it's actually. It's more like animal stuff. So it's like strength of the bison and, like, swiftness of the hawk kind of thing. Although I think a tornado might be in there. He has the acronym Thunder, so I think it's like tornado, Hawk, something like that. Anyway, so they want to do a Captain Marvel book.

21:34
Case
They come up with this whole premise that off screen, all of the major characters had been put in suspended animation. And so they come back, and so the world has moved on. But a lot of it's kind of like the snap in game where a bunch of people are, like, taken off the board, and then five years go on, and then they come back, and now they have to deal with their lives. So we're getting that situation here with now, but with, like, Billy and Sivana and, like, all these characters, and they decide to bring back Black Adam, finally getting back to the character in question. So they decide that they want to have, like, an actual, like, real rival, because Aybak, as interesting as he was, is still, like, is way more like a barbarian villain, as opposed to a direct rival.

22:22
Case
Like, Ayback, typically wears pants and no shirt and has, like, a mohawk and is just like, this big thug. Type character who can go toe toe with Captain Marvel, but it's a particular vibe as opposed to, like, okay, here's evil Captain Marvel. It's the difference between Zod and Bizarro. And so they bring back Black Adam. I forget what excuse they use, but it's like a resurrection type situation. And from that point on, he becomes a mainstay villain. He's very present in crossovers. He shows up in crisis on infinite earths and, like, in the background because he's just a villain. Like, it's like he's the, he's a bad guy for Captain Marvel to fight who is on the same power level. And so there's some cool fights, like, Superman fights him a couple of times. There's, you know, there's crossover.

23:10
Case
There are some great Captain Marvel Superman crossovers from this, like, this, like, seventies era, because they could do stories where, like, oh, yeah, they're about the same power, and they can swap villains who are used to fighting similar type ones, and they lived on different earths. So, like the story, but Captain Marvel had means of traversing it by way of the Rock of eternity. His magic meant he could go back and forth the same way. Like, the Flash can do a lot of world react like different reality stories because the idea is the flash vibrates to travel between dimensions and can do it under his own power. Versus, like, Batman can't natively go to Earth two. Like, it requires a bit more. It's not like, it's not part of his usual world of how to do things.

23:50
Case
So there's all these, like, good Captain Marvel Superman crossover stories. We get Black Adam repeating because he's a big heavy hitter that can fight Superman. Like, that's, there aren't that many characters in DC. So weirdly, the fact that a lot of them come from the Captain Marvel franchise is cool. I find that fun. They kind of forget about Sabacc. I don't think Sabac ever shows up again during this period, like, during the Bronze Age period before crisis on infinite earths. But, but, yeah. So black Adam gets kind of re established and becomes really, like, the canonical arch rival for Captain Marvel. Cut to crisis on infinite earths. They're not sure what they're going to do with the characters once they do this consolidated universe. There is a mini in the eighties, which is something, Shazam.

24:37
Case
I forget the name of it, but it's the one where he's like, Savannah is directly his uncle, whatnot. Anyway, Black Adam shows up for that. His arrival it's pretty much unchanged from the basic idea. I don't even remember what they do for his origin. But then we get to the nineties with the power of Shazam, and that's where we actually get to the big shift in things. So in the nineties, when we get to the power of Shazam book, Jerry Ordway takes it over. J Mike, you and I read this for comics quest for long haul. So Jerry Ordway takes it over, and he. He launches it with a graphic novel just called the power of Shazam. First thunder. No, not first thunder. There is a subtitle, but it's not on the original printing, so I forget what it's called.

25:20
Case
Either way, it sets this up where black Adam is now, instead of being still alive from ancient Egypt, but being the reincarnation of his self from ancient Egypt. Like, that's the first big twist there. So in this whole story of it, and there's, like, this weird time element that goes on with it all so that, like, it looks like the forties, but it's also set in the present day, because Captain Marvel is such a character of this, like, golden age of comics kind of thing that it always feels weird having him be, like, too modern. But they established that Billy and Mary's parents were archaeologists, and they were working with Theo Adam, who was, like, their handler. Like, their. Like, their grease man on the ground, like, the one who talked to locals and, like, could set them up with stuff.

26:08
Case
There's a different term for that for journalists. There's, like, a term for it when, like, who your contact on the ground is. And Theo was that, like, he knew the locals. He could. Like, he could function pretty well, but he was also kind of a brute. He was a lot like Clayton from Disney's Tarzan. Like, down to the look, aside from him not having a mustache, because no evil mustache for him, but so when they. He's actually being paid for by Savannah. Savannah's, like, financing this whole thing, and his job there is to find anything valuable for Savannah and make sure that, like, he gets first crack while they're doing this excavation of this, like, cool pyramid. So they find this chamber that's dedicated to Teth Adam, and they find this amulet that is, like, resonating with all this power.

26:55
Case
And Theo is like, I'm fucking stealing that thing. And so Billy's dad is like, no, don't. You're not fucking stealing this thing. Like, you're only allowed to, like, take pictures and get, like, publicity stuff for. For this expedition. Like, we're not stealing from Egypt. They're very aware of the colonial reputation. When we look back at this time, Jerry Ordway is a good person. But so in response to this, Theo kills Billy and Mary's parents. So he's the reason why they're orphans. And that sets them off on their whole pathway to become superheroes. He steals this amulet, he goes back to the States, the feds come after him. He tries to hide the evidence by, like, blowing up the radio tower. That is like broadcasting information about it all. And Captain Marvel interferes, and he's like, wait, I remember this shit.

27:47
Case
He goes back to Savannah's place, takes the amulet, he says, shazam. Turns into black Adam. And so that's how we get the post crisis black Adam. That would become sort of the starting point of his turned it.

28:00
Jmike
That was a dark comic.

28:03
Case
It was surprising. I'm super dark. It's a great book, and it's weirdly optimistic at the same time. But, like, they do show someone's throat getting cut. It's like, in very clear detail. It's, it's a weird juxtaposition there. That said, if you're not a small child, I recommend it. If you're less, honestly, less than twelve, I would say probably think about it, probably don't. If you're over twelve, you're probably fine. It's not like that. Crazy. Anyway. So they set this up that Theo Adam is the reincarnation of Teth Adam, who had been stripped of his powers, blah, blah. And Theo is a shitbag. And so when he first gets the powers, he is like, he's getting memories of Teth, but it's not innately there.

28:47
Case
It's like the Donald Blake Thor situation, where at first Donald Blake thought he was Donald Blake, and then he started to be like, oh, wait, I was always Thor. Donald Blake was in the facade. And so books start following this character because he loses his powers and he gets it back later. But then the Teth Adam Persona starts inserting itself and starting to take over. And it is revealed that while Teth Adam did fall, like, he is a violent, cruel individual, he is not unheroic, and he's definitely better than the complete douchebag that is Theo Adam. So he starts putting himself in charge of this body, and he's like, wait, wait. I need to stay in control here. Otherwise Theo comes out and he's way more murderous and destructive. Like, I will kill the, like an enemy of my people.

29:37
Case
I will not kill an innocent is the basic idea. For teth, and Captain Marvel vouches for him. So, like, the Justice League. And this is, like, the Morrison era Justice League. So, like, Orion. Like, he picks a fight with Orion early on, because Orion's like, I know you. You're a murderous swine. And he's like, I know you. You're the dog of war, which is a cool fight. Like, the God of war versus, like, versus one of the marvels is, like, a really cool situation there. So Captain Marvel vouches for him. He starts this whole path of redemption. He actually ends up joining the justice society eventually because his whole arc, like, there's a whole thing with, like, his native land, which they establish as being a.

30:16
Case
Like, a fiefdom of Egypt, like, a vassal state called Khandak, rather than actually being directly Egypt, which makes enough sense. Like, they were an imperial power that had lots of vassal states that were under their control. And it's gonna look all by the nature of Egypt, all being built along the nile and their territory being the nile. Aside from brief periods where they move their way onto the arabian peninsula, it's all going to look fairly similar, like, the nubian kingdoms to what we understand as the south. What they would understand to be upper kingdom would always be, like, would have a similar kind of structure just because it's built on the river. So, like, sure, fine, whatever. Have its own state. So you don't have to say, like, oh, we're doing this thing in Egypt.

31:01
Case
You can be like, we're in a fictional nation, same as doing Latveria or anything like that, because they start this whole arc where he tries to protect his people. He, like, joins up with the justice Society to do so. Actually, the first point where he starts, like, teaming up with him is he gets recruited by, I forget, the main villain running the story, but, like, it was. It included, like, the rival, which was, like, the reverse flash for Jay Garak, the golden age Flash. And, like, it was like, an evil. It was like a just. It was like, an injustice society story. And he was brought on to be part of that group. He. He betrays them to the justice society. So he sides with the heroes and, like, saves the day, and that's why he, like, joins up with them.

31:43
Case
They go on to, like, save a thing in Condoc, and he's like, all right, cool. We've saved a thing. And, like, he. He becomes best friends with. With Adam Smasher, who is going to be in this movie. Adam Smasher is the nephew of the golden age Adam and the son of his rival. Like, slash, I think brother in law cyclotron, who is a nuclear powered villain, who is the reason why the Atom later developed super strength. Because originally the golden age, Adam's original schtick was that he was a short wrestler. Like, no power is just. He was good in a fight, and he was small. Yeah. And then he got hit by radiation and became super strong. And Adam Smasher's power is that he can grow in size and is super strong and invulnerable when he does so.

32:29
Case
So kind of like atlas from thunderbolts. He's more than just a size changer. He's, like a really powerful size changer. Like, he would be. He would be super strong and durable, even at smaller sizes, and is, like, particularly impressive at bigger ones. Anyway, at some point, like, one of his family members dies, and he's, like, looking for vengeance. And black Adam's like, no, you should totally kill that guy. And so, like, actually kind of pushes him towards a darker path. It's like a very, like. It's really like trying to move these characters towards being this sort of more brutal blood knight type character.

33:02
Jmike
Palpatine him kind of.

33:08
Case
And that's sort of like, where they sort of establish him as being this, like, either anti hero or anti villain, depending on where you kind of position him. And that was like, all right, cool. Like, he'll protect his nation and he has, like, a family at one point, like the resurrection of his wife and of his nephew or son. I forget.

33:26
Case
It was ISIS and Osiris for this period during, like, the 52, the actual year long miniseries that, like, really focused on black Adam but eventually being a super power controlled nation because he takes over Condoc, he's sort of set up as being, like, kind of like Namor, as being like, this regal figure who at the same time is, like, all about just protecting the limits of his people and doesn't really care about the world outside and only will intervene if it's going to affect his people. He becomes statesmen, but that means that he can fight with people a lot because anything that, it's all about his nation's interests. So it's like, oh, the US needs to get the fuck out of my way kind of stuff.

34:08
Case
And so that sort of becomes his status quo until they do new 52, wherein they kind of just do the same thing. They go into more detail about it, and there's, like, more. There's like, this whole explanation of him, like, being gifted powers by his nephew, who was supposed to be the champion of Shazam. Then he betrays the nephew and takes all the power. So he was basically Captain Marvel Junior in that scenario, but in this weird reverse. But it's still now going to this antihero idea. They like, this idea of him being protective of his nation and being the champion of his people, but not necessarily full on. He's not trying to conquer the world beyond the capacity that he would love for his nation to conquer the world. But it's not him doing it.

34:55
Case
It's him as the protector of a people who he feels has been denied their former glory. And so that's sort of the status quo for the character now. Yeah. And weirdly, he's become very popular, and he's easier to explain, so not weirdly, like, he's badass, so he's very easy to explain. And thus, the franchise as a whole has sort of become more focused on him than actually Captain Marvel or hoppy the Marvel Bunny or Shazam or any of, you know, any of the other aspects. Like, to the point now where we are getting a black Adam movie, and it's being played by the rock, who is one of the biggest stars on the planet. So, yeah, that's. I'm excited for it, and that's sort of my. My take on all that. Oh, and sorry, one quick side note.

35:41
Case
The villain of this movie is apparently Sabak, which is I mentioned before. So that character disappeared throughout the Bronze Age. Like I said before, he shows up again in the mid two thousands or early 2000. It was like, 2005, something somewhere in that range where he shows up as 1st. 1st. He shows up in the outsiders book, which at the time was, like, nightwing and the Outsiders, where a new guy murders the original avatar of Sabak and steals the power. And this sort of redesigns him. It's this russian mobster character, like Grigori something, but they redesigned him from being, like, this bald, kind of demonic looking dude with, like, a pentagram on his chest to now this, like, this, like, greasy, slick back ponytail hair and, like, a goatee. Like, he looks much more devastating.

36:31
Hans
Like an eighties villain.

36:32
Case
Yeah, well, yeah, like, but, you know, big, buff, and then, like, still flaming pentagram on his chest instead of a lightning bolt.

36:41
Hans
It looks.

36:42
Case
It's a really cool design. I really like that redesign because it's still simple, but it, like, if you're like, all right, so what would Asmodeus look like? As, like, just a suit, as a comic book supervillain. And, like, there you go. That. That's it.

36:56
Jmike
That's right.

36:56
Case
That's right. There. Yeah. So that's. Yeah. So he's gonna be the main villain, apparently. So it means that we're probably gonna get a big, knockdown, drag out fight between two similarly powered foes, but one who can breathe fire and the other one who can call lightning. So excited for that part for the movie.

37:13
Hans
All right, nice.

37:15
Case
But, yeah, I wanted to open this up for questions, like, if you had any about the character or, like, thoughts. Thoughts about the movie or anything like that.

37:22
Hans
So obviously, this is part of the DC Universe, right? So with their variation of Superman, which as of right now, I still think is heavy cavill, can this black Adam go? Still can go toe toe with Superman? And then my follow up question is, can Shazam go toe toe with Superman? If they ever fought. I just want to see the power range in this. These characters.

37:47
Case
Yeah, I mean, so from what we've seen from the trailers, it looks comparable to what we would normally see in the comics. Like, he, at one point, punches an airplane. He's flying faster than airplanes at various spots, like, really big explosions occur, and he's fine. You know, the base powers for the Captain Marvel set is flight, super speed, invulnerability, and super strength. Like, it's very like meat and potatoes. Like, they're. They're fine. It's like, it's like omni man. Now, more recently, they've sort of played more into the lightning stuff, because that was never really, like, a thing he would use offensively. It was just the transformation mechanism back in the day. But more recently, they've made it so that he can project it, like, you know, Shazami, like, shoots lightning from his hands, and it looks like Black Adam can do the same.

38:29
Case
So we're probably looking at something in that kind of category. Traditionally speaking, the Captain Marvel is pretty much like a one to one match for Superman. For the physical powers, like, Superman has the heat vision and all the sense powers and whatnot, freezing breath, and Captain Marvel traditionally doesn't have anything quite like that. But those are all secondary powers in terms of just the raw invulnerability and super strength and super speed. Like, those are really devastating abilities when used appropriately. And, like, the heat vision, like, normally wouldn't do anything to Captain Marvel unless he's been already weakened or the fight's been going on for a while. It's usually not strong enough to, like, phase him up front. It's only as the fight goes on. So, yeah, normally, they. They are pretty much one to one. Some writers will ascribe different levels between them.

39:15
Case
Like, I usually put it as Captain Marvel's probably more invulnerable, possibly faster, but Superman might be slightly stronger physically, but it's really hard to say because it's. And that's just like us trying to come up with compromises, because it's always like. It's always like, oh, yeah, we're completely matched when we run. We try to arm wrestle, and nothing happens. Like, there's the big fight in kingdom come where it's to a standstill, and it's really only, like, specific tricks that can really kind of turn the tide. So in that's where really, like, the first big time Captain Marvel uses the lightning offensively against Superman, where he says, shazam, and then moves out of the way for the lightning to hit Superman. So nowadays, with him actually having lightning powers, you know, they're magical. Superman's not.

40:00
Case
Is not only, like, typically he's, like, no more invulnerable to magic than most people, but some versions actually haven't been slightly weaker to magic than a normal person, which, you know, wherever you take on that one. But then the question is the lightning that he's firing magic in that way? Like, the transformation magic or lightning is definitely magic, but the question is the lightning that he shoots from his hand, is it him using magic to make lightning, or is it him shooting magical lightning? Are two. Like, those are the two different things. So, like, which one's gonna, like, which one it is kind of dictates how much Superman's gonna be affected by it. But the typical argument would be that if they fought, it's the planet that would lose. Like, they're gonna be, like, in general, pretty good shape afterwards.

40:45
Case
Like, they might beat each other to a bloody pulp, but, like, the cities around them will be completely destroyed. And, like, it kind of just depends on who gets the first shot, who gets the better hits in black, Adam has benefits of being trained for either having a huge length of life or having been brought up during a more barbaric time and reincarnated, however many times that you would say he's been reincarnated. Either way, he has a warrior experience from the past to draw upon again. Usually it would be like, oh, these two, if they thought it's a standstill until something intervenes or changes the stakes.

41:21
Hans
I see a see, yeah, that should be a fun one. If they ever put that in a movie.

41:26
Case
Get him to fight. Let them fight.

41:30
Hans
Exactly.

41:30
Case
Let them fight.

41:32
Steven
It's what the rock wants. So by all means, we wanted to.

41:35
Case
Yeah, I mean, who can say right now with the state of DC in general, but yeah, I mean, I think Henry Cavill would do a pretty good fight with the rock. Like, I think that would be.

41:46
Hans
They already destroyed cities of ministeels.

41:48
Case
Might as well destroy some pyramids. Why not? I mean, big reasons why not.

41:55
Hans
So I guess my other question is with the other characters, obviously, you already mentioned Adam Smasher. Then you got Doctor Fate. Yeah. Trying to remember the other, obviously Hawkman and Cyclones Cyclone. There is, I don't know. I was reading too. There's going to be a person named ISIS in this suit.

42:13
Case
So ISiS is a longstanding character in the Shazam fiction. There was actually a tv show with her in the seventies. So that is a, like, it's a like sorceress type character that is part of the sort of egyptian ties kind of thing. And the version that was in the 52 was like Black Adam's wife. That. Yeah. Now, I don't know if that's going to be the version that you use here. And I have no idea, post new 52 where that stands on it.

42:42
Hans
So. Because when I look at this lineup with Hawkman and everybody else, do they even have a chance to go against Black Adam after how powerful he is?

42:50
Case
I mean, I think that's kind of the point there in terms of, well, they're strong, but he's stronger. But that's why Sabak is like this other villain. Because I think what's going to happen is that with Doctor fate, they actually do have the power to do something effective against Black Adam. So I think it would be a scenario of, like, all right, you guys hold him back while I ready the spell. And that's gonna be the end of act two. And, like, where they, like, trap him or something and then big new threat and they have to release him or they, like, they're fighting. Big new threat shows up. And that's when they, like, decide like, oh, we have to team up avengers.

43:27
Hans
But, yeah, go ahead.

43:29
Jmike
This is the justice Society of America in this movie, right?

43:32
Case
Yeah, yeah.

43:33
Hans
Yes, that's what they are. So, yeah, I mean, with all that being said, so my main question is black Adam nowadays more of a villain or antihero? Because the way it's sounding, like it sees more of anti hero. Correct me if I'm wrong.

43:49
Case
Yeah. So he has gone from full villain and, like, very classic, like no mustache, but mustache twirling villain with, like, receding hairline and, like, kind of like, pointy evil features. You know, he's on the Justice League right now in the main DC books. Interesting because he's, like, doing a bit of a, like, I gotta better kind of tour. And, like, they've been drawing him hot, which I find so frustrating. Like, before we started recording, were talking about the hairstyle for John Kent in the books and how I like that it looks different. They've been drawing him with, like, a very similar to, like, Superman kind of hair. And it's, like, kind of annoying. Like, he's supposed to have a receding hairline. He's supposed to be vegeta. Like, that's the big thing here.

44:34
Hans
He has to be bald. Darn it.

44:37
Case
Receding hairline. Like, that's just part of his look. And, like, in the books, they're making him look like this, like, young, like, swashbuckling kind of, like guy. And I'm like, no, yes.

44:50
Hans
I see, I see. So he's definitely more of a villain. I mean, he was part of the Legion of Doom for a little while. A little bit too, right?

44:56
Case
I mean, he's been on various team ups for it. Like. Like I mentioned, he was part of the injustice society, even though he betrayed them. And he's been on, like, the villains United story. He was there. So, yeah, so, yeah, he's been. He's been part of teams and often acting as their, like, big heavy hitter because he's really high up there on. On the DC Pantheon.

45:14
Hans
All right, I'm done with questions. Y'all get. Y'all guys could go.

45:19
Jmike
So I didn't know about the newest storyline until, or the newest continuity storyline until, like, I think earlier this week when it was like his nephew was the one who got the powers first because they liked him better, and then he shared him with his uncle. But his uncle was like, no, I need these powers more than you. I'll do them right. We need vengeance. And he straight up, like, kills his nephew and takes the powers from himself. Yeah.

45:49
Case
I was like, oh, this is dark. This got dark really quickly.

45:53
Jmike
Was not expecting this. I wonder if that happens in a movie.

45:57
Case
I think they will. That seems to be the story that they're kind of going with in modern versions of the character. If you're gonna develop the character as being beyond just like a foil to Captain Marvel and have him be in his own movie, you're gonna have to distinguish him somewhat. So you might as well build on the story parts that are truly unique to black Adam. You know, we can very easily do a nutshell version of his story when he's just the bad guy for Captain Marvel to fight. But since this is his own movie, you might as well go into, like, here's all this deep backstory for why he would even do this thing.

46:27
Hans
Let's hope they develop that well. I think that has been the weakness of DC. They don't develop their backstory too well.

46:33
Jmike
They don't have good rights.

46:36
Hans
So let's hope, you know, that's the case, you know, and. But, yeah, I hope this movie does well. I mean, for the sake of the DCEU, I hope this does well. And especially with the Shazam movie coming out. Well, it was supposed to come out in December. Now they pushed it to march, so. And obviously there's gonna be some connection, but I know which Shazam, he has other fish to fry, like Mister mind and Glenn Close. Not Glenn Close. What's her name?

47:04
Steven
Helen Mirren.

47:05
Case
Helen, yes.

47:08
Hans
Mister mine and Helen Marin. That's his main baddies right now.

47:11
Case
But. But, yeah, I mean, I was pretty formidable, though.

47:16
Jmike
Yeah.

47:17
Hans
I mean, I just hope, because I think I'm talking films already. I think with Shazam, it was really good, you know, and, you know, we talked about this, you know, long time ago here, and so I hope they could continue on with that because, I mean, what's the other movies that supposed come out? Aquaman and the Flash, maybe a flash movie, maybe. Yeah, but, yeah, but do you really, can black adam be, like, the stronghold for maybe even for the villains for that? You know, maybe that's something we could see.

47:56
Case
Yeah. I mean, he certainly serves as a wild card in terms of players. Like, the comparison with Namor, I think, is, it's common at this point, but I don't think it's inaccurate. Like the. I think that was a really interesting choice. When they revised the character in the sixties, Namor, that is when they brought him back in the sixties. But it's built on his actual tradition of being this outsider to our world.

48:17
Case
And I think having him be a statesman, but one who is both willing to act for good, but feeling like he has priorities that are more particular than just, like, I need to save the world is really cool because like I said, like anything that, like, where you have political interests for his nation versus what either ours or the rest of the world or the UN or however you want to do it, then they can have friction without necessarily pushing him into fully being a villain. And he can be kind of a brutal guy. He doesn't need to be, like, the best of dudes. But he does serve as, like, a hector, you know, like a hero on the other side of the war.

48:57
Steven
Interesting, interesting. Oh, I do have one question. So going back to the trailer for the black Adam movie, it kind of shows origin in which he had, like, he had a son. Does that happen comic book wise? Like, does he have, like, a family that he has to fight for?

49:11
Case
Yeah. Yeah. So they. They dabbled with this, with reincarnations in the 52, which, again, was a. It was a series that DC ran right after infinite Crisis. That was a weekly comic, hence the name 52, that ran for one year. So it was 52 weeks of the year. Every. Every week had an issue, and it was the anthology book. So there were lots of stories from different creative teams, but there was a black Adam story going through it all, where we dealt with the reincarnation of his family. Then more recently, they have shown this whole thing with him having a nephew that gave him the power and whatnot. I would say for a much more detailed explanation than what I can give and one that's directly being referenced and researched, I would watch the death battle video that just came out on YouTube.

49:52
Case
It's death battle versus black Adam against.

49:57
Jmike
It was apocalypse.

49:59
Case
Apocalypse. Yeah. Which was a great idea, actually, as a fight because Apocalypse also has the egyptian ties. And so that's actually all shockingly good as two characters to fight each other. But death battle does a really good job of doing. Here's the deep research on the character with visual aids and references for things. I would definitely check that one out because they are going to be way more precise than what I would be, since I tend to look at it from a broader overview. But, yeah, so that, yeah, he has had families, and that's been, like, part of the motivation for it. It's all sort of trying to tie him into this character of being someone who will do bad things, but he has good intentions.

50:37
Hans
So obviously, you like the cat sing of the Rock as black Adam, I'm assuming.

50:42
Case
Yeah. I mean, I wish this was a decade ago.

50:46
Hans
I think the rock is in the best shape of his life right now.

50:49
Case
It's not about the shape he's in, just, it's almost actually the opposite of that. Like, he's almost, like, too hulking now for the part.

50:58
Hans
I mean, he's designed to be a superhero or villain or whatever, you know.

51:01
Case
But, yeah, I just. I really like the rundown era. Rock would have been, like, my ideal, but the rundown, wow. Yeah.

51:09
Hans
So how about the other casting choices, like Aldous Hodge as Hawkman what's his name? Noah Centineo as Adam Smasher. Do you think those are good casting choices? But Pierce Brosnan, who I'm not a fan of, but he might be good for Doctor fate.

51:24
Jmike
It's a great doctor fate.

51:27
Case
I think he's gonna be a great doctor fate. I think that's a. That's. That one is inspiring or inspired casting. I think that the decision to have his doctor fate helmet have, like, a heads up display, like, Iron man is funny, and I have to see it really in action. I don't know. Helmets are. Helmets are weird. Like, that. That's. That was always the conundrum of superheroes.

51:44
Hans
That's a cool helmet, though.

51:45
Case
I think. I think it's cool. We'll see how it goes.

51:47
Jmike
I feel like he wouldn't need it because it's. It's purely magic, and it's a God, so I don't think gods have huds, but, you know, whatever.

51:57
Hans
I mean, it looks cool, at least.

51:59
Case
However they want to represent it. You know, that, like, it's. That's just the hard part about superhero stuff, where, like, we like having masks and helmets and whatnot, but we. We. When you make a movie, you have to show the actor's face, and that was the inspired part of Iron man and, like, you know, whatever.

52:14
Hans
Captain America.

52:16
Case
Right? And the Captain America element, like, is hard to make, right? But that's why, like, spider man, they had to rip it off his, like, the mask off his face every time. So, like, you know, if it means that we can see his face a few more times when he gives lines. Cool. Whatever. I could. It might look bad, and, like, I'm gonna wait and see. I think that Pierce Brosnan is the one who stands out the most to me, of the. Of the casting for it. I think everyone's probably gonna be fine. I ha. I also haven't tried to go too deep on it. Like, I've watched the trailers, but, like, I had. You know, I've been hurt before, too, so, like, I've been, like, I'm excited for it.

52:49
Case
I really am, and I can't help it because it's, like, coming up, and I bought my tickets, and, like, I'm like, yeah. But at the same time, I'm also, like, I don't. I don't want to be, like, too invested and then be burned, so, you know.

53:00
Hans
Yeah, we'll see for sure. I mean, given the rocks track record, his movies haven't been that great as of late, so. So let's hope. But, yeah, my only question is Noah Centineo as Adam Smasher, but since, I don't know, Assmaster Datwell, to me, he sounds like another ant man, but I'm sure there's differences.

53:18
Case
Yeah.

53:18
Hans
Do you think that casting choice is good? Because he's, like, kind of like a heartthrob.

53:23
Case
I mean, he's a handsome guy in the comics, too. Like, he wears a, the mask he wears now is, like, is a nod to the original atom design. It's not because he's like, oh, I need to wear this because I'm so hideous. Like, the atom smasher. Like, that look started with kingdom come and then was solidified in justice society, which I think looks great. And the name Adam Smasher is great because it both plays a nod to the atom, and then cyclotron, which is the nickname for that, which is Atom Smasher. But his original name was Nukelon, and he had this, like, very different kind of design when he originally showed up in the silver, probably in the bronze Age when he was part of Infinity Inc. Which was, like, a really cool team of all the kids of the justice society.

54:04
Case
But it was the seventies, so that they're all, like, adults at this point. So it was, like, him with, like, jade, who was, like, Green Lantern's daughter, and, like, power girl and, like, huntress, who was Batman and Catwoman's daughter. Like, it was a cool team. So at that point, he had, you know, he had more of an exposed face.

54:21
Jmike
Wait, hold up. Wait a second. Go back. Huntress is Batman and Catwoman's daughter?

54:28
Case
Yes. The original Huntress was Batman and Catwoman's daughter? Yes. Huh. Helena Wayne.

54:35
Steven
Oh, interesting. That was the concept from that old brother prey show in CW, like, a long time ago.

54:42
Case
Yeah, yeah. They were, they were going off of the pre crisis origin and then the post crisis. Everything was about, like, how do we fit things from before but without, like, violating the new rules? And that's when they created, like, Helena Bertinelli, who was, you know, the mob daughter, who, you know, became her own type of character. But, yeah, that's, that's why she's supposed to be a mashup of Batman and Catwoman. That's, that's why she's just more of a general hunter of the night as opposed to a specific animal. And her motivation is that obviously she's trained because of her parents, but it's when Catwoman dies because she was forced into, like, one last crime, and then, like, that's how she ends up dying. That, like, motivates her to, like, go for vengeance and then.

55:22
Case
And become the knight justice, and then she's best friends with power girl vengeance.

55:30
Steven
Where are they?

55:35
Hans
But, all right, so my million dollar question is, how did it make this connection with, in the movies with the Shazam? Now, how does that connection work? Because. Yeah, that's gonna be interesting because Shazam's movie in itself, it seems at times, you know, their own thing, you know?

55:54
Case
Yeah, it's real weird that this is its own movie full stop. Like, so the first Shazam movie did have a reference to the character when they explained, like, oh, I had a champion once before, and he was a failure. And I was curious if they were going to show the rock, because I think at that point, they had announced the casting, but they didn't. It was all in cg of, like, the sand effect that he was using to show off the past for his stories. The fact that they didn't then do Shazam two and have black Adam show up in that, even as a post credit kind of thing and then get his own movie was. Was a surprise.

56:25
Case
I would have thought that would have been how you tease the, like, tease out the character, the Marvel method, like the Thor's hammer in New Mexico kind of. Kind of situation. Yeah. So it. I think it's going to be tied in. I think it's going to be like, officially, they are connected. I think we'll probably get a drop connecting it. It's interesting that none of the trailers have had Shazam said, as far as I can tell. Like, they never show him, use his magic word. And that, I think, is like, oh, we want to make it so that it's tied to him, but we don't deal too much with it. From the broad marketing, I think they want him to be his own property.

57:01
Hans
Because the connection is going to be weird because obviously, Superman's right there, and obviously, he's good friends with Shazam, according to the first movie. It's like, why? Why is he going to go against Shazam and not Superman? You know? That to me, that's the. How are you gonna. That's the weird thing, you know, with all these DC things, like, why not Wonder Woman go against them? But no, Shazam? That's gonna be your enemy now go.

57:25
Case
Well, and it's weird because we haven't had the justice society yet at this point in the movies either. So, like, this is. Yeah, there is a question of, like, wait, is this truly connected, or are we just not worrying about it because that's the other option that is out there where it's just like, oh, it's not that they're different universes. It's just that we don't care pretty much. We have the characters that we want because it seems anyway.

57:47
Hans
But we could be wrong. They're, you know, judging from the trailers, they don't really show much either. So we might get a few surprises here and there with all that. And it's just interesting me how they're gonna make that connection. Why that's gonna be Shazam's main villain. You know, that's my only question with that.

58:06
Case
He's not necessarily gonna be the main villain because he's like, at this point, he's, while he is a dark reflection of the character, they aren't directly opposed most of the time. Like I said, in the comics, black Adam is currently on the Justice League. So having them be rivals with shared power sources and backgrounds kind of feels like Kinsman of, like some sort of noble line of. Or something like that. You know, I don't want it all to be like game of Thrones because I'm currently watching House of the dragon and I'm enjoying it, but it kind of feels like the Valyrians with their own dragon rider. You know, like, it's like, okay, we go this way. And this is, you know, here's where we fork on this one.

58:47
Hans
It's where we fork. That sounded.

58:51
Jmike
Anyway.

58:52
Case
Lightning forks. Damn it. Lightning forks.

58:56
Hans
Here's what we. Especially when you talk about Game of Thrones anyway.

59:01
Case
Yeah. When we're talking about the Targaryens, it's not so much fork as being a straight line.

59:07
Hans
That is very true. But, yeah, it's, you know, that is my main question. And I know I keep going harping on this, but, yeah, it kind of makes sense that with the rock and all that, it kind of makes sense that he could be sort of antihero.

59:22
Case
Yeah.

59:23
Hans
And I think that's how the movies are showing it. And to me, it makes sense. So that's why I want to get y'all consensus. Does it make more sense that if he becomes antihero, I think that.

59:34
Case
They will at the very least. I mean, we know he's leaning into being, like, a guy who kills and, like, doesn't see himself as a hero and, like, is just doing what he thinks is right, but is, you know, maybe not the best of judgment, which is weird because he has super wisdom. Is one of his powers, but.

59:50
Hans
Super wisdom.

59:51
Case
But, yeah, but it is an older world concept of that wisdom, where it's like, oh, no, we, like, definitely, like, definitely kill the child of the person you just killed because you don't want them to come back and hurt you later kind of wisdom. You know, it's that vengeance. You know, it's a very hammurabi version of justice, and it's a very pragmatic, like, machiavellian kind of take on, like, on, like, politic, where it's like, no, no. It's better to be feared than to be loved. And if it means that they can actually have a good, comfortable life kind of ruler, you know, ruling of a people and of a nation, kind of take maybe, and we'll see. I think it's more dramatically interesting to have him be different from Superman in that capacity as someone who might do bad things.

01:00:37
Case
And it also explains why the world isn't getting that much better if all he's doing is trying to protect a set group of people as opposed to fixing the world. Like, the thing about, like, these superpowered beings where it's like, oh, well, if you could grab an asteroid with so much metal and bring it here, and we could, like, not have to mine and do all this stuff, like, the world would be amazing. Like, can you imagine just, like, finding a big hunk of lithium out in the universe? Like, that's your only thing you do. You got.

01:01:02
Case
You fly to, like, the asteroid belt, and you bring up, you know, a Texas sized hunk of lithium and put it right outside of our gravitational field and allow us to, like, strip it down, and then all of a sudden, we just all have, like, infinite batteries, and, like, power is just not an issue anymore for the world. Like, imagine the world and no pollution from all of that.

01:01:19
Jmike
Like, how you get space aids.

01:01:23
Case
Well, just imagine, like, that is just like, that. That is me pulling a thing out of that, out of the hat. In terms of if you had Superman powers, how you could fix the world.

01:01:33
Hans
Well, wrong comic shape.

01:01:38
Jmike
I'm just saying.

01:01:38
Case
My point is that if you have a lot of, like, the, like, characters of that power class, like, eventually you're like, well, why aren't you making the world a better place in meaningful ways for the people? And it makes sense if there are characters who are not invested in making the world a better place, but are only invested in doing, like, either specific acts of vengeance or protection or, like, or only focused on their one nation. Like, that's the Wakanda scenario with Black Panther. Like, oh, we've made Wakanda, like, this technological marvel instead of sharing it with the world. And that'll, that cuts a certain amount of muster at that point, you know. So again, I'm excited for it. Yeah. Closing thoughts, like what? Like when next we talk, we will have all seen the movie and it will be over on your show.

01:02:21
Case
Yeah, yeah.

01:02:23
Hans
I'm looking forward to that conversation, that's for sure. And things, I mean, personally, I hope it does well. I think DCEU needs it. I think the rock needs it. I think a lot of people need this.

01:02:37
Case
I need this. I think.

01:02:40
Hans
Yeah, apparently Steven needs it, too, so.

01:02:42
Case
Yes, I think discovery, Warner brothers really needs.

01:02:45
Hans
Yeah, yeah, that's true, too. And, oh, man, we hadn't even scratched the surface on that controversy yet and things. And because, you know, they said that test screenings, that did not too well either, and yet they canceled back girl. And they still continue with this one, so. Yeah, and all that. But, I mean, I'm one of the biggest rock fans around, too, so I really hope it does well. I mean, they've been teasing this for, like, how long? Eight years for the rock to play.

01:03:11
Case
Yeah, well, I mean, because the rock has been fan casted, like, almost as long as I'm talking. Yeah, but, like, I was fan casting him then, but, like, people were like, his name was in circulation for it for a long time.

01:03:22
Hans
But when did they casted him? I think it was, like, a long time ago, too.

01:03:25
Case
Yeah, I think he was actually officially attached, like, eight years ago. Yeah, like, but, you know, it's like, oh, the rock is, like, attached, and then we'll see what happens. Kind of the same way. Ryan Reynolds is still attached to Green Lantern.

01:03:35
Hans
Oh, gosh, no. Is he really? Wow.

01:03:38
Case
No, not at this point. But he was for a long time, they were talking about sequels and, like, so it's like the Hollywood stuff where you're like, oh, well, yeah. Like, they're in talks right now and, like, that doesn't mean anything, guys.

01:03:48
Hans
But as I said, yeah, I really hope it does well. I really hope it's just an enjoyable film and go from there, you know, but with the, this DCEU, which is still a mess, I just hope it does well, because then Shazam is coming as well, which I hope is another movie that does well as well. And, yeah, let's just hope because, man, it's been up and down for them, and I just hope, yeah, I just hope that good things come from this for real.

01:04:21
Case
Steven, do you have any, like, closing thoughts?

01:04:22
Steven
Well, I just want to say, case is very informative because I know little about the whole Shazam lore and Black Adam. I think the last thing I saw about Black Adam was that doomsday clock crossover with watchmen that they made.

01:04:37
Hans
Really?

01:04:37
Case
Wow.

01:04:38
Steven
Yeah. I need to read more comics, but yeah.

01:04:42
Case
And better ones anyway.

01:04:46
Steven
But yeah, like, I look forward to this film. Of course, I still have house of the DC universe for sure. I mean, as you guys may know, I'm one of the Snyder Cud loyalists.

01:04:57
Hans
Oh, I don't know why.

01:04:59
Case
Still, for more information, go back to our four part episode.

01:05:03
Hans
Yes, he still wants a Martian Manhunter movie. While Steven, seriously, I still want my dark side war.

01:05:09
Case
I mean, I would take all of that. Like, I didn't hate it. Like, it was just like, oh, well, this is still, they just needed another movie in between and then it's whatever.

01:05:18
Hans
But that this whole thing was Zack Snyder and bots and all that.

01:05:21
Steven
All right, I just want to say I look forward to this because in the end, it's still going to be a fun comic book movie. Yes, I will be, you know, clenching my teeth with the Rotten Tomatoes score. I do that for all the DC films.

01:05:34
Case
Like, oh, shoot.

01:05:35
Steven
It's kind of like, you know, when you get that exam back and you know you failed, but you still have no idea. That's what always feels like.

01:05:42
Case
How bad did you.

01:05:44
Hans
It was worse.

01:05:46
Steven
I always do great on my exams, but, yeah, I look forward to it. Like we said, the rock is a, is, you know, he's a pretty big star. And from what I've read and heard, everyone's excited for this film. So like we said, in the end, it's still more comic book movies.

01:06:00
Case
Yeah.

01:06:00
Hans
And just to harp on that, Rotten Tomatoes scores, I do believe if it has a good score, this movie will definitely do well in the box office. That's for sure. Because the DC fans will go, but it's the rest of the fans. Will they go?

01:06:12
Case
Yeah, that's the big question. The DC fans are not as big as the rest of the fans. Unlike, or rather with Marvel. Like, there are a lot of people who are MCU only and, like, don't care about comics and that's fine. Like, like, but there are a lot of them and they're just not as strong for the DC ones. Yeah.

01:06:31
Hans
I mean, even Batman fans is kind of like that, too. So if it's a Batman, people will show up. But, yeah, I think that score is really going to tell. Tell the tall tale of how they do in the box office, because if you haven't noticed the box office as of late, they're not doing too well. Like, the number one movie is 20 million. It's crazy.

01:06:51
Case
Yeah. I mean, movies in general are just.

01:06:53
Jmike
Everyone would rather be at home.

01:06:56
Case
Yeah. The paradigm has shifted a lot like that. I'm also curious about that. Like, there are a lot of people I know who don't care enough to go see this in theaters, and they're just waiting for it to show up on. On HBO, Max. Yeah. Because there's so much to watch also. And, like, you know, if you're not invested in talking about it with people, you may not feel compelled to, like, watch it right when it comes out. And you're cool with waiting. Like, my tv's really nice in my living room. Like. Like, I'm fine with a lot of those scenarios and some, you know, depending on your theater and how comfortable you are with everything, you may not still feel comfortable sitting in a theater during the. Like, for the whole movie of it. So I get it. Like, they're absolutely no shame.

01:07:32
Case
I am seeing it in part because we want to talk about it on the podcast, like. Like. And obviously, and it's a Shazam thing, so I'm. Of course, I'm seeing this one. But, like, eternals, I waited on because it, like. Like, while I love the eternals a lot more than most people do, like, I was not ready to go back to theaters at the time.

01:07:51
Hans
Yeah, well, terms are changing now, but, yeah, I think it. Well, there's many different reasons what's going on, but, like, how with Disney, plus with some of their movies, they didn't do too well in the box office, but then once it got to streaming, then everybody's talking about it, which I hope that doesn't happen with this for the sake of the DCEU, because if not, then they're gonna put everything on livestream, and, you know, what's it. What's the fun of that? I'm still a theater purist, so.

01:08:18
Steven
Indeed.

01:08:19
Hans
Yeah. I still want IMAX, so.

01:08:23
Case
Well, j Mike, do you have any closing thoughts?

01:08:26
Jmike
Can you hear me out? Symbiotes.

01:08:31
Hans
Ancient egyptian.

01:08:33
Case
Oh, scarabs. Oh, and then we tie it in with the blue beetles. There we go.

01:08:36
Hans
There we go. That's the movie I'm looking forward to. Unless discovery wants to cancel that, too. Like, sh.

01:08:43
Jmike
I am. To be fair, I am more hyped about my man doctor fate than I am black Adam.

01:08:51
Hans
Wow.

01:08:52
Case
Wow.

01:08:53
Hans
Pierce Bronze is, like, my least favorite.

01:08:55
Jmike
Bond Doctor fate is like one of my, it's like Superman, booster Gold. Doctor fate top three.

01:09:01
Case
This is true that, that is a canon aspect of who you are.

01:09:07
Jmike
So yeah, it should do pretty good. Even if it's not like top box office of like the summer, whatever. It's still probably be a fun movie to see just because. So that's why I'm looking forward to, like, it'll be a fun movie. I'll watch it. I'll have a blast. I'll enjoy it. So, yeah, Doctor fate.

01:09:25
Case
Yeah, well, and that's just good casting right there. Like, that's an actor who has aged gracefully and has like good appeal in that regard. And then it's a rock led superhero movie. Like, you know, think about this one. We, the closest we got to Arnold Schwarzenegger as a proper comic book superhero, not counting Conan, which was a comic book as well, is jingle all the way and Batman and Robin, which is all fine, but it's just like, oh, well, that's incredible. So I'm happy to see this. I'm sure people go check it out. We're all fascinated for it. So I really can't wait to see it and then to talk with all of you. So, Hans and Steven, thank you for coming on this show. Why don't you tell everyone who you are and then where they can find part two of this conversation?

01:10:22
Hans
Well, I'm the real movie critic, and that's the Sydney guy at the other voice over. There you go. But yeah, we have a podcast show called the real movie critic versus the Synagogue, where we're the up to date movie reviewers because we bring out the shows movies right out of from that weekend. So if you want to give here our consensus on Black Adam to see if it's worth going to or not. Yeah, check us out. We're at certainpov.com. You could definitely find our episode there. You could join us at our discord there, too. That's where you can find the link or any of our social medias at least I'll say mines. You could catch my reviews at real bootcred.com. Or you could like me on Facebook at real bootcred or follow me on Instagram or Twitter at real craig 34.

01:11:05
Hans
Real as in r Eal. Steven, give your stuff.

01:11:09
Steven
All right. So you can check Scott on my YouTube at directormanprod and follow my Instagram and Twitter in a guysteven. And yes, do check out our podcast. And don't forget our spin off series, sparring screens where we check out those shows that have do with movies, especially the Star wars shows and the Disney.

01:11:26
Hans
Plus Marvel shows and some DC stuff like peacemaker.

01:11:30
Steven
Oh, yeah.

01:11:30
Hans
Kung fu panda.

01:11:31
Case
Kung fu panda. Yeah, you've done some other stuff. Canon. The idea is canon. Like, is it part of a universe?

01:11:37
Hans
Exactly.

01:11:37
Case
A conversation. Yeah. No, obviously people should check out your show in general, but like, definitely check out part two because we're going to be picking that up in the meantime. J Mike, where can people find you?

01:11:47
Jmike
Oh, man, I'm just a guy on Twitter doing my thing. I am on Twitter 101. I post funny pictures, memes, and gifs, and I sometimes respond to people.

01:12:05
Hans
Sometimes.

01:12:07
Case
As for me, you can find me on Twitter. Ace Aiken. You can find the podcast in podcast. Give us a follow. We put out some fun stuff, and we're actually about to hit episode 100 for our Superman analog video series. So that's going pretty well there. Our YouTube channel has done really well. So check out certain pov media on YouTube and look for those. And look for clips of this show on the YouTube channel. So check that out. Also, go to certainpov.com where you can find a link to our discord server where you can come interact with all of us directly. You can. You can get sneak peeks for upcoming shows. You can participate in polls that Hans and Steven do for their show.

01:12:43
Hans
Oh, yes.

01:12:44
Case
Yeah. Particularly for the fight nights and whatnot.

01:12:47
Hans
So check that out. Thanks for mentioning that. That's one of my favorites.

01:12:50
Case
Yeah. So come to certainpov.com, comma, come to our discord server. Interact with us. We don't bite. We don't stand over you say move out of the way, only the right way, only consensually. What is this supposed to be? I don't know.

01:13:07
Hans
There's a right way of biting.

01:13:10
Jmike
Oh, my.

01:13:11
Hans
But yeah.

01:13:11
Case
So again, we're gonna be picking up part two, having watched the movie over at the real movie critic versus the synagogue. So be on the lookout for that. And until next time, stay super man.

01:13:24
Jmike
Men of Steel is a certain pov production. Our hosts are J. Mike Folson and case Aiken. The show is edited by Matt Storm. Our logo is by Chris Bautista. Episode art is by case Aiken, and our theme is by Jeff Moon.

01:13:43
Case
Hey, everyone.

01:13:45
Jmike
Sorry. Hey, everyone. I just hit puberty.

01:13:49
Case
No, I've just been doing too many shows recently.

01:13:56
Hans
Or stay wonder Woman.

01:13:58
Steven
Or stay Aqua man. That's my favorite.

01:14:01
Hans
Or stay black Adam.

01:14:06
Jmike
I got more. I can keep going.

01:14:09
Case
I thought you were gonna say man at first.

01:14:13
Steven
Man, that movie was excellent.

01:14:16
Hans
It really was. Totally blew my expectations away.

01:14:19
Steven
I know right now I really want to tell everyone about it, but I'm not sure how.

01:14:26
Hans
Yeah, if only there was a podcast dedicated to reviewing films and discussing the latest news and trailers on upcoming films. That would be nice.

01:14:35
Steven
Yes, for sure. And we can call it the Senegai show.

01:14:42
Jmike
What?

01:14:43
Hans
No. It will be called real movie critic unleashed.

01:14:48
Steven
No. How about Senegai, featuring real movie critic?

01:14:53
Hans
How about the real movie critic and his psychic, the Cinegai CG and RMC. RMC at CG.

01:15:03
Case
The real moving critic versus the synagogue only@certainpv.com.

01:15:11
Steven
Or wherever you get your podcast, you're going down. Critic.

01:15:18
Hans
Bring it on.

01:15:19
Case
Guy cpov, certainpov.com. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the main event.

01:15:38
Steven
In this corner, he's a reviewer who's relentless.

01:15:42
Case
He's a writer that's far from pretentious. He's no cynic. He's the real movie critic. It's Hans Martin Junior. And in the other corner, he's a.

01:15:57
Steven
Creator who's silly, but his reviews are.

01:16:00
Case
On far like Chili.

01:16:02
Steven
He cannot tell a lie.

01:16:04
Case
He's the synagogue. It's Steven Nguylo. Welcome to the real movie critic versus the synagogue.

01:16:23
Steven
I see a red door and I want it painted black no colors anymore. I want them to turn black. Come on, Hans. I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer.

01:16:39
Hans
What song is this?

01:16:41
Steven
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes. You know that was the first song they play in the movie, right?

01:16:47
Hans
Is it?

01:16:48
Steven
It was. Yes.

01:16:50
Hans
All right.

01:16:51
Steven
Pretty fun sequence, if I do say so. Hello. Welcome to the show. I'm Stephen Gulas in a guy.

01:16:58
Hans
What's up, everybody? It's Hans Martine Junior, your real movie critic, and I'm writing this like a g six. That's all I'm gonna say for east movie shout out. Let's move on. Let's go.

01:17:08
Steven
Oh, wow. Our actual quick shout out. Why can't we do those more often?

01:17:11
Case
You always just drag.

01:17:13
Hans
We got guests here, so we got a exact.

01:17:16
Steven
So, yes, guys, we return back to DCEU. But you know what? We always need some help with this. So joining us are two fellow podcasters best known for the Superman show, Man of Steel. Also, one of them happens to be our amazing CEO. Please welcome Kay Sakin and J. Mike Falsen.

01:17:38
Jmike
Hey. Yay.

01:17:40
Case
Yay.

01:17:41
Hans
Here's the yay.

01:17:44
Case
Shazam.

01:17:49
Steven
Said that instead. Oh, my gosh.

01:17:51
Case
Yeah.

01:17:51
Hans
But, yeah. So we got the metasteel people here, and just a quick shout out, make sure you check out the metasteel episode where we give a brief history about Black Adam and give some predictions for the movie. So if you have it, check that out. Check that out first and then check this episode out.

01:18:07
Case
Yeah, we've actually been doing a lot of black Adam content across the board between all the different aspects of the. Of the site. So, yeah, as you mentioned, you guys were on for Ministeel. We did a history lesson about Black Adam, the character, and we did some predictions. But, like, I think it's even. It's worthwhile if you saw this movie and you're like, who is this character outside of this one movie? And that was a whole explanation of the character. And then we also did a video on Black Adam and a video on Sabak over on. On our YouTube channel. So check those out if you like. Yeah. Things in tight animated formats.

01:18:43
Hans
Definitely. Definitely. So check those. But, yes, we are talking about the film black Adam.

01:18:49
Steven
Yes.

01:18:50
Hans
Pretty much the rocks, baby, in this. I think that's safe to say.

01:18:54
Case
Yeah.

01:18:55
Steven
More like it's preteen has been a long time. How was. When was he first announced as Black Adam?

01:19:01
Jmike
It was, like four years ago.

01:19:03
Hans
No, longer than that.

01:19:04
Case
Well, so there was still some debate when Shazam came out. Like, it was like, oh, yeah. All right, so the rock is a producer. He's definitely doing black Adam. Like, you know, because, you know, Holly would, like, you can be attached to it, then. Then they're not sure where it's going. Like, they weren't sure if they were doing a black hat movie or if he was just gonna show up in Shazam. But, yeah, I mean, people have been talking about him for 15 years, roughly. Maybe more.

01:19:28
Hans
Exactly. Yeah. And the rock has really been pushing to make this happen. Like, he really wanted to play this character big time. And all the promotions and everything that he has done, man, this was definitely his baby, that's for sure. And, yeah, I mean. I mean, let's just dive right into it. So what do you all thought of Black Adam? Initial reviews? I'll start with case.

01:19:54
Case
So I would say this is a net positive. Like, it. The worst you could say about it is that it's. Some of the beats are fairly predictable, and it's extremely comic booky. Like, there are a lot of things in this movie that were, like, I would see a panel, or rather, I'd see a frame and think, like, man, that would probably look better as a panel on page than in the shot in the movie. Not to say that the movie looked bad. Just that there were spots where I'm like, oh, this. This. The way this is all framed looks really good as a. As a comic book panel. And it looks okay as a movie, but, like. Like, there are so many spots that I was like, this feels so comic book. And I love a lot of that. Like, there.

01:20:39
Case
There were some great things going on there, but, like, net positive with, you know, some quibbles.

01:20:45
Hans
Steven, what do you thought?

01:20:48
Steven
All right, well, as you may know, I enjoy comic book movies because I find this. I find whatever joy I can in them. Except Morbius. That was a disaster. No, not at all. Case, we are still so very sorry that we've dragged you into that. My gosh.

01:21:08
Case
But, yeah, between that and master of disguise, man.

01:21:11
Hans
Yeah, that does a top. Master of the disguise.

01:21:14
Steven
Oh, my God. Wow.

01:21:15
Case
I would say master of disguise is worse.

01:21:18
Steven
I owe you a drink, Case. And now we live close to each other, so there we go.

01:21:21
Case
That's true. Oh, my gosh.

01:21:24
Steven
But, yeah, it does start off kind of slow because, you know, it has. Those characters are like, hey, these are our protagonists. Care for them. Okay, who are these people? I need. They need to grow on me. But then once the comic books actually happens, I'm intrigued. You know, I'm watching some characters that I'm familiar and unfamiliar with come to life and, like. And, yeah, it's not like the best comic book movie out there. No, it's still fun. It's not the next Black Panther Endgame or Snyder.

01:21:51
Case
Cut.

01:21:52
Steven
No, no. This is just something to enjoy.

01:21:55
Hans
Oh, sir. No, no, let's not go.

01:21:58
Case
Start with me.

01:21:59
Hans
Don't start with me. No, we're starting with that.

01:22:01
Case
If you're gonna break down, start with me.

01:22:02
Steven
Oh, my gosh. Anyway, look, the rock does an excellent job as a combo character, and he truly made their blockbuster.

01:22:11
Jmike
Right?

01:22:11
Steven
It was fun. Everyone else, tremendous. I mean, come on out. This Hodge is Hawk man. James Bond and Doctor fate. Come on. It was fun, guys.

01:22:20
Case
That's.

01:22:20
Steven
That's all we can say, okay?

01:22:22
Hans
His name is Pierce Bronson, not James Bond. He hasn't been bond for a while, okay?

01:22:26
Steven
He will always be Bond.

01:22:27
Case
And I was gonna say he's always bonded my heart. Exactly.

01:22:30
Steven
Thank you, Case.

01:22:31
Hans
Y'all could have him.

01:22:32
Case
Yeah.

01:22:35
Hans
Yeah, y'all could have it, but. Okay, I guess I'm the one that's gotta be the negative person.

01:22:41
Case
But wait, J Mike, what did you think of this movie?

01:22:43
Jmike
What? That's crazy, sir. It's crazy talk. I know what you're talking about. I unfortunately, did not witness the amazingness that was this movie. So.

01:22:56
Case
We'Re gonna have some surface conversations. But, like, when we get to spoilers, I very much want us to, like, see if Jay Mike can predict how the movie goes because, like, on men of steel, were pretty close. So I'm curious if you can get all the beats.

01:23:07
Hans
Yeah, okay, sure. J Mac was already spoiled beforehand.

01:23:12
Case
Well, yeah, I mean, like, some of the details have been spoiled, but I'm also just curious if he can, like, correctly, like, lay out the.

01:23:18
Jmike
All I was concerned as soon as I saw the trailers was that Doctor fates in a movie. And there's my three top superheroes. DC is Superman, booster gold, and Doctor fate.

01:23:29
Case
So, wow, booster gold, not even Batman.

01:23:34
Jmike
No. Oh, wait. Booster Gold is awesome, sir. Don't discredit booster gold.

01:23:39
Hans
Not even Greenland.

01:23:40
Steven
Not from the last comic book I read.

01:23:42
Jmike
Booster girls. Awesome. I will not stand for this later anyway. But, yeah, I'll wait for the side comments about this later. Then I'll jump in. Hans. Go for it. Do your thing.

01:23:53
Case
Well, as always, Hans, this is the.

01:23:55
Steven
First somebody who has now watched a movie is actually. No, that happened with Audie one time.

01:24:00
Hans
Yeah, no, it happens with Audie a.

01:24:01
Case
Lot, but, yes, but everybody would see the movie in quotes and you have to ask him, like, all right, so 20 minutes. In 30 minutes, when did you fall asleep?

01:24:11
Hans
Yeah, exactly. How do you always be falling asleep? Like, you'd be. You'd be hearing him snore after, like 20 minutes. Yes, but as for me, I did. Did I like it? I. Okay, let me say the good stuff first. The rock was great. As black Adam. I thought he was good. And I did like the JSA or the justice Society, even though they were really developed as how they became an agency or whatnot, or why they were important, but they were so cool because they were there.

01:24:40
Case
All right.

01:24:41
Hans
But everything else, I, I couldn't enjoy it. And I wanted to enjoy it. I wanted to enjoy this film. But the story was very uneven and, like, it had some thematic issues with different things and it felt a little uneven. And I thought some of the acting, like the rest of the people, that it's like, they didn't even mean it too. Especially the little kid. We'll talk more about that little kid later. Yeah, and things. But the biggest thing, I thought the CGI was very subpar. And I, there was some moments where I'm like, ooh, that doesn't look good. And that's what was really disappointing for me. I swear I thought the director of this, which is how may Coletzera.

01:25:24
Hans
I thought Zack Snyder possessed him because of all those slow mos that happened during this film and everything, which really annoyed the heck out of me.

01:25:34
Case
I will say I feel like the use of slow Mo was appropriate most of the time because it was super speed effects, maybe, but. But I do agree that the CGI, like, there were a lot of shots that, like, I was like, ooh, I don't know about that, from the trailer that did not get improved by the time it made the screen.

01:25:50
Hans
No, there was a lot of scenes where you could really tell that it was green screen too.

01:25:54
Jmike
Okay, okay. Quick question. Was it. Was it Superman upper lip bad? Or was it, like.

01:26:05
Steven
I'd say something as bad as that?

01:26:09
Hans
I would say this. Some scenes that kind of look that way. Some scenes, you know, it's.

01:26:13
Case
Yeah, like, here's the thing. It was better than cw. It was worse than Star Trek. Strange new worlds.

01:26:22
Hans
Oh, man. Oh, that's a way to put it.

01:26:25
Steven
Was it kind of like Matrix reloaded or not as bad?

01:26:30
Hans
I mean, at the time, Matrix reloaded was awesome. Now you look back on it, you're like, this one, it just came out and I'm like, ugh. And that's not good for a movie, a big budget movie for me.

01:26:40
Jmike
Do you think it was because it was in theaters and by the time it gets to, like, HBO Max or anything else, they'll have touch up and everything or.

01:26:48
Case
Well, but that doesn't make sense. I mean, like, yes, they might do some of that at some point touch it up, but, like, fixing it in post is not a good method with a movie that's getting a theatrical release.

01:27:02
Hans
Yeah. Let alone that it's gonna be on IMAX and everything. Like, you would think that the special effects would be a lot better. Mean, even Batman versus Superman, CG was a lot better than this one, if you ask me. Yeah, I'm going there. I am going there.

01:27:18
Steven
You know, I agree.

01:27:19
Case
I agree.

01:27:20
Steven
There were some prodigal things there, so there we go.

01:27:23
Case
Yeah.

01:27:24
Hans
And so that really annoyed me throughout the movie. Now, don't get me wrong, there are some scenes that were awesome, which we'll get to as well, but some of the characters, as we already mentioned, I thought Hawkman was great. Doctor fate was really good in this, if you ask me. Well, I don't know about Adam Smasher, and I forgot. What's her name again? Is it Cyclone? Yeah, it was Cyclone.

01:27:50
Jmike
Okay.

01:27:50
Hans
I thought I had that wrong. But yeah, okay.

01:27:52
Steven
I was, I was against no one centenill being this movie from the beginning. Like, come on. This. This guy is typical teen rom comi. I don't want to see him in a superhero movie.

01:28:01
Hans
I mean, he was a comic relief, but some of his jokes were a little miss for me, if you ask me. But yeah, I mean, you and me, you would me. That part actually had me laughing, but yes. And so, yeah, as I said, I really wanted to like this, but I ended up kind of like being disappointed with it with a lot of things. And I'm surprised that this has like a 90% audience rating in Rotten Tomatoes. I really am. I kind of agree more with the critical side of this, which was like, what now, 30% now or something around there.

01:28:35
Steven
It's still 40.

01:28:36
Hans
Oh, so 40. I think it got down to 30 for a little bit, but yeah.

01:28:41
Case
Like really? Like, like on a strict thumbs up, thumbs down scenario, you. Would you give it a thumbs down? Like you don't like, I have issues with this movie, but, like, I still am. Like, yeah, I was happy to see it. I enjoyed it overall.

01:28:55
Hans
I don't know, I might have to. It's, yeah, it's. I really debated this too. When before I gave. Well, I hadn't even given my rating yet, but, yeah, it's, yeah, I was really debating about it and I was like, no, I expected better. My expectations were actually pretty high on this and I think that's what led to it, so. But yeah, I mean, gotcha. That's what it is. But I'll go ahead and get my real rating and things. But yeah, as I raised said before, with a lot of things, I was just genuinely disappointed. But I don't knock on the rock. Being black Adam, I thought he was one of the high points of this film.

01:29:35
Hans
And with all that said, I give it out of five, my real rating of 2.5, the facial rock slow mo expressions, which, if you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about.

01:29:52
Steven
At least it ain't mummy returns.

01:29:58
Hans
It's just, it's, it was weird. It was weird. That's all I gotta say.

01:30:01
Steven
Oh, my gosh. Well, yes, I agree with some points. Like, this movie isn't perfect. No, not at all. But here thing, I did not go to see it with high expectations. I learned my lesson after love and thunder. My gosh. But yeah, if I can, like, you know, scooch away from the bad and focus on the good, I still had a nice time. You know, some of this act sequels were a lot of fun. I didn't mind the song choices. That's why I sang painted black in the beginning, because that. That opening action scene was awesome. I'll say that for spoilers. But, yeah, everyone did a pretty good job.

01:30:40
Hans
What they were given.

01:30:41
Steven
And the rock, you know him. He knows how to make a blockbuster. So I'm gonna give this movie a final rating of 7.7 crown. Sabach.

01:30:52
Hans
Case, what's your rating?

01:30:57
Case
Yeah, I feel like a 7.5 is kind of an appropriate area for it. Like, I. Maybe a seven, depending on how much you care about the CG and the. I guess it's a question of, like, the novelty versus the quality of the story beats. Like, I think most of the story beats were pretty well done, but they were ones that we could expect pretty well. Like, there's one big area that I was like, oh, I'm surprised at how hard they went away that I thought they might go, but I was. I just didn't think they would go that. That hard. And that was, you know, fine, but, like, not necessarily my flavor for black Adam, but in general, I enjoyed it. I thought it was a. There were some really effective uses of black Adam's powers.

01:31:42
Case
The way they presented him as being comfortable in his space, I thought was really good. And I enjoyed most of the things that were. Were kind of new elements to the DCEU that this brought. So, yeah, like I said, I feel like a 7.5 is pretty much there for me.

01:31:59
Hans
All right, J Mike. Oh, never mind.

01:32:02
Jmike
Sir. Sir.

01:32:07
Hans
Don't sir me.

01:32:08
Steven
Okay, how about this? Just so he's involved, j Mike, how do you feel today?

01:32:14
Hans
Therapy.

01:32:18
Steven
I'm trying to get him involved.

01:32:19
Jmike
Han, I'm gonna be involved later when I do the guesses for this stuff. Yeah, close. I am to the story.

01:32:27
Steven
All right.

01:32:28
Hans
All right, well, let's head to the spoiler and see how much J Mike know. He's nos, so.

01:32:35
Case
Yeah.

01:32:35
Steven
Knows he can't even talk.

01:32:37
Case
Yeah.

01:32:38
Steven
That's how much you didn't like this movie, Hans?

01:32:40
Jmike
It's just really that bad for you, man. I didn't think it'd be that bad. Like, I thought it'd be, like, really dumb fun.

01:32:46
Hans
But it was worse movies, but, yeah, I didn't really enjoy it. There were worse movies than that.

01:32:52
Steven
It's not Morbius. Be grateful.

01:32:55
Hans
Not by much.

01:32:58
Case
Oh, man, this is way better than Morbius.

01:33:02
Hans
Maybe by, like, Peters or something. I don't know.

01:33:05
Jmike
Anything's better.

01:33:05
Steven
There's more of it.

01:33:06
Case
All right.

01:33:06
Steven
In the end. Elevator. In the elevator. Here we are, guys. Are we going to hunt?

01:33:15
Case
Are we going to conduct?

01:33:16
Hans
Conduct. Okay, take a wild guess who's coming in.

01:33:19
Steven
So, I don't know, Vinny.

01:33:21
Hans
No. Here we go. Ding. Do you smell what the rock is cooking?

01:33:30
Case
Hello, rock.

01:33:31
Hans
Hello, gentlemen. I see that you also black Adam. Is that right?

01:33:36
Case
Yeah, we did. Yes.

01:33:37
Hans
It doesn't matter if you saw it or not, because it is a great movie and that's what I. What it's really about. Yeah, rock.

01:33:44
Case
If we paid for the tickets.

01:33:48
Hans
You got me there. Wow, you really stumped a rock case. I have still the grief.

01:34:02
Steven
Yes. By the way, Rock, I got a question for you.

01:34:06
Hans
Yes.

01:34:07
Steven
How do you feel that J Mike didn't see the movie?

01:34:10
Jmike
We're really getting hard yesterday, aren't we?

01:34:12
Hans
Yes, we are. Well, first of all, who is J Mike? That's the main question. Do you really think he go against me and everything that he does even watching this movie, huh? Who are you sure, yourself.

01:34:24
Steven
He's the really tall guy with the glass over there.

01:34:27
Hans
All I see is just an orange dot.

01:34:30
Case
I am J Mike. I am J Mike.

01:34:36
Hans
It doesn't matter who J Mike is, because really, we made about 67 million. I think that's pretty good, eh?

01:34:41
Jmike
That's alright.

01:34:42
Hans
It doesn't matter what's alright or not.

01:34:44
Case
Mister the rock. How does it feel to go from being the most electrifying man in entertainment to the most electrifying superhero in the DCEU?

01:34:51
Hans
It feels great. Because who doesn't want to see black Adam? I bet I've been casting for like what, ten years? So it feels great.

01:35:00
Case
Yes, sir. I've been vouching for you as black Adam since the Scorpion King.

01:35:05
Hans
I want to say it doesn't matter, but it does matter. Thank you, kind sir. I pretty sure you're not Jake Mike, so.

01:35:12
Steven
All right, well, there we go. What's next for you, Rock?

01:35:17
Hans
Oh, have you heard about a movie? Shazam?

01:35:20
Steven
Oh, you're gonna be.

01:35:21
Hans
Doesn't matter if you heard about it because you can easily watch black Adam right now. Okay, guys, I must go.

01:35:27
Case
Oh, this is your floor. Oh, yes.

01:35:29
Hans
Yes, indeed it is. Alright, guys, here I go. Do smell put the Rockies cookie.

01:35:36
Steven
And he's out.

01:35:37
Jmike
Wow.

01:35:37
Case
Didn't even wait for the doors to open. He just ripped right through.

01:35:40
Hans
Yep, that's what he does.

01:35:41
Steven
Gosh, Hans, we pay for this.

01:35:45
Case
My gosh.

01:35:46
Hans
Yeah, I know. We have insurance. Steven, though. That's okay.

01:35:50
Steven
You better have that Jumanji money lying around.

01:35:52
Hans
Yeah, baby. All right, let's get out of here.

01:35:55
Steven
Yeah, let's get out. You have been warned.

01:35:59
Hans
Shall we do what? J Mike knows?

01:36:01
Case
Yeah. Yeah. J Mike, if you had to guess what the big story beats are. And, you know, I know you've been spoiled on some stuff, so, like, you can throw those in there and, like, you're not coming completely blank.

01:36:13
Jmike
No. My only big question would be about what's the chicken? The kid. I think one's his niece or something like her. His wife ring is like the reincarnation of his wife thing they do in the movie. I don't know. I don't know about that part.

01:36:33
Steven
I talk about, like, hawkman and Hawk girl.

01:36:35
Case
No, no, I know he's talking about the civilians. So let's start. Let's start from the beginning. How do you think they would open this movie?

01:36:43
Jmike
They didn't do, like, the 10,000 years ago in, like, the dusty parts of Egypt.

01:36:49
Case
That's exactly what happened.

01:36:53
Hans
He pretty much predicted it.

01:36:55
Case
Yes, that's exactly what happened. They're like, before Egypt, by the way, the year they give is actually after old kingdom was founded. And prior to that, Egypt was already a civilization. So do with that what you will. But they're like, before Egypt, there was conduct.

01:37:08
Hans
Conduct.

01:37:08
Case
Yes.

01:37:11
Jmike
They do the whole. So did they. Did they differentiate between, like, his nephew getting, or is his nephew or his son getting the powers first? Or, like, do they straight up, like, go, like, his son was killed and therefore he asked for the powers before.

01:37:26
Case
Anyone says anything, what do you think they would do? Like, this. This is where.

01:37:31
Jmike
Okay, they're not gonna go, like, straight comic book and, like, he kills his nephew to take the powers from himself type deal.

01:37:37
Case
That is true.

01:37:39
Jmike
He's not sapping a kid's neck on screen.

01:37:43
Case
That part is true. But how do you think they would.

01:37:44
Jmike
Present it as something bad happening to his family or something and him asking for the powers to, like, right the wrongs?

01:37:55
Case
Close.

01:37:56
Hans
Yeah.

01:37:57
Case
So. So they tease it at the beginning. Like, they. They actually try to keep it vague at the top of the movie, and then they move to modern day. So they do the. They do the back in the day of conduct, and then they, like, set up the. The myth of black Adam, and then they cut today.

01:38:13
Jmike
So they do the Steve Rogers getting zapped for it, like, 60 years to the future thing where he's like a fish out of water.

01:38:23
Case
Yes, actually.

01:38:25
Hans
Yeah, that's a good way to put it.

01:38:26
Case
That's a big part of this movie, actually. They also. Which I should have expected, but I didn't really think about it. They do the Steve Rogers effect on the rock where they make him look skinny. He's still big, but it's not as pronounced as the Steve Rogers effect. But they do make him smaller in his human form.

01:38:48
Jmike
In conduct.

01:38:49
Case
Yeah, in conduct, which. Which surprised me. I shouldn't have been surprised, but it still did.

01:38:54
Jmike
Oh, did they? So did they do the whole thing where he's black Adam the entire time, and then he can't go back to his original form anymore or else he dies?

01:39:06
Case
No, he chooses not to up until a point, but they do confirm that he can turn back.

01:39:13
Jmike
Okay, cool. Boo.

01:39:15
Case
Yeah.

01:39:16
Hans
All that do is just say the name, and that's it. Shazam. You know, but, yeah.

01:39:24
Case
So that's the prologue. That's like the. But then how do you think the first act goes?

01:39:30
Jmike
Oh, him going around causing all kinds of confusion because he doesn't know where he is. So from the trailers, he's, like, blowing up everybody. Like, he's freaking. Like he's the. The aliens from. From war of the worlds, where he's zapping people and they just explode and turn the ash.

01:39:51
Case
That's pretty apt. But it's the break into two where that all happens. I guess this is, like, an unfair part. There is a little bit of a civilian section before Black Adam is freed that occurs, and that sort of rounds out act one. And then act two is, like black Adam being, like, in the. In the world.

01:40:15
Hans
But I guess my question for jaybag is, what were they looking for? Were they looking for Black Adam or something else?

01:40:22
Jmike
There is always a part in act three where a villain comes out of nowhere that you had no idea was going to be there. And then that's the actual villain of the movie. Kind of like Wonder Woman, where what's his face came out of nowhere and he's a big, bad movie. Oh, is it. Was it Aries?

01:40:41
Hans
Yeah, it was Aries.

01:40:43
Jmike
Yeah.

01:40:44
Steven
I'd say it was more like one Roman 84, where it's like a civilian is revealed to be the actual villain, and he wants his greater power.

01:40:54
Jmike
I mean, well, to be fair, if they did that's kind of like the original comic book where they send his dad goes, his family goes, or what's his. Billy's family goes. And then the guy who sent them is the first big bad. Then. Then what's his dude's name? Case, what's the black Adam's name in that book?

01:41:20
Case
Test Adam.

01:41:21
Hans
Yeah.

01:41:22
Case
Or Theo Adam in the are we talking about power of shazam? Yeah. Talking about.

01:41:27
Jmike
Yeah.

01:41:28
Case
Where he's Theo Adam in his human form. Yes. A reincarnation.

01:41:32
Jmike
Mm.

01:41:33
Case
They don't go with the reincarnation story. I'll say that part.

01:41:37
Jmike
Well, that's not fun. Yeah. So I think they really go to civilian thing where the civilian wants to do it, because that's just kind of lame. I feel like if they're going to do that, like Subac or whatever name, it should have been like the kind.

01:41:53
Hans
Of went through with the Indiana Joe's approach. Right. Trying to find something, but two people are trying to find it. You know this.

01:41:59
Case
Yeah. Wait, you. You said the right word a second ago. J Mike. So build on that. Build on that.

01:42:05
Jmike
So is it sabacc?

01:42:07
Case
Really.

01:42:07
Jmike
Is it really sabacc the entire time?

01:42:08
Case
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. No, I mean, and we kind of. I mean, we guessed that on the men of Steel episode.

01:42:13
Jmike
Is it him, like, in human form, like manipulating stuff behind the scenes?

01:42:17
Case
Yes.

01:42:18
Jmike
Okay.

01:42:20
Hans
I would say more like terrorizing, but yeah.

01:42:23
Jmike
Well, I mean.

01:42:23
Case
Well, no, the human form of Sabak is. Is the big player because he's trying. So it. Let me throw the scenario out there. If you're going to use a character like that in a movie like this, when would you actually introduce the powered form of sabacc?

01:42:40
Jmike
Act three.

01:42:41
Case
Yes, exactly.

01:42:45
Hans
Pretty much.

01:42:46
Jmike
Well, because, like, you gotta. Well, from what I heard is that they. They heard that people were kind of tired of like the. The old, like, origin stories, so they went in, like, thinking that people already had a grasp of what was going on, so they didn't have to introduce Hawkman, Doctor Strange, or Doctor Fate. Haha. Doctor Fate and Adam the Smasher and everything. And what's the girl's name?

01:43:12
Case
Cyclone. Cyclone.

01:43:13
Jmike
I almost said Twister. It's Cyclone. They kind of went in kind of like, thinking that people had a gist of what was going on, but who sent them out? The JSA?

01:43:27
Hans
Nope.

01:43:28
Jmike
They sent the JSA out.

01:43:30
Case
Yeah, yeah. Why are they brought into this situation?

01:43:37
Jmike
I have no idea.

01:43:39
Steven
Should I give them a hint?

01:43:42
Case
No.

01:43:45
Jmike
How are we gonna go here, case?

01:43:48
Steven
Do you really wanna. Do you really wanna taste it?

01:43:51
Case
Yeah.

01:43:51
Hans
This.

01:43:52
Jmike
Oh, is it what's her face? Is it Amanda Waller?

01:43:55
Case
Yeah.

01:43:57
Steven
Did you get from the song?

01:43:59
Case
No.

01:43:59
Jmike
I was like. He's like, it's not. I'm like, Dceu. I'm like, okay. Only person who be capable of doing that is Amanda Waller. Yeah.

01:44:08
Case
Is there a cast? Well, so what do you think the JSA is being brought in to do.

01:44:14
Jmike
To contain him and bring him in.

01:44:16
Case
Who is him?

01:44:19
Jmike
Don't say to bock, because I'm gonna be able to be very upset. But the rock.

01:44:22
Case
Right?

01:44:23
Jmike
To bring the rock in, I'm like, if she knows about the Bakara, would be upset, but I wouldn't put it past Amanda Waller. Because it's Amanda Waller.

01:44:31
Hans
Exactly. But that sparks my issues with JSA. I thought they just formed. They just formed their team and it just went out. It not really developed. Like, what is the JSA all about? You know? Now, I know it's a black Adam movie, but if you're going to introduce a lot of these people, I feel like that was very underdeveloped, if you ask me.

01:44:50
Steven
I mean, what come they might have.

01:44:52
Case
I have some thoughts about how, like, I think there's. It hints at a cool thing, but I would agree that it doesn't quite get there in this movie, but, yeah, so, all right, so establishing that Sabacc is the act three thing, and act two is the JSA coming in to deal with Black Adam. How do you think act two goes?

01:45:15
Jmike
So shenanigans ensue. He starts causing havoc. Amanda Waller gets many phone calls, and she's like, don't worry, I know some guys. And then she makes phone calls to which I. It looked like Xavier school for gifted children from the. From the. From the trailers. And I was like, we're going straight X Men here. It's even got the plane coming out of the front yard. And I was like, what the heck is it? Anyway? But Doctor fate comes down from his tower. Do they show the tower?

01:45:50
Hans
They don't waste, but, he just shows up in a car.

01:45:57
Jmike
A car?

01:45:58
Hans
Yep.

01:45:59
Jmike
I take it back. This movie is not looking great so far. He's gotta have a symbol. He's gotta appear at the light and everything else like that. Come on, man.

01:46:09
Steven
About fate. And that's for Kski, the comic book guy. So in the movie, Ken Nelson could take off the helmet willingly. I thought, like, once you put the hammer. Helmet, fate. Fate decides when he's to take off the helmet. Is that, like, it depends on how.

01:46:23
Case
Much of a partnership you're in with the helmet. Normally you can take it off pretty freely because, so, like, young justice amplifies the whole, like, you're basically possessed kind of situation. And part of that is because it's not Kent Nelson that we're really seeing at any point in the movie, or rather in young justice, like. And he seemed to have more of an ability to take it on and off than any of the other hosts. That happened later. That was created for drama. For that, more in the comics, here's the avatar of fate wielding it, and it's more of a partnership, so they can kind of freely do it. Not to say that there isn't friction, but it's a little bit more give and take.

01:47:02
Jmike
Yeah.

01:47:03
Case
Gotcha. Gotcha.

01:47:05
Jmike
It's really cool. Got you covered. Those.

01:47:10
Case
So, yeah. So the JSA is brought in to deal with black Adam. Shenanigans ensue. What would you guess is the end of act two?

01:47:21
Jmike
A standoff or a big brawl? And then explosions happen, and, like, somewhere else in the city, and you're like, wait, but we thought you were the bad guy. And then wonder twins unite. We have to team up to fight the big bad guy.

01:47:36
Case
Wait, what? That's pretty close to the break into three. But there is a detail that there's a twist or a story beat, I should say, not really a twist per se, that shifts things.

01:47:49
Jmike
But wait, so in this iteration, Hawkman isn't like the reincarnation of the, like, the ancient pharaoh guy. He's just.

01:47:59
Case
Although he's the archaeologist. Well, I don't know if they say what his, like, current career is besides just being rich. Cause, like, the Xavier mansion that you see is Hawkman's estate.

01:48:11
Jmike
Oh, it is. So he's just boo. Cause, like, they usually, he's either, like, the archaeologist who finds this stuff and he puts it on, or he's, like, the pharaoh from, like, way back in the day.

01:48:22
Case
No, it's the pharaoh approach, but they don't go too hard on any of it.

01:48:25
Hans
Yeah, they really don't. If it did, it completely missed me. So.

01:48:29
Case
No, that's actually a wasted opportunity because they had both fate and Hawkman. They could have easily been like, oh, yeah, we knew you back in the day, dude. Yeah.

01:48:35
Jmike
Like, he could have been like, hey, it's you guys. They're like, sup? But, like, they didn't do that. Apparently, they did not do that. Or they could have done it. Or, like, fate. Doctor fate and Hawkman were the ones who, like, imprisoned him in the first place. They could have done that.

01:48:54
Case
Well, right? They could have done that. But, yeah. So act two, like, yeah. So the JSA shows up, the shenanigans ensue, and the one big thing is that at the end of act two, black Adam actually surrenders and transforms back into his teth Adam form, really, and is imprisoned by Task Force X. And so he is put into, wait.

01:49:17
Jmike
Wait, wait, wait, wait. Suicide squads in this, too?

01:49:24
Case
No. Well, no, but rather, like, by whatever the agency that Waller's people serve. I forget her name. But the woman who is now married to James Gunn, who was.

01:49:36
Steven
Harcourt.

01:49:37
Case
Harcourt. Yeah. She gets a cameo there as the person who, like, checks in. Adam.

01:49:42
Jmike
Huh?

01:49:43
Hans
Yeah.

01:49:45
Jmike
Interesting.

01:49:46
Case
Yeah. But then you're right. Act three, like, Sabak rears his head, and they have to release Adam and then team up. And that's act three right there, which.

01:49:56
Jmike
Is lots of punchy action.

01:50:01
Hans
Well.

01:50:05
Case
And then if you had to guess, with a character like Sabak, who is a demonically powered villain character, how would he up the stakes for action sequences for the less powered characters?

01:50:20
Jmike
He split himself up.

01:50:25
Case
No, he doesn't do the seven deadly sins approach from shazam, which, now that I'm saying that out loud, I'm like, man, he is actually very close to what Savannah is in that movie.

01:50:38
Jmike
Yeah.

01:50:43
Case
No, so he, like, starts raising the dead, like. And, like, the damned, and, like, there's, like, a zombie fight.

01:50:47
Jmike
Are you telling me, case, are you telling me were that close to having a blackest night thing in this movie and I didn't do that? How dare they tease me like that?

01:51:00
Case
I mean, they're more like demons than, like. Like, they have, like, skeletal looks, but there's also, like, a lot of, like, fire and, like, brimstone effects going on for them.

01:51:07
Jmike
You're saying it could happen?

01:51:09
Hans
I mean, but they got beat up pretty well just by civilians alone, so I don't know. How powerful were they? Like, people were literally beating them up with sticks and bars.

01:51:21
Jmike
Oh, so they did, like, the whole, like, the folk. They helped the whole. Was it Spider man from, like, 2001? We're like, we're in New York. You take one of us, you take on all of us. And they, like, trying to jump.

01:51:31
Case
Pretty much.

01:51:31
Hans
Pretty much.

01:51:33
Case
Pretty much.

01:51:34
Hans
Yeah. I think that's a good way to put it.

01:51:35
Case
Yeah, yeah. Where it's like, condoc won't fall, and, like, they, like, all the people of conduct rise against them.

01:51:43
Hans
Yes. They beat him up with sticks and stones. Literally.

01:51:46
Steven
Yeah, yeah. It's basically the big battle scene in irobot.

01:51:51
Jmike
Ooh.

01:51:52
Case
Yes. Yeah. So that's a pretty succinct explanation. And then you've been spoiled on the postgres.

01:51:59
Jmike
Oh, yeah. You think? The one time I was like, I really want to go see this, and then, like, hey, Jay, Mike, have you heard what happens at the end? You jerks. You jerks.

01:52:11
Hans
Yeah, you need some new friends.

01:52:12
Case
J Mike, was that Ben? That feels like a Ben movie.

01:52:15
Jmike
No, that wasn't Ben. I don't think he went to go see this, but, like, my other friends. Oh, we thought you saw it already. I'm like, I would have told you if I saw it already, you jerks.

01:52:23
Hans
You need some new friends. Yeah, you need.

01:52:25
Jmike
Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Superman's in this movie. In case, in case you guys are wondering at the end.

01:52:33
Case
Yep.

01:52:34
Steven
Bringing back Henry Cavill. And he made the announcement. He's officially back Superman on Twitter this morning.

01:52:40
Jmike
They already started, like, putting together, like, the next three Superman movies.

01:52:44
Case
A lot of people were like, I'm so excited he's back as Superman this morning. And I'm like, he. He was in the movie.

01:52:50
Hans
I know it's really no secret if you watch the movie, but. Yeah, right.

01:52:55
Case
Like, they're saying they're developing these movies now, which is cool, but they're, it, you know, it's. They haven't shot it yet, so, I.

01:53:01
Jmike
Mean, I feel like we would have known that if you've been paying attention of the rock over and over, saying, I can't wait to finally get to fight Superman later.

01:53:09
Case
Right?

01:53:11
Jmike
Oh, man. You know, it's great to see, like, the balance of power shifting to black Adams here. Superman is going to have a run for his money. And, like, all right, we get it.

01:53:21
Case
And honestly, that was really poorly, like, kept as a secret even beyond the rock stuff. Like, who, like, overtly hinting at it all. But, like, I was seeing screenshots, like, weeks before the movie came out with, like, Henry Cavill, and I was like, all right, I know that he's going to be the teaser in this movie. Like, all right. It's still exciting to see him. Like, he looks great. He's got a little bit of the s curl, and he's got, like, a much brighter blue and red costume.

01:53:45
Jmike
It looked really solid.

01:53:47
Hans
It looked cool. That scene was cool, you know, the way. And he just comes in and goes, we have to talk, you know, to black Adam. And so I'm kind of looking forward to that battle between Superman and black Adam, if that ever happens.

01:54:01
Jmike
Never really a battle. It's always like, shazam and Superman teaming up to fight black Adam.

01:54:07
Hans
I mean, yeah, whatever, you know, it's, it should be a lot of fun, and to me, that should, like, a, be a lot of fun if that ever happens. So. That's for sure.

01:54:16
Case
Yeah.

01:54:18
Hans
I mean, but before that Superman revealed, black Adam was talking to Amanda Waller saying, well, you broke out of prison, but you're in your own prison, in your own city. Just don't step out of your boundaries. And of course, Black Adam is very defined as, I guess, you're whatever, and.

01:54:34
Case
Nothing on this planet can stop me. And she's like, strings. And then get. You get something that's not from this planet. Yeah, that's when Superman, like, descends down.

01:54:43
Hans
And that's what Superman comes in. So I thought that was kind of cool. Kind of.

01:54:47
Case
So, yeah, it's a good line.

01:54:50
Hans
Yeah.

01:54:51
Case
Yeah. That post credits I thought was. Was perfectly fine.

01:54:55
Hans
Yeah, no, I agree. I think that was my most fun moment. Of course, the whole theater was cheering when that happened.

01:55:03
Jmike
Yeah. Because people, granted, he's a great Superman character. He just had some very sorry, Steven, terrible movies to be in for his Superman character.

01:55:17
Case
Yeah.

01:55:18
Hans
I may have to agree. He just needs a better direction.

01:55:21
Jmike
Needs a better direction and better writing for actual Superman movies more than anything.

01:55:26
Hans
Yeah.

01:55:27
Case
The writers.

01:55:27
Hans
Yeah. That's for sure not David esque.

01:55:30
Case
I don't think we need to rehash, like, the previous movies. Like, I think that's there. There are pros and cons and that there are. There was a certain lack of oversight in terms of how the Snyder project went along from the start to the finish.

01:55:44
Jmike
Yes.

01:55:45
Case
But, you know, we're in a new era. It doesn't really matter. Like, even people who are like, oh, is this gonna canonize? The Snyder cut? Doesn't matter. Like, the broad strokes of theatrical versus the, like, the Snyder cut versions are close enough that, like, they, any movie they make forward, they don't need to reference specifically, like, Darkseid shows up. Doesn't really matter. Like, they hinted at Darkseid in theatrical cut. They. The Snyder cut, like, showed him it, you know, doesn't change anything there. Like, there's only a couple areas that are different. And honestly, I don't think we're gonna be dealing with Cyborg's father, like, at any point near future God, just because.

01:56:19
Jmike
I know it's probably cool if. If the reveal is that was earth, earth two.

01:56:28
Case
Oh, if they went hard on, like, a infinite universe scenario, that'd be cool.

01:56:33
Jmike
But they're still there in Flashpoint, so.

01:56:37
Hans
As of right now.

01:56:38
Case
Yeah, look, none of that matters. None of that matters. We're talking about this one. And, like, implications for beyond. But, like, the Ezra Miller stuff makes it all weird. The discovery stuff makes it all weird. It's hard to really predict what's going to actually happen going forward. But in this movie, as evidenced by the fact that J Mike just, like, pretty much got all the major story points. The thing about this movie is that it was fairly predictable. But then you have the rock, who is charming, and you have cool stuff being introduced here, which all was fine, even if the cg could have been better. And then some good moments in there. And then let's have zombies for everyone to fight, which is, I think, an area where a lot of people were like, well, what's going on here? Why are we.

01:57:19
Case
Why are we doing that?

01:57:20
Jmike
He's literally the devil. So, like, that point is kind of like, oh, it's gonna happen. Just let it know. Let me know when it happens.

01:57:29
Hans
This dude got a pentagram right in his chest. Yeah, that's.

01:57:32
Case
Yep.

01:57:33
Hans
Nothing says evil than that.

01:57:34
Steven
He's a DC Mephisto. I get it.

01:57:36
Jmike
Okay.

01:57:37
Hans
Shut up, Steve. All right.

01:57:40
Jmike
Let'S not go too far.

01:57:44
Hans
Yeah.

01:57:45
Case
So they set up that inter gang has taken over Condoc at the start.

01:57:48
Jmike
Really?

01:57:49
Case
They brought an nice. Yeah, they do endurgang. And they have. They go hard on them having, like, super tech for why they're able to, like, control everything. And it was interesting from the standpoint of condoc is presented as a modern day world, but by virtue of super science existing, it felt like a totalitarian, post apocalyptic, or, like, dystopian, kind of like blade runner future. Like, it felt very 1984. And what was, I think, cool is that. Oh, that does make sense that, like, people living in other parts of the world where the US has been, like, a colonial power might feel that way about us. And that's kind of what's going on here. The problem is, just like with the issue of Black Adam, is he a villain? Is he a hero? They try to not have too hard of a line there.

01:58:36
Case
They try not to cross any parts that are too anti us or too black Adam's the bad guy. Like we said, black Adam doesn't kill his nephew or his son for it all. Like, he. Black Adam is pretty firmly, like, no, he was fine. Like, he's a douchebag, but he's fine.

01:58:54
Hans
Pretty much. He changes his mind a lot, too.

01:58:59
Jmike
Well, I mean, that's kind of part of his character, too, though. It's all for, like, oh, if it benefits me in conduct, I'll do it.

01:59:06
Hans
Yeah. It's just amazing how quickly he changes his mind to me, but. Right.

01:59:11
Case
Yeah. Yeah. So, like we said, black Adam has this whole element of being a man out of time. Like, he's imprisoned and, like, is released to save this woman while they're trying to find the crown of sabacc, which is, like, how you have to use the crown as part of the ritual and saying sabacc and turning into a champion. So when he is released, first he just wipes the floor with these inner gang people and then gets into a fight with their military. They just, like, show up pretty quick with, like, helicopters and stuff, and he doesn't have a problem, and it's cool. That's where, like, I think the cg is really good at him. Very casually flying at super speed. So, like, he's just kind of chilling in midair.

01:59:52
Case
And then we'll just, like, move over to a thing, but it won't be, like, big bursts of energy. It's, like, all just, like, very kind of comfortably moving. Oh, I'm gonna go destroy this thing. Oh, I'm gonna go destroy this thing. Oh, I'm gonna go do this thing. And I thought that was really cool. Like, I think that sells the. The raw terror of fighting someone who is super fast and vulnerable and can fly.

02:00:11
Hans
And he becomes a hero to those people too. Like, people.

02:00:14
Case
That's the start of him having this kind of, like, heroic arc for the people of Condoc. Yeah, but they do this whole thing where he's a man out of time, and those moments where he's with the kid feel just like Arnold Schwarzenegger and t two.

02:00:28
Hans
Yeah.

02:00:34
Case
Where they're so. So one thing, when he, like, wakes up after getting knocked out, because they establish he has a weakness to the substance called eternium, which is. Which is just his kryptonite, really.

02:00:45
Jmike
They.

02:00:48
Case
It is the metal that they use to make the crown of sabacc. It is the metal that powers, like, all these, like, things. It's the MacGuffin metal. Like, and it's not the only MacGuffin metal because also inth. Metal is in this movie because Hawkman straddles the line on, like, all of the versions of Hawkman. And it doesn't really matter because they don't go deep, but, like, his ship is made of inth. Metal. So, like, it's. It's. There's special stuff all over. But so they established that if they fire a rocket that has, like, aeternium in it can hurt black Adam. So, like, he's pretty tough, but, like, you could take him down if you had the right materials at the right time. So he gets knocked out at the end of this, like, first fight, which is really the.

02:01:28
Case
That's really the break into two of. He fights inner gang, and then gets knocked out. And when he wakes up having been taken in by the family or, like, by this woman and her son and her brother, who were, like, trying to find the crown of Sabacc and move it so no one could find it, which I don't know why they did that since, like, the whole, like, all they did was make it easier to find by way of, like, taking it up. I would be like, no, don't steal it. Put more rocks in front of the door. It was such a, like, this has to happen because it's a movie kind of moment, but when he wakes up, he can talk to them instantly. And while, yes, it's always been a thing where it's like, oh, yeah.

02:02:06
Case
Like, Captain Marvel, by way of, like, the wisdom of x, is able to translate any language. I would have liked a few minutes of him, like, listening before he started speaking in, like, a little bit because, like, he's supposed to have been just woken up after 2600 years of being in some kind of tomb. And I would have liked to feel like, oh, yeah, his wisdom catches up. Like, this is a superpower thing. And not just like, oh, yeah, he woke up and he speaks English already. Cool.

02:02:33
Jmike
Maybe English was the common tongue back.

02:02:35
Case
Then, or it's Kandaki because it's a Kandaki kid. But, like, even then, like, language. Language changes. Like, it's not even 2600 years ago. Pardon me. It's 4600 years ago because it's BC. So it's been a real long time. Like, modern Egyptians don't speak ancient Egyptian. Modern Greeks don't speak ancient Greek. And the, like, in the greek scenario, it's even closer. Like, do you want to talk about, like, what English sounded like a thousand years ago? Yeah, exactly.

02:03:06
Jmike
Good.

02:03:08
Hans
Well, he didn't know what sarcasm was at least.

02:03:11
Case
Right? Yeah. And they try to explain, like, how he compares to other superheroes, and he doesn't. Like, there are moments where he kind of is like, I don't know what that is. And there are moments where it's where he's honestly trying to process things and spots where he doesn't care, but they try to explain to him, like, oh, you should have catchphrases. And at first he's, like, resistant. And then he starts being like, all right, so I say catchphrase and then I kill them. And, like, trying to clarify with the kid. And that's where it really feels. Arnie versus, like, Arnie and t two.

02:03:43
Hans
Kind of thing, which, like, the little kid was inspiring him, teaching him all these things about what's happening?

02:03:49
Jmike
No, don't kill him.

02:03:51
Hans
Of course, the kid had all these Batman, Superman, flash stuff in his room and all that, so. Indeed, yeah.

02:03:59
Steven
Also, that was Osiris, right? The superhero.

02:04:03
Case
Yeah. Yeah. That's. It's pretty clear that if they do a sequel, that's where they're going with it.

02:04:07
Hans
Yeah.

02:04:08
Jmike
The kid.

02:04:09
Case
Yeah, yeah.

02:04:10
Hans
The mom isis. I know that. Okay.

02:04:12
Jmike
That's where I was, like. Because I knew I heard reference to that somewhere, and I was like,

02:04:18
Case
Yeah, don't do it in the movie. They just. But it's very obvious that if you know where those go, that they can do it for the sequel.

02:04:25
Hans
Yeah.

02:04:28
Case
Also, thank God they didn't, because can you imagine if they did? And also, Sabac is so similar to Sivana in the. In Shazam. Like, it would just be Shazam part two. Like, it's already a Shazam sequel spin off movie. It would be even more hardcore that. And I'm. I'm glad that they didn't quite do that.

02:04:44
Hans
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So can we talk about the JSA?

02:04:49
Case
Yeah, yeah.

02:04:50
Hans
You know, as I said before, I felt like, you know, the JSA alone was very underdeveloped. We don't know what's their main thing is, are they superheroes or what? What are they? I kind of thought they were superheroes.

02:05:04
Steven
You know, I think they mentioned that they work more internationally. That's what they mentioned.

02:05:09
Hans
Is that in the movie? Is that what it is?

02:05:10
Steven
But I think that's what Hawkman said.

02:05:12
Case
I don't know.

02:05:12
Hans
I think that was underdeveloped.

02:05:14
Case
It might because they're coming in with Doctor fate as one of the, like, old guards of it. And also Hawkman has this, like, Xavier style mansion and, like, a jet that's underneath his that comes out of, like, the big lawn and everything. Like, it felt like it had this sort of, like, old vibe of, like, here's a club of, like, pip. We're a society for justice, and we'll bring in the people we need. And there's members of ours all over, and we all have our mansions, respectively. And if we'll come and gather, like, kind of vibe.

02:05:47
Case
And I thought that was actually a really cool way to reinterpret the JSA as a different thing than the Justice League because, like, the thought that, oh, yeah, there are a lot of, like, really weirdly rich people or at least people who have resources and that they could have, like, you know, you could have all these members who have their awesome bases they don't need to have, like, a base together because they all individually do. Like, could be a cool vibe. It's. It's a vibe. It is not like text of this movie, though.

02:06:15
Hans
And. Yeah, and they get recruited by Amanda Waller for that. The only thing is if they were like a group from before, you know, why did they needed new recruits like Adam Smasher and Cyclone, you know, don't they have, like, older beings other than Doctor fate? You know, I don't know. I got a little confused.

02:06:31
Steven
They do have Jay Garrick, the Og, flash.

02:06:34
Case
Yeah. Or Alan Scott have Green lantern there, like, in terms of going into the scenario because they go and actually very aware of who Black Adam is. It's revealed that they have access to old text that the public do not have access to. So they are more familiar with the actual events that occurred back in the day than what, like, the legend of Black Adam is or Legend of Teth Adam is. Pardon me, to the Kondaki people, which is, like, kind of also appropriative where it's like this old english man walks in and being like, I know what really happened. Not you savages, which is there as a text. Like, I think Pierce Broston's great, but there is this whole colonialist vibe. And they keep on, like, butting up against it.

02:07:16
Case
But there's still moments where it's like, yep, let's have all these, like, white people show up to tell the brown people what to do. And that's like a bothersome element of the movie, even if the movie is fighting back against it at times.

02:07:26
Hans
Yeah. But with that being said, I thought Doctor fate and showing his power, I thought that was one of the best parts in the movie, you know, is seeing. Seeing, yeah, work.

02:07:39
Case
He's so powerful in this movie, and it works so well.

02:07:42
Hans
It did.

02:07:44
Jmike
He's the OG.

02:07:45
Hans
And it was so cool. And with Piers Bros's voice, everything just. It was cool. You know, everything just worked out very well and really got it really made. Black Adam, you know, I can't talk today.

02:08:00
Jmike
Wow.

02:08:01
Hans
Really gave some difficulty for Black Adam with his power, you know, and things, with his illusions and all that.

02:08:08
Case
Yeah, I mean, fate basically was giving 95% of the response that GSA was bringing in this scenario.

02:08:14
Hans
Yeah, pretty much. But, yeah, he's explaining it.

02:08:17
Case
Talk about a D and D party, by the way, in terms of who you've got statted there. Like, you've got your wizard, and then you've got, like, kind of, I guess, your fighter, your barbarian, and, like, maybe your bard between those three, like. Like, some scenario of that. But, like, hawkman is, like, clearly, like, a fighter type. And, like, Atom smasher growing big is kind of like your barbarian. And as with all d and d stuff, when we're talking about 20th level play, the wizard's the only one that matters, pretty much.

02:08:48
Hans
And only that cyclone was, like, the healer, too. You know, she was that kind of like the doctor thing.

02:08:52
Case
Yeah, that's why I kind of feel like she's the bard. She was throwing down traps using her wind, and, yeah, she had, like, some cool stuff that she could do with her. She had, like, nanobots as the explanation for how her powers work, which could do a lot of other stuff besides just wind stuff. So, you know, she was an effective contributor. Adam Smasher did nothing. Like almost every single. He had one time where he hit black Adam pretty hard. But aside from that, like, he's.

02:09:18
Hans
And also Hawkman, too, by accident, he gave a little backhand. By accident.

02:09:24
Case
Yeah. Adam Smasher is, like, you mentioned, is the comic relief. He very much plays, like, a Spider man or a flash in this movie where he's been like, oh, no, did I do that wrong? Kind of stuff. Like, and it's exacerbated because his mask looks like Deadpool with. With the white eyes and everything.

02:09:39
Hans
Really? Or like that Baron Zemo mask. That's what it looks.

02:09:44
Case
Yeah, I just mean, like, with the white eyes, it was like the Deadpool movie mask, but, yeah, another kind of.

02:09:50
Hans
Like, how is it? Easter egg of sorts. You know, his dad made a little show. Yes.

02:09:56
Case
Yeah.

02:09:57
Hans
Which was Henry Whitler uncle. Yes.

02:09:59
Case
Yeah, his uncle.

02:10:00
Hans
Oh, that was his uncle. Yes, his uncle.

02:10:03
Case
I was so happy at that cameo, and I did not see it coming.

02:10:07
Hans
No, nobody saw that coming yet. I was like, oh, hey, that's heavy wrinkler. Oh, look at that. So that was kind of cool, you know?

02:10:15
Case
Yeah, it was weird because they called him the original atom smasher when it was like, no, just call him the atom. Like, you're fine. I probably. They want to leave it open so that you could have, like, the Adam, you know, the Ray Troy. Well, no, no. Like, the atom. Like the. The one that's hinted at it.

02:10:30
Steven
The shrinking guy.

02:10:32
Case
Yeah.

02:10:33
Hans
But every time he uses his powers, he always has to fall down or get knocked out. It's like, yeah, he's kind of useless.

02:10:39
Case
He causes more collateral damage than he does any sort of effectiveness.

02:10:43
Hans
Exactly.

02:10:43
Jmike
It's a true Justice League movie. Gotcha.

02:10:48
Hans
The funniest part is when he was in human form, he always has to eat something. And then he came in with, like, a bucket of chicken out of nowhere.

02:10:54
Case
And I love that moment, though, when he, like, just shows up.

02:11:01
Hans
It was like, what a. Yeah, it was just comic relief. And it was.

02:11:05
Case
He, like, walks into a serious meeting with Black Adam and he's, like, eating chicken just in the background.

02:11:11
Hans
It's like, okay, well, yeah, I want to say this.

02:11:14
Case
Black or Adam Smasher was not effective as a superhero, but I think he was effective as a character in this movie.

02:11:22
Hans
Yeah, I guess that's fair to say. Yeah.

02:11:24
Case
But it is weird that they bring in two rookies and then it's like, all right, we got Hawkman leading this team. He brings in Doctor fate, who is very old and, you know, is seeing the future, and the future is not going to go well for several of them. Is like, this whole vibe throughout the thing, or not vibe. Like this whole story arc for them. Hawkman should be dead, like 30 times, by the way. Like, I get that he's wearing inth. Metal armor, but for one thing, he's able to hit black Adam in a meaningful way, which is wild. And they never try to be like, oh, well, it's like the gauntlet that he uses against Superman and public enemies or something. Like, it's just.

02:12:01
Case
No, no, his punch matters, and I get that his, like, mace and stuff have, like, energy effects and those probably would do something. But also he keeps getting hit in ways that should have taken his head off.

02:12:10
Hans
Yeah, I agree. Like getting backhanded by Adam Smasher. Yes, at days. But even then, Hockman really showed his true grit and power when he went up against it. And when he realized that he's outmatched, then he started using diplomacy against black Adam, which worked. Yeah, it worked.

02:12:33
Case
It worked. But that's the bummer that they didn't go into the idea of Hawkman and fate having ties to the ancient world as well. Yeah, like, that would have been a really good spot to, like, deal with some of that. And I realize you'd have to explain way more about both of them. At least you'd have to explain way more about Hawkman. Yeah, like, fate. They actually explain enough that you could be like, oh, yeah, a previous avatar of this helmet. You don't need to say anything else. Like, you don't even need to be like, this is the original naboo. You can just be like, yep. No. Like, there have been many doctor fates.

02:12:58
Case
Remember the Doctor fate back in the day, but they want to keep this, like, veneer of mystery for how things go, because at the beginning, you're presented as, like, oh, the champion of the wizards was black Adam, and he's the one who, like, they. They summoned to protect Kondok. And then you find out that is just the story that's been passed down and that the champion was actually his son and that his son gave up his powers to save his father. Like, transferred his powers to his father when he was dying, and then while he was in his human form, was killed.

02:13:30
Hans
Yeah.

02:13:31
Case
By, like, their enemies. And, like, that's. That's the twist right there. Yeah. Which bothers me because black Adam, like, this is the thing. I was like, I can't believe they didn't. That this happened. This is that moment of, like, wanting to have your cake and eat it, too, where it's like he's a, you know, like, he's a badass. And he's also has done no wrong. Like, while he kills bad guys, like, he, at no point is, like, he never does anything truly despicable. And, like, they keep on being like, oh, but he's, like, really more of a villain. It's not really the case. Like, he never did anything really that bad. The worst thing that occurs is collateral damage.

02:14:08
Hans
Yeah, pretty much, yeah. They don't really show him as a true villain, really.

02:14:12
Case
Right. And so he doesn't have an arc of, like, becoming really that much better. He just becomes, like, more invested in everything.

02:14:20
Hans
Yeah.

02:14:21
Case
And that's where it's like, those are the spots where I'm like, man, they could have just a little bit more.

02:14:25
Jmike
Maybe they're saving that for later when Sinestro shows up.

02:14:30
Case
Well, but, like, again, the time to set him up as being. He was a villain, and that's why he was imprisoned. Because he's imprisoned, he's explicitly, like, so he confronts Sabacc, or the first avatar of Sabacc, who actually is prevented from even putting the crown on by Black Adam, destroying the capital that they're in, like, the castle, and causes this devastation, and it's terrible, and a lot of people die, but it's not really. It's black Adam's fault, but it's not his intent. You know, it's just he explodes with power, and a lot of things get destroyed. And later, there's a point. And the reason why he gives up when the justice society is confronting him is that he gives up because he accidentally hurt someone when trying to save them. And then that he's like, oh, my powers.

02:15:18
Case
It doesn't like, it doesn't make sense. He doesn't have enough of a real arc of, like, villain to hero in this movie. And I love villain to hero stories. Like, piccolo is my favorite character in.

02:15:31
Jmike
Dragon Ball z. Gohan's true dad.

02:15:35
Case
Like, Anubis is my favorite character in Ronin Warriors. Dinobot is my favorite character in Beast Wars. I like heel face turns. I really do. They're some of my favorite stories. And Black Adam had the opportunity to do that here, but they don't go hard enough on it. And as a result, fine, but I wish the arc was more, and it feels like the arc is less because they wanted to. They wanted the character to be accessible to everyone and not have crossed a line too hard for anyone. And that feels like the kind of thing that the rock would have pushed for.

02:16:11
Hans
Yeah. Yeah. Well, what we do know is, too, is that they really had to do a lot of cuts and a lot of his kill scenes to make it pg 13 instead of an r rating. And I'm like, I'd rather see the r rating on this, which I hope they do, like a director's cut or something about that.

02:16:32
Case
But, yeah, I mean, this is a movie that should have had an r rating.

02:16:34
Hans
Yeah. And I think that would have made his character a little more effective if you see how brutal he really is. To be quite honest, I think that.

02:16:42
Case
Was like, there's cartoonish violence in this. It catches a grenade and puts it in someone's mouth and then, like, you know, cut to him, like, flying off in the distance and there's an explosion. Little ways in the background.

02:16:52
Hans
Exactly.

02:16:53
Case
Like, it's goofy violence. And I would have liked a little bit more because this is a character where it would have been appropriate.

02:17:00
Hans
Yeah, I agree. I agree. And I think that. That it kind of lost his essence a little bit because of that. I think. I think it would have been better if they kept those scenes, but. All right, should we go to the third act and how. How much I didn't like it?

02:17:18
Case
Well, I do want to comment a little bit more about CG before we move on from the JSA stuff, because the GSA, this is why I compare it with strange new worlds. I love the design of a lot of stuff going on in this movie. I love Adam smashers look. I love Hawkman's plane. Like, I like, it has this very cool black, like, black glass look to it all with, like, orange highlight, neat, like, lights. And I think the aesthetic is really good. And it reminds me of strange new worlds where they're doing a lot of those effects to sort of, like, take the sixties Star Trek and make it look modern and sleek without being, like, all, like, lens flares. Yeah. And I, they do those here, but the CGI budget is not up to snuff.

02:17:58
Case
And, like, just every time where there isn't a set, and there are a lot of spots where I'm very happy with the practical sets that they're using, but every time there isn't, it just doesn't look that good.

02:18:10
Hans
Yeah, I agree. I agree. It's, I mean, it's hard. It's tough to say. It's for me to really enjoy it when you see these type of things. It's, it really was an eyesore for me, to be quite honest, with a lot of this, a lot of these things.

02:18:28
Case
I mean, I wouldn't go that far. Like I said, it is better than, like, CW. But you do have to, like, just accept, like, yep, this is a movie.

02:18:35
Hans
This, none of this looks exactly, it's a movie. Not a basic, pretty much basic channel, you know, tv series. So. Yeah, but, yes, the third scene, which I think, yeah, we're really gonna, I want to hear what Jay Mike thinks is, like, how do you think they defeat. Is it Shabbat?

02:18:56
Case
Right.

02:18:56
Jmike
By the power of friendship?

02:19:00
Case
Pretty much.

02:19:01
Hans
More. Diplomacy.

02:19:02
Jmike
Yeah, diplomacy. They got really high diplomacy roles, and, they all hugged it out at the end. How do they defeat him? So they got him to say his name.

02:19:19
Hans
No, no, I wish it was that way.

02:19:24
Jmike
Spear through the chest.

02:19:31
Hans
Okay, let me ask. Did somebody sacrifice themselves to defeat them?

02:19:38
Jmike
Who?

02:19:40
Hans
Well, you tell me.

02:19:45
Jmike
One of the heroes sacrificed themselves.

02:19:47
Hans
Who and how?

02:19:49
Jmike
Oh, man, if it's a hawk man, I just laugh. It was Hawkman.

02:19:54
Case
Well, that's who they hint it's gonna be. For a good chunk of the movie.

02:19:56
Jmike
It better not be doctor fate. Artist is over now. It is over now.

02:20:03
Case
Yeah. So, so fate does. Yeah. So fate sacrifices himself, and then Hawkman, briefly, is actually using the helmet of Doctor fate. And then the helmet, like, disappears at the end, clearly, to go find a new host. So fate will be back. But Kent Nelson, this was his one and done.

02:20:23
Jmike
How dare they?

02:20:29
Case
Honestly, that's not a bad spot for fate as a character to be in. Like to have Pierce Brosnan as Kent Nelson, who can show up inside the helmet of fate for whoever the new actor is. If they reuse the character, I think that works fine.

02:20:42
Jmike
Yeah, because there's, how many it's been like, because there's been a bunch of Doctor fates, and it's been a couple of girls, too.

02:20:53
Case
Yeah.

02:20:54
Jmike
There's been quite a few actors, but I think I forget who is the most powerful one. It's like you said, it's a whole duality of it, where it's. It's a give and take thing. Huh?

02:21:07
Hans
I said, you guessed as good as mine on that one.

02:21:09
Jmike
No, like, it's the whole. It's the whole thing of Naboo and the whole Doctor fate thing, where I forget that at one point, like, the guy had worn a doctor fate helmet or the helmet for so long, he had basically, like, learned most of the powers and stuff. So he was pretty much a heavy hitter by himself without the helmet at one point, but. Oh, I guess they. I guess they set it up for the next Doctor fate.

02:21:34
Case
Yeah. I mean, that's, like, future speculation anyway. But Pierce Brosnan is great, but he does sacrifice himself because he keeps seeing flashes of the future. He's like, I keep seeing everyone's fate is the line they keep on talking about. And what he sees is Hawkman dying, and he sees that there is another path, and he does. So it's. It is very doctor strange. Like, the way all of that very.

02:21:56
Hans
If you ask me.

02:21:56
Jmike
Oh, I mean, whole thing is bad.

02:21:58
Case
Well, yeah. Again, this entire movie. This entire movie we predicted on men of steel. And then also here, like, all of the beats we get, black Adam is imprisoned. And this is that, like, compressed timeline that is just wild. So black Adam surrenders, is imprisoned by Waller's team in a prison where he is, like, submerged but with, like, a breather. So he can't use the. Like, he can't say his magic word ever, which is like, wow, that's pretty intense right there. Weird choices. So he's in prison. Doctor fate frees him remotely by way of magic when Sabak shows up. And then the rock, when he gets himself freed, is then attacked by guards while still wearing the breather mask.

02:22:42
Case
But he's now outside of the water chamber and fights his way to the water, to the edge of, it's a submerged base on top of everything, rather than taking it off and saying Shazam. Because I think they just didn't want to deal with where's the lightning coming from? So they have a fight, and this is the requisite. He's lost his powers fight that you have to do with a character like this where. Okay, he's got no powers. He's fighting guards. He's got a thing on his face, so he can't say his word. He fights his way to escape. Into the water, and then, like, swim up and, like, there's a. You know, there's a scene where his, like, dead wife and son are like, we love you, dad. Like, you're actually a hero. It's so. It's so cliche.

02:23:20
Case
And that's, like, when he rises up into the water, like, just like superman in men of steel, where he's, like, floating on the water. Like, he's, like, floating there, and, like, he says, shazam. And, like, that's a cool moment right there. And he flies and engages with Sabak. And it's exactly what I said of two equally powerful characters, one with fire, one with lightning. And they're. They're fighting with each other. And ultimately, because Hawkman's able to distract Sabacc with the helmet of fate, black is able to get the kill shot.

02:23:44
Hans
In and the way he killed them. Oh, my gosh. That was brutal.

02:23:48
Case
Yeah, it's a pretty brutal shot. Again, this movie could have been an r rated movie, and it would have.

02:23:52
Hans
Worked better, but, yeah, he pretty much ripped them apart.

02:23:55
Case
Like, it was like, you know, I.

02:23:57
Jmike
Don'T really want to see this movie anymore now because, you know.

02:24:03
Case
I mean, again, like, the doctor. Like, the doctor fate stuff in here is great. Like, it's. It is a. And Doctor fate is arguably the second most important character in this.

02:24:11
Hans
Yeah, I could agree with that. Yeah. To be Doctor fate really had me from the beginning of everything.

02:24:18
Jmike
He.

02:24:18
Hans
He was definitely an interesting character that I was definitely engaged in, that's for sure. More than anybody else other than Black Adam, you know, it's. Yeah, I agree with that.

02:24:27
Jmike
Great to hear. Indeed.

02:24:32
Case
Yeah. So then everything's good. Black Adam's like, I'm going to predict conduct now, which he always was saying beforehand, so I don't know why he was okay with it. Again, he didn't actually kill anyone by accident. He just, like, hurt someone kind of by accident, possibly. Like, it doesn't even, like, really matter.

02:24:47
Jmike
While the whole fight with Sabak is.

02:24:48
Case
Going on, he's, like, raising legions of the damned. And the kid goes and does the same sort of, like, hand gesture of, like, condoc's light, and he does, like, this pyramid hand gesture, which is what, like, Adam's son also did. And that, like, inspires the people of Kondok, who are all, like, in this other corner of the city, question mark, to, like, come and join where his mom and his uncle are, like, fighting the zombies. Like, where it's just like, no, were over here. Oh, there's zombies over here. We're. We're not gonna let them push us around.

02:25:18
Hans
All right, let's get our sticks and stones and bars. Yes. And beat them up.

02:25:22
Case
But there were some funny moments, though, because, like, doctor fate will tell people how they die by way of, like, your fate is to die by X. And, like, one of the characters is like, well, I know how I die now, so I'm not gonna die here. It's fine.

02:25:35
Steven
Yes. An electrician dying by electricity.

02:25:40
Hans
But. Yeah, but don't you think when the kid try to, you know, hype up his people, he was acting very underwhelmingly.

02:25:49
Case
He's not the strongest child actor.

02:25:51
Hans
No, definitely not. That's. But you.

02:25:54
Case
And it's hard. It's really hard, especially for how big a part he has. And there's some great scenes earlier with him when he's this little scamp running around this military controlled city, like, riding around on the skateboard. Enjoy him. But trying to be, like, an inspirational figure. And he doesn't have the right speech for the performance that he's giving.

02:26:14
Hans
Yeah, see, and that what really blew my mood a little bit. I was like, oh, man.

02:26:20
Case
And they also don't set up either a spirit of community before. Like, they set up, like, the crowds cheering for black Adam, but, like, having more of a network of people who would actually know what he's talking about or even care would have been kind of nice. Like, it's. It's very paint by numbers at the end of this movie.

02:26:38
Hans
Yeah, I guess. Yeah, that's. That's the way to do it, but, yeah, so that's pretty.

02:26:44
Case
Oh, and there's a blue laser in the sky. Like, as part of. I forgot about, like, purple laser. Like, I mean, not a purple. Right. But, like, we get a. We get a beam in the sky. Like, we're full on doing, like, the. The classic stuff of, like, superhero movies here.

02:27:00
Hans
Yeah. Yeah.

02:27:01
Case
It's him opening up the gates to hell, but, you know, it's all the same.

02:27:03
Hans
Yeah, but that's pretty much black Adam in a nutshell. I guess you have it and things, but. Well, I guess we could wrap things up and give our final thoughts. I'll go first with my final thought. I have a feeling I did not like it, but if I watch it again in HBO Max or whatever, I think I might change my tune a little bit. All right. With this. It's just there was a lot of things I just didn't like from the get go, and it really affected me watching this film. You know, I guess it's because I did have high expectations. I do love the rock. I do think he's perfectly casted for Black Adam, but there was a lot of things in this movie that they could have done better and make it more cohesive, if you ask me.

02:27:50
Hans
But I don't know. I just. I guess if I watch it again, I might have a different opinion. Who knows? So.

02:27:59
Steven
Indeed. Indeed. Yeah. It's not perfect, but it's still pretty entertaining in its own way, and that's something we can accept.

02:28:09
Hans
Case, final thoughts?

02:28:11
Case
Yeah. Like I said, it's. It's a net positive. I think that I. I'm surprised when anyone, like, flat out hates it, unless they're, like, a hater on a superhero movie in general. Like, I could see if the superhero formula really bothers you. That's gonna be an issue. It could have been more violent. This is the appropriate movie to do that. You know, like, this is, like, invincible, where it's like, yeah, this is the time to, like, have the ramifications of superpowers, like, play out. But while it is a little. A little clean for what it should be, and the cg is not perfect, and it's paint by numbers, I think that the rock is really fun in this. I think. I wish the rock was a little bit younger. I've said that before.

02:28:53
Case
I think that he really looks more like ibac at this point now. Like, he's so big and bald and, like, just, like. He looks, like. Just, like, a little bit further than the character, but that's fine. And the character looks great. Like, when he. When he comes back in the third act, he's got all of his gold trim and looks amazing. And I think that's, like, he really looks like a very solid black Adam there. So I'm very happy with that. I just. You know.

02:29:18
Hans
And they did give that scene where he's sitting on the throne, you know, that famous picture.

02:29:23
Case
Yeah. There's a really good.

02:29:25
Hans
Which I thought it was hilarious.

02:29:28
Steven
Not a King Hans. He's a protector.

02:29:30
Case
Yeah. It's a net positive, is what I'm gonna say.

02:29:33
Hans
All right. J Mike, any final thoughts of the movie?

02:29:37
Jmike
No. Yeah. I was like, oh, man. It's gonna be like I said in the other. On the other show, like, oh, man, this would be a great, fun, dumb movie. Like, oh, crazy. But, man, lots of excitement, lots of explosions, lots of punching. I laughed, I cried. It moved me. Now I'm like, after you guys at doctor fate dies, I'm like, you know what? Kind of like that's the part that make you cry. It still sounds like a lot. It still sounds like a lot of fun. I'll go see it eventually, whenever I have time. Yeah, time escapes me nowadays, but, I see that. Yeah. Yeah, I'm still looking forward to seeing it. And then, you know, there we go. I was mourn doctor fate another time.

02:30:30
Hans
Right? Where everybody's seen it, like ten times.

02:30:33
Jmike
You come in, I'll be like, why? Why did he do this to my boy?

02:30:37
Case
Why?

02:30:42
Hans
Yeah. I would definitely like to hear your final consensus once you do watch it. That's for sure.

02:30:46
Jmike
I mean, I'm not that harsh for critic, except on certain movies. Yeah, I'm still. I'm still banking. It's gonna be a really fun time. I'm sorry you didn't like it, Hans.

02:31:02
Hans
Like I said, I might change my tune. Maybe there's a director's cut. I think I might like it better. We'll see.

02:31:08
Jmike
What, that I have your r rating?

02:31:11
Hans
Yeah, the r rating. I think that's gonna change my tune a little bit. But, you know, I mean, that was just. I guess I just had two high expectations, you know, I think that's what it was for me.

02:31:22
Jmike
Yeah, they gone these things with low expectations. Therefore, you're never disappointed.

02:31:26
Hans
Yeah, I should have learned because this is a DCEU movie. I should have known. I should have known.

02:31:31
Jmike
But, yeah, you always go with low expectations. That way you're pleasantly surprised when it works out better for you.

02:31:35
Case
Yeah, that's true.

02:31:36
Hans
That's true with a lot of other movies, if you ask me. Like all those necklace movies that we've been watching this year, my expectations were low that I ended up liking it. All right, well, Case and J Mike, thank you for coming on and enlightening us with everything. Well, mostly k. It's not Jay Mike.

02:31:55
Case
This time.

02:31:59
Steven
But always a delight having you guys here. So. Yep, give all your plugs.

02:32:03
Jmike
Go right for it.

02:32:07
Case
Yeah. So I can be found on Twitter at Case Aiken and on instagram at quetzalcoatl five. In addition to Men of Steel, which you should go listen to that episode. Even if you've listened to this whole thing, like, we do a really good job of, like, talking about the history of the character, you can find Men of Steel over@certainpov.com as well as another pass, which is a movie show that I do, Sam Alasea and all of the YouTube stuff for certain pov media is, generally speaking, me. So check. Check all that out. We've got Superman stuff. We've got clips from some of the podcasts. We've got sidequests, fun stuff. Check that out and then go to certainpov.com with other great stuff like what J Mike works on. Yeah.

02:32:48
Hans
What is that? J Mike.

02:32:51
Jmike
Is my turn. I don't know.

02:32:55
Case
That's your key. Like, that was a pretty obvious handoff.

02:32:58
Jmike
I kid. Yeah. I'm on Twitter at jmike 101. I also am the little brother to cases big brother on Men of steel. I'm there asking questions and getting my mind blown a lot of times because he knows so much more comic book stuff than I do. Sometimes I'm just like, I like comic books. No, case is like, no, I love comic books.

02:33:21
Hans
Google.

02:33:22
Jmike
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

02:33:23
Steven
Oh, indeed.

02:33:24
Jmike
But I will forever claim that I stumped him twice. Twice.

02:33:29
Steven
There we go.

02:33:30
Jmike
I will wear that crown forever. Yeah. We have fun on our show. You guys should go check it out whenever you guys get a chance to.

02:33:38
Steven
Yeah, indeed.

02:33:39
Hans
For sure. And hopefully scruffy nevers will come in the future. Yes, I have that.

02:33:43
Steven
We're still waiting for that crossover, case.

02:33:45
Case
I know, I know.

02:33:47
Jmike
But.

02:33:47
Hans
Yeah, but thank you, guys once again. You know, it's been. It's been a fun conversation, actually. I kind of like that what J Mike knows. I kind of like.

02:33:56
Steven
That was pretty fun.

02:33:57
Hans
Yeah. I think we should do more, Stephen.

02:33:59
Case
As long as you're okay with cutting out the big gaps of time where he's, like, thinking, that would make a really good second.

02:34:04
Steven
I might just leave it because I'm lazy.

02:34:06
Case
So we'll see.

02:34:08
Hans
There you go. Yes. All right, Steven, take us home.

02:34:13
Steven
Alright, guys, hope you all enjoy this episode. Be your join us next week, we check out the films the school for good and evil and take it to paradise, our Halloween special. Look at that. Hans, hold up.

02:34:23
Hans
What was the first movie?

02:34:24
Steven
The school for good and evil. It's already on Netflix.

02:34:27
Hans
What is that? I'm not gonna watch the Irishman thing.

02:34:30
Steven
It's not playing anywhere near me, so I decided switch it.

02:34:32
Hans
That explains it.

02:34:33
Case
A horror movie. Talk about the irishman.

02:34:38
Steven
It's more like a fantasy, Paul. Fake movie. That's what it is.

02:34:42
Jmike
Wow.

02:34:43
Hans
This is not it. Okay, well, we'll deal with that next week.

02:34:47
Steven
We did all our horse creepy stub last.

02:34:49
Hans
Yeah, we did. We did.

02:34:50
Case
Yeah.

02:34:52
Steven
All right, well, today's time, Stephen. Go, the sinner guy.

02:34:54
Hans
I am Hans Martine, junior Jabril, movie.

02:34:55
Steven
Critic, featuring case Aiken and J. Michael. There we go. Nice. We love.

02:35:05
Case
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the main event.

02:35:13
Steven
In this corner, he's a reviewer who's relentless.

02:35:17
Case
He's a writer that's far from pretentious. He's no cynic. He's the real movie critic. It's Hans Martin Junior. And in the other corner, he's a.

02:35:32
Steven
Creator who's silly, but his reviews are.

02:35:35
Case
On far like Chili. He cannot tell a lie. He's the cinegai. It's Steven Nguylo. Welcome to the real movie critic versus the synagogue.

02:35:58
Steven
I see a red door, and I want it painted black. No colors anymore. I want them to turn black. Come on, Hans. I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer.

02:36:14
Hans
What song is this?

02:36:15
Steven
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes. You know that was the first song they play in the movie, right?

02:36:21
Hans
Is it?

02:36:22
Steven
It was. Yes.

02:36:25
Jmike
All right.

02:36:26
Steven
Pretty fun sequence, maybe.

02:36:27
Case
Everybody.

02:36:28
Steven
So, hello. Welcome to the show. I'm Stephen Gould. Is in a guy.

02:36:33
Hans
What's up, everybody? It's house Martine Junior, your real movie critic, and I'm writing this like a g six. That's all I'm gonna say for a smoothie shout out. Let's move on. Let's go.

02:36:42
Steven
Oh, wow. Our actual quick shout out. Why can't we do those more often? You always drag us.

02:36:47
Jmike
We got.

02:36:48
Hans
We got guests.

AI meeting summary:

●      The meeting provided an insightful look into the character of Black Adam, delving into his evolution from classic villain to anti-hero status. Participants discussed his ties to Shazam, Egypt, and complex backstory filled with betrayals and power struggles. Insights were shared on Black Adam's connection with Captain Marvel in terms of strength and invulnerability, anticipating potential confrontations with Superman, Shazam, and characters like Doctor Fate within the DC Universe.

●      Modern storylines were explored, portraying Black Adam as a nuanced character with shades of grey, evolving from villainy to anti-hero status. The upcoming Black Adam movie starring {The Rock} was discussed, with excitement for the portrayal of this complex character alongside characters like Hawkman and ISIS. Opinions varied on the film, with mixed reactions to elements such as {Hawkman} and {Doctor Fate}, while some expressed disappointment in storytelling and CGI quality issues.

●      Discussions ranged from critical analysis to audience ratings disparity, acknowledging standout performances like {The Rock} and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate. Varying viewpoints were shared on pacing issues, comedic relief effectiveness, and casting choices, discussing both strengths in world-building and thematic consistency concerns within the film. Despite differing opinions, participants engaged critically, recognizing moments of entertainment value amid perceived shortcomings in execution.

Notes:

📌 Character Analysis

●      General conversation about who the character is.

●      An acronym situation mentioned.

●      Deep research on the character with visual aids and references discussed.

🧩 Story Structure

●      Speculation on the big story beats.

●      Discussion on how the first act and second act unfold.

●      Act two described as having lots of punchy action.

📺 Content Review

●      Initial reviews requested.

●      Implications for beyond the current context explored.

●      Language changes and its impact discussed.

🌐 International Work

●      Mention of working more internationally.

●      Discussion on how the work is received globally.

Action items:

Case Aiken

●      Prepare a basic meta history of the character as a comic book character (00:04)

●      Open with saying a broad history of the character (00:22)

Hans Martin Junior

●      Join in on doing a primer on the character of Black Adam (01:32)

●      Discuss more about the CGI issues observed and explore potential improvements (1:24:20)

Steven Angulo

●      Participate in discussing and having general conversation about the character (01:42)

●      Share thoughts on the uneven storyline and delve into specific thematic inconsistencies encountered (1:19:54)

●      Critically review the acting performances, focusing on areas where improvement could be made (1:20:47)

Outline:

●      Chapter 1: Introduction and Character Background (00:00 - 02:07)

●      Introduction to discussing the character's history as a comic book character.

●      Chapter 2: Analyzing Story Elements and Success (10:27 - 19:22)

●      Delving into the character's backstory and success of related books.

●      Chapter 3: Reflection on Storytelling and Details (24:24 - 35:39)

●      Discussion on maintaining continuity and respecting established rules in storytelling.

●      Chapter 4: Movie Expectations and Story Structure (39:12 - 50:12)

●      Exploring different perspectives on character representation and the depth of research involved.

●      Chapter 5: Reviewing Movie Scenes and Narrative Impact (51:29 - 57:15)

●      Analyzing the visual appeal of movie scenes and the blending of comic book elements.

●      Chapter 6: Deconstructing Movie Story Beats and Acts (1:31:09 - 1:57:36)

●      Breaking down the movie's narrative structure into different acts and story beats.

●      Chapter 7: Final Thoughts and Recommendations (2:01:28 - 2:36:28)

●      Concluding thoughts on the movie, discussion on future implications, and wrapping up the conversation.