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This is a DynaMic Network podcast.

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Hi, welcome to the Dynamic Duel Podcast, a weekly
show where we review superhero films and debate

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the superiority between Marvel and DC by comparing
their characters in stat-based battle simulations.

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I'm Johnny DC. And I'm his twin brother, Marvelous
Joe. And this past week was Valentine's Day,

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during which Marvel released its fourth Captain
America movie, Brave New World. And we're going

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to review it. This episode, did it live up to
the legacy of the previous Captain America

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movies? The answer is yes. Yeah, man. Shit,
yeah. I believe you get your ass kicked for

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saying something otherwise. I don't think it
did. Come at me, bro. You're on. We'll talk

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about the movie later on this episode. Before
that, we're gonna break down the latest comic

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book movie news to come out this past week.
Of which there was none. We got two big trailers

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last week, so I guess I'm not surprised that
there's no real big news this week. But we

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do have a no-price segment to get through, as
well as the review. And of course, we list

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our segment times in our episode description,
so feel free to check out the show notes if

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you want to skip ahead to a particular topic.
Our artificially intelligent Duel simulator,

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AJ 9K, has a quick message for our listeners.
So listen up. Why hello there, do you want

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even more from this podcast? Then become a part
of the dynamic Duel community on Patreon, where

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you can choose from three tiers. The dynamic
two-oh tier gives you access to our Discord

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chat server. The fantastic four tier gives you
two bonus episodes each month, and the X-Force

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tier makes you an executive producer of this
show. Lastly, the DynaMic Podcast Network

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tier lets you create your own podcast using
this Monte Carlo simulator. Johnny and Joe

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will help you develop your show, provide graphic
support and consultation and get you simulation

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results. Pitch the twins your ideas via email
at dynamic Duel podcast at gmail.com. Check

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it out at patreon.com slash dynamic Duel. Pip
pip cheerio. Thanks AJ 9k and thanks to everyone

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who supports the podcast. Guys, be sure to tune
into the other shows and the dynaMic podcast

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network this week, including Max destruction,
which pits your favorite action heroes from

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film and television against each other. This
Wednesday, hosts Scotty and Gilly are finding

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out who would win in a fight between the MCU's
Thor and the DCEU's Black Adam. We said that

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that's what they were doing last week, but last
week they actually did MCU's Namor versus the

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DCEU Aquaman. It's actually pronounced Namor.
Yeah, you're right. On the Send Your World

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podcast, host Zachary Hepburn speculates on
fights between fan favorite anime and manga

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characters. Zach is on a brief season break
right now, but anime fans should check out

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his past library of episodes and look forward
to the huge episode he has in the works, an

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epic 10 vs 10 team Naruto vs team bleach matchup.
And on the Konsole Kombat podcast hosts John

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and Dean simulate battles between popular video
game characters. In yesterday's episode, they

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found out who'd win in a fight between Chun-Li
from Street Fighter and Lee-Mei from Mortal

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Kombat. Visit dynamicpodcasts.com or click the
link in our show notes to listen to all of

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the shows in the DynaMic Podcast Network. But
with that out of the way, quick to the no prize.

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A no prize is an award Marvel used to give out
to fans. Our version, the Dynamic Duel No Prize,

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is a digital award we post on Instagram for
the person that we feel gave the best answer

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to our question of the week. Last week, we asked
you guys between the Fantastic Four teaser

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and the Thunderbolts big game trailer, which
got you more hyped and why? And actually we

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only got two actual answers for this question
this past week because I forgot to change the

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question on our website. So a few people who
clicked on it answered last week's question.

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So shout out to By Dear Bangora and JP from
Quebec for giving their answer from last week.

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But this week's honorable mention goes to Mike
Williams, who said. On the movie I'm most interested

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in seeing due to the trailer is the Thunderbolts.
to see how they develop the Sentry and how

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the Void is headed toward being the villain
and how they're going to deal with that just

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being regular Joes and not super power the heroes
but as Marvel it'll be interesting. Thanks.

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Yeah, the Thunderbolts big game trailer was
epic. It reveals that the primary villain of

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the Thunderbolts movie is going to be the Void
who is the dark alter ego of the character

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the Sentry. And I have no idea how this ragtag
cast of punchers and shooters is going to take

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down a character as powerful as The Void. But
I think that's one of the major draws of the

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film itself. It's really this colorful cast
of misfit underdogs going up against these

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unspeakable odds. Yeah, like how you described
it in our last episode. It's like the Suicide

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Squad going up against Superman. And that's
a pretty damn good concept. Even though it

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feels like they're ripping off DC, I'm still
excited to see the film. Yeah, for sure. Great

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answer, Mike Williams. But the winner of this
week's snow prize is Lee Tapscott. With the

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consecutive win, he said, Hi, this is Lee about
the question. What am I more excited about?

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The Thunderbolts or the Fantastic Four? I think
it's going to be the Fantastic Four. Thunderbolts

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feels like an end to the story. Tying up loose
ends while the Fantastic Four is the beginning

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of a new era for Marvel. something that isn't
tied down by past movies. So I think Fantastic

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Four, I'm looking forward to see what's new.
Yeah, I like this answer. The Fantastic Four

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movie is gonna be the start of the MCU's phase
six of films, whereas, you know, the Thunderbolts

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is closing out phase five. And I think there's
something to be said for the... tone of the

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Fantastic Four movie and how it presents this
hopeful feel and the start of something new

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and unique and interesting in a way that the
Fantastic Four should. They were, you know,

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the team that really kickstarted the Marvel
era of comic books in the 1960s. I think they

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can reinvigorate the MCU in a way that other
franchises haven't been able to for a few years

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now. Yeah, I like this rationale and it's one
that I didn't even really consider because

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I've kind of lost track of the different phases
that are going on right now in the MCU. I could

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be wrong, but I believe the Thunderbolts also
ends the Bob Chapek era in Disney. So with

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the return of Bob Iger as the head of Disney,
we will hopefully see a return to form with

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the MCU. I know that Phase 6 is going to focus
largely on the multiverse, since we're getting

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films like Fantastic Four, which takes place
in an alternate dimension. We're getting Avengers

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Doomsday. We're getting Avengers Secret Wars.
And we're getting the new Spider-Man film,

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which I don't know if that involves the multiverse,
but at least three of the four films in Phase

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6 will, that we know of so far. So great answer,
Lee! You win this week's No Prize if you the

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listener want a shot at winning your own No
Prize. Stay tuned to later on in the episode

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when we'll be asking another question of the
week. And when you say later on in the episode,

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you mean like right now, right? That is correct!

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Since we're discussing the Captain America film
this episode, what is your favorite Captain

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America solo film and why? Of course this includes
Captain America The First Avenger, Captain

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America The Winter Soldier, Captain America
Civil War, and Captain America Brave New World.

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And you know what? Let's throw in the Falcon
and the Winter Soldier television series and

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Black Widow since I think that movie is adjacent
to this franchise. And you know what, just

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for shits and giggles, let's throw in the 90s
Captain America movie. Yeah, and the made for

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TV films in the 70s too. All the Captain America
stuff. What's your favorite and why? Record

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your answer at dynamicduel.com by clicking on
the red microphone button in the bottom right-hand

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corner of the screen, which will prompt you
to leave us a voicemail. Your message can be

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up to 30 seconds long, and don't forget to leave
your name in case we include you on the podcast.

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We'll pick our favorite answer and award that
person a Dynamic Duel No Prize that we'll post

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to Instagram. Be sure to answer before February
22nd. And I'll make sure to get the proper

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question up on the website for everyone who
calls in.

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With that out of the way, now let's move on
to the main event of our episode in which we

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review Marvel Studios' latest film to hit theaters,
Captain America Brave New World.

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Captain America Brave New World was directed
by Julius Ona and stars Anthony Mackey, Harrison

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Ford, Tim Blake Nelson, and Danny Ramirez. It's
the penultimate film in the Marvel Cinematic

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Universe's Phase 5 of films and the first theatrical
return to the Captain America franchise in

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nearly a decade since 2016's Captain America
Civil War. Since that film, the Avengers disassembled

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and faced the threat of Thanos with Steve Rogers
retiring at the end of Endgame and passing

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the mantle to the Falcon, aka Sam Wilson. This
is true to the comics when Steve Rogers once

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had the super soldier serum in his body negated,
causing him to advance into old age and he

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passed his mantle onto his longtime partner,
the Falcon. In the MCU, it was really interesting

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watching Sam Wilson handle the idea of continuing
Steve Rogers' legacy in the Falcon and the

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Winter Soldier television series. where he ultimately
came to terms with the idea of taking on the

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legacy and donning Captain America's shield.
The big question in this Brave New World film

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was, now that Sam's made his decision to be
the new Cap, would he be able to live up to

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Steve's legacy? And it's a query that played
out not only in the cinematic world of the

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MCU, but also in real life as fans wondered
if this new movie would live up to the legacy

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of Captain America's films that came before
it. And as far as I'm concerned, yeah. it did.

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If you haven't seen the film yet, I think that's
all you need to know for now, so I recommend

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seeing the movie, then coming back and listening
to our spoiler review. So here's your spoiler

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warning. Now I'm not going to say that Captain
America Brave New World was as good as either

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Captain America The Winter Soldier or Captain
America Civil War, but I do think it was as

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good, if not better, than the tangential film
in the Captain America franchise, which was

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Black Widow. If you listened to our review of
that film, we liked it. You know, we said Black

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Widow wasn't without its own problems, such
as taking liberties with the villains from

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the comics. But we also set ahead some great
action set pieces, a solid, thriller-y plot

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and meaningful characterization for the protagonists.
I feel the same here in that while Brave New

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World couldn't quite reach the heights of the
very best MCU films, it is in itself a good

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film. And I think a lot of people, including
fatigued critics and audiences, are claiming

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that if a film can't be among the best, then
it's comparatively bad. And I think that's

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a mistake. I know we've stated this on the podcast
before that quality exists on a spectrum. Quality

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is not a pass fail concept. Even though platforms
like Rotten Tomatoes do actively push that.

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But like if you wanna see bad, see Howard the
Duck, see Catwoman, or literally any other

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DC movie for that matter. If you wanna see mediocre,
go see Venom or Iron Man 3. If you wanna see

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good, you know, see Captain America Brave New
World. And if you wanna see great, of course,

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go see like Logan or Avengers Infinity War,
but that's neither here nor there. I don't

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feel like I should have to say it, but near
perfect films are rare, but they aren't the

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only films worth seeing. I walked away from
the theater pleased with Brave New World's

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quality, and I don't think we could have asked
for a whole lot more than what we got here.

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I don't think I've heard anyone say that this
is a bad film. I've heard people say that it's

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low tier Marvel, which go watch Love and Thunder
if you wanna see low tier Marvel. That's fair.

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I think it's closer to low tier than it is to
high tier. I definitely think it's the worst

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Captain America movie. That said, it's not a
bad movie. I think the comparison to Black

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Widow is fair, although I would even say that
Black Widow is slightly better in my opinion.

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Well, your opinion is trash. It's pure garbage.
I would actually rate Captain America Brave

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New World as, yeah sure, mid-tier, but closer
to top-tier than low-tier. I think one of the

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best things about Captain America Brave New
World is how it handles continuity in that

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it both resolves dangling plot threads from
the MCU and advances the overall plot of Earth's

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Mightiest Heroes in a meaningful way. Right,
it picked up the threads left in The Eternals

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and The Incredible Hulk. Right. Yeah, like for
quite a while we've been saying that the biggest...

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detriment to Marvel Studios right now is that
the film universe feels less cohesive than

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it's ever been, with tons of abandoned concepts,
unconnected characters, and loose threads that

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make things feel hard to keep up with for general
audiences. Commendably, Brave New World continues

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the story of Captain America and the Avengers,
and a little bit of the multiverse stuff regarding

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the end credits stinger. But like you said regarding
The Incredible Hulk, this movie almost feels

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like a quasi-sequel. to 2008's Incredible Hulk,
picking up one of the longest standing plot

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threads ever in regard to what happened to Samuel
Stearns, aka the leader, at the end of that

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movie. Brave New World also addresses, like
you said, the Eternals with that big ass celestial

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that rose from the planet's core, which has
been a question on a lot of our minds considering

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that big giant coming out of the earth hasn't
been addressed in any movies since the Eternals.

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Which is a huge fucking elephant in the room
to just gloss over. Right, right. So I appreciated

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this movie for restoring some of that cohesiveness
in the MCU in that like yeah, it feels like

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things are starting to come together somewhat
and lead up to Phase Six and Avengers Doomsday

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and Secret Wars. However, despite cohearing
things up a little bit, the movie could still

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potentially lose some audiences I think who
don't remember plot points from films over

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15 years ago, or who didn't know that Harrison
Ford is filling in for William Hurt who played

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Thunderbolt or audiences who didn't watch The
Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+. Like

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I bet there were a lot of people who were introduced
to Isaiah Bradley in this movie and were like,

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did I miss something? Like who the hell is this
guy? And why is Cap so motivated in helping

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him? I guarantee you that is 100% the case and
I theorize that's probably why a lot of audiences

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are responding to this film the way they are.
Like this film has the lowest cinema score

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of any Marvel movie. in MCU history. Which is
fucking bananas. Yeah, I got a B minus. And

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I always have to guarantee you that it's because
people just have not been keeping up with Marvel.

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Yeah, the movie also has like a 52% on Rotten
Tomatoes, which pisses me off, frankly. I feel

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like going on a slapping spree with all the
dum-dums out there. This movie is not the worst

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MCU movie that's ever come out. Sorry, that
goes to Thor, Love and Thunder. But like, you

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wanna tell audiences you don't know who Isaiah
Bradley is, That just means you didn't do your

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homework. So go get a Disney Plus subscription
and watch the six episode Falcon and the Winter

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Soldier series and pay attention to Isaiah's
backstory, you son of a bitch, then come back

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and re-watch Brave New World with that context.
I don't wanna do homework, fuck that. It is

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a lot to ask. I also think like a lot of the
audience is probably like, am I supposed to

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know this Samuel Sterns character? You know,
because he does look different than he did

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in The Incredible Hulk, considering he has that
gamma brain now. Even my wife, who has seen

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The Incredible Hulk like three times, still
didn't remember Tim Blake Nelson's character.

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Well, it's a lot because Samuel Sterns looks
different. Thunderbolt Ross looks different.

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Even the actor who played the Hulk in that movie
is different. That's true. That's true. The

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only one who came back was Liv Tyler in the
barest of cameos. Right. These like type of

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Easter egg. callback elements are definitely
rewarding for the fans. And not even all the

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fans, like I would say the fans with good memories,
you know. So I just think Marvel's gonna continue

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to see diminishing returns on these types of
things solely because their continuity is approaching

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20 years now. And you know, it's not the worst
problem to have. DC would love to have this

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kind of problem, but it is still a problem.
I don't want Marvel's problems, ugh. Better

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than DC's problems. Hey, we don't have any problems
right now, bro. We're just starting out. I

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did really like the action of this movie from
the Oaxaca fight to the Sidewinder Street battle.

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The Echo One prison fight was pretty good and
especially the aerial battle above Celestial

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Island. And, you know, the Red Hulk standoff
was pretty good, too. I think one of the best

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things about Sam Wilson as the Falcon and as
now Captain America, and I feel like people

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don't recognize this enough, is that how thrilling
it is to see him in action. in his wingsuit.

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Yeah, Sam's not as impressive a fighter as Steve
Rogers. You know, his ground combat can't match

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Steve's fight against like Batroc or, you know,
even Shang-Chi's martial arts prowess. But

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in the sky, Sam Wilson's like, wow, like I'll
be damned if his aerial dogfights aren't a

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sight to behold. It's basically the best thing
about the character and it's unique to his

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character as well. Yeah, I didn't love the action
in this film. I've seen a lot of people say

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that the choreography was pretty slow, and I
would agree. That said, I don't know if that

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was a conscious choice made on behalf of the
filmmakers and the editing room to emphasize

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the fact that Sam is not a super soldier, but
I would definitely say it was a noticeable

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downgrade from other Captain America films.
They definitely made it clear, intentionally

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or not, within the course of this film, that
things are more difficult for Sam. You know,

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he doesn't have the super soldier serum. It
does take more effort on his part to try to

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be Captain America. That said, he does seem
to have a superpower of being able to get stabbed

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in the torso however many times he wants and
still keep going. It was really only like three

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times. It was like six times. What? Yeah. You
got stabbed with like an axe, a knife, like

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something had to hit some kind of organ. Those
things were deep. Band-aids are a thing. OK.

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Anti-bacterial cream, Neosporin is a thing.
Just throw some Vicks on that. There you go.

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Now, I've maintained that the Falcons dogfight
in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier television

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series in Tunisia, that opening action scene,
it's really one of Marvel's best action scenes

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in anything that they've ever produced ever.
Oh, yeah. And Sam's dogfight here near Celestial

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Island. I thought that was fucking awesome,
too. Not as good as the Tunisia fight, I would

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argue. But yeah, still not terrible. It harkened
back to like the Iron Man aerial battles that

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I loved watching. Yeah, from Iron Man one. Yeah,
I think the Celestial Island dogfight was the

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actual action climax of the film, because although
the fight against Red Hulk wasn't bad, it just

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wasn't as much in Sam Wilson's element. That's
not to say I didn't like the end fight. I actually

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really liked how Cap just absolutely didn't
fucking stand a chance against Red Hulk, so

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it was more about. survival and you know appealing
to Red Hulk's emotional state. Yeah I've joked

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on the discord that Sam Wilson's superpower
is seemingly therapy. He has therapy powers

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because that's how he finished the whole because
that's how he finished the Red Hulk in this

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climactic end battle. It was kind of anti-climactic.
In a way but Sam does have counselor powers

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you know when he met Steve Rogers in the MCU
he was a trauma counselor for veterans. It's

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a big part of his character. to approach conflict
with reason before fists. Like if you look

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at the Falcon and the Winter Soldier series,
there was that moment where he nearly talked

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Flag Smasher into giving up her whole agenda
before that dumb ass John Walker US agent barged

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in. And I will say that's a great aspect of
the Sam Wilson character, who is a great longstanding

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character in the MCU with that great history.
That said, it's not a very cinematic, quote

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unquote, superpower. And I was left kind of
disappointed by the end battle with the Red

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Hulk, just de powering himself after looking
at a cherry blossom petal in his palm. Come

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on. It was poetic, man. It was that was poetry.
Yeah. What are you talking about? No, I didn't

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like it. It was vaguely reminiscent of how the
big climactic Hulk versus army fight ended

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in the 2003 Ang Lee Hulk movie. when Betty showed
up and it calmed Hulk down enough to revert

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to his human form. It also happened in the 2008
Incredible Hulk film during the campus fight

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when Betty showed up he protected her from the
crashing helicopter and then like jumped away

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with her. She's kind of been this calming influence
on these climactic battles and although she

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didn't technically show up during this end fight,
you know, her name was evoked and the Red Hulk

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had a good enough tangible memento of her to
think about his daughter enough. turn back

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into his human form. I do think that the film
did a good job of continuing the political

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thriller aspect that has become a staple of
the Captain America franchise, starting with

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The Winter Soldier. You know, in that first
sequel, all the paranoia came from not knowing

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who was a bad guy because Hydra had infiltrated
SHIELD. In the Black Widow movie, the paranoia

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came from not knowing when Taskmaster or one
of the stealthy mind-controlled Black Widows

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would attack. And in Brave New World... The
paranoia came from not knowing who was unknowingly

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a mind control agent of the leader. You actually
notice quite a few similarities between this

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film and The Winter Soldier, that being one
of them. I think this tried pretty hard to

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recapture that same political thriller magic
as The Winter Soldier. I don't think it was

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as successful, but there was that and there
was also the scene of, you know, Captain America

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and his sidekick going into that deep basement
where there was that secret villain there.

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Are you referring to Steve Rogers and Natasha
Romanoff going into Camp Lehigh and finding

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Arnim Zola? Yes, yeah. Okay, yeah, yeah. And
then there was also, of course, the machine

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gun battle on the streets between Winter Soldier
and Cap. Yeah, I will say that Julius Ona,

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the director, is not at the level of the Russo
brothers. I would definitely agree with that

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100%. Which is not saying much, I don't think,
because, you know, the Russo brothers directed

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Infinity War and Endgame. And they're pretty
much... at the top of their league when it

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comes to these superhero films. I think the
subpar direction in this film was noticeable.

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I also think the budget on this film was noticeable.
This film was only made for one hundred and

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eighty million dollars, which by Marvel standards
is pretty cheap. Like the film is already going

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to make its budget back with this four day holiday
weekend. Yeah, which is badass. I think it

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made just under two hundred million dollars
worldwide. I mean, it's still making less than

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something like quantumania. We'll see what the
second week drop is for this film. If it compares

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to as devastating a drop as quantumania had.
But yeah, to me, that's still not that big

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of a feat, because to me, it just says that
the movie was really cheap. And there was a

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lot of shots where you could see that was the
case. Jonathan, what DC movie made its entire

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budget back in the opening weekend? I don't
keep track of this shit. I just read this.

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This is how I know. Let me go back and find
out. How about none of them, except for maybe

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the Batman? You don't know that. I can see that
happening. But let's go ahead and get into

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our character breakdown, starting with Captain
America, aka Sam Wilson, played by Anthony

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Mackie. I really like Anthony Mackie as an actor.
We've talked about him before. You know, he's

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a really well-trained alumni of Juilliard. There's
really nothing he can't do performance-wise.

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So it kind of makes me wish that they would
actually do more with the character of Sam

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Wilson to have Anthony Mackie show more of his
range, like really put him through the wrinker

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emotionally. But I think that Mackie... definitely
showed he has the presence to lead his own

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film as Captain America. I think he proved that
here. Yeah, like I said, Sam Wilson is a great

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character. I don't think he quite has the presence
and charisma of Chris Evans' Steve Rogers,

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but I'm not going to say that Anthony Mackie
is a bad actor because he is phenomenal, especially

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as Sam. His main motivation in this movie was
to exonerate Isaiah Bradley from prison, a

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man who he knew spent most of his life already
wrongfully incarcerated. and who was a big

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influence in his decision to take up the shield.
This go-round was less about Sam proving himself

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worthy like it was in the Falcon and the Winter
Soldier series, but this was more about doing

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what he thought was right by the people around
him as Captain America does. Albeit, you know,

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without the super soldier serum, which was a
big part of his arc in that as he tells Joaquin

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at the end of the movie, when you're normal,
you just have to try that much harder, be under

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that much more pressure, and push yourself.
to be almost perfect in order to carry that

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mantle, to stand shoulder to shoulder with Norse
gods and Jade giants. You know, that kind of

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thing seemed effortless for Steve Rogers, but
to continue his legacy, you know, you do what

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you have to do. I really like that, and I think
it's inspiring to the everyman. Like you don't

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need a super soldier serum to be a hero. You
just need to strive for your best self. And

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a jet pack doesn't hurt. Yeah, jet pack. with
vibranium wings that can absorb kinetic energy

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and then release it explosively, that also does
not hurt. Can I say that I understand the reasoning

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of why they gave him the vibranium kinetic absorption
wings, but I also just hated that he had those?

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I agree, I totally agree actually. You know,
in the comic books, the wings were a gift from

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Black Panther, but the whole kinetic absorption
and releasing was really unique to the character

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of Black Panther. And I think that giving that
ability to Sam Wilson kind of makes Black Panther

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less unique, right? I don't think he needed
him. I think he was cool enough without that.

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Even like at the very beginning with the opening
action scene, which in my opinion was the best

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action scene in the film with the sonic boom,
that was so cool. Yeah, that sonic boom was

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fucking bad ass. I mean, the vibranium does
explain why he can do a straight nose dive

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from, you know. 3000 feet in the air onto the
ground without breaking his ankles or turning

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into a pile of jelly because you have that absorption
I didn't mind that I am wondering what kind

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of upgrades they're gonna give the Black Panther
suit the next time we see him though Or her

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as Shuri in order to make Black Panther just
that much cooler, right? It's not like everything

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that's vibranium needs to have that same kind
of kinetic discharge. It's not like cap shield

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ever had that Exactly, exactly. It was something
that was a unique technology that Shuri developed

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that she incorporated into Black Panther's costume.
And then it seems later on into Falcon's costume.

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What did you think of the blue suits compared
to his white suit? Personally, I actually like

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Sam Wilson's white suit more because I think
it pops more visually and it's more accurate

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to his longstanding Captain America costume
from the comic books. All right. I'm indifferent.

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I don't know. I am really glad, though, that
they ditched the awkward cowl. from the Falcon

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and the Winter Soldier series, which was a good
call, yeah. The blue suit works too. You know,

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the Wakandans, they have good fashion sense,
obviously. Let's go ahead and move on to Red

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Hulk, AKA Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross, who was
played by Harrison Ford. Now I am not about

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to shit on a legend like Harrison Ford. You
know, the guy is fucking Han Solo and Indiana

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Jones and his influence on these genre films
in sci-fi, adventure, and even political thriller

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as Jack Ryan. can't be understated. The guy
is an icon. That said, I kept wondering how

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his lines would have been delivered by William
Hurt, who really came to define the role of

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Thunderbolt Ross for me through films like The
Incredible Hulk and Captain America Civil War

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and briefly in Infinity War. No, I agree 100%.
Honestly, this film, as much as I hate to say

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this, kind of made me wish that Harrison Ford
was cast as the character from the get-go.

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Yeah, yeah, because I don't think he was bad
as Thunderbolt Ross. He certainly was a different

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kind of Thunderbolt Ross, you know, a little
bit less intense, I think, than William Hurt,

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maybe a little bit more grounded. At times,
it kind of seemed like Harrison Ford was winking

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00:29:07,282 --> 00:29:12,605
at the camera in a self-aware sense in his performance.
But I really think he sold the more vulnerable

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aspects of Thunderbolt Ross, especially when
it came to Betty, like when she called him

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and when she visited him in the raft, like.
Harrison Ford's performance almost had me in

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tears at those points. I suppose it was definitely
a much more sentimental version of the character

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than we've seen in the past. And it kind of
took me by surprise. I didn't love his arc,

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I would say. There was one scene that he got
in this movie that I thought was like truly

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explosive, like William Hurt's version of the
character, like the comic book character. And

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that was during the newsreel that was played
at the beginning of the movie. about Thunderbolt's

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transition from being a general into a president.
And we got this clip of Thunderbolt Ross with

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the mustache. And he threw down this podium.
And I don't know if you're like trying to lip

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read what he was saying, but I was laughing
my ass off because he was like, I don't know

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what the fuck you're talking about. And just
seeing Harrison Ford kind of chew the scenery,

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it seemed like he was ad libbing with all these
curse words and shit. It was hilarious. I was

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laughing. I swore and I saw him say stupid fucking
question. Yeah, I think that was what he said.

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That was great. He looked great there. I kind
of wish he would have kept the mustache. Yeah,

335
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but you know, Red Hulk doesn't have a mustache,
so they had to lose it for the movie, I guess.

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And I think that's a mistake, too. Red Hulk
needs the stash. You think? Absolutely. He

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has it currently in the comic book, so who knows?
The Red Hulk was not entirely what I expected

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in this movie. You know, he wasn't 100% faithful
to the comics. You know, he didn't retain Ross's

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mind. I couldn't really make out whether or
not he actually had his heat powers. Like there

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were times where Hila would like a grab a car
and it was on fire, but it wasn't clear whether

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or not the car was on fire because of his heat
powers. Like I remember Ross sweating during

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his transformations, but that could also be
rationalized that it wasn't due to him being

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hot. It was like due to the stress. I didn't
get the impression that he had his heat powers

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in this movie. I think they tried to do homages
to that of sorts in this film, like having

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him surrounded by fire. But yeah, I felt like
we were kind of cheated of that, especially

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because in one of the trailers, when his hand
is turning into the Hulk's, like it leaves

347
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this trail of like burning ash. And that was
cut from the film. Yeah, I didn't appreciate

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that. Maybe they thought that it would require
exposition on behalf of general audiences.

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So they just decided to leave it on the cutting
room floor. But I think that was a mistake,

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because if he doesn't have his heat powers,
then literally he's just a palette swapped

351
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version of the Hulk. You should have 100% gone
that route. And this film had so much exposition

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anyway, all it would have taken was a single
line to justify it. This film actually turned

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out completely different from how I thought
it was going to turn out because I thought

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they were introducing adamantium because later
on in this film, the leader was gonna use it

355
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in some way to become a leader of the world.
And that the only thing that was going to take

356
00:32:06,556 --> 00:32:12,457
down his muscle was an adamantium weapon considering
its high melting point. It was something that

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could defeat the Hulk. without him melting it.
You were reading way too much into the adamantium

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thing than was necessary. Adamantium is not
that big of a plot point within this film and

359
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it didn't need to be. Should have been. I don't
think your ideas of what could have made this

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movie better detracts from the quality of the
film as it exists. Now that's not the claim

361
00:32:32,255 --> 00:32:36,976
you've made in past reviews because you've said
that if you could imagine a film can be better

362
00:32:37,296 --> 00:32:42,274
or more closer to the comics or something like
that, then you degrade that film. Because if

363
00:32:42,314 --> 00:32:47,156
someone like you could come up with this great
idea and the writers couldn't, it shows that

364
00:32:47,196 --> 00:32:51,598
the film could have been better, should have
been better, but it just wasn't. Yeah, I do

365
00:32:51,638 --> 00:32:56,800
that for bad films for which it's necessary.
This is one of those films. This is absolutely

366
00:32:56,860 --> 00:33:00,802
one of those films. This is not a bad film.
Could have been better. It didn't need to be

367
00:33:00,822 --> 00:33:06,484
done. That's like saying, oh yeah, then Bruce
Banner shows up and fights the Red Hulk alongside

368
00:33:06,524 --> 00:33:10,798
Captain America. It's like, sure, yeah, you
can say that. But there are definitely reasons

369
00:33:10,898 --> 00:33:15,362
why these choices were made for this particular
film, which happened to be good. Yeah, budget.

370
00:33:15,862 --> 00:33:20,545
No, I don't think so. Absolutely. No, it was
important for Sam Wilson to stand up to the

371
00:33:20,585 --> 00:33:25,569
Red Hulk on his own. I think it was a defining
moment for the character's growth and career.

372
00:33:26,049 --> 00:33:29,592
I think if they could have afforded Mark Ruffalo
for this film, they could have brought him

373
00:33:29,612 --> 00:33:32,794
on. They would have brought him on. I don't
think they would have. He's not necessary for

374
00:33:32,814 --> 00:33:36,677
the story that they're trying to tell here.
Let's go ahead and move on to the leader, played

375
00:33:36,697 --> 00:33:41,852
by Tim Blank Nelson. Now if you remember from
our Incredible Hulk review, I'm a fan of Tim

376
00:33:41,872 --> 00:33:47,276
Blake Nelson as an actor but I did not enjoy
his performance as Samuel Stearns in that movie.

377
00:33:47,696 --> 00:33:54,081
Thankfully, none of his character's cartoonish
dopiness survived his time in prison apparently

378
00:33:54,141 --> 00:33:59,384
because he was much more subdued here and cunning
and more of what I hoped for from a criminal

379
00:33:59,424 --> 00:34:06,368
mastermind like the leader. His power set was
largely depicted in his near precognitive ability

380
00:34:06,408 --> 00:34:11,371
to determine the probabilistic outcomes of events,
which I think is more believable with this

381
00:34:11,411 --> 00:34:17,875
character than with characters like Baron Zemo
or Lex Luthor, where they were almost precognitive

382
00:34:17,915 --> 00:34:23,478
in their ability to manipulate events in Captain
America Civil War and Batman vs Superman Dawn

383
00:34:23,498 --> 00:34:29,621
of Justice. You know, here, the leader is like
a gamma-irradiated mutate, and he should have

384
00:34:29,826 --> 00:34:36,030
borderline precognitive abilities to determine
events. He also developed neurotropic mind

385
00:34:36,070 --> 00:34:42,674
control technology and medicinal yet gamma irradiated
drugs. I thought it was a pretty sufficient

386
00:34:42,714 --> 00:34:48,178
demonstration of his power potential and I was
pleased with his characterization. I do really,

387
00:34:48,258 --> 00:34:52,901
really like what they did with the leader here.
I don't love his motivation, it seemed kind

388
00:34:52,941 --> 00:34:57,905
of petty, but everything else I loved from the
way they interpreted his mind control to the

389
00:34:58,005 --> 00:35:03,927
look of the character. I thought was stellar.
Yeah, yeah, regarding his motivation, I was

390
00:35:03,987 --> 00:35:09,388
wondering, like, why was he so angry and vengeful
with Thunderbolt Ross for not releasing him

391
00:35:09,428 --> 00:35:14,470
from prison when he could have seemingly so
easily escaped on his own at any time? Like,

392
00:35:14,990 --> 00:35:20,691
he had mind control tech, and we saw him escape
prison in this movie. He could have easily

393
00:35:20,731 --> 00:35:25,293
done that and arranged for Ross to be killed
once he was on the outside, with probably a

394
00:35:25,353 --> 00:35:30,586
much less convoluted plan than what he had here.
You know, yes, he wanted Ross to suffer and

395
00:35:30,626 --> 00:35:36,128
to be humiliated. And that was definitely his
downfall in this movie because it just got

396
00:35:36,188 --> 00:35:41,690
way too complicated. And I think a guy as smart
as the leader wouldn't have needed to wait

397
00:35:41,730 --> 00:35:46,311
to be released by President Ross in the first
place. It also didn't make sense to me why

398
00:35:46,351 --> 00:35:51,332
he literally turned himself in at the end. Like,
the Falcon didn't even need to defeat him.

399
00:35:51,632 --> 00:35:57,054
He turned himself in for no reason. For sure.
For sure. Absolutely no reason. You know, he

400
00:35:57,075 --> 00:36:02,318
was upset with Sam for stopping his grand plan
at Celestial Island But like he didn't need

401
00:36:02,358 --> 00:36:05,580
to confront the guy face to face, you know He
could have just given him a phone call and

402
00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:11,143
been like fuck you my plan isn't over There's
still things to come for President Ross and

403
00:36:11,283 --> 00:36:15,365
you'll see in a moment, you know Yeah, yeah
still leaked the phone call and everything

404
00:36:15,966 --> 00:36:21,709
so dumb so dumb again that said I don't want
to shit on the character Too much the writing

405
00:36:21,729 --> 00:36:26,266
was bad but the character I thought was awesome.
The character was what Hector Hammond should

406
00:36:26,286 --> 00:36:30,988
have been in the Green Lantern movie. Yeah,
I mean, like regarding his look, they could

407
00:36:31,008 --> 00:36:35,609
have easily gone the giant forehead route that
they did in the Green Lantern movie with Hector

408
00:36:35,649 --> 00:36:39,130
Hammond. I'm really glad that they didn't do
that though, because I've always been a fan

409
00:36:39,710 --> 00:36:44,591
of the inside out brain look of the leader more
than the giant forehead look, which I think

410
00:36:44,631 --> 00:36:49,653
looks kind of cartoonish and dopey. Although,
you know, sometimes with the inside out brain

411
00:36:49,693 --> 00:36:54,802
look, the artists will render their brain hemispheres
too far apart and it looks like he has a wrinkly

412
00:36:54,842 --> 00:36:59,964
green scrotum on his head. But I think what
they did here with the character in his design

413
00:37:00,205 --> 00:37:05,707
was pretty grounded and definitely not cartoony.
So that was good. It was kind of grotesque,

414
00:37:05,727 --> 00:37:10,529
you know? Yeah, for sure. And if I haven't said
this, Tim Blake Nelson is a phenomenal actor.

415
00:37:10,789 --> 00:37:14,751
I love what he did with the character here.
And I actually do hope we get to see the character

416
00:37:14,791 --> 00:37:18,932
return. I'm actually glad they didn't kill him
off in this film. Yeah, me too. I want to see

417
00:37:19,072 --> 00:37:22,962
Bruce Banner interact with him. Oh, yeah. Yeah,
that'd be awesome. Let's go ahead and move

418
00:37:23,022 --> 00:37:28,484
on to Falcon, aka Joaquin Torres, played by
Danny Ramirez. I thought Danny Ramirez was

419
00:37:28,524 --> 00:37:32,806
fine here. As we saw in the Falcon and the Winter
Soldier series, you know, he's a charismatic

420
00:37:32,886 --> 00:37:38,008
actor, if not still growing as an actor, I think.
But in most ways, he was the heart of this

421
00:37:38,048 --> 00:37:42,990
film, in that he really looked up to these heroes
like we all do, and strived to be like them,

422
00:37:43,330 --> 00:37:47,112
and was really down on himself when he didn't
rise to the occasion. I thought this character

423
00:37:47,192 --> 00:37:52,511
sucked. What? The actor, I don't think, did
a good enough job. keeping up with the performances

424
00:37:52,891 --> 00:37:57,915
of the people he was on the scenes with. His
dialogue was just terrible as well. I thought

425
00:37:57,935 --> 00:38:01,678
he had some fun moments. Like at the beginning
of the film when he was like super excited

426
00:38:01,698 --> 00:38:05,982
that he retrieved the adamantium container and
he was like, what? No one, no one saw that?

427
00:38:06,342 --> 00:38:11,507
Dumb. Like to do something that cool and have
no witnesses, I think I would feel pretty similarly.

428
00:38:12,007 --> 00:38:16,931
It was silly. It was silly nonsense. Marvel
trying to be funny with the comedy relief.

429
00:38:17,251 --> 00:38:21,602
It was just not good though. I thought it was
funny. But the character was never so ingratiating

430
00:38:21,642 --> 00:38:25,583
that I thought he was beyond being killed off
or anything. I thought that was good. That

431
00:38:25,603 --> 00:38:29,645
there were still some stakes there. Because
for a second I thought he actually was dead

432
00:38:30,125 --> 00:38:36,747
after the missile explosion. And my mind was
like, that would suck. So I think my feelings

433
00:38:36,807 --> 00:38:40,968
in that moment kind of informed my feelings
for the character overall. I'm glad he survived

434
00:38:41,008 --> 00:38:46,578
and I'm excited to see where he goes in the
next Avengers film. I wish he was dead. I just

435
00:38:46,618 --> 00:38:50,761
hope that they don't splice him with Falcon
DNA like they did in the comic books. You know,

436
00:38:50,821 --> 00:38:54,303
they could have done that in this movie where
his body was so mangled from the explosion

437
00:38:54,323 --> 00:38:59,807
that they had an infused Falcon DNA in there.
He just gets bitten by a radioactive Falcon.

438
00:39:00,227 --> 00:39:06,192
There you go. No, I didn't need this character.
I would have much rather seen Falcon have like

439
00:39:06,372 --> 00:39:12,236
a romantic interest type sidekick in the same
way that Cap did in the Winter Soldier. Who

440
00:39:12,296 --> 00:39:17,427
is his romantic sidekick? Sharon Carter? Well,
there is Sharon Carter and Black Widow. Yeah,

441
00:39:18,308 --> 00:39:24,413
I guess in this movie, Ruth Batsaraf definitely
did not fit that bill. Let's talk about her,

442
00:39:24,673 --> 00:39:31,418
AKA Sabra, although they never called her Sabra
here, played by Shirah Haas. Really weird casting

443
00:39:31,458 --> 00:39:36,161
choice, in my opinion. For sure. Like, I've
never seen Shirah Haas in anything before,

444
00:39:36,702 --> 00:39:41,085
but I was not a fan. Like, I didn't find her
believable at all as a former black widow trained

445
00:39:41,105 --> 00:39:47,142
by the Red Room. I'm fairly certain that her
5'2", 100 pound soaking wet ass couldn't take

446
00:39:47,162 --> 00:39:53,066
down a toddler. I'm not entirely sure that wasn't
a toddler on the screen. She was so tiny. Dude,

447
00:39:53,106 --> 00:39:58,651
seriously, they got like a fourth grader to
be your stunt double. I'm being harsh for sure,

448
00:39:58,771 --> 00:40:02,794
but like, I don't know, I've never been a biggest
fan of Sabra from the comic books and I didn't

449
00:40:02,834 --> 00:40:06,297
really like this character in the film. I think
it would have been cooler to see someone like

450
00:40:06,317 --> 00:40:10,701
Valerie Cooper in this role because I think
she'd get a tie it into the X-Men down the

451
00:40:10,741 --> 00:40:16,772
line or something. Valerie Cooper, who's that?
She's like a longstanding governmental liaison

452
00:40:16,952 --> 00:40:22,756
in the comics dealing with superhuman, largely
mutant affairs. If I was the filmmakers, I

453
00:40:22,776 --> 00:40:28,058
would have just merged the characters of Sam
Wilson's Secret Service agent friend and Sabra

454
00:40:28,139 --> 00:40:32,421
into one character. That would actually make
sense. Yeah, the Secret Service friend of his

455
00:40:32,461 --> 00:40:37,864
was named Lila Taylor, and she's a reporter
for the Daily Bugle in the books. Also Sam

456
00:40:37,904 --> 00:40:43,943
Wilson's friend. She's like his Lois Lane, kinda.
She like breaks stories and gets into trouble

457
00:40:43,963 --> 00:40:48,686
and stuff like that. I thought she did a better
job acting than Shira Haas did. I would agree.

458
00:40:49,127 --> 00:40:53,349
Yeah, I think that's a good call to have those
two characters merged because then you could

459
00:40:53,369 --> 00:40:57,152
have had like a romantic relationship too as
well. There you go. If she was given more screen

460
00:40:57,192 --> 00:41:02,775
time. It writes itself. Let's go ahead and move
on to Isaiah Bradley played by Carl Lumbly.

461
00:41:02,856 --> 00:41:07,431
Carl Lumbly is great here. When I was looking
up his... Filmography, I didn't know he has

462
00:41:07,471 --> 00:41:12,475
done a lot of DC voice roles including like
Marsha Manhunter. Oh, yeah and Silas Stone

463
00:41:13,216 --> 00:41:18,260
I thought his performance was pretty great here.
He was super sympathetic You know, especially

464
00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:23,945
when he was telling Sam that he couldn't go
back to prison. Oh, yeah I thought Carl gave

465
00:41:24,025 --> 00:41:29,169
probably the most believable performance in
this movie and that I felt sorry for him But

466
00:41:29,249 --> 00:41:34,213
I also believed that he could kick all kinds
of ass because the guy is massive. He's huge.

467
00:41:34,413 --> 00:41:40,694
Yeah I love the character of Isaiah Bradley
and I think Carl Lumpy does a perfect job portraying

468
00:41:40,734 --> 00:41:45,118
him. He was just perfect in the role, absolutely.
I was surprised that we didn't see his nephew

469
00:41:45,238 --> 00:41:49,822
Eli in this movie because he was in the Falcon
and the Winter Soldier series. And Eli is kind

470
00:41:49,842 --> 00:41:55,807
of a big part of the Young Avengers, which they're
currently setting up with Ms. Marvel and Kate

471
00:41:55,847 --> 00:42:00,611
Bishop's Hawkeye. Although I heard that they're
going to call that project the Champions instead

472
00:42:00,651 --> 00:42:05,507
of Young Avengers in order to protect the Avengers
brand. Like I would have actually loved to

473
00:42:05,527 --> 00:42:11,334
have seen Sam Wilson form the Young Avengers.
Why? Because he's a good mentor. I can see

474
00:42:11,354 --> 00:42:16,861
that. And bringing Eli aboard. Yeah. Maybe they'll
still go that route. We'll see. That does it

475
00:42:16,901 --> 00:42:20,645
for all the characters I want to discuss, though.
So let's go ahead and move into our story highlights.

476
00:42:28,398 --> 00:42:34,040
Where fantasies collide and heroes clash, one
podcast network rises above the rest. Prepare

477
00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:39,783
yourself for the ultimate showdowns in comic
books, video games, movies, and anime. The

478
00:42:39,843 --> 00:42:45,606
Dynomic Podcast Network presents Konsole Kombat,
where video game legends brawl every Monday.

479
00:42:46,127 --> 00:42:52,622
Dynamic Duel, where comic book titans smash
every Tuesday. Max Destruction. TV and action

480
00:42:52,663 --> 00:42:58,670
heroes battle every Wednesday, and Sendro World,
where anime champions clash every Thursday.

481
00:42:59,150 --> 00:43:04,176
Join us as we speculate on the matches and armed
with the power of mathematical simulations,

482
00:43:04,416 --> 00:43:11,305
discover who will emerge victorious. Visit dynamicpodcast.com,
where we settle the debate and settle the score.

483
00:43:15,623 --> 00:43:20,427
Former General and Defense Secretary Thunderbolt
Ross wins his bid for presidential election

484
00:43:20,527 --> 00:43:25,191
and gives a speech about ushering an era of
peace together. Five months later, Sam Wilson

485
00:43:25,211 --> 00:43:30,415
as Captain America infiltrates a church in Oaxaca,
Mexico where the Serpent Society holds hostages

486
00:43:30,695 --> 00:43:35,399
while awaiting a buyer for their adamantium
sample stolen from the Japanese. Serpent's

487
00:43:35,459 --> 00:43:40,924
leader, Sidewinder, escapes while Cap fights
Copperhead, and Joaquin Torres recovers the

488
00:43:40,964 --> 00:43:47,312
adamantium as the new Falcon. Wait, Copperhead,
that's who he fought? Yeah, that guy was Copperhead.

489
00:43:47,833 --> 00:43:53,737
And another cameo, the leader of the Navy Seals
who barges in after that fight against Copperhead.

490
00:43:54,157 --> 00:44:00,261
His name is Dennis Dumphy and that is D-Man
from the comic books, the Avenger D-Man, Demolition

491
00:44:00,301 --> 00:44:07,126
Man, as he's also known. Where the stinky guy?
Yeah, the stinky guy. Oh, they killed D-Man

492
00:44:07,166 --> 00:44:12,349
in this movie? Yeah, which is a shame. He got
his own Lego film recently, which I still have

493
00:44:12,369 --> 00:44:16,436
yet to see. but it really makes me want to go
watch that now. You know, I'm not a huge fan

494
00:44:16,456 --> 00:44:20,779
of D-Man, but it is kind of a nice Easter egg.
No, I actually love that Easter egg. That was

495
00:44:20,799 --> 00:44:25,883
great casting too. Yeah, he looks just like
him, huh? Totally. I think the fight against

496
00:44:25,943 --> 00:44:31,366
Copperhead, as I stated earlier, really served
as a great contrast between the type of Captain

497
00:44:31,386 --> 00:44:36,130
America that Sam Wilson is in comparison to
Steve Rogers. Yeah, I think Steve Rogers would

498
00:44:36,150 --> 00:44:41,113
have destroyed that guy in like three seconds,
but with Sam, he gets stabbed like six times.

499
00:44:41,626 --> 00:44:46,229
We'll say twice. We'll say he gets stabbed twice.
He still brought the guy down. And you know

500
00:44:46,269 --> 00:44:52,975
what? If that guy had a jetpack, it would have
been over like that. Okay. President Ross visits

501
00:44:52,995 --> 00:44:58,379
his wife's grave and laments losing touch with
his daughter Betty, promising to change. Sam

502
00:44:58,419 --> 00:45:02,843
takes Joaquin to Baltimore to train with Isaiah
Bradley, a Korean war veteran and test subject

503
00:45:02,883 --> 00:45:07,287
in the government's efforts to recreate the
super soldier serum. Isaiah objects to Sam

504
00:45:07,347 --> 00:45:13,011
working with President Ross when he gets invited
to a but he accompanies Sam and Joaquin to

505
00:45:13,051 --> 00:45:18,594
the event. At the White House, President Ross
asks Sam to reform the Avengers, and during

506
00:45:18,634 --> 00:45:24,458
his speech, he announces a treaty between the
US, India, France, and Japan to govern the

507
00:45:24,498 --> 00:45:29,861
mining and worldwide distribution of adamantium,
a new element discovered from the emergence

508
00:45:29,941 --> 00:45:36,225
of Tiamat the Celestial, which the world now
calls Celestial Island. When the song Mr. Blue

509
00:45:36,265 --> 00:45:41,256
plays, Isaiah suddenly shoots at the president,
along with several other secret service guards.

510
00:45:41,836 --> 00:45:46,819
Sam and the Secret Service chase Isaiah down
and he denies knowledge of the attack. I thought

511
00:45:46,839 --> 00:45:52,903
it was really cool that they had Sam training
with a super soldier and a former Captain America

512
00:45:53,243 --> 00:45:57,846
like Isaiah Bradley. I thought that was perfect.
I loved seeing him training with him. Yeah,

513
00:45:58,026 --> 00:46:03,529
it was good foreshadowing to have that like
beast of a man try to hit Sam and like missing.

514
00:46:04,054 --> 00:46:08,036
Considering that at the end of the movie Sam
would be going up against the Hulk. He was

515
00:46:08,056 --> 00:46:11,639
a lot bigger and stronger But you know there
was at least precedent there that they had

516
00:46:11,699 --> 00:46:16,602
established that Sam's really good at dodging.
Yeah, he's really agile I really liked the

517
00:46:16,883 --> 00:46:21,526
Easter egg that they had with the mr. Blue song
the trigger song. Oh, yeah That was a nice

518
00:46:21,546 --> 00:46:27,250
shout out that I hope fans spotted because mr.
Blue was Samuel Stern's alias while he was

519
00:46:27,290 --> 00:46:33,690
corresponding with mr. Green who was Bruce Banner
from the Incredible Hulk film Yeah, exactly.

520
00:46:33,710 --> 00:46:37,431
While they were trying to develop a cure for
him. I noticed that I thought that was really

521
00:46:37,471 --> 00:46:42,092
cool. Believing that Isaiah was manipulated
into attacking the president, Sam approaches

522
00:46:42,152 --> 00:46:47,854
Ross in his presidential bunker, asking to investigate
the matter. Believing that Sam lacks objectivity,

523
00:46:48,234 --> 00:46:53,356
Ross tells him to stand down and instead assigns
his security advisor, Ruth Batsaraf, to the

524
00:46:53,376 --> 00:46:59,586
case. Sam visits Isaiah in prison, who is convinced
he'll now die behind bars. While discussing

525
00:46:59,606 --> 00:47:04,150
the investigation with Joaquin on a call, Sam
is attacked by Sidewinder, who reveals the

526
00:47:04,190 --> 00:47:10,175
false buyer calculated where Sam would be. Sam
defeats Sidewinder and has him arrested. Did

527
00:47:10,195 --> 00:47:14,098
you think it was weird that they didn't have
the line from the trailer when President Ross

528
00:47:14,118 --> 00:47:18,902
tells them you're no Steve Rogers and Sam responds
with you're right, I'm not? I can see why they

529
00:47:18,982 --> 00:47:23,085
used it in the marketing and maybe they meant
to include it in the film, but I can understand

530
00:47:23,225 --> 00:47:28,229
why they left it out of the movie because it
was kind of like President Ross's final word,

531
00:47:28,249 --> 00:47:33,267
you know. If Sam had contended that he's not,
then I feel like it would have furthered the

532
00:47:33,348 --> 00:47:37,389
argument discussion when really all that was
said needed to be said at that point. It really

533
00:47:37,429 --> 00:47:42,672
made me wonder like what else was cut from this
film and how drastically it was changed and

534
00:47:42,712 --> 00:47:47,554
reshoots, because we know that Kevin Feige did
have to come in and retool this movie. Yeah,

535
00:47:47,634 --> 00:47:51,835
initially it didn't test well. So they switched
some things up. I don't know. I couldn't tell

536
00:47:51,855 --> 00:47:57,010
you how much was cut. The Sidewinder attack
when it happened in the street scene. scared

537
00:47:57,030 --> 00:48:01,512
the shit out of me. Like I was not anticipating
it. I jumped out of my seat because it was

538
00:48:01,552 --> 00:48:06,795
just so sudden, like a car accident almost.
I thought the actor Giancarlo Esposito absolutely

539
00:48:06,875 --> 00:48:10,777
nailed the role, though. Do you know what Sam
was pouring on the batteries to make them like

540
00:48:10,857 --> 00:48:15,580
emit that acid cloud? It looked like it was
bleach or something like that. I don't know.

541
00:48:15,600 --> 00:48:19,702
All I know is that it looked toxic as hell.
And I wouldn't have wanted to breathe any of

542
00:48:19,722 --> 00:48:25,005
that in or fight in that location. I did think
it was badass, though, when he put up the smoke

543
00:48:25,045 --> 00:48:30,053
screen. and then threw the dagger into Sidewinder's
chest and then drop kick the shit out of him

544
00:48:30,454 --> 00:48:34,637
into the car windshield. Yeah, both of them
got stabbed like six times. What is up with

545
00:48:34,697 --> 00:48:39,882
you and getting stabbed six times? Are you trying
to tell me something? Yeah, Sam got stabbed

546
00:48:39,902 --> 00:48:47,188
like six times. Overall, through the course
of the movie, maybe. Yeah, for sure here. President

547
00:48:47,228 --> 00:48:51,551
Ross learns that the Japanese are backing out
of his treaty and that Samuel Stearns, whom

548
00:48:51,591 --> 00:48:58,329
Ross kept imprisoned was behind the assassination
attempt. Ruth witnesses Stern use guards at

549
00:48:58,429 --> 00:49:04,054
Isaiah's prison to kill the would-be assassins,
except for Isaiah who was put in solitary confinement.

550
00:49:04,795 --> 00:49:09,739
Sam has Joaquin trace a call from Sidewinder's
phone to Camp Echo 1, where they investigate

551
00:49:10,100 --> 00:49:15,324
and find Samuel Sterns, who uses mind-controlled
prison guards to attack the pair and cover

552
00:49:15,384 --> 00:49:21,674
his escape. In trying to find the words to describe
the leader's mind-control technology, I stumbled

553
00:49:21,714 --> 00:49:27,899
upon an article written by the New York Times
and another one by IGN that a group of South

554
00:49:27,919 --> 00:49:34,604
Korean scientists discovered that they can use
strobing lights to turn on and off brain cells

555
00:49:34,724 --> 00:49:40,589
in the human mind and they use it as a way to
treat neurological disorders. But theoretically,

556
00:49:40,990 --> 00:49:47,215
it could also be used in this weird mind control
way. Oh, thanks. I am now terrified of YouTube.

557
00:49:48,636 --> 00:49:54,328
Yeah, yeah. New Fear Unlocked. I guess it would
explain why you're not a huge fan of this movie,

558
00:49:54,348 --> 00:49:58,411
because you've been mind controlled by too much
television. I think that makes sense now. I

559
00:49:58,431 --> 00:50:03,656
can't even deny it. I don't know if that's true.
It could be true. President Ross flies to Tokyo

560
00:50:03,696 --> 00:50:08,540
to convince the Japanese prime minister to sign
the treaty, but the PM provides evidence that

561
00:50:08,600 --> 00:50:14,185
Ross ordered the theft of Japan's adamantium
sample. Sam meets with Navy SEAL Dennis Dumphy

562
00:50:14,225 --> 00:50:19,109
to interrogate Sidewinder and learns that the
leader hired the Serpent Society through the

563
00:50:19,149 --> 00:50:25,343
CIA. in an effort to destroy Ross's reputation.
Sam and Joaquin shut down Stern's mind control

564
00:50:25,383 --> 00:50:30,625
tech, but not before he gets two US pilots to
attack the Japanese fleet in the Indian Ocean

565
00:50:31,065 --> 00:50:36,506
near Celestial Island. Sam and Joaquin rendezvous
with President Ross, who orders Sam and Joaquin

566
00:50:36,526 --> 00:50:41,628
to intercept the mind controlled pilots. They
manage to subdue them in a dogfight, convincing

567
00:50:41,668 --> 00:50:47,049
the Japanese to stand down, though Joaquin is
critically injured. My favorite part of the

568
00:50:47,109 --> 00:50:53,643
dogfight. was when Sam used Red Wing to hold
the Captain America shield. So it provided

569
00:50:53,723 --> 00:50:59,225
protection from behind as Sam was being chased
by the pilot. I thought that was fucking awesome.

570
00:50:59,605 --> 00:51:03,546
I giggled like a little kid with Glee when I
saw that. Yeah, Red Wing just continues to

571
00:51:03,586 --> 00:51:09,228
be one of the coolest characters in the MCU,
I would argue, a drone character that you could

572
00:51:09,248 --> 00:51:13,709
like communicate with. That's just awesome.
Drones are dope. As much as I love Red Wing

573
00:51:13,749 --> 00:51:19,607
from the comic books. you know, an actual falcon.
The adaptation of him as a drone in these movies

574
00:51:19,747 --> 00:51:24,328
is too damn cool to shit on. I even like how
they used him in the final battle against the

575
00:51:24,368 --> 00:51:29,170
Hulk as like a ongoing distraction, shooting
him with lasers and bullets at the same time.

576
00:51:29,650 --> 00:51:36,132
Yeah, like flashbangs, that was really cool.
Yeah, yeah. I want a red wing. So do I. Ross

577
00:51:36,172 --> 00:51:41,153
reveals to Sam that he made a deal with Stearns
to have him cure his heart condition in exchange

578
00:51:41,193 --> 00:51:45,191
for a release from prison. but then reneged
on the deal out of fear that he would stop

579
00:51:45,211 --> 00:51:50,434
making his heart medication, and that Stearns
was seeking revenge for that. Sam questions

580
00:51:50,474 --> 00:51:54,996
himself while visiting Joaquin at the Walter
Reed National Medical Center, but is reassured

581
00:51:55,036 --> 00:52:00,920
by Bucky, who's running for Congress, and asserts
to Sam that he's upholding Steve's legacy well.

582
00:52:00,980 --> 00:52:05,302
It was kind of wild to me that Bucky was too
busy running for Congress to help out his friend.

583
00:52:05,642 --> 00:52:09,304
Well by that point there was nothing to help
with in that exact moment. It was kind of like

584
00:52:09,344 --> 00:52:13,283
the situation was resolved at that point. even
though the leader was still out there, but

585
00:52:13,343 --> 00:52:17,666
you know, Ross hadn't turned into the Red Hulk
yet. And we hadn't had the second climax by

586
00:52:17,706 --> 00:52:23,370
that point. Do you think that felt tacked on
then? No, I don't think so. Does Bucky run

587
00:52:23,390 --> 00:52:28,214
for Congress in the comics? No, not to my knowledge.
No, he doesn't start a political career or

588
00:52:28,274 --> 00:52:33,038
anything. So this is pretty unique to the movies.
You know, it does seem like he eventually goes

589
00:52:33,118 --> 00:52:37,541
back to being a superhero though, as we'll see
in the upcoming Thunderbolts movie. So I don't

590
00:52:37,561 --> 00:52:43,073
know if... He's like a superhero congressman,
or if he loses his election, or what happens

591
00:52:43,093 --> 00:52:47,636
there. That's kind of weird, I feel like. Yeah,
a little bit. We'll see where it goes. Back

592
00:52:47,656 --> 00:52:51,618
in Washington, President Ross gets a phone call
from his daughter Betty before going to the

593
00:52:51,658 --> 00:52:56,802
White House lawn for a press conference about
the treaty. Stearns visits Sam at the Medical

594
00:52:56,842 --> 00:53:01,605
Center to admonish him for ruining his plans
regarding the treaty and is apprehended, but

595
00:53:01,645 --> 00:53:06,729
warns that Ross is still in danger. During the
briefing, audio is played over the speakers

596
00:53:06,789 --> 00:53:11,747
of Ross' call with Stearns, implicating him
in his dealings with the villain. Enraged,

597
00:53:11,867 --> 00:53:17,029
Ross turns into the Red Hulk and Sam flies in
to stop him. Red Hulk destroys much of the

598
00:53:17,049 --> 00:53:21,311
White House before Sam can take the battle first
to the Washington Monument and then Hanes Point

599
00:53:21,371 --> 00:53:25,873
at the Cherry Blossom Grove. Though Sam gets
his suit destroyed, he uses his counseling

600
00:53:25,913 --> 00:53:30,575
skills to appeal to the Red Hulk's love for
his daughter, Betty, represented by the cherry

601
00:53:30,595 --> 00:53:36,257
blossom trees, and Ross reverts to his human
form. As much as you hate that moment, I really

602
00:53:36,297 --> 00:53:41,511
liked the line during the fight, when Sam was
like, Bucky's line was bullshit. I should have

603
00:53:41,531 --> 00:53:45,333
taken the serum. Yeah, that was the funniest
line of the whole movie I thought. What I don't

604
00:53:45,353 --> 00:53:51,315
understand is why when the Red Hulk arrived
in the cherry blossom Grove, his D transformation

605
00:53:51,335 --> 00:53:54,636
didn't work then. And Sam was like, dang it,
I thought this was gonna work or something

606
00:53:54,676 --> 00:53:59,538
like that. And then all of a sudden, for some
reason, it did work just at this random moment.

607
00:53:59,899 --> 00:54:05,341
You're not wrong. Sam did try to appeal to Ross's
love for his daughter when he first brought

608
00:54:05,361 --> 00:54:11,336
him into the cherry blossom Grove. It wasn't
until after he like detonated all of that kinetic

609
00:54:11,416 --> 00:54:16,559
energy into the Red Hulk that he kind of stunned
the creature. And then for some reason, it

610
00:54:16,599 --> 00:54:20,401
worked, I think maybe because he was able to
stun the creature and kind of brought him out

611
00:54:20,421 --> 00:54:24,343
of that rage that he was finally able to get
through to him, because I don't think Red Hulk

612
00:54:24,363 --> 00:54:29,166
was listening the first time. But he wasn't
even stunned. Like he got up and he was still

613
00:54:29,286 --> 00:54:33,948
angry. He was still Red Hulk. I think he was
a little bit stunned. Like that's a lot of

614
00:54:33,968 --> 00:54:40,151
kinetic energy that those wings absorbed. Debatable.
How is that debatable? That he was stunned.

615
00:54:40,632 --> 00:54:46,474
Oh. I mean, that's what you have to go with.
I refuse! Don't be a stubborn asshole. Sam

616
00:54:46,494 --> 00:54:51,157
visits the prison where Isaiah is exonerated
and freed, and then visits Ross in the Raft

617
00:54:51,217 --> 00:54:56,419
Prison where it's revealed that though the Adamantium
Treaty was ratified, Ross took responsibility

618
00:54:56,439 --> 00:55:01,241
for his actions and resigned as president. His
daughter Betty also stops by to visit him.

619
00:55:01,730 --> 00:55:05,931
Sam then visits Joaquin in the hospital where
he reassures him that though it can feel like

620
00:55:05,951 --> 00:55:10,713
you have to be perfect as a hero, it's more
about doing your best. He invites him to join

621
00:55:10,773 --> 00:55:16,136
the New Avengers. In a post-credit scene, the
leader tells Sam that he has calculated that

622
00:55:16,176 --> 00:55:22,699
a war between worlds is coming. Which was super
vague, like super safe. I didn't love it. I

623
00:55:22,759 --> 00:55:27,881
especially didn't love the dialogue. See, this
is a joke. No joke from you. I would think

624
00:55:28,061 --> 00:55:33,984
would be funny because you. hurt people. I don't
know, something stupid like that. I do think

625
00:55:34,024 --> 00:55:38,466
it's good that, you know, how many movies are
we into the multiversal saga? And it seems

626
00:55:38,506 --> 00:55:43,669
like outside of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange,
no one really on Earth even seems to know about

627
00:55:43,709 --> 00:55:48,712
the multiverse. So as a concept, the multiversal
thing seems late to the party. But Leader's

628
00:55:48,732 --> 00:55:52,734
statement was a good way, I think, to get the
ball rolling, at least with the new Avengers

629
00:55:52,774 --> 00:55:53,855
team that's going to be formed.

630
00:55:59,674 --> 00:56:06,418
or other people in their universe, like incursions.
Other people in other worlds that they would

631
00:56:06,458 --> 00:56:12,422
have to be fighting. So like villains in other
universes. Okay. And maybe specifically he

632
00:56:12,462 --> 00:56:16,824
was even talking about Dr. Doom or Kang since
we don't know what's happening with that officially

633
00:56:16,884 --> 00:56:21,387
yet. I would have loved a mid credit scene.
I think as Devin Davis, one of our executive

634
00:56:21,427 --> 00:56:27,631
producers stated, it was strange to have two
of Hulk's big villains in a movie and not have

635
00:56:27,671 --> 00:56:32,674
the Hulk himself show up at least once. That's
what I was saying earlier. No one listens to

636
00:56:32,694 --> 00:56:37,818
what you say ever. I'm saying the movie would
have been better with the Hulk cameo. And sure,

637
00:56:37,858 --> 00:56:44,162
make it mid credits, that's fine. I think overall
the movie was good. I really liked it. I enjoyed

638
00:56:44,202 --> 00:56:50,767
my time in the theater and I think it lived
up to my expectations. The film admirably coheres

639
00:56:50,847 --> 00:56:56,502
some of the Marvel's best continuity while delivering
on, you know, political thriller elements that

640
00:56:56,522 --> 00:57:03,206
we expect from the Captain America franchise.
In all, I'm giving it 4 stars out of 5 and

641
00:57:03,246 --> 00:57:10,610
giving it a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
I disagree. I don't think it's 4 stars. I think

642
00:57:10,630 --> 00:57:14,972
there's problems with the whole continuity considering
a lot of people haven't done their homework.

643
00:57:15,413 --> 00:57:19,435
That's not my concern. I think there are problems
with the action. I think there were problems

644
00:57:19,515 --> 00:57:23,977
with the villains in the story and the way both
of them were defeated. I think there was problems

645
00:57:23,997 --> 00:57:29,941
with the... the acting and the editing and the
direction and the budget. I do not think this

646
00:57:29,961 --> 00:57:34,863
is a four star film. I think it's a three star
film, maybe three and a half, but definitely

647
00:57:34,904 --> 00:57:41,647
not a four. And yet you gave the Flash four
and a half stars. OK, OK. Hey, hey, I'm sorry.

648
00:57:44,749 --> 00:57:49,772
I was young and immature and I changed my ways.
I don't think you have. I don't think you have.

649
00:57:50,272 --> 00:57:56,670
But let us know what you guys thought about
the movie. AJ9K, help close this out. Thanks

650
00:57:56,690 --> 00:58:02,071
for listening to Dynamic Duel. Visit the show's
website at dynamicDuel.com and follow us on

651
00:58:02,131 --> 00:58:08,613
Instagram at dynamicDuelpodcast. You can support
the show on Patreon at patreon.com slash dynamicDuel

652
00:58:08,753 --> 00:58:12,954
and joining a tier that works for you, or by
rating and reviewing Dynamic Duel on Apple

653
00:58:12,994 --> 00:58:18,596
Podcasts, Spotify, Podchaser or on our website.
Don't forget to listen to the other shows in

654
00:58:18,616 --> 00:58:24,157
the DynaMic Podcast Network, including Max
Destruction, Senjow World and Konsole Kombat.

655
00:58:25,822 --> 00:58:33,064
In our next episode, we are doing a team duel
between Darksides elite. So like Calaback and

656
00:58:33,084 --> 00:58:39,287
Granny Goodness and Dasad and Steppenwolf against
Thanos's Black Order, which you may recall

657
00:58:39,407 --> 00:58:45,750
from the Infinity War films. Right. Yeah, it's
people like Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, Proxima

658
00:58:45,790 --> 00:58:51,472
Midnight. It's Thanos's team versus Darksides
team. And this was a battle chosen by our executive

659
00:58:51,512 --> 00:58:57,115
producers. And I'm really interested in a rematch
between Darkseid and Thanos. If you guys haven't

660
00:58:57,155 --> 00:59:02,239
listened to that Duel episode, definitely check
that out before listening to next week's. But

661
00:59:02,259 --> 00:59:06,923
that does it for this episode. We wanna give
a big thanks to our executive producers, Ken

662
00:59:06,943 --> 00:59:12,187
Johnson, John Strausky, Zachary Hepburn, Dustin
Balcom, Miggy Mathagean, Brandon Estregarden,

663
00:59:12,367 --> 00:59:18,312
Nathaniel Wagner, Levi Yeaton, Austin Wieselowski,
AJ Dunkerley, Nick Ibbonto, Scott Camacho,

664
00:59:18,572 --> 00:59:24,977
Gil Camacho, Adam Spies, Dean Molesky, Devin
Davis, Joseph Kirsting, Josh Leiner, Mike Williams,

665
00:59:25,390 --> 00:59:29,815
and Oscar Galvez for helping make this podcast
possible. We'll talk to you guys next week.

666
00:59:30,276 --> 00:59:31,918
Up up and away, true believers.