Moon Knight & Marvel Phase Four - Ep. 54 of Intentionally Blank

[@spoonamus7300]

I'd love to see Dan find a really unbelievable food heist, then write his own fictional food heist, and then present both to Brandon and have him guess which is real.

[@ArifRWinandar]

"This is Intentionally Blank and we are playing One Of These People Is Lying!"

[@xxMordredxxx]

The monster might tip him off

[@ewitsdonovan]

From what I'm hearing, we need to get Oscar Isaac to play Shallan.

[@purusingh6085]

Lmfao perfect casting...

[@Euphoniumstar]

I am so in

[@NightSpire33]

Seconded!

[@notthis9586]

Would that mean Adolin gets changed to Adeline? XD

[@Jim_boe]

@@notthis9586 naw, modern media requires lgbtq+ to be a part of the main cast in any visual media

[@chrisashford3379]

"4 year-olds can't pull off a heist." That's what they want you to think, Mr. Sanderson...

[@aerynmusick4548]

Doesn’t anyone remember Rugrats?

[@fatedcypress9222]

Concerning Wandavision: I actually didn’t see Wanda come to terms with her grief at the end. I saw her realize that the life she created was a fantasy, and that the Darkhold could make that fantasy a reality. I say this because of the final scene with Wanda and Vision when they basically say that they could meet again someday. Once Wanda discovers the multiverse via the Darkhold, the possibility of her fantasy becoming reality increases exponentially, to the point where it consumes her. That’s my take on it.

[@schroederscurrentevents3844]

It’s debatable whether or not it was, but it’s not debatable that it was presented that way. In order to work well, we needed to see her fall down again, stumble down that path, have setup.

[@fatedcypress9222]

@@schroederscurrentevents3844 I don’t believe it was necessary NEEDED but it would have been beneficial to the story for sure. I can see how some would find a disconnect between the series and MoM and feel left wanting. Personally, I don’t think it’s surprising that Wanda fell again, especially once we saw her using the Darkhold at the end of Wandavision. All in all, it would have been beneficial to MoM if we got a scene/montage of Wanda’s descent, but I don’t believe it was needed.

[@zuwr]

Brandon, you really need to see Everything everywhere all at once just so I can hear your opinion about its multiverse!

[@robbybevard8034]

@@deadeaded I am thirding this.

[@ryanehredt1446]

Yeah I think taking a hard stance against every multiverse story is a mistake. The concept is scientifically relevant and so is well worth exploring, especially given it's prevalence in comic books. Having a multiverse doesn't destroy the emotional impact, because every person is still unique and worth care and mourning

[@GoldenMechaTiger]

@@ryanehredt1446 it's not a mistake. He is correct that it is very difficult to do properly

[@Duiker36]

@@ryanehredt1446 There's nothing scientific about the multiverse as depicted in entertainment. Not even hard sci-fi gets it right. But EEAOO does do the multiverse right, because its inciting incident kinda makes it *not* a multiverse.

[@ryanehredt1446]

@@GoldenMechaTiger something being difficult doesn't mean it's not worthwhile, just that it takes skill and tact

[@PolPaniagua]

Just want to say that Brandon mirrors my thoughts about multiverses in general, so often it feels like a bad plot device that makes everything inconsequential

[@robbybevard8034]

Brandon, regardless of your opinion about multiverses, you need to see Everything Everywhere All at One. It's a fantastic handling of the concept for reasons I don't care to spoil. Don't even watch the trailer if you can avoid it. The trailer just spoils a bunch of clips without context, and tells you what its about without telling you anything about what its about. it's probably aided by the fact that its a standalone film using the concept for a single narrative... rather than a decades old franchise using it to refresh existing concepts.

[@1993greeksoldier]

Seconded, I watched it last week and it quickly became one of my favorite movies

[@sntxrrr]

Wandavision was fantastic. But the one thing that upset me was in the last 15 minutes when Monica just cheers for Wanda instead of trying to persuade her to turn herself in to face the (legal) consequences of what she did to all those people and offer to support her in that process. That Wanda wonders off and doesn't take responsibility for her actions I can understand for where they wanted to go with her but Monica did not have that excuse. She could have been both supportive of Wanda but still seek justice for the townspeople.

[@sadee4175]

Dan: Do crime! Brandon: nope don't

[@speedypersonal]

This quickly became my favourite podcast, it's great to see two amazing writers nerd out on what they enjoy. Thank you.

[@kindrednerdsunited7513]

I'm starting moon knight I'm very happy Oscar Issac is a great actor can't wait to see him do something else he is so good

[@iamthe80s49]

As someone with schizophrenia and what you would probably call DID I would like to say two things. Firstly, I know it is the trend to call demographics communities, but people with my condition or similar conditions are not a community. We are a bunch of random people out there in the world. We don't have conventions, we don't hang out (unless institutionalized), we are just outsiders within the greater community. Secondly, I don't feel we are harmed by inaccurate depictions, even if our conditions are depicted sensationally. It comes with the territory that we will not be understood by most people. My career, for example, would be ruined if my workplace were to find out about it even though I'm great at my job. People just don't understand mental illness at this level. Even you who try to understand only understand in a remote way. It would be so mean of me to expect you to both understand my peculiar life, and to cripple your storytelling by writing a character that is limited by your remote understanding of conditions like mine. I say don't stress; it's okay to get it wrong, way wrong, and tell a good story that will be enjoyed. Personally, I get a kick out of seeing characters the resemble what I've lived with, even if it's not 100% accurate.

[@emosongsandreadalongs]

Thank you so much! I was starting to think I was the only one tired of hearing about how "dangerous" and "harmful" inaccurate depictions are

[@ayoo_wassup]

If you're interested in conversation about the topic. Isn't the fact that your job would be ruined if your work found out partially a result of this sensationalism? Or would you not say so? I think it shows self assurance to have your viewpoint in personally not caring. I have crazy ocd, like bad. Not like I clean too much. But it ruined my life for a while bad. Most people trivialize ocd and I don't mind at all. I agree being overly preachy about something you don't deal with can come off annoying though, and I think malicious backlash for misinterpretation of a sensitive subject is overboard too.

[@FatedHandJonathon]

I think you’re using the word “understand” to conflate “comprehend” with “sympathize”. Inaccurate depictions of mental illness, especially those that characterize the mentally ill as dangerous, have a potential to strongly damage society’s ability to sympathize with them. It’s true that the neurotypical can never truly comprehend what mental illness feels like, but they don have to comprehend someone to treat them with humanity. I don’t understand fashion, and I’m sure that there are plenty of others out there like me. But suppose a lot those people and I happened to work at a company, and one of our coworkers came out as a fashionista. Do you think that person would have their career ruined, just because we didn’t understand their life? No, and I’d argue that that’s at least partly because we haven’t been bombarded from birth with messaging that fashionistas are dangerous and violent.

[@LordVoltrex]

Yesss, love these MCU discussions. I could listen forever.

[@taneelbrightblade6622]

"I don't think Harrow is a good villain," sums up all the issues in this series. Moon knight's issues were much more riveting than the Egyptian magic imo

[@emilormasenvallersnes4016]

I liked the egyptian magic as well. However, it would have been preferable as background world building, and not used as the reasons behind the motivation of the villian

[@None38389]

I feel like I would've enjoyed Moon Knight a lot more if I haven't seen Legion, Moon Knight to me is just everything I love about Legion but to a lesser extent.

[@justareader____]

That and the plot holes and shoddy worldbuilding…0

[@Loomx5]

Moonknight was Carried by Oscar Isaac and Moon Knight himself being a very interesting and well executed character. But the rest of it was just kinda... mehhh

[@danyf7429]

Agreed, and I think this is only reinforced when looking at the only times when the Magic did work and felt interesting: I think it worked perfectly when we saw how it interacted with Moonknight's issues. Like the afterlife and the different powers of the different personalities. It was great when we saw it interacting with and through the MC. Otherwise, it felt like an "Oh yeah! The magic, oops"

[@jamesporrell5687]

No more food heists!? Well now; there’s only one option remaining to us… Dan, we must team up and begin heisting like we’ve never heisted before. We shall endeavor to Robin Hood our way through every major food group, until there are more food heists to share than starving children!

[@chiokjarse]

In case it hasn't been pointed out. Mr Monster by Dan Wells is on Bruno's bookshelf in Ms Marvel episode 3. That book officially exists in the MCU.

[@johanneshermansson7630]

On the point of Loki disregarding the infinity stones, I think that was a natural way to acknowledge the MCU as a living, moving world where giant changes in status quo can happen. It doesn't invalidate the past, it moves on from it to raise the current stakes. Did it make the stakes of infinity war somewhat less relevant for the current world? Yes, but we've had 10 years of film where that wasn't the case. Those years are still valuable and the emotions we felt for the characters then are still valuable and real. This action both raises stakes and makes the MCU feel non-static, and I think that's a good thing.

[@iannelson5542]

One of my favorite parts of Falcon and the Winter Soldier is the dynamic and philosophical points Baron Zemo brings to the Falcon in particular. One of his biggest points is that having super humans is inherently playing into ideologies of supremacism. That this power (with Steve Rogers being the exception, he says) is corrupting and will be used for unjust, immoral reasons. I think Zemo’s philosophy is important for the Falcon as the new Capt. America since he’s not a super-human. He’s the same as everyone else. I totally agree John Walker (though arrogant) was trying his as Captain America, but I think in the context of of Zemo’s points, him snapping and murdering that man (who was surrendering) makes it a lot more poignant. Although, I do fully admit that I’m biased because I love Zemo as a villain and I think Daniel Bruhl kills it in that role so I might be defending it more than I should purely for that reason.

[@drewforchic9083]

MOON KNIGHT FINALE SPOILERS I agree with what Brandon is talking about towards the beginning about DID shouldn't be treated like a Jekyll-and-Hyde situation where an alter is just a cover for a serial killer. I really hope that they (and do think they will, based on how well they've done so far) treat the third secret alter of Jake Lockley respectfully without falling into that, though I can see how he, being depicted so far as the most murderous, is riskier. I bet they'll have him form as an alter after Mark's time in the military or as a mercenary, as a personality who is numb to or even embraces the violence, as a way for Mark to cope with potential PTSD from his time fighting. Basically, mild-mannered Steven is a coping mechanism for the violence directed at him as a child, while violent Jake is a coping mechanism for the violence has forced to perpetuate as an adult. Really hope they handle it well in a potential season 2

[@robbybevard8034]

There's some solid examples of follow up movies instantly sabotaging themselves by disregarding the previous film, and ALien 3 is a fantastic example... but Muppets isn't really. It's pretty much a tradition of every film in the franchise to disregard the previous ones and treat the characters as actors rather than any sort of ongoing story. The very first Muppet explicitly said within itself "this isn't really how the Muppets got together, its just a movie version." The second movie opens with a song number about how "Hey, this is gonna be a movie!" and was a detective story that had Fozzie and Kermit as twin brothers! The third movie had Kermit and Piggy get married and that never came up again. Christmas Carol, Treasure Island, Wizard of Oz, all specials clearly not meant to be any part of continuity but just "this is a standalone movie... with Muppet actors." Muppets Most Wanted acknowledging the previous movie at all was mostly a concession to how well it financially and what it did as a soft reboot, and the cover the fact Walter was now a regular. But blatantly breaking the fourth wall and saying the previous outing was just a movie is 100% Muppets going back to the beginning.

[@superiorgo2368]

“Kids can’t pull of heists.” Says the guys who each have series about hyper -capable brilliant children.

[@ThompsonBrosStudios]

I've heard that for Falcon and the Winter Soldier they had a plot involving a post blip pandemic that they cut out because of Covid. It might explain some of the chopped up story.

[@haldalas]

I kinda get the reasoning but also I feel like that’s a somewhat dumb response.

[@justareader____]

The story was dumb regardless. So many nonsense fight scenes too

[@trojanfan4321]

Love your videos together! As I am re-reading The Wheel of Time, I would enjoy seeing you discuss the books in order, from your favorite moments and how you initially reacted to different scenes. But I know that would take a lot of prep work!

[@reillyliner]

The Last Jedi committed the Newt offense. Force Awakens left fans hyper excited for Luke Skywalker. Last Jedi begins with him betraying everything we love in the character and throwing the lightsaber over his shoulder. And it never recovered.

[@samreenshaikh2361]

I cracked up so bad at selfie 😂😂 because her name is Sylvie but it was such a convincing mix up that for a millisecond I was like wait.... that's right but not right

[@P_Rodd]

I didn't know food heists were a thing until this show and I thank you for them.

[@clag1109]

I just was listening to the Intentionally Blank saga of them reviewing Arcane, and got very excited when I heard them mention Moon Knight. I haven’t gotten around to watching it yet but I’m pretty excited. To both watch the MK show and to listen to this podcast I guess lmao

[@Lazergician]

Great talk! I like the discussion on how Wandavision ended a lot. A point of feedback - if possible, timestamps or chapters would be really nice here so I can know where to skip to if I would prefer not to hear the discussion for the shows or movies I haven't seen yet.

[@keepperspective]

So excited to hear Brandon start on the rest of the night… I absolutely loved Legion so it will be interesting to get his perspective.

[@CerebrumMortum]

The wandavision discussion is fascinating. I think Sanderson is right in that, if you only see wandavision, then that's a very satisfying redemption arc. If you ever see Dr Strange and MoM, you look in hindsight and see a very bad supervillain origin story.

[@thelastowlbear8110]

The one multiverse story that I've read that really solves the "there's no consequences" problem is The Chronicles of Amber. While there are infinite shadows of Amber, and they are important and exist and influence things, there's only one Amber. While there are infinite shadows of Corwin there's only one Corwin. While all multiverses use this as a way to look at infinite possibilities and exploration and solutions to problems, only The Chronicles of Amber treats a multiverse like a playground of the gods.

[@jamesporrell5687]

I hope Brandon doesn’t usually read these personally, because I just want to say that Adam is fucking killing it lately. Hope you enjoyed your vacation, and have the next one planned out already!

[@iapetes1]

That newt principle was broken like 10x during Rise of Skywalker lmao

[@diegoadriandlc5273]

The trilogy should ve been called the newt principle starwars

[@iapetes1]

@@diegoadriandlc5273 sure but in fairness when Rian said fuck this dumb ass emperor wannabe, he was right

[@dj_lantn]

I think when Loki finds a bunch of infinity stones it shows how powerful the multiverse power is instead of undermining the other movies

[@garrettbroekhuijsen6068]

Man, it feels so good to have my opinions on Dr. Strange and WandaVision (and honestly Moon Knight too) validated here. Dan and Brandon express it so much better than me, almost as if they made a career of knowing what words to use in what specific scenarios.

[@judyimlay3072]

I like Loki best. Loki got to see the growth of the mainline Loki and then experienced his own growth with his relationship with Mobius and Sylvie to become an even better person than the mainline Loki. The Ragnarok Loki was still more selfish than the one in the Loki series.

[@aredfoot]

I love the amount of time that Brandon talks about muppets recently

[@keepperspective]

I was just listening to Red on OSP make this exact complaint about multi versus, her personal arch nemesis.

[@danamytereads5304]

I feel like Brandon should write a short story of Lift doing a food heist. I mean...she does steal food a lot, but do like a full on food heist. 😛

[@antonphd]

Everything Everywhere All At Once is the multiverse story that not only works, but is magnificent.

[@reillyliner]

Woah woah woah! Winter soldier is one of the best marvel productions. Period. And I took that personally.

[@phillipdenny896]

Jonathon Majors was FANTASTIC in the Loki finale. To Dan's point, though, my fiancée had no idea who the character was because she isn't familiar with the comics, and so the entire episode fell flat for her.

[@dorkyface]

I'm personally surprised by how much you guys like the phase 4 stuff. Wandavision is my favorite, but it has serious problems that sank it for me. First, Rambo is just the worst. She joins team Wanda for literally no reason, and even when it's been revealed that Wanda has been mind-controlling an entire city, she still thinks WANDA is the good guy. Second, Wanda doesn't take any responsibility for her actions. Even though she gave up her mind control, she should still face justice for it. She does a two-minute walk of shame and then leaves. Lastly, the government guy did NOTHING WRONG. He was trying to save an entire town from Wanda's brainwashing, and when she refused to negotiate, he sent in a drone to take her out. Just her. He never even resorted to Nukes, which should give him a gold star by action-genre Military General standards. But no, he's the one that goes to prison, Wanda walks away, and Rambo goes to space. For some reason. If Wandavision was supposed to be a villain origin story, then fine. But the show doesn't present Wanda as a villain when Wanda acted completely like a villain. I do love the "fight" between Vision and Vision turning into a philosophical argument, though. And I completely agree with Brandon about the blond jerk Captain America. He did nothing wrong compared to every other superhero- except that his killing was caught on Camera.

[@coredumperror]

I fundamentally disagree with two major elements of Brandon's rant about Loki. 1. "Nothing the characters we spent 12 years growing to love mattered, because there were 12 Time Stones in a drawer." - An absurd reaction to that joke. The joke says *absolutely nothing of the sort*. It simply hints at there having been *other* stories told about those same characters, which we never saw. 2. "Captain America did nothing heroic, because he was 'reading from a script'". This take is undermined by the *very premise of the show*, which is that *because free will does actually exist*, the TVA prunes realities where decisions were made that don't fit the prime timeline's script, as written by Kang. If these complaints are why Brandon doesn't like multiverses, then I think his entire opinion about multiverses is severely flawed.

[@kbirdartist]

"I want someone breaking into a place and stealing all the gnocchis" oh my god lmao

[@discodecepticon]

Real quick, about Loki. He was always that guy... He was just afraid of showing it. Once he was shown that his true self would be accepted, he had no problem dropping the crap.

[@VandarAlden]

One thing I am loving about Disney right now is the fact that they are weaving many different story telling styles for their overarching universe rather than limiting themselves to movies. This allows them to tell more varied stories that are connected and it means that they are willing to use the right tool to tell the story. Whether that be long seasons or short mini-series or movies. It gives them the flexibility to fill you in with information that doesn't fit in movie as well. It is an idea that is not very widely used but I hope to see it in more series.

[@YourBlackLocal]

Going from movie to TV isn’t a different storytelling style. In fact, I’d say Disney are pretty adamant about their formula to the point the shows just feel like longer movies. Rather than utilising the medium.

[@thegodofalldragons]

It's just a shame the stories aren't that good...

[@VandarAlden]

@@YourBlackLocal I disagree. The medium in and of itself is a style change. Making it episodes changes the pacing. And beyond that each show has felt a little different: Agents of Shield was very much a tv show. Wandavision felt more episodic than some of the other recent tie-ins. The Hawkeye one utilized the episodic nature to segment each as a day counting down to Christmas giving some tension about getting home to his family for Christmas. They may not have utilized all aspects of the TV story-telling medium but they have certainly incorporated elements of them and I feel that each one has suited the story quite well more-so than a movie might have. I do not think I would have enjoyed The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as much if it were a movie. The pacing wouldn't have felt right. I'm curious which shows you are referring to and which you feel like are more longer movies and why because I think a lot of TV shows tell an overarching storyline throughout a season. Sometimes those story-lines are only broken up because you can't get somebody to watch a 16 hour movie but that in and of itself is a style change. Keeping the formula between mediums in my opinion is good because it keeps the story familiar and connected even while the medium is different which requires some difference in how you present it. I wasn't saying that they were changing everything to make it the same as every show. But perhaps you see medium and style as separate things even considering the differences in how a story is presented and received, in which case it may be more of us defining things differently in our heads.

[@VandarAlden]

@@thegodofalldragons Not an opinion shared by everyone. I was thinking about being done with the MCU but I found the short series (I feel like I don't know how to pluralize this properly but I'm too lazy to look it up) to be reinvigorating for me in the series. Art is subjective and it works for some and not for others.

[@stjimmysaddiction1765]

I disagree about loki's newt principle problem for a couple reasons. 1) about the infinity stone gag: they make it clear that they're outside of the timestream, and magic and cosmic powers are tied to their universe, so while in the TVA things are cut off and effectively nullified. Bring them back to their universe and they are back to being crazy. 2) I don't see it as removing free will, the heroes in their universe still had to go through their trauma and make their decisions. They are not effected by other universes getting pruned for deviance.

[@willardlarkinsnow5622]

Here’s the thing I think that makes WandaVision and MoM work. Wanda confronts her grief over Vision. She is able to move past it but only by diverting her focus and energy into a coping mechanism that is falsehood; that is the lie that she has children. She lets go of her grief and gets past Visions death, only to move on to an illusion. And then the darkhold comes in and she becomes corrupted. The grief for Visions death is distinct from the false idea that she has children. That’s why I think it works

[@samanthaa.6055]

I think that Falcon and Winter Soldier wrestled with the most important themes, so that's why it was such a big let down for me. What is America? What does it mean now to be America's hero? You have this almost perfect, super powerful being- should anyone else get that power, knowing that they will fall morally short? That's great stuff. Just not handled well.

[@Ninjaman195]

I'm really curious to see what Bradon thinks of The Endless, which was directed by the brothers who directed the best episodes of Moon Knight

[@NaritaZaraki]

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with the larger point of how we frame the violence committed by the heroes vs. antagonists/villains but in this particular case what John did was straight up an execution. The man he chased down was cornered, on his back, hands up and open in front of his body in the universal I'm unarmed/I surrender pose. He's stopped fighting/resisting and he was unable to run away. And John goes for a kill, not render unconscious, kill. Again, I'm not in disagreement about your larger point but this particular instance is written and framed carefully enough to not allow the circumstances and context of what's being done get overshadowed by the genre that it sits in.

[@zachary37]

This this this.

[@etarckneus9702]

That same guy was holding John so one of his friends could stab John with a knife minutes before that incident and throw a projectile at him seconds before his death, he also had super strength (so you could argue he was still armed). Tho legally he should have been arrested.

[@NaritaZaraki]

@@etarckneus9702 On the super strength issue, that would have more validity for me if John wasn't also super-serumed by that point. But he is (unless I've messed up the timeline in my head please correct me ^_^). And by the point where they are on those stairs, it's a one-on-one altercation. That is a level playing field in terms of strength. And yes, this guy was actively trying to do John harm just minutes ago, they were in a serious fight, but the tide of that fight changed by John's hand. He was defeated and overpowered when John decides to take him out. He definitely should have been arrested.

[@SilvrSavior]

@@NaritaZaraki Did he have super cuffs? I can't recall seeing any of the characters on that raid that had a way to restrain any person with super strength. I'm pretty sure regular cuffs can't hold them and unless I missed a talk about super zip ties, how were they suppose to make the arrest?

[@NaritaZaraki]

@@SilvrSavior Personally, in a world where the Accords and the Raft have been a thing for a few years, I have a very hard time believing that the government did not arm their acting field agent, new shiny Captain America, with some superpower restraining tech. (like the ones we saw used against Steve in Winter Soldier, most likely even more advanced) especially since he wasn't superpowered himself when they gave him the shield. How else are they meant to fill those cells? But even under the assumption that John didn't have that kind of tech. on him at that moment, why not just knock him unconscious? Or even break his legs if we wanna be extreme? Killing him really wasn't John's only option there.

[@YoJesusMorales]

I remember liking the 2nd ep, the 3rd one was the one that gave me a steep decline in quality perspective and then it started climbing again.

[@justareader____]

Climbing? Lol no. The bad worldbuilding/plot holes escalated incredibly.

[@Ruthie888]

So Dan says, "I want people breakin into a place and stealing..." and "be the food heist you wish." Great job, Dan.

[@pyredynasty]

So it’s not volume that makes a thing a heist but the level of planning.

[@thedanielhicks]

At the end of episode 2 of Moon Knight I was thinking it was still going to be phantastical rather than mental illness. Mostly because of the importance of reflections/mirrors in how Steven converses with Mark, and how mirrors are often magical objects in fantasy.

[@Marco_Onyxheart]

I disagree with Brandon's interpretation on Loki, free will, and determinism. Everything they did in the MCU, they did of their own free will. Those particular versions of those characters did it of their own accord. Just the fact that other versions of the characters were wiped out doesn't change the fact that our versions chose to make the sacrifices they did of their own volition. Thus, despite the MCU having been predetermined by Kang, there is actually still free will. Which is an interesting question. Can free will exist in a predetermined universe? The Loki show says yes.

[@SilvrSavior]

I disagree. Is it truly a choice when you were allowed no other choice? If Tony and Steve actually talked out their differences in Civil War then they, and that entire reality, were wiped out and reset. If the rat that released Ant-Man from the quantum realm did not do that, then that reality was destroyed. All the characters in the MCU made choices that are now the only choices they could have made because it was deemed that those were the only choices by Kang.

[@culturewarsdiplomacy]

He Shall Remain was in power because he comes from the time line that these movies are from, so he is making sure his time line happens other versions of that same person Kang The Conqueror would be in charge. The “it was supposed to happen” but they altering time, so it’s not that it actually is suppose to happen it’s propaganda.

[@CrapE_DM]

I'm totally on board with Dan's take on Falcon and the Winter Soldier

[@asmodean3387]

Would love to get Brandon and Dan's opinion on Dark the Netflix show considering its topic and how well done it is to me, especially since it feels like the writers were making a 3 season show from the very beginning.

[@stone7858]

Yes!

[@dericplummer9272]

I am apart of a few Moon Knight groups that have a few people actually with DID also in the group. They are fans of the Moon Knight character in the comics. And while the comics have not also portrayed it well, almost everyone with experience of DID in the group thought it was portrayed really well.

[@MeemBeen]

I can stand the besmirching of LOST's good name no longer. The show was incredibly concise and wrapped up all of its mysteries. If it came out in the streaming age where folks could binge entire season I'm convinced there'd be basically zero confusion. I'm happy to answer any questions and explain any mysteries if anyone feels like I'm exaggerating--I'm really not. The show has no loose ends.

[@SlothFang]

Except the creator has stated several things were left either ambiguous or unanswered so other people could come in to develop stories for those in various forms of media to further spiral into the Lost namesake.

[@MeemBeen]

@@SlothFang Sure, perhaps some parts are a little ambiguous or open to interpretation. But I think we both know that isn't what LOST routinely gets criticized for. People say it has plot-holes, didn't stick the landing, ending had no idea what it was doing, straight up stopped making sense at certain points, or it ended with more questions than answers. All of that is just straight untrue.

[@piccolo113]

26:31 Wait, no...The infinity stones in the drawer aren't a rugpull at all, though. That's a well-established thing that Infinity Gems are nonfunctional rocks outside of their own universe of origin. It is a funny moment, but it isn't meant to undermine anything. It's a reference to the comics as a whole.

[@willardlarkinsnow5622]

I’ve always said WandaVision was the best Disney+ series. So glad Brandon thinks the same. I feel validated lol

[@kaysterae]

Brandon’s statement that Captain America and Iron Man were both wrong in the Civil War Movie caused a huge debate between my husband and I while we were listening to this. I totally agreed with Brandon and my husband was incredulous that anyone would think Captain America was in the wrong. I felt like the movie put the worth of humanity and hero’s rights in a head-to-head battle in an incorrect way. BUT ultimately we came to the conclusion that the plot for the movie was just wrong for the question of who was right. I actually hated that movie and it turned me off of the entire Marvel franchise when I went and saw it in theaters, BUT it got me thinking critically, so that was fun.

[@SnowshoeProductions]

I wasn't too bothered by the existence of a bunch of infinity stones (At least not until Sanderson started digging into the free will!) I think Loki's reaction to seeing the drawer full of stones sold it for me because there's this moment that he realizes none of this matters. The part that I really have to block out is that this Loki isn't the same Loki before he arrives at the TVA, but he isn't the Loki killed by Thanos either. And for Winter Solider (Spoiler alert) I loved it until the end. When they bring Bucky to this moment where he's going to tell this old man what happened to his son. And they fade out for the reaction. They were doing fine, discussing Bucky healing, they made these promises, they talked about some intense stuff, then they didn't go all the way. If you're going to discuss it. DISCUS it. Was it going to be nice and pretty? No. But you brought the character there. Go all the way.

[@drachna]

I don't know if you've talked about it yet, but I think that an interesting topic of conversation for the podcast would be the Starwars EU and legends continuity, and how it was completely undermined and made non-canon by the new Disney canon. That fits in with the Newt Principle Brandon was talking about I think.

[@authorinthedark]

out of food heists? I guess it's time to make some of my own

[@jamesdeciancio9768]

Get Brandon to watch Everything Everywhere All at Once!! The ultimate multiverse movie

[@baconboy1547]

What I’m hearing is I need to commit a food heist. Sacrifice myself for the enjoyment of the fans haha

[@azraeldagda]

I know of a food "heist"/resell from my area. I've been trying to find articles of it but can't find much cause it happened some 20 years ago and its a small town. If I do find anything I'll gladly send it over!

[@Guest10965]

I'd push back on the idea that a multiverse/alternate timelines is inherently a negative - It just needs to have an actual impact on the characters of the 'prime' universe. Without spoiling certain media, one that comes to mind is a multiverse where the main reveal is that when they 'win' a fight, the protagonists destroy another universe, repeatedly, which opens up a whole can of how each one processes effectively murdering trillions of people, and other forms of collateral damage. That sort of story is fascinating to me, and still maintains real stakes and investment. The key is that caring about 'the fate of the multiverse' is a fool's errand. But caring about one person who lives in the multiverse, can work just as well as any other narrative, especially if or when the effects of whatever is happening in a multiverse affects them. In other words, I feel like stories about a multiverse premise can be difficult, but stories set in a multiverse work fine.

[@diegoadriandlc5273]

I am writing a story about a multiuniverse adventure and your comment gave me hope after hearing Brandon's opinion. Which I undertand but I am also fascinated about multiverse stories and the weight of it all and the consequences in some characters.

[@iamthe80s49]

I wish people would be more creative with their approach to things like a multiverse. Like so much in SF what was once a good idea becomes bland and replicated with no originality. The whole "you who made different choices" thing is so trite at this point. There is so much more that can be done with the concept.

[@ManchesterTechGuy]

The newest Trollhunter movie did the same thing with the rug pulling

[@philipbyers4903]

Agree with Brandon so, so completely about Wandavision and Doctor Strange. The betrayal of the former by the latter was almost movie-ruining for me, too.

[@jdellabeat6245]

I think it would be interesting if Dan and Brandon read the Jeff Lemire run of Moon Knight since it was loosely used as a catalyst for the story beats of the show. It literally is 14 issues collected into one volume.

[@mythun6735]

Why is the Spotify version of this episode a whole 5 minutes shorter?

[@alexrechkin7]

Loved Moon knight, Oscar Isaac is great, story is interesting, but i wish directing were better, especially from that director duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. Some moments from them were unintentionally funny - great shot of Oscar Isaacs's butt from inside of a car while he were fighting or when Layla trying to get away from mummy in the tomb(or maybe it just me who can not take badly made horror seriously idk) and ect.

[@cshields99]

I would love to hear from the 2 of them their opinions on how Everything Everywhere All At Once handles the multiverse problem as that very concept is a plot point of the movie

[@JuliaWoods97]

was there an episode where you talked about daredevil in depth?

[@vanders626]

no

[@AlbaniM]

The only things that I've enjoyed about phase 4 have been No Way Home and the first few episodes of Wandavision, everything else feels the same with another coat of paint, characters becoming dumb just because the plot demands it, things happen but they have little to no consequence and horrible endings.

[@eliladd2355]

can i ask for a complation of all your food heists in a single video?

[@taneelbrightblade6622]

I want to see the commentary on Hawkeye when he sees it!

[@SauceMario]

The Loki Multiverse issue is a big deal that I think people largely learn to ignore when consuming entertainment. Sure we ask why The Doctor can't just travel back in time to see Rory and Amy, but we also just accept that that's how it is. I think Rick and Morty's recent season finale that addresses it is an interesting take but I think that for the most part, people going in knowingly to time/dimensional travel stories just kind of accept that the rules will be wonky. Timey, wimey, and all that.

[@torinreese4829]

am i missing something? why was this uploaded 9 days ago but they’re only talking about the first few episodes of moon knight?

[@TonyRobetson]

totally agree with Brandon on Wandavision leading into Multiverse of Madness. they did not build up her going evil enough and really soured the movie for me. you guys do a great job of putting into words what i like/dislike about various media and even when i don't agree, the discussion still makes me think. hope more food heists are committed in your name for future episodes lol

[@BIGTTSNORLAX]

It just hit me - Have Brandon and Dan watched Mythic Quest? Particularly Season 2 Episode 6 titled "Backstory!"? It's an episode about science fiction writers trying to get published, and is the backstory of a video-game story writer. Their reaction to the show and that episode would be pretty cool!

[@ryanratchford2530]

I think Wandavision, Loki, and Moonknight are all joint favorite for me. Because they’re all so good at what they’re about

[@samanthaa.6055]

I really think that the new Doctor Strange took a dump all over Wandavision, based on character growth. So happy Brandon can articulate why so much better than me.

[@thewritestuffofficial]

I really enjoyed your discussion an episode or two ago over what constitutes a soup. I think your next deep, philosophical discussion should be what’s considered a salad. If it’s not a fruit salad, does it have to have lettuce to be a salad? Can you have a salad with just lettuce and dressing? I need answers!

[@jacknixon2812]

Both of you should read Mosaic, the Green lantern run. It's John Stewart and touches on some pretty big issues

[@timogul]

I agree that there was a tonal clash between how Wandavision ended, and how Doctor Strange used the character. Either version would have been fine, but neither project was using the same character as the other. Also agreed a bit on the other stuff, F&WS was definitely the weakest Disney+ show so far (being caught up on all of them), in that they kept telling us that Sam was the man for the job, but really there wasn't much "Captain America" about him until the last episode, where they had Anthony Mackie read a bunch of lines as Steve Rogers, which were really nowhere in Sam's character in prior works. John clearly was not in the right mental space to be _the_ Captain America, but he was at least a good man trying to do the right thing, and for all his flaws, did have by far the most developed character arc of that series, whereas all the other characters were just filling space and we were being told how to feel about them. All that series proved is that they need to get Chris Evans back under contract.

[@karloswald407]

someone tried to steal over 150 lbs of lychee just the other day

[@rebekahjensen7248]

How do we send Dan food heists?

[@shavedraven]

The Great Maple Syrup Heist of 2012 saw 18.7 million$ worth of Maple Syrup stolen. Still the biggest heist in Canadian history. 🍁

[@ChristopherCopeland]

What kind of pen does Brandon use to sign autographs? The ink flow looks INCREDIBLE 😍

[@cbpd89]

If you dig waaay back to his very first love streams, I think he actually mentions what type pen it is!

[@ChristopherCopeland]

@@cbpd89 thanks!

[@sherizaahd]

A lot of people were so confused after the first couple of episodes of Moon Knight. I loved the first couple of episodes, they really hooked me. The rest is really good too!

[@drewforchic9083]

I think the way they should have handled the USAgent in Captain Falcon and Winter Soldier is present him as an alternate approach to Captain America, with a different philosophy on being a hero. They mainly botched this at the end during his "redemption". I think he represents the more punisher-y, antihero version, where he's still fighting for good, but in a "stop the bad guy" way rather than a "save civilians" way. There is still a trolley-problem-esque moral argument to make that putting away a bad guy and stopping his future crimes saves more people in the long run than letting him get away save someone in danger (even independent of whether you kill the bad guy). That's not a bad guy thing, its just a different approach to being a hero. However, Steve Rogers always chose the latter, always saved the civilians first. Sam Wilson takes the same approach, while John Walker goes the other route. The show should have Sam prove that he is the true heir of Captain America because he makes that same choice. At the end of the show, when the villain is fleeing and the car of civilians if going to fall, both stopping the villain and catching the car are morally correct options. Bizarrely, the show has John try but simply fail to catch the car, followed by Sam try and succeed at it, and his success, afforded him by his jetpack, proves he's the true hero. What it should have done is have John make the other choice: chase the bad guy, even if the people fall, while Sam swoops in and saves lives immediately, like Steve would have done, proving his worth by making the same choice. It's a similar dichotomy to Dalinar wanting to win honorably vs Taravangian wanting to win utilitarianly. Both have a case to be good, but one is "Heroic". Doing it that way would have a moral opinion on how to be a hero. USAgent shouldn't be a full villain, he should simply be a different philosophical approach to good, at odds with the main characters.

[@hiattech]

Curious what you'd think of Mr. Robot

[@davidpo5517]

The only shows I’ve liked so far are Loki and WandaVision. Loki was fun, and the sets reminded me of old 60s sci fi tv shows, but with better CG. WandaVision was good until it ended with her feeling justified in tormenting an innocent village over her grief-which while necessary to make her a villain, it was not framed as villainous for the viewer. The show literally has someone you thought was good being revealed to actually be doing something really, really evil, and instead of stopping her and solving the problem, we were supposed to sympathize with her. Kind of messed up, writers. At this point it kinda feels like Disney is throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks, as far as these TV shows are going.

[@Thelnquisitor]

In response to Dan critique of Winter Soldier and Civil War, I will use the words of our “humble storyteller”. The point of a story is not to give one an answer but to give one a question to think upon.