The latest episode of Systematic Geekology dives into the exciting world of Peacemaker Season 2, where Christian Ashley, Kevin Schaeffer, and Evan Garcia unravel the layers of this wild ride filled with heart and humor. Right off the bat, they give a heads-up that they’re diving deep into spoiler territory, so if you haven’t caught up yet, consider this your friendly warning. They explore how the characters have evolved, particularly the complex relationship between Chris and Harcourt, which adds a rich emotional layer to the season. With clever insights, they also touch on the show's exploration of themes around faith and morality, paving the way for some thought-provoking discussions amidst the laughter. As they wrap up, they tease the thrilling cliffhangers and what’s next for the DC universe, leaving listeners eagerly anticipating the future of their beloved characters.

Takeaways:

• In this episode, the hosts dive deep into the emotional evolution of Peacemaker's character, highlighting how season two shifts focus from pure action to character-driven storytelling.
• Christian Ashley brings a unique perspective as he discusses the portrayal of faith within horror, particularly in Black Phone 2, and how it challenges common stereotypes.
• Kevin Schaeffer emphasizes the strong character dynamics and growth, especially in the relationship between Peacemaker and Harcourt, showcasing their struggles and the complexities of their emotions.
• The hosts reflect on the unexpected depth of secondary characters like Adebayo, who becomes a moral center, proving that even in a chaotic world, there is room for compassion and understanding.
• There's a witty banter about the alternate versions of characters and how they mirror real societal issues, making for a thought-provoking discussion on identity and morality.
• The episode wraps up with recommendations for viewers, including a nod to K-Pop Demon Hunters and other pop culture gems that resonate with the show's themes, keeping it fresh and engaging.

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What if we were trapped in an alternate dimension in the DC Universe? This is systematic ecology. We are the priest of the geeks. I am one of your hosts, Kevin Schaefer.

And coming on in just a minute, we have my fellow geekologists, Evan Garcia, Christian, Ashley. Hey, hey.

It's a good day, Kevin. Got a lot of good, good things to talk about.

A lot of good things to talk about. This is a what's News episode where we talk about all the latest things in geek culture.

And if you couldn't tell from the intro, this episode will specifically focus on Peacemaker Season 2.

So if you first and foremost, if you have not watched Peacemaker, be warned, we are going to get into heavy spoilers as season two wrapped up recently. We're going to be talking about that.

We're going to be doing some other things we've been geeking out on, and we're going to be also talking about a recent horror Movie, Black Phone 2. So a lot to talk about tonight.

If you are here for joining us for the first time, please, we want to give a huge thank you to all of you spending your time with us, whether here on YouTube or if you're listening later on one of your wherever you get your podcasts, huge shout out to all of you. This is, we are, we are a group of geeks here that talk about also the philosophical themes and spiritual themes that intersect with geek culture.

So thank you so much for being here. Thank you to our patreons. You are all awesome.

And also for systematic ecology, we have our new fourth Wall site which has a lot of our merchandise there. So if you want to check out, you know, mugs, T shirts, a lot of Merc there, you can go to the site, like rate and review us.

It really helps the show and whether you are a friend or enemy. Hey you. You're all welcome here by wherever your fandom's live. So well, Evan, Christian, great to have you guys here tonight.

Before we get into the main topics of the evening, let us first start with our lightning round. Yes, our lightning round.

This is where we go around kind of talking about some of the other things we're geeking out on that don't have to do with the main topic. So, Christian, we'll start with you. What else? What are your lightning round picks tonight?

Yeah, I've got a couple. My first is going to be and I'm late to the party, but K Pop Demon Hunters.

This is a Netflix, if I remember correctly, production and it was extremely fun. It's not exactly Reinventing the Wheel. It's a cliche storm, and I mean that affectionately. It was fun. The songs are catchy. The story was good.

It's a good time. Like, you can go way worse for material than watching K Pop Demon Hunters.

Then as well, I saw Good Boy, which is one of those films I was kind of hesitant about.

It's like I was afraid because the premise is from the not the POV as in shot that way, but from the POV of a dog who is moving to a haunted house with his owner and the repercussions of dealing with that. It kind of was one of those things that kind of feels like the idea was had first and then there was no story or character was my fear. But.

But you know what? It turned out to be a pretty charming film. I'm not an animal pet owner by any stretch of the imagination, but it made me feel some things.

It did a good job there. Let's see. Oh, my other. My last one is Pokemon Legends Za and that's the newest Pokemon game.

I have some gripes with it, but overall I'm enjoying the experience. So yeah, that's my lightning round.

Right on. I'm very surprised. I haven't watched K Pop yet.

I mean, I know it's a huge sensation right now and I will get to it because I mean just it seems right up my alley in terms of I love animation. I love that style. I will get to that soon for my picks. So I just did a full rewatch of Stranger Things.

Anyone who knows me knows it's my favorite show and we did kind of overview of the show with me, Will and Laura earlier this year. We'll be doing more in depth, particularly with the final season coming up. But it's. Yeah, it's my favorite show. I am very excited.

I was just talking with Christian before we started recording. They announced that they will have the series finale in theaters on New Year's Eve and I cannot wait for that.

So there's my New Year's Eve plans right there. So very excited for that. The other one I want to highlight is HBO's the Chair Company, which is the new Tim Robinson series.

I know Evan and I were texting about this earlier. He also loved Friendship, the movie that came out earlier this year, and it very much has that same feel.

The Chair Company is Tim Robinson Vehicle where he plays a character who has an incident at work that's humiliating and it sends him down this rabbit hole investigating a manufacturer of a chair. Then it's very much a fusion of comedy and horror. Much like friendship.

If you like the very awkward, cringy style of Tim Robinson's comedy, I think you will love this series. It's only two episodes in so far, but that's given me something to look forward to each week on Sunday night. So. So those are my picks.

Evan, what about you? What are your lightning round picks here?

Yes, it was my first one I'll do is a friendship that. That.

The.

That that had Tim Robbins joint, like you said. For all those reasons, it's very. It's like a car accident that you can't look away from. It's. It's really bad. It's really bad. But.

But in a way, it's all the things that good TV is. But other than that, my wife and I, we are doing the Wheel of Time. That's a. That's a prime show. And. And we were just looking for something to. To.

Oh, to. To start watching in the background. But then we got unhooked on it and we're on. We're on season two. We know that.

That it wasn't picked up to be finished. So still, the show's pretty good and we are enjoying it. That's about it.

Yeah, I. I've heard from. Yeah, so I've. I've not gone down the rabbit hole of re. I have, I think one of the Wheel of Time books, but there.

It's an intimidating series to get into.

But I've heard mixed things from fans of the books who have watched the show, but I've heard kind of if you just watch the show independently, it's a decent series. I may get to it eventually, but it's just hasn't been on my top of my radar. But, yeah, friendship was.

It was the hardest I laughed in a theater in a while when I saw that back in May. It's just so cringey. And. And the director of that movie is also a producer and director on the chair company. So again, if it. If that's.

I know it's a very specific style of comedy, but if it appeals to you, I think you will like the show and you love that movie. There we go. Awesome. Excellent. Well, thanks, guys. So let us get into the main topics tonight. The first is one I got to on my birthday this week.

Christian and I both had our birthdays this week, so we're another year older, maybe wiser. I don't know. We'll leave that to the discretion of people we know. Exactly. We are.

Nice. Yeah.

Yeah.

The.

The.

Oh, right on.

Right on the 29th.

Happy almost birthday.

Right on Almost. Cool.

It's a good month. Very cool. People are born this month. Not. Not to bash the other ones, but, you know, we got some cool people.

In October to feel superior then.

Exactly.

You said it.

Nothing. Well. Oh, yeah, right. Well, on my birthday, I got to see Black Phone 2. So this was.

The, you know, the first one, it deals with supernatural elements, but it's mostly about this kid who is captured by this villain called the Grabber, who has been abducting and killing kids. And.

And it is this kind of, you know, survival mystery, thriller horror story that has a supernatural element to it as well, with the main character, Finn. His sister Gwen has kind of psychic visions about, and that helps her work lead the police to where Finn is eventually.

And I really like that movie a lot. It works great as a standalone.

And when they did announce a sequel to this, I was really interested because both Scott Derrickson, the director and co writer, and then also C. Robert Cargill, the co writer, these are the guys who did the first Doctor Strange movie, Sinister. Neither of them are big on sequels, and even though the studio pressured them to make one, they were actually reluctant to do this.

And so they only wanted to do this movie if they had a good story in mind. And it was actually Joe Hill emailed them with the initial idea for a pitch, and that was because. Spoiler alert.

But at the end of the first movie, Finney, the main character, kills the Grabber before the cops arrive. But in this movie, the.

The tagline that Joe Hill gave to Derek sending Cargill was, what if the Grabber is calling Finney from the black phone from hell? And that was sort of the. The idea that led to this story. And so. Well, Christian, I want to hand it over to you first.

What were your initial thoughts on this movie? Because I did really enjoy it, and there's actually several little themes I want to talk about in. In regards to what it does with this.

With the sequel.

Yeah, I was kind of hesitant to put a sequel here because, you know, franchises, Hollywood horror franchises especially, that quality is all over the place. And it's like, does it need a sequel? And I didn't. Wasn't outright, it doesn't need one. But I was like, okay, let's see what they do.

And I was very pleasantly surprised by this one. I think they build up on what happened before. Extremely well.

In my opinion, this is the best Nightmare on Elm street movie we've gotten in over two decades. Seeing that that series is in limbo at the moment because, you know, obviously there were very. Some supernatural focuses of the original film.

They build off of that way more. And I know that's been polarizing to some people, but, you know, but it's also sequels. You kind of heighten things a little bit.

It makes sense within the lore they've kind of established, and now they're building up a little more with it there. The Grabber and his backstory and why, how he's able to come back and how he's able to target people this time around.

I think they did tremendous job with May end up in my top 10, you know, at the end of the year. I'd have to compile it number one, before I actually made that statement, but I really enjoyed this.

Yeah, I totally agree. I think the. The Nightmare on Elm street influence was apparent and executed really well here.

This was, you know, they definitely had a lot in common with Dream warriors, which is probably my favorite of the series. That and New Nightmare, I think are pretty great. But, yeah, it built on those themes.

And in terms of the reason I wanted to talk about it here too is the religious themes here and how it explores that was, I thought, really fascinating.

And, you know, this is something we brought up on the show a lot is when particularly the horror genre deals with religious characters, they're often portrayed in stereotypical, negative ways. You can almost always count on the priest being a villain or the religious leader or, you know, it rarely do they win.

This isn't exclusively to Christians too. It's just like people of faith in general in horror, they tend to demonize and they tend to demonize religion.

And, you know, like Scott Derrickson is not a person of faith, but he did have a Christian background. And the. The setting of this movie, we didn't say, but. So the main story involves Finney and Gwen are now in high school.

Finney is still dealing with the trauma of what happened to him with the Grabber, and he hasn't fully processed that, and he's often exhibiting that in. In bursts of anger and fights at school.

And meanwhile, Gwen is having visions again, this time of her mother, who, when she was younger, she was at this Christian summer camp in Colorado. And. And so she starts having these visions that connect to her there. And this leads her to want to go to that camp and out in the mountains and.

And try to get answers. For why she's having these visions and also help Finney deal with his trauma. And so that. That's where it takes place.

And I think it was Derrickson and pretty see Robert Cargill. I think this was Cargill. He had also this experience at working at this Christian summer camp when he was younger.

And when he was there, there was actually a serial killer who never got caught and they had to shut the camp down. So a lot of their experiences growing up really informed this story in particular.

And that's what I like a lot about Derrickson's films is he draws on a lot of personal elements and his collaboration with Cargill is really fluid.

But going back to what I was saying about how, you know, negative the portrayal is of religious figures in horror often here, it, I thought, does a really good job with the portrayal of these characters who are people of faith. Granted, there is one. Well, two, really.

There's a couple there who you do strongly dislike and that are the very, you know, judgmental counselors who are like, you know, young lady, stop with your vulgar language and stuff like that. And. And they're more concerned with their own safety than.

Than, you know, helping find the root of the evil that's been plaguing this campsite for so long. And, you know, so it has those two characters, but on the flip side, everyone else that they meet here are genuinely nuanced people of faith.

They're well fleshed out characters in particular. The director of the camp is this guy who acts sort of as a mentor, fatherly figure to Finney in many respects.

And he is easily one of my favorite supporting characters of the movie is, you know, is the direct opposite of the other person. He's not judgmental. He's very concerning. He's not, you know, trying to, you know, shove scripture down anyone's throat or. Or just be antagonistic.

He wants really help Finn and Gwenny a lot, Finney and Gwen deal with this evil that, again, has been plaguing the campsite for so long.

So I really liked that aspect and how it explores all those themes and how it connects to the grabber as this demonic force and looking at the evil in this world.

And, yeah, so I thought it did a really great job with those characters and giving that nuance that a lot of horror stories lack when it comes to dealing with religious characters. So, yeah, I don't if you wanted to expand on that or anything.

Oh, yeah, absolutely. In any other horror film, the couple can't remember their proper names off one of them, I think One Barb is one of their names.

Yeah, is the wife's name. They would just be the only religious characters in the film, in any other horror movie.

But instead, what we get is those characters who exist in the world and. And are an archetype are a cliche for a reason, because they do exist. This is going back to the mist.

This would be Carmody, or whatever her name is, the religious zealot who doesn't listen to reason, who is influenced by scripture poorly because she's been raised poorly and doesn't understand the things she's believing in. Versus Armando, I think, is the name of the leader of the camp and he is the one. You get some nice dialogue with him of why he's so invested in this.

And there's some stuff that you can also pick up along the way that's not, like, spelled out for you, is that he has tattoos and he's like, well, I got these in prison. Which shows me there was a time in his life when he lived far more harshly. And part of becoming the man that he is now is his faith.

The change that he had enabled him to get to where he is now, to where he can love other people and care for them and care for kids who nobody else cares about because they've been dead for decades.

And yet he bought the place for the camp because he has never given up hope that he can find the bodies and give, like, relief to the parents because he feels like they let them down and he can't allow that. It goes against his faith. It goes against what he believes.

And then even, you know, the stereotypical couple of the religious zealotry and more pharisaical and how they approach things.

Yeah, they start off rough, and they're still rough for a very large part of the film, but near the end, they can't deny the supernatural evidence in front of them. And so they change.

They're not completely aware Armando is in his faith, shall we say, but they've moved beyond where they were, which in pretty much any other horror film, especially of the 80s, in the midst of the Satanic panic and everything where Christians, they were just evil. They never thought, they have no logic and therefore they're evil. And when they die, you're cheering.

And sometimes, yeah, that's well deserved in some of those films, but this one gives them character. Not the greatest characters in the film, but it gives them something. So I really appreciated that.

And even gwen quotes from First Corinthians 15, which is quoting from Hosea as she's spoilers, by the way, going to finally kill the Grabber for good. Even though from beyond the grave he's come back as this kind of revenant ghost. Where O death is your victory, where O death is your sting.

And the Christian influence there. I mean, you're literally quoting scripture. What more do you want?

And is talking obviously in context of Jesus coming back and conquering death and the grave and everything, but this one showing, look, you can come back as much as you want. You're not going to win because people like you will ultimately lose. And yeah, Derrickson himself is not a believer.

But still, that's brought up extremely well. And it's not. They're not mocking Christianity. They're not. They're showing different facets of it. And I really appreciated what they did.

I totally agree.

It was, I mean, great characterization and yeah, no, I was fully expecting, like, yeah, Barb and her husband to just get decapitated by the Grabber and the audience would be cheering. But yeah, I was glad they took a different route there.

And also, one thing I don't want to spoil for people who haven't seen it because I really do want people to go see this in theaters and I think it's, you know, really good for the Halloween season.

But they're, they do a really interesting storyline with Fin and Finny and Gwen's mother that, you know, like, where she's not really a character in the first one, she is key to the story.

But all we know from the first movie is that she had killed herself and, and that was why the abusive father was so fearful of Gwen's psychic visions, because he thought that their mother had, you know, committed suicide because of the visions that were plaguing her. And, you know, he was fearful of Gwen going that route.

But it, I don't want to spoil it again, but it expands on that storyline here and does something really unexpected and I thought that really worked for the narrative.

So I really like that and I, and I liked how it puts Gwen front and center, it explores her character more and yeah, lay in, really hones in on this idea of facing your demons and you know, in this case, the Grabber coming back as this full on supernatural entity that's very Freddy Krueger. Also, kudos to Ethan Hawke. I think he had, I think he had a ton of fun playing this game.

Not that it's not a horrible game, but I think he had some fun though. Like, I mean, I know he's worked with Derrickson and Cargill on Sinister before. These movies.

But, but I think he did enjoy really honing in on the villain aspect and all the acting here is great. Mason Thames, Madeline McGall. I, I think. I. I think McGall. I, I should look that up. But, but yeah, great cast. All around the border here.

Really good sequel. I just. Why, again, I was also a little hesitant going in.

I was like, ah, the first one kind of stands well on its own and it's only based on a short story and not a novel or anything, but they really did a great job.

As a follow up here, I, I would, you know, and, and I read an interview with Derrickson on Hollywood Reporter the other day, and they asked, you know, because the first movie has Finn and Gwen in middle school, this one is them in high school, they asked if, you know, he would do a movie a few years from now where they're in college and do a trilogy. And I like that he said, you know, I mean, he's not going to do anything if there's no story there.

But if a great story presents itself, then it's possible. So I like that they're prioritizing good narrative storytelling over the success of, you know, both movies.

But, but I think, you know, going forward in our Halloween, I think this will make a great double feature for me. I'm definitely gonna be revisiting it a lot. And. Yeah, Evan, sorry, I didn't ask you if you've seen either the first one or this one, but.

Or if you have any thoughts.

No, I have not seen them. I didn't know that a Cargill was attached to it. Yeah, because I remember him from the old, from the old, what's it called?

The slash film podcast days.

The old, the, the, the, the, like, slash film cast and, and, and the crazy stories he would tell that he always said that he wanted to turn into stories later on, which is cool to see him doing that, but. But I do have a funny connection to this movie.

When I was at Halloween Horror Nights a few weeks ago here at Universal Studios, I was walking through one of these care zones, and I was on my phone trying to find my daughter because we, because we had separated for a little bit. And then I'm on the phone, I'm talking to my daughter, and I turn around and the character from the movie is right there in front of my face.

And I get the Bajeeba scared out of me. I jump backwards, I'm like, holy. And they're like, aha.

And then.

And then they just walk away.

That's about as terrifying as, you get when you're trying to find your daughter in a theme park and you run into the grabber.

That was horrible.

I was like, oh, my God. Yeah.

So I hope the movie is less traumatizing for you when I check it out, but. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Awesome. Excellent. Well, I know we want to get into our.

Our big topic tonight, so that is all I'll say about Black Fun 2, but please do go see it if you get a chance. I highly recommend both of those movies, but let's get into it, guys. So it's Thursday night. I feel like, you know, it's.

It's been a couple weeks since Peacemaker wrapped up season two, but, you know, this was a Thursday night tradition for about two months there. So now we're, you know, we hope to bring a little bit of that back to you guys tonight by talking about the show and sharing our thoughts. So.

So I know we have done some previous episodes as the season was going on, talking about Peacemaker and Peacemaker Season 2, but now that the season is complete, I guess I want to start with what are our initial thoughts on the season as a whole? I know, you know, I mean, I know we're all pretty big fans of season one. I would. I would think, but. But with season two, now that it's wrapped up.

Evan, we'll start with you. What were your kind of overall thoughts on this season before we get into kind of the specifics?

Sure.

Yeah. My first, my first big thought was that this, that this season was more character based, I would say.

And it dealt with the interplay and all the different character strengths and weaknesses a lot more than season one did. I don't know if you guys found that apparent too, but there were a lot of moments that really. That really.

That really surprised me and how human they were for. For these kind of characters. And. And then also the different cameos and the different.

I did appreciate that they didn't overuse the multidimensional thing. They used it just as sparingly as they could and then they kind of relied on it at the end. But overall, solid season. To, To. To this. To the.

To the new. To the new DCU now. And I'm looking forward to. To. To. To. What's after this. I think it's lanterns. I think so.

So I'm hoping, like, I don't think January at this point because we haven't got a trailer or anything, but maybe February or March, we'll see. I don't know, but that is on the radar. Yeah.

Well, Evan, I, so I, you know, it, I, I agree with a lot there, but I, I would actually say that Peacemaker has always been a character for a show. I think what separates seasons one and two is tone and in some cases, genre.

But what I, because when I look at Peacemaker Season 1, like, yes, it's this big, great sci fi horror mashup and, and it, you know, it's, you know, really wildly entertaining.

But the reason I think it's always been a character for a show and is you look at the season one and James Gunn decided to make a full series about the most detestable character from the Suicide Squad and make him the prime, the protagonist.

And, you know, you're, I mean, I love the Suicide Squad, but I went into season one of Peacemaker back when it premiered thinking, how are they going to make this guy in any way redeemable and in any way interesting? And he did that from the get go and he made this character someone you came to really fall in love with, even when he's being, you know, detestable.

And when. And he does horrible things.

But season one is so crucial to exploring who Chris Smith is, his backstory and how that informs, you know, the Persona that he's made and. But also kind of peeling the layers beneath that Persona and exploring who he really is and who he wants to be.

So everything about season two, the foundation for that is set up in season one.

And I think with season two, it builds on that because I, you know, I have heard even from some, you know, some friends and like, some criticism saying, like, season two just feels like a different show and I wish, you know, we could just have another big action adventure series and kind of keep Peacemaker Peacemaker.

But again, with season one, it ends on a note that fundamentally changes Chris Smith because in when in the final battle with the Butterflies, they're doing everything that was aligned with his philosophy as, you know, doing anything to keep the peace and, you know, killing anyone necessary in order to provide stability. The Butterflies were doing that. And it's.

But because Chris comes to love a group of people with the 11 kids, he's found out different things about himself. He chooses to reject that notion at the end of season one and that fundamentally changes him and that sets up everything for season two.

And what I commend James Gunn for is not ignoring that, but actually building on that principle and building on that storyline and laying that as the foundation. So, yes, this apps this season does more in terms of emotional depth and some of the things that were touched on season one.

It explores it in a way deeper context here. And, you know, it does the.

This whole storyline with alternate universes and, you know, it has Chris, you know, wanting to, by the end, abandon everything, and it's his friends who have to lift him up and get him back into the game. But yeah, again, all of that was laid out in season one, so I think it really builds on it.

Naturally, even though this season deals with a different storyline, different genres, I. I really appreciate the cohesiveness of everything, really, James Gunn has done in the DCU so far, going back to the Suicide Squad and then both seasons, Peacemaker and Superman and tying it all in. So, Christian, what about you? What are your thoughts on that and just kind of overall impressions of season two?

Yeah, I'd say ultimately I like season one more than two, but that's fine. It's just comparing different things. I like what they went in a different direction.

I like that they said, hey, we're not going to rehash another invasion plot, or we're not going to be heavily focused on Amanda Waller, but we still feel the effects of what happened in season one. And like, whenever. And I talked about it originally, I loved how they just went, no, we've always been in the new dcu.

You know, it just kind of played well.

And then when you and I were on Kevin talking about this, and you mentioned the hypothesis that you had heard from elsewhere about the identity of this potentially being Earth X, and I had not seen that because, you know, I wasn't, like, looking at everyone in the background going, okay, you're this, you're that, you're that. He's like, you know, I'm not saying that's a wrong thing to do. It's just. Would never have been apparent to me to, like, look at that.

And I was blown away. Not as much as I would have been if you hadn't told me that. But that's still good because I don't mind spoilers.

Even hearing a hypothesis doesn't, like, spoil something for me in that way. So the. The reveal of Earth X felt very real to me, and it hurt to see Chris go through this.

Like, this was my ideal world, but this is who I am in this world before I had to kill the other person, the other me.

It's like, is it worth living in a world like this if I get what I want, but everyone else, you know, who are different races and what have you can't have what I have.

Well, the Christmas season one might have made that decision to stay there, but the Christmas season two, no, because he's had time with the gang, with his friends, and has learned to become a better person, is still wanting to pursue peace and make it, but he's a different peacemaker. So I really enjoy what they did. It was super fun. The cliffhanger is going to kill me because there is no confirmed season three.

So whether or not he's going to pick that up in the next Superman movie or somewhere else down the line, I don't know. All I know is I need to have a resolution.

I very much. Oh, no. So, yeah, and we'll go and get into this because there was a lot of backlash and praise for the, for the season finale.

I mean, there was moments that were widely acclaimed, but there was disappointment as well. I, I kind of fall somewhere in the middle of that in terms of that episode.

I, My thoughts on the season finale were that it felt like an epilogue to a novel. Like where episode seven feels like really the final chapter. And then the, the final episode.

There was that kind of epilogue you get when you're reading a novel and it kind of, you know, has that extra little, you know, whether it's in this case setting up for either the next series or wherever the. I mean, we're definitely gonna see these, store these storylines play out, be it in a movie, a new series, like.

And I, I would say too, because, I mean, I've, you know, consumed every interview with James Gunn and, you know, read all up about it and he's not ruled out of season three.

What he said is just, it's not his focus right now because I think he already has plans for how the salvation storyline is going to play out and, and then, you know, how this movie ties into Superman. So we're definitely going to see these characters again. It's just. Just in what avenue? We're not sure yet. But, but that episode. Yeah.

Was it the best of the series? No.

And do I think that as much as I give James credit for introducing me to some great music over the years and this season he continued in that tradition. I, I do think it was a little gratuitous to have what is essentially two music videos. It's kind of ham fisted into two concerts.

I like, into the final episode. It was a lot. I mean, I mean, hey, I went back and listened to the Nelson album. It was great. But you know that in conjunction with the.

And I mean, oh, Lord is you know, a great song, and I've been, you know, listening to that repeatedly on playlists. But, But I also think about in season one, when they incorporated the theme song into the final episode of that season.

It was in midst of an action sequence, so it very much complicated the, the story here. It's like, yeah, we just want to do a big concert. I think it's like, we can. So I would have liked to be.

Have that reduced a little bit and used it to focus a little more on, let's say, Rick Flag or, you know, something going on there to set up salvation a little more or maybe get, you know, I, I'm not, I, I, I don't need a ton of cameos, and I didn't need that just for the sake of it.

But it would have been fun to maybe have one more alternate universe that they go in and maybe, maybe if it was even, like, Arrowverse characters they saw or something like that. I don't know. You know, like, that just would have been fun.

So there was, you know, kind of an opportunity there still, you know, a good episode and a really strong season overall.

But, I mean, I understand the criticisms there, but, yes, on a leaving around a massive cliffhanger, I just, I cannot wait to see how the Checkmate storyline plays out, how the Salvation storyline plays out, all of these things. Yeah, I want it now, but I know we're gonna have to be patient, and that's okay.

I mean, these are setups for a larger universe, and I, I trust that guy.

And Peter Safran and all of the creators at DC Studios have things they're cooking, so I'm excited to see where that goes, but, well, let's get into some more specifics, though. So I think one of the tenets of this season was the relationship between Chris and Harcourt that is established in season one.

We learned so much in this season about not only why Harcourt hated Chris so passionately at the beginning of season one, with the reveal here that her best friend was Rick Flag Jr. And so that made her despise Chris from the beginning, but nonetheless, they have this camaraderie that kind of helps her come around a little bit by the end of season one. There is a will they, won't they element to it that is explored in much more detail here.

So what did you guys think about this relationship and how it played out over the course of season two?

Yeah, I think it helps build up on her really well, giving her more motivation of why she's not as open, why she's still Wrestling with what peacemaker did you know in the Suicide Squad movie? And in season one, she's gotten to know him better, but it's still the man who took her friend away. Yes, she has this feelings for him. And as Ms.

Toxic Masculinity herself, as is pointed out in this show, she's not able to handle her emotions as you would typically expect from a male character. And I think that's done well. Sure. That this is not just exclusively a male trait.

Women can also be toxic in this way, even if they know it's not the right thing to do emotionally or logically or what have you.

So seeing her learn to grow out of it and also get him to realize, look, this world is perfect for you that we're in now, but it's not perfect for them. And you haven't you noticed these things? Haven't even looking around you. You're not paying attention.

And she found out after being in there for not even a whole day because she was actually looking at her surroundings versus what she wanted out of it, but also because she does love him and she wants him to be better and she wants herself to be better too. But she can't get herself there yet because there's that part of her that doesn't think that she can.

And yet, as we find out a long way, you know, they are. They do work well together. There is something there that's just beyond a little bit of chemistry, that they do make each other better.

So I appreciate what they did with the two of them.

And I can only imagine the rampage that's gonna ensue after she learns what Flag did, which I'm not too big on him going full waller, but that's its own thing.

And we'll get to that. I. Yeah, I have some thoughts on reflexing here as well. Evan, any other thoughts about Chris and Harcourt in the season?

It was cool to see the different sides of. Of hardcore. Like, she's not so hardcore all the time, so it's good to see her smile and actually have some.

Have some agency in these relationships other than she's just mad. So that was nice. And the way that they weave her story in and out all the way up until the finale and with.

With the restaurant scene and they keep flashing back to that and. And. And during the concert where she's, like, trying to enjoy it and stuff like that.

But no, I related a lot to their relationship of, like, they're trying to, like, fix each other almost. And one's kind of resistant to it.

Yeah.

And it was. And when. And when that came to a peak in the alternate in the yerth X, she utterly came through. And for Chris there.

No, absolutely. And I have to give a shout out to Jennifer Holland in the season. She gives a phenomenal performance there.

There's a lot of great acting in the season as a whole, but she really shows those different. Different sides to Harcourt and the different versions. But.

And what I really like too, not just, you know, the evolution of her and Chris's relationship, but also with her as a character.

And this theme that runs through with several characters is the idea of them being caught in an endless system that they know is unjust, but they struggle to escape it because, you know, Harcourt is someone who has been in like a CIA and agencies since she was like 18, and this is all she's ever known how to do.

And when she gets to the end of the season and she's seen Ben through the ringer and she knows that, you know, they're like, especially once the salvation plan comes into play. And she knows how corrupt Rick Flag Senior is, but she doesn't really see a way out at that point.

And she's kind of at in this mode of, well, I'm gonna do the best I can. And it's only until Sol Rodriguez's character says no to that and then they're able to team up with, why am I drawing a blank on the name? No.

With Daniel Brooks character, Adebayo bio comes up with the idea that ultimately becomes Checkmate. And so that changes everything. But there's also.

But with that, you know, thr storyline of her, again, being reluctant because she doesn't really know a way out of the system, even though she knows it's broken.

That also parallels Auggie in Earth X, who we, you know, once we find out that it is Earth X, we assume that, oh, he's happy because, yeah, I mean, we.

We know him as this horrible racist monster from season one and so sure, he's gonna be happy in a world where the Nazis won World War II and surely it's everything he ever wanted. Then we.

But we find out actually that this version of Auggie is not that, but rather he is a man who doesn't actually like what's going on and the world he's in, but he basically tries to do the best he can. He knows he can't, you know, or he thinks he can't tear down the system on his own.

So he does the best to be a good person as best he can in a broken system. And that parallels Harcourt.

And I thought that was a really interesting concept because I think for a lot of people, that's really how we feel, whether we like it or not.

It is something we have to confront of, yes, we see injustices in the world, but we have to ask ourselves, are we willing to actually go that far and.

And, you know, be willing to stand apart from the system that we're in, or are we going to reluctantly kind of not necessarily embrace it, but just kind of be the best we can in the middle of a broken system? And so I thought it was really bold to ask those questions, to explore that with these characters.

So that's something that I thought they did with hardcore and with this version of Augie quite well.

Yeah.

That's one thing that I did not see coming, was that this version of Foggy would be what inspires them and kind of gives them an example on how to go forward. So that was a cool twist.

Yeah.

Yeah. I really appreciated what they did with him, too, of just the idea of being in the system.

You've been raised in it, and yet somehow we don't get all the details, but there's something had to have happened for him to have the epiphany of this is wrong, but what does he do with it? And there's plenty of parallels, you know, to people who were in. You know, just easy example here, Nazi Germany who didn't know what they could do.

Did they actively resist? Did they peacefully protest? We've got the.

I think it was the White Rose, which were a group of students who peacefully were protesting as a Nazi regime. And they were killed for it, murdered for it. Then we've also got our Bonhoeffers and Wurmbrand.

I think Wurmbrand ended up in a concentration camp, too, who were Christians who resisted the rise of Nazis and said, this isn't how things should go.

But there were also plenty of other people who didn't do those things, but also felt that it was wrong, but they didn't want to, or they couldn't imagine actively resisting because, oh, no, what if this puts my family in danger? Or if I try to subtly influence my sons in this universe, are they going to, you know, pull rank and then report on me?

Like, what happened to countless people with the Hitler Youth? And that's Jeremy. We didn't report on their own families because they let things slip. Yeah.

To be in that situation, it makes me love his character a lot more.

He was a good character in the first season, but he's good In a different way here, obviously being a different character in another universe, because that adds a lot more depth to that. What does it mean? How did he learn? What did he decide to do? Did he just decide to help as best he could? Is he a member of the Resistance?

And he hasn't admitted it out loud yet to anyone, like, what's going on there? I really appreciate that.

Also, quick side note.

So I listened to the entirety of the podcast that James got, and Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee hosted the companion podcast where they broke everything down.

One thing that, like, one plot line that James Gunn originally wrote in one draft and then cut was he had Murn come back in this season in the alternate universe as a resistance leader, as part of the Sons of Liberty, and was this big action hero. And I'm like, oh, I wish that had been kept in, because I would have loved to see that. I think that would have been perfect for episode seven. But.

But I digress. But I, you know, I just. Because, like, Mern was my favorite character in season one. I think that would have been awesome. But Christian.

Okay, correction. Worm brand wasn't Nazi Germany. It was Communist Romania.

Okay, yes.

Different bad guys of a different flavor.

Got it, got it, got it. Yeah. But. But yes, I would have loved to see Murran there. That would have been cool. But alas, you know, there.

There was a lot going on this season, so. So, you know, it is what it is. But I also want to talk.

So I mentioned, even though I've had a brain fart, but at a bio, I want to give a huge shout out, I think is arguably the best character in the entire series. Daniel Brooks gives just an Emmy worthy performance in this season that. I mean, because that scene in the finale when she is the one who.

Well, she has two great scenes, the finale, because one is when she and her wife decide to, you know, firmly recognize that, you know, while they care for each other, they know it's not going to work out between them. And it's a wonderfully written, wonderfully active scene. But probably even more so is this scene when Chris is at his lowest point.

He doesn't even want to be rescued from jail. He thinks that he is the reason that people around him die.

And she's the one who is there as his best friend and lifts him up from the ground and says, no, you're the reason. Like, we are the 11th street kids and you're there, and the deaths that have happened are not your fault.

Like, those things would have happened either way. And you are the leader we need here. And I just. It.

What makes it even more heartbreaking is because it's soon followed by Chris getting abducted by Rick Flag Senior and then thrown into the salvation world. And I'm like, oh, this makes it even, like more, you know, rips my heart out. But. But she gives such a phenomenal performance there.

And the character especially, you know, introduced in season one as the daughter of Amanda Waller. And you're like, oh, that's a cool twist. It's like, oh, is how is this gonna play out?

And I just love what they do with her entire entire storyline going back to the formation of Checkmate. And, you know, Harcourt is ready to.

Even after going through everything this season, she's just says, you know, to Saul Rodriguez's character that, oh, you know, the system is what it is. There's not really anything we can do. But Saul Rodriguez's character is like, no, we have to.

And Adebayo is the one who comes up with the idea for Checkmate and that propels the team going forward. And I'm very excited whenever we do see that storyline play out in whatever form.

I can't wait to see how what happens there, you know, whether we get a check bait series or what. But. But I just love what they've done with Adebayo throughout the series. And I love all the 11 string kids, but I think she's my favorite.

She's just, you know, the wonderful actor, wonderful character, I think. I think she's probably the most relatable because she is.

She comes in and as this outsider, she's like, trying to do good, but she's manipulated, torn around, but eventually comes to be the best friend that Chris needs, the hero that this team needs. And yeah, I really can't wait to see all of these characters again whenever we do see them in future movies.

And shows even earlier on in the finale, there's a great moment between her and Vigilante where she manipulates him. Like, knowing who he is, she's kind of learned.

Okay, I wouldn't normally say this, but because you're you, I have to word it this way of getting him to use all the drug money that. From the bus that he's had, that he is just honor before reason of it's blood money. I can't use it.

Well, she gets him to use it because what does he love more than his honor? He. He loves Peacemaker. So bailing him out of jail and then later on using it to help fund Checkmate because the money's just lying There.

But could you imagine doing something good with it as opposed to the evil that normally would have been used for it had you not, you know, busted those dealers and who are wreaking devastation with the epidemics that they were throwing out, with people being fueled and corrupted by the. The drugs they were addicted to, like. Like, let's use it for good. And. And any character, I don't care who. Who can stand up to Amanda Waller.

You've earned my respect. Yeah. And a bonus points. That's your mom. Yeah. So Adebayo definitely is one of my favorites in the series. I can definitely agree there.

I might etch out Vigilante a little more than her character. Wise as far as loving. But you know what? I haven't, like, sat down and think this is exactly.

I'm going to create my tier list for peacemaker characters. But, yeah, great points. Having that. She kind of becomes like the moral center.

You know, Economist is kind of there too, as a moral center, but she's a different flavor and bringing them all together. She knows them well. She knows how to play them against each other. Not like in a manipulative way, but, like, okay, this is what it means.

I have to play the game so I can get you to do the right thing. And sometimes you got to have characters like that. You need friends like that. And I'm glad she's a ram.

Absolutely. Oh, and Vigilante, I mean, of course we have to talk about that. It's just. This is, I think, one of my favorite scenes in maybe this year.

A lot of the. When Vigilante and his alternate self recreate the Spider man meme their dynamics. There is just like. There's just so many.

Well, I think what I find fascinating about Vigilante is, you know, he has a care for his friends and he has the, you know, ultimately, I think has a good heart or like, well, going back to the drug money thing, it's like, okay, he refuses to use the money that he's gotten from beating up drug dealers because he sees it as blood money. But then he treats his mom horribly. He's just such a. He's such a wild card and such a contrast.

And then Freddie Stroma, like, oh, this is another fun fact about that I got from the podcast. It was originally another actor in season one, Casper for Vigilante, and they actually filmed quite a bit of it.

And James Gunn just said, you know, like, I mean, it was a good actor, but he never revealed who it was, but. But said it just wasn't working. And they ended up getting Freddy's drama much later.

And they had to reshoot a lot and see season one, and they had to. And he's actually not the one in the dance sequence in season one. So, you know, there's a lot.

You know, it was really fascinating, but it's so interesting because I cannot see anyone else but him in this role. Same with John Cena's Peacemaker, and that's the other.

Oh, I know I'm going off on random tangents here, but James Gunn originally wrote the role of Peacemaker back in Suicide Squad for Dave Bautista, and Bautista wasn't able to do it. And it's like, I could see that, but I also. It's. It's just John Cena here. It's like RDJ and Iron Man. It's just. I.

There's no one else that could do it as well. I love Batista, but. But I, like, save him for Bane, I think. You know, like. But John Cena just was born to play this role.

Same with Freddie Sharma playing Vigilante. It's just, like, you could not have gotten better casting here. And so I was glad that that worked out.

Out.

But. Yeah, but it's just. It's not just comic relief here, but he also undergoes some really great emotional moments and emotional arcs here. I.

That's what I love, is that each of these characters are taken seriously, even in a show that is in a rather absurd world, and it has all this crazy stuff going on. These are still. All of them have very. Are taken seriously. They have really fundamental arcs, and they're. None of them feel like characters. I mean.

I mean, even Judo Master, who we thought. You know, I actually wasn't really expecting to come back in the season. They. They've now made him part of the Checkmate team. It's.

It's fascinating to see how these characters have grown, even over the course of just two seasons.

One thing that I learned, it's just kind of off topic, but the actor that plays Vigilante, he's the same actor that trained Harry Potter and Quidditch in the first Harry Potter movie. It's the same guy.

He's in that. Yeah.

I was like, no way.

Yeah.

Fuzzy. How? Well, I recognize actors.

Wait in the front. I think he's in. I think he's in, like, not the one who trains it, but he is in a Harry Potter movie. I think he's in, like, Goblet of Fire, though.

Maybe.

Okay. Yeah.

I think it's like, because, you know, the one who trains him in, like, the first one is older and stuff, but he isn't everybody. He's in Game of Thrones in something, too. Yeah, there were. I saw a reel the other day that had some of his previous roles. So, yeah, a lot of the.

A lot of actors you do see and other things before you actually recognize them in a role.

Oh, and I didn't know that Economos was. Was also King Shark.

He was. Yeah. So Steve Ag is like a King Shark. It was always. It was the voice of Sylvester Stallone, but Steve Ag did the body work for it.

He's actually one of James God, Han's best friends, so they've gone back, like, for years. And so he put him in the Guardians movies. He put him in and then, yeah, he had him play Economos and, you know, the.

The physicality of King Shark in the Suicide Squad. But yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Well, I know we could go on and on about, but I would say. So just wrapping up here.

Do you all have any favorite moments from this season and anything in particular that you're well. Oh, actually, sorry, before we get back, let's go on and talk about Rick Flag for a minute because I know he probably does have a, you know.

Well, Christian, go ahead and you can start here because I'm curious for your thoughts.

Yeah. So obviously, he's dealing with grief and anger and, you know, the loss of his son Peacemaker is directly responsible for that.

I get it, but I'm not big on the arc that Gun gives him, you know, especially after having seen Creature Commandos and, you know, watching, you know, what he does there. It's not like he's moved past the grief to the extent that he's moved on, but, like, there was something there.

There's a heroicness to him, despite certain aspects of who he is and the bad work that he does.

And I think we kind of lose that thread here to where he becomes solo focused on revenge, and that leads him to do things I don't think he would do as far as the Salvation Project is concerned. Of course, calling to the comic run where we send all of our villains of the DC universe to this one planet and some surprising things to learn.

I don't know if we want to focus on the revelations in the comic because they haven't really spoken about it here. But keeping the Flag, I. I don't see it that I don't feel like it's earned. I don't know how you feel about it.

Yeah, I have mixed feelings about it.

It's more and there, but he's still more heroic, not, you know, full on villainous. And he doesn't seem to focus on the vengeance as much.

And then in Superman, I think he's dealing with the conflict of, okay, he's in a position of authority, he's trying to do what's best for humanity. And by the end it's like, okay, on the one hand, superheroes saved everything, but also, does that grant them limitless power?

And he's thinking in the back of his mind, like, oh, what could the ramifications of this be? And does that inform who he is in this season?

I do agree that he was very revenge consumed in this season, but as I don't think that that was the only motivating factor for him authorizing salvation. Again, I think it is in his mind he sees himself as the hero here.

And despite his dealings with metahumans and seeing some of the good they do, I think ultimately he's just trying to, okay, I'm in charge of, of, you know, all I have all this power. I'm, you know, tasked with defending government and humanity and, you know, making sure that metahumans don't run reckless.

Obviously I don't agree with him, but. But I'm wondering if that's kind of his mindset.

So I'm a little, I mean, it just feels, it does feel like a departure from who he is in terms of the incarnations of him we saw previously. But I'm hoping that will be explored more. And the, and yeah, I think the.

I understand why the revenge arc was crucial to this season and it fit really well. But at the same time it's like, dude, okay, we get it.

But also, yeah, like, I mean, your son knew the, the sacrifices he would have to make and that he's dealing. I mean, he was working with Task Force X like there was anything could have happened at any moment.

And so, you know, I think there is that, like revenge blinds him and it got to be a little too much. So I've got a half and half there.

Yeah, he.

The.

I kind of agree with what you guys are saying that the character took a turn and he was. I, I got the feeling that like, you know, when you do a Project at work or something.

And you have different groups and there's another group where the leader clearly is not doing anything and he's letting everyone else do everything. That's, that's the vibe I got from him that he was just like so, so bent on finishing it.

He just let every, like the little minions just work on the projects for him, which weird, but all right.

It will be really interesting to see what they do with him in Superman 2 Man of Tomorrow. And yeah, I mean, I like it. And especially now that, okay, he got his vengeance, you know, where will his focus turn now?

But yeah, making him Amanda Waller essentially here it's a turn, but. But I'm interested in seeing how it plays out. And I mean, hey, because of his turn, we got a Lex Luthor cameo in the season.

And that was one of my favorite moments. So, you know. Yeah, it worked.

So do we know how he pulled a reverse James Gunn with his hair from a creature Commandos. Because he's white haired.

There.

That's it. So Gun talks about that. He's like, yeah, Frank Grillo, like, it would.

No, it was a scheduling conflict where it was like he was doing Frank Gerlo was doing Tulsa King and he couldn't dye his hair for that. And James Gunn was kind of pissed at him for that because like he was like the first act actor he cast in the dcu.

And he's like, yes, Grillo doing a million projects and stuff, but they're, you know, they have a friendly banter with each other, but that it was, it was only that. So he would have gone. Would have loved him to have the white hair here, but that was the only reasoning.

Okay.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

But no, with Lex Luthor was, was a fun addition to it. And the fact that he had his, that he had his cane from, from the damage from Crypto. Yeah. So it was a nice touch.

Yeah.

And it's really cool too because when they filmed that they were filming Superman, like, because I mean, James Gunn wrote Creature Commandos Peacemaker Season 2, Superman all back to back, and they had to coordinate it.

And so for Nicholas Holt to come in and play and perform that scene, knowing that he hadn't even shot everything in Superman yet, but he had to portray the version of the character that was after the events of Superman and get into that mindset. And he did it spectacularly. So I just, I really commend, you know, the vision behind that, the, the performance and the writing. Awesome.

Well, guys, before we wrap up. Yeah. So let's say what are, what were maybe as a favorite moment, favorite scene from this season.

And what are you most looking forward to about just D.C. going forward? I can start with this. I really.

I think that the Augie monologue in episode seven that I was talking about earlier was, for me, the most surprising and also, I think, some of the most clever writing in the end, throughout the season, because, again, you know, I was fully expecting Augie in this universe to be, oh, he's happy because, yeah, he's living in, you know, white supremacy Haven. But it was actually, no, we already got the monster version of him in season one.

This is a more sympathetic version of the character that is, you know, caught in a horrible world, but he doesn't actually agree with all that. And so that was an.

And also to have that hope there for Chris and then for it to immediately be thwarted when Augie is killed right after that monologue, I'm like, yes, Gun. Continuing the tradition of breaking our hearts and, you know, and. And then setting up the brother as a future villain. So, yes. Yeah, yeah.

So all of that, I think as far as what I'm looking forward to the most, I mean, there's a lot. I mean, I. I know I'm just like, you know, head over heels for DC Studios right now, but I'm really interested in seeing how. I think even more.

More so Checkmate even than Salvation. I think Salvation is a fascinating concept, and I do want to see how that plays out.

But I'm actually even more interested in what they do with Checkmate because now they have the 11th street kids running things the way they want and try. They're gonna try to do some good and, you know, really fight the system and, you know, and to be able.

And to now have to do it without Chris, there's. Presents a new dilemma.

But I really am fascinated to see how that storyline plays out, be it in Superman or another show or movie, wherever they take that team. I am. I'm really excited for that. Evan, what about you?

Do you have, like, either a favorite scene or moment from the season and something you're looking forward to?

For sure? Yeah, my favorite scene has to be the scene. The moment where they have. That they have a. What's it called? But the moment with.

With Adebayo and Chris trying to bring him back from. From his. From his hole that he's in and from his state and just her speech about, like, you're.

You're so dumb and you're so big, but you still make me feel seen. And you were such a great leader Just, it really got me. It really got me.

Yeah.

And that, that really stood out. And that made all the other scenes so much more satisfying because we know where they came from and how she brought everyone together.

And the music videos weren't a bad touch. I like the music videos. It was fun.

Hey, great music. Absolutely. Yeah. Christian, what about you? I, I, I'm gonna guess your favorite scene was the orgy.

Yes.

Every day.

Yeah, that was one of my least favorite scenes. I'm actually gonna go with when he goes to Earth X and he deals with what he thinks is a, a terrorist attack. And it's a great action scene.

You see how tactical he is, taking down people he knows. He doesn't know the people, but he knows how people would typically go. So he's kind of like five steps ahead. It's a wonderful scene.

But then in hindsight, there are a lot of questions brought up there. And you go, wait a minute. Oh, he was killing resistance fighters, who, by the way, were also targeting civilians. That, how does that work?

Whose side am I supposed to be on there?

There's a lot of good questions that are brought up is, are they going to be any better if they take over or are they just at the point of they've been so broken down by years of oppression that this is what we have to do. This is the only they understand force, so we have to respond with force.

And then Chris having to go, I'm responsible for the deaths of people who didn't deserve it. What am I supposed to do with that? There's a lot of really good stuff that you can draw from that.

Or, and then like a more of a jokey one, but when Vigilante meets himself. Yeah, it's a fun one. I love myself. I can only imagine I'd be worse if I ever met me from another reality.

I deal heavily with pride, but could you imagine if God allowed me a situation where I got to meet me? I'd have to learn some humility really, really quickly, but it's fun. Yeah. It raises some questions. How does Pokemon exist in a Nazi controlled world?

Yeah, yeah. Imperial Japan would be ally, but they wouldn't really have evolved along the way the Pokemon are created. Same thing with Spider Man.

It's like created by a Jewish guy. Did Stan Lee somehow pretend to be not Jewish when they took over? Yeah, don't worry about that. It's, it's fun.

Christian, if I you met an alternate version of yourself, I imagine this happening of like, you're all you're agreeing on Everything. And then he says, oh, the Last Jedi is my favorite movie. And I. He's got to die to. I want to see that play out. Yeah.

Immersive killing at that point.

And his name is atheist. Sorry, that was bad.

It would be entertaining to meet alternate version of self just to see what would the similarities and differences be. But.

As far as future projects other than Supergirl, I mean, I want to see what he does with Batman. I mean, he's one of the greatest characters of all time. He's been interpreted in various ways. How is he going to fit into the dcu?

I want to see my Batman.

I mean, I know the pressure is on there and it'll happen eventually and I'm glad they're. He's not doing anything until he's happy with the script and they're good to go there. But. Yeah, the.

But no one will rest until we know, you know, who's going to be the cast and you know when that movie is going to happen. So we will see. Awesome, guys. Well, this has been great. And before we go, do you guys have a recommendation?

Be it something we talked about tonight or something totally different? I could actually start because, you know, this is not the first time that a live action series has dealt with Earth X.

They first did it in the Arrowverse the years ago in a crossover called Crisis on Earth X. I highly recommend that one, even if you've never. I was a big Arrowverse fan when I was on.

But even if you never delved into that shows, if you want a nice standalone crossover event like, yes, it does have the death of a character there, but you can kind of watch that as a movie. It. It was Arrow, Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow. Just look up online the episodes and. And watch the Crisis on Earth X event.

So it's just four episodes. That was a ton of fun. It's where they go to the Nazi dimension and they have to battle them and they meet alternate versions of themselves.

Ton of fun. So I, you know, I. I really recommend that one. But. Christian, what about you?

Yeah, again, for my lightning round. K Pop Demon Hunters.

It's.

It's fun. It's one. I had a great time watching it. I know it's become a cultural phenomenon that I got late to the party too, but you know what?

I'm glad to be a part of it now.

Well, welcome home.

Right on.

Right on.

Evan, what about you?

Since it's. Since it's. The season three is coming out on my birthday, I'll suggest Star Wars Visions can't wait for that.

I saw a few episodes the other day and man, that's some good stuff right there. That's a good storytelling. Just in general, just great storytelling.

Supposed to get a follow up to. What was it? The ninth Jedi, I think.

Yeah, yeah.

Love that one.

Yeah. So excellent.

Thanks. Excellent. Awesome, guys. Well, this has been a blast as always. And for our listeners out there, viewers, again, thank you so much for tuning in.

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