Joe and James are joined by actual sitcom writer and editor Andrew Ellard ( @Ellardent ) to take a look at Marvel's hit Disney+ show WandaVision. Best experienced when you've seen the show in its entirety, we interrogate its themes, revisit the theories that did (and didn't) turn out to be correct, and try to put to bed any remaining questions about the finale. We also welcome our new producer Rhys Williamson ( @Rhys ) and cover the latest comic book movie news. Cinematic Universe is supported b...
Mar 13, 2021•2 hr 54 min
Joe and James are joined by Ghibliotheque's Michael Leader to discuss Josh Boone's 2020 release, The New Mutants, which limped out during the pandemic as an afterthought to 20 years of Fox-produced X-Men movies. But is it as bad as its troubled production suggests? Discussion of The New Mutants begins at 36:15. Cinematic Universe is supported by the generosity of our backers on Patreon, who also get to hear episodes ad-free along with bonus material! Check out our page and consider subscribing a...
Mar 01, 2021•2 hr 19 min
Joe and James are joined by actual sitcom writer and editor Andrew Ellard (@Ellardent) to take a look at Marvel's hit Disney+ show WandaVision. Best experienced when you've seen the show in its entirety, in this episode we interrogate the show's themes, revisit the theories that did (and didn't) turn out to be correct, and try to put to bed any remaining questions about the finale. We also welcome our new producer Rhys Williamson (@Rhys) and cover the latest comic book movie news! Cinematic Univ...
Feb 12, 2021•2 hr 9 min
Joe and James are joined by Caroline Siede to discuss Patty Jenkins’ sequel to Wonder Woman. We try to untangle the plot as well as examine some of Jenkins’s storytelling decisions to see how things ended up this way, and try to answer the question: what was this movie actually about? Cinematic Universe is supported by the generosity of our backers on Patreon, who also get to hear episodes ad-free along with bonus material! Check out our page and consider subscribing at patreon.com/cinematicuniv...
Jan 22, 2021•2 hr 31 min
The Cinematic Universe team is sending off 2020 in style! Specifically, the style of an awards podcast! With 2020's movie landscape looking less than stellar, Joe and James are joined by Caroline Siede, Amon Warmann, Mike Leader, Rhys Williamson and Al Kennedy to find the best of the best (and occasionally worst) for every comic book movie covered on the podcast since we began. Will The Dark Knight beat Spider-Man 2? Is Hugh Jackman a better actor than Robert Downey Jr.? And have we ever watched...
Dec 31, 2020•3 hr 3 min
Joe and James go through all the Marvel news from the Disney Investor Day announcements, from Armor Wars to Ms. Marvel, from Black Widow to The Eternals, as well as checking in on the latest rumours about Spider-Man 3 and, of course, what's going on with Marvel's Helstrom. Also included: a 20 minute psychological breakdown about the sheer amount of Disney content and the future of the cinema industry! Cinematic Universe is supported by the generosity of our backers on Patreon, who also get to he...
Dec 15, 2020•2 hr 20 min
Joe and James are joined by newly-minted Empire contributing editor Amon Warmann as the trio cover the much-maligned 2006 movie, Superman Returns. Is it the sequel the Christopher Reeve movies deserved, or the deranged super-stalker fantasy of an unhinged mind? Could the superkid ever have worked? And can we bring ourselves to even look at the screen while Kevin Spacey is on it? Boy, there's a lot going on here. Nuance, as ever, will be contained within the podcast itself. 00:00 - Intro, Seb Cha...
Dec 11, 2020•2 hr 30 min
What's this? We've actually covered a movie? In our first main episode since July, Joe and James are joined by Andrew Ellard, returning for his third appearance as we cover Ang Lee's 2003 movie, Hulk. Is it Phase 0 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in disguise? Would General Ross really have that kind of facial hair? And are the Hulk dogs actually from the comics? These questions and more answered. Sort of. PLUS: in lieu of news, you can hear about what we've been watching lately, including chat ...
Oct 16, 2020•2 hr 41 min
Ahead of Cinematic Universe's proper return next week, Joe and James catch up on all the new we've been unable to talk about since August. Chadwick Boseman, WandaVision, Ant-Man 3 and more all get a look in as we clear the decks for next week's full episode. Thanks again to everyone for giving us the time we needed to get back on track - regular (ish) service will now resume. Cinematic Universe is supported by the generosity of our backers on Patreon, who also get to hear episodes ad-free along ...
Oct 09, 2020•1 hr 50 min
Joe and James take a look at the latest trailers and announcements for The Batman, Wonder Woman 84, The Suicide Squad, Justice League, Black Adam, Gotham Knights and more besides in this news special. We'd like to thank listeners again for their support and compassion during this difficult time - for now, the podcast will continue. Cinematic Universe is supported by the generosity of our backers on Patreon, who also get to hear episodes ad-free along with bonus material! Check out our page and c...
Aug 26, 2020•1 hr 37 min
RIP Seb Patrick (1982-2020). It is our sad duty to inform Cinematic Universe listeners that our friend and co-host Seb Patrick passed away unexpectedly this weekend. In this episode, Joe and James talk a little about how they knew Seb and what he meant to us. Not a hoax, not an imaginary story, although we really wish it were. Following this episode the podcast will be taking a temporary hiatus. If you would like to support of his wife and child at this difficult time, a fundraiser exists here: ...
Aug 05, 2020•25 min
Seb and James return to YouTube for a live rattle through some news bits - including that new Not Gotham Central TV show, various bits of scheduling kerfuffle, our first looks at Helstrom and The Boys S2, and the casting of Atom Smasher in the Black Adam movie! As ever, if you'd rather see what we looked like when we were streaming this, you can watch the video version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCwvCxza5l4 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 23, 2020•41 min
Joe returns alongside Caroline and Seb to cover the first (and still so far only) live-action movie based on an Archie Comics property: Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan’s 2001 satire on the music industry and consumerism, Josie and the Pussycats ! We look at just how incredibly specific a piece of turn-of-the-century nostalgia this is, and try to figure out why it struggled so badly at the box office despite being a pretty sharp comedy with a great cast. Plus! Having watched and reviewed most of ...
Jul 09, 2020•2 hr 15 min
There wasn't a huge amount of news for our latest LIVE streamed episode - except for the possibility of Michael Keaton returning as Bruce Wayne - so we threw the floor open to our audience for an Ask Us Anything! At least, we did, once we sorted out the problem of Seb's mic being basically inaudible as soon as the stream went live... As ever, if you find the audio versions of these harder to listen to because of the quality, you might want to check out the video version instead. And as trailed a...
Jun 27, 2020•55 min
In our latest LIVE minisode, Seb and James discuss #CreateTheSnyderCut, trailers for Bill & Ted Face the Music (it counts, shut up) and The Old Guard , and some comings and goings in the world of TV show casting. Plus we answer some live listener questions, including some lengthy (and pessimistic?) chat about the future of monthly comics distribution! This episode was recorded over a livestream, which is why it may sound less polished than a fully-produced regular episode, but hopefully thes...
Jun 11, 2020•1 hr 12 min
This is a real “when were you going to get to it?” one, isn’t it? We’re joined by writer/director/comedian Ellen Waddell to talk about the film that killed a franchise, and arguably even an entire genre (for a bit). But is it really the worst superhero movie ever made? Is there anything salvageable from it? Why do people choose to live in Gotham City, anyway? And is Alfred Pennyworth actually, in fact, Tony Stark? Cinematic Universe is supported by the generosity of our backers on Patreon, who a...
May 31, 2020•2 hr 2 min
We're back with another live news minisode, but this time with a special guest! Michael Leader joins Seb and James to run through the recent news, including New Mutants ' latest piece of comedic release date announcement tomfoolery, Netflix picking up Sweet Tooth , and an awful lot of people appearing in a Sandman audio adaptation. This episode was recorded over a livestream, which is why it may sound less polished than a fully-produced regular episode, but hopefully these continue to be listena...
May 18, 2020•59 min
“We won’t bother doing Bloodshot for its cinematic release,” we thought. “We’ll wait until its home release, that way we can put it off for a while.” Reality had other ideas, however, and we’ve really got no excuse not to cover it now that you can already see it for rental price. So we’ve brought in Sam Clements of 90 Minutes or Less Film Festival , who loves a trashy Vin Diesel action vehicle. The question is, does it reach a standard higher than that? Is it the starting point for a proper Vali...
May 14, 2020•1 hr 43 min
Yes, we're doing the live minisode thing again, because nobody told us not to! Seb and James catch up on all the latest news including Venom 2 's new title and release date, JJ Abrams taking on Justice League Dark , BOOM! Studios linking up with Netflix, the trailers for Stargirl and some other bits and bobs, including answering LIVE listener/viewer questions! Once again, we caveat the podcast release of this episode with an explanation that because it was recorded over a video stream, we may be...
Apr 24, 2020•56 min
We’ve threatened this for a while, but we’re finally taking our first steps (if you don’t count The Matrix or Sonic the Hedgehog ) into films that aren’t technically comic book or superhero movies, but which we feel are still in some way “genre-adjacent” as we’re calling it. And as we discuss, this film is so hugely influential on just about every major comic book blockbuster that’s arrived since, you can’t exactly call it irrelevant to what we do. Plus! It gives Caroline – who is a Terminator f...
Apr 21, 2020•2 hr 3 min
It’s our first ever live minisode ! Well, it’s not live any more, but it was live when we recorded it. Essentially, after the success and enjoyment of our Live Infinity War Watchalong on Friday night, we realised that this streaming lark could actually be a good way of doing news minisodes. Particularly when there’s quite immediate and pressing news (the MCU rescheduling) that we could try and get released quite quickly, with no editing. So what you’re hearing now is the unedited audio from a vi...
Apr 05, 2020•35 min
Over on our Patreon , James is currently going through every single episode of the classic X-Men: The Animated Series on a near-daily basis, talking each time about how the episodes stand up and how they relate to the original comics. This is a FREE PREVIEW of one of the episodes - specifically, the show's third episode, Enter Magneto . If you like what you hear, then feel free to back us on Patreon at any level to get access to all of them as he does them! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...
Mar 27, 2020•7 min
It totally makes sense that we’d invite a guy known for doing a Sonic the Hedgehog-related podcast on for the episode after Sonic the Hedgehog ; just as it also makes sense that we’d do an episode about a movie that features a terrifying post-apocalyptic scenario in the early 2020s when… well, yes, exactly. Anyway, we welcome the brilliant Chris McFeely from the equally brilliant Sonic the Comic the Podcast to talk about Bryan Singer (sigh)’s 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past . And because we...
Mar 24, 2020•2 hr 5 min
It's our Coronavirus Special! And we're only... kind of kidding, as we talk about New Mutants being pushed back yet again, as well as our thoughts on the final Black Widow trailer (if indeed we do get to see that film soon). We also take listener questions on topics such as the early The Batman pictures, our favourite comics about pandemics, and comfort comic book movie rewatches. Cinematic Universe is supported by the generosity of our backers on Patreon, who also get to hear episodes ad-free a...
Mar 14, 2020•49 min
Our name is Cinematic Universe. We had an accident, and woke up watching a Sonic the Hedgehog movie starring Jim Carrey. Are we mad, in a coma, or back in time? Join us as we try to figure out what the hell’s going on in this crazy world, not least the idea that a movie based on a beloved ‘90s videogame might actually not be completely terrible ? Cinematic Universe is supported by the generosity of our backers on Patreon, who also get to hear episodes ad-free along with bonus material! Check out...
Feb 28, 2020•1 hr 16 min
It’s our first new release of 2020! And it’s not a bad one to kick off the year with, as Cathy Yan’s energetic, entertaining Margot Robbie-and-chums vehicle takes its place as easily one of the best entries in the DCEU so far. Seb, James and Caroline discuss just why it’s so much damned fun, and why we’re disappointed that not enough people have been to see it yet. As per usual, no news discussion on this one – we’re straight in with spoiler-free thoughts before the normal spoiler-filled discuss...
Feb 15, 2020•1 hr 49 min
Seb and James spin 30 seconds of Super Bowl trailer into 30 minutes of discussion, as we look at the first glimpses of the Disney+ shows Loki , The Falcon and the Winter Soldier , and WandaVision . We also examine the strange circumstances surrounding HBO’s upcoming DMZ pilot, and CBS transplanting Damian Wayne into an extra Kent sibling over in Superman and Lois . Cinematic Universe is supported by the generosity of our backers on Patreon, who also get to hear episodes ad-free along with occasi...
Feb 07, 2020•47 min
Our time with Christopher Reeve finally comes to an end, as we tackle the awe-inspiring majesty that is 1987’s biggest blockbuster: Superman IV: The Quest For Peace . It’s in no way a competent film, we can all agree on that – but is there a way to approach it that means we might still get some enjoyment out of it? Is it in fact, pretty much the ultimate Howard T Duck Award winner? Join Seb, James and Caroline for talk of Milton Keynes, Red Dwarf guest stars, the rehabilitation of Jon Cryer, and...
Jan 31, 2020•2 hr 28 min
Seb and James come roaring into 2020 with trailer chat on Birds of Prey and Morbius , as well as the ramifications of Scott Derrickson’s departure from Dr Strange 2 . And we managed to forget to even talk about the New Mutants trailer, which means that hey, we can continue pretending it doesn’t exist! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 17, 2020•44 min
It was a bit of a longer edit than we anticipated, so apologies for the delay – but finally, we can box off the last decade by bringing you the second part of our 2019 awards special! Listen on to find out what Seb, James, Joe and Caroline thought were worthy of attention in such categories as Worst Film, Best Actor/Actress, Best Hero, and the all-important Best Film category. Plus! We have five slots open in the Hall of Fame this year! Which three luminaries will go in alongside Robert Downey J...
Jan 09, 2020•1 hr 57 min
