The Fandom Portals Podcast

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) – A Multiverse Reunion. Was it Hollow Fan Service? Redemption & MCU Future.

• Aaron Davies • Episode 27

Share episode

Episode Summary:
In this episode of The Fandom Portals Podcast, Aaron and Brash are joined by Megan from Vigilante Vibes Podcast to break down Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). 

They explore whether the film’s many cameos were true storytelling elements or just nostalgia bait, unpack Andrew Garfield’s redemption arc, and discuss the MCU’s future for Spider-Man.

Topics:

- Gratitude & Growth: The importance of slowing down & new podcast projects
- First Takes: How We First Encountered Spider-Man
- Theatres vs. Home Viewing: Audience reactions & global cinema experiences
- Was It Just Fan Service? – Community reactions from Reddit & Threads
- Willem Dafoe’s Stunt Request & Mask Removal
- Alfred Molina’s CGI Tentacles & Acting Challenges
- The COVID-19 Impact on Filming & Production Secrets
- Hidden Details & Cameo Secrecy – How Marvel Kept It Under Wraps
- Tobey & Andrew’s Role in Tom Holland’s Growth
- Andrew Garfield’s Redemption Arc – Saving MJ
- The Lizard & Sandman – Wasted or Well-Used?
- The Theme of Redemption & Second Chances
- Tom Holland’s Spider-Man & Restorative Justice
- Willem Dafoe’s Standout Performance as Green Goblin
- The Legacy of the Three Spider-Men Together
- MCU Future: What’s Next for Spider-Man?
- Zendaya & Ned’s Role in Spider-Man 4 – Returning or Moving On?
- Should Felicia Hardy Be Introduced?
- Young Avengers & Spider-Man’s Place in the MCU
- Sign-Off & Where to Find Megan’s Work

🌟 Key Takeaways:

  • The cameos weren’t just fan service—Tobey & Andrew played a major role in Tom Holland’s character arc.
  • Andrew Garfield’s redemption moment with MJ was one of the film’s most emotional payoffs.
  • Restorative justice is a central theme—Spider-Man choosing to heal rather than punish villains.
  • Willem Dafoe’s performance as Green Goblin was a standout, proving why he’s one of the best comic book villains ever.

🎧 Call to Action:

✅ Subscribe to The Fandom Portals Podcast!
✅ Share using #FandomPortalsPodcast.

📲 Follow us: @FandomPortals @GeekFreaksPodcast
📲 Follow Megan: @VigilanteVibesPodcast

📢 Apple Podcast tags: Spider-Man No Way Home, Marvel Cinematic Universe, MCU, Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland, Green Goblin, Willem Dafoe, Doctor Strange, multiverse, comic book movies, superhero films, action movies, Marvel villains, Marvel Phase 4


Contact Us:
Website: https://www.fandomportalspodcast.com/


Instagram: instagram.com/fandomportals/?locale=en
Threads: threads.net/@fandomportals
Email: fandomportals@gmail.com
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/fandomportals




Speaker 1:

Hello everybody and welcome to the Fandom Portals podcast, the podcast that explores the fandoms that help you learn and grow. This week we are joined by Megan from Vigilante Vibes podcast to discuss the movie Spider-Man no Way Home. Yes, that's right, the MCU favorite, containing all three of the Spider-Men that have played the part for the last 20 years 20 years. Megan Brash and I discuss whether the cameos in this film are simply nostalgic fan service or if they play a deeper part in the plot of the movie. We also discuss the future of Spider-Man in the MCU and in our most valuable takeaways we talk about redemption, second chances and the theory of restorative justice as it is presented in this movie. So sit down, strap in, guys, and we hope you enjoy this episode of the Fandom Portals podcast. Today we are joined by a very special guest. Her name is Megan and she's from the Vigilante Vibes podcast. Megan, thanks for joining us today. How are you going?

Speaker 2:

Good. Thank you for having me. I've been a big fan of you guys. I'm really excited.

Speaker 1:

No, thank you for joining us. We appreciate you coming on. You're only our second female guest that we've had on, so we're looking to get some more like female voices onto our space, so thank you very much for being that person. And Brash is joining me here today. How are you going, brash? Good, I'm very good, our little co host. Yeah, he's our third little co-host, ace the dog. He snuggles in at our feet and stuff and has a bit of an opinion too. So he's pretty quiet for a husky, isn't he Brash?

Speaker 3:

Oh, very quiet.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Didn't you name him Ace, after Batman's dog?

Speaker 3:

Sort of. I love that. Originally though, it was from One Piece, oh, okay, yeah, so his full name is actually Porticus D Ace On his first TV hit, but we just call him Ace for short. Yeah, that's a mouthful, that's cute, yeah because I don't even do it on the afterwards, because I was like, oh, portuguese, the Ace, like done, because I love. And then I was like, oh wait, it's also Batman, because then that's our Halloween costume idea. That's so as Ace, and I'll dress up as either Batman or Robin. Oh, that'd be cool.

Speaker 2:

That's cute.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love the dog in costume. Today, we're all here to talk about a pretty awesome movie that came out in 2021. It's Spider-Man no Way Home. It's starring Tom Hollands and Daya and Willem Dafoe, it's written by Chris McKenna and it's directed by John Watts. It cost the studio Marvel Studios $200 million to make, and can you guys guess how much it made on the box office? How much do you think it made?

Speaker 2:

It cost $100 million A billion.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, cracked a billion.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

It actually almost made two. It's $1.95 billion. Damn Crazy.

Speaker 2:

It made a lot of money, just re-release it into theaters, make up the difference. That's crazy.

Speaker 3:

I reckon Get that two billion, just hit that edge.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's definitely a very popular film, but before we get into that, we always start with our gratitudes and growth segments, and this is where we like to begin by sharing a personal gratitude for the week, and it can be anywhere you feel like you are grateful for. I might start today. I'm grateful because I've recently had a whole lot of small bursts of energy and in those, in those sort of times, I I get a lot of stuff done. So, like I cleaned out my garden bed out the front here today, and after you do like a job like that that's been sitting on your mind for so long, you just feel like this wave of like relaxation and like a weight's been lifted off your shoulder, so I'm thankful and grateful.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's it sense.

Speaker 1:

That's it Sense of accomplishments. I did something today, so, yeah, that's what I'm grateful for today. What about you guys?

Speaker 2:

Fresh Okay.

Speaker 3:

I'm grateful for home this week. I've been busy at work this week and I've done a lot of not so much overtime, just stayed back after work, and I'm always grateful to get home and see Ace and just call up on the couch and watch a show.

Speaker 2:

Oh, that's nice.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I hate being away from home. I hate being away from Ace, that's fair.

Speaker 2:

I'm grateful because I just started this new series on my podcast, Elevating the Nerdy Voices of the Rainbow, where I give a platform to nerds in the LGBTQ community, and I was super, super nervous about it because I'm straight so I can't relate to any of these, so I thought it'd be really awkward and just kind of like dead air.

Speaker 1:

But no, it's going really great and I'm actually learning a lot. That's awesome. It's so good as well because, you know, giving that vote on, we're Australian, so we're not really privy to what's sort of going on in your country as a first person's perspective anyway. But, um, it's great that you guys are really sort of opening up that space, especially on your your podcast as well.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I've met so many amazing people and it's been really nice to see all the fandoms kind of come together to support all of these communities that are just going through a crappy time.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, did you want to talk to us a little bit about your podcast as well? Vigilante Vibes, just to give it a little bit of a plug as well, because, yeah, you are doing some great stuff over in your space.

Speaker 2:

Thanks, Sure. So Vigilante Vibes. It's usually a non-toxic Marvel podcast so I talk all things Marvel and without the toxicity like the sexism, the racism, the homophobia. It's just a safe space for fans to just chill, just have fun and not feel like they're going to hear something being described as woke or anything like that. And it's kind of opened up to having all these guests on from different fandoms. So I get to learn about the DC universe, I get to learn about anime or some comic books I've never read and I've had some really great guests like comic book writers, like Stephanie Phillips, Erica Schultz, voice actors from X-Men 97. I'm releasing an episode on Monday with a actor from Agatha along. Like it's been something that's been huge and is honestly feeding my nerdy soul so well.

Speaker 1:

No, that's really awesome and you know it feeds your nerdy soul and it also probably feeds all your listeners nerdy souls as well to hear a space that is, you know, safe to go and listen to without having to hear any kind of rubbish.

Speaker 1:

That you can definitely experience online when you're trying to express your opinion out there. I know that I started this podcast for a very similar reason. There was lots of people who I'd talked to that really loved to talk about their fandoms and wanted to do so in a non-judgmental way, because there are those people out there that there is a negativity bias or somebody that just wants to sort of push their sort sort of space onto you, whether you ask for it or not. But it's really nice to have a space where you can talk about the things that you like, whether and also, you know, talk about some of the things that you like in a in a way, where you're sort of talking about some things that you don't like so much about it in a really positive way, with people that you know accept your opinion. So I respect what you do, megan. I appreciate it really, really good.

Speaker 2:

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1:

It's all good, all right. So we are indeed talking about Spider-Man no Way Home, and this is a Spider-Man movie that is obviously starring Tom Holland, and in this movie his identity is revealed. Peter also asks Dr Strange in this movie for help to reverse that, and then, when the spell goes wrong, there is some dangerous foes from other worlds, that sort of appear, and chaos and action ensues. This is the segment the first take segment where we discuss where we first encountered the media, what our initial impressions were, and we'll also read some of our social media inputters about the media as well. So, brash, did you want to start off? How did you first encounter Spider-Man and especially Spider-Man no Way Home?

Speaker 3:

So I think this is in similar vein to our Venom episode. It was on airplanes, yeah, flying from airplanes I don't know if this was in America or in Australia. I had to fly as an unaccompanied minor a lot between my parents. So flying there they'd give you this little unaccompanied minor setup where you get like a little goodie bag full of crayons and comics and stuff like that and you just get to play with that while on the plane and they'd always give you spider-man comics, which is where I first think in this association I was what 96, when I was six years old.

Speaker 3:

Um, yeah, I'd get like a little color in comics of spider-man. I get like the actual comic strips of spider-man and, um, yeah, I used to. I actually did at one point. I wish I still had them. I don't know where they went, but I used to collect them and keep them. And I wish I still had them, but I know where they went, but I used to collect them and keep them and because they weren't like your proper full comics, they were like these tiny little miniature comics and that's where I first encountered Spider-Man yeah, and what about the movie Spider-Man?

Speaker 1:

No Way Home? Did you see it in theaters?

Speaker 3:

I did actually.

Speaker 2:

I think I had first saw Spider-Man and the Tobey Maguire movies, but it became recently told to me by my parents that I dressed as Spider-Man for about four to five months of my life, when I was about two.

Speaker 1:

That is cool.

Speaker 2:

So I guess I've known about Spider-Man longer than I thought.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, he's really universal. I know my son, for example, absolutely adores Spider-Man.

Speaker 2:

He reads lots of Spider-Man books but he also sees him occasionally on Spider-Man and your Amazing Friends and I think there's like a universality to the character where he appeals to older people and younger people as well, and crying and just being like we're finally here.

Speaker 1:

I waited so long. Yeah, I um, I saw it in cinemas as well. It came out in 2021, obviously, and in Australia that was like the peak not really the peak, but the downslide of COVID-19 and that was sort of happening so everybody obviously had to go in with masks and things like that and and it just kind of came out at a really good time because it was a movie that obviously highlighted redemption arcs and second chances and just a really hopeful kind of vibe. And it is still, to this day, probably the most active cinema experience that I've ever been a part of in terms of the way that people in the audience would react to the things that were happening on screen. Brash and I talked about this on an earlier episode. But in Australia, when you go to the movies and you sit down in the theater experience and the lights go off, everyone's quiet from the moment the movie starts to the moment it ends. Is that the same sort of similar experience in America? Because I've seen some sort of rowdy cinema experiences over there too.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's always. It's supposed to be quiet. It's kind of like common decency it is. But with Spider-Man, no Way Home and Endgame that was the only two times I was in a theater and it was wild. I'd say Spider-Man was also my biggest. The most activity happened in that theater.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, I can definitely attest to that Like, especially when all the cameos dropped and the way that John Watt sort of portrayed them coming out is you'd always see like an item or a quick close-up shot of something that revealed the character before the actual character was revealed.

Speaker 1:

So, for example, when Melina's Doc Ock was revealed, his tentacle came straight up and slammed onto the pavement and you saw that tentacle and then it sort of panned back and you saw Doc Ock in all his glory from Spider-Man 2. And that's when the cinema would just erupt, like it. And that's when the cinema would just erupt, like it'd be like a moment of oh my God, they're doing it. And then it happened and, yeah, you just see them all erupt, and that happened obviously multiple times through this movie. So to this day it hasn't been beaten as a cinema experience for me in terms of just the electric atmosphere. Let's get on to some of our Reddit peoples, because what's your experience as being both Brasher and Megan, when, trasher and Megan, when you talk to people about this movie, what's the general vibe from the people that you've kind of spoken to?

Speaker 2:

People for me are usually like oh, it's just a bunch of fan service, the story didn't even make sense and it's like I don't need your negativity in my life. Get away from me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that was pretty much echoed in our Reddits.

Speaker 3:

There's the two sides of the faction. I think it depends on the person. So all the people that you surround yourself with. So me, and probably you and all my other mates, I don't mind a bit of nostalgia. Give me that nostalgia.

Speaker 3:

I love that stuff, take me back, take me back to a better time where I didn't have to worry about anything. I liked the nostalgia they brought back with that, because I think some of the moments where even I teared up were moments worry about anything I I liked. I liked the nostalgia they brought back with that because I think some of those, some of the moments where even I teared up, were moments that involved other characters, like from the previous movies. Yeah, I loved it. I loved it and my friends I know my friends liked it too.

Speaker 1:

So that's good, yeah so. So on reddit we've got a couple of people we got no copy 5955 that says it's one of those movies that was good in theaters but when I watched it at home it fell extremely flat. And then you've got somebody completely opposite to that isopod character that says there is a whole sequence in the condo. That action sequence is some of the best work that Marvel's ever done. You've got Sibelius 8 that says the plot is light and it's cameo heavy, but the payoff to that was obviously being Andrew Garfield getting his moment with MJ, and seeing Dafoe play Green Goblin again was a standout to them. Also, doctor Strange had to act like the stupidest person on earth, for example, is what writer for you said in order to cast the spell at the beginning of the movie. And then you've got Run PBJ that said I loved it. When I saw it for the first time it was amazing, and Toby and Andrew and Tom all together on the screen was something that you don't want to miss. So it's definitely sort of polarizing on the reddit space, but I think it's safe to say it's. It's definitely a movie that that sources a reaction from you and, as you said, brash with the nostalgia as well. It's. It's really sort of banking or not banking on, but really paying tribute and homage to the 20 years of Spider-Man stories that we've kind of had growing up. So that's the general sort of vibe here.

Speaker 1:

But what we might do now is we usually do like a fandom face-off segment between Brash and I and that's usually like a trivia thing that we do. But I think it would be unfair to do that for this one, because we have a very special guest with us. So what I'm going to do that for this one, because we have a very special guest with us. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to tell you guys some facts or ask you guys some questions and if you know anything about it, you can chime in with your comments about the movie as well. Obviously, this movie stars Willem Dafoe returning as Green Goblin from the original Spider-Man movie. Everyone was extremely excited to see him. He had a very special last minute request that he wanted to enact if he returned to the role. Do you guys know what that was?

Speaker 3:

Oh, I do hear something. I can't remember what it was.

Speaker 2:

No, I do not. So it's up to Brush now.

Speaker 3:

What was that?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, because it was something he asked for specifically. So he believed that he wanted to perform his own stunts, and that's right. He wanted the character to be more menacing, so he wanted to not play the character with the mask on this time. Show off that. Show off that wooden grin of his. That's exactly right. And yeah, I think it really paid off showing the duality of that character, because he was extremely menacing in spider-Man 1 when he did have the mask on and when he had the mask off in this one, his facial expressions really just made a lot of the scenes that he was in. What do you think about Willem Dafoe's performance, megan?

Speaker 2:

I loved it. There's absolutely no notes. There's absolutely nothing he could have done differently. It's all perfect.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think so too, and he's iconic in the way that he kind of pulls that laugh off, and he's one of the characters as well that I would say you can't replace him, like if anybody ever was going to play Green Goblin, and they've tried Hard. It's hard to beat. Yeah, willem Dafoe's performance I would say. So I'm glad he came back and you know, being an aged, I'm not sure how old he is, but being an Asian man himself, I've seen some behind the scenes footage of him and Tom Holland sort of going at it in the action sequences and Tom Holland even says like he holds his own and it's absolutely terrifying of how in character he is because he fully commits to it. And, yeah, I really loved him in this. It's awesome to see All right, this one's about Dr Octopus, who's played by Alfred Molina, obviously starring first time in Spider-Man 2004.

Speaker 1:

He came back for this movie. What technical change happened for Alfred Molina that made him feel like acting in this movie was easier than acting in Spider-Man 2, 2004? Has something to do with his tentacles?

Speaker 3:

Oh, because we're all CGI'd.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly In the originals. Both of you got that correct and you answered at the same time too. That was awesome. Yeah, in Spider-Man 2, they were all controlled by puppeteers and various different sort of marionette people.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, they were back and they were like using sticks and just waving them around.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Yep, so it was kind of. It gave him props to sort of interact with these ones. Being CGI, he said it was a little bit difficult because the tentacles kind of did all the acting and when he was in action sequences he would just have to like thrust his body to the left or thrust it to the right and the CGI tentacles would do the rest. But obviously he didn't see that, so he was acting on a green screen for a lot of the time, which I think is also apparent because of the COVID-19 that happened. They were filming a lot of the things in a studio in Atlanta instead of on set on location. So the CGI helped with that too. All right, last one, here we go. So what impacted the film's production the most during its time under production? We've kind of gone into it Big global event.

Speaker 2:

Oh, oh wow. What could have possibly happened then Spanish flu Close, obviously it oh well, what could have possibly happened then Spanish flu Close? So obviously it was the toilet paper crisis where everyone ran out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly right, there was a world shortage of toilet paper. I'm glad that translated to America too, because, yeah, our supermarkets are completely empty of toilet paper and fresh water. Yeah, we're obviously talking here Completely out.

Speaker 3:

Don't tell anyone else this. And anyone listening don't tell anyone else this we're watching. Don't tell anyone else this. And anyone listening don't tell anyone else this we're watching. But I was actually fine with toilet paper because I work at the army base. They had like stores we have stores of it for the army base so we just all just grabbed a whole big pack of it for ourselves and just took it home. You were supplied, I was supplied. That's good.

Speaker 2:

I had the hookups we were also perfectly fine, because we live out in the middle of nowhere and the only thing around us is a Dollar General and we have like three neighbors, so like all of us always had toilet paper all the time because no one knew about this dollar store right down the road. So it was pretty lucky.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, that would have been really good when you had to stay six feet away, because if you had three neighbors in the middle of nowhere, you're just like done and we've done that. That's awesome.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it was very nice. I was like oh yes, I hope after COVID you guys stay away from me even more.

Speaker 1:

Yeah yeah, this is too good for me. Six feet is just the beginning.

Speaker 2:

Yes, this is my new standard.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly. But yeah, covid-19, the pandemic obviously caused some challenges. There were some safety concerns that were apparent as well, but it also helped them because there was obviously a lot of secrecy surrounding this film, and the less people knew about production the better in this regard, because they did indeed have a lot of cameos coming and going. So of the three Spider-Men that came in, for example, being Tom, andrew and Toby, they all came in and did their scenes and then after that, because of the limited amount of people on set, they would get some of the villains in, including Alfred Willem and Jamie Foxx, and they would shoot their scenes as well. There was even some sort of secrecy around the script. That was aided by COVID as well, because not everybody got the full script, as is common for a Marvel movie.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, covid-19 really played a part in the making of this film, to the point where a lot of the on set scenes where you see Tom Holland walking down the street, is put in in post and there was sort of stage production designs that said, you know, there's a person walking here or there's a car parked there, and he had to dodge them, as if they were taped onto the floor in front of him. So very unique way to make a movie. But I'm glad that they did, because it came out at just the right time for us all. So yeah, covid-19.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and it was also the traveling got him too, because the man who plays Sandman couldn't get there to film it. So they reused film that he's been in yeah, old footage of him as well.

Speaker 1:

I wonder if that was the same as the lizard too, risa Farnes, who played the lizard, because, yeah, he had a limited sort of role in it as well, didn't he?

Speaker 3:

yeah, he was like the most small person who was on there the least and got probably cured, probably one of the quickest yeah, exactly that's right.

Speaker 1:

Every team needs like the rookie, don't they?

Speaker 1:

yeah, that quick one yep, just to make sure all the rest of them work alright. So this one here, this segment's called Devil's Avocado. This is where we ask the host to consider a new perspective or a casting choice or a plot line. We call it Devil's Avocado because you know Devil's Advocate. We ask a little question and think about the other side of it. So in this we're going to ask a couple of questions, the first one pertaining to the large amount of cameos in this movie. We've talked a little bit and touched on the fact that these cameos can sometimes be seen as being fan service and sometimes people also argue that they're you know, they're legacy cameos and they play a really strong part in the, in the character development of the movie. So our question for that devil's avocado to start off with is are the cameos and the legacy cast members in spider-man no way home simply there for fan service? We might start with you, megan. What do you think about this one?

Speaker 2:

okay, I don't think cameos in any superhero movie is just fan service, because that's what the comics do where they derive from. It's all about cameos and who shows up randomly. So even if it, you could look at it if it's fan service. But I do think that goes back to who is very experienced in the comics.

Speaker 1:

I, um, I definitely agree with that because you know, on the cover of a lot of old comics you can see, obviously, amazing Spider-Man on the front of it and then featuring whatever character is featuring in this moment and they might be in the comic for two or three pages or they might be, you know, over a couple of arcs. But they did that crossover a lot in the comics because they played on the popularity of whatever magazine was selling a lot at the time. If Spider-Man was a popular character, or Wolverine, for example, he cameoed in so many comic books because he was the popular character and they wanted to sort of sell more books of other characters or open the story. That was really great for a character that was not getting as much of the spotlight as they needed. So, very good point. It kind of pays homage to the comic book characters there. What do you think, brash?

Speaker 3:

brash yeah, 100% agree. Yeah, especially with all the. I reckon also seems like all the Marvel characters from the New York space always tend to cameo with each other, cause you got like all like Cloak, cloak and Dagger always show up there. You got the. Yeah, all the defenders, yeah, with Daredevil and Luke Cage and all them. Spider-man obviously, spider-man obviously, and Spider-Man and Friends like Firestar and yeah.

Speaker 2:

Fantastic Four. Fantastic Four and the Baxter Building.

Speaker 3:

Baxter Building yeah, 100%. And they just did that TV show and I can't think of it now along with Cloak and Dagger. They just did a cameo On.

Speaker 1:

The Runaways On.

Speaker 3:

The Runaways. That's right. Yeah, the Runaways. Cloak Dagger, the TV show just did a cameo on the Runaways third season, and yeah, so I don't know. It just sounds to me like New York always seems to band together and have all the people just join all the time. So yeah, 100%.

Speaker 1:

So I think the way that people sort of describe fan service I think what they're referring to is if a character appears in the narrative and they provide nothing significant or no narrative weight at all other than the fact that they're just there. And in this movie, spider-man, no Way Home I definitely feel like a lot of the cameo characters serve the narrative purpose really well in terms of the character development. So if we think about Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, they might be considered a cameo appearance but they play a really significant role in the plot and in Tom Holland's arc. So Tom Holland's growing as Spider-Man through these three movies, the home trilogy, and he's had different mentors throughout each movie. In the first one it was Iron man, in the second one he lost Iron man. So he went to the next sort of mentor that he could find, which was Quentin Beck in the form of Mysterio, making that mistake. And in this third movie he's a little bit more independent, but he does eventually find the mentors of Toby and Andrew.

Speaker 1:

And Tom goes through this extremely sort of grieving process after he loses Aunt May and as a result of that he he leans on the advice and the experience of Tom and Andrew's characters who had gone through that before you know. There's that amazing scene with Andrew Garfield that says you know, he got angry, he got bitter and eventually he just stopped pulling his punches. To the point where the wiser sort of mentor in Toby said you know, when that happened to Uncle Ben, he also chased down the killer and when he exacted his revenge or what he wanted to happen happened to that killer he didn't feel any better. Even to the point where at the very end of the movie, when Tom Holland is actually going to kill the goblin and make the exact same mistake Toby did, toby's the one that comes in and stops him and says you know, this is not the way you want to go, and I think that is extremely significant as a cameo Like.

Speaker 1:

They're characters in themselves, not only to the point where they served the main character, but they also had their own arcs as well. Brash, you were talking off screen a little bit about their own arcs. Do as well? Brash, you were talking off screen a little bit about their own arcs. Do you want to talk about Andrew?

Speaker 3:

Garfield's arc Because I know he's your boy, he's your favorite Spider-Man, that's Spider-Man, but his redemption of saving MJ because he unfortunately couldn't do it in his own movie. He made the mistake of using a web to try and catch Gwen Stacy and it ends up it doesn't go so well, bungee jumping and she unfortunately hits the floor, whereas this time he knew better and knew he had to actually get hands on and grab her before she got, before MJ hit the floor. And I think that that part that even in the cinema I actually teed up on that part that was that was so good to see and just Andrew Garfield's on-screen reaction and how he looked and it just hit the feels.

Speaker 3:

I love that moment. That was my favorite moment. But yeah, it's sort of a redemption arc because everyone I don't even know Gwen Stacy died in that movie. I was like I didn't think they'd go there. I didn't think they'd go there. I didn't think they'd go there either, and like the fact that there I'm, like you, swing around your webs all day.

Speaker 1:

You know there's going to be some sort of pull on like heat of the moment, though he would have made that sort of call to try and do what he wanted to do and yeah, unfortunately it was the wrong call.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and I like the. I know, even in the cinema when we watched, when he caught her, I think everyone cheated in the cinema, which is not very common, not a common thing in Australia.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, what about you, megan? What were your thoughts about the Andrew Garfield arc in this no Way Home movie?

Speaker 2:

I agree with everything you said, but I think it goes even a little deeper, more deeper than that. Because yeah, he saved NJ, he kind of made up for what happened to him. Yeah, he saved and Jay, he kind of like made up for what happened to him, but he did it for a fellow Spider-Man, so that Spider-Man doesn't have to go through what he went through. So, yeah, he saved a life, but he also saved two lives in that. That catch.

Speaker 1:

I really like that because I also think that it was an arc for him as well, because that was obviously something that stuck in his past and was a pain for him. So he did. He did do it for tom holland spider-man, but it also probably served a purpose for himself in terms of his growth to be considered. You know, good enough as spider-man he was, he was able to correct the mistake that he made, and that was throughout his arc as well, with a lot of the spider-man telling him no, you are amazing, you are great, which I thought was really affirming and awesome too. I want to find aliens.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

I could have watched them talking back and forth for hours, Like that's all I wanted.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that was yeah. I love their interactions, it was so good. And then talking about Toby, how he just makes his webs, yeah, yeah, that was so good. I just don't do breathing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah Well, yeah, it kind of got like a little bit awkward around there, but the awkwardness was like genuine, between the characters and it came off because I think those three are actually really respectful of each other as actors and really good friends, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think a lot of those lines and those sequences were kind of ad-libbed and the director, john Watt, was very encouraging of them to do that. Because you know you get three talented guys in the room playing a character that they all love. The worst thing you can do is put a leash on them or tell them what to do. You know, I thought they did an amazing job, pun intended. But yeah, what about? I know Brash's favorite is obviously Andrew Garfield. What about you, megan? Which one do you resonate with the most?

Speaker 2:

Probably Tom Holland. I think he's the best Peter Parker and the best Spider-Man. And even Stan Lee says like he's Spider-Man, toby has to be my least favorite, just like you're like a 30-something-year-old man in high school. Just never sat well with me. Andrew is a very, very close second. I love Andrew Garfield. I would die for that man easily.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think Andrew's my favorite and then with a close second to Tom. But I also hold a very special and awesome place in my heart for Toby. They're all great. He was the first Spider-Man that we saw and I think we talked about it earlier, Brash but he really nailed the science nerd kind of Spider-Man and whereas Andrew Garfield was more like the millennial kind of Spider-Man, where if the Spider-Man character was made for a millennial audience in a millennial time, that is exactly kind of what he would be like.

Speaker 1:

You know, there's the sarcasm dealing with trauma through humor. You know, a bit of a recluse if he's not really accepted into societal cliques. And I think, yeah, his complete look in those movies, the Amazing Spider-Man, you know, skateboard on the back, I kind of modeled myself off of that in high school, which is, yeah, fingerless gloves do it all. Yeah, I was a cool guy, no, but I definitely think that having those three on screen you're absolutely right, Megan, they were electric, they were really, really. When it was coming out, I kind of had a suspicion that they would, I wished that they would, but there was also a lot of secrecy because everybody was denying all the three actors especially was denying their involvement in the film, and I know no interviewer trusts what Andrew Garfield says anymore because of it. No yeah.

Speaker 2:

But then didn't they spoil it in the trailer and it was like you could have just not done that because we had no solid proof. Yeah, and you just went.

Speaker 3:

Because they edited the poster, or no? So the trailer, when they're all jumping at each other? Yeah, yeah, there was like there was parts of it where it looked like that's what it looked like Lizard was getting kicked in the face. There was no one there to kick him in the face. Yeah, that was it.

Speaker 1:

I do do that.

Speaker 2:

They um, there's so many reasons why they add them in. Like with Deadpool and Wolverine, they showed, uh, laura Kinney. Lauren Kinney, um, oh, I cannot get. I can never get her name. The lady Daphne King yeah, it's been such a long day. Um, uh, they showed her in the trailer just because she wanted to go to the premiere and she wasn't allowed to because she was supposed to be a surprise cameo. So they're like okay, we'll add you in and everyone know and it'd be great. So I think, like maybe they added them in because they wanted to go to premiere or someone had proof, and they're like marvel is just like put it out before they get to spoil it spoil it ourselves.

Speaker 1:

yeah, yeah, yeah. That's why I rushed to the cinema to see it, because I was gonna wait, you know, because it was obviously COVID-19, but I was going to wait. But then I literally opened my social media, scrolled twice and I was like there it is, I'm going Before I get any more. Literally scrolled twice and it was there.

Speaker 3:

It's so hard to always spoil this these days, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

All right, let's talk about our villains, because we've talked a little bit about Willem Dafoe and Doc Ock, but in terms of our Devil of uh, our devil's avocado question about, you know, legacy cameos or fan service, um, what are your thoughts on the green goblin coming back? Uh, was it fan service or do you think the cameo was, was served? Well, I'll open that up to anybody who wants to jump in I mean he had a role like he gave to the storyline.

Speaker 2:

I could understand if it was just like he just showed up and was like hey guys and then left. But he was such a big part of the movie I don't understand how that's fan service.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, I completely agree. I think that the Green Goblin, if he showed up on the bridge, threw his bomb and then, you know, there was a single fight scene and then he left, serving nothing other than the introduction of his character. It probably would have been that way, but he definitely became the true villain of the film and he also influenced one of Tom Holland, peter's darkest moments and his moment for change. In all other iterations of Spider-Man movies that we've seen, uncle Ben has been murdered by a senseless robber. By some means, peter was responsible for letting go, whereas in this example, tom Holland offered kindness to Norman Osborn, green Goblin, and then, obviously, he ended up killing Aunt May, because Green Goblin was kind of baiting him the whole time through, wasn't he? He was like you can become this great thing, but there's something holding you back, and it's her, and he was, you know, eventually pulled the trigger and we got the famous line with great power comes great responsibility from Aunt May in this version, which I think was awesome, it was a great change on the usual.

Speaker 1:

Some people on our Reddit didn't like that change, but to them I think that change is good sometimes, and in this case it is. I've got a question here for our Devil's Avocado about the multiple pop culture and meme references within the film, because I think they're rife throughout as well and you know, with this generation being quite well-versed in the internet space, memes like I'm something of a scientist myself returned and showed up. Were there any moments like that for you two that you saw? That really just stuck the landing.

Speaker 2:

Oh, the pointing.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, the three Spidermen. Yeah, that's a good one, yeah he's Spider-Man.

Speaker 2:

No, he's Peter, no he's. That was perfect.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and yeah, that would have been. It seems so natural the way that it got pulled off as well, because I think that you know performing that scene there are a lot of moving parts, not only just fingers but also, you know, dialogue and things like that too and it and that was a moment in the cinema theater where everybody sort of laughed and chuckled and you know you had to obviously be part of the internet crew to get it.

Speaker 3:

But what about you, brash? What do you reckon? Well, my thing is Electro, because there was memes of him as Jamie Foxx with the blue yeah, the blue guy, blue guy, the blue man. The old blue man group came up from that. But I like how they gave him a better look, a proper look, in the new one.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no Way Home. He was really aware of that too, like Jamie Foxx's character, Max Dillon, in the movie. He said you know, this is a much better look. Yeah, and he was a little bit more confident in himself, which was the arc for his character. He was pretty underdeveloped in Amazing Spider-Man 2, but in this one he Spider-Man 2, but in this one he kind of had that confidence in that show, which I thought was good.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, like was it the comparison between his character and Arrested Development? Or his name when he gets painted blue?

Speaker 1:

Oh, yeah, the Alex Cross character. I know who you're talking about.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's painted blue.

Speaker 1:

I was like, oh, so mean, but at the same time it was funny. Yeah, One of my favorites was the back cracking scene between Toby and Andrew Paying tribute to, I feel that, yeah, being 35, I obviously feel that too. But I think you know one of the funniest moments and I quote it to this day whenever I've got a sore back. You know the way Toby fell down and hit all those cars in the original movie and you get something. Something he's like oh, my back, like, yeah, I do that all the time.

Speaker 1:

So playing, playing back to that and Andrew sort of cracking his back. And I also loved it because they'd only just kind of met each other but they knew they could trust each other enough. Toby just tell Andrew you know I have this weakness and it's my back, can you help me fix it? Whereas you know if, if he was a villain or he had his little bit of distrust towards that, you know he might exploit that to defeat Spider-Man, but he trusted him enough to be like crack my back, help me out. So I kind of built that character up as well. I love that. It was good. So I think, yeah, those pop culture references can be a little bit like a time capsule. It kind of locks it into the 2000s internet culture. But I think, to the people that it was supposed to be relevant for All right. So end verdict we think that it obviously transcends fan service. Am I correct in assuming, guys, we're all in agreeance?

Speaker 3:

Do you know any fan service character I can think of in that movie?

Speaker 1:

will probably be Lizard, yeah, or even Sandman, like they were a little bit underdeveloped.

Speaker 3:

Even Sandman had some thing, so he got brought back in there and Tobey Maguire fully knew that, um, he just wanted to get back to his daughter, so getting him back to being being able to, get him back to being human and all getting back to just being, because I think that's how they left it.

Speaker 1:

He drifted away at the end in number three. He just drifted away on the wind.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's right being able to turn back to human, to be able to go back to his daughter, I think was a huge thing, whereas Lizard was just. You know, he was there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, they stuck him and that was it, and then he was gone. Yeah, I think, yeah, I don't know what, but I think it's because they just needed two villains from each movie.

Speaker 3:

Well, even though Toby had three and Andrew had two, but it was more so, like Doc Ock and Sandman, they eventually like they would go back and be good. Lizard and Electro would go back and be good. I don't know. Electro might have shown his powers back, because it seems like he got a bit power hungry, didn't he? And then it was just the overarching Green Goblin being bad the whole time. So there's like sort of two and two where they'll try and make trying to redeem two of them, and then there was that ultimate Green Goblin trying to redeem him and sort of pretty much failing to do so.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think it's interesting with Green Goblin because he I'll probably go into this a little bit for my most valuable takeaway segment but with Green Goblin he's a bit of a different villain to the, because those villains seemed to me like they were willing to be changed and turned back, whereas Green Goblin there was one part of his mindset and psyche that probably would be accepting of that change and then the other part, which is the Green Goblin part, that obviously wanted the chaos and wanted the violence. So talking about that sort of mental illness and restorative justice thing and that balance within this movie and that character is something interesting to me that I thought, yeah, and that sort of something interesting to me that I thought.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and that sort of chaos winning over and dominating the other personality, all right.

Speaker 1:

So let's move on now to our most valuable takeaway segments. So this is where we discuss the most important thing that we learned from the media in the movie that we watched Could be something that extends your knowledge or something that you can apply to your life. It might be something like a simple piece of dialogue or a scene, a thematic or moral lesson that you have gained from the movie.

Speaker 3:

Did anybody want to start particularly Otherwise I can I'll start because mine's a quick one and we've already touched on it. All right, go for it. Mine was Andrew Garfield catching MJ. That was Like the whole, like my it's never too like I think I've said this in one of our previous podcasts but the whole it's never too late to find that sort of redemption and find that sort of inner peace and that I am good enough moment like to find that in yourself and I think that's probably my most valuable takeaway. On that, like I hated how I can. It was good because it was sad, but when Andrew lost Gwen Stacy in that movie, that was such a hard thing to watch because you could see how broken he was about it. And then just seeing Andrew at the end, tears in his eyes and MJ saying are you okay? And he was like I'm good and actually, looking at him, you could tell he was good. He sort of healed a bit in himself and, yeah, that always was my favorite part.

Speaker 1:

Yes, that was my most fellow takeaway yeah, I think that was mirrored in Andrew as well, because he was. He loves the character of Spider-Man and he was obviously cut short in his run and I think to have another chance at it I think was a bit of catharsis for him too, where he was able to reconcile some of the storylines that weren't finished and he was given the opportunity and he seemed to be really thankful for that. So I can agree with that. I think that both the character and for actor, that scene and that development in that character, was something that was really enticing for him to come back to and enticing for us to watch. So for me, I think this is this hits different to other superhero movies.

Speaker 1:

For me and I know it's a point of frustration for some people, because a lot of people don't seem to understand or don't really like the decision that tom was tom spider-man was making, where he really wanted to cure these villains before he sent them back, instead of just imprisoning them or sending them back, using that sort of punishment or punitive sort of sense of justice which is exemplified in the Doctor Strange character. He's always, like you know, this is predetermined, fate is fate. It's not our job to fix them. We send them back and we fix our own, they're doomed to whatever fate they have over there, whereas Tom Holland's Spider-Man obviously wanted to give them a chance to spite the evils that they would have incurred, he sort of wanted to look at them more in a humanistic approach, and that approach is called restorative justice, where it has sort of three proponents to it, where you try to understand the root of the problem that the person's having and then you provide opportunities for those offenders to make amends we use this at school for teaching as well with kids for those offenders to make amends. We use this at school for teaching as well with kids and then obviously restoring those relationships between the others and the people that were hurt.

Speaker 1:

So I think Tom Holland's Spider-Man actually goes through all of these phases with the villains, most notably with Dr Octopus. So when he makes the decision not to send him back straight away and cure him as soon as he fixes the inhibitor chip, otto regains that sense of himself and that's restorative justice in practice. He understands the cause of the harm, which was the broken chip, and then he intervened and addressed the problem instead of painting the person as bad. And then obviously after that, dr Octopus took that next step into repairing the relationship because he became an ally in the end of the movie. So that sense of restorative justice is really different in a superhero movie for me, and that was my big takeaway, because Tom Holland's Spider-Man really clung onto that and it was the thing that defines his Spider-Man, apart from a lot of the other Spider-Men, and also defines Spider-Man as a hero as opposed to like Batman or any other sort of Marvel superhero. That goes for that vengeful justice and he was going for that.

Speaker 1:

But Tobey obviously stopped him in the way and reminded him of May's words, and that's like the mantra that we can probably see him going to be going forward in in whatever trilogy Tom Holland does in the future, hoping for a trilogy in Spider-Man 4, 5 and 6. Well, yeah, the 4's been announced. So that was my takeaway. I think that that restorative justice change is great and I also think that you know, looking, have I done or what did I do? So he does eventually change it as well. So that sort of kindness approach really sort of resonated with me with this Spider-Man. So that was my valuable takeaway. What about you, megan?

Speaker 2:

mine isn't very, very deep, but it more of like a yeah, um. So I saw a lot of people complaining about spider-man no way home and they're like how could they do that to spider-man? He now he has no one. They took everyone from him and to me I was like welcome to the comics. The people who hate spider-man the most are the writers. Like he gets everything taken. Life beats him down all the time so. So if you're into that, check out the comics. But I also liked how he lost every single person. Whether they died or they don't remember him, but in the back of his mind he's like I'm still not alone, because apparently there's so many other Spider-Men going through the same thing in other universes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think that's awesome. I love that it sort of harkened back to that, because it also goes back to the point. You know there's now nobody watching him and he's accountable to nobody except for himself, but he still wants to do the Spider-Man job. So he gets that apartment which we all know and love, and you know, the rent in the background is being screened for again and he makes his own suit this time. This time it's not, you know, technologically bumped up by Tony Stark or any mentor, so he's doing it all on his own, off his own back, and that just inherently says the kind of person that he is, where, even after losing everything, he's still going to go through this good and he's still going to make sure that he goes ahead and does the right thing.

Speaker 3:

I think that's the biggest thing. Megan goes ahead and does the right thing. I think that's the biggest thing. Megan's correct in saying go to the comic books and have a look at the comic books. Nearly every single arc of Spider-Man is him absolutely getting thrown through the ringer and just coming out on, not so much on top, but coming out stronger.

Speaker 2:

for it Alive? Alive Barely sometimes. Learning a lesson. Learning a lesson?

Speaker 3:

Always sticking to his guns, of being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think that was a big criticism as well of Tom Holland as Spider-Man and these Spider-Man movies when they first came out, because he did let a lot of people know that he was Spider-Man, whereas Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man it was a secret for so many movies or so much minutes in the movie that it kind of got a little bit frustrating. He was like just tell her, just tell MJ, you know your relationship will survive. It's fine. But yeah, with this one, tom was was telling a lot of people and then he had the, the Avengers around him. He had all of the different heroes in the galaxy supporting him and it just goes back to that transition that he was going through. You know, from that high school kid at the start of Homecoming who's literally begging Tony to become an Avenger, he's like am I ready to be an Avenger now? Look at all these social media stuff of me fighting people. I'm obviously ready to be a hero, to then learning throughout the process and obviously learning through loss as well and learning through our mistakes. That he can then become the hero and do it as an individual. But have those people there to support him if he needs it as well.

Speaker 1:

I think was really good, do you think? I know that? They've said that Zendaya and Ned's. The actor that plays Ned, I'm not sure of his name, jacob Jacob. Yeah, their roles are going to be reduced in the next one. What are your thoughts on that, guys? Do you want to see him back? Do you think that they need to make that return?

Speaker 2:

so MJ is confirmed to be in it and I'm sure what I think is going to happen is that she's gonna remember everything about him and she's like, oh my god, I actually love him and meanwhile I what I hope Felicia Hardy is just kind of in with Peter at that point and he's like now she remembers but I like her and that's what I really really hoped happens. But with Ned, that news came out that Marvel Studios has paused development on what would have been Strange Academy. I think Ned would have. I think he would have had a small part in Spider-Man 4 but had a big part in this, what would have been a show.

Speaker 1:

I like it. There were also rumors about him because Ned Leeds is the name of the Hobgoblin as well.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And he goes through that phase in this movie where he's just like I, will not become a villain to you. So cutely put After yeah, he asks Tobey Maguire, doesn't he?

Speaker 3:

He says so do you have a best friend? He's like, yeah, so do you have a best friend.

Speaker 1:

He's like oh yeah, he tried to kill me. What about you for Zendaya's inclusion, Brash, Do you think there's something in there? Do you think she'll subvert the magic of memory loss?

Speaker 3:

I'm excited to see Felicia Black Cat, do you think?

Speaker 2:

she's playing her yeah. I don't think. She's not even confirmed.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, but I hope so, I hope so. I love Black Cat's character.

Speaker 2:

I do too. I think MJ is so toxic and Felicia is like, just like the spicy kind of toxic, like the kind we like. So that's what I'm here for.

Speaker 3:

I mean, if it was MJ, like I don't know, I like the MJ character in the games, in the Spider-Man games. Her character in that's really good. But yeah, most of the like the original Spider-Man, kirsten Dunst, kirsten Dunst, it was all like, eh, she was just there. She was there to pit the boys against each other, which was dumb.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and also to be rescued, which I think wasn't really fulfilling for her character as well In the game she's more badass and she'll go into a warehouse full of bad guys just to get better guys and video footage and stuff and she'll walk into like she'll go into a warehouse full of bad guys just to get better guys and video footage and stuff and she'll take a stun gun to someone and yeah, well, I feel like in the game she is more like Superman's Lois Lane than she is Spider-Man's MJ.

Speaker 3:

Yeah 100%, that's a good point, yeah, and it makes her more likable and intriguing and you want to sort of follow that and I don't need you to mind me, I can handle this myself. Assertive, I believe, if they do, felicia, which would be great, mj, I'm not sure if it'll be that she remembers, but she'll somehow. They'll somehow make her like like they're going to start just coming together again. No matter what happens, they'll always find each other sort of thing, yeah that's my take.

Speaker 1:

That's my take, yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, In every universe we'll always find each other.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, like that. I don't know if you've seen Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, where they continually find each other even though they've had their memory erased, because love is stronger than memory, so to speak. So the feelings that they have gravitate them towards each other.

Speaker 3:

I 100% hope Ned goes evil. I think it would be awesome. It would be a good arc to see. I hope so too.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it would be a good arc to see, but he promised he wouldn't. So I'm going to hold on to hope that his promise is kept and I'm going to be the good guy in the room.

Speaker 3:

He doesn't we don't know who this guy is.

Speaker 2:

That's very true, probably been on NJ all day with this little magic that he might not remember. He has.

Speaker 3:

But what?

Speaker 2:

if he actually uses it and he's the one that brings back the memories and he's like what did I just do?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, true, look, we've cracked it. Somebody call Marvel.

Speaker 2:

We've got the story. Don't call Marvel. They like to sue people.

Speaker 1:

They'll come for us. Oh well, get us the contacts, Megan, We'll call who we need to call and we'll make our own Spider-Man film.

Speaker 2:

Yep, that's all. Sony will probably take you up on that, but we don't need to do that.

Speaker 1:

No, they don't have a good track record, but anyway, no, they don't. Poor Sony, yeah, poor Sony.

Speaker 3:

All right, I'm so interested and keen to see how the Young Avengers into the New Avengers and what they're doing, it's probably going to be champions. They're middle-aged.

Speaker 2:

Avengers now. They're average-aged. That ship has sailed.

Speaker 3:

The Millennial Avengers. I was so excited for the Young Avengers. I was like, yes, come on, bring Squirrel Girl in and Miss Marvel. Actually, before we go, what is your take on what they've done with Miss Marvel? We go, what is your take on what they've done?

Speaker 2:

with miss marvel and her power made her a mutant.

Speaker 3:

Oh, that's not mostly just her powers. How they made her crystallized visions instead of her when they said that they were changing it.

Speaker 2:

That's when I knew I was like a fantastic four movie has been greenlit. If they're changing it, they don't want it to look like reeds. And I was like I'm okay, I'm fine with it, because it's like they handled it really well in the comics, where they made her into a mutant rather than the inhuman, and I liked it. And Miss Marvel I think she's a character that can stand on her own. She's a dope character and she's great in Young Avengers. So do what you want with her. As long as I'm in Valani as playing her, I'm good yeah, she's amazing.

Speaker 3:

But I also think Miss Marvel is one of my favorite Marvel characters.

Speaker 3:

Actually her and Squirrel Girl as a tag team, just absolutely amazing, absolutely amazing but I was a little bit disappointed that they're like they were going they changed her because of Fantastic Four and it kind of felt like a bit of a kick in the guts as like they see her as sub-pilot. They're like, yeah, we'll just change her because no one cares, and I was like, no, I love Ms Marlon. I love her because she's pretty much encompasses everything of like some like minority group and she sort of brings that sort of upbeat young wanting to be a hero, wanting to save everyone sort of vibe to it and yeah hopeful too.

Speaker 3:

Yeah and uh, I I felt a little bit bad that they like I don't know, that's just a character we can completely change, because no one cares.

Speaker 2:

Yeah I don't think it's because no one cares. I think it's more. They said you know, we're introducing her to the mcu, she's about to get new fans, we're changing up her comics. Why not elevate her a little bit and make her stand on her own, instead of her having these same powers? Then Fantastic Four comes and it's like, oh well, why do we even need her then? But now she has something that makes her stand out in the MCU hmm, I can see that too yeah I.

Speaker 3:

Just the fact that I'll never get to hear her yell I'm big and grow really big is just sad well.

Speaker 2:

Well, she did say it in the show, but it was odd because it's like how do you even know that?

Speaker 3:

Like, why did that come to your brain?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, she's like, she says it and it's like where have you learned that word from? It just happened so odd.

Speaker 1:

I think that it'd be good to see because I don't know there any plans for her in any future projects, because she would be good as a street level Spider-Man ally as well yeah, with the Tom Holland, they've got that Champions movie where they're bringing, like Miss Marvel, the um Hayley's tall guy and probably Doomsday, doomsday yeah, oh yeah, doomsday, that could be where they that could be, where all the young Avengers slash champions all join together for the first time.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. When Doom crushes, all the old heroes and the new ones have to rise up. That'd be good. Because, Toby's back on the show again. America.

Speaker 3:

Chavez too. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

I want to see her back.

Speaker 3:

Yeah same. I want to see her a little bit more badass, so to do like a comic counterpart where she's just like kicking that, just constantly, just kicking ass all the time.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, all right, we might end it there, guys, thanks for the conversation. It was really, really awesome to have you on, megan, and and brash as well, as always, uh, talking about Spider-Man no way home. Megan actually suggested this one, uh for us as a as a movie for us to watch, so thank you for that. It was good to revisit. It was awesome.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

It's all a good one. Net peoples can find you. Uh, megan, in terms of your podcast.

Speaker 2:

Before we let you go, yeah, you can find me everywhere at vigilante vibes podcast, and you can find me on nerdinitiativecom, where I review comics every week for a new comic book day all right and um, all those links will be in the show notes below for you guys, if you want to check out megan's megan's stuff um, no, thanks everyone for watching and thanks megan for joining us.

Speaker 3:

Pleasure having you on here and hopefully you might all not do it again for Spider-Man 4.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yes, I'd love that.

Speaker 1:

That'd be good. Yeah, with that, we'll wrap it up, guys, and we hope to see you guys on the next episode of the Fandom Portals podcast. If you want to join us on our socials, we are on Instagram and Threads newly on Reddit and if you've got a more of a longer form question, you can email us at fandomportals at gmailcom. That's us everybody. Thank you so much. Everybody, stay safe, be nice to each other. No-transcript.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Aaron Davies

Host
Head Shot

Adam Brasher

Co-host

Podcasts we love

Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.

Geek Freaks Artwork

Geek Freaks

Geek Freaks
Challenge Accepted Artwork

Challenge Accepted

Geek Freaks
Sick Burn Podcast Artwork

Sick Burn Podcast

Thomas W Craig VIII