Two reviews and a sidebar this time: the new DCU Supergirl movie, Hulu's Deli Boys, and a rant about Pradeeps of Pittsburgh getting canceled on a cliffhanger.

• 0:00 — Review: Supergirl. Washed-out color, a one-note drunk Supergirl, and a movie that borrows from Guardians, John Wick, True Grit, Logan, and Mad Max.
• 12:44 — Spoilers: how Supergirl ends and what it means for Man of Tomorrow
• 15:16 — Supergirl verdict: eight disappointments
• 18:26 — Review: Deli Boys. The cast rundown, the South Asian and Philly flavor, why the brothers never really grieve, and the Bollywood comedy comparison.
• 32:44 — Spoilers: Deli Boys Season 2
• 34:19 — Sidebar: Pradeeps of Pittsburgh.
• 37:04 — Deli Boys verdict: four disappointments
• 38:36 — Detour: Boston Blue
• 39:25 — Pradeeps of Pittsburgh verdict: four disappointments

Corrections & sources

iZombie (~21:52): Daniel says one of the Deli Boys leads (Raj, played by Saagar Shaikh) also had a recurring iZombie role. iZombie's South Asian lead was Rahul Kohli.

Bollywood comparison (~27:05): Abhishek credits Variety for the Hera Pheri / Andaz Apna Apna comparison. It's from IndieWire's review (Proma Khosla).

• Deli Boys review — IndieWire
• Deli Boys review — Variety (via AOL)

Hera Pheri (~28:40): Abhishek says the kidnapper has the billionaire's daughter. It's his granddaughter.

Deli Boys Season 2 spoiler (~32:44): Daniel says Ahmad hiring the hitman was uncovered in Season 2. That's the Season 1 finale reveal. Season 2 follows Raj going after Ahmad.

• Season 1 recap and ending explained — DMTalkies
• Season 2 episode listings — Disney+

Two reviews this time: a Netflix rom-com and a Pittsburgh ER drama, about as different in tone as it gets.

Content note: The Pitt discussion includes a spoiler about one character's suicidal-ideation storyline, flagged ahead of time — see the timestamp below if you'd rather skip it.

• 0:08 — Review: Voicemail to Isabel. A Netflix rom-com starring Zoey Deutch as a woman who keeps calling her late best friend's old phone number just to hear her voicemail greeting.
• 11:17 — Review: The Pitt. Format and realism talk — comparisons to 24 and Landman, whether the compressed-shift pacing holds up, budget/staffing logic, and how Season 1's mass-casualty event stacks up against Season 2's crises.
• 37:22 — Content note: a heads-up before a spoiler-and-a-half about one character's arc — skip ahead a couple minutes if you'd rather go in clean.
• 40:05 — Character-by-character breakdown: Mel, Whitaker, Santos, Langdon, Abbott, Dana, Al-Hashimi, and the guest stars.
• 1:46:57 — Emmy nominations talk, scores, and wrap-up.

Episode 17 – Batman Fancasting + Coyote vs. Acme

Recorded August 30, 2026 — this one's for Tim Curry, Peter Cullen, and Dolly Parton.

• 0:07 — Cold open: remembering Tim Curry, Peter Cullen, and Dolly Parton (with a detour through her episodes of The Orville)
• 10:39 — Fan-casting rumors: who could play the next Batman. A fan-made list gets put through the wringer, name by name — Alan Ritchson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Winston Duke, Jensen Ackles, and a dozen more, weighed against Robert Pattinson's already-established Elseworlds take and a possible Ben Affleck-style continuation.
• 1:12:10 — Review: Coyote vs. Acme. Wile E. Coyote sues the Acme Corporation, with Will Forte as his lawyer and John Cena for the defense — a live-action/animation hybrid that almost never saw release after Warner Bros. shelved it as a tax write-off before Ketchup Entertainment picked it up. One disappointment, aimed squarely at Warner Bros. for nearly burying it.

• The Batman fan-casting list discussed comes from this Instagram post: instagram.com/p/DcgVVtNEfFZ

• Why Jake Gyllenhaal Nearly Replaced Tobey Maguire As Marvel's Spider-Man — SlashFilm
• Gyllenhaal: Cabbies think I'm Spider-Man — UPI

Recorded August 23, 2026 — before Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Peter Cullen's passing (Aug 25–27). That gets its own tribute next episode; this one's just Hayden.

• 0:07 — Cold open: remembering Hayden Panettiere
• 3:24 — Entertainment news roundup (Lanterns, DCU, Marvel, X-Men casting)
• 27:47 — X-Men Rogue casting and the Heat 2 rumor
• 57:34 — Star Wars vs. the horror movies: box office check-in (58:12 is where the specific numbers land, 57:34 catches the setup)
• 1:03:07 — Mini review: My Oxford Year
• 1:09:58 — Review: The End of Oak Street
• 1:38:15 — Oak Street verdict: three disappointments
• 1:40:40 — End (outro recap: Dolly Parton/Tim Curry/Peter Cullen tribute coming next episode)

Inde Navarrette / Heat 2 casting rumor (~27:47): the actress discussed is Inde Navarrette — noting the correct spelling here since it'll be searched. The rumor that she turned down a role in Heat 2 to play Rogue in Marvel's X-Men has been directly denied by Heat 2 executive producer Shane Salerno, on record with TheWrap: "It's simply untrue." Navarrette had a single meeting with director Michael Mann that never led to an offer.

• Source: ‘Obsession’ Breakout Inde Navarrette Was Never Offered a Role in ‘Heat 2’ — TheWrap
• Source: X-Men Star Didn't Turn Down Heat 2 for MCU Role, Producer Says — SuperHeroHype

Box office figures (~57:34–58:12): the numbers cited (Obsession $500M / Mandalorian and Grogu $345M / Backrooms $396M) are worldwide cumulative totals as of late August 2026:

• Obsession: $501.5M worldwide as of Aug 24, 2026 — the fifth horror film ever to cross $500M globally, and the only original (non-franchise) film in that group. Source: Obsession Passed A Box Office Milestone Only 5 Horror Movies Ever Have — The Movie Blog
• Mandalorian and Grogu: $345,838,416 worldwide. Source: The Numbers
• Backrooms: $393,167,286 worldwide as of Aug 20, 2026. Source: The Numbers

Content note: this episode briefly references a suicide-attempt storyline involving an android character on The Orville. It's a short mention, not the focus of the conversation — see the timestamp below if you'd like to skip it.

Daniel and Abhishek open with a grab-bag of Star Wars news — Ahsoka's Season 2 return, whether Kenobi gets a second season, The Acolyte's cancellation, and a shared frustration with Andor's slower second season and confusing rollout. From there they revisit an old Daniel recommendation, Umbrella Academy, and detour through Doom Patrol before landing on a wider Star Trek conversation — Discovery, Picard, Voyager, Strange New Worlds' final season, and an update on The Orville's uncertain Season 4 status.

Then it's into the main event: a full-season deep dive on Widow's Bay, Apple TV+'s workplace-horror surprise hit, covering its Parks and Rec-adjacent origins, the ensemble cast, and an episode-by-episode rundown through a hard spoiler wall. Abhishek closes with Irene's Vow, the true story of a Polish nurse who hid Jewish families from the Nazis during WWII, and a comparison to The Whale for anyone deciding which one to watch first.

• 00:30 — Star Wars news: Ahsoka Season 2, Kenobi's future, The Acolyte's cancellation
• 02:44 — Andor discussion (Season 2 pacing, Rogue One connection)
• 07:03 — Revisiting Umbrella Academy (an old Daniel recommendation)
• 09:37 — Doom Patrol tangent
• 12:36 — Wider Star Trek conversation (Discovery, Picard, Voyager)
• 17:17 — The Orville: Season 4 status, Adrianne Palicki
• 19:02 — Strange New Worlds: Season 4 premiere, Season 5 as the final season
• 20:31 — The Orville's tonal balance, brief mention of a suicide-attempt storyline (android character) — skip to 27:14 to avoid
• 27:14 — Widow's Bay introduction
• 29:11 — Cast rundown: Matthew Rhys, Stephen Root, Kate O'Flynn, Dale Dickey
• 30:44 — Widow's Bay's 19 Emmy nominations
• 33:00 — Episode-by-episode rundown begins
• 36:23 — Spoiler wall — hard spoilers for Widow's Bay begin here
• 49:03 — Widow's Bay wrap and rating: three disappointments
• 50:36 — Irene's Vow: true story, plot summary
• 57:49 — Comparison to The Whale, closing thoughts

• 
  

Corrections and Updates

Widow's Bay Emmy eligibility — correction:Around 30:25, Abhishek states the show's 19 nominations came from "the first five episodes" airing before the eligibility cutoff. The correct number is the first seven episodes — Widow's Bay is a 10-episode season, and the final three episodes aired after the cutoff date, not the final five.

Irene's Vow historical detail — correction:Around 51:47, Daniel explains the movie's "12 individuals" figure by saying the real number was 11, with a couple's baby (born during hiding) bringing it to 12. Historical accounts of Irene Gut Opdyke consistently describe her sheltering 12 people from the start, one of whom — Ida Haller — was already pregnant when she went into hiding. The baby, Roman Haller, was born in 1944, after the 12 were already in hiding — effectively a 13th life saved, not the reason the count moved from 11 to 12.

A quick note: we faced some unforeseen audio issues while mastering this episode — please excuse any rough patches in the sound.

Daniel leads off with his take on Good Cop Bad Cop, the CW cop-family dramedy about a talented-but-too-sympathetic detective, her estranged brother, and their police-chief father trying to mend a family while chasing a season-long mystery case. From there the conversation opens up into the wider DC/CW landscape — Titans, Batwoman, the visual-darkness problem running through Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, and Wonder Woman, James Gunn's brighter new Superman era, the upcoming Clayface movie, and Aquaman's uncertain future — plus the Paramount/HBO Max merger rumors and a rant about Hulu's playback rewind bug. A quick stop at Comic-Con news on Johnny Depp's Ebenezer Scrooge movie closes out the first half.

Then it's into Spider-Noir: Abhishek breaks down Nicolas Cage's Ben Reilly, the show's mix of 1930s noir and gangster-movie influences, Cage's own stated approach to the role ("70% Bogart, 30% Bugs Bunny"), the body-horror origin of his powers via a WWII POW camp experiment, and the much-discussed "Marvel's answer to The Penguin" comparison. Then the two dig into where the show falls apart — a pacing problem that got Daniel to stop watching partway through, and a fight scene in episode four that becomes the episode's biggest flashpoint — before landing on very different disappointment scores.

• 00:00 — Good Cop Bad Cop review begins (Daniel)
• 07:18 — Wrap-up Q&A, Season 2 status
• 08:33 — Tangent: The CW's track record for renewals
• 09:03 — Batwoman / Titans discussion
• 13:14 — The DC movies' visual-darkness problem (BvS, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League)
• 19:23 — DCU rebranding under James Gunn, the new Superman
• 20:55 — Clayface movie announcement
• 24:39 — Aquaman's status / Jason Momoa
• 28:04 — Comic-Con news: Johnny Depp's Ebenezer (A Christmas Carol)
• 30:38 — Paramount/HBO merger rumors
• 31:55 — Hulu rewind-bug rant
• 36:04 — Segue into Spider-Noir
• 36:18 — Spider-Noir introduction and premise
• 38:49 — Nicolas Cage naming trivia (Kal-El, "Luke Cage")
• 40:53 — Cage's Coppola family history and name change
• 41:37 — Cage's stated influences: Bogart, Cagney, Edward G. Robinson
• 43:20 — Cage's "70% Bogart, 30% Bugs Bunny" quote
• 48:36 — The "Marvel's answer to The Penguin" comparison
• 49:37 — Plot mechanics and body-horror origin
• 50:19 — POW-camp mutation origin (revealed episode 6)
• 52:00 — Setting: 1933, tail end of Prohibition
• 52:34 — Pacing critique (Daniel)
• 59:02 — The show's two-episode-arc structure
• 59:28 — Amanda Schull reveal (Ben's fiancée)
• 1:04:15 — Wrap-up
• 1:04:19 — Disappointment ratings: Abhishek (6), Daniel (9)

Spider-Noir production budget — correction:Around 1:05:57, Daniel cites a production budget of "100 million," sourced from memory rather than a specific source. The widely reported figure for Spider-Noir's budget is approximately $400 million (unconfirmed directly by Amazon/Sony, but consistent across multiple outlets).

References

• Nicolas Cage interview material referenced: Coppola family/name-change history, influences from Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and Edward G. Robinson, and the Moonstruck anecdote about pulling from German Expressionist film for an emotional beat. Clip: https://youtu.be/cjRnFoNso8c?t=38 (Moonstruck anecdote)
• Noir-adjacent episodes/references mentioned for comparison: Warehouse 13, Castle, Lucifer (Season 5, Episode 4).
• The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca flagged as reference points for the Bogart-era noir tone Spider-Noir is drawing from.

Abhishek gives his full take on Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Tom Holland's fourth solo outing and the first under director Destin Daniel Cretton. Covers the shift to a fabric-based, non-Stark suit, the return of organic web shooters (and the James Cameron/Sam Raimi history behind that choice), the new first-person web-swinging camera work, why the Frank Castle/Spider-Man dynamic is getting some of the widest praise of any element in the film, the Scorpion and Tombstone cameos, and the "overstuffed" pacing critique that's shown up across a wide range of reviews.

Spoiler warning: past the 26:21 mark, we get into full plot details and the ending. If you haven't seen the movie yet, this is a good spot to stop reading and go watch it first.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 — Premise / where the movie picks up after No Way Home
• 04:33 — The new suit: fabric over Stark nanotech
• 09:57 — The web shooter debate — organic vs. mechanical, Raimi/Maguire history
• 11:27 — James Cameron's unmade Spider-Man script and the puberty-metaphor origin
• 13:08 — How Brand New Day revives and escalates the "spider puberty" body-horror angle
• 14:24 — First-person web-swinging camera work
• 16:01 — Punisher and Spider-Man's dynamic (and the Odyssey/Bernthal connection)
• 17:47 — Scorpion (Michael Mando) and Tombstone (Marvin Jones III / Krondon)
• 20:55 — The "overstuffed" pacing critique
• 23:31 — The Insomniac Spider-Man games as a stunt/combat reference point
• 26:21 — ⚠️ Spoiler wall begins — full spoiler discussion from here to the end
• 45:47 — Disappointment rating (spoiler-free)

Corrections & Updates

PS4 vs. PS1 — correction:Around 23:53, Abhishek misspoke and referred to "the PS1 Spider-Man game." This refers to the 2018 PS4 Spider-Man game (Insomniac Games), not the original PS1.

Companion Episode

This episode was released alongside our coverage of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey (Episode 12). Jon Bernthal plays Punisher here and Menelaus there, and Tom Holland and Zendaya both appear in both films - worth checking out if you haven't already.

We open with the news out of Comic-Con: reactions to the Avengers: Doomsday trailer (including Dr. Doom's accent, Robert Downey Jr.'s reported paycheck, and the returning X-Men lineup), followed by new casting reveals for Ghost Rider and Black Panther, plus some Blade and Midnight Sons speculation.

Then Abhishek gives Daniel — and you — a full rundown of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey: the sound design and dialogue-clarity fixes Nolan built for this one, the Cyclops sequence, Athena's role in the story, the Trojan Horse flashback, the "Zeus's Law" theme running through the film, Scylla and Charybdis, and where the film's approach to controversial casting choices (Helen of Troy, Elliot Page's role) actually lands versus the online discourse around it. Wraps with a disappointment rating and a companion recommendation for anyone who wants more after this one.

Companion Episode

This episode was released alongside our coverage of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (Episode 13). Jon Bernthal appears in both (Menelaus here, Punisher there), and Tom Holland and Zendaya both appear in both films as well — worth checking out if you haven't already.

Timestamps

• 00:00 — Cold open / Comic-Con news segment begins (Emmy nominations, Avengers: Doomsday trailer reactions)
• 16:36 — Comic-Con casting news: new Black Panther, Ghost Rider
• 29:03 — Comic-Con news wraps, transition into The Odyssey
• 29:05 — The Odyssey intro / cast overview
• 33:51 — On sound design and Nolan's dialogue-clarity fixes
• 39:47 — The Cyclops sequence
• 44:20 — Athena (Zendaya), family dynamics, Circe
• 54:19 — Menelaus (Jon Bernthal) / Helen of Troy backstory
• 1:00:35 — The Trojan Horse sequence
• 1:08:38 — "Zeus's Law" (Xenia) thematic discussion
• 1:18:28 — Scylla and Charybdis / the sirens
• 1:41:33 — Casting discourse (Helen of Troy, Elliot Page/Achilles rumor)
• 1:47:25 — Final verdict / disappointment rating
• 1:52:24 — Companion recommendation: The Return (2024)
• End — Outro (companion note on Spider-Man: Brand New Day episode releasing same week)

Blade reboot — status update since recording:As discussed in the episode, Marvel's long-in-development Blade reboot (Mahershala Ali) had been sitting in limbo for years. Since this episode was recorded, the project has been officially confirmed cancelled, rather than simply delayed. The Midnight Sons / Ghost Rider crossover speculation discussed in the episode remains active rumor, independent of Blade's cancellation.

Halle Berry / Storm — clarification:In the episode we characterized Halle Berry as having ruled out ever returning as Storm. More precisely: Berry has confirmed she is not appearing in Avengers: Doomsday specifically, but has said she'd be open to returning as Storm in a future film. Not a permanent departure — just sitting this one out.

Casting Reveals Referenced

• Ghost Rider — Ryan Gosling (as Johnny Blaze, standalone film directed by Shawn Levy): https://youtu.be/GxmrNuHerEw?t=240&si=m7gLoZk7dH_Cb9d6
• Black Panther — David Jonsson (T'Challa II, Black Panther 3, directed by Ryan Coogler): https://youtu.be/GxmrNuHerEw?t=1564&si=j4l2wMeIVu53adsQ