Superman (2025) generated far too much discussion for us to contain it in a single episode. In part 2 we return to the series. We discuss the Justice Gang, what we think of the individual members, and why an unkind person doing good is a great thing to showcase. We also talk about the themes of winning versus saving and how that was modeled throughout the series. We also get into Jimmy weirdness, canine implications, and Gunn violence.
As this is the second part of a two-part episode there is no five-minute controversy this week.
This week Ryan, Shaun, Nate, and Cammie join the cast.
Show Notes:
Shaun’s Business – Popcycled Baubles
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Superman is the first full entry into James Gunn’s DCU. Facing backlash from those who wished the DCEU to continue, the film had a lot riding on it to prove the narrative vision of this new version of the DC universe across multiples forms of media. In this episode we have part one of our examination of this film. We discuss how it works as an initial outting for the DCU. We talk about some of the themes inherent within the character of Superman and shown in this film. We also dive into several of the controversies in the movie and give our takes on them. 
Superman month concludes this week, but we couldn’t leave without talking about the last iteration of The Man of Steel. In this episode we look at the entirety of the DCEU – from a franchise of franchises overseen by Zack Snyder to a disjointed dying gasp of poorly performing films and ones pulled before they could see the light of day – we go over the ins and outs of the series. We talk about the merits of the films and what we feel lead to its downfall. Along the way we also discuss our favorite and least favorite movies of them all. 
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was the last title to come out of the DCEU. Featuring Jason Momoa as Aquaman the movie was meant to focus on the sibling relationship between Aquaman and his brother Orm, played by Patrick Wilson. In this episode the cast discusses this film. They examine the plot and characters and discuss what they think worked and didn’t. They talk about the controversies surrounding members of the cast as well as any other factors that may have contributed to it performing less at the box office than its predecessor. They also get into a discussion about the new DCEU and Momoa’s likely placement there as Lobo. 
Blue Beetle was one of the last of the DCEU releases. Originally intended as a straight to Max streaming movie, Warner Bros-Discovery was apparently impressed by what they saw and decided to release the movie to theaters. Sporting a modest $75K budget, the movie managed to look better than many, more expensive blockbusters. It also boasted a mostly latino cast, bringing representation to a community not often associated with superhero films. In this episode we discuss Blue Beetle. We talk about it’s plot, cast, and characters. We also get into the themes of the movie, use of real history to tell a story, representation in media, and the comic history of the Blue Beetle. 
The 42cast has reached 200 episodes! We’d like to thank our audience for making this possible. As a treat for this episode we’ve invited back our most prolific guests. We discuss what has been going on in the geeskisphere since Episode 100, and we give our opinions on what has been the good; the bad; and the ugly. We also talk a little about what goes on behind the scenes on The 42cast. Watch out as Nathan goes on not 1, not, but 3 rants in this episode. It is not to be missed!
The Flash film was announced back in 2014. Originally slated to release early in 2018 many were impressed at DC’s confidence in announcing so many films so far in the future. Over the the intervening decade, The Flash production would be placed on hold multiple times as the script faced an almost infinite amount of rewrites, directors came and went, and various reshoots occurred. Eventually, the film finally saw the light of day in June of 2023. In this episode we take a deep dive on the Flash film. We discuss the plot, the adaptation of Flashpoint, and how it uses the established DCEU mythology and the Batman ’89 legacy. We also talk about the controversies around Ezra Miller and how that was juxtaposed against hype for Michael Keaton. We also get into how all this stacked against the upcoming DCU and why we think this movie flopped as greatly as it did. 
From the beginning the Guardians franchise has proven to be a surprise hit for Marvel. Many anticipated that the first Guardians film would be a failure, but it garnered a surprising following and has been lauded by many as their favorite MCU films. In this episode we discuss the third installment of the Guardians franchise. We talk about the developments for the various characters. We debate the various elements of the plot. We also discuss whether we think that the Guardians franchise will move on beyond James Gunn or if we’ll see Marvel focus on different cosmic characters. 
The hierarchy of power in the DC Universe has changed again! The comic world was shocked last October when it was announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran would help a new DC Studios division of Warner Bros. In the past few months, Gunn has been forthcoming with quite a few details about his plans for the franchise, including a discussion of what legacy projects that predate his time will continue and what his own plans are for new films, TV shows, and cartoons within his interconnected universe. In this episode we take a look at these announcements. We discuss what this means for DC media in general and how we feel about it. Then we discuss which of the various projects we are most excited for. 
Everything gets a bit dark this week as The 42cast looks into the latest film to come from the DC Universe, Black Adam. We discuss this as Dwayne Johnson’s passion peace that he’s been trying to get made since 2014. We talk about the plot and themes and discuss whether they make any sense in the context of what we’ve seen from DC before. We also get into the casting choices and what we think about the portrayal of various characters that have never been seen in live action before. We also opine on the inclusion of elements like Amanda Waller and Superman and how those both effect the narrative. We also discuss the Shazam connection and we talk about what a Black Adam franchise could have looked like.