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.
In lieu of a five-minute controversy this week, the cast discusses the trailer for The Fantastic Four.
This week Ryan, James, and Daviorr join the cast.
Like what you heard? Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/42cast. You can also find us on X as @42cast, Instagram/Threads as 42cast, or Blue Sky as 42cast.bsky.social. We can also be found on Pandora, Amazon Music, Youtube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Please, leave us a review. Have a question for the Ultimate Answer? E-mail us at [email protected].


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.
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.
Shazam was a surprise release from DC in 2019. The movie saw an effort to move away from the dark and gritty storytelling that had characterized DC movies since the late 80’s and move it back towards a more amusing bent. The movie was not as expensive as the more recent DC films so even it’s somewhat modest performance at the box office earmarked it as a success. In this movie we discuss its sequel, Shazam: Fury of the Gods. In this episode we talk about the characters and performances in the movie. We also discuss the plot and the placement of cameos in the film. We also debate whether the announcement of Gunn’s DCU tanked the ticket sales for the film and whether we think this film will be the last with the Shazam family.
Justice League was released to theaters in 2017. However, the result left many audience goers unhappy. As the culmination of plotlines that Zack Snyder had started in Man of Steel and Justice League it seemed to fall short. The more humorous tone that the studio wanted was at odds tonally with what had gone before leaving many fans of Snyder’s work unhappy. Since that time there have been calls to release Snyder’s original cut of the movie. With HBO Max looking for new content they paid Snyder to complete his cut, which they released as a 4-hour long film. In this episode we look into the Snyder cut. We discuss its differences with the theatrical version as well as how it fits in as the third movie in Snyder’s vision. We also ask if WB should return to Snyder’s vision based on this cut and whether the Ayer cut of Suicide Squad should be released.
Wonder Woman was a smash success at the box office. DC wanting to capitalize on the success of the film quickly greenlit a sequel that was soon named Wonder Woman 1984. The movie was due for release in June of 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic pushed that release date back. Instead, Warner Media decided to make this the flagship of it’s new policy of releasing films straight to the HBO Max streaming service and theaters at the same time.
The 80’s were a time cartoons were becoming more and more popular. Greater channels and the rise of syndication meant that there was a lot of content out there. When you combine that with the rise of licensing and cartoons being created by toy companies, and you had a recipe sure to win over any child’s heart. In this episode we discuss our favorite cartoons of the 80’s and why we feel that they were special. We also discuss the attitude that cartoons stopped being good in the 80’s because the toylines became involved and share our opinions on that topic.
Justice League was the culmination of DC’s attempt to create an interconnected movie universe akin to Marvel’s Avengers line. Having introduced Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman in the previous films, the movie introduced viewers to The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg as the team banded together to protect all life on Earth from the threat of Steppenwolf. The production suffered some problems. Most notably Zack Snyder had to pull out during the editing phase due to family issues and Joss Whedon took over at the last minute. Making less than the previous, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC considered the movie a failure despite it’s being profitable overall. In this episode we discuss the movie. We talk about what we liked and didn’t like. We discuss the difference of having Whedon involved as a creative talent. We also talk about the makeup of the League and whether or not it was the right lineup. We also discuss whether the movie deserved its critical treatment and whether we would have liked to have seen a sequel.
Six months ago DC rocked the world of men with a movie so groundbreaking and hopeful that it’s changing the face of Hollywood blockbusters. That movie is Wonder Woman. Join the cast as we talk about why we think it’s resonated so strongly with audiences, what effect we think that it’ll have on the DCEU, and how it adapts Greek Mythology and the comic book origins of Wonder Woman. We also talk about the characters, setting, acting, and script. Then stick around for the outtakes as we discuss Batman v Superman in light of Wonder Woman and what we think of the future of the DCEU. 