Newcomers: Sports, with Nicole Byer and Lauren Lapkus - Doctor Strange (w/ Scott Aukerman)

Episode Date: May 17, 2022

Someone call the doctor (but preferably one that doesn't text and drive): Nicole and Lauren love this movie! Our own person Ancient One, comedian/podcaster/author of several Marvel comics (!!!) Scott Aukerman joins us to explore the dark dimension of the MCU. Next week's movie: Spider-Man, Homecoming (2017) Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5 stars on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and leave a review for Nicole and Lauren to read on the pod! Follow the podcast on Letterboxd. Advertise on Newcomers via Gumball.fmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a HeadGum Original. Doctor Strange. You think you know how the world works? What if I told you the reality you know is one of many? I told you, the reality you know is one of many. This doesn't make any sense. Not everything does. Not everything has to. Through the mystic arts, we harness energy and shape reality.

We travel great distances in an instant. How do I get from here to there? How did you become a doctor? Study and practice. Use it. You become a doctor. Study and practice, use them. There's a strength to him. But is he ready? Be careful which path you travel down, Strange.

Stronger men than you have lost their way. I am death. And pain. You'll die protecting this world. I can't do this. There is no other way. I've spent so many years Peering through time Looking

For you But what's this, my mantra? It's the Wi-Fi password. We're not savages. Субтитры создавал DimaTorzok Oh, it's another episode of Newcomers. It's our song. I have lost my mind. Oh, wow. Hi, Lauren.

How are you? I'm good, Nicole. How are you? I'm good. Okay. I guess we should get through some business. This is the 11th episode of our fifth season. We're watching Marvel movies and our guests are newcomers, super fans, and people who have contributed.

There's going to be 20 episodes. I want to get into it. Doctor Strange 2016. I loved it. Oh, my God. I also enjoyed myself while watching the film. I was really surprised. I was extremely surprised.

But first of all, I saw Rachel McAdams, and I went, well while I'm in. I'm sorry to say I'm in. I love it. I love this top to bottom. I like the like sort of tweaky elements as he's like oh my god. I was like this is a fun movie to watch stoned. I was not stoned but I thought I would have fun if I was. I might rewatch it stoned. I loved it

so much. Like I thought the acting was really fun. I thought the funny parts were like funny enough. There were some funny little jokes like, you know, like the like one name joke and the couple of things. The Mr. Doctor thing got me good. I paused my television and teed. Well, I was, you know, I did tweet this, but I was I don't think I could have been more surprised that Doctor Strange was actually a doctor. I was like, no clue. Didn't think that was coming at all.

So the first moment I was blown away and completely in bits and pieces. And I also think obviously Benedict Cumberbatch, fantastic actor. He is possibly the best actor we've had in any of our films. I think even though I love many of the people that we've watched, but I'm like, he's just extremely realistic. Yeah. And I got to say, not a huge fan of his face. But then I was like, I love this face.

Yeah, it's definitely an interesting face. It grew on me. He does become more attractive the more you watch. Now, is he the one from the film where his wee-wee was so big? Wait, which film where his wee-wee was so big? Wait, which film where his wee-wee was so big? I've never seen it. No, he's not him? We should, okay.

Scott, okay, wait, hold on. Let me, let's say Doctor Strange is available with a subscription on Disney+, so you can watch it there or for a fee on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu. Obviously, we're going to spoil the film. We already are. It's going so great. Well, we should introduce our guest. Our guest today is Scott Ackerman.

Scott is a comedian, writer, and producer who created and co-hosts the podcast Comedy Baming and the TV show, and Threedom with me and Paul F. Tompkins. And he has also written Marvel comics for the Deadpool, Secret Wars, Spider-Man, and X-Men series. Wowie zowie. Thanks for being series. Wow. Wowie zowie. Thanks for being here, Scott. Wowie zowie. Hey, it's another episode of Newcomers.

That's our song. I want to get in on the remix. Okay, whose penis is big? Oh, yeah. Whose penis is big? We love the penises. Okay, yeah. Let's cut right to it.

Okay, it's the dude who plays- Michael Fassbender? Yeah, Michael Fassbender. Oh. He's in like the- He's in X-Men. X-Men stuff. Okay, yeah. Okay, okay, okay dude who plays... Michael Fassbender? Yeah, Michael Fassbender. Oh. He's in like the... He's in X-Men. X-Men stuff. Okay, yeah.

Okay, okay, okay. I mixed him up. So yeah. So he's got a huge Fassbender. Well, anyways, we love Benedict no matter what's going on with him. You love his face. Yeah. Well, his face really grew on me.

At first it was like, interesting features, because it's kind of long. You know what his face is like? What? It's like he's in a kaleidoscope, because it seems to open. Yes! It's almost symmetrical exactly from this. There's something really interesting, but it's symmetrical in an interesting way. Would you agree?

It's like a flower that just bloomed, essentially. I agree. It is like a flower that just bloomed. And you're agree. It is like a flower that just bloomed. And you're waiting for the flower to totally open up and be beautiful, but you like it for what it is at this point. Yeah. And he's charming. Very charming and persistent in this movie.

Certainly. Oh, boy. Yeah. By the end, I was like, I want to fuck him. That's something you like in a man is persistence? Well, it doesn't hurt. Yeah. I liked it.

I thought it was very sexy. Well, unless they're gross and annoying. Yeah. In what way was he? I mean, he wasn't with Rachel McAdams. He seemed to be kind of like. He was pretty wishy-washy with her. Except for when he was insistent as he burst out of his own body as a spirit and was screaming

at her to operate. I loved it. He was persistent screaming at her to operate. I liked it. He was persistent when he went to India, right? He was in India? Nepal. Yeah. Is Nepal in India? Am I dumb?

Nicole, I'm going to say, I don't know either. Okay, wait, somebody, nobody nodded on the Zoom. It's next to India. Oh, so it's right next door. Okay, so he was in Nepal and and then he was sitting at that door for a couple hours pretty persistent, and then at the end, when he was like,

we're in a time loop, that's persistence. So that's fun. He maintained his interest, and he kept trying, which you should hope that a surgeon would do. I think that's skills that he's built up over his life. A doctor should do it,

maybe not necessarily someone trying to date you. Sleeping outside your house for eight hours is not something you probably want but but and that's why i i appreciated him leaving mcadams alone after they broke i did too i did too i thought but i also thought their relationship was kind of fun and interesting how it played out and um tilda swinton fascinating figure tild time tildy swinton i love that bald headed bitch she's great i liked her well there was that part where she's walking down the street in the beginning where she's like she she looks pretty crazy but i was thinking oh she's gonna walk down the street and then someone like one of the extras like looks at her like you're crazy looking and then i thought that was yeah i think it I was like, why did she give her such a look?

And I think it's because of the bald head, essentially, like that. And her outfit, too, right? Yeah, maybe her outfit. But I mean, she was looking at her face and she just kind of does a double take and is like, what a weird woman. It's possible that the extra was going,

is that Tilda Swinton? And then they just kept it. Walking down the street? I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if the extra was like, wait, who's in this movie? Because they don't tell you anything. Right, right. Do you think-

Everything's a huge secret. Do you think Tilda Swinton has been confused with the Tinder swindler ever just because their names are swindler? Probably. Wait, you think they don't tell background artists who- I really don't. Now, look. I really don't. I think don't i think i did an

episode of matt lock in 1986 and i knew andy griffith was there yes uh i didn't know this was on your resume no well i was a background artist well i need to know 1986 86 i was 16 years old yeah i gotta get a he was the reddest man I've ever seen in my life. He was beet red. Do we know the episode title and can we find it on YouTube? Yeah, some people have found the clip. It's one where like a Madonna type is the murder suspect or something like that. So it's in the first season. Somebody tweet this at us so we don't have to do the research. Yeah, I don't want to do any sort of work.

But you want to see my back. It's essentially like watching me in the Austin Powers movies. Oh, wow. i don't often get to see your back i you've always seen me talk to the front you hate watching me walk away i don't like i don't like to see you leave oh my god okay well let's talk about marvel what was your first experience with marvel um i i i remember going to the stop and go which was our local 7-eleven type place at a pretty young age and being really fascinated with comics and and and our local library had a lot of comic uh books with comics in them. So I, you know, ever since I was probably three or four, I was really into comics and I would constantly bother my parents to buy them for me. And, and, um, I think with Dr. Strange in particular, I got these little pocket books,

which are these kind of miniature books that have the first six issues of Dr. Strange in there. miniature books that have the first six issues of Dr. Strange in there. So this is probably like eight years old, me reading the original Dr. Strange comics and being really into them. Especially the art, especially. And did you ever think as a kid that you wanted to write comics or was that something that kind of came about? I thought I wanted to draw them because I used to draw. So I used to be an artist and I kind of even thought? I thought I wanted to draw them because I used to draw. So I used to be an

artist. And I kind of even thought into high school, I might still draw comics. And then in high school, you know, it's all of the local junior highs combined. And so I met this good friend. He turned out to be a good friend of mine from a different junior high. And he was the best artist in that junior high. And I was the best artist in that junior high and i was the best artist in mine and with your powers combined no because i saw him i saw he was better at it and i was like oh i'm not as good i'm just gonna give up like i was the type of person who if i wasn't the best at something i just gave up so he became a really huge comic book artist um and i became nothing a piece of shit. Wow. That's so sad. That is sad.

I suck, guys. We don't deny it. We just go, that sucks. Oh, no. You're so sad. What a piece of shit you are. That's horrible. Wait, so you've written for Deadpool and Spider-Man and X-Men.

Wait, is Secret Wars? Is that? That's Marvel, too. So who's your favorite Marvel character? Spider-Man is definitely the one that I, anytime I even write something for Marvel, I usually try to find a way to fit Spider-Man into it. So the Secret Wars journal that I wrote

has Spider-Man in it as well as the Hulk. And my Deadpool, I basically was like, well, what if Spider-Man was in this too? So it's like the Marvel Comics 1001 that I wrote is just a one page Spider-Man story. So that's he's definitely my favorite. He's the one that I've loved ever. And when they made a Spider-Man movie, I was just over the moon. I was like, it was the most excited I've ever been.

Who's your favorite Spider-Man? Is it Tom Holland? I think it's Tom Holland. These last three movies have been the better movies. Because the Sam Raimi ones, the first three, they're really good in some ways, but they have a lot of issues for me. And then the Andrew Garfield ones are terrible, I think. Oh. And are we, Leah, sorry, are we watching Spider-Man?

What are we watching? Yes, we're watching... I don't want to say how many, because what if something makes me change my mind? We're watching some Tom Holland ones. Don't come in. Yeah, watch at least... I think number two is the best.

Me too. People love this last one, but two is so good. Two is so good. Two of the... Spider-Man series, yeah. Of the Tom Holland ones? Tom Holland.

Or just overall. Oh, okay. So you don't like the Tobey Maguire jazz one? I personally love the jazz scene. I think it's really funny. Is that when he dances? Nicole's been waiting for this. That's the only thing I've seen from the movie.

And I'm like, I gotta see the rest of this. It's pretty funny. I think the whole rest of the movie is not that great. I'm the weirdo who likes the jazz scene and hates the rest of the movie. I just have to say I took my nephew shopping for comics a few years ago, and he picked out your Spider-Man, which you know, and I didn't realize you had written it until we bought it, and then I was looking at it, and I was like, oh, my God, it was so cool.

It was very exciting. As the creator of Deadpool, Rob Leffield, said to me when I said, hey, I wrote an issue of Deadpool. He said, thank you for the money. Well, I guess he's got a point. Yeah. Thank you for the money. Thank you for the money.

What do you say? You're welcome? How about congrats, bitch? I was very taken aback by how just like he didn't seem to care about the art of it all. He was just like, thank you for the money and moved on. That's really sad, you know, and we're really sad for him don't mean to bring you down anyway but yeah so so comics big part of my life the writing how did that happen so my friend uh jerry duggan who is a big comic book writer he's writing the x-men right now he uh he and brian posain whom

i've of course known he's a comedian i've known for a long time i worked on mr show with him they were writing deadpool together and they were doing a big giant anniversary issue with a main story and then a lot of like five page backup stories and so jerry reached out to me and said hey do you want to write one of these and so i basically was like yeah um sure you know and they assigned me you want to write one of these? And so I basically was like, yeah, sure. You know, and they assigned me a character to write for. And then I just, you know, over, I remember I was in Cabo writing this story

because it was like, for some reason, I wrote that Deadpool story in Cabo and I wrote the Spider-Man Deadpool comic in Hawaii for some reason. And are all of your characters being served drinks on the beach? Yeah, exactly. Sounds great. But yeah, so they liked that first story,

and then they just kind of would keep coming back to me every once in a while to say, hey, do you want to write this? Do you want to write this? And yeah, it's been really nice. That's very exciting. What are backup stories? So if you're buying a double-paged comic book

for an anniversary anniversary issue like issue 100 they'll sometimes instead of it being 20 pages they'll make it be 40 pages but the main story will only be 30 for instance and then they'll do like two five-page backup stories and that's what it is they're like you know not the main story that people are paying for but like extra content in other words they're like the fucking, the scenes at the credits. Yeah, where they're like, and also this happens later. Okay. All right.

I'm on board. Should we do our boop-a-da-boo daily bugle? Yes. This is our news segment this season. And we give a recap of what's going on in the MCU. This is our news segment this season. And we give a recap of what's going on in the MCU. So the first teaser trailer for Taika Waititi's Thor Love and Thunder,

the fourth Thor film in the MCU, dropped with less than three months to go before the film's release. So everybody can get all ready. Do we want to watch it? Should we watch it? Okay. I'm not a big Thor head. We aren't loving the Thor, so we are.

The first two are terrible. The third one's great. You will love the third one. It's one of the best movies. And we skipped the second one, so we're watching Ragnarok next-ish. Oh, great. You'll love it. So this is going to feel different.

Okay. Hmm. These hands were once used for battle. It's like boyhood. Now they're but humble tools for peace. I need to figure out exactly who I am. So he's having like a midlife crisis. What?

He looks like Joe Dirt. So he's having like a midlife crisis? What? He looks like Joe Dirt. I thought it was very Forrest Gump-y. Nice. Who is that? I don't know. Who is that girl? Yeah, who's that lady?

Natalie Portman is. Oh, she was in it as his girlfriend. She's returning. Oh, okay. And there will be something happening with her that I think you'll be interested in. Okay, sex? Wait, what's her name? Wait, he's in this? There's a lot of people that I'm like, what?

Not me. Tessa Thompson? Yeah. The Guardians of the Galaxy are in this and Tessa Thompson is in the third one. Okay. Well, the song is, you know, doing a lot to win me over. So there she is.

Wait a minute. What? She looks cool. So wait, so he doesn't fucking call her when he returns to Earth, but then he makes her into a Thor? Yeah, now she's like, I'm Thor-ette. Oh, damn it. Thor-ette, Lauren!

That's very reductive. It's more like Thorin. Thorin. Thorin! Thorin Thapkus. Wow, I love it. Okay, I don't know how I feel about that trailer because I thought I was going to like the Thor movie

and I really hated it. I thought it was very bad. That was a tough one to pay attention to. I think we both were getting really lost because it felt very Lord of the Rings. It did. Yeah, the second one is even more boring in a way. And so the third one is a total course correction.

It's Taika Waititi and they just like, you know, he does basically a comedy, a big pop comedy, you know. Someone did tell us

that it was really good. Yeah, it's great. It's one of the best MCU films in my opinion. Is it better than Doctor Strange? I think so. I really like

Doctor Strange. And I watched it again today. And I think there's some great stuff in it. But it's a little like all of the MCU films that are the first introduction of the character. There's so much story they have to tell to tell you who this person is. That by the time the climax gets going, you're out of time essentially. So I think Dr. Strange in future films is really good and kind of is better almost in a way.

But I, but I, I love so much of this movie because it really feels like the comic book to me. It feels like the Steve Ditko art. Steve Ditko was the artist who created Dr. Strange with Stan Lee. And it's all like, his art style is so trippy and it's all like 60s and 70s,

like posters that you'd put up on your wall to smoke a bowl to and like go, oh my God, look at that. I feel like I'm in another universe. So it's all stuff like that. Like I feel like the part where he looks down at his fingers and they're all growing hands out of it. Those are all growing fingers.

And suddenly it becomes his face. Like, all of that kind of stuff is like Steve Ditko style trippy art, which I really, really love. I like that. Well, that was neat. Cool. That was neat. When his hands had hands. Yeah, I recall.

Well, our other bit of Daily Bugle is that Disney announced its plans for Emmy campaigning. Hawkeye and Moon Knight will be submitted in the limited series category. Loki, which was renewed for a second season, will compete in a drama series. And What If will be submitted for best animated series. So they're going for the gold. They are. What is What If will be submitted for Best Animated Series. So they're going for the gold. They are. What is What If? You could not give less of a shit about this.

I don't care about that. I care about everything else I'm talking about. But I don't care that they are trying to get Emmys. I think that that makes total sense. I think everyone is always trying to do that. Wait, what is What If? I don't know. I don't think we've learned about that.

What If is one of the Disney Plus series. It's an animated series. And essentially, What If, it's based on the comic What If, which is sort of like a Twilight Zone series where every issue is different. And they say, what if this didn't happen exactly the way it happened? And you see an alternate universe where people make different choices. Now, is it like you have to know everything that did happen exactly the way it happened. And you see an alternate universe where people make different choices. Now is it like you have to know everything

that did happen in the comic or the original story? For what if they're doing it based on the MCU? So it's like stuff in the MCU. So speaking of Doctor Strange, I rewatched the Doctor Strange one today and it's basically, what if Rachel McAdams died in the car instead of Dr. Strange getting his hands fucked up?

I don't want her to have died in the car. That's a horrible idea. I don't like that. It's interesting because basically Dr. Strange still becomes Dr. Strange and then tries in vain to save her over every, basically the multiverse of madness. That's so sad. Yeah, that's the problem with What If is it's so nihilistic in a way.

And this was an issue with the comic is basically like, hey, what if this person made this different choice? And the writers would always end it in Armageddon, basically, and everyone dying, know oh wow so like uh we but i don't know i feel like that's a so it's not for kids it i mean it is for kids um and i think it ties into this the doctor strange sequel that's coming out uh the multiverse of madness um because he because he turns into this evil doctor strange because he's basically killing all these mystical beings

all over the multiverse in order to get enough power to bring Rachel McAdams back to life. Oh. And I believe in the trailer, you see that dark Doctor Strange meeting the real Doctor Strange, so. You know, it's so crazy because I saw a billboard for that

Doctor Strange new movie that's coming out and I was like, normally I don't see that. You know what I mean? crazy because I saw a billboard for that Doctor Strange new movie that's coming out. And I was like, normally, I don't see that. You know what I mean? I don't register that billboard. Normally, you have MCU blindness. Yeah, it would just be like a blank one. I'm like, they got to fill these. They got to fill these.

Why isn't anyone paying for billboards in this city anymore? Today, I saw it and I went, oh, well, I guess I'll probably watch it later. Because now I watch this. I mean, oh, well, I guess I'll probably watch it later. Because now I watch this. I mean, I'm going to. I like Doctor Strange. I know. I got to see the next one. Because at the end they said Doctor Strange will be back.

And I said, oh, okay. Or will return or something. And I was like, thank you. Yeah. Well, he's in Thor. That's such a weird thing. He's in Thor coming up. He's in the two Avengers movies.

And then he has, you know, a pretty big part in this last Spider-Man movie, too. I did see the last Spider-Man. He had a lot of snow in his home, and I was really confused about that. He's got a lot of snow on his temples, too. They really play up the white hair. No, no, like actual snow. Like there was snow in his house. No, I know.

Oh. Well, I don't get it. But, okay, we got to take a break. We'll come back with more Dr. Strange after this. Ooh, ooh, we're back. Okay, so it was written by John Spatas. It literally says pronounced Spates right after that. I always miss that too, though. I fully miss that.

As they say in Doctor Strange, they should put those warnings before. They should. Yeah. Also, Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill. It was directed by Scott Derrickson. It was released November 4th, 2016. I like that we switched off and never do that.

We're having so much fun with Dr. Strange. What did you guys, as people who didn't even know about Doctor Strange, I'm interested in like, what did you guys, first of all, what do you think of even the name? It's like calling someone Mr. Weird, right? Well, I was completely blown away that that is his name and

his occupation and it was like so straightforward. And his name was Steven as well, right? Steven, Doctor Steven Strange. Because we have talked about how like all these superheroes are named like so straightforward and his name was steven as well right steven steven strange dr steven strange because we have talked about how like all the care all these superheroes are named like doug it's like they don't they could have like crazy names i do think strange is a fun last name we don't get a lot of interesting names i don't know if anyone in the world actually has that name it's so they've got to it's such a 60s convention of like you know

calling someone weird yeah you know calling someone that and and because like uh in the fantastic four dr doom his last name is dr von doom and they tried to fix it in the ultimate universe where they rebooted the marvel universe um by changing it to dr victor von damm like jean-claude van damm and everyone was like that's even worse yeah it is worse i think doom is cool yeah doom is great dr doom wait professor doom mr doom who is he he hasn't gotten his phd yet oh okay he. He's a doctor. He's working on it. He's still in school. Well, let's read through the plot, and we'll talk about it as we go through it. So, in Kathmandu, Nepal, a group of rogue swords.

See, and this is what they fucking do every time. That I didn't remember that they were in Nepal in the beginning because I didn't know what was going on. They always do these little futuristic moments. Yeah, I think they could have started with him as the doctor I think so too and I would have been like great thank you I know

you think they could have started with Benedict as the doctor instead of seeing him fuck up his hands and all that kind of stuff I didn't catch no we're talking

the part in Nepal yeah I don't know with the ancient one yeah I didn't I didn't think that that threw me for a loop I think and then of course I come back now and I go oh it's all those. I didn't think that. That threw me for a loop, I think.

And then, of course, I come back now and I go, oh, it's all those people. I didn't like, you know. I'm not good at watching films, I guess, is how it's coming out. I think essentially, Lauren, you watch a movie and you're just so startled by the fact that there are moving images. That's a lot of it. Lights and sounds. That's a lot of it. It takes you 15 minutes to acclimate.

Well, when your favorite movies are really like from A to B to C to D, you know, it's like I like a rom-com. They don't start at the end and then get me over there again. It's like we just see

what happens. Yeah, we see it in real time and it's nice and it's not confusing. This was chronological. It didn't... No, but this part... It was after this part.

Yeah, after this part. No, wait. No, it's not so much that it's not chronological. It's that they show me something random. Yes. And then they go back

to something else because it's going to make no sense. Like other ones like where they're like, there's an iceberg and then like they're just like, and now we're in the army

and then it's like five hours later we come back to the iceberg. I'm like, I don't remember that. Yeah, she's talking about the Winter Soldier. Oh wait, no.

Not the Winter Soldier. Captain America. Captain America, the first person. It's meant to intrigue you and to give you a little bit of magic at the top of the movie

so that the whole top of the movie isn't just like Doctor Strange operating on a guy while an iPod plays. But see, I liked that part.

Oh, I liked that. He was tapping his foot. He was wearing his Skechers. I had a nice time. I liked it, although I guess maybe I partly liked it because it cut

from that other thing. So I'll finish telling you what happened. So a group of rogue sorcerers infiltrate the Kamar-Taj, a community that is known only to the masters

of the mystic arts. After beheading the librarian, the group's leader, K. Silius, played by Mads Mikkelsen. So hot. Yeah. Except when he gets

his glitter tears. I didn't like that. Some of his shit. So hot. Yeah. Except when he gets his glitter tears. I didn't like that. Some of his shit was fucking creepy. What did you think about his blood tears in the James Bond movies? I've never seen them. You know we've never seen James Bond. Are you doing a newcomers for James Bond?

Please don't make us do that. No, no, no, no. That sounds awful. No, no, no. I can't watch that. It's like how many times can we watch them and go, James, James Bond, right? I know.

And it's like there's eight billion versions of it. You know what, I will say, if you end up doing newcomers James Bond, I just watched all of them, all of the Daniel Craig ones. In anticipation of us doing it? In anticipation, yeah. Just praying you guys would do it. Before the new one came out, I watched all four the previous couple of days. And I contacted Matt Gourley, who I don't know if you know, is like super into James Bond. But he constantly shoots fire extinguishers with a gun in order to get out of every situation.

To the point where he does it several times. Like he'll be trapped and then he'll see a fire extinguisher and shoot it. And it'll like explode and causing a big distraction to the point where i was like is this a thing are the is this something that they're going to have to explain the why he why there are so many fire extinguishers everywhere why he like how he learned to love to shoot those it's very weird so if you if you do a newcomers about that be keep your eye out for those okay we need a super cut of all the fire extinguishers being shot. Someone tweet that at us. Someone tweet it now.

We don't want to look at it. MacGourley had never noticed it before, so I'm proud to have noticed something. Yeah, because he did a whole podcast on that. Yeah. Okay, well, anyway, that creepy guy steals a forbidden ritual from a book owned by his former mentor, the Ancient One, Tilda Swinton. As the zealots escape through a portal to zealots yeah i did say that wrong as the zealots that's almost a thing

where it could be like there's so much stuff in this like it's just the zealots yeah i didn't know um through a portal to london the sorcerer supreme traps them in a mirror dimension that is invisible to the public she takes down several zealots but fails to stop Kaecilius and his surviving followers from escaping with the ritual. I liked when they zapped into London. I liked when they were, like, going into, like, modern places. I thought that was cool. And I liked when the buildings changed. Yeah, I love that.

So, basically, when this came out, it was on the like heels of inception coming out. And it was kind of like, they were trying to say like, Oh, okay. We can finally do a Dr. Strange movie and have it be trippy and do it affect sort of like what inception was like.

And so it's, it's very inspired by that, I think, but in a cool, they do, they do a new twist of it, I think, which is really cool.

That makes sense. Never seen inception. Elsewhere in New York it, I think, which is really cool. That makes sense. Well, never seen Inception. Elsewhere in New York City, Stephen Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch, is an acclaimed doctor and neurosurgeon working at a Metro General Hospital, but he's also very arrogant and cares only for the wealth and success his talents bring. After helping his colleague and ex-girlfriend Christine Palmer, Rachel McAdams, with an emergency surgery, she begs him to join her team instead of Dr. Nicodemus West, Michael Stolbarg, who's very, very good.

I saw him in The Pillow Man on Broadway. But he declines. Yeah, I loved Rachel McAdams. I just love her. I was so excited to see her. And it also, like, it made made this movie it made me instantly care about Benedict Cumberbatch. Yes. I thought that was

fantastic casting. She's just so sweet. I like her. Well that night as he travels to give a guest talk he's involved in a car crash after diverting his attention from the road. This was wild for me because I was like this man drives with reckless abandon. Also like who is he talking to where they're giving him scans of brains being like

you want to do this one you want to do that i didn't know doctors got to pick and choose the brains like they work on yeah can you imagine being a surgeon yeah you can yeah well that was the other thing i would i in addition to being a comic artist i was going to be a brain surgeon and then i got into high school and there was someone so you were in junior high was was a better brain surgeon than me and i was like i'm just gonna quit and you just said i'm not gonna do the world needs more than one but hey it's fine i can't fathom what they're doing when i watch that kind of thing i'm like the idea of looking at a brain and like lining up a nerve and doing, it's just completely amazing. So did that make you like him?

The fact that he could do that so well? It did make me like him, actually. It made me think he was an interesting figure because I also think a lot of the people that we've encountered don't really have,

like Tony Stark isn't necessarily doing anything good. He's just kind of an interesting guy. Well, I mean, he's a genius in a similar way with weapons design. like Tony Stark isn't necessarily doing anything good. He's just kind of an interesting guy. Well, I mean, he's, he's a genius in a similar way with weapons design, but that seems bad.

That's bad. Yes. And that's, and that's his character arc is, you know, him saying like, I'm no longer going to design weapons that destroy the world, but I'm going to,

I'm going to build this suit, which will protect the world. But with Dr. Strange, it's more like, Oh wow. He's this amazingly talented guy who needs to learn how to be humble yeah as kendrick of course kendrick lamar bitch be humble

but i just don't understand why i like texting and driving is hard but like looking at brains and driving seems even harder it's a bad idea it a bad idea. I don't understand why like rich guys who are really good at something, like why don't they have someone just drive them? I don't know. We need you protected. You know, like if you're the best, and this is like,

this is celebrities who get into drunk driving, you know, things. It's like just to have a driver, you're so rich. There's no need for this. Some people just really want to do it themselves. It's like, just to have a driver, you're so rich. There's no need for this. Some people just really want to do it themselves. It's true. And he survives this crash,

but his hands are badly injured, necessitating the insertion of metal pins. As a result, they continuously tremble, leaving Stephen barely able to write his name, which that bummed me out. Yeah, that was sad. Like, how's he going to sign his checks, you know? Stephen Strange, over and over.

Christine encourages him to move on, but Stephen's desperate to heal his injuries and harshly tells her to leave him alone what'd you guys think of that scene i thought it was good until she was like this isn't science it's madness or something i was like oh wow and i don't feel like he should move on you know i feel like it's okay to struggle with that. This was his life. I think they were trying to imply though that it was years later. So at a certain point

you got to be like, come on. Accept the reality. Like, accept what's going on. Like, how long do you think, if that happened to you,

Lauren, and you could, I don't know, like, if you could no longer improv whatever accident you got into, I know, I don't mean to scare you. But the world thinks it. Yeah, you get into a car accident, you could no longer improv, whatever accident you got into, I don't mean to scare you.

But the world thinks it. Yeah, you get into a car accident, you can do everything else, but you cannot improvise. But how long would you want to wallow in it before you would allow your friends to say, hey, maybe you should figure out how to temp or something.

Here, I have to stop everything I do. I have to be a temp. I can't even get a job as a teacher or something. No, sorry. Just accept it, Lauren. Okay, fine. I guess if I had to just... This is madness!

I would scream this is madness at you for saying that. I think I would wallow in it for 17 years. Okay, seems reasonable. After months of trying experimental surgeries on his hands using up all his money connections and resources steven seeks out jonathan pangborn what a name played by benjamin pratt or brett sorry a paraplegic who mysteriously was able to walk again pangborn what a name that's such an interesting name. Directs Steven to the secret compound. Uh-oh. How do I say that? I just said Camartage,

but I don't know if that's correct. Camartage. Camartage is how they pronounce it, yeah. Okay. Where he's taken in by another sorcerer under the Ancient One, Carl Mordo. And I cannot say this name for the life of me. I think he would tell Ejiofor? Ejiofor?

Ejiofor? Chewie Tell. You can always remember it because it's very similar to Chewie from the Star Wars movies. And we know those backwards and forwards. And we know those so well. But he was incredible. I really like him. Anyway,

the Ancient One shows Steven her power revealing the astral plane and other dimensions such as the mirror dimension steven begs her to teach him and she eventually agrees i so yeah please go ahead what do you guys think about the ancient one because this this is a point of contention with the movie that i don't know if you guys are even aware about oh absolutely i don't know anything about it, but I guess my opinion was I thought she was an interesting character. I thought she was a cool female character as well

because it's not every day in these movies that we get such a fun role for a woman. And I thought she's super bizarre. She's just such an interesting actress. I liked the storyline with her where it got kind of surprising at the end i thought it was um so i don't know what do you think i think it's like oh yeah well it's the it's the casting is is that's key that's a problem people had a problem with tildy swins a little bit and i think marvel has even come out and admitted they kind of

A little bit. And I think Marvel has even come out and admitted they kind of bungled it a little bit. How dare they? So they're in a weird situation where essentially, like, if you read the original comics, the ancient one is based on these kind of sort of racist tropes about, you know, like Asian people, essentially, you know? know like asian people essentially you know and and the whole thing is is a lot like certain stories in the 60s of like white person goes to an exotic culture and becomes the master like becomes even way better at it than the asian people who created it right i see so marvel's trying to to take care of that and not like, so they're like, okay, great. We won't put an Asian person in as the ancient one. But we put a white person in.

But they put a white person in. I see. And they're like, hey, we put a woman in too, which you're responding to, which is really good. And she's great in it. But it's a little like, it's one of those things where if you end up seeing Shang-Chi, It's one of those things where if you end up seeing Shang-Chi, Shang-Chi the comic is also similarly based on a lot of these kind of racist stereotypes, but they go with it in a different way that elevates Asian people, I think. And this one just was kind of like, hey, we're just not going to deal with the Asian thing. Okay, yeah. We're just going to put a white person in this.

Well, that is problematic. thing okay we're just gonna put a white person in this yeah and they made problematic they they made uh the the place where he studies very multicultural so it's like hey this isn't an asian thing at all it's just it happens to be in nepal but it's it's basically like you know white people are here and black people are here and so that was what they were trying to do and i think i see i think it's it came from a good place it It just didn't land with certain Asian people who were like, why are you whitewashing the ancient one, essentially. I did think it was strange that a white woman was like, did it better than all the rest.

And I was like, oh, okay, interesting. But now that people had something to say, now I get it. And I did love that bald head. Wong turns out really great in Shang-Chi and he's super funny. As he gets more movies, he gets funnier and funnier. So it's like, and if you see Shang-Chi, it really is a good example of them taking, sort of turning straw into gold in terms of that kind of stuff. Yeah, his character was funny.

Okay, so Stephen begins his tutelage under the Ancient One and Mordo and learns from the ancient books in the library, which is now protected by the Master Wong, Benedict Wong. What? Benedict Wong? Wait, his name?

His name is also Benedict. There's two people named Benedict in the film? That just seems wild. That's why they called his character Wong. He just loves Benedict. They called him Wong, which wasn't a character from the comics? No, I was kidding. But the thing I'm not kidding about is the fact that the casting director was at breakfast

when he was casting the movie, and he ordered Eggs Benedict. And that's why there are two benedicts in the movie wow so he needed to match he ordered two plates of it and they yeah they misheard well steven learns that earth is protected from other dimensions by a spell formed from three buildings called sanctums found in new york city london and hong kong all three can be accessed through a door in the Camartage. The task of the sorcerer is to protect the sanctums, though Pingborn chose to forego this responsibility in favor of channeling energy into walking again. Likewise, Stephen will have to decide

between regaining the use of his hands and defending the world. So wild that you have to choose between the two things. Those are two totally different things. Yeah, why not have both? So Stephen advances quickly over several months. He learns how to make portals

using a sling ring, which made me laugh. The name made me laugh. Well, the name, I like the way it looks. It is kind of stupid because it rhymes. I don't know.

What do you think? I think it's stupid because it rhymes, but I did like it. I thought it was very cool watching him do the little ring thing. I really loved when everyone was like running and doing the circle thing.

Cause that looked like rubbing, what? Like rubbing your tummy and patting your head. It looked dumb. After the ancient one abandons him on Mount Everest. I really liked this. This was very fun for me. He also secretly reads, secretly reads from the forbidden texts and learns to bend time with the mystical eye of Armagato.

What is it? Agamotto. Agamotto. Agamotto. That one. The eye of Agamotto or Agamotto. Yeah. In addition to his studies,

Mordo and Wong warned Steven against using such power and breaking the laws of nature, comparing his arrogant yearning for power to that of Calculus, who believes that everyone should live as long as they should want after the death of his loved ones. Yeah, and I only know

because I had to pronounce that one a few times. K. Silius and his followers used the stolen pages to begin summoning the powerful Dormammu of the Dark Dimension. That name's so funny to me. Where in time does that exist? And all can live forever to ensure Dormammu of the Dark Dimension. That was funny. That name's so funny to me. Dormammu. Where time does that exist? And all can live forever to ensure Dormammu's arrival. He's Silius and his followers begin targeting

the sanctums, first destroying the London Sanctum. The explosion accidentally sends Stephen from Kamar-Taj to the New York Sanctum. He's Silius and the Zealots then arrive there where Stephen holds them off with the mystical Cloak of Levitation, a relic that chooses Stephen. Okay, now this is where we got started having a fight.

Uh-huh, uh-huh. I love that cloak. Cloak was floating around like it was in Sleeping Beauty or something. It was just deciding what to do and helping him fight and stuff like that. And then that part where it like, so he's with that gross guy, what's his name? Where they're fighting. Caecilius, the one I've been saying five billion times. Where they're fighting. Kaecilius, the one I've been saying five billion times. Where they're fighting in the book area.

And like he basically the cloak tells him what to use, what weapon to use. And then it directs him to use like some chain link thing that just like wraps around him. Which was really funny to me where it like covered his whole body in that like skeleton of metal. Yeah, and then like took his arms behind him. And he was like la la la. skeleton of metal and then like took his arms behind him and he was like and then benedict was like can you stop that he was like you were good stop talking like that i love that um i liked it too i also liked later when the fucking the cloak thing was smacking that man's head around yeah that made me laugh very hard i

like this this cloak is really sassy the cloak is almost like yeah it's almost like new york being the fifth character yeah the cloak is the cloak should be number three on the call sheet yeah absolutely um so let's see injured steven portals himself to metro general and he uses astral production to assist christ Christine in performing surgery on himself. Back at the New York Sanctum, Stephen and Mordo become disillusioned with the Ancient One after... I can't say this name. He's silliest.

I'm calling him Calculus. I like that. Reveals that her long life has come from her own use of Dormammu's power. Calculus returns, mortally wounds the Ancient One and escapes to Hong Kong. Stephen takes the Ancient One to the hospital where she astral projects and tells steven that he too will have to break the rules a little bit and then she goes bye-bye okay first of all when he astral projects well rachel mcadams is supposed to help him that was crazy she's like what are you wearing like he literally comes in his super dumb outfit i loved that part because it's so odd he walks in the

hospital he's like christ Christine needs her doing that. Faky New York accent. Yeah, I know. This person does. What are you doing? And then Christine, where are you? Where are you? When fucking what's her name?

Tilda was about to die. And they had that conversation when when they're in like another dimension and she's about to die. And she makes the snow. She's trying to just look at the snow one last time, even though she's held it so many years. And the line where she's like, I've had so long to prepare for it and I'm still trying to slow everything down to make one moment last a thousand. I know that really made me feel emotional. I felt very emotional too. Which emotions?

Anger? Laughter, giddy, tears. We were like, oh, I was like, oh. No, but I really thought that was a very sweet moment and very thoughtful. Also just kind of weird with her character as well.

I have a little bit of empathy for her. But when he was, wait, was he fighting over his body when that person came? When that other person Astro projected into the hospital room? Was that earlier? That was earlier. Yeah. They did two fights in the hospital.

And then when he like jumps out and then she's like, can you stop fucking doing that? I didn't like that one. Well, yeah, she dies. So Stephen and Mordo arrive in Hong Kong to find Wong dead and the sanctum destroyed with the dark dimension already engulfing Earth. Remember when he was like playing little pranks on Wong where he's like stealing all the books? I loved it. That was fun.

I was chih-hih-hing. That was, I truly loved that. I was like, yeah. And he was listening to his Walkman or whatever. He was listening to Beyonce. That was a treat when he was like, you know Beyonce. He had just heard about Beyonce for the first time. So either that or he was playing a joke on Benedict,

pretending not to know who Beyonce is while it's his favorite. Oh, that's an interesting way to take it. I thought he just learned. I thought he was playing a joke. Of course I fucking know who Beyonce was. And then he's listening to it later. Yeah. Well, okay.

So then Steven uses the Eye of Agamotto to turn back time and save Wong. He then creates an infinite time loop inside the dark dimension that traps himself in Dormammu

in the same moment forever. Dormammu reluctantly agrees to leave Earth if Steven breaks the loop. But I was like, if Dormammu is like this like badass or whatever,

how come he can't break the loop that Steven created? Yeah, how come he didn't have a counters spell that's like you're not gonna loop me yeah these are the questions that's maybe why it's maybe a criticism of the film is a little like they it's it's short in a way and it spends so much time with the setup that it's not really incredibly plausible that dr strange is so good at magic uh that early you know and um he does have the photographic memory he does talk about that so that is kind of on his side about you know remembering all these different spells and stuff like that so that's that that that makes it a little more plausible but i've always found it a

little weird that he is now the master of the mystic arts at the end of this film. Basically, he's Tilda Swinton at the end of the film because he's the best there is in the world right now. When it's like, I don't know, some people have been studying for decades at this point. But I don't know, maybe he just has natural ability. Well, Mordo's set result ties to Car Martage. Departs on his own. Steven returns the Eye of Agamotto, which Wong identifies as the Infinity Stone, the Time Stone for those

keeping score, to Kamar-Taj, and then takes up residence in the New York Sanctum to continue his studies. In a mid-credit scene, Steven is visited at the Sanctum by Thor, who has brought his brother Loki to Earth to search for their father, Odin. And then in a post-credits scene, Mordo visits Pangborn and steals the energy he uses to walk,

stating his intention to stop the continued misuse of power by Earth's sorcerers. I think I saw the second one. Oh, you didn't? This one made me really sad because I love Mordo. And then I was like, oh, is he going to be the villain in the second movie when Doctor Strange returns? So Mordo is, in the comics, he is like Dr. Strange's biggest villain. Ugh, dang.

Essentially. And they have a rivalry where he's a sorcerer constantly trying to become the master of the mystic arts himself. So it wasn't a surprise to me. It was interesting to see how they got there. It's always interesting to me to see like, what is his psychology?

And I think Chiwetel does a really great job of selling exactly why he would be against sorcery. And I think it also is very heartbreaking to know that Benjamin Bratt, who is such an empathetic presence on screen, you know, has been basically powering his entire body for a decade at this point. And then Chiwetel just like Mordo takes it out of him. Just takes it. And he collapses on the ground, you know, back to where he was when he became paralyzed. Very sad. It was sad.

I didn't like it. It made me not happy. I said, mm-mm, mm-mm. Well, this movie was nominated for an Oscar for best visual effects which I think is I agree with that yeah I think that's like a lot of times these movies are nominated and I'm like really but they're like that was the visual effect this is this is really cool looking

yeah it should be nominated for best doctor as well I would agree I don't want to say strangest doctor you know like Dr. Detroit could have won yeah a lot of doctors it also won a costume designers guild award You know, like Dr. Detroit could have won. Yeah, a lot of doctors. It also won a Costume Designers Guild Award as well as Visual Effects Society Award. Interesting.

Yeah. The film had a big opening month. By the end of November, it had become the biggest single character introduction film at MCU. See, I didn't know everyone loved this so much. Me either. I've never heard of it. I know. And it holds an 89% rating of Rotten Tomatoes.

On Post Track, a US-based service that surveys movie audiences for film studios, it holds 73% definite recommend score from viewers. And the New York Times wrote, the giddily enjoyable Doctor Strange is part of Marvel's strategy for world domination. Yet it's also so visually transfixing, so beautiful and nimble that you may even briefly forget the brand. Well, I did forget the brand. I love nimble. so beautiful and nimble that you may even briefly forget the brand well i did forget the nimble i do feel like marvel marvel figured out how to do an introduction film finally about you know halfway through them making movies at this point because the thor movie and and the first captain america movie you know there's they're they're so stilted and awkward

i think you know in a lot of ways and they were like hey what if we just made these funny all the way through instead of you know earnest you know um so that's what they did with this one is is like there's a lot of humor there's a lot of great special effects and and characters that you like so while i wouldn't say this is like one of the greatest mcu movies because i think i think it's in the top, maybe the top third, maybe the top somewhere around there. I think it does its job really well. Wait, what's your number one of all time? I think of the MCU, the first Iron Man was so incredibly electric when I saw it.

And then Endgame is just kind of perfect, in a way. so incredibly electric when it, when I saw it. Uh, and then, and then, um, end game is just like kind of perfect in a way. Have we seen Avengers? No, no. That's the,

that's the big culmination of everything that you're watching right now. Oh, cause I didn't like, did you like the first two Avengers movies? Uh, the first one is just okay. And then the second one is so bad. Okay, good. Okay. If you were like the first two are incredible okay and then the second one is so bad okay good okay if you were

like the first two are incredible i'll be like uh-oh i ain't gonna like endgame yeah those first two were tough you'll you'll like infinity war and endgame those are like the back-to-back movies that came out uh and and wrapped up everything that you've been watching i mean they're it's really kind of an incredible achievement in filmmaking. Nothing like it's ever been made before. It's really good. And it's very satisfying. Oh.

I think it's really interesting that you keep saying it wraps up everything we've been watching. I didn't know anything needed to be wrapped up. Yeah. No, it is the close of a chapter. I'm not saying that like all storylines are tied up, but it's definitely the close of a chapter. And when you see that like all storylines are tied up, but it's definitely the close of a chapter. And when you see it,

you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Oh, okay. Okay. Interesting. We have to take a second break. We do. And we're back. Ooh, baby. Let's get into some little trivia about the movie.

The first Doctor Strange script was written in 1986, Scott's year when he also was doing such things. In Matlock. I knew there was some connection to 86. But no one knew much about this Marvel character. In Matlock. I knew there was some connection to 80s things. But no one knew much about this Marvel character. And so the rights were passed around for 30 years. The original screenwriter, Bob Gale, said, My story told the origin of Doctor Strange,

pretty much the way that it is in the current movie. And the villain was Dormammu too. All right, Bob Gale. That's a quote. Bob Gale, great, great writer. He wrote Back to the Future and has written Spider-Man comics. But anyone who makes it, anyone who writes a Doctor Strange script is going to have Dormammu be the villain and do the origin of Doctor Strange. Right.

It feels kind of necessary. Yeah. Start at the beginning. Yeah. Okay. So although this is Doctor Strange's first appearance in the MCU solo movie, the character has been teased in earlier movies. In Thor, the orb of Armagatu can be seen

among the treasures in Odin's treasure chamber. In Captain America, the Winter Soldier, Jasper Sitwell mentions, who's Jasper? He's the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who's like bald and... He's the one who's not Craig Clark... Clark Gregg, yeah. Clark Gregg, yeah. Well, Jasper mentioned Stephen Strange

as one of the high-risk targets that Hydra keeps under surveillance. There was no Hydra in this movie. Yeah, which I think was good. Yeah, I'm done with Hydra. I know. Yeah, Hydra doesn't come back, I don't think. Oh, good. Okay.

Well, comic book writers Stan Lee and Steve Ditko based Doctor Strange on Hollywood actor Vincent Price. Oh, wow. His full name is actually Stephen Vincent Strange. I used to watch this one Vincent Price tape over and over again as a kid. Tape? Isn't that weird? It was a tape.

It was a VHS. And it was like some- What was it him doing? Him at the house? Yeah, it was home movies. No, it was something he hosted this sort of scary tale Hi, welcome to my house. Yeah.

I'm about to take a shit. He's like, here's my underwear drawer. Just being weird. Here's more trivia. Astrophysicist adam frank served as a science consultant on the film advising on how to portray changes in the human experience of space and time and how to conceive ideas for the multi the multiverse that's interesting yeah when i was watching it today i was struck by how many times they mentioned the multiverse because I didn't remember that the first time I saw it, but the fact that this next sequel

is the multiverse of madness and it's all about the multiverse is interesting that they were seeding it even way back then because they're constantly talking about how that's where they get their power from and they mentioned the word multiverse several times. Well, I mean, it does, yeah.

I thought that was a really cool element of the whole thing was like the bending of space and time. So it feels like you do have to research such things to know. Much like how in the Big Bang Theory, they'll have real equations on the boards. Okay, you were in the Big Bang Theory. That's fun. Tilda Swinton's children were crew members on the film.

Ooh, yes. Take Marvel for all their money, Tilda Swinton's children were crew members on the film take Marvel for all their money Tilda Swinton her daughter worked in the costume department and her son in the art department designing planets I love this I love this Marvel fuels Tilda Swinton's whole family's money I love it

yeah paychecks for everyone Lauren you should make that a thing. Yeah, I already am putting her to work instantly. Here's time for our segment that you will love, Scott. It's called, Is Chris in This? This is a segment where we talk about, we have a yes or no conversation about if a Chris is in this film. Is it Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Chris Pine?

Was it Chris in this film? No, right? No. Well, yes. No, yes. Hemsworth. Oh, he in this film? No, right? No. Well, yes. No, yes. Hemsworth. Oh, he's at the end in the post-Christies.

Well, that counts, I guess. Yeah. Should any sort of Chris, Christine, Kristen, anybody been in this film? Is there a Chris or Christine or a Kristen that you would have loved to have seen?

Rachel McAdams, her name is Christine. Oh, she's Christine. Whoa. So there was a Christine in it. Technically, she's Chris. Yeah, he calls her Chris. Well, he did when they dated but they broke up yeah yeah he wanted to get back together here's a second new segment is a kiss in this there wasn't any like lip kissing but there was a cheek kiss

yeah i was disappointed actually that they're i thought maybe they'd get back together after she like you know worked on his body and stuff. So men need to have perfect bodies in order for, to be worth anything? That's what they're telling us. We don't believe in that. That's what we took from Merville. Alright, well,

Five Star Industries is our segment where we read five star reviews. This is a review from I Sound Taller, a great podcast if you've been stood up. I matched with someone on Coffee Meets Bagel who recommended this podcast to me. This is fucking hilarious. Coffee Meets Bagel is a terrible app. I know you hate that one.

I hate it. You have to earn beans. I know the beans. I learned about that from you. I was really fascinated by this. That sounds so corny. We had a coffee date planned and I was stood up. The bonus is she introduced me to this podcast and I haven't laughed so hard in a while. Thanks, Nicole and Lauren, for turning another awful online dating experience into a great source of self-care. You can't stand someone up when you haven't met them.

Just write that you're not coming. Yeah, I'm not coming. Something came up. You don't need to meet them. It's rude. If you've never met them, it's like, who cares? I think that's weird. rude if you've never met them it's like yeah who cares i think well weird in addition this season uh in addition to apple reviews of newcomers we're also reading reviews from letterboxd

and then we're gonna give the film a one sentence review and a star rating if you don't know what letterboxd is it's a social platform where people can write reviews on films and you can follow the show on letterboxd at newcomers this is from number one Gizmo fan. In the words, Dr. Strange will return, appeared on the screen, someone literally screamed, of course it will, fuck. I've never related more to any human being ever. That's funny.

They gave it one and a half stars. Oh. And then this person gave it three and a half stars. Dormammu could never survive quarantine. He surrendered to Strange's time loop jail so soon. That's pretty funny we are better than dormammu dormammu what is your one sentence review um nicole start with you okay my one sentence review is i wish christine and steven strange fucked but they didn't and i

didn't mind and the movie was so good i loved it so much 10 stars oh we're off the charts i love this movie so much it was really fun i would say um my review is dr strange yeah he's pretty weird but i liked what i saw and i love the part where he went tripping balls through the multiverse i would gladly watch it again. Can you believe that? I will give it. I'll give it. I don't want to go off my charts of five stars.

I feel like I can't go just giving it 10 stars. All right. Five stars. Okay. Okay. Fine. I would say I'm going to give it. I'll give it five stars just because it's enjoyable.

I could definitely watch it again. And that hasn't happened yet. I don't think I've said I would watch anything again. So, yeah, we'll go happened yet. I don't think I've said I would watch anything again. So yeah, we'll go five stars. Okay, Scott, what's your one sentence review?

Somebody call a doctor. It's strange how much I enjoyed this movie. I marveled at it. Oh wait, no, that's more than one sentence. Oh no, that's good though.

No, it's pretty good. I liked it. I marveled at how the, the cumberbatch of stars that ended up chewy telling the scenery. Wow. Okay. All right.

Three and a half stars. Three and a half? Oh, okay. Wow. He's leaving room to grow. Okay. Yeah. I don't think it's the best Marvel movie, but it's in this late period where all they're

putting out is hits. Oh, so we have a lot of hits to come. Okay. That's good news, honestly. I'm, yeah,

I'm pretty excited. Everything through the second Spider-Man is just like, from now on, is just kind of a hit after hit after hit. Thank God.

Yeah, that's, this is nice. All right, well, please go write us a review on Apple Podcasts and make it five stars

because that would be mean to not do that. And we'll pick one to read on the next episode. And please rate us on Spotify as well. Scott, do you have anything you want to plug? Yeah, I mean, look, if you like listening to me and Lauren's Comedy Bang Bang World is a subscription service where we're taking everything from Comedy Bang Bang and sort of delving into it deeper

and characters on the show have their own shows and head over to cbbworld.com and you can hear all of that. You can also add free episodes of Freedom on there. Yeah. So there's plenty. It's totally worth your money. All right.

Well, thank you so much for being here, Scott. It was very, very fun to talk to you about Marvel. And we'll be back next week with Spider-Man Homecoming. See you then.

Bye-bye. Thank you. That was a Hiddem Original.