Happy Sad Confused - Adam McKay, Vol. II

Episode Date: April 22, 2021

He's a writer, a director, a crazily prolific producer, and now a podcaster! The hilarious and brilliant Adam McKay returns to "Happy Sad Confused" for a wide ranging chat. From his new podcast "Death at the Wing" and his upcoming film "Don't Look Up" (starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence!) to his dreams of a "Silver Surfer" film, there's a lot to chew on in this episode. For all of your media headlines remember to subscribe to The Wakeup newsletter here! And listen to THE WAKEUP podcast here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the Volvo Fall Experience event, discover exceptional offers and thoughtful design that leaves plenty of room for autumn adventures. And see for yourself how Volvo's legendary safety brings peace of mind to every crisp morning commute. This September, lease a 2026 X-E-90 plug-in hybrid from $599 bi-weekly at 3.99% during the Volvo Fall Experience event. Conditions apply, visit your local Volvo retailer

or go to explorevolvo.com. DC high volume Batman The Dark Knight's definitive DC comic stories adapted directly for audio for the very first time Fear I have to make them afraid He's got a motorcycle

Get after him or have you shot You mean blow up the building From this moment on None of you are safe New episodes every Wednesday Wherever you get your podcasts Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now.

Today on Happy, Say, Confused, Adam McKay on the NBA politics and his upcoming film with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence. Hey guys, I'm Josh Harlow. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Can you hear the honking outside of my New York apartment? That's what we call ambiance. That's what we call authenticity. look on some podcasts you might hear serene quiet on happy sag confused you hear my delicious voice but sometimes you get sirens sometimes you get honking sometimes you get a dog barking just moments

ago before recording this intro lucy the infamous dog of happy sag confused the mascot of happy said confused was um on the precipice of destroying my bed she seems more sedate now i'm staring at her and I think she's cooled off. We just went for a little walk in the pouring rain in New York. So that's a little snapshot into my life. Let's talk about the podcast, though. That's what you're really here for, not Lucy updates. Although, if you were, I would kind of admire that.

The man of the hour, the guest on today's Happy Second Fuse, is Mr. Adam McKay. I adore Adam McKay. He is a brilliant writer and director. You know him, of course, from back in the day, his contributions at Saturday Night Live. But then, of course, his amazing run of films, whether you love his work in Stepbrothers or Anchorman or The Big Short or Vice, he is prolific and talented and always is spinning a thousand different plates. And we hit upon a lot of the projects that he's working on in this wide-ranging conversation. Foremost on his mind right now is this new podcast, Death at the Wing, which I've been enjoying, that he is the host of and is something of. a investigation into the spate of untimely deaths of NBA players, primarily in the 80s,

most notoriously perhaps Len Vias, who tragically died of a cocaine overdose just hours after being drafted into the NBA. But it's more than just a look at these kind of untimely deaths. It's looking at the underlying issues, whether it was gun violence or the just say no to drugs campaign, really a lot of the issues that the Reagan era was dealing with and that we're still dealing with to this day. I highly recommend this podcast. Adam is a great guide asking all the tough questions. And also, you know, it's got a bit of the Adam McKay irreverence and wit throughout. So something for everyone in Death at the Wing, highly recommended. But this conversation covers so much more than just Death of the Wing. It covers Adam's new film,

is at the top of my must-see list by the end of 2021 coming in November or December late this year will be Don't Look Up, which if you don't know, you're going to know soon enough because it is a comedy starring Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio. They're front and center, but go to the IMDV. Check out the list of actors in this film from Timothy Chalome to Ariana Grande to Mark Rylance to Merrill Street to Jonah Hill. This is all top of my head. This is just tip of the iceberg. an amazing ensemble, dealing with environmental issues, but in a comedic way. I think it's going to be something very special.

They shot it during this last insane year of COVID. They somehow managed to put it all together. So some really interesting backstory on how it came together, how he landed both Jennifer and Leo in this film. So that's worth checking out in this conversation. Of course, we also talk a little bit about comic book movies because Adam actually is a huge comic book fan. We've talked about this in the past. We talked about his love of the Silver Surfer and whether he still wants to direct a Marvel movie, namely perhaps Silver Surfer or

something else. So yeah, we cover a lot, not to mention his Lakers show that's coming, the Q-Anon Doc series. You guys just check that out, by the way. That's had its run on HBO and HBO Max. Q Into the Storm. Very fascinating little Doc series. So, yeah, that's just a small sampling of what Adam McKay has on his plate, and we covered most of it in this wide-ranging conversation. I know you'll enjoy it. Not only, the great thing about Adam is, not only is he just dealing with, like, these weighty issues, but it's always in a fun and smart and irreverent way. Yeah, you can tell.

I'm a fan. No apologies. Nothing else to tease, perhaps, today, except to say, well, here's a fun one coming up soon. Michael B. Jordan, chatted with him for MTV News. That's going to be dropping, I believe, next week on MTV News's YouTube pages and other social media platforms. That's another wide-ranging conversation about his new film Without Remorse, but a lot of other things, too. I don't know. I'll tease more about that next week and we'll get a little bit closer to it.

All right, that's where I'll leave it today. I hope you guys enjoy this chat with Adam McKay. Remember, please, please, review, rate, and subscribe to Happy Say Confused. the good word. We've got some really cool new things cooking in the happy, say, confused universe. I don't know if I want to say more yet, but we're inching closer to some new formats, some new ways to enjoy happy, say, confused content. I've said too much already. All right, let's get to it. Here's my conversation with Adam McKay. Adam McKay. Welcome back to

to the podcast, sir. Good to see you, man. Yeah, good to see you too. Thanks for having me. As always, there is an insane amount of things to talk about. You are the busiest man in showbiz. You're a writer-director. You're an NBA junkie. You are now a podcaster infringing on my territory, you asshole. And not only that, you're a great podcaster. Congratulations on all of it, man. You're referring, of course, to death at the wing, which has really been like an experience. never had before. I mean, it's podcasting, as you know, is pretty cool in the sense that the production limits are low on it. So it really allowed us to do this fairly ambitious projects. It's been great. So I've been really digging it. I've listened to the first, I think,

five or six episodes. And before we get into the subject matter itself, I'm just curious, like, you alluded to this, like the freedom of podcasting. Is that the reason to do this as a podcast? Like, I remember, like, the famous, like, Mamick quote, like, I know it's a movie. If I write exterior, right? Like, how do you know it's a podcast versus a TV show, like magazine article, et cetera? I think you know because, yeah, I was considering this idea for Death at the Wing as a magazine article first. Because I just didn't see it as a docu-series. I didn't see it as a feature documentary. It just didn't quite feel like that. Also, we didn't really know the answer to the question going into it. Maybe that's the real reason it was a podcast.

because you can't exactly sell a whole series and say, by the way, we don't really know what the answer is. Like, they're just not. Hitch meetings don't go well with dot, dot, dot, dot at the end of the presentation. They do not, unless you have, like, Brad Pitt attached to it. And even then, they'll still ask you a lot. So I think that was the real reason. It hadn't occurred to me to just ask me now, but that was it.

That's why we did it as a podcast. So the podcast is Death at the Wing. As people can tell from the title, it's nonstop. polarity and comedy. I mean, though I will say, I mean, I'm so pleased you narrate this yourself. You are our hosting guide, and it still has the McKayisms, the asides that you sprinkle in there. So it is not without levity.

But the subject matter is pretty serious. And it's clearly an intersection of a lot of things that you are fascinated with, namely basketball and sociopolitical issues. Talk to me a little bit about, like, what is the mission statement? What was the first idea that you had for this? So the sort of the question was, as a lifelong NBA fan, I just had always talked with my friends about what would have happened if Len Bias would have played, who tragically died in the 80s was a tremendous talent.

What would have happened if Reggie Lewis had kept playing? What would have happened if Hank Gathers had kept playing? Well, and the list, it was probably about five, six years after the 90s or towards the late, 90s, I realized the list was really long. And I just never heard anyone talk about that. I always heard each of the individual players discussed. And there's been documentaries made about each of the players. But the question was, why did all these young guys die in the 80s and at the 90s? And then not later. Like, you don't see that anymore. I mean, people die in every pursuit. But not like 11 guys in eight, nine years. I mean, that's what was so crazy about it. So that was the question. The question

was, why did this happen then? Why did it stop happening? And what are the underlying causes? And, you know, with most real subjects, it's not like there's a serial killer who's out targeting basketball players. It was a lot of complicated forces swirling around. So that once we dove in, we realized that it was really an interaction with the times that was going on with the rise of the Reagan revolution, the explosion of media, the explosion of money from all the tax cuts, the explosion of a new kind of fame. And it's a little bit like what happened to Hollywood in the 60s and 70s where people got so famous in a way that no one had before that you saw a lot of Hollywood movie stars die from pills, alcohol, car crashes. It reminds me a little bit of that.

The most notable name, the infamous story you alluded to that you started with is Lenn Bias. And for those that without the context, and I was pretty young in the 80s, but like it's also, it's fascinating to listen to this and kind of like re-evaluate all of these things I was experiencing as a very young kid and starting to enjoy all this. But like, I have vague memories and I remember the Lenn Bias case or what happened. Give a sense of like the seismic event that it was. Like, what did Len Bias' death, untimely death, mean at the time, and what did you come to learn or realize about it these years later?

So I was a freshman in college when Len Bias was drafted, and it's hard to describe how amazing this guy was. It was the exact same feeling as when Michael Jordan came out, maybe even a little bit more, although I'm not saying Len Bias would have been better than Michael Jordan. I mean, that's a crazy statement to make. We don't know if he even would have been close. No, by the way, for sure he would have been close, but to Max, Jordan is a very tall order. So this guy was a tremendous talent, could jump out of the building, sweet jump shot, chiseled, pure muscle, and most of all, a beloved guy.

His teammates loved him. His community loved him. He was just a great guy. Everything about him was made to be a giant megastar. He was drafted by the Celtics who had just won the championship, which was through a freaky trade. that Red Hourbock had made that somehow he got this high draft pick. And three days later, I think it was three days later, he was parting with some friends. And in typical 1980s fashion, he was doing some cocaine, which I hate to break into everyone, but, you know, 70% of adults were doing cocaine back in the 80s. I made that number up, but you get the idea. And it might be underselling it, but yeah. Yeah, and Len Byest died. And what happened as a result of it was, I was, a domino effect that was just so uniquely 80s,

which is a giant overreaction mixed with race baiting, and these really punitive laws were passed in a giant anti-drug bill by Republicans and by Democrats that put a whole generation of young African-Americans in prison based on ridiculously low standards of reality. So it's really an American tragedy, the whole story from beginning to end.

And in doing the podcast, I got to learn a lot of the details of it. I knew the broad strokes, but I didn't know the real details. And it's fascinating. It's heartbreaking. But it's also empowering to kind of know the real story behind this. It is fascinating to reevaluate, as I said, kind of all these things that are kind of like ingrained in us and the memories that we have, whatever age we were at the time. For instance, I mean, you talk about, yeah, just say no to drugs, which ostensibly at the

time as a kid felt like, yeah. that makes sense. That's great. But also like you, in one of the episodes you talk about where the NRA was at back in the day. And that really struck me of what the NRA was and what it is and how far it's come now. NRA back of the day is practically a, would be a liberal group now. Eliminate what the NRA was at the time for me. It's insane. And once again, this is something I vaguely knew that the NRA had radicalized at one point, but I had no idea just what a great organization it used to be. I mean, they used to work for like environmental causes.

Right. You were truly about gun safety. They weren't about, you know, flooding the streets with assault rifles and no oversight whatsoever. I mean, basically, let's call it like it is, a professional murder organization, which is kind of what it is today. So it was shocking. We were doing a piece about a number one player in the nation coming out of high school.

Benji Wilson was shot on a street corner. And part of that episode is looking at the rise and, you know, ubiquitous nature of guns in America. So we looked at the history of the NRA and did a great interview with a writer who specializes in that and went really deep dive on it. And I had no idea. I had no idea that they were that liberal, that they were working to. save the polar bear. That's what they were up to in the early 70s. Where are you at with, I mean, this has kind of become a phenomenon in recent years, these kind of like lionizations of, especially these Republican presidents in the last 30 years.

And certainly in the subject matter of this, we're talking mostly about Reagan. And, you know, I watched, I think it was the Showtime doc this past year on Reagan. You know, Republicans are ready to put him on Mount Rushmore. You dealt with this to an extent with W and change. what's your estimation of Reagan? How has it evolved at all in the course of the last few years versus how it's evolved for Republicans? I mean, I always knew two things. I always knew, even as a punk kid in the 80s, we all knew he wasn't really the driving force, that he was a hired spokesman. He was a paid actor. Anytime you heard him try and talk, you know, extemporaneously,

you knew there was kind of no there there. Right. But it was a genius move. What the, money, you know, old money, families and corporations did hiring him. So we always knew he was not a serious person. He was a spokesperson. But it's really later that I understood just how much they restructured and rewrote America and how effective they were at it. And then the second thing that really I never knew was how much all that big money that they brought into D.C. whacked the Democrats as well. And then really in the Republican Party going, right wing, the Democrats went from left wing to like center, and even in some cases, right of center. So when I described the Reagan revolution in this series or the Republican

revolution, it really, it's all of America. It's not just the Republicans. But for anyone who still lionizes Reagan, I think that's kind of been put to bed. You can just listen to the tape of him talking to Nixon about the protests and the way he describes people of color. in that. And it's so disgusting and hateful and onerous. I remember when that tape came out between him and Nixon. I was just like, it's over. Like you can't, anyone defending Reagan at this point just play this tape. And you see exactly what kind of guy he was. I mean, he was a bad, bad, nasty guy. So, but once again, he wasn't the leader of this movement. It was the Koch brothers. It was Richard Mellonsgate.

It was the Coors family. It was big corporations. It was the Chamber of Commerce on and on and on. It wasn't really Reagan. It's interesting. You've had, ostensibly a very busy year in a year that for many was kind of like we, a lot of us hit pause and kind of reevaluated.

And I don't know how much of that was filling up your docket so you were distracted by the Republic being on the precipice of falling apart forever. or part of it was just the happenstance and the revving up of your production company. But give me a sense of what it was like to work seemingly constantly on a variety of projects through this tumultuous insanity between COVID and the election.

Was it a respite? Was it a distraction? What was it? Well, initially, it was what everyone was experiencing. We were scouting the movie in Boston. It shut down. And so I remember that Utah Jazz game was canceled. That was kind of the first time I really perked up.

I knew something great, something not so great was going on. So I came home and I was in the same, we were all in the same situation. I was home with my family trying to stay safe. I had had a heart scare a couple of years back. So I really couldn't get this virus. I had to really extra be careful. And then we started realizing with the new company, there was still things we could do using docu series. We still had projects kind of going. So the big, big one that came to us first

was the Q into the Storm series. We saw that footage from Colin Hoback. And we were already working on it a bit, but because of the quarantine, we were able to focus on it a lot more. Then we bumped into John Lurie with painting with John through a friend of ours producer Matt Dwyer hooked us up with that. And I was like, well, this is a magical, strange little series that I think I love about as much as anything I've ever seen. And then I dove into this podcast because I'm like, well, I'm home. I've always wanted to do this. Let's do it. Let's set up a mic. And then I was working on the Parasite show with Bong Joon Ho. So I started writing that script, the first episode that I outlined that series and wrote the first episode of that. But all of this was just because

I was just home all day long. And, you know, I really enjoyed doing the podcast. It was amazing to see what Colin Hoback was working on with that series. Working with John Lurie was incredible. You haven't even mentioned the Lakers show, the HBO show. Oh, my God, the Lakers show. Max was writing The Lakers show. So I was giving notes on those scripts.

Succession was queuing up. So I think all of this just comes from the fact that, you know, like a lot of us, I just love all this stuff, like the fact that I'm, lucky enough to get to read scripts from Jesse Armstrong in that All-Star Writers' Room and the fact that I can read Max Bornstein and Rodney Barnes' scripts for the Lakers show. It's just, yeah, it's enjoyment. It would be what I would be doing anyway during the quarantine. Even if I didn't do it, I would still be doing it for just the pure enjoyment of it. So it was the nice side of getting to be home for a year. But then we went and made the movie. And that was, that was crazy.

That was a different year. That was legitimately crazy. So this is Don't Look Up, which even when we talked a couple of years back, was clearly in your brain. It was starting to come together. You were talking about wanting to confront these environmental issues that I know that's close to your heart and close to mine in some way. And you clearly put it together.

This is seemingly like kind of a story. Anchored by Leo and Jennifer Lawrence. But you've got basically a cast out of like, it's a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world. Like, you have, like, this. So I know we're going to talk more at length about this movie down the road in a few months, but I'm just curious, like,

first in casting Leo and Jennifer, Jennifer hasn't been working much at all. Leo basically doesn't work for anybody unless their name is Martin Scorsese. How difficult was it to get those two in line as your leads here? Well, in the case of Jen Lawrence, I've known Jen for a while.

I mean, one of the first meeting she ever did in Los Angeles was after her first movie was with me when she was like, God damn, I think she was 17. She might have been 18, but she worshipped stepbrothers. So when her agent said, who do you want to meet with, I'm sure they weren't so happy to hear the answer, the guy who did stepbrothers. So I've known Jen for a long time, always been dying to work with her. We've been developing the bad blood of the John Carey book about Elizabeth Holmes. That's still in development. And so that was the first person in. That was I wrote the character of Kate Dibioski is the name of the character, For Jen. And she was the first read on the script, and she was like, I was in. The DiCaprio one, I was more with you. I obviously think he's amazing and talented guy. And I love his work that he does on to me the issue of, you know, human history,

the climate catastrophe. But I just thought there's no way he's going to do this, because if I could work only with Martin Scorsese, I would only work. I would be Martin Scorsese's assistant on set. So why would he go do this with me? But as it turned out, he really loved the script. And we started going back and forth on it. It was about a four or five month process of us kicking around ideas.

We took a little break for the quarantine. And lo and behold, once we figured out a safe way to shoot this movie or theoretically a safe way, he was in. I couldn't believe it. And it's no surprise. He's fabulous in the movie. He's so damn good. Well, and for me, I mean, I've said this for years, and I'm not the only one.

He's kind of, like, secretly one of, like, the best comedic actors on the planet. I mean, genuinely funny. I mean, you look at Wolf of Wall Street. You look at Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And about three or four other movies, he's really funny, real grounded. I mean, it's a great mix,

and it was perfect with Jen Lauren. who's the same way. I mean, she's crazy, funny, but grounded, legitimately great actress. So when we had those two as our main two people, we had the style of the movie was set. And then when Meryl Streep joined and Jonah Hill and Tyler Perry and Kate Blanchett,

it was just like, okay. Then just pile in. Then it's like Mark Rylance. Tell me Mark Rylance and Ariana Grande have a scene together, please. Oh, my God. They do not, but you're right, man. Mark Rylance, I mean, he goes under the, heading of, is there a better actor walking planet Earth? I remember when we found out he was

cast, Merrill Street jumped up in the air in excitement. I was like, you know, you're a good actor when Merrill Street is excited that you're in a movie. And boy, he did not disappoint. I mean, he's got one of the most startling, miraculous moments in the movie, which, you know, everyone will see come November, December, we're still setting the release date. So yeah, that was, that was a crazy experience, but we pulled it off. I mean, all credit to Netflix. They really supported it and spent the money to make it safe. And then our producers worked so hard. And really the trick was we got those instant PCR tests. And when we had those, I knew we could pull it off. Up until then, I didn't know if we were going to be able to pull it off. Where in your dromedy, you know,

spectrum, do you think this one lands? I mean, how is it broader than the last couple or is it in the same kind of key as Vice and Big Short? Definitely not as dark as Vice. Vice, I'd say, really probably ended up being a drama with some comedy. But Big Short, I would say still, even though there's drama in it, I would say this one's probably a tad more of a comedy than the Big Short. So somewhere in between, I don't know if the Farrell movies even, like, because they're so uniquely Will Ferrell, like, but somewhere in between like the other

guys in big short, I'd say is where this one lives. Got it. So speaking of Will, I mean, obviously you've made this transition in recent years where, like you, as we alluded to, your production, your new production company is just like cranking from podcasts, the TV to film. It's obviously not with Will anymore. Has that changed like the, I mean, you guys obviously created so much great stuff together and I hope you guys collaborate again in the future. But like, has it changed the way you work, that changed your mindset, your, um, the stuff you want to work on, uh, kind of, being on your own? Yeah, I mean, the one thing I think it did was, I mean, it was an incredible

run with Farrell and Gary Sanchez. I mean, we made such fun stuff. It was so enjoyable. But it was, in a way, like two companies in the sense that we, you know, a major priority for the company was to make sure Will had movies to, you know, Will had certain things he wanted to do. And then I had the things I wanted to do. So there was always kind of a sense of two companies within one. And then obviously, Will and I would collaborate on movies. Occasionally there would be a project we produced like Eastbound and Down that really was the two of us producing. But it was two companies within within one. So since I've gone to just the one company hyper object, it definitely feels leaner and meaner and more focused.

And all the people that are part of the company, all are of one mission. I mean, everyone knows exactly what we want to do. And it's to go right in the kind of the craziness of the times that we're living in, sort of to try and discover what the new language is, to discover if there is a narrative language to the times we're living in. So it's a great group of people. It's really exciting. And I felt like it was a natural evolution for me. I felt like it was a natural evolution for Will. So it couldn't have worked out better as far as 14 years of Gary Sanchez. and now this new company just we just never knew the whole company was founded under the premise that the world is really teetering and kind of shuddering.

We just didn't know when we started it that it would be six months later that that would happen. We thought it was like five years, you know, maybe 10. But I mean, it is admirable. And it's something I feel like that I and a lot of people have confronted especially in the last four plus years is like, how can you be of service whatever you do? What is your place in this universe? because there's too much shit hitting the fan to sit by idly and let it happen.

And it seems like you found like the right cadence, the right way to make stuff you love that can entertain, but also hopefully, carmically and more literally, help in a small way. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's an interesting question. It's, you know, I mean, the one thing that really drove me to it was that I just couldn't find myself. It was a little depressing. to be working on a project that you felt like was disconnected from the world, like when that would happen, if it's just a project about a guy who wants the promotion and is in love with the pretty lady but doesn't have the nerve to ask her out,

it just felt depressing and like a waste of time to be working on that. By the way, now that I've said that out loud, that story probably can be done really well. I've just jinxed myself, but yeah, I just wanted to make sure anything we were working on was towards the kind of meat of what was going on in one way or another, whether it's a comedy, whether it's just an examination of portrait, whether it's an investigative piece like Q into the storm was. There's a leaf blower right outside my window. Oh, good. And so I wanted to make sure it was something. And it can be anything. It can be one of 12. It can be beautiful. It can be

funny it can be, but just so long as it at least harmonized with, you know, let's face it, these major things that are happening. I mean, I just read an article yesterday that they're saying that California fire season this year is going to be the worst one ever. And I'm walking around like a crazy person going, has anyone else seen this? Like, why isn't the governor interrupting like regular programming? Like, why aren't we talking about this? So, yeah, I just, at least, you know, if I'm going to do what I'm going to do, it at least can be next to us. that subject as opposed to a thousand miles away from it. So this maybe flies in the face of what we're just talking about.

But again, I think back to our conversations a couple of years ago. And I feel like I was trying to will into existence your none too secret love of marble at the time. And we had spitballed you directing a Silver Surfer movie. I put in the good word with Feigey. I take it that didn't take off that were no closer to you helming a Marvel silver surfer movie? No, there was something tricky because I was lucky enough to get to be a writer on Ant Man,

which was really fun. And the 12-year-old in me was, you know, rolling down a hill and wrecking my clothes with grass stains at the chance to do that, and especially with Paul Rudd and Peyton Reed, who I love. So that was really just a joy. The nice thing with Marvel is most of their stories are allegories about, you know, fairly significant issues.

You look at every single movie they've done. I mean, Winter Soldier, it's not even that thinly disguise. So, or they're just so imaginative like Thor Ragnarok that I'm like, I don't care that this isn't about the world. This is so imaginative that it's about the world, even if it's not. So, but Silver Surfeit was tricky. There's something about it. It's like, because we did look into it.

I think it's like connected to the Fantastic Four. And because of that kind of lives up it under its own umbrella, but there was something that got in the way of it because we did look into it a couple years ago, but I could be wrong. I could be misremembering. But there was some reason it didn't happen or someone else was already working on it. But no, I was definitely into it because that would be a very easy one. If you look at Galactus and you look at the origin story of the Silver Surfer, how he sacrificed himself for his home planet. Norin Rad, was that his name? I believe so. I thought that name in a long time. That would be a very easy one to make it an environmental allegory. So I, I, I,

I think that could be an incredible movie, and I think it could be visually the most stunning Marvel movie that's ever been made. So I haven't lost interest in that. In fact, now that you mention it, maybe I'll lob a phone call and see what's going on. Are you at all a DC guy? I mean, it's a little bit more, it's been divisive. Certainly, you know, we could go into hours of Snyder cut debates with anybody on this podcast. But what do you stand? I have some DC love.

When I was a kid, I used to love Legion of Superheroes for some reason. why. I was way into that. And there definitely were some cool DC comics. I mean, I remember when Walt Simonson did the Aquaman. Didn't he take over Aquaman at one point? That got really cool for a while. So there were definitely some DC runs I liked. I'll tell you my real dream is to do what, you know, M. Knight did with Unbreakable or what, uh, where Sharski's did with, uh, Matrix, which is to create an original comic, you know, legend, epic. I mean, to me, that would be the coolest one of all, is that you make up your own brand new heroes.

So I'm still thinking about that and still have a desire to do that at some point. What's on the podcasting docket after Death at the Wing? And are you going to be hosting others? I mean, as I said, part of my enjoyment of this is hearing you take us through this because you've got such a distinctive cadence and voice. So, yeah, what's next?

we have one going that is just incredible it's with the nature surf writer daniel dwayne and it's the story of reunion island and how it's uh it's a surf island in the middle of i think it's the indian ocean couple hundred miles east of africa and long story short through environmental changes it's infested with bull sharks and it used to be a surfer's paradise and it's become one of the most shark attack ongoing stories ever. And he's been talking to us about his research on it. So we're doing that as a investigative sort of portrait. And unfortunately, this is happening in other places around the world.

When the intensity of the waves changes, it changes the slope of how the waves break, and sediment, overfishing, temperature changes. You're just seeing these radical shifts in where fish are, fish are and how fish feed. And there's another island off Brazil that same thing is infested with bull sharks. And it's, it's really terrifying, fascinating, gripping story. I think it's going to be, I immediately want to adapt it into a feature film or a series. It's an incredible story. And then we alluded to earlier again, this is the perils for you of having so much on

your docket. I have to hit all of it. But the HBO stuff, there's like, okay, the Lakers show has been cast to a T. I mean, when I heard Adrian Brody, like with a slick back hair, I mean, done. We're done. Pat Riley lives. The inspired casting, Bo Burnham. I mean, all of it.

Down the line, I'm into it. This is the Lakers back in the 80s, back in the day. So this clearly as an ensemble, but is this scene through the eyes of one person in particular? Like, whose story is this Lakers show? It's a couple different people's stories. And it's once again, it's just about that time. 1979 to 80, where like all of American culture just seemed to change. And in some ways,

that's through the Reagan Revolution, but in really a more major way in some ways is that American culture really became African American culture. I mean, they became one in the same. One could even argue world culture became African American culture. I was watching Vietnamese rappers the other day for another project I'm working on. And they're all imitating African American culture. It's incredible. So the story is really, Dr. Bus is a big, he's sort of a great Gatsby-type lens into this story. Obviously, Magic Johnson is a big voice in this.

Jeannie Bus, Dr. Bus's daughter is a big lens into this. And there's a couple others. Jerry West is a big voice in this story. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. So it's definitely an ensemble story. And there's so many fascinating characters. from the Showtime Lakers. We get to dip into each one,

but those are the main characters. And you mentioned Parasites. So you collaborating with Director Bong, we haven't heard much about this lately. I mean, there's so much curiosity of how you adapt that, and is it in the same universe, is it a different interpretation? What can we expect out of the Parasite series

and what does it stand right now? I mean, we're just having the best time. We've just kind of staffed up up with an incredible writer's room. I basically outlined the series with director Bond during the quarantine with him overseeing. So yeah, it's an original series. It's in the same universe as the feature. And it's an original, but it's an original story that lives in that same world. You know, sort of like, trying to think of an example, like tin men to diner. Maybe that's a bit obscure. But no, you're speaking my language, always. Yeah, yeah. It's like,

that um 11th and cinematic universe great i love the leavenson cinematic universe i cannot lie so yeah it's it's an original series uh original story we finished the outline i finished the first episode and then we've just put together a writer's room and it's it's chugging full speed ahead it's it's uh i mean you know occasionally in life you get very lucky and for me to get to work anywhere near director bonn's orbit i feel uh i usually when i hear people say i'm honored it sounds like like bullshit to me, but I'm legitimately honored and having a blast. Well, you're surrounding yourself with the right people, clearly, and it speaks volumes that they flock to you based on your work.

I'm most appreciative of your time, always, Adam, especially given how many projects we've just teased, and that's probably just the tip of the iceberg. Everybody's check out Death at the Wing. It's engrossing, whether you're an NBA fan or not. It is about a lot more than just 80s basketball. it's about the lives and times that we lived in back then and how they inform where we landed today. Congratulations on that. We barely touched on the Q doc. Everybody should check that out. That's fascinating to say the least. And as I said, I know we'll talk about your

intriguing movie later in the year. Thanks, man. Thanks, Josh. Thanks for having me, man. Always a pleasure. And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. The Old West is an iconic period of American history and full of legendary figures whose names still resonate today. Like Jesse James, Billy the Kid and Butch and Sundance, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Geronimo, Wyatt Earp, Batmasterson, and Bass Reeves, Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild Bill Hickok, the Texas Rangers, and many more.

Hear all their stories on The Legends of the Old West podcast. We'll take you to Tombstone, Deadwood, and Dodge City, to the plains, mountains, and deserts for battles between the U.S. Army and Native American warriors, to dark corners for the disaster of the Donner Party, and shining summits for achievements like the Transcontinental Railroad. We'll go back to the earliest days of explorers and mountain men and head up through notorious Pinkerton agents and gunmen like Tom Horn. Every episode features narrative writing and cinematic music and there are hundreds of episodes available to binge. I'm Chris Wimmer. Find Legends of the Old West wherever you're listening now.