The Reel Rejects - This Superman Hate Is INSANE!

Episode Date: April 11, 2025

With James Gunn's Superman Movie having just dropped its CinemaCon 2025 Sneak Peek Trailer, Greg Alba & Coy Jandreau dive into the nitty-gritty of internet outrage, pre-release speculation, toxic fandom, Superman hot-takes, and Beyond! With the internet alight with both ire & anticipation, Greg & Coy examine the internet's responses James Gunn's optimistic take on the character as compared with the enduring love for the Snyderverse and the DCEU's overall darker tone. Based on what we've seen in the trailers and press releases, the boys discuss David Corenswet's take on Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and the relationship between the two of them as well as comparisons to Henry Cavill, controversy surrounding Krypto the Superdog & the Superman Robots, ideas of patriotism, masculinity, comic book accuracy, & More! Following Creature Commandos and Superman: Legacy, upcoming DCU projects include The Authority, The Brave and the Bold, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and Swamp Thing, promising a diverse and interconnected cinematic universe. We also get expanded looks at Hawkgirl, Guy Gardner Green Lantern, & Mr Terrific! Visit https://www.liquidiv.com & use Promo Code: REJECTS to get 20% off your first order! Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Aparrel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/thereelrejects Follow Coy Jandreau:  Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@coyjandreau?l... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coyjandreau/?hl=en Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CoyJandreau YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwYH2szDTuU9ImFZ9gBRH8w Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is the cold habitual And it is the cold of the cold at his summit Cozlight

in view a fruade celebrate to be able to be able you have the age legal for

consume the alcohol Thank you to Liquid IV for sponsoring this video more on them

in just a bit Reject Nation we are here to do a here today we are here today we are here today to do a very special podcast

normally we shoot these on Thursdays and upload them on Friday It's a bit of a funky schedule this week. And there's something that's been particularly on Koi and R's mind. Coy and I's. Corey and I. Corey and I.

Corey and I. Corey and George. Yep. That's us today. People I'm sure. Do people call you Corey? Oh, it is vexing, sir.

I get called George because people remember the G. Okay. And I guess by text lettering, you can see it. It's got some letters that's share. That's the only thing. Greg is an anagram for George. I've not, I've been asked of my name and shirt for Coyote.

That's my favorite one I've ever gotten. Coyote. Nah, bro. It's just coy. Anyway, we're going to talk about Superman stuff because I don't know if you guys have to pay attention to the internet. However, there's a lot of discourse, especially regarding the sneak peak. And after that, we are going to also discuss a little bit about Henry Cavill's Superman versus what we see so far from.

David Corenswetz. We have not seen the movie yet, so we can't take into full consideration. It's more about anticipation and what we've been able to gather thus far. Then we're going to take some patron questions that we put out there. And the reason we want to do this, when we were talking about yesterday, maybe you have more to add on to it. For me, I was thinking about how it seems in rage, bait, click culture, which often thrives off of people's dopamine. Rage and dopamine can go hand in hand like nobody's business and for what we do where we aim to be hopeful and positive but you know we're still willing to be critical we're covering daredevil born again i'm pretty critical about a lot of

the journey along the way same time i'm only pointing that out because you know the obvious thing to call us is shills regarding stuff this is not about defending us in the in terms of being called shills we did that episode already yeah that's already done go back a few episodes ago this is a What I'm talking about right now is the opposite of that. Of if being super positive equates you being called a shill, I would say equal to or greater than that on the opposite spectrum is the side of the internet that shills towards people's rage. That feeds off of that.

And there's a word for that, but I can't say it on YouTube. Is it the C word? Yeah. Oh. That's what I call them. Yeah. So like see you next Tuesday? Correct.

Got it. Okay. To me, that's people profiting off hate are, the British slang and Australian slang that YouTube doesn't love and it is a highly profitable job that does like you said the happy chemicals that come from happiness

aren't just reserved for happiness like dopamine is a spike in a positive chemical way but there's also a series of chemicals that are reward based and your reward chemicals get validated when other people are angry too and I think we don't talk about that enough in the internet of the joy of rage for some people

I think a lot of people succumb to it without realizing it I think it's easy to succumb to it. I think it's an easy emotion, but it's also really easy to not realize how far it's taken over. And I think there's people that we're like, you know, we work with that aren't that type of person,

but have seen that happen and been like, oh, I need to check on my reviews and check on how I'm doing things and see if this is actually how I feel. And for me, that's why I'm trying to take as many steps back as I can while still doing the job of not letting other people's opinions influence mine

because the thing that we do is give our opinion, there's no way to not have that cell lead if you don't if a hundred people are yelling like bra like it affects you whether it's in a positive or negative ways up to you but if i know a lot of people are angry at something and i'm trying to stay neutral if i know a lot of people love something and i'm trying to stay neutral i might be like is it that good i don't want either part of human nature and conversation a lot of the time is we like to we like to be the opposite i mean there's a contrarian this yeah contrarianism yeah i was hearing that uh i was hearing this recently in some communication talk that if I say something to you like, don't take this the wrong way, you will more than likely take it the wrong way. However, if I say to you, you're probably going to take this the wrong way.

It immediately flips it, even though I'm putting the assumption out to you, that's interesting. That you're probably going to. Anyway, that's like part of where we are deriving this from because when it comes to Superman in particular, this concept that's about hope and love, in a lot of ways. It's weird to see this narrative forming around it where you can see a lot of

internet media thriving off of rage baiting regarding this property. And we are not here to say like it's all going to be positive because I really care about having like a dialogue. What's happening though is not a dialogue. That's our point. Besides yelling, it's two sets of monologues. That's all it is. There's no dialogue happening at all. So what I would like us to do, is go through the specific criticisms that especially have formed since the sneak peak because the sneak peak

seems to have skyrocketed it to a level that I never would have thought from watching the sneak peak. Like you had seen it before our reaction, John and I, our reaction was filmed here

and Roxy and as I was watching it, it wasn't a slither of thought that went on that this was going to be the thing to gather hatred around so I thought we can go through specifics here and these are going to be new to me because I've blocked all these people and I also have been avoiding I have so many words muted I'm sure

you've heard some things in passing yeah yeah I'm just saying like I won't have these premeditated so apologies if I stall to figure it out yeah I made some notes and it's a it's a combination of a lot of things not solely Twitter pulls you know there's a few YouTubers who you can think of some who are not YouTubers who are political people who are now doing Superman videos for some reason. I'm sure you can think of who I'm talking about by me saying that. And I've basically gathered like here's what the what the generality is. So the first one is the most obvious one. Crypto. Crypto is getting a lot of crap. So a lot of the criticism seems to be around. It feels silly. It feels emasculating. It feels like they're making a joke out of Superman,

stealing focus from Superman, it feels parody-like that moment in the sneak peek when Superman is, you know, in a lot of pain and then crypto is jumping on him. There are people going, that's not what a dog would be able to sense that. Like, what are you basing this off of like your own personal dog? What is this coming? Have these people met puppies? Yeah. And the dog is behaving like a dog. I want to backtrack for a second before we actually dive into this.

I'm going to say one thing. It popped into my head right now. I have been reading comics again lately and finding that love for reading comics. And when we did the sneak peak reaction, you had mentioned All-Star Superman. I was like, you know what? I'm going to read that. How's that journey been? I'm on Issue 7.

I finished issue 7 last night, and that's the one with Crypto. Yeah. And it dawned on me why I was enjoying reading it so much where it doesn't feel like homework for it. because it clicked for me that James Gunn has said so many times before we ever saw anything before there was any casting announcements. He had said the one he is mainly basing this off of is All-Star Superman. And so a lot of the things that people are throwing criticisms at for this, when I was reading All-Star Superman, I started seeing what I'm seeing in the trailers.

Yeah, he's doing a really good job. We get in the tone. And in a day and age, when everyone is saying, hey, it's not like how it is in the comics well or the opposite of like well that's how they do it in the comics so that should be allowed to do it he's been very clear that this is going to be based on all all-star superman is going to be the main inspiration for it in terms of comic medium and so when i'm reading the comics i feel like i'm getting a true glimpse into the movie because it's lining up with the tone and everything that i'm getting and that comic is melancholic it is whimsical it is way

we're seeing in the trailer so this crypto moment is nothing compared to there's a kaiju man that's one thing that's a trailer that's got to guide you in it it's going to go that lines up though so

if people want things to be more like the comics it's fucking doing it it's there in the trailer so you don't know what you're talking about got to tell you that

you don't know what you're talking about do the research and you'll see it's like the comics and my issue is it's Superman has been around

for 70 80 90 years 90 years and there are so many iterations of Superman so it is so short-sighted one to say it's not like Superman when it clearly is as per the comic you're reading and many other comics but two to say this isn't my Superman when the movie's not out yet and because of moments that are are very authentic to the highly fantastical super sci-fi outlandish otherworldly golden and silver age Superman it is just like

all-star Superman but it's also like tons and tons of other comic books so to be so short-sighted is to say like that's not Superman when it by definition is and because we've had different takes on Superman and I'm so happy that so many people connect to certain ones but the people that connect to certain ones that are mad at this one they're not understanding that some of us have waited for this one their whole lives like we didn't have the technology to do this with christopher eve we didn't have the technology to do this with with tom welling and to me smallville is the closest i've gotten to Superman on screen in a way that i felt connected to but you can't do any of the stuff in a show on the CW. I'm sorry. It's not going to work. And Brandon Routts, I didn't connect

to as much because I hadn't been growing up in the Christopher Eve one. This is the most excited I've been because when I look at this trailer and I see those moments, that is the comics to me. Yeah. And I'm happy that there are other versions for other people, but maybe now we get to see the one we've always dreamed of seeing. When Man of Steel came out, I gave it three and a half stars. I reviewed it. I enjoyed it. I talked about it. But I've made it very clear from the beginning. That's not how I personally see Superman, but I see it as an incredible elseworlds because it doesn't lack vision or specificity or any of the things that a bad filmmaker would do. It is very clear what the goals are. It is made masterfully. The filmmaking is incredible and it knows exactly the story

it wants to tell. For me, that story isn't how I would see Superman. So I just go like, well, in my head canon, a beautiful take on Superman. That's a masterpiece of a filmmaking feat of a Superman, I was never like mad at people. I was just like, well, I'll get mine when I get mine. And now I got mine coming that I think I will love in the way that I've always wanted to. And it's exhausting trying to just be celebratory of a character you've wanted to see for a very long time actually appearing as you've wanted to.

I don't know if Toby McGuire into Andrew Garfield into Tom Holland ever had people being like, well, that's not blah, blah, blah. And those are three very different takes. And there were, I'm sure, plenty of people mad at it. but I don't feel like this level of animosity came close to the experience of wanting to enjoy a new take on Spider-Man. You know, like, and that's a very similar parallel. Toby and Tom, real different takes. Andrew, real different take.

Andrew's my favorite. He's the least liked one in pop culture because he's too handsome. Sorry, Andrew, your hands. He's out of the favor for a lot of people. He's so good now, but like, how long did it take? Take a long time. Well, going back to specifically in the trailer footage, what's happening with crypto involved is like it felt too silly felt too parody-like and in addition

of that what people have been saying is it feels like a weakened Superman and to me at least from my point of view it's important to show a Superman who is having a physical struggle you can't have the hope you can't have the courage you can't have the overcoming an obstacle without first putting him in a position where it seems very deep. difficult. You have to have the struggle first. Otherwise, there's no accomplishment in the end. It's kind of basic. It's really storytelling. It's foundational. To tell a story. So, you know, like, I do want to go into like the Henry Cavill section later. When I see this footage, though, I have the exact opposite response to what a lot of these criticisms are warranting. Like this dog in the

relationship, James Gunn, has been very upfront about what this dynamic is supposed to be like. That they're working together is a journey in and of itself. He's not the perfect dog for him. It's not the dog that immediately listens to him, but this dog is a little rambunctious, a little sporadic, you know? And what better way to show a good person than to show someone that's frustrated with a dog that's trying to not show their frustration? I love that someone is so kind and wholesome, and they're like, okay, like that's, I mean,

Superman having to deal with something that's erratic and out of his control is so much more interesting than just like i have heat vision guys like what do you want trying to exercise the patience yeah and another thing too is you're going to watch a relationship grow have you guys have you guys never have you guys never had that where there's a pet or an animal who you didn't get along with or didn't get along with you or you're having a hard time and then eventually you become sympathetico with them i have that with the cat we have right now i was on the final episode of my cat from hell because I had that. Canonically in documentation, he has had that.

There's a cat named Watson where we didn't, I know it's not the same as a dog, but I've had that where it's like, this cat keeps attacking me and keeps hurting me and it's not the way he's treating anybody else, but for some reason this is happening, I'm scared to be around this cat, and it took a long time,

and now it's been like years without him attacking me and he really trusts me. So I see that in there, and I'm like, why would I know, why would I want to watch a movie where it's already established? Let's watch the growth. And it doesn't feel very,

that comedic to me. Crypto's a powerful dog and then the dog helps save him in the end. Otherwise, what's the point of having the dog if the dog can't do anything? And it's man's best friend, but super level. Like, I want to see that bond form, not be default. Watching the dog helps save him, I don't know where this interpretation has come from that

it's suddenly emasculating or weakening Superman when I'm like, I don't know what point in the movie this is at, but it would be more pointless to have crypto there if crypto doesn't do jack shit. Right. So maybe have the super dog there so the dog can actually help out in a fight. or help out when Superman's weekend to show his purpose for being there.

Yeah, I don't understand the idea of something assisting something being emasculating. That's such an odd. It's going in tune with the whole thing of like Superman is like yelling a lot. Superman is, when he's getting hurt. That's the thing. That was a part of the people are jumping on. It's like when the dog's jumping on it, it's like, ah, because the guy's injured. Yeah.

And the dog's a superpower. The dog has Kryptonian strength. And he's pouncing on the Superman who does not have his crotone. He's straight at the moment. Also, the healing scene of the sun. Like, clearly his organs and bones are mending. Like, he's repairing himself in that sun. So clearly, there's internal damage when the dog is jumping.

Like, it doesn't seem that complicated. The sun thing has been a massive criticism of him getting exposed to the sun. They showed how strong the sun was. They mentioned it verbally. Like, they said that, you know, it's like X number of more strong sun rays. And they showed magnifying glasses. And then he's clearly healing, like, from a, damn it to me, having not seen the film but everyone is going not everyone this one camp is going

superman is supposed to get strength from the sun superman is that's what he's healing is strength healing yes exactly and healing can be painful sometimes that's true healing because you're right healing from pain it's kind of basic i i at the end of the day like do these people matter like do like i it'll affect box office if enough people get But I just think what I want the audience that watches this show to grasp for me is that there is a line in the sand where if someone says something stupid enough, you just don't ever take anything they have to say again. Like there has to be like I have like a three strikes rule with like if I've muted someone

and then I unmute to read it and like they say it's something else dumb. I'm like, I don't need to bother with you again. If say something says something that's hurtful to people I care about or if they say something that's so dumb, then I'm like, I just don't trust the. ever be worth hearing from, then I just block them. I think there is a situation where if people are this dumb, I don't think they have anything worth saying. So just don't listen. There's a lot of people who are. And earlier to what we were talking about in terms of this rage bait society is I want to help. I want to encourage people to not feel like they have to let it be said or be

afraid to say what they believe or be on or defend something they actually believe in you know and I think there's this kind of thing where the anger dominates so loud and that's in everything that's pop culture that's politics that's life that's that's literally I think a big part of culture right now and I think if Superman kind of stands for anything it's about not letting that become so domineering and being willing to stand up and so it might seem like this is solely a but I think it kind of speaks to a bigger thing when you think about the symbolism behind it all of what symbolism Superman means

and then the way this is being like when Variety's doing like an article about it like are you kidding me? Do you remember the Coys Comic Corner when I was talking about how this might be the most important movie of the next 10 years because of that? Like I did a whole thing when we started talking about the tone

and when All-Star Superman was reference this was two years ago because it was just off the one image that James Gunn decided to pull And I was like, if they do All-Star Superman and they make Superman this big aspirational figure, we've been through like our generation, like, let's stick with millennials because that's the only thing I've ever been. So I don't have any other context or other generations. But we've been through so many financial crises. We've been through a pandemic. And in our case, LA has been through strikes and fires. And we just haven't really had a good time in a long time. And it's easy to make that turn you cynical. It's easy to start to believe nothing's ever going to get better. It's easy to start to want to just because. come a, the keyboard cowboy and rally and lash out, but it's not a way to live and it's not going to serve you and you will regret the rest of your life if you look back at 10 years of being a little bitch. So I think more than ever we need a character that is like, I deal with

this, but I know they can be this. And I also have this supporting me. And I have all of these beliefs. And, you know, I'm not even amongst them, but I want to be as good as them. And I believe and and to have a character that makes us want to be better and that does uplift us and he's doing it out of complete selflessness that that he gets nothing out of saving us I think more than ever we need aspirational figures that aren't walking amongst us but they're not malevolent gods they want to be walking amongst us we need we need inspiration aspiration and characters that have the ability to inspire beyond the screen and that by definition is Superman when you do it right and we need that now so the last thing we need is commentary and

deconstructionism and and versions of this that are takes when we haven't had a take that feels like that and so long we've got homelander we've got ultraman we've got all these things that can be that it's been a while since we've had the true glowing sun of hope in anything. And I think that's why Ted Lassau did so well. I think that's why shrinking does so well. I think that's because

it is the exception, not the rule. It's not common to have hope right now. So I think more than ever we need a character and we need a take on a character that is only that. So it doesn't make sense to me to even bother with these people.

I think what you're speaking about too, is how so much of power is portrayed in a way of how it can be corruptive and evil and prey on the weak and to me at least from getting back in tune with like what does Superman sort of mean to me and what should Superman mean and Superman is a symbol of someone who has all the power and it's about helping those who are less powerful and if we're talking about inspiring that's what I feel like this Superman ought to represent as helping those who are less powerful. Just in the last month because of the Superman movie, which I have not seen, just because of Superman coming out, I'm already retweet engaging with less and less assholes because I'm like,

you know what? I would rather be a place that people feel comfortable and I want to be a voice for comic books that, you know, someone doesn't want to accidentally say something stupid and have me be a dick to them. And like the movie's not even out yet. And I'm already like, you know, if I if I'm talking about inspiring and aspiring, I'm not saying it about me, but the last thing I want is for people to have the last tweet down be like, hey, maybe be a better person. And then the next tweet up, maybe in like, ha ha ha. So like, even with that, I'm, I'm less apt to be as much of a dick as I like being. And like, it's already working. The characters that in empowering and powerful that I'm already like, you know, maybe a little less of this version of me. And I want that. I'd rather be a better person. I'm just full of my. of vitriol and rage. But if Superman can temper any of that, yes. Yeah, I think to a very specific point that popped back into my head

about the whole thing with the sun, I like seeing in the trailer because it made me get an idea of like, will the movie do this? Because All-Star Superman starts off off of it being exposed to the solar power of the sun. Yeah.

And if causing him to be in a position where now Superman is dying. Yeah, the radiation poisoning is a huge factor. Radiation poison. And so when that's in the comics and you're seeing how the sun being omitted in him is supposed to be healing. I'm like, oh, well, James Gunn actually deal with that, considering how much All-Star Superman inspiration vibes are here, including them robots. Yeah. That was another thing that I kept seeing people talk about was like the robots are too goofy.

This is silly. And it's got the James Gun humor on it. I'm like, it's like the comics. came from like comic strips where he leaves tall buildings in a single bound more powerful than a locomotive Superman is from an era of like this is Superman yeah and so the pain of the sun even though the sun heals the the pain that could happen to him from the sun is also ingrained in the DNA of the thing that you keep saying this is not based on when it is yeah yeah I don't really know what this movie will actually be about but yeah and I don't want to be part of

of that camp that's like profit off negativity and also know understanding the fine line because we're here kind of like in defense of give it a chance that's all i'm saying so far and i think on the macro what we're trying to do and and you got so excited about doing this today like we you said at the top of this we usually film this on thursday's scheduling got messy so we're doing it early and there was a there was a moment where it was going to be me and someone else and like there was a moment of pure excitement for you and i'm always like whenever we have a chance to do a podcast that you're excited about the theme of i will move my schedule around i will make it work and what excited me was the macro of this. Removing Superman from the equation, removing comic book

movie discourse from the equation, removing all of that, looking at the macro for me of the human condition, and even if we bring back the lens of Superman, but looking at humanity, there is no reason for us to encourage profiting off negativity. There is no reason where that should be a through line that we celebrate and it is so scary that every year of internet it gets worse because we are more connected than we should be we are more able to cause um rage and incite insecurity and then fuel off it everything internet based is causing an insecurity solution and then profit and the solutions aren't really solutions so it's really scary when you see new generations not knowing what they want to be because of Instagram

when you have people afraid of having opinions because of YouTube and Twitter, people that have opinions that only have opinions of how to be negative about stuff that couldn't make a movie to save their life. They couldn't make a home movie to save their life and they think they can articulate what's wrong about a thing and they're articulating it wrong

and they're all finding people's weaknesses and insecurities. And like, for example, I hate even talking about this because it's my insecurity, but like two weeks ago, there was some little twat on Twitter and we were navigating the Superman discourse before the footage even came out and I think they got mad at me about Superman

but I don't even know the source of their mad. Some very insignificant person whose name I hadn't even seen before came out of nowhere at me and they were like making fun of my hairline and like that's one of the only things I'm actually insecure about because I'm getting older and I'm losing my hair.

I'm like I'm a white dude approaching 40 and it like affected me in a way that I was like oh I finally got like a nemesis like this feels kind of cool like someone actually got under my skin enough that I'm affected past the internet and usually I'm like I need a better class of criminal like I need people that actually are going to get me and I was like oh this is the thing like I I found my negativity and there was like an hour I was like hell yeah I was affected and I feel good to feel an emotion and then I was like man I'm celebrating someone being a dick to me because of they're actually achieving it I don't like that anyone that I don't know and

anyone that I would I would never take advice from this person why should I take criticism. If I don't value their opinion enough to get up, why would I value their opinion enough to take me down? And then I realized, like, that's kind of the whole internet. It's like, what's the thing that's going to make you insecure? What's the thing that's going to make me get the clicks? What's the thing that's going to make me have this review be a little better? And it's really gross that, like, YouTube culture is, what's the headline that I could say that's going to cause someone to click that's usually negative? What's the thumbnail that's going to have, like, something incendiary in it? We don't click on the things that are like, yeah, I'm happy.

We don't dive into the things that are like, this went well. It's usually seeking something that's going to be insecurity, weakness, or negativity. And that's to the scale of all communication, because most communication, especially in movie and pop culture discourse, is online. The reason I do comic cons is to refuel me from all of the time I'm online. Every con gives me like another two weeks of tolerating the internet because it's a place of people celebrating. Like, you don't pay a hundred bucks to go to a con and talk shit or like meet someone and be like, I hate you. you go and like celebrate that discourse of art so like cons are the opposite of the internet in so many ways because it's it's truly a celebratory experience why can't we make the internet or more of humanity like that why can't there be and it's because it's not profitable and capitalism is winning over humanity and i want things like superman to give us the opportunity to go let's look up if only for a moment if it won't last it won't be profitable but like let's be good to each other for if only a moment. Every single fandom

on a long enough timeline becomes toxic. Like the dark night, like you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain is fandoms. Look at Star Wars. Look at Marvel right now. Look at every single group of people when it gets too big and too popular. They turn in each other and cannibalize themselves.

There's that thing about bands where it's like, oh, I liked before they were cool. Why do you think you're better than someone else that likes the same thing as you because you discovered them six months earlier you tool? And now we do that with comics. We survived comics being the thing that made us get beat up and now we're like oh let's make it the thing that's going to make other people insecure screw that screw you look up the internet sucks gregg there's one thing

that gun said here um and corrence with i pulled up i have these notes of like i liked man i like the snider trilogy significantly more than you i gave snider cut four stars which is high as hell for me i love man of steel i love the ultimate edition of bvs completely reframed the whole vision of what Zach Snyder was doing and i love zach Snyder's justice league a lot i really really do that's like i feel like that's been abundantly clear and i've done a many discussion breaking down why and it started dawning on me yesterday and i i don't know if this is true it's very obvious that zach Snyder loves the dark night returns loves and he loves Batman and seemed like he was way more interested in Batman than Superman and part of the lens that i feel like he

captured Superman in was the lens in which Batman views Superman from that comic Dark Night Returns. And a lot of that interpretation of how to move forward with Superman, even starting with Man of Steel, kind of seems framed within that lens. And to call it Zach Snyder's Justice League feels very apt, because it's very much Zach Snyder's interpretation of it. And I like Zach Snyder's interpretation of it, but that doesn't mean he owns these characters. It's like that for any comic book property out there. When Andrew Garfield and Mark Webb did Amazing Spider-Man, it wasn't like, no, these are Ramees.

Right, right, right. It's the way it is with comic books in total. And to what you're talking about, it got me thinking, and I have some, like, basic notes from what I think some of the interpretation with, because I understand, like, the arc of Henry Cavill, Superman was coming into where he could be a little bit more accurate. Some people say that. And I'm like, but in Zach Snyder's Justice League, too, he's supposed to be like,

you're a super dark guy. But it seemed like Henry Cavill, I think he was a bit at odds with the studios, even when he thought he was coming back in terms of, they're not going to go to the Zach Snyder's Justice League route, but he might be able to actually do his own Superman thing and be the Superman. He always wanted to be.

Seen Black Adam is, that's what I mean. Fantastic. It did not seem like they were going to continue the Zach Snyder route. He was going to be more traditional Superman the way he wanted to go. So it seemed like that arc might have been there. So I started making notes of, of what i've been hearing about what they're going specifically for this superman and gun said

this first note is called he leads with hoping kindness gun said uh he sees the darkness but chooses to be the light and corn sweat said um doing good in a world that thinks good is corny that's the world we live in now and i'm like that is a perfect representation of superman where the Henry Cavill one definitely leaned a little bit more into like people were a little afraid of Superman. They explore that concept. There's a little bit of cynicism around it.

And I like that conversation. And I like that all take. This to me, though, of the intention of what they're going with for this Superman from stuff like that alone already lines up completely way more with Superman than what we got most prior to David Corn's weather.

is what I'm getting at. I've always thought, and I really like, that's a very well-put assessment of the through the Batman lens, because even before Batman's introduced in Man of Steel, that does feel like the Frank Miller assessment

of Bruce Wayne's view of Clark Kent up until they really get to know each other. And to me, those movies are fantastic, but you call the Justice League movie the Snyder cut because it's more Snyder than Justice League. And I have no problem with that. And like I said,

I've given 25 films in the history of movies five stars. I don't give five stars. Four and four and a half stars is damn near perfect. And if all comic movies are in one thing, I've probably given like 30 comic movies ever four stars. So that puts Snyder in the top for me. Like the Snyder cut is amongst the greats because there's probably 200 superhero movies. If 30 of them are there, that's top 10% or whatever the math is. So like I really think the Snyder cut does something special. That said, it's a commentary. It's a, it's a version. It's a, and I think of certain runs that that is in, especially in the 80s when we were going through so much darkness, especially in like the pre and right around post Reagan era. Like the whole Reagan time of America, it's like the Nocentee, John Meter Jr. run of Daredevil, where they're dealing with New York as it's crime ridden and it changes how Daredevil navigates the world. Just like Reagan was affecting the world. DC had that with, Batman and Superman at the time.

That is so essential and great that we have it. But I think right now we don't need to look down and to look at darkness and to look at how Batman would see Superman, especially a cynical 80s Batman. We need to look at how can a character about uplifting

uplift us when we're already in the dirt? Like I don't care how you see the world. I truly am not trying to pick fights or pick sides. I'm just aware that I don't know of anyone that's like, know things are good i don't feel like a lot of us are feeling that no matter what we're either mad at something we feel like someone else did to us we're mad at the situation we've been handed like there's an anger no matter where you align that i think we all need to be lifted up

out of something so now's the time for the 40s 50s 70s 70s i i don't think in 20 years you know maybe things are better and then we go back to this this other take but i would love to some of the being good is corny right now, and that is so unfortunate. All right, Rejignation, quick personal update on January 25th, that was 218 pounds. As of today, I'm down to 188. That's 30 pounds lost. Six-pack Greg is coming in. And while there's been a lot of factors, one of the biggest keys has been keeping my energy up,

especially while having to up my cardio. And to help out with that, I've been drinking a little thing called Liquid Ivy every single day. Already a consumer before we ever partner with that. Lucky guy, what can I say? i like to take their uh sugar-free hydration formula and honestly i do feel a difference i just like i'm so appreciate that it actually tastes really good too and truth to be told whether i'm coming off a workout or even having a rest day i still take it i just feel better whenever i take and here's why it works one stick and 16 ounces hydrates better than water alone thanks to their

specific liby hydroscience formula something i've definitely committed to memory what that exactly all entails beyond just knowing it actually really gets the job done as healthy but i do remember that it delivers three times the electrolytes in the leading sports drinks it's also backed with essential vitamins like b12 and vitamin c which are huge for recovery energy and staying sharp and the flavors as you just saw raspberry lemonade is my go-to actually i have a variety pack lemon lime pretty good too oh tangerine tangerine is also pretty solid but pretty good no matter which one you get liquid iv has become a non-negotiable part of my routine so if you're doing cardio strength training or cutting calories or wish to feel better throughout your day hydration really is one of the

the easiest, most overlooked wins. Some of this weird guy in his mid-30s who really appreciates the value of being hydrated. So if you'd like to support your body and, in turn, support the channel, you can head to Liquidiv.com and use code rejects for 20% off your first order. That's 20% off when you use code rejects at Liquidiv.com. If you've been thinking about it, this is your sign. Give it a try. It help me stay on track. It still helps me stay on track. And I believe it'll help you too. Thank you, Liquid Ivy. Superman's charm isn't in power. It's in wholesomeness.

It's in relatability. Yeah. And I think seeing that struggle, that pain at the beginning of that trailer, like it doesn't surprise me that the first trailer leads with that. And the second trailer, the sneak peek, is an expansion on that. That is a relatability. And what I feel like Snyder kind of did with Cavill is he leaned a little bit more into, not Clark, but Superman, with a bit of a God complication.

to it. You know, there's even that scene in the church when Jesus is posed behind him. There's a lot of, like, things that people love to do with, like, Christ allegories of Superman. Whereas I feel like when you're looking at that Superman in pain in the beginning, it's an indication that it's not Superman who's going to be central. It's Clark Kent. Clark Kent is actually going to be a central piece. It's going to deal with his real identity and explore him as a reporter. You have the scenes with Jonathan can. Explore him as a son. explore him as a boyfriend, explore him as a friend. Watch him walk amongst us, not above us, is where I think they're going. With the knowledge that he can walk above us, but chooses not to. Because that's a real leader. And that's what the character I want to see do. And I think that he has reverence for Lois Lane. Like he is, he's in awe of his wife.

He's an awe of hers as a reporter as a woman as a leader. I'm so not ready for the commentary of, oh, look, this man, reveres a woman emasculating like that's insane that's why there's so many sad men out there like that's going to be really hard to navigate and like because i do think clark is going to be a key focal point and i do think clark deservedly worships lois and i again i haven't seen the film but you cast a strong lois lane because you have a strong character in lois lane and rachel brosnahan is a force of nature who studied journalists to get into the mindset of the character journalists are strong people. They have to endure the world and get to the truth of things

by their nature. And Lois is a Pulitzer Prize winning one of those. So I think Lois is going to be an incredible anchor for Clark and an incredible strength for Clark. But I also think that that's going to be another thing that makes it feel so different from other interpretations. We haven't seen him with Lois in that way. On the show we have, that incredible show, I haven't seen any full length. I've seen like clips. And I love the relationship. the Tyler Hecklin show, but like in the movies, I think it's going to be a huge centerpiece. And I don't think that's been the case for a while. It's undoubtedly. And I think a lot of this is not solely from trailer interpretation. From comic interpretations, from casting

interpretations. What cast is also said is from what directors have also said. And I think both Zach Snyder and James Gunn, rare is the day where I hear what their intention is. And then I watch their movie and I go, no, do you know, usually their intentions line up with their and from everything the intentions of what they're putting out there they've been giving us a lot of the why behind their choices they're breaking down the philosophies a lot and that's what they're putting out to the public so that's what's making me trust at least this is what this version is going with so this is not solely from trailer footage this is a lot of it is from what they've also been saying and the other aspect that i think is very prevalent in this trailer

cavils superman feels very detached a lot of the time i don't think there's any argument Cavills felt very detached. It was almost to the point where it was not even almost. It's in the DNA of the movie. Unsure if he actually wanted the role of being Superman, whereas Gun Superman seems from what we're hearing is that he chooses to help even when it hurts. That is true inspiration to me.

That clip that everyone is dogging on, it shows a guy who is not emotionless. It shows a guy who's emotionally vulnerable. And that is the way you can get. get to putting even more stakes at Superman, beyond physical things that's like, oh my God, is kryptonite in his DNA? Does he have radiation stuff? Emotional vulnerability is a way you can actually get to Superman. And it makes them relatable too. I think that's also going to be a thing that connects some people to him and disconnects others. I think a character that gets strong

and then disconnects is something a lot of people identify with. I think a lot of people that start working out do it out of a place of like, well, if I'm big, no one's going to bug me. And like, no one's gonna like you know i i stay out of my way i look huge and i think some people identify with that idea and that is an authentic take i understand why you would see that character that way but at the same time you had to have ted lasso be a silly mustache dancing you know throwing dad jokes around in order for us to accept the aw shucks golly g and that's something that not everyone's going to identify with so it is true to the character clark kent is a wholesome corn fed boy from kansas that's going to make dad jokes that's going to be endearing and all shucks. But I think it's going to be

hard for people that see him as someone who is a behemoth monster of a man built and detaches because he's trying to navigate world and have an existential crisis. I think these are two different crises. And I think it's okay if you identify with the other one. But what isn't okay is being mad at people that want the new one. No. No, because this to me is when you're seeing fortress of solitude, you're seeing crypto, it's not something of embarrassment. It's It's not something of parody. Joy, it's joy, exactly what I was going to say. It's comic book joy.

It's celebration. And I am annoyed that when I hear about it, it's like you hear in passing, you don't hear much of the deed. At least, I don't know. Maybe it's my algorithm, but I don't really search for the hate. I don't. I feel like it's being fed to me when I'm not even searching for it. I don't search for the hate. And then I see it becoming the dominating conversation.

And I'm like, well, I want to be here to give some, like, specifics. And that's what I wanted to do here. To the details of like to defend with the journey too because hope is hope is about something ahead of you. Hope is about looking forward to something and praying that it turns out all right in the end. And this lead up to it is being clouded with so much of the opposite. And I'm like, no, man, if you're a real Superman fan, this isn't how it goes. Yeah. And real Superman fan wouldn't be like angry.

at anyone. No. No. Like, by definition, like just liking Superman means you're not trolling. No. What? Yeah. I don't know. I don't think you can show Superman strength if he never struggles. Some people feel like he's going to do guardians again. I don't worry about that. To me, it's Superman with his soul back. Yeah. And I love that you like those movies enough that you're giving the both perspectives or time. And I hope people hear how much I enjoy the Snyder Cut and Man of Steel. I didn't connect as much with BVS, but how much I appreciate those films for the commentary they are. And like I might you can check my letterbox like from years ago. I rated them that then.

I've, I've been public about my opinion of them. But because I'm more excited for this, that has become me hating them. And that's exhausting. Like the fact that, you know, I, I never want any fandom, any passionate group of people that loves art. I want them to have their art. The thing I kept saying about the Snyder cut for years was that my biggest concern was that it would come out. and the people that had dreamed of things couldn't have their dreams actualized

because it wasn't possible on screen. And then the movie impressed me and I was like, I hope they're happy and then they were. But like for years, I was like, oh no, these people have dreamed to something for something for three years.

I don't want them to be disappointed. Maybe something's better if it stays abstract. And then it delivered and I was like, good. And then, you know, now it's been like the second one and all the seldom Netflix. And that's like, guys,

let's celebrate the thing that happened. But what's hard is when people get mad at you for wanting your take and there is a precedent for your take. I'm not asking for something that isn't the character. I'm asking for the take of the character that I feel true.

Don't be angry. One, that's not very Superman like of you, but two, because you did get that version and rewatch it, celebrate it, live it. What's wrong with that? It's just, it's hard, man. And don't act, don't act naive that this isn't what you were told.

That this is what they're doing. Don't act surprised of what the footage you've been getting when I'm like, this is what he said. Yeah. So this is months ago. And this is the character. He's delivering on what he said.

And he's told you the inspirations of where it's coming from. And it lines up in a way that's even more subdued than the inspirations. Like the inspirations are far more crazy. I've only gotten to talk to David Corden's about a couple times. And both times I was, I've been reading Superman for 30 years. The dude will say a thing. And I'll be like, man, what a more succinct, clear and absolutely. pristine version of that idea that I've had forever like when you have an idea and you're like

how do I summarize the 17 page essay in just a thesis sentence and then like he'll just say a thing and I'll be like like that you're Superman like he gets the character so much and and that's the thing I can't wait for people to see and I I've only had one conversation with rich Brasenhan and it was so enlightening that she was seeing it as she was talking about this character like she was studying someone for a biopic she was talking about this character like someone that lived and then she was like navigating like I have to do justice this Pulitzer Prize winning journalist so what I've done and just attacking it from the perspective of like honoring the the actresses that have played before but also honoring

journalists that do the job and then then Nicholas Holt one of the greatest chameleons of our generation like this dude is such a powerhouse actor in so many different ways he is so interesting because every time he talks about the character he's not doing a bit he's like no no but what if I'm right and like he has an assuredness that Lex's worldview is correct that I've never seen in a villain doing press. Like, Nicholas Holtz is playing Lex Luthor, like the lead that's right. And it's amazing. Even in interviews, it's like, no, no, you guys realize someone shouldn't have that power

just bounce around our city. And it's so convincing for a second. You're like, what if? And like that ingredient list, those three things, that's enough for me to be like, I don't want to see another trailer, but I also don't want to hear another person talk about it because I want to live in this until we get it. And that's why I'm like really excited to step away from social media a bit because I want to go into this with my expectations, not all of this insane vitriol.

Like, it's, it's not just anger. It's like some people's lifestyle. And that's crazy. Hope is not cringe. Cynicism is just easier to sell. A hundred percent. Like, in every way. It's sad.

All my videos where I don't like a movie are so much more popular because I'm generally hopeful. Like all my videos where I'm talking about stuff, oh, of course, you like everything. As soon as I don't like something, but I told people that review, it i put it out gang busters that's something i don't want i want i don't want people to feel like they don't have to be hopeful anymore in order i feel like you have to be all positive like if you if you actually watch this show we're clearly not all positive but what the one part of the criticism that i have heard that i'm like hmm i do feel like maybe a little bit of

interjecting in the marketing would be a little helpful there because you know like in all-star superman superman's pretty sad he's a pretty sad guy sure he's going through death right now and he's It seems kind of doing a bucket list of things. And the part in the trailers that I'm like, oh, you don't really see much of his, the charming, smiley side of his personality. Like you see a lot of more of the melancholic side. And it might be a little bit difficult to sell people on hope

when you're not seeing that smiling charm that you're used to from Superman. So that's probably like the one thing that I'm like, yeah, it would be nice to kind of get a little bit of that infused in the marketing. Yeah. But no, I mean, it's like we bobbing, we go in and out of a bunch of different things that it's like sometimes we're real. I think in this rage bait culture, what ends up happening, to tie it back around of that, what ends up happening is they clearly play up the rage. The way people might accuse us of the thing of playing up the positivity, which I don't agree with. Like, no, I would, I have, I have a belief.

I have a conviction that there is a play up of the rage and a, and a, and a washing. over of anything positive. So it's like they'll really lean heavily in a rage and be like, I mean, yeah, this might look good and this might look all right. It's so passive. So like it's get it out of the way so you can say you said some positive things, but no emphasis on it. Yeah. But ridiculous magnification of the things you are angry about that you probably are not really angry about because this is not Superman to you. But those people, your thoughts become your identity and your identity is how you think in day-to-day life, not just your work, they might make more money, but man, their lives must suck. Like, I, I would hate to have to think negative

first. I, I think a lot of people will get mad when I think positive first, but if I was walking around, like, stupid sunny day, I'm maybe get some sunburn, and now I'm going to be a little warmer, or when it's raining, now I'm wet. Like, there's never an opportunity to have a moment that's present and joyful if you're always like, how could this be more maligning of my experience so like look for the yeah to make if your day goes by you have to look for the negative to make money and and if that's your life

when it's it's your reviews if you're if you're a comic person if you're a movie person or a TV person that's going to affect the rest of your life yeah I guarantee their significant others hate them so like they might make the money but like you do sell your soul in a different way in a non-theological way

you've made your life garbage and I hope the money's worth it but like what are you going to spend it on except for maybe antidepressants. Yeah. Like I, so, like, at the end of the day, I would much rather do what we do, and I would much rather endure the shill and all this stuff, because, like, I'm genuinely, I think, a happier person for it.

And I think these characters gave me that as my childhood. When I was growing up, I was imbued with this sense of looking up, and I was imbued with this sense of, like, positivity and finding ways to survive, like, you know, your power and responsibility and finding ways to look for good. one way to know these people clearly don't either understand, comprehend, or read is that that didn't work for them. And we are not saying, they have not made it to this point in the video, but I'm going to say it's that way I know we said it and it's recorded. And I mean it. I really mean it. We are not saying that criticism equates to negativity.

You don't have to love the trailer. No, no, no. And everyone that doesn't like the character for the not reasons we're talking about, I hope you understand we're not talking about you. and I'm sure that'll be misquoted. But anyone that is like, oh, it's not for me. I don't like this shot. I don't like the color use. I don't like the suit.

That's not attacking everyone. Yeah. And I'm not even attacking the sad. Honestly, not even attacking. Yeah. It's kind of like the thing larger than that outside of the person. The macro. Yeah.

But like I honestly, if you don't like this trailer, I don't think you're suddenly cynical or a bad person. I hope that isn't the take. And if I can miscommunicated or. Yeah. But if I communicated poorly. They're going to think it with me too, dude. Yeah.

I just, it's not that. it's it's the people we're talking about are the people we're talking yeah but the people we're talking about are often the voice for this side exactly and that's what we're talking about actually a great example for me was uh the marvels came out and agatha came out and all of the people that i've been like why are you like this suddenly people were lumping me with them and i was like me not liking the first few episodes of agatha doesn't negate the years i've i've said these things also i can just not like it it doesn't mean i don't like women and like the marvels i was like what what do you mean like i'm i'm a misogynist for like this these are non-woman-based reasons this

doesn't work for me likewise with this if if those are your reasons that's what we're referring to but if you've got other reasons you don't like it like that's not you that's the hard part of it now people tribalism is exactly where i was going to pull is that negativity and positivity lumps you into either category now right so like it might we might feel a pressure to be negative we might feel a pressure to be positive and we don't want to be we don't want that pressure in our lives because we want to be honest and being honest does not mean you're negative or positive as it doesn't mean that's to embody what you're trying to sell or get clicks off of if we're critical of something that doesn't mean we're trying to get clicks off of like i've done

it with stuff in the past you know i'm not perfect human i've done things that i've regret but i grow and i learn i make failures and i learn it's like this is a lot of ways real rejects is a documentation of a lot of choices i've made in life because it's been going on for 10 years you know and when it when it comes to that it's I do know I'm like a lot of times I've given into that without knowing I was giving into it like ah shit maybe I didn't really care as much about Ezra Miller as I thought I did you know like and I've been the other way I've been overly positive where like I remember completely I've been the other way too yeah like I remember walking out of the love and thunder premiere and like the crowd and yeah like that was an experience

for me that was really telling because like I was like I drink all of the Kool-laid twice like I was like, I just such a good talk. And I didn't like Ragnarok as much as most people, so I double knee jerk reacted. Like, I didn't think the humor in Ragnarok was my thing. And everyone loved it so much. I was like, hey, love and thunders got to be what people like, right? And then I was nervous to like, you know what I mean? I was like, this is why we wanted, everyone.

And then I came out of the premiere that was so full of joy. And I genuinely like Marvel. And then a few Marvel missteps made me overreact to wanting to like Love and Thunder. Ragnarok made me want to overreact. The premiere experience, by the time I was out of there, I was like, I think this is the best Thor movie. And then like a week went by and I was like, oh, no, no, that was nothing of what I felt during the actual movie.

So I think there is a pressure that comes from the fact that we do this for a living, which is an honor to do, the fact that we get to talk about this. And Greg and I had a really interesting moment yesterday where we were talking off record outside of his, like, the studio. And there was a moment where I was describing like what fulfills me and what doesn't. And very flippantly, I was like, you know, reactions don't fulfill me like the used to. And then I was driving home and I was like, no, they do. What doesn't fulfill me is thinking about how I need to compensate for my overreacting to people's opinions about my

reactions. I love the reaction. I love sharing an art. I love sharing in the experience with you and the people we're doing videos with. And I love that John and I get to talk about music and incorporate that into videos way too long. But I love that those human experiences happen. But then by the time I think about it again, it's because of the comments. It's because of the other variables, but then I ruin the moment because I'm like, I don't think reactions are fulfilling the same way. That's not the thing. It's everything that comes after. And that's what I'm afraid of with going into movies and out of movies is if I can't separate subconsciously or consciously, everything that led to the release or as soon as I walk out like everything that's

going to come from everything I say, then I'm not being fair to the people that are watching. You guys are giving the only thing that we cannot replace time. And if I can't do my job and be my authentic self, because you're giving me your time, which thank you, then I need to figure out how to separate that. And that's what I'm working on doing with videos like this, with things like taking a step back from social media, is you want my opinion, that's why you're here, you want our discussion, that's why you're here.

It needs to be clean like fresh snow. I agree. I agree. And for me, it always depends of the situation. Sometimes I'm not influenced at all or I don't even care. And sometimes I want to stand up. I watched Andor recently getting involved in a lot of understanding, a lot of lies and my anger problems and all these things and I'm also like you know

feeling like I don't I kind of want to stand up for what I believe in yeah man so that's where I'm at with stuff so I'm less like I've I've had that where I'm like yeah that's not out yeah I've had that where I get ready guys I've spoilers for comments some I'm very paranoid about see what makes it's not even the worst thing that I've that I've that I've ever said it's it's that I'm it's so not something i would normally say um but anyway i enjoyed having this talk as i want a dialogue about it and who knows we might hate the movie that's and i promise you i'll be honest yeah i promise you i'll be honest too and i hope people know that about us by now that sure we're fighting for hopefulness we're

fighting to be to have a better perspective in life because that's the stuff we believe in that's the stuff i that's the stuff i i don't really listen to a lot of movie stuff anymore i kind of listen to a lot of like life personal development podcast shit like that's mainly what I listen to listen to communication stuff because I'm a better communicator and then something happens or when I'm recording a lot of that starts going out the window and I get in my own head and I get flooded and I get anxiety and all these things but like even me being honest about that right now it's like I'm learning that so yeah that's what I'm trying to embody more of who we are off camera and put it on camera and that's what I wanted this show to be like from the very beginning we've been

doing like 10 weeks of this we said we wanted to be able to be ourselves not our at us is like online like this is that conversation and and full disclosure like that was part of my conversation when I started the DC studio showcase was I wanted to be able to give my honest opinion elsewhere and on that show like but elsewhere was important because they could have easily been like no no no you can't do rejects anymore and I'm sorry like and DC also wants me on that show to give my honest opinions if a comic comes up or a movie comes up that I don't like they want me to be able to articulate that so far the penguin came out and I loved it so like it's and creature commandos I loved.

So a lot of people I see, you know, in the comments being like, how can I be an honest opinion on other things if I'm working for them? That was part of the initial conversation because it doesn't want to be a commercial. It wants to be a conversation at that show and at this show. And if I was silenced, I wouldn't be able to be honest anywhere. So I think Superman's going to be really interesting because I hope I love it as much as I've loved what I've seen so far. But I'm going to want to be completely honest because I do think this is a Superman for a new generation. Yeah.

And if it doesn't land, I don't want that entire generation of people that are like, that's Superman, to not trust what I felt about it. The perseverance to preserve integrity is a big part of what's going on here with like learning to lead a company right now. You know, like there was a something, I won't say who. There was like a little thing where someone said, it was like a little lie. It was a tiny, it's a tiniest little lie. I won't say who. But it wasn't even like a big deal. It was like, oh, just say this, why you can't make it.

and I was like I appreciate that we can't lie though like I get it I've done it I've done many little lies like that I've done the whole thing of like I'm out of town and I'm not like I've don't post from home yeah I've done that you know and I say these things

to hold myself accountable and so my point with that why I'm bringing this up is because if you were in a position where you had to lie I would be like coy I don't think we can do this. I would be here with you going, this is not going. We type that talk then. I had to ask you about it. Yeah. So, yeah. And that was very important to me because I've,

I've been doing this for 10 years. That's only been a few months. I can't throw away 10 years for a few months of this new thing. And that isn't who I am. And I, and I think that's a big problem with a lot of studios. And that's one of the things I love about DC Studios is they want to know what the fans want. They want honest opinions, and that seems to be how they're making some decisions as comic opinions. Like, it feels so comic-centric. It feels so, like, what

do the fans want? Like, if you'd ask a suit about Sergeant Rock, that would not been on the top 100 list of DC characters, but the excitement of fans with a cult character that can branch out a universe, that feels so not suit-ish. Like, it's the studio. Like,

that would never happen, like the Kool-Aid movie. Like, we're making the art stuff. And I think that's from a fan perspective and that's exciting to me i appreciate that man listen i'm getting a little stress because i saw the time and i'm feeling my heart rate rising all right so i want to honor though the patrons who put out some questions john do you have questions probably have like 10 to 15 more minutes i do and i found a very nice place to start as a matter of fact with our questions how many do you think uh how many would you think would you think would be a wise one answer and then that way coin i could be a little bit of aware of time when we're

answering you want to do like four or five okay four or five four or two minutes each allows you know one to two minutes each all right all right the first one comes from madison far and uh it kind of gets to some of the stuff you were talking about before uh madison says i'm a cinema study uh cinema and television studies major graduating this semester uh i took a really great film criticism class where we wrote our own critiques for blogs newspapers and even letterboxed we had a really great discussion about the evolution of film criticism how do you feel about the rise of amateur film criticism such as letterboxed, do you feel like it dilutes the seriousness of film criticism or do you think it democratizes and revitalizes it? Oh, Koi, please. It's someone who's not on letterbox.

Great question. I love this. I think it does a better job actually showing a pulse because Rotten Tomatoes is a plus minus system that aggregates so many different people's opinions and then gives a percentage number that then is people's like thought of what that is. 83% doesn't mean 83% of people liked it. It means 83% of those critics either said it was past, fail. And a lot of people misinterpret those shades of gray into a color spectrum. It's not that letterbox will let you see, like, what people gave it like one star, half star, one and a half, two and a half. Like you can look at it and see an arc.

And I think that is democratizing. But at the end of the day, I never think anyone should listen to the masses opinion over their own instincts. because the masses are never going to have your lived-in experience. So I think democratizing film critique is as beautiful as the democratization of film. I think that iPhones shooting film and editing being a lot more accessible and actors, you know, filming outside of their house and getting those opportunities is a beautiful opportunity. But I also think there's the extreme of that, which is like the TikTokification of movie culture, where studios don't know how to go, okay, we need to get our film out there, we need to get our voice out there,

we need these numbers. We should have that girl that dance that one time and that guy that mumbles be on our red carpet And then that'll get people in eyeballs Those eyeballs don't translate to the cinephiles That are on Letterbox. Letterbox is going to give you people that love movies in that way But you need to be mindful of the voices you're hearing.

So I wouldn't listen to someone who got viral from eating Twinkies About their take on the new David Fincher movie But if I see someone rating David Fincher movies, I might click through and be like, oh, do they see these Fincher movies like me? That is an opinion I value. but I would do a little bit more research than just like a broad number on either platform. And I think amateur critique is essential to an understanding of a new generation because every generation is going to have a different experience.

I don't think Ebert and Roper's experience of today's films would be my experience. But I also don't think that you should follow one person and say yes, no. If you see something that calls to you, always seek it out, always support art. Worst case, you've helped artists and you've encouraged them to make more crazy stuff. And yes, you've lost two hours and $14. But that's better than you hearing someone say it wasn't good, and then five years down the line watching it and it changing your life and wondering how your life would have been changed earlier

and the theatrical experience has lost you. And you didn't have that impact. So I'd say always gamble yes more than no and be mindful of your source. That's all the time we have for patron questions. I can. Greg, it's the next one. I can pick a slate more narrow one. I got also listen to you the whole time.

I thought about that so much. So that's just like it's a big part of my life. I would be like, it's fine. That's what we did. We were amateur democratization of criticism. We have a career. Also, thanks. Well, in fact, this is a nice segue.

Because I think, Greg, you can speak especially to this next question from Kayla, the king. What do you do to get in the proper headspace before these reactions and how do you wind down after an especially mentally and emotionally draining one? Oh, my God. Well, it depends on the day, but I have kind of rituals and routines that I go through now, and they're a bit odd. And it wasn't always the case, and it's consistently evolving. Like, back in the day, you know, I used to simply smoke a lot of weed. Back in the day, I used to take more adderol than what I was prescribed. I would do mainly that, I rely on stimulants in order to function.

and now it's a lot more discipline and a lot more work but it's worth it i the the general great feeling to do would be work out meditate and now the thing i've done this is the silly thing is i will usually now set a timer for anyone from five to ten minutes and i will say out loud with my eyes closed usually or maybe I'm on the road and I'm doing it say out loud what I'm thinking and feeling subconsciously like what people say about stream of consciousness journaling where you're supposed to write right right right without thinking that's what I do out loud so it gets me in the mood to to voice how I'm feeling to be to activate that part of my brain the parts of the brain that I don't know what the hell they're called but I know they're activating something that will

allow me to be able to express how I'm thinking and feeling I'll do vocal warmups I will stretch my face because I need to be able to get in tune in my body to be able to emote and show how I'm feeling. It's like a lot of acting exercise stuff. I'll literally do this like for like 10 seconds so that way I can allow myself. I've seen you do that and I had no idea what you're doing. I know. I will do like vocal warmups and everything and yeah like it's a lot of to me I take it serious because I'm about to get on camera and I'm not like like you and John are incredible at being able to No matter what state you're in, roll out of bed and do your thing. And if you might be tired or groggy or not feel great, but then you freaking get on cameras like,

holy shit, you're just as good, it seems. And for me, I'm not that individual. I have to do a lot of shit in order to feel like I can properly perform. I want to speak to this very briefly because what Greg does is much smarter. I treat my body like a not warmed up car and it's affecting me. I've had like, you know, the last few months I've been actually caring about like trying to see my kids reach a reasonable age because I'm dying and we all are. But I had a few years where I would work until I'd end up in the hospital and I'd have like I had my eye go out because

I had so much cortisol in my body. My organs started failing in an optic nerve was was threatening to separate. And when I get sick now, like it's not just a little sick. It's I've worked 18 hour days for too long. So there's no recovery in my body. And last time I got an ear infection, it almost turned into meningitis and had a blood brain barrier scare where I was like, do I die? Um, so now I'm trying to, I can't do the pre-production stuff like Greg does. He has this great thing where he has the patience and willpower, but I'm trying to add more post to my life. Um, usually when I do a reaction that's really emotional. Yeah, but like I see you stretch. I see you do all the stuff and you're making yourself,

whereas I'm like a, a 1967 Mustang that's like, I guess we're on. And like the oils in the bottom of the like the pistons and I'm like, but after really emotional stuff, I would usually jump into the next thing because I work like 13 jobs. And I fact, that like I would do a reaction of like a really heavy movie and then I'd jump into doing a commentary and thing I'd go see another movie and I at the end of the day I wouldn't be sleeping I would just be unconscious and then after a few weeks I'd be like I feel like I'm dead like I'd feel hollow I'd feel empty and so now I'm trying to implement like little chunks of time to actually process the emotion process the art process whatever it is and this is a new thing

like we're talking like two weeks this is since I got back in town and so I'm trying to do what Greg does in pre-production and post and accept all of the things that happened at me. And this sounds so cheesy, but whether it's people yelling at me online, people yelling at me in life, a rough meeting, a rough movie, any of those things, it is the culmination of your life experience. Your brain doesn't know that you are watching a movie. That's how you're able to get scared. Like when you're watching a horror movie and you feel fear, it's because your brain is living that thing. And I never gave myself the grace or credit of the density of how much I do in a day. So at the end of a few months, I would just end up very unwell. And so now I'm

trying to like, oh, this actually happened. This is an experience. This is a thing. And it can't always be working out because that's just adding more attention to my tens of this. So I'm, to answer your question, I'm trying to find my version of what Greg does. And you, you commend me and John for being able to just jump up and go. I commend you for actually taking care of yourself, man. I appreciate that. I do as well, Cordes. I mean, sometimes it's like, what it's like a six I am. I can't do all that. No, no, but anything. I have to like do something where I'm like, I take eye drops and I'm warming up my voice and the car. I'll go to the car and I'll do some heavy breath like some deep breaths. It's something to try to wake my brain up in a way that feels like,

okay, I can be, I can feel now and talk and doesn't work a lot of the time. It works a lot of the time too. I have to write down, brush your teeth, wash your face, comb your hair, because I'll forget for dates. Like I don't, I don't have a thing where my body's like, take care of you. I'm just like, it's April. And like, that's all the time. John, what else we got? All righty, sorry? That's a, all righty. Eric Gonzalez.

Eric, sorry, I'm all over it today. Eric Gonzalez wants to know. This is a bit of a fun, nerdy one, considering the 10-year build-up to Thanos. Do you think Marvel could reverse build-up, Doom, have him beat the heroes in Doomsday and Secret Wars, then spend the next saga trying to build him up and defeat him? I think that would be a lot of redundancy and a lot of movies that are focused on one thing.

and it would get stale after a while. It's like it's different when it's, I mean, just watch the Harry Potter movies and it's like seven, eight movies about, we've got to beat Voldemort. It's a lot of that. We watch the fourth season of Daredevil and three of them are about,

we got to stop Kingpin. And it looks like maybe, anyway, I'll stop season. But yeah, that's the, I don't think they could do that. I personally don't think they can do that. I like the idea as a concept. because I like the like inverting a trope is always fun and I really like your idea but I think the problem is anticipation in like an act structure is it's always got to be building action it's always got to be building tension and if you've you've if you've already if I've already blown your load it's going to take a while to rejuvenate those those balls again to blow another load so I think you're already going to be like depleted and the refractory period is not tenable to filmmaking what a sorry internet that was just my brain yeah

I don't know what words we can say there but okay I would say okay let's go one more I don't think they could do I think it would rob these stories too especially if they're doing new characters or sequels I think it would rob the stories of their potential because it's not a TV show

yeah I agree it would feel like a villain of the week just got held on to for long time it's different and like the Harry Potter world is a much more focused and limited on what they can focus on versus the comic book world where every one of them has their own world to inhabit yeah it's one lived in universe not all these pockets of styles all right I'll throw this to you guys

would you like a channel react-based question or would you like a more broad art-based question? Art. All righty. Amy O'Neill wants to know if you was to create your own film project, any genre, who would be your dream cast and director and why?

Oh, fascinating. If you have an ensemble great, I'll allow you just to go with a singular star if that's easy. We don't need like an idea. We could just have like the crew assembled, the cast and crew. I mean, you can interpret.

this any way you like but yeah i guess the the stipulations are with a movie ideal it's the movie and if you could type out a treatment that i could borrow uh no at least a genre and at least your dream cast and director and uh some you know reasoning behind that i'd want a christopher nolan horror movie and he used to delve with horror at least psychological with memento and insomnia but now with him on a big budget scale like the last time i really he often has menace in his films but he hasn't done a full-blown horror movie and i don't know what that would look like from christopher nolan but a christopher nolan horror movie and you got to have his uh eyeline white man lead ryan gosling uh i love that uh i was going to go gosling as well but then i realized

that would be a must for you so i went i went a different direction i want a david picture tom hardy close uh i do i do though uh no but i want uh i think tom hardy is extremely funny and he doesn't get to do a lot of comedies because of the way people perceive him and i think that uh colin farrell is extremely funny in things like banschees and bruges i want two of them buddy comedy shame black oh that's a great one i want to see them show that side of themselves and like you know i was thinking like a nice guy sequel we all want but instead of ryan and russell i want tom and cullen well okay you know what a real fan fan one that i would actually want like a i don't have a specific story but we do these legacy sequels i would love i would love for robert rodriguez to come back for

from dust till dawn sequel and have uh george cluny be in it oh i love that what is his life 20 30 years later now what is he like as a vampires come out like what is he doing now you know legacy sequel all around that that new idea i want a social network too because erin sorkan's west wing and social network have now become one movie. I want to politically charge the fall of the world because of social media sequel to social network. Yeah, that'd be nice. I mean, imagine Fincher and Sorkin working together

now on a social media movie. They were so far ahead of their time. That was 2009. So do you guys want like Koi's politically charged commentary movie or my silly fanboy film with old man George Kluton is dystopian.

2010. It's been a lot of it. It's been 15 years since the social network and it was a horror movie then it's been like 30 years since that's true that's true from dust till dawn also what's from dust old on 96 95 that's not the same year's the best till dawn is 1996 okay 96 i rarely get years right all right well that's a nice wind down yeah fan questions are fun i like that um cool thank you guys well we'll make more time next time um it's a crazy week right now this probably won't up until Friday. I said that whole thing at the beginning. You said it. I was like, oh, it's so different.

I said, I'm like, no, I realized while we were like a couple minutes ago, like, wait, I'll have no time to work on this. I need to. We'll see you Friday morning. We'll see a Friday morning. We go, I got no time to work on this right now. But thank you guys for being here. Thanks for hearing us out. Thanks for allowing us to be us and for thank you, Koi. I mean, I, you're a speaker who I admire very much and I still to this day get a little nerve i get this thing and the subconscious thing goes off in my brain where it goes keep up with koi and it usually takes me a few minutes to be like no it's subtle and and roll and flow play play music with koi don't try to keep up with koi for a walk yeah squirt my my thing with you is funny because it's the inversion of that is the one time

i was talking faster than i was thinking and this show was when i said my or me or whatever. It wasn't we. And I hated that there was even a moment where you felt insecure in my perception of what we were doing with this show. And it's so funny that like your thing is like, I'll do that. My thing is like, make sure Greg doesn't feel like he needs to do that. And it's the same thing. My insecurity is like, make sure Greg knows that I know that we're in the same room doing the show together. And you're like, don't let him go too far. I just wanted to point out one thing about the Superman stuff. Please.

What's more Americana than a boy in his dog? Literally. All the most like classic coming of age novels are about a boy and his dog. Yeah, but you beat your dog when he's out of control. That's right. You put the dog down. He's down in the well? This dog's too loud.

The neighbors are complaining. You put him down. We're moving. Put the dog down. That's America now. It's goddamn America. Zach Snyder's Crypto. Oh, Jimi-Styter's Crypto.

Yeah, Zach Styrs, Coochow is what it was going to save him from a pound. Friggin, snap, it's this crypto's neck with the end of that role. It would be a Superman versus Crypto movie. I gotta, I gotta want it. Someone's going to angle back. Don't work, we'll cycle back. Rabbit dog out of control. Only Superman's a tattered red cape on a dog.

It's like a dog coming out of like a dog coming out of like a little dog pet but it's got a ragged red cape on it it's like scowling and looking around oh my god it would be a heartbreaking experience yeah it's i like heard a dog that's superpowered but it's murdering everyone you're only better the only one understands him is you call your boy who made bright burn yeah no that's that's real after locked he jump on it all right guys so thank you so much for being here and we'll um see you guys soon