The Ringer-Verse - The Versies: Awarding the Best of Fandom From The Ringer-Verse's First Year

Episode Date: March 25, 2022

The Ringer-verse family hits the red carpet to give their biggest honors to the highest achievements in fandom of the past year. They look back on the years best twist, the biggest quarterflip, the greatest animal and much more! We even hear from the Ringer-Verse's extended family to talk about some of their favorite moments since the Ringer-verse launched. Hosts: Mallory Ruben, Joanna Robinson, Van Lathan and Charles Holmes Guests: Steve Ahlman and Jomi Adeniran Producer: Steve Ahlman Social: Jomi Adeniran Additional Production: Arjuna Ramgopal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joanna, do you ever wish you could definitively prove that you had the right opinions about movies? Uh, yeah, Neil, because I do have the right opinions about movies and television, right, Dave? No, because I'm more right about those things, and I demand trial by content. Oh boy, what is trial by content? Each week, we'll take on a huge question. Each of us will bring a choice and combine with listener submissions and your votes, we will come to a decision. It's trial by content every Tuesday on Spotify, the ringer.com, wherever you're listening right now. Don't let Neil win.

Don't let Dave win. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tramphia offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tramphia is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject trumphia, proper training is required. Tramphia is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis.

Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tramphia today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit Trimfairadio.com. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tramphia offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tramphia is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks.

If your doctor decides that you can self-inject trumphia, proper training is required. Tramphia is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tramphia today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit Trimfairadio.com. Hello and welcome to the Ring of Versa.

We are reporting live from the red carpet from the second annual versus celebrating all of the best in the past year of fandom. The stars are out tonight. Jomi, I see you are out here with the Midnight Boys, Van and Charles. What's going on over there? Hey, we just out here having fun. Van Charles, really good to see. What are you guys wearing today? I see you guys both are dressed in black.

What's going on? Greatness is in your DNA is the name of the company. It's the slogan of the company. Started by a gentleman named Lainey Smith. He's out of Los Angeles. Thrilled to be here at the Versus tonight. I'm so excited. I think I just saw Peter O'Toole a little while ago.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was down there. Charles, what about you? You know, I'm just keeping it simple, a little off white. I got a tail far bag, you know what I'm saying? Just living life, you feel me? Love that, love it. So the last time we saw you guys, there was this big argument about prep time.

Prep time. Right? So, like, you know, before we get out of here, like, how do you guys feel about that? How do you feel that went? You know what I'm saying? I mean, Jomi, I never want to hear about prep time ever again from you because the way you're dressed, a lot of prep time went into that. Yeah.

It's very true. Oh, you guys. You look very prepared right there. And, Jimmy, you know, we never get to talk to the host about what it is that they're wearing. You look amazing. Yeah. Handsome. handsome. I love the necklace choice. It's just popping with color. Who dressed you today, Jomey?

You're not going to believe this, but I dressed me this morning. I got my, I got my Agbada. You know what I'm saying? It's a little wrinkle, but you know, it is what it is. The game is the game. You know, I got these necklaces from my moms. You know, she hooked it up. You know what I'm saying? I got the hat from Pops. You feel me? So, you know, I'm decked out. I appreciate y'all. You know what I'm saying? You look great. Thank you. It means a lot. Thank you.

Steve, we go tee it up. I think you have the House of R with you right now. Yes, I do. I love those girls. I have the queens are in full effect here tonight. Joanna, Mallory, how are you doing to this evening? Incredible, just so thrilled to be here. I think I also saw Peter O'Toole.

That guy's everywhere. He's just bopping around. Man. It is an honor. It is a privilege to be walking the red carpet with the fellow members of the Ringervor's family. I see Alligator Loki guzzling box wine in a small plastic pool mere feet away.

It's going to be a party. I can't wait. Now, you mentioned Alligator Loki. I noticed that your plus one, Mallory, is actually your cat Halo. Can you explain why you brought him to the awards tonight? He's the best friend

and just truest love of my life. He is my soulmate and our bond is pure. And he's the one I need here with me in a moment of extreme import in my life and in our shared experience. And also, you know, he's always ready for formal wear. He's pretty much ready to roll for a formal occasion at all moments. So he was excited for the invite and he's ready to, ready to rock. He's got a lot of thoughts on the categories tonight. Wonderful, wonderful.

Well, I hear that you have some programming reminders for the people at home for us coming up in the next week. at the Ringervor. It's a big week for us. Can you tell us what you have coming up next? Moon Night is coming, and the entire Ringerverse family is going to be ready for our latest Phase 4 MCU Disney Plus show, The Midnight Boys. Poo! Poo! We'll be with you on Wednesday with their instant reactions.

The House of Our! Working title. We'll be with you on Fridays for a deep dive. And, drum roll, please. ringer verse TikTok is coming. Yeah! That's all I got.

Wonderful. Well, wonderful. Jomey, I think it's time for us to head to the stage as we intro the show. All right, from Los Angeles, California. It's the second annual Verses.

The award show where the ringerverse celebrates all things fandom from the year that was and taking inspiration from the Academy Awards this week, we're celebrating this year's honors from this year in fandom.

Each host, Van Charles Malinjo will present two personally chosen awards, categories, and nominees. Jomey and I will present each category as well, 10 total awards, and again, everything that aired in the year that we since launched this ringerverse last year on March 19th,

is eligible for, for consideration. After the nominees are revealed, four hosts will briefly discuss the contenders and reveal their picks, at which point Jomi will open the virtual envelope. If there is a tiebreaker, myself and Jomi will decide the winner.

We'll also be hearing from some members of the Ringerverse's extended family with some additional honors. And before we begin, spoiler warning, for literally everything the Ringerverse has covered this year. You are listening to, a podcast about

fandom. And with that, oh man. Van has our first award of the evening. Yes. And look, when you're talking about the best superhero shows,

the best fandom shows, the best shows involving this content and these stories that we love so much, there is one aspect that always is lurking and looming. And that is the twist.

The twist that I didn't see it coming. The, oh my God, what just happened is the reason why we watch these shows. So today I would like to present the nominees for the what best twist of the year. First up from a show that captured our hearts and minds that made us believe we could fall in love with ourselves again, or at least a variant of ourselves.

A love story, a story of multiversal madness. Pay me for that one. That took place not just in time, but in different universes itself, I give you the reveal of him. He Who Remains in Loki. Now, this is very interesting because we didn't know that they were going to do it even though we thought that they might.

He who remains in Loki. Second up, from a movie that was in battle, to say the least, Eternals. The beautiful, if somewhat controversial, introduction to Marvel's, God-like beautiful creatures. But it was one guy, Icarus, who ended up being the asshole the entire time. I didn't see it coming. Did you guys see it coming?

No. Icarus the asshole is the second nomination for, what? Number three, from one of my personal favorite shows, Peacemaker. Peacemaker is a show that I rocked out to. I cried with. I hugged the show like eagerly hugged peacemaker. The reveal that Murned, the leader of the 11th Street kids, maybe. Maybe he was one.

Maybe he wasn't. Task Force X for sure was actually a butterfly when his long tongue did a Gene Simmons and licked that amber-like fluid. I was shook. What does this mean? Number four comes from Spider-Man No Way Home, a movie. that's not quite as good when you watch it at home.

Jeez. It's the reveal that we never wanted to see the most controversial death I'd say in MCU history, the death of Aunt May. Ooh,

she's very, very important. Great power becomes great responsibility and she's very pretty. I love her. Last but certainly not least. Well, something I didn't see coming because I didn't read the comics. Never read them.

but I was falling in love with this show called Invincible that had this hero called Omni Man and in the first damn show Omni Man killed all of the Guardians of the Globe in destructive fashion The last one is

Omni Man kills the Guardians from Invincible Those are the nominees I was as long wind as I could possibly be For what? Best Twist of the Year. Great nominees. Great nominees. Loaded category. I had forgotten how much animated

blood was in that invincible premiere. More than I've ever seen in my life, I think. It's crazy. It's crazy. Guys, when I was looking at this category, I couldn't decide who should win. Oh, it's easy who should win. Oh, wow, Charles. Who should win?

It's Loki. It's Loki. It has to be lucky. I feel like the Icarus stuff was like telegraphed a lot. Murn has a butterfly. I kind of saw that coming. And then I read the comic books for Omni Man. So it has to be

Loki. That was like a big, that was the hugest moment. I don't know if they've topped it yet. No love for Aunt May. That was a huge, huge plot point. I don't want to talk about that. I don't want to talk about that creative choice. Yeah. I mean, I think with Invincible, if that twist had come at like the end of a season,

it might be in the running, but since this is the premiere, you're just sort of like, I didn't have that much time to get attached before you're like, oh, that's a bad guy. But he remains. And it's not just that he shows up in the finale,

but that it shows up at the beginning of the finale and is there the whole time and then just crushed the assignment, Jonathan Majors. Just like dumb, giddy smile on my face the whole time. I watched that finale. So, yeah.

Gotta be. Chewed the scenery along with that green apple. An incredible moment in our shared MCU experience. I think that he who remains has to be the pick. I agree because it has every element we would look for in the best twist of the year. It's not only the shock, but it's the stakes and then the implications moving forward. So while I do think that the Omneman moment is probably maybe surprisingly the runner up here, but the thing that it can't match is the stakes that have been built up by the time we get

the He Who Remains reveal in Loki. And everything that we know is going to unspool from that, the consequences that play there. Ultimately, the distinction between even just the timing inside of Invincible the show versus Invincible the comics of the Omneman moment, it almost becomes more premise for us as a viewing audience as opposed to like full, full, full twist. So I'm casting my vote. I'm casting my vote for he who remains. I think that the I agree with Charles.

It felt like something was clearly coming there. You know, I can't claim that I knew exactly what it was going to be, but it felt like we were on our toes waiting to learn something about Icarus because there are these moments where, whoa, what's he about to say? Why has he been gone for so long? So we know not to fully trust in what we're seeing. And for Loki, it's like every, all of the speculation, the fact that, there was so much anticipation

and it not only met the hype but exceeded it, I think that's to its credit as well and we really can't overstate what they pulled off there. Can I play Mephisto's advocate for one second? I was going to bring up Mephisto, but go ahead. The He Who Remains thing was a twist, a huge twist,

and it's probably the winner of the category for sure. But I will say, in just the purest sense of a twist, I can't remember very many people who had predicted the death of Aunt May. However, there was a ton of talk about Jonathan Majors showing up in Loki. So even though it is clearly the winner here, and the Aunt May choice sucked. It's terrible. I was legitimately shook and shocked when they killed the Cairn. I was.

Let me bring up Mephisto for a second to explain why I think even though we were sitting there for several of them being like, is it Kang? It's got to be, I mean, not technically gang, I suppose, but we were sitting there like, it's got it. I mean, all signs point. We've read the comics. We know what that's pointing to. But we had just not that long before come off all the Mephisto speculation, you know. We had been Ralph Boner. Yeah, we had been Ralph Bonerd.

We had gone through Falcon the Winter Soldier and been like, well, surely the twist is more complicated than Sharon is the power. Nope, Sharon's the power broker. Okay. You know, so like, you know, we knew it, but we dared not dream. And then when I just remember watching that finale, when it opens and I'm like, oh, my God, they're doing it. And they're doing it right away. And there's so much more episode to go. And we get to just hang out with Jonathan Majors for a whole episode of television and many more, hopefully, movies to come.

Yeah, it's got to be. Rapping up, I just have a quick question for Van. How do you say Aunt May? Ant Man. No, you just said Aunt May. It's Ant May, right? It's whatever, bro. You could say aunt or aunt, depending on...

It's the way of it. It's weird. It's weird. Why don't you get your face out of mind? Okay, so do we do a drum roll for the winner? Yeah, we got to skip the envelope out here. Can I have the envelope, please? Got it.

And the winner is... A shock. A twist and a twist. Loki. Landslide. Jonathan Majors, come up here and get your award. Jonathan Majors was not able to be here.

So I'll be accepting this award in his behalf. He's in Atlanta and or London right now. He's in Atlanta and or London. We don't know where he's at. Okay. This is in the quantum realm. So I'll accept this on this behalf. This episode is brought to by Paramount Plus.

Beth and Ripper back in a new series, Dutton Ranch. Kelly Riley and Cole Houser returned, and this time they're taking on Texas. As Beth and Rip build a future together, peace will have to wait as they face corruption, danger, and a ruthless rival ranch, willing to protect its secrets at all costs. Legacy is a beautiful thing, but only if it survives. Dutton Ranch starring Colehouser, Kelly Riley, Annette Benning, and Ed Harris now streaming on Paramount Plus.

All right, and for our next award, Mallory Rubin. Where is? Kang the Conqueror somewhere in the multiverse. And that brings us to our second award of the evening. Best Multiversal Storytelling Moment. I keep forgetting you have the applause. It gets me every time.

I'm pleased to present the nominees. First, the Peters emerging through the portals. and Spider-Man, no way home. Take yourself back to this moment. You're in Ned's house. Ned and MJ are trying to summon their Peter, MCU Peter via slingring. Put a pin in that.

We'll come back to it in another category later today. A portal opens. A Spidey draws ever closer. And as he inches nearer and nearer, we can see. Slightly longer neck than we might have been expecting. Ooh, a signature. Dilt of the head?

A distinction in the colors and threads and fibers of his suit. Because it is not Tom Holland's Peter Parker. It is Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker. And the crowd goes wild. And then... Toby McGuire is also here. Exactly. Another portal opens and Toby enters in his youth ministers.

Best. All-time theater-going moment, all-time movie moment, all-time MCU moment, and one that only exists in a multiversal storytelling world where the Peters from three Spider-Man movie franchises. The Sony and Disney Spider-Man universes wind up in the same film, eventually swinging in unison above the Statue of Liberty and Derrick. say into our hearts. The next nominee, Loki, sees Kang's statue in the TVA.

Yeah. Loki. An unbelievable ending to an unbelievable finale in an unbelievable season of TV. Sylvie has made her choice. He who remains has perished

his words of warning echoing in our ears. The sacred timeline has splintered, candy, floss, shards splitting off one by one into the cosmos. Mobius and Hunter B-15 tell us and each other.

There's no turning back now who said anything about turning back. And we know the multiverse has entered the MCU, but we don't totally know. Not really. Not until Loki runs up to them and meets the stairs of strangers. Then we know. Everything has changed. Mobius and B-15 don't know him. The TVA that he is standing inside of is not the one he left.

And Kang the Conqueror's statue is there looming large over the atrium. And dare I say, the future of the MCU. Next nominee. The DC universe leaves the DCEU. And our pets gives us a true detective story on Earth 2 and the Batman. He has vengeance, but he's vengeance on a new one. Earth, friends. DC is widening its cinematic canon moving beyond the Earth One movie realm that houses the DCEU. Enter Earth 2. Enter Robert Pattinson's Batman, a truly different Bruce

and Batman than the one that we have gotten to spend time with on the big screen to date, a live action detective noir, Caped Crusader who's going about his business without any awareness that elsewhere in the DC multiverse, peacemakers talking shit about other Batman and their coterie of villains. No awareness of that because we're on another earth. We are on the Eve. Yes, an Eve that keeps moving further and further away, it's true, but an Eve nonetheless of seeing multiple Batman in the Flash. How many? Who can say? We'll find out. But before the multiverse manifests in full inside of one DC movie, it entered the modern day DC movie landscape. The Riddler flooded Gotham, but DC flooded us with possibility.

Next nominee. Strange Supreme loses his world. What if? One of the most harrowing moments of the last year came in the fourth episode of the animated multiverse series

What If? This episode was called What If? Dr. Strange lost his heart instead of his hands. In addition to shocking us and saddening us with this portrait of unflinching despair,

Dr. Strange's 30-ish minute dissent into Strange Supreme destroyer of his own world primed us for what is to come inside of the appending film, Dr. Strange and the multiverse of madness, yes, but more broadly, inside of phase four of the MCU, where the multiverse presents us with different versions of characters we know and we see what commonalities they share and where the diverging choices lead them down different paths. The closing shot of Stephen Strange watching Christine fade away, leaving him alone inside a purple casing of his own hubris and failure.

No, no, no, no, no, I'm sorry. Echoing through our speakers was a declaration of intent. Not only for that series, but for the MCU at large. Final nominee. Everyone freaking out about hearing Charles Xavier's voice in the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer. Does it feel strange? Excuse me, pardon me.

That's not an intentional pun. Does it feel strange to include a trailer here with major cinematic releases and major television shows? Doesn't matter because that was the magnitude of this Super Bowl strange trailer when the clear sounds of Patrick Stewart's voice sent the entire fandom, the entire internet, into an absolute craze of speculation. Stewart has begun his media denial tour, but we're familiar with those. We know how this work. We can't be fooled. And the great irony, of course, is that what is he saying in the line in the trailer?

We should tell him the truth. Now, what is the truth? We'll find out in May. but the thing that we know right now is that the multiverse is what has given us the opportunity to consider these possibilities. I throw to our own tribunal

to discuss the nominees. Jesus Christ. What the hell? My second category will be a lot faster, I promise. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. I'm going to go ahead and start it off and piss all you guys off.

It would seem that there is a clear winner here, right? Because is there a bigger, theater moment than the Peters jumping through the portals in Spider-Man No Way Home? Guess what? That ain't the winner.

The winner, and I think a situation where this show, which was poised to clean up at the Verses should go two for two. It should be Loki seeing King

at the end of the TVA in Loki. It should be think about the name of the category. Shut up, Jomey. Prep time. Think about the name of the category. Best Multiversal Storytelling Moment.

The Peters jumping through the portals is the culmination of a lot of speculation and it is something that drives the narrative of that film forward. Loki seeing King's statue in the TVA is the most consequent

storytelling element as it exists right now to me in the MCU. It changed everything. It symbolizes the crux of the moment that the entire multiverse of the MCU was shaken in a way that none of us really know. The Pierce thing was a cool popcorn moment. I give it to you. Loki should win. I'm a Loki truther. All right.

I want to hop on this. I'm not going to bang on the desk. like a fan just did, but I will say this. I'm not advocating for the Peters, actually. I'm going to advocate for something else. But the thing I want to say about the Loki thing is that we've had so many movies and TV shows since that happened.

And as you say, we still don't understand, like how could they have this big, like, reality-changing moment? And then yada, yada, yada. The MCU is continuing on. And we haven't seen any impact of that anywhere. We don't understand how it relates. to what's going on when like Dr. Strange and Peter break the universe. Like their multiverse stuff is a little messy at this point.

Like, was it Loki's decision that broke the multiverse? Was it what Dr. Strange did? Was it Peter? Like, who broke the thing wide open? It feels really kind of, at the moment, feels kind of inconsistent to me. I put to you that the moment that we heard Patrick Stewart's voice, an icon, icon, icon, of comic book movie history predates the MCU. Not only that, Patrick Stewart, bless love and protect him, is so old and has said,

I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not going to do it again. I did it in Logan. I'm done. I don't want to play Charles Xavier anymore. So old. He's mature. He's mature.

Oh, my dear. Like a fine wine. He is making his way through Picard. And I think it's Patrick Stewart coming back. for one last question mark. Hurrah as Charles and Xavier. Cho stabbed in the back. Wow.

Charles. This is amazing. Charles. I wake up every single morning and I look myself in the mirror and I say, you're not going to do it today. You're not going to do it. But I'm breaking my number one cardinal rule. Oh my God.

I'm agreeing with fucking Vann, okay? All right? I'm agreeing with Vann. Fuck the Peters. Like, it's a cool moment. It's like, sure, like, it's so exciting. Like, yeah, they're in here. But I'm like, if we're going to be real, like, I knew this was going to happen for like two years.

I saw it on like Reddit and Twitter. Like, okay, cool. Like, yeah, the thing happened. But, like, you have to think. We got through all of Loki. We're like, oh, who remains? It's dope. This is dope.

Whatever. And then we get to the end of the episode and the statue is there. And you're just like, what? Playa the eight. They did the thing. Come on. Come on. This, I don't mean to go back to back with Loki.

but, you know, we have to word up to Drake. My vote is for the Loki is for Loki too. I thought I would pick the Peters, but I don't know. This is, this might be the Loki versus tonight. This ringer versus Loki bias. And the Wanda Vision slander and exclusion from this award ceremony, by the way. I love Wanda Vision.

Wondavision is simply not eligible because of the time parameter. Yeah, WandaVision. WandaVision would have been to be like WandaVis. Wanda Purser would have cleaned up. But Arjuna. Really? Wanda vision? The Rout boner thing.

Who made the time limit ruling? Well, we didn't have the reverse. Oh, it's true. Yeah. Arjuna did. Arjuna. It's Arjuna. Big Arjuna.

The Wanda mission. The Wanderthian. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, let's bring that envelope out. And let's see who the big winner is. He's got to do some tabulations,

do little mathematics. here and our big winner back to back. Loki. And Loki takes this category. Loki sees Kang Statue in the TVA is our big winner. I love it. I love it.

And speaking of Ben Winners, let's hear from one of our favorites, Ben Lindbergh with one of his honorary verses. Hey, all, Ben Lindbergh here. I was asked to award an honorary versi, so I'm giving me all this has happened before and All This Will Happen Again Award to Order 66 on Star Wars the Bad Patch. We're in an era of storytelling that doesn't tolerate repetition. Some traumatic scenes and origin stories have recurred so many times we're sick of seeing them.

And the only way to make those stories feel fresh is to bypass or subvert them. That's why the Batman mercifully skips Thomas and Martha Wayne's murders, and no way home lets Andrew Garfield Spidey save MJ. Yet Star Wars keeps returning to the tragedy of Order 66, and it always works. Revenge of the Sith, Jedi Fallen Order, and the Clone Wars had already depicted versions of those events, but the emotional impact of the empire's origin story still hasn't worn off. Just when I thought I was over Order 66, the Bad Batch premiere got me again by bringing in Caleb Doom, aka Canaan Jarris. Execute Mist in my eyes.

Shout out Big Ben. I love. I love Ben. That was amazing. Ben is dope. Ben naming an Order 66 Star Wars category by using a Battlestar Galactica reference just an all-timer right there.

That's elite. I'll be honest with you. I just don't understand how y'all managed to do all of Balasar Galactica. So fucking depressing. This is a torching hot take right in the middle of the mercies.

Hold on, hold on, just real quick. Balsar Galactica is amazing. Balsar Galactica is amazing. It is fucking terribly depressing to watch. It's like a, it's like just a really fucked up show. I can't, I can't do it. I can't do it. I tried.

And Kalika came in and she was like, man, why are you so down? I was like, can we go get some ice cream? It's just too depressing. By the way, order 66 sucks. I don't like, hate it. I love that. It's like, you know, it's a Jedi. It should have taken three orders.

It should have been order 66 through 70. Charles is so offended by Vans Battlestart take that he has left the theater. That's my, it's my category. Can I go? Am I ready? Yes. All right. So this is a big year.

A lot of favorites in the MCU left at the end of Avengers Endgame, be it by death or time travel or contracts being up, whatever the case may be. So you've got to repopulate the world. with some exciting new players. We got some brand new, new, new players playing new roles. We also got some new folks, some shiny new folks. Shout out to possible, you know, young Avengers, taking up the mantle of some old familiar favorites. So here are some nominees.

Flipping into our hearts with incredible braids in her hair and a cool jacket with many a pocket to hold our hearts and our minds. It's Yolina Bolova. Florence Pugh. As a new black widow. Speaking of all-white tactical gear, he might have been handed the shield at the end of Avengers end game, but I think we know that Sam Wilson was reluctant to be Captain America.

We had to put up with a fraud for most of Falcon and Winter Soldier wearing the suit, throwing the shield. Not until the end when he put on a questionable white tactical suit. But picked up the shield for real.

Sam Wilson is our new Captain America. We didn't really need a clap for that one if I'm going to be honest. In the next category, we didn't get a new hot guy,

but we got a second hot guy, Haley Steinfeld's, Cape Bishop. By the end of the series, we find out that the series hot guy is plural. It's not singular.

Got two hot guys. So, you know, Bowen arrowing her way on tour screens is Kate Bishop. Kid Bishop. Kid Bishop. What are you doing here,

Kate Bishop? All right. I liked that he was in Miles category, but I think he maybe more belongs here because the Batman, I don't know, that it really felt multiversal as multiversal as it was, just because we've seen Gotham be rebooted.

so many times that it didn't feel like astonishing to see a new Gotham. But it did feel really, really refreshing to see a new Batman as embodied by Robert Pattinson, runny eye makeup and all. So Robert Pattinson as the Batman and kind of Bruce Wayne sometimes, but not much Bruce Wayne, mostly as the Batman. So Robert Pattinson, and last and at least for you, Loki lovers, there's a lot of options here. It could be a gator. It could be Richard E. Grant.

It could be a number of things. But of course, we're going to go with our beloved, blonde goddess of mischief. Sylvie as a new Loki on Loki. So these newcomers, these newcomers with familiar names, who do you got? I know who I'm going with easily. I think I do too. No, this was not how it was supposed to go. I got to give it up for Robert Pattinson, the Batman.

I think he had the toughest, the toughest job because, you know, we were on the Midnight boys. We were saying, like, dog, I don't know if we need to need another Batman. I don't know if we could do this. And the little goth Gremlin boy that was Robert Pattinson came and ate the other Batman's lunch. I love R. Pats, okay? He killed this. He's running up the box office score. He's carrying the DC Universe on his back.

Now, did I want to go to Yelena Bluva? I did. She's great. She's funny. But she didn't put up the numbers, okay? She ain't put up the numbers that R. Pat's put up. She didn't have the difficulty level. So I got to go with Robert Patton, Batman. He got his own movie. Of course she didn't put up the numbers. He got his own movie. She was in Black Widow. What are you talking about? He got his own movie. I know, but like he was...

She got a movie and a TV show, multiple TV shows. Guess what the answer is Sylvie, Loki, 3 for 3. Let me tell you something. Love is a dagger. I'll tell you I'll tell you guys something right now. It's Sylvie. It's Sylvie.

All you guys are going to talk about this. This is Pattinson. Let me be honest. Patinson is a cool Batman. He's cool. I'm digging it. I feel like we're going too far with the Pattinson Batman love.

Like he's a cool Batman. He's cool. I still think Bathlex better. I still think Bell's better. What? I don't have a boo here, but I I absolutely think Respect Batfleck.

Respect Batfleck. I absolutely think Bathleck's better. I think Bathlex better. I think Baal is better. I think really, actually, the only Batman that Pattinson is definitively better than. It's Clooney. Oh, Kilmer.

You're kind of pilled him up Kilmer? I was going to say. Kilmer. He's been here. By the way, Kilmer underrated though. Batman Forever is a good movie. Don't. Come on.

Come on. What are we doing here? I hate all of you. My vote. My vote is for Sylvie, and I'll tell you why. I personally think that Sylvie, of all of these characters, maybe besides Pattinson, who has a movie, I think she's the fullest character. I think she was focused. And she did something in giving us a new take on Loki that was hard to do because we had so much immediate history.

with the character. I think I loved Sylvie's take. I love Sylvie as a variant. I love the fact that Sylvie was around. I think the show does not work without Sylvie. If it was me, it would be Loki 3.53. Wow.

So I am, it'll shock everyone to hear, perhaps interpreting the category, a touch too literally, but I would, I would posit that Sylvie, who I love, and think is inextricable from the experience

of enjoying the show. I agree with that, man. It's more of a sharing of the torch than a passing of the torch because Loki is still so central, not only to what season two of Loki is going to be, but to the MCU at large. I think you could make a similar,

it's not a total one-to-one, but a similar argument against the Patents and Batman pick. It's the same argument, yeah. I love the R. Pat's Batman, but like we are very accustomed to a new actor coming in and giving us a new version of Batman

for whatever that specific Batman Cinematic Universe is supposed to be, right? I think the pick, if you'll just pass me the saracha, I'm happy to share the mac and cheese, is clearly Yelena Belova. In terms of the spirit of the exercise here, passing the torch,

truly, truly assuming the mantle, I think we, because again, Kate and Clint are also sort of sharing a mantle. I think Yelena and Sam are the two candidates really for, and again, maybe I'm interpreting the category I touched too literally, but are true, true, true assuming of the mantle. And Yelena, as presented by Florence Pugh is frankly revelatory. It's been a transcendent viewing experience to watch her in Black Widow, to watch her in Hawkeye. I think that she feels, to me at least, central to what the future of the MCU is going to be. There's action, there's charisma, there's levity, there's heart.

We get everything we need and want out of Yelena. And I cannot wait to see not only Yelena and Kate together, but Yelena interacting with all of the characters who from the MCU tapestry moving forward. This is my, this is my vote. So we all have different votes. Or do we? Joanna, what's your vote? Well, so I was going to say, it's easy to be great in a great movie, as Robert Pattinson is. And it's easy to be great in a great show as Sylvia's in Loki.

But Yelena Bolova, you know, Mal and I liked Black Widow, I think, more than the average bear. But, like, that is still going to, I think, wind up feeling like middling Marvel, except for the fact that Yelena Bolova just absolutely blew me away with everything that she did. and then she showed up on Hawkhead and make that show that much better. I think the promise, I think what we were really feeling in the moment that Black Widow came out was this question of like, will we ever feel like there is that much star power again in the MCU? And I think Florence Pugh shows up and just like charisma bomb on the screen shows us that a future is bright and possible. So yeah, it's got to be Elena Bolova.

Yeah, Leina. Disrespect. I do like Elena, though. If that can't win, I do love Yelena. She's the best. Sylvie, Sylvie, Sylvie. Well, no votes for Sam Wilson, huh? That's roughout. If we'd have done it during June 10th,

then maybe I would have voted for him. Understood, understood. And no love for Kate Bishop. I see you guys. All right, let's bring down the envelope. Let's see who the winner is. This was highly contested. But our winner,

it's none other that our mac and cheese and saratia love and friend Elena Belvedova I'm sorry, wait, wait I definitely I definitely said it's not spelled right in the outline Steve it's not spelled live in the

You know who it is though? But did you Matthew Doug Wadova? I just read it I just read it right off the dome and it's not spelled right in the outline I was like that's not right and I had my brain

like my brain tried to make the word happen but it didn't she's a plucky point guard that plays decency. Leaving it in. All right. Absolutely not. Our next category.

Oh, wow. Comes from Charles. All right. We're not going to survive this one. Oh, boy. Our next category is arguably for a moment that destroyed the Midnight Boys and we've never been able to recuperate since. This is the best quarter flip award.

The first is for the inaugural, Kate Bishop somehow flicking a quarter and hitting a VCR within a couple of minutes of Clint Barton. Second is Aquafina herself learning how to shoot an arrow within 24 hours and killing a dragon. Third, is Ned sling ringing with no prior training or warning that he was talented in Spider-Man No Way Home? Fourth, is Carnage somehow also being a USB port who can plug into a laptop and control the entire internet? And last, but certainly not. at least I dedicate this last nominee to my illustrious co-host van.

The entire season finale of the Mid-Dilorian and whatever that war was on the Book of Bobithet, those are your nominees for Best Quarter Flip of the Year. Wow. So here's the thing. You would think that I would vote from Kate's quarter in Hawkeye because that is the term, that quarter flipping, which by the way, you guys can say whatever you want. The term quarter flipping is catching on

in fandom circles all over the place. We invent slang on the ring or verse, okay? Quarter flipping. You would think that it would be Kate's quarter. It's not. Okay, it's not Kate's quarter. It is clearly the sling ring. And I'll tell you.

And let me tell you. And let me tell you another piece of information that I got, which is why it's the sling ring. The sling ring from No Way Home is the definition of quarter flipping because originally America Chavez was supposed to be in Spider-Man No Way Home. She was not in Spider-Man No Way Home because of adjustments to release schedules. Because of that, they had to give Ned a... power that he had never demonstrated throughout the history of the MCU. It is literally a lazy writing device. Admittedly so, they just threw something in.

It's the definition of quarterfrey. Don't applaud that. Don't applaud that. I've been, I think I've been at odds with Vann so far, and I just want to say I wholeheartedly agree. As soon as we saw that American Chavez's concept art that I think we weren't supposed to see, off of Spider-Man No Way Home, it became really clear that the sling ring was, yeah,

a script adjustment. It didn't bother me when watching it. I didn't walk out mad that Ned had the sling ring and used it. But if it comes to all of the things here, the one that is most apparently a script sheet

to compensate for a missing character, it's got to be the sling ring. Absolutely. Agree. Listen, I just choose to believe that there's magic inside of all of us. And so as a matter of principle, I cannot, I cannot join my co-hosts

in selecting Ned here. I'm going to go with honestly the inspired inclusion here of carnage. And it's almost, I think this is an area where we can kind of poke fun and ridicule, but also toast the achievement. Because in a way, the entire Venom cinematic experience is a corner flip.

And I respect an environment. Look how much fun we've all had. That's a great point. That's a great point. As much as much as I do believe that carnage becoming a USB port is like peak cinema. And the reason that is my favorite superhero movie, probably of all time. I'm going to have to ride with the sling ring. The more and more I think about it,

the more and more angry it makes me. I thought I'd just be over it now, but like Van has hyped you back up to be like, damn, that was some bullshit. Like, we just left like, yeah, there's another wrong with that. Ned knows how to use her slingring when it took Dr. Strange.

Weeks, perhaps months, to learn how to use this thing. It has to be Ned slingering. Jomey, you are, you're not supposed to be, me shaking your head. I thought you were just announcing the winners. Listen, I'm

also, you know, listening to these takes. You're like, I'm not a robot, Charles. You know, I hear what you're saying. Yeah, I mean, just, you know, before we get to the winner of this category, I just think it's interesting that, you know,

they made that decision to have Aquafina shoot that era, by the way. That's something that they wrote in the script. It wasn't, you know what I'm saying? There was an excuse. You know, you guys gave that an excuse like, ah, you know, we had to I can't have America Chavez. Somebody has to bring it in, you know what I'm saying? Like that, you know, that's

something that, you know, that they didn't want to do originally because, like you guys said, it doesn't make any sense, but they had to because of limitations. They made a deliberate choice to have Katie shoot that arrow and hit the dragon in the neck, despite the fact that she started training with an arrow

no more than 24 hours before, but I understand. No problem. Steve, let's bring on the envelope. Let's get it. Come on. And our winner looks like is net slingering from Spider-Man No A-Hum. That's our winner.

And with our next category, we will be hearing from Daniel Chin with his honorary versy. Hey, Daniel. Daniel. Hey, this is Daniel Chin here. And I've been asked to hand out an honorary vercy today. So I'm here to present the mass stinger award for the best superhero post or mid-credit scene. Although there are a lot to choose from this past year,

from Harry Styles and Internals to any number of the gags and peacemaker, I'm handing out the award to Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings for their mid-credit scene. Stingers have long been a staple in superhero films, and some of the best of them have been able to hints at a future superhero project while still calling back to the movie or TV show we just finished watching. If you have done this better in recent years than Shang-chi, as the scene had guest appearances from Captain Marvel and Bruce Banner back in human form again, welcoming Shang Chi and Katie into a bigger, wilder world of superheroes. Before the duo makes another trip to the karaoke bar to sing Hotel California with Wong.

And really, what more can you ask for than a little karaoke with Wong? Hey, Daniel. Can I just say, the masked stinger is genius as a name here. Yeah. Daniel! I love that pick. I love that pick, too. Great one. I like that. My second category,

it honors some of the very best lines in superhero movies. Let's face it. Since we were kids, we went to the cinema, the cinema, because we are advanced cosmopolitan theater goals. We went to the cinema. And things like,

I'll be back, grabbed our hearts. Things like when Swordsonegger takes a knife, throws it into a guy, and then a knife goes through the guy and sticks in the wall, Schwarzenegger and the predator goes, stick around. It's so stupid. It's so stupid. I'm sorry, man.

That's so stupid. But like those are the things that when you're in the theater, you get into Wesley Snipes said Passager 57 Always bet on black Because he's black And he's trying to make sure

When the people know Wait what? What racist Wesley Snipe again? He's black This is like he's reminded you To always bet on black people It was a statement for the whole community Okay

I could go on because a lot of these are dumb, but we love them. Okay. So for my second award, this dude's spitting, aka the line of the year award.

First nomination comes from Venom, let there be carnage. This is when Carnage, played by Woody Harrelson, decides to let Eddie Brock played by Tom Hardy know

that his standard of journalism isn't up to par so as they're fighting as symbiotic creatures, right? They're fighting

each other. He stumps on him and says that's bad journalism. I critique your journalism. Forget about to fight. I critique your journalism. Oh my God.

The second one is a doozy. We knew we'd hear it eventually, and we knew it would be said. We just didn't know by who or who or when or where, and it is classic. With great power comes great responsibility. That's from Spider-Man No Way Home, as delivered RIP by Aunt May.

For the third one, I couldn't just pick one line from this. this rant because it was too epic. And it touches upon something that we've all discussed dark corners and alleyways, where we really want to talk about Batman. This comes from Peacemaker. When Peacemaker tells his neighbor exactly why all of his, exactly, excuse me, exactly why he doesn't have a rose gallery. You know why?

Because all of his enemies are where, guys, six feet fucking under. Then he goes on a rant about why Batman would be saving Gotham if he just took all of these guys out. It's Peacemakers Batman rant from The Peacemaker Show. I love it. From the Batman, it's a simple line. But it's a line that's very important to the movie because it defines the character as the character sees themselves in that moment. It is a line delivered with all the sincerity and the authority. that the character has inside of themselves to fight crime,

but not knowing that it's actually a lie. It might be the single most important line said in this movie that we all love, the Batman, it's I am vengeance. I am vengeance. Number five, Alon had absolutely wrecked me. I'm not going to lie, guys. I'm getting a little misty eye right here.

Like a line that absolutely wrecked me That comes from Invincible As Omneman is beating the dog shit out of Mark He is trying to let him know Exactly the stakes of being a viltrumite The whole planet, all the people that you're fighting for They are not going to be around in a thousand years when you're still be young.

They're not going to be here. You're fighting against me for them. They're not going to be here. What are you going to have when all of these people gone? Mark looks at his father, Omni Man, and he gurgles almost, because he's so destroyed. He gurgles almost.

I'd have you, Dad. And it takes the philtramite champion Omneman and reduces him to what he really didn't even realize he was, which is just a father, a fantastic line. Those are my five nominees. Ooh, great category. Great job. Oh, my goodness.

I'm feeling emotional after that one. What a trip down memory lane. I mean, he nearly got it as a USB port, so I'm just going to give it to Carnage. That's bad journalism is such a good line. I will say I'm going to take a cue from Mallory, and I really want to zero in on what this category is called. It's this dude spitting line of the year. And while my heart wants to give it to Mark Grayson,

I'm sorry your dad can't deliver a six-piece whoop into your ass. And the only thing you can say in response is, I'd have you, dad. Like, you're not really spitting. Like, that's, it's like emotional. If this was like the most emotional and a, facting line of the year, then yeah, that would, that would be the one. Like, Mark would be, like, saying some really true shit right there.

But if we're talking about, like, somebody like, like, the one liner of the year, it got to be that bad journalism. Like, that's a clear winner. Oh, my God. My goodness. The reporters and journalists on Zoom here have, uh, have spoken. Charles and Joanna have spoken. Okay.

So, it's about ethics. in journalism. And what, honestly, if we're going to be real, name me a better movie, name me a better journalism movie than let there be carnage. It is the most actual betrayal

of what it takes to be a board. They're going to start teaching it in J-school. Eat shit, shattered glass pinklet them. All the presidents, all the presidents men. All the president's men. You're done.

The paper. Fuck you spotlight. Yeah. Like, Jesus Christ. I just kick your Oscar and go home. Oh my God. Wow. Okay.

So this is hard. I'm going to do something incredibly obnoxious and just throw out another contender that wasn't nominated. I know we're not actually going to be able to consider this, but I just feel like Van will allow it in this particular case because it comes from Loki. You know what line I can't shake, Sylvie's, but I'm not you. line as she pushes Loki through the portal after the kiss because it's like the perfect bookend with the earlier this isn't about you moment. And it's such a decisive moment in the story,

but also a moment that sparks so much uncertainty and it's a key insight into the way that variance will function as like not only a way to think about shared pursuits, but individuality. So I really like that line. But of the five candidates, I did enjoy with the Aunt May moment in Spider-Man knowing home that we got the comic original line.

You know, another variant here, a variant in a quote form, right, with great power, there must also come great responsibility that we got that slight twist on what we'd heard in the movies before the comic's accurate version. I, however,

will be going with Mark and invincible. I think that Van summed it up so nicely. That moment really, not only like hits when you're hearing it and watching it for the first time, but it burrows, it burrows inside of you, haven't been able to shake it. You, dad, I'd still have you. I mean, why do we like these stories?

Why do we spend so much of our time talking about and thinking about these characters and the universes that they inhabit? Because it's not just about the fact that they can fly or punch things really hard. It's about the connections that they forge and they share and what happens when those are shattered. And this line, you dad, I'd still have you,

cuts to the core of why we invest so fully in these characters and these stories. That's my pick. Also, he was spitting blood and teeth. So it counts. It's a great emotional pick.

I just don't know what it taught me about journalism. Protect resources. That's why I go to these movies. Okay. So. Oh. time they get a touch personal here.

First of all, the winner of this is actually not any of these. The winner of this is clearly what is grief if not love persevering? That's clearly the winner. Wanda Vision exclusion strikes again. No, never. Never that lie.

I laughed at that line. I love that line. I was like, no. Great line. Beautiful moment. If Wanda were eligible today. Charles, let me tell you something. Your soul is best.

Oh, that's one of my. category, so yeah. All right, so because that's bad journalism is the funniest line. It is the line of the year. But when I think of these lines, I think about what shakes me, and obviously the man's going to bring up his dad again. Like, watching, I'm like

Italy, literally, I'm actually about to cry. I go with Mark. It's just like a real, you know what I mean? I'm changing. I'm changing my vote. It's just that's my vote. I love you, man.

Oh, man. Yeah. I'd change my vote. Yeah. All right. Give me the... Jeez. Jeez, you just get a vivid like that.

Give it a minute. Yeah. Someone cut the onions in. here. God damn. All right. Oh, geez. Well, now, if you, if you want it, man, let's bring the envelope out.

Play the stupid drum roll thing or whatever. All right. I promise I'm okay. I'll promise I'm okay. Drum roll, drum roll. Okay. And the winner is, I'd have you dead.

From Invincible. Yay! The Verses, an emotional rollercoaster. All right. Moving on to the next one. All right, cool. We're good. This episode is brought to by Whole Foods Market.

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Activia yogurt today for two weeks and see if you feel a difference. With billions of probiotics and 20 years of scientific expertise, Activia is one of the easiest and tastiest ways to start your gut health ritual. Try Activia today. Enjoying Activia twice a day for two weeks as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle may help reduce the frequency of minor digestive discomfort, which includes gas, bloating, rumbling, and abdominal discomfort. And with our next category, Mallory Rumin, it's back to you. Every now and then, there's a category with a field so crowded. We, the Academy, have to challenge the eligibility rules. We were only supposed to have five nominations for each category.

I have six. I have six for this one. I simply could not find a way to narrow it down to five. Maybe we will widen the Verses field in the future. My second award today is, and it's fitting that bug is here, the awesome animal award for animal awesomeness. Yeah. Great, great year for animals, animal companions in the stories that we love. Halo, as Steve noted earlier, he's my plus one today.

He's, you know, napping in a sunbeam currently, but earlier he was looking over at the boys table, the Amazon table out in the distance. and I had to explain to him that, you know, Homelander was drinking human breast milk, not the kind of milk that Halo or other cats might be interested in. Stay away. The nominees today in this crowded field are Eagley from Peacemaker. Let Eagley wrap his wings around you

and warm you in a comforting embrace. An embrace that promises unflinching unwavering, companionship, loyalty, friendship. He will be with you. Whether or not you crinkle that chip bag, he's there, ready to bring you a snack, ready to take flight. Next, speaking to snacks, lucky the pizza dog. Hawkeye.

What a good boy, what a very good boy. Do I wish still that Kate Bishop would introduce some. more balanced diet into Lucky the Pizza Dog's life, I do. Do I worry about how day-old pizza is affecting his gastrointestinal state? I do. I do indeed. But I know that Lucky is there for the fight. He's there for the LARP. He's there for the holiday hang. Chin on your knee whenever you need him. Lucky the Pizza Dog. Next up, Big Al, alligator loki, Loki, Loki. As mentioned earlier, our guy likes to swig box wine while hanging out in a pool.

He's up for a good time. He will bite off an appendage of an enemy variant should you need him too. He will explore the void with you and your newly formed alliance of fellow variants. He will become. the meme that you need for your Twitter exploits during a six-week live-action run, he will give you all that and more. Next, Sebastian Suicide Squad. Long applause for Sebastian. And rightly so, because I ask you to consider not only Sebastian's achievement in the peak of battle, not only Sebastian's bravery in a moment of crisis.

But what Sebastian has to overcome? Because people, including the characters around him in the story, other than his own dear rat catcher, of course, fear him. Fear rats. They don't trust him. They don't want him to be with them, to be a part of their squad. He must persevere. He must win their allegiance. And he does because he is, as we see when he nestles on that leg at the end, having won at last, at last, blood sports, allegiance, and affection.

He will burrow his way, not only into the heart of a monster, but into the heart of a friend. Next, Boba Fett's Bantha, the book of Boba Fett. Now, do we know enough about this beloved Bantha to vote? for this bantha, including, I don't know, a basic thing like how much time Boba and this bamba actually spent together. Friends, we do not. And yet, and yet, I felt that the bond was as strong and ever present as the force around us and so felt compelled to include the bantha in the category today. And finally, sometimes you need love, sometimes you need a cuddle, sometimes you need the intrigue of a riddle to move you along your quest.

And what is an authoritarian legend brought to the screen in the modern day without a talking fox? The fox in the green night, wowed audiences across the globe and must be considered at the Verses today. Where's Morris from Shang-Chi? Is Morris an animal? Technically He's an animal He has fur He has wings

He has all He has four legs He has all the makings of the animal He doesn't have a face I don't know that Morris is I think he's a mystical creature Hmm What is alligator loki

I'm happy to put Morris into the consideration set No no no we can't make Seven nominees That's crazy But he can be your guide All right this is a great category It's fantastic. I wish I would have thought of it.

Perfect. Having said that, it's Eagley. Yeah, it's easily, Eagley. It's easily. He hugs people. He hugs people. It's great. Igley's awesome.

And he loves chips. Those are two qualities you need in a bud. I think my vote's not going to matter. So I'm just going to toss it out to something to break up some of the same nominees we've seen over and over again. So I'm going to give love to the Fox and the Green Night. I love that the Green Night is represented here. I loved that movie. I still don't really understand what the fox is doing in that movie, and I kind of love that about it.

So I'm back in the Fox. I'm super torn here between Lucky and Eagley, two of my favorite characters and most cherished characters of the last year and really of my entire life, if I'm being honest. But maybe just because of sheer screen time and the role, the central role in the story, Eagley, Eagley has a talon's length lead here on Lucky. I'm expecting big things from Lucky in the future, though. I want to ask this really quick, because a lot of the majority of these are pets, do you think Omni Man is at home furious that we didn't nominate Debbie? I just think it's, I think it's so wrong to even say that.

We're saying. It's so wrong, Charles. Of all the, really, I should have included that line, of all the lines where I was like, yo, this motherfucker is a dickhead. Very, very grim moment. Yeah. Of the, like, I just remember him saying, and even the delivery from JK Simmons, it was like, thinking of him more as a pet.

I'm like, God damn, this guy's fucking horrible. Oh, that was worse than him beating up like the Guardians of the Globe. That was the moment where I was like, oh, he's like legit, real evil. Yeah, he's an evil bastard. Yeah, but no, the pet line. Yeah, I go Eagley. Eagley, easily.

Jomey, the official winner? Looking at the tabulations, doing the mathematics, got to carry the two. Our winner's Eagley! An eagle that can hugs. I mean, was there any other option, truly? Love him so much.

All right. And now we're going to hear from nobody in particular at all with our next honorary Versi. Ring of verse. Happy one year anniversary. It's me, producer TD, and I'm glad to play a small part

from second annual verces to first verse's classic iconic moment. Speaking of, my honorary award is going to go to the fandom family moment, which is when we all got together and had an amazing time.

Shout out to the Spider-Man No Way home screening when Charles came down when Joanna was with us in spirit. and we had a blast. But I want to specifically highlight a moment that was mostly unexpected, and that is the Loki season finale. You know who shows up.

When He Who Remain shows up, Jonathan Majes came through and crushed the buildings. And last quick shout out to the Book of Boba episode, where it fully becomes Book of Mando and Grogel. Those nights were amazing. Slack channels were buzzing. Group texts were buzzing. Facebook, Twitter, timelines were going off.

Amazing times. Shout out to the number one fandom family around. Keep doing what you do. Love y'all. Oh, TD. Oh, God. Yay. Miss him.

That was really nice. T.D. I miss you, T.D. Yeah. All right, Joanna is up next. Wow, perfect timing. An old favorite of ours returned to the mercies to give us a fandom family award. And I'm here to talk about some old favorites.

I did a last minute edit of this category because I felt like one of them was a little too unfair. So we're going to go with these five nominees. Out of the hot sands of Tatine came a figure, a lone figure, guns on his hip, hat on his head, blueberry face. It's our guy Cad Bain showing up for Book of Boba Fett. Mallory lost her entire mind. Fuck yeah. When that happened. Speaking of Morris and whether or not he is a pet,

we're here to honor Trevor Slattery, a character, I think we can all confidently say we never thought we'd see again. Shown up from the Iron Man three, also Marvel one shot past to bring some spark and joy and drama to Shang Chi. It's Trevor Slattery and the Legend of Ten Rings.

Sir Ben Kingsley on the list. here. Of course, it wouldn't be a single category on the mercies without an entry from Loki. So, of course, we've got Jamie Alexander herself, Lady Siff, showing up too briefly on Loki, but still a nice return. We're hoping we're going to see her again. But I missed her. I missed her a lot. She had been missing for a while, so it was fun to see her again. This next one hadn't been gone that long, but it still feels like forever since Black Panther came out. So in I.O., one of Dora Malaise, played by the great Florence Casumba, showed up on Falcon and Winter Soldier to clean house, to tell John Walker about himself, to literally disarm Bucky, to share that incredible

scene with Sebastian Stan, that fireside flashback. It is I.O. in Falcon and Winter Soldier. And last but certainly at least, there are a lot of options here, of course, for this film. We've already talked about the PEDES, though, the Peters coming through the portal. So I had to give it to one of the villains. So I'm going to pick, it's hard to pick one. Wilm Defoe's Norman Osborne and Spider-Man No Way Home, giving us those original Spider-Man feelings. Wow.

What a category. Those are your picks, the old favorite coming back. It feels like there's an easy number one here. There's an easy number one. Is there? What is it? Interesting. Okay. I feel like it's Cadbane.

Like it's done in the West? Come on. Like, I feel like there's an easy number one, but I don't feel like it's cabbing. For real? Who is it for you? It's Trevor, and I'll tell you why. Hmm. He, so, so the, yeah.

He carried the movie. All right, let's not go that far. I'm out of lying. Carrie. Tony, Tony Long was there, so. Yeah, come on. Right. Shout up to Tony.

Let me, let me tell you guys something. There was a part when, when he was. comes into the movie, the energy of the movie changes. That's true. When I say caring the movie, I mean, the movie gets like funny and light and crazy. It becomes a different movie.

And every scene, remember how we were, guys? Every scene, everybody's cracking up. Like, it's obviously, you could say the same thing about Norman Osmore, which is to me the one that's the closest. I enjoyed seeing Cabin the most because I had never seen them

in live action. But if we're talking about just a guy who came back and completely rewrote his guy. I would say it had to be Trevor. Wow. I don't know. I don't know if I agree. I don't know if I agree.

I feel you. So why it's a good category. This is really hard. This is one of the hardest yet. Oh my God. I, you know, Doc Gok may have the power of the sun in the palm of his hands,

but he's not going to have a varsity, which is tough for him. I think that the only reason I, like, because I'm tempted to go with, with Norman Osborne with Green Goblin but I think because as you said Joe you could have made the case

for any number of the returning villains probably won't go that way for me this is a I mean it was almost Sandman like it was almost Thomas Hayden Church if he was actually in the movie but yeah

I'm really torn between Charles and Vans two picks I'm really torn between Cadbane and Trevor I think that Trevor did I was just shocked to see Trevor again in the MCU like absolutely floored. It was not a possibility I had considered.

And so for the shock value, I'm tempted to vote for Trev. But I have to be true to myself. I have to pick Cadbane here. Catbane entering live action is like one of my favorite Star Wars moments of all time. And I think, you know, as you all know, if we're being, if I'm being honest with you and we're all being honest with each other, what are the most important things in my life?

It's like, number one, my cat halo. Number two, you know, all of you, the ringerverse, the ringer, everything we're building together. Number three, the Falloniverse. Like, that's sort of where we are. Does Adam, I'm wondering if my husband can hear me right now. Adam C. Yes. It'll be a good.

Adam is somewhere punching the air right now. I can't believe we beat the Faluniverse. I'm proud of us. Wow. That took a lie. Wow. Yeah. Jeez.

No, the Filotee versus it's an important part of my life. Seed Cadbane was a big moment. It was an absolute thrill. And I just have to, I have to go with Cadbane. I have to. I'm going to make this a tough one. We're going to bring in the tiebreaker, Stephen, Stephen Jomey, because I'm going with Trevor. I'm going with you.

Sir, Ben Kingsley. Boy. Never, never thought, didn't know how much I missed him until he came back. Jomey, how do you want to go? here's yeah I got it here's what I'll say right Cadban coming into Star Wars

like seeing him come across the landscape a small dot across the sands of Tattoine enlarging as he comes forward killing the deputy who by the way deserved to die

not the smartest it's not the smartest man a real life dummy right and wounding our friend Timothy Oliphant. Patron saint of House of our Timothy Oliphon. Patron Saint of House of Mar. St. Timothy, yeah. Oh my God. It was

that was special. That was like, wow man, like we're really here. Oh. Trevor was so fun. Like to fans point, as soon as he shows up in the movie, it gets like 10 times better. It's so funny.

He's he's, he's, he's, He's refing the kids soccer games. You're off sides. You're off the last. How many red cards did he give up that game? He's playing dead, right? It's also a really smart cleanup job on the whole, the way they handled the Mandarin before. It's like all in good faith.

We all had a good time in Iron Man 3. Now we're just going to move on. His rant about Planet of the Apes probably like had me dying laughing about thinking that those apes were real. So funny, bro. It's so funny. I have to go with Trevor. It was so incredible to see him again. It was so incredible.

At two. All right, Jomey. Let's bring up that envelope. Let's see. And in a stunning tie broken by Jomey and Steve, the winner is Trevor Slattery. From Sean Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. And I'm going to consider that a shared victory with Morris. Like, I think we can sneak Morris in there.

Sure, sure, sure. It's good to it's good to give Morris some shine after his controversial exclusion from the animal awesome. A lot of favorite the first time we met him. It's an old fame. Yeah. In his second scene, we were delighted to see Morris in old face. He's an old soul, you know, an old soul.

Thousands of years old. Quite literally, in fact. All right, Charles, we are on to your next category. All right. So, uh, but my last category, okay? They call me Coke baby Chuck of the House of Heartless for a reason, okay?

I don't feel anything. Ice runs through my veins. Favorite house in Dune, by the way. How could you be so heartless? Guys, this is my favorite category of the night. I call this the Solace Award. These are for the champions who come through a universe and say, fuck your feelings, okay? The first category.

my man Bruce shows up at the hospital you know Alfred his father figure is on his deathbed okay he doesn't offer him no grape juice he doesn't like put a sponge on his forehead

make sure he's feeling all right oh my God he just goes you like to me and a legend was born my second category people.

I'm going to say this. The Skywalker's, you would think, what's their lineage about? What is their inherited trait? Okay? It is not their penchant for the force. It is their penchant

for fucking up. Every kid in the galaxy. I'm going with Luke Skywalker that could baby Yoda choose between his ancestral right Yoda's lightsaber and the t-shirt from his dad

that he misses. So, fuck Luke Skywold. iWalker. Third is Shang-Chi abandoning his sister for a decade just piecing out and be like, you'll be all right, you'll be cool. That was wild, okay? So when, uh, spoiler alert, she becomes evil at the end of the movie. I'm like, she kind of has a point. Shang-chi ain't shit. Fourth, come on, yo, like Strange Supreme destroyed an entire universe because this man is bad at dating. My man got it bad. It was cheese, bro.

Like, what are you doing, man? Just download Tinder. It'll be cool. And last, but certainly not least. I know that a lot of y'all like the peacemaker show. Everybody's like, peacemaker's not that bad anymore. He's redeemed himself. Guys, I remember the suicide squad.

He took a chunk of toilet and put it directly through Rick Flagg's heart. It was rough. And then he almost tried to kill ratcatcher. That was almost in here, too. My man was soulless. And I know everybody's like, but, you know, his upbringing. I'm like, man, it's hard to come back from the suicide squad. So that is everybody I have in my soulless category.

Guys, who do you think he's going to run away with this award? I think there's probably one clear winner, but I do want to just acknowledge the brilliance of you, including Peacemaker, Killing Rick Flagg in here, because I love Joel Kinnaman, my guy from the killing, not to mention for all mankind. And he was like so excited to talk about suicide squad and how much he loved it. And I was so excited to like,

you know, he and Margo were the only holdovers, right? Basically, essentially from the other movie. And he was like so excited to do more comedy. And I was just like really excited for Joel. And I was like, Rick Flagg. And you know, and he's like central to everything.

And he was really doing it. He's doing it. And then I got, yeah. I was so. mad that that happened, that I still haven't watched the peacemaker. That's how mad I am, follow the peacemaker, killing Rick Flag. That's what I'm talking about, okay?

Unforgivable. I love Rick Flagg. I love Rick Flagg. I'm still not over. Yeah. So you choose Rick Flagg? No, I mean, it's got to be fucking Luke Skywalker. What the hell are you doing, Luke? Of course it's Luke. And then putting the baby in a spaceship by himself? Come on.

Peace out. You'll be good. See you later. Fucking Luke. Look, I got to be honest with you. There's only one of these that made me go, yo. Like when I first saw it, I think you guys know

what I'm going to choose. Yeah. It's Bruce to me. It's like, it's like, it's absolutely wild. It's like, I'm like, the scene is so,

first of all, all of these are good. And let me tell you, just real quick, you could argue that Luke had to do that, right? You could argue,

that Luke is like the Jedi way. Coochoo! I get it, Joe, I'm with you. It's fucked. All right. Like, Shang Shi had daddy issues. Strange Supreme, like Peacemaker,

Killing Risk Flag, that he was ordered, you know what I mean? Bruce looking at this dad, basically, his father figure, who wakes up with half of his face

with shrapnel and smiling, happy to see him. And the first thing he says is, to me. I'm like, yo, this guy is a fucking savage. I've got to go with Bruce. Now, where are you going?

I just want to say this is an incredible category. This is not close. Look at this face. Okay. For the listeners. Look into Grogu's sweet little eyes and tell him

that he has to choose. Tell him as he cooing and babbling and reaching out toward a life not bound by the horseshit strictures of the Jedi order

that he must choose. Despite the fact that you left Dagaba as Yoda and Force Ghost Obi-1 implored you to stay. You knew.

You knew that the only Anything stronger than the force was your ability to choose love. Okay? To go be with your friends, fight for your family, and that you could still persevere over evil.

It is clearly, clearly, Luke, making grow good shoes. Though I will say, peacemaker, what a joke, is like an all-time line.

That is a great, great line. The choices, Luke. Damn, I should have had that line. Yeah. I will say, you know,

shout out to Mallory, shout out to Jomey. I'm finally digging into the Clone Wars. And there's this one episode that really made me like really realized the Skywalker's aren't shit, okay? They're on Nabu and Asoka and Padmae are about to die, okay?

They're about to die of this plague. And like, Anakin's really, really at worry. He's a great arc. He's really like, oh my gosh, I'm going to lose Padma. He's like, Padmae, are you all right? And then Asoka's like, hey, yo, you're your paduan's here i'm cool too

and then a second time in the episode this man comes he's like oh padmy i'm so glad you're all right i'm so glad you're all right thank you so much and then patman kind of looks at him like you know your pad your paddwan's over there she's good too and i was like damn like the skywalkers really hate children like they just do not fuck with children okay they hate them and like maybe it's inherited from his father

but dog luke skywalker like i will never forget give him for what he did to baby Yoda. Fuck Luke Skywalker. Fuck this saga. All of them. Making him choose, like, dog, what is wrong with you? What is wrong with you?

He should just go to a desert island somewhere full of rocks and green milk and just sit and think about what he did. Honestly, if we're going to be real in the new Obi-Wan, in the new Obi-Wan show, I'm not even rooting for baby Luke. He can get guy. I don't care. If I'm going to

let me out, dog, I'm not with the Luke Skywalker's no more. I love that Luke is flawed. I think it's great storytelling. It's just... I agree. It's clearly a soulless moment. Yeah.

Yeah. It's rough out here for Luke. All right. So we have a winner, I believe. Jomi. Yeah. Wow. In a landslide victory.

Clearest victory of the day. Clearest victory of the day. A winner for the Solis Award is Luke. Terrible Father Skywalker. Actually, I should put booze in here. Defending a word for a character made of pixels, you know. The greatest teacher failure is. This is a big moment for Luke.

He can learn a lot. Like father, like son. Right. Yeah. Maybe in his future he'll do something even worse. Like maybe try to kill his nephew in his sleep. Maybe,

you know, maybe something will happen that's even worse than this. Maybe. Who could say? It's possible. We could possibly say. And for our final interstitial of the day, Rob Mahoney

she'll bring us the final honorary versi. This is Rob Mahoney and I'm here with another honorary versi and that is the Gandalf's glow-up award for achievement

in facial hair. If you've been paying attention at all to the purview of this podcast, you know that there are no nominees. You know that there are no honorable mentions. There's only the greatest beard

in any comic or fantasy or sci-fi property this year and that is Oscar Isaac's majestic beard in Duke. I read in GQ that was modeled after both Tsar Nicholas II and the main of a lion. And somehow neither of those comparisons

really do it justice at all because you've just got to see this thing. And if you can, see it in IMAX, as it was intended, and just let the full multisensory experience wash over you. Congratulations to Oscar, but really,

congratulations to all of us. Inspired. Incredible. Incredible. Great to get some Dune love on the pod today. Love Dune. I will just say that technically, while Obi-1 has not aired

as a show yet, the trailer is out. And so I do think that there's more than one contender for that award. I was going to ask you. Mowarder. You might be killing me. You might kill me for this,

Mao. But I don't know if McGregor is touching Oscar Isaac's beard. In terms of lushness, the salt and pepper, like the just body. It's all density with that one. It's.

no losers here. Density with that one. That's a, Steve, can you save that for Ring or Verse after Dark, please? It's all density. Wait, speaking of which, speaking of which, do you remember the part in Dune where Oscar Isaac is wearing only his beard? And they did that vividly. And did even though, did that for no reason.

I remember vividly, though. That was on Joe. I mean, we had seen it all in scenes from a marriage. Seen it all. Ooh, okay. Yeah. The kitty, hopefully the kitties

have gone to sleep. Right. All right, time to spice up our life and talk about one of the best soundtracks of the year in my category. Let's go, Steve.

Great one. Some of the best music that we had gotten in this past year, we're going to honor Natalie Holt for the soundtrack to Loki. Great.

Those great little tunes. I gotta love our guy, Hans Zimmer, with a great dune, all those gutterol yells. that we've got a honor Luke Gorenson

Book of Boba Fet for a kill for a killer Daniel Hart for the Green Night Great And Whigwam for do you want to taste it

Peace maker Yes Steve, Steve you ain't giving the Batman no love That's rough Steve Steve. I thought Chiquino was on your list at one point. Was it not?

I could have sworn that it was. You could have Black Widow on here just for the double rendition of American Pie, some of the most memorable musical moments we've gotten this past year. It's it is. It is stacked category. I think you bumped Chiquino for Wigwam. That's what I think you did. You know what the hard part of this category is?

Is that Dune clearly has the best soundtrack, Dune. Like to me, it sounds amazing. but nothing hit like wigwam did man I gotta say did wigwam invent a new instrument in order to do do you want to taste it no but Hans Zimmer did to do the score for Dune the man is out here inventing instruments

it's got to be Dune what if in real time we went we went rogue here and we split the category because it's like the score a score a composed score and then needle drop are kind of

we could award different versus if we wanted to. I mean, this is unprecedented, but if we want to do that. So I'll do that. I'll do Hans Zimmer for score. Okay. And then I'll do wigwam for needle drives. That's a song, wigwam.

They, the wigwam, wigwam got their career saved. They got dropped by their label. I'm serious. They dropped by their manager or whatever. They got their career saved by the whole deal. So come on, man. I got to give some love to wigwam.

Two verses go out. Steve saying this is unprecedented about a made-up award show that we consistently in real time is one of my favorite things that's ever happened. Some people really can have it all, all right? Yeah, I'm casting the same ballot here for Needle Drop. We're going with the instantly iconic opening credits dance and sequence from Peacemaker. Paid off in the finale, too, you know, with an action sequence. And then soundtrack, I mean, the Dune soundscape. is revelatory.

It has to be Dune. And Dudes should be awarded today. Obviously, we have the Mahoney honor for the beard, but it's right. It's only right that Dune received multiple verses, I think. Dune was one of the best movies of the year. It's a great movie.

I will say, in my opinion, Dune soundtracks was better than the actual movie, so I'm going to go with Dune. And then, Wow. For the needle drop, I'm going something in the way by Nirvana for the Batman. That's a great one.

It just hits you in your chest. It's like that song is probably one of the most important elements to that entire movie. I don't know if the movie works the same way if you take it out. So I'm going to go with that. All right. I guess we have two new awards to give out now for Best Soundtrack and Best Needle Drop. Jomey hit him with it. Steve, they're giving it.

me two envelopes and an untrually unbelievable turn-up events. I've had it now two awards. One, soundtrack of the year. It goes to Dune and Hans Zimmer and the needle drop slash song of the year goes to wigwam. Do you want to taste it? A quick question before we get to our next category, which I cannot wait to talk about. Remember at the end of Book of Boba Fett with the Boba Fet theme song just became Fet. Fett! Fett! Fett!

Fett! Fett! Had to remind us who the main character of the show was right there at the end. You thought it was Dinhard and Baby Yoda, but remember? Easy to forget, given those last few episodes. Easy to forget. Dog, why does Boba Fett always get strays

on the ring of hers? That's unfair. We must have to Boba Fett. We love it. I listen to the Midnight Boys, Charles. You were stray Fing Boba Fett. Okay. I was so tuned out.

I thought that the Fet was there the whole time in every, every theme song. It shocked me that that was only for the finale. I like the musical Mandela effect. You're the only one, man. No, I liked it. It was all right. All right, Jomi, our final category of the evening.

Guess I'm going last. Anybody who knows me knows I love a good buddy comedy, you know. I love it when two people. just go back and forth, have good, you know, good rapport, good banter.

Who doesn't love good banter? Not me. Some of my favorite movies are rush hour. I love when Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan, back and forth

across the three, oh, it's great. The relationship between Rusty and Danny in the Ocean's trilogy. I mean,

it's fantastic, you know? And so the only award I could hand out was the best duo over the last year of content. My first nominee

they were they only had two episodes together but they sparkled they shine bright as a son some would say Kate and Yelena in Hawkeye

just just great great stuff from our gals, right? Yes, please. Applaud, applaud the queens. Applaud those queens. Get Bishop. Get Bishop. Get Bishop.

Get the Bishop. Second nominee, of course, has to go, has to go to Batman and Jim Gordon in the Batman. I saw the movie three times. I'm not going to lie to you. falling asleep the third time. I'm not going to hold you. My brother had to wake me up.

I was snoring. But every time Jim and Batman got together, he was saying in the first scene of them together when Batman's staring at the kid and Jim's just like, you got to, we got to go, man. He calls it man a lot, which is like really interesting. Like I've never seen like a Batman and the Gordon be like that friendly. And I love it. I love their get down. Right. Third, I mean, it's not really a dualist in fandom If it if it doesn't have Dan and Grogrew from the Book of Boba Fett They were only really together for one episode

But Watching that scene I watched that scene of Din Finding Gros in the cart Like a thousand times Like that like It's like 50 seconds You like launches into his arms

Oh my gosh. Is that the first time a Jedi has used the force to hug someone? It's just a lighter choke. It's such a great seat. And he puts his hand on his helmet. Oh,

oh man, I just love it so much. I just love so much. So that had to make the list. My fourth nominee, I mean, really, you know,

the one of the OG together pairing, in the ring of verse history. Loki and Mobius. Yeah. You know? Just electric stuff from Tom Hedleston and Owen Wilson.

A lot of sexual attention. I love this. Well, okay. Yeah. Maybe. Sure. You caught Joey off guard. Probably.

You know? I mean, I could see it. I could definitely see it. You know, going from. You know, enemies to friends, you know, maybe Charles, maybe it's lovers next. Who knows? But their band, their band, Scream was always great. So, of course, they had to make the list.

And that last, but certainly, not least, is our evil two-sum out of San Francisco. Eddie. And Venom. Eddie. From Venom let them be carnage. I want chocolate, Eddie. It's not a great, it's not a great impression. But, you know.

Who can do Tom Hardy, really? Really? You know? But of course, Eddie and Venom had to make my list. Those are my five nominees for best duo. Can I do a write-in? What's up? It's not technically a duo.

It's a group of four, but I want to nominate the Midnight Boys. Poo-Pew! In that case, then I would like to nominate the House of All, a true duo. The outcast of fandom. The first tie we can't break. Oh, man. But to keep it clean into the category, this is the one time I will not fight the Loki surge on this award show.

I think Owen Wilson's mustache alone deserved its own category. So, yeah, it's Loki Amovius. My favorite romantic duo. I have to go with Loki and Mobius. Batman and Gordon were right there. I have to go with Loki and Movis. There's no way. Come on.

You got, this is wild to me. This is wild. I have to go with Logan Mobius. Batman and Gordon were, this is not enough, Den and Grogu from the Book of Bobham Fett. I have to go with Lockeemobius. I have to be fair.

Here's a thing. There's a thing. To me, this category is wash the throne. Who's going to stop us, huh? Like, Den and Grogu have the crown until somebody else wants to take it. And I love Lockeumobius. They, like, to me, if Den and Grogu weren't here,

they would be the clear winners. but Loki and Mobius didn't have the internet going. Like, you know, Danden Grogu showed up for like two episodes and almost destroyed all of fandom. There is nothing more important to me than the love that those two characters share. And until somebody else can do better,

this is, it's clearly Din and Groku. Well, let's talk about how much of Loki was just Loki and Mobius like talking in cafeterias. Which was the two of them. It was great. It was great. salad and talking about how time of space works.

Great, but it's not Denning Grogan. It's not Denning Grogan. I mean, I know how Mallory's voting. I don't know. I don't know what to say. I'm not sure I know how I'm voting. I'm in full prequel. You're tearing me apart to mode here.

I don't know what to do. This is torture because Dean and Grogo are, of course, the pick I want to make. They are my favorite duo, period. I always want to pick them. Their bond is elemental to fandom and to my life, but I do think it's a valid point to say how much time did we actually spend with them together.

That said, I think you can then make the inverse argument pretty easily, like when they're not together, the force of their bond is so strong that it drives them in the story around them, and we have to kind of credit that. I think that the Loki Mobius

the potency of that duo on screen was like I thought sublime. That was one of my favorite things that I watched all year. Very Tyrion Lannister, you know, a wise man once said

the true history of the world is history of great conversations and elegant rooms energy from them. But I love that energy, the ability to just talk to each other in a theater and in the cafeteria and talk about

life and what it means to be human and why we do the things we do and what we want and what we're fighting for is just unbelievable. This is really hard. I actually don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. Dinden Grogo is the pick in a vacuum for me, but I think Loki and Mobius is the pick this year. I think if there have been a season of the Mandalorian, I agree, like there would be a better argument, but like, I can't do it. I'm sorry. Yeah. I shouldn't have opened my mouth. God damn it. I don't. I should have opened my mouth. God damn it. I just know I would wake up

at like 3 o'clock tonight and be like, I can't believe I didn't go. I just know it would haunt me. I have to pick them. I'm sorry. What she's really doing though is she's punting

because now it's up to Steve and Jomey to decide. Well, here's what I'll say. Love to kick the can down the road. All right. Well, we know who we know who Jomey's going to pick. He's in the pocket of big Kevin Figey.

Who said all that? First and foremost, just to alleviate, some, I were getting some reports and some people were like, why weren't Sam and Bucky nominated? And I, I'm just sorry to tell you, it wasn't a hint like that. I'm just going to

be honest with you. It wasn't, it wasn't really there like that. I hate to, I hate to be the one to tell you, but I can only pick five, you know, I'm not, I'm not a Mao, I'm not a Mao's level. You know? No love. It just wasn't cracking like that. I'm sorry, it wasn't, it was there.

Trevor and Morris? what's up Trevor and Morris Dune and the field I just wasn't happening like that So many duos A lot of a lot of snubs A lot of snubs

The sandworm and me Honestly I'm surprised You didn't nominate Egences of Shield and trash They go perfect Oh Oh my So you know you can't sign

With Charles now You know you half figmovius now Charles you just cost us the win, buddy. Damn, sorry, my bad. My bet. This is coming from the dude who likes Venom let them be carnage.

All right. Sure. No, in all honesty, it really, there is really only one option. You know, I mean, y'all know, my heart wants to go Kate and Elena,

but can't do it. Can't do it. This is, this is Loki and Mobius, man. This is their award. They, well, come on now. What if the tie-bringer's tie?

Steve, come on now. You see, Jimmy, you messed up by not making this Batman and celibacy because nobody was breaking those two up. Not even goddamn Zoe Kravitz. Remember when Gordon says, bulletproof. I only trust you to Batman. Like maybe the most romantic line of the last year. I only trust you, Gordon of Batman. Oh, my God.

If they had kissed, then maybe. But no, it's got to be Loki and Mobius. It's got to be. It's got to be. It was so great. Mobyos. Sorry, guys. That was their year.

It was their year. So, Loki cleaned up. Boy. What aversies for Loki. I'm not surprised. My goodness. All right. So, Jomey.

Our winner, through tiebreaker, has to be Loki and Mobius. Straight out of Loki. One event, guys. No love for Bruce Wayne and his, fleshlight there at the end. Wow. Jesus Christ.

Oh my God. That's not in the... Do you feel like it's just like built into the suit or like what what are you envisioning here, Mallory? Ring her universe contains adult content. Zero wins for the Batman is... That gets us into Dune territory then, you know, a gift of the body's moisture. So that's a crossover event. I'm just more alarmed that he had a specific hole.

to stab himself with built into the suit. Zero. That's what happens when you get prep time, Steve. For the prep time. Prep time. Zero wins for the Batman. Zero Batman shut out. This is like the Dark Night not getting nominated for Best Picture all over again.

Exactly. Yeah. Batman's like the fucking color purple. Like zero nominee. Zero wins for the Batman. It was a big field. There was a lot of great movies came out in the last year of the Ring ofverse. That was just something.

You know? You had a lot of options. All right, and that is going to do it for us at the Verses. We want to thank all of our contributors, our hosts, and most importantly, all of you. We'll see you at the after party. Good night. Don't worry, guys. I'll get us into the after party.

Hey, hey, Bell! It's time for the outro. What? Oh, the outro. Who do you want to thank? Homelander raised the milk bottle. you will. Big round of applause, big thank you for our emcees, senior producer, Steve Allman, Jomi Adelan on the envelope results and the social media, and Arjuna, Ram Gapal, shaping this ceremony.

Thank you all. The versis are over, and boy, did we have a ball. And after a year of podcasting with these crazy cooks, I just have to say I sincerely love you all. Feels like every product claims real protein these days. But real doesn't start on a label. It starts at the source. Like real California milk from California farm families, it's real dairy delivering high quality complete protein. with all nine essential amino acids to help build muscle, give you energy, and keep you satisfied longer.

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