The Ringer-Verse - ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Reactions | Mint Edition

Episode Date: June 9, 2023

Jomi and Steve are joined by new Ringer-Verse addition Jessica Clemons to dive into the latest in the 'Transformers' franchise, ‘Rise of the Beasts.’ The crew dive into the film’s use of the Maximals, Pete Davidson as Mirage, and the potential of the Hasbro cinematic universe. Hosts: Jessica Clemons, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman Producer: Jonathan Kermah Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome into the Ringerverse. Ringers Nexus podcast, Feed for All Things Fandom. Welcome back, everyone, to the Mint Edition, the once-in-a-while podcast, all about the latest fandom that you just can't live without. I'm Steve Allman, senior producer at the Ringer, and joining me today, as always is my co-host, Ringer social producer, Lord of the Means,

explainer of the Midnight Boys. He just came back from a pizza spot off Knickerbocker and Green. Tony's pizza. It's Joe Me a dinner on. Too much sauce on the pizza. Too much sauce. But it's the good sauce. Nah, I just need a little bit less sauce. I mean, I love me like a nice, cheesy pizza.

And this one just had too much sauce. You can't want to most. Honestly, I'll let my pizza be soup. I'm from Chicago. That's true. Where it's just cheese and soup. Yeah. It's like casserole pizza.

Yeah. All right. We got to keep warm under those cold winters. All right. to Mint Edition, and today we have a very, very, very special episode for you today with a very special guest for a person in our third spot, today making her ringer-verse debut. Please give a warm Mint Edition welcome to Jessica Clemens. Hello!

Great. Welcome, Jessica. So excited for you to be here. So excited for you to join us today. So excited to be here. to talk about probably one of the biggest cinematic events of our time, or at least for this week. It's Transformers Rise of the Beasts! During pride. Of all months. I love it.

I'm here for it. They stand, and I'm here for it. Exactly. The allies that are the Autobots are here to give us some transforming goodness, and we're here to talk about it all. But before we begin, you have some programming reminders for you. Monday, the House of Our with Ben and John. Jessica making special appearances will be making their ultimate Spider-Man film.

Stay tuned for that. And on Wednesday, Ben Lindbergh and Jessica will be breaking down their thoughts on Diablo Four, Street Fighter 6. And it says here, Ghalem? Yes. Oh, no. Oh, okay. Okay, we both came at this with wrong energy.

Yeah. Yeah. Go tune in. Go tune in and maybe we'll say how we feel about it. You might just find out some truths. And on Friday, Midnight Boys will give you their instant reactions to The Flash. Long away to Jomey, give us a one-word review of the Flash

before you've even seen it. Ooh, I'm glad you put me on a spot like this right now. That's probably a good. I like ooh because there's a lot that's going on right now. If you've heard, you know, the backstory of what's going on, it's looking like we got to play to stop the cat. They were running up the gas bill

is what they were doing. They were running up that gas bill. All right, we'll tune in for that next Friday. But on today's show, we are talking about Transformers Rhydes of the Beats. Let's fire up the non-canons and take a look at all of the goodness that comes to us from the corporation known as Hasbro.

Spoiler warning for the Transformers franchise and pretty much any Mark Wahlberg property that you care to mention because we'll spoil it all. Let's get into it. All right, our nuts and bolts, Transformers, Rise of the Beast, directed by Stephen Capel Jr.

of Creed II fame, produced by Michael Bay and a bunch of others, starring Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Pete Davidson, Ron Perlman, Michelio. Don't forget Peter Dinklage. Don't forget Peter Dinklage. Because you wouldn't have known unless I had said it.

PD. PD. Oh, no. It is the seventh installment in the Transformer series, currently as of this recording, sitting at a 54% on Rotten Tomatoes critic score with an 88% audience rating. That sounds like it. Yeah, that sounds about right. Sounds about right.

Guys, let's get into our first impressions. Jessica, our first guest, your first opinion here on the Ring or Verse, what did you think of Transformers' Rise of the Beast? I had so much fun, so much fun that this might be my favorite Transformers movie. Okay, we're going to quick moving on. Jomey, what do we think about the Transformers, Rise of the Beast? I thought it was fun. I thought it was definitely better than a lot of the Bay movies, but definitely a step back from Bumblebee.

At the same time, though, it was enjoyable. And that's really what you want in Transformers movies. Again, especially after some of those Bay movies, if there's one you can just watch and not completely hate yourself after watching, then you got to give yourself some kind of credit. And this movie does that. You watch it and like, hey, man, had a good time. Sometimes it's all that matters.

A sensational bar to put ourselves in. You're our resident Transformers expert. Our resident Transformers Stan for all of us. Give us your personal history with Transformers. Do you go all the way back from Gen 1 for the cartoon in the 80s? What is your origin story? Well, being born in 1996, it was not outside for the 80s Transformers joints. But shout out to the CW or the CW back at the time, WB for Kids,

who was out there watching Transformers Cybertron. And let me tell you something, when Jetfire and Optimus Prime would combine, right, that made my whole life, man. So way back when, shout out to the CW back then on them Saturdays, I would lock in on a Transformer's Cybertron. And that's how I fell in love with this franchise. Jessica, what about you? Um, 96, you're a baby.

I was six years old. I'm young. You're a baby. I'm a baby. I'm younger than you're sitting. In the eyes of the Lord, I guess, but I mean, I don't know about anything else. I'm the oldest one in this room. Look at y'all, young.

Youngens. I watched the reruns of Gen 1 with my brother. I was really big into, and I think I told you guys about this, that I'm really into any, like, giant creatures, kajus, any big battles, big, glamorous things going on. I'm obsessed with. I eat it up. So I always was really into Transformers because I was like, these are gyro bots that are aliens turning into cars and hiding in disguise,

like on Earth and going crazy and destroying things. I love it. I eat that up. So that should tell you why I really like this movie because I'm like, I like my stuff not grounded. I like my stuff. When it's like something like this that's clearly a Hasbro, it's a toy. It's a toy.

Even watching that, I was like, these are toys. These are, they're making more merch. They're going crazy with it. I was like, oh, I'm eating. this of. I'm devouring this. I'm the consumer that they literally made the mold for it. You DM'd me the other night and being like, Steve, I have horrible news.

I ate this shit up. I said I ate the shit up. Yeah. I said I ate the shit up. I wish you were in the theater next to me because I kept being like sorry, I'm going to use you as an example. I kept being like, yes, yes. I was like, I watched this part. I was like, do you know what happens here? Because it's when he transforms.

I was like, my roommates were like, Jessica, I get it. I get it. He's a gorilla. And I was like, nah. It's op in the primal. Well, we'll get to that for sure. Quick origin story for me. I didn't actually watch Transformers until Beast Wars was out. And I grew up on Beast Wars. So this was a very, very important film for me to watch

because I literally owe it to my eight-year-old self to watch these and enjoy myself and make sure that my people were represented accurately because the Maximals were probably one of the instrumental cartoons in the... Jomi, don't give me that look. What do you mean? What do you mean your people? All right. Can I take my headphones off and leave now?

Is this the point when I'm allowed to walk out? Can I walk out? What do you mean your people? The beasts? Your people? Okay. The maximal. I was just like, I had never heard that before.

Let him cook. Cheeto. Let him cook. Thank you, Jessica. He's gone to something. You're welcome here anytime. Oh, I don't know if I want to. By people?

All right, man. That's kind of crazy. I have deep eyes. Talking about a gorilla like that. By people. that's much. As Cada was Cada outside the box. Happy first day, Jess.

When I needed to see the out of pocket, but all right, we move. The maximals are very important to me. And I think I'd say when we started off watching this movie, I'd say that we were on the right track. Jomey, what did you think of this intro

that we got from Rise of the Beast? We're introduced to another McGuble. We have a trans-warp key to protect. The evil scourge, who is acting on behalf of the Omicron, who eats planets, is getting every planet in order just to go nom, nom, nom. What did you think of this intro? So, as soon as they, like, the movie starts and, like, not even 30 seconds in, they're like, well, we got to hide the trans warp key.

I kind of knew what kind of movie we were getting ourselves into. Which is just another Transformers movie. Yeah. But at the same time, Scourge was kind of scary at the jump. He's like hiding in the shadows and he's talking crazy to Aplink. And he's like, hey, you're messing up, man. Ape Link, I hadn't remembered that much. I just thought they were saying A.

What? His name is A Blink. Yeah, he put a top hat. He's got a monocle on. Because I was like, oh, wait, is he just like the, like, Messiah, like, silver ape figure? All the other maximals are clearly named after animals. And then this one's Abraham Lincoln. On an alien planet.

Yes. One man on Earth. No, my miss. Look. And so, and then he like puts Aplink out with like two moves. And I'm looking like, I'm like, hey, man, Scourge kind of the real deal. You know, he might have lost the chance. This is obviously the setup to where like, okay, we got to show that the big boss is for real.

So he's got to kill somebody. He can't kill a main character. So he's got to kill the next best thing. Yeah. He's like, well, we're not going to see this guy. for too long. So, you know. I still think that makes him

still look like a murderous killer, though, because it was so quick. And also, I noticed every time he was scourge was killing people, he was doing it like a horrible way, like the armpit slicing or going for someone's like Achilles, but it's on a robot, clearly.

But it was like stabbing them in parts where I was like, humanly, this is horrible. It is, but I wouldn't say that this is like the most inhumane or fucked up way that a robot has killed somebody in the Transformers franchise. Obviously, that goes to the third installment

when I think Megatron is begging for his life. Oh, yeah, that was pretty sad. Megatron has also ripped a lot of robots in half. Yeah, no, no, no, he's the bad guy, so, like, you know, rest and piss to him. But, like, that was genuinely disturbing when I remember Optimus Prime... Ripping his skull from a said?

That was fire. I know. It was nuts. That's a mortal combat fatality right there. Yeah, for real. but the violence was impressive in this one but our maximal's

you know escape go to earth we don't really know what year this is but it's from the future and the past as Michelle Yo so eloquently puts it do you think that overall I'm going to talk about like the broader sense

of this movie first do you think that this film was a bit more of a return to form for the franchise or are we kind of spinning the wheels a little bit. I was getting Return to Form. Were you

getting that, Jumie? Yes, I know. Like, I kind of feel like they've found something, right?

But it still didn't live up to like what Bumblebee gave the franchise. They gave it like an excellent blueprint of how

to use these movies with the humans and the robots and how they coexist and how to like put them in places where they can each succeed

either on their own or together and this movie did a little bit of that, but not to the same effectiveness as Bumblebee. So where I say like, yeah, it was cool, like it had his moments, but then sometimes it was like, oh, man, we're doing this, you know,

there's a specific moment. And the movie is like, ah, too much dip on the chip. Okay. Just a little too much dip on the chip. I think we are at the same moment. Yeah. Let's talk about that moment.

What was, wait, is it the moment when he's in the exosuit and he holds back Optimus Prime from going into? So here's the thing, right? First time I watched it, I showed it, I'm like, this is the worst thing I've ever seen. Okay, which we will get to. Yeah. I promise you that we will.

But if there was a moment that I think that this movie might have been trying to balance the better parts of Bumblebee with the better action moments of, say, the earlier Bay films, I'd say this kind of got the balance just a tiny bit wrong. because we have more humans played by Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback and their plotline is more or less constantly intertwined with the Autobots here.

I think that that's a bit of a better use than, say, in Bumblebee where we have like a large stretch of, like, granted it's a good story, but like if you're here for the Transformers, you're kind of a little disappointed in Bumblebee because you don't get to see that much, It's more of like a cute, fun little, like, girl and her robot type of story. I mean, at the beginning of a movie, they give you, like, 15 minutes.

Right. You're like, oh, man. It's the war of Cybertron. It's an ultimate crime. It's shockwave. Oh, my gosh. And then they're like, hey, we use all the CGI. So good luck with this movie.

And it's also bumblebee is, I think I told you guys this. Like, bumblebee is a prequel. So it's the opening to it. So it's like, yeah, you guys have to blow out this world and get as grounded as possible. But what I like about Beast War, or Rise of the Beast, was more so that I was like, this feels like the animated Transformers that I would watch. This feels like something I'd watch with my nephew

that would be genuinely like, oh, I'm following along and I actually enjoy like the toy aesthetic to all of this versus in Bumblebee where it's a lot of background that's dialogue that for us, of our age, we're listening to and paying attention to and really consuming. But I think a young child is like, yeah, it's a lot about this relationship where we think that Bumblebee might be in love with it.

I've never, ever got the idea that bumblebee wasn't love to try. Go back and watch it. And maybe you'll sing. It was a little shape of bumblebee looking like back then, bro. Yeah, it was highly romantic. And it's okay. Much like Scourge in this film. God, I am.

With his little Boy Scout patches. I'm going to marry him. I'm going to marry that robot. And no one can tell me otherwise. I don't care. We'll get his teeth fix first. He's a fine robot. He might need that mask on, bro.

Oh, well, mass stays on. Massa. I mean, his, yeah, there's PPE for a reason. Unless we're talking about R.C. And her beautiful lips. That, okay, so. All right, we'll get into it. We'll get into that again.

But we can't, we cannot get ahead of ourselves here. A little wild. I ain't going to act like it wasn't distracting. Sorry, keep going. It was very distracting. It was. All right, favorite maximal in the film, go. I mean, it's got to be Optimus Primal.

Come on. Okay, it's not fair. It's not fair because it's Optimus Primal. But if it was, if they gave more. Because he's the person that says more than a line. But you know which one my favorite is? Cheador. Easy.

Easy. Easy. Easy. Easy. I think Rinox was mine. My favorite back in the day. And I'm very upset because you'll immediately see that Ron Perlman as Optimus primal has the bulk of the lines as the maximal. And Chidor barely says one or two things.

He says sorry. Sorry. And like he's like we're like we're being chased in the beginning of the thing. Rinox says nothing. Nothing. It's got no bars for Rinoffs. I feel like, which they could have done the fan service and like just let them talk more. But with Ron Perlman, being Ron Perlman and being that person and also playing as Optimus Primal before in the past, they're probably like, oh, we need to make sure for the fans he gets most of the dialogue.

Rinox was literally like the wise old sage of the entire maximal clan, though. And to know that he was just sitting there doing nothing for this entire movie real tough. I think he's the same voice actor. Please look this up if I'm wrong. The same voice actor playing Ryan Ox is the one that plays Battle Trap. And when I saw that there was two people playing some of the same voice actors, it's kind of like the thing when you're watching animation where you're like, oh, this person's not going to talk as much.

David Solowulf? Yeah. David Sobeloff. Yeah, David Sobeloff. So when I saw that before, I was like either Battle Trap's not going to talk a lot or Rionox isn't going to talk a lot. Also, Air Razor was cooking. You know, she was the first, well, not the first Maxwell will meet,

But when we get to 1994, we spend, like, what, the first, the middle third of the movie with her until we get to the rest of the maximals. I suppose. So, like, she's, like, it's her and Ron Palmer and definitely doing most of the cooking for the maximals throughout the film. But here's my thing. The bulk of the majority of this film is dedicated to the Autobots, finding the Transorb key, and getting to the maximals that are in hiding. Why did we need to do that? If this is Rise of the Beast and we want to be more connected to

the Maximals, why don't we just reverse that? Why don't we just follow the maximals when they land to Earth, learn to trust humans, hide out in Peru? The Autobots do show up with their human companions

and then they're trying to search for everything and then they're a fish out of water because, oh shit, we didn't know that Autobots are here. Oh my God, Optimus Prime is right there. I'm named after you, bro. you're one of the goats, debatable.

But I never thought that we would only kind of just see the maximals in a movie that's called Rise of the Beats. See? So I know you're not locked in, my boy. That's how I know you're not locked in. You've seen Transformers, the age of extinction, right?

Remember when we were like, man, we're fin to get grimlock. It's going to go crazy. Man, it's we fin to go. We're fin to go bonkers, dog. And this movie does actually there's a much better job at that than that movie did. A slightly better job.

They go, we're like, man, we're going to get to Dono boss. Let's go. And they, I swear to God, the last, like, 30 minutes of the film and they're in it for like seven. Yeah. Yeah. Like, it's bad, right? But this movie, I think, I mean, at the end of the day, like, we're here for optimist. We're here for bumblebee.

You know, they want to introduce us. No, I'm not. I'm not. You're not. You're not. But every other person in that theater was. No. Yes.

I think that this is a massive letdown here. I don't know what to tell you, my guy. Like, if you come into a Transformers movie and you're like, man, that's too much Optimus, then you're in the wrong movie. No. I think I'm finally sick of it. I think I'm finally sick of it. I think I'm ready.

I don't think you're wrong. I don't think you're wrong. You're valid in your point. But I think Jomi's just saying from especially money making wise, that's just what the kids and us start doing. We're going to see it for Optimum time. Yeah, but like the bumblebees of the world, like, we're. very sparing with the optimises.

Like, obviously bumblebee is a fan favorite as well, but instead we sacrifice that for Pete Davidson's Mirage. And let's talk about Pete Davidson's mirage real quick. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tramphaya 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 Tramphia, 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 of a

vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tramfaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit Tramphia Radio.com. This episode is brought to by Whole Foods Market. Spring is here, so celebrate it with fresh, juicy, seasonal produce and some very tasty limited time flavors. New Whole Foods, Market Peach, Apricot, Rose, Italian soda. Perfect for a picnic or brunch, as is their trending, Mango, Yuzu, Chantilly cake. But if you're on the go, new 365 strawberry pretzels make a great sweet

snack. That sounds delicious. Get savings with yellow sales sign storewide and everyday low prices on 365 brand items. Enjoy the fresh flavors of spring. Save at Whole Foods Market. Any fans of Pete Davidson in this room? I mean, you know, good dude.

You know, he's funny on SNL sometimes. I saw his hoop mixtape this week. I did. Bro. Yeah, he can he hoop? He could hoop? Can he? Wait, can he hoop?

Or is this bad at as well? You know, was people being real nice to Pete Davidson, you know what I'm saying? Was he not making the shots? No, he was making shots. Again, it's like an edited thing. But I didn't see nobody challenge a shot, you know what I'm saying? He wasn't exactly guarded very well. Exactly.

He was going to slide over and protect the rim. Nobody slid over because he, like, the flea of the first thing, he's like, he's got the ball. He's got like a good, like, you know, grip on it in terms of like, he's got two hands on. He's going for a righty layup. but nobody slides over to protect the paint, you know what I'm saying? So I'm looking at it like, all right, so they are not really playing defense out there. I can't swear that he traveled in that first clip. Nah, you know, you're not.

It's like, Bron does it too. You get the ball. You go like with two hands because you don't want somebody to grab it. And then you just go up with the right, you know, if you're going that way. But it looked like, no, they weren't really playing defense. But, you know, I'm going to let it slide. You know, I've seen, you know, a lot of actors' mixtapes. You know, people are not really playing defense anyway.

So, you know, but he can ball. But, like, in terms of him in this movie? Ah. Yeah. So here's the thing, right, I didn't mind it as much as I thought I would, but the jokes, he was bad in like $250,300, which is not like when baseball is not bad. But when you got a lot of the lines, you got a lot of the jokes and like most of them are hating, it's kind of tough. I agree. And also, I unfortunately think a lot of it was delivery where I was like, it's not landing Pete.

And it's the way your cadence is with it. And I feel like maybe someone could have made these jokes land and it wouldn't sound so, like, cartooning and goofy. It felt like I was watching, like, the goofy movie, and it was like starring Pete Davidson. And I was just like, this is a little, this is a little too cookey. Don't manifest that into existence, please. Because why do I feel like that's going to happen?

Hold on. Hello? I think Disney is on the line for you. Hang up. Hang up. It's for you. It's for you. They want to talk to you.

Goofy's black. I immediately hung up and put it away. So they won't cast Pete Davidson now. Great, great. Thank you. Thank you so much for that. But that's how I felt about Pete Davidson, too. I was like, I didn't hate it as much.

I didn't hate it as much. But I was also like, I don't know. It didn't. It was, I don't know. I also just don't think it was, if it cost you guys more money to do this, I don't think you should have done it. He had to both of the lines, you know,

of almost like any character in the movie, right? And so you're kind of stuck with him. Kind of feel like if you had gotten somebody who, I won't say funnier, but somebody could deliver the lines better, had better lines. reading, you know, he was doing it as Pete Davidson, you know, but if somebody could have done it as Mirage, you know, and, like, found something in the character, we might have been cooking with some

grease. Can I ask you one question? Stop. So, yeah, he was playing as Mirage. Did you think Michelle Yo wasn't playing Air Razor as Michelle Yo? Nah, so here's the thing, right, me and Michelle Yo have a history. That's my best friend. Can you tell me?

Yeah. So, we went to... Long story to history. Long story to history. So me and Van were at a Labor Day party. and Michelle Yo shows up to the Labor Day party And Van likes to tell a story That like I went and I was like karate chopping

And doing like exactly right Like just some wild shit Which I believe Which is not true I believe this Me and Michelle like she you know She's coming like hey You know my name is Jome

Big fan of you know everything I were all I once It's like thank you Oh this post everything This post Academy Award Or is it no this post her Before the Academy Award We know she was gonna win

Yeah yeah yeah yeah And you know great We had a conversation And she's like, you know, she's going to be like, hey, big fan. Van likes to say, like, I was acting crazy and gone on nuts. But really, we just, you know, have like, you know, regular conversation. I was starstruck, buddy. I was starstruck, but I was playing it cool.

And I was anything like, hey, you know, wonderful to meet you. You literally can't do both. You can do. That's not. That's not a starstruck. You can be like, holy crap, I'm in this moment, but be cool, calm, collected under pressure. No, no, no, no. Like, like, being starstruck is like being around, like, a police officer.

Like, you could act like you're being normal, but you're not being normal. No. Like you're just like you're like, like, you're like, oh my God. You can be like, it's kind of, Steve, what do you talk? You can't like, you can't comprehendalize. You can't be like, holy crap. I'm living like a crazy moment, but also be like, like imagine like being like, like, like you're an NBA player, man, five seconds on a clock.

You like freaking out. Like you're in the finals, five seconds left. Of course you're freaking out. You want to win the game. But you do what you got to do. If it works out, it don't work out it. You know what I'm saying? I get where you're both.

If you met Optimus Prime in real life, you would not be able to compartmentalize. Well, that's an alien. It's an alien. If a 20-foot robot showed up and was like, Toby, I need you. I'd be like, holy crap. Oh, my gosh. It's a real role. Transformers are real.

What does that mean? She's a real human person. I can be like, wow. What does this mean for Peter Cullen? What does this mean for? Can I marry one? Right? I need you to find that out.

This is awesome. By the same time, I can be like a normal human being and conduct normal human being business. That's how it is. Anyway. Michelle, you know, as air razor. I think there's like, I. Again, as my homie, I'm going to sit here and say, hey, she did a great job. She was fantastic.

It was good. I think, like, I mean, a lot of it was, you know, her, now I don't say doing exposition, but it was a lot of, you know, hey, this is why we're here. This is what's going on. You know, and it wasn't until, because she does have to do a bit of acting at the end where she's like, I'm changing. Like, you have to do what you got to do, you know. The rot of scourge.

Right. And so I think she did a pretty good job I think Ron Pullman did a really good job I mean he's reprising the role like Yeah Ron's good at playing a Peter Dinglidge was incredible You know as Scourge Like I didn't even recognize his voice

Until I saw the credits role I was like the guy plays a great villain Like you know I was legitimately Because Obdra's Prime He's giving him like the shit Optum Prime is in that day Like I'm gonna watch you die Scurge like bed show shit

I like see that happen And I'm like alright let's go You know I was locked in on that. So, like, in terms of, like, the performance of the robots, I think Pete Davidson, like, was just doing his thing. And we'll get to, get to the homie. Wheeljack. Wheeljack. Oh, boy.

I need to go on Instagram and Twitter and change my photo because it's me and wheeljack. This wheeljack. No. We have the little glasses, so I thought it was true. Oh, my God. Okay. All right. So, I think, I think this, before we get to wheel jack, I would like to get, like, a point.

that you mentioned, Jess, before we started recording, about they could have hidden all of these names away from us. Yeah. And we wouldn't have known. Yeah. Not to say that their performances are great, but, like, outside of Peter Cullen, like, there has not really needed to be any sort of, like, iconic,

big name actor to voice any of these robots. But we're getting the Super Mario. We're getting the... That's a struggle what we're doing in Hollywood with VOs, but like, yeah, voice actors. But it's like, I get what you're coming from when you're saying the acting, because, like, Michelle Yo did deliver performance. Yes, that is true.

And I think she's really good. I think she can cross and do the voice acting and do acting. But then it's like, Liza Koshi, I did not even hear that voice. Right. I don't know who that was. Yeah, R.C. And so I was like, I knew the list of actors before, when the trailer came out, because I was like, oh, let's look at all of them.

And I was like, oh, Liza Koshi, the YouTube person, the Viner? And then I was like, Peter Dinkledge? Like, this is insane. And then I was like, what am I getting? What am I getting? This could have been anybody. And I don't know. I don't know.

That's just how I mean. Well, they've done it for like all the movies. You know, Pridic Collins is always going to be off the prime. Pretty sure they've got like the same James Earl Jones deal that guy with him where like we're going to put that thing on an AI machine. In the re-speecher. And then we just don't have to do that for the rest of the time. But I mean, in the first one, Hugo Weaving is Megatron. Yes.

Right. And then in. Dark of the Moon, Leonard Nimoy, rest in peace, is Sentinel Prime. So, like, you know, they always, like, dip in and get, like, big-name actors when they feel like they can deliver their performances. So, like, this is, my curiosity is, does it, if you X out anybody from the cast, does it make the CG better? Can we divert somebody's check over to the VFX budget? What was wrong with the VFX, Steve? I would also like to hear that.

I'm not in that, I'm only saying that in a way of, like, I don't really, but this movie, there's so much. going on. Right. I was like, I'm trying to think of a movie that has perfect VFX and if we could

have even applied that to this movie that had so, Scorponox's fighting Rhinox. And I'm like, it's kind of impossible. I asked that question

to lead into this question and it's because do we need a Transformers movie with humans at all? Because obviously there needs to be some sort of like outside of the human connection

of making a story relatable to a humans and making a sort of like tangential B plot for the Sandwit wikis of the world, for the Anthony Ramoses of the world, for the Dominic Fishbacks of the world, if we were to say X out all of these human stories and just make a story that is primarily dealing with the Transformers POV, I don't know if that's like more expensive, less expensive, more money, less money, probably is, but let's get to Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishbacks

storylines here. Do we have to? I mean, the movie has to, so we have to. I think they did a good job and maybe, please, knock me down if this is incorrect. I think they did a good job

trying to... Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, right there. Stop me right there. I think they did a good job justifying why the humans were there better than when Sam Whitwicky wasn't needed because he was not needed.

He was not needed. And I would argue that like in even Bumblebee, Charlie was forcing herself in there because she had that connection with Bumblebee. But I think they were trying to justify Dominic Fischbach being there by being like, she's the only one that has the hieroglyphs for this weird tunnel in Peru. We need to get her in there. But I saw R.C. show a straight up hologram.

And I'm like, so you're telling me, you guys cannot take that notebook, go to Peru yourselves on this giant robot and go yourself. But I think they tried like putting that in there that's like, Alana at least has to go. Not necessarily Anthony Ramos, but Dominic Fishback has to go. Anthony Ramos kind of forced himself in there, which was clear we saw that scene where he did. He was like, I'm going because you couldn't even save your own world. That was crazy.

You was talking to Optimus prompt. That line, I thought about you immediately, Joe Me. Jomey, I thought of you immediately. That was the most disrespectful thing I've ever heard in my time. I was ready for that energy. Respect your elders. Jomey, I thought of you immediately. Have some goddamn respect for Optimus Prom.

Do you know how much he sacrificed? First of all, first of all. That's nuts. Here's the greatest part. Forget the history of Optimus Prime being like a badass or whatever that's debatable. You're standing next to like a hundred foot tall semi-truck that could just step on you. And you'd be like, hey, loser, where's your home planet? I heard you got like talking nuts to a alien robot.

I think he was just talking that shit because he was like, oh, at least I got one. That and I got Mirage. And I'm like, Marage could get torn apart by Optimus Prime. You're out of your mind. This guy picked you up and was honestly about to, like, crush you. He put you up, he was like, you know what? If Optimus Prime wasn't like Optimus Prime, you know, with his, you know, the gravitas and like the will and just like the commanding sense of honor that he was, he would have just killed that boy. Easy.

Easy. So you don't respect your goats when they talk. I thought of you, Jomey. And I was like, if Jomey was in this room, even as a line read, I think Jomey would have just like immediately hit Anthony. He was in that room. Respect your elders, my boy. He was so mad. Cross the face.

The thing with Anthony Ramos, like, his character, honestly, is, it's an interesting thing because this, I think this is a first time across the movies where Obnus Prime has an arc and he has to, like, learn something. You know, normally he's just like, the goat, he's just doing his thing.

No, he just doesn't learn anything because maybe he's, like, way too arrogant. That's not true. See, now you talk crazy. See, Steve, we're not going to do this on a podcast. Maybe I wasn't marooned on a planet after taking a massive L and then couldn't stop

staying on Earth. You're Anthony Ramos' You're on Anthony Ramos' side when he said. That's so much on Anthony Ramos' side is more of I am pro-optimus primal for like actually laying in the cut and not doing anything rather than He did his job.

What was Optimus doing? Optimus was being overrated. What was Opeliorated doing what? Overrated. Overrated how? Steve, explain yourself because you're talking crazy right now. You're talking the same right now. They was doing the same thing.

The bean came up. Optimus was like, oh, I'm right there. Let me get into action. Maximil was laying in the cuff for hundreds probably of years. Not doing it perfectly hidden. So because they wasn't fighting nobody, right? Because they left. No, because they had an objective to hide the key.

And they did that. Okay. What was Optimus's goal? He was fighting. Get back to Cybertron. Okay. So I'm confused. Yeah, I'm confused.

What's the problem with Optimus? Why is this a lot of Earth? Because he can't get back home without the key. He doesn't have the key. You can't do shit without anything. What the fuck are you talking about? What the fuck was he supposed to do? Jess, back me up here.

Was he supposed to walk to say I'm overrated or underrated? Wait, wait, wait, okay. I never said either of them are overrated. I will say, honestly, I think Optimus Primal, yes, is a better leader than Optimus Prime. And the only reason I say that is because he was immediately like, hey, think level-headed. And he had to teach the oldest person, technically Optimus Prime, didn't know. He was the oldest. But it's like, hey, I was named after you.

And I'm the one telling you, we need to be level-headed about this. He was the buffer between the humans and the cybertribians. So I was like, this is, yes, Optimus Primal should be the leader. He is the leader. He's the one actually helping Optimus Prime. But I'm also like, yeah, Optimus Prime didn't have a lot. Crime doesn't induce people. Oh, yeah, I know a human who was nice to you once, Bumblebee, but fuck that.

I'm not saying that Optimus Prime didn't have to learn a lesson. I'm like, that's one of the good things about the movies. Like, the first time is like, hey, man, like, I got to step back and re-evaluate what my, you know, my parties are, what my thoughts are. You know, this is not going to work. As being on Earth is not going to work if we don't align with these people, these humans who are also here who can also help us, right? That's, like, a big lesson. That's one of the things that, like, in the first five movies, doesn't happen. Like, the humans and the robots are just connected by proximity, just because they're close together.

And these last two movies, they both have. objectives that line up and you're like, okay, that's why these movies work so much better because the humans and the robots can relate to something that isn't just the world's going to end. Can, and third party point of view, if you only started Transformers with Bumblebee and then you went on to this movie, would you still feel the same way about Optimus Prime? Of course not. You don't get the back.

You don't get any backstory. Yeah, you don't have any backstory, right? I have no idea, like, what kind of duty is, you know? Because it's like, if that's how we're moving forward in the stories is more with the bumblebee and the rise of the beast and then whatever comes afterwards, should we continue adding what Michael Bay's Optimus Prime did to this one? Does that make sense? Because think about this, we're canonically in 1994 right now. Yeah. Which the amount of 90s throwbacks here and like 90s pandering. I saw every Wu-Tang reference every two minutes. His room is just like, do you remember 90s? Like, yeah. Wow.

You had a day-loss-sold tape like immediately right here, and I was like, I got it. I think the craziest thing in this movie, the craziest thing, was putting in the O.J. Chase on the television. Because I, for a second, thought that that white four Bronco was going to turn into something. And I'm not... A decepticon. I thought that that white four Bronco was a decepticon. I couldn't... You put a...

You put the O.J. Chase. in a movie with a bunch of transforming cars that are hiding among us. So here's the thing, right? If it was a Michael Bay movie, if Michael Bay directed this movie, 100% would have been happened. That's 100% how that would have been.

Michael Bay would have thought I'd been funny. Yeah, he would have absolutely would have done that. Yeah. He absolutely would have done that. That's the thing that makes that so funny. Am I fucked up for thinking like that though? No. Well, I mean, the car would have probably transformed

and then took OJ out of the side and then just kept going. Or you just like saw a little decepticon. I don't know. Actually, Mirage literally flipped off the collar. when he made himself into double, so maybe the car would have just flipped off the car. Again, like in the fifth movie,

a Transforming Watch killed Hitler. So honestly, anything is possible in this universe. Anything is possible. That was the wildest thing. That was so nuts. Yeah, Cermilip making a face. Wait, what? Yeah, you're not locked in.

You don't remember that. Bumblebee fought. I did not watch the, what? Bumblebee fought Nazis. Yes. And they watched Killed Hitler. I know you fucking lie. I swear to God.

Hey, if Indiana Jones can do it, Bumblebee can do it. Let, you know, it's Kerm. You got a lot of work to, man. They've got such history. You got a lot. Lock in, my boy. They were there like the winter soldier pulling all the strings to all of the major conflicts.

And if we had seen a deceptical. My thing. During that. So here's the thing, right? The Anthony Ramos of it all is the fact that, like, it's not the worst storyline. It's not the worst through line. I don't really believe after Anthony, Ramos was really like there.

You know what I mean? No. Like he didn't like land for me. He was saying them lines, but it was kind of like, all right, my boy. All right, Hamilton, man. You're doing your thing. You're not really, you know, which is tough. God damn. Because like, again, up until the point where he's a Power Ranger, it's not bad.

He wishes he was a Power Ranger. It's not bad in terms of like, I understand where the story's going. But his performance wasn't like, I'm not going to say it was terrible. I didn't mind it, but it was just like, it was lacking a little bit, like a little bit. When can we talk about him being an Iron Man? We're going to get there in a little bit because when we go to Peru, and that's basically like the biggest mission that the humans have, we meet Wheeljack, and there was another moment that we wanted to talk about

where we meet Wheeljack, and there's a bit of a lost in translation moment between Wheeljack and Noah. What did we think about this in regards to, accent work for robots. I think they were trying to make that justification. Not even a justification. They were just like, oh, people are going to question this. We need to find a way to add it in. Is it not weird?

No, it is very weird. It is very weird. And also the way that it was approached was very weird of being like, well, that's racist of you. And being like, oh, we're getting into how you develop the accent when, where did it come from? Where did you come from? I'm like, uh, they could have just. not mentioned this. And I have believed

that giant robots were walking among us. Maybe one that was hanging out in Peru might have picked up some dialects. It's weird. It's weird. It's weird.

It's weird. I didn't know how to feel. I didn't laugh at it because I was so confused by it. I was like, I got it because it's like, okay, so in a cross spoilers for across the spider verse.

Whoa. When Miles first meets Miguel. And he's like, oh, you speak Spanish? Hey, K-Tel. You know, it's kind of like the same thing where it's like, oh, you seem like you speak Maddo 70. It was like, uh, not really.

I'm a car. So I don't really, you know, I just speak English. He's like, oh, well, your accent. He's like, that's like, that's kind of racist, my boy. He's like, how was that racist? You're a car. Like, it doesn't really make sense. Like, I was like, all right.

I can understand what they were going for. Like, that was, yeah. Wasn't the end of the world. I genuinely didn't know how to feel because I was like, wait, what, what point are we making right now? I got the bit, I got the bit, but I also was just like, oh, I think they're, I don't want to be this person, but I'm like, I'd rather you acknowledge that they all have lips versus this right now. And I need you to acknowledge that, or maybe acknowledge that half of the Autobots are black people. And when I say that, I think we've talked about this briefly where I was like, I'm Miss Prime as a black guy.

Oh, boy. Oh, my God. You side with Charles Holmes. I do, I do side with Charles. Oh, okay. Am I not? Am I the odd one in the room? Am I the odd one in the room?

So, say this thing, man. So I go back to, like, the first Transformers, right? Jazz is black. Yes. But, like, they code him black. Like, it's like, yo, you're going to kick it. You know, like, it's real. You know what I'm saying?

It's real, you know what I'm saying? And my thing is, like, if I'm doing this problem is black, then he's, like, one of them old black people. You know what I mean? That's what I was getting, like, a granddad. am I not okay I mean like I don't I don't know I'm looking at you see

I'm not waiting I don't get out of it Steve you turn around Mike is off I don't know man Optum's problem always been like you know like I kind of feel like

like if all the white people you could like trust Steve turn back around in fiction okay in fiction it's like maybe like

like obvious problem like maybe Steve Rogers and that's it so he so outside of that he so Optimus problem is top-tier white people? Yeah, like, if I had to think about it, like, if you, like, gun to my head, like, Optus Prime is, like, probably the one white person, like, in picture.

I'm, like, I'm rocking with Adipus Prime. Like, you're not going to get me killed, you know what I mean, like off some BS, you know. But it's interesting to think about it because I've never really thought about, like, you know, obviously, like, Elmo's Black, Grimmis is Black. Yeah. You know what I mean? But Obt's Prime always just been, like, one of, like, man, you know, if that one white man, it would be Audub's Prong, you know.

I never put it like that Because again, jazz, like, you can make a... I know, jazz clearly is, like, jazz came in breakdancing, basically, and then said, what, oh, God, like, and it was really bad. It was aggressively, like,

who wrote this in there? Michael Bay probably. Michael Bay probably. This is what I think they do. And so I, but, yeah, I was like, I think they're just trying to approach it. They were trying to address it, maybe because they're like,

no one's ever going to talk about this. I thought it was funny. I thought it was like, it's not racist because it's a robot and it's like, oh, yeah. In order to avoid any controversy, I would have just had them all talk like Bumblebee and they just all talk in sound clips from movies. How much do you have, you do not have much money for that? You're trying to license out every single movie that ever came out? I'm surprised at the ones that they got. They got one from They Live, from like, I'm here to kick ass.

Yeah. And they forgot in two bumble gum. Yeah. They should have just said in chew bubble gum. Robots can't chew bubble gum. So why would he say that? They have lips. They have lips.

They have fucked up teeth so they can chew bubble gum. I don't know if it's going to get fucked up in the gears. So we've like broached the lips topic. Let's just sit on it for like two seconds. Because the thing with Optimus is he doesn't have teeth. He doesn't, but he has lips. Well, Optimus has, okay, so no lips and it's always usually covered with the middle here. You know, yeah.

But when it's open, he's just got like kind of like, he's got the two lips. Yeah. But like R.C.'s got lips and... So does Wheeljack. Wheeljack's got lips. But like also, like, the teeth thing is like the thing that like really throws it off, right? Because Mirage doesn't have the teeth and it doesn't look too crazy. Right?

Mind you, Stratosphere has a beard. He's got a mustache. Again. A lot of them had beard. Some had canes. Why? Well, that was, what's his name? Jet Fire and Revenge of the Fallen.

It's like some, like the accessories are sounded weird, but we get there. that close up of RC with the with the missile coming through and I'm like I'm not looking at this robot I was like yo man that's she got the teeth you gotta you can't have like the like the they're like porcelain yeah like she got veneers

I don't think she got veneas the thing is like you can't really like tell like it's just you just know what's different and it's like a little like hint of teeth where Mirage and Optimus don't again it's a close up slow motion and like ah that's that's a little doing a little too much

Sam, my boy, he's got to turn that down back. She's kind of got the duck-faced mile thing. A little bit. She had a little bit. They were like, oh, what feminine features can we put on this robot? And they did the lips. They made her very curvy. Yeah.

She's always been curvy, though. Am I sure? Well, she has been. There's a version of her that's actually, like, built like a truck, and it didn't do well. Didn't sell numbers. Even, like, in the newer one. They don't want Mommy RC? No.

Tough. Well. Well. Well, she ain't built, like, Missincredible. but she's something. She's something right now. Jessica. What?

Okay. You were looking at her. We were all looking at her. We were all looking at her. I was not looking at scourge. I was not looking at scourge. Go back. Funny enough.

Go back. He turns around, walks towards the volcano, and I went, is this? Am I that volcano? Is this? Is this? Is this getting anybody else? Is this? She's like, I could fix him.

I can fix him. I could. I could do it. Could you fix him? Do robots, do therapy? You're like, hi. He just kept killing people and put an emblem. I like huge. I get all those.

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We're talking about the finale of the movie anyway. Biggest problem for me, the maximal is only maximized once. That was like the biggest Travis Dever. How many times did you want them to maximize, Steve? I wanted them to be in the movie. I wanted them to be the biggest part of the movie, and they weren't. So if we're not getting what I wanted, I got to see after the prime transfer

like three times in the first 15 minutes. Yeah. And it was awesome. Yeah. Sorry, so girl. All right, sorry. There's a difference. There is a difference.

Okay, because that was my only thing. I was like, yeah, I guess they didn't really turn into their transform into their war self. They just stayed in that form as the animals. But like, can you recall what Cheador maximized looks like in this movie? Can you remember what Rinox looks like? I think he's the coolest one. The spear for Cheetah. I would tell you what.

Cheador, like, you got to see a spear. You definitely barely saw a Rhinops with the hammer. I was so mad. You barely saw him with the hammer. He had to like, look, get some, you know, like. Bumblebee got more screen time being asleep than Rinox got transformed. Yeah, it's bumblebee. That's tough.

Fucking Bumblebee, like always on the sidelines. It goes off to his prime, bumblebee. Bumblebee is the Anthony Davis of the auto parts. Can't stop getting injured. Wow. Can't stop being on the sideline. Great talent. And this comes from a guy whose poverty-ass team didn't even make the playing.

That's fine. But guess what? You feel me talking crazy. Every time Anthony Davis goes up for the label You get scared He got a long-toe ball on his roster And he's talking about Anthony Davis Show some respect, my boy

NBA champion NBA champion Yes, great Can't stop getting injured That's crazy Glass cannon Wow Bumblebee

Glass cannon Since we're talking about the family Let's talk about Our guy Marash I got Marash So I mean Let's look at that Macon

Let's dive in right They're like guys It's over We lost It's done. Let's all go home. Let's think about our families. And then Dominique Fishback is like,

hold on, hold on, hold on. I got the key, guys. I was given an important job of going on the computer. I got the key, guys. Don't worry. Don't worry. Maximal is like, hey, we got a slim chance. But if they can input this key into the thing,

then we might have it. Just lucky enough, the tunnels are human size. Wow, if they were any smaller, we would have lost. Oh, no. Just enough to put two humans in there. And two human-sized little microbots that only Scourge has and nobody else. And are the worst killing machines in the history of killing machines. Dude, that jump scare in the museum.

And I was like, oh, they're really good. It started running on two legs. And throughout the rest of the movie, it's a spider. And I was like, oh, this is a good, this is a good character. And then I was like, it missed every shot. Every stab, every blade, was literally had extra arms than everybody else. and missed every damn murder. You could cut somebody to shreds just walking into somebody being that thing.

And absolute trash. Literal, literal clowns. Like, they did Jurassic Park in the museum. Oh, yeah. And you're thinking, like, oh, man, it's scary. And they go 0 for three. They don't kill nobody. And you're like, well, thanks for coming out.

That's a good example of going back to Jurassic Park because that's exactly what it was. Not a clever girl. That's exactly what it was. Oh, my gosh. And so, yeah. And we're like, okay, cool, we have like a finale thing. Like, all right, I guess we're going to give it a shot.

And, you know, Steve was mad about them not maximizing the end, but like, they do do the thing. Both primal and prime are like, auto bots, roll out. And you're like, oh, cool. I mean, it doesn't really like hit the same. Like, does not be honest, but it's still like kind of cool. But I like the movie. That, honestly, the last fight was probably like the weakest part of the film. It's really bad.

It's not great. If, I, I just want to clear it up. It's not the fight that was like, or are you saying the fight that also include like, the people on the floor? The whole thing. Oh, I loved it. The mechanics of it. No.

Oh, my gosh. Really? What worked for you? I ate that up. As soon as I saw her on the Rinox flip into the stance of like literally Black Widow shooting the gun bullets, I was eating that up. As soon as I saw them transform, uh, chudor, I was like, oh my God, he has the spear. Oh, my God.

He finally transformed. I hope you liked that five seconds of him doing that. that and then never seeing it again. I think the problem in that is that they didn't do it again earlier. It's not that they did it in the fight. We got it finally. I'm sorry that it didn't happen earlier, but it's like we got it in the fight. And then it was until it was right when they got the exosuit was when I went, okay.

We're giving this too much. Again, like there's not, when you want to see these movies like me personally, I want to see the Autobots fight, the Terracons or the Repercons, whatever, I don't just see the robots go crazy. There was not enough of that in the last fighting. Absolutely not. It just was not enough of that. We spend a lot of time with Elena and Noah, and Noah turns out to be the greatest Autobot in history of Autobots.

Because he, you know, Mirage dies. And he's like, bro, just put me on. You know, I got your back. I need you to take the wheel. Take the wheel. And I ain't know lie. First time I saw that, I was like, hey, man, I want my money back. No way we're doing this.

The thing is, did you not know it was going to happen? Nah. Oh, it was in the trailer. What? Yeah. In the trailer, he says, take the wheel and he gets the exosuit on his hand. And then we see him later in the trailer on the back of bumblebee skidding off in the exosuit. Yeah, see, I didn't see that.

Maybe my brain blocked that out because it was that stupid. No, I knew the Xo shoot was coming. I had no idea. I was like, yo, this is sick. Now, on the second watch, I didn't mind it that much. It was, all right, cool, this happened. It's not the other world. The part that I will never understand for the life of me.

And this is like way too much dip on the chip between the humans and the Autobots. Is when Optus Prime destroys the key, the thing's exploding. He's getting sucked back into it. He's got the axe. He's trying to hold on to the axe. Or the axe, it's not going now. And if somebody grabs the axe and it's Noah in the suit. And I was like, yeah, you feel.

No, man. That cannot stand. I don't. I just blocking it. out. I'm trying to block it. I literally was like, this is the one scene in the movie where I'm just going to act like it never happened. Here's what we didn't get in lieu of Noah, like basically a Captain America bicep curling the helicopter

into himself. Didn't get any Maximus trying to do that. Yeah. Didn't get a single transformer helping Optimus. Didn't even really know how well the Maximus did in that fight until the end when they're like, oh, the day is saved. But we have to... What is that made of, by the way, that a tiny human can actually, like,

hold on to the... Continuity-wise, it made no sense because it was also like, Mirage couldn't even fight like scourge on his own, let alone pull the Optimus Prime out of a... Optimus Prime... ...Woptimus Prime with the axe. It's sad.

First of all. again decorum Steve respect your goat saved by a little tiny human man that actually disrespected him think that was nuts and then like what he let's go right

it doesn't work out and then who comes obdus promum I'm like he should have been in the first place cut there cut to that I was talking to Steve about that and I was like I think this is the part of the script where they were like

look here it's transforms this is my voice for the guy that wrote them are you big Hasbro right now Yeah, I am. Okay. Look here.

We got to still make this a child moving. It got to have some message at the end. And that's the all for one. Well, Mr. Ficino as CEO of Hasbro, what you say goes. It's all for one. And all for one is not just the maximals and the Autobots. It's also the humans. So you had to put Anthony Ramos' character, Noah in there to also try saving.

So they're like, all for one. Three's a team. And I was like, he shouldn't be able to help. Yeah. Yeah. Burn. Go. Yeah.

Yeah. Get out. It should have just been Optimus Primal. And then we would have just had that convergence of Optimus Primal and Optimus Prime being like, you know what? Humans aren't bad. Yeah. You guys figured out.

Fis bumped the little human man. And then you're like, yeah, you're cool. We're cool. He's gone away now. He helped me a little bit at the beginning shooting and falling and tripping. But that's it. And then saved me from a giant space portal that was going to eat a planet and me. What do you guys think?

What if like it switched? And instead of Obnus Prime being the one that got saved by Noah, What if Noah was saved by Optimus Prime? Better. Better. Easy, right. But I think there was that, then who would have, I guess, blew up that? What is he going to do?

Pinch his shirt? What not? How is he going to hold it? Yeah, I mean, like, I guess, like, Optimus Prime makes sense to blow up the thing because he's Oppens' Oppenist Prime. But, like, if Noah took one of his arm cannons, blew the thing up, Auburns Prime came, saved him. And then Prime was getting messed up.

And then Primal came and saved him. Right. We'd be like, awful one. We'd be like, oh, okay, kumbaya, man, it's kind of makes sense. I'd be less mad about, uh, Noah being able to blow up the key, then by Noah being able to save Octo's Prime. 100%.

That's insane. I agree. That was the part where I'm like, I'm just going to block this out. I'm just going to act like that didn't happen. That's the one. But even if you like, because you can kind of get over the suit thing

after seeing it for the first time. I'm like, I'm like, that's kind of whatever, like he can't let that slide. But him saving Autos Prime, never in a million years. It's also a mark one suit.

Maybe it'll look better and be just, ooh. I get these marks like they're going to do it again. I bet you it won. much money. Listen, depends on the money, but also they're going to read the reviews.

They're going to listen to this podcast. Shout out to Hasbro. I know you're listening. I know you're listening. Big fans. You know, you know my address, send me merch.

But at the same time, people, I don't really think people are going to rock with this as a whole. So then bringing it back is probably not the ideal thing. I wonder if you want to continue to sell this product.

I want to know what we are rocking with come the end of this movie. Epilogue time. Anthony Ramos gets his job. his little brother is seemingly better from his illness I don't think he is I don't think it is Steve that's weird that you laughed about that

that was funny to you the whole like the whole ending is like hey man his little brother's plight was like needlessly cruel I mean well I mean part of it is like look he's sick he can't pay like they can't pay for his medical bills like I think it was I think the the whole arc about that is it's less about him being like sick He does want to help his brother,

but at the end of the day, like, we have to find a way to pay for his stuff. That's why when, you know, the ending that scene with him and the dude is like, don't worry, we'll take care of your brother's bills. Like, you won't ever have to worry about that ever again for rest of the world.

Which is very nice. Very nice. But also. I'd also ask for money. I'd be like, that's so. Like, what are you going to pay me? I'd be like, I want,

I didn't get to sell mirage like, like my buddy said. Exactly. I'd be like, great. I don't have this giant military exosuit to possibly. Possibly sell. Not to be this person. Not to be this person.

Not to be this person. But it's like, yeah, great. I would love better doctors for my brother. I need this. I'd also like food on our table and like to also take care of our living situation. Can you give me money instead of trying to give me a job? He offered him a job. Well, Michael Kelly coming in from the top rope, House of Cards fame, a bunch of other stuff.

We love Michael Kelly. Oh, sorry. Wait, sorry. Were you surprised when he showed up? No. So, no. Well, I was a surprise when he showed up. But that entire scene, I'm thinking, oh, man, sector seven.

He's going to get recruited to sector seven. That's what I said. Like from beginning to end, as soon he's like, oh, so I was Peru, I was like, oh, he's going to get his sector seven, man. It's probably be like, you know, he ought to be like Seymour Simmons, like, you know, Homeboy. Seymour's Sim.

Yeah. You know. And then he flips the card over in his GI Joe. G. And I was like, yo, dog, fellas. Hasbrook Sinemaug and Universe, man. We're cooking. We locked in.

H-CU, baby. I'm excited. I'm excited. Hot Wheels is in Hasbro, right? Hot Wheels is... Is that Mattel? Hold on. Because Hot Wheels is Mattel.

I think Hot Wheels is Mattel. Okay, because I was like, oh, they're all going to get together. But I was like, I'm not surprised about it. Also, it reminded me of me as like a child, like, playing, like, work or something with my mom and being like, here's my card. And it's like, G.I. Joe. But I was like, oh, don't we have a lot of G.I. Joe movies? and didn't we plan on doing a sequel to one of them? So is it just going to converge?

Because the last one that came out was snake eyes. So are they just going to convert snake eyes with this? I would imagine it's kind of be the same alliance of Bumblebee where it's like kind of a reboot. Oh, yeah. You know, where like you might use the same characters. To think we were going to be rebooting the G.I. Joe franchise inside of the Transformers.

Well, here's the thing. Guys, ladies and gentlemen, everybody, in the side of my voice. You know what else is canon to the HCU? What? Battleship, baby! Oh, that's going to be fun. We're bringing Rihanna back. Right.

Yeah. Liam Nisi? Liam Nisi? I like the idea of battleships coming into play and it's just being a transformer that shoots rockets out of another transformer. I'm waiting for something in these properties to beat a transformer. Dungeons and Dragons. Hasbro.

Under Hasbro. All right. So here's what I was about to do with thought experiment. Let's expand the Hasbro Cinematic Universe and let's run down the list of properties that we think could actually stand toe to toe. I love this. Action Man. You don't really know who action man is.

He's just an action figure. Dungeons and Dragons is technically licensed for the action figures for Hasbro. Lock me in. Let's go. Keep it moving. Lock me in. Mr. Potato Head.

Yes. No, wait, no. Wait a minute. No. I got very excited. Finish the thought. Where do we go with Mr. Potato Head? I love Mr. Potato Head.

Do we bring back Don Rickles? What if he? Okay. Oppenheimer, but it's Mr. Potato Head is Killian Murphy. Oh, shit. We just have Mr. Potato Head playing that straight up, and we play in like a normal world, like, Barbie. But it's Mr. Potato Head, and he's actually just creating the world's most near-border. I'm thinking he's like a villain like Clayface.

Yeah. He's a monster. Just a quick break, Steve. Do you say bring back Don Rickles? Yeah, he's dead. He's been dead for six years. Six years. We can bring him back.

Fire up the Reese Beecher, baby. We can do that. He signed the NDD. We were just talking with Disney. Jesus. Talk about Disney. John Rickles. All right, we could tell you.

I'm also. seeing we have the micro machines. We haven't really explored the micro machines. No. Oh, my little pony. My little pony. Guys, come on. Come on.

Come on. Okay, I don't think they can. No, they can. That animated series was so popular, so big. That's a different world. I don't know you can blend that. So here's your name right. Check this out.

I'm listening. Live action, my little pony. Where's my wallet? Come on. Where's my wallet? Come on. Where's my money? Come on.

Do you think you can blend my little pony with the Dungeons and the Dragons? and then just make that, like, they get their own work. So that's, you start off with My Little Pony 1. Yes. Okay, then you go My Little Pony 2, friendship is magic. Right. Right. And then My Little Pony 3.

Because you got at least working trilogies before you cross over. And they will make money. Oh, gosh. You'll make money. Without a doubt, My Little Pony. Are you kidding? You fight. My thing with My Little Pony is, are they trying to, going to humanify it like they do with

Transformers where, like, they leave wherever the My Little Ponies are from and come to Earth. And then they become people. Twilight Sparkle is stuck, you know, in, like, Iowa with some girl. And, like, they got to find a way to get back to the, to the kingdom. Yeah, it has to be a, it has to be a horse girl flick. So it's going to be like, I'm going to throw something out at you. Okay, go ahead.

Monopoly. Now hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Okay. I'm listening. All right. Monopoly guy, obviously.

Big heel. Big villain. All of the pieces. We got a car. We got a shoe. We got an iron. We got a dog. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, Transformer.

Hold on. So, Auto Transformers buying and selling properties and properties. Yes. Obes problems like Baltic Avenue. Can't have it. Can't have it. Can't have it.

Sell it. You know, autobots. We're converging on chariot. Roll out. Like, oh, maybe. Maybe could we... Get those hotels ready. Okay.

Okay. No, I understand. I see what's going on. I'm such a... Or Scrabble. No. That's too many words. No.

I like monopoly. You like the idea of monopoly? I also like going the, I always go the dark route because I like dark things, I guess. Well, it's capitalism. Yeah, exactly. And I was like, oh my gosh, what's the new? Is it Martin Sorcezi, the flower? Is it Martin Sorceza's the name?

Killers of the flower moon. Do that, but monopoly. Oh, shit. All right, so Leo is the monopoly guy? Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Leo's the monopoly guy.

And it's young monopoly. Oh, shit. Pre mustache. Pre. Pre. Pre. And this is him coming to his money, literally murdering people. on the blood of other people.

So it's there will be blood, but with hotels and property. Yes. Perfect. I think we got something going on. I'm nervous about the My Little Pony, though. They're already on top of that. They're definitely on top of that. They're coming.

They're just about to green light the Zelda movie for Illumination, which I think that might be the first trillion dollar box office movie. I don't think that that's not going to be... Is it going to make more than Super Mario? No. I think so? I don't know. Do you think a Zelda movie isn't going to be? When they get Zachary Levi to play Zelda.

Jesus Christ. Play Leake, it's going to be great. It's going to be great. You know what's coming. You know what's coming. We've never heard Leaks utter a single word. Oh, my God. How many years of gaming?

And they're going to open open, like, guys. You do this on Jessica's first day. Guys, you never guess that we got to play. Link. Zelda's played by Zendaya. Come on. Make the call. Make the call.

Like, what do we do it here? Zendaya's going to play Zelda. Zachary Levi is going to play. They're going to get Who can they get to play Gannendorf? I was going to say Jack Black, but Come on, he already did this time. That's too good.

You can't do that a second time. Can't do that a second time. It has to be. It has to be something. Stanley Tucci. Get that out of here. Get that out of here. Get that out of it.

He's hot Gannendorf. What's his name? Not Liam Neeson. Anthony Hopkins. There you go. No. Anthony Hopkins. No.

No. Show to the booth. Just like. You're wild as hell. Look. That's wild as hell. y'all saw who they cast as Mario you feel me look anything is possible anything is possible

tell me I'm wrong tell me I'm wrong well as we span Anthony Hopkins yes as we've expanded on the HCU and the NCU we will now bid ad due to you guys it's been a wonderful week thank you so much Jessica for joining us on Mint Edition this is wonderful to have you to many many many more pods with you this was great. We loved it. That's a wrap for us at Mint Edition.

Programming reminders, before we go, Monday the House of Our is going to be joining you with Ben and Jessica making their ultimate Spider-Man film. And on Wednesday, Ben and Jess will be breaking down their thoughts on Diablo 4, Street Fighter 6, and Ghalam. I need to know who your Street Fighter main is. In this new game? Yes.

Or overall, I used to play as Chunley a lot, and I only want to play as Chunnly because I want to be Chunnly. All right. Don't we all. Yeah. Don't we all? I embody, when it comes to Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, I'm like, oh, I just want to be the strongest woman that they have playing.

And that's always how it's going to be. Amen. All right. And on Friday, Midnight Boys will give you the instant reactions to the Flash at long last. Thank you so much to Jomey a dinner on. A million thank yous again to our colleague, Jessica Clemens. We are produced by the wonderful Jonathan Kerma. And thank you to our Juna, Ramgopal.

for his additional production work. Thank you guys for rocking with us again. It's really like the best thing in the world to know that you guys listen to us and enjoy us. And we are eternally grateful. Jomi, any parting words for the people. Man, what a fun episode. Thank you again, a million times ever, Jess,

for joining us on this episode. And as always, a shout out to our 104 producer, Victor Kumbayama for joining us. Not on the injury report this week. No, man. You know, big Slims out here helping us out. Appreciate that as always. Thank you, fans.

Remember, the HCU is here to stay. Lock in. I'm here for it. Lock in.