The Ringer-Verse - 'What If...?' Season 2 Awards and Midnight Predictions of 2024 | The Midnight Boys

Episode Date: January 3, 2024

The Midnight Boys are here to ring in the new year and give you their full-on impressions of Marvel's 'What If...?' Season 2 (08:04). Then, they give out their superlative awards for the best that season had to offer, including Best Episode (39:18). Later, they offer up their big predictions in fandom for 2024 and see who will be right in the new year (73:49). Hosts: Charles Holmes, Van Lathan, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman Senior Producer: Steve Ahlman Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal Social: Jomi Adeniran Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everyone. I'm Mallory Rubin and I am thrilled to tell you that House of VAR has a new podcast feed. Joanna Robinson and I will now be with you twice a week with more of the deep dives you've come to know and love on the ring of universe. In addition to exploring all of your favorite nerd culture new releases, we'll have nostalgic revisitations, height meters, hall of fame inductions, tropes courses, drafts, and more. All bad babies are welcome as we dive into Star Wars, Marvel, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and beyond. Follow the new House of Our feed on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 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,

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This episode is brought to you by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess. You don't need WeatherTech floor liners in the summer, unless you hit the beach or go camping. Then you'd want a cargo liner. Or a road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips. Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those WeatherTech seat protectors. So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer. You don't need WeatherTech unless you plan on doing summer.

Visit weathertech.com today. Welcome into the Ringiverse. This is, of course, the Ringer's nexus podcast, fee for all things fandom. We are Steve, architect, Almond, the builder of things. We are, Jomey, the explainer at dinner on. You've got questions. He's got answers.

We are old man, Van, he of the receding, and very soon to be resurgent hairline. Can't wait until you guys see what I'm about to do. 20-20 more. It'll be great. It'll be great. And we are L.A. Chuck. Hollywood Chuck.

Hollywood. Chuck Holmes. The Hollywood Chuck Holmes of the NWO. Together we are known as of the Midnight Boys. Jeremy, first Midnight Boys of the New Year. Yeah. How social's looking, follow some socials, Insta, Twitter, Facebook,

save Jummi's job. What's going on over there? Hey, man, we got some great things coming for you all, 2024. You thought the holiday music. was something hot. I'm saying. All the Midnight boys in LA now, right? So,

ooh, we're gonna, we're gonna have to fire stuff for you. No, at the same level of social. No. On my face, no,

no, no. Hashtack saved Tommy's job. My job is gonna get saved this year. Chuck, don't worry about that, my boy. Niget,

your job's been trying to be safe for two years, bro. At a certain point, it's either safe or it's not. I'll be honest with you. I'm not going to do nothing I don't want to do. So, so,

I'm, I'm beyond you. I don't like the fact. It seems like you're trying to strong arm us for the TikTok. That's right. Honestly. I'm cameraing your face. Just like you was at TMZ.

Just like you was at TMZ, van. I'm just like that. Oh my God. Jesus Christ. Jomey brought up the old shop. Jesus, Jomey. I'm locked in, brother. Papparato Jomey.

I'll do whatever you want. But guys, speaking of strong arming, I have a resolution for the midnight boys. now that we're all in LA I just I feel like we need to hang out more you know last time we were hanging out motherfuckers didn't want to go go carting they didn't want to go on Wednesday

that's not what happened it's like it's a new year oh wow it's a new year of Wednesday such a great point you guys that's not what happened at all no no Jomey was the you don't want to go carting with the boys

we didn't watch that we were like yo you guys think about the fun that we have And by the way, we just all happened to have sprites. We were drinking other drinks. That was crazy. Yeah. So we're like, oh, let's go ride the go cars. And Jummi was like, fuck a fucking ride no go car.

That's the shit. It's the fact that it was all the way out in Burbank. Guys, on a Sunday. Sometimes whimsy takes a little bit of travel. We need to go paintballing. We're going to hit up the fucking bars. Come on. Like, here I have, guys, and I thought of the first place to go, all right?

I've been doing some research, all right? Okay. I don't know if you guys have known. I've kept it a little on the down low. But your boy is a member of the greatest place on earth. Costco. Hey, that's right. He's the first place we go on our travel whimsy journey.

I'm into it. I love it. I'm into it. We go around. We taste different things. One thing that we love to do is the midnight boys is shop and not buy anything. We love to just go to Best Buy. So, like, Costco's got electronics.

Oh, guys, guys, guys, they got Dodgers tickets. They were selling them shit's cheap, bro. We could be fucking watching Otani all year. Come on. Oh, we're into it. I'm into it. Really, the person that we need, and we're not going to talk about it now, we're going to get into program and remind us.

The person's buying that we need is not really Jomey. It is Steve. First of all, no. But the good thing about Steve is, we got a backup. Jomey. You know who it is. we got we keep a second string white boy here unforgivable.

Love you, Dan. Love you, Dan. On Friday, Min Edition is back with their 2024 confidence pool. That's interesting. I can't wait to hear that. What is that, Steve? We rank our confidence in the coming properties

and releases of 2024 and see whether or not we think it's going to be good that coming year. So you break your confidence in the things that. that are coming. Yes. Great.

They will. 24, maybe. Getting started. Also on Friday, the House of Our returns with another deep dive into the latest episodes of Percy Jackson,

which I haven't had a chance to watch. Have you guys watched it at all? Did they bring back the half horse nigger that they had in the other movie Brandon T. Jackson? Thought it was a goat. But yeah,

Grover's back. Everybody's back. Wait, wait, wait, wait, it's a goat. He's a sater, is what he is. Right? Yes.

and he's black. Not in this one. Annabeth is black, though. Oh, okay. Okay. All right. Okay. I can't do Percy Jackson.

Like, I was too old. I'm like Harry Potter series of misfortune events. Percy Jackson, I'm like, I don't. That maze runner, all that shit, I'm good. The thing about Percy Jackson, which I like Percy Jackson, I really liked the last was me and Kalika used to watch him. But the thing was, I always wanted to see the other Percy Jackson show. which was the show about just how much the Greek gods were fucking.

That's that's all they, that's all they were doing. That's like, that's like at least a half of what they were always doing. That's a show that they've never made. Is Zeus one of the Greek gods? Yes. What is the Greek god?

What are you talking about? What the fuck? I was just asking. Sometimes I get, there's like Greek gods and fucking Roman gods and all, all these gods. Zeus was freaky though. He was fucking animals and like coming down his page.

and shit. He was, no, he wasn't fucking animals. He was, which is I don't understand that he was turning into animals in order

to have sex with women. Like he'll show up as a swan and for some reason that would make a woman want to fuck him. I'm like, what was going on down there in Athens?

Wild time. It's really wild. On Monday, Button Mash, returns with some of the games they are most looking forward to in 2024, which I don't know any games

I'm looking forward to in 20204 because I don't know the games that are coming out. So I'm very interested to listen that's what I'm going to say. year? I think that's next year. Wait, that's, that's 2025? Yeah, I grad the thought it was 2025.

Yeah, I think that's next. Yeah. Oh, the great shit is in 2025, bro. I know a game coming out that I'm into. Who? NCAA football. Oh, Jesus. Yeah. It's dropping this year. The return. Wait. I'm taking USC back to the top, baby.

Wait, are the players trying to get in me? I think so, yes. I believe so. Their name should be on the game, yeah. Oh, hell yeah. On today's show, we give out our awards and recap the second season of Marvel's What If to answer the question. What if?

And give our midnight predictions for 2024. Okay? What's doing this episode? What if Bonanza that we're getting into? And if we're going to do what if, the question has to be asked, what if we spoiled the entire fucking thing for you? We're not going to because we have a spoiler warning.

Steve running. we're getting ready to talk about What if you're listening to a reaction podcast. The spoilers are coming. All right. What If awards to commemorate the second season of what if we will be giving out awards for some of the best that this season had to offer. Give us a chance to talk about what we love most.

Each Midnight Boy will give out their own award for each of these categories. But first, instant reactions to the season as a whole. and the debut in 2024 of a brand new persona on this podcast, Charles, Mr. Positive Holmes is going to go first. Chuck, take it away. I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't do it.

I can't do it. I can't be fine. No, fuck you. I can't. No. Oh, God. This show. Jesus Christ.

Even last one second. One second. This show bummed me out on an existential level. Jesus. just, I just don't, I don't have anything nice to say. I don't want to say anything. This is one of the few times that Charles just didn't want to do his job. No, here, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Because people like, it's your job to watch. No, no, no, no, no. It's not my job to watch what if. It is not. You're going to watch it. We have this thing where I don't know whether it's nostalgia or whether we're just trapped. But people think that it's our job to watch everything. MCU, it is not.

It is not our job. We don't do the same thing with anything else. You're going to watch it. You know what? Fine. I was going to save the rant, but I'm just going to go into the rant. Preface this with things are tough to make. A lot of talented people worked on this. But at a certain point, I just, this show to me is everything I don't like about American animation. And it's everything that I think is fundamentally wrong with MCU as an entire project. I just, the art style, I've said this for season one.

I just think that this is coming from a different world where people thought Disney Plus was going to be the future. And they're like, we need content to fill. And they had Wanda Vision and Falcon and Winter Soldier and Loki. And somebody's like, we need something else. Bob Iger is demanding it. And they're like, we need something cheap and that you can pump out really fast. And what you get is something like, what if? Where I think the character models are stiff and lifeless.

And it just, it plays like karaoke. where the characters that are supposed to be Robert Downey Jr. or Nick Fury don't sound like them. All of the characters, the way their faces move, I don't feel anything. The stories are cliche and are basically them just doing karaoke of Joss Whedon or Marcus and McPhile. And at the end of the day, when I watch every single episode, not only did I get a migraine, I was like, is this really what we want? Is this what we want from the MCU? Because it just felt like content.

And I feel bad saying that because I know a lot of people worked hard for it. But it just it washes over you. I don't learn anything new about the human experience. They don't play with genre in any interesting way. The plots are derivative. And most of the time, we just end up being like, hey, guys, you know, it'll be interesting. What if Iron Man's Bodyguard was in Die Hard and he was a Purple Hulk?

And I'm like, who the fuck wants that? I don't know. This is not interesting. That's not an even idea. They're like, what if? Hella was Shang Chi. Nigger sure. All right.

Cool. I don't know. So it's just, this is supposed to be a show. It's called What If? It is supposed to be a show about endless imagination. And it just felt like paint by the numbers. We just need to get content on Disney Plus at any, like in any way, as fast as I can't.

And I just, I can't do it in 2024. I can't do it anymore. I'm just, I'm done. I'm tapped out. Okay. Well, you will do it. That's first. Okay, okay, okay.

Oh, I got a lot of vacation days. Okay. Okay. So, okay, I think this is a fair criticism, albeit one that I completely disagree with, but I think that it's fair and I think it's very well stated. So let's roll back things a little bit. All right.

The what if comic book one shots, like how familiar with them, how much did you enjoy them? Did you read a lot of them? Did you get into a lot of them? Not a lot. Like, so I was a Wednesday warrior as a kid. So sometimes, like, what if was not as popular when I was around,

but there would be certain issues where I'd be like, oh, that's super interesting. And I think the thing that is interesting about what if in the comic books is that it has a very, there's a moral underpinning of it a lot of times where they're like, the point of the what if comics are like,

no, things were supposed to happen this way. Peter was supposed to get bitten by the spider. Great power comes great responsibility. And the what if comics were like, if you change this one thing, how does that fundamentally change the Marvel universe? How does it change this character? What do we learn about these characters

that we love in this world? And the TV show doesn't have any of that. The TV show to me doesn't have like themes. You're not learning anything about the characters. It's essentially being like, we're going to take the winter soldier or die hard or blade runner and we're just going to put Nebula in it. Or we're just going to put happy in it.

So they did that a couple of times, right? But I do think in other places, the show does exactly what you're saying it doesn't do. I think it takes the character, the character that we know, and subverts them a little bit, right? And I think that's essentially what the original what if comic books did,

because it was like, what if Spider-Man gained the power of cosmic? What if this guy that was, you know, a lot up against other foes that, when he was outmatched a lot of the time, what if he had all of these powers? How does that change Spider-Man's character if Peter is all-powerful?

You know, remember what happens if Miles Morales gets the powers of Thor? The question then becomes like, that was wonky. That one was won't. What do you learn about this character? How does it make this character different? If great power comes with great responsibility,

how much responsibility do you have if you have, like, all the power? And I think that, I think the show does this. I think there are a couple episodes here where they lost their way. It really doesn't get really started to me until around four. I liked two. And I liked the rest of them.

But in terms of really asking fundamental questions, there are characters here where it does do that. And I think for the first season of the show, it did that pretty well as well. I think if you're expecting, and this is an interesting, it's an interesting criticism coming from you because I think it says a lot about where we are,

with the MCU. At its core, what if it's a small show? It's a show that doesn't have to exist within the main continuity. It's a show about vibes, really. Okay, let's take this, put this person in this position, see what they do, and then see if we can extrapolate it out to a larger meaning or its own bigger story. Like what heroes can we create in an alternate MCU universe? I guess I shouldn't say

MTAU universe that's kind of like saying ATM machine uh anyway um so like what what questions

you ask and what questions can you answer and like then at the end how much whimsy can we get that's all me saying if you take this show too seriously you won't enjoy it but so where I push talking

And so to me, I think, last thing, to me, I think there are parts of the MCU, maybe not the largest parts, to where we do have to be able to dive into either the creative absurdity of it or just the vibes of it to have a good time. If you're looking for all the things that you said that you needed to get from what if in order to enjoy the show, you have no chance of enjoying it. No, but here's the thing. Why do we keep saying that? Because this last year, especially,

we have examples of great animated television that pushes the borders, that shows me things I've never seen. Two of them, take two Netflix shows, Blue Eye Samurai and Scott Pilgrim. I didn't want either of them. I was just like, I don't know if I want an Asian anime,

and I don't know if I need any more Scott Pilgrim in my life, and I love Scott Pilgrim. And both shows, when I sat down for those first episodes, I was like, oh, okay, I'm in. They're showing me something or it has a point of view. Those shows are their own lore. So to me, in order for those shows to even exist, you can't have fun with it.

The show has to break new ground or else like, you know, kind of like what's the point? Here, to me, this can actually be for me. And I don't think that everybody would necessarily agree with what I'm saying. This can actually be a show. I don't really know how to, I'm not as well versed on animation as you. So I'm not as thrown off by animation as somebody else would be. I'm not as well versed or as deep into the animated world as you are.

So I get how you probably have different tastes. And those tastes are probably more refined as it relates to animation. But what I would say for me is that Blue I Samurai has a completely different threshold, right? Because that show in it of itself, I mean, it's telling its own self-contained original story. doesn't work, and it doesn't fucking, it has to take you there. Scott Pilgrim is a little bit different. It's based on something that already came out, but again, pretty much just for fun. I try to watch Scott Pilgrim. I found myself too attached to the movie to enjoy Scott Pilgrim as much as other people did, and maybe I just don't like cartoons as much as you guys. But with this

stuff, it's cool to see the characters. It's cool to see the characters put in different situations. I do feel like there's character growth from several characters here. I do feel like, I don't. get, I understand intellectually that Robert Downey Jr. is not voicing these characters, that that's Lake Bell and not Scarlett Johansson. I don't need it to sound exactly the same. That's just like me watching Avengers cartoons after Robert Downey Jr. was already playing Iron Man. I get that they were kind of doing a take on it because he had fundamentally changed the character so much, but it didn't have to be exact. All of those things to me, it didn't matter as much. I looked at something like this as almost a pallet cleanser for the MCU because it doesn't have to be super important.

It just has to entertain me for 30 minutes. Well, I have to get failed at both of those. Mid boys. I'm kind of in the van camp. I mean, like, if you're looking for, you know, inside into the human experience, you're not going to find it here. I think that this is, this can be at best fun vibes. And I think at its peak, we've got like maybe an episode, maybe two of some. genuine creativity, in my opinion.

That like something that Marvel like genuinely has not done before and that is really fun and refreshing to see. I get that while you don't think that there's the quality and technicals of the animation or any sort of innovative things that come from a show like this, it really is just making a small playground in an established canon that we've had for over a decade right now. And you're going to have riffs on those themes. You're going to see like-minded imagery of the things that you've seen before. And it could work and it could not.

I think I had a lot more fun with this season than I did last, for sure. And I think that there are a lot more worthwhile stories and a lot more fun, like, sort of pastichees that they've picked this time around. But I wouldn't rest the entirety of, you know, the Disney animation on Disney Plus. to be in the poor house just because this doesn't look as glossy or as sharp as the top of the top of the Netflix animation, which by the way, like Netflix has put out a lot of animated crap. I agree. But also, guys, this is, this is the MCU. Like, I get what you guys are saying where we're like, oh, it's all right if it kind of looks janky. It's all right if some of the episodes. And I'm just like, guys, the MCU used to. stand for quality. Disney is a multi-billion dollar corporation. The animation, whether it's scavengers rain or all the other stuff, whether it's blue eyes, this or that, changing, or whatever. I'm like, these are properties that are operating with a lot less money and are making

stories that are a lot more inventive. Like, that I think is my problem where it's like, you can have a vibe show. Vib shows are cool. I watch a lot of shitty animation, way more than I should. I like vibe shows. The vibe on this is rancy. Where I'm like, yo, like. Yeah, but when you say they're doing original stuff, like, they're unconstrained, right? They did, what if you're unconstrained? Like, no, anything can happen. Obviously not. You're constrained in what you think the voice of Tony Stark should sound like. No, but, but here, so I'll, I'll ask this. So this is why I think it's a fundamental problem with the show where it's like, if Batman the animated series watched the Keaton Batman,

it was like, we're going to just try to recreate that. Keaton is Batman, Nicholson is Joker. It would have failed. You wouldn't have gotten Kevin Conroy. You wouldn't have gotten Mark Hamill. What they realized is we need to get the spirit of the character right. And I think in a lot of what if, because they're doing karaoke, they're like, they're trying to approximate these characters as closely as possible.

Instead of being like, hey, animation is its own medium. these voice actors are not the same as these other actors. Instead of them trying to do impressions, let's try to use the MCU as a playbox and be like, all right, this isn't going to be Robert Downey Jr. So how can we infuse him with that energy but make him a little bit different? So it works for the medium.

This feels like they're trying to make something live action, but they have a budget that's for animation. Jummy? Man, that was depressing. Why are you depressed? Why are you depressing? Hold on. Hold on. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

What's suppressing about it? The nigga don't like your toys. He don't like your raps. Come back at him. He don't like your raps. I want to say something to the whole world. Motherfucker sometimes don't like your raps, man. We all here on the Midnight Boys.

Sometimes people don't like us. Fuck them. Talk back to him. He don't like your shit. Talk to him. Why are you depressed? Stop. You didn't make the show.

I didn't make the show. Like, he don't like your. We don't like the way you rap. It's not like, it's, I mean, Charles clearly doesn't like the art style, you know, which is like fine. You know, I'm not going to say here and be like, man, they were like that Justin Hammer dancing. I don't know, man. That looked, that looked tough. But in regards to like this season of television, I agree with Steve, I think it was an upgrade on season too.

I enjoyed most of the stuff we got. Or upgrade on season one, sorry. I enjoyed most of the stuff we got this season. It was fun. it was like very much way more experimental than last year in terms of they were like really safe

a lot of the stories we had seen before it was like putting different characters in different places like all right cool like I kind of see what you're doing but this one like there was a whole bunch of stuff that I was like oh this is interesting oh this is cool I like the action

I like a lot of the stories the Corey episode was fantastic you know what I mean so there was a whole bunch of great we got this year and just reduce it to like, man, I didn't like the animation, so it's terrible. It's just like reductive. I said I didn't like the animation. I didn't like the story. I like the writing.

He liked nothing. I didn't like the voice acting. You have made yourself perfectly clear. Which, by the way, it's kind of crazy because you were like, why is Seminole Jackson doing? And why is Big Fury doing? And Samuel Lloyd is in the credits, my boy. Like, he's there. He's there.

Like, he just day. Oh, I guess then he was sleep walking through it. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know. Just like secret invasion. We got taught to Sam. We got taught to Sam, man. We got to talk to Samoa, to be fair.

There is no Seminole Jackson prime pulp fiction. Seminole Jackson could have made a secret invasion interesting. So, you know. So can I ask this before we get to the awards? And I think that this is going to be a theme running, running throughout 2024. did Marvel and Disney believe in this? Because I think we are getting to a point where it's like, I can't tell if the company

and the people that are involved in making this stuff believe in it anymore, they dropped what if in the dead of December, they released it daily. There was not much talk around it. I did not see people like getting up for this shit. Next week is Echo. We don't have to kind of go,

back into... Can't wait. Not me. I... Yeah. But echo is something obviously that I don't think that they

believe in that much. Stephen Hune just dropped out of Thunderbolts. Daredevil has to get rejiggered. Like, it feels like the company

does not believe in the shit that they're making. Jigger. Can we just keep on track? Okay, okay. So I'm probably... Okay. So look, they believe in it.

They just don't think you do. Okay. So... Wait. me or the audience. The audience. They believe in it. They don't think you believe in it.

They have lost their way and being able to understand and approximate what their audience cares about anymore. They don't know. They forgot. They lost it. They used to,

it's like, you know, this happens to everyone, guys, you're a pitcher, and you're throwing a fastball and you're getting everybody out. Boom. Zip, zip, zip. That's all you hear.

Zip-it-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-h. And you just throwing it past everyone. And then one day a nigger just tattoos that fastball. And it throws, and then you throw that bitch again, and it gets filed straight back. And you're like, he was on top of that bitch. And then you start to think, yo, do I still have the same fastball?

So you start throwing other pitches that aren't out pitches. You start eating around the corners with your fastball. You don't believe it anymore. It comes out. the same. Like, you throw it, right? You know that it's hard. You know that you're throwing hard, but you don't know if they know something. It's more about the batter than it is about how the hard you're actually throwing. You believe that you can throw the ball hard, but are they on to me? Is the question that you're asking. And so to me, I think when I listen to people talk about

the projects that they're making, and when I listen to people talk about the inspiration behind it, I feel from these people, we were at the what-if screening event at Disney animation. I feel the same jubilation, the same inspiration, the same want to tell stories that I've ever heard. Actually, in some ways more, because the people that were doing this stuff at the beginning of it, they had less to me of, they were a little bit more free, a little bit more free. Now people are saying, okay, we're going to change. empty you and this is what we want to do and we want to do die hard we want to do blade runner we want to do all of this stuff you listen to them talk they're fucking falling out of their seats their eyes are going

crazy they just don't know if you believe in it anymore because they know now that a c plus or b minus doesn't get it done the c plus and a b minus is completely okay if everything's surrounded with it is a but if you bring your parents all c pluses they're going to look like nigga you stupid Okay. If you bring them an A and AO's a C plus, whatever, I just talk about it. That's cool. But if you bring them all C pluses, no, we're not going to expect that. And Marvel has an average, bad and average for the, you know, a month, like an extended

period of time. So what they're looking at is. Two, three years? has destroyed their faith in animation television like you just said earlier. It's perfectly enjoyable. I mean, if we're being honest, and when I say that,

and then we can get to the awards, I'm being very real. Like, I know you are. Yeah. Netflix let go of like a bunch of shit. Like animation is not in a good place. Like these HBO Max are like, get this fucking animation off of our fucking streaming service.

No one gives a shit. And what I want is like, once again, this is not against the creators. I know y'all did a great job. This just wasn't for me. I'm allergic to it. This is fucking peanuts.

I can't eat them. Whatever. I'm just saying if you get this much money to make this shit and we're in the final days of all of this, make something that like transports me. And this is what I want for everybody. We've done it. Like I like talking about Godzilla minus one. I like talking about Blue Eye Samurai.

I like talking about all this shit. I don't like this. I do not want to talk about this at all. You know what? You know what the thing is, though? I also think that Charles, there's a specific sphere of storytelling that you like. you like Eastern storytelling. I mean, you, I don't, I don't, I, I, I really do.

I think the, I think you off these white people in the way they tell their stories. You like, you, you, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're off of it. Like, you're off these white people and how they tell their stories. It is, I mean, when you talk about the things that you love and the stuff that you're talking about, I don't think you're talking about. I don't got an anime podcast, so y'all don't hear about all the bullshit that I deal with on a weekly basis. Like, I got to go, I got to go to my. to make niggas and be like, yo, this shit is fucking wet. Like, da-da-da-da. But if I'm going to be real, if I'm going to be real, Marvel was

eating people's lunch for decades on decades. And now they're not. And now it's just kind of like, not only what are we doing, but in 2024, before he gets the words, I want to, I want to introduce you to something. What are we doing? That's my new phrase for this year. Not what are we doing? But what are we doing? And I think as the midnight boys, we should uphold ourselves and not talk about slop. I think, you know what I mean? I think that our show has gotten to a place where I love y'all, our energy is so great.

Why infect it with negativity? Why infects the gourmet with the slop? Why do we do it for the coast? Crazy projection. So this is crazy projection. Here's a thing. Here's a thing. You're going to talk about it.

Look at the mirror, my boy. You'll be going to talk about it. You're going to be here. Like, you're going to be here. We're going to discuss it. No, no, no, guys, guys. This is the year of what are we doing? What are we doing to elevate the space?

Hey, let me tell you guys. No more slop. Let me tell you guys something. And I'll keep it real with the audience, right? I'll keep it real with the audience. I want everybody to listen to my voice right here. Yo, we want to talk about Jiu-Jitsu Kaizen. We want to talk about Evangelo and Lily.

We want to talk about all of those things. I actually don't want to talk about them. I don't find that stuff to be all that. that enjoyable. It's, it's, I understand why people enjoy it.

I do. The one nigga that Steve put me on that was running on the ground, that is a stop. What's his name? Rony Kencherty. Rony Kencher. That nigga Ronnie,

a dog, bro. I was watching more Ronnie in, in Baton Rouge. Just on YouTube, though. I haven't really gotten into it. See, here's the thing.

I'm afraid that you're just going to hate the movie because you just, I just watch YouTube clips. I just watch YouTube clips on my nigga. Wait, so can I start for Echo? Can I just watch YouTube clips? You could if you want?

You could if you want. And then you'll come on here and be poor at your job. So what I'm saying is this. I want everybody to understand this, the way things work and how things go, right? Man, it's all kinds of people, all kinds of stuff on higher learning that I would love to discuss. But y'all don't care about it.

Okay? You guys want us to cover all of this stuff. Jitsu, Hercules, Roney, I'm not trying to cover this shit on here. That's the last thing I love. I'm not trying to ruin my shit. What I'm telling you guys is, and even that's telling, because that's saying that you can't talk critically about something that you love without

it spoiling you. Wow. But this is for me. This is for me. What I'm saying is this. You guys are handcuffed to the mouse like we are. You're handcuffed to the back to Superman like we are. They implanted.

and incepted us when we were kids. When a new Iron Man is going to come out, all your penises are going to wiggle, your pajamas are going to throb. Actually, I don't think I can't see now. When a new Batman is going to come out, they could make a Batman in July and make a totally new Batman in November.

Y'all going to see it. It's the same thing. Y'all going to see it. It's the same shit. Like, I'm telling you guys right now, what we do on the podcast is we try to talk about the things that make your little hearts sing. Because there's plenty of stuff that I can come on here and talk about that I fucking love. Okay? I just watched an entire documentary on the WWE history from 2000 to 2010.

When did this? When did wrestling band happen? Was it post Iron Claw? Like, yeah, it was post Iron Claw. I got back into wrestling. I've been watching. I've watched probably 40 hours of wrestling content. What are your thoughts on the return of the rock?

Oh, my good. See, we could do this. I have to do it home. See, see what? You know what? I just tingle. I just tingle. I'm going on the mass man show.

Tomorrow, I just tingle. Y'all, y'all want to hear us talk about the MCU. No, no, no. People want to hear us talk about the MCU. Not fucking what if, not all the shit. People don't care no more. They don't care. The numbers aren't there.

bro. What I'm telling you right now is if we talked about something else the numbers will be lower. We're going to talk about what? I bet you they wouldn't. I bet you they wouldn't. We're going to do a five-hour echo mega-cast. Hell me.

Y'all niggas got 60 minutes. I'm giving y'all 60 minutes on Echo. That's it. Mega cast. You know what we're going to do? You know what we're going to do? If the business, if your business don't care about Echo, why should I?

Why should I? We're going to do a midnight cast like a Manning cast. Wild Echo is on. Live commentary, MST3K. We're going to bring different celebrities. We're going to have Nate Moore on that bitch. We're going to start breaking down the film.

We're going to start breaking down the film. We're going to have the fight choreographers on that bitch. We have a prediction. Shurping people's heads on the wall. Bro, we, bro, we can't wait to cover the MCU. Really, really quick. It's what we do for a life. We love it.

We can't wait to cover the MCU. I'm not a real hater like that because they've been releasing like trailers are like echo and shit. The massagists are already out. They like, they're breaking down the game tape. They like, yo, they punches ain't really even connecting in this show. This shit is already

whack. I'm like, guys, it ain't even come out yet, bro. You love Echo. Bro, you love the show. You love Echo. I do not like them trailers. I'll tell you that. I thought the trailers are great. Before we move on to the awards,

Mid Boys, can you guys tell me whether or not you actually we can't just be reactive to Charles. You have to tell me what you actually thought about. About what? I mean, I thought I said, I liked this season. I thought it was improvement on season one. There are definitely like, you know, I want to say issues, but definitely stuff where I'm like,

eh, I don't really, mm. But overall, I thought it was a great way to spend 30 minutes each day over Christmas break. And I really enjoyed a lot of the time I spent with these characters and their stories. Exactly the same. Like, there are some lulls. There, like, are some lesser episodes than there are a few of the good ones. but overall, I had a lot better time of this than season one.

A lot more fun to be had here. And then like a handful of some actual Marvel innovation that we haven't seen in a minute. Ooh. Father. This episode is brought to you by Sweet Green. The day doesn't ask for permission. Lunch window? Gone before you saw it coming.

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And let's be honest. Something that keeps everything looking smooth. That's where Vanity Fair lingerie comes in. Their new smoothing wireless bra has four-way stretch fabric for all over smoothing, soft lightly lined I'm cups for a natural shape and no wire comfort that last all day. All over smooth, all day comfort, vanity fair lingerie. Find yours at Target today. You guys want to get to the awards, Charles? We'll take it away. You got to give some awards here, Charles.

Let people know what we're doing. One of my other 2024 resolutions was not taking up space. So I'm not going to be space up during the support ceremony. Let's not. Y'all guys go. Y'all awards. Y'all give some awards. Charles, bro, you got to go get a CDL,

bro. It's good to the point. It's getting to the point, my boy. You got to start driving trucks around the country, my man. You can drive a truck. You got a job, my friend. Come on. Start podcasts and start getting a test, by the way.

I'm not even. I'll teach you all you need to know. This is from Baton Rouge. Call 1-800-551. Honestly To be honest Jomey Jomey

if you want to do some social content If you let If you find a truck driver Would let me like drive his truck around See if I like really like it And film it And just see like what I like as a job better We should do that

Charles would be so excited He will leave his whole life behind I could imagine if I just become a truck Negro Bro it would be so dope To see you rate Different truck stops Like you Rape the MCS

you. I tell you what. I fucking can't. I stopped in Modesto, California at the Blue Lane big truck stop. What are we doing here? The Cineau bombs were disgusting. Cold coffee, bad prostitutes, terrible prostitutes. Oh, man. What? All right. I guess then since Charles refuses to do his duty, Jummy, could you do the awards for us? Thank you. All right. We got some awards are going to hand out for this season of What If? The first award is best episode. Steve, what's your best episode of What If Season 2? I think this is going to be easy for all of us, but it's,

what if Kiori reshaped the world? Yeah, it's what if Kiori. Yeah. I was genuinely impressed by this. Not only does it actually kind of fulfill the promise of what if, but brand new hero, a brand new way to see superpowers, a wonderful collaboration

with the Mohawk Charles Walk the West Charles left he got a big left that's incredible from the podcast we have a real problem

this is not serious we do this is we got wow Steve finished a wonderful collaboration with the Mohawk Nation to bring this character

to life and to actually accurately represent the native peoples on screen. This was so cool. And I really wish that Marvel would do more of this because this is actually awesome. I had a great time with this. This was super cool story.

And there's nothing better than seeing, you know, old Spanish key stores getting their ass handed to them. So yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was awesome. This was also my favorite episode. I think it cuts directly against the fact that they're not trying to do anything fresh and new when they invented a brand new character for the MCU.

Daddy, daddy, daddy. I loved it. I thought the character got a lot of shine. The culture got a lot of shine. And it was a great self-contained story. It was so good to see her come back later on in the season as well. I thought it was really well done. And I thought it was a beautiful episode of television.

And a great question to ask, what if somebody else were empowered? What if it wasn't a straight white man's story? What if it was the story of someone that we don't always see given superpowers, given these incredible abilities? How might that look? I thought it was very inspirational, very entertaining. I really enjoyed it. Some of the best stuff Marvel's done.

So beautifully said. You loved it, Chuck. Oh, Daddy, you loved it. You loved it. Really quick, I just follow up question. Steve, you're my boy. I have to ask you a question. If given the chance by the Watcher to exist in a world

where white men are still in charge or to give up said power in another universe, which one are you picking? I would give up said power. I don't do well with authority. You're a fucking lying. You're such a lie. Like, you're such a lie, right?

Why don't you just play the sound? Play the sound. Why don't you just fucking keep it real? Like, why don't you just fucking keep it real? Like, just keep it real. I am keeping it real. What are you talking about? You're not trying to, bro, I wouldn't.

If I had a chance to flip this shit, I'd do it in a second. Hell yeah. And it wouldn't be no, it wouldn't, I wouldn't be posting no black squares either. It'd be like, y'all niggas figure that shit out. Wow. Y'all got it? Y'all, hey, y'all figure that shit out, man. Y'all figure that out.

We are, we on a yacht, baby, okay? We on a yacht. My name would be probably like, umfuku, Sukuti or something like that. I'd be a... Jesus Christ. I don't know about that.

Why are you talking about? Like, I wouldn't... Because, oh, you don't like the fact that my name might be different. Had your peaks not came over here. Play the drums. Play the drums. Play the drums. Play the drums.

Thank you. Please. I would be out of go to the University of Lagos, which is now the number one university in the entire world. Okay? Then I study, then we can move on to the rest of the awards. I study astro physics in Kenya. Be real, those, man. In this world, we no longer have hip hop because the whites had to create it to tell their stories. You know what I'm saying? So are you still, are you bopping to hip-hop? like are you that black classic rock the Beatles are black now rolling stones are black actually i'm probably i'm probably listening to today's shit entertain me white man you know what i'm saying

i'm probably listening to today's shit whatever like they probably got all kinds of different bluegrass with gold teeth in it i'm listening to today's shit i'm like MLB young boy that shit yeah i'm trying to be young boy you know what I'm trying to dance I'm trying to dance like them But the whole, we've hired Steve to come on our yacht and fucking sing and dance for our kids. You know what I'm saying? I'm with it. I'm with it.

So Steve, this sounds like a utopia. Hell yeah. It does. What? What are you talking about, baby? We got all the cobalt in Africa. We're not letting other people have the cobal and all the resources of our fucking continent. Don't get me started.

We got to move on. All right. Yeah, Kohori was great. And that's why I'm like really brushing up against Charles' take because like this is like so new and inventive and absolutely like way different from anything we've gotten from what if so far. Like the story is that the Tessaract gets on earth early.

That's it. That's the only difference from a what if, from an MCU's perspective. And we get this whole brand new story, these incredible characters, you know, solid visuals. You know, her power set is awesome. Kori looks just like, like incredibly powerful in the MCU.

She's taking down the conquistadors. I'm like, let's go. This is what it's about, baby. Let's get, just get the cracking. You guys are so right. Electric. What's the next award? Man, you got to.

Charles, you're not going to participate in the awards. Wait, do I have to go best episode? No, you just, we just need you to give one award. You don't have to give this one. You see, I pick one award to get it. Pick one. Oh, boy. Pick one.

It's fine. The episode that I disliked the least was probably hella found the 10 rings. And that's a good one. I like that's a good one. Here's my issue though. It's like first 15 minutes, I'm like, oh, yo, Hela and Shang-Chi's dad are about to fuck. This is insane. You got to play.

You got to play it. You got to play it. You got to play what? Play what? My name is straw I need I need no I need more

I need more I need more I don't want to hear I hate women Ooh yeah When it's a woman It's got to be About sex

Oh yeah Can I ask you a couple quick questions What movie did you see Over the holidays That we both enjoyed Poor Things? Poor Things great movie What would you say

Poor Things was about Oh for God's sake That's not It was about how sexuality can be empowering, how women shouldn't have to put down themselves in a patriarchal society. So I find it funny how when I think that, oh, there's a lot of sexual tension and energy, it's just I hate women now, okay? Maybe I mean, I just believe in the sisters. Maybe I just never heard you. Maybe I just never heard you talk about the sexual tension that you've perceived amongst male characters before and how you wanted them to fuck.

I didn't ever heard that. Oh, this is so wrong. This is so, you're telling me on The Midnight Boys ever. I've never talked about two men having extreme sexual tension. Maybe you have, but I don't remember it in the case of it was a make or break for how well you thought the episode was going to. No, I thought it was interesting because this, I was just like, oh, if hell it came down to earth. Like, damn, Shang Chi's dad would like would be up on that shit and her being like, nah, fuck all this shit. I'm out of here.

I was just like, oh, this is dope. And then at the end, they're like, what if Hela had a white costume? And she's good now. And I'm like, all right. Oh, you just got it. You're fucking. So you hated that, the least, you said. It is the episode I disliked the least.

It was, here's the thing. There was one point where I started picking up my Nintendo Switch. I'm like, I need to concentrate. And this was like the first episode where I was like, oh, hold up. Let me put down my shit. Let me like turn up the volume. Let me really lock in. cool

best new character I feel like the answer is probably obvious for all of us Kiori Kiori yeah yeah Kiori is my answer I would assume that it's the midboy's answers I would I would put a

I would put like a like a slight second to I was going to go with like evil Star Lord oh evil Star Lord was great I like a psycho I like a psycho kid.

Yeah, and it was such a subversion of Star Wars character, a Star Lord's character to have that little motherfucker running around and like doing all that. It was a good, evil Star Lord was great. Honestly, I have to be real. I know I have to take a little bit back what I said. I really thought that watching Happy Hogan turned into a Purple Hulk was transformational to the character.

It really, it just taught me so much about the MCEU. was creatively rejuvenating and I liked it. Best new character. Let's go. Put it down. Put it down. I think Keore is with me.

I think if I had to do like a, it's not a really brand new, but like Hella wasn't in season one, was she? Yeah. Like Hella, in that episode that Charles was lambasting earlier, which was great.

I thought Kay Blanchet came back and was, deliver hits. Whenwoo, he's just like me for real. You know, he's seen that with me. He was like, hey, I'm, I'm game. I understand, brother. Wait, Wenwu's you like a milk merchant? Is that? Oh, wow. Wow. Wow. Milky. What? I was asking for clarification. Jomi, Milky Way. Hey, man, I like a Milky Way, man. I know you like him the Milky Way. I like Caterman. I know you do. Jamie, let me ask you a fluffy chocolate interior. Jamie, what do you like about white women?

Is it the freedom? It's the credit scores, really. It's credit scores, you know, you get to getting like, you know, apartment a little outro league, you know what I'm saying? You say black women have bad credit scores? What a league got? Come on, man. Midnight Boys are not about to be that type of podcast, bro.

Hey, hey, he said it not me. He said it not me. It's one, it's a, oh, whoa. He said, not me. It's one sleeping in the next room. You know what I'm saying? All right. So she raised my shit up.

So I just said, that's a Jomi thing. Honestly, if we watch real Mip Boys in the new year, if y'all did an interracial dating podcast, you know, we got this activist, we got Jomi, just come, just tell your stories, bring some of the shoddies on. Y'all, what we should do is for this, for this year, it should be Steve and black women

and Jomey were white women. And it could be the Oreo double stuff Oreos. The double stuff Oreos. I'm stopping this right now. I'm stopping this right now. Okay. Yeah. Okay.

Best returning character. You know, I got Strange Supreme, man. I thought he was cool. I don't know, man. I thought he was cool, man. I like Strange Supreme is a big bad. I liked when everything starts to unravel. There are some great characters coming back.

I liked Haley Atwell and Captain Carter coming back. Captain Carter got a lot more to do. The Watcher is obviously back. There are obviously other characters that are back. You got the little Steve that came back and all of that. But I thought Strange Supreme really worked well as a big bad in this. I thought the motivations worked well. I thought the power said looked good.

I thought he looked great. I like them. That's what I'm going to go with. So here's my thing. Here's my take. Before I give my best returning character, you mentioned Peggy Carter. And here's my hot take for this, for this season. Too much dip on the chip.

Really? Here's the thing. Played. Played, Steve. No, no, no. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait, why do y'all play it for me, but not that? No, because I'm not like, I don't do this every week.

Leading a series of a whole season? Just thing. I understand that she's their talisman. You know what I mean? Like everything like flows through her. She's obviously like the object of their desires when when creating this distrush world. There's so many other characters. You know what I mean?

To spend what three episodes in this season with her and then two episodes and last season with her, right? That's like a lot of content for one character. Whereas like there's so much more in the Marvel universe to be discovered. Especially when you have like episodes like the cover. gory episode. Like, oh, you can go out and do new things with new people. You don't have to focus on the same character every time. And we keep coming back. And, like, I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the episodes. Like, the hurt the episodes where they did, like, the Black Widow one. I didn't mind it. I liked it. I thought it was cool. You know? But in terms of, like, oh,

it's a Captain Card episode, cool. Like, nothing, we're not going to, like, do anything, like, crazy new here. That's just, that's all I'm saying. Like, that's the, that's the thing with bringing that character back all the time. It's like, all right, cool. We just don't get a Captain Carter story. All right, because they're not really going to do nothing, nothing new or super interesting or anything like we haven't seen before type thing. That's the thing every time she shows up.

So it's like, I get it. I understand. Again, she is, I don't say the reason why she's all here, but at the end of the day, like, we got to keep pushing. Season three, let's push past Captain Carter. let's start seeing some new stuff. A season three? Oh yeah, it's coming.

So you didn't see the tag? You didn't get the, you know how locked in. Season three's coming, baby? Yeah. Yeah, you thought it was over. You got nine more episodes, baby. I am not watching a season three. Lock in, brother.

Absolutely. You're here. You're here, boy. What? For my favorite returning character, it's probably Thor, man. Oh, okay. Okay.

Yeah, Thor was fun. Got a lot of fun season. I think one of my favorite moments, of the show. It's episode two when Thor comes down to fight with the new old Avengers, and he, like, has his, he has his, um, his hammer, throws it, clears out hordes of enemies, then pulls it back and clears out, like, at least like half a mile of the, of the, of, what, Peter Quill's dad's.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, those little clones. That was fire. I was right. That's fire, bro. That was a good fact. locked in on that. Yeah, that was cool. I liked, it was brief,

but Thespian Loki in 16-0-2. Actually, Tom Hiddleston, and just to smar me little Thespian. I like that. By the way, just to Charles's point, if you look at these episode breakdowns, a lot of these people

were played by the actors. So I don't know how much karaoke's going on there, Chuck Wagner. My little daddy, little father. How you doing? And even to that point, Gamora's voice actor, man,

it took me a second. I was like, you guys, hold on for a second. You guys, hold on for one second. We're having fun with this. And it's very important

that you guys understand this because you're not watching this on video. Charles looks absolutely destroyed. I don't know what's going on with my partner over here. But Charles looks. I will say this is not all on the MCU because I watch Salt Burn, then I watch

Maestro, and then I watch this back to back. Why? But see, you have to take some responsibility. This is me taking responsibility. That's why I said it. So you literally watch because I watched all these movies too, but then I will put some pro wrestling on to clean my palate. You know what I mean?

Like I watch all that and the next thing you know, I'm just a sex boy. Sexie boy. Guys, guys, guys. I clean my I was watching Cheryl Baco on high dive. So what the fuck is that? What's Cheryl? What? Oh, it's about a bunch of like, like girls from anime were in anime club and they're like,

we want to make anime when we grow up. And then they get into the anime industry and they all want to kill themselves because it's very exploitative. So they're all trying to like follow their dreams and like make art. But like the industry is crushing up. Is this an anime? Is this an anime? This is an anime.

Yeah. So they're cartoons. Yes. It's a cartoons about about people making cartoons. Making anime. Yeah. you're a different type of nigger that's all I'm trying to say

and I just want you and I just want you to come to terms and I just want you to come the terms with that that's all I want to say it is a compliment it is a compliment it's just there's nothing wrong with it okay best story

oh damn I can't get my best returning character oh now you want to give awards out now you're not doing your job are you giving the awards or not are you giving the awards Okay, give us the best returning character. You know, there's nothing I'm like more than my craggly boy, uh, uh, cord, Cork, Cork.

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? There's nothing like hearing, does, does Tonecisi Coates? Wait, wait, wait, not Taniacotee. Tyco Watini. Ticoatheed. Oh, wow. Oh, wow.

Bro, what is going on with you? Can you just listen? Can you imagine Corg with a thick Baltimore accent? sense. Dude, like, what's your problem, Charles?

No, it's not Tata He's the Coats just in it. You know, there's nothing. Does Taco Watiti play cork in this? Yes. Yes.

Because I was just like, you know what I love in the morning when I'm just, have my cup of gel and what if? Listening to Taika Watiti you say some jokes into the screen.

It just, it made me so positive and happy and looking forward to season three of what if. Let's get to best story. Uh, Keori was great. Um, I hate to give it all the awards, but I thought that was a great story. I also thought the hello story was great. I also enjoyed the Avengers in the 1602.

I do not know why you guys, uh, we haven't talked as much about that one. That was, that was phenomenal. The finale was a great story as well. But I think the introduction of a brand new, uh, MCU superhero that we might see in live action has to get it from me. So I'm going to go with Keori for the best. You want to know what my best story is? Guys, people say superhero movies are dead. Superheroist.

Storytellings are dead. Get out of here. It's the way of disco. I would say y'all are wrong. Because I watched a little episode called What If Nebula joined the Nova Corps? And I was like, Blade Runner 2049, who? Hell yeah. Let's fucking go.

Nebula in the Nova Corps, kicking ass, taking names. We got Howard the Duck. We have other people that I forgot her in this episode. but the spirit are the amazing guys season three of what if let's go what's popping joey so like i want to i want to say kori but we mean we've been giving me we mean we on kiori uh all day um i'm gonna go with the one that i don't want to say like the one that surprised me the most was uh the tony gamorra saccar episode i oh i really enjoyed that i didn't know what to expect i knew it was the one from season one.

So I was like, I mean, if it's season one, you know, season two is different. But ultimately, I think they put something together that I really enjoyed. Is it part of me being a Tony stand? Probably. But I thought it was awesome. It was really cool. And it was a bunch of fun.

And so I got to go with the Tony Ingomorah Save Saccard episode. Wonderful. Also, that suit he was wearing, it's fire, bro. What did you guys think about Grandmaster? They put Jeff Goldblum in the booth and they said, go crazy. Yeah. You're great. Just rocked them in there for 30 minutes.

It's my birthday. It's my birthday. My birthday. You like that shit, Charles? It's my birthday. I'll tell you what, Charles. Because real comedy is alive and well on the Disney Plus streaming service. I'll tell you what, Charles, you'll piss you off.

When Tony's suit, when we're going to be in a car, and then when we're from being a car to be in a suit again. Oh, Daddy. That was real cinema right there. That part, I was locked in right there. I was like, hey, yo. Why would that piss me off? This is called What, It?

and on this season of television, anything can happen. Let's just say this. Iron Man suit turning into a car and back into a suit. Top-tier storytelling. I love to just well, Joe. Talk about it.

Best joke. I'm not going to go with the best joke per se. I'm going to go with the best funny character. And I thought that Howard the Duck was really funny. That's great. I mainly made this category because I it was in that Tony and Gomorrah episode where he,

he fights her and then he like tases them and shocks them but then he throws them in a cell that's like in some like Austin Powers love making room and they're like yeah he sensed a connection between you two and then he throws them in there and corg's just there

and he's like yeah don't worry do whatever you need to do I'm just a rock being with eyes and I'm like is the grandmaster implying that he's engineering a sort of peep show for court. I don't understand

what's happening. Steve, this entire little portion that you just, that's a miss. That's a miss. What do you mean it's a miss? I don't know what you were going for. That entire little thing to say it's a miss stop. It's a wild thing to put on TV. I don't know. Joey, you know what I'm talking about. I don't

talk about, I don't know how you got there, bro. Like, I was not to hear that at all. I support you, Steve. They ain't real what if watchers. I support you, Steve. What if? What? Y'all ain't real what?

Y'all ain't locked in. Y'all think y'all are too good for what if? We're not real if heads. We're not, y'all not real if heads, bro. I'm not if he's like that. And we're not if-niffing that if. I'm sniffing that if, all right?

I'm sniffing that if? Come on, man. Coke baby Chuck my nashers are all up on that if. Bro, I'm going to be honest with you, bro. When you got on today, your nose was bleeding. And you know why? Because you were sniffing that if. I was sniffing that if.

Sniffing that motherfucking if. miracle. All right. We got best jokes. You got any other sex jokes that you guys want to talk about? Like Steve, boy or Steve, Steve, send a bond.

Wait, why did y'all play the music for fucking Steve? Ask a good question. Because I mean, maybe he should have. It's a little weird, but it's a little weird. Steve likes voyeur or shit.

I mean, J-O-I. I didn't say it. How is that any less weird than me being like, Hella and Shangchi's dad. How old going on? Because you do this every week, though, you know what I'm saying?

You know, honestly, I just think we're against you right now. And that's, that's okay. Thank you. At least all it did you. That's okay. I think we're against you. I think in that same episode, there's a court joke that's not sexual where they're like, he's like, this is paper.

Can't really do paper. It's my natural enemy. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a funny joke. That was funny. That was funny. That was a joke of the year material. I agree.

Okay. Episode we most want to see a spinoff of. Oh, wait. Can we do multiple, Steve? Yes. Yeah. Like we could do multiple. Hell, yeah.

Let's go. Let's lock in. Van? I liked the different Avengers. I like that new cast of Avengers, man. I like the Avengers with Tachala, a Tachaca and all of those guys. I like to see those Avengers together and when it's older and everyone.

It was Tintin because he, like, a nod that he was Bucky and all of that. I like that. I like to see, like, maybe spend off. What about you guys? Charles, what would you like to see? I know we can't say I want to spin off for all nine episodes, but that in my heart is what I want. But, yeah, I got to go back.

I think we should, every year, we should have Happy Hogan, Save Thanksgiving. Easter, Kwanza. Can y'all imagine Happy Hogan and Saving Kwanza? It'd be a-Qaeda. You know what I'm saying? Him saving Kwanza would be dope because he could do whatever he wants.

wanted to and basically save it because I don't know what the fuck Quanza really is. And so y'all ain't locked in. It's a fact. Look, I'm going to tell you something. There's some dings in my, in my black history. I've never celebrated Quanza, and I really don't know what it is. I don't know how to celebrate it. There will always be like a, a Quanza situation.

Y'all don't know the seven principles? No, what's the seven principles of Quanza? Give it up to us. Umosia, unity. To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community nation race. Are you reading this, Charles? Yeah, no, no, no. Steve, shut the fuck up.

Hold on. Hold on for you. Steve. Oh, hold on. Shut the fuck up while he reads the seven principles of Qaeda. Okay. You got self-determination. See, hold on.

Did you guys see what Steve just did? While we're trying to, I'm a 43-old man, don't know nothing about Kwanza. We're trying to educate people on Kwanza. And what does Steve do? Interrupt. Just like... Play the drums.

Play the drums. Play the drums right now, Steve. Play the drums. The whole day. Thank you. Please continue, Chuck. We got unity, self-determination,

collective work and responsibility. Cooperative economics. Purpose, creativity. Hey, all right? Y'all fuck is thinking... Yo, yeah. Come on. You know, I went to Kwanza every year.

Shout out my aunt, K.K. You know what I'm saying? She's... Cooperative. is crazy. That's what we got to do. They had that at the back of the jersey in the bubble. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wow, whoa.

They had cooperative economics in the back of the jersey, bro. Jomi, is this the reason why you're... This is not no African versus black people stuff? We're not doing it. We're not doing it. No. Is that because they didn't want us to cooperate with that? Is that the reason why?

That's what... You were cooperating at the back of his jersey, but. You were cooperating with them economically, which is how we got over here. Jomi, I can't believe it. You want to... What's the last... business you supported Jomey Jomey exactly bro what was the last black

business that you supported bro cooperative economics Unity group operations Milkman strikes again what the milkman The two of you The two of you I see why mid-addition is the way that it is Jomey I'm looking to your ancestors Jomey with economics Jome was probably the motherfucker

rounding up as many Africans as possible Oh hell yeah And like just putting them on the boat Hey it's gonna be safe guys Hey the boats are great gay it's gonna be safe it's gonna be hey it's gonna be safe the dude inventa quanza did like time some he's like a criminal Jomi what are you doing right now

Yo what do you have against Guantza? I'm not having anything like Joe Zomai what are you doing? I'm just like going off like what What is happening? What I've like I've read? By the way I want to let you guys know this is all staying in.

Jomi's absolutely stated like Jomi's well Jomi are you trying to I'm not anti-Quaza You are definitely anti-quantze Who are the economics? Here's the thing about cooperative economics. All I think about is in a bubble when everybody had to be like, you know, you have the things on the back of the Jersey.

And like Gordon Hayward and Andre Godala, they chose like, I think it was like something economics. And it's just mad funny. It's just mad funny. It's just mad funny that our people are trying to get out of the hole that the white man put us in by creating businesses and keeping money within the black. community? Wow. Jomi, you want to know something? Do you know how long the dollar stays in a black community right now? How long does it stay in the black community? Two hours. You know how long

it stayed in the Greenwood Tulsa community, Black Wall Street that was firebonds by right terrorists? Speak on it. Speak on it. Eighteen months. Eighteen months odd dollar circulated until they firebombed us and they destroyed the community with urban renewal. Jummy, you better to get on your shit. Fucking back, 24. Back, back, 2021. Midnight Boys X, baby. It's the fuck we talk about.

We're gonna do fuck the MCU. I'm with Charles now. Every fucking day. We're coming on here and we educate the mother fucking community of what it needs to do. No, February? February is it. Fuck MCU. Fuck these and Star Wars.

That's it. Every day. Black History Month, you come right here. And we're going to give you a new series called faux different niggas. And it's going to be about people to shout me. to know about. Because Jomi, you're not going to stop us from talking about the 7% of Quartet. Let's go.

I always end up on the side of Charles. I always end up on the side of Charles. It always happens. Oh, my God. Want to support your gut health? Take Activia's gut health challenge by enjoying two 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. Jomi, can you please give your Kwanza-approved episode you want to spit off of?

Kiori is obvious. I think I want to see more of her in a lot of action. Hopefully they find a way to bring her into the MCU proper because that was awesome. I hate to tell you, Bob Iger, Bob Agar, I already told you all my fuck of this. Fuck all that diverse.

Yeah, he said, yeah, they have to, they have to put her in. They have to put her in something. No, no, she was great.

I'm the same with it. Close second only to 16-0-2 because that's like a great, like, lore-rich comic that, they paid homage to in this episode, but like, if we were to get some more 16-0-2 stuff,

that would be great. All right. Midnight meter time. I'm going to start. I'm going to go with a solid seven. Solid seven for it. I enjoyed it. I feel like an eight is doing a little bit too much

because it took a little while to get going. Some of those early episodes were not as good as some of the late ones were, but once it got going, it was really good. It was like, it was really enjoyable, shall I say. So I'm going with a seven. Men boys? Yeah.

Men boys go first. Make the people wait for Charles. I'm going with a seven as well. I think that this was like genuinely a lot better than season one. And a couple of episodes lagged in the beginning, but it really came

into an enjoyable stride, and I really enjoyed it. Seven. Yeah, I'm with you guys. I think of Seven is fair. I think that the season as a whole was good, a lot of fun stuff,

a lot of stuff that, you know, it was really cool to watch and really enjoyable. So seven is my midnight meter ranking. Charles. This is 2024.

It's a new fucking time. What is season two? Automatic 12. Put it in the fucking rafters. Let's go. All right. So we're not doing that. No, we're not doing that.

Whoa, wow. It was a fun. It was a fun bit, Charles. We're not doing that. Charles. We're going to ask you to be a professional right now. Okay. We're not to shoot it.

We're going to actually reel it in a little bit. Just a tad bit. Real it in. And give us the four that we're all waiting for. Okay. Oh, four? If I'm really like in my heart of hearts.

This is it too. Jesus Christ. God. Good look. Yeah. Look. Enjoy that. Seven,

seven, seven. We can replay that Mulligan episode. We all know who's on the right side of history. Let's fucking go. And I'm the right side of history

with Matrix. Dog, I'm trying to fucking come over and rewatch you. This weekend, this weekend. This weekend, this weekend, this weekend, I'm calling,

I'm calling this weekend in my house, Lorfest, 2024. Lorefest? Law Fest 2024. Bring your lore to the house Saturday

and then we'll fucking discuss it. Anybody that wants to come to the house I'm talking about anybody. The people that are listening right now if you want to come over to the crib, anybody that wants to come on the crib and make somebody into the lore, we're going to watch the wrenchy nigger run around.

We're going to watch Matrix. Just lorefest. Wait, whoa. Are you any lore? Any lore? Van, do you know about domain expansion? What the fuck is this?

reverse curse technique oh no what the hell we talk about we we cooking domain expansion oh oh man i can't wait like a website i can't i have a serious question yes the coach game is also on saturday will there be time for football we'll watch you we'll watch the football we come over watch the football there's half time come on but then we can watch we expand the lore we expand the lord and by the way i'm not even going to make you guys watch matrix resurrections i'm I'm going to make you watch the lore behind it. Da, da, da, da, da, da. And then you guys are going to go home and want to watch it.

Law Fest, 2024, Saturday. Okay, midnight predictions of 2024. Charles, I hope that you're able to participate in this. So would you mind doing this review, please? I participated in this whole episode. Against my will. Against my will. But I participated in anticipation of what should be a very interesting year.

interesting. What might be a drought of 2024, the Midnight Boys will be giving you their midnight predictions this year. Each Midnight Boy will give their biggest prediction

and a small, mini prediction of the year. Then you want to start with your big prediction or a little prediction? My big prediction is Deadpool 3 will become an instant 12

slash top five movie in the MCU. Stop the cap. That's my big. predictions. Dependipool 3 will be an instant 12, instant classic top five MCU movie. Why at 12? Why this high?

We only have one MCU movie this year, right? Yes. Which it gives, which to me gives them the opportunity to focus on the post-production of one film, has the opportunity for FIGI to be directly involved. With all of the characters that are at the disposal of the film, the Cray of Minds that are working on this movie, with all of the things that are going right for it, and the fact that it will be the singular MCU event of this year,

I think this one is D-A-1, D-A-1. This is D-1. This is the-1. This is the movie. And I'm saying it's going to be an instant classic thing. It's going to be a 12. Huge billion dollar deal. 12 in it up. 12.

12 be 12. All in your motherfucking mouth. All right. Now you guys predict something. Go ahead and predict something. I'm going to do the opposite of what you did. You said that Deadpool 3 is going to be fantastic and crazy. It's going to be a 12.

I think the Joker 2 is going to stink. All right. Well, is it crazy that I think that it's going to be good? I think it's going to be terrible. I get it. I get it. The first one was bad too, but that's besides the point. Hey, was the first one bad?

Or did you guys not fuck with it because of political reasons? I thought it was not good. I genuinely thought it was not good. I left the theater going like, what are we doing? Like literally, what is this? I thought Joaquin Phoenix performance was pretty good. Obviously, you know, you got the Oscar. I thought, like, cool.

all right, cool, but the gas was insane. I mean, it made a billion dollars, so ultimately, of course, it's getting a sequel. But to then go ahead and be like, let's make this one a musical. Yeah, that's what the people want to see. A musical Joker. That's too much dip on the chip for me personally.

Here's the thing, Jomey. You know that this is also going to make another billion dollars because it has Lady Gaga and it's a musical episode. Imagine the convergence of Joker fans to Lady Gaga fans. That's Barbenheimer, too. I don't think so, brother.

I don't think. I don't think they got to like that. Can I be real? Really quick. I think we've started off the first podcast of the year on the wrong way. It's getting a little negative. It's getting a little negative in here. And like, let's make sure our predictions stay positive. Okay.

We. I've been positive this entire episode. I tried to give what if a 12. I was borrowed from it. So you had to give it a two. Only makes sense. Steve, what is your prediction? I predict that Godzilla versus Kong

is going to be enjoyable. It's going to be good. And I'm going to like it. And I know that this is coming from a Godzilla purist that is trying to be a grouch about it. But again, in the spirit of Charles's positivity. No, I genuinely want to try to like like this movie and knowing that Godzilla minus one

was probably one of the best things that I've seen Godzilla do ever. I know that this, I know that I can separate these flavors and kind of like, what if, give it a bit of a longer leash, kind of know that, okay, they're just doing something different here. And I can accept that. So I will be determined to have fun with the new Godzilla and Kong. Now, when you say you're determined to have fun, are you saying that you're going to have

fun or that the movie is going to be great? I think that, that I'm going to enjoy it. That is what I'm saying. I will enjoy Godzilla versus Kong. What's the midnight meter going to say about Godzilla versus Kong? Put your fucking... I think if this gets away with an eight for me, I think that that's good and ambitious.

Jomey's head just popped up. Why, Jomey? It's Godzilla and Kong doing, you know, Shack Kobe, KD, Steph, D-Wade, Braun. If they do the D-Wade-Bron, like, Alley-U cover... It's an eight minimum. there you go it's gonna be good probably not

is it gonna be entertaining as hell hell yeah what i hope so i just hope that they don't get caught up in the scars guard of it all you know the scar i mean even the last one they made Godzilla versus Kong that was entertaining a cell and we spent like 12 hours with 11 and paper boy

that's that's fair and paper boy like yeah that's true you know what I'm saying like this one it can not it can not be any more human lady I know what it's mainly trying to do is that like I'm not letting this amazing masterpiece that was minus one taint my expectations.

And I think it should be good. And it shouldn't. My big prediction. My big prediction. My big prediction. I don't think 2020 was the death of superhero. I think 2024 is going to be the death.

I think the bottom is going to absolutely fall out. I think it's going to salt the earth. And people are going to realize that when they're no longer changed to big IP, that potentially they don't need it anymore. I don't think Hollywood will learn any lessons. And they will keep going down this track

for another five or ten. many years until there is nothing left. I don't really know if that's a big prediction, but... So if we were to make that into... If we were to make that into a head, it would be... Superhero IP is done in 2024. Yeah, I think so.

It's already done. No, no, no, no, no. They're all we making this stuff that they already promised that they were making. But I think... I don't think we're getting a Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 where it's just like, oh, this made a lot of money and it's like, I think we...

It's everything on the calendar looks absolutely god-off terrible. When I say, when I say, okay, so this is the thing. Precision. Here, precision. So when you say it's done, is Avengers Secret Wars coming out? Yes, I think what I'm talking about, if I'm being very, very precise, is that I think the last thing superhero movies needed or any of it. I'm talking superheroes, Star Wars, whatever.

is a year like this. And part of this is because of the strikes, but I don't think that you can have another year where not only the material that's coming out does not look that promising, but you will have other things that overtake it. I don't know if people are going to have the same type of energy for Secret Wars or Superman or all of these big things.

We're like, well, it's coming, it's coming, it's coming. Because I think last year was kind of a taste of, Oh, Iron Claw is doing really, really well. Barbenheimer did really, really, really well. I think we're just- Barbenheimer cuts against your premise, though. Abenheimer Road Barbie's fumes. Barbie is the oldest and most beloved female.

When I'm talking about Big IP, I'm talking about- Big IP, but big IP, but Barbie is the definition. No, Barbie is definitely big IP. If I'm being more specific, I think like this, what we've been dealing with for the last probably like 20 years of, oh, we're talking about, we're making X-Men 2, 3, 4, 5, we're making 3 Iron Man films.

We're making, like, that's done. I don't think the audience wants it anymore. I don't think it's just, I just think we're kind of in a new space. If I'm being real and I'm not even being negative, I think we're going back to a time that when I was growing up, you were growing up, Van, where superhero movies and all that stuff

just kind of becomes niche again. And they're still making movies of it, but it is not the, when this shit comes out, it's making a billion dollars off rep. I just think we are totally past that. I think that's actually very, very, very interesting, and it could be true, but I want to remind audiences of something. There was never a time where the superhero movie didn't exist.

It was just a different movie. Superhero movie being the huge piece of Summer IP was Terminator. It was Rocky. It was like sequels and sequels of films that had come out year and year. It was Mission Impossible, which they're still doing. It was all of those films. The genre of the movie that they've made part two, part three, part four, all of that. The genre of the movie has changed.

The business of Hollywood making big, huge movies that are based upon a either already established stuff that comes from books or comic books or whatever, or already established movies is never going away. I agree with this, yeah. So it's never going to away. So if they pull away from superheroes, it's just going to be Fast and to Furious. It's just going to be Jurassic Park. They're always going to try to get y'all into the, they're always going to try to take the path of least resistance to get you guys into the theater.

Always. They always will. I mean, I don't think this will happen, but like, I think the superhero movies will honestly get better if this is kind of the first time in at least two decades where they have to kind of try again. And what I mean by try again is that when you knew that the movie, like, minimum, is going to make 500 mil, going to make 750. And if you're just, if you're lucky, it'll make, not even lucky. If you just kind of like trip into something that is like halfway decent, you're going to make a bill, I think it's going to force me. the creators. It's going to force the producers. I think all of the competition coming out, I think you're going to get a lot of new directors who are going to come out with new and interesting

stuff. I think it's going to force X-Men to be better. It's going to force Fantastic Four to be better because you're going to be competing against. I did not like Barbie, but what I can say about Barbie is I'm like, it was something different. It was IP. It was IP. But I'm like, it had a point of you. And I guarantee you new directors are like, we're going to get our lunch eating. Like, this shit has to, I'm doing the positive version of the prediction. I think the bottom falling out of the superhero big IP is going to force this shit. Maybe not next year or the year after, in two, three, four years. It's going to be better.

That's what I think. Interesting. I fuck with it. All right, little prediction. Dune two will be nominated for Best Picture next year. Okay. We're going all the way to the mother. fucking top with

Dune, motherfucking two. I mean, is that a, you can't say it's a little prediction, man. It's a little prediction. It's a little prediction. It's a little one, though. Do you think that's like three movies coming out next year? It's a little

one. It's a little prediction. It's not a big one. I'm saying Dune 2. So I go a little further. It'll be the movie of the year next year. All right. When you say movie of the year, is that like biggest box office? Biggest, biggest, biggest apex of box office and critical acclaim. It's next year's Oppenheimer.

Dunn Two. Damn. Duny Magoonie is the name of the movie. That's how I call it. I don't call it Dune 2. Everybody that's a fan of the Midnight Boys can't call the movie Dune 2. It's got to be called Duney McGoonie. I don't know about that.

That's Duny. So it's going to be better than Mickey 17. It's going to be better than what? Mickey 17. What is that?

Bongchon, who, uh, the director of, uh, Parasite. It's his follow-up. Robert Pattinson is in it.

Sci-fi movie. I never ever heard of Mickey 17. The only thing I know about Mickey is he's in the public domain. And I might make my own the Mickey shit. All right. I'll bet you.

So wait, you're telling me it'll be better than Furiosa. Mad Max Haga. It might not be better than Furious. which Fierosa is interesting to me because I thought they were going more. I didn't know Friosa was a prequel until I looked at it. I thought they were taking Fioriosa and Charlie's

Theron was coming. I thought something else was going on. I didn't know that. It's, remember, what I'm saying here is very specific. Big. All right. Can you hear it? Plus a claim. Oh, daddy. Okay. That's what I'm saying. Okay. Okay.

Little, just a little one. I put the tip in. I put the tip in for this prediction Oh, you know what I'm saying? Prediction That's my prediction Jomi, little prediction My little prediction

Man, see, because I wanted to Because I wanted to do something Animated Related That kind of rhymed But Charles, man He came on here and you Like, you know, none of the animation

is good enough None of it is fun of it I just told you a bunch of animation That has been fucking flawless What are you talking about? Oh man. I think I'm talking about American animation. I've said this before, you know,

American animation is in the mud. What's an animation in the mud? Like, it's tough. Nobody want to green light nothing. Nobody want to make something. Everything is, you know, derivative. And every time they try something, nobody watches it.

And so we're stuck in a world where, like, yeah, you get arcane. You might get like an invisible, but there's so few and far between now, it's like, where you're going to get the juice from? If you're not watch anime, and you're like, man, where am I getting my animation from?

You lost. I'm sorry, you've lost. But I will go on a limb with my little prediction and say, we're going to get some good Western animation this year. I don't know where it's coming from. It's going to be like another surprise, like Blue Ice Amaranation. It's going to be another surprise. Exactly.

We're going to come back at the end of 2024 and be like, yo, man, that show was fire, man. I can't believe we went our whole life without watching that one animated show. You know? And it can be old. It can't be like a new season, a Blue Eye Samurai or the new season arcane. That's definitely coming in 2024 because they told us coming before. So it's definitely coming.

It's got to be a new show. But we're going to get a new show this year animated that I'm going to be like, wow, this is what is, this is what it's all about. This means something to me, man. And it's Western too. Okay, because the Japanese, they've been, they've been wiping our, they've been kicking our butts for years on this level, man. Asia's been, they've been in their bag, right? I'm talking like Western animation, 2024. We're going to get a hit.

Going to get one. gonna get one nice my little prediction I predict that the midnight boys are gonna either enjoy Craven the Hunter or Madam Webb oh yo daddy that should have been your big prediction oh father like why are you

you don't understand how this is supposed to go like that's a big prediction so you're saying we're gonna like either we're gonna like one of those that's a big prediction okay sure that's a big prediction right there you got the biggest prediction I think I think because we can't all be carnage. We can't all be Venom 2.

But I really think that we're going to have a shlocky good time with one of these. Madam Webb. I think it's probably going to be Madam Web. It's a very movie of the year. No, for real. Like, we had fun. Like, I remember. I remember that we had fun with Venom 2. I remember that. And I think that we might have that kind of fun again. Venom 2's a 12. Come on.

I think, I think, if I'm looking at it, honest, I think Madam Webb has way more potential than Craven? When does Madden Webb drop? I believe that's in March. Let me, hold on. Let me give me a second. I thought Craven, I didn't think Craven the Hunter had very much potential until I started playing Spider-Man too.

That's exactly why I'm like, nah, it's going to be terrible. Yeah. Oh, shit, that's in February. That's next month. That's on Valentine's Day. That drops on Valentine's Day. Hell yeah. Hell, they said superhero movies are dead. Fucking Madam Webb. said that.

What are you talking about? Coming back. Charles, in their fucking face, right? Charles, Charles, in February? In February, we get Madam Webb? Oh, man, Black History Month and Madam.

Oh, come on. Y'all can't get me out of the studio. Come on. Fuck that truck driver's license. Hell yeah. Little prediction. Uh, I think this might be the first year

where I don't give out an 11 or 12. And I think this will probably be, the longest streak where no midnight boy gives out an 11 or 12 in the history of the show. No 11s or 12s. Interesting.

That's how little, I believe in no release calendar. Jesus. I mean, we can always get surprised, you know? We'll get surprised. I said the longest streak, though. There will be an 11 or 12,

but it might be the longest streak. I would not be a surprise going with 11 or 12 out until six months, like six months into the year. I don't know. I mean, again, Like, what if something could come out in March that we don't have on our radar right now or April?

You know, Godzilla minus one, right? It was just like somebody was like, hey, yo, you got to watch this. We're like, yo, this is fire. No I mean? So who knows? What could be coming out in the next six months that is like on the same wavelength? Yeah. If it's not an 11 or the 12, it won't be a failure of the superhero genre specifically.

It'll be a failure of all of fandom because some of these movies will be things that are outside of the purview of DC or Marvel. I mean. So they would all have to catch a cold. at the same time, right? I don't think this is just, I think the movie and TV calendar is weak outside of our shit. Like, this isn't just like a fandom shit.

I, like, think this year is. Hey, you're not fucking with Dune, nigga? Huh? You're not fucking with that Dune? Dune to Electric Bigalooley. Baby. No, you're not, bro, you're not on that Dune, motherfucker?

I'm fucking with Dune. We got Dune coming out, baby. D-U-N-N-A. E, D-U-N-E. It's not even D-U-N-E. It's D-O-O-O-N. D-O-O-N. We got D-O-N coming out. Do-O-E.

No, we're going to be watching. Doon. D-O-N-D-U-N-D-U-N-S-I-D-U-N. Spice. We got that spice in our life. We're spicing-in-up. You're going to put a thousand right now. I put a thousand right now.

A thousand. I put a thousand. One, Ziclo, Z-Ziklo. You're going to put a thousand. I put a thousand. I put a thousand. a thousand right now. So, dude.

It's going to be the most successful movie of the year. Well, no, that's not what I put in a, I didn't say that. I said, I said, I said, I just said, you want to put a thousand on it? I said, do you not believe in doing it? I'm putting a thousand dollars right now. I believe it can mean anything. Let's be specific. Put a thousand on it, man.

Okay, I put a thousand. I put a thousand on it. It's not a name for best picture. No, no, no, no. Because that's all. I'm putting this about you, nigga. I'm talking about you. I'll put a thousand on it that you like doing.

Honor system. You're going to love Dune. Order system? No, there's a great. There's a stack. Honor system. That she could be the godfather. I'm like, black. Dune. Dune, bro. Dune Mugny McGony. Dune. Dune. Dune.

Dune. Baby. That's what the whole fucking year is about when you think about it. Everything else is fucking falling apart. I watch to leave the world behind. I'm thinking to myself, make sense to me. The whole thing is falling apart. The fucking foundation of society is errone. brooding. But you know what's not?

The saga of Araxes. That's going to bring us back. That's what we need. You were mad that Zendaya wasn't in the first movie? Guess what, motherfucker? She might be in every fucking scene of this one. Christopher Walken, Austin Butler, Dave fucking Batista.

I'm talking about. Do you. Sign me up, man. More Benegeseret. I'm here. More Benad Jerry's. Use the voice. Jomi, use the voice.

Jami, use the voice. Use the voice now, Jomi. Jomi, use the voice. Use the voice. Jomi, use the voice. Jomi, don't know what that means. Oh, Jesus Christ, you're not fucking with him. It's the voice and dude.

This is sad. We got to move on, bro. They're right. You're a real, Junehead. You fake, Jomey. You fake, Joe me, Joe me, you fake, bro. You're a fake, dude. Honestly, honestly, you know what, Joan, you're off the Dune 2 episode.

We're bringing it in Kerm. Jomi, you're, that's crazy. You're done. You're all the do two episodes. All seriousness, all jokes aside. This is my serious voice. Charles has made the call. Okay.

Charles has made the call. I would like someone to get in touch with Kerm. Let Kerm know that we're switching up Africans. Okay. Honestly, the fact that you're a fake Dunehead and you don't fucking like Kwanza, this has been, this is not the Oh my God. What the fuck? Jomi, you?

What's going on with you? Bro, Jomi is like, you guys, like, seriously, Jomi is like a sibling to me and I couldn't be more disappointed right now. It's two disappointments in a row. Look, it's January 3rd, allegedly. Can't remember. Y'all, the voice, man, look, I don't know a lot of you. It's been a minute since I've seen Doom.

I couldn't do the voice. I couldn't do the voice. Then I probably can't do it now. We got to go, Give me the water. Give me do, dude. That's the voice. All right, so we got to go.

Look, Cho, do you want to say anything about Stephen Yun jumping off of the century? What do you think that means? I mean, the trades are saying it's because of scheduling conflicts. You know, the strikes did mess everything up. It's not good. I'll just say this. It is not good.

We were arguing before we got on here, whether there were real scheduling conflicts or, you know, if you look at the box, office, you look at the critical consensus around the last couple of releases. If I'm an award-winning actor coming off like one of my biggest years, I don't know if I'm putting all of my eggs in the Marvel basket anymore. And after the Daredevil news, after Echo kind of being truncated and being a Marvel Spotlight property, there's just been a lot of, there's a lot of problems at the house Feigey built. And I just, now Thunderbolts is looking a little shaky to me.

You know, we don't have a Kang. We don't have a century, allegedly. Coleman Domingo. I'm about to say that. Yeah, they, every report's saying, like, their eye in Coleman Domingo to replace Jonathan Majors as King. I like Coleman Domingo. I don't know if I like that.

I like him a lot, too. I don't know if I want Coleman Domingo stuck as King. Well, what I'll say about the Coleman Domingo thing is that I expect, even if they do recast Kang, which it looks like they're looking to recast King, that Kang will have, significantly lessened the role than he did. He would have before,

which Com and Domingo is a fine actor, but it kind of makes it into a situation. When I say a fine actor, he's like, fantastic. But it makes into a situation where it doesn't really matter as much who they cast if his role is going to be significantly altered from what it was. I mean,

Jonathan Majors King was the cornerstone of the entire thing going forward. in this entire saga of the multibur saga. And if it's not that, then it kind of matters a little bit less where they cast as King. But Combe Domingo is a fine actor. He's got amazing screen presence,

so I'm sure he would kill the role. But if they're going to bring King in, just to take King out or just as a stopgap until they get to Doom or whatever they're going to do, whatever, then it kind of doesn't matter. Unless those reports aren't true and they're going to do the exact same thing, and then it would be really consistent, excuse me,

it would be really consequential, but we would need to know something from Marvel as far as how important this recasting even is. Last question for the Midnight Boys. Would y'all rather they just jettison Kang and just be like, fuck it? Or are y'all willing to do a recast? I don't think the story is working.

Beyond Jonathan and whatever he was going through, and look, we could talk about, we decided not to, but we could talk about what this means for the future of Jonathan's career in terms of what the courts actually said and he's not going to be sentenced until February, what that means for Jonathan Majors.

But the story in and of itself, I don't feel like, was captivating people. Not specifically inside of his portrayal of the character. I feel like it wasn't a situation where people were understanding the trajectory of Kang. They didn't get the multivorrable. saga. They just kind of weren't

fucking with it. The ball was being dropped all over the place in telling the actual story of the saga itself. So if they wanted to pivot, I think it's just as much a pivot from a storyline that's not working as it is from an actor

who had a lot of problems. That's what I would say. What do you guys think? I think they mentioned it in the Variety article earlier, or late last year where they said they thought quantum media was going to be a smash and we all watch and were like, I don't know about that.

And I think to your point, Van, they are thinking about like, all right, moving away from the characters as a whole. I mean, outside of quantum aliens, but Loki, and even then, our highlights of Loki are Loki's journey and what he's been up to,

not really the king of it all. So at the end of the day, they can easily, I don't say easily, but they have an avenue to now, like, steer away from that. And given Jonathan Major's, troubles and everything else going on with the MCO as a whole,

I think it's probably the decisions they're going to make is it's just like either cut them off completely, which I don't think we're starting to see they might not do, but definitely wean off that Kang storyline and get to a doctor doom or whatever another big bad they've got planned. But Kang being like the fate or the next Thanos is definitely something that has lost team as the months have gone by. ultimately, yeah, I think they're going to move away from that character.

But I'll be interested to see what Coleman Domingo could bring. If that's ultimately what they go with, if there's a little, like, you know. Yeah, right? Like, I mean, if you've seen Euphoria, I know a lot of people have been locked in on that and a lot of other stuff. He's been a great actor for the last couple, I mean, for a long time, but for the last couple years, he's really blown up. So I'll be interested to see what he can bring to it if that's what they ultimately decide to do with it. Charles, which thing, man. Like I said, on the last episode, like, I don't, Kang, whatever.

I don't care. The thing I care about is just like the multiverse of it all. And I think they need to get off the multiverse saga as quickly as possible. Like the Avengers movies don't have titles anymore. And I do think that I would really just enjoy a straightforward adventure story. I don't need time shenanigans. I don't need multiverse shit. I just like make me care about these characters together first. And then we could blow it all up. But I need you need to show me that I care about fucking. Sam and Captain Marvel and all of these other motherfuckers like Shang Chi together. Because if anything watching What If showed me, they keep going back to that original Avengers movie and there is a reason because those like that chemistry worked. And like that is what I need in Avengers story. I don't want time travel. I don't want multiverse. Just give me a good story.

I got a question. I know we got to go. But do you think that's last. face suffered for not having an Avengers movie? Yes. I think they waited way too long to do it. Yeah, you gotta have an Avengers movie. You gotta have Avengers. But if you don't have

Avengers movie, you could have a Duny McGone oh, daddy. You know what I'm saying? So yeah, of course it did. Of course it did. I think, I mean, because with all the old characters you know, for the most part, you know, Iron Man, Black Widow, Steve Rogers

being like, all right guys, I'm out of here. I'll see y'all next time. I think they kind of felt like, all right, cool. We just like, you know, retool kind of like, you know, not like a rebuilding year. Like, yeah, we'll make the playoffs, you know, we'll get out on the second round. You know, if we go to the conference finals, it's cool. They weren't really, they were like trying to re, kind of reset the building blocks a little bit. And I think there was a lot, it was, there was too much of that.

I agree with you guys. There was way too much of like, all right, let's reset. Let's bring new new thing. Let's do this. we should have got like a little something. You know what I mean? Like, whatever it is. Let me tell you what the more important thing is about an Avengers movie.

Having an Avengers movie forces the MCU to reconcile certain aspects of its storytelling because the Avengers movie is the culmination of something. Some group are getting together. to fight something. So that means that there are certain things character-wise and storytelling-wise that you have to figure out before that happens. Before that happens,

you know, Asgard has to lose half of its people. Tony and Steve have to fight because then the Avengers are fractured. There's so many, Dr. Strange has to have his entire journey to have the time There's so many things that have to happen to make an Avengers movie possible. And because they didn't have that, because they didn't have this big team-up, big movie as their North Star and the MCU storyline overall, it meandered.

And so the Avengers movie is important, not just from the standpoint of the actual movie with all the characters to get you in the theater. It's important from a creative standpoint, from a creative perspective, because it helps give you a North Star to reconcile so many different aspects of character. If you don't have that, then sometimes you just make movies and they don't connect and your story doesn't come together the way that it should. And I think the last thing, because that was great, we said. The last thing I'll say is like, I think the Avengers movie, what we forget about that first one is the only iconic member of that movie at that point was Iron Man. You know, the Cat movie did what it did. The Thor movie did what it did. But they, to me, weren't iconic yet.

but I think the Avengers movie, because it was so successful, because they all developed chemistry going forward, when we're watching these movies, we're like, no, that's Cap. We respect, like, we know what Cat means to this universe. We know what Thor means. It created an iconic team, and it created like, oh, no, this is the varsity level team. Because we've gone so long without it,

Sam doesn't feel varsity yet to me. You know what I mean? Like Captain Marvel doesn't feel VARC? Because we haven't seen. that type of, that scale of movie to be like, oh no, these are the, like, when we're looking towards the bad motherfuckers, we just watch Avengers. We watch Captain America Civil War. Think about it.

Where does Spider-Man and Black Panther come? Like, Captain America Civil War is damn near an Avengers movie. They put Black Panther and Spider-Man in that because immediately you're like, all right, these motherfuckers are the new ones, and we just haven't had that shit. Like, I know we need to go, but it's bring it all the way back to what if. Where's Falcon men this whole time? They hate Falcon. Trying to get a loan.

He's trying to get alone, bro. He's been working on his credit. Two seasons. No Falcon. Bro. That's crazy. He's trying to get his debt-to-income ratio right. He saved the world.

He can't ask his black sister, Jomey, because according to you, they don't got good credit. And by the way, he can't ask her, Jomey, because according to you, there should be unity in group operations. Community and group economics, okay? The economics jersey.

So the reality is he can't ask his sister and he can't ask the community for help because Jemmy doesn't like it. We got to go. That's a wrap. files on socials. It's Twitter, Facebook. TikTok save Jomey's job on Friday. In addition is back with their 2024 confidence pool also on Friday on the House of Arr. They're going to return with a deep dive into Percy Jackson.

Percy Jackson. Not the Lightning Thief. This is not what it's called, right? It's called Percy Jackson. There's Percy Jackson and the Olympics. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, okay. And on Monday, but match returns with some of the games they are most looking forward to in 2024. Our producer is Steve, the architect, Alman, and Jomi, the explainer, anti-Quanza man, is on socials.

Hashtag Jomi's biggest what if is what if black people will never come under the thumb. Would that be something that Jomey's into? I would be into it, man. What are you talking about? Yeah, maybe. We don't know yet, Jomey. Jomi, you started off the year on a, Jomi Whitlock.

Hashtag Jolly Wittlock. Hey, yo. No, no, that's not. Like, no funny, no funny. That's not, that's my number one enemy, bro. Don't do that. Don't do that. Stop that.

Stop that. I do not rock with my man. Don't put, no, no, no. And Facebook. I will block every single one of you. Hashtag Jomi Wittloss. I will block every single one of you immediately. No hesitation.

That's an autumn Auto block. Auto block. Additional production from Arjuna Raqqqa Paul. Chuck take us out. Jomey hates Black Unity.

What if season two is it 12? And looking at the fandom slate of 2024, Hope Baby Chuck is officially in hell. Praise. I haven't ever been to a truck stop

before. Y'all know how to go down? I didn't go to a truck stop, but I was driving from St. Louis to Dallas to Dallas. I stop at a at a at a at a bucky's oh buckies Jesus fucking Christ hell yeah

don't give me started Bucky's Bucky's Buckees What's the Buckees? Oh Oh Buckees is great See your thing I don't even see it on TikTok

This is like You have Van explained It's like a I don't like a mega store gas station It's the promise land Oh y'all Y'all

It's like East Coast Buckees But like Buckies is the type of place that you stop in for some gas and you end up spending $85 out that bitch. They got food.

They got novelties and souvenirs. They got the best drinks. They got all kinds of Bucky thing. Bucky is a beaver. Or is he a squirrel? What is Bucket? It looks like a beaver to me. They believe he's a beaver.

And they got, it's just, it's like an amusement park, like a theme park of a god damn truck stop gas station. You get a fire burrito. You get yourself some motherfuckering. and frost. The whole night, like, Buckees is amazing. Do they got any in California? No. Not.

Not. See, this is the whimsy. We should go to a Buckees. Texas. Like, Texas, most likely. Texas is it all throughout the southeast. Ringer versus live show, Texas. I'm going to Buckees. I'm going to Buckees.