The Ringer-Verse - ‘What If ...?’ Season Finale Instant Reactions, Plus: Recasting the 2012 Avengers | The Midnight Boys

Episode Date: October 7, 2021

The Midnight Boys are back to look at the epic conclusion to Season 1 of Marvel's "What If ...?" (06:02). They discuss the finale, which characters returned, and what they thought of the first season as a whole (28:47). Later, Van, Charles, Jomi, and Steve entertain their own "What If ...?" scenario and recast the original Avengers team (49:53). Hosts: Van Lathan and Charles Holmes Producer: Steve Ahlman Social: Jomi Adeniran Additional Production: TD St. Matthew-Daniel and Arjuna Ramgopal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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See terms at fandul.com slash predict slash bonus dash offer dash terms. Welcome into the Ringerverse. This is, of course, the Ringer's Nexus podcast fee for all this fandom. We are. Jomey DeExplanar dinner on. six Steve Alman. Old man, Van, Lathen, a 24-carat gold,

the closer, Chuck, baby, Coke, baby, Chuck. I keep mixing that up. And together, we are no, by the way,

we're also joined by I just came up with this. I just came up with this nickname. The Watcher, producer TD. That's who he is. He's the watcher. He's watching all the time.

He took an oath not to interfere, but he can't help himself. Can't help himself. He can't help himself. We are the Midnight Boys. Programming reminders. Join Mallory Rubin for her deep dive into the what if finale with all new ringerverse. Member of the crew. Joanna, J.R. Robinson.

I just want Joanna to hear my voice right now. We're so happy to have you. So happy. So happy to add a member to the RV team. But we need the fans. We need the fans to help us come up with the name because it can't be House of Mal anymore. It's the House of Mal and Joanna,

which doesn't have the same rate. You know, you could do the House of Melana. The House of Milana. That works. You could just combine it. the names or you could do something else. There's so many houses. Were there houses in Game of Thrones that were led

by women? Just the one, right? The little girl who read, well, actually more than one. The house Terrell was led by a woman. Then the young girl that ran the house. Remember that? Did you watch Game of Thrones? Did I watch Game of Thrones? Van. Really? Well, oh, House of R.

Ruben and Robinson. Oh, the House of R. House of R. That makes a lot of sense. That makes a lot of sense. that makes a lot of sense. Okay, why does it say next week, the Midnight Boys? They know that the Midnight Boys is coming next week. I read this.

That must have been clip. Hang on. See, leave this in. This is the type of stuff. So it says, join Mallory and Rubin for her deep dive into the What If, the What If finale, with New Ring Revertsor Joanna J.R. Robinson. And it says next week, the Midnight Boys. It says nothing else. They know that the Midnight Boys will be coming next week.

Next week, okay, they're updating it as I read right here. Next week, the Midnight Boys will be looking at. Come on, Steve. Get it there. No time to die. Wow. They're updated right now. That's magic.

No time to die. That's James Bond. All right. We're going to be getting into that. And talking about our past experience with James Bond and maybe the future of James Bond. Because we have some differences of opinion here. No, I'm on your side now, Van. Are you?

I'm on my side now. I don't like, yeah, I don't want to just say like what our argument was. It almost broke up the midnight boys. I'm on your side now, man. Yeah, so it's a very, come back for that. Because that's a very heated point of contention amongst the midnight boys, the future of James Bond himself.

Of course, you guys must follow the ringerverse on social, Facebook group, Twitter, and Instagram. We love hearing from you guys, hashtag save Jomey. On today's show, we are going to be talking about the finale of Marvel's What If, and, of course, our thoughts on this season as a whole. Now, addition to that,

addition to talking about what if, we are going to do something that we have teased for a couple of weeks now, we're going to be recasting the OG Avengers movie, the 2012 Avengers, not the multiversal Avengers. 2012 Avengers are OG pals. We're going to be recasting

them with actors of that day. I think I came up with a pretty good how you look. My list is solid. My list is solid. You're enjoying your list. Let me ask you a question. Do you think there'll be any crossover between our two lists? There might be because Jomey and I had one that was just, like, I think is like the, like the perfect casting for Hulk. We both had the same person. Interesting. I would argue that my pick for Hulk would have been better than Ruffalo. I, my pick for Hulk is completely off the wall.

It's somebody who I think is perfect. If it's Terrence Howard, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to It's not. It's somebody who I think is, they're black, though. Of course. See, I thought a black person, at first I was like a black person, but then I'm like,

the connotation of the angry black man, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. But he's not angry. He's green. He's the angry green man. See, we actually get to move away from it. Anyway, we'll talk about it a second.

Can't wait for that segment. It's going to be great. But of course, now, you guys, we have to dive into the season finale of what if, a show that has polarized, depressed and ignited the MCU audience. I feel like a lot of people have been coming around to what if in the last couple of episodes.

All right. Don't. It's very true. Let's just say, I am on cloud nine. This is my Christmas. This is my Hanukkah. This is my Kwanza. This is a day of jubilation.

I'm free. Wow. I'm free from the shackles. Just shut up. Please run a spoiler warning. We're getting ready to talk. about what if you're listening to a reaction podcast the spoilers are coming to watcher Steve you went back to the well right there with your little gimmick the little gimmick

that Steve's starting to feel himself he's getting his doctor Dre on you know what I'm saying a little bit a little bit wait can really quick before we get into what if is there like is there a producer power rankings at the ringer is Steve up there yeah he is but we can't do it. it though. We can't do the producer. No, I'm just saying back, like, are they fighting back? T.D. is L-O-Ling, so he has it in his mind. Who's the power rating? T-D knows. Of course there's a producer.

You know what we should do? I saw them do this on the Reddit one time. We should really break the company by doing a power ranking of all ringer personalities. No, because I'm going to be dead less. I'm not doing this shit. We should do a whole episode. Actually, put this out there. Do you guys want that?

Do you guys want us to power rank all ringer personalities here on the Midnight Boys? See if we got the next thing. We're not doing that. Fuck, no, we're not doing that. People get caught up in an all staff, all hands, Zoom.

All right, what if episode nine? What if the watcher broke his oath? Interesting. Interesting episode of television, of course, covered all different parts of the MCU using some of our very favorite characters to tell different stories,

put them in different situations. But they managed to get to one through line narrative and this finale managed to bring it all back together. We opened with Captain Carter in the Winter Soldier situation, which is one of my very favorite... The movie that you think is better than the Dark Night, yes.

I didn't say it was better than Dark Night. Shout out. Shout out to the big pick. Shout out to the big pick. Shout out to Sean. Ficky Finky Fennacy. That's not what I said. I didn't say it was better than the Dark Night. I actually said the Dark Night is a better movie than Winter Soldier. But the Winter Soldier is a better sequel than the Dark Knight is. Two different things. If you want to hear that, if you want to hear that argument, go listen to the big picture. Sean F. Hennessy. It's a great, it's a great conversation. It's great conversation. Okay. Before we get into specific plot points here, what did you think of the finale of what if? I think it's, it was what if. It was, it was what if. It is what we've been getting. This is the one that has to tie it up. And yeah, if you've liked what if so far, I think you're really, really going to enjoy this episode.

This episode had me a little off kilter. We were talking about it before we got on, where they were getting all of the multiversal Avengers together. And I kept waiting, I'm like, where's Gamora? Where's Gamora? And then she just shows up. And she's just there. but I had no idea

like what her what if deal was like they explained it really, really quick that like she defeated her father but that was like the one thing for the whole episode. I was like, all the rest of the Avengers got got like time in this episode.

Why didn't Gammaur get her own story? Jomi, the Explaner, why don't you jump in and please clear this up for Charles as to why we were so abruptly

introduced to Gamar. Well, allegedly there was a 10th episode Allegedly. Allegedly. We don't know for sure. Don't know for sure. But there was a 10th episode of What If

that featured Tony and Gamora on Sikar. And we don't know the specifics, but from the episode, we gleaned that they fought Thanos and they got the Infinity Staltz from him and they destroyed them in that universe. And we didn't get that episode, but they decided to still use that character in the finale.

So maybe in a season two of What If, If we get that, we can go back and see that journey. Because here's why I think that they needed, they needed that episode, because they have a McGuffin at the end where Camor is like, I have the infinity crusher. And I'm like, what's the infinity crusher? And then she really quickly describes, like, how this machine can crush all infinity stones. And I'm like, you should have had an all episode for that. I really like, I need the whole build up of who built it.

Did Tony build the infinity crusher? All of that stuff. My mind was racing. What about you, Vett? Well, word on the street is that they had to lose an episode for whatever reason. Not sure why. It might be the timing of some things. And they had to choose between the finale and the Gomorah episode.

They're obviously not going to choose the finale. So the Gamora episode might come at a later time. I don't see why it would now, though, because we know what happens as a result of the episode. We know who she is. We know what's going on. Maybe they could change some things around. But obviously, they flipped something. the watcher have been getting close to us

as the series moved on and then in one episode he's close and another episode he's back in the shadow so obviously they switch up the order here and mess things around a little bit. I would say that for the fans that are speculating on this, we should give Marvel some latitude

because just as we did with Falcon and the Winter Soldier, so many things have been so incredibly unpredictable during this last six months to a year of releasing content that I think that they're handling sort of the very uncertain landscape

of theater releases and the very uncertain landscape of just content in general as definitely as they can. I don't think there's, I think they're doing as good of a job as they can. Their whole release schedule got screwed up, everything got pushed back, and they're doing their best to kind of maintain it.

So I don't think it was anything glaring. But yeah, what I'm looking at it, I'm like, I of course I would like more explanation as to why Camorra just appearing out of nowhere. I was like I was looking at Tony's suit. He has this like Hulkbuster on steroid suit. And I'm like I would like to know where Tony got that. But the other thing I want to ask you before you tell me what you thought of the episode is

do you think that this was a case of like them having to get it out? We're still not sure even though there is an inkling that there are things from what if that'll end up in the live action Marvel cinematic universe. We're assuming that they are. We're pretty sure that there are, but we can't be sure. So without knowing that, it's hard to know what they had to put out and put in this show and when they had to do it, you know. Obviously, you know, if you've read or heard any of the leaks, you think that there's

some things in here they're going to carry on. But, you know, who knows? Who knows who can be sure? And with that kind of being the case, as fans, sometimes it kind of sucks because we sit back and we go, well, this doesn't make quite sense to us yet. But we still have to remember that in episodic storytelling like the MCU is, it's not going to all make sense to you the moment that you get it. You know, even though when it's quite clear that they had to call an audible, you know, at the line of scrimmage. So that's all I said. So you've been way more lenient and way more you've enjoyed what if way more than I have.

I haven't been lenient. I liked the show being what's being lenient about it. There's been a couple of shows. There was there was one or two. Overall, how many episodes of what if? There are nine episodes of what if. I'm going to say what if, what if didn't drop a dud, right? There were no bad episodes. And as far as I would say legitimately good episodes.

It was seven out of nine With two great episodes So I think what if was I don't understand what your deal with the show is I don't hate the show Everyone thinks I hate the show Hold on hold on Before we get

To what we thought about what if Period Let's stay on episode nine here Because a lot of shit happens here A lot of shit happens So we get the fight on the Lamarian Star Just like at the beginning of Captain America

Winter Soldier Batroc the Leaper is back. And then the watcher chooses, where finally to the moment where the watcher chooses this multiversal Avengers team, which actually, he names the Guardians of the Multiverse.

So the team is Kilmonger, Party Thor, Captain Carter, Star Lord Tichala, and Strange Supreme, along with Thanos Slayer Gomorra. Now, what do you think of this collection of heroes? Is this an intriguing collection of heroes to you? Were you happy to see these guys fight together on screen?

After all of what's happened in the show to build us up to a point to where these guys are going to save the multiverse, is this a team, in your opinion, that would be capable of saving the multiverse? I think the team has some glaring weaknesses, if I'm being real. The first one, when it happened, I was just like, this is going to end. I'm like the watcher. You've watched all this unfold. When he picked Kilmonger to join this team, I'm like,

The Watcher, really? Really? Really? And the minute Kilmonger shows up in the bar, he puts his hand on the little Ultron head. The easiest thing to see in the whole world that he was going to do what he did. And I'm just like, the strange Supreme says at one point

that like the Watcher knew all of this was going to happen. So maybe that's why he chose Killmonger. But even then, I'm like, this is, even Party Thor, I was just like, really? You could have got Captain Marvel from that universe. You could have got like anybody else. Party Thor, really? He's the guy we're picking.

So there were some glaring weaknesses in how you would build an Avengers team. Did you think that this was like a team that could take down Infinity Ultron? No, but teams are built for stories, you know? And in this particular story, in this particular story, all of these guys were battle tested. They had been through a lot. we had watched their little journeys that they had taken. So they were ultimately they were the right team for the job. And we've seen this throughout Marvel.

We've seen this when you've had to deal with the defenders, the secret Avengers. They're not always the most powerful teams. But they're the teams that have been put together specifically that have the right set of skills to do the job. So I don't think in a normal situation, this would be the ideal team to take down the most powerful. When you saw the team together, you were like,

oh, word, this is... But you know what, though? But you know what, though? There's only one thing about it, though. I think we're underestimating just how OP strong, Strange Supreme is. That's what I wanted to talk to about. So Strange Supreme... He was going bar to bar with Ultron Infinity.

You know what I'm saying? Well, yeah, Strange Supreme just basically destroyed his whole universe. Like, he is probably... He's a Wanda-level threat. for the what-if timeline that we're in. So yeah, he, do you didn't think that he should be able to go bar for bar with perfect Ultron?

That was something that I was scratching my head because we're talking about a perfect Ultron who has all of the infinity stones. And like Strange Supreme Damir was like going one on one with him for most of this episode. And I was just like, hmm, would this happen? Like, was this? Maybe if he's that powerful, maybe.

Well, I think, though, that this version of Ultron is not an expert at wielding the stones. All right. That's where, no, he definitely is. No, he's not. He found the watcher. He's the first organism in existence to find the watcher. He is probably the best person who has ever wielded the stone. No.

If he was good at wielding the stones, he could have snapped his opposition away at any time. Which he should have done. But for story reasons, he couldn't have. No. For story, he couldn't have done. done it because he had less knowledge of how the infinity stones were than Thanos. Ultron is the smartest being in the universe. And you are telling me that he is not as smart as Thanos who would have just snapped all

of them away. He's like, why are we doing this? Well, I'm not, I'm not saying that. First of all, what Thanos has all five stones, there's not going to be a fight. The minute that he was in the individuals in game, the minute that he got to five stones together. Really, he thought he had him. He was trying to snap.

He was like, yo, it's over. Get out of here. Wait, so wait, you're saying Ultron Infinity would lose to end-game Thanos or Infinity War slash end-game Thanos. Well, it depends.

No, don't do it. So listen. Don't backtrack. No, no, no. It depends because I don't know if he's going to walk out with four infinity stones and just get minestones split

right down the middle, which still doesn't make us a ton of sense to me. Really? Let's get them in really quickly. Can we get Steve and Jomey in here? I just want a quick vote on who we think could win. Well, let's get a quick vote. But listen to what I'm saying, though.

In the entire time that Perfect Ultron is using the infinity stones, he's not really using the specific stones with their specific powers. He's not really altering people's minds with the Mindstone, or he's not really creating different realities with the reality stone. He's not really manipulating time as much. He did it a little bit in this episode. He's not using the time zone. He's really using them as a sense of adjoined all-powerfulness

and blast and multiversal traveling stuff to get through. But he's not really using the specific attributes of the infinity stones themselves, which leads me to believe that there's at least a possibility that he's less than adept at you. losing them all together because that didn't have to be a fight. He's got five stones. For them to keep the story going, they just had to be like he can't snap them all the way. We wouldn't have a season.

All right. Let's talk about the battle itself with Perfect Ultron. Did you enjoy the fight? I'm assuming that this fight left you wanting something more because you're the number one what if hater in the entire MCU's galaxy. I was going to say I like the fight. The fight was my favorite part of the what? Van. You're hating on what if.

It's bothering me. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I gave Jomi the space to be angry Jomi for an episode for Let There Be Carnage, okay? I'm not even angry, okay? Why can't you just let me live? I like the fight. Right. You like the fight.

I would expect my co-host to believe in me when everybody else doesn't. But obviously, that's expected too much from you, old man, Van. No, I do believe in you. I do. I just think you've been a little too hard on our... I like the fight. I think the fight was the most interesting part of this entire episode. The one thing by...

This isn't even a nitpick, but, dog, Strange Supreme is so... powerful. Most of the adventures would have gotten washed if he wasn't there. His protection spell was saving them time at time again, which to your point, maybe the team construction is a little less important

because you have Strange Supreme. You just need like five or six people who are there to do the job. You know what I mean? Yeah. His protection spell was really the MVP of the entire fight. OPE. It was a little OPE, if we're being

honest. Ultron couldn't really get off because of the protection spell there. I think this series was in a way a lot about establishing Strange Supreme, who I think is going to go on to become a big deal in the MCU or at least some deal in the MTV.

Just say it. Just say it, Van. Do you think Strange Supreme is going to be in the next Doctor Strange movie? I think Strange Supreme is going to be in a movie, maybe a couple of movies going for. Shut up. The coolest part to me was Strangers' use of a millionaire when they had all those millionaires flying around.

Chuck, how can you not love it? All of those meoniers flying around and then they come together to encase Ultron in an endless abyss of hammers. They put that hammer on them. That part was super dope to me. Can I ask you a very nerdy question? Go for it.

Do you think all of those mieners were real? Or do you think they were just approximations of the real one? I have no clue. It would be hard to believe that they were actually real because if you had that many mionnaires and they were all real mioners, like with the power of the original mionaire, you'd think you'd be able to do more damage with them.

And if you could create just another millionaire like that, why not create one for everybody and make them all worthy? Potentially transport mionnaires from other universes? Maybe, but just like if you can do all of that, then you can probably enchant them so that every one of the team has a millionaire and then now we really got to fight. All of those guys with the with the me andeer,

I feel like they could take Ultron since he doesn't know how to snap them away since he is not an expert at using the powers that he has. He doesn't really understand them. Anyway, so Dr. Strange let his, his dragons out. That was cool, little Dungeons and Dragons action in the show. I like that.

Did Dr. Strange in this, episode willed the power of Schumagorath. It seemed like some tentacles were coming out and that we got a little usage of a little a shum-a-shum dog coming to the situation. Let me ask you this. Do we think that's still Schumagorth? I think it is. I was one thing that I was let down a little bit.

I thought we would have gotten the Schumagorff reveal. Or are they saving that for Dr. Strange? They're probably saving this for Dr. Strang. But I just think when we see it in Doctor Strange, when we see it in a multiverse of madness, it's not going to be shocking to us because we're going to be somewhat familiar with the character. But I definitely think it's Schumeliorth. Going off that, do you feel like people, maybe we're rough on what if, but we'll be happy we watched it when we watched the upcoming movies in a way where a bunch of people were like, damn, I got to go watch the series now. Are you saying is what if the 808 and heartbreaks of Marvel?

Well, 808 and Heartbreaks is one of the best, the best kind of album. No. But see, here's the deal, though. You were... Go to cuckoo-cocat. Daddy, mommy. I was a piece of... Yeah.

When it came out. How old do you think I was when Ada waits a heartbreak came out? Like, what is this? This is like... You were, like, in high school? Damn. I was probably like 15, 60? 15, 16.

Okay. So when that shit dropped initially, we fucking hated that shit. Oh, whoa, whoa, no. the olds hated it. The olds hated it. I did not hate it. All right. Let's not. I'm sure you didn't. I'm sure you did. I'm sure you did. And who was who was on the right side of history? See, they hate you. No. We went on the right side of history. Right. So what I'm saying is that like I was 28 when it dropped. Love lockdown came out. We didn't fucking understand it. Nobody did. And then like literally like a year later, we were like, hey man, you know what I've been

listening to? Now stop. And people were like, what? And oh, it's a heart brace. And they were like, Yo, man, me too. That's exactly how that went. And I think that could, that what if could be the same way. You think that's going to happen with what if? But I'm not saying that about what if, because I like, what if now.

I think the majority of the audience likes what if now. I don't think it's going to take that long. I don't think it claimed the hearts of the streets. Like, Loki had the streets rocking, van. Like, you know, like they was knocking down the door for Loki episodes. It's just a different, it's just a different level. Question for you. Is Nat actually as skillful with a bow as Hawkeye is?

No. Okay. Well, I tell you what, she shot right into the eye of Ultron while I think on the back of a motorcycle. On the back of a motorcycle while he's flailing around and Captain Carter is trying to make him hold still. Okay. So she's a weapons expert. She's an assassin. So I'm pretty sure she's a, I'm pretty sure.

She's pretty dope with the bow. But here's the thing. Marvel has to establish how hard shooting a bow actually is. Because in Shang-she, we have Aquafina learning to be a dead eye with the bow in 0.5 hours. And in this one, we have Nat, who once again is an assassin. Dope aim. I'm sure she's trained in all different types of weapons. But I was thinking that Captain Carter was going to catch the arrow and stab it into Ultron.

But Nat just made the shot. So I'm like, yeah, Nat, Nat's pretty dope with the bow. man. Can I ask you a question? Was there a little bit of a little bit of romance between Captain Carter and Nat, you think? I thought so. I thought there was a little bit of chemistry. But you know what, though? I feel like it's the exact same relationship that Steve Rogers has with Nat to where it's like there was always the chance. Like especially in Winter Soldier when she kisses him, there was some tension. Of course there would be. I felt like they got that same tension kind of right. Here's the thing in winter, the original winter soldier, it was like, you could get it, but there's just not time.

And then there was just never time, like the window just closed on both of them. You know what I'm saying? No, it could happen. Doesn't mean that it will happen. But it could. But it could. Everybody got a friend where it could happen. Everybody got a friend where it could happen.

In this situation, you know, it could happen. and, you know, maybe they'll explore it in some hentai or something like that. Did you just say hint? Van Amet for real, huh? Yeah, for real, bro. Shit. This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable Internet means everything for your business.

And even this podcast, that's why I trust Spectrum Business. to keep companies of all sizes connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, mobile services, plus 24-7 U.S.-based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum business. So visit Spectrum.com slash business to learn more. Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas.

Wanda pops up. So I was wondering where our zombie episode, our Marvel zombie episode, was going to come back because I was kind of at some point expecting to see zombie Thanos. Yeah, I was wondering when all the zombies come and like there's supposed to be somebody

who's about to pop out, I 100 thought it was going to be zombie Thanos. And then when it was Scarlet Witch, I was like, oh, interesting, interesting. So here's my question though. Does that mean that zombie Scarlet Witch is stronger than zombie Thanos? It seems as if she might

have beat them or they're saving because they're going until, I know we're going to get more of the Marbles zombies. So I might be saving some of these characters. But she took all an Ultron. It looks like she didn't get what she thought she was going to get from him. But she might have got a little crease like a pair of dicky. What if has me thinking? Who do you think top three really quick are the most powerful heroes in the Marvel universe now? As we stand right now. As we stand right now.

Captain Marvel, I'm not going in order. Captain Marvel, Wanda Maximoff and either Thor or Dr. Strange. I think I'm going Dr. Strange Wanda, Captain Marvel, in that order. Yeah, yeah.

Those are the three, though. So Kill Marger's betrayal. Kill Margar's betrayal. Saw that coming from a fucking mile away. From a mile away, bro. Like, that's the part. I don't get that. I wouldn't put him on the team.

He's going to fuck. I mean, I saw it coming from a mile away. And the watcher did too, I guess. The minute that he put his hand on the Ultron head, I was just like, y'all are some of the smartest beings in the multiverse. Nobody's like, yo, get this motherfucker out of you. But I think that it was clearly part of the watcher's plan. He knew that the betrayal would come.

And so the watcher has to put, you know, I used to ask my mom like, well, I would stub my toe and I would go up to my mother. I'd be like, why did God let me stub my toe? It hurts. and my mother would be like stubbing your toe as part of God's plan and I'd be like man God

God kind of got it going on you know what I mean you know if I get I'm like that's I'm not going to lie shout out to God because you know if if I get an A on a test God bless me

and if I get an F is part of his plan it's like God got it kind of and that's kind of what the watcher is The watcher's like, yo, I got a plan. And my plan is to put this treacherous bastard. By the way, Kilmonger was made even more evil throughout the course of what if to me on the team. Yeah, we thought they were making him into a hero for the next Black Panther. I'm like, man, maybe he's just not redeemable.

God. No, hell no. Absolutely not. Saw it come in. So the Watcher worked out. Strange now has to sit in a pocket universe. and guard killmonger Arnhem Zola and perfect

Ultron Infinity for all of eternity. Like, Strange seemed a little too okay with sitting in that room for, do they have postmates? Like, he seemed a little too okay. He's like, what am I going to do? But I guess you can't really just let him go do his thing

even though it sacrificed himself. He killed an entire universe. But now he's got to sit there for all of eternity and watched him. Zach, you think that's too tough on him, too tough of a fate? He's magical Hitler, essentially. No. Jesus Christ.

I mean, he killed the entire universe. He committed multi, like universal genocide. Like, yeah. Yeah, but he did it for a reason. It was for love. Look, I think that that's a good thing about the show. I think the show has set up the fact that some of these characters and heroes have made mistakes. and they don't get to run from those mistakes,

but they can do other things to help redeem themselves. So in that situation, Strange Supreme, he had done too much to say, hey, let me just create a new reality for you or insert you here, there, like you've done too much, but at the same time, his sacrifice shows that there is still something redeemable about him

and he can still, he doesn't have to, he can't do, he can't undo what he's, already done, but he can make the decision not to do more harm. And I think that's a very important theme that runs throughout comic books, and we see it in what if? I agree.

I agree. What are the chances that he breaks out of there, though? I don't know. Oof. So the Watcher gives Black Widow back to a new Avengers universe. That is very interesting. That's a huge potential problem for the multiverse and timeline logic

for Loki. After, just denying Captain Carter a happy ending. So no happy ending for Captain Carter, right? Captain Carter got a happy ending. Kind of, but not the happy ending she was asking for. She asked specifically to be put back at a different time. They put her back at her same time, and it

just turned out that Steve was alive this whole time. So either the watcher didn't put her back to where she asked to go because he already knew Steve was alive, or the watcher said no to her, and then yes to Black Widow who gets to go, first of all, why wouldn't Black Widow I don't understand this

Black Widow is fighting to defeat Ultron on that world so why wouldn't she want to go back to that world? What was the point of the fight then? There was a there She was trying to save the universe but there were no more humans on that earth so she had nothing to go back to

She might have been like I'm the last I don't remember Jemmy jump in here I think Charles is right I think she mentions them to the fact that like there are no more heroes or no more Avengers it was just me and Clint Right. No more heroes, no more Avengers, but there got to be other people.

But I think to her point, it's like all her friends are dead. Like no one, you know, she doesn't know anybody. She's just alone there. Even if she like went to go see more people, like that's not what she wants to do. She wants to continue to fight and save the world. And the watcher was a homie for letting her go back and do that. But here's the thing. If we can we get real about like the timeline and multiversional shenanigans going on in Marvel?

To your point, then, if the watcher can put, this Nat into another universe that is not her universe, wouldn't she get pruned? Because she's not supposed to be there. So there's a way that the TVA needs things to go. And that has actually nothing to do with what's supposed to happen. Nat being where she was was a part of the TVA.

Maybe that's in the TVA, aka He Who Remains, aka Kane to Conquer a Sacred Timeline. Because remember, in Loki, they say, hey, the Avengers went back and grabbed all the time stones, whatever, that was supposed to happen. So we never know what the grand plan of the TVA is and what's sacred or what's not sacred to them. I would imagine that at some point all these multiversal shenanigans have to throw some sort of monkey wrench into what it is that they're doing. But Kang is such a bestata that we don't even know what he's planning and what he's not.

For all, we know Kane could be behind all of this. Who knows? Who knows? So I'm not sure that should be true. This is why I don't like time travel as a concept. that because you can spend your whole life trying to explain all this shit. Well, I think it's pretty simple. Honestly, I think we know that the TVA were frauds and he who remains only set up the TVA to keep all the kings in line. And with that destroyed, then anything is possible across the multiverse. So her going into a new timeline, no one's going to prune her because the TVA isn't a thing,

like isn't a thing that exists anymore. Wait, is this sad after Loki, though? After Loki, yes, exactly. Well, no, the TVA is definitely a thing after Loki, but it's just that Kang is in control of the TVA. Because remember, so they don't have, they don't have, or they don't have, like, objects. They don't have, like, rules to set who to prune,

who not to prune. Well, they do have rules. They just have very specific rules, and we don't know what those rules are. Man, two Midnight Boys can't even agree. And y'all telling me it's so easy. Come on. I'm not, I didn't say it was easy.

No, Jamie is, oh, I'm not saying it's easy. Like, what I'm saying is that we don't know if they would want her to be pruned. So maybe that's not. not why she was not pruned. Loki set us up with this whole framework that anybody that was a variant got pruned, right? Anybody that was somewhere they weren't supposed to be got pruned, but that's actually not true.

Like that, that's not how it works. How it actually works is anyone who goes against the plans of he who remains, anybody, they get pruned. So we don't know what's going on to that effect. And also, the watcher did make a point to say that he's sending them all back to the moment they vanish. So it wasn't like he was sending them back and they had been gone. So even if all this shit with the TVA, the TVA wouldn't even know.

Because he's sending them back exactly where they were. Who knows, baby? All right. It's time for it right there. At the end, Cap seemingly gets reunited with Steve Rogers. Boy, let me tell you something, Steve. Steve, be ready. Because that's a whole lot of woman.

Okay, she's strong. She's powerful. Just be ready, Steve. Do you think Steve can lay it down after decades in ice? I don't know. I don't know. I want more than anything. The whole MCU to me

is just about Steve and Peggy being happy. Just let these two have sex and love on each other. She looked like she was ready to bash through that door and jump in that Hydra stomper. Come on, Steve. What song do you think Steve is throwing on on a sex playlist, the first song?

Probably some big band shit. It's not going to be anything smooth. He's been locked in that thing for a whole time. She's going to be like, Steve, come over to the room, and Steve's going to be like, okay, one second. Ban on. You know, this episode is brought to you by weather tech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess.

You don't need weather tech 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 weather tech seat protectors. So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer. You don't need weather tech unless you plan on doing summer. Visit weathertech.com today. This episode is brought to by Borishead. What if we told you the taste of deep fried turkey is now available at your local deli? Well, Borishead just did that. Bursting with flavor,

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From 1 to 12, 12 is classic. six to ten is average. Anything of the six is Mickey Mickey mid. Charles, what you got? No, you got to go first, man. 9.5. All right. All right.

I think I will give this a five at a tour. What? What? What? Steve, Jolmy, please jump in. Okay. I'd say I'd give this like

8.5. I had a lot to enjoy. Truly. Truly. There were some things that I did enjoy. Oh, let's do the math right now. Let's do the math. What's an 8.5? Jomi, what did you think? I'm going to, I think, yeah, somewhere long, like a 9 or a 10. I'll say I'll say 9.5. And 8.5 is a 70, okay? Which passing? Passing. I would say this gets a passing grade. This gets a passing grade. Jolie gave Lettherby Carnage like a six. Yeah. This was way better than leather be carnage. Wait a way more. You're kidding me?

All right, the box office receipts don't lie. Men lie, women lie, numbers don't. Oh, yeah, because people were flocking to the theaters and go see what if. Come on.

I mean, I saw the streets. The streets weren't flocking. All right. It's trending all over the place right now. You want to go to Twitter? Let's go to the trend of top. We're going on. Come on.

Like, you know. No, you're saying. You're acting like the streets. You're acting. The streets ain't. Is TD still here? Titi is Titi? You know what street thing, talking.

So right now, so right now I'm going to read you off the trending topics on Twitter. Rich Paul. Rich Paul, Dave Chappelle, Black Widow, Tachala, Shuri, Killmonger, and the Bold and the Beautiful.

So that's one, two, three, four, although Black Widow might have to do with the fact that Black Widow is being released to, uh, uh, to Disney Plus. And also, Shuri has nothing to do with what if.

Yes, she does. Oh, no, she's trending for a completely different reason. Completely different reason. Leticia Wright, let's see, Hollywood Reporter. Hmm. Yeah, it's from a story from Hollywood Reporter called Hollywood Battle Lines emerge in simmering vaccine war. She's vaccine. Damn.

Lettisha Wright is, like, Shuri's an anti-vaxist. So I guess, but you know what? Earlier though. See, I didn't give you that. I didn't give you that, man. Earlier when I looked, though, on my, bro, on God, though, on God. Earlier when I looked, Ultron was trending. There's a lot of shit that was trending.

But the streets are talking about, stop hating on what if, bro. Whoa, you keep saying I hated it. I did not hate it. I did not hate it. You gave it an F. You gave it an F. I let Jomey give, let there be carnage a six. Why can't y'all let me rock with what if?

Can I not have an opinion? Do I'm, I'm, look, you can have an opinion. I'm just saying that you hated it. That's all I'm saying. 50 is a little less than 50% hating it? No. If you go to a restaurant and I hated 50% of the meal, there was 50% of the meal that was good.

You are fucking pedighing right now. I can't even fucking see you, Doc. That's crazy. What are your top three episodes of what if? I think Tchala becomes Star Lord is number one. What if zombies is easily number two. And then, damn, what would number three be? I don't know.

They're all tied for number three. So I go to Chala number one Number two I go Strange Supreme This episode that I really Really Man that one sent you to your therapist really I know but it was good though I've watched it so many times

It was like really good Number two I would say Strange Supreme And number three I would say the zombies The zombies I really really liked But there are other episodes of what if That were really good Like super duper good man Like what if was really really

solid. I can't believe this. The finale I could easily put as number three because it was a great finale. But also like we have to grade it. Like here's the thing we got to grade it against like what we've gotten from the MCU before. That's also what I'm trying to to like illustrate that I did not hate it. But like if it's competing against like even the other TV shows like we're coming off Loki. You know what I'm saying? Like we're coming off like a high high. So I just have to it. It's fourth. It's like the fourth best MCU TV show we've gotten.

So, like, I'm grading it on that scale. If, like, Loki is on the high, high end, does what if even, is what if even half of Loki? I don't think so. And that's not me saying it, that's not me saying it's bad. That's just me saying I'm grading it against what we've gotten this year. Fair enough. Fair enough.

As far as the mechanism of what if itself, the way they do their thing, I do a little bit different in linking all of these what ifs together. and not having them be actually one-shot anthologies as they exist in the comic books. Which method do you favor more? Like, which one do you feel like works better? Going off of the two episodes that I like the most,

I think the Tichala and especially the what of zombies, I think this honestly would have just worked better as an anthology series. Of just, like, trying to tie it together, I think we saw with the Gomorra last-minute thing that it can be really, really tough. And a lot of that is because of COVID. I think what if when I enjoyed it most

was just like, hey, show me a new story. Star Wars Vision style does not need to connect anything, just needs to wow me. I think it's interesting that you bring up Star Wars Visions because going into this out of said, hey, I want more episodic magic from Marvel. So, yeah, tie it in together and then give me exactly what it is they did,

which I am very happy with. But I think after having watched Star Wars Visions, I don't need what I thought that I needed. Hmm. Yeah, I just don't. Star Wars Visions was, I'm not comparing the two of you guys, I'm just saying,

just as a litmus, because Star Wars Visions is giving you exactly what we're debating what if could have done. So it was extremely impactful for me because of the uniqueness of each individual story. And that kind of threw me back into what if actually it was when I was reading in the comic books.

Actually, I think a good thing for them to do would have been to change the animation style in every episode of what if. That's what I was advocating for earlier in the thing. And we saw how it worked in Star Wars Visions where I'm like, I actually think like the what if zombie episode could have been even better. It was still good if they had gone with a more horror, darker style. I think a lot of these episodes, sometimes they fail just because the animation didn't match with the tone of the story. And if you're matching the animation with the tone of the story,

I think it would have been a lot more successful. And that's like once again, when I'm reviewing what if, you said it early. I think in the first episode, if you don't rock with the animation style, it's going to be very, very hard for you for what if to get over a certain hump.

And I think that was always what was hard for me, is that the animation style works for some episodes and then for others, I was like, I wish I could have gotten a little bit of a different flavor. Yeah, I didn't have a problem with the animation style, but I do think to reflect the variety of the stories being told that if you have a different animation style, it right away sets that for you visually when you start to watch it.

Overall, I think that Marvel is packing a lot of story into all of their titles and to all of the content that they're putting out. So they probably needed to plug some holes with what if, And I wonder if they'll do that same thing with the next season. For season two, I think I'm expecting to actually have the stakes lowered. Hmm. So I want Marvel to have three tiers of storytelling right now. Introductory storytelling, which is based upon characters that we don't really know yet,

mid-tier storytelling, which really has to do with some of the characters we already know, dealing with non-earth-threatening enemies. Yeah. Just, you know, people who are doing shit. Okay. And then the top-tier storytelling

is all this multiversal sort of huge, huge stuff happening. Because now that we're not just ending the world, we're ending the universe, the stakes will get muted and numbed if every single thing is about that. What if is about ending the multiverse? Spider-Man would know a helm is about it in the multiverse,

which I don't think it will be. If multiverse of madness is about someone trying to destroy the whole multiverse. I mean, even Loki season two. Like, we're getting to a point where instead of it being ending the world, almost every single title in some ways referencing the timeline, the multiverse. And to your thing, I do think it can get a little bit numb where you're like, damn, like, you can only raise the stakes so far before you're like, okay. Before it starts, it loses its meaning.

So I think that for Loki season two, and I don't, not Loki season two, for what if season two, and I don't know if they can do this at this point, maybe they've gone too far, I'd like to see the charm of those one shots come back and maybe pare it down a little bit and give us a little breather. What about you? Yeah, I, man, we talked about it on the big picture with Sean, and it's something I've been thinking about since then. I really, really like the lower stakes

for the superhero stuff. I don't think every superhero movie, like, it can't compete with endgame. We have to stop expecting that every single entry is going to compete with end game. Like, no, like, some stories are just, I care about the characters

and I care about the relationships way more than I care about whether they save the world or not. Actually, in most of these movies, like, when the big beam shoots out of the sky, and like, we gotta save the world. I'm like, I don't give the fuck. I don't care.

You know? Well, you got to do it. All right. That is, that wraps it up for our discussion of what if. Thank you, Marvel once again. Very well done. I enjoyed it. Now, it is time to recast the OG Avengers, a movie,

which Charles says is not as good as the age. Why are you trying to get the midnight mob against me on this episode? Come on. Cocainea. What did I do against you, man? This man has been snorted, catching a train down his nasal cavity. He knows what's going on.

We are going to have our own what-if scenario here, 2012 and recast, what if we were the casting directors behind making the 2012 Avengers movie possible? This idea came to us from Ian from Seattle, Ian from Seattle. We're sitting you, imagine. Merch.

Poo-Pew. Imaginary merch from Ian from Seattle. You got a hat and a shirt, maybe. We will be picking the roles of

Tony, cap, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Nick Fury. Steve, I want you

to kind of run this recast. All right. Okay. Van, we'll have you go first.

Who do you have for the role of Tony Stark? Tony Stark. I have an actor from that time that was just coming around. So this is my thing with Tony Stark, not just coming around.

He was doing this thing. He was very hot at this time. Tony Stark has to be, he has to have a specific look, dark hair, strong features, has to be very dramatically inclined, all right, has to be able to handle some of the more dramatic parts of Tony, but also has to be able to have a lighter touch. I'm not sure that we're necessarily making the same movie that John Favreau and Robert Donnie Jr. made with Iron Man. But I do think that this Tony Stark that I chose, who's a big deal around this time,

could deliver a performance that invoked the same emotional stakes, has the comedy chops. I've seen them be funny and cool in movies. He's a gentleman by the name of Clive Owen. Clive Owen, who starred in Children of Men, Clive Owen, who was in. in a movie that I love where he was talking dirty talk with Julia Roberts in a film called Closer.

Clive Owen, really? My Tony Stark is Clive Owen. Clive Owen. Wow. Oh, man, Steve, is it my turn? That's, I mean, that's a fantastic pick. Yeah, yeah, it's your turn. It's your turn. All right. I think I'm going to go

with someone who is not a stranger to the superhero crowd. I think he would, like Van, would give us something a little bit different than Robert Downey Jr. gave us. But man, you put a glass of whiskey in this man's hand, and you would just want to watch him sip it.

I think he has that suaveness. Maybe he's not as funny as Robert Downey Jr., but I think he has this similar acting chops. I'm going to go with Michael Fastbender. Interesting. I think Michael Fastbender could do a very, very good Tony. Maybe not as funny as Robert Downey Jr., but I do think he could get the, like,

Playboy technology right on. That's a very good looking Tony Stark. That's the only thing that I would say. That's a very good look. But I think Michael Fastbender works. Fastbender. Also famously played Magneto in the X-Men movies. But not till later.

Yeah. Not till later. I think Michael Fastbender, because here's the thing. I think Van and I probably both ran into this. It's just really, really hard after like watching Robert Downey Jr. Like you can't really get somebody who's just like him.

Like there's no one like you have to you have to yeah that that's you know you have to you have to move away from from the way he did it but yeah I thought my fast man to worse though fast wonder the worst uh Jomey Steve who you guys got Jome me so I just want to preface this by saying I was I was just going off the cuff you know I was just shooting you know my shot and I thought bring it in let's go Keanu Reeves as Tony Stark this is No. No. Wait, wait, wait, wait. No. No. No. No.

Listen. Listen. Okay. Listen. Let's disclaimer. Joe. Joey. Joe me, joey slacked me his list.

He's insane. Well, well, first off. This is so far before John Wick. Like, I can't even let you rock with him. It's not the right role for Keanu Reeves. Yeah. It's not. It's not.

It's not. But could you imagine? No. Like him. Wait, wait. Listen. Him snapping in end game. He's like, like, whoa.

Like, come on. That would be funny. No. You know what I'm saying? Just know that Jomey, I love, I love Keanu Reeves. He's one of my favorite human beings on the planet. But just know, the entire MCU has to rest on the shoulders. Now you got it.

Let's be real. If Keanu was in Iron Man, we're not getting an MCU. We're not getting like, it's going the same way as talking to. Let's be real. I didn't say it was a great pick, but it's, I would be. It's your pick. It's your pick. It would be fun.

Steve, what's your pick? I wanted, I went for like a tiny bit of a darker Tony Stark. I wanted a demon in the bottle, Tony Stark. I think Mad Men era John Ham can do that. Oh, that's a good pick. That was one of my picks. Like, the only thing with John Ham is that, like, if we're being real, he's had a really, really tough time after men.

Oh, but he's been good. He's had some good roles. Yeah. He was great and Baby Driver. He, like, he can bring it. He could be funny. Great in Baby Driver. Great in the town.

No, no, no. I'm not saying, I'm saying rough in like, you still see Don Draper. I'm not going to lie. That's a good, I'm not going to lie. I think... It's a really good pick, though. That's a strong, strong pick for Tony Stark right there. I actually think, out of all of them,

I think Clive Owen is great. I think Fasbender is great. I think Calender Reeves is good. But I think that's actually... Wait, one more. Before we go to the next one, this is actually a question for you, Steve. This is the one thing that stopped me from picking John Ham.

Does John Hamm still do Mad Men? Do we still get as much of Mad Men as we did? Oh, does this project? take him away from Madman? I think he could juggle it. That's a tough one because Manman was going around right around this time. That's a tough call. It's a good pick though. I think he could do it. It's a good pick though. I would want him doing Mad Men more than I would want him doing the MCU ultimately because that show is great. That shows incredible. All right. So up next, who is playing Steve Rogers slash Captain America? Van.

My favorite white man on the planet, the coolest white dude. on earth R.G. Ryan Gossling is playing Captain America. No. Yes.

Ryan Gosling is playing Captain America. Ryan Gosling has it all. He's got the all-American face. He's blonde.

We're going to hit the gym. We're going to get Ryan to about 2115, to 20. I've seen everything from Ryan Gosling that lets me know

he could be an amazing Steve Rogers, a great Steve Rogers, a top flight actor. I've seen him be funny in crazy, stupid love. I've seen him be foreboding in the place

between the pines. I've seen him play an American hero already when he played the dude and went to space. I think he played what was it? Neil Armstrong. Neil Armstrong, huh? So I've seen enough from Ryan Gosling

to let me know that if you're putting Ryan Gosling in that place as cap, he's going to do a great job. Ryan Gosling is my cap. See, I went in a completely opposite direction. I feel like for Captain America, you can't get anyone who's too famous. You have to get someone who's like... But he wasn't too famous at that time, though.

That's what I'm saying. At that time, Ryan Gosling wasn't too famous. So we're talking about casting it and like, what is that movie? come out in 2010, 2000. Ryan Gosling was a big deal, but at that time,

he wasn't too famous to be in captain. Fair enough. Fair enough. I went, I did not reinvent the wheel. This is actually someone who was in the running

for Captain America. I think John Krasinski actually would have made a really, really, really good Captain America because he has a really, really good beard.

That's not the one number one. But like, after seeing him in the beard, I'm like, you could have put him in in infinity war. He would have rocked it. I also just think that

he actually would have played a skinier, Steve way better than Chris Evans. Because the biggest knock against the first Avenger, so I'm like, that's Chris Evans. Like, he's handsome. Like, Krasinski is a little bit awkward. And I think the transformation from him

being like a gangly, awkward Steve to this massive superhero, Captain America would have been way more believable with Krasinski. So I'm going with that. And he also has a comedic chops from the office. Good pick. Good pick. Jomey? See, now I'm, you know, I'm stressed out

because y'all laughing at me. It can't be worth of Keanu. It could be Chris Pine as Captain America. Now. Pretty good. Yeah, it's tough because he did Star Trek in like 09. So he'd have to do that back to back. But I think Chris Pine would have made a great Captain America.

Plus we get all the Chris's, well, except for Evans, but we get, you know, another, the Chris Pine, only Chris Pine, who's done in the MCU until the MCU. I don't mind Chris Pine actually now that I think about it. I think after seeing him in Wonder Woman, he actually does look really, really good, like grizzled up on a field, Boar. Yeah, that's a good pick.

I think Chris Pyle works as Captain America, for sure. Nice bounce back, Joe. Like, safe, but like that way, he definitely works as Steve Rogers. He has a Steve Rogers' he face. Yeah. He does. Yeah, he has an old-timey face. Like, he has one of those old white people from... All white people faces.

Okay. Steve, who's yours? All right. So in the DMs between Jomey and I, we were actually like kind of debating this one. Like Chris Pine was kind of in my running

for Captain America as well, but I switched it up. I'm going with an actor from Justified, from Deadwood. He's Steely. He's very Americana. Timothy Oliphant. Ooh.

It's very good. I highly recommend Justified. I think he could play a very good Steve Rogers. He's funny, charismatic. The plucky awkward is not exactly there, but, like, man, I think he could be a great Captain America. Not going to work. Not going to work.

That's fair. I'm going to be honest. He looks oldest fun. Like, that's what I was saying. This is 2012. His face, his, his, his, his, his, his, his, his, his, his, his, his, his, his, Timothy Oliphant has that little twinkle in the eye that tells you, uh,

that he's got something else going on. That's why he's so good at playing those roles. Like, you need, cap has to be straight up. It's not very much mystery about them. Timothy Olofant is a disappointing pick from you, Steve. All right, that's fine. I'm coming back with this next one. Yeah, you make me all the way sick.

But he is very handsome. Yeah, I'm looking at him. But up next, we've got a Thunder himself. Thor, who were we casting? Alexander Scarsguard. He is 6'4. He is Scandinavian. He played Eric in true blood.

It's gone on to be other things. Alexander Scarsguard is who I am casting as Thor. To me, you build this guy out a little bit of beef wagon. I saw him with the shirt off. I was about to give you shit. And then I saw him with the shirt off. I'm like, never mind. Never mind.

Yeah, like Alexander Scarsguard is going to be your Thor. And he's going to be like a Thor the way Thor is. Real Scandinavian shit. Shout out to Alexander Scars. who played Eric in True Blood and used to have my mother and my sister going nuts every Sunday.

Probably Kalika, too, but she never gave in front of me. I thought your mom was mad at you for being a milk merchant. No, my mother, my mother has a white boy thing. It's very well known. My mother, my mother and my father got rest of soul.

I remember walking in, we were watching vibes. that was a vibes as a movie it's Pete Goldberg vibes is a movie from like 1986 or 87 with Jeff Goldberg and Sidney Lopper and your boy

who played Columbo God damn fuck I can't believe I just blanked on his name but and they're psychics and my mother was like I had Jeff Goldblum was something sexy and my dad

my dad is like Peter Falk Yeah, Peter Falk playing a little bit. My dad is like, oh, what the fuck? What you're creaming for that man right in front of me? My mother loved Jeff Goldblum. Jeff Goldblum did it for it, really. She loved David Copperfield, the magician.

She loved him, which is, you know, he's a little sketch. But still, I'm going to go with Alexander Skies God. My pick for Thor, this is coming from the heart. I know that I'm still pulling for him, even when I feel like a lot of people have gotten off the train. have gotten off the bandwagon, okay? I think he can handle the Shakespearean aspect. He looks great with long hair. He looks great with a beard.

I'm going to go with Charlie Hunna from Sons of Anarchy. Oh, not bad at all. I think he really, like, I think his roles have been sketchy since then. He was very, very good in Pacific Rim. He's not a super strong actor is the only thing about it. I would argue that Hemsworth wasn't that strong in the first two Thor movies. You know what I'm saying? But I'm going with Charlie.

hunt him. I really liked him in Pacific Rim. Maybe not the strongest actor, but I think he has the look of Thor. And I think he can handle a lot of just being beautiful on screen, which Thor has to be. Yeah, he really can. He really has the Thor look about it. That's actually a really, really

great pick. Jomi, bounce back. I'm a little nervous for his story. Well, he need to put on a bit of an accent, but I think a... Brad Pitt as Thor. Brett.

Right? Listen, listen, listen. Show me. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. I told you they were going to get you for this show, dude. Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, wait. The great actors of our, no.

Listen, wait, think about it. Wait, think about it, though. Think about it, though. Right? We've seen Brad Pitt be funny, right? Brad Pitt can be funny, right? They probably lean into it. He's got the Achilles.

Remember, he was Achilles? Imagine a funny Achilles. Right? Think about it. Think about it. You got a fucking worse. First of all, first of all,

yo, dog, what's our budget on this shit, Doc? Spare no expense. Spare no budget. You saw Robert Daniel Jr. was going to get expensive?

Yeah. Fuck. Robert Doddy Jr. was cheap for the first iron, man. It got some cheap. You fucking want Brad Pitt. Brad Pitt.

Like, is it my money? Is it my money? You know what I'm saying? It's a studio money. Like Jomey, Brad Pitt is one of our greatest living actors right now. And you really think he's signing on for the Thor. He's not doing Thor, bro.

He's not, think about it. You know what I'm saying? It's 2009. You know what I'm saying? He's not popping then? The ocean's money not running out. You know, the residuals not coming through no more. You know what I'm saying?

You think you look around, he had all them kids, you know what I'm saying? You got a, you know what I'm saying? So you're looking around like, hey, man. Now, fuck out of here. I was going to say Leonardo DiCaprio needs to be Hawke. I fuck out of here, bro. Right. You saw my list.

Yo, Steve, who do you have? It can't be worse than that. All right. This is going to be tough. This is going to be real tough. All right. I know he's not the strongest actor. I know that he's probably

not a conventional pick for this, but I think he's funny. I think he could genuinely be quite dramatic when he wants to be. But if I want a Thor Ragnarok type, that can be just a dumb jock, that is Thor to me, in essence, I want Shannon Tatum to play Thor.

Interesting. Shannon Tatum. I don't know that I have. I don't know. I don't know that I don't know that I have a dumb wig on him. I want a dumb beard on him. I want a terrible, but it's also terrible,

but it's also hilarious because some of those wigs and Thor were awful too. Yeah. I don't know that I, I don't know that I hate it. I don't hate it. I'm intrigued by it though, which is good. Yeah.

I think he could be Thor. I think he could be Thor. Yeah. Okay. Okay, I don't know. But here's the thing, in 2009, you think Channing Tatum has that. It took him a while to get, like, that charm about him. You know what I mean?

I think that's the thing. He'll come into the magic mic phase. Like, that's right around that time. Okay. If you get him playing Thor right around then, he's hitting Magic Mike. The only thing I would say is he doesn't, he doesn't have a Thori essence. But maybe he could. If he makes a dumb accent move, like, I think he could do this.

I really think that he could. All right. It's not, here's the thing, Steve. I think the reason I'm not harsher on that is because nothing can be worse than what Jomey just did. So I'm going to let that slide. I actually think that that's not,

I don't hate that. Listen, I'm here for, I'm here for vibes alone. I got a real wild car for the next one. All right, what's Hulk? All right, give us Hulk, Quinn. What's Hulk? Okay, so I had to flip the race

of somebody else in this. So I flipped, to make sure we still have a black face on the team, I flipped who's playing. Banner. There was a guy that was getting his acting career going at that point that had been in a lot of stuff that is still acting and doing a great job. And when I think of Bruce Banner, someone who can channel, somebody who can channel someone who has a demon inside them, who can be funny, who can be irreverent, who can be vulnerable, but at the same time,

a little swath. I am casting as Bruce Banner, Andre Benjamin, better known to people as Andre 3,000 of the podcast. I thought Joe it couldn't get worse than Jomey but fuck out of here, bro.

No, I am casting. Oh my God. Fuck out of here. No. No. No. No.

As Andre 3,000 as Bruce Bennett. Do you calm him down playing a flute on the streets of Atlanta? What do you? I think, like, stop, bro.

I think the playing the flutes on the street of Atlanta thing lends in to what I'm talking about, because this is a guy, think about it. Bruce Banner is in real life, he's doing yoga, he's doing all of these things to kind of calm down his spirit so that he doesn't rage out and turn into the Hulk. I personally think that Andre Benjamin, who's been very, very open about trying to, the, you know, the playing the flute thing is just so he can stay calm and even killed.

He knows the ins and outs of this character. I want a little quirky when I thought, you know, because I had some other guys. 100,000 is not doing this. There is a no way. He does not have the range. And I love that.

He does. I have a very important question. He does not have the range as an actor. Let's not, let's not lie. Sure. Did you watch the thing? I had a while that I did.

Did you watch the same aisle? Idaho is different. I don't wild is different. Like, but I'll tell you this. In this particular case, the range that you have to have as playing Banner

is you have to show vulnerability. Because Banner never shows race. You have to show vulnerability and you have to connect to Nat. I have Andre 3000 as Bruce Manor. And he was hot as an actor at this. No, this is bad.

I have a very important question. Sure. Do we get an Andre three stack song on every movie he's featured in? Yes. You get. See, that's good. You do.

Like a Wild West we got like Will Smith. He just drops the track right. Exactly. Nah, you get, you actually probably get a whole Hulk theme outcast album. You know what I mean? You get one side Oh, you get one side that's better.

I'm really mad. And then you get one side at Hulk. I think it's a good pick. It's not a good pick. I think it's a great pick. I like it just for the speaker box love below Hulk album. Yeah. I think it's a great thing.

This is the biggest bullshit either. I think it's a great pick, Andre Benjamin. Andre 3000 is as, as as as as as Hope. I'm into. Were you how you made this pick? No, I was trying to be, because everything else is like, you know, to be honest with you, everything else was a little boring, man.

I was like, okay, Adrian, like, seriously, I was like, all right, Adrian Brody is Bannon. And of course, Adrian Brody would work as Banner, right? Adrian Bode would be a perfect banner, right? Of course Adrian Brody would work. I'm like, Adrian Brody is Banner. I'm looking like, I'm not taking any chances with my cast. Andre 3,000 as Bruce Banner.

I like. Jeez, that's terrible. All right, for my whole, I'm going with a man who not only has a comedic chops, but damn does he play a good sociopath. I'm talking about Bill Hader of Barry Fame. I think he would make a particle. Boring.

Boring? Really? Maybe. I don't know. He doesn't seem very bannery to me. I don't buy him as a genius. Bill Hader doesn't seem like banner to you. Not really. But Andre 3000 from Outcast does. He is Banner because he's actually a genius. I casted a genius to play a genius.

You casted a lyrical genius to play. You just, you just went. you just went mumblemouth baby Van got you daddy you got this I'm just joking Bill Hader is a great pick to play band I'm fucking around He's a great pick

He's a great pick to play bandit So my original pick was also Bill Hader Because I was You know I'm a big fan of Barry And I thought he could bring that same energy To the Hulk But if I got to go off a different path Lekeith Danfield

As Bruce Banner He's not he's fucking He's not gonna He's too young man y'all don't let me have fun at this point he's not even acting y'all don't let me have no fun the key stansfield's like charles's age bro all right let's also be real diversity is getting to is getting to y'all like we ain't doing this like shout out shout out to my black kings and queens we ain't have a like Keith stanfield as hell fuck that well he would make a he would I don't think

he makes like a like a really great banner but he's banner e you know what I mean but I just think If you're casting this in 2009 or 2010, whatever this movie is coming out for, whatever you're mentioning this movie for a 2012 release, you can't have Lakeith Stansfield in. But can I just be, can I just be real? That's right.

Jomey's movie has Brad Pitt standing next to Lakey's Stanford. It's great. No, listen, there's a, there's a multiverse where this exists. There's a multiverse where this exists, and it made a billion dollars in week one.

It was that great. Steve, who was your Hulk? I had been, I had been thinking who's good at, like having like steely suppressed rage while also being like funny and inherently smart. I've taken Carl Urban from the boys and from Star Trek, Bones McCoy, damn it, I'm a doctor, not a Hulk.

I love Carl Urban. Love Carl Urban. Good pick. Very dashing. Very dashing. Very dashing. See, if I had my way, if I really had my way, he's playing Wolverine, but that's not, that's far in advance.

Right. But I think I think he could be a great. By the way, by the way. Your team, you got the boner team. Steve's team is fucking sexy. Like, Joe, look at Steve, go down Steve's team. Read out Steve's team. It's Tatum, John Ham, fucking Carl Erman.

Like, you, your team is fucking sexy. I think they're too sexy. Bro, that's a very sexy bunch of Avengers right there, bro. That's a very sexy. And you're sitting down and you're watching that movie. Right, you probably are. naked, maybe. Black Widow is next. Black Widow was fairly easy to me. I have Olivia Wilde as Black Widow. I like Olivia Wilde. I think she was very, very hot young actress at that point. Don't like some of the things she's done recently. I gotta be honest with you. She hurt somebody that was very close to me. Wait, are you being for real? Are you joking? No, I'm being for real. She hurt Jason Sudecas and Ted Lasso is my spirit animal. So I don't like that. Oh, I thought she was like, I thought you were.

It was like real, like real boys. No, not Jason Sudeikas. I've never met him before. That's their business. But no, I think Olivia Wilde, she really works as Black Widow. She gives you Russian vibes. I think that, to be honest with you, Black Widow was the toughest for me to cast because I really feel like Scar Joe was born to play Natasha Romanov.

I mean, I think all of these picks were just perfect. But this one was the toughest one to me. I think you get a little bit of a different Black Widow. maybe a harder edge black widow. But no, I have Olivia Wilde as Black Widow. And not too many reasons why. I do think, though, that she can, I think she gives you Russian. I think she gives you spy.

I think she gives you mysterious. I think she gives you assassin. So Olivia Wilde. I like that. I like that. My pick, I was trying to think, I was trying to think of, like, who can you get that has the same essence as Scarjo? Also has the same star power around this time.

I got to go with Charlize Thorough. I think like Charlize they're on, she has the face, she has the action chops. I think she could play a really, really good Black Widow. She's too old to play back with Black Widow. What?

Just letting you know, she's too old. In 2000, what? When was the Iron Man 2? 2010. 2000. Charlize Theron is now. 46 now. First of all, we're acting like she's not timeless,

so this is already a sin. So do the math. So how old would she be in 2009? In 2009, she would have been... She would have been 34. Like, I'm not letting you get that sexist take off. You know how fucking old Robboughty Jr? Because literally all of the other Avengers are fucking old to sell.

Hold on, hold on, hold on. Understand. One is playing the CEO of a company, and he's 40 when he plays the role. The other one has to be brought in as a young secretary in the company playing somebody like... You're telling me, 34-year-old Charlize their own does not look amazing.

Hold, it's not about looking. Of course, she look, she fucking looks amazing now. If you'd have told me back in the day, you know what, Brad Pitt is too old to fucking play. Brad Pitt is too old to play Thor. He is. Brad Pitt at that point is too old to play Thor. You're not going to start playing Thor now. You're not going to start Brad Pitt playing Thor.

Brad Pitt's fucking at that point in his, in his 40s. You're not going to start him playing Thor by this time. You're not going to do that. So all the rest of these guys, the only thing I'm saying about Charlie Sterone is you want an actress that's a little bit younger to play that role in that point. It has nothing to do with sexism

has to do with the fact that you get into Hollywood and you start seeing how he talks. Start seeing how he talks. Just being honest. It's like she was playing a younger person in the movie. That's all I'm saying. I think she's too old to play Black Widow at that point.

That's all right. All right. Moving on. Damn. I'm already prepared to get cooked for this one. I think a fun, and this is like a bit earlier for her because we see her do Catwoman in Dark Night Rises, but at Hathaway as Black Widow. I genuinely like this pick. I genuinely don't.

I genuinely. I genuinely. I do. I think she had a half a way. What about her Catwoman, Dark Night Rises? Oh, she was awesome as Catwoman. She was great. She was great.

What? Charles, you don't think that Anne Hathaway is good as Catwoman? Charles's his face right now. He doesn't. He can't believe it. No one, here's the thing. I hear about Bain in that movie. I don't hear,

nobody has ever been like made a fan cam of Ann Hathaway's Catwoman in that movie. She was amazing as Catwoman in that movie. She wasn't bad. She wasn't bad. She was good. But she wasn't like transcendent. Let's not rewrite history. I'm not rewrite history.

I thought, I thought before that. I was a little weirded out by, maybe why would she do this? Like, that was a little bit. But I thought she was legitimately great as Catwoman in the Dark Night Rise. She was good.

But nobody, like, let's be honest, I hear people saying that Bane, all those Bain quotes to this day. There's not one person who's been like, you know who's really good at Dark Night Rises? Ann Hathaway. I've never heard that. But let me ask you a question.

Have they ever gave any catwoman quotes for any movie? I literally see Michelle Fyfer, like on Tumblr, fucking post. posting videos and shit all the time. All the time. No, I'm asking you right now for what you just said. You just said quotes.

Maybe people don't quote Catwoman because what you just said a second ago is maybe it's sexist. You call me a sexist because I'm trying to cast the actors of the right age and you say it's sexist. It's sexist. It's sexist. It's sexist. I didn't really think that the Avengers recast would like break us up. But maybe it is. All right.

Steve, who's your choice? All right. I'm picking the actor that was actually originally planned for the role. Emily Blunt. I think she'd do an amazing job. I don't think we should do that. I think that's fucked up when y'all do it. Is it your list or is it Steve's list?

But I just think, yeah, obviously we could have picked, I could have picked Tom Cruise for Tony Stark. I could have picked, like, it's like, yeah, Emily Blunt is, yeah, obviously it works. She couldn't do the role. She turned it down. Technically, she was Black Widow. But like, it's like, is.

But here's the thing. It didn't happen. Yeah, it didn't happen. I'm casting her. I'm making it happen. And I think that she's, she's, she would be spectacular. Look in Van all hurt over there. It's not great.

You guys, you guys aren't, you guys are taking away from the fun of the whole. Well, let's, let's make it more fun and make it and give us Hawkeye. Joshua Jackson. Ooh. Joshua Jackson. Pacey. Pacey. Yeah.

Joshua Jackson has the right sort of energy, the right sort of look. The right sort of sensibility. He's the right age. Oh, I like this. I actually like this. Yeah, like Joshua. Like Joshua Jackson is Hawkeye. He's like there.

He's he's got the whole thing, the pluck, but he can get, he's got the little edge to. I would have Joshua Jackson as Hawkeye. That's my Hawkeye. Hawkeye was, Hawkeye was like, it was a little harder because you can't have like a major star at Hawkeye. I know that Jomey is probably going to have Johnny Depp as Hawkeye. but you can't have like a major guy as Hawkeye but you want somebody to everybody knows so that the role has the proper gravitas

so that's why I went with Joshua Jackson. All right, this is the one where I picked and everybody's going to kill me for it. But I just saw him on Mayor of East Town and I was just like he'd make a good Hawkeye. I'm going with Evan Peters because I want this hot guy to be closer to the Matt Fraction run where he's just like a fuck-up.

He's just great at one thing, which is shooting arrows and everything else. We were like, why is he on it? Like, get him off the team. And I want him hitting on Black Widow and you knowing full well that he's not getting any. I think Evan Peters could be a very, very funny down on his luck, Hawkeye. Now, at this point, he's like 25. That's what I want from him. Because- So you want like that's, that's young for Hawkeye. But no, but if you remember when Hawkeye debuted in The Avengers, he was the young, brash person, always up in Captain America's shit. He was the little shit of the Avengers. People were like, go fucking sit down,

Hawkeye. I want that type of energy. And maybe Hawkeye and Black Widow in the movie were supposed to be playing a little bit. I know she's much younger than he is, but maybe they were supposed to be a little bit younger. I'm not mad at him. I'm not mad at him. I'm not mad at him. I like Evan Peters. That's a good. That's a good. He was also really great. Watching him as Able made me pick him. Right. That's a good choice. That's a good choice. Jomey, who are you picking as Hawkeye? So my original pick was actually, went like and the Emily Blunt type thing where Jensen Eccles was in the role to play Hawkeye but since Van wants to have fun and Vans you know not with it off the

dome I'm gonna say oh this is gonna be terrible uh Justin Thoreau from leftovers oh as hot guy you know I think in that in that role he showed emotion you know and he's got you know chops to be funny as well so I think you know And then him being, was it, Matt Garvey, the cop, you know, when he was, like, doing the International Assassin, you know, type thing. I think that would be fun to see. So tell me, you thought this pick, you thought this pick would be the one that we would have gone. What the fuck?

This is actually your most, like, in- The only thing I said, the only thing, the only thing I have to say about it is, once again, he's old as shit. He's 50 now, which means, like, and I guess Jeremy Renner is probably around that same age, though. I fuck with this. I fuck with this. This is your most normal picture. It was off the dome because Van was like,

don't pick people who were rumored for rules. Him and Jeremy Renner are exactly the same. Yeah. So in our universe, like Hawkeye is literally 13 years, 14 years older than Black Widow. Like, she's, Jeremy Renner is 14 years older. The black, then, yeah. So, yeah, they're the same age.

No, I get it. makes sense. That's good. Steve, who's your Hawkeye? All right. I'm sniping Jomey's Captain America pick. I had Chris Pine in this role.

I wanted to see Chris Pine do a hawkeye. I think he works well with the same age around for Emily Blunt. I think he's very funny. I think he could pretty much be kind of an upgrade, no disrespect to everything that Jeremy Redder brought to this role. Damn, y'all hate Jeremy Runner. Shit. I mean, everybody does, but damn.

I think that he's, He's an upgrade for that for that role and I think he could perfectly do it. I think if you want to hit that like you said, Matt Fraction run, like you said, Charles. Chris Pine is that guy. I like it. I like it. I'll fuck with it. And we're down to our last.

Nick Fury. Who do you have then? I just want to say something real quick. Steve's team just got sexier. Steve. Jesus, bro. This team just got sexier. So we'll run down Steve's team at the end of this just so we know how.

sexy Steve's team is. All right. I switched the race. So this was my Nick Ferry dilemma. I looked at all the usual suspects for Nick Fury. Morgan Freeman was too old to play Nick Fury for me. Morgan Freeman was too old to play Nick Fury. Del Roy Lindo, who I thought about Casson as Nick Fury,

doesn't give me what I need from Nick Fury. Nick Fury is so ingrained with Samuel Jackson. I thought about Denzel Washington. as Nick Fury, right? But I thought Denzel, he obviously could do it, but there's something that's a little too

authoritarian about Denzel to where I didn't really feel like he fit the Nick Fury vibe. Like the Avengers aren't going to go against that Nick Fury. I didn't feel like Denzel would kind of be there. Samuel Jackson is actually really perfect. So I switched the race

because I wanted to make sure I have some colors. I went with Andre Benjamin as Bruce Banner and I switched the race of Nick Fury and went back to White Nick Fury. And as Nick Fury, I have Nicholas Cage. So I You know you're about to be on your bullshit. I switched the race and went back to White Nick Fury.

And as Nick Fury, I think somebody that brings the quirk, the bizarre, we will never forget. Now, for people are going to say that because you're watching this you're watching a version of nicholas cage never forget nicholas cage won the best actor academy award for his amazing role in leaving las Vegas he has been funny in movies he has been serious in movies he has been wacky in movies he's been the main star as the protagonist of the big budget action movie a la con air. No. All right. I got as Nick Fury

I patch the hair, Nicholas Cage. Nicholas Cage would be doing shit in that movie that we'd be like, get this man off. Like that's like a Terrence Howard. Like they would have to recast him. Like you think Nicholas Cage would have lasted from Iron Man? No, he's not. No. He's not lasting. But in this movie, Nicholas Cage as Nick Fury, that's my pick. I couldn't

I just, as far as Sam Jackson, I went through every single brother that's around that same deal and try to figure out who. But the role is just Sam Jackson's role. I couldn't do it. I had to switch it. Go away. And my Nick Fury is Nicholas Cage. Before I pick my Nick Fury, I got to ask you guys, my Black Kings and Steve.

Does there have to be color on my Avengers team? I feel like there has to be some type of like. Well, no. If that's how you, if that's who you are, then that's who you are. I did have a black man in the pick, but you are right where, like, the whole dilemma is like he's not Samuel Lachshund. Like the role was made for him from the Ultimates. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

So, I mean, do what you want to do. The pick your heart. All right. You know, I'm going to go with someone who's on top of my mind after his great starting role in the suicide squad. I think Idris could do it. I think Idris Alba. No. Could give us a more action-oriented victory.

No. This is fucking terrible. No, fucking, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, that's terrible. This is coming from, this is coming from the man. First of all, why would they take orders from them? You think Nicholas Cage would be better. Why, why would they take order? That Fury, he's not, you guys aren't getting, you guys aren't getting the shit, right.

He's not old enough to play Nick Fury, guys. Like, like, he's not old enough. This is coming from the man who wants me to, to take fucking Mr. National Treasure. Do you know who I thought? Well, let's put some respect on National Treasure. Do you know who I thought was going to be that? Do you know who I thought was going to be? good as Nick Fury?

Okay, we're giving away picks at this point. We're naming so many acts. Okay. I thought it was going to be, I had maybe Jamie Fox could do it, right? Jamie Fox. No, not Jamie Foxx. But the point is that these guys aren't old. To have Nick Fury, you got to have somebody that's at least a little old,

a little bit older than your oldest Avenger. First of all, let's be real. Idris Alba is almost 50 now. He's 49. He was born in 1972. Right. And Nick Fury in the comic books does not age. So that's all bullshit.

Right. Here's the deal, though. Here's the situation. In this world, he's been a shield agent longer than the rest of them. He's got to be at least a little bit older than that. Idris is almost 50, though. Yeah. I don't think Idris Elba worse is Nick Fury.

But Nicholas Cage does? But Nicholas Cage does. Perfect. Because he's not going to get in the way of these other guys. Also, these niggas y'all name are mad sexy. That's a sexy-ass Nick Fury, right? I'm just saying, bro. Like, Nick's the sex appeal factor, man.

Like, y'all, these things are very sexy. In the comics, Nick Fury was laying it down. He gets it. He gets it. He gets it in. Come on. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie.

All right. What does Jomey got, though? All right, Jomey's going to pick Heath Ledger. So I'm like, no, actually, my pick, it's almost, it's around that thing. It's Robert Downey Jr.'s character in Tropic Thunder. No. I'm rocking with the homie from the wire, man. Lance Reddick as my Nick Fury.

Okay. Not bad. I mean, that would be a major step forward in Lance Reddick. And Lance Reddick is brilliant. But you know what? At the same time, he was on fringe. He was on, like, you know, he was, yeah, there is a part of Nick Fury that has to be a little bit funny. Lance Reddick is a very serious actor.

No, he can be funny, though. Yeah. he's got like some internet videos funnier die that's like hilarious and then he's Savala in Destiny the Destiny franchise so I think I think Lieutenant Daniels can handle it

honestly I think it'll be it'll be fun for him I'm not not hating on it not hating on it Steve what about you all right I probably had like the hardest time bringing it back to because again like you said Sam Jackson is kind of like endemic

to the role like I can't think of anybody else in that and I kind of went the same way that Van went and went with an older white actor. And then when I saw him, I'm like, no, he's perfect. Ed Harris is perfect as Nick Fury. Not bad. He could probably be the best one. Ed Harris is probably one of my favorite actors from Apollo 13.

We saw him in Westworld. National Treasure 2. National Treasure 2, of course, Jeremy, thank you. He's great. I think he would be a great Nick Fury. Yeah, he's the same age as Samuel Jackson is right now. So it works. Yeah, it works.

It's just a very serious actor. Yes. And there's nobody that, this is the Samuel Jackson problem. Nobody could do everything like Samuel Jackson does. Yeah, you're right. Like, it's a Robert Downey Jr. pick.

It really is. Like you're not going to get the everything that you get from Sam Jackson. You're going to get a straight down the middle, Nick Fury when you get that. Kind of like my John Hammack. Well, I think aside from Hawke, I think we can all agree that for the most part,

all of these people were basically perfectly cast. So it's a... Mark Ruffalo, no. But it's... Maybe. But for a lot of them, the Thores, the Iron Man's, the Captain America, the Black Widows, the Nick Furies, it's hard. The Trinity was the hardest.

The Trinity was the hardest again. I'll be honest with you. They were perfectly cast, but also they were perfectly written, which means that you could have... It had been different. The only one that really, really, really had to work was Iron Man. Oh, yeah.

What's Iron Man? What's Robert Downey Jr. That they were cooking? It was like... Because they based the tone of the entire MCU, in my opinion, off Robert Donnie Jr.'s performance in Iron Man. The whole thing. That told you what the MCU was going to be.

So if, to me, if you have a different Iron Man, you have done a fundamentally different MCU, in my opinion. in my opinion. If you have like Christian Bale as Iron Man. Carolina Reeves. You, Carolina Reeves is Iron Man. So let's go back over the teams real quick.

Steve, read them out. All right. So for Van, we have Clive Owen is Tony Stark. Ryan Gosling is Captain America. Alexander Scar's Guard is Thor. Andre 3,000.

Wait, wait, hold on. Hold on. Those first three picks are amazing picks, in my opinion. And then you go. Andre 3000,000, as Bruce Banner. Y'all racist. Go ahead. Olivia Wild

as Black Widow, Joshua Jackson as Hawkeye, and Nicholas Cage as Nick Fury. Nicholas Cage is Nick the Quick Fury. And then for Charles, we have Michael Fastbender as Tony Stark. Your Captain America was John Krasinski. Your Thor was Charlie Hunnam. Your Hulk was Bill hater. Your black widow was Charlie's Theron. Hawkeye

was Evan Peters and Nick Fury was Idris Elba. And Joe... Please read Jome's list, bro. Please read Jome's list. Please read this list. All right. I really want to compose myself because I want to get it all in like one go.

All right. We have Iron Man is Count Reeves. Captain America is Chris Pine. or is Brad Pitt I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. No, please.

Your uncle's Lakeith Stanfield. Your Black Widow was Ann Hathaway. Your Hawkeye was Justin Thro, and your Nick Fury was Lance Reddick. Dog, that list is garbage, bro. That list is... I would just like to say that I'm here... I'm not...

Hey, listen, I was here as the, you know, the... The nods should. straight, I was like, you know, I'm here for the jokes, you know what I was saying? This is, this is a legendary list. That list, that list, please post this shit. You gotta post it. That's crazy.

You're a painting of picture right now. Lukey Stanfield. First off, the graphics is only going to be Van and Charles. No, fuck no. I wasn't planned to be the whole, no. Hey, guess what? No, the gravity got it. We all the Midnight Boys.

Guess what? It's four Midnight Boys. Guess what? I run this. Guess what? I got the password. I got the socials, you feel me? I post what I want.

No, no, no, no, no, no. You got to post them all, Jomey. Heavy ladies to the head that wears the crown, Jomey. You got to post this. Don't run from the smoke. Don't run from the smoke. Listen, listen, I was, you know what I'm saying? Every, every group needs a wild card.

You know, someone's going to go, you know, go a little off the beaten path. Someone that's going to cast Brad Pitt as Thor. Yes. Yes. You know, and I think Brad Pitt is Thor with his chest, bro. And while I think my list might have been the worst of all four of them, It made the audience laugh the most. And that's what matters to me.

There is, yes, you're a volume shooter here, Jomey. That's for sure. You know what I'm saying? Like Peter North. Steve, your list. All right, my list. Iron Man played by John Hamm. Captain America as Timothy Olifant.

Thor played by Shannon Tatum. Hulk is Carl Urban. Black Widow is Emily Blunt. Hawkeye as Chris Pine. And Nick Fury as Ed Harris. All right, guys. Look, we have successfully recast the 2012 Avengers. What if the Midnight Boys ran the MCU?

We would have run it into the ground if we'd be a fucking ground. Yes. The fucking ground with Brad Pitt Estor. The fucking ground we did run into. But that is a wrap for us. Please join Mal for a deep dive on the what if finale on Friday. if you want some rational shit. The Midnight Boys shall return next week.

We're going to have our reactions. James Bond film. No time to die. Bond is back, baby. And he's on the... All right, Ring of Verse is on Facebook, IG, Twitter. Join and send questions, ideas,

and thoughts. The Ring of Verse, Twitter is almost to 10,000 followers, you guys. We're out here in these streets. We're out here in these avenues. We're out here in these roads. Hashtag save Jome.

We got to get that to 10K by the end of the month, all right? Save Jomey. You got to save Jomey. You got to save Jomey from this Avengers team. Okay. Our producers on the show today, Steve Alman, can't do it without him. Great guy.

Our social producer is Jomi D'emey, D'Ellon, Jomi, Worst Caster, Adiron. We, of course, have additional production from our Juno Ramgapal and The Watcher, who has taken an oath. not to interfere, yet always does. Producer TD.

Charles, take us out. The Avengers have been recast. Man, was it lit? But Jomey, what the fuck are you doing? Casting Brad Bid! I would just like to say, I am not a cast. Cut his mic. Cut his mic.

Real quick, before I get back to why I was just saying, maybe she doesn't want to be on the planet without Clint because her and Clint were going to be on the planet together and maybe there was a chance for a little boom boom room to get the population restarted. But now, of course.

How would you get the population restarted with two people then? I mean, inartfully, there's going to be some, two people there's going to be some, let's be honest with you, there's going to be some sest.

At some point there's going to be some sest. I don't want to look at your porn hub history. If you have two people, Two people, if you have two people, you got to try. But at some point, there's be honest, it's going to be a little sense. It's scientifically impossible to restart the human race with two people. Is that true? Yes.

You need a certain amount of people because it's just how many babies can she have? She would have to have multiple babies. And it's just, I'm almost positive. It's scientifically impossible. She could have multiple babies. No, she can't because remember she doesn't not have a uterus. This whole thing is fucked. Wait, no, am I wrong?

Jomey the explainer. No, whoa, wait, wait, no, no. The black widows took that away. Hold on. I can't explain this, man. I wasn't that good at science, bro. Hold on. She can't have any kids.

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