Talking SMAC: Superheroes, Movies, Animation & Comics

202. Andor season 2 w/Gregg Beever

Josh is joined by Gregg Beever; 1/3 of the I Have Some Notes crew, to review and discuss the themes from season 2 of the Star Wars spin-off series from Tony Gilroy; Andor
*SPOILERS AHEAD!
Intro and chit chat with Gregg (0:00)
Game Club Pod promo (6:02)
Josh challenges the Game Club pod (6:46)
Andor season 2 discussion begins (8:18)
Andor introduces the BBY system to general audiences (10:49)
How did we feel about the four 3-episode arcs for the season? (12:30)
Favorite moments in the first 3 episodes (21:50)
The Ghorman occupation (26:40)
The Syrill and Dedra relationship (28:06)
So much great acting (34:08)
Did Bix and Cassian need to be in a romantic relationship? (36:13)
Star Wars canon is always subject to change (42:58)
The Emperor's presence and lack thereof (44:09)
 The Bail Organa recast (44:09)
Andor season 2 shows us how bad the Empire truly was prior to A New Hope (51:12)
Fandoms and corporations promoting the bad guys is kinda gross (56:44)
Can Star Wars expand beyond the Skywalker space opera stuff? (1:00:01)
A quick dissection of the sequel trilogy (1:03:06)
Give us the thing we didn't know we wanted (1:08:17)
Goodbyes & social media plugs (1:14:08)
Please remember to check out the Game Club Pod podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

201. Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning & Lilo & Stitch

Josh pulled a Stitchion Impossible and did a double feature of Lilo & Stitch, as well as Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (Alex only saw the later.)
Intro (0:00)
Lilo & Stitch (6:15)
Cultworthy promo (24:58)
Alex is mad and then we go down a bad Smurfs rabbit hole (25:40)
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (32:54)
Goodbyes and social media plugs (1:04:56)
Please remember to check out the Cultworthy podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

200! Talking SMACdowns vol. 6

We celebrate 200 episodes of Talking SMAC with a special live recording at our favorite hometown nerd shop: Cataclysm Games and Collectibles!
Intro (0:00)
Let's meet Doug from Cataclysm Games & Collectibles! (1:32)
Hemanstarfox joins the group! (5:14)
Kicking things off with an AMA question (6:20)
Rocket Racoon vs Legolas (7:01)
Marvel Rivals tangent about Jeff the Landshark (8:29)
Back to Rocket Racoon vs Legolas (10:50)
Lara Croft vs Aloy - One Bow, One Shot battle (15:20)
AMA: Joey Fitz question (19:06)
Goku vs Omni Man (23:49)*
Homer Simpson vs Fred Flintston vs Peter Griffin (27:00)
Dennis Nedry (Jurassic Park) vs Boris Grishenko (GoldenEye) - Hacker off (28:18)
Engineer-Xeno Hybrid from Alien Romulus vs Human-Xeno Hybrid from Alien Resurrection (32:42)
AMA: Slade question (36:11)
The Rookie vs Malcolm Reynolds vs Rick Castle vs Guy Gardner - Nathan Fillion character fight (43:10)
Xenomorph vs The Death Angel from A Quiet Place (45:27)
Stuart Little vs Remy (52:40)
Purrgil vs Chitauri Leviathans (Space Whale battle) (55:46)
Batman (from Batman Begins) vs V (V for Vendetta movie) (1:04:28)
Heel John Cena vs Ruthless Aggression Era John Cena (1:10:21)
Did Hemanstarfox lied about his backstory?! (1:13:26)
Goodbyes and social media plugs (1:15:38)
Please join our Discord and check out our merch store!
Special thank yous to Ricki for running our mixer for the live recording. 
Also, special shoutouts to our friends who have supported us and teamed up with us throughout the years:
Luis, Scotti, Matt and Bepbo (Talking SMAC OGs who helped kick off the podcast)
Derek, the creator of our original logo
Dan at Casting Views
Antonio at The Cultworthy
Joey, Tim & Alex at the Game Club Pod
Justin at the Movie Wire
Cesar at the No on 15 All-Cast
Karen and Ann at the Sugar Coated Murder
Josh and Amanda at Super Familiar with The Wilsons
Liam, Scott and Gregg at I Have Some Notes
Slade at Driveway Studios
We truly could not have made it this far without your support and friendship. Thank you all, so much! 
*Omni Man vs Thanos was suggested in Episode 150, Goku vs Invincible was suggested in episode 74

199. Talking Pitch Meetings

Josh and Alex bring dream pitches for projects they'd love to bring to life if they had the means
Intro (0:00)
Casting Views Promo (7:13)
*Pitch Meeting disclaimer (8:05)
Josh forgot a big nitpick from last week’s review (10:25)
Alex pitches a ‘House of Leaves’ adaptation (11:37)
Josh has questions about Alex's pitch (24:58)
Casting options? (27:50)
Josh pitches his 'Inheritance Cycle' adaptation (32:36)
Who would Josh want to animate his series? (42:39)
Josh pitches his showrunner if it's not him (46:16)
Josh lays out his dream casting (46:58)
Social media plugs and good byes (1:07:16)
Please remember to check out the Casting Views podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

198. Thunderbolts* / New Avengers Review

The MCU machine churns on. Now it's time to see what Marvel's reinterpretation of the Thunderbolts team looks like within their connected universe. 
Intro (0:00)
2 Blokes from Blighty promo (7:28)
The trailers in front of Thunderbolts* are all over the place (9:19)
I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) looks dumb for all the wrong reasons (10:04)
Back to the trailers (13:14)
Non-spoiler 'Thunderbolts*' time! (15:08)
Josh's issues with US Agent (24:31)
Non-spoiler resolution (26:20)
Is 'Thunderbolts*' a Must-See or Pass? (27:40)
Spoiler Discussion (31:42)
Jeremy Renner's revelation about why no Hawkeye season 2 (1:10:48)
Goodbyes and social media plugs (1:17:45)
Please remember to check out the 2 Blokes from Blighty podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

197. What'cha Doin'? X

Josh and Alex talk about the stuff they're doing away from the pod!
Intro (0:00)
WrestleMania 41 thoughts (4:17)
Alex Hates Movie Runtimes (11:35)
Super Familiar with the Wilsons Promo (26:01)
What'cha doin? (26:29)
Until Dawn movie (27:25)
Inheritance Cycle (37:01)
Path of Exile 2 (43:47)
Frieren: Beyond Journeys End (50:22)
Ghosts season 4 (58:05)
Goodbyes (1:10:34)
Please remember to check out the Super Familiar with the Wilsons podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

196. Quick Hits Reviews

Josh & Alex have had a lot of stuff they wanted to cover for the pod, so we're gonna blitz review five of them! 
Intro (0:22)
Sugar Coated Murder Promo (4:10)
Accents and good dialects in movies (4:33)
Sinners (8:14)
I May Be a Guild Receptionist, but I’ll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out On Time (19:46)
Solo Leveling (25:31)
The Pitt (33:18)
Has Alex watched Wicked yet?! (44:34)
Daredevil: Born Again (45:13)
Tangent: Superman Behind-the-Scenes (46:25)
Back to Daredevil: Born Again (52:12)
Star Wars Celebration 2025 Discussion (1:04:25)
Good byes and social plugs (1:10:08)
Please remember to check out the Sugar Coated Murder podcast, and don't forget to join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

195. WrestleMania 41 Primer w/Hemanstarfox!

Josh and Alex are joined by the incredible Hemanstarfox to preview the upcoming WrestleMania event from WWE pitting the heel John Cena against the American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE championship as the main event for the two-night wrestling extravaganza! 
Intro (0:00)
Hemanstarfox is in the house! (0:54)
How'd we find ourselves enjoying pro wrestling? (6:00)
No On 15! Allcast promo (20:25)
Hemanstarfox's take on WrestleMania 41's significance to the pro wrestling industry (24:36)
The specter of John Cena over Cody Rhodes (32:47)
Does the WWE have an age problem with their superstars? (36:08)
Matches that could steal the show at WrestleMania 41 (41:41)
The biggest storylines heading into WrestleMania 41 (46:21)
Jey Uso vs Gunther and the rise of Jey Uso into the main event picture (57:04)
Josh doesn't understand the structure of the championships in WWE (1:01:00)
The Anoa'i family could walk away from WrestleMania in great shape (1:02:21)
The Women's Championship Triple Threat Match (1:05:26) 
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship Match (1:09:00)
Cody Rhodes defends the Universal Championship against a heel John Cena (1:12:22)
Social plugs and goodbyes (1:31:19)
Please remember to check out the No On 15! Allcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store!