Empire Spoiler Specials

Joseph Kosinski's F1, in which Brad Pitt and Damson Idris star as two Formula One drivers trying their best to win a race for their struggling team (while trying not to kill each other), is one of the biggest blockbusters of the year. Now that the film is available digitally to buy or rent (with its AppleTV+ debut coming up soon as well), it's the perfect time to bring you our spoiler special for the film, in which Chris Hewitt straps himself in for a deep dive into the film's key moments with Kosinski, and is then joined in the podbooth by F1 superfan, Sophie Butcher, and James Dyer and John Nugent, who are a little more agnostic about the sport. Will sparks fly? What is their team strategy for getting through this podcast? And how big are movie stars' heads? Find out the answers to all those questions, and more, within. Enjoy.

Noah Hawley's ambitious, big-budget Alien Earth is the Disney+ show that might do for the Alien franchise what Andor did for Star Wars. The first two episodes went up on Disney+ last week, and after battling their way through all kinds of space beasties and a schedule from hell, Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and Amon Warmann managed to make it into the podbooth to talk about those episodes, the various kinds of nightmare fuel that lie within, and whether a xenomorph knows that it looks like pipes. You know, the big questions. We won't be doing weekly spoilers for Alien Earth, much as we'd like to, but we will be back in a few weeks to do a deep dive into the season finale, and the show as a whole. Eye eye, cap'n! Enjoy.

Bring Her Back is the second movie from the Philippou brothers, Danny and Michael, who might just be the best thing to come out of Australia since Tim Tams. They're certainly the scariest thing this side of a tipnipper, and with their follow-up to Talk To Me, they prove that when it comes to horror movies, they're the real deal. And in this belated spoiler special, delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, Ben Travis hosts, and is joined by Harry Stainer and Becky Darke as they do a deep dive into the deeply spooky Sally Hawkins-led film. Enjoy.

Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's James Gunn, the writer-director of the brand-new Superman movie, who sits down with Chris Hewitt for a breakneck 20-minute whizz through the key twists and turns and revelations of the film. But that's not all — after the Gunn show, Chris sits down with Helen O'Hara, Ben Travis, and Amon Warmann to continue their deep dive into the film, which was so rudely interrupted the first time around. So, lie back (or sit back, or walk around if that's your thing), relax (or don't), and enjoy. Let's talk about Lex, baby.

'Nuff said, True Believers! Because you demanded it, here's Empire's immediate reaction to The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the 37th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the first to feature Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm, aka The Fantastic Four. In response, we've assembled our very own Quality Quartet, in the shape of Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, Amon Warmann, and Harry Stainer, who hurtled heroically, without any thought for their own personal wellbeing, into a podbooth just an hour or so after seeing Matt Shakman's movie, and proceeded to talk about it for just over 90 minutes. Such brave souls. Such noble sacrifice. Enjoy.

Now that the dust has settled on Ironheart, the MCU TV show that showed Dominique Thorne's Riri Williams taking on all manner of demons, internal and external, it's time for Team Empire to weigh in with takes that are hotter than the sun. Join Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, Amon Warmann, and Ben Travis for a freewheeling, funny, and occasionally fractious deep dive (can deep dives freewheel?) into the show and its twists and turns. Oh, and it goes off the rails (can a freewheeling deep dive go off the rails?) in the last ten minutes, so be warned. TW: dangerous nonsense.

Gareth Edwards' Jurassic World Rebirth has been stomping its way through multiplexes for the past couple of weeks, so it's the perfect time to bring you this in-depth spoiler special interview with the British director, as he and Chris Hewitt dive deep into the film's twists and turns, and Edwards talks candidly about some of the major changes that happened along the way. Oh, and Edwards drops a pretty damn good Alan Partridge impression as well. Altogether now: "Jurassic Park!"

James Gunn's Superman soars into cinemas today (Friday July 11th), and to mark the occasion, we're bringing you another of our instant reaction pods, in which Team Empire (Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, Ben Travis, Amon Warmann, and James Luthor, sorry, Dyer) get together to discuss the return of the Man Of Steel to our cinema screens. There will be hot takes, wildly conflicting opinions, and much, much more. And this will be just the first part, as there's so much to talk about that we only managed to cover around 40% of it. Quick, to the Fortress Of Solitude's podbooth to record Part 2! Enjoy.

Gerard Johnstone's M3GAN 2.0 sees its eponymous killer doll back for more mechanical mayhem, as she goes up against a bigger, badder robot, and sings and dances up a storm. The film is a blast, and in this Empire Podcast Spoiler Special interview, Chris Hewitt sits down on Zoom with Johnstone to do a deep dive into its themes, twists and turns, and that Kate Bush song. Enjoy.

Gareth Edwards' Jurassic World Rebirth is the latest entry in the wildly successful dinosaur movie franchise. You'll have to wait a few more days for our excellent spoiler special interview with the director himself (featuring, we kid you not, him doing a pretty decent Alan Partridge impression), but with the film just nestling nicely in cinemas around the world we thought we'd bring you Team Empire's take on the movie now. So join Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, Ben Travis, and Dan Jolin as they do a deep dive into the movie. They were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should. (Oh, and there's a little Easter egg at the very end for those willing to stick around...) Enjoy!

28 Years Later — Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's triumphant return to the fast-running zombie franchise they started 23 years ago with 28 Days Later — has been out for just over a week or so, and has set tongues wagging across the globe. Some of those tongues can be found in the mouths of Chris Hewitt, Alex Godfrey, Ben Travis, and John Nugent, who headed to the podbooth shortly after seeing the film and talked through their thoughts and feelings about the film, its themes, and what Boyle and co. might have in store for future instalments. There's plenty of chuckles, as you might expect, but a major chunk of the pod is dedicated to that contentious ending. Which means that there is discussion of the notorious Jimmy Savile. Should you wish to skip this, it can be found from 6:21 -20:56, give or take a few seconds. But this is a fascinating exchange about a fascinating film, so we hope you enjoy. And the companion piece — Chris' live interview with Danny Boyle — can be found elsewhere in the spoiler special feed.

Len Wiseman's Ballerina (or From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina to give it its full marketing moniker) is the fifth film in the John Wick franchise, and the first not to fully focus on Keanu Reeves' unstoppable assassin. Instead, it introduces Ana de Armas as another unstoppable assassin, Eve, who goes on a quest to hunt down her father's killer. In this spoiler special, Chris Hewitt sits down with Wiseman to talk about grenade fights, flamethrower battles, and the film's key twists and turns, and then Chris is joined in the podbooth by James Dyer and Amon Warmann for a deep dive into the film. Enjoy!

Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later — his very belated sequel to 28 Days Later — opened around the world at the weekend, and has set tongues wagging everywhere with its bold approach to storytelling, structure, and subtext. Oh, and that ending as well. And this Q&A with Boyle, recorded live last week at an Empire VIP Club screening of the film, may just answer some of the questions you might have after seeing the film. So join Chris Hewitt as he sits down with Boyle and talks about some of the film's major twists and turns. Enjoy.

Andor is no more. Tony Gilroy's phenomenal Star Wars TV show has finished its two-season run and, unless there's a great disturbance in the Force, that's the last we'll see of Diego Luna's Cassian Andor, who ended that show (spoiler alert) about to head off to the place we first met him in Rogue One back in 2016. And this retro spoiler special is indeed focused on that movie, with Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Sophie Petzal coming together to rewatch and reappraise Rogue One, and reassess it both in the light of its famously troubled production (which saw Gilroy parachuted into director Gareth Edwards' shoot), and in the wake of Andor. Does it add extra emotional weight to the story? Has anyone on the team changed their minds about Rogue One in the nine years since its release? Does James still reckon it's 'triumphant'? The answers to all those questions, and more, lie within. Enjoy.

Here it is, folks. The latest epic Mission: Impossible Christopher McQuarrie spoiler special interview, in which the writer-director sits down with Chris Hewitt and talks about the latest (and last?) Mission, The Final Reckoning. For three hours. We know that will seem like the blink of an eye compared to our efforts with McQuarrie on Dead Reckoning, but fear not, this is just the first part. But it's a belter, as McQ is very forthcoming with his McAs, shedding all kinds of light on the creative choices that went into making the movie, from first act recalibrations to a major character death, from the challenge of the submarine sequence to the rigours of the biplane sequence. It's a ton of fun, a one-stop film school, a moviemaking masterclass. Choose to accept.

When Captain America: Brave New World — the fourth Captain America MCU movie, but the first to headline Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson – debuted in cinemas back in February, we weren't able to sit down for our customary spoiler chat with the film's director, Julius Onah. But patience is a virtue, and with the film now out on Disney+ and all kinds of shiny discs and other animals, Chris Hewitt finally chats with Onah over Zoom about a great many spoilerific things. Enjoy.

Final Destination Bloodlines sees the Rube Goldberg-erific horror franchise, in which Death picks off a number of folks one by one in increasingly outlandish ways, return after a hiatus of fourteen years. And it returns with an absolute belter, a crowd pleasing, hilarious banger featuring some of the franchise's greatest, and most known, set pieces, all expertly marshalled by directing duo Adam B. Stein and Zach Lipovsky, who sit down with Chris Hewitt for around an hour and dish on the film's key twists and turns. Then, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and Mike Muncer to talk about their own thoughts and feelings about the movie. Oh, and Chris has a late-breaking revelation that could change everything. Enjoy!

It’s all over! Andor has come to a triumphant conclusion, taking us up to the very doorstep of Rogue One and making us see that film in an entirely new light. Frankly, we’re bereft and we’re sure you are too. But to help you deal with the loss of Star Wars’ new high-water mark, we have a jam-packed final spoiler special for you, tackling the final three episodes, 10-12. And not only do we have Jedi Masters James Dyer, Sophie Petzal and Helen O’Hara on hand to sift through it all, but showrunner Tony Gilroy also joins us to reflect on this final block and the show as a whole (1:58-31:30).

Jake Schreier's Thunderbolts*, aka the 36th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, sees a group of the MCU's ne'er do wells, like Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, and Red Guardian, thrown together by circumstances and given a shot at redemption. And now that the film has been out for a couple of weeks (and now we know what the asterisk means), it's the perfect time for the Empire Podcast spoiler special treatment. First, Chris Hewitt sits down with Schreier to talk about the film's key twists and turns, and its unconventional third act, and then Chris is joined by Helen O'Hara and Amon Warmann for a deep dive into the movie. A dive so deep that they ran out of time before tackling listener questions, so those will be answered in a separate show. In the meantime, enjoy.

This week’s BBY2 block of Andor was not only the best chapter yet, but also among the most extraordinary three hours of television we’ve ever seen. To that end, we have a BUMPER spoiler special for you this week. Not only do James Dyer, Sophie Petzal and Jordan King sit down for a mammoth confab about these three episodes, but Syril Karn himself, Olivier-winning actor Kyle Soller, joins us for a similarly lengthy and equally in-depth interview (2:25-45:42), chewing over Syril’s entire arc, all the way up to his final, heartbreaking exit. No, we’re not crying, YOU'RE crying. *Sob*.