Zach & Tavie's Marvelous Adventure

We are back on the film side of things with Zach’s favorite entry of the MCU, Captain America: Civil War.  He and Tavie discuss the third film in the initial Captain America trilogy, bringing Steve Rogers at odds with Tony Stark over the Sovokia Accords, in the wake of unintended destruction brought upon by our favorite superhero team. The Russo Brothers are back for this one, in a hero vs. hero situation, forcing members of The Avengers (and perhaps also the viewing audience) to ask themselves whose side they’re on.  It has so many of the regulars, becoming basically “Avengers 2.5”, while also featuring 2 exciting new additions in the form of Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.  Yes, this was the debut of our favorite web-slinger in this shared universe.  Hooray for studios working out deals that are beneficial for all parties! Some aspects of Zach and Tavie’s discussion includes the progressively younger Aunt Mays and Peter Parkers on film, more digital de-aging/youthening of actors onscreen, a parallel DC film that failed where this one succeeded, and all sorts of other fun topics. Additionally, we explore questions such as “Why are the friends fighting?”, “Why can’t Tavie remember where Thor and Hulk are?”, “Why can’t Vision make a good paprikash?”, “Why does The Raft do that?”, “How did he know that road?”, “Did Steve truly know?”, “Is The Empire Strikes Back really THAT old?”, “How did Tony get out of there?”, and several others. Plus, of course, we have our regular segments of SPOT THE STAN, MARVEL TRIVIA, and PENNY’S CORNER, along with so much more.  So tune in and pick a side! Produced & co-hosted by Zach Woliner & Tavie Phillips Featuring Penny Woliner Edited by Zach Woliner Theme music by Luis Humanoide Cover art by Chris Giarrusso

Zach & Tavie dive back into the seedy underbelly of the Netflix side of the MCU’s New York City as they check out the darkest, most mature project to date, the first season of Jessica Jones.  Be warned now that some serious content is discussed in this one, details of which are mentioned early on. In this show, we follow the super-strong private investigator, Jessica Jones, as wonderfully brought to life by Krysten Ritter, previously of Breaking Bad & Don’t Trust The B In Apartment 23 fame.  She is doing what she can to get by while also dealing with PTSD imposed upon her by the truly awful Kilgrave, as brilliantly portrayed by David Tenant, as one of the truly worst of the worst super-villains in the MCU so far, even if lacking his comic-accurate purple skin. It’s got a strong female lead, tackling sensitive subjects, a same-sex relationship that’s not a cliché or stereotype, and of course some superheroic action along the way.  Unfortunately, it’s also got some fat-shaming and supporting characters that can come off as cartoonish caricatures, but nothing’s perfect. Beyond that, you’ll get more of Tavie’s NYC-based observations and fact-checking, spotting Broadway stars, not one but two connections to a non-Marvel piece of superhero TV that recently ended its run, Jessica stretching her voice acting skills, a truly AWFUL euphemism, that blah expression in slo-motion over and over, continued attempts to not directly refer to more prominent MCU superheroes, and maybe even a stray camera guy in there at a point. We also explore questions such as “How many terrible things can you remember Kilgrave making people do?”, “How awful is Hogarth?”, “Did they sound like Alvin & The Chipmunks?”, “Who is the best Scrooge McDuck?”, “Could Kilgrave defeat Thanos?”, and plenty of others. All of that, plus our usual SPOT THE STAN and MARVEL TRIVIA segments.  Of course, there’s no PENNY’S CORNER this time around, as the content of the show required a 100% no-Penny zone.  Maybe she can check it out when she ‘s older.  You, however, can tune in right now!  So, please do! Produced & co-hosted by Zach Woliner & Tavie Phillips Featuring Penny Woliner Edited by Zach Woliner Theme music by Luis Humanoide Cover art by Chris Giarrusso Dedicated in loving memory of Fred Phillips

Zach & Tavie welcome their very special FIRST EVER GUEST, the host of The Best Show and national best-selling author, TOM SCHARPLING, to the show to discuss 2015’s Ant-Man starring Paul Rudd and directed by Peyton Reed.  Without Tom, our two hosts would likely have never met. In an incredibly fun and funny installment, Tom discusses his friendship with Reed, how his visit to the set turned into filming a scene, and how that scene was unfortunately left on the cutting room floor.  Tom also shares his history with Marvel comics and media, as well as insights from his perspective as a pro in the industry on choices made on the film, directors who probably influenced certain scenes in the movie, and just how accurate to the comics these films should be. Also explored are questions such as “What other Marvel property was Peyton set to direct at a point?”, “When was the Bronze Age of comics?”, “Why all the alliterative character names?”, “How did directing Bring It On prepare Peyton for making this film?”, “Why is HE in this?”, “What’s Weird Al got to do with anything?”, “How long does it take for Zach to read a book?”, “How do Slurpee cups figure in?” and plenty of others. All of this plus the usual segments of SPOT THE STAN, MARVEL TRIVIA, and PENNY’S CORNER, as well as revisiting Zach & Tavie’s “secret origin”, Tom’s views on Marvel vs DC, Corey Stoll’s villain vibes, Zach’s chance encounter with Paul Rudd himself, how handsome and ageless Paul is, if he should have been a redhead in the film, tangents about Muppets, Star Wars, and Street Fighter, wrapping everything up with a sort of  mini-Best Show featuring an embarrassing story from Zach’s Comic-Con past, and SO MUCH MORE! Produced & co-hosted by Zach Woliner & Tavie Phillips Featuring Penny Woliner Edited by Zach Woliner Theme music by Luis Humanoide Cover art by Chris Giarrusso

In this episode, Zach and Tavie discuss the second (and quite possibly least popular) Avengers film, Avengers: Age Of Ultron.  Yes, the whole family is back together, facing off against James Spader’s Tony Stark-modeled evil robot, at least initially joined by the Maximoff twins previously teased in the Winter Soldier mid-credits tease, Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch and Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Quicksilver (though he is definitely never referred to as such within the film). Joss Whedon returns to direct this, bringing along his typical overly quippy dialogue, some other lines that are incredibly cringe-worthy, and a few obnoxious teases/fake-outs.  We’ve got plenty of setup for the MCU’s future, maybe to the film’s detriment, a family reveal as a substitute for genuine character development, more character origins tied to Tony Stark, the return of “Stellar Skateboard”, some eerie foreshadowing of Jeremy Renner’s real life injuries and treatment, another example of fish being put in danger, even while human lives are saved, a line teasing a future Avengers movie’s subtitle, a confusing mid-credits scene with Thanos, and plenty more! We explore the answers to such questions as “Exactly how long is an age?”, “Who’s Rebecca?”, “What were the sleeping arrangements at the farm?”, “Why all the extraneous lines in some character designs?”, “Why did they switch which arm is missing?”, “What happened to Betty Ross?”, “Is Steve Rogers getting progressively less blonde?”, and a plethora of others. All this, plus the usual segments of SPOT THE STAN (potentially Tavie’s favorite spotting yet), MARVEL TRIVIA, and PENNY’S CORNER, plus a whole lot more.  Join us as we tackle this team-up, heading into the finishing line of Phase 2. Produced & co-hosted by Zach Woliner & Tavie Phillips Featuring Penny Woliner Edited by Zach Woliner Theme music by Luis Humanoide Cover art by Chris Giarrusso

Zach and Tavie stay television-focused in this one, as they enter the Netflix era of the street-level superheroes of New York City, starting off with Daredevil.  Join Matt Murdock, lawyer by day and costumed vigilante by night, as he works alongside Foggy Nelson and Karen page to bring down the criminal empire of The Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, and his various associates.  This is different, however, in that they tackle A FULL SEASON of 13 episodes.  Brace yourselves, as this is a big one. It’s a darker, grittier side of the MCU, and until recently, its canon status to the larger established world was debatable.  There’s violence and adult language and material aplenty in this one, hyper-focused on the neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen.  Still, there was plenty to discuss. Join our hosts as questions arise such as “How do they come up with these supervillain names?”, “Is scotch whiskey?”, “Is he using echo-location?”, “What non-Marvel comic characters does Daredevil share an origin with?”, “Is this show an example of a Surf Dracula situation?”, “Just what is a Black Sky?”,  “What does an MSNBC anchor have to do with all of this?”, “What’s the Police Academy connection?”, “What made Tavie’s jaw drop?”, “What made Zach look exasperated?”, “Which death got to Tavie the most?”, “Which character can’t Zach’s wife stand?”, “How DO you spell the name of the Jewish festival of lights?”, “Is that that same buoy sound effect AGAIN?”, and plenty of others. Plus, there is a SPOT THE STAN segment, albeit one a bit unusual compared to the average ones, as well as MARVEL TRIVIA that Zach specifically came up with, due to the lack of cards in his game.  However, there is no PENNY’S CORNER for this one, due to both the more mature material covered in the show, as well as her lack of real interest in seeing the whole season through.  All of that and so much more in this super-sized episode, so tune in! Produced & co-hosted by Zach Woliner & Tavie Phillips Featuring Penny Woliner Edited by Zach Woliner Theme music by Luis Humanoide Cover art by Chris Giarrusso