Daring Super Mario

Intro Sketch

Rex (00:00:00 - 00:00:06): Let’s go! The True North Nerds are about to start! I know! I’m trying to find the signal!

Rex (00:00:06 - 00:00:08): Thank you, Monster Nerd!

Speaker A (00:00:08 - 00:00:10): No, that’s the wrong one.

Rex (00:00:10 - 00:00:16): Move over! Let me do it! If I don’t go to this nerd school, I’m gonna lose my mind!

Rex (00:00:16 - 00:00:18): Come on, come on!

Rex (00:00:19 - 00:00:20): We can’t go against that guy!

Rex (00:00:20 - 00:00:21): We’re nerds!

Rex (00:00:21 - 00:00:23): We’re gonna miss it!

Rex (00:00:24 - 00:00:27): My fellow nerds and I will retire to the nerdery with our calculators.

Rex (00:00:27 - 00:00:27): Wait!

Rex (00:00:28 - 00:00:28): I got it!

Theme Song

Kirby Crackle (00:00:29 - 00:00:58): Set your phasers to sexy. Hey you, reading comic books. Like the way you look. Like the way you always mess with your hair. Playing PS3. It’s just you and me in my dreams, and I want to go to bed. I like you.

Welcome and Overview

Brent (00:01:20 - 00:01:42): Welcome, loyal listeners, to another episode of True North Nerds. This week it’s just Ryan and I because Kevin is out being an actor and Jen is away on family stuff. So, and Ryan and I, like, we worked like suckers today. So, yep.

Ryan (00:01:43 - 00:01:44): Plenty of comics.

Brent (00:01:44 - 00:01:45): Yes, sir.

Ryan (00:01:45 - 00:01:46): In the old comic mines.

Brent (00:01:47 - 00:01:53): The old comic mines. So, Ryan.

Ryan (00:01:53 - 00:01:54): Yes.

Brent (00:01:55 - 00:01:56): What’s in the news this week?

News: Punisher, Alien, and Southern Bastards

Ryan (00:01:56 - 00:02:14): Uh, not a hell of a lot, Ryan. Not a hell of a lot. I struggled to find some news notes, uh, this week, but we got a couple. Uh, we did get our first look at the upcoming Punisher: One Last Kill. Uh, the, the fir— the trailer for that got posted this week. Did you see it?

Brent (00:02:15 - 00:02:16): Yes, I did.

Ryan (00:02:16 - 00:02:23): Okay, good. It would’ve sucked if you hadn’t, cuz then I’d just be telling you what was there without you having seen it. Um, it looks interesting.

Brent (00:02:25 - 00:02:40): Yeah, you and I had a discussion. I guess Drew brought up the idea of we don’t exactly know when this takes place. Yeah, we had just assumed it takes place after Dare to Report again. Yeah, but that may not necessarily be the case.

Ryan (00:02:42 - 00:03:31): It’s one of those that’ll be interesting to find out. I assumed, you know, that it’s taking place as, you know, some wherever in this nebulous timeline between now and Spider-Man. Because we see him in Spider-Man. Yeah, but it could be during the snap, it could be now after the snap. Like, it’s hard to tell in this trailer because we see him like kind of sitting around in an empty apartment not being Punisher, which is kind of how we saw him in the beginning, the season 1 of Daredevil. Yeah, but then he became Punisher again by the end of that when he got when he made his move on them and then got caught and then broke out. So is this after Breakout? Is it before Daredevil? Don’t know.

Brent (00:03:32 - 00:03:32): Yes.

Ryan (00:03:33 - 00:03:52): Um, it looks like he does get involved with, uh, at least for a little bit in the story of trying to save a young girl. Um, but it’s weird because it also looks like everybody’s rioting around him at one point. When he’s like walking through the street. So I really have no idea what this is going to be about.

Brent (00:03:53 - 00:04:39): Yeah. And like, is that maybe post-Fisk mayor? Yeah, because I— we don’t know for sure, but all signs point to the fact that Vincent D’Onofrio is not in Spider-Man. They have been protesting it. Like, he keeps basically saying that, like, Marvel and Sony need to get their shit together so this can happen. Yeah. And I, I like, could it be at all a smokescreen? Yeah, but I don’t know. It doesn’t strike me as that. It strikes me as like this is something he would like to do and it’s not in the realm of possibility at the moment.

Ryan (00:04:39 - 00:06:17): So yeah, now because yeah, part of that comes back to the, in the scene for the Spider-Man trailer, we see Spider-Man get the key to the city now, and it’s like a woman handing it to him. Well, last time I looked at that trailer, and I got it, you know, it’s because I don’t recognize or know who the actress is right off the bat, but I was kind of wondering to say, oh, she kind of looks a bit like— I don’t know if she’s the whatever, the deputy mayor, or like his— the woman that’s on his staff. Yeah, like Fisk’s staff. So it’s like, is it her giving him the key to the city? But Fisk is very much anti-vigilante and hero, so that wouldn’t quite jive with what’s going on. So it was this before he was— like, we know that Spider-Man takes place 4 years after the last Spider-Man movie, or at least that’s what they’ve said. So where does Daredevil fall into that? Is this within that 4 years of time, or is it after? Like, does Spider-Man happen then Daredevil? I don’t know. All these things will have to load in May, June, May, uh, June. Yeah, July is when Spider-Man comes out, uh, end of May as well. May, later this month. Yeah, beginning of May is when Daredevil finishes. So, and then also when Punisher comes out, uh, there has been rumors for season 3 that we may see Luke Cage run for mayor or become mayor. But then some people are also saying that Matt Murdock could become mayor after Fisk.

Brent (00:06:17 - 00:06:22): Well, that’s like in the comics, he is mayor for a short period of time.

Ryan (00:06:22 - 00:06:27): So yeah, but then so is Luke Cage is currently mayor in the comics.

Brent (00:06:27 - 00:06:28): That is also very true.

Ryan (00:06:30 - 00:06:37): So, and who knows, none of this stuff could happen. As per usual, and they have something completely different up their sleeves.

Brent (00:06:39 - 00:06:41): We shall find out. I’m looking forward to it, though.

Ryan (00:06:42 - 00:06:53): Oh yeah, I’m enjoying Daredevil, but we’ll talk more about that later. Peter Dinklage has been added to season 2 of Alien Earth.

Brent (00:06:54 - 00:06:55): Yes.

Ryan (00:06:55 - 00:07:21): Don’t know what role, what capacity, but it’s very interesting that he is being cast into that series. It was a great show. He’s a great actor, so, you know, it’ll be great to see him in that franchise. And then my last little bit of news was one you shared with me the other day. The one and only Kevin Bacon has signed on to star in the pilot for Southern Bastards.

Brent (00:07:22 - 00:07:24): Yeah, as a main role.

Ryan (00:07:24 - 00:07:24): I’m—

Brent (00:07:25 - 00:07:41): it sounds like he is like the, the father. In the, in the series, um, who, uh, it— who basically gets fed up with what’s going on in the town and tries to fix things. It does not go well.

Ryan (00:07:42 - 00:07:42): No.

Brent (00:07:42 - 00:07:49): Um, which would be good if it is, but, uh, originally I had thought he had been cast as maybe the, uh, the football coach.

Ryan (00:07:50 - 00:07:50): Okay.

Brent (00:07:51 - 00:07:55): And him as that football coach would also work really, really well.

Ryan (00:07:55 - 00:08:02): So, and also another person who’s a really good actor, so anything he shows up in, I’ll probably give a shot.

Brent (00:08:02 - 00:08:06): Yeah, that’s assuming as this gets out of the starting blocks.

Ryan (00:08:07 - 00:08:07): Well, exactly.

Brent (00:08:07 - 00:08:16): Like, it’s like they got a pilot order, um, and as we have seen recently with Buffy, that don’t necessarily mean it’s getting a series.

Ryan (00:08:16 - 00:08:17): So, exactly.

Brent (00:08:18 - 00:08:24): Yeah. So that’s it for my news.

Ryan (00:08:25 - 00:08:57): Yeah, like stuff, shiny things, purple stuff, purple stuff, drink, purple drink. I haven’t had purple drink in a while. I’m trying to be healthy. And also the purple drink I used to always drink, they changed the formula in and it didn’t taste the same ever again. Yeah, I used to always have a grape our compliments grape soda in my lunch, and it was my favorite pop to drink. And then they changed the temperature, the formula in it.

Brent (00:08:57 - 00:08:58): Changed the temperature.

Ryan (00:08:59 - 00:09:05): Well, I used to just— I would just don’t even drink it at room temperature. I didn’t need to refrigerate my grape pop. It was just fine at room temperature.

Brent (00:09:06 - 00:09:06): I see.

Ryan (00:09:06 - 00:09:11): But the new formula at room temperature was just like, it kind of needed to be refrigerated.

Brent (00:09:11 - 00:09:11): Yeah.

Ryan (00:09:11 - 00:09:14): And then even then it was not the same. So I had to switch.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Deep Dive

Brent (00:09:15 - 00:09:24): All right. Well, since it’s just the two of us, let’s talk about Daredevil because I think Jen’s not watching it. I don’t know if Kevin is or not.

Ryan (00:09:25 - 00:09:26): Yeah, I have no idea. He’s a busy boy.

Brent (00:09:26 - 00:09:30): Yeah. So how have you been finding it so far?

Ryan (00:09:32 - 00:09:46): I’ve been enjoying it. Every episode is one of those ones where as it’s going, I keep it waiting, hoping the episodes are longer than they are because it comes on, you know, say, and credits. Like, ah, son of a— I wanted more. You did it to me again.

Brent (00:09:47 - 00:10:08): Especially, uh, spoilers abound for Daredevil: Born Again season 2. Uh, you have been warned, especially how the last episode ended with him, with Daredevil essentially saving Bullseye. Yeah, and but they’re both like laying prone just outside the building.

Ryan (00:10:11 - 00:10:36): Yeah, it’s— there’s been some really cool sequences in this show. There’s been some interesting characters. Um, the, the girl, the young girl now who’s taken up the mantle possibly of, uh, White Tiger, of White Tiger. So her uncle, was it her uncle? Yes, that was White Tiger. Now he had the— did he have powers with his pendant or was he just—

Brent (00:10:36 - 00:10:50): yes, but it’s like, it’s limited, Right? Like, it’s not like— I think it didn’t— I think the idea is it enhances your strength and speed and maybe your healing, but, uh, you take a bullet to the face, you take a bullet to the face.

Ryan (00:11:02 - 00:11:19): It’s very undefined in terms of the show. They, like, even with him I’m just guessing. I don’t know if they ever even really showed off him doing stuff with her. Like he isn’t in the series that long.

Ryan (00:11:21 - 00:11:24): Well, especially like not in his getup.

Ryan (00:11:24 - 00:11:31): No. So we see her during the big breakout sequence.

Brent (00:11:31 - 00:11:31): Yeah.

Ryan (00:11:31 - 00:12:15): And then when they flash to the tires being slashed and it looked, you know, with the 3 slashes as if it was done by claws or something. Something. I’m thinking, oh, did she get— I guess like the, you know, those sharp nails as part of the power set. But then when we see her again sitting down in the People Mover, she’s like closing a knife. So it’s like, oh, did she just happen to use her knife and slice it 3 times? That— so what are they showing us there? Like, is it, you know, they’re alluding to, you know, you know, like cat powers or cat slashes, but then she just used a knife. Yeah, okay, so it’s like they’re being very— they’re being very ambiguous. Yeah, yeah.

Brent (00:12:15 - 00:12:33): So it’s according to the Wikipedia of this comic book namesake, you get, uh, physical strength, speed, stamina, agility, dexterity, reflexes, and coordination, and balance are all enhanced, though not to the point of being invincible.

Ryan (00:12:33 - 00:12:33): Yeah.

Brent (00:12:34 - 00:12:49): And also, apparently the amulet itself is part of a statue from Kung Lung, where Iron Fist and his crew is out of. At least in the comic book version.

Ryan (00:12:51 - 00:12:59): So interesting. See, my real first, my most exposure to that, this character was in that Spider-Man cartoon.

Brent (00:12:59 - 00:13:07): Yes, where it’s the niece. It’s not the, like, the, the niece that we see now. Yeah, not the, the other guy.

Ryan (00:13:07 - 00:13:45): No, no. So that’s why when she got the thing, it’s like, okay, you know, and then that had, you know, it had Iron Fist and it had Power Man and it had Nova as the other, as, you know, in it as a character. So it’s like, well, if we’re getting, you know, we might see Power Fist and Iron Fist or Power Man and Iron Fist in this, uh, to go along with her. So I was like, okay, it’s interesting the world they’re building in Hell’s Kitchen now. Yeah, the, uh, going back to the, the escape, uh, Swordmaster— that’s what they call him, right?

Brent (00:13:45 - 00:13:45): Yes.

Ryan (00:13:46 - 00:13:48): Kate’s stepdad.

Brent (00:13:50 - 00:13:52): Is she, uh, yes.

Ryan (00:13:52 - 00:13:54): Was she married to Kate’s mom?

Brent (00:13:54 - 00:13:57): Yeah, I’m not sure if they actually got married or not. Yeah.

Ryan (00:13:59 - 00:14:11): But, uh, like seeing him wielding a rebar as like a sword, he kicked— he kicks a real butt in this, in that episode, in that escape.

Brent (00:14:11 - 00:14:18): Using rebar, yeah, not the easiest, like not the most finesse of weapons, I feel.

Ryan (00:14:19 - 00:14:46): But that really shows off his, I guess, like his skill with like that type of weapon set. That was just a good— that was a good episode in general. Yeah, finally got some action. But yeah, this latest episode was very Bullseye heavy, and seeing him in action in this series has been like well done.

Brent (00:14:47 - 00:14:58): Yeah, he feels more like Bullseye now. Yeah, like they’ve built that up because like, it, like, you know, it took them a long time to kind of get there.

Ryan (00:14:58 - 00:15:06): Yeah. It’s one of these very much the, uh, give him anything that’s kind of pointy in his hands and he can turn it into a precise weapon.

Brent (00:15:07 - 00:15:07): Yeah.

Ryan (00:15:07 - 00:15:15): Uh, I liked how he’s kind of delusional right now. He’s like, I’m a good, I’m, I’m a good guy now. No, no, you’re not. No.

Brent (00:15:17 - 00:15:20): You just don’t like the bad guys. That doesn’t make you a good guy.

Ryan (00:15:24 - 00:15:59): I like when he ordered the milkshake and then used the straw to spit toothpicks into people’s eyes or like heads or throats. He was just a blow dart. I thought he was going to kill that puppy when he saw the dog. He’s telling the guy, dogs in restaurants aren’t sanitary. It’s like, oh no, don’t hurt the dog. But what are your thoughts? Have you been enjoying this series, Ryan?

Brent (00:15:59 - 00:16:12): Yeah, very much so. It is really well put together. And I think they have managed to smooth out the bumps from the first season.

Brent (00:16:14 - 00:16:47): Like it was, it’s one of those things that, that we know that the first season had a rough kind of stewardship, shall we say, with a lot of reshoots, but it looks like they’ve figured out their stride and they’re going really well with it. So. Um, I, I’ve been enjoying it. I don’t— it’s weird because the Born Again name I get, but at the same time it’s like got absolutely nothing to do with that storyline.

Ryan (00:16:48 - 00:16:54): Yeah. So no, it’s one of those that they— it works because it’s a known story from Daredevil.

Brent (00:17:00 - 00:17:07): Yes.

Ryan (00:17:00 - 00:17:07): But this is the series back again, so it’s born again. Like, I get it. Yeah.

Brent (00:17:09 - 00:17:21): So yeah, but yeah, I’m like, right now it’s the— we know Jessica Jones shows up at some point, so it’s like, kind─ like, is she going to appear?

Ryan (00:17:21 - 00:17:33): Yeah, I keep waiting for other people to join the fight. You know, it’s like they’re anti-vigilante task force, and it’s like, but they seem to just be worrying about Daredevil.

Brent (00:17:34 - 00:17:50): Yes. Um, and I’m very curious if anybody else shows up. Like, it’s, it’s very— I don’t want to get my hopes up or like promote the— like, but I’m— it’s safe to say no Iron Fist.

Brent (00:17:52 - 00:17:57): Um, I could see Luke Cage, especially since Jessica Jones is going to be part of it.

Ryan (00:18:05 - 00:18:29): But I saw some headlines and it sounded like, I don’t know if the headlines, what the headlines were alluding to, there’s a clip of her, of Jessica saying something about her daughter. And it’s like, if that’s the case, it’s like, oh, they are really like, is it, oh, they’re like, she’s with Luke and they’ve got a kid. Like we’re going there already.

Ryan (00:18:31 - 00:18:48): Which they could easily have jumped to that from the time, like the Netflix time period to now. Doesn’t know. We don’t have to know how old they, you know, how young the child is. There’s been enough years that have passed where they could have a toddler. Just kind of surprised that they would go there already.

Ryan (00:18:51 - 00:19:06): But also could be a good reason to keep one or the other off the screen. They got back from everything, right? She’s like, oh yeah, I’m here to help. He’s taking care of our kid. And then maybe for Jen’s sake, we get Squirrel Girl as their nanny eventually.

Brent (00:19:18 - 00:19:25): Yeah.

Ryan (00:19:27 - 00:19:44): What’s the date today? 1, 2, maybe like 4 episodes left. I think it goes into May. Lots of story to tell. Uh, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with the repercussions of the end of tonight— of, uh, this week’s episode with Fisk’s wife.

Brent (00:19:47 - 00:19:47): Hmm.

Ryan (00:19:47 - 00:19:52): Like, how unhinged is he gonna get now if she doesn’t survive?

Brent (00:19:54 - 00:19:57): Well, he was starting to get unhinged in that fight, right?

Brent (00:19:57 - 00:20:08): So yeah, yeah, that— I, I— her death is definitely the, the start of his downfall. This is now he doesn’t have a rational center.

Ryan (00:20:08 - 00:20:22): No, no, they’ve taken his joy, you know, take his joy away from him. So, um, anything else you want to add?

Brent (00:20:23 - 00:20:37): Uh, no, that pretty much covers it for, for Daredevil for me.

Review: Super Mario Galaxy

Brent (00:20:23 - 00:20:37): Um, we should also point out, uh, the, uh, the three of us, uh, you’re— you, uh, my wife and I went and saw Super Mario Galaxy this week.

Ryan (00:20:38 - 00:20:38): Yes, we did.

Brent (00:20:39 - 00:20:44): Uh, I thought it was good, like it was enjoyable, I should say.

Brent (00:20:45 - 00:20:52): Um, not as good as the first. No, the, the story was lacking in, in my opinion.

Ryan (00:20:53 - 00:21:27): So, you know, uh, yeah, we, well, we had this discussion last night on the car ride home. Uh, thought that, yeah, visually it was still, it was, it was stunning. It was cool. It did, you know, Still well made. Um, the characters, you know, you get some new characters and stuff, but it just seemed like it was a lot of hopping from this place to this place to this place. Oh, look at this. But no, like the whole, the meat and potatoes of it, like the real story, um, was, yeah, was lacking compared to the first one. That’s not to say anything. Oh yeah. I still enjoyed it.

Brent (00:21:28 - 00:21:29): Yes. Agreed.

Ryan (00:21:32 - 00:21:45): Yeah, was, you know, I guess after how much I made a good amount of money first weekend, this being the second Friday it was in theaters and our theater was still pretty full.

Brent (00:21:46 - 00:21:50): Yeah, no, there was even a group of people like dressed up.

Ryan (00:21:51 - 00:22:00): Yep. Some young, some youngins, some late teens, late teens, early. Yeah, I’d say the late teens. I’d say we got a Mario and a Luigi.

Brent (00:22:01 - 00:22:02): The Toad was definitely younger.

Ryan (00:22:03 - 00:22:08): Yes, there was a young Toad, and I think the Donkey Kong might have been younger as well.

Brent (00:22:09 - 00:22:11): Yeah, it was hard to tell with his mask, I guess.

Ryan (00:22:11 - 00:22:15): I was disappointed that we didn’t— there was no Donkey Kong really in this one.

Brent (00:22:15 - 00:22:24): No. Yeah, it like just the, the, them like the, the stars asking for the story more than anything else.

Ryan (00:22:25 - 00:22:52): Yeah. The stars were pretty cute. The one at the end in the after-credits scene was great. But yeah, though, I like the stars. We did get a couple new characters. We got a new princess. Was that Rosaline? Rosaline? Is that this one?

Brent (00:22:54 - 00:22:55): Rosalind.

Ryan (00:22:55 - 00:23:34): Yeah, Rosalind. And then we also got Star Fox. I liked his introduction when he introduced himself and how he was like, you know, the leader of this, of the, of a group and his friends. And we saw like them animated and then he got blasted into this other dimension and that he loves to do barrel rolls. The, uh, I liked the way they did in certain points work in like the 8-bit look of things.

Ryan (00:23:36 - 00:24:09): As part as like a story element to like show a faster progression of time. They just simplified everything and then boom. Here you go. Um, the throwback to like the Super Mario World map when Mario and Luigi are taking care of the Mushroom Kingdom for Peach. And it’s like they kept going to the different dots and then a little flag would pop up. Did they do that in, um, either Mario Galaxy or, or Mario 64? I never played those, so I don’t know how the map worked.

Brent (00:24:10 - 00:24:19): I haven’t played, uh, 64 in decades and, uh, no, I haven’t played Galaxy at all, I don’t think.

Ryan (00:24:20 - 00:24:47): Okay. But yeah, we had to see some Mario 2 people in there, some random monkey that we’re not quite sure where it’s from. There was a lot of— there’s a lot to see. And if you’re very heavy into the Nintendo lore, Nintendo stuff, you’ll recognize a lot of characters.

Brent (00:24:47 - 00:25:11): Yeah, not as many as I was expecting, to be honest. When we talked about the fact that Star Fox had been revealed via a poster, I kind─ was of the opinion that it was a reveal in order to cover up for something else. Yeah, they were giving away that plot point in order for us to— like, left hand was doing something so we didn’t understand, see what the right hand was was doing.

Brent (00:25:13 - 00:25:41): And that wasn’t the case. No, no Link, no Zelda. You know, the— no other Nintendo characters. The only thing I was— I’m not sure about, I haven’t looked it up, is when they’re in like the spaceport, I kind─ wondered, one of the ships looked like it might have been like Samus’s from Metroid. But I’m not 100% sure of that because I am not like a huge Nintendo person.

Ryan (00:25:42 - 00:25:55): So yeah, I have never played a Metroid game. Never. Not the original, not any of the GameCube, not any of the other ones, not any, not a single Metroid.

Brent (00:25:55 - 00:25:56): They’re hard.

Ryan (00:25:56 - 00:26:16): Yeah, they look good. They look fun. But yeah, no, just was never my thing. It’s funny now that you brought up like Link and say, especially with this being such a princess story. I say kind─ surprised we didn’t like see a reference to or anybody alluding to or showing up of Princess Zelda.

Brent (00:26:18 - 00:26:24): Yeah, but they may be keeping Link and all that completely separate from this for reasons.

Ryan (00:26:26 - 00:26:38): I think that would have been cool if one of them— maybe we didn’t notice and it is— the storybooks that the stars get read, if one of them happened to be like what had like the Triforce star on it or something like that.

What We’re Watching: Star Wars, Invincible, and The Pit

Ryan (00:26:44 - 00:26:51): Oh, what else have you been watching lately? Um, not a heck of a lot, to be honest with you.

Brent (00:26:51 - 00:26:59): Uh, Daredevil has been the primary thing. Um, oh, uh, Shadows of Maul also came out too.

Ryan (00:26:59 - 00:27:47): Oh yes, Maul: Shadow Lord. Yes, the first two episodes, uh, very much worth watching. If you’re into Star Wars. We get introduced to Maul and his— a couple of his Mandalorians that are left that are still loyal to him. He’s out for revenge for the people that did— the crews that deserted him during the siege of Mandalore. The animation style is stepped up. It’s awesome. There’s talk, the reports online that in the audio sounds of the, the sounds of the lightsabers, they’ve included like Sam Whitworth. That’s the—

Ryan (00:27:49 - 00:28:09): Yeah. His screams as part of the lightsaber’s noise. So, yeah, no, I’m enjoying it. I’m looking forward to it. It’s 2 episodes a week for the next couple of weeks. I think it ends just in time for, you know, Star Wars Day.

Brent (00:28:10 - 00:28:15): And I guess then we have Mandalorian Grogu.

Ryan (00:28:16 - 00:28:17): Yep. That’s in May.

Brent (00:28:17 - 00:28:25): You have a break until that Last Starfighter or whatever they’re calling that. The Ryan Gosling one.

Ryan (00:28:25 - 00:28:28): Oh, The Last Starfighter or Jedi. Yeah.

Brent (00:28:30 - 00:28:31): I believe.

Ryan (00:28:31 - 00:28:37): Oh yeah. This is just, yeah, Star Wars Starfighter or something like that. Or yeah, that’s not out until like next year.

Ryan (00:28:38 - 00:29:19): Yeah, I think right now they’re at the, uh, they’re in the one, one a year mode at the very least, but the most. Yeah, we’re not getting any other live-action series, I don’t think, from— or we might, we might be getting season 2 of Ahsoka this year because that should— I think that’s finished filming. I feel like they filmed that last year. I don’t know, maybe, because that’s been out for almost 2 years now. I don’t know, there’s stuff coming. Yes, more stuff for us to watch and talk about.

Brent (00:29:23 - 00:29:28): Um, so, uh, what about you? What have you been watching lately?

Ryan (00:29:28 - 00:30:59): Ooh, what have I not been— what haven’t I been watching? Uh, Invincible’s on right now again. Uh, it’s been rolling along in the fourth season, I think it is. Uh, which you can tell again that it’s getting popular or that people are hyped up for it because we had a lot of people in the store looking for either the collectible, the compendiums of Invincible, or wanting to know ‘If I’m watching the show right now and I wanna start reading the comic, where can I jump in so that I don’t have to read the stuff I’ve already watched?’ So I’ve had, we sold a couple of those trades to get people started. So yeah, Invincible’s been good. Pardon me. I just, now that I’ve got Prime and I’ve been watching that, I also started watching season 2 of Gen V. Oh, okay. Because this week, Season 5, which I think is the last season of The Boys, started on Prime. So I think like right now, Wednesdays, you can get Invincible and The Boys for the next few weeks. I’m going to wait until I finish Gen V before I start the new season of The Boys. From what I’ve kind─ heard, that would make sense because there’s a few people that I’ve listened to podcasts of that mentioned, it’s like, well, I didn’t watch Gen V. But then like one of their co-hosts did, or their wife did. And then when they were talking like, who is this? And they’re like, oh, well, if you watch Gen V, you’d know who this person is.

Ryan (00:31:12 - 00:31:22): So I figure I’m already partway into Gen V. I’ll watch that. And then by the time I’m done it, there’ll be plenty of episodes of of The Boys to watch.

Brent (00:31:22 - 00:31:44): So that’s a good plan, I feel. I keep— so I like the comic, and I didn’t get through the first season of The Boys because it was different, that it was like jarring. Not that it was bad per se, just like it wasn’t what I was expecting.

Brent (00:31:45 - 00:32:03): And I basically have like had— have skipped it ever since. But part of me is like, people keep telling me how good it is and stuff like So I keep wondering if I like should go back and start watching it again. Yeah, it would be by myself because Jen is absolutely not interested in that.

Ryan (00:32:10 - 00:32:19): Yeah, it’s one of those shows like I’ve enjoyed watching it. Now, is it a masterpiece? No, it’s very mature.

Ryan (00:32:20 - 00:32:33): But, uh, yeah, no, I’ll, it’s one of those. Yeah. I never read the book. I know that they’re both, some of the stuff in the show is tamed, is, uh, you know, has been, uh, dialed down compared to the book.

Ryan (00:32:35 - 00:33:12): But, uh, yeah, no, uh, I do enjoy when you read the, the stories of people posting online about How, uh, they don’t get the series and they don’t, and it’s like, or when there’s talk of the, with the people making the series and they’re like, how, you know, sadly how on the nose it kind─ is with American politics right now. And it’s like, this is based on a comic that came out years ago and we made these episodes months ago. We didn’t know that this was gonna be happening right now.

Ryan (00:33:13 - 00:33:23): And that it was going to line up so scarily close to this show. Yeah, that’s the world we live in right now.

Ryan (00:33:28 - 00:34:36): What else? Oh, I’ve still been watching The Pit. I know that’s not so much a genre, but that’s— it’s great. It’s great television if you like watching like an emergency room drama. It’s another one of those shows that every time the episode ends, it’s like something’s happening, and then it’s like they got me— they get you hooked in and then say credits. I’m like, you son of a bitch, you got me again. And then it’s like the way the season’s been going, it’s like they’ve had some, you know, some timely stuff, uh, ICE agents show up in the emergency room with a date with one of their detainees. And, and so people that working there in the hospital, you know, people, you know, obviously get upset when things happen. There’s part of the whole story of this season, it takes place on, uh, 4th of July. So you get some, you know, 4th of July accidents and happenings. But the hospital is also under a threat of a cyberattack.

Ryan (00:34:38 - 00:34:47): So they end up having to turn off all of the, like, network connections and like the databases.

Ryan (00:34:48 - 00:35:34): And have to break out the old school with the paper and the, the, with the multiple copies of sheets and get people running stuff to departments for sample tests. And it’s interesting watching them cope. And it’s interesting watching it happen and being like, I wonder, like, I’ve got family members that are nurses now and are retired nurses. I thought I would really, I don’t know, one of them watches the show because my aunt, when I saw her one time, she was like, oh, you know, made a comment about having watched The Pit. And I was like, oh, I haven’t watched the new episode yet. And she’s like, oh, well then I won’t tell you what happens. I won’t talk about anything. But it’s like, I’d like to sit and talk to her about what her thoughts are. On the show because, like, you know, she was a nurse for her career.

Brent (00:35:35 - 00:35:41): So, uh, my friend Kim is an emergency room nurse. Oh, and she really likes the show.

Brent (00:35:42 - 00:35:46): Um, according to her, it is definitely a TV show.

Brent (00:35:47 - 00:35:59): But out of all the medical shows that she has watched, the medical part of it is closest to reality.

Brent (00:36:01 - 00:36:09): Now it’s not reality, but it’s close to, in her opinion. Yeah. Like, or at least it feels right to her.

Ryan (00:36:10 - 00:36:19): Yeah. And I could, I can understand that with, especially with it being, you know, it’s not as time-based as 24 was.

Ryan (00:36:20 - 00:37:23): But it still is like each episode is an hour. Of their day. So like an hour of their shift. Now the episodes aren’t a full 60 minutes, like, you know, with no ticking clock like 24 was. But, uh, so, you know, there’s editing going on of, you know, and I guess little bits of time jump, micro jumps here and there, but, uh, it’s still interesting to see that this is just one day and there was like, I think maybe a year or at least like 6 to 8 months between that timeframe-wise between season 1 and season 2. So it’s like, it’s interesting when it finishes, but there’s stuff you hear what’s going on in people’s lives and there’s like story points and you’re like, oh, I wonder what’s going to happen there. But the next season could be a year later and you’re like, you just got to wait for them to maybe sprinkle it into conversations to see if there’s any resolution to that thing that they talked about or was happening in season 1.

Brent (00:37:29 - 00:37:36): Yeah. Um, geez, we are not exciting people. Is that why we always have like 4 people on this show?

Shrinking on Apple TV+

Ryan (00:38:51 - 00:38:51): Uh, I did start to watch a new show tonight. Um, after I finished watching my,─ episode of,─ of Monarch,

Ryan (00:38:51 - 00:38:51): because I was on Apple, I started watching Shrinking.

Brent (00:38:53 - 00:38:56): Oh, is that the one with Harrison Ford and,─ what’s his face?

Ryan (00:38:58 - 00:39:00): Yeah, Seagal. Jason.

Ryan (00:39:02 - 00:39:39): The guy from— yeah, the guy from How I Met Your Mother. Um, But I didn’t get very far into it, so I have no idea. It’s so far, like, I don’t know what I thought the show was gonna be, but it’s like, I didn’t realize it. Like, he’s a, he’s a shrink, he’s a psychologist or a psychiatrist, hence the shrinking part. Uh, sounds like he’s in the beginning of this first episode,─ he is not himself and not in a good place in life. So, but it’s one of those shows that keeps like clips of it keep popping up in my reels and feed and stuff. So I was like, maybe I’ll watch the— I’ll give this show a watch.

Patreon Shoutouts

Brent (00:39:43 - 00:41:25): All right. Well, since,─ we are this exciting of peoples,─ let’s go into Patreon shoutouts. And,─ wrap this thing up. We’ll, we’ll have more excitement next time.─ so,─ patreon.com/TrueNorthNerds,─ for $3 a month you can help us,─ pay for for new equipment and hosting and all sorts of different things. And for that, you get some exclusive to the Patreon material as well. You get a shout out and we actually have sort of a new shout out to throw in there. So the rules are you can join our Patreon As a free member, it doesn’t give you access to the archives and stuff like that, but it does— we do appreciate the love and support of those people as well. So you do get one shout out when you sign up, and that shout out this week goes to Lori, who signed up just a week ago to the free feed. Thank you for your support, Lori. We appreciate it. Share it with your friends.─ but beyond that, for the,─ the other members of our Patreon, that includes Drew, Karina, Alex, Team Woods, Mike Hammond of Maple Printing, and our good friend Rex. Thank you very much. We appreciate,─ all of your love and support, and,─ thank you for sticking with us for a while. Most of our patrons have been with us for quite some time, so Quite happy.

Ryan (00:41:25 - 00:41:26): We appreciate you.

Geek Picks

Ryan (00:41:36 - 00:42:14): Yes, I have one. I thought of it again. I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before and I’m mentioning it again. There’s the latest season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is in full swing.─ it’s getting wild. They’re starting to do some timey-wimey wibbly-wobbly stuff with the world between worlds that they go to, which already had— so the world where they go into, where Titans come from, it’s kind─ like a world between Earth and I guess the Hollow Earth from the movies.

Ryan (00:42:16 - 00:42:50): And,─ That’s where we get our stuff with,─ the,─ Kurt Russell. Yeah. And his son,─ so in the past and in this episode, there’s a whole thing where they go to one of these rifts and they’re trying to use,─ find a signal to be able to detect,─ a Titan,─ or a kaiju or whatever you want to— they’re calling them. And they actually end up sending a radio signal and they talk to the young version. So,─ Wyatt Russ— Wyatt, right, is his name?

Ryan (00:42:51 - 00:42:51): Wyatt Russell.

Ryan (00:42:53 - 00:44:05):─ when he’s in the past, in the in-between area, but then he’s talking to his future self that’s already gotten out. So, which is hilarious because it’s acting-wise, it’s father and son talking, but it’s like, they have to be careful. You know, it’s time. You don’t have to, you know, eventually you have to make sure whatever you do doesn’t mess up that he gets hurt or doesn’t make it out. Otherwise you’re going to not be out, not be there to be able to even have this conversation. And they do a whole thing to show that it’s connected in that he falls and cuts his face. And then you see a scar show up on his face. On the old man’s face. Oh yeah. So I was like, oh, okay, this is, this is different for them. And this is interesting and weird.─ which is why, you know, my random thought today when we were working, I shared this with you earlier, Ryan, was the,─ thinking of this. So Monarch as part of the Monsterverse they’ve been building to me is very much like early Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was to the MCU.

Ryan (00:44:08 - 00:45:23): Yes. Before it got stupid. So pretty much up to and just past, I guess movie-wise, Winter Soldier. So it’s like they’re playing in the sandbox of Godzilla, of the MonsterVerse. But they’re very much like timeline-wise, they’re, you know, between the first two movies.─ so all their stuff is happening there, but you know, they go and they go to Skull Island and you see Kong, and then there’s times where they’re out doing things and oh, there’s Godzilla.─ in one of the flashback parts of an episode, we see them where the sequence where they, at Bikini The Bikini Atoll where they set off the bomb trying to kill Godzilla. So you see that happening in the show. So it’s like there’s those connections back and forth. And, you know, every so often Godzilla does make an appearance on the show. And it’s— I enjoy it because I— well, I enjoyed the MonsterVerse movies, and this is just expanding that lore and those worlds for me, which is why I also enjoyed like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Ryan (00:45:24 - 00:46:09): You know, they kept referencing to the Chitauri attack in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and like the Avengers forming. Well, in this one, they keep referencing, you know, they call it G-Day. And that was the day when Godzilla had the fight in San Francisco in the first movie. So like, that’s their big point of reference is G-Day, G-Day, not trying to avoid another Mothra attack or another Titan attack. And the corporations and all the other ancillary characters and corporations that are being showing up that show up later and are bad guys. And so, yeah, it’s, I really have been enjoying Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. So if you like those movies, you should try watching the show. Awesome. What’s your geek pick?

Brent (00:46:09 - 00:46:30): So my geek pick is, it’s a book that I’m working my way through in order to run a game of. Ooh, and I’m knocking shit over in my office. It is called Deathmatch Island. I actually first heard of this role-playing game from,─ what’s his name, Kieron Gillen, the guy who wrote the run of Darth Vader that you and I really love.

Brent (00:46:31 - 00:47:29): Yep. And he’s currently writing DIE. He is a big tabletop role-playing game nerd. Like he has like an online newsletter dedicated to that sort of stuff. So this sounded like I like the idea of the dystopian reality TV show, like a Running Man or Battle Royale, stuff like that. So this game is right up my alley. In a lot of ways, but it’s, it’s an interesting,─ almost hybrid of like a tabletop role-playing game, like a Dungeons and Dragons or Rifts, something like that. And kind─ like a board game almost because one player, so me, would be running the game. The other players, it says like it works best 3 to 4.

Brent (00:47:31 - 00:48:14): They, they are the contestants. So you roll up your character like randomly. And you wake up on like a ship bound for this island with only like the vaguest idea of how you got there in the first place. And then you have to basically like make your way through the games. There’s 3 islands that you have to kind─ survive through and you have to kind─ decide for your character and with the other characters, maybe, whether you’re going to play to win the game, which is essentially kill the other characters by the end of it, or if you’re going to try and take down the man and destroy like the TV show kind─ thing instead.

Brent (00:48:17 - 00:50:00): Like as a group. So I like that kind─ like dynamic and stuff. And as far as a book is concerned, like it’s very well put together so far as far as role-playing game books go. Like it just like it’s, it looks nice. It was a little bit smaller than I was expecting in terms of size, but I’ve enjoyed the read so far and looking forward to hopefully running a game of this during the summer. So awesome. Deathmatch or Deathmatch Island. It is from Evil Hat Productions and Old Dog Games. You can find it online. I had a tricky time finding a physical copy. Physical copy to send to Canada. I had to get it through a secondary seller on Amazon, but like 401 Games was sold out. And I don’t know if it’s due to the nature or the content, or they just don’t want to spend the money on shipping and tariffs. Yeah, the company itself won’t actually ship to Canada. So I had, that’s why I had to go that route or else I would have just directly given them my money.─ yeah. All right. That’s it for Brent and I. Uh, we shall return in 2 weeks there that we’re starting to get up, get into like big movie season.─ in the next little while we have like,─ like even not at the theater, but we have that Punisher,─ one-shot. We have Mandalorian Grogu. We have Spider-Man.─ the,─ we’re, we’re going to be like filled with the content. The next little while.─ not to mention also,─ Ryan has his other show that appears on this network.

Closing

Ryan (00:50:01 - 00:50:47): Yes.─ yep.─ Ed and I are trying real hard to do one,─ one in a month this year, trying to get 12 episodes out of Tales from the Collectiverse, where,─ we sit down and talk about the cool collectibles we purchase,─ between episodes and about the cool stuff that we will be purchasing in the future. And then talking about it in episodes.─ Ed’s on the road a bunch right now with work and life, but, … we’re going to be on pace to do one a month. You can follow us here and then follow our toy buying exploits and collectibles on our Instagram @talesfromcollectiverse.

Brent (00:50:49 - 00:50:49): Awesome.

Ryan (00:50:50 - 00:51:02): Oh, we should mention— yeah, we should mention, … Kevin’s posts on our, on our Facebook and Instagram of his comic book reading that he’s been doing through the, the Marvel and DC app.

Brent (00:51:02 - 00:51:07): Yeah,─ I don’t know, he’s reading like old stuff and new stuff.

Brent (00:51:08 - 00:51:21): And I don’t know if there’s a rhyme or reason to, to other than he’s just trying out new things. So yeah, if you want to follow along with Kevin’s adventures in comics,─ follow us on social media.

Brent (00:51:25 - 00:51:31): All right, that is it.─ we will see you guys in 2 weeks, and until then, abomastay.

Outro

Kirby Crackle (00:51:31 - 00:51:33): Set your phasers to sexy.

Rex (00:51:33 - 00:52:01): Thank you for listening to the True North Nerds. You can find us at truenorthnerds.com, on Facebook X and Instagram @TrueNorthNerds. To contact one or any of the nerds, email them at TrueNorthNerds@gmail.com. Theme music provided by Kirby Crackle. You can find more of their music at KirbyCrackleMusic.com. If you’d like to support the show, please consider becoming a Patreon at patreon.com/TrueNorthNerds, or go to your podcast app of choice and rate and review us.