Episode 155 - Megamind with JD Martin
This week on Men of Steel, Case and Jmike are joined once again by friend of the show JD Martin to talk about the 2010 animated super-comedy Megamind! We dig into its sharp humor, surprisingly heartfelt themes, and why this blue-skinned “villain” might be one of the most Superman-adjacent characters DreamWorks ever created.
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Men of Steel Full Episode
Originally aired: October 10, 2025
Edited by Sophia Ricciardi
Scored by Geoff Moonen
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Outline
Introduction and Guest Welcome (00:00 - 02:00)
Discussion starts with a humorous observation of the misspelling of 'Titan' throughout the film.
Hosts: Case Aiken and J. Mike Folson, with returning guest J.D. Martin.
Initial Impressions and Reactions to Megamind (02:00 - 10:40)
JD relates personal experience watching the movie during a back pain episode.
He praises the voice cast: Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, and Brad Pitt.
Characters, Casting, and Voice Performances (10:40 - 21:04)
Discussion of the main characters and voice actors: Will Ferrell as Megamind praised for his comedic timing.
Tina Fey as Roxanne Ritchi, the strong Lois Lane archetype.
Music and Soundtrack (21:04 - 26:00)
Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and Lauren Balfe well received for blending classic superhero score with many rock needle drops.
Noted needle drops include 'Highway to Hell,' 'Back in Black,' 'Crazy Train,' and 'Bad to the Bone.'
Supporting Characters and Humor (26:00 - 31:27)
Minion, Megamind’s pet, is highlighted as a great comic sidekick balancing Krypto and Otis-type roles.
The film’s dense joke rate is praised in comparison to sitcom qualities.
Plot and Story Structure Evaluation (31:27 - 41:28)
Discussion appreciates that the Superman analog Metro Man faking his death and quitting is a strong story beat.
Titan’s rise and subsequent villainy highlighted as key to forcing Megamind into the hero role.
️ Final Narrative and Thematic Elements (41:28 - 51:29)
The endgame where Megamind takes on the identity of the hero (Metro Man) using disguises is highlighted.
Love story between Megamind and Roxanne praised as a slow burn and effective emotional core.
Cultural and Industry Context (51:29 - 58:56)
Megamind’s release context: 2010, alongside Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3, and before MCU dominance.
Positioned as a parody, deconstruction, and love letter to superhero genre before the MCU explosion.
Closing Remarks and Tribute (58:56 - 01:07:01)
Recognition of Patreon supporters and invitation to join.
Tribute to actor Terence Stamp (General Zod in Superman films) who passed away on recording day.
Key Takeaways
Megamind is a well-crafted superhero parody (06:32 - 30:00)
Inverts the traditional Superman archetype by showing a villain becoming a hero.
Strong voice cast (10:40 - 18:00)
Notable performances, especially Will Ferrell as Megamind and Tina Fey as Roxanne Ritchi.
Jonah Hill’s character adds a darker twist on typical sidekick tropes.
Numerous classic rock needle drops (22:30 - 23:00)
A hallmark of DreamWorks animated movies aimed at older kids and adults.
️ Fight sequences and choreography (26:58 - 27:30)
Surprisingly well-executed and impactful, elevating the animated action to near live-action standards.
Tight story structure (31:27 - 34:00)
Well-paced with a high joke-per-minute ratio making it enjoyable for multiple viewings.
️ Megamind’s character arc (41:28 - 51:29)
From villain to hero effectively supported by strong thematic elements, including friendship, identity, and redemption.
Movie fits well in the 2010 superhero context (51:29 - 58:56)
Before the MCU boom, making it a timely and insightful satire and love letter to superhero media.
Legacy and community engagement (58:56 - 01:07:01)
Tribute to Terence Stamp and encouragement for listeners to join broader fandoms through podcasts and social media.
Transcription
00:00
Case
From the point where Hal takes the name Titan but misspells it as Tighten, it is written out that way entirely. Which I at no point realized.
00:08
Jmike
I. I noticed that in the captions, I was like, I wonder if they actually do it in the captions. I turn the captions on. I was like, yep, they misspell it there.
00:18
Case
I just assumed it was a one and done joke, but they do it the rest of the way. That's amazing.
00:51
JD
Hey everyone, and welcome back to the.
00:53
Case
Men of Steel podcast. I'm Case Aiken, and as always, I'm joined by my co host, Jmike Folson.
00:58
Jmike
Well, hey there everybody. Welcome back to the show.
01:02
Case
Welcome back indeed. Because can you believe it's been 15 years since today's episode topic came out.
01:10
Jmike
You didn't have to say it like that though.
01:12
Case
But you know, 15 years since the movie that we're talking about today came out. Because today we are talking about Megamind. And to have that conversation, we. We are joined once again by returning champion of maximum number of appearances on the show, despite a two year hiatus, J.D. Martin.
01:37
JD
I'm back, baby. You can't get rid of me. To add easily.
01:41
Case
JD it has been too long. We are so happy to have you back on and you have been trying to get us to do this episode for a while. And frankly, here's the reason why it hasn't happened yet. I hadn't seen it, which is.
01:56
JD
It's so crazy. Especially like, you're a father now. It's the perfect time for you to watch it.
02:04
Case
I know. And it's like super recommended on Netflix, which is like, kind of weird because like the Netflix kids demo is like Peppa Pig and like My Little Pony and then like Megamind, which is like not like, not for kids, but it is like slightly more mature as a. As a subject matter than the.
02:27
JD
It's not, it's not really for 5 year olds, it's for like 10 year olds.
02:32
Case
Yeah, exactly.
02:34
JD
And that's not a knock on this movie because. Because spoiler alert, this movie rules.
02:39
Case
Yeah, I really like this movie. I'm just gonna. I'm gonna say that I. I have a couple of notes because this is a, like, this is a DreamWorks, like, animation movie. It has a couple of the hallmarks of those kind of movies. But you know what? Aside from too many needle drops, there aren't giant complaints that I have about this movie.
03:04
JD
And I did forget about all the needle drops in this movie.
03:08
Case
There are so many needle drops in this movie, and it's not a big deal. I don't hate this movie. I. I like this movie a lot. It's just. I. I was like, oh, there's. There's a lot of needle drops. But, yeah, like, I mean, so again, I hadn't seen this movie. J. Mike, how about you? Had you seen this movie before?
03:29
Jmike
Yeah, I saw this movie many years ago, and I was like, oh, wow, this is a good refresher. I had forgotten how much fun there was in this movie. I was like, oh, this is pretty cool. This is great. We should watch it more often. You want me to, like, explain it now, don't you?
03:49
Case
We'll get around back to that. We're gonna do that thing, but we're gonna come around.
03:53
Jmike
It's okay.
03:53
Case
Yeah. No, J.D.
03:56
JD
So you want to do the thing, Case? I'll do the thing, Case.
04:00
Case
Now, we'll have to, like, do the thing in a minute, but in the meantime, J.D. How about you? What was your experience of this movie?
04:06
JD
Oh, so I think I. The memory I have of watching it in its entirety for the first time, because it's one of those movies where you can definitely catch it on TV. And you'll catch it, like, you know, probably about 20 minutes in. You'll. You'll see part of it or whatever. But. But my distinct memory of watching it for the first time was I was like, I took, like, a week off of work to house sit for a family for, I think, my grandmother. And my back, I don't know what happened, but my back was in so much pain.
04:41
JD
And I, like, slept on a heating pad or I just, I, I, at times I would just, like, I would put a pillow on the floor, put the heating pad on the floor, and just lay there, and I would just put whatever I could on. And I remember I watched this and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for the first time, like, in the same day. And this is probably only like five years or so ago, but I remember watching and going, this. This is a lot better than I thought it would be, like, for like a superhero DreamWorks movie with Will Ferrell and Tina Fey and Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt, mind you. Yeah, yeah.
05:30
Case
That. That was the one that made my wife, like, turn over while I was watching it in bed. And she was like, is that.
05:38
JD
And he has, like, the most memeified line in the entire movie. Like, I love you, Metro Man. And I love you, too, Random Citizen.
05:49
Case
Meanwhile, the line that I. We have to I wrote down, and we have to say is when Jonah Hill, as Hal goes, chicks don't like bouncy houses, they like clowns.
06:01
JD
And I'm sitting over here going like, going to write that down for the next date. Gotcha.
06:07
Case
Yeah. So J Mike alluded to this, and we're trying to do this thing on a more regular basis, which is J Mike, for the listeners at home who have not seen the movie Megamind. What is the movie Megamind?
06:21
Jmike
How do I explain this properly? I want to say take like the goofiest version of Superman you can and like twist it around, but basically. Does he even have like a real name? I don't think he has a real name, but he's called Megamind. Megamind comes from this dying planet of. I forgot the name of it. But basically it's Krypton lands on Earth, but he lands in a prison yard while his arch nemesis lands in like the, the Wayne family household. They grew up in opposite ends of the spectrum. Megamind gets taught by prison soldier or by prison inmates, whatever, and he learns the ropes from the ropes of evil from them. And Metro man grows up to be Superman. Megamind grows up to be a very bad Lex Luthor.
07:06
Jmike
Not in bad, like he's evil, just like he's like the worst, the absolute worst super villain ever. He loses at everything, but he has fun while he's doing it. And so like, one day he comes up with a. An invention, slash ne' er do well plan where he actually quote, unquote kills Metro Man. And then he gets his wish of being like the number one villain. And then he figures out that without Metro man, life kind of sucks because he doesn't have anything else to do. So he tries to, you know, create his own arch nemesis, which turns out to be very bad because he picked like the absolute worst person that you could ever have to be a hero in Jonah Hill's character. And it just goes all downhill from there. But in the end, he learns that by the power of friend.
07:52
Jmike
I'm kidding. By the power of friendship. But, you know, it's not what you do. It's like, it's. It's what you do with what you're given that makes you a hero in the end.
08:03
Case
Yeah, so the one thing I just want to hit home is that by the end of the movie, he has. Megamind has reformed and taken on the role of the hero of the story. At this point, just wanted to make that part clear.
08:18
JD
Saves the day, saves the city. Gets the girl, does all the things.
08:23
Case
Yes, does all the things. Like obviously this is a good thing for us to discuss because Metro man is just Superman. Like he's an alien from another world. He crash lands at the Wayne Manor instead of a Kent farm situation. But he is a just dead on Superman analog right down to the heat vision and the implied weakness to copper. God.
08:51
JD
Which we'll get turned. Which, you know, I'm assuming we're going to do a sport into spoilers on a 15 year old movie that most people have seen.
08:58
Jmike
Oh yeah.
08:59
Case
Like at this point now you should consider we have gone as far as we can go without going deep into spoiler territory. We're going to go into spoiler territory now.
09:08
JD
Yeah. So it turns out that he's not like he like copper is not his weakness, he's just like. I made that up on the spot. Yep.
09:18
Case
Because he didn't actually die.
09:20
Jmike
Oh my God.
09:20
JD
I gotta, so I gotta say though, the way they reveal that copper isn't his weakness by like Megamind trying to trap, how like trying to trap Titan in like the ball made of copper. And he's like, yes. I finally figured, oh crap, he's punching through it. Wait, how does that work? What, what's going on here? And like that very nice visual way to have that reveal happen. Yeah.
09:48
Case
And Titan at that point says, stop comparing me to Metro Man. Which sure, his powers are derived from Metro man, but it is possible that they're not the same as Metro Man's like 100%. You know, it could be a Con El Superboy situation with slightly different powers. And as a result, like, yeah, sure, he might not have the same weakness, he's not actually from that planet after all. But it does put the Seed in your head. So that when we go to the next scene and they like go to the Metro Man's base where we find out that he's actually been alive and is now Music man, he didn't want.
10:24
JD
To change the logo.
10:27
Jmike
You keep the logo going, you're like what the heck?
10:30
JD
God, he was. And he was so bad. He was so bad.
10:32
Case
Yes.
10:33
JD
Yeah, no, that was pretty great. I think probably like just because like I, I, I'm, I'm a sappy human being. I think one of my favorite parts of this movie is the slow burn romance between Megamind and Roxanne.
10:47
Case
I really like that. I, I, I want to talk about Roxanne for a minute because I thought she was great as the Lois Lane type character.
10:55
JD
Yes. Yeah, I like, like having her do like, I, like, she's, she's a fun newscaster. She, like, she has like a great presence. She's got the Karen haircut, but makes it work. Tina Fey does a great job in the role.
11:09
Case
Tina Fey, honestly would be a good casting choice for a Lois Lane, frankly, like, if you were doing an SNL cast for Superman.
11:17
JD
Like I was about to say Tina Fey.
11:19
Case
Yeah.
11:20
JD
Like, I'm imagining now, like I would say, I feel like mid 2000s, Tina Fey on SNL would have done a great, like, do us like, do a Superman sketch and have Tina Fey as Lois.
11:31
Jmike
That would actually work pretty good.
11:32
Case
Yeah. Like, I, I had never actually fan casted her that way, but it makes a lot of sense.
11:39
JD
It works. Yeah, no, I'm not, I'm now remembering. Do y' all remember the movie she and Paul Rudd did, Admission?
11:46
Jmike
I never saw that.
11:47
Case
I don't.
11:49
JD
It's, it's one of those, like, nice little, like small little, like rom coms about like. I think she plays like, like a college admissions official. And Paul Rudd is this guy who I think he fosters kids and he's trying to get.
12:07
Case
Okay, I remember the poster now that I teach.
12:10
JD
Yes. I think he's a teacher and like, he's trying to get her to, he's trying to get like, her to, like, admit like, one of his, like, brighter students into like a college program. But he doesn't. But he comes from, like, he comes from poverty and all. And, and so like, there's like a barrier there and then there's, of course the whole plot of the two of them are going to fall in love with each other, because that's how this movie works. Might be worth it. What I'm saying is I like rom coms and, and Megamind provided me a little rom com in this movie.
12:43
Case
It does. I really enjoy the Bernard role that he plays in this whole thing.
12:53
JD
I also love Will Ferrell as Megamind, like, saying the name Bernard the same way that Bernard, the real Bernard says it. Like, Bernard. Yeah, like, trying to figure out, like, does this feel right? Yeah, sure, we'll go. Yeah, sure. It feels right in the mouth.
13:13
Case
Yeah. So one of the notes I have in general is the cast is great in this movie. Like, Tina Fey as Roxanne Richie is amazing, but like, Will Ferrell as Megamind is shockingly good. Like, I like Will Ferrell a lot but like the, the choice to mispronounce things and, like, put the wrong emphasis on the wrong syllable is fantastic.
13:36
JD
Yeah, it, like, it's like I, I, I, I, like, I, I kind of want to. I kind of want to. Like, I feel like that is also a direct link to his childhood and that he grew up in a prison. In prison. In a prison. And, and who does the government arrest all the time? You know, poor people who don't have, who don't have great education. So that's like, it feeds back into the fact that he was, you know, raised in a system that is broken and.
14:17
Case
Yes.
14:18
JD
And, and, and he, and mix. And it's like, it makes sense that he just becomes a villain because it's like he is like he grew up around people who went against the system, and now he himself is going up against the system.
14:34
Case
Yeah, I mean, like, it's a very extreme scenario. Like, the character is literally brought up inside a prison, Bane style, if you will. Yeah. For comics fans, but you know, where like, they, the flashcards that they teach him are like, burglar bad cop good, or, pardon me, burglar good, cop bad, and things like that. So, like, but yes, I, I agree that, like, the point that, like, the system is like, he was set up to fail from the beginning, and the fact that he becomes the hero by the very end is just such blind luck. Or not blind luck. Like, it's his effort, but him, like, capitalizing on the moment. Yeah. After, after being in such a bad situation for so much of his life. You know, we open the movie with him in prison yet again.
15:20
JD
Yeah.
15:22
Case
Or rather we open the movie in media res with him falling to his death. Yeah. But we, the, we flashback after the, you know, the montage of his growing up to him in prison yet again.
15:34
JD
Yes. With warden played by J.K. simmons.
15:37
Case
Yes.
15:38
JD
Yes.
15:39
Case
Amazing cast.
15:41
JD
Yeah, it's, it's kind of crazy. Just like, you like the actors that pop up. I actually, I need to look up who played like, the actual Bernard, because we only get.
15:50
Jmike
Oh, that was Ben Stiller.
15:52
JD
It's been still.
15:54
Case
Oh, yeah, it is.
15:55
JD
Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. I mean, he was a producer on this, so that makes a lot of sense.
16:00
Jmike
Yeah, I was like, that's Ben still.
16:03
JD
I love. God, I love Ben Stiller. He's so fun. Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah. And also, like, you know, going through the cast. I also want to talk. I also want to bring up the music by Hans Zimmer and Lauren Balfe. Go ahead. Yes.
16:18
Case
But I let's finish up cast talk before we move on to music because the music is great, but that feeds into a thing I want to talk about after that.
16:27
JD
Yeah, yeah.
16:29
Case
So I will say this. Jonah Hill as Hal. I love so many parts of this because he is kind of like the most fucked up, perverted distaff or not distaff, fucked up, perverted, like twisted version of a Jimmy Olsen that you could imagine. Like, he's the cameraman, he's the, he's a ginger. You know, he's all set up to be like the other best friend after the girlfriend. And then, you know, his, you know, his fetishing or fetishization of Roxanne Richie and you know, just his being a terrible person make the situation when he gets superpowers so much worse.
17:10
JD
Yeah, he, yeah, no, he's, he's absolutely awful because he, he, he is like the, like before he gets superpowers when he's just regular how. Like he is kind of the worst tropes of like the quote of the nice guy. And it reminds me, I'm trying to remember what, like I forget what character I'm thinking of now. But like whenever, like he gets the powers that like it basically just. Or it's like in Captain America, the first Avenger, when Earth sky and talks about like when you get the serum. Like, you know, good becomes great, bad becomes worse. And, and that's what happens with Hal is that he gets that taste of the power and he just goes downhill and.
18:01
Case
Yeah, I mean he becomes a full on supervillain by the end.
18:04
JD
Yeah, he goes full Jonah downhill. I've been hanging around my boss too much who makes dad jokes.
18:15
Case
The only one that is a little weird is Brad Pitt as Metro man for me. What are you. I guess what I'm getting at is that Brad Pitt is not a voice actor. And like his voice is very recognizable. But I don't think of him as Superman when I hear his voice.
18:34
JD
But also he does it like you can tell it's Brad Pitt when you hear him. But it more sounds like this is Brad Pitt putting on a voice. Like this is not him just doing his normal, like, yeah, I'm cool. Like I'm cool. Brad Pitt. I play Rusty Ryan and in Oceans. In the Oceans movie. This is like, I'm Brad Pitt putting. Putting on a. Putting on a voice.
19:00
Case
Like, yeah, no, he's. He's doing a job. Like, I'm not saying he's not acting, but it's just that Brad Pitt is just not the character, like, not the actor I would choose to play the part. God, what I would give for Brian Blessed to be in this role.
19:15
JD
Why do I recognize that name?
19:17
Jmike
He did a pretty good job.
19:19
Case
Brian Blessed is a voice actor.
19:21
JD
He.
19:22
Case
He is still working because he's currently on Peppa Pig as Grampy Rabbit. But he is best known for.
19:28
JD
Well, I do know.
19:31
Case
Yeah.
19:31
JD
Y.
19:32
Case
He was in Flash Gordon. He was the voice actor for Clayton and Tarzan. Just big booming voice. Yeah.
19:39
JD
Oh, yes. And he was in. He was in Phantom Menace.
19:41
Case
Oh, yeah, you're right. He was boss ass. So big, booming voice would be just be kind of fun for Metro, but honestly, more like a Jon Hamm or something like that would be like more in the speed of. I feel like this character. I don't know, it's just like the Brad Pittness is distracting to me. And Brad Pitt doesn't read as Superman, even though he's like, incredible shape and like, you know, casting wise, would make sense to cast in the part if this was live action.
20:10
JD
Yeah, he. This is. That's like, that's like a very like mid-90s casting choice of like, let's get Brad Pitt to play Superman.
20:21
Case
Yes. Yes. Yeah. 100%.
20:23
JD
Like, it's like he was like, he was good interview with the Vampire and like, let's, let's make him Superman.
20:31
Case
Legends of the Falls. Brad Pitt. Of course, he could be Superman.
20:35
JD
Yeah.
20:38
Case
A River Runs Through It. Brad Pitt.
20:40
JD
Deep tech thumb on Luis Brad Pitt. Yeah. Well, I will say quick side note, if. If any actor from the 90s was supposed to play Superman in the 90s, it was Brendan Fraser.
20:55
Case
Yes. Yeah.
20:59
JD
With either Parker Posey or Courtney Cox as his Lois Lane.
21:03
Case
Ooh, yeah. Either one would be great.
21:07
JD
I'm. I've. Like, I. I wasn't. I. I never thought of Parker Posey as. As Lois Lane until. Oh, gosh. Who was it below Freezing? I can't remember. Oh, my gosh.
21:19
Case
CJ and Micah or one of their guests.
21:22
JD
Yes. Cj. Yeah. See? Yes.
21:23
Case
I don't know.
21:23
JD
It was like. I am blanking on his name right now. Cj, CJ brought it up when I was on Below Freezing years ago, like, because I was like, yeah, like this and that. And he's like, Parker Posey. And I'm like, shit. No, you're right. Parker Posey would have been perfect. Yep.
21:37
Case
Okay. So you wanted to talk about music and.
21:39
JD
Yes, I want to talk about music.
21:42
Case
And I want to pull that pin because I agree. I think the music is really good in this.
21:47
JD
Yeah. Hans Zimmer, who is. Who like at he. He at this point is just like the DreamWorks go to because he's done all the mad. All the Madagascar movies. He does the Boss baby movies because. Because why not? So he's like their go to guy, but it's him and Lauren Balfe, who's, you know, been doing great work on his. In his own right, like in the past few years, like doing Mission Impossible, Fallout and Black Widow and. And a lot of good stuff. So I. I love that. I love, like, the fairly, like, simple classic superhero movie score for this. And then there are also the needle drops, in which I forgot how many there were in this movie.
22:30
Case
Right. There's so goddamn many needle drops in this movie.
22:34
JD
Like, we get like, we get highway to Hell. We get welcome to the Jungle. We close out the movie with Bad. And. And there are more that I'm not thinking of.
22:43
Case
Let's see if Wikipedia has the soundtrack info. It's his own page. It's its own page.
22:53
JD
Well, I have to assume that there's. There's the score listing and then there's also the soundtrack.
22:59
Case
So I'm just looking at the things that are needle drops on the soundtrack. And there's Bad to the Bone. A little less conversation.
23:09
JD
Oh, my God. Yeah.
23:10
Case
Loving you more than once. Back in Black. Highway to Hell, Crazy Train. Oh, yeah. And the Crazy train is like, weirdly short, but then David Cross, like, finishes it, which is effectively used. Welcome to the Jungle. Bad Come as you are by Nirvana is also referenced. Oh, never mind. It's just the line that he references. Sorry.
23:31
JD
Yeah.
23:31
Case
So quite a few is what we're getting at here.
23:35
JD
Yeah. Oh, gosh, it's.
23:37
Case
And they're not individually bad. It's just that it's the situation of, like, this is that era of animated comedy just being overloaded with. With these kinds of beetle drops on purpose.
23:51
JD
Yeah. And. And like, this is also, like. We're also talking about DreamWorks here. Dream. Like DreamWorks really started this with Shrek. Like, Shrek had so, like, had tons of needle drops. Whether it's all star or why can't I know Bad reputations in that one the monkey song that Smash Mouth covers at the end. I'm a believer. Like, yeah, like DreamWorks started. Started the train of animated movies that can work for all ages, but are mostly directed at 10 year olds and have like at. And are going to have at minimum five needle drops throughout the movie.
24:30
Case
Yeah. And characters singing along to it at various points. Which brings up the fact that we forgot to talk about Minion.
24:36
JD
Oh my God. Minion is Minion.
24:40
Case
He's so fun. He's a great character in this certainly like a wonderful like sidekick to Megamind throughout this whole thing.
24:48
JD
He's kind of like, I would almost call him like a combination of like Krypto and Otis from, from 78. Superman. Yeah, he's kind of like a combination of the two.
25:01
Case
Yeah. Like it's the pet sent by the parents, but at the same time it's this bumbling sidekick who apparently is fairly successful a lot of the times. Just is not, you know, recognized for it, able to. Well, not. Neither recognized for it and not able to stick the landing ever.
25:18
JD
Yeah, no. And, and also trying to keep Megamind on the track of like, you're a villain. You're supposed to be like, this is how what you're supposed to be doing. Megamind's like, yeah, but what if I wasn't. What if I got to fall in love with the.
25:30
Jmike
What.
25:30
JD
What if I got the girl? What if I. What if I not don't do that forever and I just got to be normal?
25:36
Jmike
He's also, he was also the one that told him not to go with Titan too. He saw that coming a mile away.
25:43
JD
Oh yeah. He's just like, are you sure about this? And he's like, dad, no, it's going to be totally fine. And then turns into like Liberace if he was voiced by Marlon Brando.
25:55
Jmike
Right.
25:57
JD
I love Space dad so much.
26:00
Case
The Space dad sequence is fantastic in this. Yeah. And Space Stepmom, like just Minion boost me.
26:11
JD
Like. Yeah. I'm throwing on a wig and an apron and I am now Space Stepmom. Yeah.
26:16
Case
This, this movie has a really good like joke per page rate to it.
26:22
JD
Oh yeah.
26:22
Case
It's written like a sitcom in that way. Like it makes me think of. I've listened to the Simpson writers talk about the required number of jokes per page. I'm like, yeah, no, it's very dense in that regard.
26:36
JD
Every time the Simpsons gets referenced, I always think of the joke and limit of Troy and was like Rocky V. That was the fifth one.
26:46
Case
But the thing I wanted to pivot from Rocky V. Yes. The thing I wanted to pivot from off the music though is the fight choreography is shockingly good in this.
26:58
JD
Yeah, so good. It's, it's like the. And actually once again dreamworks here because I have argued forever. I, I have not seen the fourth movie, but the Kung Fu Panda trilogy has some of the best fight choreography in film history. Not just animation film history. The Kung Fu Panda trilogy get done and Megamind, while not on that level, is far better than it should be.
27:35
Jmike
No, I haven't watched Kung Fu Panda.
27:38
Case
Well, yeah, and it makes sense that the franchise that's like based on doing kung fu, you know, a parody of kung fu movies is going to have the better fight choreography. But this is doing some really good things. And like the camera work just like while like Metro man is like flying around, I'm like, oh, that's really complicated camera work that is very difficult to do if you're trying to do a real person. You know, if this was they get away with it because it's animated doing very complicated camera moves, especially around the flying. And that is really effective.
28:13
JD
Yes, absolutely. Like I would say probably the only live action movie to rival it's like flight fight choreography since is probably James Gunn Superman. Like James Gunn. James Gunn like really nailed it in terms of fight choreography in the air and, and, and which is one, one of the many reasons I love that movie. But yeah, Megamind just. Just absolutely nails it. And also the fact that I kind, I've gotten really tired of. You know, as much as I love the mcu, like I, I do get kind of tired or I did get tired of like the like impossible camera moves that felt very removed from the fight and we're just like, we're following along, but it doesn't like, it doesn't. I don't feel the impact there.
29:09
JD
And, and yet in animated movie that is meant for kids that has no blood in it whatsoever and like no, you know, like flying teeth or broken bones or anything like that. I feel the impact of the choreography in this movie.
29:30
Case
Yeah, yeah. Like I said, the, the fighter art diffuse just is really good. The, the, like as you were saying, the hits really work. I really like the use of the heat vision in this. Like I, I thought that it was used very effectively as a very scary weapon. Like Titan is terrifying when he uses it on anything, especially like the dummy when he's like training how to fight and you get the first like five that's like, oh, he might be kind of fucked up in the head.
29:57
Jmike
He might be a little crazy.
29:59
JD
Yeah, he's like, he might be a little unhinged. And then like carving Titanville misspelled into the city is just like, that is honestly, that's some Homelander.
30:09
Jmike
Oh yeah, that's Homelander right there.
30:14
JD
It's like, hey kids. Like, hey kids, you like Homelander? No, you're not getting Homelander. You're too young. But you're gonna get Homelander for kids. That was my only thought in this movie. I was like, that's like Titan is basically Homelander for Homelander before Homelander.
30:27
Case
Yeah. So why don't we talk about the plot of this movie? So, and not like what are the beats that happen? Because J Mike, you covered that very well. But I mean like the actual like the story structure, like does this work for you guys? Like the idea of the Superman character quitting?
30:46
Jmike
Well, he didn't quit, Case. Remember? He didn't quit.
30:48
Case
He faking his death.
30:49
Jmike
Bunch of self help books. And he was like, everyone here has a choice to be what they want to be. And I never got that choice. So now I'm just going, you know, do my own thing and become Music man and be right.
31:01
Case
Okay, Very bad. Taking his own death and then he quit, then going off and doing his own thing and then letting the villain run wild. And then we get this whole romance story. Like are these effective beats? I think this is a very like tight story in terms of like setting up a villain who has to like face the fact that he's now forced to become the hero because he creates an even worse villain.
31:27
Jmike
Maybe that was part of his plan the entire time, you know, maybe that was part of Metro Man's plan the entire time.
31:34
JD
You know, he's not that smart. J Mike. He's not that smart. Metro man is not that smart. No, that he's. No, no, he was.
31:43
Jmike
We all know that he isn't. I mean, you know, he could be, he could be. He just never given the city.
31:48
JD
Huh? He tried to become Music Man. J Mike, don't we all. Deep inside there is no justice for you.
31:55
Case
He got in grade school in grade shul shool.
32:01
JD
I, I, I love I like out of all of the mispronunciations of words, Shul is my favorite Bat and Titan because like Matras like Metro City or Metrosity, like Metro City, like comes up over and over again. Which also like a nice little touch of like, like how Megamind views the city and how he views like the people of this city and how. And how they feel about him as like associating their city with. With like an atrocity. It's like this like everything you are is an atrocity against me. I love that. But just shul is so. Is such a stupid little like throwaway gag and makes. It makes the whole movie for me.
32:49
Case
Yeah. Well, what was the one he did when he tried to say hello, but he said in a weird way it. I remember noting that it was not like a mispronunciation of the. Of the right letters. It was like OLO or something like that.
33:03
JD
I feel like he was trying to olo. That was it. Olo like OLO every time. Because like, I think the first time he says it is when he like when Roxanne finds the secret lair and he. But he answers the phone from inside, right?
33:21
Case
Yeah. And as Bernard, hello?
33:23
JD
And he's like, no, it's hello. I also love Minion having a better grasp on. On the English language than Megan does.
33:31
Case
Also fantastic. I. So like, I loved Minions. I. I love the whole opening act of this. Like the. The botched kidnapping slat that turns out to go right, but only goes right because Metro man like gives up. I thought that's like a perfect setup for this movie. Like you. You get. You get through what is an escape and an evil plan and in extremely efficient time. And then you go straight into this whole like wonderful detail of Roxanne being able to predict everything that Megamind is going to do to her, which is so fun where she's like alligators.
34:12
JD
Alligators.
34:13
Case
Alligators.
34:14
JD
I thought about it on the way here. Or actually like, I think my favorite detail of that was like when she first gets unbagged and she's like, can you like wash. Can you just wash like the bag, like the blindfold, please? It doesn't smell good, right?
34:28
Case
Why is she not screaming?
34:30
JD
Yeah, why is she not screaming? Because I know how this goes. Megamind.
34:35
Case
Don't panic, Roxanne. I'm not panicking.
34:37
JD
It's like, oh, the spider's new. Yes, yes, Arachnus deficit.
34:41
Case
Yes, the spider.
34:43
JD
Spider blowing it. Blowing it back in his face. Like, like you're like you're. You were so right on the. Right on the money about the joke per page. Like, like it just. It Hits you.
34:58
Case
Yeah.
34:58
JD
At every. Right.
34:59
Case
Like every minute there's a joke.
35:01
JD
Yeah, it's. It's such a, it is such a tight script that, I mean, if were, if we wanted to, like, you could like, throw this in like a, like a writing class. And it's like, look at like. Yes. This movie is not like the, like an insane masterpiece, but it's got an incredibly tight script that you can. That, like, if you wanted to learn writing like this. Ha. That, like, this. This works. This is like a great blueprint for, like, script writing.
35:33
Case
Yeah, yeah, because it's just remarkable. And it's remarkably tight just in how all the story structures work. Like, you know, we get the unveiling of the statue of Metro man at the opening of this movie, and then that's the thing that, like, Megamind, like, bonds with Roxanne over in the next bit, like in the next act of the movie. And then he blows it up and it's like a really funny beat right there, like, where it's like, we better run.
36:00
JD
Yeah. Like, I feel like. I feel like that right there. That's like the break into Act 2.
36:04
Case
Yes.
36:05
JD
Is, is, is him blowing that up. And then you could argue either like, either, you know, Megamind's reveal that he is Bernard or the first fight between him and Titan is like the break into Act 3.
36:21
Case
Yeah, yeah. I would, I would say the break in Act 3 would be the fight with him and Titan because he almost dies. Pretty closely.
36:28
JD
Yeah. And then that. And that's like, almost immediately followed up by him going to Roxanne's apartment, and then they go to, like, Metro Man's base and find Metro man alive with his, like, five o' clock shadow and his insane jaw. He's got such an insane jaw in this movie. It's like the crimson chin. What a, what a jawline. I like that.
36:48
Case
They kind of foreshadow the Metro man becoming Music man thing by, like, he has, like, tassels on his, like, gloves and boots, and it's very like, country music star. Like, he's got that element to him already. Like, the design of his costume kind of looks like, a sequined vest.
37:09
JD
Yeah, it's Elvis.
37:11
Case
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
37:13
JD
And actually, speaking of the tassels, another small little detail, like, when we get into the final battle and like, you have like, Megamind is posing as Metro Man. Minion is posing as Megamind and all that. But when quote unquote, Metro man shows up to fight Titan, he has like, he basically like aura farms and just like flexes and then he goes full anime protagonist and just like flexes and then like the tassels fly about like so good. And just doing that one little moment. Titan. Titan's like, oh shit, I'm. I'm dead.
37:53
Case
Yeah. Yeah. The, the conclusion is also really strong. Like the, the reveal of Metro man still being alive works really well. I love the Roxanne breakup scene, by the way. Like her, like the reveal of Metromine, Metro mind of Megamind while they're in the middle of the kiss is such a brutal scene for her. Just wonderful stuff in terms of the character drama there and then. Yeah, Megamind, like pretending to be Metro man is like, is such a thematic thing for the character. Like he's taking on the identity of the superhero at the end of this movie using his machines and, and all that. I, I kind of wish his machines were a little bit more up to stuff with Titan and he's like Titan, once he sees through the ruse, is able to like just like, you know, rip right through him.
38:54
Case
But you know, what are you gonna do?
38:56
JD
I also will say like the, the use of his. Like, like his disguises are kind of like. It comes in threes of like the first time he disguises himself is as the warden to escape as well as like it's a very selfish evil reason. Then he disguises himself as Bernard as like a selfish. But going about it like trying to do good, but in a selfish way. And finally disguising himself as Metro man is like, this is a selfless act. This is him finally being the hero that he wants to be.
39:35
Case
Yeah. You know what? I'm just noticing the, A very funny thing about the Titan misspelling in the Wikipedia article is that from the point where Hal takes the name Titan but misspells it as Titan, it is written out that way entirely. Which I at no point realized.
39:50
Jmike
I, I noticed that in the captions. I was like, I wonder if they actually do it in the captions. I turned the captions on. I was like, yep, they misspell it there.
40:00
Case
I just assumed it was a one and done joke, but they do it the rest of the way. That's amazing.
40:04
JD
Yep, that makes me, that makes me so happy. Yeah. But yeah, I like, I. And again, like, it's just like these really like these small effective of pieces like, throughout the movie. And then also, you know, call, like having the call back to the invisible car. And like, he's like, I. I forgot where. I forgot where it was. After you broke up.
40:29
Case
When that breakup happened and he walked away, I was like, is he just going to leave his car there? And then later on, there's the scene where I'm like, I guess he did just leave his car there.
40:37
JD
Yeah, no, he just left his car because he was so sad.
40:40
Case
I just assumed afterwards that like, he like walked away, but he like, got the car. Like, like that was just like the blocking of the scene. No, no, he actually left the car.
40:49
Jmike
Yeah, he really forgot.
40:51
JD
He actually left the car and then it came back in a really brilliant way. Like, like. And then he.
40:57
Case
He points out to me with really good fight choreography.
40:59
JD
Absolutely. Like, he points out is like, the thing about being a villain is like, I get to like being a super villain. I learned from my mistakes and like jumping through and like, it's. It's like, it's such a. Like a. Like almost like a monster movie type situation of like when he pulls the car door off, but Megamind and it's like, oh, he's not there, but Megamind is just holding on all holding on to the door like it's a monster.
41:22
Case
Which is so great because of the effect of the invisible car door. Like, it looks so good right there.
41:28
JD
Yeah. And the stupid little guy. Oh, it's like as soon as he sees him, just a lot of pushes the lockdown, he's like, I'll be safe ride.
41:39
Case
And I, I will say that the end bit of choreography where he like, dehydrates himself and then like falls down and then like, you know, hits. Hits the fountain and like rehydrates there. That bit so far is very cool. I don't know how necessary it was for. From the scene standpoint, but it's very cool. And like, it definitely like, it's like Goku in his fight with Cell, like doing the instant transmission to be right behind Cell when he does the ultimate Kamehameha. Yeah, I love.
42:11
JD
I. I love hearing this. As someone who has not watched or.
42:14
Case
Read Dragon Ball, fair enough.
42:17
JD
But however, I do have all of. All of Dragon Ball the manga now, so I have no excuse get to read except time.
42:25
Case
Time is a big excuse.
42:27
JD
Yeah, time is. Time is my main excuse whenever. Whenever it comes to reading anything. But.
42:33
Case
But I just love that bit of the fight choreography where. Where he dehydrates himself, rehydrates himself at point blank range and gets the shot off to like de power Titan. And now I can't not say Titan as in Titan. Like as opposed to Titan. It's Titan.
42:51
Jmike
Well, there's that little, it's a little after credit scene where because you completely forget that Bernard's still in the movie. And like the minions washing clothes, all of a sudden Bernard just appears.
43:02
Case
Well, and like earlier when they have the breakup and she's like walking in just like garbage starts like rehydrating around her and I.
43:10
JD
And again it's like, it's a joke that comes in threes. Like, you see the garbage, you see him and then burn. And like this like the third is just the stinger with Bernard of just like he pops out of the washer. It's like, man, you really gotta clean out your pockets before you throw your clothes in the wash, man. Never know what he's gonna bring.
43:29
Case
Yeah.
43:29
JD
Or who.
43:30
Case
And that's a really clever device as like a supervillain technique. You know, it's very much like the Brainiac shrinking ray, but it's so. It is iconic to Megamind because it just creates these like tiny little blue cubes for everything he fires them at. And it, you know, it's very cute that like they just get wet and they like pop back into whatever. Also a Dragon Ball Z reference. It's like capsule core there. Yeah.
44:00
JD
And also like early, like earlier in the movie when he's like cleaning up the city. It's like, it's also him showing him. I was like, he's not fully reformed yet because he's doing a very half assed job. He's not actually cleaning up the city. He's just, he's just dehydrating. Dehydrating the trash to. So that it's out of the way.
44:20
Jmike
Yep.
44:21
Case
Right. Yes.
44:21
JD
And then, and then like. Yeah. So then whenever the breakup happens, it's like showing off. It's like. Yeah, he hasn't quite fully made the change yet. He's on his way. Just. He. He needs to make that final turn.
44:37
Case
Yeah. But I mean like, seriously fantastic stuff there. Why don't we move on to talking about the context that this movie came out in? Because it's kind of interesting to think about it in terms of. I have a list here of like superhero stuff that came out the same year, but I'm kind of like regretting not getting other animated movies. Let me see if I can pull that up.
44:58
JD
Well, let's see, this came out in what, 2010?
45:00
Jmike
Yeah, yeah.
45:02
JD
So this was the same year as Iron Man 2. And then were still a year away from Thor and Captain America. We were in between the second and third Nolan Batman movies.
45:17
Case
Right. And this is the same year as Scott Pilgrim.
45:20
JD
That's right, yeah. Yes. Same year as Scott Pilgrim. Yeah. And in terms of, like, animation, this was also the same year as Toy Story 3.
45:28
Case
You see, Perfect. That. That is the kind of info that I was, like, looking to reference here, at least somewhat, because it is interesting, like, the context of where this movie comes out. You know, it's. It's before the MCU has taken off. And you can kind of tell that is part of the DNA of this movie because it defaults to, like, the most default superhero tropes that, like, once the MCU becomes dominant, would not be necessary at that point. Like, you wouldn't be as broad as this movie is. You would be more of a specific MCU kind of parody.
46:06
Jmike
Yeah.
46:07
JD
It's like, unlike Josie and the Pussycats, which is a perfect movie, Megamind actually came out at the exact right moment for the parody to work.
46:18
Case
Right. The only thing is that superhero movies just hadn't exploded quite as much as they would ultimately. But this movie is riding the wave and.
46:31
JD
Yeah.
46:32
Case
And does so really effectively, I think. I think it's a very good parody of superhero concepts.
46:38
JD
Yes, absolutely. And, like, in terms of, like, other, like, outside of the mcu, this was. This was also, like, by this point, we had gotten two Punisher movies. We had gotten, like, the full X Men trilogy, and we had gotten X Men origins. Wolverine X Men First Class was the following year, if I'm not mistaken. Like, we had already, of course, gotten the Raimi Spider man trilogy. There was a. And I think wasn't amazing. Spider Man 2012.
47:07
Case
Yeah. It was the same summer as Avengers.
47:10
JD
Yes. Yeah. So it's 2012, so we're still two years away from. From a Spider man reboot. It was like, it, like. Like, yeah, it's like, it's. It's riding the coattails of a very particular time of superhero movies. And right before superhero movies became an actual genuine, like, pop culture phenomenon.
47:34
Case
Yeah. So perfectly timed in terms of getting out there and being available to everyone to watch as this thing became a juggernaut of. Of material in. In terms of being able to satire or satirize the. The ultimate superhero genre that the medium became. It misses out on some of those things. Just because it did. It couldn't have Seen the material that hadn't come out yet. You know, it can't parody the Avengers when the Avengers hasn't come out yet. But I, I don't say that as a mark against this movie. I just say that as a mark in terms of, like, you can see what time this movie was made.
48:15
JD
Yeah. I do also think though, that the movie, like, has aged very well and still works in 2025.
48:23
Case
Yeah, I think so too.
48:24
JD
Yeah. Yeah, we've, we've said it many times. Like, this just has a really tight script. In, in terms of storytelling, in terms of like, joke per minute, slash joke per page, in terms of character arcs and character work. It like so many things on, in this movie, like, on every level, just plain work.
48:52
Case
Yeah, no disagreement from me on that one.
48:56
JD
Now you know why I wanted to talk about this movie.
48:58
Case
I. I know, like, what. I just don't have more to say about it because I'm like, yeah, it was really good. It was, it was really goddamn good. Yeah, it very well did the Superman story and the inverse of the Superman story very well. Like, I appreciate both aspects of that. It does the job incredibly well. I know that I have to do a video on Metro man at some point soon, and I probably can make an excuse for Megamind.
49:24
JD
Yeah, like, and that too, like, Megamind is like. It's like. That's the question at the end of the movie now is like, is. Is Metro man or Megamind the, like the Superman? It's like. Well, they both are. It's just that, you know, one, like you said, like, Megamind is like the inverse Metro man is. Is the Superman story up to a point. Because Superman wouldn't just give up. Superman wouldn't. Right.
49:50
Case
Yeah.
49:51
JD
See, it all is going through the motions. And, and that's when you have the, the switch from, like, Metro man is no longer the Superman analog in this movie, it's now Megamind. But Megamind has to work and put in the effort to be the Superman analog, to be the ultimate superhero. Yeah.
50:09
Case
So before we get into wrapping up on our notes on this one, because I feel like we've said a lot of really fun things about this movie, but again, it kind of comes down to a summary of. It's pretty damn good. You should go see it if you haven't seen it. It's.
50:23
Jmike
It.
50:23
Case
And it's a very obvious parody of Superman. Like, Metro man is Superman, like on the surface. And then he. Up in A way that Superman would never. But you could imagine that this version of a Superman analog would. And Megamind, you know, capitalizes on that for a while and then picks up the reins of being the hero and is also an alien from another planet and doing the science hero thing, which I'm always a big fan of in our Superman archetypes. So is doing that really well. But I wanted to give everyone space to bring up a thing that they wanted to make sure we talked about this movie. So J Mike, is there anything that we haven't talked about this movie that you wanted to make sure we brought up?
51:11
Jmike
I'm trying to think. Not really. Like my favorite parts are the constant misspelling of all the words in the movie. Like it's just, the joke just keeps going on and on. And like the more things they do like with the captions on it's very obvious that they don't know what they're talking about. But yeah, it's just a really fun movie. Like it. And it's last. It has a staying power with how like how much work and effort went into this movie. So I think we talked about everything.
51:40
Case
All right. J.D. Is there anything that you wanted to make sure that we hit that we haven't talked about?
51:46
JD
The, like the one other thing because this is something obvious I, I, I talk about a lot with movies is the is run times. This movie is just like It's a flat 90 minutes.
51:56
Case
Yeah, it's very tight.
51:58
JD
That, yeah, that makes me so happy. I mean look, don't get me wrong, I do love a good three hour movie as long as it, you know, has good pacing and is like, and I still enjoy myself the whole way through. But I also do love a good 90 minute movie. And, and this just, it hits it right where I keep saying it. Like it just works on every level for me. It's not trying to reinvent the wheel. It's not trying to, you know, be you know, like a, a contemporary masterpiece or whatever you want to call it. It's just trying to be a fun movie and it succeeds on every level.
52:36
Case
Yeah. Yeah. So I'm, I'm curious. I said before my favorite quote from this movie was chicks don't dig bounce houses. They, they're into clowns.
52:48
JD
Clowns.
52:50
Case
Any other like favorite moments or quotes that you guys wanted to reference?
52:55
JD
Oh, oh, I have. This is another one from Hal. It's like there is no Easter Bunny. There is no. And there is no Queen of England. Yes. And he, and he just keeps going. But Roxy's just like, wait, hold on. What?
53:12
Jmike
Yeah, the last one caught her off guard and it's like, oh wait.
53:19
JD
That one. And also there's there's like the exchange between Megamind and Roxanne when she finds the secret hideout. And he's like, how did she find my secret hideout? How did you find his secret hideout? Like, that one has been going, has been making the rounds on TikTok lately and I'm very happy.
53:38
Case
Excellent.
53:41
JD
It's actually, you know what it kind of reminds me of the Adam. The episode of the Adam West Batman when he has to be both Bruce Wayne and Batman on the phone.
53:54
Case
Yes.
53:57
JD
It's like you got to go back and forth. Yeah, it's. Yeah, I love that.
54:01
Case
All right. It is such a fun movie. I like. That's the biggest takeaway from this for me. I just keep on being like, this is so great. Like. And you know what? It's one I knew was going to be great. It's just amazing that it took me 15 years to finally watch it, I guess is what gets me.
54:18
JD
And, and honestly, I like, tell me if I'm wrong. You're going to watch this at least once a year now.
54:25
Case
It's going to be in that ballpark. Like maybe not once a year. I mean, probably a lot in the next like two years because I have a toddler and I'm gonna put this in that rotation of like movies that I'm like, yeah, no, that's good because Netflix for some reason puts us in. It's like the kids profile. Megamind is like one of the top requested movies in that list, along with like My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic and Peppa Pig. So like the age demographic seems like all over the place on that one.
54:53
JD
I love how much Peppa Pig has been brought up.
54:56
Case
I have watched a lot of Peppa Pig. You have no idea. I have a two year old.
55:02
JD
Where's the, where's the bluey love man?
55:05
Case
I love Bluey too. But I, I will say that Grampy Rabbit is a great character on Peppa Pig and might be a Superman analog unto itself at some point. Well, just fantastic.
55:18
JD
The Peppa. I just got to come back for the Peppa Pig episode. Episode, I guess.
55:22
Jmike
Yeah.
55:24
Case
That'Ll do with my daughter when she's like old enough.
55:30
JD
Yeah, give it, give it about, give about 10 or 15 years well.
55:36
Case
We'Ll see. But anyway, so, like, final thoughts on Megamind. Like, if you had to sum this up to anyone who was not familiar with the movie, how would you describe it? You know, like, it. Would you say that this is a great parody, a great deconstruction, a love letter to superhero material. Like, how would you describe it all three.
55:55
JD
Yeah, it's a deconstruction, it's a parody. It's. And a love letter all rolled up into one. It's, you know, the, like, you know, the super villain defeats. Defeats the defeats the Superman of this world and realizes that he messed up and you know, needs this needs the superhero to sustain himself and winds up becoming the superhero in the end. And which reminds me, right now, there was a comparison that I forgot to make, which I'm in the right group for this because we covered this particular comic, this trio, about four years ago.
56:39
Case
Okay.
56:39
JD
When I started the long haul. JLA. Earth 2.
56:44
Case
Yes, we did talk about that. And that was a scenario where evil always wins.
56:50
JD
Yeah, like, and like the idea of like, when out when the, when the Crime Syndicate go to, you know, the Justice League's Earth Owlman figures out, like, wait, no, we have to go back. This is not the world we can be in. Because evil always loses here. And that. And, and I don't know what it was, but like, that came to mind when we get to the scene, like after the whole, you know, like, evil has one montage and Megamind is just like in the mayor's office that he's taken over and he's talking to the little, to little, like the little bird, the little plastic bird that. Right, yeah. In water. He, he's just talking there of like, I, I needed. I, I've realized I needed a hero to like, to be there.
57:42
JD
Like, it's like there is, it's, there's no use in being bad. There's no good to stop you. And I was like, jailer. Earth 2, what are you doing here?
57:54
Case
Yeah, no, it succinctly illustrates the point that like, the same point being made that good requires evil not to become complacent, and evil requires good not to likewise be able to run rampant and not have any fun.
58:10
JD
Yeah. So what we're saying is that a nice double feature is Megamind and Justice League crisis on tourists?
58:18
Case
Yes, that would be a really good double feature, actually.
58:20
Jmike
Yeah.
58:22
Case
All right.
58:22
JD
Crap. No, all right, I know what. I know. Yep. I know what I want to watch after. After we get off the skull now.
58:29
Case
Well, before we completely wrap up, we do have some people we have to thank now. We have a Patreon for CPOV Media, which is the shows that are produced by Certain Point of View, which are my shows, which are Men of Steel and Another Pass, as well as all the stuff on the YouTube channel. So we have people to thank who have joined our Patreon at the executive producer level. If you want to support the show, you can be like these people and join at the higher paid tiers. But even if you just join at the free tiers, we are doing lots of bonus content. I'm doing two essays a week that are.
59:03
Case
One's a nerdy thing, one's a D and D thing, which means it's also a nerdy thing, but it's specifically a D and D thing and that goes to the free tiers. We're doing previews for all of our episodes. Doing tons of stuff is what I'm getting at. And so you could be like these people, or you could just come and join us and have a good time at a lower tier. But these are the people that we have to thank right now, and that is Micah McCaw, Carter Hallett, Sean Muir Lee, Gregor Memento Young, Logan Crowley, Joe Master, Piero Casey and Nancy Aiken, Adam Sampter and Keith Letinen. You can be like these wonderful people and join our patreon@patreon.com cpovmedia it would be wonderful for you to come and join them, but otherwise you can just be an awesome person.
59:47
Case
An awesome person like jd. Jd, thank you so much for coming on this show, keeping your title as most appearances on Men of Steel.
59:56
JD
You can't get rid of me. I do really quickly. Just want to say one last thing. This is not related to Megamind, but this is in relation to Superman. We are unfortunately recording this episode on the day that it was announced that Terence Stamp, the wonderful actor who. Who portrayed Zod in the Donner Superman films and of course was in tons and tons of other great movies, he passed away today.
01:00:18
Case
Yeah.
01:00:20
JD
So. So just a shout out. A shout out to Terence Stamp. Rest in peace. To a lovely man and a lovely actor who. Who got to play around in the world of Superman.
01:00:32
Case
Yeah, it was sad news. I mean, he lived a good long life. He was born in 1938.
01:00:36
JD
Yeah.
01:00:37
Case
The same year that Superman came out.
01:00:41
JD
Yeah.
01:00:41
Case
But. But yes, sad news in that regard. Jd, where can people find you and follow you?
01:00:47
JD
I'm still out and about. On, on Instagram and Twitter and blue sky and TikTok. I rarely ever post anything on TikTok. There's a really fun video I made with Transformers toys that I am really proud of on my Tik Tok, if you want to check that out. I'm J.D. Martin on Pretty much everywhere. There may be some underscores somewhere in there, but I, I'm, I am easily, I'm easy to find. And, and also, just real quick, in honor of Terence, go watch the movie the Limey. I'm sure it's streaming somewhere. Go watch the movie the Limey. It's a weird little crime movie that everyone should check out.
01:01:24
Case
Yeah, all right. People should check out the Limey and yeah.
01:01:30
JD
It'S just a good movie. Like, look. Every time I can fit a Steven Soderbergh thing into a conversation, I will.
01:01:39
Case
No, that's totally fair. And some Steven Soderbergh love is fully appreciated on this podcast.
01:01:48
JD
Yeah, just wait. Just wait. In like five months, you'll see me announce a Steven Soderbergh pop podcast. I won't, but I might.
01:01:57
Case
But you might. But you might. Also appreciated, however, is J. Mike Fallson, my co host. J. Mike, where can people find you and follow you? What have you got going on?
01:02:06
Jmike
Oh, my gosh, social media. It's so scary. I am currently mostly over at the blue sky at J5 Bluesky Social and I lurk on the Discord. I don't post very often, but I am there always in the shadows. But if you tag me, I'll stop in and say hi.
01:02:29
Case
Yeah, you should definitely tag both JJ. Mike and JD like they're both like wonderful respondents on the Discord server.
01:02:37
JD
Yeah, I, I, I, I've been posting a little, I've been posting a little bit more lately. But you know, if you mention me, I'll pop in and say hi.
01:02:44
Case
Yeah, the Discord server is a great place to come interact. There's a link in the show notes, but it is a great place to interact with all the hosts of the various CPOV shows. And that goes for the whole network, not just the CPOV media stuff that is produced by cpov. Just be clear about that whole thing. So there's lots of great hosts with lots of great shows. Shows like Long Live the Legion Our Siblings show, which is a recent addition to the popular podcast network Long Live the Legion. Is Jim and Jay doing rundowns on Legion of superheroes material. And at the point when this episode drops, our crossover will have already come out. In fact, it will be several weeks in the past at this point.
01:03:26
Case
So if you've been following this show, you know who Jim and Jay are because they were on this show and were talking about the Legion. But you should go check that out. The Legion of Superheroes is a ton of fun and super important to the history of Superman. So a deep dive into the Legion of Superheroes is definitely worth it. So yeah, long live the Legion. You can find that everywhere you get your podcast or@certainpow.com just like this show, which you can find@certainpow.com and yeah, tune in next time. Oh wait, I didn't give any of my socials on this one, which I probably should. You can find me at ksaken. You can find me on most social platforms at ksaken except for Instagram where I'm holding on for dear life to my AIM screen name.
01:04:06
Case
That's Qatal 5Q U E T Z A L C C o a T L5 because I was pretentious in high school.
01:04:12
JD
The the best username on Instagram, I must say.
01:04:14
Case
Thank you very much. But that is also a Legion of Superheroes.
01:04:18
JD
Almost. Almost as good as. Yeah, yeah. And almost as good as the la. The last social push I'll make. I work at a comic and hobby shop. Everyone called Geek out in Burleson, Texas. Also Mansfield, Texas. If you ever want. If, if so if you're in the Central Texas area, come by and say hi to me. I will talk. I will talk to you about comics as long as it's not on the weekend. I don't work the weekends anymore, thankfully. But, but we're also all over the social medias as well. So yeah, come, come talk to. Com. Come talk to me about comics.
01:04:48
Case
Yeah. Do you want to just give that handle again just in case anyone missed it earlier?
01:04:53
JD
Yeah, I believe we are just at Geek out or at geekout Tx on Mo. We're we're most active on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Our Tick Tock is getting a bit more a push late and we'll have I would say probably by the time this episode drops, we'll have a bit more of a push due to a thing that I ordered because I am the inventory manager. I ordered a thing and once. Once you see the thing on our Tick Tock, you'll understand why I'm so excited about it. So. So look out for that Is it.
01:05:23
Case
A six foot statue?
01:05:24
JD
No, I. I'll tell you off air, but I want. I want the listeners to be surprised by it.
01:05:29
Case
All right, well, they should tune back into future episodes where you might come on reveal what that surprise was. J.D. You're always welcome back. Thank you so much for coming on. And everyone else, tune in next time and we'll be talking about something and I don't know what at the moment because I don't have my calendar open at the moment.
01:05:50
JD
Time is a lake.
01:05:51
Case
Time is a lake. Anyway, until next time, stay super man.
01:06:03
Jmike
Men of Steel is a Certain POV production. Our hosts are J. Mike Folson and Case Aiken. The show is edited by Sofia Ricciardi. Our logo is by Chris Bautista, and episode art is by Case Aiken. Our theme is by Jeff Moonan.
01:06:24
Case
Hey, Jay.
01:06:25
JD
Hey, Jim.
01:06:26
Case
You're a fan of the Legion of Superheroes, right?
01:06:28
JD
Yeah, I've been reading their adventures for decades.
01:06:31
Case
Me too. It was tough at first with all the characters, but now I think I'm an expert.
01:06:35
JD
It's not too hard to get into the Legion. And to make it even easier, we have a podcast called Long Live the Legion. We talk about different aspects of all its history to help you out.
01:06:45
Case
So whether you're a new reader in the Legion Academy or have your own flight ring or anywhere in between, a Long Live the Legion podcast should be on your playlist. Certainpov.com.