YKT1: You know the one, you know the one It's got that girl and that guy You know the one, you know the one It's at a Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July You know the You know the one, you know the one It's got that girl and that guy You know the one, you know the one It's at a Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July You know the
In-person participant 1: This is that 2019 movie where Charlie Chaplin is one of Earth's mightiest heroes and has to save all of civilization by performing a time heist to undo this huge population annihilation. ⁓ that's the one that's caused by Mikey's older brother, Brand, once he found all the perfect gemstones to adorn his big shiny love? That's the one. ⁓ Chaplin is assisted by Ash LaPorte-Pine, ⁓ the mayor of Kingstown, ⁓ Miley's brother-in-law, ⁓ Jackson Maine, Maddie Flamhaff and Bobby Newport. Bobby ⁓ Welcome to Know the
Rachel: and to save all of civilization by performing a time heist to undo this huge population annihilation. ⁓ that's another brand once he found all the stones to adorn. Is assisted by Ash the Pork Kingstown, Miley's former brother-in-law, Jackson Maine.
In-person participant 1: the podcast where we discuss movies from the last 60 years and talk about how they shaped us as Generation X and as a culture. I'm Rachel Roberts. I'm Pam Wallace. These are the films we grew up with, argued about, rewound, and never quite let go
Rachel: of ⁓
In-person participant 1: of. Let's get into it. This new season of You Know the One will revolve around summer blockbusters. We're going to kick it off with the biggest summer blockbuster ever, 2019 Avengers Endgame. Pam, of all the blockbusters from the past 60 years, why did we choose this movie? You know, you can't spell Gen X without RDJ. Well, you can, but who the hell wants to? True, true. While it's a pretty recent movie, Avengers Endgame is still very much Gen X coded due to the shoulders on which the entire franchise rests, RDJ. RDJ is basically the poster child Gen X. Born April 1965, his own dad introduced him to drugs at like the age of eight. He dropped out of school and began acting. His career path has so many hallmark Gen X moments. Brad Pack adjacent, SNL staff, Oscar nomination for Chaplin before he even turns 30. By the time he was in his 30s he was a name. He was also a man with some demons. He came dangerously close to losing everything he worked for with multiple drug related convictions. right and then he rose up from the ashes he saved not just his own legacy but the entire legacy of Marvel Comics. Like the phoenix he is. Okay, so since RDJ is Gen X, it's sort of necessary to talk about Avengers Endgame and how even years after what should have been the end of Tony Stark's story, RDJ just keeps showing up to save Marvel like the hero he is. Oh yeah, and Avengers Endgame is super relevant even here in 2026. It has been reported on the John Campia show and confirmed by Marvel Studios and Cinemark that Avengers Endgame will be re-released in theaters on September 25th, 2026. That's right. This re-release will feature brand new footage added to the film to lead into Avengers Doomsday, which debuts December 18th, 2026. Okay, so to the 70 or so listeners we have out there, Rachel and I have decided to switch up the format a bit after my Gen Z children referred to our previous episodes as sounding like a report you do for school. so we decided to go less into themes and act breakdowns and get into the nitty gritty of our personal feelings about these films. So we're gonna break it down to the good, the in the WTF moments, along with our two cents about specific audience and critics beefs. So let's get into it. Endgame is the epic conclusion of Marvel's Infinity Saga, wrapping up over a decade of storytelling across 22 films. The release date is April 26, 2019. Of course, the genre is action, adventure, and sci-fi. The directors are Anthony and Joe Russo, AKA the infamous Russo Brothers. The writers are Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely. It was produced by Kevin Feige and the composer was Alan Silvestri. Okay, so opening weekend for Avengers Endgame brought in a record 1.2 billion. That's with a B-B-B-Billion This marked the first and time a film has surpassed the $1 billion mark worldwide in its debut. ⁓ The lead cast is Robert Jr. as Tony Stark slash Iron Man, ⁓ Chris Evans as Steve Rogers Captain America. Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner slash the Hulk. Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff slash Black Widow. And Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton slash Hawkeye. The supporting cast includes Don Cheadle as Rhodey. Paul Rudd as Scott Lang slash Ant-Man. Karen Gillan as Nebula. Bradley Cooper as Rocket. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. And Josh Brolin as Thanos. Following the devastating snap that wiped out half of all life at the end of Avengers Infinity War, surviving Avengers eventually discover a way to travel through time. They embark on a time heist to retrieve the Infinity Stones from the past, aiming to reverse Thanos' actions. The film culminates in a massive final battle where the Avengers and their restored allies face Thanos one last time, leading to the ultimate sacrifice by Tony Stark to save the universe. Rachel, this movie has some great behind the scenes trivia. it revolving around the script. Yes, the Avengers scripts are on lockdown. This is a well-known fact. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo confirmed that most cast members received only scenes they were in, fake scenes or just their lines. Robert Downey Jr. was considered to be the most trustworthy with his secrets. He was given full access to understand the film's climax. The reason these scripts are on lockdown come down to two actors and they are Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo who both have a very bad habit of of revealing spoilers not just like to their mom and dad but to like audiences nationwide unlike top shows and things yeah so due to that these actors are handled with extreme caution Holland didn't even get a script he was just told his lines which I find so funny Most of the actors, including Benedict Cumberbatch and Chris Evans, only received their relevant scenes. The directors even incorporated dummy scripts to keep major plot points such as the ending hidden until the very end. And I'm guessing not so much for cast so much as, but like this is probably for the rest of the crew that need to know how to set up scenes and things like that. Like they can't be knowing all the secrets. They just need to know where to point the cameras, right? Right. But you can't also put it on the crew because we've just established that two of our stars can't keep their mouths shut either. You're right. You're You're right. I'm not going to blame the boom mic guy. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was wrong. Okay, so aside from the script on lockdown, we have to discuss the iconic line of I am Iron Man, which was originally improvised by RDJ all the way back in Iron Man. Marvel planned for Tony Stark to keep his identity secret, just like in the comics, but RDJ's improvised line changed everything. It accidentally launched the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it today. Fast forward to Avengers Endgame. In the original script, Tony Stark was originally meant say nothing and simply smile. You know the R.E.J. smirk he would have given. Before snapping his fingers. During post-production the Rosso brothers felt the scene was missing something and editor Jeffrey Ford suggested that recall of line from Iron Man. ⁓ ended up being the very last moment filmed for Avengers Endgame. ⁓ is like one of my favorite pieces of trivia for this entire franchise. It illustrates a somewhat accidental but authentic piece of artistic storytelling. The fact that Iron Man's entire future was set into motion by the by Improvised line and then his story gets to come full circle to Tony making the ultimate sacrifice ⁓ poetic and beautiful and it's the conclusion that the of Stark deserved ⁓ So let's get into our breakdown ⁓ Rachel. What are your ⁓ the good in this? What kind good stuff we see this movie? ⁓ Okay, so let's start out with performances for me. ⁓ It's already and Renner ⁓ like ⁓ every day of the twice on Sunday. RDJ embodies Tony Stark in a way that I truly believe only he can do. Is RDJ a man that has fought his own demons? I am suck luck and literally I'm convinced it is that that has enabled him to bring us the Tony Stark we know love. ⁓ Does RDJ have the Tony Stark like intellect in real life? ⁓ I absolutely refuse to believe otherwise. ⁓ If ever met the man and couldn't an intellectual conversation with him I would be devastated. RDJ's bravado is Tony Stark is a core element that you only get after you've walked through the buyer yourself. Now we know for Jeremy Renner you have a little bit of like a there's a thing there because like Jeremy Renner looks like her husband so like I feel like you have a bias towards him. I do love me some Jeremy Renner. As for Renner I have a few things to say and hey I know no one cares about my opinion but Jeremy I know you care. But Jeremy Renner is a place where I'm going to express it loud and proud. Clint Hawkeye Barton is a great character to start off with. He's a natural talent in a world of genetically altered humans and Norse gods, and he holds his own. And that is because of Renner. Barton is a family man, and you feel that. It's not superficial from the very first moment when you see the look on Renner's face when his family is taken from him. You understand in your soul how Barton is affected. I also think it speaks loads as to the talent Jeremy Renner in that he could portray the loving family man Clint Barton and then turn around and portray the character's alter ego Ronan. And quite frankly, after you see how losing his family has affected Barton, you understand Ronan a little better. So that's what I have to say about Hawkeye and Ronan. But now I would like to say something else about Renner and any thought of him returning to the MCU. Back in 2025, Renner said that he had turned down returning for a second season of Hawkeye on Disney+. after the quote unquote penny pinchers lowballed him in contract negotiations. Now, Let me tell you, low ball is a gross understatement. Mr. Renner has specifically stated that it was not Marvel or Disney that offered this insult. However, those in charge of contract negotiations thought it would be OK to offer Renner half the money of his previous contract. Why? Did we think we could get him for cheaper after his accident? I'm not sure I even have the words to say just how insulting that was. This man is titanium with a heart that does not quit. And quite frankly, it this is me off to think that some beam counter somewhere thought it would be okay to take advantage of that situation. Renner has not only been Hawkeye to the Marvel fans for more than a decade, the man is an Oscar nominated actor. Shame on the fools that did that and quite frankly I think it's now up to Marvel and Disney to make this right. Okay so she has some strong feelings. ⁓ I have strong feelings too, maybe not as aggressive as yours. I'm just passionate. You are. Yes. Now I also don't need to tell anyone how I feel about I love the inclusion of Clint Barton's journey as Ronan. His vigilante alter ego that he assumes after the snap. I think that violent persona shift makes so much sense for Clint Barton slash Hawkeye. This man has been through some stuff. He lost his wife and children, plus his brother and sister Avengers. He is dealing with grief that he's dealing with it in the most unhealthy way. That's real. I that gives Hawkeye so much depth and it makes sense for a family man who also happens to have the ability to eff up a bad guy. Renner gives Hawkeye so much heart and the audience aches for him when he loses his family in the snap. Do you realize how much emotion he goes just into his face? Yes, absolutely. That's a true actor. But him losing Natasha when he thought they were about to fix everything, it was punishing. That was a punitive scene for Hawkeye and his fans. He is overlooked a lot by Marvel nerds because he's just a regular guy. Because I think a lot of people are just like, I roll, he's just an archer. Okay, let me see you guys bring down an alien with a bow and arrow. Go on, show me how easy it is, big boy. Anywho, I also apparently get pretty passionate about this. Mark Ruffalo is also great and I think he's the best Bruce slash Hulk we've had on a big screen. I love the rapport he has with RDJ and frankly I think Hollywood needs to find us a buddy cop like some grizzled detectives or something. Zodiac because one of them was a in that but a comedy about the with these two I would love that. think with Stark and Banner you see a mutual respect and let's be honest we don't see many people on that level with Stark. we don't. Okay my last shout out for performances ⁓ Paul Anyone else Ant-Man? ⁓ would have made the character forgettable. Paul Rudd is perfect as this goofy fuck up with a heart of gold and I just adore him in this role. get on to scenes and lines. What scenes made feel all feely? ⁓ I'll feel you. Okay, I have a confession to make. Due to some familial circumstances, I fell out of orbit of seeing Marvel movies in theaters around 2015. It had nothing to do with the movies themselves, just personal reasons. But let me say this, I will forever be disappointed that I did not get to watch the end game portal scene in theaters. The chills that I got just from watching social media postings of packed theaters losing their ever loving minds when all of the emerge from different portals and Capyels Avengers assemble. ⁓ Once again, ⁓ I would have given to see in theaters because that is what going to the movies is all about. ⁓ Movies are entertainment, but in theater they're an experience. They are and I have to say we got to experience that we didn't go opening night but we went to the first Saturday showing we drove down to I think it was Hammond Louisiana and we were in a very packed theater with a bunch of other Marvel nerds and was awesome it was the most amazing experience I've ever had people were behaving ⁓ children adults alike were quiet ⁓ no was on their phone. ⁓ And it was just a great group of people. my husband takes theater etiquette very seriously and he gets very grumpy with a bad crowd. We have had bad crowds in a bunch of different movies, but this crowd was a plus. ⁓ were invested from the very beginning ⁓ we were all in this venture together. ⁓ I gotta say, ⁓ at the end... Yes, seen it. Yes, you've seen it. when the portals open. Well, I'm sorry, when you hear on your left. Mm-hmm now that's a callback. Yep, and those portals open and I guess we were all kind of expecting Falcon, but what we got was T'Challa. Yes our theater went wild now Rachel or I'm and I are down here in the southeast and This is a community that has been very underrepresented in superhero movies T'Challa means a lot to everybody in that theater but he means more to a lot of other people in that theater as one group we were thrilled to see T'Challa and it was so beautiful and the crowd reaction was amazing and then the portals keep opening and everybody is coming out it is awesome and that is one of those experiences that we don't get that we were all ⁓ one in that moment bonded for the love of this story that had taken 10 years to be told ⁓ these characters ⁓ ⁓ trying to be hyperbolic ⁓ than the days immediately following 9-11 in ⁓ theater is some times the most united you can see groups of strangers here in America. Other favorite scenes I have include in the 2012 portion, the New York portion of the Time Heist when Cap says hail Hydra in order to get Loki's scepter. Loki stealing the cube. Tom Hiddleston is doing so much acting with just his eyes in these scenes and it is great. me NYC portion of the Time Heist is just ⁓ great. ⁓ For me, I love the scene with Hawkeye and Natasha as they argue about who's going to be sacrificed to retrieve the soul stone You can tell that this scene is held by two Academy Award nominated actors lesser actors would have just relied on smoldering and blue steel two left their actual souls in that scene ⁓ are also a lot of fun lines and great good lines in this movie that I think deserve a shout out ⁓ of the funnier ones Scott I get emails from a raccoon. Nothing sounds crazy anymore. And I did particularly like the quote about America's ass. That's America's ass. Tony has a line that I think is so ⁓ comes out and he says, just want peace. Turns out resentment is corrosive. I hate it. ⁓ Dude, if you can't afford a therapist, just watch that scene and just hear that line and listen to it and understand the words. That resentment is bad for your soul. And sometimes you have to just learn to move past some bad things and try to fix it going forward. It's good therapy. It's a good talk. Short and sweet. Resentment is corrosive. So very true. I particularly liked, we had two different scenes where we had parents and their sons. Thor's heart to heart with his mom allows some healing and helps get Thor back on the right mental track. She tells him, everyone fails at who they're supposed to be. The measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are. Plus he also gets to get more near qualities back there. Tony Stark actually gets to meet his father, Howard. And during the course of their interaction, Tony makes the ⁓ amount of money ever bought a second of time. ⁓ irony being that Howard was the one that had originally said that to a young Tony. also love ⁓ Howard and Tony interaction. ⁓ Howard Stark says to Tony, the greater good has rarely outweighed my own self-interest. This scene highlights a few different things. One, Tony got to learn how much his daddy loved him before he even came into this world. Tony didn't have to be brilliant. Tony didn't have to be perfect. Tony didn't have to be super. Tony learned his daddy loved him just for existing before he was even introduced to the world. That meant a lot for Tony. it also kind of shows that ⁓ And especially once you've seen the movie and you know how everything comes about. That line has real weight. Howard Stark, who always looks to his own self-interest, was a brilliant man. Tony Stark was a great man. And that's the only difference between those two men. Absolutely. else did you like? Do you like any specific duos or cultural representation or anything? ⁓ I will forever love the non-romantic duo of Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton. I always love the way that their relationship is portrayed throughout the MCU. We all know Barton is a family man. I feel in a lot of ways it would have been really easy to break that by turning his and Romanoff's relationship into an affair. think it would have been ⁓ easy way out. And I was very impressed that over the course of ⁓ movies, that was never done. What we have is a badass partnership. in the field ⁓ a very close personal relationship outside of work. ⁓ at this point in the game when Endgame was released in 2019, the tale of Budapest was still something just that these two threw out every now and then ⁓ kind of as an aside. ⁓ ⁓ could tell something went down there. It wasn't until Black Widow was released that moviegoers got the full backstory on how Hawkeye and Black Widow met ⁓ how their relationship was forged in fire. Once again, ⁓ just love these two. ⁓ You know, those two are pretty much an iconic friendship duo. Those are friend goals. Yes. On a less serious side, I have to throw this in, and it's one of those that on our rewatch, it was probably the first time it really hit me how sweet it was. The second scene in the movie shows Tony and Nebula kind of floating through space passing time after everything that happened in Infinity War. The little part where they play paper football. That scene is so sweet to me. Nebula truly responds to Tony's gentle guidance in learning how to play the game. You can see Nebula could have been such a sweet person, droid, alien. ⁓ I don't want to misspecies her. She had she just had proper parentage. This little scene also shows how Tony Stark is gonna be a great dad in case we missed it in Spider-Man Homecoming, you know. He's a patient teacher. All these years on earth surrounded by jabronis of average intelligence, he has learned how to explain and how to guide whether he's dealing with quantum physics or paper football. In the realm of cultural relevance, this movie is a love letter to the fans who stuck with Marvel for the decade this opus was being crafted. I don't think we can say that this movie is worth talking about just because of the money it made. On the road to making Endgame, Marvel made a community of fans. Beyond that, Marvel brought us a wider selection of heroes, and that diversity is important. There are generations
Rachel: kids
In-person participant 1: who have and will grow up with heroes that look like them. Those are points where Marvel's Infinity Saga had a real cultural impact and that impact extends far beyond box office totals. Okay, so We've talked about the good Rachel. What are the the meh for you? What is just like it's okay? I'm not gonna it's not the best, but it's like like the worst Okay, not to point the finger but to me Tony and Pepper have kind of lost the chemistry They once had they've lost that love and feeling they have and since we all know rdj is absolute perfection in my eyes, the blame has to go somewhere else. I felt like Pepper was just not as engaged or dialed in as she used to be on this relationship. Now, could that be because at this point in the game they've been together for so long that things have just kind of settled in? Maybe. A lot of couples lose that deep connection over time, especially when a child comes on the scene and that child is a greater priority for both parents. But we didn't get to see any kind of deep bond between Pepper and Morgan. Was that just an editorial issue or was there something really missing in Paltrow's performance as Pepper this time? Well, that's like the question of how looks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. The world may never know, ⁓ but ⁓ we can draw our own ⁓ so Gwyneth ⁓ asked Pepper Potts. I liked her in the first Man and the first Avengers. ⁓ I feel at some point she started of dialing it in and Pepper lost some of her spunk. ⁓ Pepper's supposed to be so much more an accessory to Tony ⁓ and she just kind of lost some her juju along the way. ⁓ I have some things I'd like to say about Captain Marvel. I bet you do. I don't even know who to blame. Well it's not me, that's for No, no, I can't blame you. ⁓ who to ⁓ I didn't find Carol Danvers quite so annoying in the Captain Marvel movie. But in Avengers Endgame, she kind of comes off like, kind of an unlikable superhero. Like that coworker you go to great lengths to avoid in the break room. And it's made worse by the fact that I believe Captain Marvel is supposed to be the strongest hero in the Marvel universe. That's what I've heard personally. think Scarlet Witch can take her. We see in the scene when they confront Thanos living his best Shrek life, you know that scene. She's got him in like a WWE sleeper hold and she is holding him down for someone to cut off his That's a big-ass alien who would have fought, but she's holding him. Like Stone Cold would have like Captain America before the serum. Like she's got him. think she's holding out on us. I don't blame Brie Larson. ⁓ This is a script. This is the director or an editor. It's like they pepper her in when they need her, but we don't, I just feel like she never really gets to get on the road and go like all the way, all as fast as she could. Like, you know, like we're being, they're holding back. I know, she really whoops her ass somewhere along the line, but we didn't get to see it in this movie. Okay, I'm gonna play devil's advocate here. You always do. I know. So what I do is stick with what you know. I believe that a lot of Captain Marvel's issues are somewhat intentional. Aside from being pissed off, she's half alien. That doesn't make for a warm and fuzzy character. I can see how that can make her come across as arrogant. I just kind of took it more as she's dialed in, so potato, potato. Okay, Pam, as far as scenes go. ⁓ What do you got? kind of take issue with the that Scott Lang Ant-Man out of the quantum realm. ⁓ This is the most plot-convenient rodent to have ever had a role a summer blockbuster. ⁓ Rachel, you and I have spent the last four years writing and a fiction novel. ⁓ Had either of us ever come to the other with a plot like that rat, there would have been words. I can't argue with that. I'd have to call bullshit if someone brought that scene to me. But it's also a very important rat. Like that rat said to everything that we would have never been able to even start a time heist without the rat. It's so odd how I feel about the rat. So you... He's a plot contrivance, but he's still a necessary one. could... I don't know. Maybe there's a better way. Maybe there's not. Maybe I'm being an asshole. So you don't like the rat, but you... We need the rat. You want him on that. We want him in that van. We need him in that van. Got it. Anything leaving you underwhelmed? The only thing I could say came close to underwhelming me is that we did suffer some pacing issues periodically. Also, I personally could have used some more Loki time. More Loki. Always more Loki. Always. Yes. Okay. This is one of those things that almost goes into WTF for me, but I've got it. I've got it. I've got it. I've got it. I don't like how they treated Thor's obvious depression. Norse gods can experience grief too, you know, mental health and physical appearance as it relates to those mental health struggles should not be a punchline. All this did was confirm to anyone in a similar boat that yes, your friends are talking about your alcoholism and weight gain behind your back. And I doubt that that's going to make anyone feel better. This movie was over three hours long, so we don't really have an opportunity to delve into Thor's struggles. But if they had to be used as a plot point, could Tony not have stepped in and offered Thor some kind words and maybe advice? Tony Stark is the OG addictive personality, and he's experienced some hellified trauma. There could have been some healthy and healing moments rather than playing Thor's Depression for chuckles. agree. I ⁓ Alright, now onto our WTF moments and we're going to start with performances. I really personally do not have any real complaints about the performances. Any issues I had were more macro being big picture issues than they were performance level. I don't have any issues with the performances we were given, but I find it almost criminal that on Kobe Smulders who played Maria Hill doesn't get more screen time across these movies and like the whole saga. I have problems with that. This is a regular. who is awesome enough to kick it with Nick Fury. She should have more scenes across the entire Marvel Universe. And for anyone who wants to sit here and get technical with me, I know she got snapped in Infinity War and that's why we don't see her until the end in Endgame. But my complaint is with the entire saga. We need more Maria Hill. We need brunette awesome ladies who kick ass. not a complaint, just an observation. ⁓ thought it was kind of Thanos. ⁓ and his minions to give the good guys time to have entrances and be called to attention by Cap during the final battle. I cannot even with something like this. Okay, on the scenes. biggest ⁓ ⁓ W-2. words, which letters are we using? I'm gonna use all of them. I'm gonna throw some numbers in there just to keep everybody on their toes. Okay, my biggest WTF was a YTF, Spanish roaming around this little garden at Beaton Place. The man destroyed half of our civilization and I swear it feels like if we caught up with him at the right time, we'd have caught him meditating on his zalbutan burning incense and doing Buddhist chants. Now, as far as my other WTF moment, you and I had the same one. The girl power scene. is yucky to me. For starters, when this movie came out, I kept being told how empowering it was. I was told that by men and women alike. I personally did not feel empowered by this scene. It didn't feel organic. It didn't make sense to me. Some of those ladies had never met. I don't think because we all share some similar organs that we just automatically bond together in a battle. don't know if that's how it works. I've never been in the military though, so maybe I'm wrong. In the grand scheme of things and the battle taking place, it felt gratuitous and not natural. Look at the bone we threw you ladies is kind of what it felt like when they kept telling me how awesome that scene was. I do agree with this. cheapens the individual powers and talents of the heroines and it made them appear a little toothless. the context of the story, it accomplished very little and was unnecessary. It, once again, as you said, gratuitous. And also, if you're gonna throw that gratuity out there like this one's for the girls moment, by God, make it memorable. And in a good way. In a good way. ⁓ They didn't even come close to taking Thanos down. Not even with in Marvel, the whole thing could have been instructed in a much better way that would not have felt like pandering. We also know that this group of women didn't just meet out of the middle of nowhere like they were you know powdering your nose and then, let's go out and get Thanos. That was not how this is gonna happen. If these women were gonna come together and fight, there would have been whiteboards, there would have been day planners, we would have had a very, there would have been meetings, there would have been meetings, so many meetings, so many meetings. There would have been an orchestrated plan of of how to attack. And look, I understand because of we who we are and our origin story with this whole ⁓ universe, the weren't going to defeat Thanos. They just One of them is the most powerful. Right. ⁓ I do it could have been constructive in a way where the women had a significant impact. Yes. Instead of just ⁓ throw the a bone kind of thing. ⁓ That's ⁓ me. ⁓ They could have done something much better that would not have felt like pandering. Anything else leave you feeling angry, annoyed, questioning the entire damn point? Pam, you feel rather passionate about some things, so I'm just going along for a ride on this one. Thank you, Rachel. Anytime. I would like to take this moment to tell our You Know the One fan base that I have some thoughts about hair. Number one. So much hair. Captain America should always have a beard. It's the only thing that puts him on the same level as Tony and Thor, in my opinion. And I'm not talking about hotness, but also, yes. But to me, it makes him look like a grownup. He looks, he's a captain. He should look like a grown ass man. And when he's clean shaven, he still, he harkens back to the little boy who wanted to be in the military and go to World War II. With a beard, he's a full man. He's a manly man. just. I think he's more powerful, like as a presence with a beard. Number two. And this may be hard, this is actually where all my hair issues started. It was number one for a while and then I remembered that razor pissing me off. Pepper Potts should always be a redhead. Going back to her comic book origins, she was named Pepper for her freckles and red hair. I think Gwyneth only portrays her correctly when she's red, or at the very least, a nice strawberry hue. If I had time, I would make a chart showing Pepper's likability in conjunction with her hair color. And I think, Rachel, that we would see some real patterns. I think we're getting into a weird area. Can we move on, please? What other hair issues do you have with our Marvel Cinematic Universe? This is my last hair comment. I liked Captain America's short haircut in the second half of Endgame. It's sassy. No, it's Captain Marvel. I'm sorry. I also like Captain America's hair, but he needs a beard. I like Captain Marvel's short haircut in the second half of Endgame. It is sassy, and it's fitting for hero of her caliber. This isn't a complaint, but a response to the reactions to the short hair that were prevalent on social media. Prevalent. They were all over social media when this movie dropped. I will never understand how grown adults make dumb statements like, short hair makes a woman look like XYZ. It makes her look fucking smart. She's not having to look for a scrunchie. She's always ready to kick ass. And I'm saying this as a woman who has a head full of hair that's well below my shoulders. In an alien attack, it would be my hair that's gonna get my ass killed. It's gonna blow up my eyes and I'm gonna get taken down by an alien. Meanwhile, my sister, my daughter, and my niece are all gonna be A-OK. Pixie power. Now this movie also has taken on criticism from professionals and the audience and even like the Marvel nerds. so at three hours many people complain about the length of this movie. ⁓ The complaint is compounded by the fact that many people didn't want to miss anything, so they refused to take a potty break after drinking 77 ounces of... Don't you wanna? I don't understand how we're gonna blame a movie because an adult decided not to take a bathroom break. You know how it is. Moviegoers also complained that the movie had too much downtime and they do not like the pacing shifts between rising and falling action throughout the runtime. Now, I do agree that there were a few pacing issues. However... Too much downtime? Really? I'm someone who gets bored with constant action and I like character development and dialogue and a script and I like natural progression of storytelling. A good action movie is going to need those quiet moments. We got them in Die Hard, which was well over two hours. Those moments bring us closer to our heroes. Rachel, Avengers Endgame requires a lot of Marvel knowledge to fully appreciate it. That was actually a complaint by people. ⁓ We've all been wrong for this, right? It's not my fault if you missed some of the almost two dozen movies that came before this one. mean, people did have to study because I remember making lists of this is the order you need to watch these movies in before you go see Endgame. But we all knew how many movies there were. We knew that this was an entire universe. We knew you had to study up for this. Yes. That's like walking into the final test knowing you didn't study and then bitching about the test being hard. Shut up. And some people had complaints about too little use of the Hulk. And when I say the Hulk, don't mean like Bruce, I mean like Smashie Hulk. Okay, if you have this opinion, but we're still one of the ones that complained about character development, I think you missed the entire point. You didn't even watch the movie we're talking about, not to mention any of other ones. Right. The critics had issues. They thought the time travel was confusing. Okay, to be confusing. ⁓ I was along for the ride enjoyed it. Once again, only complaint in this section, not enough ⁓ low key. ⁓ And critics thought characters were like Thor or underused. like Don Cheadle and other secondary characters. Okay, I do believe that Thor got a little bit of a bad rap in this one, but I would also argue that it gave Hensworth a chance to show some range. Now, as far as the secondary characters, y'all, I hate to be shitty about this, but that's why they're secondary characters. You know what? We should stop in the middle of this battle and go watch Pepper like baking some bread for the kid or something. That would be awesome, right? ⁓ Some critics believe that key arcs were predictable or unsatisfactory. ⁓ bite me. I cannot stand the Monday morning quarterbacks of character development. Especially when some of them may not have even been paying attention to Game Exactly. ⁓ And a common complaint among and audiences alike is that Marvel undercuts emotion with humor. ⁓ I personally am someone who find a joke in a serious moment. ⁓ The emotional weight can get little heavy, ⁓ and I feel a need find levity. ⁓ This may be another reason and why Tony Stark is my favorite Avenger, Greg House is my favorite TV doctor, and Chandler Bing is my favorite friend. I like a smart ass who keeps it light. Also, I can't help but point out that whole finding a joke in a serious moment, emotional weight being too much, it's kind of a Gen X stamp. We put it on everything. We just do. We do. The whole thing of finding a joke in a serious moment, totally Gen X. I don't know that you could find a bigger Gen X label. ⁓ I don't understand why people would think that that is something, but I feel like people say undercuts the emotion. I feel ⁓ that emphasizes the emotion. It absolutely does. Okay, so many sunnies are you gonna give Avengers Endgame? ⁓ Five. ⁓ ⁓ I agree. it the perfect movie? No, very few of them are. However, it's the perfect movie for this saga to end this saga with. Yes. It was beautiful and it gave us a very satisfying ending for our heroes that we have been on a ride with for 10 years at this point. Yes. Okay, so what are we gonna do next? The next one the next one is that 2008 movie where Sherlock Holmes was held captive in a cave ⁓ and he creates unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil. ⁓ is this the one where he's assisted by Monica's ex-boyfriend and Apple's mom as he engages in a test of brilliance and will against Starman? That's the one. ⁓ listen as we the origins of Marvel's Infinity Saga here on ⁓ You Know the One. Know the One.
In-person participant 1: This is that 2019 movie where Charlie Chaplin is one of Earth's mightiest heroes and has to save all of civilization by performing a time heist to undo this huge population annihilation. ⁓ that's the one that's caused by Mikey's older brother, Brand, once he found all the perfect gemstones to adorn his big shiny love? That's the one. ⁓ Chaplin is assisted by Ash LaPorte-Pine, ⁓ the mayor of Kingstown, ⁓ Miley's brother-in-law, ⁓ Jackson Maine, Maddie Flamhaff and Bobby Newport. Bobby ⁓ Welcome to Know the
Rachel: and to save all of civilization by performing a time heist to undo this huge population annihilation. ⁓ that's another brand once he found all the stones to adorn. Is assisted by Ash the Pork Kingstown, Miley's former brother-in-law, Jackson Maine.
In-person participant 1: the podcast where we discuss movies from the last 60 years and talk about how they shaped us as Generation X and as a culture. I'm Rachel Roberts. I'm Pam Wallace. These are the films we grew up with, argued about, rewound, and never quite let go
Rachel: of ⁓
In-person participant 1: of. Let's get into it. This new season of You Know the One will revolve around summer blockbusters. We're going to kick it off with the biggest summer blockbuster ever, 2019 Avengers Endgame. Pam, of all the blockbusters from the past 60 years, why did we choose this movie? You know, you can't spell Gen X without RDJ. Well, you can, but who the hell wants to? True, true. While it's a pretty recent movie, Avengers Endgame is still very much Gen X coded due to the shoulders on which the entire franchise rests, RDJ. RDJ is basically the poster child Gen X. Born April 1965, his own dad introduced him to drugs at like the age of eight. He dropped out of school and began acting. His career path has so many hallmark Gen X moments. Brad Pack adjacent, SNL staff, Oscar nomination for Chaplin before he even turns 30. By the time he was in his 30s he was a name. He was also a man with some demons. He came dangerously close to losing everything he worked for with multiple drug related convictions. right and then he rose up from the ashes he saved not just his own legacy but the entire legacy of Marvel Comics. Like the phoenix he is. Okay, so since RDJ is Gen X, it's sort of necessary to talk about Avengers Endgame and how even years after what should have been the end of Tony Stark's story, RDJ just keeps showing up to save Marvel like the hero he is. Oh yeah, and Avengers Endgame is super relevant even here in 2026. It has been reported on the John Campia show and confirmed by Marvel Studios and Cinemark that Avengers Endgame will be re-released in theaters on September 25th, 2026. That's right. This re-release will feature brand new footage added to the film to lead into Avengers Doomsday, which debuts December 18th, 2026. Okay, so to the 70 or so listeners we have out there, Rachel and I have decided to switch up the format a bit after my Gen Z children referred to our previous episodes as sounding like a report you do for school. so we decided to go less into themes and act breakdowns and get into the nitty gritty of our personal feelings about these films. So we're gonna break it down to the good, the in the WTF moments, along with our two cents about specific audience and critics beefs. So let's get into it. Endgame is the epic conclusion of Marvel's Infinity Saga, wrapping up over a decade of storytelling across 22 films. The release date is April 26, 2019. Of course, the genre is action, adventure, and sci-fi. The directors are Anthony and Joe Russo, AKA the infamous Russo Brothers. The writers are Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely. It was produced by Kevin Feige and the composer was Alan Silvestri. Okay, so opening weekend for Avengers Endgame brought in a record 1.2 billion. That's with a B-B-B-Billion This marked the first and time a film has surpassed the $1 billion mark worldwide in its debut. ⁓ The lead cast is Robert Jr. as Tony Stark slash Iron Man, ⁓ Chris Evans as Steve Rogers Captain America. Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner slash the Hulk. Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff slash Black Widow. And Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton slash Hawkeye. The supporting cast includes Don Cheadle as Rhodey. Paul Rudd as Scott Lang slash Ant-Man. Karen Gillan as Nebula. Bradley Cooper as Rocket. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. And Josh Brolin as Thanos. Following the devastating snap that wiped out half of all life at the end of Avengers Infinity War, surviving Avengers eventually discover a way to travel through time. They embark on a time heist to retrieve the Infinity Stones from the past, aiming to reverse Thanos' actions. The film culminates in a massive final battle where the Avengers and their restored allies face Thanos one last time, leading to the ultimate sacrifice by Tony Stark to save the universe. Rachel, this movie has some great behind the scenes trivia. it revolving around the script. Yes, the Avengers scripts are on lockdown. This is a well-known fact. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo confirmed that most cast members received only scenes they were in, fake scenes or just their lines. Robert Downey Jr. was considered to be the most trustworthy with his secrets. He was given full access to understand the film's climax. The reason these scripts are on lockdown come down to two actors and they are Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo who both have a very bad habit of of revealing spoilers not just like to their mom and dad but to like audiences nationwide unlike top shows and things yeah so due to that these actors are handled with extreme caution Holland didn't even get a script he was just told his lines which I find so funny Most of the actors, including Benedict Cumberbatch and Chris Evans, only received their relevant scenes. The directors even incorporated dummy scripts to keep major plot points such as the ending hidden until the very end. And I'm guessing not so much for cast so much as, but like this is probably for the rest of the crew that need to know how to set up scenes and things like that. Like they can't be knowing all the secrets. They just need to know where to point the cameras, right? Right. But you can't also put it on the crew because we've just established that two of our stars can't keep their mouths shut either. You're right. You're You're right. I'm not going to blame the boom mic guy. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was wrong. Okay, so aside from the script on lockdown, we have to discuss the iconic line of I am Iron Man, which was originally improvised by RDJ all the way back in Iron Man. Marvel planned for Tony Stark to keep his identity secret, just like in the comics, but RDJ's improvised line changed everything. It accidentally launched the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it today. Fast forward to Avengers Endgame. In the original script, Tony Stark was originally meant say nothing and simply smile. You know the R.E.J. smirk he would have given. Before snapping his fingers. During post-production the Rosso brothers felt the scene was missing something and editor Jeffrey Ford suggested that recall of line from Iron Man. ⁓ ended up being the very last moment filmed for Avengers Endgame. ⁓ is like one of my favorite pieces of trivia for this entire franchise. It illustrates a somewhat accidental but authentic piece of artistic storytelling. The fact that Iron Man's entire future was set into motion by the by Improvised line and then his story gets to come full circle to Tony making the ultimate sacrifice ⁓ poetic and beautiful and it's the conclusion that the of Stark deserved ⁓ So let's get into our breakdown ⁓ Rachel. What are your ⁓ the good in this? What kind good stuff we see this movie? ⁓ Okay, so let's start out with performances for me. ⁓ It's already and Renner ⁓ like ⁓ every day of the twice on Sunday. RDJ embodies Tony Stark in a way that I truly believe only he can do. Is RDJ a man that has fought his own demons? I am suck luck and literally I'm convinced it is that that has enabled him to bring us the Tony Stark we know love. ⁓ Does RDJ have the Tony Stark like intellect in real life? ⁓ I absolutely refuse to believe otherwise. ⁓ If ever met the man and couldn't an intellectual conversation with him I would be devastated. RDJ's bravado is Tony Stark is a core element that you only get after you've walked through the buyer yourself. Now we know for Jeremy Renner you have a little bit of like a there's a thing there because like Jeremy Renner looks like her husband so like I feel like you have a bias towards him. I do love me some Jeremy Renner. As for Renner I have a few things to say and hey I know no one cares about my opinion but Jeremy I know you care. But Jeremy Renner is a place where I'm going to express it loud and proud. Clint Hawkeye Barton is a great character to start off with. He's a natural talent in a world of genetically altered humans and Norse gods, and he holds his own. And that is because of Renner. Barton is a family man, and you feel that. It's not superficial from the very first moment when you see the look on Renner's face when his family is taken from him. You understand in your soul how Barton is affected. I also think it speaks loads as to the talent Jeremy Renner in that he could portray the loving family man Clint Barton and then turn around and portray the character's alter ego Ronan. And quite frankly, after you see how losing his family has affected Barton, you understand Ronan a little better. So that's what I have to say about Hawkeye and Ronan. But now I would like to say something else about Renner and any thought of him returning to the MCU. Back in 2025, Renner said that he had turned down returning for a second season of Hawkeye on Disney+. after the quote unquote penny pinchers lowballed him in contract negotiations. Now, Let me tell you, low ball is a gross understatement. Mr. Renner has specifically stated that it was not Marvel or Disney that offered this insult. However, those in charge of contract negotiations thought it would be OK to offer Renner half the money of his previous contract. Why? Did we think we could get him for cheaper after his accident? I'm not sure I even have the words to say just how insulting that was. This man is titanium with a heart that does not quit. And quite frankly, it this is me off to think that some beam counter somewhere thought it would be okay to take advantage of that situation. Renner has not only been Hawkeye to the Marvel fans for more than a decade, the man is an Oscar nominated actor. Shame on the fools that did that and quite frankly I think it's now up to Marvel and Disney to make this right. Okay so she has some strong feelings. ⁓ I have strong feelings too, maybe not as aggressive as yours. I'm just passionate. You are. Yes. Now I also don't need to tell anyone how I feel about I love the inclusion of Clint Barton's journey as Ronan. His vigilante alter ego that he assumes after the snap. I think that violent persona shift makes so much sense for Clint Barton slash Hawkeye. This man has been through some stuff. He lost his wife and children, plus his brother and sister Avengers. He is dealing with grief that he's dealing with it in the most unhealthy way. That's real. I that gives Hawkeye so much depth and it makes sense for a family man who also happens to have the ability to eff up a bad guy. Renner gives Hawkeye so much heart and the audience aches for him when he loses his family in the snap. Do you realize how much emotion he goes just into his face? Yes, absolutely. That's a true actor. But him losing Natasha when he thought they were about to fix everything, it was punishing. That was a punitive scene for Hawkeye and his fans. He is overlooked a lot by Marvel nerds because he's just a regular guy. Because I think a lot of people are just like, I roll, he's just an archer. Okay, let me see you guys bring down an alien with a bow and arrow. Go on, show me how easy it is, big boy. Anywho, I also apparently get pretty passionate about this. Mark Ruffalo is also great and I think he's the best Bruce slash Hulk we've had on a big screen. I love the rapport he has with RDJ and frankly I think Hollywood needs to find us a buddy cop like some grizzled detectives or something. Zodiac because one of them was a in that but a comedy about the with these two I would love that. think with Stark and Banner you see a mutual respect and let's be honest we don't see many people on that level with Stark. we don't. Okay my last shout out for performances ⁓ Paul Anyone else Ant-Man? ⁓ would have made the character forgettable. Paul Rudd is perfect as this goofy fuck up with a heart of gold and I just adore him in this role. get on to scenes and lines. What scenes made feel all feely? ⁓ I'll feel you. Okay, I have a confession to make. Due to some familial circumstances, I fell out of orbit of seeing Marvel movies in theaters around 2015. It had nothing to do with the movies themselves, just personal reasons. But let me say this, I will forever be disappointed that I did not get to watch the end game portal scene in theaters. The chills that I got just from watching social media postings of packed theaters losing their ever loving minds when all of the emerge from different portals and Capyels Avengers assemble. ⁓ Once again, ⁓ I would have given to see in theaters because that is what going to the movies is all about. ⁓ Movies are entertainment, but in theater they're an experience. They are and I have to say we got to experience that we didn't go opening night but we went to the first Saturday showing we drove down to I think it was Hammond Louisiana and we were in a very packed theater with a bunch of other Marvel nerds and was awesome it was the most amazing experience I've ever had people were behaving ⁓ children adults alike were quiet ⁓ no was on their phone. ⁓ And it was just a great group of people. my husband takes theater etiquette very seriously and he gets very grumpy with a bad crowd. We have had bad crowds in a bunch of different movies, but this crowd was a plus. ⁓ were invested from the very beginning ⁓ we were all in this venture together. ⁓ I gotta say, ⁓ at the end... Yes, seen it. Yes, you've seen it. when the portals open. Well, I'm sorry, when you hear on your left. Mm-hmm now that's a callback. Yep, and those portals open and I guess we were all kind of expecting Falcon, but what we got was T'Challa. Yes our theater went wild now Rachel or I'm and I are down here in the southeast and This is a community that has been very underrepresented in superhero movies T'Challa means a lot to everybody in that theater but he means more to a lot of other people in that theater as one group we were thrilled to see T'Challa and it was so beautiful and the crowd reaction was amazing and then the portals keep opening and everybody is coming out it is awesome and that is one of those experiences that we don't get that we were all ⁓ one in that moment bonded for the love of this story that had taken 10 years to be told ⁓ these characters ⁓ ⁓ trying to be hyperbolic ⁓ than the days immediately following 9-11 in ⁓ theater is some times the most united you can see groups of strangers here in America. Other favorite scenes I have include in the 2012 portion, the New York portion of the Time Heist when Cap says hail Hydra in order to get Loki's scepter. Loki stealing the cube. Tom Hiddleston is doing so much acting with just his eyes in these scenes and it is great. me NYC portion of the Time Heist is just ⁓ great. ⁓ For me, I love the scene with Hawkeye and Natasha as they argue about who's going to be sacrificed to retrieve the soul stone You can tell that this scene is held by two Academy Award nominated actors lesser actors would have just relied on smoldering and blue steel two left their actual souls in that scene ⁓ are also a lot of fun lines and great good lines in this movie that I think deserve a shout out ⁓ of the funnier ones Scott I get emails from a raccoon. Nothing sounds crazy anymore. And I did particularly like the quote about America's ass. That's America's ass. Tony has a line that I think is so ⁓ comes out and he says, just want peace. Turns out resentment is corrosive. I hate it. ⁓ Dude, if you can't afford a therapist, just watch that scene and just hear that line and listen to it and understand the words. That resentment is bad for your soul. And sometimes you have to just learn to move past some bad things and try to fix it going forward. It's good therapy. It's a good talk. Short and sweet. Resentment is corrosive. So very true. I particularly liked, we had two different scenes where we had parents and their sons. Thor's heart to heart with his mom allows some healing and helps get Thor back on the right mental track. She tells him, everyone fails at who they're supposed to be. The measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are. Plus he also gets to get more near qualities back there. Tony Stark actually gets to meet his father, Howard. And during the course of their interaction, Tony makes the ⁓ amount of money ever bought a second of time. ⁓ irony being that Howard was the one that had originally said that to a young Tony. also love ⁓ Howard and Tony interaction. ⁓ Howard Stark says to Tony, the greater good has rarely outweighed my own self-interest. This scene highlights a few different things. One, Tony got to learn how much his daddy loved him before he even came into this world. Tony didn't have to be brilliant. Tony didn't have to be perfect. Tony didn't have to be super. Tony learned his daddy loved him just for existing before he was even introduced to the world. That meant a lot for Tony. it also kind of shows that ⁓ And especially once you've seen the movie and you know how everything comes about. That line has real weight. Howard Stark, who always looks to his own self-interest, was a brilliant man. Tony Stark was a great man. And that's the only difference between those two men. Absolutely. else did you like? Do you like any specific duos or cultural representation or anything? ⁓ I will forever love the non-romantic duo of Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton. I always love the way that their relationship is portrayed throughout the MCU. We all know Barton is a family man. I feel in a lot of ways it would have been really easy to break that by turning his and Romanoff's relationship into an affair. think it would have been ⁓ easy way out. And I was very impressed that over the course of ⁓ movies, that was never done. What we have is a badass partnership. in the field ⁓ a very close personal relationship outside of work. ⁓ at this point in the game when Endgame was released in 2019, the tale of Budapest was still something just that these two threw out every now and then ⁓ kind of as an aside. ⁓ ⁓ could tell something went down there. It wasn't until Black Widow was released that moviegoers got the full backstory on how Hawkeye and Black Widow met ⁓ how their relationship was forged in fire. Once again, ⁓ just love these two. ⁓ You know, those two are pretty much an iconic friendship duo. Those are friend goals. Yes. On a less serious side, I have to throw this in, and it's one of those that on our rewatch, it was probably the first time it really hit me how sweet it was. The second scene in the movie shows Tony and Nebula kind of floating through space passing time after everything that happened in Infinity War. The little part where they play paper football. That scene is so sweet to me. Nebula truly responds to Tony's gentle guidance in learning how to play the game. You can see Nebula could have been such a sweet person, droid, alien. ⁓ I don't want to misspecies her. She had she just had proper parentage. This little scene also shows how Tony Stark is gonna be a great dad in case we missed it in Spider-Man Homecoming, you know. He's a patient teacher. All these years on earth surrounded by jabronis of average intelligence, he has learned how to explain and how to guide whether he's dealing with quantum physics or paper football. In the realm of cultural relevance, this movie is a love letter to the fans who stuck with Marvel for the decade this opus was being crafted. I don't think we can say that this movie is worth talking about just because of the money it made. On the road to making Endgame, Marvel made a community of fans. Beyond that, Marvel brought us a wider selection of heroes, and that diversity is important. There are generations
Rachel: kids
In-person participant 1: who have and will grow up with heroes that look like them. Those are points where Marvel's Infinity Saga had a real cultural impact and that impact extends far beyond box office totals. Okay, so We've talked about the good Rachel. What are the the meh for you? What is just like it's okay? I'm not gonna it's not the best, but it's like like the worst Okay, not to point the finger but to me Tony and Pepper have kind of lost the chemistry They once had they've lost that love and feeling they have and since we all know rdj is absolute perfection in my eyes, the blame has to go somewhere else. I felt like Pepper was just not as engaged or dialed in as she used to be on this relationship. Now, could that be because at this point in the game they've been together for so long that things have just kind of settled in? Maybe. A lot of couples lose that deep connection over time, especially when a child comes on the scene and that child is a greater priority for both parents. But we didn't get to see any kind of deep bond between Pepper and Morgan. Was that just an editorial issue or was there something really missing in Paltrow's performance as Pepper this time? Well, that's like the question of how looks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. The world may never know, ⁓ but ⁓ we can draw our own ⁓ so Gwyneth ⁓ asked Pepper Potts. I liked her in the first Man and the first Avengers. ⁓ I feel at some point she started of dialing it in and Pepper lost some of her spunk. ⁓ Pepper's supposed to be so much more an accessory to Tony ⁓ and she just kind of lost some her juju along the way. ⁓ I have some things I'd like to say about Captain Marvel. I bet you do. I don't even know who to blame. Well it's not me, that's for No, no, I can't blame you. ⁓ who to ⁓ I didn't find Carol Danvers quite so annoying in the Captain Marvel movie. But in Avengers Endgame, she kind of comes off like, kind of an unlikable superhero. Like that coworker you go to great lengths to avoid in the break room. And it's made worse by the fact that I believe Captain Marvel is supposed to be the strongest hero in the Marvel universe. That's what I've heard personally. think Scarlet Witch can take her. We see in the scene when they confront Thanos living his best Shrek life, you know that scene. She's got him in like a WWE sleeper hold and she is holding him down for someone to cut off his That's a big-ass alien who would have fought, but she's holding him. Like Stone Cold would have like Captain America before the serum. Like she's got him. think she's holding out on us. I don't blame Brie Larson. ⁓ This is a script. This is the director or an editor. It's like they pepper her in when they need her, but we don't, I just feel like she never really gets to get on the road and go like all the way, all as fast as she could. Like, you know, like we're being, they're holding back. I know, she really whoops her ass somewhere along the line, but we didn't get to see it in this movie. Okay, I'm gonna play devil's advocate here. You always do. I know. So what I do is stick with what you know. I believe that a lot of Captain Marvel's issues are somewhat intentional. Aside from being pissed off, she's half alien. That doesn't make for a warm and fuzzy character. I can see how that can make her come across as arrogant. I just kind of took it more as she's dialed in, so potato, potato. Okay, Pam, as far as scenes go. ⁓ What do you got? kind of take issue with the that Scott Lang Ant-Man out of the quantum realm. ⁓ This is the most plot-convenient rodent to have ever had a role a summer blockbuster. ⁓ Rachel, you and I have spent the last four years writing and a fiction novel. ⁓ Had either of us ever come to the other with a plot like that rat, there would have been words. I can't argue with that. I'd have to call bullshit if someone brought that scene to me. But it's also a very important rat. Like that rat said to everything that we would have never been able to even start a time heist without the rat. It's so odd how I feel about the rat. So you... He's a plot contrivance, but he's still a necessary one. could... I don't know. Maybe there's a better way. Maybe there's not. Maybe I'm being an asshole. So you don't like the rat, but you... We need the rat. You want him on that. We want him in that van. We need him in that van. Got it. Anything leaving you underwhelmed? The only thing I could say came close to underwhelming me is that we did suffer some pacing issues periodically. Also, I personally could have used some more Loki time. More Loki. Always more Loki. Always. Yes. Okay. This is one of those things that almost goes into WTF for me, but I've got it. I've got it. I've got it. I've got it. I don't like how they treated Thor's obvious depression. Norse gods can experience grief too, you know, mental health and physical appearance as it relates to those mental health struggles should not be a punchline. All this did was confirm to anyone in a similar boat that yes, your friends are talking about your alcoholism and weight gain behind your back. And I doubt that that's going to make anyone feel better. This movie was over three hours long, so we don't really have an opportunity to delve into Thor's struggles. But if they had to be used as a plot point, could Tony not have stepped in and offered Thor some kind words and maybe advice? Tony Stark is the OG addictive personality, and he's experienced some hellified trauma. There could have been some healthy and healing moments rather than playing Thor's Depression for chuckles. agree. I ⁓ Alright, now onto our WTF moments and we're going to start with performances. I really personally do not have any real complaints about the performances. Any issues I had were more macro being big picture issues than they were performance level. I don't have any issues with the performances we were given, but I find it almost criminal that on Kobe Smulders who played Maria Hill doesn't get more screen time across these movies and like the whole saga. I have problems with that. This is a regular. who is awesome enough to kick it with Nick Fury. She should have more scenes across the entire Marvel Universe. And for anyone who wants to sit here and get technical with me, I know she got snapped in Infinity War and that's why we don't see her until the end in Endgame. But my complaint is with the entire saga. We need more Maria Hill. We need brunette awesome ladies who kick ass. not a complaint, just an observation. ⁓ thought it was kind of Thanos. ⁓ and his minions to give the good guys time to have entrances and be called to attention by Cap during the final battle. I cannot even with something like this. Okay, on the scenes. biggest ⁓ ⁓ W-2. words, which letters are we using? I'm gonna use all of them. I'm gonna throw some numbers in there just to keep everybody on their toes. Okay, my biggest WTF was a YTF, Spanish roaming around this little garden at Beaton Place. The man destroyed half of our civilization and I swear it feels like if we caught up with him at the right time, we'd have caught him meditating on his zalbutan burning incense and doing Buddhist chants. Now, as far as my other WTF moment, you and I had the same one. The girl power scene. is yucky to me. For starters, when this movie came out, I kept being told how empowering it was. I was told that by men and women alike. I personally did not feel empowered by this scene. It didn't feel organic. It didn't make sense to me. Some of those ladies had never met. I don't think because we all share some similar organs that we just automatically bond together in a battle. don't know if that's how it works. I've never been in the military though, so maybe I'm wrong. In the grand scheme of things and the battle taking place, it felt gratuitous and not natural. Look at the bone we threw you ladies is kind of what it felt like when they kept telling me how awesome that scene was. I do agree with this. cheapens the individual powers and talents of the heroines and it made them appear a little toothless. the context of the story, it accomplished very little and was unnecessary. It, once again, as you said, gratuitous. And also, if you're gonna throw that gratuity out there like this one's for the girls moment, by God, make it memorable. And in a good way. In a good way. ⁓ They didn't even come close to taking Thanos down. Not even with in Marvel, the whole thing could have been instructed in a much better way that would not have felt like pandering. We also know that this group of women didn't just meet out of the middle of nowhere like they were you know powdering your nose and then, let's go out and get Thanos. That was not how this is gonna happen. If these women were gonna come together and fight, there would have been whiteboards, there would have been day planners, we would have had a very, there would have been meetings, there would have been meetings, so many meetings, so many meetings. There would have been an orchestrated plan of of how to attack. And look, I understand because of we who we are and our origin story with this whole ⁓ universe, the weren't going to defeat Thanos. They just One of them is the most powerful. Right. ⁓ I do it could have been constructive in a way where the women had a significant impact. Yes. Instead of just ⁓ throw the a bone kind of thing. ⁓ That's ⁓ me. ⁓ They could have done something much better that would not have felt like pandering. Anything else leave you feeling angry, annoyed, questioning the entire damn point? Pam, you feel rather passionate about some things, so I'm just going along for a ride on this one. Thank you, Rachel. Anytime. I would like to take this moment to tell our You Know the One fan base that I have some thoughts about hair. Number one. So much hair. Captain America should always have a beard. It's the only thing that puts him on the same level as Tony and Thor, in my opinion. And I'm not talking about hotness, but also, yes. But to me, it makes him look like a grownup. He looks, he's a captain. He should look like a grown ass man. And when he's clean shaven, he still, he harkens back to the little boy who wanted to be in the military and go to World War II. With a beard, he's a full man. He's a manly man. just. I think he's more powerful, like as a presence with a beard. Number two. And this may be hard, this is actually where all my hair issues started. It was number one for a while and then I remembered that razor pissing me off. Pepper Potts should always be a redhead. Going back to her comic book origins, she was named Pepper for her freckles and red hair. I think Gwyneth only portrays her correctly when she's red, or at the very least, a nice strawberry hue. If I had time, I would make a chart showing Pepper's likability in conjunction with her hair color. And I think, Rachel, that we would see some real patterns. I think we're getting into a weird area. Can we move on, please? What other hair issues do you have with our Marvel Cinematic Universe? This is my last hair comment. I liked Captain America's short haircut in the second half of Endgame. It's sassy. No, it's Captain Marvel. I'm sorry. I also like Captain America's hair, but he needs a beard. I like Captain Marvel's short haircut in the second half of Endgame. It is sassy, and it's fitting for hero of her caliber. This isn't a complaint, but a response to the reactions to the short hair that were prevalent on social media. Prevalent. They were all over social media when this movie dropped. I will never understand how grown adults make dumb statements like, short hair makes a woman look like XYZ. It makes her look fucking smart. She's not having to look for a scrunchie. She's always ready to kick ass. And I'm saying this as a woman who has a head full of hair that's well below my shoulders. In an alien attack, it would be my hair that's gonna get my ass killed. It's gonna blow up my eyes and I'm gonna get taken down by an alien. Meanwhile, my sister, my daughter, and my niece are all gonna be A-OK. Pixie power. Now this movie also has taken on criticism from professionals and the audience and even like the Marvel nerds. so at three hours many people complain about the length of this movie. ⁓ The complaint is compounded by the fact that many people didn't want to miss anything, so they refused to take a potty break after drinking 77 ounces of... Don't you wanna? I don't understand how we're gonna blame a movie because an adult decided not to take a bathroom break. You know how it is. Moviegoers also complained that the movie had too much downtime and they do not like the pacing shifts between rising and falling action throughout the runtime. Now, I do agree that there were a few pacing issues. However... Too much downtime? Really? I'm someone who gets bored with constant action and I like character development and dialogue and a script and I like natural progression of storytelling. A good action movie is going to need those quiet moments. We got them in Die Hard, which was well over two hours. Those moments bring us closer to our heroes. Rachel, Avengers Endgame requires a lot of Marvel knowledge to fully appreciate it. That was actually a complaint by people. ⁓ We've all been wrong for this, right? It's not my fault if you missed some of the almost two dozen movies that came before this one. mean, people did have to study because I remember making lists of this is the order you need to watch these movies in before you go see Endgame. But we all knew how many movies there were. We knew that this was an entire universe. We knew you had to study up for this. Yes. That's like walking into the final test knowing you didn't study and then bitching about the test being hard. Shut up. And some people had complaints about too little use of the Hulk. And when I say the Hulk, don't mean like Bruce, I mean like Smashie Hulk. Okay, if you have this opinion, but we're still one of the ones that complained about character development, I think you missed the entire point. You didn't even watch the movie we're talking about, not to mention any of other ones. Right. The critics had issues. They thought the time travel was confusing. Okay, to be confusing. ⁓ I was along for the ride enjoyed it. Once again, only complaint in this section, not enough ⁓ low key. ⁓ And critics thought characters were like Thor or underused. like Don Cheadle and other secondary characters. Okay, I do believe that Thor got a little bit of a bad rap in this one, but I would also argue that it gave Hensworth a chance to show some range. Now, as far as the secondary characters, y'all, I hate to be shitty about this, but that's why they're secondary characters. You know what? We should stop in the middle of this battle and go watch Pepper like baking some bread for the kid or something. That would be awesome, right? ⁓ Some critics believe that key arcs were predictable or unsatisfactory. ⁓ bite me. I cannot stand the Monday morning quarterbacks of character development. Especially when some of them may not have even been paying attention to Game Exactly. ⁓ And a common complaint among and audiences alike is that Marvel undercuts emotion with humor. ⁓ I personally am someone who find a joke in a serious moment. ⁓ The emotional weight can get little heavy, ⁓ and I feel a need find levity. ⁓ This may be another reason and why Tony Stark is my favorite Avenger, Greg House is my favorite TV doctor, and Chandler Bing is my favorite friend. I like a smart ass who keeps it light. Also, I can't help but point out that whole finding a joke in a serious moment, emotional weight being too much, it's kind of a Gen X stamp. We put it on everything. We just do. We do. The whole thing of finding a joke in a serious moment, totally Gen X. I don't know that you could find a bigger Gen X label. ⁓ I don't understand why people would think that that is something, but I feel like people say undercuts the emotion. I feel ⁓ that emphasizes the emotion. It absolutely does. Okay, so many sunnies are you gonna give Avengers Endgame? ⁓ Five. ⁓ ⁓ I agree. it the perfect movie? No, very few of them are. However, it's the perfect movie for this saga to end this saga with. Yes. It was beautiful and it gave us a very satisfying ending for our heroes that we have been on a ride with for 10 years at this point. Yes. Okay, so what are we gonna do next? The next one the next one is that 2008 movie where Sherlock Holmes was held captive in a cave ⁓ and he creates unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil. ⁓ is this the one where he's assisted by Monica's ex-boyfriend and Apple's mom as he engages in a test of brilliance and will against Starman? That's the one. ⁓ listen as we the origins of Marvel's Infinity Saga here on ⁓ You Know the One. Know the One.
