"Episode 141" - SUPERMAN LIVES

In an alternate universe, a movie like Superman Lives would never have been made. Luckily for us, the stars aligned in 1998 to bring us this controversial collision between the minds of Kevin Smith and Tim Burton. The end result is what you might expect from the partnership of a garrulous geek and arty introvert: a very different kind of Superman story for the misfits of the world.

Just as Michael Keaton dusts off the batsuit for a scene-stealing cameo, our man in Gotham Gensho Tasaka returns once more to talk polar bears, giant spiders, gay robot sidekicks, and that surprisingly poignant Jay and Silent Bob scene. It's a bird! It's a plane! It's...




















...April Fool's.

Superman Lives (1998)
Directed by Tim Burton
Produced by Jon Peters
Starring Nicolas Cage, Courtney Cox, Christopher Walken, Kevin Spacey, Chris Rock, Dwight Ewell, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, and Michael Keaton

Episode 129 - BATMAN & ROBIN

Forever frozen in time as an aggressive expression of comic book camp, Batman & Robin had a chilling effect on the entire superhero genre: its icy reception did much to precipitate our current cinematic reality. And while our culture has buried the movie in an avalanche of snark, consider this podcast our modest attempt to bring it in from the cold.

That chill dude, Gensho Tasaka, joins us once again as the Robin Round Robin enters round two with the toyetic tour de force that is Batman & Robin. 

Batman & Robin (1997)
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Produced by Peter MacGregor-Scott
Written by Akiva Goldsman
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Elle Macpherson, and Robert "Jeep" Swenson

Check out all current episodes in our Batman series:
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin

Episode 126 - STEEL

Our Shaq-tober celebration continues with Steel, a movie featuring a Superman-adjacent hero who tries desperately to imitate Batman. The concept of a 7-foot African-American vigilante patrolling downtown Los Angeles in a high-tech metal suit seems both ahead of its time and a product of its time. Namely, the brief window where a newly-minted Laker and Superman superfan's media ambitions dovetailed with DC Comics' cinematic supremacy.

Slip into your Shaq-branded sneakers and get ready for some crime fighting on a budget as we watch Shaq try to turn Supes' sixth man into an MVP-worthy star as Steel!

Steel (1997)
Written and directed by Kenneth Johnson
Produced by Quincy Jones, David Salzman, and Joel Simon
Based on characters created by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove
Starring Shaquille O'Neal, Annabeth Gish, Judd Nelson, Ray J, Irma P. Hall, Hill Harper, and Richard Roundtree

Episode 99 - BATMAN FOREVER

Riddle me this, riddle me that, who's excited for more Batman chit-chat? Joel Schumacher's exuberant take on the Caped Crusader marks a crucial turning point for the character's onscreen legacy, in a film that dips the remnants of Tim Burton's moody vision in neon and scatters them across an exaggerated comic book fantasyland. As Batman Forever's title suggests, the ripple effects of its stylistic swerve would continue for decades to come.

The dynamic duo of Gensho Tasaka and Eric Wheeler joins us for a freewheeling free-for-all on this pivotal moment in Bat-history. Joygasm!

Batman Forever (1995)
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Produced by Tim Burton and Peter MacGregor-Scott
Written by Lee & Janet Scott Batchler and Akiva Goldsman
Based on characters created by Bob Kane
Starring Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, Chris O'Donnell, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, and Ed Begley Jr.

Check out all current episodes in our Batman series:
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin

Episode 77 - BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM

The rehabilitation of Batman's post-camp image as a lonely, brooding avatar of vigilantism was not just limited to the comics or the cinema. Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski's surprisingly mature animated TV series also contributed to the goal of establishing a grim, gritty, noir-ish universe as the Caped Crusader's natural habit. Their ambition was affirmed by efforts such as Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, a theatrically-released feature filled with vengeance, obsession, and yearning for the past that also includes a pretty sweet rumble with the Joker.

Reopening the Wormhole co-host Sam Stovold suits up for this animated detour in our survey of the Batman films. Grab your fedora and hop into your anachronistic Rolls Royce for this melancholy superhero romance - just in time for Valentine's Day!

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
Directed by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski
Produced by Benjamin Melnicker, Alan Burnett, Bruce Timm, and Eric Radomski
Written by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko, and Michael Reaves
Based on characters created by Bob Kane
Starring Kevin Conroy, Dana Delany, Mark Hamill, Hart Bochner, Abe Vigoda, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., and Stacy Keach


Check out all current episodes in our Batman series:
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin

Episode 59 - BATMAN RETURNS

"One for them, one for me" - it's the mantra of many an A-lister who also yearns to be respected as an artist, appearing in a commercially appealing flick in order to get a passion project off the ground. For Tim Burton, that rule also applied to sequels for massive franchise tentpoles, as Batman Returns tries to preserve the muscular appeal of its predecessor while injecting more of the macabre, playful melancholy central to the director's gothic sensibility.

We welcome back the boy wonder, Gensho Tasaka, to marvel at Burton doubling down on his signature style and his unique treatment of two iconic Batman villains. It's the second part of our series on the Caped Crusader's blockbuster-era adventures!

Batman Returns (1992)
Directed by Tim Burton
Produced by Denise Di Novi and Tim Burton
Written by Daniel Waters
Based on characters created by Bob Kane
Starring Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Michael Gough, and Michael Murphy

Check out all current episodes in our Batman series:
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin

Episode 50 - BATMAN

Perched at the precipice of the '90s, Tim Burton's Batman was one of the first modern blockbusters to emerge from the commercial chrysalis nurtured, perhaps unwittingly, by directors like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Both a familiar crowd-pleasing delight and a novel, eccentric re-imagining of the superhero archetype, Batman helped establish a new excitement around pre-existing properties--especially comics--while becoming one of the rare franchise tentpoles to successfully balance its agendas as a financial commodity and as a distinctive work of art.

Special guest (and number one guy) Gensho Tasaka also joins the podcast for some stellar Caped Crusader chat.  Holy 50th episode, Batman!

Batman (1989)
Directed by Tim Burton
Produced by Jon Peters and Peter Guber
Written by Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren
Based on characters created by Bob Kane and DC Comics
Starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough, and Jack Palance

Check out all current episodes in our Batman series:
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin