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Bill Simmons
Foreign. Stream all episodes now Exclusively on amc. Plus, I am the vampire Lestat.
Joe House
I'm a rock star now. I'm a little killer. I'm a moon.
Bill Simmons
From Anne Rice's immortal universe comes what Vulture calls the most momentous event in fictional rock history. Thousands of fans love you.
Joe House
I want millions.
Bill Simmons
It's my era. Anne Rice's the vampire Lestat. Stream all episodes now. Exclusively on amc.
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Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun. An army hung on her every word.
Bill Simmons
My champions, I have sold my chariot on Carvana. Twas a lovely suv, an inexplicably queenly offer. Even coming to the castle to collect it. Tonight we feast.
Joe House
An offer you can feast on. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pick up fees may apply.
Bill Simmons
Greetings and welcome to House of Ringer Burst podcast here on the Ringer Podcast
Joe House
Network, San Diego Comic Con edition on location.
Bill Simmons
My goodness, look at this. It is Saturday night. Yeah, you'll probably be hearing this a little bit later, but it's the end of a long Saturday in Hall H. A long and fun few days here on the ground at Comic Con, and we couldn't wait. We were originally gonna pot tomorrow, but no. Coming off my first ever Marvel Hall
Joe House
H panel, much to the light of our production staff, we said, they're miserable
Bill Simmons
now, but they'll be thrilled tomorrow when they are. To be here in the morning, we just wanted to get together, much like we did last year. Last year was Sunday morning, and Listen, hindsight, it's 2020. I already had Covid at that point and just didn't know yet. By the time I got home a few hours later, I was like, I feel like I'm going to die. But we still made a podcast because such is the joy of being out in the world together.
Joe House
Do you want to breathe on me right now just to make sure that I get whatever you inevitably have?
Bill Simmons
I feel like I've breathed on you quite a bit. But, yeah, We're in it together, folks. We're in it together. Ride or die.
Joe House
That was horrible. I will say we spent many, many hours really close to each other in Hall H. Yeah. Both today and yesterday. Was that yesterday?
Bill Simmons
And this is our third day here.
Joe House
Yeah. Yeah, we're doing great. You had a mask on for just.
Bill Simmons
Just today.
Joe House
For today. And it was.
Bill Simmons
I was impressed only because in the frantic search for a seat, at one point, I somehow spotted, like an oasis in the desert, a seat. And it turned out it wasn't a mirage. It was a real seat. Said, is that open? Sat Down. And then the lovely gentleman who had said, yes, in fact, that is open. Started coughing and sneezing quite a bit. And then probably, you know what? I'm gonna pop on. Pop on an old mask.
Joe House
Like, no offense, sir, but for a hot second here.
Bill Simmons
So here's what we thought we would do. In addition to talking about potential illnesses, any aches and pains, bodily ailments you want to run through, we'll hit that in a second as well. We want to celebrate. We want to talk about the five highlights for each of us, the five top moments, the things we're most excited about, the things that we're most excited to see coming out of Comic Con. I do want to establish a ground rule in a moment.
Joe House
Point of clarity that you want to hear me about.
Bill Simmons
Clarity. It's something that I just think we can work through in real time.
Joe House
Okay.
Bill Simmons
It's a question. It's not an edict. It's not a mandate.
Joe House
Is
Bill Simmons
being here together eligible for the list, or is it just. Should we consider that outside of the top five and just sort of assumed, really? Of course.
Joe House
That's number one.
Bill Simmons
Being here together and being here with all the bad babies.
Joe House
I was thinking about that, like, last year, I definitely picked, like, our listeners or whatever towards the top of the list.
Bill Simmons
After I had said. Do you remember this? After I had said, well, obviously, the number one is being here with all our listeners and getting to do this together. But even I wouldn't dream of making. Making that my number one, so I'm just gonna say it at the top. And then you had it at your number one. I was like, carlos, can you edit that out of the pod so I don't seem, like quite as big of an asshole? Did you do that?
Joe House
Yeah. I don't listen to our podcast.
Bill Simmons
Yeah. I was like, in the room.
Joe House
I'm like, that's so funny. I didn't know that. I don't pay.
Bill Simmons
So should we just make it our shared. Obviously, it's the. The number one.
Joe House
The bad babies who came to the panel, who came to the meet and greet, who, like, made their own bespoke shirts, who, like, wore bee shirts, who came and said hi. Like, just ran up and said hi to us. Do you know? Incredible story. I know you told me that you ran into a bunch of bad babies today, sort of out in the wild.
Bill Simmons
Oh, all. Every hall, every corridor.
Joe House
One of them is the author, Christina Lauren, that I was telling you about. No way. She told later. It came back to me that she said hi to you, but did not Say who she was. So Christina Lauren, who's a very famous romance novelist, I guess is a bad baby, ran into Mallory, said she was a huge fan, but didn't say, I'm Christina Lauren. And then just, like, ran off into the. Scampered off into the mist.
Bill Simmons
Was I nice?
Joe House
I'm sure.
Bill Simmons
Was I charming?
Joe House
She was like. Her hair was so shiny. She has wise eyes. Athena's eyes.
Bill Simmons
Athena's eyes. Oh, man. It was really just such a treat to be here with you, to be here with the gang, to be here with the midnight boys. Pew, pew. Always a blast, the boys. Carlos, Aleya, Arjuna, Helen. Like, the whole squad is here this year. Mariana is here with us.
Joe House
So that's been really fun.
Bill Simmons
That's right. Charlie was here. Charlie was here for, like, a hot second. In and out assassin. The meetup on Thursday night was a joy. A blast. It is, like, so wonderful. On the T shirt front, they mentioned the custom T shirts. Shout out to Wolfgang for the bee's shirt. Yeah, that was amazing. And Wolfgang said, and I'll remember it till the day I die. Which it could be this evening at this rate, Everything Hurts.
Joe House
Could be live on Mike.
Bill Simmons
So I want to get it out there now. Whoa. You think one of us is gonna die on camera one day? I mean, it's definitely gonna be me if that happens.
Joe House
Fingers crossed. Anything for the content, you know.
Bill Simmons
Carlos, would you just keep rolling? Like, if one of us had a rolling event, our card would be.
Joe House
So Carlos gave a thumbs up.
Bill Simmons
Okay.
Joe House
The numbers on that episode, can you imagine? Oh, boy. We topped the charts.
Bill Simmons
The goal is always to be number one.
Joe House
What's the podcast form of a snuff film? Anyway, we will find out one day.
Bill Simmons
Wolfgang said, if I came here in a shirt, you know, about one of the things. Yeah. Like, it shows I'm a fan of the things that you cover.
Joe House
Yeah.
Bill Simmons
But if I come here in this bee's shirt, it shows that I'm a fan of House of R. You.
Joe House
Yeah. And it was like a.
Bill Simmons
It was lovely.
Joe House
It was like a scientific bee's shirt. It was like. Yeah, it was like bees.
Bill Simmons
It was really nice.
Joe House
This is what they look like.
Bill Simmons
The Gods be good dual apple shirt.
Joe House
Right.
Bill Simmons
With the O's and the good. A red apple and a green apple. That was wonderful. I will say in a, I think, statistically improbable fashion, a lot of Team Green, Green Apple people on the ground here in San Diego love San Diego
Joe House
and they love us, so that's annoying. A lot of green apple people were in line. It was great.
Bill Simmons
The panel. We did a Ringerverse panel today with the gang, and that was wonderful. That was a treat.
Joe House
Who hosted that?
Bill Simmons
You did.
Joe House
Wow.
Bill Simmons
Yeah. You did great. You did fantastic.
Joe House
How did you do?
Bill Simmons
Toxic positivity. And then who's winning the year so far? That was a blast. Yeah. We've had a great time with the
Joe House
squad, as ever, as we always are. We were quite anxious. We were like, will five people attend? But the room was full, and that was incredible. And everyone was so lovely. And we will not be. That will not be a live episode. That is a San Diego Comic Con.
Bill Simmons
That's right.
Joe House
Exclusive.
Bill Simmons
So if you want those gems, you gotta be here next year.
Joe House
Fly to San Diego, buy a Comic Con badge, and come to the room. Yeah.
Bill Simmons
Okay. So obviously, that is actually, of course, the highlight. It's just getting to do this together. It is. It's a treat.
Joe House
Yeah. Don't worry. It won't be my number one as well. Just kidding.
Bill Simmons
You want a minute to edit your list? All right, so we're gonna do our countdown as we always do. We'll say a thing, and then if one of us has it higher, we'll wait here. I suspect we'll have a decent amount of overlap, but maybe not.
Joe House
I don't know.
Bill Simmons
You moderated a couple panels. You might have some things on here that.
Joe House
That you didn't even see. I have.
Bill Simmons
I've not even gotten to experience. There are a couple panels that could have potentially made my list that, sadly, I didn't make it down here in time to see. I didn't get to go to the Percy panel or the Avatar panel like I was hoping to early on Thursday. Would those be number one Tide? It's entirely possible. No. You don't think so? As you know, I'm a huge fan of the third Percy Jackson book.
Joe House
Number one. What are some of the other things? I'm looking forward to be honest with ourselves.
Bill Simmons
Let's start with number five.
Joe House
Joanna.
Bill Simmons
Okay. We'll build toward number one. And it's possible at some point, costumes will become a part of the show because we. We got some merch. We got some merch. We got some giveaways today.
Joe House
I didn't.
Bill Simmons
It's gone. What? You don't have it?
Joe House
What. What did I get today? I gave it to the guy in our row who didn't get one. Basically, we were in a row. Okay.
Bill Simmons
At the Hall H panel. What's the podcast thumbnail supposed to be? Now I ask you.
Joe House
At the Hall H panel for Marvel which is not our number five, but here we are talking about it anyway. Unless it was your number five.
Bill Simmons
It's not my number five.
Joe House
Okay. I don't know why you brought it up now anyway, but anyway, I thought
Bill Simmons
it might be your number five or not in your top five potentially.
Joe House
They handed out. I'm sure you've seen it. They handed out do masks with, like, a little green capelet situation with the hood. Right? It was supposed to be one for everyone. Yeah, there were two. Like, by the way, we had been in Hall H for several hours, and there were people who had been in there, like, lined up the night before. Everyone was feral in there. I'm sure the midnight boys talked about it plenty on their podcast. The social contract had broken down. Everyone was stuck starving and tired and smell bad, and it was just like, a lot.
Bill Simmons
Did the guys talk about the bathroom line? They did. I'm sorry. Having to say if you need to take a shit when you line up for the bathroom is in the men.
Joe House
In the men's bathroom, you. There was a urinal line and a stall line. So basically you had to announce whether or not you needed a urinal or a stall in the line for the men's bathroom. It was absolute bedlam in there. Anyway, so they. When the Marvel panel started, or right before, they came around these massive bags. And in a bag, there was a do mask for every single person in the room. Except there were two absolute assholes in our row who took more than one. So by the time the bag got to the end of the row, there were two people at the end of the row who didn't have any. So we turned back to those guys. You were there. You were sitting.
Bill Simmons
There was one guy who took three.
Joe House
Okay. And we were, like, trying to shame him. And he was like, oh, are you sure? We're like, yeah. And he was like, oh, here it is. And so he produced one, but we could not shame him out of the other one that he clearly stole. So I just gave mine to the guy who didn't have it because he clearly cared about it more than I did.
Bill Simmons
What a gemstone you are.
Joe House
I wanted to fight that guy. But the woman who had been there for eight hours was like, please don't start a fight. And I was like, okay, man.
Bill Simmons
Yeah, yeah. Who's this? After you got shushed,
Joe House
when I say people were feral, I guess I was feral. Cause I was like, I wanna fight someone. And I was yammering through the women like women on Women women panel.
Bill Simmons
I was too busy applying Purell and thinking about how the guys had to declare publicly whether they needed to take a dump to participate in any of that.
Joe House
So I was just sitting there like, this is not. This is not my number five.
Bill Simmons
Okay, tell me your number five. It's been. We haven't slept in days.
Joe House
Days. Okay. My number five is. I mean, I don't know. This is just a personal one to me. I sent a photo of this to Sean Fennesee, but there was a giant activation photo opportunity for the film Wildwood. The Leica film.
Bill Simmons
Yeah, yeah, sure.
Joe House
And underneath it had the release date. October 23rd. 2026.
Bill Simmons
Yeah.
Joe House
And so big for you, a person
Bill Simmons
who drafted that in the hype meter.
Joe House
Why are you stepping on my lines? I drafted that two years ago on the hype meter and it got delayed and delayed and delayed has an official release date. I just thought it was really funny that it was out there. I took a photo of it and I sent it to Sean. He was like, we've been waiting so patiently. So Wildwood, just being here and being real.
Bill Simmons
I'm happy for you.
Joe House
I'm happy for you. I'm so excited for that film. I think it's going to be incredible.
Bill Simmons
The Ringerverse family seems hyped. Steve Allman. Can't wait.
Joe House
You've been excited for years, but me more than Steve. First hashtag. First me.
Bill Simmons
Are you. Do you go in the comments of a post that you're excited about and say first?
Joe House
No, I say it into microphones on podcasts in a really unhinged kind of way. I think I still smell like nacho cheese from all age. So, you know.
Bill Simmons
Did you participate in any activations? Did you go through any of them?
Joe House
No. You were with me like 24 7.
Bill Simmons
There were a couple hours that you were out of my line of sight, which is not my. I don't prefer that. You know, I like to have eyes on you at all times.
Joe House
Did you do any activations while I. Ruben.
Bill Simmons
No, we drove past one. You know, we drove past the silo
Joe House
one last night where Common was doing a surprise concert.
Bill Simmons
Yeah, we were in an Uber on the way to a lovely dinner. That was probably the number one, you know, but that's. That's. That's not going to make the list. So.
Joe House
Driving by Common.
Bill Simmons
No, the dinner. All of our dinners this week were great, including the pizza. We had like. Like raccoons in the corner.
Joe House
Obvs. Raccoon is exactly right. I walked in, Alaya was like, please wash your hands. And I said, no.
Bill Simmons
And what Did I say? I said, yeah. I have put Purell on, but I'm gonna go wash my hands anyway. I did it.
Joe House
I just put pizza and then a chicken wing in my face.
Bill Simmons
What do you think of Jimothee on the raccoon front?
Joe House
I have no thoughts. What's your number five?
Bill Simmons
I think Jimothy's amazing. My number five is a tie between Blade Runner and Neuromancer, which feel like things we could talk about together briefly.
Joe House
The Neuromancer trailer was sick and that was a surprise.
Bill Simmons
So the Apple TV panel was a really long one. That was two hours. That was a very meaty, robust glimpse of the slate and celebration of recent releases as well. And maybe mid ish way through. There's Callum Turner not in person, but on the screen. And we got some branding, you know, a logo, a little tagline that said Jack in which I think is risky in the meme era. As I texted, I hit the group chat. Crickets. No, no reply.
Joe House
I might have been asleep.
Bill Simmons
Yeah, it was just some. I'm going. I'm hoping it was just a rough sell reception in there, but it looked great.
Joe House
It looked fantastic. And I will say, I mean, I don't want to yuck your other yum of your number five. I am not like, coming down negatively on Blade Runner. I just thought Blade Runner looked okay and I thought Neuromancer looked what Blade Runner wanted to look like.
Bill Simmons
We saw like maybe 45 total seconds of Neuromancer and there was a whole panel on Blade Runner. So who knows? I mean, it's hard. So we barely got a glimpse of Neuromancer. This is not a book I've ever read. It's obviously a classic and I would love to read it ahead of the release. So that's next year. That's we have one. But though, I mean, boy, next year's.
Joe House
But it was that Apple money, you know what I mean? That that season one of a new show, Apple Money versus, like, Amazon also has a ton of money. But I don't know, I just saw. I just. It felt more polished and exciting, the little bit of Neuromancer that we saw.
Bill Simmons
I'm excited for Blade Runner because I love Blade Runner, both films. I love the first movie, I love the second film. And it's exciting to have more Blade Runner. I'm a little nervous about it. You know, I said this when we did the Hype Meter, but the idea of Blade Runner and everything in this era becoming just, you know, IP fodder to mine and mine and mine. And mine. There's always the risk that something feels like a retread, or did we need this? Or, like, there's a diminishing return on what the core premise gave us in the first place. I hope that's not the case with this. We were introduced a few times over the course of the panel to the term sunshine Noir.
Joe House
Sunshine noir.
Bill Simmons
Sunshine noir.
Joe House
They sort of said it as, like, one word. Sunshine noir.
Bill Simmons
Yeah. So that seems like it's both a visual palette and also a mood.
Joe House
They were saying that the first movie's rainy, the second movie is snowy, and this one is sun, which is not what you think of when you think of Blade Runner. But, like. But, you know, when we. The footage that we saw, it wasn't like, it looked like, you know, sunshine
Bill Simmons
and lollipop, somebody apocalyptic sunshine.
Joe House
But, yeah, it was like there was an orange glow around it.
Bill Simmons
The kind of sun that makes your skin blister off.
Joe House
Like the film Sunshine.
Bill Simmons
Indeed.
Joe House
Yeah.
Bill Simmons
Indeed.
Joe House
Yeah. I'm sure that's what you were referencing. And then I just. Yes. Anded your reference.
Bill Simmons
I'm holding out hope that Blade Runner is good, and I'll remain hopeful until November 25 if given a reason to believe otherwise. And it was fun. We got to hear from Michelle Yeoh. We got to hear from Hunter Schaefer about the characters, about the dynamic. We're already just kind of instantly, like, start to theorize about. Okay. Who's actually a Replicant. That's always fun. So I look forward to Blade Runner. I hope it's good. What's your number four, Joe? I'm guessing neither of those made your top five, then.
Joe House
Correct.
Bill Simmons
Okay.
Joe House
But I thought that Neuromancer look was really exciting. I'm going to say my number four is a panel that I hosted for Neon for the. For the film Hope from director Na. It was at Cannes. It's a sort of, like, monster action comedy thriller for horse girls kind of movie. It's wild. It's about an hour and 40 minutes. I got to see it because I hosted the panel. I got to see it. So I thought the film was like, I just can't stop thinking about it. Like, while I was watching it, I was like, I'm not sure. This is so much movie in this movie, and a lot of, like, strange things happen, and, like, Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander are in it, but they
Bill Simmons
are
Joe House
not in it in a way that you expect. And so I was, like, quite surprised by how they were used in the movie, but I Just thought it was really, really cool. And then, like, the panel was great. And then everyone I talked to, like, the footage that they showed was amazing. There's this, like, incredible sequence with a guy and a horse, and then like, five people in a. In a car, and they're racing down a road, like on a. On a back mountain somewhere. They're racing down a road and then like, a creature is rushing after them and they're trying to get the guy on the horse to get in the car. And everything in this movie, other than the monsters who are like CGI phantasmagorical creatures, was, like, incredibly practically done. So, like, it's, you know, coming off something like the Odyssey. You're just like, seeing. See, you know, they shot these, like, incredible horse chase sequences in the Romanian forests, but there's no, like, place to put your normal camera equipment. So, like, they had, like, camera guys on horseback and camera guys, like, cameras on wires and camera guys on, like, like little motorbikes and stuff like that. And it just all looks, like, so cool and so grounded inside of this, like, wildly fantastical story about monster that are aliens. So I thought that was spoiler or
Bill Simmons
is that just spoiler part of the premise?
Joe House
No, they were saying aliens on the panel, so that was not a spoiler. I did not spoil that.
Bill Simmons
Did. Did any of the characters have to film their scene through a mirror?
Joe House
No, no, no. IMAX cameras were used in the making of this, as far as I know. But it was like, it was pretty cool. And I think people are really going to like it.
Bill Simmons
I'm excited. I remember hearing a brief discussion about this after the can big pick pod and thinking it sounded strange and fascinating and very intriguing.
Joe House
It's interesting because I didn't listen to their Cannes wrap up, but my understanding is that both Amanda and Sean were into it. And I'm like. I'm actually kind of, like, surprised or like, at least intrigued by it.
Bill Simmons
Yeah, I feel like that. I don't want to. I don't want to mischaracterize. Yeah, I feel like there was. They had takes on the cgi, but I can't.
Joe House
Oh, no, the CGI is insane. Yeah, like, the CGI in this movie is insane, but I don't think it's trying to be anything realistic. So it doesn't bother me if it's like alien monsters and you're like, that looks like cg. I mean, what is it supposed to look like? You know, Rocky, perhaps?
Bill Simmons
What was your last year we got to see Rocky's little fingers Remember that?
Joe House
I do remember. What's your number four?
Bill Simmons
My number four is it's about Widow's Bay, but it's sort of using Widow's Bay as a way into the idea of really palpable instant euphoria and fandom. Because we love Widow's Bay. Right. You and Rob covered it every week, and we're having, like, the time of your lives talking about it, Group chat after group chat at the Ringer, fired up every week talking about the latest episode. It was definitely the show this year that, like, the most colleagues and people were texting about in real time and having the most fun, enjoying. A lot of my friends were watching it and loving it. But you still like. And then, you know, obviously, the. The overall kind of just the praise on the Internet, the slew of Emmy nominations. There's still something different about being here on the ground in Comic Con and hearing people scream in the room for something that is so new because so much of Comic Con. And this is on the other end of the spectrum, obviously. Part of the really cool, joyous thing about being here is seeing people celebrate things they've loved their entire lives. Right. Like seeing. And we've. We've had a couple interact this week with various folks who are like, I am here with my kid, and I started bringing my kid when he was 6, and now he's 21, and we're still doing it. Right. And so the idea of spending, like,
Joe House
all the Spaceballs cosplay I saw during the Spaceballs day, which was yesterday, and those are, you know, those are fans who have been fans of Spaceballs for decades, and it was just, like, really cool. Yeah.
Bill Simmons
And so seeing, like, either your continued journey with a story for a really long stretch of time or maybe introducing Comic Con or universe to somebody, that feels like a really kind of entrenched, elemental aspect of the DNA of this experience. Widows be just aired like, it just wrapped a few weeks ago. And, you know, we went to the showrunners on showrunning panel, got to see our pal Damon Lindelof, friend of the pod, crush it. And Katie Dippold, showrunner of Widow's Bay, and Craig Daniels, and they were all talking about their various experiences. But when the Widow's Bay anything about season two being on the horizon, but just the discussion of season one, there was such a palpable kind of spark of excitement in the room. And then today at the Apple panel, you know, I'm sure plenty of people who haven't actually seen something like cheer in the room and There was definitely a guy right behind me was like, what's this show about? But the. How many people have seen Widows Bay, who loves Widow's Bay? There was a raucous kind of celebration. A lot of people just, like, across the week were bringing up Widow's Bay, talking about Widow's Bay, asking if people had seen Widow's Bay. And so that just felt like a really fun thing to see something introduced to into the center stage of this 2026 Comic Con. Really instantly feeling like it was part of the. Not just the nerdverse, but like, the cultural conversation en masse and like, something people are going to look forward to tracking the mythology of and theorizing over and, like, knowing that for however many seasons it runs, people will be, like, engaging with it. At Comic Con, we saw somebody dressed up as Patricia.
Joe House
I saw. I saw a couple Patricia's in their headdresses over the weekend.
Bill Simmons
So that just happens so fast. It's really awesome.
Joe House
I also. Okay, we ran into Kingston Rumi Southwick, who's a young actor on the show, in the elevator in our hotel last night. And he was just like. He and his mom were just, like, incredibly sweet and just, like, really, like, he was so excited. And he got out of the elevator before his mom did, and she's like, he just turned 18. You know, like, he's at Comic Con. He went up on Hall H stage today and he just turned 18. I think we're just about to. And, like, this is the moment for him.
Bill Simmons
It's awesome.
Joe House
It was great.
Bill Simmons
Yeah. Yeah. It's very exciting when something feels like. It's like. Because we've been talking a lot recently, recently about how monoculture is gone. And that's true. There are just these, like, smaller pockets of fandom. But when something really animates a lot of conversation and excitement inside of one of those pockets, it's magical. So it's really cool to see that happening For Widows Bay right now. It's just a delight. What's your number three?
Joe House
My number three, I'm gonna pick. It's really difficult to choose, but I'm gonna pick the Rings of Power panel that we went to, which I. I mean, like, all three of the things at the top are, like, really splashy. But I think the thing about the other two that we'll talk about when we get there is, like, part of what Comic Con is, is it's a celebration of fandom, as you mentioned, but it's also just like a marketing opportunity. You know, it's a Way to get us, like, excited about something. And I was already really excited for the Rings of Power, so I don't know that, like, that panel did anything to, like, dramatically alter my mind. I was just sort of like, here's a show I was really excited for. Anyway, we're both kind of bummed that they're doing, like, a weird, janky binge drop for it, you know? So that's. That's part of the information that we learned. But, like, Ben Walker, who's. Who's an actor in the cast, moderated the panel. He was fantastic. They did, like, a fun little flashy. Like, they had their version of the Black Riders basically, like, come out in, like, red smoky lights, and they were very scary, and that was, like, some fun, spectacular stuff. And then this interview will run later, but we had Patrick and JD in the studio this morning to talk about Rings of Power, and that was absolutely fantastic. Patrick and JD Talking to us way surpasses the panel for me in general. So I would say that whole thing is three, but I'm reserving the top two for things that really move the needle for me in terms of my anticipation. So that's higher Rings of Powers there.
Bill Simmons
Exciting. I have that higher on my list. My number three is definitely one of your top two based on that framing. My number three is. But it was hard to order one, two, and three. It really was. My number three is Lanterns, which. I mean, the panel was great. The panel was super fun. We got to see far and away the most footage.
Joe House
Very footage heavy. Yeah. Any.
Bill Simmons
Any panel that was very clip heavy, but in a smart way, got to show us different characters, different dynamics, different elements of the show. Getting to be. It's a shock to me in real time not to have. Getting to be in the same room as Kyle Chandler. Not number one on my list, but ever so slightly edged out. These are really 1A, 1B, 1C. The new trailer, the full trailer that they released was just dynamite. This was, I think, the closest we had this. Actually, there were a couple of things in the Marvel panel that gave us this energy as well. But when we were at the Project Hail Mary panel with Van last year, and the moments where he was just like, oh, you could feel the excitement mounting in real time. That was just the first glimpse that started, and then it just built and built and built, and he was so hyped the whole time, and we got to sit with the whole squad for that one. So that was really fun. You know, the show, I'm really excited to cover it I hope it's good. I feel like we have a much harder time with the DCHBO shows, anticipating what the level of engagement is going to be, like week to week. You know, sometimes it's a real surprise and we get something like Penguin, and there's just not only a lot of quality, but really a lot to talk about every week. And I really hope that people are into lanterns and that it's like a fun, fun little invigorating post Supergirl return to form. Yeah, because we were all, you know, we were having a moment of, oh, D.C. is like, maybe about to kick Marvel in the ass here moment for a while, and then that air really came out of the balloon with Supergirl, I think.
Joe House
I just think we make these proclamations way too quickly.
Bill Simmons
Yeah, that's cool. Well, we're podcasting. Okay. So what's the warrior to do?
Joe House
We're just like, superman was good.
Bill Simmons
Superman was good.
Joe House
DC's on top.
Bill Simmons
You know, Penguin was good. First season of Peacemaker was good, not the second one. And, you know, Supergirl was just dreadful.
Joe House
That was very bad.
Bill Simmons
That was upsetting. Shout Out Crypto, though still on my mind and in my heart now and always. Lanterns. This looks dope. So hopefully it's wonderful. Do you have that at two or you have it at one?
Joe House
Lantern's my number two because. And I think it was the most effective panel in terms of reversing my expectations about something because I had been a little down on lanterns just because of some behind the scenes stuff that I had heard. But I really liked all of the footage that they played. I thought it was really fantastic. And you had been sort of making the counter argument to me of Kyle Chandler in a wax trucker. What more can you want? Insanely hot.
Bill Simmons
That's all I need.
Joe House
I need a little more than that. But what I didn't account for was just the how strong the ashok's Coach Taylor charm was gonna work on me. And I should have known that. But he's leaning on all the way into that. And the show is like the. The trailer that we saw, which starts with him, like, tossing a bucket of water, basically, like a melted ice bucket on. On Aaron Pierre's character. And, like, I was like, oh, it's Matt Saracen in the shower. And then they had. They dropped a line about like, you're the backup quarterback. And I was like, oh, they're just like, leaning into Friday Night Lights. And that works on me. So I'm excited for that. So, like, I'm excited they're you know, there's a lot of people in that cast I'm excited about, but, like, the Kyle Chandler getting to, like, be a. Like a more dickish version of Coach Taylor, plus all of the, like, sort of the celebrity stuff that he's doing is really, really enticing to me. So they just. So what they did in that panel, even though I thought it was terribly moderated, but what they did in that panel with, like, all the footage they selected, was really effectively sell me on a show that I was very skeptical of.
Bill Simmons
So, yeah, I think that the just charisma bomb that Kyle Chandler is. The dynamic between the Hal Jordan character and the Jon Stewart character feels like such a rich text right away. I think that they're positioning and this has been there since really the first trailer certainly was very present. In the second trailer, I think, you know, the different paths to the ring. Right. Hal having this more traditional. I've been chosen. John. Training and working and interviewing, and which of those paths is a more virtuous and noble one? The idea of, like, are you my trainee or are you my replacement? It just feels like a really smart premise to orient a show around. And they're great together. They just seem, like wonderful together. So that's when you have a core duo that's going to carry the show. Yeah, there's. You could get away with a lot of other things. How the other aspects of the plot and cast, like, are ultimately able to measure up to maybe what they are bringing on that chemistry front, well, we'll have to see.
Joe House
Yeah, I'm still a little worried because I've heard from a couple people who've watched Screeners. I haven't watched Screeners, that it's like the phrase, Taylor Sheridan was thrown out a couple times. And that's just like.
Bill Simmons
But to me, that's praise, but that's
Joe House
just not for me. And so I'm just hoping this other aspect will be enough to carry me through perhaps a part of the show that is not for me.
Bill Simmons
I think there's definitely a little of the Taylor Sheridan in terms of, like, you know, small town, not Texas or Montana, but Nebraska in this case. And that cowboy energy, you know, people on horses, et cetera, that's definitely there. I think there is also, as, you know, people were talking about with the original trailer, like, a little bit of the true detective energy. There's the investigation. They're hitting a couple of those different beats. But there's also the Green Lantern's comic energy, and that was really fun to see showcased in the new trailer that
Joe House
we got and the clips seeing Sinestro there.
Bill Simmons
Yeah, Sinestro. The different uses of the ring and getting a glimpse of. Of Hal in the suit. Yeah. I'll be curious to see what the balance is over a full eight episode season of that more, you know, lore driven, comic book y mythology centric aspect of Lanterns and the Guardians, et cetera, and how much of it is rooted in investigating a crime in small town USA and how those two things marry together. My hope is that if the core dynamic is compelling enough, the alchemy kind of clicks into place. So we'll see. I easily could have had Lanterns as number one. I'm really hyped for it. We're only a few weeks away from that, which is pretty wild. So my number two is Rings of Power. So we just basically flipped that. No surprise there that we have the same number one. I think the Rings of Power season three trailer looks great. We were so hyped. It was fun to watch the trailer for the first time together in person next to each other and get to, you know, squeeze each other's arms when we saw some yearning tendrils between Galadriel and Celeborn.
Joe House
Galadriel.
Bill Simmons
Is Galadriel here. That was also just a joy. I mean, probably should be number one. Just because we had the opportunity to literally say to each other, is Galadriel not here?
Joe House
Right. Cause the dress was not on the panel.
Bill Simmons
Yeah, that was fun. And I, you know, as we've talked about many times in the pod, we're just, I think, such genuine admirers of the thought and care that JD and Patrick put into the adaptation and the way they talk about the world and the story. So it was really fun to hear them talk about it. And the cast seemed, I don't know, like, they seemed really happy and excited and the production, this show has seemed from the first second so, like, hard and in so many ways. Like they've all had so much to deal with and so much like negative inbound energy coming their way. And so there was a part of me that was just like, I don't know, kind of emotional and moved to see them getting to celebrate the thing they make in a forum, like Hall H. And I was, like, happy for them and excited for them, and it looks good, which is important. Obviously a very Sauron centric season, which is thrilling, you know, only like a brief glimpse of my boyfriend, my husband Elendil in the trailer. So I've got a note or two about that, but I'll be Patient.
Joe House
But you got excited because they re showed the trailer, and every time you saw him, you were like, there he is.
Bill Simmons
Very brief, unbelievably handsome, incredibly hot. We learned that Simon Pegg is voicing a Balrog. We have questions. Who talks? And that's just. That's an incredible sentence. And I'm delighted.
Joe House
It was a mad. It was a Mad Libs that we never thought we would say. Simon Pegg is voicing the Balrog. Was that also the Rings of Power?
Bill Simmons
Because obviously, there was a lot of, you know, there's a lot of Mount Doom talk. There's a lot of, you know, volcano, fiery inferno talk. This, I believe the term fiery inferno was invoked. I turned to you and I went, you know, like. And I was kind of just like, like, like our day. But that's not what you thought. I knew your hand was, like, quite
Joe House
low, and you were like, this fiery inferno. And I was like, is that what you were calling your lady garden? I suppose.
Bill Simmons
And it wasn't. But it will be now.
Joe House
I guess so.
Bill Simmons
It will be now and then. Yeah. You know, getting to sit at this very table with Patrick and JD and talk to them for just a few minutes about this adaptation and the show that they make that we love. And, you know, I don't know. That was just really wonderful to get to meet them in person. We've chatted with them a couple times on the pod via Zoom through a computer screen. And so it was fun. It was fun to get to meet in person.
Joe House
And they're both really just lovely than me. And that is.
Bill Simmons
They're very tall, and they're lovely. They're angels, and they're just so thoughtful and bright. So that was really a blast. It would be number one. Lanterns would be number one. They duke it out for number one. This is a Marvel panel in Hall H. I think it's hard not to have that at the top of the list, even though there are some things to maybe discuss inside of it.
Joe House
Well, so it was certainly like the blockbuster event of the weekend.
Bill Simmons
No question.
Joe House
There's a lot of people who, you know, we have the advantage when we come to Comic Con of having, like, press passes for certain things we didn't for the Marvel panel. But if you have it for other. Anyway, it's a long story, but, like, there are people who had to sleep out, you know, and in a way that they haven't at Comic Con in a really long time. Because in. In days of yore at Comic Con, there would be like, yes, the Marvel panel, but there will also be, like, a massive DC Films panel. Or, like, you know, there would be, like, you know, there was, like, a big Hunger Games sort of moment or like a Warner Brothers Harry Potter moment. You know, there would be, like, other big things. But this was, like, by far and away, the biggest game in town this weekend. Like, there was nothing else competing with it. And so it becomes this sort of, like, scarcity mentality. Right. So it's not just that people are excited that Marvel's back at Hall H, because when they were here two years ago, they announced Robert Downey Jr. It's like, this is gonna make the Comic Con weekend feel like a big event. Marvel always puts on a show. So there's this almost. Yeah, this, like, scarcity mentality of, like, it became like, you had to get in to the Marvel panel, or you're like, why did I even come here at all? With love and respect to the people who didn't get in. And we saw them outside, and it was, like, horrible.
Bill Simmons
Yeah. Felt.
Joe House
But again, we were scrapping for seats and stuff like that. And so there are things that were announced that I'm very excited about, but there are also things that, for example, they led with, we're re releasing Endgame into the theaters, and we're about to
Bill Simmons
show you Endgame Encore, and we're about
Joe House
to show you a trailer for it. And I just leaned over a van and I said, reheated nachos. It's just like, footage of an old movie. And the crowd went wild for it. And here's what's even wilder. And I'm sorry, we'll get to the stuff that I liked, but, like, I think it's insane. And I know that Feige has posted this in theater footage before, but I think it is insane for a movie studio that's trying to get people to come to the movie theaters to use pirated footage from inside of a movie theater to promo Come to the IMAX to see Endgame Encore. They use that, like, very famous footage of, like, it's actually not the Hammer moment. It's the on your left moment. I think there were, like, a couple viral Endgame, but they, like, used footage taken on someone's cell phone from inside the theater as a trailer for Come to the IMAX to see Endgame Encore. I think that's insane. So that was like. There were a lot of things that I was just sort of like, I'm not sure about this, but Marvel always puts on a spectacle. This was your first experience with Marvel In Hall H. Yes. So tell me what it was like for you and what, like, thrilled you
Bill Simmons
about it Quickly on the Endgame encore front before we shift to the more positive section. I mean, after you said the reheated nachos thing, I did turn to you and I said, I'll be there.
Joe House
I know.
Bill Simmons
So I guess I have to concede that it worked a little bit. But I admire the hustle and the chutzpah when Feige's like, yeah. You know, when we put out Endgame in the first place, we basically couldn't really do a trailer. The trailer just had a little, you know, it was a mood. And so this is really our first chance to get to make an Endgame trailer master spin job to justify all of that.
Joe House
Indeed. And they're like, you can see this one on imax. You can't say.
Bill Simmons
You can't say. But even that they flash the IMAX so fast before going to the Infinity Vision, which was pretty funny, like you said. That kind of kicked things off. And so we didn't know yet if we would see anything else that looked like. Looked good or exciting or what the overall reception in the room would be. And so I had this thought in real time that it felt to me,
Joe House
like,
Bill Simmons
very risky in a. Okay, I have, like, a micro penis. Let's watch porn to get you in the mood. And here's like, a shit. Oh, remember Endgame? Yeah.
Joe House
Remember how much you loved Endgame? You guys are screaming in the theater for it. I'm gonna show you footage of that.
Bill Simmons
It's like, are you achieving the thing that you think you're achieving by reminds? Showing people what else they can have? I don't know. Anyway, do you remember we were.
Joe House
We were interviewed earlier today, and the guy who interviewed us told us he had his dick shield up. I'm gonna start using that.
Bill Simmons
Dick shield up was great.
Joe House
Dick shields up. I could not on your micro penis analogy at 9 o' clock at night on the last day of San Diego Comic Con.
Bill Simmons
Love and respect to anyone with micropiness. It's just, you know, dick shield up a small. Why did that.
Joe House
Because you made a dick joke. When don't you. Right.
Bill Simmons
God, you can't take me anywhere.
Joe House
We literally just met him. All right, so they served us reheated nachos, and then what do they do?
Bill Simmons
Oh, God. So, yes, this was my first. My first Marvel Hall H ever. And you know what? I was excited, and I was getting very scared and anxious that we weren't gonna be able to go And I would've been really sad not to have the experience. So now I feel like I have undergone some sort of nerd rite of passage by being in Hall H for a Marvel panel. It was fun. I felt incredibly fortunate that I got to end up sitting with you and van. Our beloved Jess Clemons was somehow ended up in the same row with us. So that was a real treat. So that was really fun.
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Bill Simmons
We had a few things to talk about that we saw there. Ghost Rider,
Joe House
the.
Bill Simmons
I mean, the iconic knit polo that Jon Berenthal was wearing, but also the Spider Man.
Joe House
Brand new day footage. But honestly, I actually, if you're like, Joanna, name your top three things from the Marvel panel.
Bill Simmons
Yeah. The fit.
Joe House
It's number three. The Spider Man. Brand new day footage that we saw. Yeah. Which we can talk about. Number two, Kelsey Grammer walked really, really close to me. Like, right by me.
Bill Simmons
Yeah.
Joe House
Kelsey Grammar is a person I don't care for, but Frasier is very important to me. And last night at dinner, I was talking about Kelsey Grammer being here.
Bill Simmons
Yeah.
Joe House
And then so he walked right by me. And then Jon Bernthal's outfit, it looked. He. That was the best fit of the entire con. He looked incredible. He's wearing, yeah. Like a knit polo and some, like, tucked in. Tucked in some wide leg Pants and he was wearing. And it was like very, you know, it was like very superhero. You know, it was like a deep maroon and a blue. It was like very superhero colors, but like elevated. And he's got like the long hair right now. And you did scream out Wayne Jenkins in a way, in the way that no one around us had any idea what you were talking about.
Bill Simmons
Someone had to. And Chris Ryan wasn't here. So I stepped up and from the very back of Holly shouted wayne Jenkins. Let's talk quickly about Ghost Rider. Let's talk about the little Spidey glimpse. Of course, we'll talk about the Black Panther news and we will talk about Doomsday. Ghost Rider hyped.
Joe House
Tell me about your hype.
Bill Simmons
So we very recently did talked about Ghost Rider when we covered the Punisher special. Right. I think, and did our list of what would make a great one hour Marvel Spotlight. And I think I. Cause I threw that out as a nomination. I think I conceded in real time. Obviously they're gonna do this as a movie, but that would be maybe a fun way to like bring the character back into or into the mcu, into this incarnation of Marvel and then we can do a movie after. You know, I'm not going to complain about a Ryan Gosling Ghost Rider movie. People in the room were incredibly hyped. They were screaming, they were going nuts. When the Ghost Rider logo popped up on the screen, Van was like, let's go. Yeah, he was hyped. So seems like people are excited, which is fun. When people are excited about Marvel properties, that's great. That's increasingly rare. So I look forward to that. We learned nothing about the movie other than that Gosling is the star. Shawn Levy is directing it.
Joe House
That's it.
Bill Simmons
That's all we got. And we got a 2028 release date, so we know it's coming post Secret Wars. Yeah.
Joe House
I hope it's good. Feels soon. Yeah. And you were like, but what phase are we in? But what phase is this? And I was like, I don't think we're doing phases anymore, baby. I think that's over.
Bill Simmons
It's wild that we're so close to
Joe House
the end of that.
Bill Simmons
But I mean, probably, probably welcome news.
Joe House
I could be wrong.
Bill Simmons
Spidey. So Berndhal came out. He and Feige did a little bit. You know, they did a little over theater, but we've rehearsed this many times kind of thing. It was like, person next to me was like, do you think they've rehearsed? I think they have they have.
Joe House
Oh, sweet, sweet summer child.
Bill Simmons
And that clip, that Spider man clip. Fucking ruled.
Joe House
It ripped.
Bill Simmons
That was so good.
Joe House
It was Spidey and the Punisher fighting the Hulk.
Bill Simmons
Incredible stuff.
Joe House
And then there's like, one of those, like, clear splash page moments. And, you know, like, I'm not like, the oldest school, like, comic book nerd you've ever met, but, like, you know when you hear people who have been reading these since they were like, tiny, tiny children, and they're like. To see Hulk and Spidey and Punisher sort of like, in this, like, holy trinity sort of pose fight moment.
Bill Simmons
Yeah, that was awesome.
Joe House
It looked like, like, to those people, they're like, it's like seeing God. And I'm just like. Even I was like, this is sick. Like, it was really cool. And they're like. And the. The banter between Holland and Bernthal was really fun and, like, delightful. We don't know what's going on with Hulk in that scene, and we'll find out. But, like, we're right on the verge of seeing Spider Man.
Bill Simmons
I mean, we're mere days away, which is.
Joe House
We're gonna see it very soon. But, like, that, that footage was awesome.
Bill Simmons
The scene was incredible. I, I. The bad babies. No, you know, I, I love. I love Berndahl's Frank Castle and been excited since the first glimpse to see him in this context, which is quite distinct from his typical. I'm blowing every head in sight off of every body inside with the spray bullets, but he was firing a machine gun.
Joe House
There were, like, at least 100 bullets.
Bill Simmons
There were quite a few bullets. Yeah. That was a surprise. But, yeah, I think even when he was, you know, very prominently featured in one of the trailers, we still had the question of, like, how much is he actually in. How much is he actually in this movie?
Joe House
This made me think he's, like, in the movie. Was it this or was it the Hot Ones where Holland and Bernthal did it together?
Bill Simmons
So we haven't talked about this yet. Thanks for bringing this up.
Joe House
Yeah. Puke, shields up.
Bill Simmons
Puke, shields up. Dick, shields up. Hopefully they're still up. Puke shield's up. Tom Holland puked on Hot Ones. That's like, that's not a thing that really happens, but you. It feels like it should happen all the time.
Joe House
Absolutely.
Bill Simmons
Maybe it does. But he's the only one who was, like, brave. Yeah. You don't have to cut that out. I don't mind. This will be a big Internet moment. How. How far would you get on Hot Ones? I tried to post this to the group at our team dinner the other night.
Joe House
Oh, well, we went to, like, a delicious team dinner that Alia picked at an incredible restaurant in San Diego.
Bill Simmons
If anybody listening to the this or watching this has the chance to be guided through a meal by Aleyah one day,
Joe House
the confidence with which she ordered two of everything on the menu was
Bill Simmons
two of everything and then sometimes three more of everything.
Joe House
It was amazing. The dinner was incredible. One of the best meals of my life. But I was eating what I thought was a fairly spicy.
Bill Simmons
Yeah.
Joe House
Dish, and I was at the table, and I was. I got pretty toasted. So I'm going to say not far on ones. I'm going to say I'll be out right at the jump. Everyone laughed at me.
Bill Simmons
First wing, right at the jump. There were, like, what are those called?
Joe House
Bird's eye chilies on that.
Bill Simmons
You're too. You're on that pork chop.
Joe House
Come on.
Bill Simmons
You're way too stubborn to go out on wing number one. As a matter of principle. You wouldn't allow.
Joe House
I actually think my lips would betray me first because they get, like, chapped. Almost, like they can get chapped really easily. And I feel like the burning of the hot wing would just sort of.
Bill Simmons
All right, I've got an idea for you.
Joe House
What's that?
Bill Simmons
You told me once that you had a mango and it made your lips really numb. Have a mango first, but, like, numb
Joe House
in a disturbing way. Okay. Anyway, we're off topic. Let's get back on topic.
Bill Simmons
Spidey. We can't wait. And it comes out next week, and it's gonna be great. They didn't. There was no. This movie's about to come out. We're gonna tell you something massive.
Joe House
No, that's not a thing. We learned. Nothing new.
Bill Simmons
No, but it looks great. We're excited.
Joe House
Great clip. Great fit.
Bill Simmons
It was a great fit. Should we talk next about the Black Panther news and hit Doomsday last?
Joe House
I'd like to go back in time and rewrite my top three moments, because, honestly, David Johnson being cast is my number one. It was incredible, emotional, and, like, it's really fun. They do this, like. They do this fun, coy thing where they, like, try to. You know, they're like, sometimes filmmakers leave Marvel and come back, and sometimes they've earned Oscars. And you're like, okay, Ryan Coogler's coming out. So Ryan Coogler comes out. Or like, you know, Ryan Gosling is here. He's playing Johnny Blaze or whatever. He's like. And another film that he did recently with Starfighter. And we're like, oh, Shawn Levy's directing this. You know, like, he's about to bring Shawn Levy out. You know, they're like, laying breadcrumbs and we in the audience get to guess what's coming next or whatever.
Bill Simmons
Yeah.
Joe House
But, yeah, then they were like, alien Romulus.
Bill Simmons
Yes.
Joe House
They did not say industry.
Bill Simmons
No industry is in the press release, thankfully.
Joe House
Okay. Thank God. But, yeah, they were like, made it long. Alien Romulus. And we're like, david Johnson. Are you kidding? And then David Johnson came out. It was really exciting. He's so good. He's such a cool pick. It's obviously, like. It's obvious that he's been lifting. Yeah. Like, he's known for a little while, and he's playing t' Challa junior So. Which is what they're calling him in the press release. So there you go.
Bill Simmons
Right. So t' Challa son.
Joe House
Yes.
Bill Simmons
So some amount of time.
Joe House
I have a lot of questions, because David Johnson's not like, yeah, we'll pass.
Bill Simmons
Teenager fictional universe. Will that be. We were talking about this with Van after the panel. Will that be triggered by the events
Joe House
to come and some sort of secret wars. Yeah. Timey wimey thing. Because it doesn't. It does not line up well. Who's to say?
Bill Simmons
Who's to say?
Joe House
Who's to say? But it would have to be. How old is he in Black Panther 2?
Bill Simmons
I mean, very young. Very.
Joe House
No, I know, but, like, so would it. It would be, like, over 20 years. Yes.
Bill Simmons
Yeah.
Joe House
And that would be wild if that's happening. So there has to be some sort of time shenanigans going on.
Bill Simmons
Timey wimey, I would guess. Timey wimey. So first of all, Black Panther 3.
Joe House
Oh, yeah. Black Panther 3 is happening.
Bill Simmons
Officially happening. Announced. We got the logo. We got a date. So that's also coming out in 2028, so not that far away, which is exciting. Coogler, honestly, could not be cooler. Pulls out a film strip from his pocket.
Joe House
Yeah.
Bill Simmons
To say that he's making it on film, that it's going to be a large format, you know, see it in theaters. That was awesome.
Joe House
That was way better than. We're putting Endgame back in imax. Ryan Coogler bringing out the celluloid strip.
Bill Simmons
That would have been incredible, frankly, at any point in time, it's a particularly rich and potent moment to do that because everybody is so high on going to see the Odyssey in theaters.
Joe House
Well, not just the Odyssey, but like, yes.
Bill Simmons
Files announcement.
Joe House
But like when he did Sinners last year and he did like all of those sort of like, this is what. This format, you know, his whole, like, basically TED Talk presentation on the various film. Yeah. So for him to bring out some celluloid was incre. And it was very like, this is for the film, bros. You know what I mean? Because it's sort of like we're putting it in large format and we got David Johnson, who's like a young actor that like, you know, the film snobs amongst us are like, he's Dick Shields
Bill Simmons
up for CR and Fantasy tonight, you know, with this news.
Joe House
I guess. So I don't think you should be allowed to.
Bill Simmons
Maybe we'll retire it.
Joe House
I think we're going to leave it out to use it and you don't.
Bill Simmons
Okay, fair enough. I love David Johnson. This is like you said, let her box. Hive rise. Take Shields up. That's not what that means. Can mean anything you want it to mean.
Joe House
Absolutely not. Absolutely not. He used it to mean something very specific, which is, you're making a dick joke. I don't really like it. Dick shields up. You know what I mean?
Bill Simmons
He was amazingly good in Alien Romulus. Just sensational and like a very tender and nuanced and empathetic performance. He's, you know, incredibly sarcastic and raw and almost like acidically witty and superior in industry. So, you know, he's given us so much already in his performances. And he was. He was so. It was, you know, only a moment on stage after he was introduced, but he was.
Joe House
He was tasked with coming out and sort of like. Like making sure that everyone understood that they were, like, really trying to honor.
Bill Simmons
Yes, he was very sincere and grateful for the opportunity. So it was just really cool. It was really cool to be in the room. It was just a lovely moment. Yeah, I would say maybe less emotional, but also a thing that happened in the room. Bunch of big, big satchels, like a, you know, Santa Claus bag passed around and everybody got the aforementioned doom gear.
Joe House
Some people got three, I guess.
Bill Simmons
Now some people have zero, and let's hit doomsday. So a couple things happen, some of which were really fun and exciting, some of which were just, frankly, super weird. I thought the doomsday experience was kind of a, like a bit of a balance. Some. Some. Some. Oh, yeah, let's go. And some who thought this was a good idea.
Joe House
So we were in the back.
Bill Simmons
We were in the back and multiple members of the cast were revealed as though they were in Clara and the Sun. I mean, this Is like a clam window.
Joe House
A classic car showroom sort of situation.
Bill Simmons
Curtains peel back.
Joe House
Yeah.
Bill Simmons
And they're just standing there for us to. To gawk at them. And it was like, oh, you're in the back, but you get to be really close to the stars. This is cool. And guess what? Everyone went crazy. And it was fun.
Joe House
It was cool.
Bill Simmons
Pulled out our cameras, were taking pictures, taking videos. It was neat.
Joe House
And then Kelsey.
Bill Simmons
Yeah. But then they just stayed there.
Joe House
Yeah. While Downey was, like, doing some bits. And they just had to, like, stand there on there. There was an X Men stage and Avengers stage. Kind of our. I guess. Not arbitrary. I don't know. It was, like an odd division of. Of people. But they. But, yeah, they just had to stand there and sort of smile. And there was, like, very minimal security around them. I was like, is. Is someone gonna protect these people? They're right. They're just standing right there.
Bill Simmons
Yeah.
Joe House
No one. No one attacked them. They were too busy stealing Doom masks. But, yeah. And then Downey comes out and does his Downey shit. The Downey shit did not work for me at all.
Bill Simmons
You didn't like it? I was having a blast.
Joe House
This did not work for me.
Bill Simmons
He is now. I still.
Joe House
And until.
Bill Simmons
Unless and until we see the movie and it is fantastic, I will continue to say that this is, like, potentially one of the most nakedly craven decisions and creatively bankrupt decisions in the history of Hollywood. I think Danny will be great as Doom. That's not really the question. The question of whether there's no new way to make a good Marvel movie is the question. But I'm sure he'll be entertaining. The fact that he is so tuned in and attuned to the assignment and that he is so elevated and hyped and hamming it up to the, like, order of magnitude that can't even be quantified, I find kind of compelling. Like, he's just, like. He loves the shtick, and he knows what the people in the room want, and he's happy to give it to them. So that was. That was fun for me to get to experience in person for the first time. I found that to be actually pretty entertaining.
Joe House
I thought it was really funny that he, like, started to do the accent and then sort of, like, backed off the accent where he was like, maybe I don't want to do it live.
Bill Simmons
Actually, I loved it.
Joe House
Okay, great.
Bill Simmons
I loved it.
Joe House
Great.
Bill Simmons
You know what?
Joe House
We didn't love that Chris Evans was there and didn't speak one word.
Bill Simmons
So a hand. Everybody eventually Got to go up on stage and we should say there were four. There were a ton of people. It was like 16 main cast members or something like that. There were definitely fewer members of the Doomsday cast there than were, like, rumored to be there. It was not every single one of those.
Joe House
It was supposed to be like every single person or like at least 30 people or something like that. But it was just sort of like a smattering.
Bill Simmons
Yes.
Joe House
Like Florence Pugh wasn't there. There were like some major people who were not there.
Bill Simmons
Yeah, for sure.
Joe House
You know,
Bill Simmons
a handful of very prominent primary figures were brought out on stage initially before everybody else got to walk up and through. Pedro Pascal was definitely most prominently featured other than Downey. And we'll talk about the glimpse of the film we saw in a second. But it was incredibly fantastic 4 centric in a way that canonically obviously makes sense given the character ties to Doom. So Pedro, Reed Richards, right there. He didn't like, really. He wasn't leading and basically emceeing this stretch of the event like Downey was. But he was in every camera shot, right? He was.
Joe House
Well, he was just right over Downey's shoulder. So every time the camera's on Downey, Pedro is just, like, right there as well.
Bill Simmons
Yeah. Chris Evans was one of the people who was called out. He literally did not.
Joe House
He had a microphone. He did not talk, talk. Not a single question was asked of him. Hayley Atwell got to say something. Mackie did not get to say anything. Anthony Mackie did not get to say anything. It was like, basically, Paul Rudd, Downey,
Bill Simmons
Pedro, possibly Ryan Reynolds.
Joe House
I actually think it was. I don't know. We're still trying to figure out whether or not that actually was Ryan Reynolds in the. In the suit. Allegedly. He's posted. I don't know. I'm too sleep deprived to really get to the bottom of it and I don't want to, like, say the wrong thing.
Bill Simmons
We need your forensic analysis of.
Joe House
I couldn't find the source photo. It could be AI, but it's. It seems like maybe Ryan Reynolds was here, despite the fact that I guess he told Apple he couldn't be here for their panel. But, yeah, he's here for the Marvel panel, maybe. So, yeah, that was fun.
Bill Simmons
You know, it was a very entertaining little, amusing little Deadpool bit. It's really weird to have Chris Evans.
Joe House
Steve Rogers was just like, there on
Bill Simmons
stage, not having an audience at all.
Joe House
Like, no one talks to him at all. It was very strange. Bizarre.
Bill Simmons
Bizarre.
Joe House
We got to see a New trip to San Diego.
Bill Simmons
It's lovely here. It's lovely here. I hope he got to have dinner with Aleyah and enjoy one of the most beautiful meals of his life.
Joe House
Okay.
Bill Simmons
We got to see a new bit of footage.
Joe House
Yeah.
Bill Simmons
A new.
Joe House
Better. Way better than the trailer that they've released.
Bill Simmons
It's not even close. Yes.
Joe House
I'm not saying I thought it looked great. Yeah.
Bill Simmons
You weren't like, we're back.
Joe House
No.
Bill Simmons
I would not say your face was giving me we're back. After he saw Van and I were like, ah. And you were like, guys, chill.
Joe House
I think the way that they tried to, like, bring a human emotional connection between Reed and Doom and just sort of like, this is a relationship. Yeah. It seemed like they were trying to do, like, a little bit of, like, a Civil War thing or whatever, but without having done the groundwork of, like, Tony and Steve have been in other movies together.
Bill Simmons
Here's my take. I think that there is a version of Doomsday that is actually just. I mean, it's obviously not going to be this, to be clear, but just the first Doom movie in the MCU that could be a really good movie. And this trailer felt like that. Obviously, we still got glimpses of various X Men and other characters. It wasn't like it was exclusively sue and Reid and Johnny, but something that is ultimately more focused around a handful of characters who have a really unified story and a dynamic, and then the other characters being brought into fight the threat might be a path to achieving a coherent, cogent film. The trailer we got last week was not that it was. We are going to give you a ladleful and then another ladleful and another ladle full of your nostalgia.
Joe House
Right. And you're like, I'm full. And they're like, too bad. Here's more.
Bill Simmons
Just, they want us to be Vinticus Men. And Cersei's on.
Joe House
They're like, you love Magneto. Who's Magneto?
Bill Simmons
I do love Magneto. I do love Magneto.
Joe House
Yeah. No, I thought that there's a moment in the footage that they showed us where Doom sort of just like, flicks Thor away like he's a fly. That's effective storytelling. That's something that they love to do. They're like, look, you think this guy is big and strong. This is what Thanos can do to him or whatever. This is what Doom can do to him. And then he raises the sentinels. And that was. That was very cool.
Bill Simmons
Yeah. And even just seeing him lounging on the throne, the. The aura that he was exuding. That made me hyped.
Joe House
I just don't think they're beating the. Like this looks like it was shot in the shitty volume allegations. You know what I mean?
Bill Simmons
Nor will you hear me claim that they are.
Joe House
Thor and Victor are like fighting on like a, you know, foggy, soupy sort of netherworld space. And so that's still, I think, looks bad to me visually.
Bill Simmons
Looked horrible.
Joe House
Thank you. Okay. The mood,
Bill Simmons
the attitude that Downey was giving us in the kind of lounge and the posture made me excited to see his version of doom. Honestly, that was the most excited I had felt to see his version of doom. Yeah. So. And even this was actually just because I need glasses. But when I. They showed the poster and I thought at the end it said doomed. And I was like, sick tagline. I realized it just said doomsday and I just can't see. So that stuff.
Joe House
But you should call Marvel doomed.
Bill Simmons
That was fucking sick.
Joe House
Hashtag doomed. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Bill Simmons
But I just. I just need to go to the eye doctor.
Joe House
So. Yeah, they put that countdown clock back up. It was up there.
Bill Simmons
They did, yeah. The heart palpitations, when I see that four month thing are again, less about. Boy, that's really soon. To talk about doomsday and more. Where has this year gone? I don't get it. I just don't get it. But we get to see.
Joe House
Here's the three that's. I'm not worried about doomsday right now because I can't think that far ahead. Spider Man's right around the corner. I'm excited for that. Vision's right around the corner. I'm excited for that.
Bill Simmons
Let me ask you this. Not to end on a sour note, but what did you make of the like, but we're not here to talk about TV kind of thing.
Joe House
I thought it was less that and more just sort of like. Because I think they are gonna do some TV stuff at D23, which is very soon. And so they're just sort of like, this is a Marvel movie. They started with like the comics, you know, passing of the torch at Marvel Comics. You know what I mean? And that really surprised me. It's like you've been waiting 12 hours. We're about to do some admin and talk about who's in charge of Marvel. Marvel Comics. This is so funny. Feige was like, we would not be here without the comics. And I'm like, pay those writers then if you're going to make that claim. Kevin Feige. Anyway, it's my Number one. Because you can't deny the pageantry of having James Marsden walk that close to you inside of Hall H. Yeah.
Bill Simmons
Or David Harper or David Harbour. Taste Mayberry.
Joe House
And you can't. And just sort of the experience of all these nerds who waited.
Bill Simmons
It was great.
Joe House
A day or eight hours. Or in our case it was like over three hours that we were inside there. Just sort of like crammed in there. Trying to. Trying to make it. And so light work compared to whatever the other hours everyone else is putting into it. But, like, then everyone just screams because they're like, we've waited all day or all weekend or all year for this. And that's lovely to be a part of.
Bill Simmons
It was cool. So many people put on their doom masks and their little cloaks.
Joe House
Most people did. Most.
Bill Simmons
Not us. We were really far back. So I don't think we would have.
Joe House
You could have if you wanted to.
Bill Simmons
It's too sweaty.
Joe House
Okay. Yeah.
Bill Simmons
But I will.
Joe House
Because I'm a very good person and wasn't allowed to start a fight. So, you know.
Bill Simmons
All right. So Marvel somehow still at the top. My God. Unbelievable.
Joe House
Somehow Robert Downey Jr. Returned.
Bill Simmons
There you go. Learn from the best. Learn from Palpy himself. What a treat to be back here this year. San Diego Comic Con. Will we be back in what year's next year? 2027. What do you think?
Joe House
That is way too soon to do. Sor.
Bill Simmons
Deepen in.
Joe House
It is way too soon to make that choice. As again. I can still smell the nacho cheese in my clothing.
Bill Simmons
Thank you to all of the Bhad Bhabies, all of the midnight riders who came to the meetup, who came to the panel who just said hi around the convention center around San Diego. It was so wonderful. Wales. Vagina.
Joe House
No.
Bill Simmons
Okay. Little Ron Burgundy. Little Anchorman.
Joe House
I don't like Anchorman. Let's end on a positive.
Bill Simmons
I don't like Anchorman. The first one.
Joe House
Yes.
Bill Simmons
I'm astounded and appalled that this is not only the end of this episode. It might be the end of something deeper.
Joe House
Oh. Our friendship. We also went to Liz Stat panel. But that was.
Bill Simmons
That's right.
Joe House
That was also a little bit overheated. Nachos.
Bill Simmons
But that was fun. I actually attended the Walking Dead panel as well. Which was interesting. But.
Joe House
Yeah.
Bill Simmons
Queen of the Damned. That was thrilling.
Joe House
Yeah.
Bill Simmons
What else did we see?
Joe House
I was just trying to end on an up note. And not me shitting Anchorman.
Bill Simmons
A classic.
Joe House
Hating on a movie that everyone else in the world loves. Listen. We all have our taste. Yeah.
Bill Simmons
We got to see Sam Reed, you know, singing in a vest. Footage of him. Not a to be clear, but that was great. All right, maybe we'll see you in San Diego next year. We'll definitely see you on the feed very soon. Talk to Thrones the House of Our Deep dive on House of the Dragon Spider Man Brand new day pod coming in just a few days as well. So follow House of R on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, Ringerverse, YouTube channel, HouseOfArpod or Outhouse of Our Pod.
Joe House
Don't encourage it, which is thriving.
Bill Simmons
Lot of new posts on there.
Joe House
Don't follow Outhouse of R. Thank you so much to everyone, especially the folks
Bill Simmons
who are here in the room with us. Thank you to our wonderful team, incredible
Joe House
work from them and we'll see you soon. Bye.
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Joe House
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Podcast: House of R (The Ringer)
Date: July 26, 2026
Hosts: Mallory Rubin and Joanna Robinson
Episode Theme: Mallory and Joanna are live from San Diego Comic-Con, counting down their Top 5 highlights from the convention, recapping major reveals, memorable fan moments, and the irrepressible energy of nerd culture’s biggest event.
Mallory and Joanna are back on the ground at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 for an annual deep-dive into their favorite moments. The episode is a joyful, candid recounting—equal parts celebration of fandom, affectionate ribbing, and signature House of R enthusiasm—as they (mostly) stick to their predetermined "top 5" highlights, while sharing memorable stories from panels, surprise reveals, fan interactions, and a peek behind the convention curtain.
This episode is a riotous, affectionate window into the Comic-Con experience from two superfans and expert media analysts. It combines exclusive reveals with a focus on what makes Comic-Con special: spontaneous community, the line between marketing event and genuine joy, and the real emotional high of loving stories and sharing them together. For fans of House of R (and Comic-Con), the episode is a love letter to the culture and chaos of fandom’s “big game,” packed with inside jokes, passionate advocacy, and a palpable sense of fun.