Ep. 2011 - The Odyssey Is Set Up For DISASTER After Supergirl Bombs

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Michael Knowles Show

Ep. 2011 – The Odyssey Is Set Up For DISASTER After Supergirl Bombs

Host: Michael Knowles (The Daily Wire)
Date: July 8, 2026

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Overview

In this episode, Michael Knowles reflects on the recent box office failure of "Supergirl" and discusses the broader trend of Hollywood projects flopping in the wake of “woke” casting, storytelling, and diversity mandates. He specifically speculates about Christopher Nolan's upcoming, heavily reimagined adaptation of "The Odyssey" and asks whether it, too, is headed for disaster. The latter half of the episode features Knowles reacting to select segments from the comedy podcast "Kill Tony," providing live commentary and entertainment critique.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Hollywood’s “Woke” Bombs: Supergirl & Beyond

• Supergirl’s Massive Losses

  • “Supergirl is officially Hollywood’s latest bomb. It’s a really big box office bomb. It’s probably going to lose $100 million, maybe up to $125 million.” [03:19]

• Why Supergirl Failed

  • Knowles dismisses the idea that lead actress Millie Alcock is to blame:
    • “I don’t think the reason Supergirl bombed is chiefly because of Millie Alcock… I think Supergirl bombed because the film itself is super lib and woke. I mean, just the premise… really undermines the Superman story.” [04:23]
  • Supergirl vs Superman Mythology:
    • “Superman is Jesus. …When you introduce Supergirl, you really start to undercut the Christian imagery and the analogy.” [05:09]
  • Hollywood Formula:
    • “It’s just when you do that [replace male heroes and white characters with female and POC characters in all franchises], it’s really tedious and the audiences don’t want it anymore.” [06:43]

• Wider Trend of Box Office Woes

  • Refers to recent Disney and Marvel failures (“Wish,” “The Marvels”), suggesting they bombed due to audience fatigue with diversity quotas and “girl power” storytelling.
  • “What people hate is what South Park said about Kathleen Kennedy, which is that they make it gay and put a chick in it.” [09:35]

Speculation on “The Odyssey”

• Concerns about Christopher Nolan’s Adaptation
  • “People are worried about Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey movie… Lupita Nyong’o, lovely actress though she is, very talented… She’s not Helen of Troy. And Ellen Page is not a guy… people just find that all very, very tedious.” [07:24]
  • Fear of More Woke Storytelling
    • The trailer is analyzed for evidence of continued diversity- and gender-focused retellings, despite shifting audience preferences.

Hollywood’s Fix: “One Weird Trick”

• Knowles’ “simple” solution:
  • “Hollywood could still do all their stupid dead franchises… They just need to let men play characters that should be men and let white people be in the movies to a reasonable degree. And if they just did that… they could have it all. It’s just this one weird thing and they won’t do it.” [11:40]
• New Ideas vs Rehashes
  • Praises indie films with original stories, e.g., “Obsession” (presumably referencing a recent hit horror film), as proof audiences will reward novelty.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Supergirl’s premise:
  • “What makes the Superman story so great… is that Superman is Jesus. …When you introduce Supergirl, you really start to undercut the Christian imagery…” [05:09]
• On recent Hollywood trends:
  • “When every single movie is just a chick instead of a guy, especially in a hero’s story… it’s really tedious and the audiences don’t want it anymore.” [06:43]
• On Hollywood’s “easy fix”:
  • “Just eliminate even the most basic aspects of wokeism, which died in the public’s mind 3–4 years ago… It’s just this one weird thing and they won’t do it.” [11:45]
• On the Marvels:
  • “The Marvels is the worst-performing Marvel movie ever. It lost over $200 million at the box office. …It’s all the worst features of the Marvel universe turned up to 11 and compounded all together.” [05:42]
• On franchise fatigue:
  • “Star Wars? They could have let the lion rest in 1983, but they won’t. They don’t have a lot of new ideas.” [10:35]

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Analysis of "Kill Tony" Comedy Clips

[From 13:09 onward]

• Knowles provides live critique of several amateur and professional comedians performing at Austin’s “Kill Tony” podcast.
  • On Tony Hinchcliffe:
    • “The first time I ever saw Tony Hinchcliffe was at the Trump MSG rally. …He totally killed. …It ended up causing an international scandal because he joked about Puerto Rico being filthy.” [12:43]
  • Puerto Rico Joke:
    • [13:09] “There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah, I think it’s called Puerto Rico.” – Kill Tony Comedian
    • Knowles: “The way he said it was funnier. Anyway, he went totally viral for it. They tried to cancel him…” [13:19]
  • Best-Received Stand-up Clip:
    • [15:08] (On two gay men arguing)
      • “But the punchline was so strong. What a great bit. Two gay guys have an argument. It made too much sense, you know?” [15:08]
  • On “Preservatives” Joke:
    • [16:00] “The only really funny joke was the preservatives. That was pretty funny… One point out of ten.” [17:06]
  • General Commentary:
    • Frequently comments on comedians' nerves, delivery, and comedic persona.
    • “Looking can work in comedy. The clearest version of that was Rodney Dangerfield… It worked. It still seemed like he was totally in control, whereas that guy just was too nervous…” [17:07]
  • Personal “Dad Jokes” Finale:
    • Knowles wraps up with a classic pun: “That’s a joke about the French philosopher Rene Descartes. But if I had told you that part first, I would have been putting Descartes before the horse.” [22:30]

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Timestamps for Noteworthy Segments

• Supergirl's Bomb and Wokeness in Hollywood: [00:16] – [11:45]
• “The Odyssey” Reimagining Concerns: [06:44] – [09:33]
• Hollywood’s “Easy Fix” for Box Office Success: [10:15] – [11:45]
• Kill Tony Comedy Clips - Reaction & Commentary: [13:09] – [22:30]
• Notable Quotes and Audience Takeaways:
  • Woke storytelling backlash [05:09], [06:43], [11:45]
  • Dad joke segment [22:30]

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Overall Tone & Takeaways

• Knowles largely employs a sarcastic, sometimes biting tone while discussing Hollywood’s recent failures and perceived unwillingness to adjust course regarding diversity and gender swapping in legacy franchises.
• The episode’s second half is lighter, with a more playful, observational tone as Knowles reacts to comedy podcast segments, demonstrating his taste in humor and penchant for puns.

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Useful For:
Listeners wanting a sharp critique of Hollywood’s recent box office bombs, a conservative take on cultural trends in film, and a sample of modern stand-up comedy culture—with both earnest critiques and doses of dry humor from the host.

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Transcript

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[Michael Knowles]

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[Mr. Davies]

I think because she doesn't live inside the binary of what we think a woman should be, that that is what makes her so special and so exciting and so new.

[Michael Knowles]

Can I say, can I just say, I hate to agree with Mr. Davies. By the standards of Hollywood, that's not that bad. It's annoying. It's kind of liberal. It's a little. It's like, ah, whatever. But it's not. That's not that bad. Compared to like Rachel Ziegler, who played Sand Beige. It was in that live action of Snow White. But given the DEI casting We call it sand beige. Compared to that, this woman is totally normal. So I don't think that the reason Supergirl bombed is chiefly because of Millie Alcock. She didn't help, but I don't think she's the reason. I think Supergirl bombed because the film itself is super lib and woke. I mean, just the premise of Supergirl as a character really undermines the Superman story. What makes the Superman story so great and resonate for people is that Superman is Jesus. You know, it's funny, I don't know anything about Superman. And that's like the one thing I know about Superman is that Superman is supposed to be a version of Jesus. Do you remember even in the Superman movie that came out 20 years ago, one point, he's floating. You can't tell if he's dead or not. He's in outer space and he's floating as a cross. You know, it's a little bit on the nose. He's sent to save the earth from the heavens. He's the sun who comes to. Anyway, when you introduce Supergirl, you really start to undercut the Christian imagery and the analogy. So you got that right there and then. It's this whole thing about girl power. Think about the biggest box office bomb in the last 10 years. Biggest bomb is the Marvels. The Marvels is the worst performing Marvel movie ever. It lost over $200 million at the box office. And the Marvels is just a bunch of chicks. It's all the worst features of the Marvel universe turned up to 11 and compounded all together. But what are the other big box office bombs? Even beyond the superhero movies was Wish, Disney's Wish, which I also didn't see, but just looked up the description of it. Disney's Wish is about a 17 year old teenage girl of color on site. And look, I'm not like, I love 17 year old women of color. And I know that's gonna sound really weird and someone's gonna clip that out. I'm just saying I'm not. I don't have anything against any of those demographics. But when every single movie is just a chick instead of a guy, especially in a hero's story, it's like a chick playing a guy, but it's a chick. And the white people have gone extinct. This is the new Toy Story because the franchise is kind of old. All the toys are white. They couldn't get rid of them. But all the people are just not white. There aren't any. And it's like every person who should be a Boy is a girl. And it's just when you do that, it's really tedious and the audiences don't want it anymore. This is why people are worried about Christopher Nolan's Odyssey movie. Christopher Nolan is a great filmmaker and I hope it's good. But Lupita Nyong', o, lovely actress though. She is. Very talented actress. She's not Helen of Troy. She's not Helen of Troy. And Ellen Page is not a guy. You know, she's just not a guy. It was reported that she was playing Achilles. I guess she's not playing Achilles. Any case, she's not a guy. And so people just find that all very, very tedious. I think they've just released the final trailer for the Odyssey. So we have. You know, some of the reporting is changing day by day on exactly what this movie's about.

[Kill Tony Host]

Here.

[Michael Knowles]

Here is everything we know. Little snippet from the Odyssey trailer.

[Kill Tony Comedian 1]

I could take this room. They're not giving up power to you or Odysseus. Do you think life goes back to the way it was? That world is gone. If he returned, he'd have to kill him like you will.

[Michael Knowles]

You gods don't speak in ways we understand. We are afraid.

[Kill Tony Comedian 1]

Who doesn't understand pain of blood? The gods told you then.

[Michael Knowles]

I defy the gods. Okay. Movies take a little while to make. So you think, okay, maybe this is the hangover of peak wokeness, which is 2022, 2023. But we're past that now. You know, movies generally don't take four years to make, so they keep insisting upon this. And that is what turns people off in a way. I wish that we could blame the decline in the box office just on the genres. I hate the superhero movies. I'm so sick of them. It's the only thing Hollywood wanted to make. But the superhero movies still do very well. The biggest grossing films of the last 10 years are the superhero. They still perform well. What people hate is what south park said about Kathleen Kennedy, which is that they make it gay and put a chick in it. So even if you look at the Star wars sequels, you see a just constant, very serious decline movie to movie in the box office. From the second movie to the first, down 36%. From the third movie to the second, you're down 19%. So they keep. They keep declining. Okay, what is the answer to that? Hollywood has it so easy. Hollywood could still make the kinds of movies that it wants. It could still make the superhero movies. It could still even resuscitate the corpse of Star wars, which they should have let lion rest after like 1983, but they won't. They don't have a lot of new ideas. On the rare occasions that there are new ideas not coming out of Hollywood but coming out of independent movies, like the horror movie, was it Obsession? Which was great. It was a terrific little movie. Those do really, really well. That is dollar for dollar, basically the highest performing movie ever. But Hollywood could still do all their stupid Dead franchises. They could still have all the lazy writing. They just need to let men play characters that should be men and let white people be in the movies to a reasonable degree. And if they just did that, if they just eliminated even the most basic aspects of wokeism, which died in the public's mind three, four years ago, they could have it all. They could have it all. It's just this one weird thing and they won't do it. There's a lot more to say first though. Go to helixsleep.com knowles do you want to perform at the highest level? Then you cannot ignore sleep. The data are clear. The logic is simple. Bad sleep means slower thinking, worse decisions and less output. Not acceptable. Not for you, not for your family, not for your work. Helix is built for people who take that seriously. Helix offers over 20 mattress models. You take a quick quiz, you get matched to the perfect mattress for you. I have multiple Helix mattresses in my home. I'm such a good father. I've gotten them for my boys who are out of the crib. And then I don't mean to brag. Well, I guess I do. I mean to boast. Because Helix is that good. I love it so much. I just ordered another Helix mattress. I just ordered another one for my guest room. That's how nice I'm being to my guests. A beautiful Helix King mattress. But you can get it for your sleep position, your temperature, your firmness preference, all of it free 120 night sleep trial. Happy with Helix guarantee makes it totally risk free. It's the most awarded mattress brand out there. It's phenomenal. Just as good as it gets right now. You can get 20% off site wide on Helix mattresses. 25% off Luxe mattresses, 30% off Elite mattresses. Helixsleep.com knowles 20% off site wide, 25% off Lux, 30% off Elite. Get it? Today one of the biggest shows in the country is Kill Tony with Tony Hinchcliffe. And I saw Tony Hinchcliffe live because he opened up for the Trump rally at MSG and I thought he was hilarious. It ended up causing an international scandal because he joked about Puerto Rico being filthy. But I thought his set was great. So anyway, the producers for this beautiful Fourth of July week wanted to give me a palate cleanser of good entertainment. I hope good entertainment from Kill Tony. And I will bring to bear all of my entertainment analytical capabilities to go through point by point. And you know what they always say, the best way to improve a joke is to explain it. We will go through all of them. Take it away. The first time I ever saw Tony Hinchcliffe was at the Trump MSG rally. It was actually the only Trump rally I've ever been to. And I was expecting the usual kind of speeches, whatever, and Tony Hinchcliffe gets on stage. I wasn't totally familiar with him at the time, and he totally killed. Totally. It was really funny. And it was in the early hours of the rally, so there weren't even a ton of people there. And he was telling very funny jokes. And I think he called Puerto Rico a garbage pile or something.

[Kill Tony Comedian 2]

There's a lot going on. I don't know if you guys know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah, I think it's called Puerto Rico.

[Michael Knowles]

The way he said it was funnier. Anyway, he went totally viral for it. They tried to cancel him for it. And this got me tuned in to Kill Tony, which I think is one of the biggest podcasts in the world. Right. One thing I really respect is that it's not just a bunch of pros and stuff that he like. Everyone's gotta wait in line and it's random and it's a lot of amateurs and they can either totally flop or. Anyway, so I haven't watched a ton of it, but I'm very pro. Tony Hinchcliffe. So the producers are Kill Tony pilling me with the very best clips. Take it away.

[Kill Tony Host]

Hello, Austin. How are we? Amazing. I went to the cafe yesterday, sitting there, and then I overheard a couple having an argument. You know when you hear that sweet nectar of life. You know when you, like, pause your own music. And they're going at it, and then I look who the couple is. It's two gay guys going at. It was crazy. They, like, both made sense. Everybody stayed on one topic. Nobody was bringing up old. Just two logical, superior brains trying to find a solution.

[Kill Tony Comedian 3]

Thank you very much.

[Kill Tony Comedian 1]

Thank you.

[Kill Tony Comedian 4]

Wow. Great.

[Michael Knowles]

Okay. It started out slow. I didn't know if the accent was a put on. Maybe it is, I don't know, but. And Then, I don't know, it just wasn't doing it for me. But the punchline was so strong. What a great. What a great bit. Two gay guys have an argument. It made too much sense, you know? Okay, that's.

[Kill Tony Comedian 1]

Yeah.

[Kill Tony Comedian 2]

All right.

[Michael Knowles]

It was good.

[Kill Tony Comedian 4]

It was good.

[Michael Knowles]

I like it. He landed it. He landed the plane, folks.

[Kill Tony Comedian 5]

Thank you. My son just came out as trans. Well, shouldn't call him my son anymore now that he's dead to me. They got them on puberty blockers, or as pedophiles call them, preservatives.

[Michael Knowles]

Miracle medicine.

[Kill Tony Comedian 5]

The other day at my job, I was explaining puberty blockers to one of the midgets. I work in a circus.

[Kill Tony Comedian 1]

And.

[Kill Tony Comedian 5]

He goes, there's people choosing to do this. Calm down, Tyrion, you bigot. You there. Sir, let me ask you. What do you call a little person with adhd? That's right. A fidget. Good answer. Speaking of little people, I want to switch topics to school shootings, the ultimate puberty blocker. And you know, these shootings are often done by the same race. So I'm looking at you, honkies. White kids need to learn from their black classmates and save the shootings for after school. For them, it's an extracurricular activity. Okay, thank you.

[Kill Tony Comedian 4]

Yeah, Okay.

[Michael Knowles]

I mean, the only really funny joke was the preservatives. That was pretty funny. I can't tell. Some of it was just that he's too nervous and was like, being eccentric. Looking can work in comedy. The clearest version of that was Rodney Dangerfield.

[Kill Tony Comedian 3]

Yes, it is.

[Michael Knowles]

Who just kind of had his eyes popping out and he kind of moved around like this. And it worked. It still seemed like he was totally in control, whereas that guy just was too nervous. And he obviously wasn't in control. And it wasn't all landing. Enough of this will make you invincible and eviscerate your enemies. So he gets, like, one point out of 10 because the preservatives joke is pretty funny. But the rest of it was kind of flat. There's a lot more to say first, though. Go to tokovis.com knowles K N O W L E S People will spend a tremendous amount of time thinking about what shirt to wear, what jacket to wear, what watch to wear. Then they will completely overlook the thing that grounds the whole outfit, the thing that you might be wearing every single day. The shoes, maybe the boots. That is one of many reasons I've become such a big fan of Tokovas. It's hard for me to pull off true handcrafted western boots. The best boots you can buy. Even those. It's hard for me to pull them off, though I do. To COVAs are the only ones that I will wear. But Tokova's also has great shoes. Their kind of slipper loafer is so great. I get so many compliments on it. It's one of the comfortable shoes I have ever worn. It's probably the most comfortable shoe that I wear today. But all their stuff is great. I even have. I'm just gonna pull out my wallet. I even have this. Tokova's wallet. I was having lunch with a prelate of the Catholic Church, and amid this whole conversation about theology, whatever, he just looks at, he goes, michael, where'd you get that wallet? I want that wallet. To Covis. They got you covered head to toe. And wallet right now. Get 10% off tokovas.com knowleskinewles when you sign up for emails and texts, 10% off. T E C-O-V-A-S.com knowles to covus.com knowles CSI for details. To Covis. Point your toes west. Okay, next one.

[Kill Tony Comedian 4]

So people tell me all the time that I have chicken legs. Like, it's a choice, but how else am I supposed to attract black women? There's one black lady right now that can't take her eyes off them, and she's on the keyboard.

[Michael Knowles]

Why are they all laughing so much? Was that funny? I didn't think that was that funny. You couldn't get it again. It's like the black people like chicken. Okay, that's fine. That's like an okay joke. But I don't know. It didn't do that much for me. I'm still on the high of the two men arguing. It was too rational. But that didn't do a lot for me. Next one.

[Kill Tony Comedian 3]

I'm from Turkey. It's not a happy place. You know, the state motto is, if you're happy and you know it, give it back right now. It doesn't look good, but I was there for two years. Like, I lived in LA for a long time, then I moved back there, and then I came back here, and I, like, in this time, I realized how to make America great again. Actually, what you do is you go live in Turkey for two years, and then you come back and it's spectacular again.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah, it's kind of funny. Sort of, you know, Dry Foreigner. It's a trope. Okay, that's fine.

[Kill Tony Comedian 6]

I got fired from Chick Fil A. Apparently, ladies didn't like the way it was saying my Pleasure. You know, I've never been able to coast on the way I look, you know, I was never that hot, but I'm interesting, you know, I can make girls think. I make girls think stuff like, hey, is that guy following me? One time, this girl getting into my car for a date, she agreed to. First thing she said was, just so you know, I have pepper spray in my purse. It's like, just so you know, you shouldn't tell me where it is.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah, that's pretty good. Is that Rich Voss? Was that Rich Voss there on the end?

[Kill Tony Comedian 6]

Wow.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah. Anyway, that was a funny bit. He's got the character down. The set didn't totally land, but I just find the characters kind of funny. That's great. So the whole show is just that. Should I go do it? I could tell my killer jokes. A horse walks into a bar and the bartender says, would you like a beer? And the horse says, I think not. Poof. He vanishes. Now, you see, that's a joke about the French philosopher Rene Descartes. But if I had told you that part first, I would have been putting Descartes before the horse. Why do bagels. Why do seagulls fly over the sea? Because if they flew over the bay, they would be bagels. See you next time.

[Kill Tony Producer/Technician]

Can you do the close again? Just say see you next time on your.

[Michael Knowles]

That's great content.

[Kill Tony Producer/Technician]

Guys, can you just give me a. Because I was talking over program. I'm not sure if the audio split or not.

[Michael Knowles]

That show's actually pretty funny.

[Kill Tony Producer/Technician]

Can you just. Can you just do it straight face? See you next time.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah, what's up? You talked over program when I didn't hear you at all. I didn't hear you until you popped in at the end there. See you next time. All right, that's it. That's our show. I will be back with you tomorrow, piping in from the outer realm, and then I'll be back in studio on Monday. I'm Michael Knowles. This is the Michael Knowles Show. See you then.