Listen to two comedians try to catch up with the MCU on ‘Newcomers: Marvel, with Nicole Byer and Lauren Lapkus’
You know when your friend wants you start watching some show or franchise that’s just way too long for you to feel like you could possibly catch up? Like Game of Thrones or How I Met Your Mother (yes, we know they ended, but they are both objectively too long) or, hey, the Marvel franchise! Nicole Byer and Lauren Lapkus certainly get it. But they are determined to not let the sheer number of episodes or films in franchises get them down. For years, they’ve been hosting their podcast “Newcomers” where they’ve watched everything from every Fast and Furious movie to Tyler Perry’s entire body of work. Now, they’re taking on their biggest challenge yet with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
There are over 70 episodes of “Newcomers” in which Nicole, Lauren, and many guests have watched as much Star Wars as they could, The Lord of the Rings, and the aforementioned Tyler Perry and Vin Diesel cinematic achievements. Episodes are typically 75 minutes long and should presumably be listened to in order.
The entire Marvel franchise is certainly the biggest bite this duo has yet to take. As they tell us in the first episode of this series, there are technically 27 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Nicole and Lauren negotiated with their producers, so they’ll only be watching 20 of those movies. Which movies? We don’t know! Not the Tobey Maguire nor the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man much to their chagrin!
Nicole and Lauren have actually not watched many Marvel movies, combined having only watched Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Ant Man, and the newest Spider-Man. So they are in for a trip. Luckily, joining them for this first episode is Preeti Chhibber who is a Marvel expert, writer, and speaker. She keeps them not only on track but in the know for all things Iron Man.
Also, there are spoilers galore throughout this podcast, which doesn’t really matter since this film has been out since 2008. Get with it.
For this first installment of the MCU, Nicole and Lauren begin to learn what the MCU is all about. Namely, the staple weird Marvel humor, Robert Downey Jr.’s somewhat creepy 2008 facial hair, and a few glaring plot holes. They found Tony Stark’s and Pepper Pott’s relationship to be rather odd, Obadiah Stane’s reverse-engineered Iron Man suit to be way too big, and the whole war crime overtones to be a lot.
Throughout this episode, the trio hilariously represents the three main perspectives on Marvel and their lengthy plan to connect every single movie they ever make. Preeti loves Marvel although not necessarily this first Iron Man film, Nicole could not dislike this film more, and Lauren provides the pleasant neutrality of someone just trying to figure out the plot. They learn about the controversy of ownership for all of these characters and why the television show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t canon with Samuel L. Jackson and Nick Fury’s S.H.I.E.L.D. We don’t get it either.
No matter how you feel about Marvel, this “Newcomers” season is well worth a listen. Nicole and Lauren truly work to understand and even enjoy this franchise with the help of their incredible guests. Also, their parodied Avengers theme music is so fun! Be sure to check it out if you’re on the hunt for a podcast (or film franchise) to binge.
Discover
