Karl and Tonya take a look at the 2023 movie M3gan, a sci-fi horror movie which plays on the tropes of fear of artificial intelligence and uncanny valley. A technology toy creator pairs her new project, an A.I. android named Megan with her niece who recently lost her parents to a car accident. As you can imagine, things go wrong. With similarities to Annabelle and Chucky, Megan (2023) is a modern horror movie take on immerging technology.

After many years, I’m happy to say we have got Mark Waid as a guest. And what better subject to discuss, fresh off his new book Dark Crisis - Big Bang, than the concept of continuity and the multiverse. Why has the idea of multiple worlds become so popular in the last decade or so, when it was something often thought as troublesome years earlier? We discuss how omnipresent it is now, in comics, movies and more. We also talk about the original Crisis in 1985, including Mark editing an issue of Amazing Heroes all about the post-Crisis landscape at DC following the series. There’s also talk about Hypertime and other attempts DC made to try and “simplify” continuity over the years and how things are going the other way now. There’s also a deep-dive on things like The Super Sons, The Inferior Five, Cancelled Comics Cavalcade and more. We also discuss Mark’s current books at DC, including Batman-Superman World’s Finest, Batman vs Robin and the upcoming Shazam (don’t call him Captain Marvel). 

One of the most critically acclaimed episodes of the highly acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series cartoon was that of The Grey Ghost! The Grey Ghost was voiced by the Batman (1966) actor Adam West and The Grey Ghost was sort of an amalgamation of the character Batman's inspiration of The Shadow. A crime spree in Gotham is reminiscent of an episode of The Grey Ghost TV show, yet, the series has been lost to time and Batman seeks out the man who played the Grey Ghost for help. The series also speaks to a lot of tropes about collector culture in the early 1990s. A great episode!

After an eleventh-hour topic change, in honor of the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania movie, we look at the convoluted continuity of Kang the Conqueror, which sort of starts before his first appearance. Or does it? Let's discuss Kang, Rama Tut, the Scarlet Centurion, Immortus, Doctor Doom, Nathaniel Richards, Ravonna, the Council of Cross Time Kangs, the TIme Variance Authority, Mobius M. Mobius and ... Merlin the Magician? Is this one character biography or four? Or is it five? Let's try and figure this one out without once using the word multiverse. (Although, this is a great companion to our recent pod with Mark Waid discussing continuity in comics.)

Karl introduces Tonya to Rocky 4. Is it East verses West or man against man? The Burning Heart of Rocky Balboa goes after the stoic Russian Ivan Drago to avenge Apollo Creed in this mid-1980s pop culture classic which also gave us "Living in America" by James Brown. It also gave us iconic training in the snow scenes, "If he dies, he dies", and not one but TWO hit Survivor songs. Go get 'em Rocky! Ugh, I feel good!

Our retro movie review today takes a look back at Rocky III from 1982, one of the most important pop culture movies of the decade. This movie introduces the world to Mr. T as Clubber Lang against Rocky Balbo (Sylvester Stallone) with an appearance by a pre-WWE champion Hulk Hogan. This movie gave us Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, Mr. T, the elements of the Rock and Wrestling movement that would launch the pro wrestling boom of the 1980s, and much more. A great movie with a lot of impact. I predict... pain.

The guys are back and trying to ease into a regular schedule again. Mike is (still) on the mend and Joseph is mending the still, and after going in search of a fun topic for this episode they've come up with a banger; Unexplained phenomena! That's right - Bigfoot, aliens, the Bermuda Triangle, and more. Step aside Leonard Nimoy, the UBW Research Team is on the case! But before all of that, there's a little house keeping and catching up to do with some brief talk about recent movies and TV shows. It's time for some retro pop-culture nostalgia, the UBW podcast way!

It's the rematch of the century! World heavyweight champion Apollo Creed seeks to avenge his near defeat to Rocky Balbo. However, Adrian, Rocky's wife, does not want him to fight again fearing the loss of his eyesight and further injury. She's also pregnant with their child. Will Rocky fight Creed? Who will win the rematch? Join Karl as he reviews the fantastic sequel Rocky II (1979)! Getting Strong Now! Fighting Hard Now!

It's another Friday the 13th so it's time for our When It Was Cool review of the next installment in the series and this time it's in 3D! This installment is terrible. Friday the 13th Part 3 is the worst of the lot so far, saved only because Jason gets his iconic hockey mask in this movie which will follow him through the rest of the series.

Happy Friday the 13th! As is now tradition at When It Was Cool we present to you a review of a Friday the 13th movie. This is the second one from 1981 and as far as story line progression goes, the sole survivor from Part 1 dies quickly in part 2 in a storyline that makes no sense. Jason upgrades from barefaced disfigurement to a pillowcase over his head. We fast forward 5 years where he shows up and murders campers, although the movie just forgets two of them and we have no idea what their fate is. And a girl wears a sweater. It's Friday the 13th Part 2!