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In season 2 episode 19 of Champion Casters, Michael and Joe ponder the likelihood of a heaven while watching Kristen Bell play Eleanor in The Good Place. The Good Place ran for 4 seasons and we'll be discussing Eleanor across all of them. Yes, we will be discussing the other characters, but we decided to focus on Eleanor since she can kind of function as the protagonist. We also decided to talk about the character who eats the most shrimp and, of course, it had to be her.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/championcasters/message

Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me, but I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed. In season 2 episode 18 of Champion Casters, Michael and Joe analyze not a Champion, but an All-Star: Shrek! Yes, the big green ogre is up for debate. How deep is this character? Is it just a bitter diss on Disney, or is there a significant meaning or lesson learned from this series. Michael and Joe revisited Shrek 2 as the pinnacle of this series. Surprisingly enough, when we waded into the swamp we found something of worth.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/championcasters/message

Danny Phantom has had it coming for a while. In season 2, episode 17 of Champion Casters, Michael and Joe go ghost and talk about one of their favorite zillenial shows, Danny Phantom. Imagine a world where "The MCU" doesn't exist and instead superhero shows had to be completely original--only nodding to existence of other heroes. Danny Phantom stands apart in this time because the concept is very simple: rip off Spider-Man, but make it about ghosts. The show succeeds in a lot of ways, but it isn't perfect. Michael and Joe use a couple of episodes to frame their conversation about what makes Danny Phantom work.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/championcasters/message

In season 2, episode 16 of Champion Casters Michael and Joe drool over not one, but TWO Oscar Isaacs. The titular Moon Knight is a hero with multiple personalities imbued by the power of the Egyptian god of the moon, Khonshu. Steven Grant is a mild mannered British man who works at a museum and Marc Spector is a wanted mercenary. Both of them are tormented by their past and their present servitude to Khonshu. The Marvel show is about trauma and abuse, Steven and Marc react to their abuse differently. When they're interacting together, it's some of the best stuff in the show.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/championcasters/message

Okay straight up, this episode is about Doctor Strange, Wanda Maximoff, and America Chavez. In season 2, episode 15 of Champion Casters, Michael and Joe talk about a Sam Raimi directed Doctor Strange movie that's more about Wanda, and America Chavez just happens to be in it. This movie and episode functions as a direct sequel to the WandaVision series. If you have not watched that series or listened to our episodes about them, please go do that. You will be lost. That being said, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is not so much a multiverse movie as it is a horror movie. We can thank Sam Raimi for that and it's honestly one of our favorite aspects of this film. Doctor Strange is in this movie, and he does have an arc--it's just not as prominent as Wanda's. Tune in to find out why.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/championcasters/message

Hey yo Donnie! In season 2, episode 14 of Champion Casters, Joe finally convinces Michael to watch Creed on a whim--and now Michael wants to take up boxing. No, not to fight, but to look as good as Michael B. Jordan and to get really good at jump roping. Michael B. Jordan makes it look easy as Adonis Creed. His acting, directed by Ryan Coogler is a killer combination. The themes in this film about legacy, continuing the fight, and individualism are heartwarming and comforting. This is not the sequel/reboot to Rocky that we all expected, but boy are we glad its the one that exists.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/championcasters/message

Look, we all know Nick Cage in one form or the other. We've seen him as the action hero and portrayed by Andy Sandberg on SNL, but we've never seen him like this. In season 2 episode 13 of Champion Casters, Michael and Joe watch Nicholas Cage transform into. . . Nick Cage in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Yes, this film is about a romance between a washed up Nick Cage and a charming--as--all--hell Pedro Pascal, but ultimately it's a love letter to Cage's career. Acting is hard. Making a movie is hard--even a bad movie. So when The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent takes aim at Nicholas Cage's movies it feels earnest, unlike some 4th wall--breaking or "nodding" senses of humor. Aside from all of this, the plot of this film is just bananas.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/championcasters/message

Everything Everywhere All at Once's Evelyn Wang is the best everything because she is the best at nothing. In season 2 episode 12 of Champion Casters, Michael and Joe stare into the dark void that is the everything bagel and find a champion of infinite possibility known as Evelyn Wang. The film Everything Everywhere All at Once is a technical marvel: a low budget indie sci-fi/action/comedy/drama with a wickedly smart script and a rapid editing style that's about taping into alternate realities. The movie is anchored by Evelyn Wang (played by Michelle Yeoh), the avatar of never figuring it out. Her journey reminds us that so long as there is a will there is a way and and the path forward in a meaningless void is to use kindness at every turn.  CONTENT WARNING: The film and our episode touches upon themes of suicide and self-destruction as well as family/intergenerational trauma.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/championcasters/message

They call him Knuckles! He doesn't chuckle! Well in this movie he gives us chuckles. In season 2, episode 11 of Champion Casters, Michael and Joe are once again joined by Cameron Hennings to talk about Sonic The Hedgehog 2--but specifically Knuckles, Tails and the power the friendship. Knuckles, played by the sexy baritone of Idris Elba, is a bit of a departure from the games, while Tails is exactly the same--he's even voiced by Colleen O'Shaughnessey. Now that may be good for some, but not for others *cough Joe cough* and that's okay. If you stuck around for our first go at Sonic the Hedgehog, thanks for coming back again. This time we're bringing a bit more chaos. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/championcasters/message

Nope, this episode is not about our Michael, but Doctor Michael Morbius played by academy award-winner and everyone's favorite joker, Jared Leto. In season 2, episode 10 of Champion Casters, Michael (not Michael Morbius) and Joe discuss the epic highs and lows of Sony Picture's Morbius. In a desperate attempt to create a Spider-Man adjacent shared universe, the film is about a B-list Spider-Man villain/anti-hero who's a kinda vampire but kinda doesn't want to be. Look folks, this film isn't that great and you probably already know that. If you want to hear us laugh and cry about what Morbius is and what it could be, then please be our guest because this is a very silly episode.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/championcasters/message

Starfire is the main character of Teen Titans and you can't convince us otherwise. In season 2, episode 9 of Champion Casters, Michael and Joe are joined by friend of the pod and Teen Titans connoisseur, Hannah Langley, to talk about why Starfire is really the best character in the show. She may not have her own dedicated season like the rest of the members, but she experiences a lot of growth over the series. This episode talks about cooler older siblings, bad boy hunks, and the self-sabotaging tendencies of wanting to be liked by peers. We've seen the whole series (multiple times over), but for this recorded we revisited "Sisters," "Switched," "Transformation," and "How Long is Forever." We're keeping this discussion limited to the original Teen Titans show for the sake of the character arc.   --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/championcasters/message

Meilin is not just your average teenager in 2002 Toronto, she also is a shapeshifting giant red panda! In Season 2, Episode 8 of Champion Casters, Michael and Joe recall their cringiest moments from middle school and high school while talking about Pixar's latest hit: Turning Red. Mei is just a relatable kid and we are excited to share about how we, too, had awkward crushes and listened to boy bands. Turning Red is not just a usual Pixar film, instead choosing to be influenced by anime-styled expressive-ness and rapid editing. Which just so happens to be our taste because during the same age as Meilin, we watched some anime--just a little bit. Okay maybe more than a little.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/championcasters/message