We gave an AI every transcript we had and asked it to figure out what the show actually is.

It found moments worth discussing:

- Why MCU box office is determined by sequencing, not quality — and what that means beyond Marvel
- The structural difference between a high concept and a gimmick, and why Apple TV keeps getting it wrong
- A prompt engineering framework that is the most professionally useful thing we have put in the feed
- A live IP development session that turned into a methodology for building original concepts from psychological premises
- A short film concept built on a precise clinical framework for character construction
- Two IP revival pitches built around seasonal arc strategy and long-form mythology design

At the end, the AI says what the show is and who it is for.

It is not wrong.

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Is The Adam Project a kid's movie wearing a Ryan Reynolds costume? We dig in.

In this episode:

• How Ryan Reynolds' casting rewrote the original script and broke the story
• Why the kid (Walker Scobell) starts as the hero and gets sidelined by his own movie
• The DNA-locked spaceship that can't tell the difference between a 10-year-old and an adult
• Time travel logic: why this movie waves its hand and hopes you're distracted by lasers
• Mark Ruffalo as "the dad who should be a villain but isn't" and why that casting backfired
• What a better sequel could look like (and why it would have to kill Ryan Reynolds first)
• Detour: Is It Cake, Too Hot To Handle, and the death of the prestige Netflix algorithm

Timestamps:

• 0:00 — The Adam Project's vanilla plot
• 5:53 — Why the film is an emotional flatline
• 19:37 — Time travel logic flaws
• 25:49 — The spaceship DNA problem
• 31:18 — Rewriting the ending: why erasing the plot never works
• 34:42 — Detour: Is It Cake and the Netflix algorithm trap
• 39:15 — Too Hot To Handle and the death of prestige Netflix

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Sam Wilson has the shield. Harrison Ford has the best arc in the film. And somehow Captain America: Brave New World still doesn't have a main character. We break down what went wrong, what worked, and what Marvel should do next — including the one character from this film who deserves his own series.

Jump to the 30-minute mark for the Captain America 4 deep dive. Spoilers throughout from that point.

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Guests: Matt Baughman (actor), Steve Custer / Spidey Steve (actor, Starwipe Films)

Topics

Plot and structure:

• The plot was reverse-engineered from a wish list of cameos and set pieces
• "Anchor being" as a concept invented to justify the multiverse Wolverine tour
• Three layers operating simultaneously: actor farewell, Deadpool franchise, MCU setup — not always compatible
• Fight choreography that's visually impressive but stakes-free because both leads regenerate

Does it save the MCU?

• Temporarily through interest, not through story — generates excitement but points nowhere
• No post-credit setup, no direction for what comes next
• Agatha will likely deflate whatever goodwill this builds
• The runway to Captain America: Brave New World (February 2025) is too long to sustain momentum
• The MCU needs its next Avengers movie to course-correct, not individual films

Cameo impacts:

• Chris Evans as Johnny Storm: clever switcheroo, but character played entirely for laughs — disrespectful to the actor's contribution
• Channing Tatum as Gambit: earned more in 15 minutes than a solo film would have — the accent worked
• Wesley Snipes as Blade: "there's only one Blade" line as commentary on the stalled Mahershala Ali reboot
• Daphne Keen as X-23/Laura: carried 50% of one of the film's only genuine emotional moments — still got it
• Henry Cavill as "The Cavillrine" — better executed than Nicolas Cage's Superman in The Flash
• Tyler Mane's Sabretooth: the anticipated fight with Wolverine over in two seconds — played for laughs

Cassandra Nova:

• Obscure comics choice with paper-thin motivation in the film
• Multiple changes of heart that undermine any consistent threat
• Emma Corrin's performance was strong despite the writing

Future predictions:

• Deadpool will return but the question is format — Avenger? Supporting role? Another standalone?
• X-Men and Fantastic Four properties now available to Marvel — the real long-term win
• Secret Wars as potential universe reset — needed sooner rather than later
• Thunderbolts unlikely to generate Avengers-level excitement

Timestamps:

• 0:00 — Introduction and guest backgrounds
• 5:40 — Deadpool & Wolverine overview
• 10:25 — Initial reactions (spoiler-free)
• 15:51 — Plot weakness and meta-commentary
• 24:41 — Does this save the MCU?
• 32:38 — SPOILER WARNING — Cameo breakdown
• 1:07:12 — The happy ending and what it means
• 1:36:58 — Deadpool's MCU future

Check out Steve Custer's work at Starwipe Films and Matthew Baughman's here. Then stalk your celebrity prey online at @spidey_steve and @mattybaughs on Instagram.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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Topics

Apple TV+ sci-fi as gimmick:

• Dark Matter, Invasion, the Chris O'Dowd show, Godzilla series — all set up sci-fi premises then abandon them for soap opera
• The difference between sci-fi as gimmick and sci-fi that reveals something about humanity (Three-Body Problem comparison)
• Apple's niche audience strategy: HBO's old model with deeper pockets but possibly wrong content

No One Can Save You (Hulu):

• Almost zero dialogue for the entire film — all show, no tell
• Alien invasion as metaphor for modern isolation and resentment
• Why limited budgets force innovation: the Robert Rodriguez "money hose" problem
• Multiple twists that keep resetting expectations across all three acts
• The ending as a reflection of how disconnected people actually feel

Late Night with the Devil:

• 9 minutes of voiceover exposition before the film starts
• The demon doesn't appear until 55 minutes in
• Found footage conceit (lost master tape of a 1970s talk show's final Halloween episode)
• Very slow pacing despite strong concept

1984 (1984 film):

• The destruction of identity and love through torture
• Survival instinct pitted against attachment — survival wins, guilt destroys what's left
• Heavy science fiction used correctly: extreme circumstances reveal true things about people
• Eurythmics' "Sex Crimes" written for the film, used only in the trailer

X-Men '97:

• Shapeshifter characters and gender fluidity as logical consequence of the power
• The fired showrunner who delivered the MCU's best-received property in years
• Animated series as the format that saved Marvel's audience scores

AI prompt engineering:

• The formula: "Act as a top AI prompt engineer and analyze and improve the following prompt"
• Why specifying the expert role, the purpose (not just the task), and the output format transforms results
• Adding "explain your logic and context" to get reasoning, not just answers
• Image recognition capabilities: uploading a photo of a city skyline and getting building-level identification

Reality TV ethics:

• Love in the Wild (2011): canceled after two seasons, produced four marriages and eight children
• Too Hot to Handle: maximum drama, zero lasting relationships
• Psychometric tools used to select dysfunctional contestants — the informed consent problem
• The F-boy Island incident: when a show refused to honor its own premise

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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A $15 million Japanese film delivered better visual effects than Hollywood blockbusters spending ten times as much. Godzilla Minus One isn't just a great monster movie it's a case study in what happens when a director with VFX expertise controls the budget, and when a three-year script delay actually improves the final product.

In this episode:

• Why this film's $15M budget produced better effects than $200M American Godzilla movies — and what that says about budget allocation vs. talent
• The post-war setting as a storytelling advantage: how placing characters in genuine desperation raises every scene's stakes
• How Godzilla's limited screen time actually strengthens the film and why most blockbusters get this wrong
• The unusual Toho/Legendary deal that keeps two competing Godzilla franchises from overlapping in theaters and streaming
• What the Shinden fighter choice reveals about the film's approach to Japanese identity and pride
• Character craft: why showing a protagonist's worst moment first is one of the fastest ways to build audience investment

Also discussed: Three-Body Problem book series — what Cixin Liu's writing reveals about character development through sci-fi, The Outlaws (series) — Stephen Merchant's ensemble comedy and how backstory elevates surface-level premises, Scarface (1983) — cultural ubiquity, casting choices, and whether the film holds up for a first-time viewer in 2024

Timestamps:

• 0:00 — What's been on our list: Three-Body Problem, The Tourist, Scarface, The Outlaws
• ~20:00 — Godzilla Minus One discussion begins
• The meaning of "Minus One" and the franchise timeline
• The $15M budget question: how did they pull this off?
• Post-war Japan as a storytelling engine
• Character arc: shame, honor, and redemption
• The ending: what worked and what could have been sharper
• Sequel prospects and what the regeneration ending sets up

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Is Netflix deliberately making its shows easy to ignore — and if so, what does that mean for every advertiser writing them a check? The hosts unpack the streaming advertising problem no one's naming, then turn to Amazon's $153 million bet on Fallout and find a classic storytelling template hiding underneath the wasteland.

In this episode:

• 0:00 — The Killing (2007): Danish crime drama, political intrigue, and when cultural specificity breaks a remake
• 11:30 — The remake decision tree: what actually determines whether you dub it or rebuild it
• 17:00 — Rebel Moon and the Zack Snyder problem: why the fix is obvious and why he won't take it
• 27:00 — Director partnerships, ego, and why the best blockbusters have two people in charge
• 33:00 — #Too2ndScreen: the case that Netflix is a billboard company selling the illusion of attention
• 48:00 — Why streaming ad dollars may be worth a fraction of what platforms claim
• 53:00 — YouTube as the real threat to every streaming service
• 57:00 — Fallout: $153 million, a hero's journey, and the Wizard of Oz hiding in the wasteland
• 1:02:00 — Retro-futurism and the alternate America that never had a counterculture
• 1:06:00 — The Brotherhood of Steel as survival strategy: why cults work when everything else fails
• 1:09:00 — Season 2 predictions and what the show still has to answer

Stream The Killing (2007) and Rebel Moon (2024) on Netflix. Stream Fallout (2024) on Amazon Prime.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.