Hello and welcome to Bill vs the MCU! Each month your hosts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Pop Break Podcasting Director Alex Marcus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Pop Break Editor in Chief Bill Bodkin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ are taking another step into the wider Marvel Multiverse as the MCU dives deeper into their Multiverse Saga.

Bill & Alex spent all of 2022 rewatching the first four phases of the MCU, and, in the years since, they have covered all of Netflix’s The Defenders Saga, the first four seasons of ABC’s Agents of SHIELD, all 14 films in Fox’s X-Verse, and a collection of Marvel Films from the 2000s.

This month, Alex & Bill giving you a special bonus episode discussing their hopes and dreams and greatest fears surrounding Avengers: Doomsday, now that all four teaser trailers have been released. The pair speculate on what might be coming based on what they saw in the teasers, what reveals may be left to come, and debate whether this was an effective play by Marvel to drum up enthusiasm and hype for the new Avengers film.

Come back later this month as they kick off their Podding the Spider-Verse miniseries with reviews of Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spider-Man 3 (2007), now streaming on Disney Plus!

Welcome to “Not Couple Goals” where co-hosts Allie Nelson and Tyler McCarthy do a deep dive into a different ridiculous romantic thriller from the vantage point of their long-term relationship.

Allie, a TV writer/producer and actress, has an affinity for romantic thrillers, the more salacious the better. Tyler, an entertainment reporter and critic, often finds himself drawn in despite his better judgment. Join them as they explore all the ways it’s possible to love too hard… like WAY too hard.

In this episode, Allie and Tyler tackle the remake of a movie they initially avoided doing early on in their podcasting lives. Join them as they discuss the 2025 thriller “The Hand that Rocks The Cradle.” Does it stack up against the impeccably campy 1992 original? Is it sexy enough to be considered a romantic/erotic thriller? Is there a reason at all for the two leading women in this movie to have a flirtation beyond giving the people what they want? All these questions and more are answered in this positively wild episode.

Special thanks to Mallory Johns for the introduction music.

Please don’t forget to follow our hosts on Twitter @ANelRetentive & @TylerMcCarthy and Instagram @ANelRetentive and to check out Tyler’s writing at USA Insider and Allie’s at Parade and Business Insider!

Welcome to TV Break, where Pop Break’s Podcasts Editor Alex Marcus is joined by editor-in-chief Bill Bodkin, and TV Columnist Josh Sarnecky to talk about the happenings in television.

Here’s the format of the show:

The Best Thing I Saw on TV Last Month – Alex, Bill, Josh and special guest TV Editor Avani Goswami talk about a show/episode/event they liked from the last month including HBO’s I Love LA & The Chair Company, AppleTV’s Pluribus, Prime Video’s Fallout, Disney Plus’s Taylor Swift: The End of An Era, and Netflix’s Stranger Things & Death By Lightning.

Streaming Wars – Alex, Bill, & Josh pick a streamer they think “won the month” based on new shows airing/upcoming shows announced etc. All three hosts plus their special guest handed the month’s honors to Netflix after their successful acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, their hugely successful Stranger Things Season 5 rollout, and their NFL Christmas Day telecasts.

New Series Spotlight – This month, we are reviewing HBOMAX’s Heated Rivalry The series, based on the Game Changers queer romance novel series by Rachel Reid and adapted for the small screen by the Canadian TV powerhouse behind Letterkenny and Shoresy Jacob Tierney, stars Hudson Williams and Connor Story as Shane Hollander & Ilya Rozanov, the top two picks in the 2008 Major League Hockey Draft, who strike up a secret affair the summer before their rookie season. The series first season follows roughly seven years of their closeted love affair, and also features a subplot following a veteran hockey player Scott Hunter, played by Francois Arnaud, and his love affair with art history grad student and smoothie barista Kip, played by Robbie GK, who are the focus of one of the other novels in the book series.

Most Anticipated Series of 2026 – Alex, Bill, Josh, and Avani break down their five most anticipated series of the year, along with some runners-up as they kick off 2026.

Avani

1. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End S2

2. Blue Eye Samurai S2

3. Yellowjackets S4

4. Spider-Man Noir

5. Blade Runner 2099

Josh

1. One Piece S2

2. Lanterns

3. House of the Dragon S3

4. Daredevil: Born Again S2

5. Avatar: The Last Airbender S2

Bill

1. Blue Eye Samurai S2

2. X-Men ’97 S2

3. Daredevil: Born Again S2

4. One Piece S2

5. Lanterns

Alex

1. VisionQuest

2. The Comeback S3

3. The Pitt S2

4. Euphoria S3

5. Shrinking S3