March 4, 2025

Talon vs Nico Minoru

Talon vs Nico Minoru
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Talon vs Nico Minoru

Listen to the DynaMic Podcast Network at http://dynamicpodcasts.com
Join our community at https://patreon.com/dynamicduel
• 0:00:00 - Introduction 
• 0:03:37 - No-Prize Time 
• 0:10:51 - Avengers: Doomsday (possibly Secret Wars) concept art leaked
•...

Listen to the DynaMic Podcast Network at http://dynamicpodcasts.com
Join our community at https://patreon.com/dynamicduel
0:00:00 - Introduction 
0:03:37 - No-Prize Time 
0:10:51 - Avengers: Doomsday (possibly Secret Wars) concept art leaked
0:18:49 - Question of the Week 
0:19:40 - First look at Lanterns series
0:22:09 - My Adventures With Green Lantern, Super Powers, and Starfire animated series announced
0:25:46 - Jon Bernthal to return for Punisher Special Presentation
0:28:10 - Talon vs Nico Minoru intro 
0:31:59 - Talon history and abilities 
0:41:11 - Nico Minoru history and abilities 
0:52:35 - Fight speculation 
0:59:44 - Duel results 
1:04:55 - Sign off 
Website: https://dynamicduel.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/dynamicduelpodcast
Merch: https://dynamic-duel-shop.fourthwall.com/
Executive producers: John Starosky, Zachary Hepburn, Miggy Matanguihan, Brandon Estergard, Nathaniel Wagner, Levi Yeaton, Austin Wesolowski, AJ Dunkerley, Nic Abanto, Scott Camacho, Gil Camacho, Adam Speas, Dean Maleski, Devin Davis, Joseph Kersting, Josh Liner, Mike Williams, and Oscar Galvez
"Take a Chance" "Clash Defiant" "Blip Stream" "Nowhere Land" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
#DarkseidsElite #BlackOrder #MarvelVsDC


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Transcript
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This is a DynaMic Network podcast.

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to the dynamic duel podcast, a weekly show where
we review superhero films and debate the superiority

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00:00:31,197 --> 00:00:36,840
between Marvel and DC by comparing their characters
in stat-based battle simulations. I'm Johnny

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00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:43,103
DC. And I'm his twin brother Marvelous Joe.
And in this episode, we are doing a duel between

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the characters of Talon and Nico Minoru. Like
that's her name. She doesn't have a superhero

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name. Her superhero name is Sister Grimm, but
she barely goes by it. She's one of the Runaways

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characters. if you guys are familiar with that
Marvel team. Basically, both of these characters

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have their origins tied into a cult of some
kind. One of the characters focuses on martial

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arts, the other one focuses on magic, but both
characters slightly dabble in the other specialty

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as well. Right, we're gonna find out who's gonna
win later on in this episode. Before that,

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we're gonna break down the comic book movie
news from this past week, of which there was

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a lot of news. There was the Avengers Doomsday
concept art that was leaked. as well as the

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00:01:23,126 --> 00:01:28,329
first look at the Lanterns television series,
and the announcement of My Adventures with

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Green Lantern, Superpowers, and Starfire animated
series. Also, Jon Bernthal is set to return

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for a Punisher special for Disney+. As always,
we list our segment times in our episode description,

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so feel free to check out the show notes if
you wanna skip ahead to a particular topic.

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Our artificially intelligent Duel simulator,
AJ9K, has a quick message for our listeners

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first though. So listen up. Why hello there,
do you want even more from this podcast? Then

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become a part of the dynamic Duel community
on Patreon, where you can choose from three

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00:02:02,228 --> 00:02:07,592
tiers. The dynamic two-oh tier gives you access
to our Discord chat server. The fantastic four

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tier gives you two bonus episodes each month.
And the X-Force tier makes you an executive

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producer of this show. Lastly, The Diner Mike
Podcast Network tier lets you create your own

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podcast using this Monte Carlo simulator. Johnny
and Joe will help you develop your show, provide

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graphic support and consultation, and get you
simulation results. Pitch the twins your ideas

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00:02:27,398 --> 00:02:33,584
via email at dynamicduelpodcast at gmail.com.
Check it out at patreon.com slash dynamicduel.

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Pip pip cheerio. Thanks AJ9K and thanks to everyone
who supports the podcast. Be sure to tune into

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the other shows in the DynaMic Podcast Network
this week, including Max Destruction, which

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pits your favorite action heroes from film and
television against each other. This Wednesday,

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hosts Scotty and Gilly are finding out who would
win in a fight between Flash Gordon and Buck

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Rogers. On the Senjoh World podcast, host
Zachary Hepburn speculates on fights between

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fan favorite anime and manga characters. Zach
is on his brief season break right now, but

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anime fans should check out his season finale.
Out now. which was an epic 10 vs 10 matchup

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of the Akatsuki from Naruto vs the Espada from
Bleach. And on the Console Combat Podcast hosts

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John and Dean simulate battles between popular
video game characters. In yesterday's episode,

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they found out who would win between Jack Winand
from Bioshock and Corvo Attano from Dishonored.

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Visit dynamicpodcasts.com or click the link
in our show notes to listen to all the shows

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in the DynaMic Podcast Network. But with that
out of the way, quick to the no prize! A no

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prize is an award Marvel used to give out to
fans. Our version, the Dynamic Duel No Prize,

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is a digital award we post on Instagram for
the person that we feel gave the best answer

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to our question of the week. Last week we asked
you guys, what horror director would you like

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to see direct a film for one of Batman's villains
and which villain? This was coming off the

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news that James Watkins is lined up to direct
the upcoming Clayface film. We got a lot of

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answers this week. You guys came out of the
woodwork to talk about your favorite horror

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directors and Batman villains. So let's go ahead
and break down our honorable mentions as well

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as the no prize winner. Our first honorable
mention goes to Matt from Texas who said. Hey

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guys, it's Matt from Texas. I would say a director
that I want to direct a horror Batman villain

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film would be Darren Bousman if that's how you
say his name. He directed the majority of the

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Saw films and I think he could do a great Riddler
film. Set it up, same Riddler from The Batman

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and all those traps and everything would be
awesome. Oh totally, a Jigsaw-esque Riddler

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film would be perfect for the character and
perfect for Paul Dano, who I thought was a

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terrific Riddler in the Batman film. Yeah, Darren
Lynn Bausman was kind of an out of left field

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choice. but I thought he was brilliant. Out
of all the answers that were given for the

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character of the Riddler, I think he was the
best one because I think a Paul Dano Riddler

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movie would be best served as a film in the
style of the Saw franchise. Yeah, it's a pretty

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gritty franchise, but I could totally see Paul
Dano's version of the Riddler existing within

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that universe and creating these like horrendous
machines to punish people. Yeah, out of the

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other options we got for the Riddler, Jacob...
Bell called in with his answer of David Fincher,

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so it would be a Riddler movie in the vein of
Zodiac, which I thought was pretty good. And

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also, By Dear Bangora said that Wes Craven,
the guy behind Nightmare on Elm Street and

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the Scream franchise, could direct a good Riddler
movie. And those are solid options too, but

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I think I gravitated most toward Darren Lynn
Bousman. Great answer, Matt! Our next honorable

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mention goes to Lee Tapscott, who said, Hi,
this is Lee. What director would I like to

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see direct a Batman movie for a particular villain?
Sam Raimi. I can just imagine what he could

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do behind a Scarecrow movie. Can you imagine
what we, the audience, would see through Sam

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Raimi's direction with the Scarecrow gas, how
it would affect everybody, what they would

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see and what it would do to Batman? Yeah, that
is a fantastic choice. Sam Raimi. is a terrific

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director who's no stranger to the superhero
genre, having directed the first Spider-Man

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trilogy as well as Doctor Strange and the Multiverse
of Madness. But not only that, he's famously

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also directed films like the Evil Dead franchise.
J.D. Right, yeah, he is a master of horror.

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I think he would be my number one pick to direct
a Scarecrow film, actually. I think a lot of

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his nightmare scenes would be pretty gross to
watch because he has quite the macabre sense

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of humor. and horror, you know, but I think
it would be a whole lot of fun to see a Scarecrow

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movie done in the vein of Evil Dead. For all
of Batman's rogues galleries, you'd think that

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the Scarecrow would lend himself most easily
to a horror genre film. And yes, Sam Raimi

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is one of the best horror directors out there.
Great answer Lee Tapscott. Our next honorable

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mention goes to Daniel Alonso, who said, Okay,
so I guess he's a horror director now, but

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My vote would be for John Krasinski to do a
movie about Man-Bat. John Krasinski is the

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guy who directed The Quiet Place. And oh my
gosh, if you haven't seen that movie, please

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watch it. But you'll get the idea of how Man-Bat
would be able to hear everything in the dark

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and really get up close to Batman. I think that
would be just a match made in heaven. Please

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do that. Yeah, I love this answer because it
came out of left field. I have seen the first

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Quiet Place. I haven't seen any of the sequels.
It's just so interesting to me that, you know,

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John Krasinski, the guy from Jim from The Office,
the director of A Quiet Place, a popular horror

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franchise and, you know, like the current Jack
Ryan, his career is so versatile. And I think

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the idea of him directing a man bat movie in
the vein of his horror franchise, A Quiet Place,

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was just too interesting to pass up. Not only
that, I think he could also play the character

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of Kirk Langstrom because he's also a talented
actor. Yeah, I could totally see him in the

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role. And telling the story of this guy who
tragically turns into a part bat creature,

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I think could be better serviced by a director
as talented as John Krasinski than something

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like the movie Morbius. You know? 100%. Yeah,
you're just stating the obvious. We want to

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give a special shout out to Bidear Bangora,
Jacob Bell. Colby Hentges who actually gave

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a fantastic answer. He wants Osgood Perkins
to direct a Professor Pig movie which I thought

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is just brilliant because Osgood Perkins has
made some of the most atmospheric, evil looking

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horror films that I've ever seen including Long
Legs and Black Coat's Daughter. But Professor

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Pig doesn't have too many supernatural elements
to him and Osgood Perkins movies do so I thought

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he might be better suited to a different Batman
character than Professor Pig. But great answer

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nonetheless, Colby. Also special shout out to
Judson Batty, who said that Sam Raimi should

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direct a Ra's al Ghul movie. But the winner
of this week's No Prize is Travis Herndon,

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who said. What's up, Danny Medouj, Travis here.
Shout out to my evil twins. So my answer would

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be Jordan Peele as a director doing a Killer
Croc movie. I think he would do an amazing

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job following Wayland's origins from his New
52 origins, and then maybe combine it with

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Joker's Asylum. Killer Croc mini story that
could be both interesting but tragic looking

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to Croc's origins and just him as a character.
So yeah, that's my pick. I'm a big fan of Jordan

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Peele. I think he's kind of a brilliant mind
when it comes to modern horror cinema. And

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I would really love to see his take on a character
like Killer Croc who has been adapted in live

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action in 2016 Suicide Squad movie, but I think
Jordan Peele could do a much better job. Yeah,

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if you told me that Killer Croc should get his
own film, I'd be like, I don't know about that.

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But if you mentioned Jordan Peele is directing
it, I'm like, yes, absolutely, 100 percent.

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Not only can you capture like the horror aspect,
which, you know, Killer Crack is not that horrifying

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of a character. But I think Jordan Peele can
bring not only the humanity of the character,

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but also a cultural element. Yeah, for sure.
I just think out of all the directors on this

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list, I like the directorial talents of Jordan
Peele the most. Yeah, the guy's incredible.

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Great answer, Travis. You win this week's No
Prize. If you the listener want a shot at winning

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your own No Prize, stay tuned to later on in
this episode when we'll be asking another Question

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of the Week. And now that that's done, on to
the news.

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Alright, this past week, a series of concept
art pieces for the upcoming film, Avengers

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Secret Wars, was leaked accidentally on the
internet by the artist who drew them, Musk

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Rizvi. She posted these images to her ArtStation
portfolio, and the images spread like wildfire

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throughout the internet. Now, if you haven't
got a chance to see any of these images, Google

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is your friend, but be aware that the art is
being taken down almost as quickly as it's

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going up. The reason we're going to comment
on it now, is because we think that the images

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have spread enough and quite a few news outlets
are reporting on it to warrant us discussing

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it because it's not really spoilers anymore.
And the art itself is pretty interesting. Definitely

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worth discussing. Now, as fans, we knew that
Marvel Studios cast Robert Downey Jr. as Victor

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Von Doom. We didn't really know much about the
movie beyond the casting of Downey as Doom.

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But with this leak, we have a much better idea
of what the movie is going to be about. And

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I think it'll surprise a lot of people who haven't
seen the concept art that it looks like they're

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going for a high fantasy type movie with the
Marvel Universe set in a new reality reshaped

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by Doctor Doom that looks medieval in nature.
So as many comic book readers know, the 2016

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story of Secret Wars takes place in Battle Dr.
Doom created when he obtained the powers of

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the Beyonder and became God Emperor Doom. He
basically remade the multiverse in his image

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in order to save it from the incursions that
would destroy everything. And he sat over everyone

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else as the planet's ruler. But they're taking
that idea and it seems like they're also merging

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it somewhat with a concept like House of M where
the Scarlet Witch rewrote reality and everyone

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just accepted this as the new normal. But they're
also taking notes, I think, from an Avenger

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story called The Morgan Conquest, in which Morgan
Le Fay rewrote reality so that the Marvel universe

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existed in this medieval timeline. So they're
taking all these cues, and it's really exciting

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to see all these familiar faces and characters
redesigned into medieval versions of themselves.

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Yeah, characters like Hulk and She-Hulk and
Black Panther. And Doctor Strange. who, like

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in the 2016 Jonathan Hickman's Secret Wars run,
serves as basically an advisor to Doom's court.

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What's really interesting is it looks like Sue
Storm of the Fantastic Four, Invisible Woman,

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and her son Franklin Richards serve as Dr. Doom's
Queen and Prince. I'm wondering if they're

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going to introduce Franklin Richards in the
Fantastic Four movie as this, you know, powerful

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reality-warping child as he is in the comic
books, and somehow Dr. Doom... manages to usurp

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or take advantage of that child's power to recreate
this reality. I could totally see that being

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the case. I probably see that more than what
some people have been speculating with Wanda

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and the Scarlet Witch. Who knows though. I think
it's most interesting to me though to see we're

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not just getting doom, we're getting God Emperor
doom. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to know where

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he could possibly go from here if they reintroduce
the character again after the events of Secret

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Wars. by an actor who's not Robert Downey Jr.,
you know, like a non-multi-versal version of

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him, it would be cool to get like a more intimate
story between him against the Fantastic Four,

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I think. There's one piece of concept art where
we see Hulk and She-Hulk decked out in medieval

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garb existing in this walled-off city of other
gamma-irradiated beings, including his son

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Scar. It looks really interesting because they
highly resemble orcs from World of Warcraft

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as they're designed here. Yeah, I can see that
except, you know, they don't have like the

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large tusks, but otherwise, you're right, they
do. Scar is an interesting addition here. He

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definitely looks different from what we saw
in the She-Hulk television series, but they

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might be using him in this film as part of a
broader Young Avengers team that they're also

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teasing with this concept art. Right, yeah,
part of the concept art revealed our first

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look at the Young Avengers, or maybe they're
called the champions here. We don't know yet,

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but it consists of medieval versions of Ms.
Marvel. K-Pishup's Hawkeye, Stinger, Wiccan,

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and Speed, as well as Dupe from XStatics. I
don't know if a lot of people out there know

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who Dupe is, but he is a mutant character who
kind of looks like Slimer from Ghostbusters.

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He speaks like a different language and everything
like that. It's interesting how they're incorporating

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him here as a mutant element set within this
new medieval world. Which I kind of hate. If

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we see medieval versions of the X-Men for the
first time in the MCU... I'm not looking forward

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to that. That being said, Doop doesn't have
any clothes. He's like this floating green

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slug looking guy, so he's not really a medieval
version of the character. He's just Doop as

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Doop. What's really interesting is that the
character of Star-Lord in both pieces of concept

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art that he's featured in, he does not seem
like he's decked out in medieval garb. He looks

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like he's wearing his regular outfit, so I'm
wondering if he's the one that kind of comes

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to... God Emperor Doom's new battle world slash
reimagined version of Latveria in which he

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is the ruler and maybe Star-Lord tries to remind
everybody of who they really are and then get

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them to rise up and overthrow their new tyrant.
Which is an interesting take. I never would

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have thought that Star-Lord would have been
seemingly the protagonist of an Avengers film.

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Well, he could be when everyone else is kind
of brainwashed into living in this new reality.

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We know that at least part of this movie takes
place outside of this new medieval world, because

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one of the concept art pieces is Star-Lord chilling
on his couch with Vision, the white version

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of Vision, watching TV as seeming roommates,
which is fucking hilarious. Yeah, talk about

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an odd couple. That should be good times. I
hope that's what Vision Quest is about, actually.

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Like, the co-star of that show should be Star-Lord.
We got our new look at the medieval version

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of Black Panther. I got to say his costume design
is epic as hell. It looks so good with like

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a lot of gold trim. And he has his long flowing
black cape in this version. It looks awesome.

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A lot of people are speculating that the actor
rendered in this piece of concept art is Damson

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Idris, who is an actor that I'm not familiar
with. But people say that this concept art

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looks like him. And while that may be the case,
either Marvel has cast T'Challa or T'Challa's

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son in this new universe, or it's possible that
the concept artist just used him as a reference

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for this piece of art. Which is not uncommon
for artists to do. The final piece of concept

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art that was leaked was the most vague. There
was no color involved or anything. It was a

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very early sketch, but it looks like a guy who
is chained up by his arms in a dungeon in some

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sort of pit. It's hard to tell if like magic
energy is emanating from him or steam or something

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like that. It's hard to tell exactly who this
is. People have speculated that it's Peter

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Parker being used as a magical conduit or something
like that, or maybe the human torch who's being

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doused in water to keep him from turning a flame
and he's being held prisoner. But yeah, that's

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definitely the most mysterious piece of art
that was released. Overall, with all the concept

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art pieces here, how excited does this get you
for Avengers Doomsday? It makes me super excited.

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I almost don't care that they're going with
Robert Downey Jr. even more, especially if

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the whole entire thing is set in a new medieval
reality that is so far removed from anything

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resembling the modern MCU. I like this as kind
of like a detour story. And plus it's really

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interesting to see the Marvel Cinematic Universe
reimagined within this new genre of high fantasy

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in a similar vein as Lord of the Rings or Game
of Thrones or World of Warcraft. But speaking

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of reimagining the MCU in the vein of another
franchise like Lord of the Rings, that brings

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us to our question of the week.

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If you could take either the Marvel or DC cinematic
universes and place them in a separate film

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franchise, what would it be? So you're taking
the MCU or DC cinematic universes and then

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plopping it into another universe, another film
franchise. Set in that world, what is that

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00:19:14,890 --> 00:19:19,374
world? And tell us what it would be like for
the heroes who find themselves there. Record

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00:19:19,394 --> 00:19:23,437
your answer at dynamicduel.com by clicking on
the red microphone button in the bottom right

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00:19:23,457 --> 00:19:27,420
hand corner of the screen, which will prompt
you to leave us a voicemail. Your message could

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00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:31,443
be up to 30 seconds long. And don't forget to
leave your name in case we include you on the

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00:19:31,484 --> 00:19:36,327
podcast. We'll pick our favorite answer and
award that person a dynamic duel no prize that

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00:19:36,367 --> 00:19:43,373
will post to Instagram. Be sure to answer before
March 8th. Well in DC news, we got to our first

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00:19:43,473 --> 00:19:50,906
look at lanterns, the HBO television series
set in the DCU. starring Aaron Pierre as Jon

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Stewart and Kyle Chandler as Hale Jordan. They
released this first look to coincide with the

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start of production for the series. Perhaps
they're going to be filming outside and people

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would be taking leaked set photos. I'm not sure.
I do have to say though, if they're going to

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00:20:07,314 --> 00:20:12,976
release any kind of official imagery to get
people excited about the show, this didn't

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00:20:12,996 --> 00:20:19,286
quite work for me. It cannot be more boring.
Yeah, it's two dudes walking outside wearing

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00:20:19,326 --> 00:20:24,528
jackets. One of them has a piece of jewelry
on that could vaguely be described as a Green

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00:20:24,568 --> 00:20:31,050
Lantern ring. Yeah, it's gray with like a hint
of green in the middle, which is kind of disappointing,

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00:20:31,090 --> 00:20:36,191
honestly. It reminds me a lot of the Green Lantern
ring that Ryan Reynolds wore in the Green Lantern

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film. So I was hoping that they would be a little
bit more, I don't know, green with the ring.

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But I guess this is what we're getting. I think
it's the same ring that Nathan Fillion is wearing,

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is it not? I'm not sure. That one looked a lot
more green to me, but it did move across the

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00:20:52,267 --> 00:20:57,491
screen pretty quickly in the Superman trailer.
I have to say, Aaron Pierre looks like Aaron

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00:20:57,532 --> 00:21:04,317
Pierre. Kyle Chandler looks not quite what I
imagined how Jordan would look like, but it's

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00:21:04,357 --> 00:21:08,861
not a terrible look for the character. He does
look like an older character than he normally

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00:21:08,901 --> 00:21:13,745
does in the comics with the graying hair. Who
knows? Maybe Parallax has already gotten to

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00:21:13,785 --> 00:21:18,227
him. I don't know. What's interesting is that
John Stewart is not wearing a ring in this

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image. Yeah, from what we can see, he has not
received his ring yet. So I'm not sure how

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much he knows about how Jordan being Green Lantern
in the scene that they're filming. We do know

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that a majority of the story for this series
takes place on Earth. So this seems to be very

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much like an origin story for John Stewart and
less of like a cosmic Odyssey type adventure.

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All I can say is you compare the awesomeness
that was the leaked concept art for Marvel

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00:21:46,217 --> 00:21:53,302
to the actual first look at Lanterns that we
got released from DC. And as a DC fan, I would

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00:21:53,322 --> 00:21:58,366
just be ashamed. I mean, it's not like I've
lost all hope because the creative team of

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00:21:58,426 --> 00:22:04,270
Chris Mundy, Tom King and Damon Lindelof is
five star talent. So I imagine this is going

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00:22:04,310 --> 00:22:10,246
to be an incredible show. This is just not an
incredible first look in my opinion. Now this

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first look from Lanterns came out a few days
after DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter

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Safran gave us a huge update regarding the lineup
and projects within DC Studios and the DCU.

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The biggest announcements I think were that
we're getting three new DC animated series

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including My Adventures with Green Lantern which
ties into My Adventures with Superman which

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is a fantastic show. The Green Lantern one will
focus on Jessica Cruz getting her ring for

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the first time. We also have a show titled DC
Superpowers, which takes place at the Alliance

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School for Heroes, and is going to focus on
students like Lightning, who I think is Black

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00:22:51,538 --> 00:22:56,402
Lightning, but they're renaming him. Flash,
Plastic Man, Aqua Girl, Green Lantern, and

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00:22:56,462 --> 00:23:01,666
Terra, who are in training to level up their
powers under the supervision of characters

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like Principal Martian Manhunter. It sounds
very much like DC Superhero Girls, but with

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boys too. Or like X-Men Evolution? Yeah, yeah,
exactly. Not too excited for that project,

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but we also got news of a Starfire animated
series that explores the origin of that character.

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Of course, there was also announcements about
the broader slate, including a Teen Titans

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00:23:26,114 --> 00:23:31,556
live-action film that's being written currently,
an update on the Sergeant Rock film, and that

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the script and the director are locked down.
They're just looking for... their star. Shows

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like Booster Gold and Paradise Lost are still
being written, but it looks like the Waller

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television series has kind of been abandoned.
Along with the Authority, as those projects

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have been said to be increasingly complicated.
Really, during the press event, James Gunn

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and Peter Safran doubled down on what they had
been saying all along, is that they're not

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going to green light a project until the script
is complete. And since Waller and Authority,

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00:24:00,719 --> 00:24:05,430
Booster Gold and Paradise Lost have not been
fully fleshed out, they're not moving forward.

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Whereas smaller projects like Clayface and Dynamic
Duo, the stop motion animated film coming out

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00:24:11,191 --> 00:24:16,673
in 2027, I believe, are more fully flushed out.
So those have been greenlit. I think they should

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00:24:16,713 --> 00:24:20,674
also avoid announcing any projects that haven't
been greenlit. I think Marvel Studios learned

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00:24:20,694 --> 00:24:23,935
that lesson too. Well, that was actually one
of the things they talked about with the press

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is that they could talk about something like
perhaps Robert Pattinson joining the DCU. And

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just because they talk about it, the news spreads
like wildfire. So they were essentially telling

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00:24:34,926 --> 00:24:38,989
the press like, calm down, calm down guys. Yeah,
there's always a lot of misinformation out

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00:24:39,009 --> 00:24:43,631
there, for sure. I'm glad that James Gunn, you
know, usually tries to set the record straight

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when he can. I don't think we've talked about
this before, but there's also a Blue Beetle

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animated series in the works, which is being
produced by the director of the Blue Beetle

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film, Angel Manuel Soto, and will be voiced
by Sholo Mariduena, who played the character

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of Blue Beetle in live action. One of my favorite
projects that was announced was Swamp Thing,

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which is going to be directed by James Mangold.
Apparently that was put on the back burner

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for James Mangold's Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete
Unknown. But now that that's done, I'm hoping

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he'll return to that soon. All in all, were
you excited by this press event that James

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00:25:18,845 --> 00:25:23,968
Gunn and Peter Safran put on? Not really. I
hope in the future they would do something

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much more like a presentation, like what Marvel
does. It just seems more official that way

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00:25:29,970 --> 00:25:34,892
with like different visuals that they'll also
release during those presentations We did get

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title treatments for the new animated series
my adventures with Green Lantern superpowers

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00:25:40,335 --> 00:25:46,917
and starfire But it's nothing worth writing
home about you poor DC bastards You poor DC

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00:25:46,937 --> 00:25:51,259
bastards Marvel managed to show you guys up
even without having a press conference because

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00:25:51,279 --> 00:25:55,381
in addition to the leaked concept art it was
also announced this past week that John Bernthal

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00:25:55,701 --> 00:26:01,569
is set to return as Frank Castle, the Punisher
in a Disney Plus special presentation. Now

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we know John Berntal is going to appear in Daredevil
Born Again, the series that starts in just

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00:26:06,913 --> 00:26:11,297
a few days here. I'm super excited by that.
But it was never clear where the Punisher was

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going to go from there. Now we know he's getting
his own like one hour movie. Basically special

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00:26:17,102 --> 00:26:23,187
presentations are like one hour long projects
released by Marvel. We've seen them do it with

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00:26:23,387 --> 00:26:27,934
the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
and Werewolf by I would have rather have seen

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00:26:28,255 --> 00:26:32,858
Punisher get his own full length movie, but
if Disney was going to do anything with the

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00:26:32,898 --> 00:26:38,081
character, I think their safest bet was to put
him in a special presentation. So I can totally

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00:26:38,101 --> 00:26:42,805
understand why they went this route. I mean,
the special presentations have been good so

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00:26:42,845 --> 00:26:47,888
far, like the two that they've put out. So I
think this is awesome news. Yeah. And you know,

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00:26:47,908 --> 00:26:52,832
with the character as violent as the Punisher,
a little bit can go a long way. You know, I

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00:26:52,872 --> 00:26:57,435
think as long as they cram as much action as
they can. into this one hour special presentation

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run time, I think I'll be entirely satisfied
with that. What's interesting is that John

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00:27:02,677 --> 00:27:08,401
Bernthal is helping to write the script alongside
Reynaldo Marcus Green, who's also going to

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00:27:08,441 --> 00:27:13,023
direct the project. And Green is a talented
director. You know, he directed the recent

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00:27:13,063 --> 00:27:18,706
Bob Marley biopic called One Love. He directed
King Richard, the movie about Venus and Serena

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00:27:18,726 --> 00:27:23,209
Williams' father starring Will Smith. He's done
a lot of great stuff. But what was also exciting

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00:27:23,269 --> 00:27:28,784
was that brand Winderbaum who is an exec over
at Marvel Studios, said that it's gonna be

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00:27:28,804 --> 00:27:34,227
a shotgun blast of a story, but with also pathos
and emotion that you want from Frank Castle.

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Whatever that means. It sounds like good stuff
to me, man. I want a shotgun blast of a story.

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Punisher, take it to the bad guys in a quick
and dirty special. Yeah, I wonder who the villain

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00:27:44,372 --> 00:27:49,115
of a Punisher special would be. Oh, that's a
great question. You know, Punisher has a lot

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of one-off villains, considering a lot of them
don't actually survive. Well, can't wait to

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00:27:53,577 --> 00:27:58,969
see it. Sincerely, but why'd you have to say
sincerely? Guess you thought I was lying. I

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00:27:58,989 --> 00:28:03,155
didn't think you were being sarcastic. Who wouldn't
be excited to see this, right? We don't know

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when this special presentation will be releasing,
but I have to assume if they're writing it

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now, you know, we're probably more than a year
out.

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That does it for all of the news for this episode,
now let's move on to the main event. Refind

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out who would win in a duel between the Court
of Owls assassin Talon and the Runaways member

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Nico Minoru.

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Okay, Talon versus Sister Grimm, was it? Nekomino-ru.
Sure. This matchup was brought to us by our

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00:28:53,876 --> 00:28:58,540
executive producer, Devin Davis, who comes up
with a lot of fantastic ideas and actually

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00:28:58,580 --> 00:29:03,064
gets a lot of credit for ideas that I think
may not have been his. Like our last episode

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00:29:03,204 --> 00:29:08,729
of Darksides Elite versus the Black Order I
attributed to being his idea, but it was really

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00:29:08,789 --> 00:29:14,970
Zachary Hepburn's. This match, however, is definitely
Devin's idea, and I liked his pitch. in regards

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00:29:15,010 --> 00:29:22,199
that Talon is a martial arts type character
with a dabbling of mysticism. And Nico Minoru

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00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:28,006
is a mystic character with a dabbling of martial
arts. Yeah, this episode is timely because

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00:29:28,066 --> 00:29:33,473
Nico showed up in the Your Friendly Neighborhood
Spider-Man animated television series on Disney+.

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00:29:34,122 --> 00:29:38,445
In the animated show she was voiced by Grey
Song, but Nico has also shown up in live action

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00:29:38,545 --> 00:29:43,368
in the three seasons of the Runaways television
show played by Lyrico Cano, who I thought did

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00:29:43,388 --> 00:29:49,173
a fantastic job. Has Talon been in any cartoons
or live action shows or movies or anything?

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00:29:49,673 --> 00:29:56,879
Well, the Court of Owls, who owns Talon essentially,
appeared in Gotham and Harley Quinn and also

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00:29:56,919 --> 00:30:03,195
that short-lived Gotham Knights series that
no one watched. but they were also the antagonists

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00:30:03,335 --> 00:30:08,840
in the Batman vs Robin animated movie. Oh, I
didn't know that. Okay, we have yet to review

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00:30:08,860 --> 00:30:12,323
that one, so we're going to have to check that
out at some point. Right. The Court of El was

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00:30:12,363 --> 00:30:18,328
story line was regarded as one of the best story
lines that came out of the New 52 era of comics.

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00:30:18,609 --> 00:30:23,173
So I was pretty excited when we decided to do
this episode. Yeah, I'm excited too. But to

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00:30:23,233 --> 00:30:27,997
explain the methodology behind our duels, let's
go to our sentient duel simulator Alfred Jarvis

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00:30:28,077 --> 00:30:33,251
9000. AJ9K tell our listeners how you go about
determining a winner in our Duel matchups.

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00:30:34,131 --> 00:30:38,432
Yes, of course, sir. The way I determine a winner
between the contestants is by running 1000

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00:30:38,912 --> 00:30:44,594
Monte Carlo simulations using the characters'
statistics. A Monte Carlo simulation is a probabilistic

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00:30:44,634 --> 00:30:50,175
model used to determine outcomes through random
sampling. In this case, I randomize the statistics

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00:30:50,215 --> 00:30:54,917
along a normal distribution as a way to simulate
the many variables that can occur during battle.

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00:30:55,317 --> 00:31:00,070
The stat parameters are based on the official
Marvel power grid. from which the DC characters'

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00:31:00,090 --> 00:31:05,252
statistics are extrapolated. Additional stat
categories are included such as range, damage

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00:31:05,292 --> 00:31:10,695
potential, versatility, and perception in order
to create a more detailed and accurate simulation.

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00:31:11,195 --> 00:31:15,997
The results of the 1,000 simulations provide
a percentage of wins for each character. The

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00:31:16,037 --> 00:31:20,499
contestant with the higher percentage is declared
the victor, as they have a higher probability

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00:31:20,539 --> 00:31:26,321
to win any given battle. In an equitable pairing,
neither character should win 100% of the matches.

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00:31:26,850 --> 00:31:31,352
The comic book stories have shown that there's
even a way for Batman to defeat Superman, so

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00:31:31,372 --> 00:31:35,254
the confidence rate of my method falls in line
with the precedents that have been established

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00:31:35,294 --> 00:31:40,837
in the source material. My mathematical simulations
are without subjectivity or bias. Feats are

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00:31:40,877 --> 00:31:45,280
not the sole consideration, nor are fan votes
tabulated for determination of the winner.

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00:31:46,700 --> 00:31:51,763
Thanks AJ9K! Before we run the simulations though,
we like to break down each character's histories

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00:31:51,783 --> 00:31:57,538
and abilities before improvising a scenario
on how we imagine One of the 1000 simulations

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00:31:57,558 --> 00:32:02,479
would play out beat for beat. And it's my turn
to go first with the DC characters backstory,

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00:32:02,839 --> 00:32:09,181
so let me tell you all about Talon. Now, the
Court of Owls is an ancient secret society

349
00:32:09,221 --> 00:32:15,063
that has controlled Gotham City from the shadows
for centuries. Composed of Gotham's oldest

350
00:32:15,143 --> 00:32:20,844
and wealthiest families, the court has wielded
power through assassination, manipulation,

351
00:32:21,184 --> 00:32:26,786
and economic influence, ensuring that Gotham
remained under their dominion. Their existence

352
00:32:26,806 --> 00:32:32,349
has been whispered as an urban legend, reinforced
by a nursery rhyme that warns of their presence,

353
00:32:32,629 --> 00:32:38,172
but for those who have stood in their way, the
court is a very real and deadly force. To enforce

354
00:32:38,212 --> 00:32:44,015
their will, the court has employed assassins
known as Talons, highly trained killers enhanced

355
00:32:44,035 --> 00:32:50,579
with Electrum, an alchemically enhanced metallic
alloy that can regenerate and resurrect human

356
00:32:50,639 --> 00:32:57,307
tissue. These Talons, conditioned to obey without
question, have operated in shadows and eliminating

357
00:32:57,347 --> 00:33:02,929
threats to the court's control over Gotham.
Their legacy has spanned generations with each

358
00:33:02,969 --> 00:33:09,792
Talon serving as a silent enforcer of the court's
interests. Now among the most formidable Talons

359
00:33:10,052 --> 00:33:16,075
was William Cobb, the great grandfather of Dick
Grayson, aka Nightwing, who you can learn more

360
00:33:16,095 --> 00:33:23,154
about in our Nightwing vs Daredevil duel episode.
William, born in 1901. He grew up in Gotham's

361
00:33:23,194 --> 00:33:28,999
working class, the son of a steelworker who
died in a bridge accident. Struggling to support

362
00:33:29,059 --> 00:33:35,064
his mother, he turned to street performances,
juggling baseballs for spare change. One day,

363
00:33:35,385 --> 00:33:40,809
after stopping a thief mid-escape with a well-aimed
throw, he caught the attention of Nathaniel

364
00:33:40,849 --> 00:33:47,295
Haley, the owner of Haley Circus, who offered
him a place among the performers. Under Haley's

365
00:33:47,335 --> 00:33:53,071
mentorship, William became a skilled knife thrower.
earning acclaim as one of the circus's most

366
00:33:53,132 --> 00:33:58,776
popular acts. During a return performance in
Gotham, he met and fell in love with Amelia

367
00:33:58,836 --> 00:34:04,702
Crown, the daughter of Burton Crown, one of
Gotham's wealthy elites. Their romance, however,

368
00:34:04,742 --> 00:34:10,387
was cut short when Amelia's father forbade their
relationship, declaring that a man of William's

369
00:34:10,427 --> 00:34:16,252
station would never be worthy of his daughter.
Unaware that he had impregnated Amelia, William

370
00:34:16,292 --> 00:34:22,035
departed, heartbroken and bitter. before Nathaniel
Haley, secretly a member and recruiter of the

371
00:34:22,075 --> 00:34:28,159
Court of Owls, offered him a new purpose and
a chance to become a Talon, an assassin for

372
00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:34,082
the court. Accepting the offer, William was
subjugated to grueling training and was infused

373
00:34:34,102 --> 00:34:40,046
with Electrum, including an Electrum tooth implanted
in his mouth, granting him enhanced abilities

374
00:34:40,426 --> 00:34:46,609
and virtual immortality. In exchange, William
abandoned his former life, including his newborn

375
00:34:46,689 --> 00:34:52,997
son, whom William kidnapped as an infant and
entrusted to Haley's circus, unknowingly beginning

376
00:34:53,057 --> 00:34:58,021
a bloodline that would eventually lead to Dick
Grayson. William became one of the court's

377
00:34:58,081 --> 00:35:03,905
most effective talons, carrying out assassinations
across Gotham for decades and kept in mystic

378
00:35:03,945 --> 00:35:09,549
suspended animation during times when his skills
were unneeded. His missions often targeted

379
00:35:09,609 --> 00:35:15,213
political figures, industrialists, and anyone
who opposed the court's rule, including even

380
00:35:15,253 --> 00:35:20,889
members of the Wayne family. For centuries,
the Court of Owls operated in secrecy, pulling

381
00:35:20,909 --> 00:35:25,933
the strings behind Gotham's power structures.
However, when Bruce Wayne announced plans to

382
00:35:25,973 --> 00:35:31,338
reshape Gotham's future, the court saw him as
a threat and marked him for death. William

383
00:35:31,358 --> 00:35:36,242
was reawakened by the court and sent to assassinate
Bruce Wayne, attacking him during a business

384
00:35:36,282 --> 00:35:41,367
meeting. Their battle led to a deadly struggle
at Top Wing Tower, where William seemingly

385
00:35:41,467 --> 00:35:46,783
plummeted to his death and was sent to the morgue.
only to resurrect himself, slaughtering the

386
00:35:46,823 --> 00:35:52,587
paramedics and escaping. In response to Bruce
Wayne's continued defiance, the court unleashed

387
00:35:52,747 --> 00:35:59,072
the Night of Owls, awakening all of their talon
assassins to retake Gotham. Batman and his

388
00:35:59,192 --> 00:36:05,497
allies fought back, facing an army of resurrected
assassins in a citywide battle. William confronted

389
00:36:05,577 --> 00:36:11,461
Nightwing himself, revealing his true identity
as Dick Grayson's great-grandfather and declaring

390
00:36:11,521 --> 00:36:17,229
that Dick was meant to be the court's next talent.
Their battle ended with Nightwing defeated

391
00:36:17,269 --> 00:36:22,993
William, freezing him with liquid nitrogen and
rejecting his supposed destiny. In the aftermath,

392
00:36:23,133 --> 00:36:29,157
the court, frustrated by their failures, attempted
to execute William, but he was later revived

393
00:36:29,217 --> 00:36:34,821
and used by Bane during the Arkham War, serving
as a lieutenant in Bane's conquest of the city.

394
00:36:35,241 --> 00:36:40,985
Meanwhile, a new talent named Calvin Rose had
recently been trained by the Court of Owls.

395
00:36:41,314 --> 00:36:46,395
Calvin had been raised under extreme abuse,
locked in a dog kennel by his father for days

396
00:36:46,755 --> 00:36:52,617
until he managed to escape. Running away, he
was taken in by Haley Circus, where he became

397
00:36:52,737 --> 00:36:58,979
a skilled escape artist, learning the art of
lockpicking, acrobatics, and illusion. Recognizing

398
00:36:59,019 --> 00:37:04,360
his potential, the Court of Owls recruited him
to become their next Talon, subjugating him

399
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:10,162
to extensive combat and assassination training.
Unlike previous Talons, Kelvin's specialty

400
00:37:10,202 --> 00:37:16,384
was infiltration and evasion. He was an escape
specialist trained to enter impossible situations

401
00:37:16,744 --> 00:37:21,765
and kill high profile targets. However, when
Kelvin was sent on his first assassination

402
00:37:21,805 --> 00:37:26,846
mission, he discovered that his target was a
young woman and her daughter, not the criminals

403
00:37:26,866 --> 00:37:32,148
he had been led to believe the court hunted.
Unable to carry out the kill, he instead helped

404
00:37:32,168 --> 00:37:39,859
them escape, defying the court and becoming
a fugitive. Kelvin spent years on the run,

405
00:37:40,179 --> 00:37:45,543
staying one step ahead of the court while trying
to dismantle their operations. He allied himself

406
00:37:45,583 --> 00:37:51,166
with Sebastian Clark, a former member of the
court who also sought to destroy them. Together

407
00:37:51,207 --> 00:37:56,430
they launched attacks on the court's resources,
seeking to bring them down permanently. Kelvin's

408
00:37:56,470 --> 00:38:01,553
war against the court led him to confront some
of their deadliest talons, including the monstrous

409
00:38:01,674 --> 00:38:08,274
Felix Harmon, the Gotham Butcher. However, Kelvin
eventually discovered that his ally, Sebastian

410
00:38:08,314 --> 00:38:14,217
Clark had been manipulating him all along, using
Calvin as a weapon while secretly seeking to

411
00:38:14,257 --> 00:38:20,280
take control of the court himself. Betrayed,
Calvin was later killed by Bane, only to be

412
00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:26,164
revived using Electraum and forced back into
servitude as a Talon. The court ordered him

413
00:38:26,204 --> 00:38:32,867
to hunt down and kill Strix, another rogue Talon
who had escaped their control. Though he initially

414
00:38:32,927 --> 00:38:38,026
followed orders, Calvin ultimately turned against
the court once more, seeking to break free

415
00:38:38,066 --> 00:38:43,708
of their control for good. Despite repeated
defeats, the Court of Owls endured, reforming

416
00:38:43,908 --> 00:38:49,551
as the International Parliament of Owls and
expanding their influence globally. They attempted

417
00:38:49,591 --> 00:38:55,093
to recruit Dick Grayson once more using psychological
conditioning and deception to manipulate him

418
00:38:55,153 --> 00:39:01,056
into becoming a Talon. Netwing resisted, however,
and exposed and dismantled much of their network.

419
00:39:01,596 --> 00:39:06,546
Years later, it was revealed that the Court
had ties to the Dark Multiverse. worshipping

420
00:39:06,586 --> 00:39:12,812
the ancient entity Barbados and playing a role
in bringing the evil versions of Batman from

421
00:39:12,912 --> 00:39:18,497
dark dimensions known as the Dark Knights into
Gotham. This alliance led to their near extinction

422
00:39:18,557 --> 00:39:22,960
at the hands of the Batman Who Laughs, though
remnants of the court continued to operate

423
00:39:23,061 --> 00:39:31,308
in secrecy. Powers-wise, Talon possesses enhanced
strength, speed, agility, and reflexes. His

424
00:39:31,368 --> 00:39:37,329
body is infused with Electrum. Granting him
near immortality and accelerated healing, allowing

425
00:39:37,349 --> 00:39:42,934
him to recover from fatal wounds almost instantly,
though exposure to extreme cold will slow his

426
00:39:42,954 --> 00:39:48,959
regenerative and resurrection abilities. A master
martial artist, Talon is proficient in multiple

427
00:39:48,999 --> 00:39:55,024
fighting styles, able to match Batman and Nightwing
in combat. His stealth and infiltration skills

428
00:39:55,064 --> 00:39:59,769
make him nearly undetectable, and his precision
with throwing knives and bladed weapons is

429
00:39:59,849 --> 00:40:05,608
near perfect. He wields an arsenal of weapons,
including throwing knives kept on a bandolier

430
00:40:05,629 --> 00:40:10,992
across his torso, as well as twin swords on
his back, among others, all customized for

431
00:40:11,072 --> 00:40:16,516
silent lethal efficiency. Additionally, he uses
infrared goggles for tracking targets in the

432
00:40:16,556 --> 00:40:22,560
dark, and smoke bombs for quick escapes. He
is a world-class escape artist, able to break

433
00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:28,704
free from any restraint. His one other weakness
is his reliance on Electrum. Its ability to

434
00:40:28,764 --> 00:40:34,709
heal can be depleted. and Talons are dependents
on the Court of Owls for replenishment of the

435
00:40:34,789 --> 00:40:38,992
alloy. That's Talon. Do you know what version
of Talon you're going to be going with for

436
00:40:39,012 --> 00:40:43,716
this match or are they all pretty much essentially
the same? I'm going with the composite Talon

437
00:40:43,856 --> 00:40:49,461
of the two primary Talons in William Cobb and
Calvin Rose. I guess my biggest surprise from

438
00:40:49,481 --> 00:40:55,826
that story was that for a secret organization
and a secret assassin, why was it that Bruce

439
00:40:55,846 --> 00:41:00,606
Wayne was attacked by a Talon during the middle
of a business meeting? I believe the person

440
00:41:00,666 --> 00:41:05,789
he was meeting with was a member of the court.
And they didn't anticipate that Bruce Wayne

441
00:41:05,929 --> 00:41:10,651
was going to be as adept at defending himself
from the Talon as he was. Okay. Okay, that

442
00:41:10,671 --> 00:41:14,813
makes sense. That makes sense. Well, there's
not a whole lot there in common with Nico Minoru,

443
00:41:15,013 --> 00:41:18,295
but I think that should make things interesting
when we get around to the speculation. But

444
00:41:18,315 --> 00:41:24,287
let me go ahead and tell you all about Nico
Minoru, aka Sister Grimm. Now, Niko Minoru

445
00:41:24,307 --> 00:41:30,214
was born to Tina and Robert Minoru, two powerful
sorcerers who, along with five other couples,

446
00:41:30,434 --> 00:41:35,621
formed the Pride, which was a secret cult dedicated
to serving the mystical entities known as the

447
00:41:35,661 --> 00:41:41,530
Geborim. Each year, the Pride performed a ritual
sacrifice to the Gaborim in exchange for promises

448
00:41:41,590 --> 00:41:47,275
of future power and prosperity. Unaware of her
parents' true nature, Nico and the other children

449
00:41:47,295 --> 00:41:52,359
of the Pride would spend these annual gatherings
together. However, one fateful night, Nico

450
00:41:52,399 --> 00:41:56,482
and the other teens decided to spy on their
parents and were horrified to witness them

451
00:41:56,542 --> 00:42:02,414
murdering an innocent young woman in ritualistic
fashion. Shocked and disillusioned, Nico and

452
00:42:02,434 --> 00:42:07,605
the other teens resolved to escape from their
parents, becoming the Runaways. As they fled,

453
00:42:07,725 --> 00:42:12,939
Nico was confronted by her mother, Tina. who
wielded a magical artifact called the Staff

454
00:42:12,979 --> 00:42:17,721
of One. Attempting to prevent Nico from leaving,
her mom tried to stab her daughter with the

455
00:42:17,761 --> 00:42:23,644
weapon, but instead, Nico's body absorbed the
staff entirely. Later, during a confrontation

456
00:42:23,684 --> 00:42:28,826
with the time traveling York's parents, Nico
was cut by the father's battle axe, triggering

457
00:42:28,866 --> 00:42:34,289
the Staff of One to emerge from within her body
from her chest for the first time. Instinctively,

458
00:42:34,369 --> 00:42:40,392
she uttered the word freeze, and the spell instantly
encased the York's mother in ice. The moment

459
00:42:40,412 --> 00:42:45,355
marked the awakening of Niko's latent magical
abilities and revealed that the Staff of One

460
00:42:45,395 --> 00:42:49,698
could only be summoned through bloodletting
and that it allowed her to cast a spell only

461
00:42:49,858 --> 00:42:55,222
once before requiring her to devise new phrasing
for the same effect. As the Runaways investigated

462
00:42:55,262 --> 00:42:59,665
the Pride, they learned more about their parents'
arrangement with the Giborum. The deal promised

463
00:42:59,685 --> 00:43:04,588
that after 25 years, six members of the Pride
would be allowed to survive and rule over a

464
00:43:04,648 --> 00:43:12,773
cleansed world while the rest of humanity perished.
friends, the Runaways leader Alex Wilder revealed

465
00:43:12,813 --> 00:43:17,196
himself to be a double agent, secretly working
with his parents and attempting to secure a

466
00:43:17,256 --> 00:43:22,640
place in the Gaborim's utopian future. Alex
sought to convince Nico to join him, but she

467
00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:28,004
rejected him and struck him down, aiding in
his ultimate demise at the hands of the Gaborim.

468
00:43:28,364 --> 00:43:32,647
The Runaways' parents ultimately sacrificed
themselves to destroy the Gaborim, leaving

469
00:43:32,687 --> 00:43:38,270
Nico and her friends orphaned fugitives. With
Alex gone, Nico naturally assumed leadership

470
00:43:38,310 --> 00:43:42,413
of the Runaways, guiding the group to the as
they sought to evade authorities and rebuild

471
00:43:42,453 --> 00:43:47,916
their lives. While searching for Victor Mancha,
a boy prophesied to become a future threat,

472
00:43:48,317 --> 00:43:53,420
Nico and the Runaways encountered Ultron, who
was revealed to be Victor's father. You can

473
00:43:53,460 --> 00:43:58,943
learn more about Ultron in his duel against
Brainiac. After Ultron's defeat, Nico invited

474
00:43:59,003 --> 00:44:04,206
Victor to join the team despite the misgivings
of some members. Meanwhile, fellow Runaway

475
00:44:04,246 --> 00:44:10,208
member Carolina Dean confessed her romantic
feelings toward Nico, but Nico did not reciprocate

476
00:44:10,228 --> 00:44:15,509
them. Instead, she began a relationship with
Victor, though their dynamic remained complicated.

477
00:44:15,949 --> 00:44:20,510
During a conflict with the Gaborim, Nico was
nearly taken by the ancient beings who deemed

478
00:44:20,550 --> 00:44:26,292
her soul pure and suitable for consumption.
However, Victor intervened and saved her. Afterward,

479
00:44:26,332 --> 00:44:30,813
Nico led the team on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D.
and Iron Man, eventually bringing them to New

480
00:44:30,833 --> 00:44:35,607
York. There, she made a risky alliance with
the Kingpin, only for the Runaways to become

481
00:44:35,647 --> 00:44:41,869
entangled in a time displacement event that
sent them back to 1907. In this era, Nico was

482
00:44:41,909 --> 00:44:47,370
abducted by a mysterious woman known as the
Witchbreaker, who claimed to be her great-grandmother.

483
00:44:47,690 --> 00:44:52,232
Informing Nico that she came from an ancient
magical lineage, the Witchbreaker subjected

484
00:44:52,272 --> 00:44:57,393
Nico to brutal training, insisting that enduring
pain would strengthen her magical abilities.

485
00:44:57,954 --> 00:45:02,915
Though the ordeal was traumatic, Niko emerged
with enhanced control over her magic and a

486
00:45:02,955 --> 00:45:07,896
greater understanding of the Staff of One. Upon
returning to the present, the Runaways became

487
00:45:07,936 --> 00:45:12,958
caught in the Skrull's secret invasion of Earth.
During this period, Niko sought to prove that

488
00:45:12,978 --> 00:45:18,319
the Runaways were more than just a band of outcasts,
and insisted they join the Young Avengers in

489
00:45:18,379 --> 00:45:23,821
resisting the alien threat. However, Wiccan
urged her to retreat, arguing that the Runaways

490
00:45:23,861 --> 00:45:28,410
needed to remain in reserve should the Young
Avengers fail. You can learn more about the

491
00:45:28,430 --> 00:45:33,973
Young Avengers in their team duel against Young
Justice. Niko's leadership was further tested

492
00:45:33,993 --> 00:45:39,396
when she used the spell Scatter to disperse
a group of invading aliens, inadvertently causing

493
00:45:39,456 --> 00:45:44,959
emotional disarray among the runaways. Her attempts
to stabilize the group led to further difficulties,

494
00:45:45,039 --> 00:45:50,802
including a disastrous attempt to throw a prom
for the team. Meanwhile, a rival warlock warned

495
00:45:50,862 --> 00:45:55,405
Niko of the dangers of the Staff of One and
attempted to steal it from her, only to be

496
00:45:55,445 --> 00:46:00,439
killed by the Staff itself. This incident reinforced
the notion that the staff carried immense and

497
00:46:00,580 --> 00:46:05,402
unpredictable magical power beyond her complete
understanding. Niko and the Runaways later

498
00:46:05,442 --> 00:46:11,346
became entangled in Arcade's murder world, where
Arcade kidnapped 16 young heroes, forcing them

499
00:46:11,386 --> 00:46:16,949
into a deadly battle royale. An ordeal you can
learn more about in our Riddler vs Arcade duel

500
00:46:16,989 --> 00:46:22,433
episode. Niko was gravely injured when Chase
Stein, a Runaway controlled by the Darkhawk

501
00:46:22,533 --> 00:46:27,423
Amulet, severed her arm. As she lay dying, she
used the last of her strength to utter the

502
00:46:27,463 --> 00:46:33,265
spell, Help, sacrificing herself to the Staff
of One in the process. This act triggered the

503
00:46:33,305 --> 00:46:38,327
Staff to resurrect her, restoring her body.
The experience significantly amplified her

504
00:46:38,367 --> 00:46:43,249
magical abilities, allowing her to wield powers
beyond those previously granted by the Staff

505
00:46:43,289 --> 00:46:48,252
of One. In the aftermath of Murderworld, Nico
and the other survivors were thrust into the

506
00:46:48,312 --> 00:46:54,962
public eye when Arcade released footage of their
ordeal. She and Chase traveled to Bagalia,

507
00:46:55,182 --> 00:47:00,263
a nation of villains, where Nico trained under
Daemon Hellstrom to hone her newly enhanced

508
00:47:00,323 --> 00:47:06,425
abilities. There she was reunited with the resurrected
Alex Wilder, who offered her guidance in navigating

509
00:47:06,465 --> 00:47:11,927
the moral complexities of her power. Eventually
Nico and her allies escaped Bagalia with help

510
00:47:11,967 --> 00:47:16,608
from the Avengers, where a fight against the
Masters of Evil broke out. You can learn more

511
00:47:16,628 --> 00:47:20,929
about the Avengers and the Masters of Evil in
their respective team duels against the Justice

512
00:47:20,969 --> 00:47:26,828
League and the Legion of Doom. Nico later joined
A-Force, an all-female superhero team where

513
00:47:26,848 --> 00:47:31,732
she played a pivotal role in battles against
Anti-Matter and the Countess. However, tensions

514
00:47:31,752 --> 00:47:36,675
within the team escalated during the second
superhero civil war when the inhuman Ulysses

515
00:47:36,715 --> 00:47:41,934
had a vision for telling that Nico would kill
a woman named Alice. Unwilling to be judged

516
00:47:41,994 --> 00:47:46,856
for a crime she had yet to commit, Nico fled
to Colorado, where she encountered the monster

517
00:47:46,876 --> 00:47:51,959
hunter Elsa Bloodstone, whom you can learn more
about in her duel episode against Frankenstein.

518
00:47:52,439 --> 00:47:58,362
As it turned out, the woman named Alice transformed
into a monstrous parasitic insectoid, forcing

519
00:47:58,422 --> 00:48:03,984
Nico to ultimately cast a spell to end her life.
The ordeal left Nico questioning her role as

520
00:48:04,024 --> 00:48:06,626
a hero and the ethics of preemptive justice.

521
00:48:11,228 --> 00:48:17,153
used time travel technology to rescue the former
team member Gert Yorke from death. Though reluctant

522
00:48:17,193 --> 00:48:21,417
at first, Nico recognized that her bond with
the Runaways remained her strongest tether

523
00:48:21,457 --> 00:48:26,555
to humanity. She resumed leadership of the team
and finally formed a romantic relationship

524
00:48:26,615 --> 00:48:31,558
with Carolina Dean. However, she struggled with
the burdens of responsibility, including the

525
00:48:31,578 --> 00:48:36,260
discovery that the staff of One contained a
trapped magician known as The One. Through

526
00:48:36,300 --> 00:48:41,722
negotiations, she altered the terms of her bond
with the staff, allowing her to summon it without

527
00:48:41,762 --> 00:48:47,205
bloodletting, but at the cost of graDuelly freeing
The One's will inside of her. Attempting to

528
00:48:47,245 --> 00:48:48,726
embrace a more structured life,

529
00:48:52,628 --> 00:48:58,171
the J Team. However, she and the Runaways uncovered
Doc Justice's sinister history of orchestrating

530
00:48:58,211 --> 00:49:03,094
the deaths of his young protégés to bolster
his reputation. The team ultimately turned

531
00:49:03,134 --> 00:49:07,537
against him and Nico used her magic to save
Carolina from death. Following these events,

532
00:49:07,617 --> 00:49:11,919
Nico accepted a position at Strange Academy
where she began teaching creative spellcasting

533
00:49:12,299 --> 00:49:17,663
to a new generation of magic users. Powers-wise,
Nico is a sorceress in training with great

534
00:49:22,390 --> 00:49:27,434
to perform powerful and dangerous spells. Despite
her inexperience, she is able to tap into her

535
00:49:27,474 --> 00:49:32,539
magic aptitude to wield the Staff of One, a
powerful magic artifact capable of casting

536
00:49:32,579 --> 00:49:38,205
spells with a word or phrase. However, as part
of the Staff's limitations, she cannot repeat

537
00:49:38,225 --> 00:49:43,630
the same word or phrase to use a spell without
suffering undesirable effects. The Staff's

538
00:49:43,670 --> 00:49:48,730
magical effects are usually temporary and occasionally
unpredictable, but she has refined this through

539
00:49:48,810 --> 00:49:54,213
training. For example, the word freeze was the
first spell she ever cast, and when she tried

540
00:49:54,253 --> 00:49:59,396
the word again, the staff summoned a flock of
pelicans. However, through training, she's

541
00:49:59,436 --> 00:50:04,299
found that she can increase the length of the
spell phrase to produce the same magical effect,

542
00:50:04,699 --> 00:50:09,261
such as freeze to the exact temperature and
aesthetic appearance of a cheap popsicle from

543
00:50:09,321 --> 00:50:14,844
a 7-11, which gives her a workaround to repeat
some spells when necessary. Though again, she

544
00:50:14,884 --> 00:50:19,855
cannot use the same phrase twice. Nico can also
summon the Staff of One to herself when it's

545
00:50:19,895 --> 00:50:25,117
beyond her reach and use it as a physical combat
weapon. In her time as a runaway and superhero,

546
00:50:25,137 --> 00:50:29,579
she's added a number of learned spells to her
repertoire that she can use without the staff,

547
00:50:29,699 --> 00:50:35,661
including Portal Generation, Magic Shielding,
and Levitation of both herself and other objects.

548
00:50:36,201 --> 00:50:43,064
And that is Nico Minoru. So what kind of spells
exactly can she cast with Blood Magic? Summoning

549
00:50:43,104 --> 00:50:47,842
her Staff of One? That's it? That's all she
can do with Blood Magic? Through bloodletting,

550
00:50:48,202 --> 00:50:52,345
specifically the torture that she went through
on behalf of the Witchbreaker, she was able

551
00:50:52,365 --> 00:50:57,229
to gain more control over the spells that she
would cast using the Staff of One. But it's

552
00:50:57,249 --> 00:51:01,692
not just blood magic skill that she has potential
in, it's also standard magic, which is how

553
00:51:01,732 --> 00:51:07,036
she has those learned spells such as levitation,
magic shielding, and the like. So she's only

554
00:51:07,156 --> 00:51:12,520
able to summon it if she produces her blood?
Not anymore, no. She doesn't have to actually

555
00:51:12,580 --> 00:51:16,554
bloodlet in order to summon the Staff. Cause
that was pretty dark. She was essentially like

556
00:51:16,574 --> 00:51:21,637
a cutter superhero. Yeah, yeah. Maybe that's
why they changed it cause they didn't want

557
00:51:21,697 --> 00:51:27,840
kids kind of like enacting that sort of bloodletting.
But I do think that Nico is a vastly interesting

558
00:51:27,880 --> 00:51:32,282
character. You know, she's got like the Japanese
thing going. She's got the goth thing going.

559
00:51:32,462 --> 00:51:36,264
There's no other character in the Marvel universe
that's quite like her. And I think that's why

560
00:51:36,284 --> 00:51:40,874
she's kind of been the standout character of
the Runaways. kind of transitioning successfully

561
00:51:40,914 --> 00:51:46,317
from that team onto other Marvel superhero teams
like the A-Force. And she's just a knockoff

562
00:51:46,358 --> 00:51:51,520
version of Tracy 13. Actually the way that Nico
uses her spells through like the one word,

563
00:51:51,601 --> 00:51:55,443
one phrase type thing and like the fish nets
and all that kind of reminded me of Zatanna.

564
00:51:55,783 --> 00:51:59,885
I think an interesting duel would have been
Zatanna versus Nico, although I do believe

565
00:51:59,925 --> 00:52:03,267
that Zatanna would have wiped the floor with
her because Nico has those spell limitations.

566
00:52:03,467 --> 00:52:07,730
Whereas Zatanna can use her spells over and
over again. She just says them backwards. I

567
00:52:07,770 --> 00:52:12,271
find it interesting that you describe Nico as
still being in training when she's also teaching

568
00:52:12,311 --> 00:52:16,113
courses at Strange Academy. Yeah, she's still
in training though to reach her potential.

569
00:52:16,613 --> 00:52:21,475
A lot of the magic that she does is summoned
through the staff, so she's working on becoming

570
00:52:21,495 --> 00:52:25,897
a better sorceress outside of the staff. Maybe
she'll become the future Sorcerer Supreme.

571
00:52:26,538 --> 00:52:32,200
She was in consideration along with the rest
of Marvel's sorcerers and sorceresses at the

572
00:52:32,240 --> 00:52:35,801
time that Doctor Strange lost the title briefly.
Oh, interesting. Okay.

573
00:52:43,046 --> 00:52:49,090
fantasies collide and heroes clash, one podcast
network rises above the rest. Prepare yourself

574
00:52:49,310 --> 00:52:55,434
for the ultimate showdowns in comic books, video
games, movies, and anime. The Dynomic Podcast

575
00:52:55,474 --> 00:53:00,097
Network presents Console Combat, where video
game legends brawl every Monday.

576
00:53:03,150 --> 00:53:08,833
Smash every Tuesday, Max Destruction, where
TV and action heroes battle every Wednesday,

577
00:53:09,414 --> 00:53:15,318
and Sendro World, where anime champions clash
every Thursday. Join us as we speculate on

578
00:53:15,358 --> 00:53:21,042
the matches and, armed with the power of mathematical
simulations, discover who will emerge victorious.

579
00:53:21,582 --> 00:53:25,845
Visit dynamicpodcast.com where we settle the
debate and settle the score.

580
00:53:30,226 --> 00:53:34,148
Now that we've got their histories and abilities
out of the way, let's speculate on how one

581
00:53:34,228 --> 00:53:40,110
of the 1000 simulated matches will go. The winner
is determined by simulations, not this speculation,

582
00:53:40,430 --> 00:53:46,013
but it's fun to imagine how this fight could
play out. AJ9K, what are the rules of our speculation?

583
00:53:46,893 --> 00:53:50,895
Well, I should say there are no rules, other
than the characters have no prior knowledge

584
00:53:50,915 --> 00:53:55,316
of the other going into the fight. All they
are aware of starting out is that the other

585
00:53:55,336 --> 00:54:00,423
character is a threat that needs to be eliminated.
For the speculation, the contestants will begin

586
00:54:00,463 --> 00:54:05,527
approximately 50 meters apart in a non-descript
environment that will have no bearing on the

587
00:54:05,567 --> 00:54:10,911
match itself, as no environmental statistics
are considered in my simulations. The contestants

588
00:54:10,951 --> 00:54:16,435
must earn victory on their own merit. Alright,
then let's get into it. Talon and Sister Grimm

589
00:54:16,475 --> 00:54:22,639
meet on the battlefield. Who goes first? I'm
gonna say Niko goes first by summoning her

590
00:54:22,679 --> 00:54:28,194
staff. That's her first action. It emerges from
her chest. and she spins it around like a badass.

591
00:54:28,814 --> 00:54:33,355
And actually, I have a list of all the spells
that she's performed in the comics, because

592
00:54:33,375 --> 00:54:37,877
I'm going to try to keep this speculation as
comic accurate as possible for Nico. So I have

593
00:54:37,897 --> 00:54:43,458
a list of like no-go words and phrases, just,
you know, to stay in keeping with her limitations.

594
00:54:43,478 --> 00:54:51,560
OK, good. Well, Nico is busy twirling her staff.
Tellen's going to hurl a volley of blades her

595
00:54:51,600 --> 00:54:57,927
way with deadly precision, targeting each of
her limbs and her head. Oh sorry the blades

596
00:54:57,987 --> 00:55:03,350
missed because Nico she puts up a magic shield
to block them you know it's one of her learned

597
00:55:03,390 --> 00:55:07,752
spells she doesn't need the staff for and then
she's gonna use the staff to vault over her

598
00:55:07,792 --> 00:55:13,115
magic shield and she's gonna levitate in the
air point the staff at Talon and she's gonna

599
00:55:13,155 --> 00:55:18,599
call out the spell Captain Howdy which is gonna
make Talon's head spin around like the girl

600
00:55:18,999 --> 00:55:24,262
from the exorcist movie and also like an owl
since he kind of looks like an owl and that's

601
00:55:24,282 --> 00:55:30,607
going to snap his neck, just taking him out.
OK. You know, with his neck snapped, his body

602
00:55:30,627 --> 00:55:35,251
is probably going to drop to the floor dead.
And Nico, she'll land on the ground and be

603
00:55:35,291 --> 00:55:40,475
like, well, that was easy. But as she's busy
looking around, wondering where she is and

604
00:55:40,515 --> 00:55:45,739
why she's in this environment, she's going to
be too distracted to see Talon's head spin

605
00:55:45,799 --> 00:55:51,464
back around. And his body stands back up. And
before she realizes it, she's been straight

606
00:55:51,484 --> 00:55:58,327
up impaled with a sword through her back. Oh
shit, okay. Uh, well okay, so she falls away

607
00:55:58,387 --> 00:56:03,308
from the sword, she's mortally wounded, but
before she passes out, she's gonna call out

608
00:56:03,348 --> 00:56:08,789
the spell Red Potion, which is gonna cause the
Staff of One to heal her up instantly, you

609
00:56:08,809 --> 00:56:14,951
know, like the Red Potion from Legend of Zelda.
So she gets back onto her feet, and she's glaring

610
00:56:15,011 --> 00:56:20,653
at this Talon douche who just stabbed her, and
she calls out Pyre, which is gonna cause Talon

611
00:56:20,673 --> 00:56:26,958
to catch on fire. Pyre? Like a funeral pyre?
Yeah. I'm guessing she's already used the spell

612
00:56:27,018 --> 00:56:34,420
fire. According to this list, she's used hell
fire and back draft. But I would think that

613
00:56:34,460 --> 00:56:38,101
fire would either be too common that she'd have
had to have used it at some point or she'd

614
00:56:38,161 --> 00:56:43,083
want to save it as like a backup emergency spell.
Because in the comics, she's kind of forced

615
00:56:43,123 --> 00:56:47,504
to get creative with some of her wording in
order to not back herself into a corner in

616
00:56:47,524 --> 00:56:51,965
the future. So I'm just kind of rolling with
that idea. OK, well, I mean, it doesn't matter

617
00:56:52,325 --> 00:56:58,707
because all she says on fire. is a column of
smoke where Talon once was. And as she's looking

618
00:56:58,747 --> 00:57:04,128
around for him, that's when Talon's going to
attack from whatever direction she wasn't looking,

619
00:57:04,488 --> 00:57:09,390
just delivering this series of kicks and strikes.
And that's going to cause her to drop her staff

620
00:57:09,850 --> 00:57:15,011
and get knocked to the ground. OK, so she's
on the ground, but she's going to use her learned

621
00:57:15,071 --> 00:57:21,033
magic spell to telekinetically shove Talon back.
And then she's going to summon the staff that

622
00:57:21,053 --> 00:57:27,034
she dropped back into her hand. She's gonna
call out the spell, sleep with the fishes.

623
00:57:27,414 --> 00:57:32,896
And suddenly Talon's feet are gonna be encased
in cement, like cinder blocks, and now he can

624
00:57:33,076 --> 00:57:38,818
barely move his legs. He's stuck. Dude, a middle
school age kid with karate skill can get out

625
00:57:38,858 --> 00:57:44,459
of this. He's just gonna karate chop this cinder
block, it's gonna crack in half, so he's free.

626
00:57:45,320 --> 00:57:48,740
Okay, but she's gonna see him doing that, and
she's gonna realize that she needs a better

627
00:57:48,861 --> 00:57:55,703
freezing spell. So she's gonna point her staff
at him. and call out squishy and then he completely

628
00:57:55,743 --> 00:58:02,507
freezes encased in ice just frozen to death.
Why does squishy freeze him? From the Simpsons

629
00:58:02,527 --> 00:58:08,030
you know the drink that the cookie mart sells
it's like an icy. Okay well I mean icies are

630
00:58:08,210 --> 00:58:13,533
pretty liquid it's not like they're frozen blocks
so Talon's actually just soaked in cold red

631
00:58:13,613 --> 00:58:18,836
syrup and that's gonna allow him to throw a
dagger right across Nico's throat slitting

632
00:58:18,916 --> 00:58:25,427
the larynx and preventing her from speaking
any more magic words. No, cause actually, you

633
00:58:25,447 --> 00:58:29,768
know, the literal meaning of the word is less
important than the meaning that she assigns

634
00:58:29,828 --> 00:58:35,470
to it. Cause like in the comics, she built a
house using the spell Abraham Lincoln, but

635
00:58:35,490 --> 00:58:40,911
it's not like that spell summoned Abraham Lincoln.
So no, Talon's not covered in red liquid. He's

636
00:58:40,991 --> 00:58:47,013
frozen solid, like she meant him to be. And
he didn't throw any daggers cause he's frozen,

637
00:58:47,313 --> 00:58:50,627
cause he's dead. And there's not going to be
any resurrecting here because she's going to

638
00:58:50,727 --> 00:58:56,651
shatter him into a thousand pieces with her
staff. Match over. All right. But surprise,

639
00:58:57,012 --> 00:59:02,015
just as she's about to shatter him, he's going
to eject these extendable claws kind of like

640
00:59:02,035 --> 00:59:07,559
Wolverine from his wrist. And that's going to
shatter the ice around his arm, freeing it.

641
00:59:08,119 --> 00:59:13,343
And the staff, she's going to swing that into
these blades, which is going to cause Nico

642
00:59:13,403 --> 00:59:20,965
to accidentally get her staff sliced in two.
So before she can even comprehend what just

643
00:59:21,005 --> 00:59:27,270
happened, Talon's gonna like flex his way out
of the rest of the ice and quickly draw his

644
00:59:27,310 --> 00:59:34,817
sword and slice her body into with one stroke,
ending this match in his favor. Okay, so either

645
00:59:35,358 --> 00:59:41,423
Talon breaks out of the ice and slices Niko
down with his sword, or he stays in the ice

646
00:59:42,004 --> 00:59:45,258
and she shatters him into a thousand pieces.
I think that's a pretty good cliffhanger for

647
00:59:45,278 --> 00:59:49,801
this match. Let's go ahead and see which scenario
happens by running the stats on these characters,

648
00:59:50,061 --> 00:59:55,644
along with the simulations, and coming back
with a winner. AG9K, hit it! Inputting data,

649
00:59:56,204 --> 01:00:02,007
running calculations, processing results, simulations
complete. All right, we always knew that the

650
01:00:02,047 --> 01:00:05,849
stats for this particular matchup were gonna
be interesting. Like, the characters aren't

651
01:00:05,929 --> 01:00:11,573
identical at all. They have nothing really in
common. It's more about what they have in contrast

652
01:00:11,593 --> 01:00:16,511
with each other. And to that end, these stats
came out as expected. Like you have Talon,

653
01:00:16,871 --> 01:00:22,453
who's an incredibly skilled fighter going up
against Nico, who is not. And then you have

654
01:00:22,553 --> 01:00:29,376
Nico, who is incredibly versatile going up against
Talon, who is not. Right, Talon is basically

655
01:00:29,856 --> 01:00:35,378
a stabby fight man who really doesn't have too
much going for him, you know, besides his healing

656
01:00:35,398 --> 01:00:39,920
factor as well. Oh yeah, the healing factor
put him way over the top over Nico in terms

657
01:00:40,120 --> 01:00:46,407
of durability. But when it came to damage level,
Niko came out on top by equal measure. Yeah,

658
01:00:46,427 --> 01:00:51,310
she definitely has the potential to cause a
lot of damage. We also said that Niko was slightly

659
01:00:51,391 --> 01:00:59,155
stronger thanks to her telekinesis and had a
broader range. But in contrast, Talon had greater

660
01:00:59,215 --> 01:01:04,719
perception thanks to his infrared goggles. I
think the stat that was most surprising here

661
01:01:04,759 --> 01:01:10,514
was intelligence. The Marvel power grid ranks
Niko at a two. And because of that, I thought

662
01:01:10,554 --> 01:01:14,858
Talon was gonna take that stack category. But
it turns out he's not really that much smarter

663
01:01:14,898 --> 01:01:20,003
either. Yeah, I know the Talons are pretty much
mindless zombies that only know how to do the

664
01:01:20,023 --> 01:01:24,827
will of the court. So, yeah, he ranked pretty
low. But with all of this in consideration,

665
01:01:25,148 --> 01:01:28,911
Joseph, who do you think came out on top? I
think Nico's going to take it. I mean, for

666
01:01:29,071 --> 01:01:36,878
as good of a fighter and as lethal and as durable
as Talon is regenerative, I should say. I think

667
01:01:36,938 --> 01:01:41,582
Nico has her own unique strengths and I think
that's going to put her over the top. Instagram

668
01:01:41,602 --> 01:01:48,067
does not agree with me for some reason. 61%
of our Instagram poll takers said that Talon

669
01:01:48,087 --> 01:01:51,690
was going to win this match, which kind of scares
me a little bit because I would think that

670
01:01:51,710 --> 01:01:56,855
a lot of people would actually know who Nico
is, you know, just based on the runaways television

671
01:01:56,875 --> 01:02:01,379
show or the current Your Friendly Neighborhood
Spider-Man series. Talon just must be more

672
01:02:01,419 --> 01:02:06,438
popular than I think he is or he's more powerful
than I think he is. Talon comes from one of

673
01:02:06,478 --> 01:02:11,919
the most interesting Batman stories ever, at
least recently. So yeah, I'm not surprised

674
01:02:11,939 --> 01:02:17,401
by those Instagram results. But let's see if
those poll takers are correct. Agent NK, the

675
01:02:17,441 --> 01:02:26,684
results please. Hey Yuasa. Alright, the winner
of the matchup between Talon and Niko Minoru

676
01:02:27,844 --> 01:02:34,566
is... Niko Minoru. That's right, baby! That's
right! But... By what percentage would you

677
01:02:34,606 --> 01:02:39,087
guess? I think it'll be pretty close. It's got
to be in the 50s. I don't think she's going

678
01:02:39,127 --> 01:02:43,328
to take almost two thirds of these matches.
I think it's going to be closer to the 50-50

679
01:02:43,588 --> 01:02:49,750
mark. I actually thought Nico was going to totally
stomp after putting in the stats, but she won

680
01:02:50,110 --> 01:03:00,013
58.6 percent of her matches or 586 of the 1000
compared to Talon, who won 414. OK, so that

681
01:03:00,053 --> 01:03:06,388
was pretty close to 60 percent then. Yeah, in
the end, Talon's fighting and durability stats

682
01:03:06,408 --> 01:03:13,133
cannot overpower Niko's versatility and damage
as well as range really. You know, it was the

683
01:03:13,173 --> 01:03:19,658
stat that really failed him. It was intelligence.
If Talon was like a smart genius, like I thought

684
01:03:19,678 --> 01:03:24,121
he was going to be, he actually would have put
up a better fight to the point of maybe even

685
01:03:24,161 --> 01:03:29,385
winning this thing. I mean, both of the prominent
talents were recruited by Haley Circus fairly

686
01:03:29,425 --> 01:03:35,388
young. And that's not really to discount the
intelligence of circus performers, but their

687
01:03:35,448 --> 01:03:40,870
specialties are physical and not necessarily
academic. Yeah, and even though Nico's like

688
01:03:41,090 --> 01:03:46,273
teaching some classes at a strange academy,
I don't think she graduated high school. So

689
01:03:46,293 --> 01:03:51,355
she definitely is gaining in her knowledge of
the occult and mysticism. But you know, she's

690
01:03:51,395 --> 01:03:56,617
still a little bit naive. She's still considered
like a young hero compared to the rest of the

691
01:03:56,637 --> 01:04:00,496
Marvel Pantheon. Did you know that the Staff
of One has made an appearance in the MCU? Oh,

692
01:04:00,516 --> 01:04:07,261
it was in the Dr. Strange movie, right? Yeah,
it was when Dormammu was attacking the magic

693
01:04:07,321 --> 01:04:15,548
stronghold in China, the one that Wong was defending,
and alongside him was Tina, Nico's mom, holding

694
01:04:15,608 --> 01:04:20,432
the Staff of One. I'm really hoping that the
Court of Owls are the main villains in the

695
01:04:20,512 --> 01:04:26,017
upcoming sequel to The Batman. It's rumored
that they, and possibly also Mr. Freeze, will

696
01:04:26,057 --> 01:04:31,163
be. Fingers crossed, I think that'd be really
cool. I feel like the Court of Owls and Mr.

697
01:04:31,203 --> 01:04:37,024
Freeze aren't two comic book entities that jive
well in a story, but I'd rather see the Court

698
01:04:37,044 --> 01:04:42,146
of Owls because they seem a lot more grounded
than something like Mr. Freeze, and we all

699
01:04:42,166 --> 01:04:47,887
know that the Batman franchise is pretty grounded.
Well, I think Batman would almost need Mr.

700
01:04:47,907 --> 01:04:53,629
Freeze's tech to stop the Court of Owls and
their talons, so I don't know. Yeah, that would

701
01:04:53,649 --> 01:05:00,490
make sense. We'll see. But that does it for
this duel AJ 9k help close this out. Thanks

702
01:05:00,510 --> 01:05:05,913
for listening to Dynamic Duel. Visit the show's
website at dynamicDuel.com and follow us on

703
01:05:05,973 --> 01:05:12,456
Instagram at dynamicDuelpodcast. You can support
the show on Patreon at patreon.com slash dynamicDuel

704
01:05:12,576 --> 01:05:16,799
and joining a tier that works for you, or by
rating and reviewing Dynamic Duel on Apple

705
01:05:16,819 --> 01:05:22,442
Podcasts, Spotify, Podchaser or on our website.
Don't forget to listen to the other shows in

706
01:05:22,462 --> 01:05:27,985
the Dynamite Podcast Network, including Max
Destruction, Senjow World and Console Combat.

707
01:05:29,686 --> 01:05:35,489
Our next episode is going to be a matchup between
two psychic entities, or I guess one of them

708
01:05:35,509 --> 01:05:40,672
is an emotional entity. It's going to be Parallax
versus Onslaught. Yeah, two universe shaking

709
01:05:40,712 --> 01:05:45,054
bad guys from the 90s. It's going to be awesome.
We want to give a big thanks to our executive

710
01:05:45,074 --> 01:05:50,757
producers, John Storosky, Zachary Hepburn, Mickey
Montagian, Brandon Estergard, Nathaniel Wagner,

711
01:05:50,998 --> 01:05:57,241
Levi Yeaton, Austin Wiselowski, AJ Dunkerley,
Nick Abonto, Scott Camacho, Gil Camacho, Adam

712
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Spies. Dean Molesky, Devin Davis, Joseph Kirsting,
Josh Leiner, Mike Williams, and Oscar Galvez

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for helping make this podcast possible. We'll
talk to you guys next week. Up up and away,

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true believers.