Zach & Tavie reach a major turning point in this special GIANT-SIZE installment of the show, discussing what everything thus far has been building to in the MCU at this point, 2012’s team-up film, The Avengers (or Avengers Assemble, depending on where you live in the world).

It’s an exciting one with a lot to take in and go over, as we come to the conclusion of Phase 1. We take a dive into addressing the problematic elephant in the room with director and co-writer Joss Whedon and his one-liners a-plenty. There’s also a whole bunch of Zach’s nerdy nitpicks of all sorts. Not to mention going down an Alice In Wonderland rabbit hole (appropriately enough) at a point.

Additionally, the DC universe gets some attention, and unfortunately even current politics and real world super-villains rear their ugly heads (though only ever so briefly, we promise). Plus nicknames old and new, from both Tavie and Tony Stark, trivia cards giving away details too soon, a new Bruce Banner, a farewell(?) to a familiar face, Zach using the phrase tête-à-tête, and the story of his close encounter with Whedon and Kevin Feige.

Of course, we also get into questions such as “Where does it currently rank in the all-time box office list?”, “Why doesn’t this lineup match the original comic team?”, “Whose idea was it to put an eyeball stabby device in a movie kids would see?”, “What’s a Chitauri?”, “Can Tavie keep up with all of the characters?”, “Is that a Marvel superhero over Tavie’s shoulder?”, “How is this like a beloved Muppet holiday classic?”, “What can’t be fixed by a good clonk on the head?”, “Why was the Avenger Initiative scrapped?”, “Is it worth avenging a world that hadn’t been saved?”, and “Exactly what did Pepper whisper in Tony’s ear?”.

All of this plus SPOT THE STAN, MARVEL TRIVIA, PENNY’S CORNER and SO MUCH MORE! Maybe bring a bunch of friends together and fight each other before eventually teaming up to listen to this one.

Produced & co-hosted by Zach Woliner & Tavie Phillips Featuring Penny Woliner Edited by Zach Woliner Theme music by Luis Humanoide Cover art by Chris Giarrusso

Zach & Tavie are in for a whole bunch of firsts this time, including the first Marvel Studios Captain America film, the first film in the MCU to have a subtitle, starring the first character that was not a Stan Lee co-creation, “the first of many”, etc. It’s a classic action-adventure World War 2 period piece showing how the 98-pound weakling, Steve Rogers, was transformed into that example of peak human perfection, the super soldier called Captain America, as brought to life by former Johnny Storm, Chris Evans.

Listen and hear Tavie’s personal connection to the time and location that a fair amount of the movie takes place in, where Evans lands on the Hollywood Chris charisma scale, more of her fun nicknames for actors, and just who her favorite character was. See another strong female lead in Agent Peggy Carter, as portrayed by Hayley Atwell, joined as well by Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Steve’s best friend, as they fight Hydra (as well as the less mentioned Nazis that they are a part of) as led by Hugo Weaving’s dastardly Red Skull.

Also, explore questions like “What do comic superheroes have in common with a yellow family from Springfield?”, “What does Steve Rogers have in common with a Disney princess?”, “What does a super soldier have in common with a mermaid and a man-eating plant?”, “What does Tavie have in common with Tommy Lee Jones’ character?”, “Where were these trivia cards made?”, “Is it regime or regimen?”, “What makes a landmark?”, “What other work of fiction features a tesseract?”, “Why was Odin so trusting of the people of Norway?”, “Which former Pedro co-star makes an appearance?”, “Who drinks milk with steak?”, and “Just how many connections to Indiana Jones are there?”.

If you like seeing Nazis getting punched (and who doesn’t?), this might just be the one for you. It’s got everything listed so far, as well as SPOT THE STAN, MARVEL TRIVIA, PENNY’S CORNER, a classic Zach nerd-out, as SO MUCH MORE! Slap some wings on your head and join us for the MCU’s introduction to everyone’s favorite star-spangled man with a plan!

*I know it was Odin’s TREASURE room, and not throne room. Not sure how that came out wrong multiple times. Additionally, the one cameo may not have been one at all, as I could only find a single tweet indicating it, with no further validation online.

Featuring a clip from “My Comic Shop DocumentARy”, courtesy of Anthony Desiato & Flat Squirrel Productions.

Produced & co-hosted by Zach Woliner & Tavie Phillips Featuring Penny Woliner Edited by Zach Woliner Theme music by Luis Humanoide Cover art by Chris Giarrusso

Zach & Tavie take a trip to other realms within their larger journey through the MCU, specifically focusing on Asgard, though plenty of time is also spent on Midgard (even if it is barely ever referred to as such in the film). That’s right, it’s time for Thor! The film AND the character!

Also, Odin, Loki, Frigga, Sif, The Warriors Three (which is easier to remember than they’re individual names, which also only get mentioned so often), and earthly figures like Jane Foster, Dr. Erik Selvig, and the primary relief figure of Darcy.

We get fun nicknames, including one borrowed from another movie-based podcast, a Dave Foley connection (beyond Tavie, herself), an early example of daddy issues in the MCU, another female lead who gets an onscreen upgrade from her comic book counterpart, a satellite(?), Adventures In Babysitting talk, another new soon-to-be-Avenger in a small role, a potential new segment for Zach, SHIELD getting into some questionable territory and a bunch of other fun stuff in this analysis of these characters who may or may not be gods.

Plus, delve into some questions with us like “How should TV shows be handled in the future of the show?”, “What makes an acceptable fat suit?”, “How tall should one be to be considered a true Frost GIANT (or is it “Ice Gargoyle”?)?", “How does one ‘serve Maleficent’?”, “Is ‘coronated’ a word?”, “Just how old ARE Thor and Loki?”, “How do the physics of that dirt mound work?”, “Couldn’t we ALL use a little Odinsleep every once in a while?”, and plenty of others.

All of this and SPOT THE STAN, MARVEL TRIVIA, PENNY’S CORNER and SO MUCH MORE! So tune in and see if Zach and Tavie found this to be a worthy entry in the MCU, even despite what one might think of Chris Hemsworth’s charisma level.

If you like it, please subscribe and leave a nice review on your preferred podcast platform, and be sure to follow us at @ZachTavieMarvel on all of the major social media sites and apps.

Produced & co-hosted by Zach Woliner & Tavie Phillips Featuring Penny Woliner Edited by Zach Woliner Theme music by Luis Humanoide Cover art by Chris Giarrusso