The Brave and the Bold Part 2 Review

Batman the Animated Series Podcast

The hosts review the Justice League animated episode 'The Brave and the $Bold Part 2,' critiquing its repetitive plot and lack of engagement

Key takeaways

• The hosts rated the episode poorly, with scores ranging from 2/10 to 4/10 due to its boring nature.
• They noted that the Batman and Wonder Woman pairing was a result of positive fan feedback to previous scenes.

Main topics

• Justice League Episode Review
• Wolverine Video Game

Notable quotes

The world will miss your sparkling intellect. Goodbye, Flash.

Conclusion

While the episode review is largely negative, the podcast provides int

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:18) Hey, Caped Crusaders, and welcome to another edition of Batman, the animated series podcast. I'm your host, Alex Robson, and with me as always is my co-host, my brother, comic book artist and writer, and the guy who's my prime mate. It's Mr. Will Robson. Say hello, Will. Ah, Speaker 2 (0:31) yes, we get in all types of monkey business together, don't Speaker 1 (0:36) we, Speaker 2 (0:36) Smythe? I don't know why I said Smythe there, but you Speaker 1 (0:38) know what I was saying. Yes, hello, buddy. Hey, buddy. It's good to see you because, you know, we see each other so little these days. I haven't seen you in three or four hours. Wow. Speaker 1 (0:50) uh yeah let's just jump straight into gamer life before even art life which is we're playing the wolverine game over on youtube by the time this episode drops we probably will have the entire game available at least the story for you to watch it's over on retro robsons that's our youtube for gaming so please go over there subscribe like the videos that would help us out so much because we are we are fully immersed into this wolverine game aren't we Speaker 2 (1:17) Yeah, Speaker 1 (1:17) and Speaker 2 (1:17) I'm enjoying it. There's so much negative press out there. We just finished recording part three for context for people watching. And yes, is it amazing story-wise? No. Is it amazing gameplay-wise? Not necessarily. But Speaker 1 (1:33) is it fun? Yes, I am having fun with it. I thought you Speaker 2 (1:37) were Speaker 1 (1:37) going to be like, no. Speaker 2 (1:40) You and I are having a good time with it. And I think that the online stuff that people have been posting about how it's like... Oh, it's like the super easy game. It's not an easy game, I'll tell you that much, first of all. And that's all propaganda stuff of people putting the settings on the lowest possible settings and turning off all the gore and stuff, and they're just cherry-picking stuff that is just... They're tricking you. Just go play the game for yourself, and then you know. Actually, you know what, Bettyette? Go to YouTube, to Retro Robsons, and watch us play it, and then you'll be able to decide. Don't clip me shouting, I Speaker 1 (2:12) hate this fucking game, because I don't. That was me raging on the first boss. He saw Omega Red. Speaker 2 (2:19) I did see Omega Red. I will say that the game is absolutely fine. Speaker 1 (2:25) It is. It's a fine game. I mean... You know what? If we weren't sitting and watching or playing together, I think I would have a little more difficulty if I was playing on my own. You know what I mean? Because there is a lot of cut scenes and they do like to take a lot of breaks in between sentences. I think they're getting paid by the minute over there. But Speaker 2 (2:44) for real. We Speaker 1 (2:46) just Speaker 2 (2:46) played Never Have I Ever in the game as well, which I was not expecting in a Wolverine game. But here we are in 2026, people. But if you want to see Speaker 1 (2:54) us take the absolute Speaker 2 (2:55) piss out of it, please join us on RetroRobsons. And we're also playing all the Arkham games over there, Speaker 1 (3:00) which we will continue to do so. And thank you everyone that supported Speaker 2 (3:02) us over there so far. We are so close to a thousand subscribers. So if you haven't subscribed yet over there, Speaker 1 (3:07) please subscribe. Because when we get to a thousand, we get Speaker 2 (3:09) to monetize, which means we get to do it, hopefully, way more. Speaker 2 (3:14) She's got her classic mystique outfit on now. I dig it. Speaker 3 (3:18) Me Speaker 2 (3:18) too. I don't think that naked mystique is as good look as this one. I Speaker 1 (3:22) agree. Speaker 2 (3:22) I love the white, like, sort of dress look. I think it's really cool. Yeah. Speaker 1 (3:27) And she usually has Speaker 2 (3:28) skulls for a belt. Speaker 1 (3:28) Never have I ever Speaker 2 (3:29) pissed someone off. Speaker 1 (3:32) I thought she was going to say, never have I ever pissed on. Speaker 2 (3:36) He's like, Speaker 1 (3:37) what are we doing? Speaker 2 (3:38) I'll drink. Awareness. Speaker 1 (3:41) No, Speaker 2 (3:41) I'm not talking about me. Speaker 1 (3:42) What are Speaker 2 (3:43) we doing right now? Speaker 1 (3:44) What are we doing? I cannot believe we're playing Never Have I Ever in a Wolverine game. This is a Never Have I Ever therapy session. Speaker 2 (3:51) My body's outside of the cabin. Speaker 1 (3:53) Let's play Never Have I Ever. It's my new favorite game. Mystic just Speaker 3 (3:56) taught me this new Speaker 2 (3:57) cool Speaker 3 (3:57) game. Never have I ever been in love with Wolverine. Speaker 3 (4:07) You're not Speaker 2 (4:07) drinking. The game is you drink. Never have I ever really fancied a short, hairy guy before. Speaker 1 (4:16) Never have I ever been into claws. Specifically in the hands and wrists of a man. Which is something a lot of Speaker 2 (4:27) people have. Speaker 1 (4:30) Never ever ever wanted to go to bed with a guy whose name sounds like slogan. Oh, yeah, dumb dumb do again Yeah, I do want to bang that guy Nice deep cut bro And also, not just game of life, but you're involved in the art life as well, buddy. You're an artiste, so tell us about the art life these days. I am an artiste, Speaker 2 (4:52) yes. Yes, I am a very good artiste. The art life. I am starting to write Outbreaks Issue 5. I've been putting that together slowly in the background. And I have been working on a movie poster for the 30th anniversary of something that's going to get everybody up. That's all I can say. He's got a real thing Speaker 1 (5:14) going now. Welcome to the Speaker 2 (5:17) art life. Here's your chance, Speaker 1 (5:20) draw your share at the art life. Come on. Come on and draw, if you wanna. Isn't there like another movie with that song and people are like, Air Bud? He's drawing Air Buds? Yes, it's the 30th anniversary of Air Bud and I'm drawing a poster for it because it's cute and sweet. No, Speaker 2 (5:37) I am doing that. And then I have another poster that... Speaker 1 (5:42) If you like pizza, you're gonna love it. Speaker 2 (5:45) So I do that. Speaker 1 (5:48) I love doing this. It's so stupid. Speaker 2 (5:50) Because no one gives a shit what I do anyway, so I can literally just tell you, but I'm not gonna. It's fun. It's like the worst Speaker 1 (5:56) riddles from the Riddler. Yeah, it's me as the Riddler. I'm dressed in green as well. Riddle me this, Speaker 2 (6:02) Batman. What characters that are green love pizza? It's... I can't say it. You're legally not allowed to say it. Whether you know it or not, I know. I Speaker 1 (6:12) don't know what you're referring to. It's like charades. You can't say the actual words. Yeah. I'm the charader. The charader. Speaker 2 (6:24) That Speaker 1 (6:24) would be good. You have to guess where I'm keeping them, Batman. All right. Two words. Yes. Speaker 2 (6:33) Film. Yes. Speaker 2 (6:37) Come on, Charader, we don't have enough time for this. Speaker 1 (6:43) Charader gets really mad that Batman never guesses it right, though. He's just like, uh, green. Oh, it was Speaker 2 (6:48) clearly here. Oh, there it is, thank you. No one Speaker 1 (6:53) wants to play charades anymore. Okay, yes, you're doing some really cool stuff for some cool people in the art world. And I'm Speaker 2 (7:02) working on Mobster Mash as well, but that's going insanely slow due to... Everything else going in my life, so I apologize for the delay on that. That will be coming next Speaker 1 (7:09) year. Hey! Speaker 2 (7:12) I'm so sorry, everybody. Speaker 1 (7:13) For everyone listening, he does look really broken by Speaker 2 (7:17) delivering that news. Yeah. Again, it's outside my control. That's the worst thing I've hated about all of this stuff, is that if it was just me doing all this, I'd be able to go, here you go, it's right here, but it's not. That's why I will not be doing any new Kickstarters until books are done because I hate this limbo. And it's not fun for you guys. I have people that I know that have been like, oh, I backed Mobster Mash and I bought Outbreaks there and now there's new Outbreaks out and I can't catch up and stuff. And I feel really fucking bad about that. I Speaker 1 (7:50) am Speaker 2 (7:50) sorry. Speaker 1 (7:51) Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it is unfortunate. But, you know, hopefully people understand because this is not a usual thing and it really is taking its toll on him. So, yeah, it will come out once it's done. And, yeah, as he said, he's never going to do the campaign before the book is made. And once it's out, you guys are going to love it because I've read the script and it's tight and it's beautiful and it's mobster mashing all over your face, neck and chest, baby. That's right. All right. Well, now we've got all of that out of the way, are we ready to talk about The Brave and the Bold Part 2? I think we'll skip this Speaker 2 (8:32) one, actually. I think we'll just go into something else, maybe. What's up with you? What do you want to talk about? Stop monkeying around and let's do it. Speaker 1 (8:41) The Speaker 3 (8:42) world will miss your sparkling intellect. Goodbye, Flash. Speaker 3 (8:55) What have you done to him? Speaker 2 (8:56) Simple. When I pushed the helmet down over his eyes, I also crossed some wires. Speaker 3 (9:00) How could you? You've destroyed the greatest mind on Earth. You'll Speaker 2 (9:04) be okay, now that you're free from his mind control. Speaker 3 (9:07) What are you talking about? He never used that on me. I loved him. Speaker 1 (9:12) You what? This episode is titled The Brave and the Bold, Part 2. It was written... by dwayne mcduffie it came out on march 17th 2002 story by rich fogel and paul dini and directed by dan reba animation by coco enterprises they're no longer letting it all hang out it's just coco on their own coco butter so they can let it all hang out with that coco butter keep digging keep all right okay utility belt of fun facts here According to bonus features, the writers, who were reluctant to pair up Wonder Woman and Superman, only started to pair Batman and Wonder Woman after seeing fans' reactions to the scene they had together here in this episode. So that's an interesting fact for you. I mean, I guess that means that we're not going to see any sort of Batman-Wonder Woman kind of attention for the rest of the season, because if they're only... you know fans react to a whole season right like it's not like they're like oh quick in the next one make sure wonder woman and batman are together it's like they're not going to turn the episode around that quickly um but i i kind of dig their pairing i thought that was kind of a fun little like story that might build up yeah i think they're a good Speaker 2 (10:24) couple yeah i think it's fun I like them better as a couple than Superman and Wonder Woman, you know? Speaker 1 (10:30) Me too. Superman and Wonder Woman is too much of like a power couple. You know what I mean? I'm like, nah, that's not what I want to see. I feel like they're two very different characters that wouldn't get... Well, Speaker 2 (10:43) how Speaker 1 (10:43) is Batman and Wonder Woman not also a power couple? Well, they are, but because he's human, I don't know, there's an element there that makes it better because... She's Amazonian and like from a distant world. And he's like, I got no parents. Let's get together. This makes sense. And your mom's a bitch. My Speaker 2 (11:06) mother-in-law is a real B. Speaker 1 (11:09) She's never letting me come over. Speaker 1 (11:17) All right, next fun fact. Phil Morris, who plays the general and a soldier in this episode, will go on to play Vandal Savage in future episodes of this show. He is best known for playing... Yeah. He is best known for playing Kramer's fast-talking lawyer, Jackie Charles, in Seinfeld. He's also Dr. Joshua Strongbear in... A Strongbear Suite in Atlantis, The Lost Empire. And he's Martian Manhunter in Smallville. Speaker 2 (11:43) Somebody say... Speaker 2 (11:46) me please Speaker 1 (11:47) don't turn yourself i'm sorry if i hurt your ears now Speaker 2 (11:51) did you ever watch like smallville i i dived in when i remember when it was coming to the end it was like this is the end of smallville and i was like all right i guess we'll start checking it out and i remember being like oh what's like green arrow doing here and all this stuff was it green arrow i can't remember yeah i think Speaker 1 (12:08) green arrow there's aquaman who's uh now reacher he's big reacher alan was the aquaman Oh, okay. Yeah, Speaker 2 (12:15) he Speaker 1 (12:15) was Suckleman. Speaker 2 (12:17) So then I went back and I started watching the first season, and I was like, oh, this is just Monster of the Week. And I remember there's, like, this one girl, and it's, like, plants or something, and I was like, this is, like... Poison Ivy? EC Comics stuff. No, it wasn't... No. Was it bees? I don't know. It was real Monster of the Week stuff. It was, like, people ended up doing the bad stuff. Speaker 1 (12:39) Yeah, it was, you know, it was what it was Speaker 2 (12:42) at the time. We don't have that anymore. We don't have, like, the... I know. Someone was like, let's take the teenage soap and comics and boom. Speaker 1 (12:50) Like, Speaker 2 (12:50) it was a good idea for the time. Speaker 1 (12:52) Yeah, I think that they just strayed too far. Like, Gotham was doing that and Gotham was okay. Like, I enjoyed... Yeah, but it Speaker 2 (12:59) wasn't... Gotham wasn't a teen thing. It wasn't like Dawson's Creek and Superman. That's what Smallville was. Yeah, Speaker 1 (13:05) but you know what took that model and I think killed it was all the CW shows like The Flash and Green Arrow and all of that. There was a Flash, definitely, we're all teens. And I watched it. It Speaker 2 (13:18) all Speaker 1 (13:18) comes from Buffy, right? It does. It does, yeah. But The Flash, I watched that show and the first two or three seasons, I really did enjoy at the time. I don't know if I would now, but I did enjoy it. But then they just kind of like took... any liberties they wanted to and the show just went so off the rails and jumped the shark and i was like what is this fucking show now and it lasted like four or five seasons after that i was like wow people will watch anything very Speaker 2 (13:46) very popular i drew i mean talking about cw verse i am the guy who ended the cw verse the comic book that's true i drew is the end of the cw verse like yeah That's sadly the biggest thing I've done in my fucking career at DC. Speaker 1 (14:03) First thing I did at DC as well. Yeah, well, that's so far. You don't know. There may be something down the line. Who knows? But yeah, I guess that was the death of those types of teen comic book combos, the teen dramas with that. Yeah. What Speaker 2 (14:20) would you combine nowadays? What's the popular style of show people watch nowadays? I Speaker 1 (14:27) actually don't really Speaker 2 (14:28) know. Well, I think some documentaries like serial killer stuff like that's like the popular stuff. I Speaker 1 (14:34) think there's a lot of like little genres now instead of like one big like this works in like, you know, mainstream for TV. But I tell you what is working is something like lanterns, which is like, let's take Green Lantern and let's add like True Detective or like those like murder mystery documentaries you see. And let's mesh that together because. The show that works is something where they're not heavy on the lantern law. Like, it's there, but they're not like, okay, let's just throw so much Green Lantern, like, comic book stuff at them. I feel like they're doing a good job at, like, balancing it out. And it's working. So, yeah, I guess that's the style now. Speaker 2 (15:13) It is for Speaker 1 (15:14) a lot of people. I'm glad you like it. Yeah, exactly. Speaker 3 (15:17) I'm Mars' sole survivor. There's a reason for that. Speaker 1 (15:29) All right, next fun fact is Gorilla Grud was created by John Broom and Carmine Infantino in Flash number 106 in May 1959. Carmine Speaker 2 (15:40) Infantino has always sounded like a gangster to me. His name is Speaker 1 (15:44) Carmine Infantino. Oh, watch out for him. He's a big boy. Yeah, Infantino and Maroney and Falcone. They're all going to get you. Yeah, absolutely. In the comics, Gorilla Grodd gained his super intelligence and telepathic powers after an alien spacecraft or a radioactive space meteorite, depending on which one you read, crashed in the African jungle. So kind of like a staple for comics at the time, like it was from out of space. And yeah, Speaker 2 (16:12) I don't. Is it true? Are gorillas from the continent of Africa? Is that where they originate from? Speaker 1 (16:20) I don't know. I have no idea. Yeah, I've seen a gorilla in Africa, but I don't know. That's a very good question. Speaker 2 (16:31) What a posh thing to say. I've seen a gorilla in Africa, but I do not know. Speaker 1 (16:35) That's the best answer I can give. But Gorilla Grodd is set to headline, speaking of shows that you were talking about before, the People vs. Gorilla Grodd TV series is set in the DCU with his voice provided by Jimmy Tatro. who's recently been in the show The Hawk. He's Will Ferrell's son in that show. He's in Scream 7, he's in American Vandal, and he's also in Super Troopers 2. I don't know if Speaker 2 (17:03) you actually know who he is. I know American Vandal. Is he the Vandal? He's the Vandal, yes. He's like that bro, Speaker 1 (17:09) sweet bro guy. Speaker 2 (17:11) He's in a show I read, like Modern Family. He plays one of the boyfriends. Oh, Speaker 1 (17:16) okay. Now, do you see... Do you see him being Gorilla Grodd, though? Speaker 2 (17:21) He's got a burly voice, I suppose. I've always enjoyed his voice. He's very good in American Vandal. That show's funny. Speaker 1 (17:27) Yeah, that show was really good. And apparently Speaker 2 (17:28) they're Speaker 1 (17:29) the ones Speaker 2 (17:29) that are making it, right? The American Vandal people? Speaker 1 (17:31) Yeah, so apparently this show, Gorilla Grodd, The People vs. Gorilla Grodd, is a comedy show done in a mockumentary style like The Office or like American Vandal, and Grodd is a student at Metropolis University. Okay. That's Speaker 2 (17:46) the show. It could be good. Could Speaker 1 (17:47) be good. I mean, hey, look, they're doing something different. I respect that. Yeah. And like I said, they did something different with lanterns and it's working. But this is a big pivot from lanterns. They're like, let's do dark detective, like murder mystery for lanterns. And how about you like The Office? Should we do Gorilla Grodd, but like The Office? Like, what? That's Speaker 2 (18:10) a Speaker 1 (18:10) bit weird. It's pretty wild. But yeah, fuck it. Let's do it. Yeah. Let's see, they'll come out swinging. Hey, on the vines, you know? Speaker 3 (18:21) Almost be able to kill you. Grodd will complete his mission. Time to make America Grodd Speaker 1 (18:38) again. All right, let's get into it, bud. What did you think of this episode? Speaker 2 (18:44) I thought that this was the most boring episode of Justice League I've ever seen. I was really struggling with this one. I just... I just didn't enjoy it. And I was like, I don't know if I even like the Justice League. I don't like the Flash. I think people that listen to this show kind of know that Speaker 1 (19:02) about Speaker 2 (19:02) you already. I thought I liked Jon Stewart Green Lantern, but now I'm like, I don't think I do. I find him quite like, he's always like confrontational in everything that we see. And I don't really agree with this. Yeah, Speaker 1 (19:13) he's an Speaker 2 (19:13) angry man. He gets hot real quick. Not angry, but he's just very like, well, I would do that. And it's like, all right, guy, come on. Let's save the day, right? Love Batman. I like, I do like Superman. I like Wonder Woman. Hawkeye does nothing for me. Never has. Yeah, Speaker 1 (19:31) I Speaker 2 (19:31) agree. I don't know what it is about that character. And Mosh Manhunter, we're just taking the absolute piss out of. But, I mean, if I had to actually judge him, Speaker 1 (19:38) boring. And I'm just having a boring time. I'm sorry, I'm just being honest here. Shoot me. You know, type your little comments saying, ah, he said he didn't know what he was talking about. That's fine. Because I Speaker 2 (19:49) truly, you know, it's not. It's just not my cup of tea, this show. So I am trying to get through it. And I like War World. Oh, Speaker 1 (19:56) I bet they're like, oh, of course he likes Speaker 2 (19:57) War World. Notoriously the worst episode of the show. Speaker 1 (20:01) And I mean, if you want to see my brother enjoy something, go check us out on our other YouTube, Retro Robinson's, where we're playing Wolverine. He's having a better time over there playing that game. I like, look Speaker 2 (20:12) at me and listen to me. If you're watching, look in my eyes. If you're listening, turn the volume up. I think that right now. The Marvel's Wolverine game by Insomniac is better than the Justice League. Speaker 1 (20:23) Just saying that right now. Speaker 2 (20:25) In my opinion. Not Speaker 1 (20:27) truth, not fact. Speaker 2 (20:29) But Speaker 1 (20:29) I Speaker 2 (20:29) am enjoying that game more than watching Speaker 1 (20:32) this cartoon Speaker 2 (20:33) currently. Speaker 3 (20:34) The next day. The Speaker 2 (20:35) road is long and you're just getting started. Actually, we've gone off the road and we're done. We're done with this game. I'm not doing any more challenge modes or anything. I am done. I'm unplugging my PS5 and I'm throwing it out my fucking window. That's how I feel about this. Now, I know that everyone's like, oh, just wait. Just sit and wait for this magical season two that's on the horizon. Look at it. Batman's going to do cool stuff and Superman is cool and Wonder Woman's cool. How many years is it gonna take for us to get that people how many years because I'm beating Wolverine by next week But this show is here to stay my kid is gonna be talking it's not even born yet and I can't be talking Speaker 1 (21:22) All right, that's a Rob Simran for you. Yeah, it's almost when you said, look into my eyes, I was like, is he pulling a Gorilla Grodd right now and trying to hypnotize everyone? Look into my Speaker 2 (21:32) eyes, not around my eyes, in my eyes. Speaker 1 (21:35) You're under. This show sucks. Speaker 3 (21:39) Look into my eyes, look into my eyes, the eyes, the eyes, look around the eyes, don't look around the Speaker 2 (21:42) eyes, look into my eyes, you're undone. Speaker 1 (21:44) Uh, okay, well, I thought it was nice to see Batman. I didn't think he would be in this two-parter, so I was like, okay, Batman's included. That's Speaker 2 (21:49) like a, Speaker 1 (21:50) that's such a, like, really lovely Speaker 2 (21:52) bum response