Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
Hello and welcome to the 2026 Verses, the sixth time. Wow. Damn. Somehow the sixth time that we are doing the Verses. My fifth, right? I think your fifth and our sixth. Mm-hmm. the fictional award show that we do around actual award season to celebrate the nerd culture highlights that we loved and that the listeners and viewers of our various nerd culture podcasts loved.
The Ringiverse family is here today. The Midnight Boys, pew, pew, are here. Van, Jomie, Steve, Charles, House of R's here. We don't have like a fun sound effect. Just pages turning and then a really long runtime. Joanna is here. We are going to explain the categories that we will be toasting this year and the new and evolved voting process. Wow. Yeah. Right after this. Okay.
Mallory, you just made democracy sound so sexy. And you gotta wait for it. But you know how democracy dies. In darkness? Oh, God. Oh, man. Okay. No, with thunderous applause. That's not what, is that what the line was? Yeah.
Padme is with us always, even though that wonderful film that's important to some members of this panel is not eligible this year because at the 2026 Verses, we are celebrating 2025. Okay? So that is the first, look at this. Should we toast? Cheers. Yeah, just like a little air toast. Here, 2025. What a time to be a nerd. I mean, it was actually, are you sick? What are we doing? I'll do this.
That's the classic man. Like, how close can you get to me? All right, here's how it's going to work. We have champagne. We have trophies. The entire team has killed it setting up the wonderful set we have here. We have some fancy montages.
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Chapter 2: What categories are being introduced for the Versies Awards?
It's going to be great. We have 12 categories today. Everybody has actual, tangible, physical envelopes because it's the physical media era. Yes. Yes. Okay. Sean and the Blu-ray boys are not with us today, and yet we have something that we can hold in our hands. This is like the first time you've said that on a podcast I've done with you this week.
Yeah, probably, even though we've only done three podcasts this week. It might be the fifth time I've said it. We will reveal the categories as we go through. Everybody will be celebrating various things today. And we open up the voting in advance to the public.
So if you're tuning in for this pod, you might think this is all a surprise, but you might already know what the categories are because you might have voted on them. The polling was up this week before we recorded, and that means that we will be revealing for each of the 12 categories two votes. Interesting. Our vote, this esteemed panel. of nerds, and then the voting from this esteemed panel.
We're a democracy party. And then the Midnight Riders, the Bad Babies, the Button Mashers voted on TheRinger.com, what a great website, on Instagram, on Twitter, on YouTube. And so we will be sharing the opinion of the public. Will we agree? Did we agree with each other? Are there going to be some controversial ties? How will we be litigating that in real time? We don't know.
We didn't solve that part. before we record it. We're going to figure it out in real time together, and I'm sure that will be fine. Any questions before we begin, which is going to basically be, here's the category, then you guys are going to get to see some clips, a little highlight package, right? Sean likes to complain that there are no clips anymore at award shows.
The Versys is here to appease that need and that concern. And then we're going to have a little bit of a discussion to remember, to luxuriate in this near-term nostalgia. Then we're going to hold up the envelopes and say what won. That's it. I'm going to be done. We'll all go home. Except for Carlos. Who's going to say that? Shout out, Carlos. Let's get the energy up in this room.
What the hell is going on right now? All right. First category. Van Lathan will be presenting. What do we got? We are so excited for the Versys. I gotta bring it up. Bring up what? It's right there. Oh, best movie. No, no. Best visuals. This is Best Visuals, okay? This is an award. It's a prestigious award for the Best Visuals of 2025.
Now, we saw some really, really brave and ambitious auteurs really put their visual styles onto the screen. And now we're going to give you guys a short montage of some of the nominees for Best Videos, Best Visuals of 2025. Ojuna, take it away. First up, there's visuals. Ash attack on the wind trainer cure. Avatar fire at Ash. Second, Zenitsu's seventh form, Demon Slayer.
The black hole chase scene. Fantastic four first steps. Final Plane Chase Slash Fight Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning Best visuals. Look at that. Best visuals. Love a montage. Love a montage. Amazing fact. Let's take everyone behind the curtain. Avatar, Fire and Ash, almost not nominated for anything until Mallory stormed the nominees.
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Chapter 3: How does the voting process work for the Versies Awards?
This was more exhilarating to watch in the theater because you're like, how did they do this? But the submarine scene was like really cool. Did you nominate that? I was about to say, we all had the opportunity to nominate things and I'm pretty sure you did not. I would argue, I would argue. Well, look, I, I'm just saying, if you're going to validate one thing, then I would do this.
I knew this was going to happen. This is more of like a bigger spectacle. I know, I think I prefer in terms of action the submarine sequence because it's like really tense and like, oh my God, he's like going to drown. But he's jumping from plane to plane, man. You can't really beat that. See, I think it's the opposite. I think,
In this scene, that's much more tense because it's a real plane and stuff like that. But when you go back and you watch him under the water, the depth that you're seeing, he looks like he's in the ocean of space. The ocean of space. All right, here's where the war goes to. Is there any kind of drum roll or situation like that? Okay. Best visuals.
I just want to say the craft that went into this is incredible. The entire team did an amazing job. So there's two winners. Our winner and then the fan winner. There you go. That's podcasting. Because I was just going to read this. I know. Our winner is... Is this a three-way tie? Three-way tie? Did we have a 2-2-2? Damn. Oh, wow. You got chaos at the top. What does it say? What's it say?
Ash attack, Zenit 2-7 form, and the black hole chase. Okay. So three-way tie. That's so fucking weak. It's good that we spent the entire time talking about Mission Impossible, the one that no one voted for. Right. What did the fans say? The fans said black hole chase, Fantastic Four, first step. Wow. Fantastic Four. I promise you. We don't have to pick that as the win, though. We can.
Are we deciding between the two? I feel like the fans get to decide. Do we think we can break our tie? Yeah, the fans should break the tie. I mean, the black gold chase was amazing. Incredible. It's the best thing ever. Shout out for Avatar. Tough look for Demon Slayer, man. All that money, all that time. I think Demon Slayer would be a very worthy winner here. It's a very worthy winner.
I will say that when I voted on Twitter, which was a while ago, and who knows how many, I know that more people voted on the website, but Mission Impossible was winning by a country mile, and I was shocked. Really? Twitter rides hard for Mission Impossible still. The cruise heads, the Scientologists are out on Twitter. Gee, I wonder why they're still there. Interesting.
Are you accusing the team of cooking the books? You think there was some... No, I know there was many platforms to vote on. I forgot about the black hole Fantastic Four scene. I'm not going to lie. That looked great. It evaporated from my mind. That was my first nominee. Really? When I'm thinking about the vision, I'm thinking about visuals and singing in the theater and IMAX.
And I'm like, that was a scene where in that movie, I was like, oh man, we're cooking. Now, did the movie continue that momentum? No. But in that moment, I was like, this is a Fantastic Four film. Fantastic Four has a Versi now. Yeah. It does. So does Suicide Squad. So, you know. That's right. Damn. Sorry, Suicide Squad has an Oscar. I shouldn't say that.
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Chapter 4: What are the nominees for Best Visuals?
I'm saying anything happened before TV was black and white, I got to be skeptical of it. It's fair. Like, let's admit it. Well, it's 100. Just not. Okay. The next. Nope. Nope. Yeah. Next category. Where's the document at? You have it. You have it in your phone. It's in, I believe, your email, your Google Drive, and your text messages. Oh, okay. I apologize. That's good. All good.
Our next category. This isn't going to be an interesting one. Best line. And because this montage features audio as well as beautiful riveting video, I will not I'm sorry. I want to apologize. I'll do it for my next category, but we've got to be able to hear them say the lines, right? Okay. Carlos, can we see the best line nominees? Mr. Strawberry says, fuck off.
They don't even bother to lie badly anymore. I suppose that's the final humiliation. Because I love you. I love you. in a way you can't understand. Thank you for the pain, cause it got me going viral. Oh, shit. Just, once again, honestly, an incredible field, an incredible field of nominees. Yes. An incredible field of nominees. K-pop's stuck in there, bro. We had Andor up on that screen.
What do you mean? I'm really curious about, so like, not to spoil things, but like, Andor will be well represented today. Yes. Sinners will be well represented today. Is this a category to honor another? But like, do you think the fans came through for The Last of Us, which is another like potent nominee here? I would be astonished if the Andor line does not win the fan vote by like 90%.
I will say I voted for Joel. I voted for the Last of Us line. I just think that is, this is our opportunity here to get Last of Us in the mix. We're going to have a lot of places to celebrate Andor, justly and rightly so. A bumpy season, this moment was incredible. That moment is perfect and it kind of encapsulates what we love about The Last of Us.
An important show in our universe, an important game in our universe at its best. So that's why I would make the case for Joel. The only problem with that is that the show sucked this time. Best line. Best season. Best line. He's not going to win whatever. And Russ got the MVP for the triple-double, you know, despite the fact that we're a seven seed. Yeah. It's kind of like that. I get it.
I guess what I feel like is, and you guys are all making, you know. It's not even nominated in Best Show. Spoiler. You watched it and you said, wow. When? Just now in real time. He said, wow, that was garbage. Just now in real time. That was him remembering it, though. But I also believe in the kinetic force and energy of an artistic. I like to see when somebody sweeps, right? Oh, yeah, sure.
I like to see. You want a full Andor. I want a full Andor. I actually agree with this as well. I'm at war with myself over it. I don't like it. This is a sports fandom. We love a dynasty thing. Yeah, we love a dynasty. I like to spread the love around. He was Joel-ing right there, though. That son of a bitch. Well, listen.
And Pedro Pascal had a bumpy year, I would say, in terms of his properties. And we're a little worried about, I'm a little worried about Mando and Grogu. But what if he got back to back wins? Fantastic Four and The Last of Us. Oh, wow. He's back. He's Pascal-ing, baby. Man, he's a Versys merchant. Joe brought it up. So don't accuse me of bringing it up. You said he was ugly.
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Chapter 5: What are the nominees for Best Director and who wins?
The bang in the top of the car in the barn and then singing and dancing. Second, Aragorn opening the doors. Opening the doors. Right. Yeah, that's minted. Hmm. Number three. I heard that on all of our podcasts this week as well. Okay, our next category. Jomie, it's back to you for your second category.
Chapter 6: What are the key moments discussed from the movies?
Marlon Brando? Streetcar Bartlett. Streetcar Bartlett. The tightest white shirt that ever... Very powerful. No love for James Dean? Yeah, it's not for me. It's not for you? It's not your type of man? It's not my type. Okay, that's fair. Best director. Okay. I fear we're kind of in... It's blowout territory right now. This is blowout territory. It's cougar time? Yes. We can go cougar.
Yeah, let's see the nominees. Hey, show us the nominees. Why not?
Chapter 7: How do the nominees for Best Show compare?
Just for fun. Just for fun. Yeah. Danny Boyle, 28 years later. Ryan Coogler, Sinners. Jamez Gunn, Superman. How the fuck did that get in there? Drake. Jake Schrier. Thunderbolts. Jake Schrier. Thunderbolts. My fault. It's our guy. We love Jake. X-Men. He's helping X-Men. So let's not pretend like we don't know what this is. Yeah. It's going to be Coogler.
Chapter 8: What conclusions are drawn about the winners and their impact?
No question. Shout out to him. What if it's not? What if it couldn't? Maybe. Maybe he got upset. Who knows? Why do you hate James Gunn? Why'd you say that? I just, it was surprising. You know, okay. Okay, you're not being serious. It's my fault. I like James Gunn. I like the movie, but it was like a... So I didn't watch 28 Years Later because movies scare me. Great movie.
But Danny Boyle getting nominated, Mal, Joe, Steve, purveyors. What did Danny Boyle do to end up on here? Yeah, white people, what did Danny Boyle do? Bro used iPhones in the best way possible, no. I think the causeway chase. Yes. Running from the alpha under the northern lights is like one of the most visually arresting things I've seen in some time.
It was gorgeous, but also just the tension and the suspense across the film and the ability to capture. First of all, this is like a return of the Boyle-Garland team inside of a beloved franchise, right? And a great way to revive the franchise.
And to take us through this passage of time and root us in that community and then take us back into the abyss of carnage, allow us to understand the quarantine situation and people coming in from outside of that, the alphas, the crawling worm situation. Like, this movie was sensational. The performances were excellent. I think Boyle is a very worthy nominee here.
There's a lot about this movie that I didn't love as much as you and Chris Ryan, et cetera, et cetera. But... The performance from this kid, like, it's like a once-in-a-lifetime, like, intro to a young actor kind of performance. He's so good in this movie. Jodie Comer's incredible in this movie.
And Jodie Comer is someone who wasn't, like, who wasn't someone else who was supposed to be, like, in everything and just killing it and, like, has made some odd choices. And I was just really happy for her to get this great project to show us what she could do. Yeah. And then our guy Jack O'Connell shows up at the end. Yeah, I love Danny Boyle. Yeah.
But to be clear, we all voted for Ryan Coogler who should clearly win the category. This was an easy one. Very easy. Big Coog! You were hating on James Gunn. I mean, we haven't talked about it, but like Superman, Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts. Oh, good to great movies in their own respects. You didn't like it. How would you rank them?
Ooh, so are we talking just like the four superhero movies that came out last year? Captain America 4 is last. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, my guy. Anthony Mackie, my fault. I love you, but it just wasn't what it was. He's not listening. Three, he definitely is. He definitely is. Three, ah, they're going to call me a hater. I'm putting Superman at three. Really? Wow. Bold. I'm sorry.
I watched Fantastic Four on Disney Plus. It was heat. I'm not going to lie. At the crib, yeah. Number one is Thunderbolts. Thunderbolts really is exceptional. You can run that back a couple times. I loved Thunderbolts. I loved it. It's great. Thunderbolts is great. It's great. All right. Let's open this envelope. Man, surprise, surprise. It could be anybody's game, guys. Jake Schreier.
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