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The Pod Universe with Dylan & Dalton: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Dalton Deschain & Dylan Roth
Writers Dalton Deschain and Dylan Roth first joined together to create Are You Afraid of the Dark Universe? a podcast in which they pitched new installments of the canceled Dark Universe of monster movies. After completing their 30-part saga, they’ve set out to do something new - an all-original cinematic universe of imaginary movies, written, workshopped, and performed on all podcatchers and YouTube. Looking for Are You Afraid of the Dark Universe? Don't panic! Our archive of episodes from 2022 through summer 2025 are now on their own podcast feed. Just search for the old title and it should all be there.
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- 5 days ago1h 40m
BONUS: Carol & Jenny return / Stone Hammer sequel
As War of the Worlds production continues through some unfortunate delays, we're pulling a recent bonus episode out from behind the paywall to help tide you over. Enjoy Studio Mandate pitches based on Phantom of the Paradise (featuring Carol and Jenny from the Dark Universe!) and Killer Klowns from Outer Space (featuring the star-crossed warriors from Last Flight of the Stone Hammer). Plus, reviews of a few spring movie releases and a look back at Billy Wilder's 1960 classic, The Apartment.CHAPTERS00:00:00 - War of the Worlds progress update00:01:11 - Intro and Bev Check00:05:13 - Dalton's bachelor trip00:12:57 - At Da Movies: They Will Kill You00:13:54 - At Da Movies: Faces of Death00:23:08 - At Da Movies: The Drama00:27:20 - At Da Movies: Project Hail Mary00:37:49 - Studio Mandate: Phantom of the Paradise00:48:20 - The Pitch01:07:07 - The Dylterion Collection: The Apartment01:18:19 - Studio Mandate: Killer Klowns from Outer Space01:37:07 - Nominations are open!
- 1 weeks ago1h 31m
The Flash Gordon Cinematic Universe w/Jadzia Axelrod
Blockbuster comics writer Jadzia Axelrod (with a slew of books out for DC this June) joins our show to reflect on the 1980 cult classic Flash Gordon film adaptation and pitch us her own vision for an expansive modern cinematic universe based on the classic newspaper comics!Find more from us at Patreon.com/DylanAndDalton starting at $5/mo, with a 7-day free trial! CHAPTERS (Spoilers within!)00:00:00 - Opening00:03:55 - Introducing Jadzia Axelrod00:08:06 - Discussing Flash Gordon (1980)00:11:48 - What is Flash Gordon anyway?00:18:37 - Jadzia's Flash Gordon origins00:23:36 - Is Ming the Merciless problematic?00:39:59 - Setting up Jadzia's Flash pitch00:53:32 - Direct spin-offs01:04:23 - Expanding the cast01:08:53 - Defenders of the Earth01:19:41 - Jadzia's new comics!
- 3 weeks ago1h 29m
The Species Cinematic Universe with Joshua Rivera
That Studio Softcore you saw on the shelf at the video store might be less sexy — but more interesting — than you remember! Journalist Joshua Rivera joins us to revisit the 1995 sci-fi thriller Species, dissect its possibly accidental themes about gender, and pitch us a broad range of spin-off films for a modern relaunch!CHAPTERS00:00:00 - Opening bits, and Meet Josh00:04:05 - Introducing Species00:08:30 - Everything you forgot the movie was about00:26:33 - It's Act Three - Do you know where your themes are?00:37:25 - The crappy sequels00:45:46 - Josh's Species pitch01:00:51 - Domain01:09:34 - The Origin of the Species01:14:02 - Further expansion ideas
- Apr 26, 20261h 9m
Lee Cronin's The Mummy
Dylan, Dalton, and Sarah review the new non-Universal monster movie, "Lee Cronin's The Mummy," which takes the basic conceit of "What if there was a mummy?" and goes in a very different direction. We don't mind different! But does this new feature hold up as either a Mummy movie or the Exorcist movie it plainly wants to be? PLUS: A sneak preview at the forthcoming Pod Universe crossover spectacular, WAR OF THE WORLDS!CHAPTERS00:00:00 - Intro00:01:12 - Why we're here00:04:16 - What makes a Mummy movie?00:12:46 - Lee Cronin's approach00:16:31 - Unpacking the story00:22:48 - Where does it go wrong?00:28:09 - Quirky filmmaking, bland characters00:37:48 - CGI sand and CGI bugs00:47:51 - Let's talk about that ending00:55:02 - Our final verdict00:57:28 - Sneak peak at War of the Worlds01:05:00 - What's next for The Pod Universe?
- Apr 12, 20261h 31m
The Unfriended Cinematic Universe with Pete Volk
CONTENT WARNING: This episode centers around a movie whose inciting incident is a teen suicide.We're shaking up our guest episode format beginning with this pitch from PV Guide's Pete Volk — instead of outlining one remake or reimagining, guest storytellers will have to figure out how to expand a dead or dying intellectual property into a fully-fledged cinematic universe! Critic and journalist Pete Volk kicks us off with his plans to revitalize Unfriended, the horror film series set entirely in the digital world.PLUS: An announcement about our upcoming full-script, full-cast crossover extravaganza, War of the Worlds!Join us at Patreon.com/DylanAndDalton for bonus episodes and access to our wonderful and welcoming creative community.CHAPTERS00:00:00 - Introducing our new show format00:05:18 - Introducing Pete Volk and Unfriended00:08:54 - What is Screenlife?00:13:24 - Recapping Unfriended00:17:26 - Why Unfriended works00:23:18 - Why Unfriended: Dark Web is better00:33:38 - Dalton's big problem with Unfriended00:34:53 - Unpacking the overarching themes00:41:11 - Unfriended: Like & Subscribe00:52:03 - What other screens can we do this on?00:54:07 - Establishing our mytharc / MUTUALS01:02:32 - Unfriended: Dead Web01:06:55 - Unfriended: Headspace01:19:55 - Where can you find Pete Volk?01:22:09 - Updates and acknowledgements
- Mar 29, 20261h 41m
The Faculty w/Taylor Ortega
SPOILER ALERT! We will be spoiling all of 1998's THE FACULTY, right off the bat!Taylor Ortega, comedian and star of the new Netflix series "Big Mistakes," visits The Pod Universe to revisit the 1998 sci-fi Scream-alike, THE FACULTY, and pitch her own contemporary remake! Let's take a look back at the surprisingly rad Robert Rodriguez flick that's essentially Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets The Breakfast Club, featuring not nearly enough Usher!This episode is sponsored by "Light Pursuit," the new album from Syracuse rock band Mosaic Mind. Find out more about mosaicmindband.comAnd as always you can join our Patreon at Patreon.com/DylanAndDalton to get bonus episodes and help decide what classic film we'll reimagine next.CHAPTERS00:00:00 - Opening, and a little bit of dram00:02:58 - Introducing our guest, Taylor Ortega!00:06:12 - Looking back at The Faculty (1998)00:17:06 - Mapping The Breakfast Club parallels00:20:18 - Getting Taylor onto The Pitt00:22:29 - The Faculty says "Do Drugs"00:28:22 - A digression about White Nights (1985)00:30:27 - Themes and meta-text in The Faculty00:36:34 - The soundtrack, and some fun vices00:42:26 - How The Faculty altered film history00:45:50 - Sponsor: "Light Pursuit" by Mosaic Mind00:48:40 - Taylor's pitch for The Faculty00:59:27 - Workshopping the pitch01:30:35 - Picking a director01:36:23 - Taylor plugs her new show Big Mistakes!01:37:46 - What's next for the Pod Universe?
- Mar 22, 202620 min
BONUS PREVIEW: Boss Baby
A new era begins on our bonus pod, Are You Afraid of Dylan & Dalton? in which Patrons get more control over what movies we watch and what stories we tell!This month, we are pitching a Dark Universe horror movie version of THE BOSS BABY. That's right, the Patrons have spoken and the very first movie elected to the Studio Mandate queue is the Dreamworks animated feature in which Alec Baldwin plays a newborn baby who means business.You can help select our next Studio Mandate by joining the Patreon! $25/mo subscribers get to nominate a movie every month, and those nominees get voted on by all subscribers at the $8/mo level or higher. And of course, all paid subscribers get to listen to the results. Nominations for next month's Mandate open RIGHT NOW, so if you're a Studio Executive subscriber, hit us up via DM on Patreon or Discord and we'll put your choice on the ballot.
- Mar 15, 20261h 35m
Late Adopters, Part Two
Dalton's madcap social satire of a post-computer world comes to a conclusion! Can Cora Winters' quantum-proof gadget save the future? Who exactly are the True Widows mourning? And who the hell is CHUNGUS? Find out on this exciting episode.As always, you can join us at Patreon.com/DylanAndDalton to chat about this episode with fellow fans, and enjoy our bonus materials and companion podcast.CHAPTERS00:00:00 - Intro00:10:19 - Act Two Part Two00:32:30 - Discussion00:46:15 - Act Three01:11:50 - Mid-Credits Scene01:13:19 - Discussion
About The Pod Universe with Dylan & Dalton
Writers Dalton Deschain and Dylan Roth first joined together to create Are You Afraid of the Dark Universe? a podcast in which they pitched new installments of the canceled Dark Universe of monster movies. After completing their 30-part saga, they’ve set out to do something new - an all-original cinematic universe of imaginary movies, written, workshopped, and performed on all podcatchers and YouTube. Looking for Are You Afraid of the Dark Universe? Don't panic! Our archive of episodes from 2022 through summer 2025 are now on their own podcast feed. Just search for the old title and it should all be there.
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