The Empire Film Podcast

And so Empire has said goodbye to Comic-Con 2026, after an absolutely jam-packed few days that saw our Chris Hewitt race around the San Diego Convention Centre, taking in panels and press lines galore, speaking to some of the biggest and brightest around, and eating horrifically. Like, it's a wonder he's still alive horrifically. But he made it to the end and, in this reaction show recorded on a terrace at the Hilton Bayfront mere minutes after the Avengers: Doomsday/Marvel Studios presentation and press line, Chris sits down with Empire colleague Dan Jolin to talk about Dan's unusual reason for being at Comic-Con, Chris' reaction to the Marvel panel and other panels he saw this year, and much, much more, including an interview with Masters Of The Universe and Wildwood writer, Chris Butler. Are you ready to meet your pod-doom? Enjoy.

On this week's Empire Podcast, Helen O'Hara slides into the host's chair in the Comic-Con-related absence of Chris Hewitt, and together, she, James Dyer and Amon Warmann come up with some of the greatest dog movies, suggest classic myths that could be turned into movies, swap outlandish theories about Avengers: Doomsday, talk about the movie news that broke before Comic-Con, and review The Dink, 72 Hours, and Deep Water. Guest-wise, for the first time in a while we have two in one episode, with Chris talking (via AirPods, thanks to technical difficulties) to The Dink star and all-round legend, Mary Steenburgen [26:54 - 44:27 approx], and then to old podcast stalwart, Tom Hiddleston, who whisks Chris away to actual Pompeii to talk about Hiddleston's new Disney+ docu-drama, Pompeii: Out Of Time, and display dazzling proficiency in Latin. [1:02:35 - 1:20:01 approx] Enjoy.

Here's a fun treat for anyone interested in comedy, movies, improv and more: when Chris Hewitt was in LA the other week, not only did he talk to John Woo for a one-hour special that can be found in this very podcast feed, but he also sat down with Scott Aukerman, host of his favourite podcast, Comedy Bang! Bang! With Aukerman, Paul F. Tompkins and Andy Daly coming to the UK and Ireland this week for the latest leg of their Groundbeefing Tour, that was all the excuse Chris needed to talk to Scott for an hour-plus deep dive into the podcast's origins, Scott's favourite guests, life on the road and, because this is a film podcast last time we checked, Aukerman's experiences in front of and behind the camera on the likes of Austin Powers In Goldmember and Between Two Ferns: The Movie. Frank, funny and fascinating, this will be well worth your time even if you aren't into CBB. And if you are, you've just hit paydirt. Enjoy.

With Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey finally in cinemas, and the current issue of Empire (with The Odyssey on the cover!) still on sale for just over a week or so, now is the perfect time for Chris Hewitt and Nick de Semlyen, who wrote Empire's Odyssey coverage, to get together and do a deep dive into this epic of epic epicness. Whether you've read the issue cover-to-cover, or are planning to pick it up at some point, you'll find much to enjoy here.

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has finally landed in cinemas around the world, and to mark the occasion, we've turned the latest episode of The Interviews into an Odyssey special, as Chris Hewitt talks to two of the key pairings from Nolan's epic adaptation of the Homer poem. First up, you'll hear from Himesh Patel and John Leguizamo, who play Eurylochus and Eumaeus, two characters who are close to Odysseus, the warrior whose journey home after The Trojan War is beset by the kind of bad luck that would have you begging for a bus replacement service. And then you'll hear from Odysseus himself, aka Matt Damon, and Tom Holland, who plays Odysseus' son, Telemachus, as they talk about their toughest days on set, the worst smells, and forging a father-son bond between two characters who are apart for much of the film. These aren't spoiler interviews, but references are made to certain scenes, so perhaps wait until you've seen The Odyssey before listening, just in case. But both pairings were on cracking form, and we hope you'll enjoy.