This week on Just The Thing, John Carpenter’s shapeshifting nightmare crashes head-first into peak JCVD as we drop The Thing into Double Impact. Joining Joel and Chris for a third time is filmmaker Ross Boyask (I Am Vengeance, Ten Dead Men), bringing expert insight to this epic action classic.

Can The Thing outmanoeuvre not one but two Van Dammes? Along the way, we veer gloriously off course into Renegade, Chris’s increasingly persuasive theory that JCVD has a real-life twin, and—inevitably—a detour into the strange world of Steven Seagal.

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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

This week on Just The Thing, Chris and Joel are joined by returning guests Alex Jessep and Matt O'Dwyer. Together, they take on festive nightmare fuel by dropping John Carpenter’s shapeshifting horror into The Polar Express. What happens when a story built on belief, warmth, and hot chocolate meets a creature that thrives on mistrust and imitation? Can paranoia derail Christmas magic? And at will Chris, Alex and Matt be able to beat this year's musical Christmas quiz?

Music:

Hark the Herald Angels Sing by Gravsten

All I Want For Christmas by Ethereal Delusions

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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

This episode on Just The Thing, we’re jacking in and glitching out as the Antarctic shapeshifter meets David Cronenberg’s fleshy virtual reality fever dream, eXistenZ. Joined by returning guest Dr. Geraint D’Arcy, Associate Professor and Head of Media at the University of East Anglia (who also helped us put The Thing into Slipstream, link below), we dive deep into questions of identity, simulation, and what happens when The Thing enters a world that’s already mutating.

It’s parasites vs players, bodies vs bioports, and reality itself might not make it out alive.

Check out Geraint's previous appearance on the pod here:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1990618/episodes/15933123

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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

This week on Just The Thing, we’re doing something a little different. To give you a taste of what goes on over at our Patreon, we’re sharing one of our exclusive bonus episodes right here on the main feed.

Join us as we dive into Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, unpacking the stunts, the twists, and whether Tom Cruise has finally out-run the laws of physics. Obviously, we'll also put the creature from The Thing in there somewhere. If you want more like this, you’ll need to head to our Patreon, where a new bonus episode drops every month.

Think of it as your mission… should you choose to accept it.

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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

Just The Thing is back from a summer break, and we’re kicking things off with a horde! This week, the Antarctic nightmare takes on the hammer-swinging, parasite-jawed zombies of Resident Evil: Afterlife. Can a creature that thrives on stealth and imitation survive against enemies who are already dead? We break down viral logic, video game adaptations, and why Chris believes this is the greatest zombie movie of all time.

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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

In a bold detour from our classic creature-feature clashes, this episode of Just The Thing crashes John Carpenter’s icy existential dread into the warm, irony-soaked glow of Wayne’s World. Can a postmodern comedy duo rooted in parody and pop culture survive a deadly force that thrives on isolation and imitation? We dig into the genre dissonance, ask whether you can have too many pop culture references and deep dive into the careers of Mike Myers, Dana Carvey and director Penelope Spheeris. It’s horror vs hangout, tension vs tone, dread vs dudes, and—somehow—it kind of works. Excellent!!!

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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

This week, Just The Thing takes on its most superpowered challenge yet: what happens when the ultimate shapeshifter faces the Man of Steel? Joined by book designer and comics connoisseur Chris Gould, Joel and Chris dive into James Gunn’s Superman (2025).

They dissect the film’s overt politics, its gloriously goofy comic-book logic, and why this version of Superman, with all his gentleness, feels genuinely radical in 2025. There's praise for David Corenswet’s performance, a lot of love for Krypto, and a deeply serious discussion about whether Batman is a workaholic.

And yes, they do actually consider whether The Thing could assimilate Superman.

Follow Chris Gould on Instagram

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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

This episode on Just The Thing, Joel and Chris are joined by returning guests Alex Jessep and Matt O'Dwyer for a cosmic clash for the ages as the perfect organism takes on the perfect imitator. Ridley Scott’s iconic Xenomorph goes acid-blood-to-tentacle with the Antarctic horror from The Thing. We take the first film as our starting point and then discuss the wider Alien universe before putting the iconic xenomorph in the ring with The Thing.

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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio