The Wait For It Podcast
Hosted by MrEricAlmighty and PhilTheFilipino, the guys discuss all things in Pop Culture from movies, gaming, anime and anything in between. New episodes every Wednesday, all you have to do is...WAIT FOR IT!
The Wait For It Podcast
Voices of Arcane and X-Men: Celebrating Representation and Fandom at Ocala Comic Con (LIVE)
Experience the magic behind your favorite shows with these live interviews featuring cast members of Arcane and X-Men: The Animated Series / X-Men '97. A huge thank you to the event organizers of Ocala Comic-Con and the extraordinarily talented Jack Drain, who allowed us the opportunity to take part in these live interviews. We hope you enjoy this episode and we will see you at next year's event!
We start with Reed Shannon (0:35), the charismatic voice behind Echo from Arcane. Reed opens up about his journey in bringing Echo to life, the joy of meeting fans who resonate with the character, and the years of dedication that went into creating such a beloved series. We also get an exciting glimpse into Convergence: A League of Legends Story, a video game that promises to thrill fans of Echo's adventures. Joining the conversation is Jason Spisak (3:52), the iconic voice to Silco, who shares insights into the emotional depth of this role and realism that make this Arcane character unforgettable. We also chat with Mick Wingert (6:17), who voices Heimerdinger, discussing the special bond with League of Legends fans and what people can expect from Season 2.
Travel back in time with us as Alison Sealy-Smith (11:48) reflects on her iconic portrayal of Storm in the X-Men series and the profound impact of representation in media. Fans of all backgrounds, from a white man in a rural area to a mother-daughter duo, have found inspiration in Storm's leadership and grace. Meanwhile, Lenore Zann (17:15) takes us on a nostalgic ride through her Disney-filled childhood and her incredible journey to becoming a superhero herself as Rogue. Her upcoming memoir "A Rogue's Tale" promises to captivate readers with its personal stories. So join us on this episode for a heartfelt celebration of fandom, representation, and the remarkable paths of our inspiring guests!
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So, I heard you're looking for a go-to source for entertainment. Wait for it.
Speaker 4:Gaming. Wait for it, anime.
Speaker 3:PLUS ULTRA. Mr Eric Almighty and Phil the Filipino yeah, they've got you covered and all you gotta do is wait for it.
Speaker 1:This is the Wait For it Podcast.
Speaker 5:Hey everybody. Eric from the Wait For it Podcast here at Ocala Comic Con with Reed Shannon. Hey, the voice of Echo in Arcane and I mean man, how are you doing today? We felt your energy early on. How's it been going today?
Speaker 6:Yeah, you know I'm super excited to be here. There's so much good cosplay. It's like super excited. We got like almost the whole Arcane cast out here. You know, we're just like turning it up and it's my birthday tomorrow, so I'm like like turning, turning all the way up.
Speaker 5:That. That's right. That's what I love to hear. Are there any of the voice actors that are here that you're meeting for the first time? I hear that's a common thing sometimes.
Speaker 6:I actually I know everybody that's here this time, but the last time I did meet a few of my cast members for the first time.
Speaker 5:Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, you get to get past all the awkward intros.
Speaker 6:Hey, I've heard your voice for the last 10 years.
Speaker 5:I mean, we've been co-stars, nice to meet you. Well, I'd love to ask you, obviously with the character Echo. First of all, just congratulations on having such a great role. I think that's super cool. What was it like, getting the call to be able to do that, and what was like your first initial thoughts of just like jumping into this wide world?
Speaker 6:of arcane, you know it's. It's crazy. I think what makes arcane so good is that it's like it's really handcrafted, you know. And so for the first season it took like six years to make and we didn't even know it was gonna land on Netflix for the first five of them, you know. And so when I got the call to audition, I was like, oh, this is cool, it's like a real fantastical universe. And then it was just like really cool to see the process happen. You know, they only had the art, and every time I saw some new art for him I was like, oh man, this is, this is like, this is legendary, you know. And now it's just one of those things. I'm like man. I get to go to Comic-Cons all over, all over the world, you know, and talk about such a cool, like, like time traveling character, you know.
Speaker 5:Who cool, like, like time traveling character. You know who could, who could complain, exactly exactly. And I'm curious, reed everybody kind of puts their own little spin on a character. Yeah, so what is something for echo that is purely reed? So what is something you put in there? Is there anything at all, even something subtle that, like you feel the?
Speaker 6:two of you. You know all of the times when echo is like he's like thinking to himself or he's making like a face at something he doesn't really hold a lot in, but anytime he's making like a face or passing a judgment, that's me Hands down, you know, and I didn't realize it until I saw season one and I was like, wow, that's, I do that, huh.
Speaker 5:That's that natural ability man. That's super, super cool and I know that kind of wrapping up here. Uh, you were showing me a little bit about convergence, a league of legends story. Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 6:So convergence is a video game that's out now. You guys can go check it out on all gaming platforms pc, xbox, playstation, whatever you got you can find. It's a dope 2d platformer created by riot and double stallion Games. You know, it's just a story about Echo in the sump trying to save people like he normally does. And, yeah, check it out. This picture came from London. When we released the game had a bunch of Echo cosplayers out there, but it's a really awesome game. So, if you have the means, go check it out, man. Go play the game and see just how awesome Echo really is.
Speaker 5:Reed thank you so much for giving us your time. Thank you Make sure to check this out.
Speaker 6:Yes, and the Wait For it podcast.
Speaker 2:Hey everyone. Phil Barrera, aka Phil the Filipino, with the Wait For it podcast here with Jason Spizak at Ocala Comic-Con. Jason, you just did your panel here for Arcane. How did that go?
Speaker 1:Right, the Arcane panel. A lot of really good questions. I think my favorite one was when they asked what part of Arcane resonated the most with you in like your life, in real life, which was beautiful, and Reed Shannon, who plays Echo, had this beautiful response. He was like I think it's important that people need to have not just what they need to survive, but what they need to live need to survive, but what they need to live and there was a lot of really great reflections on how different characters or parts of Arcane resonate with people in their real life. I think that's one of the great things about Arcane as a story is that it's kind of grounded in a reality, even though it's not in our reality, which is quite something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, soko is an outstanding character and your performance is wonderful, and I think one thing that's great about Silco is it's not so black and white. With that character Are you kind of drawn to those kind of performances where you can be a little you know, toe the line for both hero and villain?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. They are my favorite because I think as humans we are very complicated creatures. We're complex. We all lead lives where we might've made a choice and we're like not 100 sure if that's the right way to go or not. Or someone comes into our life like powder. It comes into silko's life and changes it forever. You know, and if, if powder wouldn't have come up to him in that alley and given him that hug, silko would have gone down this path where he was so sure of what it was that, you know, he the way he wanted things to go down, what he wanted the outcome to be. And then then by the end he says is there anything so undoing as a daughter? Because the man that he used to be is just not that man anymore and he is changed forever by her being in his life. And I'm a father, so I was changed by my daughters. I think that to me is getting a chance to play that arc. It's quite a gift.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Well, jason. Thank you for taking the time. Is there any upcoming projects you'd like to let our audience know about?
Speaker 1:Well, I'm in a film called the Vast Lonesome. It actually will be out, most likely next year. It's sort of a Western horror film, so it's on camera, which is I do some on-camera work every once in a while. The Vast Lonesome, that's going to be a fun project. Other stuff that I'm under non-disclosure I can't talk about, but Arcane Season 2 comes out November 9th. Be sure to watch it. Thanks for taking the time. Don't cry, you're perfect.
Speaker 5:Hey everybody, eric from the Way Forward Podcast here at Ocala Comic Con with our guest Mick Winger, how are you doing and how's day one treating you so far?
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, it's so awesome, like the people here are amazing and this facility is incredible. The equestrian center, like it's daunting, almost it is daunting, like it's like 5000 acres or something. It's huge.
Speaker 5:You run into any horses on your way in here, or Uh, no, no, I, I try to stay away.
Speaker 3:They, they don't let me within 500 feet of animals oh, this is the.
Speaker 5:This is an interesting location to be at. You might run into some, though day two, but kind of talking about a little bit. Obviously, arcane is such a big thing that's happening. You have an arcane panel on sunday, which is super exciting. What has it been like since you've joined that franchise? Just with the fan experience, I'm sure it's been tremendous, with the success.
Speaker 3:You know, what's amazing about Arcane is that it it really transcends fan groups. I just had somebody come up and have a poster signed and his daughter had gotten him into Arcane and he had never seen anything like that. He wasn't even he wasn't a fan of League of Legends and he's like I care about all these people on the show and that's I think that's what makes the show is the writing is so good, the performances are so stellar and it really becomes a human drama and that that connects with so many fans. I have people coming up to me all the time at my table just saying, oh my gosh, I love this show and I want to know what happens.
Speaker 5:Yeah, and that's infectious whenever you're getting someone that comes up with that energy For sure and I mean the League of Legends community is well known for that with the characters and everything. Looking ahead to season two, what is anything you can either tease or I know, I know they got you under lock and key but for you, on a personal level, like what, are you excited that people are going to get to see Something you can share about season two?
Speaker 3:Something that I will share is that what I have seen, because they do. They keep us in a very strict lock and key. Sometimes we don't get full story elements for all the other characters, where we are a bit sequestered in our own characters' worlds. But what I will say is what I've seen. Every character that I've seen that you come to know and love in season one gets their own next level moment in season two. Every single character gets their own moment, including Heimerdinger, and I cannot wait for fans to join him on the journey, to join him, to join Echo, to join Jinx, to join Vi, to join like all of us.
Speaker 3:All of the characters go on this incredible journey that's going to just I think I mean what I've seen has blown my mind. Forteash has gone out of their way to take something that was already next level and push it even farther. And Christian link and Alex Yee and the whole writing team they, they write these characters like real people and they including Heimerdinger, right, a little yordle, who's 300 years old, still has the soul of a human being. Yordle, who's 300 years old, still has the soul of a human being, and all of these characters push the boundaries of their humanity in ways that I think the audience is going to just go gangbusters for.
Speaker 5:I think it's super exciting when you look at the world of animation and the things that it can do for those different fandoms and great voice actors like yourself as well. I'm very curious on a personal level as our last question. There's so many fandoms out there that inspire people, that people are passionate about, like Arcane, what are two to three, and this can be books, movies, tvs, anything under the sun that you personally are invested in from like a pop culture or a fandom perspective Currently or like growing up.
Speaker 3:It can be both Okay, so Wide open. One of my favorite things about promoting Arcane and being involved in Arcane is I'm a huge fan. I don't play League. Sorry, I don't mean to disappoint people, but I don't play League. I'm not much of a gamer. I play a few games here and there, but something about Arcane I think it's the writing, I think it's the, I think it's the, the, the universe that they've created with the show I'm a huge fan. I can't wait, personally, for season two to come out, cause I want to see all nine episodes as a fan, right as a fan.
Speaker 3:You know, I think, in terms of capturing my imagination, gi Joe, real American hero from the eighties, probably was one of you know. I want to say, the very first thing growing up that grabbed my imagination was Battle of the Planets. Do you even know what Battle of the Planets is? Not at all, not at all. It is a Japanese anime that was originally released as Science Ninja Gatchaman and it was kind of a Voltron-esque, like teens in costumes, okay, and they were all kind of bird-themed and they all got into this like ship and had different parts right, each of them drove a different part of the ship. It was like the power rangers before the power rangers hit, and it was brought in in the 70s as battle of the planets and it is so cool, uh, and I remember being like five years old or something and just being like that's my show that's it.
Speaker 5:That is it. That's it, I like, of the Planets.
Speaker 3:I like Mark and Jason and Princess and Keop and Hunk.
Speaker 5:Right, Right Listen. Battle of the Planets. You heard it here. This is the exclusive news. Exclusive news. Go check that out and thank you so much for your time. Dude, my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 7:Yeah, absolutely. Podcast here at Ocala Comic-Con with Alison Seeley-Smith. Alison, how has your weekend been here so far? Well, it is day one and I am having an absolutely fantastic time. What makes these comic conventions absolutely wonderful to be a part of is the people, the stories, the heartwarming, inspiring stories that you hear. Being able to connect with people in a real way, that was an opportunity that we didn't have in the 90s, so that's what makes this experience so much more different and I don't know, I just love it. It's really cool in a very tangible way, and the big difference for me is this ability to connect with our fans and to realize, literally for the first time, the impact that these characters and these stories have had absolutely, and I'm sure you've been asked so many times about what it's like to have, you know, all these new fans coming into this show, discovering it for the very first time.
Speaker 2:So you know, just as me, as also a person of color who is especially in the 90s you know I'm in my 30s now, so growing up and trying to find shows that I could really relate to. What's that been like for you?
Speaker 7:as far as the representation of storm and people and you know little girls coming up to you and sharing they see themselves in this character. So amazing, yeah, so amazing. And I mean again, when you do it in the 90s, you know you understand deep down as a person of color how important this is. Um, because there were a a lot, there was a lot less representation in the early 90s than there is even nowadays, and so even back then you knew in your heart of hearts how important it was. But what you didn't have was the people actually coming up to you and telling you and I mean I have a couple of stories that really brought home to me how important this was there was a black woman and her daughter and they came up and you know, and they were talking and they were telling me how important it was for them to see themselves represented and for the mother to be able to share that kind of representation with her daughter.
Speaker 7:And then she said but this goes back another generation because she said, when she was growing up, her father was one of those very strict, very conservative dads. I could empathize because I come from the Caribbean and my dad was very strict and very conservative, but he didn't want cartoons shown in the house. He thought that, as a young black woman, that there were better role models for her to follow than some flying leaping superhero. And they said Dad, dad, you've got to watch it. Though, you've got to watch it, don't do that. And so he came and he watched it. And when Storm came on, he said, oh, because for him it wasn't just about the raw power of this character, it was her leadership qualities, it was her gravitas, her dignity. And what she said was my dad thought you were really classy, and so he let us watch X-Men. And I thought that's really cool. And you know something else I found out I always, as a Black woman, think of it as representation being important, because, of course, as black people, we need to see ourselves represented on the screen with positive role models that we want our children to be able to emulate.
Speaker 7:But this white guy came up to me and he said and I have forgotten where he was from Was it Pennsylvania? It was rural. He said, and I have forgotten where he was from. Was it Pennsylvania? It was rural. He said it was. Whichever state he was from, it was very rural. He had never met black people. When he saw Storm, his first response was I want to be on her team and I want her to have my back. And it was his first experience of Black people and his immediate response was that's the one Out of all of them, that's the one that I want to have my back a Black woman. And I thought, wow, this stuff matters big time, and not just for us as people of color, but it matters for everybody that we have these kind of characters.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for sharing those stories. I mean, this is just how important X-Men is to so many different people. So, allison, thank you so much for your time. Is there anything you want to let our audience know to look out for, as far as on your end, any projects, anything else?
Speaker 7:Well, I am waiting for season three of what If Could be interesting. Okay, all right.
Speaker 2:Take that for what it is. Allison, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate your time. Hey everyone. Phil Barrera, aka Phil the Filipino with A Way For A Podcast here with Lenore Zan at Ocala Comic-Con how has your weekend gone so far? You've done a couple of panels as well. How's it going here today?
Speaker 4:Well, hey there, Sugar, it's been a blast and a half. I really love Ocala and the people have been so nice.
Speaker 2:That's great. Yeah, it's always great seeing you guys and you know, of course, with how popular X-Men has been and obviously, the continued resurgence of that show, I wanted to ask, because the X-Men have always been an allegory for inclusion and representation and everything like that what did the X-Men mean to you?
Speaker 4:Well, I would agree. The X-Men mean everything, inclusion and everybody joining together to make life better for all. I think the X-Men also are always standing up for the underdog, for anybody who's being picked on or abused by bigots. We definitely step up and we try to make things better, and I think it's time we need that in the world. So I'm really pleased to be back.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and it's always great to see the people behind the voices of these fictional characters that bring them to life. Is there a fictional character from your younger days that was really that kind of like, maybe beacon or just someone you looked up to when you were younger?
Speaker 4:You know I didn't really have anything like that. I did love Disney and I loved the world of Disney and, being a little girl from Australia, we used to watch the Wonderful World of Disney. It was called every Saturday night or Sunday night, something like that and I always wished that I could go to Disneyland. So we did. When I was eight, we moved from Australia over to Canada and stopped off in Los Angeles and we got to go to Disneyland and as an eight-year-old it was a dream come true. But if you had told my eight-year-old self that one day I'd be working for Disney and playing a superhero who can fly and is the strongest woman in the universe, I would have not believed you. So it's really pretty incredible.
Speaker 2:Have you been to Disney World, which is ours? Yes, okay, with the bigger castle.
Speaker 4:Yes, I did that one as an older person and had a great time.
Speaker 2:Great, great. Well, Lenore, is there anything else? You want to let our audience know that you're working on Any future projects you'd like to plug?
Speaker 4:Thank you. Yeah, actually I have a book coming out. My memoir is coming out, called A Rogue's Tale, and that will be available in October. You can get it through indigoca or through Amazon in October. Just order it on Amazon Lenore Zan A Rogue's Tale, and I hope you all enjoy it. It's my origin story, so I think you'll get a kick out of it.
Speaker 2:Bring that book to the next convention that Lenore Zan.
Speaker 4:That's right, and I'll be happy to sign.
Speaker 2:Lenore, thank you so much for taking the time, Thank you.
Speaker 4:Thanks for having us y'all. Bye for now, sugar.
Speaker 2:I heard you're looking for a go-to source for entertainment. Wait for it.
Speaker 4:Gaming. Wait for it, anime.
Speaker 3:Plus Ultra. Mr Eric Almighty and Phil the Filipino yeah, they've got you covered and all you gotta do do is wait for it.
Speaker 1:This is the wait for it podcast.
