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  • Capcom Is Poised for a Stellar 2026 With Pragmata and the Return of Onimusha

    Capcom Is Poised for a Stellar 2026 With Pragmata and the Return of Onimusha

    While Capcom’s most hype-inducing news at Summer Game Fest 2025– however, arguably the biggest news of the whole weekend – was the standard reveal of Resident Evil Requiem, it brought plenty of extra heat to the multi-day event. The Japanese publisher also provided an extended sneak peek of next year’s hack-and-slash samurai title Onimusha: [ …]

    The blog Capcom Is Poised for a Stellar 2026 With Pragmata and the Transfer of Onimusha appeared first on Den of Geek.

    This article contains spoilers for the Ironheart episode.

    A wicked fresh arrival has only joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    After followers were fooled one to several days before,<a href=””> Ironheart has suddenly brought a key addition to the world’s highest-grossing company via another Hollywood superstar. While Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams led<a href=””> Ironheart as something of a tribute to the Iron Man shows, the addition of Anthony Ramos’ Parker Robbins teased that we’d get delving into the darker beautiful part of the MCU. Although the rumor mill had gone into overdrive that Sacha Baron Cohen would be playing the maleficent Mephisto, fans would have to wait until the show’s sixth ( and final ) episode to see him revealed as the one pulling the strings after he was first mentioned 13 years ago (yes, really ).

    Mephisto (Sacha Baron Cohen) in Marvel Television's IRONHEART, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel. © 2025 MARVEL. All Rights Reserved.

    Ironheart was littered with links to Mephisto and talks with the Devil, including an earlier addition of a disembodied voice asking The Hood about his deepest desires. The Ironheart episode finally fleshed out the story of Robbins, revealing that Mephisto rescued him during a caper and offered to make him more powerful than the parents who abandoned him. Those away on their Marvel Comics will understand that Mephisto’s Faustian bargains are something of a Monkey’s Paw situation, and although Robbins gets his cloak, he’ll get inflicted with little pain and disturbing voices when he’s without it. When strutting around as The Hood, he’s easier to control and is addicted to his power. Mephisto confirms Robbins was n’ t the first to make a deal, name-dropping everyone from William Shakespeare, to Forbes ’ Top 100 richest people, to three popes, to even Ringo Starr.

    cnx. cmd. push(function( ) {cnx({playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″ ,}). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ); });

    There’s no word on a potential second season of Ironheart, and with it billed as a limited series alongside the likes of Agatha All Along and Secret Invasion, its cliffhanger ending will likely have to be picked up elsewhere. What consequences Riri will face remain unclear, and although she’s got her BFF back, we don’t imagine Aubrey Plaza’s Death will be too happy that Lyric Ross ’ Natalie is back in the land of the living.  

    Speaking of Death, she was notably introduced in Agatha All Along, which is when Mephisto last got a wink in the MCU. This came after fans relentlessly theorized the demon’s arrival in WandaVision. In reality, Mephisto was first canonized in the MCU way back in 2012’s The Avengers. Although not a direct mention, that film referenced how Mephisto had been aiding S. H. I. E. L. D. while dabbling with the Tesseract. After Mephisto was considered as a potential Deadpool & Wolverine villain before Hugh Jackman suggested Cassandra Nova, the bargaining Beelzebub has been a long time coming.

    Introduced in 1968’s Silver Surfer# 3, Mephisto has had run-ins with everyone from Spider-Man to Doctor Strange. He was notably responsible for turning Harry and Norman Osborn, Otto Octavius, and even Phil Coulson into villains, also being involved in Wanda Maximoff’s descent into madness when he absorbed the souls of her children before “House of M. ” This meant many expected him to pop up in both WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Elsewhere in the comics, original Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze got his powers by striking a deal with the horned menace, which is why he appeared in both the Nicolas Cage-led Ghost Rider movies – played by Peter Fonda in the first movie and Ciarán Hinds in 2011’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Finally, his love of bargaining saw him strike a deal with Peter Parker’s Spider-Man to save Aunt May at the cost of his marriage to Mary Jane Watson in the controversial “One More Day ” arc.  

    It seems as though MCU is giving us its own take on Mephisto this with the Ironheart finale, although a more traditional version of the character ’s origin could still play out in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Early reports suggested Tom Holland’s fourth Spidey outing would be a street-level affair with Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk/Kingpin as its big bad, until wild rumors claimed it would be a more magical outing with Mephisto and Ghost Rider.

    An already stacked cast for Avengers: Doomsday suggests there might not be room for someone like Mephisto as the Multiverse deals with the threat of Robert Downey Jr. ’s Doctor Doom, but assuming the MCU is n’t reset, Mephisto could be a solid antagonist for something like the long-rumored Midnight Sons project or cause Riri more headaches in a Young Avengers outing. It just so happens there’s a Champions arc where he strikes a deal with various young heroes, while his son, Blackheart, possesses Riri.

    Even though some are worried we won’t see Mephisto again for a while, his potential to be a Thanos-level big bad means he’s more than worth the wait.

    All six episodes of Ironheart are available to stream on Disney + now.

    The post The Ironheart Finale Introduced an MCU Villain We’ ve Waited 13 Years For appeared first on Den of Geek.

  • This Is Spinal Tap Director Rob Reiner On The Real Story of a Mockumentary Classic

    This Is Spinal Tap Director Rob Reiner On The Real Story of a Mockumentary Classic

    A 4K repair re-release and a long-awaited movie to This Is Cervical Tap, a theatrical about a really professional group, are arriving in the nick of time. A second penetrate from an enhanced device can instill musicians with the bloodstream of rock and roll. Director Rob Reiner’s sound illness took a spine fracture. In his [ …]

    The article This Is Cervical Tap Director Rob Reiner On The Real Story of a Mockumentary Classic appeared initially on Den of Geek.

    This article contains spoilers for the Ironheart episode.

    A wicked new arrival has only joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    After followers were fooled one to several days before,<a href=””> Ironheart has suddenly brought a key addition to the world’s highest-grossing company via another Hollywood superstar. While Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams led<a href=””> Ironheart as something of a tribute to the Iron Man shows, the addition of Anthony Ramos’ Parker Robbins teased that we’d get delving into the darker beautiful part of the MCU. Although the rumor mill had gone into overdrive that Sacha Baron Cohen would be playing the maleficent Mephisto, fans would have to wait until the show’s sixth ( and final ) episode to see him revealed as the one pulling the strings after he was first mentioned 13 years ago (yes, really ).

    Mephisto (Sacha Baron Cohen) in Marvel Television's IRONHEART, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel. © 2025 MARVEL. All Rights Reserved.

    Ironheart was littered with references to Mephisto and deals with the Devil, including an early inclusion of a disembodied voice asking The Hood about his darkest desires. The Ironheart finale then fleshed out the backstory of Robbins, revealing that Mephisto rescued him during a heist and offered to make him more powerful than the father who abandoned him. Those up on their Marvel Comics will know that Mephisto’s Faustian bargains are something of a Monkey’s Paw situation, and although Robbins gets his cloak, he’ll be inflicted with much pain and haunting voices when he’s without it. When strutting around as The Hood, he’s easier to control and is addicted to his power. Mephisto confirms Robbins was n’ t the first to make a deal, name-dropping everyone from William Shakespeare, to Forbes ’ Top 100 richest people, to three popes, to even Ringo Starr.

    cnx. cmd. push(function( ) {cnx({playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″ ,}). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ); });

    There’s no word on a potential second season of Ironheart, and with it billed as a limited series alongside the likes of Agatha All Along and Secret Invasion, its cliffhanger ending will likely have to be picked up elsewhere. What consequences Riri will face remain unclear, and although she’s got her BFF back, we don’t imagine Aubrey Plaza’s Death will be too happy that Lyric Ross ’ Natalie is back in the land of the living.  

    Speaking of Death, she was notably introduced in Agatha All Along, which is when Mephisto last got a wink in the MCU. This came after fans relentlessly theorized the demon’s arrival in WandaVision. In reality, Mephisto was first canonized in the MCU way back in 2012’s The Avengers. Although not a direct mention, that film referenced how Mephisto had been aiding S. H. I. E. L. D. while dabbling with the Tesseract. After Mephisto was considered as a potential Deadpool & Wolverine villain before Hugh Jackman suggested Cassandra Nova, the bargaining Beelzebub has been a long time coming.

    Introduced in 1968’s Silver Surfer# 3, Mephisto has had run-ins with everyone from Spider-Man to Doctor Strange. He was notably responsible for turning Harry and Norman Osborn, Otto Octavius, and even Phil Coulson into villains, also being involved in Wanda Maximoff’s descent into madness when he absorbed the souls of her children before “House of M. ” This meant many expected him to pop up in both WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Elsewhere in the comics, original Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze got his powers by striking a deal with the horned menace, which is why he appeared in both the Nicolas Cage-led Ghost Rider movies – played by Peter Fonda in the first movie and Ciarán Hinds in 2011’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Finally, his love of bargaining saw him strike a deal with Peter Parker’s Spider-Man to save Aunt May at the cost of his marriage to Mary Jane Watson in the controversial “One More Day ” arc.  

    It seems as though MCU is giving us its own take on Mephisto this with the Ironheart finale, although a more traditional version of the character ’s origin could still play out in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Early reports suggested Tom Holland’s fourth Spidey outing would be a street-level affair with Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk/Kingpin as its big bad, until wild rumors claimed it would be a more magical outing with Mephisto and Ghost Rider.

    An already stacked cast for Avengers: Doomsday suggests there might not be room for someone like Mephisto as the Multiverse deals with the threat of Robert Downey Jr. ’s Doctor Doom, but assuming the MCU is n’t reset, Mephisto could be a solid antagonist for something like the long-rumored Midnight Sons project or cause Riri more headaches in a Young Avengers outing. It just so happens there’s a Champions arc where he strikes a deal with various young heroes, while his son, Blackheart, possesses Riri.

    Even though some are worried we won’t see Mephisto again for a while, his potential to be a Thanos-level big bad means he’s more than worth the wait.

    All six episodes of Ironheart are available to stream on Disney + now.

    The post The Ironheart Finale Introduced an MCU Villain We’ ve Waited 13 Years For appeared first on Den of Geek.

  • Ironheart: Riri Williams Deserved Better Than  Iron Man’s Shadow

    Ironheart: Riri Williams Deserved Better Than Iron Man’s Shadow

    Legacy has become an essential core of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s story since the Infinity Story concluded with Avengers: Finale in 2019. New soldiers have suited up to replace their forebears and save the company from its drawn out personality problems as the original Movie – that they’d built a 21-film company upon – retired. [ … ]

    The article Ironheart: Riri Williams Deserved Better Than Iron Man’s Shadow appeared initially on Den of Geek.

    This article contains spoilers for the Ironheart episode.

    A wicked new arrival has only joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    After followers were fooled one to several days before,<a href=””> Ironheart has suddenly brought a key addition to the world’s highest-grossing company via another Hollywood superstar. While Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams led<a href=””> Ironheart as something of a tribute to the Iron Man shows, the addition of Anthony Ramos’ Parker Robbins teased that we’d get delving into the darker beautiful part of the MCU. Although the rumor mill had gone into overdrive that Sacha Baron Cohen would be playing the maleficent Mephisto, fans would have to wait until the show’s sixth ( and final ) episode to see him revealed as the one pulling the strings after he was first mentioned 13 years ago (yes, really ).

    Mephisto (Sacha Baron Cohen) in Marvel Television's IRONHEART, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel. © 2025 MARVEL. All Rights Reserved.

    Ironheart was littered with links to Mephisto and talks with the Devil, including an earlier addition of a disembodied voice asking The Hood about his deepest desires. The Ironheart episode finally fleshed out the story of Robbins, revealing that Mephisto rescued him during a caper and offered to make him more powerful than the parents who abandoned him. Those away on their Marvel Comics will understand that Mephisto’s Faustian bargains are something of a Monkey’s Paw situation, and although Robbins gets his cloak, he’ll get inflicted with little pain and disturbing voices when he’s without it. When strutting around as The Hood, he’s easier to control and is addicted to his strength. Mephisto confirms Robbins was n’ t the first to make a deal, name-dropping everyone from William Shakespeare, to Forbes ’ Top 100 richest people, to three rulers, to even Ringo Starr.

    cnx. powershell. push(function( ) {cnx({playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″ ,}). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ); });

    There’s no word on a probable next season of Ironheart, and with it billed as a minimal series alongside the likes of Agatha All Along and Key Invasion, its cliffhanger ending will probably have to be picked up somewhere. What consequences Riri will face remain unclear, and although she’s got her BFF back, we don’t imagine Aubrey Plaza’s Death will be too happy that Lyric Ross ’ Natalie is back in the land of the living.  

    Speaking of Death, she was notably introduced in Agatha All Along, which is when Mephisto last got a wink in the MCU. This came after fans relentlessly theorized the demon’s arrival in WandaVision. In reality, Mephisto was first canonized in the MCU way back in 2012’s The Avengers. Although not a direct mention, that film referenced how Mephisto had been aiding S. H. I. E. L. D. while dabbling with the Tesseract. After Mephisto was considered as a potential Deadpool & Wolverine villain before Hugh Jackman suggested Cassandra Nova, the bargaining Beelzebub has been a long time coming.

    Introduced in 1968’s Silver Surfer# 3, Mephisto has had run-ins with everyone from Spider-Man to Doctor Strange. He was notably responsible for turning Harry and Norman Osborn, Otto Octavius, and even Phil Coulson into villains, also being involved in Wanda Maximoff’s descent into madness when he absorbed the souls of her children before “House of M. ” This meant many expected him to pop up in both WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Elsewhere in the comics, original Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze got his powers by striking a deal with the horned menace, which is why he appeared in both the Nicolas Cage-led Ghost Rider movies – played by Peter Fonda in the first movie and Ciarán Hinds in 2011’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Finally, his love of bargaining saw him strike a deal with Peter Parker’s Spider-Man to save Aunt May at the cost of his marriage to Mary Jane Watson in the controversial “One More Day ” arc.  

    It seems as though MCU is giving us its own take on Mephisto this with the Ironheart finale, although a more traditional version of the character ’s origin could still play out in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Early reports suggested Tom Holland’s fourth Spidey outing would be a street-level affair with Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk/Kingpin as its big bad, until wild rumors claimed it would be a more magical outing with Mephisto and Ghost Rider.

    An already stacked cast for Avengers: Doomsday suggests there might not be room for someone like Mephisto as the Multiverse deals with the threat of Robert Downey Jr. ’s Doctor Doom, but assuming the MCU is n’t reset, Mephisto could be a solid antagonist for something like the long-rumored Midnight Sons project or cause Riri more headaches in a Young Avengers outing. It just so happens there’s a Champions arc where he strikes a deal with various young heroes, while his son, Blackheart, possesses Riri.

    Even though some are worried we won’t see Mephisto again for a while, his potential to be a Thanos-level big bad means he’s more than worth the wait.

    All six episodes of Ironheart are available to stream on Disney + now.

    The post The Ironheart Finale Introduced an MCU Villain We’ ve Waited 13 Years For appeared first on Den of Geek.

  • The Ironheart Finale Introduced an MCU Villain We’ve Waited 13 Years For

    The Ironheart Finale Introduced an MCU Villain We’ve Waited 13 Years For

    This article contains spoilers for the Ironheart episode. A wicked fresh arrival has only joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After followers were fooled one to several days before, Ironheart has suddenly brought a key addition to the world’s highest-grossing company via another Hollywood superstar. While Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams led Ironheart as something of a [ …]

    The article The Ironheart Finale Introduced an MCU Villain We’ve Waited 13 Times For appeared primary on Den of Geek.

    This article contains spoilers for the Ironheart episode.

    A wicked fresh arrival has only joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    After followers were fooled one to several days before,<a href=””> Ironheart has suddenly brought a key addition to the world’s highest-grossing company via another Hollywood superstar. While Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams led<a href=””> Ironheart as something of a tribute to the Iron Man shows, the addition of Anthony Ramos’ Parker Robbins teased that we’d get delving into the darker beautiful part of the MCU. Although the rumor mill had gone into overdrive that Sacha Baron Cohen would be playing the maleficent Mephisto, fans would have to wait until the show’s sixth ( and final ) episode to see him revealed as the one pulling the strings after he was first mentioned 13 years ago (yes, really ).

    Mephisto (Sacha Baron Cohen) in Marvel Television's IRONHEART, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel. © 2025 MARVEL. All Rights Reserved.

    Ironheart was littered with links to Mephisto and talks with the Devil, including an earlier addition of a disembodied voice asking The Hood about his deepest desires. The Ironheart episode finally fleshed out the story of Robbins, revealing that Mephisto rescued him during a caper and offered to make him more powerful than the parents who abandoned him. Those away on their Marvel Comics will understand that Mephisto’s Faustian bargains are something of a Monkey’s Paw situation, and although Robbins gets his cloak, he’ll get inflicted with little pain and disturbing voices when he’s without it. When strutting around as The Hood, he’s easier to control and is addicted to his power. Mephisto confirms Robbins was n’ t the first to make a deal, name-dropping everyone from William Shakespeare, to Forbes ’ Top 100 richest people, to three popes, to even Ringo Starr.

    cnx. cmd. push(function( ) {cnx({playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″ ,}). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ); });

    There’s no word on a potential second season of Ironheart, and with it billed as a limited series alongside the likes of Agatha All Along and Secret Invasion, its cliffhanger ending will likely have to be picked up elsewhere. What consequences Riri will face remain unclear, and although she’s got her BFF back, we don’t imagine Aubrey Plaza’s Death will be too happy that Lyric Ross ’ Natalie is back in the land of the living.  

    Speaking of Death, she was notably introduced in Agatha All Along, which is when Mephisto last got a wink in the MCU. This came after fans relentlessly theorized the demon’s arrival in WandaVision. In reality, Mephisto was first canonized in the MCU way back in 2012’s The Avengers. Although not a direct mention, that film referenced how Mephisto had been aiding S. H. I. E. L. D. while dabbling with the Tesseract. After Mephisto was considered as a potential Deadpool & Wolverine villain before Hugh Jackman suggested Cassandra Nova, the bargaining Beelzebub has been a long time coming.

    Introduced in 1968’s Silver Surfer# 3, Mephisto has had run-ins with everyone from Spider-Man to Doctor Strange. He was notably responsible for turning Harry and Norman Osborn, Otto Octavius, and even Phil Coulson into villains, also being involved in Wanda Maximoff’s descent into madness when he absorbed the souls of her children before “House of M. ” This meant many expected him to pop up in both WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Elsewhere in the comics, original Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze got his powers by striking a deal with the horned menace, which is why he appeared in both the Nicolas Cage-led Ghost Rider movies – played by Peter Fonda in the first movie and Ciarán Hinds in 2011’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Finally, his love of bargaining saw him strike a deal with Peter Parker’s Spider-Man to save Aunt May at the cost of his marriage to Mary Jane Watson in the controversial “One More Day ” arc.  

    It seems as though MCU is giving us its own take on Mephisto this with the Ironheart finale, although a more traditional version of the character ’s origin could still play out in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Early reports suggested Tom Holland’s fourth Spidey outing would be a street-level affair with Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk/Kingpin as its big bad, until wild rumors claimed it would be a more magical outing with Mephisto and Ghost Rider.

    An already stacked cast for Avengers: Doomsday suggests there might not be room for someone like Mephisto as the Multiverse deals with the threat of Robert Downey Jr. ’s Doctor Doom, but assuming the MCU is n’t reset, Mephisto could be a solid antagonist for something like the long-rumored Midnight Sons project or cause Riri more headaches in a Young Avengers outing. It just so happens there’s a Champions arc where he strikes a deal with various young heroes, while his son, Blackheart, possesses Riri.

    Even though some are worried we won’t see Mephisto again for a while, his potential to be a Thanos-level big bad means he’s more than worth the wait.

    All six episodes of Ironheart are available to stream on Disney + now.

    The post The Ironheart Finale Introduced an MCU Villain We’ ve Waited 13 Years For appeared first on Den of Geek.

  • Bold Moves for Future-Ready Marketing: What to Stop Doing Immediately

    Bold Moves for Future-Ready Marketing: What to Stop Doing Immediately

    Bold Moves for Future-Ready Marketing: What to Stop Doing Immediately written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

    TL;DR The future of marketing belongs to those who have the courage to stop outdated practices. Cut excessive and generic content, ignore vanity metrics, prioritize authenticity, build trust, let go of comfort zones, use technology wisely, adapt for AI, and focus on community over funnels. Letting go of what’s holding you back creates space for […]

    The Four Conversations: Blair Enns on Leading, Pricing, and Selling Expertise written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

    Listen to the full episode: 

    Blair Enns with DTM PodcastOverview

    In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, John Jantsch interviews Blair Enns, founder of Win Without Pitching and a leading authority on selling creative and consulting expertise. Blair shares insights from his new book, The Four Conversations, which distills decades of agency wisdom into a clear roadmap for moving from pitching and price-haggling to confidently leading client relationships. Listeners will discover how to shift from vendor to trusted advisor, raise closing rates, price based on value, and master the four pivotal conversations that define every successful client engagement.

    About the Guest

    Blair Enns is the founder of Win Without Pitching and the author of several acclaimed books on agency sales, pricing, and positioning. Over the past two decades, Blair has helped thousands of agencies and consultancies around the world move away from free pitching and price wars toward leading client engagements and charging for their expertise. His latest book, The Four Conversations, offers a practical framework for mastering the most crucial moments in every client relationship.

    Actionable Insights

    • Most agencies close far fewer deals than they think—often just 25%. Doubling your close rate and raising prices by 20% can dramatically improve profitability.
    • The “four conversations” framework: Probative (demonstrate expertise), Qualifying (vet fit for both parties), Value (define value to be created and price accordingly), Closing (help the client select and commit to a path forward).
    • Selling expertise is not about convincing or manipulating—it’s about guiding, questioning, and facilitating the client’s best decision.
    • True leadership in sales means moving from statements about yourself to questions about the client, and from eagerness for the work to discernment and selectivity.
    • Pricing should begin with a value conversation—anchoring fees to outcomes, not just deliverables or time spent.
    • Productizing your service delivery is compatible with pricing each client based on value, not a fixed menu.
    • To move from vendor to trusted advisor, adopt the “expert’s mantra”: I am the expert, I am the prize, I’m on a mission to help, and I can only do that if you let me lead. All will not follow—and that’s okay.

    Great Moments (with Timestamps)

    • 01:16 – The True Cost of Letting Clients Lead
      Blair breaks down the impact of poor sales practices on close rates and pricing power.
    • 04:45 – The Four Conversations Model
      An overview of the probative, qualifying, value, and closing conversations that shape every client relationship.
    • 06:23 – Selling as Guiding, Not Convincing
      Why selling expertise is about facilitating clients’ choices, not talking them into a decision.
    • 07:47 – From Proving Brilliance to Asking Questions
      The shift from statements to questions is at the heart of expert selling.
    • 13:37 – Value-Based Pricing in Action
      Blair walks through starting the pricing conversation with outcomes, not just deliverables.
    • 20:47 – The Expert’s Mantra
      A mindset framework for making the leap from vendor to trusted advisor.

    Pulled Quotes

    “Selling is not talking people into things. It’s about guiding, questioning, and facilitating the client’s best decision.”
    — Blair Enns

    “I am the expert, I am the prize. I’m on a mission to help. I can only do that if you let me lead. All will not follow—and that’s okay.”
    — Blair Enns

    Resources

    John Jantsch (00:00.802)

    Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duck Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantsch. My guest today is Blair Enns. He’s a leading voice in the creative and consulting agency world, best known as the founder of Win Without Pitching. Over two decades, he’s helped thousands of agencies move from pitching and price haggling to confidently leading client engagements and charging for their expertise. We’re going to talk about his latest book, The Four Conversations, a new model for selling expertise.

    Book distills decades of hard won wisdom into a practical roadmap for navigating the most crucial moments in every client relationship. So Blair, welcome to the show.

    Blair Enns (00:40.337)

    Thank you, John.

    John Jantsch (00:42.85)

    So let’s get some leverage. How much in your estimation do you think, what do you think the real cost day to day when agencies let clients run the show instead of leading the conversation?

    Blair Enns (00:55.611)

    What’s the real cost of letting clients run the conversation?

    John Jantsch (00:58.734)

    Yeah, I mean, instead of us, you know, a lot about the four conversations is really providing leadership in the conversation. So I see a lot of agencies that show up and say, what do need? Sure, we do that. And I think that’s what really leads to this price haggling, doesn’t it?

    Blair Enns (01:16.091)

    Yeah. So if I start to, I’ve never contemplated the total cost here, but we could do some math on the fly. The typical agency has a closing ratio of about 25%. I can actually be more specific than that. It’s oddly specific at 26%, which seems to be a universal number across all B2B sales. Now that’s when we measure it. It’s 26%. Self-declared, it’s closer to 33%. So an agency will tell you we close one in three proposals.

    when we crack open the CRM and look at it, they close one in four. I think the threshold of respectability in a closing ratio is 40%. You should strive to be over 50%. So if you’re closing less than 50%, A, you’re probably writing too many proposals, B, you’re probably doing something wrong in the proposals. So let’s say you’re closing half as many proposals as you should. So there’s a starting point. And then there’s pricing. Are you getting, are you commanding,

    your fair share of the value that you’re helping to create in the typical agency is not. I can’t give you a percentage on that, but I would guess it’s another 20 % across the board. The typical agency could probably increase their prices by 20%. Now with existing clients, not necessarily. They can raise prices with existing clients on average. It’s difficult with larger agencies. We’re dealing with procurement.

    But if you draw a line in time, this is after today, after you’ve absorbed this information, you start to sell this way, your average proposal value should climb by 20 % easily. take the size of your firm, add 20 % to the top line, double your closing ratio. That’s the cost of poor selling.

    John Jantsch (03:05.014)

    So how much of that, I might leave myself right into a trap here, but how much of that is marketing and how much of that is sales? So in other words, you and I have written books that comes with, in some cases, perceived trust and perceived authority, expect to pay a premium in a lot of cases. So how much of that is done on the front end and how much of that is done in the sales conversation?

    Blair Enns (03:09.383)

    Ha ha ha.

    Blair Enns (03:28.829)

    Well, most of what I just talked about is what happens in the sales conversation, which to me is after the initial interaction. So if we’re talking about marketing is to generate leads, that’s a whole other ball of wax. Now, depending on who you are in the organization, how it thinks about sales and marketing, in some organizations, some agencies, lead generation can be seen as a sales function.

    And in others, it’s seen as a marketing function. Typically, it’s seen as a bit of both or a specific combination of both in the average firm. The better your marketing goes the saying, the less selling you have to do. But that’s an interpretation of that statement. It’s really about seeing that statement views selling as lead generation. But there’s all this stuff that I just referenced, which is what happens after you begin the conversation with the lead. So there’s a whole other

    area of improvement to be had under the banner of marketing.

    John Jantsch (04:28.942)

    Yeah, and it’s probably the combination just amplifies everything, right? The combination of both of those being effective amplifies everything. So let’s just go right to the title of the book. What are the four conversations and why do they keep happening no matter how seasoned somebody is?

    Blair Enns (04:45.349)

    Yeah, so the four conversations, this is a model. A model is a view of the world, a way of organizing complexity. All models are wrong. Some are useful. The book opens with that quote. So I’m not saying the sale always happens in a series of four linear and discrete conversations, but it is helpful to think of it that way. So the four conversations and their objective are the probative conversation, where your goal is to prove your expertise to the client and move in their mind from a position of a vendor to the expert.

    That’s the conversation that happens without your president. Your marketing would be under the domain of the probative conversation. It’s a conversation in construct only. It happens through your agents of thought leadership, referral, referrers, and your marketing. And then you have the three person to person conversation that happened after that, which you would think of as the sales conversations. There’s the qualifying conversation, which is the vetting conversation. You’re vetting the lead to see if this is something worth spending your time on.

    There’s the value conversation where you’re uncovering the value to be created and the share of that value you might command in the form of fees. So you’re starting to set not price, but pricing guidance, rough approximate pricing guidance based on the value to be created rather than the cost of your solutions. And then the final conversation is the closing conversation where you help the client commit and select, select and commit to a path forward.

    John Jantsch (06:11.224)

    You know what I love about as I listen to you talk about all four of those conversations, they’re not about like manipulating or getting this thing that you want done. They’re really about creating value for both parties, right?

    Blair Enns (06:23.109)

    Yeah, I’m a big believer in the idea that selling is not talking people into things. I think, you know, we make this distinction or we I make the distinction in the book, you know, between expert and vendor. And you think of your expert self, the way you operate as an expert, you’re in your relationships with your clients. So after sale, the way you show up, you’re kind of you’re an advisor. You facilitate choice. You point out the pros and cons of decisions.

    John Jantsch (06:28.59)

    Right.

    Blair Enns (06:52.061)

    You give the client some decisions to make, you point out the pros and cons of those decisions, and I think that’s how you should navigate the sale as well.

    John Jantsch (06:59.63)

    I talked to a lot of agencies that I’m sure you’ve heard this quite often as well. They feel like they’re giving away their expertise, pitching for free, giving consultations to show that they know what they’re talking about and really all along the way kind of giving it away. do you get people out of that place of being stuck?

    Blair Enns (07:19.121)

    Well, there’s no short answer to the question of how you get people out of that. You write a book on a model, you get them to read the book and implement the guidance in the book is the short one. But as you point out, it’s hard. I myself, I struggle with this a lot. I’ve for years, it’s been the hardest thing for me to go from seeing myself as the person with the answers, the subject matter expert, to the person with the questions. So if you think of how a typical marketer shows up in the sale,

    John Jantsch (07:45.294)

    Mm.

    Blair Enns (07:47.655)

    They wanna prove their brilliance. And yeah, we do that in the probative conversation, but that’s the conversation that happens without you present. Once you’re in a conversation with an individual, instead of trying to prove your brilliance, you should arm yourself with a set of questions. And so in our model of the four conversations, each conversation has a framework or set of frameworks, has a specific objective, which I shared with you, and then a framework or set of frameworks.

    for navigating to that objective. Now those frameworks are almost all questions. So the short answer to how is you go from statements about yourself to questions about the client.

    John Jantsch (08:29.058)

    Well, and those statements often are not just about yourself. They might actually be offering solutions, right? Yeah. Yeah. number two, qualifying. I know that this is not your take on this, but I know a lot of people hear that qualifying and they’re thinking, it comes off more like I’m going to see if you qualify to work with me. you know, and it can actually be a little off putting if not done.

    Blair Enns (08:35.377)

    Free advice, yeah.

    John Jantsch (08:56.91)

    How do you approach making sure that the client doesn’t feel like they’re being evaluated?

    Blair Enns (09:04.283)

    Yeah, I think some people do overplay that idea. So you can take this idea of qualifying and you can put on a spectrum. At one end, there’s the client qualifying you. At the other end, there’s you qualifying the client. And most of these qualifying conversations, the typical listener wouldn’t think of them as a qualifying conversation. They would think of them as a credentials conversation or a credentials meeting. So what does that mean if we put it back into this context of qualifying? It means you’re trying to qualify for the client.

    The assumption is this is a good fit for you. Now you’re trying to prove to them that they’re a good fit. And you have to do that and there’s a way to do that, but the conversation is all about you first making sure that they are a good fit for you. That implies that you’ve actually thought about who is a good fit for you. What is your ideal client profile? Who do you want to do business with? Who will you not do business with? How much money do you need somebody to spend? And so,

    John Jantsch (09:52.046)

    Yeah, yeah.

    Blair Enns (10:00.305)

    You can have a very business-like conversation using a framework to organize questions around that without coming across like an ass. But in the wrong hands, somebody can overplay that idea and they can make the client feel uncomfortable.

    John Jantsch (10:08.257)

    Yeah.

    John Jantsch (10:16.151)

    You know, one of the things over the years that I’ve liked to use as a qualifier is there are certain behaviors that the client has or what they believe in terms of what value is and how a solution gets done. And in some cases, we get very good or most people get very good at understanding, this is a problem I can fix well. I know I could do this one. So where does that come into the qualifying, those types of considerations?

    Blair Enns (10:43.239)

    Well, you have to guard against that. so qualifying is the vetting conversation. There’s a tone in the qualifying conversation. It’s a tone of discernment. So you’re professional, you’re clinical, you’re, if you’re getting really enthusiastic about the opportunity, you’re just suppressing that for the time being. And then once you ask your questions and you determine that there is, this is a good fit for you, then you move to the next conversation, the value conversation. You can, your tone of discernment can move to a tone of deep interest. You decide,

    John Jantsch (10:51.106)

    Yeah.

    Blair Enns (11:13.245)

    You ask your questions, you get your answers, and you decide, you know what, this is a good fit. And you would say to the client, on the surface, I think this is a really good fit. I can see my team getting very excited about this. I’m not saying I’m getting excited about it. I’m still trying to moderate my enthusiasm to make sure my enthusiasm for the project or the client does not exceed their enthusiasm for me.

    John Jantsch (11:23.374)

    Yeah.

    John Jantsch (11:36.347)

    Can we stick on that for a minute? Why is that an issue?

    Blair Enns (11:40.113)

    Well, I have in the book what I consider to be the first principle of selling expertise. It’s a formula P equals DB over D. I printed on the back of coffee mugs. P stands for your power in the sale. Your power in the sale is a function of your desirability, DB, being greater than your own desire, D. Otherwise stated, whoever wants it the most has the least power in the buy-sell relationship.

    You don’t extrapolate that to the nth degree and say, therefore, I should seek to maximize my desirability. That’s true. That part’s true. But you could also infer that to mean I should seek to minimize my expression of desire for the client. that, yeah, no. Yeah, you show up as aloof, disinterested. You don’t want that. I’m just saying pay attention to the power dynamics in the relationship and make sure, especially early on,

    John Jantsch (12:24.29)

    Yeah. Yeah. I don’t really, I don’t really need this sale. I take it or leave it. Right.

    Blair Enns (12:38.713)

    actually, throughout, there’s no especially early on, but just make sure that your own expression, allow your enthusiasm for the opportunity to rise as high as the clients and try not to exceed it. Because when you exceed it, you clearly give all your power away, your power to do your best work, to command the most profit, to command high prices. Your cost of sale will go up too as your power goes away.

    John Jantsch (13:06.604)

    Interesting. So let’s move to number three. guess it is. You use the phrase value to be created. Is that right? Value to be created. that. Yeah. But, but less about fees and more about the value to be created as part of the equation. So, so do I hear you saying, what we’re going to fix for this client is worth a million dollars. That’s the value it’s going to create for them. So do we base our fee on that? Or do we base our fee on the fact that we know how to do this and we do it

    Blair Enns (13:14.129)

    the value conversation.

    John Jantsch (13:36.28)

    officially.

    Blair Enns (13:37.277)

    So you can base your fee, I’m getting softer on this as the years go by. My previous book, which came out in 2018, is on pricing. It’s called Pricing Creativity. And I was probably a bit more of a hard, was pushing harder for value-based pricing. Today, I don’t really care how you price. I care if you have a value conversation. A value conversation begins the pricing discussion based on the value to be created. So you come to me or your…

    John Jantsch (13:55.694)

    Mm-hmm.

    Blair Enns (14:03.601)

    prospective client and I’m walking you through the simple four-step framework. What do you want John? You tell me what your vision of your desired future state is, what success looks like in the future. And I say this is a great vision. So now I’m leaning in, I’m enthusiastic. Okay, what are the metrics that will measure to prove that you’ve achieved what you want? And we talk about some KPIs, you give them to me or I pull them out of you. And I say to you, okay, I know what you want, I know what the KPIs are that we’ll measure.

    John Jantsch (14:17.304)

    Mm-hmm.

    Blair Enns (14:32.741)

    If we hit these metrics, what’s the value of that? So if we just keep it to economic value, you give me some numbers, we top line or revenue gains or cost reductions, we translate that into profit. And I say, all right, so if your vision comes true, you hit these metrics, we’re gonna create a million dollars a year and net new profit, is that right? And you say, yeah, that sounds about right if everything goes well. Now the fourth and final step is setting pricing guidance. At this point, I haven’t thought.

    about what I’m actually gonna do. I haven’t talked to you about specific solutions. Even if you may have come to me with a specific solution in mind, I put it aside and I’ve put you into your desired future state. And I’ve asked you to describe success. And obviously there’s a framework around this. And I say to you, if I could help you create this million dollars a year and that new recurring profit, would you pay me X? And in that moment, I’m gonna pull a number out of my nether regions. And I want the number to be so high that you won’t pay it, that you walk it down.

    And there’s some psychology, it’s called the anchoring effect and why I do this. But at some point, so if I say, would you pay me a half a million dollars? And you respond with, well, that depends, what would you do for a half a million dollars? I might say, I don’t know, I haven’t thought about solutions yet. But if I could help you create this million dollars in net new recurring profit, would you pay half a million in one time fees? And that’s.

    Whether you say yes or no, we’re in a conversation on pricing and that conversation has started high. The price is tied to the value to be created is not tied to my solutions. From there, the price can go down. At the end of the day, when I come back with a proposal in the closing conversation, I can price however I want. The important thing is we have started the pricing discussion based on the value to be created, not based on the cost of my solutions.

    John Jantsch (16:26.158)

    Yeah, and I think that’s certainly the path towards getting a prospect or a client to think, I’m investing this money as opposed to I’m spending this money, isn’t

    Blair Enns (16:36.551)

    Correct.

    John Jantsch (16:38.668)

    So let’s talk about the money conversation. I would say that, I mean, you talked to millions of salespeople probably over the years. Isn’t that the place that they have the most issue with?

    Blair Enns (16:51.325)

    I think the value conversation is a pivotal conversation because we are starting to, the client, we uncover a budget if there is one in the qualifying conversation, then we transcend that budget while still acknowledging as part of the framework that the client has a budget and agreeing that we’ll come back with a range of solutions and a range of price points. We basically agree on a trade.

    I’ll show you what I can do for your budget. You allow me to think creatively and expansively about what’s the most we can do to help you create this value. And it’s going to be a big price. So that’s, I love this framework for talking about money. It doesn’t make it easy, but when you understand that it’s okay for the first number to be so high that the client chokes on it or pushes back and you do this a few times, you realize everybody will survive.

    This is not an existential threat. This is just part of the conversation. By the time the conversation ends, you’re in agreement that the client will consider options in a certain range. Even if the client says, listen, I don’t have the authority to spend, let’s say I anchored at 500 and we ended up at 250 and then you said, well, my budget’s 50. So I’ve got a range of 50 to 250. Even if you don’t have the authority to spend 250 in that moment.

    I’ll extract from you an understanding that, okay, I’m gonna put some options in front of you that are gonna be beyond your budget. And if you’re really excited about them, it’s your prerogative. But then I would invite you to invite the other people to the table who would be required to fund this. you are always in, you the buyer, you’re always in control. You’ve stated to me that you have a budget. I’ve shown what I’m going to do for that budget. In exchange, you’re letting me push you to think bigger, to think about investing more.

    And that’s a pretty fair trade. You practice this a few times, it becomes fairly intuitive to you.

    John Jantsch (18:47.628)

    You know, it’s been come, see very commonplace. seems like the last few years for agencies to kind of offer package services. So this much deliverable for this price. it sounds to me, when I hear you say that conversation, you’re really getting completely out of that, mold and really the idea of, of, I’m going to actually bring you something really innovative that you hadn’t even thought about when you developed your budget. Automatically you’re providing leadership instead of just.

    execution, right?

    Blair Enns (19:18.845)

    That’s true, but it’s not antithetical to productizing your services either. So in my last two books, I’ve talked about productization and in pricing creativity, I was pretty strongly anti-productizing for agencies. When I wrote the four conversations, which I finished last year,

    John Jantsch (19:38.828)

    Mm-hmm.

    Blair Enns (19:46.969)

    I was pretty neutral on it. And I have a pretty good framework in the book for deciding, you standardize or customize your delivery model, package your services or customize and your pricing? What I mean by that is if you have packages, do you price the packages or do you price the client? And as time goes on, I’m actually increasingly in favor of product standardizing your delivery. So you have packages, but reserving the right to price the client, which is the first rule.

    of in my book, Pricing Creativity, price the client, not the product, not the service.

    John Jantsch (20:23.448)

    So I know from many conversations I’ve had this, know, anytime I say the same thing of you want to move from vendor to trusted advisor, you know, a lot of lights go on, right? It’s like, yes, that’s exactly what I want to do. So for the listeners who are stuck in that mindset right now, is there, is there a shift or a daily habit that you would recommend that might make, help people make that leap or at least make it stick?

    Blair Enns (20:47.285)

    it’s a great question. there is in the book, there’s I guess it’s a principle, but it’s really a framework for getting into the experts mindset. It’s called the experts mantra. And it’s a four line statement that you repeat to yourself before you log into the conversation, before you show up for the whether it’s done remotely or in person before you enter the conversation. Just four statements that you repeat yourself.

    They can benefit from a little customization, but I’ll give them to you here. I am the expert, I am the prize. I’m on a mission to help. I can only do that if you let me lead. All will not follow and that’s okay. And we can unpack each of those four sentences and they’re all rooted in something, but it’s like, I am the expert, I’m the prize to be won here. I’m on a mission to lead. If you don’t let me lead in the sale, you will not let me lead in the engagement. So this is a test of whether or not we can work together.

    Yeah, and then the last one of all will not follow is just letting go of the outcomes and focusing on the process.

    John Jantsch (21:48.781)

    Yes.

    John Jantsch (21:52.27)

    Yeah,

    Yeah, I love that. love that. Well, Blair, I appreciate you taking a few moments to stop by the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. Is there some place for you to invite people to find out more about your work and obviously your books or connect with you?

    Blair Enns (22:07.089)

    Yeah, thanks John, I’ve enjoyed it. They can reach me in all of my work at winwithoutpitching.com.

    John Jantsch (22:13.611)

    Again, I appreciate you taking a moment to stop by. Hopefully we’ll run into you one of these days out there on the road.

    Blair Enns (22:18.685)

    Thank you.

    powered by

  • Netflix New Releases: July 2025

    Netflix New Releases: July 2025

    The final season of The Sandman arrives in two parts (and a bonus episode) this July. Part 1 premieres July 3, Part 2 premieres July 24, and the bonus episode drops on July 31. The story begins only a few weeks from where season 1 left off as Dream (Tom Sturridge) looks to rebuild his […]

    The post Netflix New Releases: July 2025 appeared first on Den of Geek.

    This article contains spoilers for The Bear season 4.

    The thing about FX and Hulu culinary classic The Bear is that there is no “big bad” to conquer. Despite Richie Jerimovich actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach donning the orange rocks to play Ben Grimm a.k.a. The Thing in Marvel’s upcoming The Fantastic Four: First Steps, there is no Galactus waiting in the Chicago sky at the end of The Bear. The only demons the Berzatto family and their associates have to confront are the ones in their own heads.

    Still, that’s not to say that The Bear isn’t building up to something. Carmy and company very much have their eyes on a prize, a goal, a … star. As the show frequently articulates, nothing boosts a restaurant’s profile like a Michelin star. Handed out by the Michelin company as part of their Michelin Guide books for travel, a single Michelin star (or two, or three) can instantly change a chef’s life. It did so for Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) as he toiled away in the kitchens of New York’s finest establishments. Now he needs one again to save The Bear. Even his benefactors Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) and The Computer (Brian Koppelman) agree that a star would be enough to keep the floundering business afloat.

    cnx.cmd.push(function() {
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    Should The Bear receive a fifth season, the quest for that star that will undoubtedly drive much of the conflict. A careful viewing of season 4, however, reveals that the conflict won’t be over whether The Bear gets its star but how the staff reacts once they inevitably do. That’s because The Bear almost certainly already has a Michelin star. And we know that thanks to the presence of an enigmatic guest named “Mr. Clark” in season 4’s third episode.

    After Carmy announces his intention to once again pursue the favor of the Michelin Guide, Chicago restauranteur Donnie Madia gives the kitchen staff a crash course on how to spot a member of the Michelin team in episode 2. This is particularly important after The Bear dropped the ball with a Chicago Tribune reviewer. According to Madia, Michelin representatives operate secretively – often giving a pseudonym based on a local neighborhood name or something similar.

    Sure enough, a well-dressed mystery man named Mr. Clark (Gary Janetti) stops by The Bear for a solo dining experience in the very next episode, with “Clark” happening to be the name of a prominent Chicago street cutting through Wrigleyville. Though the viewer has been primed to spot someone like Mr. Clark from a mile away, Richie and the rest of The Bear hospitality staff don’t seem to clock him as a VIP. Thankfully, however, their new strategy of treating every diner like a VIP pays immediate dividends.

    Mr. Clark looks on in genuine joy and astonishment as a nearby guest is gifted a bespoke Chicago Beef dish to celebrate being cancer-free. After the meal, Mr. Clark follows the guest’s family out into the restaurant’s lot where Richie and company have arranged for a snow machine to blanket the outdoor seating, creating a wintry Chicago experience they’ve always dreamed of. Combined with Clark’s glowing review of Chef Sydney’s (Ayo Edebiri) scallop dish, it is a stone cold lock that The Bear just earned its first Michelin Star. Hell, it might have gotten two of them for that display!

    Notably, The Bear has not yet been renewed for a fifth season yet with FX chairman John Landgraf telling Variety that the show’s future comes down to whether creator Christopher Storer feels he has more story to tell. It’s possible then that Storer simply decided to covertly stick a happy ending for the series into season 4’s third episode. Should The Bear continue, however, the arrival of a Michelin star won’t necessarily mean an end of drama.

    That’s the thing about goals: life continues on even after you reach them. If Carmy couldn’t achieve inner peace after earning stars at previous restaurants how will he or Syd do so after earning one at their own spot? Compound that with the fact that Carmy has already “quit” The Bear and you have the potential for all sorts of complicated feelings and responsibilities to come.

    All 10 episodes of The Bear season 4 are available to stream on Hulu now.

    The post The Bear: Mr. Clark Lines Up A Major Potential Season 5 Storyline appeared first on Den of Geek.

  • HBO and Max New Releases: July 2025

    HBO and Max New Releases: July 2025

    Ryan Coogler’s Sinners arrives on Max July 4, only in time for the vacation trip. This vampiric horror film set in 1930s Mississippi has been making tides, but whether you missed out on its dramatic operate or simply want to recreate the pleasures and excellent performances by Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, and [ …]

    The article HBO and Max New Releases: July 2025 appeared second on Den of Geek.

    This article contains spoilers for The Bear year 4.

    The issue about FX and Hulu cooking classic The Bear is that there is no “ big poor ” to destroy. Despite Richie Jerimovich professional Ebon Moss-Bachrach donning the orange stones to play Ben Grimm a. k. a. The Point in Marvel’ s future The Fantastic Four: First Steps, there is no Galactus waiting in the Chicago horizon at the end of The Bear. The only spirits the Berzatto home and their partners have to challenge are the ones in their own mind.

    However, that ’ s not to say that The Bear is n’ t building up to anything. Carmy and business pretty much had their eyes on a medal, a target, a … sun. As the present usually articulates, nothing boosts a restaurant’ s report like a Michelin sun. Offered out by the Michelin business as part of their Michelin Guide ebooks for vacation, a solitary Michelin star ( or two, or three ) can quickly alter a chef’ s career. It did but for Carmen “ Carmy ” Berzatto ( Jeremy Allen White ) as he toiled away in the kitchens of New York ’ s finest organizations. Then he needs one afterwards to save The Bear. Even his benefactors Uncle Jimmy ( Oliver Platt ) and The Computer ( Brian Koppelman ) agree that a star would be enough to keep the floundering business afloat.

    cnx. powershell. push(function( ) {cnx({playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″ ,}). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ); });

    May The Bear receive a second period, the quest for that star that will definitely generate much of the conflict. A careful seeing of winter 4, nevertheless, reveals that the issue won’ t get over whether The Bear gets its sun but how the staff interacts once they eventually do. That’ s because The Bear about certainly now has a Michelin star. And we know that thanks to the presence of an intriguing tourist named Mr. Clark in winter 4’ s next event.

    After Carmy announces his intention to once again follow the pursuit of the Michelin Guide, Chicago restauranteur Donnie Madia gives the restaurant staff a collision course on how to place a part of the Michelin group in episode 2. This is especially critical after The Bear dropped the game with a Chicago Tribune critic. According to Madia, Michelin members operate stealthily – often giving a surname based on a nearby neighborhood name or anything similar.

    Sure enough, a well-dressed unknown guy named Mr. Clark ( Gary Janetti ) stops by The Bear for a solo dining experience in the very next episode, with “ Clark ” happening to be the title of a dominant Chicago road cutting through Wrigleyville. Though the observer has been primed to corner someone like Mr. Clark from a mile apart, Richie and the rest of The Bear hospitality workers don’ t seem to time him as a VIP. Fortunately, however, their fresh strategy of treating every cafeteria like a VIP pays instant dividends.

    Mr. Clark looks on in true joy and surprise as a local tourist is gifted a bespoke Chicago Beef dish to enjoy being cancer-free. After the dinner, Mr. Clark follows the guest’ s household out into the restaurant’ s significant where Richie and business have arranged for a snowfall machine to cover the outside furniture, creating a winter Chicago practice they ’ ll always dreamed of. Combined with Clark ’ s glowing review of Chef Sydney ’ s ( Ayo Edebiri ) scallop dish, it is a stone cold lock that The Bear just earned its first Michelin Star. Hell, it might have gotten two of them for that show!

    Notably, The Bear has not yet been renewed for a fifth season yet with FX chairman John Landgraf telling Variety that the show ’ s future comes down to whether creator Christopher Storer feels he has more story to tell. It’ s possible then that Storer simply decided to covertly stick a happy ending for the series into season 4’ s third episode. Should The Bear continue, however, the arrival of a Michelin star won’ t necessarily mean an end of drama.

    That’ s the thing about goals: life continues on even after you reach them. If Carmy couldn’ t achieve inner peace after earning stars at previous restaurants how will he or Syd do so after earning one at their own spot? Compound that with the fact that Carmy has already “ quit ” The Bear and you have the potential for all sorts of complicated feelings and responsibilities to come.

    All 10 episodes of The Bear season 4 are available to stream on Hulu now.

    The post The Bear: Mr. Clark Lines Up A Major Potential Season 5 Storyline appeared first on Den of Geek.

  • Hulu New Releases: July 2025

    Hulu New Releases: July 2025

    Did Momtok survive this? The Secret Life of Mormon Ladies: Season 2 Meeting arrives on Hulu July 1 and it promises to give us all the information into the theatre we saw this year. The first reunion special for the reality series, the season 2 reunion is bringing back all of Momtok and Dadtok to [ … ]

    The article Hulu New Releases: July 2025 appeared second on Den of Geek.

    This article contains spoilers for The Bear year 4.

    The issue about FX and Hulu cooking typical The Bear is that there is no “ big poor ” to overcome. Despite Richie Jerimovich professional Ebon Moss-Bachrach donning the orange cliffs to play Ben Grimm a. k. a. The Point in Marvel’ s future The Fantastic Four: First Steps, there is no Galactus waiting in the Chicago horizon at the end of The Bear. The only spirits the Berzatto home and their partners have to challenge are the ones in their own mind.

    However, that ’ s not to say that The Bear is n’ t building up to anything. Carmy and business pretty much had their eyes on a medal, a target, a … sun. As the present often articulates, nothing boosts a restaurant’ s report like a Michelin sun. Offered out by the Michelin business as part of their Michelin Guide ebooks for vacation, a solitary Michelin star ( or two, or three ) can quickly alter a chef’ s career. It did but for Carmen “ Carmy ” Berzatto ( Jeremy Allen White ) as he toiled away in the kitchens of New York ’ s finest institutions. Then he needs one afterwards to save The Bear. Even his benefactors Uncle Jimmy ( Oliver Platt ) and The Computer ( Brian Koppelman ) agree that a star would be enough to keep the floundering business afloat.

    cnx. powershell. push(function( ) {cnx({playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″ ,}). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ); });

    May The Bear receive a second period, the quest for that star that will truly generate much of the conflict. A careful seeing of winter 4, nevertheless, reveals that the issue won’ t get over whether The Bear gets its sun but how the staff interacts once they eventually do. That’ s because The Bear almost surely now has a Michelin star. And we know that thanks to the presence of an intriguing tourist named Mr. Clark in winter 4’ s next show.

    After Carmy announces his intention to once again follow the pursuit of the Michelin Guide, Chicago restauranteur Donnie Madia gives the restaurant staff a collision course on how to place a part of the Michelin group in episode 2. This is especially critical after The Bear dropped the game with a Chicago Tribune critic. According to Madia, Michelin members operate stealthily – often giving a surname based on a nearby neighborhood title or anything similar.

    Sure enough, a well-dressed unknown guy named Mr. Clark ( Gary Janetti ) stops by The Bear for a solo dining experience in the very next episode, with “ Clark ” happening to be the title of a popular Chicago city cutting through Wrigleyville. Though the observer has been primed to corner someone like Mr. Clark from a mile away, Richie and the rest of The Bear kindness workers don’ t seem to time him as a VIP. Fortunately, however, their fresh strategy of treating every cafeteria like a VIP pays quick dividends.

    Mr. Clark looks on in true joy and surprise as a local tourist is gifted a bespoke Chicago Beef dish to enjoy being cancer-free. After the dinner, Mr. Clark follows the guest’ s home out into the restaurant’ s significant where Richie and business have arranged for a snowfall machine to cover the outside furniture, creating a winter Chicago practice they ’ d always dreamed of. Combined with Clark ’ s glowing review of Chef Sydney ’ s ( Ayo Edebiri ) scallop dish, it is a stone cold lock that The Bear just earned its first Michelin Star. Hell, it might have gotten two of them for that show!

    Notably, The Bear has not yet been renewed for a fifth season yet with FX chairman John Landgraf telling Variety that the show ’ s future comes down to whether creator Christopher Storer feels he has more story to tell. It’ s possible then that Storer simply decided to covertly stick a happy ending for the series into season 4’ s third episode. Should The Bear continue, however, the arrival of a Michelin star won’ t necessarily mean an end of drama.

    That’ s the thing about goals: life continues on even after you reach them. If Carmy couldn’ t achieve inner peace after earning stars at previous restaurants how will he or Syd do so after earning one at their own spot? Compound that with the fact that Carmy has already “ quit ” The Bear and you have the potential for all sorts of complicated feelings and responsibilities to come.

    All 10 episodes of The Bear season 4 are available to stream on Hulu now.

    The post The Bear: Mr. Clark Lines Up A Major Potential Season 5 Storyline appeared first on Den of Geek.

  • Disney+ New Releases: July 2025

    Disney+ New Releases: July 2025

    The three-episode season finale of Marvel’s Ironheart is the biggest release on Disney + this month, premiering on July 1. After being expelled from MIT, genius inventor and tech prodigy Riri Williams ( Dominique Thorne ) struggles to find a way to still use her skills to help people. When she crosses paths with the mysterious vigilante The [ …]

    The post Disney + New Releases: July 2025 appeared first on Den of Geek.

    This article contains spoilers for The Bear year 4.

    The issue about FX and Hulu cooking classic The Bear is that there is no “ big poor ” to overcome. Despite Richie Jerimovich professional Ebon Moss-Bachrach donning the orange cliffs to play Ben Grimm a. k. a. The Point in Marvel’ s future The Fantastic Four: First Steps, there is no Galactus waiting in the Chicago horizon at the end of The Bear. The only spirits the Berzatto home and their partners have to challenge are the ones in their own mind.

    However, that ’ s not to say that The Bear is n’ t building up to anything. Carmy and business pretty much had their eyes on a medal, a target, a … sun. As the present often articulates, nothing boosts a restaurant’ s report like a Michelin sun. Offered out by the Michelin business as part of their Michelin Guide ebooks for vacation, a solitary Michelin star ( or two, or three ) can quickly alter a chef’ s career. It did but for Carmen “ Carmy ” Berzatto ( Jeremy Allen White ) as he toiled away in the kitchens of New York ’ s finest venues. Then he needs one afterwards to save The Bear. Even his benefactors Uncle Jimmy ( Oliver Platt ) and The Computer ( Brian Koppelman ) agree that a star would be enough to keep the floundering business afloat.

    cnx. command. push(function( ) {cnx({playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″ ,}). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ); });

    May The Bear receive a second period, the quest for that star that will truly generate much of the conflict. A careful seeing of winter 4, nevertheless, reveals that the issue won’ t get over whether The Bear gets its sun but how the staff interacts once they eventually do. That’ s because The Bear about certainly now has a Michelin star. And we know that thanks to the presence of an intriguing tourist named Mr. Clark in winter 4’ s next event.

    After Carmy announces his intention to once again follow the pursuit of the Michelin Guide, Chicago restauranteur Donnie Madia gives the restaurant staff a collision course on how to place a part of the Michelin group in episode 2. This is especially critical after The Bear dropped the game with a Chicago Tribune critic. According to Madia, Michelin members operate stealthily – often giving a surname based on a nearby neighborhood title or anything similar.

    Certain enough, a well-dressed unknown guy named Mr. Clark ( Gary Janetti ) stops by The Bear for a solo dining experience in the very next episode, with “ Clark ” happening to be the title of a popular Chicago city cutting through Wrigleyville. Though the observer has been primed to corner someone like Mr. Clark from a mile away, Richie and the rest of The Bear kindness workers don’ t seem to time him as a VIP. Fortunately, however, their fresh strategy of treating every cafeteria like a VIP pays quick dividends.

    Mr. Clark looks on in true joy and surprise as a local tourist is gifted a bespoke Chicago Beef dish to enjoy being cancer-free. After the dinner, Mr. Clark follows the guest’ s home out into the restaurant’ s significant where Richie and business have arranged for a snowfall machine to cover the outside furniture, creating a winter Chicago practice they ’ d always dreamed of. Combined with Clark ’ s glowing review of Chef Sydney ’ s ( Ayo Edebiri ) scallop dish, it is a stone cold lock that The Bear just earned its first Michelin Star. Hell, it might have gotten two of them for that show!

    Notably, The Bear has not yet been renewed for a fifth season yet with FX chairman John Landgraf telling Variety that the show ’ s future comes down to whether creator Christopher Storer feels he has more story to tell. It’ s possible then that Storer simply decided to covertly stick a happy ending for the series into season 4’ s third episode. Should The Bear continue, however, the arrival of a Michelin star won’ t necessarily mean an end of drama.

    That’ s the thing about goals: life continues on even after you reach them. If Carmy couldn’ t achieve inner peace after earning stars at previous restaurants how will he or Syd do so after earning one at their own spot? Compound that with the fact that Carmy has already “ quit ” The Bear and you have the potential for all sorts of complicated feelings and responsibilities to come.

    All 10 episodes of The Bear season 4 are available to stream on Hulu now.

    The post The Bear: Mr. Clark Lines Up A Major Potential Season 5 Storyline appeared first on Den of Geek.

  • Why Quentin Tarantino Calls Gareth Edwards ‘Mr. Purple’

    Why Quentin Tarantino Calls Gareth Edwards ‘Mr. Purple’

    In Gareth Edwards ’ mind, it does not get better than Reservoir Dogs. The album picture from Quentin Tarantino which revolutionized independent film is also one of those films you can’t assist falling in love with the first moment you see it. Actually, the way Edwards tells it, it might have started before that—back when it [ … ]

    The article Why Quentin Tarantino Calls Gareth Edwards ‘Mr. Purple ’ appeared first on Den of Geek.

    This article contains spoilers for The Bear year 4.

    The issue about FX and Hulu cooking classic The Bear is that there is no “ big poor ” to destroy. Despite Richie Jerimovich professional Ebon Moss-Bachrach donning the orange cliffs to play Ben Grimm a. k. a. The Point in Marvel’ s future The Fantastic Four: First Steps, there is no Galactus waiting in the Chicago horizon at the end of The Bear. The only spirits the Berzatto home and their partners have to challenge are the ones in their own mind.

    However, that ’ s not to say that The Bear is n’ t building up to anything. Carmy and business pretty much had their eyes on a medal, a target, a … legend. As the present generally articulates, nothing boosts a restaurant’ s report like a Michelin sun. Offered out by the Michelin business as part of their Michelin Guide ebooks for vacation, a solitary Michelin star ( or two, or three ) can quickly alter a chef’ s career. It did but for Carmen “ Carmy ” Berzatto ( Jeremy Allen White ) as he toiled away in the kitchens of New York ’ s finest organizations. Then he needs one afterwards to save The Bear. Even his benefactors Uncle Jimmy ( Oliver Platt ) and The Computer ( Brian Koppelman ) agree that a star would be enough to keep the floundering business afloat.

    cnx. powershell. push(function( ) {cnx({playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″ ,}). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ); });

    May The Bear receive a second period, the quest for that star that will definitely generate much of the conflict. A careful seeing of winter 4, yet, reveals that the issue won’ t get over whether The Bear gets its sun but how the staff interacts once they eventually do. That’ s because The Bear almost surely now has a Michelin star. And we know that thanks to the presence of an intriguing tourist named Mr. Clark in time 4’ s next show.

    After Carmy announces his intention to once again follow the pursuit of the Michelin Guide, Chicago restauranteur Donnie Madia gives the restaurant staff a collision course on how to place a part of the Michelin group in episode 2. This is especially critical after The Bear dropped the game with a Chicago Tribune critic. According to Madia, Michelin members operate stealthily – often giving a surname based on a nearby neighborhood name or anything similar.

    Certain much, a well-dressed unknown guy named Mr. Clark ( Gary Janetti ) stops by The Bear for a solo dining experience in the very next episode, with “ Clark ” happening to be the title of a dominant Chicago road cutting through Wrigleyville. Though the observer has been primed to corner someone like Mr. Clark from a mile away, Richie and the rest of The Bear kindness workers don’ t seem to time him as a VIP. Fortunately, however, their fresh strategy of treating every cafeteria like a VIP pays instant dividends.

    Mr. Clark looks on in true joy and surprise as a local tourist is gifted a bespoke Chicago Beef dish to enjoy being cancer-free. After the dinner, Mr. Clark follows the guest’ s household out into the restaurant’ s significant where Richie and business have arranged for a snowfall machine to cover the outside furniture, creating a winter Chicago practice they ’ d often dreamed of. Combined with Clark ’ s glowing review of Chef Sydney ’ s ( Ayo Edebiri ) scallop dish, it is a stone cold lock that The Bear just earned its first Michelin Star. Hell, it might have gotten two of them for that screen!

    Notably, The Bear has not yet been renewed for a fifth season yet with FX chairman John Landgraf telling Variety that the show ’ s future comes down to whether creator Christopher Storer feels he has more story to tell. It’ s possible then that Storer simply decided to covertly stick a happy ending for the series into season 4’ s third episode. Should The Bear continue, however, the arrival of a Michelin star won’ t necessarily mean an end of drama.

    That’ s the thing about goals: life continues on even after you reach them. If Carmy couldn’ t achieve inner peace after earning stars at previous restaurants how will he or Syd do so after earning one at their own spot? Compound that with the fact that Carmy has already “ quit ” The Bear and you have the potential for all sorts of complicated feelings and responsibilities to come.

    All 10 episodes of The Bear season 4 are available to stream on Hulu now.

    The post The Bear: Mr. Clark Lines Up A Major Potential Season 5 Storyline appeared first on Den of Geek.