How Did This Get Made? The Avengers LIVE! w/ Tom Scharpling (Classic)
Mar 10, 2026
Tom Scharpling, comedian and longtime radio personality, joins a live NYC panel to riff on the baffling 1998 film The Avengers. They poke fun at Sean Connery's weather-control plot and kilted villainy. Ridiculous costume choices, empty London streets, bizarre editing, and a surprise proposal in the audience round out the chaotic, laugh-packed conversation.
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Villain's Plan Revealed Too Late To Anchor The Plot
- Sean Connery's villain motive (controlling weather to sell it) is only revealed very late, making the film's stakes unclear for most of the runtime.
- The hosts point to a climactic speech where Connery hits a globe and declares "you will buy your weather from me," illustrating the late exposition.
Don't Let One Test Audience Dictate Major Cuts
- Avoid assigning a small, unrepresentative test group the power to force major structural edits.
- The hosts argue the 35-minute cut removed essential exposition and should not have been driven by one audience segment's reaction.
Misguided Test Screenings Can Break A Film's Structure
- Test screening demographics (Spanish-speaking audience without subtitles) reportedly prompted the drastic re-edit, showing how mismatched audience samples can derail a film.
- Paul explains the studio cut runtime after poor test results from that audience segment.
