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How Did This Get Made?
How Did This Get Made?

Last Looks: John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars w/ Ed Brubaker

November 07, 2025 • 1h 8m

Summary

⏱️ 8 min read

Overview

Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas discuss John Carpenter's Ghost of Mars with comic book legend Ed Brubaker, who defends the maligned sci-fi action film as one of Carpenter's most rewatchable later works. They dive into corrections about the film's breather technology, debate whether the ghosts are literal or infections, and explore Ed's experience adapting his Criminal comic series for Amazon, including the challenges of being a showrunner and the collaborative nature of television writing.

Opening and Corrections on Ghost of Mars

Paul opens by addressing the recent loss of producer Avril Halle before diving into listener corrections about Ghost of Mars. The discussion covers confusion about the 'breathers' technology on Mars, with listeners clarifying that characters breathe through collar-mounted devices rather than goggles. The conversation also explores whether the possessed miners are actual ghosts or an infection similar to The Last of Us, with listeners debating the film's internal logic.

  • Breathers are collar-mounted nozzles, not goggles as initially thought - one character uses a black market 'Laffer' that looks like an asthma inhaler
  • The 'ghosts' are more like an infection or spore that possesses people, giving them sentience rather than creating mindless zombies
  • Listener proposes Ghost of Mars is a 'satanic panic movie' where heavy metal causes kids to pierce fingers, file teeth, and become cannibals
  • John Carpenter told Natasha Hendricks daily on set: 'This is the biggest piece of shit I've ever made'
" Sometimes the cure for possession is drugs. "
" Well, John, every day when you got to set, you would say loudly, this is the biggest piece of shit I've ever made, and it didn't inspire much confidence in the rest of the team. "

Ed Brubaker Defends Ghost of Mars

Ed Brubaker joins as an avowed Ghost of Mars fan, explaining how he and his wife would host movie nights in their home theater during the DVD era. He argues the film is one of Carpenter's most rewatchable from his later period, praising its weird matriarchy themes and idiosyncratic character names. However, he acknowledges Carpenter's disinterest in action scenes during this era often resulted in montages or off-screen deaths.

  • Ed ranks Ghost of Mars 'ten times better' than Carpenter's Vampires movie from the same era
  • The film represents 'the ultimate John Carpenter movie' with themes of violence, societal downfall, matriarchies and powerful women
  • Carpenter got disinterested in action scenes, often using montages or cutting away - Pam Grier is killed off-screen
  • The film was originally conceived as the third Escape From movie (Escape From Mars), with Desolation Williams dressed like Snake Plissken
" I believe, is one of the most fun rewatchable John Carpenter movies from that era. I would rank it ten times better than his fucking vampires movie. "
" It's almost like the ultimate John Carpenter movie because it has that weird thing where he's always, like, kind of about violence and the downfall of society, but also about matriarchies and powerful women. "

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