Friends, the real fun is about to begin. The cornucopia of content from Marvel Studios in 2025 is just days away, starting with the first two episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on Wednesday, followed by Captain America: Brave New World, now less than three weeks away. Rest assured, Friends From Work will be there every step of the way, keeping you informed and diving into the MCU week after week for the analysis and discussion you have come to expect.

Before things get rolling on Wednesday, Kyle and Robby will have their annual ‘Bold Predictions’ podcast out tomorrow. That’s always a fun one. Some fun FFW+ episodes are in the works as well.

In case you missed it, last week, the guys posted ‘EVERYTHING You Should Know’ before seeing Captain America: Brave New World on the FFW YouTube channel. It is a perfect primer for the non-MCU fan in your life who might want to see the movie. It’s also a nice refresher for even the most faithful MCU fans who haven’t revisited titles like The Incredible Hulk in quite some time. Check it out here, and please subscribe.

Now over to…

THE WATERCOOLER

THIS WEEK IN THE MCU

• Benedict Cumberbatch spoke to Variety last week about his latest film and dropped a pretty significant update about his MCU future. Cumberbatch revealed that he will not be in Avengers: Doomsday but will play a key role in Avengers: Secret Wars. Cumberbatch says, “He’s quite central to where things might go.” This makes sense, given the ending to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which saw Strange head to the Dark Dimension with Clea (Charlize Theron). He has not been seen since, and resolving that story may require more space than Avengers: Doomsday can provide. Check out the full interview here.

• Julia Garner was interviewed by Who What Wear about a number of topics last week, including her upcoming role as the Silver Surfer Shalla-Bal in July’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. For Garner, joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe was always a goal. Garner said, "Going into the Marvel space was a big interest. I feel like what a lot of actors don't value enough is trying to reach every kind of audience. I think that's really important. I'd be crazy to expect that everybody is going to watch Inventing Anna or Ozark or The Assistant. But to reach all kinds of people and build fans from everywhere? I was really excited to step into that universe." Read the whole piece here.

• The marketing campaign for Captain America: Brave New World kicked into overdrive last week. New posters, new promos, and the first featurette were released. In addition, early box office tracking numbers are projecting the film to make $95 million over the opening four-day President’s Day weekend. That would put the movie in line to be a box-office success for Marvel Studios after The Hollywood Reporter revealed the movie’s production budget to be roughly $180 million, despite numerous unfounded rumors over a year ago that the budget had ballooned to twice that.

• The complete episode list and schedule for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man were released last week, along with the first clip from the series and some character promos introducing characters like Nico Minoru, Lonnie Lincoln, and Harry Osborn. Select critics were also able to screen the entire 10-episode season, and the social media reactions were, in a word, amazing. It is always wise to take social reactions with a grain of salt, but the ones I read were so profuse with their praise that it is hard not to be excited. Head of Marvel Animation Brad Winderbaum also revealed in an interview that the show is already greenlit through season 3.

• Daredevil graced the cover of the new issue of SFX Magazine. Inside, showrunner Dario Scardapane (The Punisher) detailed some of the differences between the Netflix show and Daredevil: Born Again.

BEYOND THE MULTIVERSE

• Christopher Nolan continues to collect actors like infinity stones for his next movie, The Odyssey. Deadline reports that Marvel’s own Jon Bernthal is the latest to sign on, joining Tom Holland, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, and Charlize Theron.

• Head of DC Studios James Gunn revealed the first photo of Milley Alcock as Kara Zor-El on the set of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. The movie is currently filming in the UK, with a release date set for June 26, 2026.

TRUE BELIEVERS RUMOR OF THE WEEK

• The Daredevil: Born Again episode titles have reportedly been revealed. Read into them as much or as little as you want.

  • "Heaven's Half Hour"

  • "With Interest"

  • "The Hollow of His Hand"

  • "Straight to Hell"

  • "Sic Semper Systema"

  • "Isle of Joy"

  • "Excessive Force"

  • "Art For Art's Sake"

  • "Optics"

That will do it for this week. It is time to get excited for the 2025 Marvel slate. Get your minds right for tomorrow’s bold predictions episode of the pod, and then join us on Wednesday to watch and chat about Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s two-episode premiere.

-Greg