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The Sunday Post: Brave New World
Greg Arnold
February 16, 2025
Captain America: Brave New World is finally out in theaters worldwide, marking the first MCU movie since last July’s Deadpool & Wolverine. While critical reception was relatively cool towards the film, it appears to be receiving a passing grade from MCU fans anyway. Per the Hollywood Reporter, the weekend box office is coming in ahead of expectations, delivering $100 million domestically and over $192 million globally over the four-day holiday weekend. I will have my review posted in the next 48 hours, and you can watch or listen to Kyle and Robby break it all down here.
Later this week, the guys will finally break down the trailers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Thunderbolts*. Additionally, preparations are already underway for coverage of Daredevil: Born Again. A Saga So Far episode and a YouTube Screen Recap covering the original Netflix series are nearing completion. As if that wasn’t enough, Friends From Work will also have coverage of the final episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man coming soon.
Time to head over to…
THE WATERCOOLER
THIS WEEK IN THE MCU
The Captain America: Brave New World soundtrack is available now on most digital platforms, including Spotify—35 tracks from friend-of-the-podcast Laura Karpman. I’ve been listening to it for a few days, and it is really starting to grow on me.
The final two episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will be released Wednesday morning on Disney+. If you haven’t been watching, you are really missing out. The show is yet another excellent addition to the Marvel Animation portfolio. It’s not too late to catch up!
Daredevil: Born Again is only 16 days away, and a new teaser from Marvel Studios confirmed that the show will be rated TV-MA (as expected) and begin with a two-episode premiere on March 4th.
Empire magazine released online previews from their March issue, highlighting both Daredevil: Born Again and Thunderbolts*. Daredevil: Born Again showrunner Dario Scaradapane told Empire how important it was to bring Karen Page and Foggy Nelson into the new series.
“I was willing to lose a job over this one. Because Season 3 of the Netflix show ended with a dream, with the names on that napkin. If you don’t pay that off, you’re not giving your characters context. You can’t ignore that dream.”
Scardapane also discussed the show’s violence and that being on Disney+ did not mean they had to curtail what they wanted to portray.
The level of violence is way up there for a Marvel/Disney show. I don’t think there’s anything else even in the ballpark. There’s a moment in this that is just absolutely bat---, and way past anything Netflix ever did.”
For Thunderbolts*, Empire spoke to Florence Pugh, who portrays Yelena Belova, about how her character has evolved since we last saw her.
“She’s a completely different person to the person that you’d assume she would be. She’s coming out of a few years of quite traumatic events. Where does that leave a person?”
The Wrap published an excellent article last week detailing the move of many Hollywood blockbuster productions from stateside to the UK. In the piece, they confirm that Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to begin filming there in March. Read the whole thing here.
Deadline talked to Anthony Mackie about various topics, including working with Harrison Ford, how reshoots affected Captain America: Brave New World, and how the Avengers will come back together in Avengers: Doomsday.
“I’m the OG now. I’m the only guy. I’m the Avenger from the old group that brings in the new group. So it’ll be a changing of the guard. As you see in the new trailer, Ross is like, ‘I want you to start up The Avengers.’ So I have to figure out who’s going to be the new Avengers.”
TRUE BELIEVERS RUMOR OF THE WEEK
While Captain America: Brave New World was plagued by negative rumors (about reshoots, test screenings, and more) throughout its production all the way up to and after its release, that is not the case for Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. According to rumors I have seen, Thunderbolts* is only the second project in the studio's history to require zero reshoots (the first being the second season of Loki.) And The Fantastic Four: First Steps has reportedly had the highest-rated test screenings of any Marvel Studios project this year. So feel free to start getting excited!
2025 is off and running for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In these next few months, things will only ramp up even more. Remember to subscribe and follow Friends From Work on all your favorite platforms, and consider subscribing to FFW+ for even more exciting bonus content.
See you next week,
-Greg
