Hello, friends, and welcome back to The Sunday Post. I am fresh out of my second screening of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and happy to report it was just as good (if not a little better) than my first viewing ten days ago. Tonight, I have more X-Men casting news, an X-Men ‘97 update, plus a preview of D23!
But first, some Friends From Work updates. Dan Gvozden, of The Amazing Spider-Talk returned to the pod last week to share his complicated feelings about Brand New Day. You may not agree with everything Dan says (I often don’t!), but there is no denying that he is a fantastic guest. This week, Kyle and Robby will reflect and rank Brand New Day, plus a new interview with Chip Zdarsky (!) is coming soon, too.
On FFW+, Friends From Football makes its triumphant return this week! There are also some other very fun episodes in the pipeline, just as soon as schedules align. The sprint towards Avengers: Doomsday begins now.
Now, for all the news that’s fit to print, over to…
THE WATERCOOLER
THIS WEEK IN THE MCU
Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues to be a force at the box office, bringing in an estimated $145 million in its second weekend domestically, the third highest second weekend of all-time (behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avengers: Endgame). It’s total domestic gross is now in excess of $650 million, and globally it has reached over $1.67 billion.
Now that the movie has been out for over a week, and viewed by millions and millions of people, Sadie Sink is making the interview rounds to talk about that character reveal, and her excitement for the upcoming X-Men movie, expected to start filming next year. Check out her chats with Vanity Fair, Variety, and Entertainment Weekly.
Speaking of X-Men, yet another role has been cast, according to Deadline. Kit Connor, star of the Netflix series Heartstopper, joins Sink and Samara Weaving in the Jake Schreier-directed flick.
The finale of the second season of X-Men ‘97 is in just a few days. At a special screening of the final two episodes last week, Marvel’s Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation, Brad Winderbaum, confirmed to Collider that season 3 is on track to be released in 2027, and season 4 in 2028.
When Avengers: Doomsday was first announced, Stephen McFeely (Avengers: Endgame and many other MCU movies) was reported as the sole writer on the project. Since then, we’ve learned that Michael Waldron (Loki) was helping with the script and now Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers have boarded to help with Doomsday and next year’s Avengers: Secret Wars. Sommers confirmed the news to The Wrap. The duo have also penned multiple MCU movies (including every Spider-Man solo outing) and worked previously with the Russo Brothers on Community.
D23 is just five days away, and in some respects, it could be an even bigger event for Marvel Studios than San Diego Comic-Con. The headline event is the Disney Entertainment Showcase on Friday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Fans on the eastern half of the United States will need to stay up late for any news, since it does not begin until 10pm ET. Unlike at SDCC, this event is not just for Marvel Studios, and will include announcements for Disney Animation, Pixar, LucasFilm, and other studios under the Disney umbrella. That being said, I am still expecting a fair number of announcements from Kevin Feige. My predictions:
A full X-Men casting announcement, putting to bed all the rumors that have dominated social media over the last few weeks. I also think they’ll confirm the release date (expected to be May 2028).
Confirmation from the Russo Brothers about the start of filming for Avengers: Secret Wars.
The first trailer for VisionQuest, which premieres on October 14th.
BEYOND THE MULTIVERSE
All ten episodes of the second season of Batman: Caped Crusader are out now on Amazon Prime Video. Have you had a chance to watch it yet? Dig into the FFW+ archives to find my discussion with Robby on season 1.
TRUE BELIEVERS RUMOR OF THE WEEK
Reliable sources indicate that the trailer for Avengers: Endgame Encore will be released in just over two weeks, on August 25th, exactly one month before it heads back to theaters. Tickets are also expected to go on sale that day.
With the recent news that Wonder Man was canceled and Nova, once thought to be a streaming series, is being developed as a movie, there has been a lot of concern over the future of live-action Marvel content on Disney+. There have been rumors bubbling up over the last two weeks that the studio will shift towards more special presentations, and fewer ongoing series. One insider, Charles Murphy, went as far as to predict that one of these specials will start filming in February of 2027. Hopefully we will learn more about the future of Marvel Television (beyond VisionQuest and Daredevil: Born Again) at D23 on Friday night.
PANEL BOUND COMICS PICK OF THE WEEK
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Omnibus Vol. 1
For the first time ever, this legendary series is being collected in one hardcover omnibus. Clocking in at over 1000 pages, this collection of self-contained, anthology stories includes some of Batman’s most iconic tales from writers like Denny O’Neil, Grant Morrison, and more. Sure to sell out, pre-order it now from our friends at Panel Bound Comics. Use code “FRIENDSFROMWORK” to receive an additional discount on your purchase.
That’s all I have for tonight. Make sure to follow the podcast and The Watercooler on social media and join the vibrant discussion over on Discord. We’ll be chatting all things Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the finale of X-Men ‘97, and D23 this week.
Have a great one,
-Greg
