On Friday night, I took my wife Colleen and our daughters (aged 16 and 13) to see Thunderbolts*. They are generally my litmus test for how the MCU is engaging with casual viewers. Colleen has found it difficult to keep up with the interconnected universe at times post-Endgame and was not a huge fan of Captain America: Brave New World. My daughters are reaching the age where they have so many things going on that the MCU is not always top-of-mind.

Well, I’m happy to report that all three of them loved the movie. Colleen even said that she is really looking forward to The Fantastic Four: First Steps based on the aesthetic alone. And then today, I came home to find my eldest daughter watching Captain America: Civil War on Disney+. She said she was in a Marvel mood, and we ended up watching Avengers: Infinity War too. If that is not a good indicator that the MCU is starting to get its mojo back, I’m not sure what is.

With the MCU starting to fire on all cylinders again, there is no better time to subscribe to Friends From Work. Kyle and Robby recorded their first live show in Austin, TX a few weeks ago, and Robby recently had the chance to sit down with comics creator and current “The Amazing Spider-Man” writer Joe Kelly for a lengthy, in-depth interview. You can find the show anywhere you get podcasts or on the FFW YouTube channel.

FFW+ subscribers get amazing access to even more content, including exclusive Discord channels (join our server!) and regular bonus podcasts. Last week, Kyle and Robby checked in with The Last of Us season 2 on the FFW+ Screensaver feed, and tomorrow, they will take a look at their Top 5 most unfairly criticized MCU movies. If this all sounds like something you’d be interested in, consider becoming a Plus subscriber today.

On the main feed, Thursday you can expect a grab-bag episode covering multiple topics as well as an exclusive interview with one member of Son Lux, to talk about their experience scoring Thunderbolts*.

Quickly, before heading over to The Watercooler, I wanted to remind everyone to consider supporting our two great partners in comics and apparel, Organic Priced Books and Homage, respectively.

Now…

THE WATERCOOLER

THIS WEEK IN THE MCU

• Marvel Studios finally gave us a first look at Ironheart with a trailer and featurette that heavily featured Ryan Coogler (Sinners) and his connection to the project. The series debuts with three episodes at 9 pm ET on June 24th, with the final trio of episodes premiering a week later.

• Coogler also sat down with Marvel.com to provide an exclusive trailer breakdown. Coogler talks about how the show merges street-level action with the magical side of Marvel, and the importance of Chicago to the show’s identity.

• Lili Taylor will play the governor of New York in the second season of Daredevil: Born Again. In an interview with Rural Intelligence, Taylor talked about her experience filming the show.

• Captain America: Brave New World (available now on 4K UHD Steelbook) will debut on Disney+ on May 28th.

• Disney held their upfront presentation for advertisers on Tuesday, and with that came information surrounding the future of Marvel on Disney+ and the upcoming slate. The most exciting news was the revelation that Krysten Ritter will be returning to the role of Jessica Jones in Daredevil: Born Again’s second season.

• Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of television and animation (who just had his contract renewed per The Hollywood Reporter) discussed Marvel’s recalibration of their television model, with a focus on multiple season arcs about characters who are not transitioning from the movies to the small screen.

• Disney upfronts also confirmed that Wonder Man (debuting in December) will consist of eight episodes of approximately 30 minutes.

• According to series creator Beau DeMayo, actress Neve Campbell (Scream) was cast as Polaris in the second season of X-Men ‘97.

   

BEYOND THE MULTIVERSE

• The second trailer for Superman was released last week, giving fans the best look yet at one of this summer’s most hotly anticipated films. Entertainment Weekly profiled Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luthor) as part of their summer preview.

• Mission: Impossible— The Final Reckoning debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, and reviews came pouring in after the embargo was lifted. The movie is “Certified Fresh” at Rotten Tomatoes with an 81% critic’s score. The movie premieres next weekend.

• The Bear premieres its fourth season on Hulu on June 25th. All 10 episodes will be available on that day.

• As part of their summer movie preview, Entertainment Weekly had an exclusive article about Scarlett Johannson’s Zora Bennett, and how she shapes the movie’s trajectory, making it unique in the franchise.

TRUE BELIEVERS RUMOR OF THE WEEK

• This week in X-Men casting rumors: Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Alex Wolff, Jodie Turner-Smith, Daniel Day-Lewis, Bryan Cranston, Cynthia Erivo. Not all of these will come to fruition. Some of them may not even be legitimate. But if you could pick just one name from that list to join the X-Men- who would you pick, and for what role?

That’s a wrap on TSP. Another big week of trailers is expected with the summer movie season ramping up. Make sure you are following Friends From Work and myself on all social platforms so you don’t miss anything. But in case you do, you can always check back in right here same time next week.

Have a great one! Enjoy the new pods!

-Greg