Hello friends, and welcome back to The Sunday Post. I am sitting in my office writing this afternoon, listening to the wind whip around on the eighth straight day of sub-freezing temperatures in Maryland. Brrr. I hope, wherever you are, you are staying warm on this first day of February.

It was a busy week for Marvel Studios- a new trailer dropped (more on that below) and Wonder Man was released on Disney+. The show has been a hit with critics and fans alike (both scores on Rotten Tomatoes sit at 89%) and especially in our community. If you watched the show and are looking for an outlet to share your thoughts, what are you waiting for? Please come join the discussion on our Discord server.

Kyle and Robby shared their initial thoughts on the first four episodes and will be back tomorrow with their final verdict on the back half of the season. Meanwhile, on FFW+, Marvel Comics 101 returned last Friday with an episode covering the classic “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” by Ed Brubaker. This week, guest contributor Neil Scharnick will return with another episode of Kyle, Listen!

Now over to…

THE WATERCOOLER

THIS WEEK IN THE MCU

• Daredevil: Born Again returns for season 2 on March 24th. The official teaser, originally shown at last fall’s New York Comic Con is finally available on YouTube and Disney+. The season will consist of eight episodes. Here is the official synopsis:

• The complete Wonder Man soundtrack by composer Joel P West is now available on all streaming platforms, including Spotify.

• According to a report by Deadline earlier today, Marvel Studios is now expected to skip the Super Bowl, meaning the long wait for trailers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday is expected to continue.

• If you’ve finished watching Wonder Man, there are several interviews available featuring creators Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, including this one from Entertainment Weekly about those two big guest stars and how they came to play fictionalized versions of themselves in the MCU.

BEYOND THE MULTIVERSE

• Bob Iger’s contract as CEO at Disney is set to expire on December 31st, and according to an exclusive report from The Wall Street Journal, he is expected to step down before reaching that date. The Disney Board of Directors is expected to formally vote on a successor this week. The top two candidates appear to be the current chairman of Disney Experiences Josh D’Amaro and the current co-chairman of Disney Entertainment Dana Walden.

  Late tonight, Lucas Shaw from Bloomberg reported that D’Amaro is expected to be the pick.

TRUE BELIEVERS RUMOR OF THE WEEK

• My Cosmic Circus contributor Alex Perez took to social media on Saturday to list (in his opinion) the most essential Marvel Studios projects to watch in preparation for Avengers: Doomsday. I am shoehorning this in as the ‘rumor of the week’ because nobody knows for sure what to expect. But if you do not have time for a full rewatch and are looking for a streamlined version, consider Alex’s list.

  • Doctor Strange

  • Avengers: Endgame

  • X-Men: Days of Future Past

  • WandaVision

  • Loki Season 1

  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

  • Loki Season 2

  • Spider-Man: No Way Home

  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

  • The Marvels

  • Agatha All Along

  • Thunderbolts*

  • The Fantastic Four: First Steps

PANEL BOUND COMICS PICK OF THE WEEK

ASTONISHING X-MEN MODERN ERA EPIC COLLECTION: GIFTED

If you are an FFW+ subscriber, you have hopefully been keeping up with Kyle’s journey through Marvel comics via Robby’s Marvel Comics 101 series. If you are not a subscriber, a subscription is worth it for this series alone. Robby has carefully selected a series of comics from throughout Marvel’s publishing history to give an overview to a complete newcomer.

Next up in the series is Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men. Yes- the director of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron wrote his first comic arc eight years before directing two billion dollar hits for the MCU. The book is currently on back order at Panel Bound Comics, but you can place your order now and they’ll ship it to you as soon as it is back in stock. Don’t forget to use code “FRIENDSFROMWORK” for a discount on your purchase.

That’s it for this week. Now go watch Wonder Man if you haven’t already and then check out Kyle and Robby’s podcasts covering the show. Then I’ll see you back here next Sunday, hopefully for a super edition of the newsletter.

Have a great week,

-Greg