Let’s cut right to the chase today. We knew it would be a week filled with trailers, and we were not disappointed. We have to start with the first trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which was released last Tuesday, and boy, did it live up to the hype. Simultaneously, it showed fans very little about the plot but gave fans all the vibes they needed to get excited for July 25th. Michael Giacchino’s theme is destined to go down as one of the MCU’s best. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the trailer was viewed over 200 million times in the first 24 hours, a record for a non-sequel MCU movie. If you missed it somehow, check it out below.

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It is also Captain America: Brave New World week here at FFW. It may not technically be a Mega Week, but it feels like it, and it kicks off tomorrow with a new episode where Robby and Kyle answer all your burning questions about Captain America (with a brief check-in on Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man as well). The world premiere is on Tuesday night. The first social media reactions will pop up online shortly thereafter. If all goes according to plan, Kyle and Robby will also be seeing the movie on Tuesday night and then hunkering down on Wednesday for a full day of fantastic podcast recordings. That includes their spoiler-filled initial reactions to the movie, which will land in your feed on Thursday.

For all the rest of the happenings in a hectic week, let’s head over to…

THE WATERCOOLER

THIS WEEK IN THE MCU

• Not to be outdone by Marvel’s First Family, Thunderbolts* also released a new trailer during the Super Bowl, dominating the conversation during the first half of an otherwise lopsided football game. The trailer featured the first look at Sentry and the first look at the building formerly known as Avengers Tower in years.

• American experimental band Son Lux is officially confirmed to be composing the score for May’s Thunderbolts*. Their previous work includes the score for 2023 Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All At Once.

• Producer Nate Moore debunked rumors that Marvel Studios is recasting the role of T’Challa in the MCU, telling ComicBook, “The truth is, there’s no truth to those rumors. Never say never to anything, we haven’t really had a lot of creative conversations with Ryan Coogler yet, because he’s finishing his film Sinners, which comes out this year.”

• Ayelet Zurer, who is reprising her role as Vanessa Marianna-Fisk in next month’s Daredevil: Born Again, spoke to Business Insider about returning to the role. Click here if you want to find out how she fits into the new series.

• Deadline reported on Thursday another casting for the Disney+ Vision series, which is set to begin filming later this year. Ruaridh Mollica (The Franchise) is set to be a series regular playing the character “Tucker.” Already, there is some speculation that this could end up being Tommy Maximoff after Teen was revealed to be Billy Maximoff in Agatha All Along last fall.

• In MCU-adjacent news, the animated Disney series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur announced that Samuel L. Jackson will reprise his role as Nick Fury in their upcoming final episodes.

BEYOND THE MULTIVERSE

• Super Week was not reserved strictly for new Marvel trailers. There were several other movie trailers that debuted, highlighting just what a big year it could turn out to be for the industry. Several of them have a chance to be covered on a Screensaver episode this year (so join FFW+), including Jurassic World Rebirth. The Jurassic franchise has long been a favorite of mine, and this trailer makes the movie look like a mix of the 1993 original classic, Indiana Jones, and Jaws. Read a lot more about the film in this “First Look” feature from Vanity Fair.

• The Big Game itself was filled with several shorter 30-second clips for big movies coming later this year, none better than the above spot for Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. Is there anything Tom Cruise won’t do to entertain us? Screensaver definitely has plans to cover this franchise this summer.

TRUE BELIEVERS RUMOR OF THE WEEK

• Rumors surrounding the future of the X-Men in the MCU have been running wild this week. One rumor suggests that Marvel Studios hopes to put the first X-Men movie into production by the end of the year, with a 2027 target for release. With that in mind, casting rumors have also picked up steam. Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) as Jean Grey, Harris Dickinson (Babygirl) as Scott Summers, and Julia Butters (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) as Kitty Pryde have all been mentioned. Finally, there has also been chatter that the Russo Brothers may stick around the MCU after they complete Avengers: Secret Wars to help guide the studio through the next Saga. Are you ready for a new generation of the X-Men to arrive in the MCU?

Did you catch all of that? If not, don’t worry. Robby and Kyle will have multiple new podcasts this week to help navigate what is quickly turning into a crazy 2025 for the MCU (we tried to warn you!). If you saw a trailer or promo that really made you excited, don’t forget to check out the 50%-off sale going on right now at Organic Priced Books. You might find something you want to read that informs all the great content coming our way.

Have a safe week, everyone. Enjoy Captain America: Brave New World!

-Greg