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The Sunday Post: This is a Thunderbolt
Greg Arnold
April 06, 2025
While nothing could top the 27 chairs that captivated MCU fans a couple of weeks ago, last week was still filled with new details about several upcoming MCU projects, from Thunderbolts* to The Fantastic Four: First Steps to Avengers: Doomsday. CinemaCon did not disappoint, with a couple of important updates from Sony and new trailers (for attendees only) for the next two MCU films.
Tomorrow, tickets go on sale for Thunderbolts* and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a final trailer released to celebrate the occasion. On Tuesday, Daredevil: Born Again airs its penultimate episode, and on Wednesday, Kyle and Robby will share their initial reactions with a new episode of the podcast.
Make sure to read to the end of the newsletter this week, as we debut a recurring feature from Robby Earle himself. Let’s kick things off with…
THE WATERCOOLER
THIS WEEK IN THE MCU
Sony came out strong at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, announcing the official title of the fourth Tom Holland Spider-Man film: Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Director Destin Daniel Cretton spoke at the event and confirmed that filming would begin later this summer. As reported previously, Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) is expected to co-star in the film. My prediction remains that she will play Jean Gray in the movie.
If you were trying to concoct the perfect featurette for our Kyle Schonewill, it would be the Thunderbolts* featurette that debuted online after CinemaCon. It showed off many of the locations and live stunts performed in the movie, including footage of Florence Pugh jumping off the second-tallest building in the world. Move over, Tom Cruise.
After an intense seventh episode of Daredevil: Born Again, Marvel printed an exclusive interview with Margarita Levieva, who plays Heather Glenn on the show. Levieva talks about what it was like shooting that scene, working with Charlie Cox and in the MCU, and filming on the streets where she grew up.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps celebrated 4/4 not by releasing their CinemaCon trailer to the public but by releasing a new poster and dropping an exclusive look at the movie via Empire magazine. Empire described the movie as a ‘60s Space Race movie, and director Matt Shakman talked more about that.
“This is very much about the spirit of the Space Race. It's about JFK and optimism. It’s imagining these four going into space instead of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. This idea is that they are the most famous people in America, because they’re adventurers, explorers, astronauts — not because they're superheroes. And they come back and they're superheroes on top of it. But primarily they're astronauts, they're family. I really wanted to go with as grounded a version of space as possible. So, no wormholes. Their tech is very much retro-future, but it's also booster rockets. It’s a combination of Marvel and Apollo 11. I really wanted it to feel like it was made in 1965, the way Stanley Kubrick would have made it.”
Josh Wilding of Comicbookmovie.com had a chance to catch up with actor Faran Tahir last week and ask him about returning to the MCU. Tahir has not appeared in the MCU since portraying Raza in 2008’s Iron Man but is reprising the role in the upcoming Vision series (filming now in the UK).
"I think it's a very exciting project to return as a character that I played 17 years ago. When you play a character, you create a history for [them]. What we have decided is that this is seven years after the fact of when Tony Stark [died] and all that happened. How does this character evolve, and what has he become? Does he become something more? He is not static in this universe and has also gone on with his life, and with where he ends up, how does he place himself in this universe? It's a great challenge. There are some great surprises in there, especially for Marvel fans."
Kevin Feige also made a surprise appearance at CinemaCon, appearing virtually from the set of Avengers: Doomsday. Feige told attendees that the next Avengers movie would focus on several groups— the Avengers, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four, Wakandans, and X-Men— all fighting against Doctor Doom.
BEYOND THE MULTIVERSE
Sony was not done making announcements at CinemaCon after revealing the title for the fourth MCU Spider-Man movie. They also (finally) announced a new release date for Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. The long-anticipated finale to the Spider-Verse trilogy will be released on June 4th, 2027, just four weeks after the MCU wraps up its own Multiverse Saga with Avengers: Secret Wars.
On Sunday, Tom Cruise took to social media to announce that a new trailer will be released tomorrow for Mission: Impossible— The Final Reckoning.
THE ORGANIC PRICED BOOKS PICK OF THE WEEK
From the collection of Robby Earle
DOOM (TREASURY EDITION)
Robby here! Sorry, it’s been a while. But you know I can’t let Greg have all the fun plugging comics around here. (That said, if you haven’t yet, please do yourself a favor and check out Greg’s latest Backordered post.) This week’s OPB pick-up comes to you from Sanford Greene (Paper Dolls, Power Man, and Iron Fist) and Jonathan Hickman (Ultimate Spider-Man, Secret Wars). This book absolutely knocked me out when I first picked it up — mind you, I picked up the second printing because by the time I got to Austin Books & Comics that first week, it was already sold out. That probably tells you something.
It’s also telling when the thing I love most about a Jonathan Hickman book isn’t even the Jonathan Hickman part. In a single issue, Sanford Greene places himself in the upper echelon of Marvel artistic talent. I’ve been eagerly awaiting this gallery edition since chatting with Sanford at NYCC. And it does not disappoint.
In addition to the gorgeous oversized reproduction of the one-shot itself, you’ll also get Greene’s pencils and inks (sans colors), and excerpts from Hickman’s original plot outline for the issue. Plus, you’ll get a gallery edition of a fan-favorite issue of Hickman’s Fantastic Four drawn by the one and only Steve Epting (New Avengers, Captain America) and a Secret Wars tie-in issue of Runaways drawn by Greene. (The latter provides a fascinating look at how much an artist’s style can evolve over the course of a decade.) If you’re a fan of either creator (or a process nerd like me), then this treasury edition of Doom is more than worth the $30 sticker price. But if you snag it from our friends at Organic Priced Books, you don’t even have to pay that! Use code “FRIENDSFROMWORK” and get this puppy for less than $24!
With the recent announcements from Marvel Studios, there’s never been a better time to read up on everyone’s favorite supervillain/scientist/sorcerer/savior.
So go on.
Embrace Doom.
And there you have it. A Robby Recommend is worth its weight in gold. Trust me. I immediately went to OPB and ordered my copy of Doom (Treasury Edition), and you should consider doing the same.
Remember, Thunderbolts* tickets go on sale tomorrow morning, and on Tuesday night, the eighth episode of Daredevil: Born Again, titled “Isle of Joy,” premieres on Disney+.
Have a great week!
-Greg
