We made it, folks, to the eve of Thunderbolts* week. Tomorrow, in Los Angeles, CA, the movie’s World Premiere will take place at 7:30 pm PT. Meanwhile, in Austin, TX, Kyle Schonewill and Robby Earle will assemble for their first viewing, as well. They’ll be recording their initial reactions immediately after exiting the theater. Those spoiler-free reactions will be in your podcast feeds as soon as possible, and the full-spoiler breakdown will be ready to post on Thursday, as soon as many fans (like me) walk out of our screenings.

Tuesday, the full review embargo will be lifted at noon ET, and we will see if those reviews live up to the initial social reactions, which have been extremely impressive. I know what you’re thinking (“I’ve heard that before”) but I’ve been mining social media reactions long enough now that you can usually read between the lines and tell when someone is truly enthused about a movie and when they are reaching for compliments. Most of the comments I have seen fall into the former category. Of course, many mainstream critics won’t see the movie until tomorrow night, so we’ll see if they are ready to embrace a CBM again for the first time in a while.

This is a huge week for Friends From Work. In addition to the aforementioned Thunderbolts* podcasts that are coming, Kyle will be in Austin all week with Robby recording additional pods, culminating on Saturday, May 3rd when they are LIVE at Austin Books & Comics. If you live in Austin or the surrounding areas, stop by, say hi, and support the podcast! Be sure to follow FFW on socials and listen to this week’s pods for the exact time and details.

Also, please continue to support our latest apparel partner, Homage. Use our link below to help support a great brand and Friends From Work at the same time.

Before all eyes turn to Thunderbolts*, let’s check out what other news percolated last week around the MCU, over at…

THE WATERCOOLER

THIS WEEK IN THE MCU

• For the first time ever, Marvel Studios and Marvel Comics are collaborating on an in-universe comic book. As revealed exclusively by Deadline, the one-shot comic written by Matt Fraction with art by Mark Buckingham, will be set in the universe of The Fantastic Four, and detail their first adventure together, four years prior to the events of July’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The comic debuts on July 2nd.

• The rollout of The Fantastic Four: First Steps continued last week with an exclusive Entertainment Weekly interview with Julia Garner, who plays the Silver Surfer Shalla-Bal in the film. Garner talks about her knowledge of the comics, surfing, and her training process for the movie in the interview.

• Shield your eyes if you don’t want to know anything more about the Blade movie that never was, but I rounded up a bunch of tidbits that have trickled out recently. Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter (Sinners) was on the John Campea podcast and confirmed that she was set to work on Blade and that it was a 1920s period piece. Actor Delroy Lindo (Sinners) was interviewed by Entertainment Weekly and revealed details about what his role in the movie would have been. And finally, musician Flying Lotus shared on social media that he was signed on to write music for the movie before it was indefinitely delayed.

• New Musical Express (NME) talked to Son Lux (Everything Everywhere All At Once) last week about their work scoring Thunderbolts* for Marvel Studios. The score will be released on Wednesday on Spotify and other platforms.

• At the Thunderbolts* press conference on Sunday, Kevin Feige confirmed that Avengers: Doomsday will officially begin principal photography tomorrow.

BEYOND THE MULTIVERSE

• Sinners, a movie I unfortunately have not had the chance to see yet, continues to defy expectations at the box office. After an opening weekend that exceeded estimates, early returns for the second weekend are forecasting just a 6% week-to-week drop, which would be one of the lowest of all time for a major studio film. Congratulations to Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan, and everyone involved on a massive success.

TRUE BELIEVERS RUMOR OF THE WEEK

• With Daredevil: Born Again now finished, the next Disney+ show on the horizon is Ironheart, which premieres less than two months from now on June 24th. Unsurprisingly, rumors have popped up that the first trailer is due sometime in May. I would guess that the week after Thunderbolts* debuts is the one to watch. I also think that Marvel may switch up their release schedule with this one, possibly airing two episodes per week for three weeks.

Now, all eyes turn to Thunderbolts*. If you missed it, Robby and Kyle dove deep into the Saga So Far last week on the podcast and posted their essential Screen Recap on the FFW YouTube page. I hope everyone gets a chance to see the movie this week. See everyone on the other side!

-Greg