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The Sunday Post: Thunderstruck
Greg Arnold & Robby Earle
August 31, 2025
Hello friends! September is upon us, and MCU news has all but ground to a halt. I have been writing this newsletter for over two years now, and I don’t ever remember a time when there was less legitimate news to fill out our weekly Watercooler section. Some of that is to be expected, given that the next major movie is still eleven months away. But Marvel Zombies debuts in a little over three weeks, and there is still no official trailer. The next live-action series, Wonder Man, is only a few months away, and there has been little promotion for that as of yet, either.
The good news is that it should change very soon. I would not be surprised if the Zombies trailer is released this week, and Marvel Television and Animation are expected to have a panel at New York Comic Con on October 11th.
In the absence of real news, the rumor mill has spun into overdrive, particularly when it comes to the set of Avengers: Doomsday. Every day seems to bring a new rumor, many of them unflattering, all of them without any basis in fact. Do not believe everything you read on the internet- but you can trust that if I publish it in our newsletter, it comes from a normally reliable source.
As for the podcast, FFW+ subscribers will have a new episode tomorrow where Kyle and Robby try to figure out who won the summer! The main feed will remain dark for one more week, but the boys will be back soon, rested and rejuvenated, heading into the final few months (and final few MCU projects) of the year.
I did manage to scrounge up a few news tidbits worth mentioning, so let’s head down to…
THE WATERCOOLER
THIS WEEK IN THE MCU
Thunderbolts* is now officially available to watch on Disney+. If you missed this movie in theaters, correct this mistake as soon as possible.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps passed $500 million at the global box office, the first MCU movie this year to cross that threshold. Its domestic box office passed the entire runs of The Incredibles and Captain America: The Winter Soldier as well.
According to Empire Magazine, Jake Schreier’s X-Men movie has begun pre-production.
“I can’t say anything about it, but we’ve started work on X-Men, and that’s obviously very, very exciting. There are so many things that I didn’t know about before I started [Thunderbolts*] The biggest learning curve for me was the proportion of the action to the more emotional, character-driven scenes, and how, even though it’s more shooting days than I’ve ever had, they get eaten up quite quickly by the action stuff. By the time we got to the end of it, it felt like, ‘Oh, now I feel like we get how to do this a little bit better.’”
Disney’s Destination D23 took place over the weekend in Orlando, and the Russo Brothers and Paul Rudd shared the briefest of updates from the set of Avengers: Doomsday. The Russos said it is the largest production they have ever worked on, and Rudd shared the following message:
“We’re surrounded by jaw dropping sets and some truly incredible talent, many of who you just saw teased in that great video. Bringing this story to the big screen means the world to us and we couldn’t do it without your support.”
Chris Hemsworth also spoke about returning to the MCU for Avengers: Doomsday in an interview with ETalk.
“When we parted ways on the last film we didn’t know if we were going to be doing this again and here we are. Some of the old crew like myself, and then a lot of the new folks are coming in.”
New York Comic Con revealed that several of the heroes (and villains) of Hell’s Kitchen will be reuniting at the convention in October, including one name that raised eyebrows. Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Deborah Ann Woll, Krysten Ritter, and Mike Colter will be in attendance. All of those actors except for Colter have previously been confirmed to appear in Daredevil: Born Again’s second season.
HK01, a Hong Kong-based news outlet, reported that Jackie Chan (Karate Kid: Legends) recently visited the set of Spider-Man: Brand New Day and that his action stunt team is working on the film.
PANEL BOUND COMICS PICK OF THE WEEK
Zdarsky Edition
As August comes to an end, so does our month of Zdarsky picks. If you haven't had a chance to listen to our interview yet, be sure to give it a listen. And if you somehow missed the last few newsletters, go back and read 'em for the complete list of recs -- plus a lot of great info from Greg on the state of the MCU, the summer that was, and the Spider-Man movie that will be. All that said, here are a few final picks to take us home.
SEX CRIMINALS
This is the first of the bunch that was not, in fact, written by Chip Zdarsky. Chip broke into the comics scene drawing (and coloring) this book alongside writer Matt Fraction, who many will know for his work on Hawkeye, Invincible Iron Man, Fantastic Four, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen. As it happens, Matt is set to take over writing duties on Batman next month -- a post previously held by none other than Chip Zdarsky (a Hush 2 interlude from Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee notwithstanding). Like Chip, Matt is very funny. But like Chip, he's not afraid to be serious. If that sounds like a strange way to set up a book called Sex Criminals, it's because there's not really a normal way to set up a book called Sex Criminals. It begins as a story about two people who use their... unique... time-stopping powers to rob banks. And then it's about way more than that. It's legitimately hilarious and also surprisingly weighty. If you're someone who has a hard time with superhero comics or just wants something a little different, I'd recommend you check this one out (probably not in public).
You can get the first of three fancy hardcover volumes here, or get the entire series in one glorious paperback here.
BATMAN
Oh, yeah. One more thing. Like I mentioned, Chip recently wrapped a sizable run on Batman. I've only read the very start of the run before deciding to go way back on a probably ill-advised (but nearly complete!) Batman read-through. But what I have read, I liked a lot. And given Chip's track record, I'm throwing caution to the wind to spring for this new omnibus collecting the first half of that run (and with a cover designed by Chip himself).
To be clear, this is a pre-order. It won't release until April 2026. So we're playing the long game here. Why? Because Panel Bound Comics is currently holding a Batman sale that goes until the end of Labor Day (9/1)! And due to that sale, a bunch of Batstuff is wayyyyyy discounted.
So if you want to bet on Chip's run, this is a great time to do it. You'll get a $125 book for $76. If you're looking to read or collect more Batman books in general, congratulations. You have many options. Here are a few of my personal favorites:
That's all from this neck of the woods. Have a great Labor Day! Be back soon with more recommended reading.
-RE
Thanks again, Robby! I cannot recommend PBC’s Batman sale enough- you won’t find better prices anywhere. And don’t forget to use code “FRIENDSFROMWORK” for an additional discount!
And thank you, as always, to everyone who spends a few minutes reading our newsletter each and every Sunday.
Until next week,
-Greg
