We Talk Marvel’s Iron Man And His Awesome Friends With Executive Producer Sean Coyle

Marvel’s Iron Man and his Awesome Friends, the highly anticipated series is set to premiere August 11th, on Disney Jr. and later that day on Disney Channel, with the first 10 episodes becoming available on Disney+ in the U.S. and select international markets and Disney Jr. On Demand the following day, August 12th. We got the opportunity to talk to executive producer Sean Coyle (“Puppy Dog Pals”) about the series and what audiences can expect as it is immediately following the massive success of Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends.

“Marvel’s Iron Man and his Awesome Friends” follows the adventures (and misadventures) of best friends and super geniuses — Tony Stark, Riri Williams and Amadeus Cho — as they work together to solve problems, both big and small, and protect their city. In order to help them save the day, the Iron Friends each have their own Iron Suits that allow them to fly and give them enhanced super-strength.

BSCKids: Tell us a bit about how you got involved in the Marvel’s Iron Man and his Awesome Friends series?

Sean Coyle: Thanks to the success of “Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends,” Marvel and Disney Jr. wanted to continue their ‘totally awesome’ partnership and expand in this preschool space. Iron Man felt like the obvious choice. When I was approached to do it, there was no way I was going to turn down the chance to introduce these characters to a new generation of young fans!

What makes Marvel’s Iron Man and his Awesome Friends unique and what did you also kept the same from the successful Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends?

The importance of teamwork and the celebration of friendship are two themes that carry over from “Spidey.” Where “Marvel’s Iron Man and his Awesome Friends” stands apart is that our three heroes are super genius kids. They are always using their brilliance to brainstorm fun and interesting ways to make their world the best it can be. Their uniquely distinct points of view are integral to their problem-solving process. Also, something different than “Spidey” is that all our hero characters are kids, even the guest stars.

Will the series have stories that continue over multiple episodes or will each one stand alone?

It’s not a serialized show. We want our audience to be able to jump in at any point and be welcomed with Iron arms. That said, we do have characters that repeat and naturally evolve throughout the series. Oh, and Easter eggs! There’s plenty of references to tickle the fancy of our Marvel fans.

Do you have special superhero guests that will show up throughout the season?

Very much, yes. I wish I could blurt out the entire list of guest heroes, but right now I can tell you that kid versions of Black Panther, Iron Spider, and Sam Wilson as Captain America will show up at the IQ (Iron Quarters).

Did you have any guardrails on what you could or not do in terms of the series for the continuity of the Marvel Universe?

One of the best parts about what we do is the collaboration with Marvel. I’m a comic geek and a Marvel fan like so many, so having conversations with people on the inside is pretty amazing (and surreal!). It’s easy to walk into the room with a list of characters you hope to feature and stories you hope to tell, but you need that collaboration. It’s a true team effort to figure out what characters (and what versions of characters) translate well for a preschool show. And working with the Disney Jr. team, we found that sweet spot – – the perfect balance of relatable stories, positive messages, fun, and action!

What will kids take away from the show in terms of what they will learn?

As a dad, I hope young audiences can find a piece of themselves in our show and believe that they have what it takes to be a hero in their world. They have the power to go out there and make their world an awesome place. Iron Suits are super cool and can get you out of a lot of jams, but it’s the kid inside the suit that is totally awesome!

What did you feel like was the hardest part of working on the series?

Honestly, the hardest part about doing any of this is making sure you are surrounded by the right people. It doesn’t always happen that way. I am so thankful that, on “Iron Man,” I have been very blessed. I am surrounded by the most amazingly talented people who are also just amazing people. And we all buy into the collaborative evolution of ideas and creativity. James Eason-Garcia, our amazing story editor and co-executive producer; Mike Dowding, Ashley Rideout, Alex Cichon, Kevin Phibbs and the team at Atomic; Harrison Wilcox at Marvel; our support system at Disney Jr. The list goes on and on. We all want the best version of this show on screen, and we all celebrate the process.

Tell us a bit about how the voice actors were selected for the show?

I give all the credit in the world to our amazing casting director, Allyson Bosch! She’s the absolute best in the business and I am so thankful for her. It’s one thing for me, or Marvel, or Disney Jr. to have a list in mind of performers for certain roles, but then Allyson walks in and is like “I think THIS person would be perfect!” And she’s always right. Tony Hale?! Vanessa Bayer?! Talon Warburton?! John Stamos?! Our entire kid cast?! It’s an embarrassment of riches!

Is there anything funny or cool that happened behind the scenes while filming you can tell us about?

Every day on the job is pretty dang cool. I chatted once with John Stamos about our shared love for playing drums. That was like an out of body experience. As for funny? Well, one thing that comes to mind is – – last summer, part of our wonderful creative team from Atomic Cartoons was visiting Los Angeles from Vancouver. The timing was perfect because it happened to fall on a day when all of our main villains were recording an episode together (which rarely happens). The entire team posed for a selfie at the end of the day. But what we didn’t notice until later was that, unfortunately, our phenomenal supervising director, Mike Dowding, had his eyes closed! He also happened to be perfectly in the center of the picture with everyone else around him.

Tell us something unique and fun about yourself?

I love baseball, I can wiggle my ears, and I’m obsessed with moose. Also, Huey Lewis sent me a video greeting for my birthday once. That was pretty epic.

If you were designing a playset for Marvel’s Iron Man and his Awesome Friends tell us what it would include?

Oh man, if it were up to me, I’d design our whole city! One thing I’d love to see though would be the transforming chicken monster food truck from our first episode pairing!

If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?

If I could BAMF teleport like Nightcrawler, that’d be pretty cool. Also, to be able to snap my fingers and make a root beer float instantly appear. I’d have fun with that.

Why should everyone be tuning in to Marvel’s Iron Man and his Awesome Friends?

Because it’s awesome! It’s an awesome show made by awesome people for awesome people! Let’s all be awesome together!

Thanks to Executive Producer Sean Coyle for talking Marvel’s Iron Man And His Awesome Friends with us