Exclusive Interview: Marvel's Iron Man and His Awesome Friends

August is about to get a lot more awesome with the arrival of the new Disney Jr. show, Iron Man and his Awesome Friends! A Bite Of was lucky enough to chat with co-executive producer and story editor James Eason-Garcia and executive producer Sean Coyle about Tony Stark's first flight into the world of programming for pre-schoolers. Tony, along with Riri Williams, Amadeus Cho, and trusty pup Gamma, armor up to save the day from the likes of Ultron and Swarm! The creators share insight into taking a character like Tony Stark and making him palatable for the little ones, why diversity on the screen is important, and the show's incredible voice talent!

Courtesy of Disney

A Bite Of: How do you take adult characters and shrink them down into mini versions of themselves for the pre-K audience?

Sean Coyle: We've had a lot of free reign from Marvel in the sense of what we've done with all the characters is we've taken these wonderful blueprints that exist in the Marvel universe and Marvel continuity and different versions of the continuity and we've really just tried to create our own interpretations of these characters and try to create a unique and interesting point of view for young audiences to enter this world and to hopefully see a little bit of themself in all of these characters.

James Eason-Garcia: One of the most exciting challenges putting this together was finding those things that are still core to these characters. Tony's always gotta have his confidence, right? We had to find a more kinder, gentler, softer confidence. Ultron is very much still a character who doesn't like humans, but we have to find the fun. Our characters are always trying to make it the most totally awesome day ever. Ultron is trying to make it the most horrible day ever for humans – it’s just a, a softer, more relatable version for our audience.

ABO: One thing I loved about the show was the diversity in our main cast, even Gamma having a prosthetic leg. Why was this representation important for the show?

JEG:  I've been so lucky to work on lots of Disney Jr. projects over the last decade and when we were coming together with the characters we wanted here, I really wanted kids to be able to see themselves, kids from any part of the world, to be able to see themselves as the heroes that these characters are. We really just wanted to lean into that both on the screen and definitely behind the scenes as well. Our writer's room was incredibly diverse. The group of animators and directors and designers across the board, everybody is diverse and I think that just added an extra little bit of flavor to it. More than anything, it really is that opportunity for the kids at home. To be able to be like, I could be that hero. I could, you know, I could be that super genius that does something great and help save the day.

ABO: Outside our main cast, in episode 2, Black Panther joins the Iron Friends at IQ for some training gone awry. What other heroes and villains will make appearances in the series and who are you most excited for viewers to see?

SC: There are many heroes that will make an appearance and you'll be excited with each and every one of them. Of the ones that we are allowed to talk about, obviously stuff that's been in the trailers, we got a glimpse of Sam Wilson's Captain America. I wrote the short that introduces Captain America and there was a moment where I was in front of the keyboard and I was literally typing like, Captain America says this and Captain America is talking to Ironman. And I'm like, holy crap. Like, what? What am I doing? This is crazy.

Vision is a sort of regular supporting character in our show. We've got some familiar grownups that make appearances from time to time. I am biting the inside of my cheek because there are characters I would love to talk to you about, but we just have to keep watching and wait and see.

JEG: Sean wrote that script and one of my favorite moments of producing this entire project so far was when we got that first short in with Captain America and Ironman and Cap hands Iron Man the shield like. We had this moment where our Iron Man is holding the Captain America shield, getting ready to throw it. It was just like such fanboy joy to my heart and my soul watching that moment happen. What makes it exciting is seeing these characters play off of each other.

We have some really amazing moments with Black Panther. Black Panther and Iron Hulk doing some really cool moves together. Ironheart and Iron Spider have this really special friendship and bond on the show. So when we see like them doing cool action and moves together it's exciting to watch.

Courtesy of Disney

ABO: Moving into our villains, Ultron is voiced by Tony Hale and Swarm is voiced by Vanessa Bayer. What do you think these comedic actors bring to these villainous roles?

SC: For one, it's just overall awesomeness. I mean I think it's easy for somebody from the outside to be like, “Oh, it's easy to just make funny voices and you've created a performance.” But when you, when you see the professionals and the super mega talents, like what we have just immerse themselves in the story and the personality and knowing which parts of themselves to like pull out, and these peaks and valleys that they balance, like watching them from the other side of the recording booth glass - they're masters, they're craftsmen, they're master craftsmen at what they do. Tony Hale and Vanessa Bearer and Talon Warburton as Absorbing Man, they add a level of comedy, but there's also this underlying level of warmth and attractiveness [which] is kind of a weird way to say it, when they appear on screen, you are happy that they are there. You’re excited to see them, but then you're also excited to see [them] get his comeuppance at the end as well. It takes a really special kind of performer to capture that.

ABO: Overall, what message do you want young viewers to take away from Tony, Riri, Amadeus, and Gamma’s adventures?

JEG: Sean and I we're big goofballs. We like to have fun. We like to be surrounded by joy and create joy, and I think that's really what we want families and kids specifically to take away from the show is just fun. Just a good time. Our main characters start every episode [with the question], “How can we make today totally awesome?” I think it'd be great if kids watching feel that same kind of excitement, “I can make the day great!” I can have a great day, and no matter what bad guy might show up in my life, whether it's Ultron, Swarm, Absorbing Man, we can through tenacity, teamwork, specifically friendship come together and make the day totally awesome.

SC: And of course it's the hero inside. It's the kid inside the suit that is the real hero. The super suit can do anything and that's awesome, but it really takes a special kind of hero on the inside.

Courtesy of Disney

Iron Man and his Awesome Friends premieres Monday, August 11th on Disney Jr. and next day on Disney+.