Chuck Lorre has been responsible for a series of comedy juggernauts on the small screen, with Young Sheldon only the latest of his mammoth TV hits. But actually, the hugely popular spin-off of The Big Bang Theory has a behind-the-scenes connection to an even more enormous juggernaut on a bigger screen: the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Young Sheldon has taken the central character of The Big Bang Theory and given him a life beyond Jim Parsons’ portrayal in one of the best comedy series of the 21st century. Iain Armitage has now played Sheldon for six years and we’re looking ahead to the Young Sheldon season 7 release date very soon.
But while we wait for more of one of the best TV series for sitcom fans, we want to take you right back to 2017 and the pilot episode of Young Sheldon. That episode was directed by Jon Favreau, who fans of the MCU will absolutely recognize.
Favreau has appeared on both sides of the camera and you’ll be bound to come across his name on many occasions when rewatching Marvel movies in order. He plays Tony Stark’s right-hand man Happy Hogan and also directed the first two Iron Man movies in 2008 and 2010 respectively.
Iron Man was the starting point for the entire Marvel canon on the big screen. That means Favreau directed the first-ever episode of the MCU, as well as the first episode of Young Sheldon.
This draws connective tissue between the two franchises, though we don’t expect Samuel L. Jackson to turn up to recruit Sheldon to the Avengers Initiative any time soon. Of course, anyone familiar with the pop culture obsessions of Sheldon’s life will know just how much he would’ve enjoyed that.
In fact, Sheldon would have got a great kick out of knowing that the guy behind Iron Man was responsible for helming what is effectively his origin story. The stuff that nerdy dreams are made of, for sure.
For more on this comedy spin-off, find out about the Young Sheldon character never mentioned in The Big Bang Theory. Meanwhile, look ahead to upcoming Marvel movies with our guides to The Marvels and Deadpool 3.
Alternatively, check out what we thought of the latest Marvel series to arrive as part of what’s new on Disney Plus. Here’s our Loki season 2 review.