From 2021 to 2024, Marvel Studios released 10 feature films, 12 seasons of TV and two TV specials, an increase of over 300% from the Infinity Saga era. That whirlwind pace is continuing in 2025 — but it won’t last much longer.
This year, Marvel is set to release nine titles in total, three feature films (“Captain America: Brave New World” with Anthony Mackie, “Thunderbolts*” with Florence Pugh, and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” with Pedro Pascal), three live-action series (“Daredevil: Born Again” with Charlie Cox, “Ironheart” with Dominique Thorne, and “Wonder Man” with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), and three animated series, focusing on Spider-Man, Wakanda and zombies. Only April, September and November will pass without a new Marvel project premiere.
But following disappointing box office results for “Brave New World” and “Thunderbolts*,” Marvel Studios is reducing its output considerably through 2027. For live-action TV, Marvel has greenlighted a second “WandaVision” spin-off featuring Paul Bettany’s Vision, a second season of “Daredevil: Born Again,” and a one-shot “Special Presentation” about Jon Bernthal’s the Punisher. Two animated series are getting a second season. Meanwhile, three untitled Marvel films were removed from the schedule entirely, leaving a fourth “Spider-Man” movie with Tom Holland, two “Avengers” movies with Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom, and an untitled film set for July 2027 (which, according to Denzel Washington, might be “Black Panther 3”). All told, that’s just four movies, two live-action shows, two animated shows and a one-off special.
This slower pace returns the MCU to a cadence closer to its 2010s heyday, but it also means that new films featuring Harry Styles (in “Eternals 2”), Charlize Theron (in “Doctor Strange 3”) and Brett Goldstein (in “Thor 5”) that were suggested in post-credits scenes from 2021, 2022 and 2023 may never wind up seeing the light of day — though only Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige knows for certain.
It’s also not escaped notice that Feige has been slowly assembling the “Young Avengers” over the past few years, as teased in the final scene of 2023’s “The Marvels” in which Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) tries to recruit Hawkeye (Hailee Steinfeld). Other recruits could include Billy Maximoff, a.k.a. Wiccan (Joe Locke); America Chavez, a.k.a. Miss America (Xochitl Gomez); Cassandra Lang, a.k.a. Stinger (Katherine Langford); RiRi Williams, a.k.a. Ironheart (Dominique Thorne); Skaar, a.k.a. Hulk’s son (Wil Deusner); Eli Bradley, a.k.a. Patriot (Elijah Richardson); and Billy’s twin brother, Tommy Maximoff, who in the comics is known as Speed (and has yet to be cast). Whether this team would appear in a new film, or in a Disney+ series, remains to be seen.
Here is the full list of Marvel’s announced and/or confirmed film and TV projects.
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“Ironheart” (June 24, 2025)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Marvel Studios On Disney+
Dominique Thorne (“If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Judas and the Black Messiah”) will play Riri Williams, who, in the comics, is an engineering prodigy who develops her own supersuit similar to Tony Stark’s Iron Man.
Screenwriter, poet, playwright, and educator Chinaka Hodge (“Amazing Stories,” “Snowpiercer”) will serve as head writer. Sam Bailey (“Dear White People”) and Angela Barnes (“Blindspotting”) are dividing directing duties, and Proximity — the production company co-founded by “Black Panther” filmmaker Ryan Coogler — is producing with Marvel Studios.
Anthony Ramos (“In the Heights”) plays Parker Robbins, aka The Hood, who starts as an ally of Riri’s but winds up as an antagonist — dabbling in the dark arts will do that. The cast also includes Lyric Ross (“This Is Us”), Manny Montana (“Good Girls”), Alden Ehrenreich (“Solo”) and Shea Couleé (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”).
MCU Tie-In: Williams first appeared in 2022’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and Jim Rash will reprise his role as the Dean of MIT from 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War.”
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“The Fantastic 4: First Steps” (July 25, 2025)
Image Credit: MARVEL STUDIOS In Theaters
When Disney bought 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios), Marvel fans knew it would mean that the X-Men and the Fantastic Four — the two classic Marvel franchises that had heretofore existed outside the MCU — would finally join the fold.
Matt Shakman (“WandaVision”) will direct the film. He took over from “Spider-Man” filmmaker Jon Watts, who was originally announced as the director by Feige in December 2020, but backed out of the project in April 2022, citing superhero cinema fatigue.
In November 2023, news leaked that Marvel was eyeing Pedro Pascal to play Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic. Four months later, the studio officially announced the full foursome: Pascal, Vanessa Kirby (as Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (as Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (as Ben Grimm, aka Thing).
Julia Garner (“Ozark”) will play Shalla-Bal, a variant of the Silver Surfer, and Ralph Ineson (“The Witch”) will play the main antagonist, Galactus. John Malkovich, Paul Walter Hauser and Natasha Lyonne will costar.
MCU Tie-In: Unclear, especially since this film will be set in an alternate universe from the Sacred Timeline. But in the comics, the Fantastic Four play a critical role in the “Secret Wars” series, and Victor von Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) is their main enemy, so they’re sure to play a part in “Avengers: Doomsday.”
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“Eyes of Wakanda” (Aug. 6, 2025)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Marvel Studios On Disney+
In Dec. 2023, Marvel announced its first official “Black Panther” spin-off series, a four-part animated show about the Wakandan War Dogs who are “tasked to travel the world retrieving dangerous vibranium artifacts,” according to an official release. The show will look back at the history of the African nation of Wakanda, stretching back centuries before the events of “Black Panther.”
Veteran storyboard artist Todd Harris (“What If…?,” “John Wick: Chapter 4,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) is serving as executive producer and series director, and “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler is producing the series.
“Eyes of Wakanda” is also separate from the live-action Wakanda-based series that Coogler is developing as part of a multi-year overall TV deal between Coogler’s production company Proximity Media and the Walt Disney Company. That show was announced in Feb. 2021, and no further news about the project have been released since.
MCU Tie-In: Apparently, the martial arts master Iron Fist will appear in an episode, though it’s unclear whether it
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“Marvel Zombies” (October 2025)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Marvel Studios On Disney+
Pretty much everything you need to know about this animated series is right there in the title: A zombie apocalypse causes most of the Avengers to turn into super-powered, flesh-craving undead. The title comes from the 2005-2006 comic book mini-series written by, who else, “The Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman, with art by Sean Phillips; those comics were already loosely adapted on an episode of the first season of “What If…?”
This four-part series — which will be rated TV-MA — will feature zombie versions of Clint Barton, Captain Marvel, Captain America (cut in half), the Abomination from “The Incredible Hulk” and “Shang-Chi,” Ghost from “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” Scarlet Witch, Okoye from “Black Panther” and Ikaris from “Eternals.” Taking them on will be Yelena Belova and Red Guardian (along with a team of Widows) from “Black Widow,” Shang-Chi and his BFF Katy, Kate Bishop from “Hawkeye,” Jimmy Woo from “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and “WandaVision,” Death Dealer from “Shang-Chi,” Ms. Marvel, and a biker gang of Skrulls from “Captain Marvel.”
“What If…?” director Bryan Andrews is also directing this show, with Zeb Wells (“Robot Chicken”) serving as head writer and executive producer.
MCU Tie-In: Unclear.
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“Wonder Man” (December 2025)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Marvel Studios On Disney+
In the Marvel Comics, Simon Williams is the son of a captain of industry whose business buckles under pressure from Stark Industries, so he turns to Baron Zemo, who transforms him into the superhero known as Wonder Man.
This show, however, appears to be about a struggling actor, played by Emmy winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (“Watchmen,” “Aquaman”), who strives to be cast as Wonder Man.
“Shang-Chi” director Destin Daniel Cretton developed the series with head writer Andrew Guest (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Community”), part of Cretton’s overall deal with Marvel Studios and Onyx Collective. Cretton will direct.
Abdul-Mateen will be joined by Ed Harris, Josh Gad, Demetrius Grosse (“Fear the Walking Dead”), Lauren Glazier (“Mindhunter”) and Byron Bowers (“Swarm”).
MCU Tie-in: Ben Kingsley will reprise his role as ne’er-do-well British actor Trevor Slattery from “Iron Man 3” and “Shang-Chi.” Otherwise, unclear, though it would be pretty funny for the MCU version of Zemo, who passionately hates superheroes, would show up in a meta comedy about a superhero project.
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“Daredevil: Born Again” Season 2 (March 2026)
Image Credit: Marvel Television On Disney+
The first season of “Daredevil: Born Again” ended with Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) recruiting honest NYPD officers to take on New York City Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), after Fisk plunges the city into martial law, brutally murders the Police Commissioner and outlaws vigilantism — all part of his gambit to transform the Red Hook neighborhood into his own city-state.
In an interview with Variety, D’Onofrio teased that Fisk wants to “expand his reach beyond New York,” which could mean that Daredevil has more than just rescuing his city to worry about in Season 2. Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) will rejoin her fellow Netflix series alums in fighting back Fisk.
MCU Tie-In: The events of the Punisher special will undoubtedly connect with Season 2. But while “Daredevil” is now officially part of the MCU, the only legacy characters who appeared on Season 1 were Yusuf Khan (Mohan Kapur) from “Ms. Marvel” and Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton) from “Hawkeye” — i.e., New York City residents who don’t have any superpowers, which would limit any future MCU cameos pretty much to those two titles. It’s also unclear whether the climactic events of “Thunderbolts*” — when the Void enveloped most of NYC in a shroud of depressive nothingness — will ever factor into this show, or if Daredevil will ever cross paths again with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, given Murdock’s cameo in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” The most pressing question, however, is if Daredevil will also recruit Mike Colter’s Luke Cage or Finn Jones’ Danny Rand (a.k.a. Iron Fist) to join his fight against Fisk.
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“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” (July 31, 2026)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sony Pictures In Theaters
After his triumphant multiversal team-up with the Spider-Men played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” Tom Holland will return as the web-slinger for an untitled fourth outing. Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”) is set to direct, replacing Jon Watts, who bowed out from the franchise after “No Way Home.”
Not much more is known about the project at this point, although it is likely safe to presume that Zendaya and Jacob Batalon would return. The story will need to incorporate both the ending of “No Way Home” — in which Holland’s Peter Parker had Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) erase himself from everyone’s memory, forcing him to start over as Spider-Man from square one — and the events of 2026’s “Avengers: Doomsday,” which premieres two months earlier.
MCU Tie-In: Given that Marvel Studios is continuing its unique partnership with Sony Pictures to produce the film, it’s safe to say at least some MCU characters will factor into this movie. Whether that includes Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom remains to be seen, but here’s some food for thought: Miles Morales plays a major role in the “Secret Wars” comic run from 2015, and “Avengers: Secret Wars” is set to premiere in 2027.
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“Avengers: Doomsday” (December 18, 2026)
Image Credit: Marvel Studios In Theaters
In the same way that “Avengers: Infinity War” led into “Avengers: Endgame,” “Doomsday” will lead into “Secret Wars,” with Robert Downey Jr. returning to the MCU to play Dr. Victor von Doom, easily the biggest, most important villain in the Marvel comics universe. The directors and one of the screenwriters of “Infinity War” and “Endgame” — Joe and Anthony Russo, and Stephen McFeely — are also returning to Marvel to direct and write “Doomsday” and “Secret Wars.”
Getting to this point has been bumpy in the extreme. This project was originally titled “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” with Jonathan Majors playing the titular main villain, Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”) directing, and Jeff Loveness (“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”) and then Michael Waldron (“Loki”) writing. By the time Marvel parted ways with Majors hours after the actor’s conviction in December 2023 for misdemeanor assault and harassment, the original conception of the project was all but cooked.
MCU Tie-In: The multiverse will be in full bloom for this film, which will include the Avengers (led by Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson), the Fantastic Four, the Thunderbolts (a.k.a. the New Avengers), and the original X-Men — including Patrick Stewart as Prof. X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Gambit, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, and Kelsey Grammer as Beast.
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“The Punisher” Special (2026)
Image Credit: Giovanni Rufino / Marvel Television On Disney+
Jon Bernthal will return as the brutal vigilante Frank Castle in this one-off special, which he’s co-writing with Reinaldo Marcus Green (“King Richard”), who is directing. It’s unclear whether the special will air before or after Season 2 of “Daredevil: Born Again,” but at the end of Season 1, Castle is seen escaping from a prison cell after he was jailed by New York City mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio).
MCU Tie-In: It’s safe to presume Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) could show up, but this also could be a true self-contained one shot.
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“Vision” (2026)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Marvel Studios On Disney+
The second “WandaVision” spin-off after “Agatha All Along,” this series will follow the exploits of White Vision, the emotionless physical reproduction of the dearly departed Vision introduced in the final episodes of the MCU’s inaugural Disney+ series.
Terry Matalas, executive producer and showrunner for Season 3 of “Star Trek: Picard,” is the showrunner, and Paul Bettany will return in the role.
MCU Tie-in: Unclear, though if anything could resurrect Wanda Maximoff from underneath the rubble of Wundagore Mountain, it’s the return of her beloved Vision. Also, White Vision became involved with the West Coast Avengers in the comics, so the events of “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars” could factor in as well.
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“Avengers: Secret Wars” (December 17, 2027)
Image Credit: Marvel Studios In Theaters
In 2015, Marvel Comics published a nearly year-long miniseries called “Secret Wars,” in which an incursion between the main Marvel universe (Earth-616) and the Ultimate Marvel universe (Earth-1610) caused the destruction of both. Afterwards, many variants of Marvel characters find themselves living on a post-apocalyptic planet called Battleworld.
How the MCU will get to this point (if this is indeed the plot of the movie) remains something of a mystery, although several major players in the comic book storyline — including the Fantastic Four (Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and their mortal enemy Victor von Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) — are now set to make their debuts in the MCU in the run up to this film and its predecessor, “Avengers: Doomsday.” Joe and Anthony Russo will direct both films, and Stephen McFeely will handle the the screenplay.
Something else to consider: Following “Secret Wars,” Marvel Comics more-or-less rebooted, launching “all-new, all-different” versions of many of its most beloved titles. Most curious, indeed.
MCU Tie-In: Given its storyline and placement at the end of the Multiverse Saga, expect all of the characters to show up in this one.
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“X-Men ’97” Season 2 (Undated)
Image Credit: Marvel Studios On Disney+
At the end of Season 1 of “X-Men ’97,” the team are flung into extreme ends of mutant history: Cyclops and Jean Grey wind up in 3960 A.D. within a post-apocalyptic wasteland, while Charles Xavier, Magneto, Rogue, Nightcrawler and Beast discover they’re in ancient Egypt, circa 3000 B.C. — where they encounter En Sabah Nur, the early version of the massively powerful mutant villain Apocalypse. Marvel Animation chief Brad Winderbaum told Variety that at least part of Season 2 will be spent continuing the story of Apocalypse.
Other major “X-Men” characters to expect in Season 2 include Sabretooth, Havoc, Polaris, Lady Deathstrike, Danger, and Wolverine love-interest Mariko Yashida.
MCU Tie-In: Since this show exists in its own timeline, Season 1 featured several cameos from other A-list Marvel characters, including Captain America, Doctor Doom, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Black Panther and Iron Man. Expect more of that for Season 2.
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“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” Season 2 (Undated)
Image Credit: Marvel Animation On Disney+
Season 1 of “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” set up several storylines for Season 2. Norman Osborne (Colman Domingo) discovers a piece of the Venom symbiote. To counter his father’s misdeeds, Harry Osborne (Zeno Robinson) invites Oscorp’s student engineers into the Worldwide Engineering Brigade (i.e. W.E.B.), including Peter Parker (Hudson Thames). Otto Octavius (Hugh Dancy) begins planning his Doc Ock suit in prison. Lonnie (Eugene Byrd) takes over the 110th gang. And Aunt May (Kari Wahlgren) visits Peter’s father, Richard (Josh Keaton), in prison. Gwen Stacy (and her alter ego Spider-Gwen) will also debut in Season 2.
MCU Tie-In: Like “X-Men ’97,” this show exists in its own timeline, and alternate versions of Daredevil, Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Thaddeus Ross have already appeared, so there are bound to be more in Season 2.
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“Blade” (Undated)
Image Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP In Theaters
Back when he was making the Marvel series “Luke Cage” for Netflix, Mahershala Ali made it known to Marvel Studios that he wanted to star in a remake of “Blade,” the superhero franchise about the sword-wielding half-vampire first headlined by Wesley Snipes (and credited by many for paving the way for the superhero cinema renaissance). Marvel, smartly, said yes.
Since then, however, two directors — Bassam Tariq (“Mogul Mowgli”) and Yann Demange (“Lovecraft Country”) — have departed the film and at least six screenwriters have been tapped to write the screenplay. The bumpy development process has pushed “Blade” back twice — from 2023 to 2024, then again to 2025, and finally off the release calendar entirely until the script gets to the right place.
MCU Tie-In: Unclear, but Ali did make an audio-only cameo in one of the post-credits scenes in “Eternals” with Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman.
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“Armor Wars” (Undated)
Image Credit: Marvel Studios In Theaters
In the comics, the Armor Wars storyline depicted Tony Stark’s horror when his Iron Man technology ends up in the wrong hands. With Stark dead in the MCU, Don Cheadle’s James Rhodes will headline this adaptation instead. Yassir Lester (“Black Monday”) will serve as screenwriter.
Originally developed as a Disney+ series, Marvel Studios announced in September 2022 that “Armor Wars” will be a feature film.
MCU Tie-In: At the 2022 D23 Expo, Feige said “Armor Wars” will carry over the events from the 2023 Disney+ series “Secret Invasion.”
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PREMIERED: “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” (Jan. 29, 2025)
On Disney+
Unlike the smooth, modern look of “What If…?”, this animated show will harken back to Peter Parker’s comic book origins as he begins his journey to become Spider-Man.
This version of Peter’s life will feature a bunch of new characters, including Nico Minoru, from the Runaways team; a new crush who isn’t Mary Jane or Gwen Stacey; Amadeus Cho, who becomes a new Hulk in the comics; a Wakandan exchange student; and Harry Osborn, with Harry’s father Norman (voiced by Colman Domingo) serving as Peter’s mentor. (Well, at first, anyway.)
Charlie Cox will be voicing the role of Daredevil, and Doctor Strange will appear as well (though it’s unclear if Benedict Cumberbatch will voice that role). Paul F. Tompkins will voice Bentley Whittman, aka the Wizard.
We’ll also see some classic Spidey villains, including Unicorn, Chameleon, Scorpion, Speed Demon, Tarantula, Rhino, Butane and Doc Ock.
Jeff Trammel (Cartoon Network’s “Craig of the Creek”) is the head writer and executive producer.
Season 2 is also in the works.
MCU Tie-In: Early press materials had indicated that this show is a prequel to the Tom Holland storyline in the MCU, but details unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 — like the appearance of Harry and Norman Osborn — threw cold water on that idea. So: multiverse!
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PREMIERED: “Captain America: Brave New World” (Feb. 14, 2025)
Image Credit: Eli Adé / Marvel Studios Premiered in Theaters, Available on Disney+
The new Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), fights the good fight without the support of the Avengers, who disbanded in the wake of “Endgame.” Also returning from “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” are Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, a.k.a. the first Black supersoldier (who told Sam in “FAWS” that the U.S. would never accept a Black Captain America), and Danny Ramirez as Joaquín Torres, who inherits the Falcon moniker from Sam. Shira Haas (“Unorthodox”) joins the cast as Ruth Bat-Seraph, a.k.a. Sabra. In the comics, Sabra is a mutant who works as an agent of the Israeli Mossad, but a spokesperson for Marvel tells Variety that the filmmakers are taking “a new approach” with the character.
Julius Onah (“Luce,” “The Cloverfield Paradox”) is directing from a screenplay by “FAWS” head writer Malcolm Spellman and staff writer Dalan Musson, with Matthew Orton (“Moon Knight”) writing material for additional photography in 2024.
The film was originally subtitled “New World Order,” but Disney announced it was changed to “Brave New World” in June 2023. While main photography concluded before the SAG-AFTRA strike, Disney pushed the film from a May 2024 release to Feb. 2025.
MCU Tie-In: Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, will appear as the president of the United States in “Brave New World” — played by Harrison Ford, replacing the late actor William Hurt, who originated the role in 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk” and played it several times, most recently in 2021’s “Black Widow.” As the first trailer all but confirmed, Ross will also transform into the Red Hulk.
Another character who began in “The Incredible Hulk” is also returning: Tim Blake Nelson will play Samuel Sterns, a.k.a. The Leader. In that film, Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) forces Samuel to use blood samples from Bruce Banner (played by Edward Norton) to transform Emil into the Abomination. In the aftermath, some of Bruce’s blood lands on an open wound on Emil’s skull, transforming him into The Leader. Seventeen years later, we’ll finally see what happened next for Samuel.
This film will also finally deal with the ending of 2021’s “Eternals,” when a colossal Celestial emerged in the Indian Ocean and was turned to stone. As revealed at 2024’s San Diego Comic-Con, the metal adamantium will be discovered within the Celestial’s body — an eyebrow-raising addition to the MCU.
The Leader and Ross may not be the only MCU legacy characters to return for “Brave New World,” especially since the anti-hero team-up movie “Thunderbolts” is set to follow later in 2025, which features disgraced former Captain America John Walker (Wyatt Russell), a.k.a. U.S. Agent, and the shadowy operative Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) — two characters first introduced on “FAWS.” And then there’s the post-credits tease for “FAWS,” in which Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) revealed herself to be the nefarious Power Broker just as she’s pardoned and brought back into the U.S. government — what’s to become of her?
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PREMIERED: “Daredevil: Born Again” (March 4, 2025)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Marvel Studios On Disney+
After “Daredevil” ran for three seasons on Netflix through 2018, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) faded back into the shadows once the streamer cut ties with Marvel in advance of the debut of Disney+. After Murdock popped up as Peter Parker’s lawyer in 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” — and his nemesis, Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), reemerged the same month as the lead villain on “Hawkeye” — there was a great deal of anticipation that the Man Without Fear would return to fight crime again.
In May 2022, Variety reported that Matt Corman and Chris Ord (“Covert Affairs”) signed up to write and executive produce a new “Daredevil” series, which Feige announced will unfold over 18 episodes — triple the usual number for a drama series in the MCU.
Since then, the show underwent a significant creative overhaul: Corman and Ord exited the series midway through production, and Dario Scardapane (“The Punisher”) stepped in as the new showrunner. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (“Loki,” “Hawkeye”) will direct the bulk of the episodes of Season 1, which will most likely not consist of all 18 episodes.
MCU Tie-In: Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and especially Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) have a complicated relationship with Kingpin, so either of those characters could factor on the show. Matt’s burgeoning relationship with Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany), a.k.a. the title hero of “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” could also wind up on the show (though that seems like much more of a stretch).
The big question, however, has been if the events of Netflix’s “Daredevil” are part of the MCU and would be incorporated into “Daredevil: Born Again.” For years, Marvel Studios was publicly coy, and privately dismissive, about whether it would be integrating the Netflix shows into its storytelling. But in Jan. 2024, Marvel executive Brad Winderbaum told Screen Rant that he was “confident” that the Netflix series was part of “the sacred timeline” — i.e., the main MCU — which means Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle (aka the Punisher) will be bringing all of his Netflix baggage with him when he appears on “Born Again.” Whether any of the other Netflix Marvel characters — including Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) or Danny Rand aka Iron Fist (Finn Jones) — will also return remains to be seen.
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PREMIERED: “Thunderbolts*” (May 2, 2025)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Marvel Studios In Theaters
Marvel Studios’ answer to DC’s Suicide Squad, the Thunderbolts are a team of anti-heroes — or reformed villains, depending on your point of view — who are formed at first to do bad but then decide to try to make up for the errors of their ways.
Jake Schreier (“Paper Towns”) will direct from a script by Eric Pearson (“Black Widow”). The team will include Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes (aka the Winter Soldier) from “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”; Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova from “Black Widow” and “Hawkeye”; David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov (aka Red Guardian) from “Black Widow”; Wyatt Russell as John Walker (aka U.S. Agent) from “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”; Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr (aka Ghost) from “Ant-Man and the Wasp”; Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster from “Black Widow”; and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine from “Falcon and Winter Soldier,” “Black Widow” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
“Thunderbolts*” was originally set to open in late 2024, until the SAG-AFTRA strike delayed production and pushed its release to 2025.
At CinemaCon in 2024, Kevin Feige revealed that the title to the film includes an asterisk, and then teased that Marvel “won’t talk more about that until after the movie comes out.”
MCU Tie-In: All of these characters carry a lot of baggage with them from their earlier appearances, which will no doubt factor into whatever transpires in “Thunderbolts*.” With “Captain America: New World Order” opening a few months earlier, one also expects Sam Wilson, aka Captain America (Anthony Mackie), could play some kind of role here. And given that Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl) is a major character in the Thunderbolts in the comics, he could pop up as well.