What to expect from Marvel and DC in 2026: We take a look at all the movies and shows releasing during the make-or-break year for superhero media, from Supergirl to Spider-Man: Brand New Day to Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Lanterns, Avengers: Doomsday, and more.
Marvel and DC have a lot riding on 2026. After a year that ranged from decent to disastrous, it’s tough to argue that “fatigue” isn’t a factor, but true believers are holding firm that next year will change everything. Spider-Man is going back to the streets, Supergirl is poised to build on Superman’s momentum, and all eyes are on Avengers: Doomsday – the ultimate test of Marvel’s remaining muscle.
The stage is set for box office redemption and a new path forward for superhero cinema. It’s the end of the post-post-pandemic era, a once-in-a-generation chance for a fresh start. If they mess this up, the genre might be truly cooked; next year could be the last chance to save comic book movies and shows from their flop era. That’s why we’re looking forward to 2026, the make-or-break year for superhero media.
One caveat before we begin: All dates are subject to change. Schedules can and likely will slip, but as far as we know, this is what’s on deck for 2026. So, let’s start with the main event…
Marvel Movies
2025 was not exactly the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s finest hour. None of the three theatrical films released under the Marvel Studios banner were the breakout successes Disney hoped for, and two of them were borderline catastrophes. Captain America: Brave New World was plagued by strike-related delays and extensive reshoots, culminating in a box-office stumble that no one could spin as a win. Thunderbolts* was even worse: The movie was good, critics and fans loved it… and almost nobody else went to see it. That’s a problem, considering that Thunderbolts* was designed to establish the New Avengers lineup that would lead us into Phase 6. Then there’s the Fantastic Four, Marvel’s flagship “first family” meant to kick off the new phase and pave the path to Doomsday.
It did not.
Fantastic Four’s box office wasn’t quite so dire, but it barely cracked half a billion and left fans mildly pleased and largely indifferent. Now Doomsday has twice the work to do to win them back, which is an uphill climb heading into 2026. Marvel and Disney need to get their act together, and next year is their best chance to do it. There are only two movies on the docket for the year, both of which could be bangers. First up...
Tom Holland on set of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Image Credit: MEGA/GC Images
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Release date: July 31, 2026
Face it tiger, Spidey is about to hit the jackpot! No one ever lost their shirt betting on the webhead at the box office, and the Tom Holland incarnation has only climbed higher with each solo outing; the last installment, No Way Home, scored the third highest gross of the entire MCU. Nostalgic blasts from the past were a key part of the film’s success, a factor Disney definitely took note of for the future.
The Spider-Man brand is massive right now. The last time Spidey was this popular, he turned the Pop Tarts purple. He’s got two active critically-acclaimed movie franchises, an animated show for older kids, and an absolute behemoth of a preschool phenomenon rearing a vast new generation that will only know of Miles Morales as “Spin.” The people demand more pictures of Spider-Man, and their standards are refreshingly high.
Sony’s long, embarrassing attempt to spin off their own universe, complete with the sickening acronym “SSU,” hasn’t really hurt Spidey’s image. Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven all became internet punchlines, but audiences expect more from the wall-crawler himself. There’s a reason Holland isn’t much involved in the streaming side of things; Marvel wouldn’t dare Disney+-ify Spider-Man.
Brand New Day has already banked a lot of goodwill in the run-up to release. The production has been fairly open for a big-budget blockbuster, deftly flooding social media with set photos from the streets of Scotland as Holland bounces on a practical rig in front of thousands of adoring Glaswegians. There’s a lot to be pumped about, including: Peter’s exciting, depressing new status quo; Tombstone, Mr. Negative, and other street-level surprises; and an incredible new costume that has upended the tier lists of Spidey suit sickos everywhere. The Hulk is also involved, which seems kind of strange, but the MCU has earned the benefit of the doubt so far.
Fans are genuinely rooting for this film to succeed, although Brand New Day’s performance won’t necessarily say much about the larger health of the MCU. Spider-Man has always been a thing unto himself – a box office draw regardless of his shared universe status. He’s in his own Batman-esque bubble, and largely immune to franchise fatigue. The real test of the MCU’s durability will come later in the year, with…
Avengers: Doomsday
Release date: December 18, 2026
Amid the vast discourse surrounding the stagnation of Marvel films, one refrain has remained constant among the franchise’s defenders: “Just wait until Doomsday, bro.” The next Avengers movie will fix everything, they say, returning the MCU to its dominant place in pop culture and bringing back the days of dependable billion-dollar hauls. The dark days of Quantumania and The Marvels will be a distant memory as the comic book movie grows ascendant once more.
Some call it prophecy; others call it ‘cope.’ Either way, we’ll know soon enough. Doomsday is nigh, and it has to deliver. Much has changed in the seven years since Avengers: Endgame, and the cultural landscape looks nothing like the one Marvel once ruled. Tragedy, controversy, and mediocrity has shredded Disney’s Kang-focused multiversal vision. Doomsday is a billion dollar audible, and it’s coming in hot.
Actors from across the Marvel multiverse have remarked on the strange, disconnected process of filming green-screened cameos in isolation, working with unfinished scripts that left them unsure with whom they were even sharing scenes. Everyone seems to be having a great time, but there’s an undercurrent of chaos in the background that has been largely ignored. The script was written on the fly, and production only just wrapped in September 2025. Reshoots are already looming and VFX work will undoubtedly be a goliath undertaking. There just isn’t that much runway before the end of 2026… but if anyone can land this beast, it’s RDJ.
Robert Downey Jr. and the Russos are back on board, fresh off an Oscar win and The Electric State, respectively. Going back to the well is a sensible if somewhat sweaty move on the part of Marvel, and the off-the-wall idea to recast Downey as Doom is at the very least intriguing. What are they cooking?
For the first time in a while there’s a genuine sense of rumor and mystery about a Marvel movie; it really feels like anyone might show up, and unlike No Way Home, the studio has kept a decent lid on things. While there would certainly be more hype if Fantastic Four had successfully primed the pump, Doomsday has a very real buzz behind it.
Most Marvel movies open huge as die-hard fans pile into midnight showings, but what they’ve lacked lately are legs – that zeitgeist momentum that gets your co-workers into the theater. Since the new crop of heroes haven’t become household names, Disney is pivoting to the past to secure its future. Deadpool and Wolverine proved there’s still an appetite for an in memoriam-montage send-off of the Fox-era X-Men cast, though Marvel Studios would be wise not to linger in nostalgia for long.
The Rise of Skywalker is a cautionary tale here; it was a bloated finale built on course corrections and callbacks that pathetically begged audiences to clap. Doomsday has all the ingredients to become a massive hit, but there’s also lots of ways it could go wrong. The good news is, even if they utterly fail, Disney still has the nuclear option to start fresh with a universal shakeup in Secret Wars. That’s more of a 2027 problem, however; we’ve still got more to explore in 2026, including a pivotal moment for the Distinguished Competition.
DC Movies
James Gunn’s Superman was, by all metrics, a success. It sparked conversation, made most fans pretty happy, and sold a lot of Milk-Bones. The ticket sales weren’t anything to write home and tell the folks about, but its relative trouncing of Fantastic Four left more than a few box office analysts with egg on their face. Corenswet and company had a huge task on their plate, but they pulled it off and delivered on the promise of a delightful new DC Universe with plenty of room to grow.
2026 is a building year for the DCU. While Marvel unleashes its heaviest possible hitters, DC is adding to their solid foundation with two more films – including one that may be a bit out of left field – that both have the potential to surprise. First up...
Millie Alcock’s 30-second cameo as a thoroughly sloshed Kara Zor-El was one of the most viral, crowd-pleasing moments in a movie already packed with them. It was just enough screen time to pique our interest in the drunken Kryptonian’s cosmic odyssey.
Based on the “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” hit comic book limited series from 2021-2022,Supergirl is shaping up to be an energetic space western in the vein of True Grit… which isn’t really what you’d expect for the sophomore effort of a start-up superhero franchise. Supergirl feels fresh, new, and genuinely exciting, and it has every chance of becoming a Barbie-style four-quadrant hit that breaks through the mainstream. If Superman could turn a Noah and the Whale ditty into the song of the summer, and make Lex Luthor shouting fighting game moves a meme, imagine what an army of obsessed fans could do for Supergirl!
The kind of universal appeal we’re talking about doesn’t come from just recycling tropes, but the same genuine sincerity and sparkle that distinguished her cousin’s film. If Supergirl can capture those vibes – and a character with her ’tude looks set to do just that – then the DCU might have another hit on their hands.
DC also has a cinematic swing coming in the globby wet form of a horror film called…
Clayface
Release date: September 11, 2026
One of the most common ways to market a new comic book movie is to claim it’s a different genre: “It’s actually a heist flick!” “This one’s like a Shaw Bros. martial arts movie!” “It’s not just a superhero film, it’s a ’70s paranoid conspiracy thriller!” Spoilers: They all wind up with people in costumes dodging colorful energy blasts. “Clayface” could actually be different.
Journeyman horror maestro Mike Flanagan first pitched a Clayface film back in the DCEU days, inspired by the Batman: The Animated Series episode about a Hollywood actor who melts into a muddy monstrosity. The concept was shortlisted as a Matt Reeves’ Batman spinoff until Gunn gave Clayface the green light as a canonical entry in the new DCU. Flanagan was no longer attached at this point, so director James Watkins of Eden Lake and Speak No Evil fame stepped in to bring the project to life, promising to lean hard into goopy, psychological body horror.
Horror movies are more or less the only sure thing left at the box office, and the film’s svelte $40 million budget gives it a legitimate shot at success. Watkins is a solid hand, but one wonders how much more enthusiasm there would be for Clayface if it was made by a more punk rock, buzzy horror director like Zach Cregger or Osgood Perkins.
Before we move on to smaller screens, it’s worth noting what’s not on the DCU’s platter: The Batman: Part II was once scheduled for 2026 before another delay pushed it forward an extra year. Matt Reeves’s standalone movie is set to finally start filming next spring ahead of an extremely tentative 2027 release date, at which point the “young and inexperienced Batman” Robert Pattinson will be 41 years old.
Slow-burn production or not, it’s almost fortunate that “Battinson” has quietly sidestepped a brutally crowded year. With Doomsday and Spidey sucking up all the box office oxygen, other DCU projects like Supergirl and Clayface have the room to breathe and succeed on their own without falling into the considerable shadow of the Dark Knight.
Movie theaters aren’t the only battlefield where the future of superhero media will be determined; on the homefront, several comic book-based streaming shows are on deck for 2026. Let’s take a look!
Marvel TV
The deluge of disastrous Disney+ series has done serious damage to the MCU’s reputation on the small screen. A parade of mediocre, forgettable shows trained audiences that Marvel’s streaming output was neither special nor worthy of their time, even as they grew more essential to the movie storyline. Why watch when you could get caught up with a quick trip to your favorite entertainment news website… which, by the way, turns 30 in 2026.
To their credit, Marvel and Disney have realized the error of their ways, and pivoted to a “quality over quantity” approach, but that’s not happening in 2026. So far, it’s shaping up to be another year with way too much to watch. Several of these projects have been gestating for years, delayed by strikes, rewrites, and corporate chaos as they finally limp toward release – a practice par for the course for modern Hollywood, which is the subject of one such cursed production…
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man
Wonder Man (Disney+)
Release date: January 27, 2026
Marvel’s love letter to the movie industry began development under Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton, envisioning Simon Williams as an actor gunning for the lead role in a superhero reboot only to find himself with powers of his own. This satire about the perils of modern filmmaking was itself swallowed by them: Wonder Man actually wrapped filming in April 2024, and has been sitting on the shelf ever since. It’s been a production plagued by accidents and behind-the-scenes jockeying that left it on the verge of outright cancellation.
The meta-premise is loaded with potential, especially if it’s willing to poke fun at the Hollywood machine that Marvel helped create, but it also might be a little too soon for navel-gazing irony. It’s hard to satirize an empire when you’re still living inside it and unable to really sink your teeth into its slow decline, far removed from the glory days of mainstream hits like WandaVision.
Speaking of which…
VisionQuest (Disney+)
Release date: Fall 2026
WandaVision was lightning in a bottle that became appointment viewing. Five years and several streaming flops later, its followup, VisionQuest, faces a very different world.
Starring Paul Bettany as the reborn White Vision, the series will follow his search for identity in what’s sure to be a pleasingly trippy journey through his messed-up clanker brain. Original WandaVision writer Jac Schaeffer departed the project during its drawn-out development and was replaced by Terry Matalas, the man behind the 12 Monkeys TV series and the fan-favorite third season of Picard.
WandaVision thrived on its very novel premise and approach – the kind of creativity Marvel hasn’t had in large supply these days. Instead, much like Picard, VisionQuest appears to be focused on yesterday’s enterprise, exploring the various AI assistants introduced throughout the MCU, including a returning James Spader as Ultron. And it’s not the only show that’s bringing back old favorites in a bid to recapture its former glory. There’s also:
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 (Disney+)
Release date: March 4, 2026
The first season of Daredevil: Born Again was torn between a fresh start in the MCU and a beloved old continuity that fans refused to let go. For Season 2, Marvel has wisely decided to fully embrace its roots in their beloved 2015 Netflix venture, complete with the return of Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones, a standout character from an earlier time when Marvel streaming series actually mattered.
Another relic of the peak Defenders era still going strong is Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle, who’s getting his own Punisher Special Presentation, presumably to bolster his appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
That’s about it for the canonical MCU experience in 2026, and we’re not going to lie: It’s kind of a lot! And we’re not even finished going through Marvel’s larger TV output. Did you remember that they made a show about Spider-Man: Noir?
Spider-Noir (MGM+)
Release date: 2026
Somehow, Sony managed to convince Nicolas Cage to reprise his Spider-Verse voiceover role in a live-action twist on the monochromatic vigilante. Divorced from the MCU and set in a unique Depression-era universe, Cage’s take on the wall-crawler as washed-up private eye Ben Reilly could wind up as the weirdest comic book experiment of the year.
Nicolas Cage plays yet another Marvel hero... Spider-Noir!
Developed for MGM+ and Amazon Prime, Spider-Noir hasn’t exactly received the red carpet marketing rollout of a Disney+ tentpole, which may not be the worst thing in the world. Giving Cage free reign to mug and chew the scenery in a standalone side project could give Spider-Noir the juice it needs to become a cult classic… or it’ll be another Sonyverse embarrassment that fades into streaming obscurity faster than you can say “he was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died.”
There’s one more Marvel series worth talking about for 2026, and it’s probably going to be the best of them all:
X-Men '97 Season 2 (Disney+)
Release date: Summer 2026
X-Men ’97 returns for its second season in 2026 with the same cast and crew that made the first so special, minus controversial creator Beau DeMayo, who was dismissed by Disney before the show even premiered.
Animated shows rarely dominate headlines or drive watercooler chatter the way prestigious live-action series do, but X-Men ’97 has proven to be an excellent exception. The all-growed-up revival of the classic Saturday morning series is a bright spot in a pretty bleak landscape of Marvel TV shows – smart, emotional, and mature in ways that slop like Secret Invasion could only dream of.
It’s the smartest possible way to capitalize on nostalgia: Instead of de-aging old actors and green-screening them in from their home offices, X-Men ’97 brings the future to the past, and it might be the best thing Marvel has going right now.
Despite the stigma, Marvel’s animated efforts feel more exciting than anything in the live-action pipeline, and quality stuff like X-Men ’97 and 2027’s Beyond the Spider-Verse might be the key to cementing superhero staying power. It’s the closest thing Marvel has to the breakout success of Invincible, which brings us to…
DC TV
DC only has one show in the works for next year, but it’s gonna be a big one.
Lanterns is the first live-action series developed from the ground up as a DCU joint, starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as two space cops who find themselves shining light on a murder in Nebraska. It’s a grounded, gritty, “prestige TV” take on an inherently goofy space opera concept with some serious talent behind it, including Watchmen’s Damon Lindelof, comic writer Tom King, and Ozark producer Chris Mundy.
DC has commendably stepped up their streaming game in recent years with high-quality fare like The Penguin and Peacemaker. They’re also making shows your parents might watch, and nothing says “falling asleep in the recliner” like a rural police procedural; it’s a smart move. With Lanterns, the studio hopes to continue their successful streak and establish a tone for the next few years of serialized DCU storytelling.
There’s a lot of pressure to hang on Lanterns, but that’s probably preferable to the alternative as Marvel floods the zone with a half-dozen overlapping projects that range from “intriguing” to “oh yeah, that’s still happening?”
Invincible, The Boys, and More
Invincible continues to punch above its weight class with the awesome animated series on Amazon Prime. With its fourth season set for 2026, we’re only about halfway through Robert Kirkman’s 144-issue epic, and the show continues to improve year after year, though it’s high time they got a bigger animation budget. Like a big red alien who returns from each defeat stronger than before, by the time Invincible reaches its own endgame, it might be the last superhero series standing.
While Invincible ascends, Amazon’s other long-running superhero deconstruction gears up for its swan song. The Boys will bow out after its final season in 2026, closing the book on a landmark series that provided a much-needed release of violence and cynicism in the face of sterile superhero cinema’s all-encompassing rise.
Other than those outliers, all eyes are on Marvel and DC, as usual, and each company is taking a very different approach to their strategy in 2026. Marvel is betting huge on seemingly surefire hits, busting out the big guns like Spider-Man and the Avengers while flooding streaming platforms with sequels and spinoffs. DC, on the other hand, is playing the long game with fewer, smaller projects with modest budgets and risky ideas designed to build something sustainable.
Even their 2026 video game plans reflect the dueling philosophies of the big two superhero studios. Marvel is going full blockbuster with Marvel 1943: The Rise of Hydra and Wolverine, two triple-A action adventure games that have been in the works for ages. Meanwhile, DC is quietly pressing reset after the high profile disasters of Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad by going back to the charming, accessible, low-poly world of Lego Batman.
One studio is chasing the glory of a bygone age, and the other is working hard to rebuild faith after their last universe imploded; both of them are fighting to prove that superhero movies aren’t dead. Fatigue is indisputably real by this point, and the only cures available are extinction or evolution. 2026 will be the year that decides the path forward – the make-or-break moment that could either revitalize comic book media or flush it down the drain.
