The Marvel Cinematic Universe post-Avengers: Endgame (2019) has been having its share of ups and downs. Not all have been of their own making. COVID lockdown and protocols, the death of Chadwick Boseman and the dual Screenwriters Guild and Screen Actors Guild strike of 2023 certainly through a number of unexpected monkey wrenches into whatever the original plans for their current “Multiverse Saga” of films happened to be. Having to respond to the legal issue of actor Jonathan Majors who had been hired to play this film cycle’s main villain, and the edict from short-term Disney chief Bob Chapek to crank out as much content for Disney’s new streaming service as quickly as possible, also caused much confusion behind the scenes.
But Marvel has tried its best to pivot and handle these various slings and arrows, though with uneven results. The next two years make up the final third of the Multiverse Saga, so the question looms – will Marvel be able to stick the landing across its two biggest upcoming films, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars? And what of the other live-action MCU television series on Disney+?
Wonder Man
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II stars as Simon Williams, a struggling actor who is desperately trying to get the lead role in the remake of his childhood favorite film, Wonder Man. One thing that Stan’s in his way, though, Hollywood’s prohibition against actors having actual super powers. The premise certainly raises some interesting questions about an average person’s life in the MCU. What kind of entertainment does Hollywood offer when real life superheroes can be seen flying outside your window? And why would actors with superpowers be barred from working in the industry? If anything, you would think that producers would love to save money with an actor who could provide his own special effects. Marvell’s resident thespian, Trevor Slatterly (Sir Ben Kingsley), returns as Simon’s guide through Hollywood.
Marvel will be dropping all eight episodes on Disney+ on January 27.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2
The first season of Disney+’s Daredevil: Born Again may have had a troubled production, but it still presented as a solid, if slightly toned-down, continuation of the Netflix Daredevil series which ran from 2015 to 2018. Season two picks up where the first season left off – Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin, is now the mayor of New York City and has declares martial law while outlawing vigilantism. Meanwhile, Matt Murdoch, aka Daredevil, starts to recruit a small network of NYPD officers who are uncorrupted by Fisk’s machinations to fight back. For this second season, Matt will be joined by an old ally in the form of Kristen Ritter’s Jessica Jones, as he attempts to wrest control of the city away from Kingpin’s schemes. (One ally who won’t be returning is John Bernthal’s Punisher, though he will be making a few other MCU appearances this year.)
Daredevil: Born Again season two will release its first of eight episodes on March 4
Untitled Punisher Special Presentation
If you’re disappointed that you won’t be seeing Frank Castle in the second season of Daredevil: Born Again, don’t fret. The Punisher will be spotlighted in his own special that will be coming at some point in 2026 on Disney+. There has been no word as to what the story is but the special’s screenplay is written by the Punisher himself, Jon Bernthal, and the special’s director Reinaldo Marcus Green. And if that’s not enough for you, the Punisher will be making the jump to the big screen later in the year in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. No release date has been announced yet.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
It’s a brand new director for the Sony co-produced Spider-Man films as Destin Daniel Cretton steps in to replace Jon Watts, who directed the previous trilogy of MCU Spidey installments. Tom Holland is back as your friendly, neighborhood wall-crawling superhero, as are franchise regulars Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, though there is no word as to how their characters of MJ and Ned will recover from the magically induced amnesia they received at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Marvel has stated that this installment’s story will be a bit more “grounded” than the previous trilogy. Jon Bernthal will make an appearance as Frank Castle / Punisher as will Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk and Michael Mando who was last scene in Spider-Man: Homecoming as the criminal Mac Gargan, aka The Scorpion.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters on July 31.
VisionQuest
The last new original live action Disney+ series perhaps fittingly calls back to the very first, WandaVision. Picking up where that series left off, VisionQuest tracks what has happened to the now-resurrected superhero android Vision after he was brought back to life. Writer/producer Terry Matalas, franchise hopping from Star Trek: Picard, is handling the creative end with Paul Bettany once again reprising his role as the artificially intelligent android Vision. James Spader marks his return to the MCU to reprise his role as the villainous Ultron. Other returning MCU veterans include Ruaridh Mollica and James D’Arcy.
VisionQuest is set for an unspecified fall release.
Avengers: Doomsday
The first half of Marvel’s one-two punch closing out their Multiverse Saga has a lot riding on it. Will audiences return to theaters in similar numbers that they did for the previous Avengers films in order for the studio to make back the undoubted $100s of millions they are dishing out to make Doomsday and 2027’s Secret Wars. Will ticket buyers be excited about the return of Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evan’s and turn out in a way they didn’t seem to for some of the newer hero characters that Marvel introduced over the last couple of years? We’ll find out on December 19.
2027 And Beyond
The gap between the release of Avengers: Doomsday and December 2027’s Secret War is pretty sparse, with no other MCU content on the schedule through 2027 with the exception of season three of Daredevil: Born Again.
And as for what lies beyond Secret Wars, we know only a little bit. We have been told that the next “Saga” will focus predominately on the X-Men characters. How these characters will be introduced, in either team or solo films, has yet to be announced. We do know that there are other, non-X-Men related characters, who have projects in development such as the Disney+ series being converted to a feature film Armor Wars, a third Dr. Strange film, a second (finally) Shang-Chi film, the third Black Panther film and, of course, Blade (maybe).
