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Felipe Rangel is a Superheroes Lead Writer and Reviewer at ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021, with a focus on superhero projects. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Since the launch of the Superheroes vertical in 2023, he has focused his efforts on coming up with insightful analyses of Marvel and DC’s projects.

Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics."

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe comes back with some of its biggest movies ever in 2026, and on the TV side, things also remain exciting, with projects both in the MCU and other universes. The MCU’s 2025 releases offered a mixed bag in terms of their performance, with all three MCU films released this year performing worse than initially expected.

Still, quality-wise, this was a good year for the MCU slate, with Daredevil: Born Again, Thunderbolts*, and *The Fantastic Four: First Steps *emerging as perhaps some of the MCU’s best projects to date. 2026 can unite both the quality and the positive reception with how many huge releases are in store. These are the 8 Marvel movies and TV shows slated for 2026, ranked from least to most exciting.

8 Wonder Man

At the bottom of the list is Wonder Man, which will also be the first MCU project to be released in 2026. All 8 episodes of Wonder Man will be released on Disney+ on January 27, 2026. That makes me worried about the upcoming series.

While I’m a fan of the binge format in general, the MCU seems to only use it for shows that Marvel is not fully confident in or considers smaller releases. Projects that got that treatment include Echo, Marvel Zombies, Eyes of Wakanda, and partly Ironheart.

As such, I’m not expecting much from Wonder Man. The show’s trailers tease a fun exploration of an actor’s life in the MCU, with the return of Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery being a positive. That said,* Wonder Man* has yet to show anything truly exciting.

7 Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2

Image via Disney+

I debated putting this one higher after what was an incredible first season. However, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man season 2 is **simply not the most exciting Spidey release to come in 2026. **Still, the animated series was a pleasant surprise on Disney+.

The Disney+ Spider-Man series boasts an incredible cast, including MCU star Charlie Cox as Daredevil,* Fear the Walking Dead*’s Colman Domingo as Norman Osborn, and more. The series, being an alternate take on Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, with a few key changes and more classic Spidey characters, is perfect.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man season 2 can pay off the season 1 finale’s reveals, like Richard Parker being alive, a radioactive spider running loose, and more. The series’ comic book-like animated style, which does works as part of its charm, does not look as thrilling as other releases.

6 Vision Quest

*Vision Quest *is an interesting series, as it is brimming with potential. The return of James Spader as Ultron for the first time since 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron offers the MCU the perfect chance to do right by the character. His relationship with Vision should be key.

The show is also **bringing back all the MCU’s A.I.s **for what is likely bound to be a trippy journey through Vision’s mind and past. Ever since he debuted in WandaVision, I have wanted to see how White Vision would make peace with his past.

The 2026 MCU series explores that. **Ruaridh Mollica plays Tommy Maximoff **after Joe Locke’s Billy brought him back in Agatha All Along, so the potential for a family reunion is there. Vision Quest ranks 6th because there are just bigger projects in front of it.

5 The Punisher Special Presentation

Photo by Giovanni Rufino

**Jon Bernthal was born to play the Punisher. **The actor has shown in many interviews throughout the years that he knows what makes Frank Castle tick. His return in Daredevil: Born Again season 1 was easily one of the best parts of the MCU series.

2026 is a big year for the Punisher, and as a fan of his solo series on Netflix, I’m glad** Marvel Studios is allowing the hero to lead his own project again. **While it is not a new TV show, The Punisher Special Presentation is promising.

After all, the project is co-written by Bernthal himself. Marvel can let loose with the Punisher in a TV-MA scenario that explores what he is up to after escaping Kingpin’s prison. It should link his last MCU appearance to Spider-Man: Brand New Day, making it a must-watch.

4 X-Men ’97 Season 2

Fox’s X-Men movies have both positives and negatives. However, by the end of the younger timeline of the franchise, the negatives were starting to outweigh the good that was left. As such, it makes sense that the MCU is taking its time with an X-Men reboot.

Disney+’s X-Men ‘97 has shown that, whenever that time comes, Marvel knows what it is doing. The sequel series to X-Men: The Animated Series is one of Marvel Studios’ best projects to date. All X-Men get their time to shine, which the movies did not do.

Fan-favorite costumes, vibrant battles, well-written characters, plot twists, cameos, and more made X-Men ’97 season 1 a non-stop thrill ride. Season 2 picks up after the team was scattered through time, with Apocalypse entering the picture.** It’s about to get wild.

3 Daredevil: Born Again Season 2

After a strong first season, Daredevil: Born again can become even better in season 2. This time around, the MCU has a clear vision for the season from the start, with no changes to the creative team during production. A darker, more cohesive season is on the way.

Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, and the rest of the returning Netflix cast were top-notch in season 1. Some of the new characters showed potential, while others could finally get their time to shine in season 2.** A sense of urgency was created.**

Kingpin is the mayor and is after vigilantes. Daredevil and Karen Page will be building an army to take him down, with Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones returning to help Matt Murdock. Daredevil will also finally wear the "DDs" in his suit. Season 2 will be explosive.

2 Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Of course, the two most exciting 2026 Marvel releases would be the only movies the MCU will release next year. Spider-Man: Brand New Day brings back Tom Holland’s Peter Parker for the first time since the world forgot who he is.

Peter will be in a dark spot in the film, and with villains like Scorpion and Tombstone, plus a street-level story, this should be a very different entry to the MCU Spider-Man franchise. Thankfully, other heroes will help him.

The MCU’s next Spider-Man movie sees** Jon Bernthal’s Punisher and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk join Holland’s Spider-Man**, making for an unmissable MCU event. With rumors that Sadie Sink could be playing the MCU’s Jean Grey, the film could be one of the MCU’s biggest releases ever.

1 Avengers: Doomsday

While Spider-Man: Brand New Day has the potential to be one of the MCU’s biggest movies, Avengers: Doomsday will surely join that list. Marvel has yet to share concrete story details, but the first Avengers: Doomsday trailer already featured a major reveal.

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5 Years Later, Chris Evans’ Avengers: Doomsday Return Can Finally Revive His Scrapped Captain America 4

Chris Evans is back as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Doomsday, and it could lead to the MCU finally making his lost Captain America 4 years later.

Chris Evans returns as Steve Rogers, with Avengers: Doomsday bringing back the two faces of the MCU, Evans and Robert Downey Jr., after years apart. The four-trailer strategy with Avatar: Fire and Ash in theaters has kept the film the talk of the town.

As such, no 2026 Marvel release is generating more anticipation at this time than Avengers: Doomsday. With Doctor Doom’s formal MCU debut, multiple superhero teams, including Fox’s X-Men, and likely several multiverse cameos and more surprises, it is Marvel’s most exciting 2026 release.

Created by Kevin Feige

First Film Iron Man

Upcoming Films Blade, Avengers: Doomsday (2026), Avengers: Secret Wars

First TV Show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Upcoming TV Shows Marvel Zombies, Wonder Man, Vision Quest

Cast Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Clark Gregg, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Simu Liu, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, Ma Dong-seok, Brian Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Jonathan Majors