Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige has commented on the company's recent leadership changes. Operating under the Disney umbrella, Marvel is best known for its film and TV projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the company also produces content across other media, including comics, games, and books. A recent restructure has confirmed the appointment of two new people to oversee Marvel's comics, and one of them is a very familiar face.

Marvel confirmed on May 18 that Brad Winderbaum, the current head of Marvel Television and Animation at Marvel Studios, has been given the additional role of Head of Marvel Comics & Franchise, meaning the entirety of Marvel's publishing portfolio is now under his leadership. Winderbaum replaces Dan Buckley, who is stepping down after almost 30 years at Marvel. Winderbaum is also joined by Disney executive David Abdo, who will work as Marvel's General Manager, Comics & Franchise.

Winderbaum has worked with Feige, who is also Marvel's Chief Creative Officer on top of being Marvel Studios' President, for years, with the pair helping to orchestrate the MCU's TV slate across live-action and animation. 

Unlike Avengers: Doomsday, which has had to ramp up its marketing campaign ahead of its December 18, 2026, release date, Avengers: Secret Wars is a clean slate. Marvel Studios is keeping all of its Secret Wars cards close to the vest, especially when it comes to the movie's cast. A few actors have confirmed that they will return after Doomsday, but plenty of surprises are sure to be in the works.

One report claims that Tobey Maguire is having the red carpet rolled out for him a final time as he helps put a bow on the Multiverse Saga. But having the original movie Spider-Man return is as easy a lay-up as Marvel Studios will ever have, as it ensures major brownie points. There's another hero who's finding himself in the headlines that doesn't have as clear a path to success: Blade.

Insider DanielRPK recently reported that Kevin Feige and Co. plan to include Blade in Secret Wars (via Cosmic Marvel). And that's all the information he had, meaning his role in the movie's events is a mystery. A logical theory is that Blade will appear for a brief cameo, showing him doing his part to fight Doctor Doom or another threat to his reality.

Marvel Studios is celebrating five of the MCU's most powerful queens in a new tribute that spans Asgard, Wakanda, Westview, and beyond. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has featured plenty of strong female characters since 2008, and a small group of them hold the title of queen across both the films and Disney+ shows.

The new tribute came from Marvel Studios Canada in a social media post on X (formerly Twitter), with the caption "All hail the queens who steal scenes." The accompanying poster brings together five queens from across the franchise.

The five queens featured on the poster are Death from Agatha All Along, Queen Ramonda from the Black Panther films, the Scarlet Witch from WandaVision and Marvel Zombies, Hela from Thor: Ragnarok, and Frigga from the Thor films. The lineup covers more than a decade of MCU history, with Frigga's first appearance dating back to 2011's Thor and Death's live-action debut coming as recently as 2024 through Agatha All Along.

Marvel Studios finally confirmed exactly how long fans will be waiting to see Jon Bernthal's Punisher in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Seven years on from his two-season Netflix series' conclusion, Frank Castle has been enjoying a new lease of life in the MCU through Daredevil: Born Again, The Punisher: One Last Kill, and now, Spider-Man: Brand New Day. That said, as the July blockbuster has a stacked cast of heroes and villains, many have pondered how much time Spider-Man 4 will have for its violent, foul-mouthed anti-hero star.

Sony Pictures released a new "Practical Production" featurette for Spider-Man: Brand New Day to highlight how much of the movie's action was crafted in-camera, without VFX. Citing one example of that shift from previous movies, Destin Daniel Cretton referred to "that opening action sequence," which was the "first thing [they] did" when production began last year

Fans caught glimpses of Spider-Man chasing a tank through the streets of New York from those snapping shots of the open set in Glasgow, Scotland. Part of the chase sequence (later showcased in the teaser trailer) featured Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle joining the pursuit in his battle van, confirming that he will enter Brand New Day as early as the opening sequence.

Marvel Studios is rebooting the heroes of its old Defenders saga, and the approach looks nothing like the Netflix run that introduced these characters to begin with. Daredevil: Born Again is the new home for Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock, and the show is steadily bringing in the rest of the street-level lineup, with Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones already part of the tailend of Season 2's story and Mike Colter's Luke Cage and Finn Jones' Iron Fist confirmed for Season 3 through recent set photos.

With this rollout, Marvel Studios has officially walked away from the Netflix-era strategy of giving each Defender their own standalone show before bringing them together. The original plan under Marvel Television, from 2015 to 2019, used six separate series, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher, to build that team. The reboot is doing it inside one show across three seasons, a much tighter approach that shows how differently Marvel Studios wants to handle these heroes going forward. 

Fans may now have a sense of when Avengers: Doomsday could eventually get a release window for its streaming debut on Disney+. While Doomsday is still over half a year away from its worldwide premiere, it is expected to be Disney's biggest 2026 release by a wide margin. Following what should be a massive run at the box office, some are looking ahead to when it will be available to watch at home.

Disney confirmed that Avatar: Fire and Ash will begin streaming on Disney+ on June 24. This date will be just over six months after the threequel debuted in theaters on December 19, 2025 (188 days). Director James Cameron's third Pandora-based epic became the third-highest-grossing movie of the year at just under $1.5 billion worldwide.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 gave the Man Without Fear's mask a whole new meaning going into Season 3. The MCU's Daredevil has already worn multiple masks and suits, starting with his black, ninja-esque attire and evolving into his famous red Netflix costume, which he has now spray-painted black for Born Again Season 2, with a detour through a red/yellow She-Hulk suit along the way.   

Daredevil: Born Again's Season 2 finale saw Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock once again wear his Shadowland-inspired black suit into battle, with the dark spray paint peeling back to reveal the famous devilish red beneath. But that red is now running rampant through the streets of New York, as the superhero lawyer is no longer the only one to wear his famous cowl in the Disney+ series.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 is adapting an iconic storyline that places the Man Without Fear and Punisher's reunion on the cards. Sadly, Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle sat out the last chapter of Born Again's Kingpin clash, seemingly due to the actor's already busy MCU schedule, filming Disney+'s The Punisher: One Last Kill special and a supporting role in this summer's Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Warning - This article contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2.

But the show must go on, and Frank Castle missed out on mayhem, culminating in Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock outing himself as Daredevil in court. Unfortunately for the Man Without Fear, actions have consequences, and he was promptly arrested for Daredevil's crimes, setting up an adaptation of The Devil In Cell Block D. 

Avengers: Secret Wars' new casting update isn't as exciting as fans hoped, but there is a chance it might have a deeper meaning beneath the surface. Production for Avengers: Secret Wars is set to begin in August, and this timeline is widely seen as a smart, deliberate improvement over the rushed production schedule of Avengers: Endgame in 2018. Secret Wars is expected to continue the story from Avengers: Doomsday, bringing back several MCU characters, such as Steve Rogers, Thor, Reed Richards, Yelena Belova, and Doctor Doom. 

While a significant portion of the cast has been revealed through reports and interviews, a new casting call for Avengers: Secret Wars emerged online, but it wasn't as fans had thought due to the lack of big names attached to the listing. 

Based on a routine casting call from All Casting, a U.S. casting agency, Marvel Studios is seeking everyday performers for large-scale scenes in Avengers: Secret Wars, with specific roles including enhanced beings, military personnel, civilians, scientists, fighters, and survivors. Requirements are broad: ages 18-60, all ethnicities and body types are encouraged. 

Spider-Man: Brand New Day officially revealed a third Spider-Man costume for Tom Holland's Peter Parker, and it is inspired by a suit taken from Andrew Garfield's version of the webslinger. Peter Parker is set to have a fresh start in Brand New Day as he rebuilds his life in a world that has completely forgotten he ever existed. Part of his new beginning is the creation of brand-new Spider suits, now that he has lost access to Tony Stark's technology at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

The "Home" trilogy of Holland's Spider-Man featured eight distinct suits, including the homemade suit, the Stark Tech suit, and the iconic Iron Spider suit seen in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. As part of the "Day" wave of movies, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is set to feature at least three Spider-Man suits, as shown in the official Practical Production featurette from Sony Pictures. 

At the 0:07 mark of the featurette, Spider-Man: Brand New Day officially revealed Tom Holland's Spider-Man wearing a winter-adapted outfit layered over the base suit. 

Marvel Studios has officially unveiled a brand-new name for the Hulk as he makes his long-awaited return to the MCU. The green powerhouse, portrayed by Mark Ruffalo, has been absent from the franchise since the 2022 Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, leaving both Bruce Banner and his alter ego completely off the board throughout the entirety of Phase 5. Now, with Phase 6 underway, the character is set to storm back onto the scene this summer under a fresh identity.

The Hulk's MCU journey began back in Phase 1 with The Incredible Hulk, where Edward Norton first brought Bruce Banner's gamma-radiated alter ego to life in the MCU. 

The role was then taken over by Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers, where the monster truly stepped into the spotlight as a barely contained, secret-filled beast, who was always angry.

Marvel Studios' new Apocalypse design will make some major changes to what was previously seen in the villain's X-Men movie from Fox. Apocalypse has had a complicated relationship in media over the last few decades, especially after Oscar Isaac's portrayal of the villain in 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse became divisive among viewers. 

The first look at Apocalypse at full power in X-Men '97 Season 2 was revealed through new merchandise from Marvel Legends and Funko. The figurine and Funko Pop! provide new details about Apocalypse's look, which will be vastly different from Oscar Isaac's live-action portrayal in 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse.

The animated Apocalypse has a much brighter color scheme, featuring vibrant imagery, with blue/purple armor and a beige face with blue lips. Isaac embodied a version of the character that was much more muted, with a blue/grey armor color scheme and a similar color for the villain's face, with no colors standing out.

Marvel and DC's 2027 blockbusters will now officially have some overlap in their key cast. While the MCU's only 2027 offering will be December's Avengers: Secret Wars, Sony Pictures is bolstering the red brand's place in June with Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. Furthermore, DC Studios is coming to play with two-thirds of its legendary Trinity in theaters, with James Gunn's Superman sequel/crossover event, Man of Tomorrow, coming in July, and Matt Reeves finally delivering The Batman: Part 2 after over five years of waiting in October.

Finally put an end to years of rumors, Reeves recently unveiled the cast of The Batman 2 in a series of GIFs posted to X. That list included two actors who have also been confirmed to appear in major Marvel movies next year, meaning that the competing superhero brands will share two (possibly three) actors in 2027...

Every Actor Appearing in Marvel & DC Superhero Projects in 2027

The live-action Spider-Man arriving on Prime Video this month has a new romantic interest of his own, and Marvel has given fans their first proper look at the pair together in a romantic sense. Spider-Noir stars Nicolas Cage as Ben Reilly, an aging private investigator in 1930s New York who once fought crime as the masked hero known as The Spider. The eight-episode series drops on MGM+ on May 25 before its global rollout on Prime Video two days later, and it draws heavily on the comic book Spider-Man's long history of complicated love stories.

Prime Video debuted a striking new black-and-white poster for Spider-Noir ahead of an exclusive Alamo Drafthouse screening event on May 25, and the artwork places Cage's hero in a tight, smoky embrace with Li Jun Li's Cat Hardy. The image leans hard into classic noir romance, with the two leads locked under a lamppost in pure pulp-cinema style. It serves as the clearest tease yet that Cat Hardy, this universe's take on Black Cat, will function as the central romantic interest for Cage's web-slinging detective. 

Marvel Studios is yet to bring Hulkling to the screen, but the perfect actor is already waiting to take the part. Teddy Altman, the teen green Hulk successor, is one of the few Young Avengers team members who hasn't appeared in some form in the MCU yet, but as Marvel Studios barrels its way toward a proper team-up of the group, it's only a matter of time. Adding to the anticipation is that Hulkling's love interest, Wiccan, was introduced in the MCU in 2024's Agatha All Along, and many want to see the popular LGBTQ+ couple established on-screen.

There have been many fan casts for who should play Hulkling over the years, but one actor who has recently found huge stardom would make a perfect choice. The queer hockey series Heated Rivalry, released in late 2025, quickly made household names of Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams. Since then, Storrie has said he's receiving plenty of enticing offers for new roles, and the MCU could be a perfect next choice. 

The actor told The Hollywood Reporter that his agents are "bringing me a bunch of cool opportunities that I can't even believe I'm having." Storrie said he hadn't committed to anything yet, but said that it "comes down to vibe," on whether he would say yes to something. Storrie wasn't specific about whether Marvel might've been one of these opportunities, but the studio should definitely consider the actor for the currently open Hulkling role. 

Avengers: Doomsday's recently released trailer sets the stage for some epic Avengers vs. X-Men moments in the MCU. After Disney's purchase of 20th Century Fox went through in 2019, the stage is now finally set for the X-Men to truly be featured alongside Marvel Studios' fan-favorite heroes. 

Marvel Studios released a new trailer for Avengers: Doomsday at CinemaCon 2026, which was not released to the public, ahead of its December 18 debut. The trailer sets up a major battle between the MCU's Avengers and the legacy X-Men from 20th Century Fox's X-Men saga, teasing the impact of the Incursions on the movie's core plot. 

Incursions were first discussed in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, when John Krasinski's Reed Richards explained that they happen when two or more universes erode and collide; this eventually leads to one or both worlds being destroyed. Incursions were teased throughout the CinemaCon Doomsday trailer and are primed to set up the battle between two of Marvel's premier superhero teams.

The box office has become more volatile than ever in recent years, and even the once-seemingly untouchable Marvel Studios has seen several films suffer poor financial returns. That said, there are numerous reasons a film can flop at the box office, and it's not always a reflection of its quality, which is certainly the case with many of the MCU's recent box-office blunders.

It was bound to happen given the sheer volume of superhero movies these days. When Marvel Studios began adapting its characters into films, it had a fairly open field, but nowadays, competition from the DCU and Sony's Spider-Man Universe has created an oversaturated market. Phase 5 was easily the MCU's toughest stint at the box office, with a string of films that underperformed for various reasons.

After an array of hit-and-miss releases, Marvel Studios does seem to want to course-correct at the box office in 2026. But looking back, some of Marvel's flops shouldn't be judged too harshly, as their poor returns weren't always a true reflection of their quality.

Every LEGO Marvel set ready to hit shelves before the year is out has been revealed... and others are rumored to connect to some major MCU projects. As is often the case with toy merchandise, these early releases can tease plot details or character appearances ahead of any official trailers or posters. With Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday both on the horizon, 2026's LEGO slate runs the gamut.

2026 is shaping up to be one of the most exciting years in LEGO history, with major sets dropping across beloved pop culture universes, from Pokémon and Star Wars to K-Pop Demon Hunters and Marvel. 

It's also a massive bounce-back year for Marvel Studios, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday carrying perhaps the highest global box office potential of any films releasing this year. 

When James Marsden, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Rebecca Romijn step onto the screen in Avengers: Doomsday, they won’t just be reuniting the original X-Men. They’ll be entering an enviable and exclusive Marvel cinematic club that very few actors can brag about. The four actors will be achieving the longest Marvel live-action careers of any performers. From the July 14, 2000, release of the first X-Men film to the Avengers: Doomsday premiere on December 18, 2026, exactly 26 years, 5 months, and 4 days will have passed. This surpasses Wesley Snipes’ current record by nearly six months. When Snipes appeared in Deadpool & Wolverine on July 26, 2024, exactly 25 years, 11 months, and 5 days had elapsed since Blade premiered on August 21, 1998.

Snipes claimed the title in spectacular fashion when Ryan Reynolds texted him about reprising Blade for Deadpool & Wolverine. After 20 years away from the character, Snipes returned to massive fanfare.
"I did not think it was possible," Snipes told Entertainment Weekly about his comeback. "I didn’t think that Marvel was into it. Disney was into it."
His appearance earned him two Guinness World Records: longest career as a live-action Marvel character and longest gap between character appearances in Marvel films. He beat out Hugh Jackman, who many expected would claim the record after playing Wolverine from 2000 to 2024. Reynolds himself celebrated Snipes’ achievement on Instagram, saying, "The reaction when Wesley Snipes enters the movie is the most intense thing I’ve heard in a theater. People screaming with uninhibited joy and love is also the sound of a legacy."

Marvel Television’s The Punisher: One Last Kill on Disney+ primarily focused on Judith Light’s villainous crime boss Ma Gnucci as its primary antagonist. But the hyper-violent Special Presentation secretly included another iconic villain from the Punisher’s comic book history that many fans completely missed.

The Punisher: One Last Kill follows Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle after he kills four members of the notorious Gnucci crime family sometime after his appearance in Daredevil: Born Again Season 1. While Light’s debut as the family’s matriarch immediately grabbed fans’ attention, director Reinaldo Marcus Green confirmed that the man seen assisting Ma Gnucci in the special was none other than the mysterious comic book supervillain Barracuda, played by Jamall Johnson.