Fans will not get a chance to see Marvel's biggest TV series of the year on Disney+, simply because the show will not be released on the streaming platform. Nearly every major Marvel project, no matter if it is a film or a TV series, is put on Disney+ sooner or later. In the case of TV shows, fans have grown accustomed to Disney+ being their home, but that is about to change.
Nicolas Cage's Spider-Noir series will officially be released on Amazon Prime Video and on MGM+ beginning on May 25 (on MGM+) and May 27 (on Prime Video). Unlike every other current Marvel series, it will not premiere on Disney+ or be available to stream on that platform.
As the series is under the Sony Pictures banner instead of Marvel Studios, and was created in partnership with Amazon MGM Studios, Disney and Marvel Studios have no hand in Spider-Noir or its release.
Spider-Noir is absolutely the biggest new Marvel show of 2026, making it even more notable that it will not premiere on Disney+. Although it will not follow the traditional Peter Parker that fans know and love, it is still exploring a Spider-Man Variant and an entirely fresh story that has never been showcased on-screen before.
Spider-Man (or, in Spider-Noir's case, The Spider) is the most popular, most profitable, and most marketable superhero in the world. A few names, such as Batman and Superman, come close, but Spider-Man has proved his worth time and time again. For instance, Spider-Man: No Way Home grossed nearly $2 billion at the worldwide box office.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse grossed nearly $700 million, which is an insanely high number considering that it is not a Disney, Pixar, or DreamWorks film and that it follows a Spider-Man (Miles Morales) that general moviegoers or casual Marvel fans are not as familiar with.
It is also worth noting that true noir-style superhero projects are few and far between. The last one to be released as a feature film was probably Zack Snyder's Watchmen (2009), but even it did not come across as noir as Spider-Noir appears to be.
The upcoming Prime Video and MGM+ show is also the biggest Marvel release of 2026 because it is taking a character fans are already familiar with (Cage's Ben Reilly) and giving him his own story through a completely different medium. Previously, this character was only showcased through animation in Into the Spider-Verse, but now viewers will get a chance to reunite with him in live-action and actually get to see Cage bring the character to life.
Spider-Noir is not the only Marvel TV show that will be released in 2026 (even if it is the biggest), but it will be the only one that will not be available to stream on Disney+.
Every other series is being created under Marvel Studios' Marvel Television banner, and will either be yet another entry in the MCU, or a self-contained installment of a non-canon title.
In fact, while Spider-Noir will be released early in 2026, it will not be the first Marvel series to drop on a streaming platform. Disney+ subscribers were already treated to a full season of Wonder Man in January, which proved to be a welcome surprise for many.
When all is said and done in 2026, fans may look back on Wonder Man and call it the best Marvel series of the year (even if it had weak viewership), or at least the most unique, as it broke the mold and followed a different strategy than every other MCU series.
Another massive Marvel show that will be dropping in 2026 is Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. Daredevil has become a much bigger character over the past five or six years than he ever was before, largely thanks to fans finding the Daredevil Netflix series and then tuning in to Daredevil: Born Again Season 1.
This has helped the character become extremely marketable and profitable for Marvel Studios, which has allowed Disney and Marvel to go ahead and begin the marketing campaign for Born Again Season 2.
Season 2 will officially premiere on Disney+ on March 24, meaning that it will come to an end just before Spider-Noir premieres in May. As mentioned, Daredevil has become extremely popular and marketable, but he is still nowhere near Spider-Man.
One Marvel character who has gone hand-in-hand with Daredevil since the Netflix era will also be receiving their own Disney+ project in 2026, and that is Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle (aka Punisher).
Marvel Studios did not try to give Punisher his own Disney+ series or standalone film. Instead, the Punisher project will be a special presentation from Marvel Studios on the streaming platform.
Punisher is not expected to show up in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 (but no one can know for certain until the new installment is released), so the Disney+ special likely will not receive any lead-in or build-up from that show, meaning it will have to be marketed the old-fashioned way with trailers, TV spots, and social media posts.
Another major Marvel show that will be released in 2026 will be X-Men '97 Season 2. Like the other shows mentioned (aside from Spider-Noir), X-Men '97 Season 2 will be a Disney+ release, and it is scheduled to come out sometime in the Summer.
X-Men '97 Season 2's marketing strategy will be interesting to see. Season 1 had to have an extensive marketing campaign because Disney and Marvel Studios did not know what the show's viewership numbers would look like, if the show would receive buzz on social media, etc.
Saying Season 1 overperformed would be an understatement. The installment has the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any MCU project ever; it was a huge success in terms of Disney+ viewership, and fans are extremely invested in the story.
So, while Disney and Marvel Studios will be marketing it heavily closer to its premiere date, the studios likely won't have to spend as much money on marketing for Season 2 as they did for Season 1, which only leaves more room for profit if Season 2 performs as well as Season 1 did.
Like Wonder Man, it is entirely possible that, at the end of the year, fans could look back and call X-Men '97 Season 2 the best Marvel series of the year.
VisionQuest is yet another Marvel series that is releasing in 2026 on Disney+, and of all of the 2026 titles, it is likely the one Marvel Studios needs to pour the most effort and money into when it comes to marketing.
Before Wonder Man's success, it was definitely at the front of Marvel's radar since it centered around a character many fans weren't familiar with. Now that it is over, Marvel and Disney need to turn their attention toward VisionQuest.
Vision is a major MCU character, and VisionQuest will close out the trilogy that WandaVision started. However, Vision is not as much of a draw as Spider-Man, Daredevil, and the X-Men are, so the marketing campaign will need to be nothing short of fantastic.
WandaVision was marketed in a major way, which definitely contributed to its success, but it was also set up to be more of a hit than any MCU Disney+ show nowadays. For instance, releasing one year after the COVID-19 pandemic began ensured that fans were chomping at the bit for new Marvel content, and WandaVision was the first MCU Disney+ show, so everyone was at least going to tune in to see how it went.
If VisionQuest is going to be successful, Marvel and Disney will have to go all in on the marketing.
Spider-Noir is the biggest Marvel show of 2026, but it is not the only Spider-Man series that will come out within the calendar year. On the animated side, fans will be treated to Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2 sometime in the Fall. Like the other shows mentioned, it will be released on Disney+.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1 was a home run for Marvel Studios. So, like X-Men '97, Season 2 may not need as much marketing as Season 1 did. If Marvel simply lets fans know that it is coming and includes some tidbits about what to expect from Season 2's story, a lot of fans will most likely press play when the episodes begin to air.
As mentioned, Spider-Man is second to none when it comes to superhero popularity, which only helps Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2. It may not have the star power and general appeal that Spider-Noir has, but it should definitely see some great success.
Will Spider-Noir Receive a Season 2?
Many Marvel and Spider-Man fans are patiently awaiting the release of Spider-Noir on Prime Video and MGM+, but the biggest question many already have is whether the show will be renewed for a second season.
So far, there has been no indication that Spider-Noir will go beyond a second season, but, at the same time, it has not been announced that it will only be a limited series. It is possible that, if the first installment performs well and there is clear demand for more stories about Cage's The Spider, a Season 2 will get greenlit.
Many fans loved Cage's performance and character in Into the Spider-Verse, and, as mentioned, Spider-Noir will be a different type of superhero project that has not really been showcased since 2009's Watchmen. With the popularity of Spider-Man, it would not be a surprise if the show performed extremely well and more episodes were released in the future, but Sony or Amazon MGM Studios have not made a public decision on the matter yet.
