Marvel Studios has confirmed the historic new setting for 2026's first MCU release. Marvel's interconnected on-screen canon is set to have a big year in 2026, with the release of A-list titles like Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. However, it will all get started with the January release of the Yahya Abdul-Mateen II-led Wonder Man on Disney+.
The new streaming series from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton has been described as a tongue-in-cheek take on the superhero entertainment machine itself, following a fledgling actor as he tries to get his big break with a new in-universe comic book movie reboot.
In anticipation of the new Wonder Man series, Marvel Studios confirmed that the upcoming show will break new ground with its exciting Hollywood setting. In the Winter 2025 issue of Disney's D23 Magazine obtained by The Direct, Wonder Man co-creator Andrew Guest revealed the 2026 streaming epic will 100% take place in Hollywood, California.
"Marvel was in a place where they were willing to try new worlds," Guest remarked, adding that the franchise has been to space, but "they've never done Hollywood:"
"Marvel was in a place where they were willing to try new worlds they hadnt explored. They've been to a lot of places, including space. But they've never done Hollywood."
He continued, saying, "Im a comedy writer who loves writing about Hollywood," and this was a chance for him to do that while also being something that was tonally "very different from anything Marvel had done before:"
"I'm a comedy writer who loves writing about Hollywood...and this was an opportunity for me to do an entertainment show that tonally was very different from anything Marvel had done before."
Marvel Studios Director of Production and Development Brian Gay went even further, hyping up the new ground-breaking setting for the franchise, chiming in to say the series shows off "what [he calls] the real L.A.:"
"You're going to see what I call the real L.A., with a sense of what it feels like to be a working actor struggling to make it in this city."
Fans may recall that 2022's She-Hulk: Attorney at Law also took place in the City of Angels; however, it was primarily set in the corporate downtown area of the city, rather than Hollywood itself.
The closest the show got to tangoing with Tinsel Town specifically came during its ultra-meta finale, in which Jennifer Walters broke the fourth wall, entering Marvel Studios headquarters to rectify the events of her streaming series.
Wonder Man comes to Disney+ on January 27, 2026, with all eight episodes dropping simultaneously.
Where Will the Rest of Marvel Studios' 2026 Slate Take Place?
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2
After its brief stint traipsing about the City of Stars in Wonder Man, Marvel Studios and the MCU will plant its feet back in New York City for a time. That will all kick off in March with the release of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2.
The R-rated Disney+ series returns, led by Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock, following the Cox's New York vigilante as he goes to war on the city streets with the villainous now-mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) and his Anti-Vigilante Task Force (read more about the Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 plot here).
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Yet another New York-based Marvel adventure will arrive later in the year in the form of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Due out on July 31, 2026, the new web-slinging adventure featuring Tom Holland's Peter Parker might be the most New York MCU Spider-Man movie to date.
Said to be a ground-level tale centered on Marvel's iconic wall-crawler, the 2026 film will see Holland's MCU hero living in the heart of Manhattan just trying to get by while also serving as the city's powered-up protector.
The Punisher Special Presentation
The Punisher Special Presentation will be yet another New York City-set affair for the MCU in 2026. The skull-cracking streaming special will follow Jon Bernthal's R-rated hero as he takes on a criminal cabal led by a fearless queenpin assumed to be longtime comic character Ma Gnucci.
Like Spider-Man and Daredevil, Punisher calls New York City home, being just one of several masked vigilantes taking his fight for justice to the streets of the Big Apple.
VisionQuest
Later next year, Paul Bettany's Vision will finally take the spotlight for an MCU project all to his own. VisionQuest is set to come to Disney+ sometime in the latter half of 2026, following Bettany's souped-up synthezoid as he takes on several rogue AIs aiming to tear him apart.
A specific setting for the upcoming streaming series has not been revealed yet. Production mainly took place in London and its surrounding area, but that could be a stand-in for anywhere at this point. Fans have spotted a large white mansion in the show's first trailer, potentially hinting that it may feature prominently.
Avengers: Doomsday
Breaking down the setting for Avengers: Doomsday is a bit more complicated than the rest of Marvel Studios' 2026 slate. The upcoming Avengers team-up film (which will come to theaters on December 18, 2026) will be a reality-hopping Multiversal adventure as Earth's Mightiest Heroes contend with the villainous Doctor Doom.
According to reports, the 2026 movie will take place across three Earths/separate realities.
So far, several locales have been either rumored or confirmed to appear in the new Avengers film, including an alternate reality X-Mansion, New York City (aka the home of the Earth-616 Avengers), the Sanctum Sanctorum, and Peggy and Steve's house as seen at the end of Avengers: Endgame.
