Marvel’s television footprint has always been vast, but the studio is about to venture into uncharted territory this May. Fans have typically enjoyed the convenience of a one-stop shop, with Disney+ housing nearly every web-slinger and Avenger in the franchise. However, this seamless experience is about to change as Marvel sets a historic new TV series lineup for May 2026.
For the first time, new Marvel content will air across three separate streaming services within a single month, making May's releases a bit inconvenient to access. The month kicks off with the finale of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 on Disney+ on May 5. One week later, on May 12, Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle returns in The Punisher: One Last Kill, a Marvel Television Special Presentation, also on Disney+.
Although One Last Kill is technically not a series, it's worth noting among the Marvel content airing in May. Then things get a bit tricky on May 25, when Nicolas Cage's Spider-Noir debuts its first episode on MGM+'s linear channel before the entire eight-episode season drops on Prime Video on May 27.
If all these releases are Marvel property, why are they on multiple platforms? This is likely the question on the mind of fans eager to experience the May lineup. Well, for starters, Spider-Noir is a different animal entirely. Produced by Sony Pictures Television and developed with the Oscar-winning team behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the series is not a Marvel Studios production. It was built for MGM+ and Prime Video, both owned by Amazon, which is why it isn't landing on Disney+ with the rest of Marvel's slate.
For those who don’t know much about this show's premise, Spider-Noir stars Nicolas Cage as Ben Reilly, a hard-boiled private investigator and retired superhero known as The Spider, operating in an alternate-universe 1930s New York City. Beyond its unique release structure, the viewing format will also be different as audiences worldwide will have the choice between two distinct styles: classic black-and-white or full color.
How Will Marvel's May 2026 TV Structure Affect Fans?
To be clear, the May 2026 lineup is a one-time confluence, not a new model. The presence of Spider-Noir on MGM+ and Prime Video comes entirely from Sony's existing deal structure with Amazon. Sony controls the live-action Spider-Man television rights outside of Marvel Studios productions, and the company's partnership with Amazon MGM Studios goes back years. This arrangement won't extend to other Marvel characters.
Marvel Studios' own television output will continue to live primarily on Disney+. The studio has stuck firmly to that platform for MCU series, and there's no indication that approach is changing. Future shows like VisionQuest, X-Men 97 Season 2, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, among others, will still air on Disney+.
What May does show is that the broader Marvel ecosystem, which includes Sony's Spider-Man properties alongside Marvel Studios' MCU, is now big enough to create scheduling congestion across multiple platforms simultaneously. Fans who want to follow every story in the Marvel world in May will need a Disney+ subscription for the Born Again finale and Punisher special, plus either an MGM+ subscription or a Prime Video subscription, separate from Disney+, to catch Spider-Noir. This essentially makes keeping up with every Marvel property more expensive.
MGM+ currently runs about $7.99 a month. Prime Video comes as part of an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $14.99 a month. The two-day window between Spider-Noir's MGM+ premiere and its Prime Video release makes MGM+ less of a must for most fans. Anyone willing to wait until May 27 can catch the full season on Prime Video without picking up an extra subscription.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
