Famed publisher Dorling Kindersley (DK) has delighted fans with detailed visual dictionaries, character encyclopedias, and chronology breakdowns of franchises like Star Wars and Indiana Jones for decades. It has been dipping its toes into the MCU pool since 2018. DK released volumes such as the Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary, Marvel Studios 100 Objects, and The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline. And now, hitting online retailers and bookstore shelves in October 2025 is Marvel Studios Cross-Sections, which promises to peel back the outer layer of iconic MCU landmarks to give readers a peek inside.
Marvel Studios Cross-Sections follows the lead from a collection of Star Wars books based around the same conceit. Buildings like New York City's Avengers Tower and various Wakandan landmarks will be broken down in the book in a way that offers a glimpse at their inner workings, including areas that have never been seen on film.
The cover of Marvel Studios Cross-Sections displays a bisected view of Avengers Tower as it appeared during 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron (long before it was acquired by Valentina's CIA and converted into a watchtower for the government agency). A few interior pages were also previewed, revealing a look under the hood of a Quinjet and an in-depth view of the Wakanda Citadel, which contains the nation's throne room. The creator behind Marvel Studios Cross Sections is Liz Marsham, who has also worked on other Marvel-themed books.
The book's dust jacket offers a dazzling interior diagram of Avengers Tower during the time that the team was using it as a home base after they reassembled when SHIELD fell and HYDRA rose. The structure is dramatically different from its appearance in the first Avengers film, when it was still dubbed Stark Tower. The Quinjet landing pad, the common area, and the lower levels are all visible, and the copy on the cover tantalizingly reads "Hidden secrets of the Marvel Cinematic Universe."
Speaking of the Quinjet, Earth's Mightiest Heroes' personal aircraft (soon to be immortalized in a new LEGO model) is also stripped back, enabling devotees to peer into the vessel's main hold and propulsion systems. The Avengers themselves (who look to be composed of their iconic "Original Six" roster) are illustrated milling about while Tony mans the controls.
In the heart of Africa lies the technologically superior, isolationist nation of Wakanda, whose vast scientific and societal advancements have been made possible by Vibranium, one of the strongest materials on the planet. Another two-page spread from Marvel Studios Cross-Sections showcases the splendor of the dual-spired Wakanda Citadel, where many of the nation's next big moves are decided.
Additionally, another page gets significantly more granular with its art of the Citadel, with greater detail applied to key areas of the city's heart, such as the hangar bay for the Black Panther's private airship and Wakanda's fleet of Royal Talon Fighters.
Marvel Studios Cross-Sections will retail for $50 and be released on October 4, 2025. More information can be found on Penguin Random House's official site, and the book is also available for pre-order at many bookstores.
What Other MCU Location Secrets Could Be Unearthed?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has existed for 17 years. In that span, through feature films, streaming TV series, and Special Presentations, viewers have been taken across the globe, high into the atmosphere, to the depths of the sea, and to the furthest reaches of space. So, naturally, there are many locales for Marvel Studios Cross-Sections to sink its teeth into.
For example, the Avengers' sprawling Upstate New York compound is where the team moved after all the unpleasantness involving Ultron and Sokovia. This was the team's HQ for many years, throughout many MCU projects, before its obliteration at the hands of Thanos and his forces in Avengers: Endgame. The compound's layout, shown on screen, has been less consistent. Buildings have shifted places almost every time the compound has cropped up in the MCU, potentially making it difficult for DK to nail down the artwork it will use in the book.
Knowhere, the severed head of an ancient cosmic Celestial, could also be explored in Cross-Sections. When viewers were first brought there in Guardians of the Galaxy, Knowhere was a mining facility, owned and operated by the Tivan Group. The corporation's eccentric figurehead, Taneleer Tivan (The Collector), housed his vast museum of otherworldly oddities on Knowhere. Down the line, Knowhere was purchased by the Guardians of the Galaxy, who converted it into their home and base of operations. The book could delve into the Celestial mass's little nooks and crannies, many of which exist.
Whatever further surprises Marvel Studios Cross-Sections has in store will surely be discovered when the book drops in a few months.
