What is the current state of superhero cinema? Either the reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated, or it’s on life support, depending on who you ask. But with plenty of new releases in theaters and on TV from both the DCU and MCU in 2026, there’s plenty to talk about throughout the year to come.
That includes two biggies: Avengers: Doomsday at the end of the year; and Supergirl, coming in hot in June. On the former, Disney is pulling out all the stops to make sure the not-as-hot MCU still hits blockbuster status, with a lot on the line. On the latter, Superman debuted to great reviews and solid box office, but with Warner Bros. Discovery in a state of flux, can the Maid of Might make the case that the DCU should keep its 10 year plan going with whoever ends up owning the company?
There are a few more films hitting theaters, including a Brand New Day for Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and a DCU horror movie (that would be Clayface). But at least as far as 2026 is concerned, TV is where it’s at, with new and returning shows hitting almost every month. There’s the final season of The Boys, which is sure to be a big deal, the debut of HBO’s DCU show Lanterns, and perhaps most intriguing, Spider-Noir, which stars Nicolas Cage as a version of his film noir Spider-Man from Into the Spider-Verse, but this time in live action.
Want a complete list of all the comic book movies and TV shows premiering in 2026? Read on, as well as for our thoughts on why you should be hyped… Or maybe why you shouldn’t be.
Powered by RedCircle
The Beauty
Release Date: January 21, 2026
What’s It About? Based on the formerly Image Comics now Ignition Press series by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley, a pharma billionaire develops a new drug called The Beauty that makes you look like your best self. Only problem? It’s a ticking time bomb that will kill you in horrible ways if you don’t like and subscribe. Oh, also, there’s a serial killer murdering people who use the drug.
Who’s Involved? Ryan Murphy liberally adapts the comic, alongside an all-star cast featuring Evan Peters, Rebecca Hall, Ashton Kutcher, Jeremy Pope and Anthony Ramos, as well as a buttload of Murphy mainstays as guest stars.
Why We’re Hyped: This is one of our favorite comics over here at the ol’ Comic Book Club, and while footage shown at New York Comic Con seems to, er, have made some changes, I’m still very intrigued to see how it turns out on screen.
Wonder Man
Release Date: January 27, 2026
What’s It About? When a reclusive director emerges from retirement to reboot an old movie property called Wonder Man, actor Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) decides that he’ll stop at nothing to get the part.
Who’s Involved? The meta-comedy comes from Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, and also stars Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery, reprising his role from Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi, now as Simon’s acting coach.
Why We’re Hyped: Meta-Hollywood commentary can go either way and end up too navel gazing, but Cretton has been a reliable indicator of quality so far. Less reliable is how Marvel shifted the release date multiple times, and is now dumping all eight episodes in one day at the end of January. Hmm…
Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2
Release Date: March 4, 2026
What’s It About? The Kingpin has taken over New York, and it’s up to Daredevil and company to take it back. Essentially the second half of Season 1, with Kingpin mayor and vigilantes on the run, who can save the city that never sleeps? Daredevil can! Maybe.
Who’s Involved? Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio are, of course, back as Daredevil and Kingpin respectively, as is the rest of the cast and crew including Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, and even (somehow) Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson. New to the cast are Matthew Lillard as the mysterious Mr. Charles, and Lili Taylor as the governor of New York. Oh, and Krysten Ritter returns as Jessica Jones.
Why We’re Hyped: Krysten Ritter returns as Jessica Jones? That’s worth getting hyped for. And Born Again was easily top tier Marvel TV, one of the best things the studio has put out so far. Add in that the show has already been picked up for Season 3, and there’s plenty of reasons to expect that Season 2 will continue the Season 1 high of the Netflix continuation.
Invincible, Season 4
Release Date: March, 2026
What’s It About? The Viltrumite plotline that’s been bubbling in the background likely heats up this season, with the addition of Lee Pace as the voice of the series’ big bad, Emperor Thragg.
Who’s Involved? The whole cast is back including Steven Yeun as Invincible, J.K. Simmons as Omni-Man, Sandra Oh as Debbie Grayson, and Gillian Anderson as Atom Eve. Plus one million other cast members. Approximately.
Why We’re Hyped: Invincible is simply one of the most solid shows around, delivering entertaining adult animation and gross-out violence hour after hour. Things got nuts in Season 3, and we don’t expect that to stop any time soon, particularly thanks to the tease of some bits that were not included in the comic book.
The Boys, Season 5
Release Date: April 8, 2026
What’s It About? It all ends here (other than all the spinoffs) as the final battle between Homelander (Anthony Starr) and Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) begins, with the fate of the world at stake. Homelander has taken over the United States, but The Boys ain’t gonna take it anymore, and are fighting back — with plenty of deaths and surprises promised.
Who’s Involved? The entire cast and crew returns for this final apocalyptic go-around, with several new additions including Daveed Diggs in a mystery role, Misha Collins and Jared Padalecki having a Supernatural reunion with Jensen Ackles, and the cast of Gen V stopping by, picking up on the end of the spinoff’s second season.
Why We’re Hyped: The Boys hasn’t held back so far, so what does going for broke look like? Probably extremely gross.
4 Kids Walk Into a Bank
Release Date: April 17, 2026
What’s It About? Based on the comic from Matthew Rosenberg and Tyler Boss, the book focuses on four kids who decide to rob a bank rather than let their reformed criminal grandpa pull the job.
Who’s Involved? Written by Robinson and Frankie Shaw, and directed by Shaw, the movie stars Liam Neeson, alongside Talia Ryder, Jack Dylan Grazer, Jim Sturgess, Teresa Palmer and more. It’s also produced by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, who have become the comic book adaptation whisperers.
Why We’re Hyped: This is a great comic, and a great cast, and if executed right should be a lot of fun. It’s also just nice that it finally has a release date, as it was on our preview from, uh, last year.
Supergirl
Release Date: June 26, 2026
What’s It About? While just trying to get drunk in space, Supergirl (Milly Alcock) ends up on the trail of a vicious villain named Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthia Schoenaerts) alongside a young alien girl named Ruthye (Eve Ridley).
Who’s Involved? Directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira, the movie is based on the comic by Tom King and Bilquis Evely, and also stars Jason Momoa as Lobo.
Why We’re Hyped: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, the aforementioned comic, is excellent, and this seems to be an almost direct adaptation to that (with some changes like, uh, Lobo isn’t in the book). This is also the first DCU project not written and directed by James Gunn, so that should give a different flavor to the universe, as well.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Release Date: July 31, 2026
What’s It About? Spider-Man (Tom Holland) is back, and boy oh boy is he going to be doing what a spider can. Honestly, we have no idea what to expect, this one is a big secret so far.
Who’s Involved? We do know there’s a packed cast, including the return of Zendaya as MJ, and Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds. Joining them are Sadie Sink in a mystery role, Liza Colón-Zayas in a mystery role, Jon Bernthal as The Punisher, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, Michael Mando as Scorpion, Tramell Tillman in a mystery role, and Marvin Jones III as Tombstone. The movie is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (you may remember him from earlier in this article).
Why We’re Hyped: Cretton directed some killer action in Shang-Chi, and everyone in this cast is good. Hopefully this sticks to the seeming ground level view of the MCU the inclusion of Tombstone and Punisher implies, though Sink’s mystery role possibly connecting to the multiverse story of Avengers: Doomsday is worrisome.
X-Men ’97, Season 2
Release Date: Mid 2026
What’s It About? Trapped in three different timelines, the X-Men have to deal with a little threat called Apocalypse.
Who’s Involved? We can tell you who is not involved: former showrunner Beau DeMayo, who was fired for inappropriate conduct before Season 1 — though some elements of his scripts for the season remain. That said, the rest of the voice cast returns for this new season.
Why We’re Hyped: X-Men ’97 Season 1 was everything we wanted and more. Can the belated second season match that, particularly with the showrunner change? TBD.
Lanterns
Release Date: Mid 2026
What’s It About? Veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and rookie John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) investigate a dark murder mystery on Earth in this HBO series.
Who’s Involved? Beyond the aforementioned cast members, Kelly Macdonald also stars as a local sheriff, Nathan Fillion reprises his role as Guy Gardner from Superman, Garret Dillahunt is a cowboy named William Macon, and Ulrich Thomsen is the villain Sinestro. The show is created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King (hey, there’s that name again).
Why We’re Hyped: True Detective but with Green Lantern rings is a big swing, but particularly Lindelof’s name on there means it’ll likely have a ton of thought behind it. This, along with Supergirl, is a big test for what the DCU is without Gunn’s hands on the wheel.
Untitled Punisher Television Special
Release Date: Mid 2026
What’s It About? Frank Castle teaches everyone the true meaning of Christmas. Just kidding. We don’t actually know what it’s about, though it ties directly into Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. Rumor has it that it may loosely adapt the Ma Gnucci arc from Marvel’s Punisher MAX series.
Who’s Involved? Bernthal wrote this with director Reinaldo Marcus Green, who he previously worked with on We Own This City. Jason R. Moore appears as Curtis Hoyle, a former Navy friend of Castle’s.
Why We’re Hyped: Bernthal clearly cares more deeply about The Punisher than I do about my own children, so chances are he’ll work hard to get this right.
Clayface
Release Date: September 11, 2026
What’s It About? A body horror movie about the Batman villain just trying to make it in the film biz when instead he turns into a terrible clay man.
Who’s Involved? This was not in the original plan for the DCU, but Gunn loved Mike Flanagan’s script so much they decided to make it. It’s directed by James Watkins (not Flanagan), and starts Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen/Clayface, alongside Naomi Ackie as Dr. Caitlin Bates, Max Minghella as a Gotham City detective, and Eddie Marsan in a mystery role.
Why We’re Hyped: Inspiration for this includes the classic Batman: The Animated Series episode “Feat of Clay,” aka one of the best TV episodes of all time. And I personally love taking a tonal swing to straight horror movie. The big question leading into this will be if it can work without Batman, but I think we’ve answered that with both the success of the first Joker and HBO’s Penguin series. People will still ask the question constantly, though, and it will be very annoying.
Avengers: Doomsday
Release Date: December 18, 2026
What’s It About? Disney’s financial bottom line.
Who’s Involved? I mean, who isn’t involved? The Russo Brothers return to direct, Robert Downey Jr. is back, but as Doctor Doom, and if you think an actor from the MCU is in the movie, they probably are.
Why We’re Hyped: Are we hyped? Are we? We’re already getting weekly teaser trailers, and that promotional train will be non-stop all year long. Disney and Marvel are pulling out all the stops to make sure this movie does not and can not fail. But after a just-okay 2025 and several not great years before this, Doomsday feels like a goodbye tour for the MCU, rather than the culmination of the past seven years of [checks notes] storytelling.
VisionQuest
Release Date: Late 2026
What’s It About? Picking up on the White Vision storyline from the end of WandaVision, Vision (Paul Bettany) goes a journey to figure out who he is now.
Who’s Involved? Terry Matalas picks up this one as showrunner, and it also stars James Spader as Ultron, Todd Stashwick as Paladin, Ruaridh Mollica as Tommy Maximoff/Speed, T’Nia Miller as Jocasta, Emily Hampshire as E.D.I.T.H., Orla Brady as F.R.I.D.A.Y., Henry Lewis as D.U.M.-E, Jonathan Sayer as U, James D’Arcy as J.A.R.V.I.S., Farin Tahir as Raza and many, many more.
Why We’re Hyped: Though we don’t know much for sure about the plot, it’s believed that a lot of this is going to take place in Vision’s mind as he pictures other AIs as human. Matalas excels at this sort of storytelling, and framing this show as he concluding part of a trilogy that started with WandaVision and continued with Agatha All Along implies a high level of quality.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Season 2
Release Date: Late 2026
What’s It About? Now fully established, Spider-Man protects New York in this animated series, alongside two new characters: Spider-Gwen and Venom. The latter maybe not so much on the “protecting” side, though TBD.
Who’s Involved? Hudson Thames returns as the voice of Spider-Man, as does Charlie Cox as Daredevil. The rest of the cast is expected to return as well.
Why We’re Hyped: The first season was a lot of fun, and certainly set up a crazy amount of possibilities for where things can go in Season 2. Will it be as beholden to the alternate continuity of the MCU? Hopefully not? But we’ll see.
Spider-Noir
Release Date: TBA
What’s It About? Nicolas Cage stars as Ben Reilly — not Peter Parker — a 1930s detective who just happens to also have spider-powers.
Who’s Involved? Beyond Cage, this also stars Lamorne Morris as Robbie Robertson, as well as Brendan Gleeson, le Jun Le, Jack Huston, Karen Rodriguez, and others. Orien Uziel and Steve Lightfoot are the co-showrunners.
Why We’re Hyped: Cage is using this stage of his career to do extremely weird projects, and the idea of him reprising (sort of) his role from the Spider-Verse movies in live action is pretty weird. The series will be released in both color and black and white, which is also pretty neat. Less neat is that it’ll be released on MGM+, a service that I believe nobody has ever subscribed to.
Criminal
Release Date: TBA
What’s It About? Based on the comics by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, multiple generations of criminals do crime stuff.
Who’s Involved? Brubaker and Jordan Harper are co-showrunners. Stars include Charlie Hunnam, Richard Jenkins, Adria Arjona, Kadeem Hardison, Emilia Clarke, Luke Evans, and more.
Why We’re Hyped: One of the greatest comics of all time, this was another one on our 2025 preview, so it’s a little concerning we still don’t have a release date. But fingers crossed it’ll hit Prime Video some time in 2026.
Discover more from Comic Book Club
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.