(This piece was updated on July 31, 2026 with fresh Marvel titles, release dates, cast changes and other announcements) Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters today, and with it, the Marvel Cinematic Universe finally breaks a long, strange quiet. After a stretch of delays, cancellations and a very public course-correction from Disney, the MCU is once again building toward something enormous. Tom Holland’s fourth solo outing as Peter Parker is the 38th film in the franchise, and it lands as the first real stepping stone on the road to Avengers: Doomsday this December, the biggest superhero event since Endgame.
So it seemed like the perfect time to map out exactly what is coming, and when. Below is every confirmed Marvel movie from the rest of 2026 through 2027 and beyond, with release dates, casts, directors, and everything we know about each one. We have left Brand New Day out of the list, since it is in theaters as you read this. Bookmark this page; we update it every time Marvel shifts a date or announces a new project.
1. Avengers: Doomsday (December 18, 2026)
The one everything is building toward. Avengers: Doomsday arrives December 18, 2026, and it is the most ambitious Marvel film since Endgame, both in scale and in risk. In a first for the franchise, it opens in the holiday season, every previous Avengers film was a summer release.
Director: Joe and Anthony Russo, the brothers behind Infinity War and Endgame, return to close out the Multiverse Saga.
The big swing: Robert Downey Jr., the actor who launched the entire MCU as Iron Man in 2008, returns, not as Tony Stark, but as the villain Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom. The casting was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con in 2024 and remains the boldest gamble in modern blockbuster history: bringing back the franchise’s most beloved star as its new big bad.
The story: Marvel’s official synopsis is deliberately cryptic: “Beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course and face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered.” In practice, this is the film that collides the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the Fox-era X-Men on one screen for the first time. The central threat is reported to be Incursions, the collision of parallel universes that destroys one or both, drawn from the comics.
The cast is staggering, one of the largest ever assembled: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans (returning as Steve Rogers/Captain America), Chris Hemsworth, Pedro Pascal, Anthony Mackie, Florence Pugh, Paul Rudd, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Wyatt Russell, Channing Tatum, Simu Liu, Sebastian Stan, Tom Hiddleston, Letitia Wright, David Harbour, Kelsey Grammer, Kathryn Newton, Winston Duke, Danny Ramirez, Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter, confirmed at SDCC 2026), and the returning X-Men of the Fox era, including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, Kelsey Grammer and Alan Cumming.
A first full trailer arrived July 20, 2026, ahead of Marvel’s Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con (watch trailer below).
2. Avengers: Secret Wars (December 17, 2027)
The finale. Avengers: Secret Wars is dated for December 17, 2027, exactly one year after Doomsday, and it is designed to be the culmination of everything since Iron Man.
Director: the Russo brothers again, making this their fourth Avengers film. It is co-written by Michael Waldron and Stephen McFeely.
The story: teed up directly by Doomsday, Secret Wars takes its name from the legendary Marvel comic events (1984 and 2015) in which the multiverse collapses and surviving heroes and villains are stranded on a patchwork planet called Battleworld. Marvel has kept plot details locked down, but the comic precedent points to incursions, a dying multiverse, and a hard reset that could reshape the MCU for its next era.
Cast: only Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom is officially confirmed so far, though the film is expected to carry over much of the Doomsday roster. Expect announcements to firm up through 2027.
Why it matters: this is the film Marvel has been marching toward for over a decade, the end of the Infinity-and-Multiverse arc, and almost certainly a launch point for a rebuilt roster (new versions of Iron Man, the X-Men and more have all been rumored to emerge from its events).
3. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (June 2027)
Sony’s animated masterpiece-in-waiting. After Across the Spider-Verse ended on a cliffhanger in 2023, Beyond the Spider-Verse is currently slated for June 2027.
The story: it picks up directly from Across, with Miles Morales trapped in an alternate universe alongside the villainous Prowler variant, while Gwen Stacy assembles a band of Spider-variants to rescue him, against the wishes of Miguel O’Hara. It concludes the animated trilogy and Miles’s multiverse saga.
Voice cast: Shameik Moore (Miles), Hailee Steinfeld (Gwen), Brian Tyree Henry, and more of the returning ensemble.
Note: this sits outside the main MCU continuity, part of Sony’s separate animated Spider-Verse universe, but it is one of the most anticipated animated films of the decade.
Confirmed for 2028 and Beyond
Marvel used its San Diego Comic-Con 2026 panel (July 25) to lock in the next wave. These are dated or officially announced, though details remain thin:
1. Black Panther 3 (late 2028)
This was the big one from Comic-Con 2026. Ryan Coogler is back to direct a third Black Panther, and Marvel finally answered the question everyone’s had since 2022: what do you do about T’Challa without Chadwick Boseman? Their answer is to not recast him at all. Instead, the story jumps a generation. David Jonsson plays a grown-up Prince Toussaint, the kid from that Wakanda Forever mid-credits scene, the one where Nakia says his name and he reveals his Wakandan name is T’Challa. Now he’s older, he’s got his eye on the throne, and that’s the movie. Letitia Wright and Winston Duke are back too.
2. Ghost Rider (2028)
Confirmed at SDCC 2026, Ryan Gosling will star as the Spirit of Vengeance/Johnny Blaze—a role he has openly coveted for years. Shawn Levy is attached to direct, with Jonathan Tropper set to write the screenplay. It is targeted for 2028, and while Marvel has kept plot and further casting details under wraps, this marks the character’s official entry into the MCU continuity.
3. Blade – TBD
Blade is still alive at Marvel Studios, but only just. Despite surviving years of development hell and losing multiple directors, the highly anticipated reboot is missing from the MCU’s current release schedule. Aside from a cryptic, off-screen voice cameo in Eternals, information on the film’s status is completely locked in the shadows.
Mahershala Ali and Mia Goth remain attached to star, but a theatrical release date is anyone’s guess. Fortunately, audiences will finally see the Daywalker in action when he appears in the animated Marvel Zombies spin-off.
The Disney+ Slate: Marvel Television 2026–2027
The gaps between films are filled by streaming. Confirmed and upcoming series include:
- VisionQuest (October 14, 2026): the third chapter of the WandaVision story, following White Vision as he searches for purpose after the events of WandaVision and Agatha All Along. Paul Bettany returns.
- Daredevil: Born Again, Season 3 (March 2027): Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock continues, following the show’s acclaimed revival.
- Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Season 2 (late 2026): the animated series returns, introducing the Venom symbiote, Daredevil, Norman and Harry Osborn, and Doctor Octopus. A third season is confirmed.
- X-Men ’97, Season 2 (2026): the beloved revival of the ’90s animated classic continues, with Season 3 expected in 2027.
- Marvel Zombies, Season 2 and a Punisher special are also in the pipeline.
- Spider-Noir: the Sony-led live-action series starring Nicolas Cage arrives on Prime Video in 2026.
What Changed: Why Marvel’s Schedule Looks Different Now
Remember when it felt like there was a new Marvel thing every three weeks and you couldn’t keep up? Yeah, Marvel remembers too, and they finally did something about it. After a rough stretch where even die-hards started tuning out (be honest, how much of Quantumania do you actually recall?), Disney boss Bob Iger came out and admitted the studio had “lost focus,” chasing quantity for Disney+ instead of making movies people loved. So they pulled back, hard. A bunch of films got wiped off the calendar in 2025 and 2026, which is why there’s a whole summer-to-December gap between Brand New Day and Doomsday, and a full year before Secret Wars lands. Fewer swings, but bigger ones. And going by how the last few projects have gone down, the reset is working.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the next Marvel movie after Spider-Man: Brand New Day?
Avengers: Doomsday, in theaters December 18, 2026. It is the next MCU film following Brand New Day‘s July 31, 2026 release.
Is Robert Downey Jr. really coming back to Marvel?
Yes, but not as Iron Man. He returns as the villain Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
In what order should I watch the upcoming Marvel movies?
By release date: Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 2026), Avengers: Doomsday (December 2026), Avengers: Secret Wars (December 2027), then the 2028 slate led by Black Panther 3 and Ghost Rider. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (June 2027) sits in Sony’s separate animated universe.
When is Avengers: Secret Wars coming out?
December 17, 2027, one year after Doomsday.
Who is the new Black Panther?
David Jonsson, announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2026, playing Toussaint, the son of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa. Black Panther 3 is dated for December 15, 2028.
Wrapping Up
So here’s where we land: Spider-Man: Brand New Day today, Avengers: Doomsday this December, and Avengers: Secret Wars a year after that to finally bring the Multiverse Saga home, before the whole thing reboots with Black Panther 3, Ghost Rider and more in 2028. It’s been a bumpy few years, no point pretending otherwise, but for the first time since Endgame, it actually feels like Marvel knows exactly where it’s going. And honestly? The next two Decembers are going to be something. We’ll keep this page current with every date shuffle, casting bombshell and surprise announcement, so check back often, because with Marvel, something always changes.
Which upcoming Marvel movie are you most excited for? Tell us in the comments.
Marvel is dead.