Marvel Studios Executive Teases “Different Tones” in 2025 MCU Slate: “Marvel Is Not One Thing”

“Welcome to the MCU, by the way. You’re joining at a bit of a low point,” Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson quips to Hugh Jackman’s Logan in Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine. While the Merc with a Mouth’s meta, fourth wall-breaking acknowledgement of Marvel’s post-Endgame struggles is appropriately Deadpool, it comes at a time when the studio is rebounding amid so-called superhero movie fatigue (and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s worst box office opening ever just one year ago with The Marvels).

2024 saw Marvel wade into more mature territory with Echo, its first series to receive the TV-MA rating, and Deadpool & Wolverine, which went on to become the highest-grossing R-rated film in history. The bewitchingly campy (and Golden Globe-nominated) Agatha All Along, starring Kathryn Hahn as the WandaVision witch, explored the supernatural side of the MCU. And from Marvel Animation, X-Men ’97 revived X-Men: The Animated Series, as the animated anthology What If…? wrapped up after three seasons of traversing alternate realities across the multiverse.

[RELATED: MCU Schedule: Every Marvel Studios Movie and TV Show Release Date in 2025 and Beyond]

Despite Disney CEO Bob Iger stating that the company would reduce Marvel’s output to two series and a maximum of three films per year, Marvel Studios is doubling its number of projects with a robust 2025 slate that includes six Disney+ series (animated and live-action) and three live-action feature films.

According to Brad Winderbaum, Marvel Studios’ Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation, the Marvel TV slate will emulate Marvel’s diverse range of comic books as it tells stories with “different tones” in 2025 and beyond.

“I remember walking into the comic store as a kid. I was a Marvel fan and I collected Marvel comics, and there was a huge array of books available to me,” Winderbaum told The Hollywood Reporter. “There was heightened fantasy with Thor. There was soap opera with social commentary in X-Men. There were adventure stories in The Avengers and Iron Man. And Marvel has always meant many things. Marvel is not one thing.”

“There are many stories to tell that are in different genres and have different tones and speak to different segments of the fandom. So that’s something we’re trying to create in our television slate, certainly, but in our slate overall,” Winderbaum continued.

On the film side, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) battles the Red Hulk (Harrison Ford) and the Leader (Tim Blake Nelson) in Captain America: Brave New World, out Feb. 14; Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) assemble as part of a misfit team of anti-heroes in Thunderbolts* on May 2; and Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), the Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), the Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and the Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) will make their MCU debut in The Fantastic Four: First Steps on July 25.

Marvel Television kicks off 2025 with Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Marvel Studios’ first Spider-Man animated series, while the live-action Daredevil: Born Again is a return to the mature-rated corner of the MCU as it continues the events of the Marvel-Netflix series Daredevil.

Later in 2025, the animated Eyes of Wakanda will expand the Black Panther mythology, and the adult animated series Marvel Zombies will take a bite out of mature animation. The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever spinoff Ironheart, which stars Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, is scheduled for June, with the Yahya Abdul-Mateen II-fronted Wonder Man set for December.

“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is just a fun ride. It’s a cartoon about Peter Parker in high school and his friends and the high stakes world of vigilantism in New York, while you’re trying to make ends meet and keep your friend group together,” Winderbaum said. “Daredevil: Born Again is a very, very grounded street-level violent story with a lot to say about the world we live in. Eyes of Wakanda is a story about conquest and national identity, in a way, through this four-part adventure. Marvel Zombies is this sprawling adventure story that uses the whole world as its backdrop.”

He continued, “Every one of these shows has a different tone and a different type of story in a different genre. And just like the comics, it speaks to the breadth of the Marvel brand.”

All episodes of Marvel’s What If…? are now available to stream on Disney+. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man premieres Jan. 29, 2025, followed by Daredevil: Born Again on March 4, Ironheart on June 24, Eyes of Wakanda on Aug. 6, Marvel Zombies on Oct. 3, and Wonder Man in December 2025.