Next year promises to be a defining one for Marvel. In 2025, a total of nine MCU projects will premiere in theaters or on Disney+, a major step up from 2024, in which the superhero franchise released just one movie — Deadpool and Wolverine — and four TV shows — Echo, X-Men ’97, Agatha All Along and What If…? Season 3. The MCU’s 2025 slate includes the theatrical release of films Captain America: Brave New World on February 14, Thunderbolts* on May 2, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps on July 26. Marvel will premiere the Disney+ animated shows Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on January 29, Eyes of Wakanda on August 6, and Marvel Zombies on October 3. Also heading to Disney+ are the live-action series Daredevil: Born Again on March 4, Ironheart on June 24, and Wonder Man in December 2025.
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The aforementioned projects present a significant opportunity to revitalize the studio’s stature in the film and TV industries. As the superhero genre tires some audiences and the competition with the James Gunn-led DC Universe intensifies, Marvel must take advantage of the chance to make an impression with its 2025 lineup of highly anticipated reboots and solo projects featuring new and returning heroes. If Marvel’s 2025 titles succeed, the franchise will position itself nicely for many more years of prosperity.
Why Marvel’s 2025 Movies and Shows Are Primed for Success
The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Daredevil: Born Again represent Marvel’s biggest hopes and dreams for 2025. For decades, the Fantastic Four have ranked among Marvel’s most popular heroes, however, before 2019, they couldn’t enter the MCU due to Marvel having signed the Fantastic Four’s film rights over to Fox. 2025’s First Steps will introduce Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards a.k.a. Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm a.k.a. the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm a.k.a. Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm a.k.a. The Thing. The movie’s star-studded cast debuts as its main heroes, as well as features the debuts of Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer and Ralph Ineson’s Galactus, providing plenty of reasons to look forward to its release in theaters.
Following in the footsteps of Netflix’s Daredevil series, Disney+’s Daredevil: Born Again has enormous shoes to fill, but early signs indicate that the MCU’s show about the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen could be as good or even better than its predecessor. Cox’s return as Matt Murdock following his brief appearances in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, 2022’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and 2024’s Echo will be joined by the much-looked-forward-to comebacks of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk, Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson, Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page, Wilson Bethel’s Dex Poindexter, and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher. To make matters more intriguing, Cox recently revealed that Daredevil: Born Again is bound to be “even darker” than the Netflix series.
Captain America: Brave New World will see Anthony Mackie lead an MCU movie for the first time since his debut as Sam Wilson over 10 years ago, while including Harrison Ford, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, and Tim Blake Nelson in its cast. Everyone loves a good team-up project, and Thunderbolts* promises just that. Comprised of characters audiences already know and love in Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, Wyatt Russell’s John Walker, Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost, Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster, and David Harbour’s Red Guardian. Dominique Thorne will make her long-awaited second MCU appearance as Riri Williams, headlining Disney+’s Ironheart following her introduction in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The show will likely set up Riri to join the Young Avengers soon. Finally, Wonder Man will see Yahya Abdul-Mateen II take on the role of Hollywood star Simon Williams for his first MCU project. The series looks to utilize meta-style humor in a way similar to She-Hulk and the Deadpool movies.
Marvel Fans Should Be Excited for 2025 and Beyond
Perhaps the most important aspect of Marvel’s 2025 lineup lies in that they are all meant to build up to the MCU’s next big crossover event, Avengers: Doomsday, which will open in theaters on May 1, 2026. With Mackie’s Captain America, the Thunderbolts, the Young Avengers, Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom, and many more expected to take part, the first Avengers movie since 2019’s Endgame carries giant expectations. Before Avengers: Secret Wars opens in 2027, Marvel fans can look forward to upcoming titles like Spider-Man 4, Vision Quest, and Blade. As 2025 nears, Marvel fans will soon be treated to one of the MCU’s most promising movie and TV show slates of recent memory.
