There are still many questions and unexplained mysteries surrounding the upcoming 2026 releases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now that Marvel Studios seems to be gaining back its stellar reputation and is making good choices again with its movie and TV show production, we are very excited about the upcoming 2026 slate of the MCU. Kicking off in January with Wonder Man and coming to an end in December with the much-anticipated Avengers: Doomsday, 2026 is looking like a banner year for the MCU, but there are still many things we don’t know about 2026.
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Wonder Man is kicking off Marvel’s new slate on January 27, 2026, and will be followed by Daredevil: Born Again season 2 in March, the Punisher’s Special Presentation, Spider-Man: Brand New Day in July, VisionQuest in late 2026, and Avengers: Doomsday on December 18, 2026. Animated seasons of X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will also be hitting Disney+, making 2026 one of the most exciting years of the MCU in ages. Marvel has some huge mysteries to explore in these upcoming movies and shows, the answers to which we still don’t know.
7) Who Sadie Sink is Playing in Spider-Man: Brand New Day
After the conclusion of Stranger Things on Netflix in 2025 and her recent acclaimed performances in The Whale, O’Dessa, and more, Sadie Sink is joining the MCU in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. We don’t know who Sink is playing, but popular theories have suggested she could be Gwen Stacy, Rachel Cole-Alves, Felicia Hardy’s Black Cat, or even the iconic X-Men member Jean Grey. We’ve seen set photos from Brand New Day showing Sink in camo gear, perhaps hinting at Cole-Alves’ Punisher, but we’d love to see Sink in the MCU’s X-Men stories for years to come.
6) How Simon Williams Will Get His Wonder Man Powers
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will be making his MCU debut in Marvel Studios’ next series, Wonder Man, where he will portray Simon Williams, the titular Wonder Man. Williams is an actor vying for the role of Wonder Man in a remake of a classic in-universe superhero movie, and intends for his own superpowers to help him get the role, despite not being allowed to use them in Hollywood. In Marvel Comics, Williams gained these powers from the villainous Heinrich Zemo, but trailers for Wonder Man have hinted at a different root for Simon Williams’ gifts in the MCU.
5) Who the Real Villain of Spider-Man: Brand New Day Is
It’s been incredibly exciting to hear about who will be involved with Spider-Man: Brand New Day opposite Tom Holland’s wall-crawler, but we’re yet to hear any story details about the upcoming Phase 6 movie. Michael Mando is returning as Mac Gargan’s Scorpion from Spider-Man: Homecoming, but he won’t be the only villain in Brand New Day. Marvin Jones III is making his live-action debut as Tombstone, while theories have also suggested that Frank Castle’s Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and Spider-Man could team up to battle an unhinged savage Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Rumors of Norman Osborn’s debut have also been rife.
4) Who Will Be in Daredevil’s Army in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2
At the end of Daredevil: Born Again season 1, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) started to build an army of vigilantes intent on fighting the Mayor of New York, Wilson Fisk’s Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio). It’s unclear exactly who will be included in Daredevil’s army, however, but Krysten Ritter’s return as Jessica Jones provides a hint of what shape this could take. Perhaps we’ll get Luke Cage (Mike Colter), Danny Rand (Finn Jones), Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick), and more back from the Defenders Saga, while Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), the Punisher, and more allies in the MCU proper could join Daredevil. We can’t wait to see who joins the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’s team.
3) Why Doctor Doom Looks Like Tony Stark
At San Diego Comic-Con 2024, the Russo brothers announced that Robert Downey Jr. would be coming back to the MCU, not as Tony Stark’s Iron Man, but as the villainous Doctor Doom. He made his uncredited return in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but Avengers: Doomsday will truly bring him into the MCU, and will hopefully answer exactly why Doctor Doom—presumably the version from Earth 828—looks like Stark. This appearance will surely have a huge impact on many MCU heroes who remember their fallen ally, but needs some major explaining if Marvel is going to get the audience behind this wild casting decision.
2) Whether the Maximoff Family Will Reunite in VisionQuest
One of the most highly-anticipated 2026 MCU series is VisionQuest, which will release as the final instalment in the WandaVision and Agatha All Along trilogy. Paul Bettany will of course portray Vision, and he’ll be joined by many physical versions of iconic MCU artificial intelligences, but he’ll also be joined by the reincarnated Tommy Maximoff (Ruaridh Mollica). After Agatha All Along introduced Joe Locke as the new Billy Maximoff, and saw him set off with Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) to find his brother, VisionQuest is speculated to be reuniting the Maximoff family. Crucially, this could mark the much-wanted return of Wanda Maximoff’s Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) following her controversial 2022 death.
1) Who Else Will Be in Avengers: Doomsday’s Cast
Following Robert Downey Jr.’s return announcement, Marvel Studios confirmed 26 further actors joining him in Avengers: Doomsday at the end of March. Doomsday’s first teaser trailer also confirmed that Chris Evans will be returning as Steve Rogers, with baby in tow, but there are many more MCU stars expected to return in Doomsday who haven’t yet been announced. Avengers: Doomsday promises to be the biggest MCU movie yet, so we are hopeful the cast will be fleshed out with even more actors. Perhaps there will be another chair-laying ceremony this March ahead of Doomsday’s December release.
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