2025 could be a bumper year for Marvel‘s TV division, with the comic-book giant reportedly set to release up to seven new shows on Disney Plus.
Despite previous assertions that it would release less content every year, Marvel Studios is seemingly preparing to release a new series approximately every seven weeks (if my math is correct) from next January onwards.
Indeed, according to the file names on some new logo images uploaded to Disney’s press image library yesterday (October 28) – as spotted by X/Twitter account Comicodigy and users on Reddit – 2025 looks like it’ll be a very busy year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) on the small screen.
Until recently, we knew that three new Marvel shows would debut on Disney’s primary streaming service. The first of those, Daredevil: Born Again, is slated to arrive on March 4, 2025. Daredevil‘s standalone MCU series would be joined by two more projects later in 2025, with Ironheart and What If…? season 3 also confirmed to launch on undisclosed dates.
Marvel Studios has revealed the schedule for its 2025 television lineup:Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man — January 25Daredevil: Born Again — March 4Eyes of Wakanda — August 6Ironheart — September 3Marvel Zombies — OctoberWonder Man — December pic.twitter.com/ezHcXBgkCXOctober 29, 2024
Now, it appears that trio will be joined by four more series, three of which will be animated offerings. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, an animated Spider-Man TV show that won’t be canon in the MCU, is rumored to be the first of those releases, with the show due to swing onto Disney Plus on January 29, 2025. Eyes of Wakanda, a four-part Black Panther animated anthology miniseries, is then expected to debut on August 6, 2025.
Marvel Zombies, a spin-off of Marvel Studios’ first animated project What If…?, will reportedly launch in October 2025, which should make for a scarily fun Halloween watch. Finally, Wonder Man, a long-gestating live-action show starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, will arrive on one of the best streaming services in December.
If those release dates don’t change it’ll be an incredibly stacked year for Marvel overall. The comic titan is also preparing to release the final two Marvel Phase 5 movies – Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts – in February and May 2025 respectively. They’ll be joined by The Fantastic Four: First Steps in July, which will kickstart the final phase of the Marvel Multiverse Saga.
Paying the production price
If Marvel releases all of the aforementioned films and shows next year, fans will have no less than 10 new movies and TV series to consume in just 12 months. With some industry experts and MCU fans suggesting that the superhero market is already at saturation point, that’s a lot of content for diehards and casual viewers to consume.
Of course, Daredevil: Born Again aside, Marvel hasn’t officially outlined its 2025 release schedule yet. It’s possible, then, that the Disney subsidiary will alter one or more of its TV show launch dates to space them out, or even shift them from next year entirely.
For what it’s worth, I’m not convinced that Marvel will release seven new shows in 2025. As I mentioned, it wants to rein in how many projects it releases annually, so bringing out seven new series in a 12-month period would very much go against that plan. With numerous other Disney Plus projects, including new Star Wars shows like Andor season 2, expected to debut next year, too, Disney won’t want its biggest franchises to cannibalize each others’ viewing figures by battling for audience attention.
Regardless, the fact that the MCU may get 10 new productions next year is a by-product of Marvel’s haphazard creative approach in recent years. Rather than focus on telling a cohesive multiverse-centric story across Phases 4, 5, and 6, the studio’s desire to pump out projects with little to no overarching plan has led to audience apathy and dented its reputation.
Yes, there have been extenuating circumstances, with the 2023 Hollywood strikes and a worldwide pandemic impacting development on numerous productions. Nonetheless, the disorganized nature of Marvel’s Multiverse Saga plan is now coming back to bite it. If Marvel moves ahead with its apparent objective to release seven new shows in 2025, I fear viewers may get overwhelmed with the amount of options on offer, or lose interest – if they haven’t already – in the MCU for good.
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