Marvel Comics 2026 has been coming into form. As we get past the second month of the year we are already getting a good picture of what the rest of their 2026 will look like. These hints come in the way of decisions that have been made towards the end of 2025 and first two months of the new year. This is setting up what could be one of the most game changing years as we head into the MCU’s Avengers: Doomsday movie. Let’s take a look.
MARVEL COMICS 2026 PUBLISHING TREND
A trend that has quickly become the norm as we get into 2026 is that Marvel is not going all out of their way to announce new ongoing titles. Yes, we’ve had plenty of one-shots and mini-series being announced in all of Marvel Comics 2026 solicitations so far. There have even been a few new ongoings like Iron Man, Daredevil, and Punisher getting new series starting in 2026. But outside those the new normal for the House of Ideas has become to release new mini-series and one-shots.
This has been seen in multiple ways. Probably the best example of this is what they are doing with Miles Morales. Spider-Man: Miles Morales ended in January. Not long after Marvel announced Miles would star in the Reborn: Ultimate Impact mini-series, that’ll tie-in Ultimate Endgame and Armageddon together. They will also be collecting his Astonishing Miles Morales: Spider-Man Infinity Comic, that was previously exclusive to Marvel Unlimited, as a one-shot to release in stores.
Then most recently it was revealed that Infernal Hulk has been switched from an ongoing series to a 10-issue maxi-series. Marvel, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, and Nic Klein were quick to say that Infernal Hulk was always planned to be ten issues to close out act two of PKJ and Klein run. Even if that was the intention that is not how Marvel the Infernal Hulk series. There is also no news on how Johnson and Klein will conclude their Hulk run with a third act.
Outside of that, Marvel Comics has given Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Sentry, Guardians of the Galaxy, Sentry, Wonder Man, Storm, and various X-Men mini-series or one-shots. Black Panther and Eternals are also celebrating their 60th and 50th anniversaries, respectively, this year but are only getting one-shots to celebrate the milestone.
ARMAGEDDON & OTHER CROSSOVERS DOMINATING 2026
These publishing plans tshow that Marvel tying themselves to what will dictate their 2026 direction. That thing that’ll dictate the Marvel Universe’s direction will the Avengers-led Armageddon event.
So far, the build to that event has largely been kept to Chip Zdarsky’s Captain America and Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon. Given the trend Marvel has gone with their big events Armageddon will dominate the majority of the second half of 2026. This indicates Marvel will use the Armageddon banner to fill their publishing line-up with mini-series and one-shots for various characters.
Armageddon is not the only event we will see in 2026. The current Shadows of Tomorrow direction for the X-Men is clearly building to a big mutant event. That is seen with many X-Men mini-series as part of the direction. These mini-series all end around the summertime. That works out well to build up the yearly cycle of an X-Men crossover. That crossover will keep the X-Men busy while playing a secondary role in Armageddon.
Similarly, we are already seeing the Spider-Man franchise have a crossover busy year. That is starting with the Spider-Man and Venom crossover titled Death Spiral. Marvel has not wasted time in promoting the fact that Death Spiral is the first act of a larger crossover being built around Spider-Man and Venom. That isn’t too surprising given Spider-Man is the only character getting an MCU movie ahead of Avengers: Doomsday.
2027 BEING SET-UP AS A NEW RELAUNCH POINT
With all the things that have been announced thus far 2026 could become a “lost year” for many characters. The Armageddon event along with all the Spider-Man and X-Men comics will likely fill up the publishing calendar. That leaves very little room for others to get ongoings started in 2026.
If Armageddon is to be an endgame-style event why announce new ongoings? The fact that a new Avengers ongoing series was not announced after it was revealed the current volume will end this spring says a lot. It’ll likely be much easier to give the Avengers, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and others Armageddon tie-ins than starting new ongoings. It certainly would not look good that Armageddon caused new ongoings to be cancelled/relaunched.
The way Marvel Comics is promoting Armageddon already points to 2027 being where we will have a universe wide relaunch. This is something they’ve done in the past with Marvel NOW! in 2012, All-New, All-Different Marvel in 2015, and the still running Fresh Start era in 2018.
A new banner direction may be what Marvel Comics needs. Heading into 2026 Marvel has been lapped by DC Comics, Image Comics, IDW! Publishing, and other publishers. Things like the Absolute Universe and Energon Universe have been seen as the quality benchmark for superhero comics. Then there are many indie comics from various publishers that have been well received by comic book critics and fans.
We could learn what Marvel’s comic book publishing plans in 2026 will be as soon as this week’s ComicsPro Annual Meeting. There Marvel and other publishers will unveil a good number of their plans to excite retailers to order things for their stores. If Marvel Comics has a competitive spirit they would like to reclaim their spot in the comic book industry and not just rely on Disney and MCU to hold them up.
SOURCE: Reborn: Ultimate Impact by Marvel.com; Infernal Hulk Ends at #10 by Popverse;
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