2026 is going to be a defining year for the Marvel Universe in its comic book form. There is this air around 2026 for Marvel that it can be the biggest shift since 2017’s Marvel NOW! The big reason for that is how the company is teasing out Armageddon as their big 2026 event. That along with how their 2026 solicitations have been positioned point to that. But Armageddon isn’t the only thing that will be impacting how Marvel’s 2026 will go. There are five things in particular that are things we should be on the lookout for.
NOTE: Will not be talking about the potential additional crossovers Marvel and DC Comics have planned. That is something to certainly keep an eye out for as we got a new Spider-Man/Superman one-shot but beyond that we don’t know how far the partnership between the two comic book publishers will go.
ARMAGEDDON IMPACT ON MARVEL 2026 PUBLISHING PLANS
Obviously, talking about Marvel’s plans for 2026 must start with Armageddon. This is the big event that Marvel announced at the start of Q4 of 2025. The announcement for the 2026 event came out as One World Under Doom was in the middle of its final phase.
Marvel announcing their next year’s big event early is nothing new. They’ve done it plenty of times in the past. What is different this time is how their publishing plans for 2026 are lining up for when Armageddon kicks off. In the lead up to the Chip Zdarsky written event Marvel has already announced the conclusion of the main Avengers series in March 2026. That will leave Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Scarlet Witch as the only Avengers family set of characters with ongoings.
This leaves the question of how Armageddon will impact the way Marvel goes about publishing comics in 2026. We already saw how One World Under Doom being a nine-month event made 2025 a year where Marvel filled their monthly publishing line-up with one-shots and mini-series. If Armageddon is set to be this game changing event for Marvel, then it gives them more of a reason to not start any new ongoings by the time the event kicks off.
Given that Marvel Studios is also treating Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars as how a way to breathe new life to the MCU, Armageddon could be the same thing. Marvel Comics would want to align itself with its movie studio sibling. Treating 2027 as the new entry point for their entire comic book universe side of things is a way to get the entire brand in alignment.
WILL THERE BE MORE FROM THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSE
In relation to the Armageddon event, we will see the end of the Ultimate Universe in the first half of 2026. That is a decision that the company does not make lightly. The Ultimate Universe has arguably been the most successful thing Marvel has going besides Spider-Man and X-Men. So, making the decision to end this version of the Ultimate Universe two years in was likely not an easy one.
That said, the success of this iteration of the Ultimate Universe could have a deeper long-term impact. We could possibly see that by the end of 2026 depending on what the landscape of Earth-616 is when Armageddon concludes. We could get a refresh that sets a whole new continuity for Earth-616 like the second iteration of the Ultimate Universe did.
But that is not the only place the Ultimate Universe impact could be seen in 2026. With how successful all the books where it may have impact on how Marvel sees their multiverse. For too long Marvel has treated their multiverse to tell throwaway alternate universe stories. But if there can be a successful two year run of a series of titles set in an alternate universe why can’t that happen again?
Now a lot of that will come down to Marvel’s editorial giving teams the creative freedom like they did with this Ultimate Universe. If editorial mandates too much the magic that we’ve gotten from the Ultimate Universe and Absolute Universe can’t be achieved.
WHAT DOES AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1000 BUILD MEAN
2026 will see the Amazing Spider-Man series hitting a rare milestone few comic books have reached. That is getting to its legacy issue mark of Amazing Spider-Man #1000. The 1000th issue of the series will happen in Amazing Spider-Man #36 in its current volume of the series. If the series continues its current twice-a-month plan, then Amazing Spider-Man #1000 will release at the end of August 2026.
In the lead up to the big milestone issue Amazing Spider-Man will be involved in the Death Spiral crossover with Venom to start 2026. Death Spiral is a crossover that Marvel has been building towards since the Spider-Man Free Comic Book Day 2025 one-shot. The crossover event will also be the story that gets Peter Parker reacclimated with the current status quo since he’s been lost in space for several months.
After the Death Spiral event, the Spider-Man franchise has a lot of questions around it. The franchise is starting 2026 with the Miles Morales ongoing ending with its final issue in January. That leaves Amazing Spider-Man, All-New Spider-Gwen and Venom as the only ongoing series for the franchise.
Thanks to Armageddon, Spider-Man could be following the Avengers franchise route for 2026. We already get a hint of that as we’ll have the five-issue Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Versity mini-series starting in April. That comic book will feature Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Silk, Araña, Spider-Boy and Spider-Girl being taught by Jessica Drew and Norman Osborn. With all but Spider-Gwen not having their own solos this will likely start the trend of the Spider-Man Family getting mini-series throughout 2026. Armageddon would be a perfect excuse for Miles Morales’ next comic book to be a mini-series given his importance in kicking off that event.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE X-MEN 2026 EVENT
As is a normal trend the new X-Men direction, Shadows of Tomorrow, is already teasing a big event by the end of 2026. While the X-Men are likely to play a role in Armageddon, the 2026 blockbuster event is firmly positioned as an Avengers event. And like Spider-Man, the X-Men are always building their own thing that impacts their franchise directly.
A big clue that we will get an X-Men event in 2026 is the direction Shadows of Tomorrow is taking. Outside of the returning X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and Wolverine series most Shadows of Tomorrow comics are mini-series. That is a change in approach as usually Marvel will position most of the X-Men comics as ongoings, even if they end after five to twelve issues.
Another clue in there being an X-Men event in 2026 is the amount of solo or duo mini-series that make up the Shadows of Tomorrow direction. This approach goes away from bringing us new volumes of X-Factor, X-Force, Excalibur, and other X-Men team books. Building these narratives for individual X-Men characters for something. There’s also the fact we don’t have a Jean Grey solo or involvement in the team books in this Shadows of Tomorrow direction.
So like the Avengers with Armageddon, Marvel could be positioning the 2026 event as a reset for the X-Men franchise. And since the X-Men are in the same spot as Spider-Man and Avengers in terms of importance having their own dedicated reset event is likely.
MARVEL CREATIVE TEAM DEVELOPMENT & RECRUITMENT
Something that will always be an important part of not just Marvel, but the industry is the roster of talent working on their comic books. As 2025 was ending Marvel announced Brian Bendis was returning to Marvel with his first work being a story in Avengers #800. Chip Zdarsky has also been given the assignment of setting the course of the Marvel Universe’s future with the Armageddon. The last few years Jonathan Hickman helped bring back the Ultimate Universe in 2024 and set a new status quo for the cosmic side with Imperial in 2025
Outside of the talent those three and other long-time talent how else will Marvel bring up talent? Because they are only as healthy as the talent, they give comics to write and draw. They certainly have a strong roster of artists with David Marquez, Carmen Carnero, Phil Noto, Juann Cabal, Peach Momoko, Lee Garbett, Humberto Ramos, and more. On the writing side Jed MacKay, Stephanie Phillips, Ryan North, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Steve Orlando, Eve Ewing, and Murewa Ayodele have been rising with Marvel fans.
So, it is not like Marvel is entering 2026 without a lot of talent that is both long-time and rising names with their fanbase. But as we get deeper into 2026 it will be important Marvel to solidify their talent roster. Especially if Armageddon is intended to give the Marvel Universe a new beginning, whatever that means, in 2027. If that is the case having talent fans are connected with will be as important, if not more so, than the characters on covers. And if the latest iteration of the Ultimate Universe taught Marvel anything it is to give creators freedom to take genuine chances and not just follow editorial mandates.
Source: Armageddon Announcement; Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Versity Announcement; Brian Bendis Returns To Marvel
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