We just recently bid our farewells to 2024 — a year that was unusually quiet when it came to new superhero projects. DC released only one single live-action movie in the form of Joker: Folie à Deux, while the Marvel Cinematic Universe followed the exact same path with Deadpool & Wolverine. Granted, there were some amazing series such as The Penguin and Agatha All Along to fill in the gaps. But amidst a creative reboot in DC's offices and Marvel rethinking their release strategy moving forward, there's no denying it was an uncharacteristically dry year. On the bright side, 2025 will be anything but, and things will only get better as we head into 2026.
Avengers: Doomsday, Spider-Man 4, Clayface, and more will be released in 2026. But if that wasn't enough, it was recently confirmed two highly anticipated Marvel series (along with an unexpected Special Presentation, too) will arrive in the same time window. Not only will it be a very busy year for audiences, but also for Hell's Kitchen as a whole.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man season 2, and Punisher Special Presentation to arrive in 2026
Beware, criminals of New York City, as Matt Murdock won't take any days off from defending its city. During an interview with Screen Rant, the Head of Streaming at Marvel Studios, Brad Winderbaum, revealed that the second season of Daredevil: Born Again will be released in 2026. Furthermore, he stated that there are plans to release season 3 (and maybe even more) soon after, given that "there are many stories to be told on the streets of New York".
Daredevil: Born Again season 2 started shooting on February 28, 2025, with fan favorites such as Charlie Cox and Deborah Ann Woll returning to their roles as Matt Murdock and Karen Page respectively. For starters: It's an extremely good sign that Marvel green-lit a second season of the series before general audiences had the chance to see the first one. That being said, early reactions to the first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again claim it is a worthy successor to the Netflix series, with even better fight sequences and more violence than originally anticipated. So it seems Marvel caught lightning in a bottle once again, and they intend to keep the streak going.
What's more is that Daredevil: Born Again now joins animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man in returning for second seasons next year. Winderbaum revealed to Collider that the animated series will be back for a new outing in 2026, saying that they "will have a Spider-Man season every year", implying that - like Daredevil - the show will continue as an annual release beyond season 2.
Learning that the MCU has big plans in store for both Spidey and the Devil of Hell's Kitchen is very exciting, but it doesn't stop there as it was recently announced that The Punisher will have a Special Presentation on Disney Plus. Jon Bernthal will be back to portray the role of Frank Castle and will also co-write the script with director Reinaldo Marcus Green. But the best part? The highly-anticipated presentation is also set to be released in 2026 alongside Daredevil: Born Again. It will mark the first time in more than seven years that The Punisher will be the star of his own stand-alone show, and we couldn't be more excited.
But before Frank has the spotlight all to his own, he'll make his MCU debut in the first season of Daredevil: Born Again. When the Netflix and Disney collaboration came to an end, the future of the Defenders' family was left in the air for many years. So it's been a real pleasure to learn Daredevil and Punisher still have many more adventures on the horizon, and hopefully the same can eventually be said for the likes of Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist (who make a sneaky cameo in What If...? Season 3).
Granted, there's always the possibility that both Matt Murdock and Frank Castle also join forces on the big screen during the events of Avengers: Doomsday — the biggest MCU crossover to date which is set to star many shocking characters. But even if that doesn't happen (which would be a bit of a surprise), perhaps their 2026 stand-alone projects could still deal with the ramifications of Earth's Mightiest Heroes' upcoming adventure. Whatever the case: Their stories are far from over, and we can't wait to see what they will be up to next.
The first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again will be released on March 4 on Disney Plus.