The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been permeating the TV landscape for a little while now and, in that time, it's graced fans with a number of entertaining offerings. Viewers have seen various corners of the Marvel Multiverse, thanks to the inventive and quirky Loki and the animated anthology series What If…?. In addition, other shows and specials like Moon Knight, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Werewolf by Night marked the introductions of exciting new characters. There are still plenty upcoming Marvel movies on the docket that one should be excited for, but the same is also true when it comes to small-screen projects.
There are many reasons why a Disney+ subscription is totally worth the price, and the streaming platform’s exclusive MCU content is a major boon. On that note, we're going to take a look at the various TV shows that are on the horizon -- all of which you can expect to see soon enough for an affordable Disney+ price.
X-Men ‘97 (March 20, 2024)
Not all of the most highly anticipated upcoming Marvel TV shows coming to Disney+ will be MCU-canon, believe it or not. One series is, instead, a continuation of one of the most iconic animated Marvel TV shows of all time, X-Men.
The Witcher writer Beau DeMayo is executive-producing ‘97, which will supposedly pick up from where the original series left off when it was cancelled in the titular year. The revival, which was delayed from a late 2023 to early 2024 premiere. It was eventually revealed that the first two episodes would land on March 20. This series will also serve as the first official X-Men-related project backed by Marvel Studios. The X-Men '97 trailer gives the impression that the classic cartoon is back in full force and, yes, the theme song still slaps.
Agatha: Darkhold Diaries (2024)
Kathryn Hahn became the undeniable scene-stealer of the WandaVision cast with her performance as the nosy neighbor, Agnes. Of course, in one of the later episodes, a catchy theme song revealed that she was really a Salem Witch Trials-era sorceress named Agatha Harkness.
It appears that we have not seen the last of the WandaVision villain, who is getting her own series called Agatha: Darkhold Diaries (originally Agatha: House of Harkness and Coven of Chaos before the new title was reported in September 2023). Hahn will reprise her role in the spin-off as will Emma Caulfield, who played Sarah Proctor/Dottie Jones on the parent show. New cast members include Heartstopper's Jake Locke, The White Lotus' Aubrey Plaza, SNL alum Sasheer Zamata as well as Ali Ahn and Maria Dizzia. As revealed at SDCC 2022 (via Variety), the spinoff will premiere on Disney+ sometime in the winter of 2023. That changed, as it was subsequently reported that the release had been shifted to sometime in 2024. (And Kathryn Hahn has teased that the series may even include a tune as catchy as "Agatha All Along.")
Eyes Of Wakanda (2024)
In 2010, BET aired an animated miniseries based on the Black Panther comic books with no canonical connection to the MCU (other than the coincidence of eventual franchise alum Djimon Hounsou voicing T'Challa). However, Ryan Coogler, director of the 2018 superhero epic and its 2022 sequel, is about to bring his interpretation of Wakanda to the small screen as well.
It was reported by Deadline in 2021 that as part of a new five-year deal between Disney and his company, Proximity Media, Ryan Coogler would be developing a TV show for Disney+ that's set in the kingdom of Wakanda. Though by November 2022, producer Nate Moore revealed to Collider that development on the show "is probably not as far along as people want it to be" due to the time and attention that was given to Wakanda Forever and the Ironheart show.
Thankfully, though, in December 2023, Marvel Studios formally announced Eyes of Wakanda. The animated series will expand on the Panther property by featuring stories about brave warriors throughout Wakandan history that have traveled the world looking for dangerous Vibranium artifacts. The show is currently set to premiere sometime in 2024.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2024) Season 2 (TBA)
For anybody who wishes the MCU movies had delved deeper into Peter Parker’s superhero origin (despite seeing it plenty of times already), Disney+ has that covered. An animated series following Tom Holland’s iteration of the character -- when he first gained his powers -- is in the works.
It does not appear that the British actor (who was also replaced as Peter Parker on What If…? by Hudson Thames) is reprising his best-known role on the show, which was announced as Spider-Man: Freshman Year in November 2021. Per Marvel, production is being overseen run by Jeff Trammell, who's worked on Craig of the Creek and The Owl House. What we also know, thanks to Marvel Studios' SDCC panel, is that many other famous characters will appear on the series – including Daredevil, as voiced by Charlie Cox. Plus, according to Variety, a follow-up season already in the works.
By December 2023, Marvel Studios and Disney+ officially confirmed that the show will arrive in 2024. Not only that, but it also received an official new title -- Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!
Marvel Zombies (2024)
If the zombie apocalypse episode of What If…? was your favorite story from the animated anthology series and you wanted to see more of that, Disney+ also has that covered. A miniseries based on the concept is in the works, which Variety reports will drop sometime in 2024.
As announced during Disney+ Day in 2021 , Bryan Andrews –- the director of said action-packed, horror-centric What If…? episode –- is returning to helm the new Marvel Zombies series. He will also executive produce alongside Zeb Wells of Robot Chicken and SuperMansion fame.
A sneak peek of the show was screened at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, where the general premise was revealed. Zombies will see a number of MCU heroes doing battle with virus-infected versions of other familiar faces like Captain America, Captain Marvel, Scarlet Witch and Ikaris. The unaffected heroes who are seeking to fend off the undead are Black Widow's Yelena Belova and Red Guardian, Ms. Marvel, Kate Bishop of Hawkeye, WandaVision alum Jimmy Woo and Shang-Chi, who's joined by friend Katy and assassin The Death Dealer.
Ironheart (TBA)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever established a new iteration of the titular superhero, but it also highlighted the rise of another fresh MCU face -- Riri Williams. Fans likely know that Williams took over for Tony Stark as an armored hero, taking on the name Ironheart. That succession was somewhat retrofitted to slide into the cinematic universe's canon and, following her big-screen debut, she's flying into her own show.
Cast in the role of the titular, teenage genius is Dominique Thorne, who made her screen debut in the Academy Award-winning film If Beale Street Could Talk and later appeared in Judas and the Black Messiah in February 2021. The Ironheart cast also features Anthony Ramos, Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich and more. Thorne has also addressed whether Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony should return in some form, saying she wouldn't be opposed to it. It was announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2022 that the show will premiere on Disney+ in the fall of 2023. It was later reported by Variety that the show was shifted to 2024 but, by September 2023, the show had been removed from Marvel's schedule entirely. Per reports, the show's completion has been impacted by the WGA writers strike as well as the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Ironheart Season 1 will consist of six episodes, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Daredevil: Born Again (TBA)
Fans were crushed when Netflix’s Daredevil and its other interconnected Marvel series were cancelled too soon, but delighted to see its canonical ties to the MCU confirmed when Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk appeared on Hawkeye and Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock cameoed in Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021. Kevin Feige later claimed that Cox would be involved the next time the blind lawyer/vigilante starred in his own project.
The reveal of what that project would be (around the same time Matt Murdock was confirmed to appear on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law) was formally announced during 2022’s San Diego Comic-Con in the form of Daredevil: Born Again. The new Disney+ original series – which shares its name with a comic book arc by Frank Miller – will also star D’Onofrio as The Kingpin. And if that weren't exciting enough Jon Bernthal is returning in the role of Frank Castle/The Punisher. The show further added to its gangster cred by tapping fellow The Many Saints of Newark alum Michael Gandolfini for a role as well. Margarita Levieva and Sandrine Holt have also been cast as unnamed characters who could be love interests for Matt Murdock.
The 18-episode series was set to premiere in the spring of 2024 but, following a Marvel TV scheduling shift, it's been removed from the calendar altogether. This is likely due to the production shutdowns that occurred amid the writers strike. While plot details on the project are scarce, Cox has already expressed hope that some of the funnier traits that the character displayed on She-Hulk will carry over to the new show.
What If…? Season 3 (TBA)
These days, a streaming platform without its own anthology series feels nearly incomplete. Disney+ followed that trend in August 2021 with the animated series What If…?, which features episodes that reimagine pivotal MCU moments putting key characters (many of which are voiced by their original Marvel actors) on entirely new paths. Shortly after the premiere, Season 2 was confirmed, and executive producer Brad Winderbaum said to Collider (via YouTube that) it could happen in 2022. It ultimately arrived on December 22, 2023, with all nine installments being released once a day through the finale on December 30.
Season 2 was well received by critics and fans and, before it even arrived, the show's future was already assured. It was during 2022's San Diego Comic-Con that Marvel Studios confirmed a third season was also already in the works. So the Watcher will continue to tell his multiversal tales.
However, it's been revealed that What If...? underwent a big change behind-the-scenes ahead of Season 3. Head writer A.C. Bradley confirmed after the Season 2 finale that she opted to leave Marvel Studios after she finished her work on S2.
Wonder Man (TBA)
Along with the announcement that he will helm a sequel to his hit superhero movie debut, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, it was revealed in late 2021 that Destin Daniel Cretton signed a deal to develop a Marvel-based series for Disney+, according to Deadline. By the following June, it was revealed that said series will follow Wonder Man – a highly powerful character who was originally introduced in 1964 as a villain before his heroic reinvention in the late 1970s. And by October 2022, it was reported that DC star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II had been cast to play the titular hero. He'll go up against The Grim Reaper, who's played by Walking Dead vet Demetrius Grosse.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Destin Daniel Cretton is developing the series with Community and Brooklyn Nine-Nine writer Andrew Guest, who will lead the writing staff for Wonder Man. Cretton also has another Disney+ original series in the works called American Born Chinese, which Deadline reports is also based on a graphic novel, but with no connection to Marvel. Producer Stephen Broussard told ComicBook.com that the show will be influenced by the comics, though it will "feel very unique" compared to other MCU fare. Interestingly, the show will also mark the return of Ben Kingsley's Trevor Slattery. And by May 2023, the show was delayed due to the WGA writers strike.
Vision Quest (TBA)
The last time audiences saw Vision was during the events of 2021’s WandaVision, which introduced a white incarnation of the fan-favorite android. In the series finale, the robot fled, with his fate being left unknown. However, it now looks like the character’s story will continue in a new MCU show called Vision Quest, with Paul Bettany reprising his role as the lead character.
Jac Schaeffer, the creative mind behind WandaVision and Agatha: Coven of Chaos, is reportedly set to serve as head writer on the show. As of right now, plot details on the spinoff are slim, though the title would suggest that it could take inspiration from the comic book storyline of the same name. Interestingly though, some of those plot points were already covered in the parent show, including Vision’s rebirth as a white machine.
From stories revolving around characters whom we have been waiting to see enter the MCU for years to stories involving our favorite characters that we could have never imagined, Disney+ has seen a refreshing turning point for Marvel with these TV shows. For more updates, such as plot details and release dates, please stand by.
