Thanks to the incredible popularity of franchises like Richard Donner’s Superman, Tim Burton’s Batman, Bryan Singer’s X-Men, and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, superhero films have become more mainstream, with a wide variety of audiences getting to enjoy the spectacular and fantastic worlds lifted straight from the pages of those original comics.
Today, the MCU and the DCU are spearheading the biggest and most comprehensive franchises for superhero films and TV, but there are also a handful of other projects that have gained notoriety as the superhero genre opened the door for other stories in this category to gain traction. And 2026 is a huge year for all of these groups, with some of the most exciting superhero shows set to arrive on the small screen over the coming months.
Invincible – Season 4
March 18, 2026
First on the docket is the incredible Invincible. Invincible is based on the comics of the same name created by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. In 2021, the first season of this series landed on Prime Video, introducing Mark Grayson as the son of the world’s greatest superhero, Omni-Man.
Since then, there have been some huge developments and twists along the way that make this series one that is particularly captivating. From Mark’s father being a murderous alien, to Mark discovering his own powers, and new generations of heroes stepping up to protect the world.
And while this series is animated, it is absolutely not for kids. There’s blood, gore, romance, and more, making this an adult-animated series akin to the likes of Rick & Morty, though distinctly more heroic in nature.
Invincible season 4 is set to pick up after the massive cliffhanger of season 3, and if you haven’t started watching this series, now is the perfect time to binge earlier seasons and see what all the fuss is about.
Daredevil: Born Again – Season 2
March 24, 2026
The MCU is back on the small screen with Daredevil: Born Again season 2. This series has brought back Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, after the Netflix Marvel show, Daredevil, was abruptly canceled to accommodate Marvel Television’s reintegrating their TV offerings with the broader MCU.
While most of the previous Marvel TV shows have yet to make any significant impression on the MCU, both Cox and D’Onofrio have shown up in various projects, as well as reprising their roles in Born Again. The series isn’t exactly a continuation of the original, though it appears that with the presence of many actors returning from that period, it’s drawing largely from the same history that was explored in that show.
Daredevil: Born Again season 1 had a major change in the creative team during production, but season 2 has kept the same creative leads throughout, which should hopefully make what was already an acclaimed show even better. And again, the cliffhanger from season 1 perfectly sets the stage for some big things to come in this season.
The Boys – Season 5
April 8, 2026
The Boys was created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson and published by WildStorm, a small publisher owned by DC Comics, before moving over to Dynamite Entertainment. The story primarily explores a world where people with powers are not inherently good and often use those powers to pursue their own interests.
In this reality, supes behave as though they are above the law, while also getting corporate sponsorships in order to become superhero teams that save the day. Though most of their time is spent playing a character and taking publicity shots.
When The Boys began streaming on Prime Video in 2019, with Eric Kripke as the showrunner and lead creative, it was groundbreaking, not just because of the anti-hero concept that it explores, but because it rejected a lot of what made other superhero shows work. It’s rife with moral ambiguity, explores the darker side of human psychology, and it’s extremely addictive.
The Boys season 5 is the final season of the series, though the world established in the show will go on in various spin-offs.
Spider-Noir
May 27, 2026
Spider-Noir is another series set to land on Prime Video. As a part of the larger Spider-Verse of stories created by Marvel, the rights to this property belong to Sony, which is why that is the studio producing this project. However, it doesn’t appear to be attached to the animated Spider-Verse films and is separate from the now-defunct Sony Spider-Man universe of stories.
Spider-Noir stars Nicolas Cage as Ben Reilly, aka the Spider, and the story takes place in a 1930s noir setting. Spider-Noir is also breaking the mold due to Prime Video providing the series in both black and white and full color. Beyond that, little is known about the show, and if it will connect to or lead into any other Sony Spider-Man projects.
X-Men ’97 – Season 2
Summer 2026
Back in the 1990s, the X-Men became a fan-favorite of kids raised on Saturday morning cartoons. This was due to the popular series, X-Men: The Animated Series, which took the comic book stories and made them more accessible in the format of a regular TV series.
Now, as those children have grown up, the MCU made the decision to bring the show back with an adult-oriented revival titled X-Men ’97, a nod to when the show ended, and how it is now picking up again where things left off.
Despite being disconnected from the regular MCU, X-Men ’97 has proven a hit among superhero fans everywhere, with a mature, well-thought-out story and incredible character exploration throughout. And this Summer, it’s back for season 2.
Lanterns
August 2026
On the DCU side of things, Lanterns is set to be the first TV project released by the DCU that is not written and/or directed by James Gunn. While Gunn is the architect of this new pantheon of stories, there needs to be additional voices helping to build and define the world, which makes Lanterns an incredibly exciting proposition.
The show is being released by HBO and has been compared to some of their other prestige offerings, like True Detective, due to the darker tone, the mystery, and the crime element. While it’s a Green Lantern story and setting up that powerful organization in the DCU, it also appears to be majorly character-driven.
Lanterns has a lot riding on it, but if done right, this could be one of the best superhero shows to come out in 2026.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man – Season 2
Fall 2026
Image via Disney+
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is another animated offering from Disney and Marvel, exploring a different timeline to Tom Holland’s Peter Parker from the MCU. The animation style is reminiscent of classic comic books, which is fitting, because the premiere season saw a version of Peter Parker that was very similar to the earliest depictions of the character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko from 1962.
Despite the classic style, the story is brand-new, with a range of popular villains from the comics, and unique designs and character changes to set it apart from the MCU, and ensure that YFNSM stands on its own merit. With incredible voice talent and another solid cliffhanger, season 2 is one not to be missed.
VisionQuest
2026
WandaVision debuted as one of the first entries in the Multiverse Saga, and the first official TV series in the MCU. And while the events of that series led to Wanda Maximoff’s story continuing in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it left the fate of Vision as a lingering unknown.
Initially, Vision died at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, when Thanos took the Mind Stone, and essentially ended his life. However, Wanda was able to use her powerful chaos magic to create her own version of Vision, while also reshaping a whole neighborhood to her will.
At the end of that show, Wanda’s Vision disintegrates, but not before meeting White Vision. Essentially, the real Vision’s body is restored to make him functional, but without any memory of his past. However, before Wanda’s Vision disappears, he unlocks the mind and memory of White Vision, allowing him to recall everything up to his death in Infinity War.
VisionQuest will follow this White Vision, and also see James Spader return as Ultron, in what promises to be a revelating and wild adventure that will finally answer some of the burning questions of the MCU fanbase. Adding this to the slate of incredible superhero shows coming in 2026, it’s set to be a heroic year.