Marvel Studios will be introducing some very exciting characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2026. Marvel is scheduled to release two feature films, five seasons of TV, and one much-anticipated Special Presentation in 2026, bringing a slew of our favorite MCU heroes and villains back into action, while also debuting a whole host of new characters. 2026 will be a banner year for Marvel Studios, with new projects following Daredevil, Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and more, but there are six characters we are most desperate to see in the MCU.
On the big-screen, Marvel Studios is only expected to release two movies in 2026: Spider-Man: Brand New Day in July and Avengers: Doomsday in December. Jon Bernthal will also be starring as the Punisher in his own Special Presentation, while Wonder Man, Daredevil: Born Again season 2, VisionQuest, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man season 2, and X-Men ’97 season 2 will all be expanding the MCU into some wild and wonderful places. This includes debuting some thrilling new MCU characters.
6) Doctor Doom
Sure, we’ve already caught a glimpse of Doctor Doom in the MCU, but 2026 will mark his first full appearance when Robert Downey Jr. brings the iconic supervillain to life in Avengers: Doomsday. Downey made an uncredited cameo appearance in The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ mid-credits scene, where he arrived in the Baxter Building on Earth 828 to meet with the young Franklin Richards. Doom is expected to travel through various alternate realities in Doomsday, perhaps in an effort to save his own world from incursions, which will pit the formidable antagonist against many of Marvel’s live-action heroes.
5) Eric Williams’ Grim Reaper
Marvel Studios’ Wonder Man series is the next project hitting the MCU, scheduled to release on Disney+ on January 27, 2026. Wonder Man will not only debut its titular hero, but also his brother, Eric Williams, who becomes Grim Reaper in Marvel Comics. Demetrius Grosse will portray Eric Williams opposite Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Simon Williams, and he may wield his techno or enchanted scythe, but the exact nature of his power-set remains to be seen. As a member of villain teams including the Lethal Legion, HYDRA, and the Sinister Six, Grim Reaper’s debut could be game-changing for the MCU.
4) Sadie Sink’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day Character
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is one of Marvel’s most highly-anticipated upcoming movies, bringing Tom Holland back to the MCU as Peter Parker’s Spider-Man alongside the Punisher, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), the Scorpion (Michael Mando), and more. Brand New Day will also interestingly be bringing Stranger Things star Sadie Sink into the MCU, but we’re yet to find out exactly who she’ll be playing. Theories have suggested she could be Black Cat, Gwen Stacy, Mayday Parker, or even X-Men member Jean Grey, so Spider-Man: Brand New Day could set up new stories in the MCU for years to come.
3) Simon Williams’ Wonder Man
While Demetrius Grosse’s debut as Grim Reaper is certainly exciting, we’ll be watching Wonder Man for his brother, Simon Williams. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will be a fantastic addition to the MCU given his superhero franchise experience in various DC projects, and trailers for Wonder Man have hinted at the upcoming series being one of the most unique and stylistic projects in the MCU’s repertoire. In Marvel Comics, Wonder Man is empowered by Heinrich Zemo with psionic abilities, allowing him to infiltrate then join the Avengers, but this backstory seems to be quite different in the MCU.
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2) Tommy Maximoff’s Speed
Similarly to Doctor Doom, we already have Tommy Maximoff in the MCU, as he was introduced back in WandaVision as the magically-created son of the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany). However, the Hex’s dismantling separated his soul from his body, and Billy Maximoff (Joe Locke) put him in a new form in Agatha All Along, presumably the body of Thomas Shepherd. Ruaridh Mollica will be bringing the reincarnated form of Tommy Maximoff into the MCU in VisionQuest in late 2026, where he might become Speed, setting him up to join the Young Avengers with his brother, Wiccan. There is also speculation Tommy’s return could set up a Maximoff family reunion, potentially bringing the Scarlet Witch back after her 2022 death.
1) Jessica Jones
We’re cheating a bit here, as Krysten Ritter has already starred as Jessica Jones in three seasons of her eponymous Netflix series, which has recently been integrated into the MCU’s official timeline. Even though the Defenders Saga series has now been canonized, we still can’t wait to see Jessica Jones properly return to the MCU in Daredevil: Born Again season 2. She’ll be joining Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) in his fight against Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), though it remains to be seen how she might have changed in the seven years since we last saw her. The dynamic between Jessica Jones and Daredevil was one of the best parts of the Defenders Saga, so we can’t wait to see her return.
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