{"id":766753,"date":"2026-07-16T18:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/766753\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T18:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:23:09","slug":"marvel-comics-to-leave-new-york-and-move-staffers-to-l-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/766753\/","title":{"rendered":"Marvel Comics to Leave New York and Move Staffers to L.A."},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAfter calling the Big Apple home for almost 90 years, Marvel Comics<\/a> is moving out of New York City. And heading to Hollywood.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe relocation was revealed to staff at a town hall Thursday at Marvel\u2019s New York office in Midtown, where employees were informed that its publishing division will be pulling up stakes and transferring operations to Burbank, California, the current headquarters of Marvel Studios and corporate parent, The Walt Disney Company.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe development is accompanied by a changing of the guard at the top. Stephen Wacker, a respected veteran comics editor who also earned an Emmy nomination for his work in the company\u2019s forays in animation, has been named Marvel\u2019s new editor-in-chief, replacing outgoing chief C.B. Cebulski, who had steered the division since 2017. Cebulski will still remain part of the family, however, as he will be moving to Japan to spearhead the company\u2019s push into manga, among others things, as editor, Asia originals.<\/p>\n

\n\tBoth changes are meant to reinvigorate the comic book side of the company, which has been overshadowed in recent years by the success of Marvel\u2019s movies, and by a creative slump that saw it lose its position as comics market share leader for the first time this century. Marvel chief Kevin Feige\u2019s installing of the new leadership and the relocation of its comics side to Disney\u2019s Burbank base represents a long-term investment in what he believes underpins the source of Marvel\u2019s storytelling.<\/p>\n

\n\tPresiding over the town hall were Feige and the publishing unit\u2019s new leaders, Marvel\u2019s head of television, animation, comics and franchise Brad Winderbaum and David Abdo, newly installed as general manager, comics and franchise.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis move will position the team beside our broader creative organization and create opportunities for collaboration across both Marvel and Disney,\u201d stated Winderbaum and Abdo in a letter that was sent companywide after the town hall and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. \u201cBringing our comics, film, television, and other creative teams together will help us learn from one another, collaborate, and build on the strengths that make Marvel the true House of Ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe move to California is seismic. New York City is considered the birth place of the comic book industry and the company\u2019s earlier incarnations, Timely Comics and Altas Comics, were headquartered on 42nd Street. New York is where most of Marvel\u2019s classic creators, including Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, resided. It is also where most of its key heroes \u2013 the Fantastic Four, the Avengers \u2013 lived; Spider-Man is perhaps the most New York hero of them all.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe move also now leaves the Empire City without a major comic publisher. Rival DC left town in 2015 for Warner Bros.\u2019 Burbank batcave. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe decision to move had been months in the making. For one, the current New York office lease at its Avenue of the Americas location is set to expire next year, which made a relocation decision necessary. But the company also sought to explore the idea of combining all of Marvel\u2019s businesses in one city, something that had not occurred since before Disney bought the company in 2009.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen the new Marvel Comics leadership came on board in May, it began meeting with staff in the New York office to assess the feasibility of such a combination.\u00a0As part of that process, they conducted an audit of where comic creators are based.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd where once most creators lived in the Tri-State area, today\u2019s creator community is global. And among the U.S.-based contingent, more are located in California than in New York.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNew York has played a huge part in who Marvel is as a company, and in the pages of our comics,\u201d wrote Winderbaum and Abdo in their company letter. \u201cWhile our network of writers and artists is now an international operation, New York is still woven into our DNA and that will never change. Our colleagues in New York have helped shape generations of stories and characters, and their contributions to Marvel\u2019s legacy cannot be overstated.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMarvel is now seeking to have all of the New York based employees of the comics and franchise group, just over 100 people, relocate to California by July 2027. Marvel will begin hosting orientation sessions for those employees and their families beginning next week.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe sincerely hope they choose to continue that journey with us in California,\u201d wrote Winderbaum and Abdo. \u201cWe are committed to supporting every affected employee throughout this transition, which will take place over the next 12 months.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong those joining the Burbank headquarters will be Wacker, who is making his Marvel return after leaving the company in the early 2020s to lead Jonathan Hickman\u2019s worldbuilding project 3W3M and then co-founding the entertainment studio Stone\u00a0Kite.<\/p>\n

\n\tA beloved editor with strong talent relationships, Wacker spent over fifteen years at Marvel, overseeing Spider-Man comic runs that included the best-selling \u201cBrand New Day\u201d and \u201cSuperior Spider-Man\u201d eras. He was also editor on Daredevil\u00a0and\u00a0Hawkeye when those titles won Eisner Awards and was involved in the introduction of\u00a0Kamala\u00a0Khan, also known as Ms. Marvel.<\/p>\n

\n\tWacker also has extensive experience across Marvel\u2019s animation, television and digital media divisions. Among other things, he co-produced the Emmy-nominated\u00a0Rocket & Groot\u00a0animated series in 2017 and also executive produced the successful\u00a0Wastelanders\u00a0audio series for Marvel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tCebulski leaves as the third longest tenured editor-in-chief in Marvel\u2019s nearly 90-year history. He recently oversaw the relaunch of the Ultimate Universe and was involved in the \u201cKrakoan Age\u201d of X-Men comics. The editor has strong ties to Japan and spearheaded a manga partnership with Shonen Jump, creating titles like\u00a0Deadpool Samurai\u00a0and\u00a0Spider-Man: Octo-Girl.<\/p>\n

\n\tWacker will report to Winderbaum, while Cebulski will\u00a0be part of Wacker\u2019s global leadership team.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe full memo to staff is below:<\/p>\n

\n\tTeam,<\/p>\n

We just wrapped a town hall with the team in New York and wanted to share some important Marvel Comics and Franchise news with everyone.<\/p>\n

As we look toward the future, we\u2019ve made the decision to relocate the Comics and Franchise division to Marvel\u2019s central headquarters in Burbank, California. This move will position the team beside our broader creative organization and create opportunities for collaboration across both Marvel and Disney. Our goal is simple: to continue to make the best comic books in the business. Bringing our comics, film, television, and other creative teams together will help us learn from one another, collaborate, and build on the strengths that make Marvel the true House of Ideas.<\/p>\n

New York has played a huge part in who Marvel is as a company, and in the pages of our comics. While our network of writers and artists is now an international operation, New York is still woven into our DNA and that will never change. Our colleagues in New York have helped shape generations of stories and characters, and their contributions to Marvel\u2019s legacy cannot be overstated. We sincerely hope they choose to continue that journey with us in California. We are committed to supporting every affected employee throughout this transition, which will take place over the next 12 months.<\/p>\n

We also announced today that Stephen Wacker has been named Marvel Comics\u2019 new Editor-in-Chief. Many of you know Stephen from his years at Marvel between 2006 and 2022. He is a tremendous editor, a passionate advocate for creators, and someone who deeply understands that Marvel Comics is the source code of our entire enterprise. Stephen will be at SDCC and will officially join us in Burbank the week of\u00a0July 27\u00a0before spending time in New York the first week of August. We\u2019re excited for everyone who doesn\u2019t know him to get to know him.<\/p>\n

At the same time, longtime Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski will be stepping into a new role overseeing APAC-originated graphic fiction and manga, based in Japan. This opportunity reflects both C.B.\u2019s passion for the medium and the tremendous potential we see in that space. We\u2019re deeply grateful for his leadership, partnership, and stewardship of the Marvel line over the past decade and are fortunate to have him spearheading this new endeavor for us.<\/p>\n

We know this has been a year of significant change for Marvel. Through all of it, this team has continued to show up with creativity, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to great storytelling. That commitment is the foundation of everything we do, and it\u2019s what will carry us into this next chapter.<\/p>\n

For our New York colleagues, we\u2019ll be sharing additional details very soon, and we\u2019re available to answer questions and support you through the transition.<\/p>\n

Thank you for everything you do for Marvel and for the fans we serve.<\/p>\n

Brad & David<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After calling the Big Apple home for almost 90 years, Marvel Comics is moving out of New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":766754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[88,24783],"class_list":["post-766753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-marvel-comics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/766754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}