Things are always happening in the Marvel Universe, and a lot’s been happening as of late. Doctor Doom’s taken over the planet and there’s been some big assassinations up in space, and they’re both leading to some new status quo changes over the rest of 2025 and into 2026.
At its various panels across San Diego Comic-Con, the publisher gave details on what’s to come in the aftermath of its two big, current events, Imperial and One World Under Doom. In the pages of Doom’s final issue in November, the evil Doctor will make sure to turn his victory over Earth’s heroes into a fixed point in time, which also means his defeat is just as fixed, too. This will lead us into what looks like a hunt for the new Sorcerer Supreme since Doom’s apparently vacated the spot. Our candidates include the likes of Storm, Nico Minoru, and Captain Marvel, and the succession process will begin in December.
Space-wise, Imperial will end its four-part story in October. In its wake is a number of new cosmic-focused books, two of which were fully revealed: Planet She-Hulk from Stephanie Phillips and Aaron Kuder picks up with Jess still stuck on Sakaar and running things after promising to rule over it in Hulk’s absence. And in Nova: Centurion, Jed McKay and Álvaro López pick up with Richard Rider as a drifter holding a sentient repository of the now extinct Xandarians. That repository requires a lot of energy and money, and that means Rich has to make some cash while reeling from knowing the “terrible lie that the new Galactic Union was built upon.”
Both books will be followed by Black Panther: Intergalactic in December, then Exiles and Imperial Guardians in winter 2026. The premises and creative teams for those will be revealed in the coming months.
Over in Ultimate Marvel, that universe’s heroes will see their first big event in Ultimate Endgame. Announced prior to SDCC, the five-issue miniseries Deniz Camp, Jonas Scharf, and other artists sees the Maker (Reed Richards) finally come out of his prison to find the heroes that’ve cropped up in his absence. Now that he’s freed, it falls to the Ultimates, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Mei, and Wolverine to gather thier allies and fight for their world. During the Ultimate Marvel panel, Camp said the event “has a bigger impact than most people will know” on the main and Ultimate universes, and further likened it to Crisis on Infinite Earths before Jonathan Hickman cheekily corrected him with Secret Wars.
Before Ultimate Endgame begins on New Year’s Eve, Hickman and Marco Checchetto’s Ultimate Spider-Man will wrap after a two-year run on Christmas Eve. (The other books, such as Ultimate Black Panther and Ultimate X-Men, don’t have final issues set at time of writing.) However, this isn’t the complete end, as Marvel’s promised that book will “create promising roadmaps for future storytelling.” What awaits the Ultimate universe after things go down in Endgame will have to wait until 2026 draws closer.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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