Marvel and DC’s cinematic journeys may have been a bit bumpy during 2024 yet, without a doubt, there were pleasant and shocking surprises on the small screen.
In both comic book adaptations and original stories, 2024 was an extraordinary year for superhero TV shows. In addition to live-action series like Superman & Lois, Agatha All Along and The Penguin, viewers were also treated to brilliant animated series like X-Men ’97 and Batman: Caped Crusader.
The good news is that this TV offering promises to continue in 2025.
From Daredevil: Born Again to Peacemaker to Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, 2025 is shaping up to be a particularly exciting year. And, without further ado, these are the most anticipated, inventive and daring superhero series for the next 12 months.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Disney+ | Season Premiere | Release date: Wednesday, January 29
Created by: Jeff Trammell
Starring: Hudson Thames, Colman Domingo, Eugene Byrd, Grace Song, Zeno Robinson, Hugh Dancy, Charlie Cox
If there’s one thing the creators of the MCU love, it’s alternate universes, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man imagines Peter Parker’s journey as we’ve never seen it before.
First announced in 2021, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is an animated series that follows Peter Parker on his path to becoming a hero. The series explores an alternate timeline within the multiverse in which Norman Osborn becomes Spidey’s (Hudson Thames) mentor instead of Tony Stark.
In it, viewers will get to see new versions of characters they know and love, such as Norman Osborn and Daredevil, as well as a new origin for the web-slinger.
Daredevil: Born Again
Disney + | Season Premiere | Release date: Tuesday, March 4
Created by: Dario Scardapane, Christopher Ord, Matthew Corman
Starring: Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Margarita Levieva, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Zabryna Guevara
Daredevil: Born Again will be the MCU’s thirteenth series, and the second project centered on the iconic character.
For those who haven’t seen the superhero show yet, here’s a brief review: Daredevil premiered on Netflix in 2015, and it was the injection of energy that the MCU needed. Now, ten years later, the original series is reborn and back on the small screen.
The new Disney+ fiction will not only continue the plot of Netflix’s Daredevil series, but also builds on recent appearances by Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and Kingpin (Vincent D’Noforio) in productions, such as Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Hawkeye (2021), She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) and Echo (2024).
The official synopsis for Daredevil: Born Again reads:
“Matt Murdock (Cox), a blind lawyer with heightened abilities is fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk (D’Onofrio) pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course.”
Along with Cox and D’Onofrio, Daredevil: Born Again brings back Jon Bernthal as the Punisher; Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page; Elden Henson as Franklin “Foggy” Nelson; Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Marianna; and Wilson Bethel as Poindexter.
The Disney+ story will even feature other notable characters such as Bullseye, Muse and White Tiger.
Ironheart
Disney + | Season Premiere | Release date: Tuesday, June 24
Created by: Chinaka Hodge
Starring: Dominique Thorne, Anthony Ramos, Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam, Anji White
Get ready to enjoy Ironheart in her own Disney+ series!
It’s been four years since Ironheart was announced and three since audiences first met Riri Williams (Dominique Thorn) in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. If you need a brief primer to get you up to speed: Riri Williams debuted in the 2016 comic Invincible Iron Man Vol. 2 #7.
This story begins when the teenage breakthrough ends up creating her own Ironheart suit and receives official sponsorship from Tony Stark himself, who in turn gives her a definitive boost among superheroes.
While the MCU’s Ironheart series won’t be entirely faithful to the comics, Marvel’s storyline lays the groundwork for Riri to become a hero in her own right.
According to Marvel:
“Set after the events of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Marvel Television’s “Ironheart” pits technology against magic when Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne)-a young, genius inventor determined to make her mark on the world-returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins aka “The Hood” (Anthony Ramos).”
Ironheart consists of six episodes and will be the conclusion of Phase Five of the MCU.
Peacemaker
Max | Season 2 | Release date: August 2025
Created by: James Gunn
Starring: John Cena, Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Chukwudi Iwuji, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, Robert Patrick
Under the direction of the inventive James Gunn, Peacemaker is a superhero series spinoff of The Suicide Squad movie. The DC fiction follows the titular antihero played by John Cena, who joins a black ops squad in order to hunt down a parasitic alien species that is infecting Earth’s inhabitants.
Premiering in January 2022, Peacemaker received positive reviews from critics and DC fans alike, and earned several awards, including a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award.
While many plot details are still unknown, the new season of Peacemaker should continue to show John Cena’s anti-hero coming to grips with his past as Rick Flag Sr. enters the picture.
The second season is scheduled for August 2025 and fans are hoping it will be as deliciously entertaining, shocking and ultra-violent as the original installment. A spin-off series titled, Waller, is currently in development.
Marvel Zombies
Disney+ | Season Premiere | Release date: Friday, October 3
Created by: Zeb Wells
Starring: Awkwafina, David Harbour, Simu Liu, Elizabeth Olsen, Randall Park, Florence Pugh, Hailee Steinfeld, Dominique Thorne, Iman Vellani, Todd Williams
It’s certainly been a long time coming, but Marvel Zombies will see the light of day just in time for Halloween.
Marvel Zombies, the upcoming Disney+ animated series is set in an alternate timeline introduced in 2021 in an iconic episode of the show What If…?, and follows a group of survivors who must fight against former heroes and villains turned cannibalistic creatures.
Rated TV-MA, the fiction promises violent, apocalyptic and zombie action, marking a new direction for Marvel Studios as it moves into more “mature” content.
In an interview with Marvel, showrunner Bryan Andrews described the show as “hardcore,” explaining that “people die. And they die rough.” Marvel Zombies is definitely not meant for the faint of heart.
The show will consist of four episodes and will be part of Phase Six of the MCU.
Gen V
Amazon Prime Video | Season 2 | Release date: No release date announced
Created by: Michele Fazekas
Starring: Jaz Sinclair, Lizze Broadway, Maddie Phillips, London Thor, Derek Luh, Asa Germann, Patrick Schwarzenegger
Gen V, the spinoff of The Boys, returns for a second season. The Amazon Prime series follows the adventures of the eclectic students of Godolkin University, an institution specializing in superheroes. As fans of The Boys already know, the plot of this spinoff is quite a bit more nuanced than “a world where all superheroes are evil.”
So far there are no official storylines for the second season of Gen V, but one thing that seems pretty certain is that our heroes will be divided when the series returns. And the fact is, while Sam and Cate have joined Homelander’s army in full support of his ideology about “Supes” and ordinary humans. Jordan, Marie and Emma have ended up as prisoners of Vought.
It should be added that, during a panel at the San Diego Comic-Con 2024, the Gen V screenwriters announced that the second season would address the passing of Chance Perdomo’s character, “Andre”, providing some context on how they will deal with the actor’s tragic death within the fiction.