“VisionQuest” is on the way and “Daredevil: Born Again” will soon come to an end, but Marvel’s live-action TV series are here to stay, with some new animation on the way as well.
At New York Comic-Con on Tuesday, Marvel Television announced three new “Marvel Zombies” specials set to release over the next three years: “The Winter Soldier” in 2027, “The Fist of Khonshu” (a reference to the vigilante Moon Knight) in 2028 and “The Last Guardian” (adopting the “Guardians of the Galaxy” font) in 2029. The first special will release Halloween 2027.
Marvel Television also shared a new logo for “Zodiac,” a live-action spy thriller series that was recently announced to be in development. The logo, which shares some of the iconography of the Marvel spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D., seems to support speculation that the show will in some way adapt Jonathan Hickman’s comic “Secret Warriors.” “Zodiac” will release in 2028.
Hickman’s “Secret Warriors” preceded the writer’s iconic runs on “Fantastic Four,” “Avengers” and “New Avengers” (all of which culminated in “Secret Wars” with Esad Ribić, providing the basis for “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars”). That book, as well as Hickman’s “S.H.I.E.L.D.” comics, incorporated Zodiac iconography (and Leonardo da Vinci) into an epic spy story about Nick Fury uniting a group of superpowered individuals in a fight against Hydra and over villains. Elements of this story were previously adapted in “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” with Daisy Johnson/Quake (played in that show by Chloe Bennet) as a main character.
So could “Zodiac” continue the “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” legacy? Will Samuel L. Jackson return as Nick Fury for this new show? All of this remains to be seen.
Some MCU fans questioned the longevity of the franchise’s live-action television branch, as “VisionQuest” seemingly marked the end of the old Disney+ model of streaming series. The only non-animated show slated to release after that series was the third season of “Daredevil: Born Again” — something of an outlier in the franchise as it follows up on the “Daredevil” Netflix series and that side universe of shows.
But Marvel announced in late September that “Born Again’s” third season — set to reintroduce several characters from Netflix’s “Defenders” universe — would be its last. At the same time, audiences learned that a new spy thriller series was in development under the working title “Zodiac.”
Fans’ concerns were increased when Marvel, which had previously announced a second season of “Wonder Man,” uncommitted to a follow-up for the critically acclaimed series starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley. This reversal came after Abdul-Mateen scored an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. It was the first time an MCU series got a lead acting nod at the Emmys since Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany got Limited Series nominations for “WandaVision.”
