SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2026
The best panels at New York Comic Con don't just show footage — they rearrange the next three years of your watchlist. Thursday on the Empire Stage, Marvel Television and Animation did exactly that. Brad Winderbaum, Marvel's Head of Television, Animation, Comics and Franchise, led the presentation, with Brandon Davis moderating and Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Stephen Wacker opening with comics news. The haul: a brand-new live-action spy thriller called Zodiac, three more Halloween Marvel Zombies specials stretching to 2029, a room-only look at X-Men '97 Season 3, the Defenders together again — and a surprise screening of the first episode of VisionQuest, four days before it premieres on Disney+.
That's a stacked panel by any measure. Let's take it piece by piece.
VisionQuest's surprise screening stole the show
The panel closed with the weekend's most anticipated MCU television event. Paul Bettany, James Spader, showrunner Terry Matalas, Ruaridh Mollica and Emily Hampshire took the stage to talk about Vision's next chapter and his complicated relationship with Ultron — then Marvel surprised the room by screening the first episode outright, a full four days before anyone else can watch it.
The story, as Marvel framed it at the panel: Vision navigating a new existence while evading those who would weaponize his programming. And the stakes are bigger than one android's identity crisis. Bettany confirmed the series concludes the trilogy that began with WandaVision in 2021 and continued in Agatha All Along — which makes this the closing chapter of one of the most emotionally ambitious storylines Marvel has ever told on television.
Matalas teased that the series brings in Vision's whole artificial-intelligence family tree: F.R.I.D.A.Y., E.D.I.T.H., Dum-E, U and an older form of J.A.R.V.I.S. — the code Vision himself is based on. That detail alone tells you what kind of show this is: a story about an artificial being digging into the architecture of his own mind, with the MCU's most iconic killer robot waiting at the other end of the tunnel.
The first reactions are glowing
Reactions were shared once Marvel's embargo lifted at 5:45 p.m. ET Thursday — from con-goers who saw only the premiere and journalists who had seen more of the season — and the consensus was overwhelmingly positive. Nexus Point News called the series "a worthy successor to 'WandaVision,'" saying it sometimes feels like a "love letter to Wanda Maximoff," and praised its exploration of love, grief, generational trauma and identity. Agents of Fandom's TJ Zwarych said the chemistry between Bettany and Spader is "off the charts," described the show as an Easter egg-filled mystery, and singled out Emily Hampshire as a sneaky all-star. JoBlo called it a "full-circle moment for the MCU on Disney+," and some early viewers went further, calling it Marvel's best TV show of the year.
VisionQuest premieres on Disney+ on October 14 with its first two episodes, with new episodes rolling out weekly through November — landing just weeks before Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18. If you've been waiting for the MCU's small screen to feel essential again, the calendar is finally cooperating. (While you wait for Wednesday, here's what's streaming this weekend.)
Zodiac: the panel's biggest mystery
The panel opened with the one announcement nobody saw coming. Winderbaum revealed the official title and logo for Zodiac and confirmed it is a live-action "spy thriller" — and that is genuinely all Marvel would share. The series is in development and casting now, with filming beginning in 2027 and a Disney+ debut set for 2028.
What can you do with a title and a logo? Quite a bit, actually. Marvel's espionage lane is one of the richest in the business — from Captain America: The Winter Soldier to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to Secret Invasion — and the logo reveal already has fans guessing at connections to Marvel's long history of espionage stories. A new live-action spy series in 2028 suggests Marvel Television is betting that lane has life left in it. Casting news should be the next big piece of the puzzle, and this is the title we'll be watching most closely. It was one of several mystery reveals lighting up the convention this weekend — Prime Video's Bloodaxe teaser set the tone on Friday, and Marvel made sure it owned Thursday.
Marvel Zombies becomes a Halloween institution
Marvel Animation is turning Marvel Zombies into a Halloween tradition. Three new event specials, each told in two parts, are on the way: Marvel Zombies: The Winter Soldier arrives for Halloween 2027, Marvel Zombies: The Fist of Khonshu follows in 2028, and Marvel Zombies: The Last Guardian closes out the trio in 2029.
Winderbaum would not say who the Last Guardian is — only that the reveal is "very, very exciting." He shared that the team is about halfway through animatics and joked that Disney+ lets them get away with plenty of gore. That's the right instinct: appointment-viewing horror every October gives Marvel Animation something no other corner of the MCU calendar has — a holiday that belongs to it.
The animation slate: Spider-Man swings back, X-Men '97 teases a wedding
Showrunner Jeff Trammell presented an exclusive look at Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2, which debuts on Disney+ on January 13, 2027, alongside a brand-new poster. Hudson Thames returns as the voice of Peter Parker, and the new season brings fresh threats — plus a very familiar black symbiote suit. Trammell explained the shift between seasons: in Season 1, Peter was still learning how to be Spider-Man; in Season 2, he's ready for the job, though he still needs a little help sometimes.
Fans in the room — more than 3,000 of them — also got an exclusive first look at X-Men '97 Season 3 that was not released online. The footage teased the return of the Brotherhood of Mutants and wedding bells for Gambit and Rogue, a moment longtime fans have waited decades to see. Season 3 premieres in 2027, Marvel confirmed a fourth season is already planned, and Winderbaum admitted one episode in particular made him emotional. The animation wing of the MCU is not filling gaps between movies anymore. It's carrying its own calendar.
The Defenders get their curtain call
This was the moment the crowd lost it. Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter and Finn Jones took the stage together to show exclusive new footage from Daredevil: Born Again's next season — which Marvel says will be the third and final season when it debuts in 2027. Mike Colter was unable to attend because of a last-minute scheduling conflict, but his castmates said he sent his regards.
Seeing Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones and Danny Rand back together on one stage is something fans of the original Netflix shows never thought would happen, and it sets up a big finish for Hell's Kitchen. For the horror crowd at the con, The Exorcist: Martyrs full trailer delivered the weekend's scariest moments — but for Marvel loyalists, this reunion was the emotional peak.
The full slate now runs: VisionQuest October 14, 2026; Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2 January 13, 2027; X-Men '97 Season 3 and Daredevil: Born Again's final season in 2027; Marvel Zombies: The Winter Soldier at Halloween 2027; Zodiac and Fist of Khonshu in 2028; The Last Guardian in 2029. NYCC runs through Sunday — here's our guide to everything left on the Saturday schedule — and if Thursday's panel is any indication, the weekend still has surprises in it.
