Marvel is known for its bold storytelling, with a mix of big blockbuster events and grounded, personal affairs. The publisher knows how to keep readers on their toes, while also teasing what it has in the pipeline. A special one-shot to close out the year has foreshadowed the following year’s biggest storylines, and the latest version came in Timeslide #1. The team up featuring the X-Men time travelers Cable and Bishop gave glimpses at what’s in store for 2026, but there was one scene that laid out what’s to come.
Cable and Bishop encountered Bronze, one of the new mutants Kitty Pryde is training in Exceptional X-Men. Bronze showed Cable and Bishop a list of events that have already occured in her timeline, but have yet to take place in theirs. The list is long, but it teases many of the storylines that will presumably take place in various books throughout 2025.
We’ve done the dirty work for you and pulled ten of the events teased in Timeslide #1 that Marvel fans will want to pay attention to this year. They range from new status quos for Doctor Doom and Danny Rand’s Iron Fist, to the return of old villains and new threats rising to the surface. Make sure to let us know your thoughts as you make your way through the list, and let us know which ones you’re most excited about reading.
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Doctor Strange undergoes an identity crisis after losing the title of Sorcerer Supreme to Doctor Doom. Fans have wondered what will come of Stephen Strange, but Marvel revealed the mystical hero will head to the magical world of Asgard in a new ongoing series. Doctor Strange of Asgard is by writer Derek Landy and artist Carlos Magno, and finds Doctor Strange attempting to become the Sorcerer Supreme of Asgard.
Strange will become embroiled in a deadly power struggle and murder mystery that will bring him into conflict with Loki, Thor, and the other sorcerers of the Golden Realm. Marvel promises that long-hidden secrets of Asgardian myth will be uncovered in the series.
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At first glance, this prognostication doesn’t offer many clues, but fans may have gotten an answer in the first issue of Deadpool/Wolverine. The mystery X-Men villain that writer Benjamin Percy had been teasing to make a comeback turned out to be Stryfe, Cable’s evil clone. Stryfe manipulates Deadpool throughout the debut issue, and the comic also alludes to Stryfe having a part to play in Deadpool and Wolverine’s past.
Fans got a primer on Cable’s history in the first season of X-Men ’97, as the son of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor (Jean Grey’s clone) got sent to the future so he could get treatment for the techno-organic virus ravaging his body. After the hit success of Deadpool & Wolverine, the team-up comic that brings the two X-Men characters together against the time-traveling villain will be a can’t-miss title.
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The name of this teaser is partially blocked in Timeslide #1, but we’re going to assume it’s referring to the Spider-Verse and its upcoming war with the Venomverse. Marvel’s multiverse has exploded in recent years in titles like Edge of Spider-Verse and Venomverse Reborn. That trend will continue in Web of Spider-Verse: New Blood and Web of Venomverse: Fresh Brains, all leading up to the event series Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse.
Web of Spider-Verse: New Blood and Web of Venomverse: Fresh Brains will continue to introduce new Spider characters and Lethal Protectors as the guardians of the Web of Life and Destiny collide with the Symbiote Hive-Mind.
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Danny Rand died in Iron Fist 50th Anniversary Special #1, but his resurrection was already hinted at thanks to a QR-coded bonus scene. After having his arm and leg cut off and killed by the blade-handed assassin Razor Fist — possessed by the mystical creature named Ch’i-Lin — a skeletal hand burst through Rand’s gravesite, alluding that the Immortal Iron First would rise again.
What form Danny Rand takes upon his resurrection remains to be seen. Will he be a new Spirit of Vengeance a la Ghost Rider, or instead of being the Iron Fist, will he simply be called the Ghost Fist?
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In X-Men lore, “Second Genesis” refers to Professor X’s second team of X-Men with fan favorites like Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus. What it means for Ms. Marvel is a mystery for now, though there are some guesses we can take. Similar to Cyclops, could we see Ms. Marvel leading a new team of X-Men after another team disbands? Ms. Marvel is already the lead in NYX, but perhaps a Second Genesis title replaces that one.
There’s also the possibility that Ms. Marvel experiences a second mutation of some kind. The conclusion of Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant teased changes to her powers, as her mutant powers never manifested because of her exposure to the Inhuman Terrigen Mist. “Second Genesis” may see those mutant powers explode.
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At the beginning of the year, we will see the Marvel Universe under the reign of Doctor Doom in “One World Under Doom.” But what does the latter half of the year hold for Marvel fans? We may find out in “The Will of Doom.”
“One World Under Doom” has to conclude at some point, and it’s not like things will simply go back to the way they were before Doctor Doom stole the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme. Doom has plans on top of plans, and if Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are somehow able to get the upper hand, he will surely enact them. “The Will of Doom” could become the next act in Marvel’s Doctor Doom resurgence.
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We’ve had Avengers vs. X-Men and Inhumans vs. X-Men, but now we’re apparently getting XVX. You would have thought that’s what the X-Men event “Raid on Graymalkin” is about, but that might be the prelude to an even bigger X-Men civil war coming down the line. Heroes fighting heroes has always been a money-making recipe, so it’s not a surprise to see a tease for another throwdown on the horizon.
We know X-Manhunt is coming in March, and it finds Charles Xavier on the run as the most dangerous mutant in the world. Again the X-Men will have to choose a side, whether it’s in favor of their former mentor, or against him for his crimes against mutant-kind at the end of the Krakoan era.
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One of the more mysterious entries deals with the assassination of galactic leaders. There are several leaders of galactic nations, including Emperor Hulkling ruling over the combined Kree and Skrull races. If the leaders of these different empires are killed, it could send the galaxy into chaos. The cosmic side of the Marvel Universe continues to grow and expand, and an event like this will only help to raise its profile.
Marvel has teased a new secret project from Jonathan Hickman with the title Imperial. Galactic leaders are very similar to imperials, meaning this may be the project Jonathan Hickman is working on. “Nature abhors a vacuum” is another clue that points to a galactic assassination. If these leaders were truly killed, then that would leave a vacuum of power open for opportunists to exploit. The only question is who are the executioners and who are the assassinated?
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Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe was one of the highlights of 2024, and as we move on to Year 2 it appears that a crossover of some form is upon us. Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch kicked off the Ultimate Universe 2.0 in Ultimate Invasion, and soon we’ll have Ultimate Incursion.
Hickman introduced readers to incursions in the lead-up to 2015’s Secret Wars, with different worlds colliding and destroying themselves. We’ve also had incursions name-dropped in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as the Multiverse Saga plays out in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ultimate Incursion could be a crossover between the Ultimate Universe and the Earth-616 universe.
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It’s all about Doctor Doom in 2025. Robert Downey Jr. is portraying Victor Von Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and Doctor Doom is now the Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe. “One World Under Doom” is the first big publishing event of the year, and there will be several tie-ins and limited series spinning out of the storyline. There is also a One World Under Doom title that finds Marvel’s heroes responding to Doctor Doom declaring himself Emperor Doom.
ComicBook spoke to One World Under Doom writer Ryan North to find out all the details, including Doom’s opening salvo and some of the big confrontations to come, such as Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four, and the one character Doom turns to for advice.
Marvel has some big things planned for 2025, and ComicBook is running down the 10 biggest storylines we can’t wait to see play out this year. Read More