For a studio that has practically trademarked and mastered the art of comebacks, 2025 was billed as Marvel’s redemption arc. It was supposed to be the year the MCU shook off its post-Engdame fatigue, rediscovered its strengths, and proved it could still dominate pop culture and the superhero genre like it once did. The promise was always there. Fresh creative voices, risky storytelling formats, and multiple bold ventures into the multiverse. On paper, Marvel had all the ingredients for a reset button moment. The kind of comeback that could silence critics and give fans something to obsess over.
And for a while it looked like sparks were flying. Some projects teased a sharper, stranger, more self-aware MCU. For instance, Daredevil: Born Again hinted at a return to grounded, character-first storytelling, and Thunderbolts* flirted with the kind of moral complexity Marvel tends to avoid. A handful of characters felt alive again and some scenes had the kind of emotional punch MCU used to deliver effortlessly. There were genuine attempts to course-correct and creative gambles that suggested the franchise knew exactly what went wrong in recent years.
But ambition doesn’t always equal execution. Across theatrical releases and Disney+ series, 2025 became a year of near-misses. For every moment that hinted at a chance for comeback, another felt hollow, recycled, and disconnected from what audiences actually wanted. It made us wonder, was Marvel chasing nostalgia, trying to grow up, or simply desperate to prove it still mattered? Too often, it seemed like all three at once, but these failures weren’t lazy ones. They were fascinating in their intent and frustrating in their outcome.
6
Using Shock as Proof the MCU Could Still Be Bold
Marvel’s 2025 gamble with Marvel Zombies was easily one of its loudest attempts to prove that the franchise could still surprise audiences. The four-episode animated series, released on Disney+ on September 24, 2025, leaned hard into horror, gore, and the unsettling idea of beloved heroes twisted into flesh-hungry predators. Based on the cult-favorite comic arc, it promised a darker, more adult-oriented tone than anything Marvel had tried in animation before.
With Bryan Andrews as showrunner and Zeb Wells writing, the creative team clearly wanted to push boundaries, deliver gruesome transformations, and present bleak survival scenarios that contrasted Marvel’s usual pep-talk optimism. For a moment, it felt like Marvel was willing to embrace risks and step outside its comfort zone.
The problem is that shock alone doesn’t equal substance. Episode 1 made that clear in a chaotic battle where a zombified Carol Denvers kills Kate Bishop, while Riri Williams is bitten and ultimately sacrifices herself alongside F.R.I.D.A.Y. to save Kamala Khan. Instead of exploring the psychological toll of Kamala watching her friends fall, the show glorifies the spectacle. The imbalance is why Marvel Zombies proved to be a bold swing that fizzled.
5
Trying to Revive the MCU’s Political Edge
When Captain America: Brave New World premiered in February 2025, it was clear that Marvel wanted to capture the grounded, politically charged energy that made earlier entries like Falcon and The Winter Soldier resonate with fans. Sam Wilson’s first solo outing as Captain America explored themes of global instability, uneasy alliances, and the burden of leadership.
Much of the movie’s tension came from Sam navigating his role as a symbol of hope while working alongside President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who was played incredibly well by Harrison Ford, whose agenda became complicated when he eventually transformed into Red Hulk. The plot basically set up a world teetering on the edge of conflict and wove diplomatic intrigue into the superhero action. On paper, this was Marvel’s classic attempt to prove that the MCU could still be topical and relevant.
The problem was that the ambition never translated into the impact Marvel was aiming for. A pivotal sequence where Ross’s transformation into Red Hulk destabilizes international negotiations should have been a turning point, but it felt more like a plot device than a thematic statement. While Anthony Mackie brought sincerity to the role, Sam’s moral dilemmas remained under-explored. Compared to The Winter Soldier, where government overreach drove the story, Brave New World barely skimmed the surface of its own setup, which is why the result was not as complex and urgent as it could have been.
4
Worldbuilding Without Momentum
Marvel’s Eyes of Wakanda, which debuted on Disney+ on August 1, 2025, was one of the studio’s most ambitious animated experiments of the year. Structured as a four-episode anthology, it centers on the covert missions of Wakanda’s Hatut Zeraze warriors across centuries, where they are each tasked with retrieving vibranium artifacts scattered across the globe.
With Ryan Coogler attached as executive producer and Todd Harris serving as showrunner, the project had a lot of prestige. Its sweeping historical premise and globe-trotting adventures gave Wakanda’s lore the kind of depth that live-action MCU entries never could. Visually striking and narratively loud, it was positioned as more than just a side story. It was meant to touch on the idea of heritage, continuity, and the significance of vibranium in the MCU.
However, despite its richness, Eyes of Wakanda struggled to generate the kind of momentum that would make it feel essential to the MCU’s larger trajectory in 2025. A standout moment in the finale, where the Hatut Zeraze secure a vibranium relic tied directly to the Black Panther legacy, should have been a game-changer, but it only reinforced Wakanda’s past without altering the present or future stakes of the franchise.
3
Betting on Antiheroes to Feel Dangerous Again
Pitched as the MCU’s big antihero experiment, Marvel’s Thunderbolts* made it to the theaters in the U.S. on May 2, 2025. It was a movie that would finally break from the polished, team-of-heroes formula and embrace something messier. Directed by Jake Schreier, it brought together a roster of morally ambiguous figures – Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, John Walker, Taskmaster, Ghost, and Red Guardian – all under the watchful eye of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.
Instead of another Avengers-style lineup, the setup gave audiences a crew of operatives and ex-villains whose loyalties were shaky at best. The movie even opens with Yelena destroying a covert lab tied to the O.X.E. Group’s “Sentry” project. This was Marvel’s chance to feel dangerous, to play with unpredictability, but that danger never fully materialized. A mid-film sequence where the team fractures over Valentina’s manipulations should have made the “antihero” message louder and edgier, yet the fallout was quickly softened. Even the Sentry project threat was neutralized without lasting consequences.
2
Appealing Directly to Netflix-Era Fans
Carrying the weight of enormous expectations, Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again arrived on Disney+ on March 4, 2025. For many fans, Netflix-era Daredevil series had set a high bar with its gritty street-level storytelling, morally flawed characters, and raw fight choreography. The revival stuck to that legacy. It brought back Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, wove in familiar faces like Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page and Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson.
In its best moments, Born Again felt like Marvel acknowledging that fans still craved the texture and danger of those earlier adaptations, and while it delivered flashes of that energy through tense courtroom drama and brutal alleyway encounters, the revival never fully committed to the jagged edges that defined its predecessor.
A perfect example is the midseason arc where Fisk maneuvers his way into political power and bans masked vigilantes in New York. The storyline had potential to echo the paranoia and systematic critique of earlier MCU outings, but the tension was resolved with a cleaner rhythm with little impact. The fights were insane, the performances were strong, yet the grit and ambiguity that once made Daredevil feel thrilling were dialed back just enough to keep things broadly accessible. So, Daredevil: Born Again wasn’t a failure, but it also wasn’t the uncompromising return to form fans hoped for.
1
Turning Nostalgia Into a Reset Button
Marvel kicked off 2025 with Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, a 10‑episode animated series that streamed on Disney+ from January 29 to February 19. It told the story of Peter Parker’s early days, reimagining his origin story in an alternate timeline where Norman Osborn mentors him instead of Tony Stark. The creative team, including Jeff Trammell as head writer and Mel Zwyer as supervising director, opted for a style that was deliberately comic book-like, complete with bright animation, youthful energy, and light tone.
The series was clearly designed to remind audiences of Spider-Man’s core appeal, which is emotional growth and a love for heroism. In a year when Marvel was determined to reset, this nostalgic framing seemed like a well-thought attempt to reconnect with something simple and beloved. But the same nostalgia turned out to be the series’ limitation.
A mid-season storyline where Peter struggles with Osborn’s manipulative mentorship had the potential to take the narrative into a bold new territory. Instead, it only fleshed out the same old beats of trust, betrayal, and redemption that echoed past Spider-Man. Even the finale, which tied Peter’s journey back to vibranium lore and broader MCU threads, was just a reference and not a forward push.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
