The beginning of a new year is a time of optimism, renewal, and thinking about the future. Strangely enough, these ideas also lie at the core of the superhero genre, where few people stay dead and the future is rewritten on a regular basis. To that end, let us look to the future, and what Comic Books due out sometime in 2026 have built up the most buzz.
Iron Man (2026) #1
Writer Joshua Williamson has been a major influence at DC Comics over the past decade. He has had lengthy runs on The Flash, Green Arrow, and Superman. He has also helped shape the new Energon Universe alongside Robert Kirkman and Daniel Warren Johnson. However, 2026 will see Williamson writing for Marvel Comics for the first time, teaming with artist Carmen Carnero on the latest volume of Iron Man.
Years ago, when death was staring him in the face, Tony Stark created a weapon to save his life. Since then, he has redesigned and rebuilt his Iron Man armor to save the lives of others. Yet three questions still haunt Tony. What happens the next time he faces death? What will he build to save himself then? And what if someone beats him to building that next weapon? These questions will lie at the heart of the new Iron Man series, as Madame Masque, leading a rejuvenated Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM), sets out to do just that.
“I am a huge Iron Man fan, Williamson shared. “A massive Iron Man fan… and I knew it was time. I absolutely had to do this, Part of our tagline for this book is that Tony Stark is the most dangerous weapon in the Marvel Universe. When he went into the cave, Tony built the armor… but after I thought about it more, the armor wasn’t what he built in the cave. Tony built Tony.”
Iron Man #1 releases on January 28, 2026.
X-Men United #1
Some complain that the recent X-Men comic books have gone far afield from the original concept of a school for gifted youngsters. While some of Marvel’s Mutant heroes do still concern themselves with educating the next generation, most of the X-Men line has devolved into generic superheroics. A new series, X-Men United, aims to restore that classic mission.
Written by Eve L. Ewing, with art by Tiago Palma, X-Men United will introduce Greymatter Lane as a shared psychic space. Overseen by White Queen Emma Frost, the new school will allow Mutants from all over the world to learn and teach in safety and secrecy. The named roster of instructors includes Wolverine, Beast, Prodigy, and Magneto.
However, not all of the Mutant community thinks Greymatter Lane is a good idea. Chief among the opposition is Cyclops, who has gone from Xavier’s prize pupil to chief critic in recent years. Beyond that, there is a hidden menace, who would prefer Earth’s Mutants stay separated, as they are now.
X-Men United #1 releases on March 11, 2026.
Superman/Spider-Man and Spider-Man/Superman
Perhaps the single most shocking piece of comic book news in 2025 was the announcement of more publishing partnerships between Marvel and DC. The Big Two of American comics once published crossover comic books on a fairly regular basis until 2003’s JLA/Avengers. The tradition was revived this past year with twin Batman/Deadpool and Deadpool/Batman one-shots. Successful as these were, however, the upcoming Superman/Spider-Man and Spider-Man/Superman anthologies may surpass them both.
DC’s Superman/Spider-Man #1 will release first, on March 25, 2026. Marvel’s Spider-Man/Superman will release sometime in April 2026. No details have been confirmed about the later one-shot. However, it has been revealed that Superman/Spider-Man will be entirely focused on the Superman family. This is a big difference from the 2025 crossovers, which featured stories teaming various Marvel and DC characters.
The main story by Mark Waid and Jorge Jiménez will find Peter Parker and Clark Kent investigating the same story for their respective papers. Their alter egos will join forces when they find Doctor Octopus and Brainiac are also working together to conquer Earth. The anthology will also feature stories teaming Lois Lane with Mary Jane Watson, and the staffs of The Daily Bugle and The Daily Planet fighting for a story.
Green Lantern #600
2026 is shaping up to be a big year for the Green Lantern Corps. The upcoming Lanterns series is generating a lot of buzz, but the comics are not to be outdone. However, after reviving the various colors of Corps in 2025, DC is shifting focus to more personal stories with the 600th monthly issue of Green Lantern.
One of the biggest changes in the current series has been the dynamic between Hal Jordan and on-again/off-again love interest Carol Ferris. The two rekindled their romance, with Carol regaining her love-powered Star Sapphire ring and joining the Justice League. However, one of the covers for Green Lantern #600 teases that the two may be getting another pair of rings. This is a rather big deal, given Hal’s infamous commitment issues.
The bigger story, however, involves a multi-layered homecoming. Kyle Rayner, one-time White Lantern and Torchbearer of the Green Lantern Corps, will return to his homeworld and become the primary Green Lantern of Earth. The story setting up this change will be produced by Kyle Rayner’s co-creators, writer Ron Marz and artist Darryl Banks. This long-awaited milestone issue arrives in comic shops on March 25, 2025.
Absolute Green Arrow
DC’s new Absolute Universe setting has been a major success on every front. The comic books making up the Absolute Line have graced many Best Comics of 2025 lists and are high sellers. However, there have been few signs that DC is intending to rush whatever plans are in place to expand the line. Indeed, as of the end of 2025, only one new series has been confirmed: Absolute Green Arrow.
This seemed a natural expansion, for Green Arrow is a well-recognized hero in the wake of the Arrow television series. However, the life of the Emerald Archer in the Absolute Universe was cut short in the 2025 Absolute Evil special. There, Oliver Queen was murdered by Hawkman, before he could expose an evil billionaire’s child trafficking operations. Despite this, an Absolute Green Arrow comic is still being planned for 2026, though a release date has yet to be confirmed beyond May 2026.
Little has been established about the new Absolute Green Arrow series. It is being scripted by Pornsak Pichetshote and will feature the art of Rafael Albuquerque. The only other detail that has been revealed is Albuquerque’s claim that the book will be a horror title.
It seems unlikely that the comic will feature a zombie Oliver Queen. However, the violent nature of his death while seeking justice has prompted an interesting theory. Namely, Green Arrow could become The Spectre of the Absolute Universe; an angel of vengeance who requires a human host.
How we chose 2026’s Most Anticipated Superhero Comic Books
Admittedly anticipation is somewhat arbitrary. For instance, while many readers of comic books are X-Men fans, there are also many who abandoned the franchise or never cared for it. As such, this list tried to pick out those series that would hold the most broad appeal to casual superhero fans or hold the greatest potential to change their relative universes.
