An $11 Billion Sci-Fi Franchise Is Returning to Theaters in Just 5 Weeks

In only five weeks, a sci-fi franchise worth $11 billion is returning to theaters. Some of the biggest and best sci-fi franchises of all time are making a big cinematic splash in 2026, with some having already been released. The Mandalorian and Grogu is one such movie, having been released worldwide in May 2026. A few months before that, one of the highest-grossing movies at the 2026 box office thus far came from the sci-fi genre: Project Hail Mary.

Going forward, though, 2026’s sci-fi cinematic releases only get bigger. December 2026 will see the phenomenon being dubbed “Dunesday” hit theaters, with both Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday hitting theaters on the same day, December 18th, 2026. Both are expected to be big hitters in 2026’s sci-fi pool, with another coming in only five weeks. The latter movie in question will seemingly tie to Avengers: Doomsday, all while being part of an $11 billion franchise on its own: Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

More so than most other superhero properties, Spider-Man can be described as sci-fi. The franchise focuses on Peter’s use of science to embolden his superhero abilities, from the gadgets of the MCU’s Spider-Man to the attempts to build web-shooters that withstand the powers of Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. This will continue in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is set to hit theaters worldwide in only five weeks, on July 29.

The trailers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day tease even more sci-fi elements, such as Peter’s genetics mutating beyond what they already have. With Peter also being inspired by the multiverse variants of himself in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the franchise is more sci-fi than ever. The MCU movie will be looking to add to the $11 billion total gross of the Spider-Man franchise, garnered by the previous MCU trilogy, Sam Raimi’s original trilogy, the two Amazing Spider-Man films, the Spider-Verse series, and Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.

Spider-Man’s 2026 Return Starts A Few Years Of Web-Slinger Dominance

Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing

What makes Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s release all the more exciting is how it will start a few years of dominance for the character. The movie itself is expected to be one of the biggest releases of 2026, with Spider-Man then potentially appearing in Avengers: Doomsday at the end of the year. The story of Avengers: Secret Wars, releasing in December 2027, could then also feature the MCU’s version of the character, or even include the return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as multiversal variants.

Beyond the possibility of Avengers: Secret Wars featuring the character, 2027 has another big story in store for Spider-Man. That year will conclude the acclaimed Spider-Verse trilogy, with Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse expected in June. The Spider-Verse movies have only been getting better and more successful, with the third promising to be the best yet after a long, four-year wait.

Going into 2028, the hero’s cinematic future is less certain, but speculation could prove how 2026 will be seen as a starting point for Spider-Man dominance. The Homecoming trilogy in the MCU was released across four years, with each film being released in 2017, 2019, and 2021, respectively. If the second trilogy follows this same pattern, the sequel to Spider-Man: Brand New Day will likely be released in 2028.

Spider-Man’s Cinematic Resurgence Is Coming At The Perfect Time

The prolonged return of Spider-Man to theaters has come at the perfect time, after a few years of ups and downs. For a while, the Sony Spider-Man Universe has been the only live-action depiction of the Marvel hero’s world, with diminishing returns. The Sony Spider-Man Universe was a failure in both critical and commercial reception, with perhaps the biggest reason why being that it failed to feature, well, Spider-Man. Only Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has been a true cinematic success in recent years, after it was released in 2023.

Still, this marks three years since the last acclaimed Spider-Man film in theaters, and five years since the last in the MCU. If, as expected, Spider-Man: Brand New Day returns the Marvel hero to theaters for the next few years, this resurgence will come at a perfect time. It will mean several stories being told in franchises that audiences want to see every year or two, from the MCU to Spider-Verse, without the more disappointing Sony attempts that have dominated the last few years.

Release Date

July 31, 2026

Runtime

150 Minutes

Director

Destin Daniel Cretton