Marvel’s Midnight Universe is launching with three books this October, but don’t expect it to stay that size forever.
Speaking with me on the AIPT Comics podcast, Midnight Fantastic Four writer Benjamin Percy and Midnight Spider-Man writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson revealed that Marvel’s new horror universe is being planned well beyond its initial trio of titles.
The Midnight Universe officially kicks off October 7 with Midnight X-Men by Jonathan Hickman and Matteo Della Fonte,Midnight Fantastic Four by Percy and Kev Walker, and Midnight Spider-Man by Johnson and ScieTronc. Marvel is putting considerable weight behind the launch, with those three titles serving as the publisher’s only comic releases that week.
Behind the scenes, Hickman, Percy, and Johnson are already treating the line as a long-term project.
“We get together for a Zoom call once or twice a month,” Percy told me. “We have had summits together, just the three of us as writers, with other people involved in the room, editors and other folks from Marvel.”
The three writers also have a Slack channel where they regularly coordinate their plans. Percy revealed that he personally has around 24 issues mapped out for his corner of the universe.
“This is a long road ahead of us,” Percy said. “They’ve given us a lot of rope.”
The initial plan is to allow all three series to develop their own identities without immediately leaning on crossovers. Percy said the books are designed to be “totally distinct” at first, with no bleeding over the edges.
That won’t last forever.
“The whole idea is that we are indeed building a universe,” Percy said. “The idea is this is gonna keep growing and keep growing. And not only are we going to interlock, but also there’s gonna be more series that eventually crop up. And there’s a lot of discussion about that as well.”
Johnson later revealed that those conversations can include identifying elements in one book that could eventually feed another series.
“Whenever there’s any kind of an element that might be of use in Jonathan’s or Ben’s stories, I try to bring it up in the meetings,” Johnson said.
That could mean a mutant element, something originating off-world, or a character who eventually becomes important enough to support another title.
“Potentially plant seeds that’ll turn into a new character or a new title maybe down the line,” Johnson said. “It’s all just a discussion. We shouldn’t spoil it, but it’s definitely being actually discussed.”
Percy quickly added one important qualification: “It’s patiently discussed. We’re not in a rush.”
That patience extends to introducing familiar Marvel characters. Percy and Johnson said the creators are being careful about who they bring into their books because using a character casually could rob another creative team of the opportunity to build a proper Midnight origin around them.
“I think we’re all being pretty careful because we want to give other writers and artists the opportunity to create origin stories within the Midnight Universe,” Percy said.
For now, Marvel’s Midnight Universe begins with three books on October 7. It sounds like the doors are already being left open for plenty more.
For more, listen to the chat wherever you get your podcasts or stream it below!
Exclusive: Oppenheimer and Los Alamos are part of ‘Midnight Fantastic Four’
Exclusive: Phillip Kennedy Johnson says ‘Midnight Spider-Man’ goes far beyond Man-Spider
EXCLUSIVE: Marvel to launch ‘Jean Grey’ #1 in November 2026
Comic Books
X-Men Monday #350 – Jed MacKay and Tom Brevoort Talk ‘Jean Grey’, ‘DNX’, and More
Comic Books
Full November 2026 Marvel Comics solicitations: Predator vs. Punisher, Jean Grey, X-Orcists and more
Comic Books
Full November 2026 DC Comics solicitations: Big changes for Superman and Batman
