Marvel Moves Comics Office to L.A., Announces New Editor-in-Chief
Marvel comics is leaving New York City after more than 80 years in the Big Apple. The comics department will now join the rest of the company at corporate headquarters in Burbank, Calif. The company announced the big move to employees Thursday, first in a town hall and then in a companywide email obtained by Publishers Weekly. According to the email, the moving process is expected to take place over the course of the next 12 months.
Marvel is, of course, deeply associated with New York. Almost all of its superhero stories are set in the city, which recently renamed a street after legendary Marvel artist Jack Kirby. But this move comes as the company is struggling after more than a decade of blockbuster success. Its cape comics are now being regularly outsold by main rival DC, and are not finding favor with critics either; Marvel only earned three nominations at this year’s Eisner Awards, compared to DC’s 16. Recent Marvel Cinematic Universe films have failed to match the box-office achievements of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
So the company is changing things up. The announcement of this move comes two months after the departure of Marvel’s publisher Dan Buckley, and is accompanied by another big personnel change. Longtime Marvel editor Stephen Wacker has officially been promoted to editor-in-chief, with current office-holder C.B. Cebulski moving to Japan and transitioning to a new role as editor of Asia originals for Marvel.
Cebulski has always had a fascination with Asian comics, sometimes in a controversial way. Years before he was editor-in-chief, he pretended to be a Japanese man who wrote Marvel comics under the pseudonym “Akira Yoshida.” After rumors swirled for years, Cebulski confessed the ruse to Bleeding Cool in 2017.
Wacker was previously a Marvel editor from 2006-2013, during which time he oversaw some beloved comics runs (such as Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye) and co-created Marvel’s first leading Muslim superhero Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel. From 2013-2020 he worked for Marvel Animation and Marvel Television, earning a Primetime Emmy nomination for his work on Rocket & Groot. He also previously worked as an editor at DC and Jonathan Hickman’s creator-owned project 3 Worlds/3 Moons.
“Picking up Marvel Two-in-One #50 as a kid is what made me a comics fan, so returning to Marvel as Editor-in-Chief is a full-circle moment that I’m still wrapping my head around,” Wacker said as part of Marvel’s official announcement. “I’m proud to join Kevin, Brad, David, and this incredible staff and amazing array of talent to build on the work started by Stan [Lee], Jack [Kirby], Steve [Ditko], Flo [Steinberg], John [Romita], and so many more. I truly believe the best Marvel comics have yet to be written and drawn, and I can’t wait to get to work adding some new floors to the House of Ideas.”
Wacker will report to Brad Winderbaum, who recently took Buckley’s place as the head of Marvel publishing and previously served as leader of Marvel Animation and Marvel Television. With Marvel comics now being integrated more directly into the corporation’s Hollywood hierarchy, Wacker brings some MCU experience to the lead editor position.
These are big changes in the world of comics, but some early reactions from Marvel talent are positive. “As a west coaster, I am overjoyed that EOD for a Marvel editor will now be 5pm instead of a nerve-wracking 2pm,” wrote G. Willow Wilson, who co-created Kamala Khan with Wacker, on Bluesky. Meanwhile on Twitter, Eisner nominee Deniz Camp called Wacker “one of the best editors ever.”
A version of this article appeared in the 07/20/2026 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline:
