While our first look at Avengers: Doomsday is said to be on the horizon, there are no more movies or TV shows heading our way from Marvel Studios and DC Studios in 2025.
Looking back over the year, it's been something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, there were successes like Daredevil: Born Again, Superman, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Still, many fans seemed to walk away from the likes of Peacemaker and Captain America: Brave New World feeling like they'd been let down.
It's all subjective, but at a time when superhero fatigue is a very real problem, neither the MCU nor DCU can afford any missteps. However, it's those we're taking a closer look at in this feature, as we delve into the year's biggest superhero movie and TV show disappointment.
You can check out the moments and decisions we've highlighted by clicking the "Next"/"View List" buttons below.
7. Marvel Zombies Wasted Its Premise
What If...? had already established that Marvel Animation's take on Marvel Zombies was vastly different from the comics. Still, with a TV-MA rating, the four-episode Marvel Zombies series had the potential to be great. Instead, it was only okay.
With the spotlight shifting to several Phase 4 characters, the series felt a little outdated from the start. However, in telling a relatively straightforward humans vs. zombie story—with a wasted Scarlet Witch as the villainous "Dead Queen"—Marvel Zombies was a day late and a dollar short when it came to capitalising on the popularity the undead were granted courtesy of The Walking Dead.
By failing to fully tap into the fun of seeing the Avengers battling zombies or even giving the brain-hungry baddies a personality like on the page, Marvel Zombies felt like a waste.
6. Superman's Big Twist
With Superman, James Gunn made kindness cool and established an exciting new take on the Man of Tomorrow for the DCU. The movie wasn't flawless, but it did right by its lead and will end the year as 2025's highest-grossing superhero movie.
However, in looking to put his own stamp on the character, Gunn might have gone a step too far. The revelation that Kal-El was sent to Earth to conquer the planet and form a harem felt like an Invincible rip-off, and arguably failed to add anything meaningful to the hero's story.
If anything, it's just caused problems for the future. Yes, it brought Superman closer to his human parents and heritage, but this still wasn't the best way of achieving that.
5. Ironheart Was Largely Forgettable
Ironheart sat on the shelf for a long time before finally arriving on Disney+, and like Echo before it, it wasn't really worth the wait. While the series isn't terrible, and the visual effects were excellent, Riri Williams' story just wasn't that compelling.
There were some great ideas and moments, but a lot of annoying supporting characters and only a surface-level exploration of mixing magic with science meant Ironheart was far from a game-changer for this franchise. We'd argue that it also suffered from the lead having no sort of connection with Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man.
Ultimately, Ironheart will be most fondly remembered for introducing Sacha Baron Cohen's Mephisto. He was excellent in the finale; it's just a shame that we're no closer to knowing what Marvel Studios has planned for the MCU's devil moving forward.
4. Brave New World Failed To Do Right By Captain America...And The Leader
Captain America: Brave New World had the potential to be one of Marvel Studios' best movies. However, when the studio struggled to decide whether it should be a goofy, comic book-inspired Cap adventure or The Winter Soldier 2.0, we ended up with a mess of a blockbuster.
When all was said and done, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier did a much better job of establishing Sam Wilson as the new Captain America. At the same time, all of The Leader's scenes were reshot, with his long-awaited return proving a crushing disappointment. In attempting to make him a tragic figure, the MCU lost a villainous mastermind in preference for a grotesque, one-and-done villain.
Red Hulk was a highlight, as was Harrison Ford, but his transformation came too little too late and didn't get anywhere near enough screentime. As for that post-credits scene in The Raft, the less said, the better.
3. Peacemaker Season 2 Was A Let-Down From Start To Finish
Look, Peacemaker Season 2 wasn't all bad. John Cena was once again terrific, showing how far he's come as an actor since projects like The Marine and Bumblebee. The introduction of Salvation and Checkmate also proved intriguing for the DCU's future.
That's where the positives stop. After delivering a hit with Superman, James Gunn indulged all his worst impulses with Peacemaker; from unfunny, crude humour to writing painfully lame scenes for his friends (we love Michael Rooker, but the Prime Eagle subplot was one of the worst we've seen in a superhero project), this was not the filmmaker at his best.
Earth-X was a largely wasted idea, and the finale failed to live up to the hype by wasting a good chunk of its runtime on not one, but two live performances from a couple of Gunn's favourite bands.
2. Thunderbolts* Wasted Taskmaster
While it's hard to get too upset about the death of Taskmaster in Thunderbolts* (let's face it, the character was screwed as soon as Black Widow dropped the ball on him her), she was still wasted in an otherwise excellent movie.
Her being shot in the head by Ghost after a single line of dialogue was certainly shocking, but it didn't really increase the stakes or establish that each of these characters was at risk. It just felt like an excuse to ditch someone who arguably should have never been here in the first place.
Taskmaster will long be remembered as one of the MCU's biggest wasted opportunities. Ultimately, her death did nothing to serve the story and the chance to redeem Antonia—in what sounded like a fun back-and-forth with U.S. Agent—was lost.
1. The Fantastic Four: First Steps Was Too Short
The Fantastic Four: First Steps was an excellent reintroduction for Marvel's First Family, but in attempting to deliver a blockbuster that would be an easy watch at under 2 hours, Marvel Studios arguably did this team a disservice.
What we got still worked, and there may be a good reason for leaving John Malkovich's Red Ghost on the cutting room floor. Can the same be said for Ben Grimm's truncated romantic subplot, though? There were also clear signs of cost-cutting, with The Thing's rocky story almost continuously covered up.
This movie achieved what it set out to do, and the Fantastic Four's popularity should only continue to rise following their starring role in Avengers: Doomsday. Still, another 20 minutes would have done First Steps the world of good...