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This fall, just in time for spooky season, Marvel Comics is launching a new horror-themed universe called the Midnight Universe. Comprised of three books - Midnight X-Men, Midnight Fantastic Four, and Midnight Spider-Man - the Midnight Universe will explore familiar characters in ways you've never seen before. Midnight X-Men will be written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Matteo Della Fonte, while Midnight Fantastic Four will be written by Benjamin Percy with art by Kev Walker. Lastly, Midnight Spider-Man will be written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with art by newcomer ScieTronc. 

At San Diego Comic-Con 2026's Midnight Universe panel, Marvel Comics' outgoing publisher and president, Dan Buckley, revealed where the ideas for the Midnight Universe came from, and how it all came together.

"I was just ruminating on some ideas, and I said, 'We haven't really leaned into horror really hard yet, and of course [editor-in-chief] CB [Cebulski] was traveling, so I called [Jonathan] Hickman directly and said, 'Jonathan, what do you think about a horror line?' And I wanted it to be very clear that I want horror in the front seat and superhero in the back. And Jonathan kind of shouted like, 'Can it... terrible idea.' And then I re-presented it to him, and he said 'Okay, that's a better idea,' and he started talking X-Men. And then quickly we called Phil[lip Kennedy Johnson] and Ben[jamin Percy] because they have the disturbed minds to present what we're talking about, and then we kind of got rolling from there." 

The three Midnight Universe books are all representing different subgenres of horror. Percy described the John Carpenter film The Thing as an inspiration, while Johnson revealed that David Cronenberg and horror manga are part of the DNA of Midnight Spider-Man. Either way, it isn't surprising that Marvel is launching the Midnight Universe with Percy and Johnson in particular, given that the two co-wrote the horror mini-series, Dungeons of Doom, earlier this year. There are lots of scares to go around! 

Anyways, the horrors of the Midnight Universe will be unleashed when all three Midnight titles launch on October 7, 2026. 

Interested? Here's where to find your closest local comic store, courtesy of Sweet, and here's a guide to how (and where) to read comics online.