MARVEL’S MIDNIGHT UNIVERSE GOES FULL HORROR! First Looks at Spider-Man, Fantastic Four & X-Men

Marvel is getting DARK this October, and the Midnight Universe is ready to kick the door off the hinges.

On October 7, Marvel launches three new series at once with Midnight Spider-Man #1, Midnight Fantastic Four #1, and Midnight X-Men #1, introducing a creator-driven line built around horror, transformation, and radically reimagined versions of Marvel’s biggest heroes.

Marvel has now released a first look at all three debut issues while also revealing the covers for issue #3 of each series, giving readers a glimpse at where this new universe is heading after launch.

Midnight Spider-Man #1 comes from writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson and artist ScieTronc, with the series centered on a terrifying transformation that is changing Peter Parker in ways even he does not fully understand.

Johnson has described the mystery surrounding the “iconic spider” as something that will unfold gradually, while the body-horror element is expected to escalate issue by issue. By Midnight Spider-Man #3, Peter is desperately searching for a way to reclaim his humanity while Oscorp hunts the emerging urban legend known as THE SPIDER-MAN. Deep inside Oscorp’s labs, Doctor Octavius is also using what was learned from the “Parker Incident” to create a second synthetic mutant, setting the stage for an even bigger horror.

Midnight Fantastic Four #1 is written by Benjamin Percy with art by Kev Walker, and this is not the familiar Fantastic Four dynamic readers already know.

Percy has described the story as an origin tale in which Reed Richards does not begin with established relationships to Sue, Johnny, or Ben. Their lives intersect under very different circumstances, creating a version of the “family” that is darker, more toxic, and more complicated.

By issue #3, the Four head into New Mexico’s Jornada del Muerto desert, the site of the first atomic bomb detonation, where they uncover traces of another world left behind by a crack in the firmament. Cosmic horror is clearly baked into the DNA of this take on the team.

Midnight X-Men #1 pairs writer Jonathan Hickman with artist Matteo Della Fonte for a darker mutant saga built around conflict between mutants, humans, and Empyres.

The newly revealed Midnight X-Men #3 cover teases Cyclops as the last of the X-Men, taking a young mutant under his wing while the series pushes further into a world of earthly and heavenly weapons, failed realms, and escalating religious conflict.

All three debut issues arrive on October 7, 2026, with Marvel noting that these will be the only Marvel comics released that day. Issue #2 of each title follows on November 18, with issue #3 arriving on December 16.

• Midnight Spider-Man #1 — Phillip Kennedy Johnson & ScieTronc — October 7
• Midnight Fantastic Four #1 — Benjamin Percy & Kev Walker — October 7
• Midnight X-Men #1 — Jonathan Hickman & Matteo Della Fonte — October 7
• Issue #2 of all three series — November 18
• Issue #3 of all three series — December 16

Each debut issue is also getting a deep variant-cover lineup, including work from creators such as Ryan Stegman, Peach Momoko, Clayton Crain, JeeHyung Lee, SKAN, Ben Harvey, E.M. Gist, Leinil Francis Yu, Rod Reis, Björn Barends, Alessandro Cappuccio, Ito, and more.

Marvel is clearly treating the Midnight Universe as more than a cosmetic remix. Peter Parker is dealing with body horror, the Fantastic Four are being rebuilt through cosmic dread, and the X-Men are stepping into a holy war. If these first looks are any indication, October 7 is going to be a very bad day to expect the familiar versions of these heroes.

All three Midnight Universe #1 titles are available to preorder now through local comic shops. More information is available through Marvel.com.