Despite reports that Marvel Studios is winding down their streaming series output, Marvel just announced a brand new series at the Marvel Television panel at New York Comic Con. Coming in 2028, Zodiac is described as “a new global spy thriller.” Marvel even showed off a logo, and Marvel Television head honcho Brad Winderbaum said they’d start shooting in London sometime next spring. Zodiac is the first new live-action Marvel series announced since Ironheart. Aside from being a “spy thriller,” there’s no real indication of what this show will be about, or what its ties are to the greater MCU. But the name Zodiac does have a deeper meaning in Marvel Comics lore.
So who is Zodiac in the pages of Marvel Comics? Five different groups have utilized that name in the Marvel Universe over the years. The original group was a criminal organization that battled the Avengers. As their name suggests, the group was based on the signs of the Zodiac, and was initially led by the villainous Taurus. The other members of the cabal, twelve in all (of course), have names corresponding to the other Zodiac signs. Leadership of Zodiac rotated, with each member ruling the organization for one month of the year, according to their astrological sign. Their goal was to insert themselves in positions of power to attain global domination.
Nerdist’s Take: Despite the Many Organizations Called “Zodiac” in Marvel Comics, We Believe the MCU Zodiac Will Stick with the Original Concept
Over the decades, four other entities or teams used the name Zodiac in Marvel Comics. One was an android who fought the Avengers, while another was a human who battled the Canadian superteam, Alpha Flight. A third fought the Young Avengers. Thanos himself formed the most recent version of Zodiac. But based on the “spy thriller” angle we’re getting, we highly doubt that this show is based on that version.
Look at the image above. Doesn’t that table look an awful lot like the “O” in the Zodiac logo? We’d bet Marvel is going with an interpretation of the original Zodiac for this series. Unless one counts Loki and Agatha All Along, who we’d classify as antiheroes, this would be the first Marvel project led by a villain group. And before you say “Thunderbolts,” don’t bother; they’re antiheroes too. So that means if Zodiac is done right, it could be a welcome change of pace for the MCU.