Marvel Comics is pulling up stakes in New York after nearly 90 years, with the Disney-owned publisher set to shift its comics and franchise operations to Burbank as part of a sweeping restructuring that also names a new editor-in-chief. Staffers were told of the move during a town hall at Marvel’s Midtown New York office. The publishing division will relocate to Burbank, California, where Marvel Studios and parent company The Walt Disney Company are based. The leadership change puts Stephen Wacker atop Marvel Comics as editor-in-chief, succeeding C.B. Cebulski, who has led the division since 2017. Cebulski will remain with the company, relocating to Japan to lead Marvel’s manga push and other Asia-originated projects as editor, Asia originals.
The moves are designed to jump-start Marvel’s comics business, which has been eclipsed in recent years by the company’s film and television success and has ceded its longtime market-share lead. The shift, backed by Marvel chief Kevin Feige, brings the comics operation closer to Disney’s Burbank base and is being positioned internally as a long-term investment in the source material that fuels Marvel’s broader storytelling engine.
Feige led the town hall alongside Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of television, animation, comics and franchise, and David Abdo, recently named general manager, comics and franchise.
The move marks a major break with comic-book history. New York has long been viewed as the birthplace of the industry, and Marvel predecessors Timely Comics and Atlas Comics were based on 42nd Street. The city was home to many of Marvel’s defining creators, including Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and to signature characters including the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and Spider-Man. It also leaves New York without a major comic-book publisher. DC moved its headquarters to Warner Bros.’ Burbank lot in 2015.
The relocation had been under review for months. Marvel’s lease at its Avenue of the Americas office expires next year, forcing a decision on its New York footprint, while the company also explored consolidating its businesses in one city for the first time since Disney acquired Marvel in 2009.
After the new Marvel Comics leadership team arrived in May, it began meeting with New York staff to gauge whether such a consolidation would be feasible. As part of that review, the company assessed where its comic creators are based. While many creators once lived in the Tri-State area, Marvel’s current creator network is global, and more of its U.S.-based creators are now in California than in New York.
“New York has played a huge part in who Marvel is as a company, and in the pages of our comics,” Winderbaum and Abdo wrote in the memo. “While our network of writers and artists is now an international operation, New York is still woven into our DNA and that will never change. Our colleagues in New York have helped shape generations of stories and characters, and their contributions to Marvel’s legacy cannot be overstated.”
Marvel is asking just over 100 New York-based employees in the comics and franchise group to relocate to California by July 2027. Among those heading to Burbank is Wacker, who returns to Marvel after departing in the early 2020s to lead Jonathan Hickman’s worldbuilding venture 3W3M and later co-found entertainment studio Stone Kite.
Known for strong creator relationships, Wacker spent more than 15 years at Marvel, overseeing
Spider-Man runs including the “Brand New Day” and “Superior Spider-Man” eras. He also edited
Daredevil and
Hawkeye during Eisner-winning runs and was involved in the introduction of Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel.
Wacker also has worked across Marvel’s animation, television and digital media businesses. His credits include co-producing the Emmy-nominated
Rocket & Groot animated series in 2017 and executive producing Marvel’s
Wastelanders audio series.
Cebulski exits as the third-longest-serving editor-in-chief in Marvel’s nearly 90-year history. His tenure included the relaunch of the Ultimate Universe and the “Krakoan Age” of
X-Men comics. With deep ties to Japan, he also led Marvel’s manga partnership with Shonen Jump, which produced titles including
Deadpool Samurai and
Spider-Man: Octo-Girl.
Wacker will report to Winderbaum, while Cebulski will join Wacker’s global leadership team.
The full memo to staff, as published in
The Hollywood Reporter, is below:
Team,
We just wrapped a town hall with the team in New York and wanted to share some important Marvel Comics and Franchise news with everyone.
As we look toward the future, we’ve made the decision to relocate the Comics and Franchise division to Marvel’s central headquarters in Burbank, California. This move will position the team beside our broader creative organization and create opportunities for collaboration across both Marvel and Disney. Our goal is simple: to continue to make the best comic books in the business. Bringing our comics, film, television, and other creative teams together will help us learn from one another, collaborate, and build on the strengths that make Marvel the true House of Ideas.
New York has played a huge part in who Marvel is as a company, and in the pages of our comics. While our network of writers and artists is now an international operation, New York is still woven into our DNA and that will never change. Our colleagues in New York have helped shape generations of stories and characters, and their contributions to Marvel’s legacy cannot be overstated. We sincerely hope they choose to continue that journey with us in California. We are committed to supporting every affected employee throughout this transition, which will take place over the next 12 months.
We also announced today that Stephen Wacker has been named Marvel Comics’ new Editor-in-Chief. Many of you know Stephen from his years at Marvel between 2006 and 2022. He is a tremendous editor, a passionate advocate for creators, and someone who deeply understands that Marvel Comics is the source code of our entire enterprise. Stephen will be at SDCC and will officially join us in Burbank the week of July 27 before spending time in New York the first week of August. We’re excited for everyone who doesn’t know him to get to know him.
At the same time, longtime Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski will be stepping into a new role overseeing APAC-originated graphic fiction and manga, based in Japan. This opportunity reflects both C.B.’s passion for the medium and the tremendous potential we see in that space. We’re deeply grateful for his leadership, partnership, and stewardship of the Marvel line over the past decade and are fortunate to have him spearheading this new endeavor for us.
We know this has been a year of significant change for Marvel. Through all of it, this team has continued to show up with creativity, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to great storytelling. That commitment is the foundation of everything we do, and it’s what will carry us into this next chapter.
For our New York colleagues, we’ll be sharing additional details very soon, and we’re available to answer questions and support you through the transition.
Thank you for everything you do for Marvel and for the fans we serve.
Brad & David
I guess it shouldn't really matter, but this feels just a little bit sad. Marvel is so thoroughly tied to NY in my mind.
I doubt it will do anything to improve the comics
Wow! That's pretty wild. Feels weird though too. Marvel lost me in the late 90s when their retconning started getting out of hand, and the price of the comics eventhen certainly didn't help either. Still though, what's weird is that yeah, despite everything they're still an institution, still part of something familiar, and their home in NY was so seemingly intrinsic to that....And I say that as a Canadian who's never visited NY!
But, there it is, all things change. I'd still prefer that comics remain a thing, and if the move helps that, and somehow helps translate into better films and shows, then, that's all I need.
Still...no Marvel in NY....weird man! What an era of change we're living through!
I really like Gail Simone's Uncanny X-Men right now. The stories might be a bit odd sometimes, but the dialogue is spot on. Every character has a distinct voice.
I don't think every Marvel.series is good, but I also don't think they're all bad either.
But imagine if Marvel (and DC?) had been based in California from the get go. The X-Men would have relocated FROM San Francisco during...was it the Dark Reign era? Anyway, imagine if all those 60's 70's 80's and 90's stories happened in like LA. There would be the Avengers and the East Coast Avengers. That woulda been something...
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It's a shame from purely the tradition point of view - NYC has always been the center of the Marvel Universe because that was the world Stan, Jack and the rest of that original generation saw outside their window, but nowadays with creators all over the world, just as much research is needed for them to accurately reflect the realities of New York as it would have been for any far flung location back in the 60's. DC already relocated years ago, so it's an inevitable part of the consolidation as part of a larger media company. I don't see it'll have any effect on the books or quality (perceived or otherwise) beyond the usual change when a new EiC come in - it'll be interesting to see what sort of shifts we see under Wacker.
I really get sick of the, "Marvel doesn't make any good comics anymore" thing. While I don't love or agree with everything, the prevalence of hero v hero all the time instead of constant small skirmishes with minor villains to build a larger story has been annoying me. But, some of my favorite comics I've ever read have come out in the last decade. Immortal Hulk comes to mind, as up there with any comic series I've ever read. I have no idea what this move will mean. Maybe artists will learn to draw a city other than just New York. Maybe it will be horrible. Idk. My bigger problems with comics are 5 dollars a comic, 1 million variant covers, and the lack of a comic book store without driving into the city to go to every week and have a people to nerd out with in person.
Marvels glory days have long been over for quite some time. The MCU helped broaden the appeal of the characters by making them something more than just nerdy comic book stuff, but even that is essentially a husk of its former self in a lot of ways (well see how the next few movies fair). Idk whether relocating will benefit anything or not in the grand scheme of things. I hope it doesnt ultimately do more harm to the IPs, but I struggle to see how moving closer the Disneys epicenter is going to produce much good
Not something I wanted to hear today. I sure hope my misgivings dont come to pass.
The House that Stan and Jack and Steve built has been basically been dead in any meaningful way for years. (In my opinion it really started with Quesada's regime and his "we have to destroy the village to save it" attitude and went into overdrive under Axel Alonso who seemed determined to actively destroy the characters and company.)
Disney buying Marvel seemed exciting at first for most people. At the time there were those who were wise and called out exactly what was going to happen. I admit I was not one of them and got swept up in the hype.
But over the last 15 years Marvel Comics has become a joke with no purpose to exist other than as an IP factory for the Mouse.
This is the final nail in the coffin and a HUGE middle finger to Marvel's longtime fans, it's creators, and the people of New York City.
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