Marvel Shakes Up Comics Leadership: Brad Winderbaum Expands Role, David Abdo Joins, Dan Buckley Exits

Marvel has named Brad Winderbaum as Head of Marvel Television, Animation, Comics & Franchise, while Disney executive David Abdo joins as General Manager of Comics & Franchise. Longtime leader Dan Buckley is departing after nearly 30 years, staying on through mid-2027 to support the transition.

Marvel has announced a major leadership shake-up at the top of its comics, television, animation, and franchise organizations — handing Marvel Studios veteran Brad Winderbaum a sweeping expanded mandate while bringing in David Abdo from Disney Music Group as the new General Manager of Comics & Franchise. Longtime Marvel Comics and franchise lead Dan Buckley is preparing to step away after nearly 30 years.

A New Chapter for Marvel's Comics Empire

Marvel today announced that Brad Winderbaum is being elevated to Head of Marvel Television, Animation, Comics & Franchise. In addition to continuing to run Marvel's TV and animation slates, Winderbaum will now oversee the creative direction of Marvel's expansive publishing portfolio and its global brand and franchise efforts. Joining him from Disney is David Abdo, who arrives as General Manager, Comics & Franchise and will report directly to Winderbaum.

The new structure represents one of the biggest reshuffles in Marvel Comics' modern history. Dan Buckley, who has steered Comics & Franchise for nearly three decades, has announced his plans to depart. He'll remain at Marvel through mid-2027 to help shepherd the leadership transition — a notably long handoff window for an executive change of this scale, signaling how complex the publishing org has grown under Buckley's watch.

Kevin Feige on the Pairing

Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios and Chief Creative Officer of Marvel, framed the move as a deliberate creative-plus-operations pairing aimed at carrying the publisher into its next decade.

"Brad's exceptional creative leadership and David's deep experience in operations and digital innovation will be a powerful pairing as we begin building out the next 90 years of Marvel's comic book legacy. Brad brings a proven ability to lead creative teams and craft ongoing, episodic narratives that resonate with our fans around the world, while David offers a strong track record of operational excellence and strategic growth. I'm excited for what they'll be able to do together." — Kevin Feige

Who Is Brad Winderbaum?

Winderbaum is no stranger to Marvel fans — he's the Emmy Award-winning head of Marvel Television and Marvel Animation, with executive producer credits on essentially every recent Disney+ Marvel series. That list includes Hawkeye, Loki Season 2, Agatha: All Along, Daredevil: Born Again, X-Men '97, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

His Marvel tenure goes all the way back to the studio's first theatrical release, Iron Man, and he went on to serve as an executive producer on Thor: Ragnarok and Black Widow before pivoting fully to the streaming slate. Folding comics, animation, TV, and franchise under one creative lead consolidates a degree of cross-media authority that's notable even by Marvel Studios standards.

Who Is David Abdo?

Abdo is the operations-and-digital half of the new pairing. He spent the bulk of his most recent role as General Manager, Disney Music Group, where he ran the day-to-day of Disney's global music division and oversaw multiple record-breaking profit years. The mandate at Marvel is essentially the same playbook: scale revenue, modernize digital, and expand output, this time across the comics and franchise lines.

Feige on Buckley's Legacy

"From events like Civil War, Secret Wars, X-Men: Age of Krakoa, and the soon-to-be-released Marvel Midnight imprint, to the expansion into video games, television, animation, and more, Marvel's influence on popular culture expanded under Dan's leadership, bringing our characters and stories to new fans around the world. Dan has left a lasting mark on Marvel's legacy and on the comics industry, and I'm deeply grateful to him and pleased we will have his full support through this transition." — Kevin Feige

What This Means for Marvel Fans

For readers, the immediate signal is continuity: C.B. Cebulski stays put as Editor-in-Chief, and Buckley's mid-2027 runway means upcoming events — including the just-teased Marvel Midnight imprint — will land under the existing creative leadership. The longer-term signal is more interesting. Bringing comics, animation, and TV under the same executive umbrella implies even tighter creative coordination between page and screen, while Abdo's digital-first background suggests Marvel's digital comics platform and direct-to-consumer business may be in for an overhaul. The transition window is long enough that the changes will play out slowly — but the direction is set, and the next 90 years of Marvel Comics just got their new architects.