Marvel Television has announced a brand-new live-action spy thriller called ‘Zodiac‘, and it has seemingly taken the whole “secret” part of secret agents rather seriously. We have a name, a logo and a Disney+ release window. As for the actual plot, characters or who might be starring? Absolutely nothing. Marvel has, however, dropped a few tantalising clues for comic-book fans.
Revealed at New York Comic Con, the series is described as a “global spy thriller”, with filming due to begin in London in spring 2027 and casting expected to start within the next couple of weeks. Marvel is targeting a 2028 premiere, but no writers, directors, cast members or episode count have been announced.
Marvel Television boss Brad Winderbaum deliberately added fuel to the theorising, telling the NYCC audience: “If you’re a fan of the comics, there is a lot hidden in that logo.”
Well, you can’t say something like that to Marvel fans and expect them not to immediately start examining every pixel!
Is That S.H.I.E.L.D. Hiding In The Logo?
Look at the “A” in the title image, and there’s what looks very much like the eagle from the S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia. The “O”, meanwhile, has been turned into a segmented wheel, featuring twelve positions with several sections missing.
Those aren’t exactly subtle decorations once you know what to look for.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. imagery has naturally led to questions about whether this is a return to the spy organisation that once had Nick Fury at its helm. It has also sparked hopes of connections to ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’, which wrapped up after seven seasons in 2020.
Adding a little more petrol to that particular fire, Clark Gregg (‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’) shared the announcement on his Instagram Story. That’s enough to get fans excited about the possibility of Phil Coulson appearing, but it is absolutely not confirmation that Gregg is involved. Sometimes an actor just likes a Marvel announcement!
Still, with S.H.I.E.L.D. having been dismantled in the MCU, there’s certainly room for a story involving its surviving agents, competing intelligence organisations, or even somebody attempting to rebuild it from the shadows.
What Is Zodiac In Marvel Comics?
There’s no shortage of possibilities here.
One version of Zodiac is a supervillain organisation that first appeared in Marvel Comics in 1969, with twelve members named after the signs of the zodiac. Its various incarnations have tangled with the Avengers, while characters including Scorpio and Taurus have been prominent figures in the organisation.
If Marvel wanted a globe-spanning criminal conspiracy for its spies to investigate, a secret organisation attempting to manipulate world events would be a pretty convenient starting point.
However, there’s another, potentially more interesting connection.
In Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Warriors comics, a secret society known as the Great Wheel brought together some of the world’s most influential spymasters from rival intelligence organisations, including S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra and other shadowy groups.
In classic comic-book fashion, the organisation was assembled by a time-travelling Leonardo da Vinci, who assigned its members identities based on the twelve signs of the zodiac. Its membership included familiar names such as Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan and Baron Wolfgang von Strucker.
Yes, Leonardo da Vinci. Nobody said Marvel’s version of international espionage had to be entirely sensible.
The design of the “O” in the newly revealed logo looks particularly close to the Great Wheel’s circular emblem. Some fans have also noticed that three missing sections could correspond to Aries, Virgo and Scorpio in the comic-book design.
Could those gaps represent missing members, secret identities or positions waiting to be filled? It’s an intriguing possibility, although Marvel hasn’t confirmed that the Great Wheel is involved at all.
Interestingly, there’s even a connection between the two comic-book organisations. Cornelius van Lunt, who operated under the name Taurus, was involved with the Great Wheel and also became a leader of the criminal Zodiac cartel.
That could potentially give Marvel a ready-made conflict involving rival organisations, questionable loyalties and secret agendas. Exactly the sort of ingredients you’d expect from a spy thriller.
Has Zodiac Appeared In The MCU Before?
Rather surprisingly, yes!
The name Zodiac previously appeared in the 2013 Marvel One-Shot ‘Agent Carter’, in which Peggy Carter was dispatched to recover a mysterious substance known as Zodiac.
Whether that has any connection to the new series is completely unknown. It could simply be a reused name from Marvel’s enormous catalogue of comic-book concepts, or it might be a detail worth remembering.
And, of course, the connections to Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra make the espionage side of the MCU a natural place to explore these ideas.
Could The Title Be A Complete Misdirect?
There is one other possibility worth considering. What if ‘Zodiac’ isn’t actually the final title, or isn’t quite what Marvel wants us to think it is?
After all, Marvel has previous form when it comes to messing with its audience.
Remember how ‘Agatha All Along’ went through a seemingly endless collection of titles, including House of Harkness, Coven of Chaos and Darkhold Diaries, before Marvel revealed the whole thing had been an elaborate joke?
Winderbaum himself later explained that the fake titles had been created to mess with fans.
That doesn’t mean ‘Zodiac’ is another fake title. Marvel has formally announced the show under that name, after all. However, given the espionage premise, a little misdirection would certainly fit the theme.
Perhaps the series is about the Great Wheel. Perhaps it’s about S.H.I.E.L.D. agents trying to stop the Zodiac cartel. Perhaps it’s actually setting up a new version of Secret Warriors, with Zodiac being the name of the mystery at the centre of the story.
Or perhaps Marvel knows perfectly well what fans will conclude from that logo and is deliberately leading everyone in the wrong direction.
For the moment, the only certainty is that Marvel is developing another live-action spy thriller, with casting expected to reveal more information in the coming months.
In the meantime, Marvel’s marketing department has successfully persuaded thousands of people to analyse individual letters of the alphabet looking for secret messages.
Mission accomplished.
‘Zodiac’ Season 1 premieres in 2028 on Disney+.
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