UPDATE: Liefeld kept talking, and explained why he believes it. He says big entertainment corporations are going all-in on tech for the savings, calling them “bottom line, period,” and noted he had “two more meetings about tech” right after posting. Full details here.
Last week we exclusively reported that Disney is “less interested in publishing” Marvel Comics and is looking to license the books out.
Now another outlet is hearing the same thing from its own source, with a destination and a date attached: Webtoon, by 2030.
And Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld says believe it.
Marvel Publishing To Webtoon By 2030
Fandom Pulse reports that a comic book industry insider tells them Disney is planning to phase out Marvel’s in-house publishing operation and move the line to Webtoon.
Their source says “Marvel will be phasing out their publishing to Webtoon by 2030,” while hedging the timeline as approximate.
Worth noting: Fandom Pulse pointed out that what they are hearing matches our own reporting that Disney is less interested in publishing and wants to license Marvel Comics out rather than produce the books in house.
Rob Liefeld: “Believe It”
Rob Liefeld responded to the report on X with two words: “Believe it.”
That carries weight. Liefeld co-created Deadpool and Cable, launched X-Force into one of the best selling books of the ’90s, co-founded Image Comics, and has spent decades in and around Marvel.
He is not confirming the report, but when someone that wired into the business responds, it is worth listening.
The Webtoon Pipeline Is Already Built
Here is why the 2030 claim is not as wild as it sounds. The infrastructure for exactly this move already exists, and it is all on the record.
In August 2025, Disney and Webtoon announced a multi-year deal to bring around 100 comics from the Disney, Marvel, 20th Century Studios, and Star Wars brands to Webtoon’s vertical scroll format, along with brand new original webcomic series.
A month later it got much bigger. Disney announced an all-new digital comics platform with more than 35,000 titles, built and operated by Webtoon, positioned as an expansion of Marvel Unlimited. Disney also moved to take a 2 percent equity stake in Webtoon Entertainment.
As of January, the agreement is finalized, and the stake is locked in. Disney’s entire comics operation is wired into Webtoon’s platform right now.
If a company wanted to phase out in-house publishing by the end of the decade, this is exactly what the run-up would look like.
Dan Buckley Said The Quiet Part Out Loud
Here is the detail that ties it all together. At New York Comic Con last fall, the Marvel executive on stage walking the audience through the Webtoon push was publisher Dan Buckley, explaining how Marvel issues get chopped into vertical scroll episodes and how the company was calling original artists for permission to reformat their pages.
Buckley even said the day is coming when the people making Marvel Comics are artists who grew up reading and creating webtoons.
That is the same Dan Buckley now on his way out, with Kevin Feige’s TV and animation chief Brad Winderbaum put in charge of comics and former Disney Music executive David Abdo installed as general manager.
The man who set up the Webtoon transition is leaving, and the people replacing him come from television and music, not publishing.
DC Went The Other Direction
The Fandom Pulse source added one more thing. They said DC had been headed down the same road, but has instead doubled down on Absolute Batman.
That tracks with the record. DC ran its own Webtoon experiment with the popular Wayne Family Adventures, then the Absolute line exploded in print, took the market share crown from Marvel for the first time this century, and got the Absolute Batman animated series greenlit. We broke down how DC’s Absolute line is outselling Marvel and driving its animation slate.
So one publisher looked at webtoons and decided the future was still the comic book, because its comic books are selling. The other is reportedly heading for the scroll app. The sales charts tell you which approach the audience endorsed.
The End Of An Era?
Marvel has been a publishing operation since 1939, back when it was Timely Comics. If these insiders are right, the in-house era ends within four years, and the physical Marvel comic as we have known it for nearly a century goes with it.
The question for readers is simple. If the physical Marvel comic ends by 2030, do you follow it to Webtoon?
For the full background, read our exclusive on Disney losing interest in publishing Marvel Comics and how it fits into Disney’s larger restructuring ahead of the Paramount-WBD war.
