He first gained prominence on CrossGen's Meridian, before moving onto books such as Ultimate Secret, Marvel Knights 4, New Avengers, and Civil War, illustrating storylines such as "Old Man Logan."

Other "Young Guns" include Olivier Coipel, David Finch, Trevor Hairsine, Adi Granov and Jim Cheung.

He followed this by provided the art for the Wolverine storyline "Old Man Logan" and the Icon Comics mini-series Nemesis, both with Millar.

In 2015 McNiven redesign costume of Black Bolt, Human Torch during Charles Soule's run on Uncanny Inhumans.

[12] At the 2024 New York Comic Con, it was announced that McNiven would reunite with Soule on a three-issue miniseries entitled Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell.