Disney made several huge announcements at its 2020 Investor Day, including updates on new Marvel, Star Wars, and Disney Animation studios projects, as well as updates on Disney Plus and Disney’s other streaming services.
Let’s start with the bad news…
Disney Plus is getting a price increase.
Disney Plus announced it would raise its monthly subscription by $3 in Canada next year as it unleashed a flood of news about its streaming services at a four-hour event, Thursday evening.
Now on to the good news…
Disney laid out plans for a plethora of Marvel and Star Wars shows as well as the addition of a new portal of entertainment. The company says it will introduce Star, the international version of its U.S. Hulu brand, on the existing Disney Plus platform in February.
Star will serve up thousands of hours from Disney's TV wing, 20th Century Studios, and the FX channel, but it won't be charged as an additional service.
The company also promised 35 first-run series will premiere within a year of the launch date for Star.
Here’s everything else you need to know from the event:
Marvel TV
Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be happy to learn about a rapid-fire of series releases on Disney Plus, most of which are rolling out in the first half of 2021.
The first, WandaVision, will land on Jan. 15, as was previously announced. Disney also released a new trailer ahead of its upcoming release.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will quickly follow on March 19. And Loki will drop on Disney Plus in May.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier also got a full trailer, and fans were also treated to the first look at Loki, Disney’s highly anticipated short series based on Tom Hiddleston’s God of mischief character.
The show is set to premiere in May 2021.
Meanwhile…
Hawkeye was announced and set to premiere on Disney Plus in “late Fall 2021.”
What If?, an animated series from Marvel Studios, also got a new trailer that offered a first look at the upcoming series.
Kevin Feige also announced three new series coming to Disney Plus: Ironheart, Armor Wars, and Secret Invasion.
Marvel Studios is working on a new Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special for Disney Plus, due out in 2022, that will be directed by James Gunn.
Other previous announced Marvel Studios shows include Moon Knight, She-Hulk, and Ms. Marvel.
Marvel Movies
Kevin Feige confirmed that Black Panther 2 will not recast the late Chadwick Boseman’s King T’Challa. The film, set to be directed by Ryan Coogler, is still set for July 2022.
A third Ant-Man film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, is officially in development and so is Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which will tie in to both the upcoming Wandavision and Sony and Marvel’s third Spider-Man movie.
Finally, Marvel Studios is developing a new Fantastic Four movie.
Source: Kevin Winter / Staff / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
Lucasfilm
Star Wars TV Shows
Star Wars set loose a torrent of news about new shows and movies.
Disney announced that roughly 10 Star Wars series are coming to Disney Plus, and it also gave some early details about a few of those shows and other Star Wars projects.
Disney Plus is getting two new Star Wars shows; Rangers of the New Republic and Ahsoka. Both shows are spinoffs of The Mandalorian, and all three shows are planned to feature crossovers in the future.
Disney Plus is getting a new animated Star Wars series called Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which is a spinoff of the recently concluded The Clone Wars animated series. The show is set to debut on the streaming service in 2021.
Star Wars: Andor is Disney’s new Disney Plus show starring Diego Luna as Cassian Andor from Rogue One. All we know so far is that the show is launching in 2022.
The company also announced The Acolyte, a new Star Wars series helmed by Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland. A description on the official Star Wars website describes the series as a "mystery-thriller that will take the audience into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era." No further plot details have been revealed at this time, nor is any information available regarding casting or a release window.
A Droid Story was also announced. The new project is an animated adventure series featuring R2D2 and C3PO starring alongside a new hero. Per Lucasfilm, as they continue "to develop new stories, the intersection of animation and visual effects offers new opportunities to explore." Lucasfilm Animation is set to team up with the studio's legendary visual effects team, Industrial Light & Magic, to develop the special Star Wars adventure for Disney+. Plot details are mostly being kept under wraps for now.
Star Wars: Lando is another new ‘event series’ coming to Disney Plus. The project is still in the early stages of development, and Lucasfilm has yet to provide nearly any details on the project.
Star Wars: Visions is an upcoming anime anthology that will celebrate the Star Wars galaxy through the lens of anime creators. The official Star Wars account tweeted the following:
"Star Wars: Visions, an Original Series of animated short films, celebrates the @StarWars galaxy through the lens of the world’s best Japanese anime creators. Coming in 2021 to @DisneyPlus."
STAR WARS MOVIES
Patty Jenkins, the director of Wonder Woman, will helm the next main Star Wars movie, Rogue Squadron. This marks the first time a woman has directed a Star Wars movie, and the announcement comes just days before Wonder Woman 1984 is released on HBO Max.
Rogue Squadrons will follow a group of fighter pilots as they band together through thick and thin to defend good against evil.
The film is slated to be released in December 2023.
PIXAR
Pixar also made some huge announcements including new shows for Disney Plus and shared some information about their upcoming movies:
Pixar Popcorn, shorts featuring iconic Pixar characters, will be available in January.
Dug Days, a new series featuring the beloved dog Dug from Up, premieres in fall 2021.
A Cars series is coming to Disney Plus in fall 2022.
Pixar will debut its first original long-form animated series called Win or Lose, in the fall of 2023.
As for movies, Pixar announced:
Luca, a movie set in Italy about a boy named Luca that will hit theaters in June 2021.
Lightyear, an origin story for Buzz Lightyea, is hitting theaters in summer 2022.
Turning Red, about a 13-year old girl who can transform into a giant red panda.
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Disney Animation
Disney Animation has several other projects in the pipeline including:
Raya and the Last Dragon which premieres on March 5th, 2021 on Disney Plus via Premier Access and in theaters.
Baymax!, a series based on Big Hero 6, is arriving in early 2022.
Zootopia Plus, a new series based on Zootopia, is hitting the streaming service in spring 2022.
Tiana, based on The Princess and The Frog, is premiering on Disney Plus in 2023.
A long-form musical comedy series for Moana is hitting Disney Plus in 2023.
Encanto, a new movie set in Colombia with music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is in development
Iwaju, an original long-form series made in partnership with Kugali Media, is premiering on Disney Plus in 2022
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Last but not least, the final Indiana Jones is now in pre-production and will be released in July 2022.
