Last night, Disney transformed their annual Investor’s Day event into a live video available across the world. The event explored Disney’s plans for expanding its streaming services Disney+ and Hulu.
The event started out strong, announcing 50 new series releasing directly to Disney+. This 50 included 10 Marvel and 10 Star Wars series.
The executives of the brand revealed they were launching a new content brand. Disney is integrating Star and Star+ into the streaming service, adding a huge collection of content. This includes hit series from Disney Television Studios and FX and blockbuster films from Disney and 21 Century Fox. Exclusive content will also come to this section.
Fans of the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia will be jumping with joy. The FX sitcom is back for four more seasons which will make it the longest-running live-action sitcom in TV history.
Star Wars
Kathleen Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm came up pretty early to announce the slate for Lucasfilm. First, she praised the success of the Mandalorian Disney+ series directed by Jon Favreau. Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic are two new series that are direct spin-offs of the hit bounty hunter series.
Donald Glover is returning as Lando for a series directed by Dear White People creator, Justin Simien. Meanwhile, Hayden Christensen is coming back to the sci-fi universe as Darth Vader. He joins Ewan McGregor in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series set 10 years after Revenge of the Sith.
Finally, Patty Jenkins will be directing the next Star Wars feature film, Rogue Squadron. The Wonder Woman director will the first female director to direct a Star Wars film.
Marvel
Marvel brought all the big guns to close off the creative content section of the investors live with a bang. Not only did they release trailers for 5 of their upcoming Disney+ series, but they also revealed that Marvel’s first family, The Fantastic Four, is finally getting an MCU reboot in the near future. Jonn Watts will direct the new feature film.
The late Chadwick Boseman will not be replaced as T’Challa in Black Panther 2. Meanwhile, there were plenty of other role announcements. Christian Bale will be Villain Gorr the God Butcher for Thor Love and Thunder. Kathryn Newton is taking on the role of Cassie Lang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Leap. Furthermore, Jonathan Majors will appear as the time-travelling villain Kang.
Tatianna Maslany can now officially say she will take the role of She-Hulk in the MCU. Previously, she had denied the rumours that she would be portraying the character in the MCU. Tim Roth’s Abomination from 2008’s Hulk will also appear alongside Mark Ruffalo. In addition, the wording of Kevin Feige’s speech implies more will appear in that series. We got a peek at Iman Vellani as Ms Marvel as well as Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop. They are two new characters which fans are hopeful to see.
Finally, Kevin Feige revealed four new Disney+ series in the works: Secret Invasion starring Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn as Talos; Don Cheadle will star in his own series called Armor Wars; There will be a series of shorts for Baby Groot; Dominque Thorne will be bringing young genius hero, Riri Williams, to life in Ironheart.
Other Disney announcements
Chris Evans will be going to infinity and beyond as he voices Buzz Lightyear in Lightyear. Though he is not the Buzz Lightyear you are thinking of. He will voice the character the toy was based on.
Disney Animation is teaming up with a Pan-African entertainment brand Kugali to create an Afrofuturistic film for Disney+ called Iwaju. A year ago, Ugandan animator Hamid Ibrahim of the Kugali team once told the BBC that his team’s work is “going to kick Disney’s ass”.
Disney’s Live Action remakes are still going ahead. There will be Lion King and 101 Dalmatians Prequels, a Little Mermaid remake starring David Diggs, a Pinocchio remake starring Tom Hanks and a Peter Pan remake.
Power Spike Games 