The Seven Biggest Takeaways from Disney's D23 Expo
Disney's D23 Expo—essentially a three-day long advertisement for the world's most dominant media conglomerate—took place this past weekend. Alongside a bunch of convention center regularities and an opportunity for journalists from around the world to visit the historic scenery of checks notes Anaheim, the weekend's main event was a panel announcing a bunch of new film/television productions, and some new information on ones we already knew about. Here are seven key takeaways:
Black Panther 2
Ryan Coogler is back to direct Black Panther 2, which will be released in 2022 and have a different, presumably much longer, Marvel-esque name. No big moves on the casting front since we're three years away, but still: confirmation!
More Disney+ Marvel Shows
In addition to Marvel's already stacked Disney+ slate, we're also getting Moon Knight, She-Hulk(!), and Ms. Marvel(!!!) TV shows. That last one's real exciting. Ms. Marvel, or Kamala Khan, is Marvel's first Muslim character to headline a comic book (and now, naturally, TV series). She's a Pakistani-American teenager who has the ability to shape-shift, stretch, and "embiggen" parts of her body to fight crime just like her idol, Captain Marvel (whose name she politely borrowed).
I Think I Know What's Up With WandaVision
Another Disney+ show I can't wait to see is WandaVision, which reunites Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch with my favorite purple British robot, Vision. Kevin Feige has compared the tone to, of all things, the Dick Van Dyke show. I'm getting suspicious. The poster is oddly sinister in its "'60s sitcom" kind of way. Let's also not forget that Vision is, you know, dead, and that Wanda is set to co-star in a spooky movie called Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness: I reckon this is going to be some alternate reality nightmare Wanda's been trapped in (by herself?); Vision, too, has a history of messed-up suburban living. This show's gone from an afterthought to one of my most anticipated Marvel projects. Make it real weird please, guys.
New Rise of Skywalker Footage
Hundreds of Star Destroyers! A big old, gorgeous-looking sandy Star Wars marketplace! Rey and Kylo Ren fighting on the crumbled, crashed fragments of the Death Star while waves crash against the ruins around them! It's not much, but it looks damn good. Rey with a very Christmas-toy-friendly new (RED!) lightsaber design is cool, but most likely some kind of dream sequence fake out. Ah well. We'll still take it.
Some Theme Park Stuff
If you're down to wait in lines and pay $20 for a gin and tonic named tangentially after a Marvel or Star Wars property next year, Disneyland will have you covered. Plus: Mary Poppins is coming to Epcot! (editor's note: gay rights)
The Mandalorian Trailer... Yes
Star Wars is getting in on the streaming business too with The Mandalorian, set five years after Return of the Jedi. It will have cool helmets and snarky robots and, no, won't have Boba Fett in it. Because he was never very badass to begin with and got eaten by a big worm the moment he actually tried to do his job.
New Disney Movies! Real Ones!
Pixar's newest movie, Onward, got a giant clip shown to audiences. It stars Chris Pratt and Tom Holland as Tolkein-esque creatures who live in a contemporary world not unlike outs where magic is mostly forgotten. They find a magic staff that will bring their dead dad back to life for 24 hours, but fuck it up, and only bring back his lower half. Not to say this is necessarily "business as usual" for Pixar but it looks goofy and will obviously get very sad. So, yeah, business as usual.
What a tangled web!
You probably forgot about a couple of these.
Why can’t the studio make modern classics of its remakes?
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Endgame was really just the beginning.
Originally Appeared on GQ
