Your first look at the new Star Wars, Marvel, Disney, Pixar projects, as well as some incredible new sequels and remakes announced.
Wow.
Just... wow.
Thursday night was like Nerd Christmas, at _actual_ Christmas, and as a self-professed nerd, I couldn't be happier.
Okay, let us focus on the headline first of all.
Yes, the cost of Disney+ is set to increase, from the current pricing of €6.99 a month or €69.99 a year, up to €8.99 a month or €89.99 for the year.
One of the primary reasons for that is that early next year will see a new tile added to the Disney+ homepage, alongside the Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic tiles already present, and it will be the Star tile.
As Disney themselves put it during their Investor Day announcements on Thursday night: "The Star brand will serve as home to thousands of hours of television and movies from Disney’s creative studios, including Disney Television Studios, FX, 20th Century Studios, 20th Television, and more, enhanced by the addition of local programming from the regions where available.
So what does that mean? Basically, the entire 20th Century Fox (or just 20th Century Studios as they've been rebranded) back catalogue will be added to Disney+, which includes movies franchises like Alien, Die Hard, Predator, Deadpool, Independence Day, etc., and we can probably expect some of their bigger home entertainment series to be brought on board too, such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Bob's Burgers, Archer, Family Guy, 24, The O.C., Malcolm in the Middle, and The X-Files.
For anyone concerned that the previously family-friendly streaming service will need to be kept an eye on in case a younger family member gets their hands on the remote, don't stress: you can add PIN locks to profiles which may have access to the more mature content.
This announcement will effectively double the library available on the Disney+ app, and is set to launch on 23 February 2021.
But as if that wasn't enough, Disney went ahead and revealed a slate of some of the biggest new arrivals you can expect across their brands in the next few weeks, months, and years, including:
James Mangold (Logan, Ford V Ferrari) directing Indiana Jones 5, a new live-action series of Willow starring Warwick Davis, new Star Wars movies by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok) and Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman).
There were also a host of new Star Wars shows announced, including Obi-Wan Kenobi (bringing back Ewan McGregor and, surprisingly, Hayden Christensen), Andor (based on the Rogue One character played by Diego Luna), Ahsoka (with Rosario Dawson reprising her role from The Mandalorian), and Lando (focussing on Lando Calrissian).
It was also finally confirmed that there is a new show based on Alien on the way, from a fantastic director and screenwriter.
https://twitter.com/Disney/status/1337170752961974273?s=20
Disney's live-action sequels and reboots include:
- The Lion King prequel (from the director of Moonlight)
- The Little Mermaid (with Halle of Chloe x Halle fame in the lead, and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula)
- Sister Act 3
- Disenchanted (the sequel to Enchanted)
- Hocus Pocus 2
- Pinocchio (starring Tom Hanks as Geppetto)
- Peter Pan & Wendy (with Jude Law as Captain Hook)
- a live-action/animated hybrid of Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers (voiced John Mulaney and Andy Samberg)
- Three Men and a Baby (starring Zac Efron)
- Turner & Hooch (starring Josh Peck)
- The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers (bringing back Emilio Estevez)
The next big Disney movie will be released simultaneously on Disney+ and in cinemas, while four of Disney's biggest animated movies will be getting their own shows on Disney+
https://twitter.com/Disney/status/1337190708705423361?s=20
Buzz Lightyear will be getting his own movie, based on the actual space adventurer character, not the toy, and is voiced by Chris Evans.
Two big Marvel shows got their first trailers, including The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, due on 19 March 2021:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkBfGvb7NzM
And the first look at Loki, with Tom Hiddleston seemingly going to some kind of time prison, due in May 2021:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4JuopziR3Q
New Marvel series joining Disney+ include Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner to return, joined by Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop), She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Secret Invasion (Sam Jackson back as Nick Fury), Ironheart, and Armor Wars (Don Cheadle back as War Machine).
Christian Bale has been confirmed as the villain for Thor 4, as well as Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, True Detective) for the new take on Blade.
https://twitter.com/Disney/status/1337200156350033920?s=20
A threequel in the form of Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, with all the main cast returning, and joined by Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country) as Kang the Conquerer.
Discussing Black Panther 2, Disney announced that it will be
"opening July 8, 2022, is being written & directed by Ryan Coogler. Honoring Chadwick Boseman’s legacy & portrayal of T’Challa, Marvel will not recast the character, but will explore the world of Wakanda & the rich characters introduced in the first film."
The director the three Tom Holland Spider-Man movies has signed on for the new Fantastic Four reboot.
https://twitter.com/MarvelStudios/status/1337200479063994368?s=20
This wasn't even all of it, but we'd be here until next week listing everything! Anyways, yeah, that extra €2 a month is being well spent.
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