Star Wars, Marvel, Alien… It’s Mouse House mania!
DISNEY I At the recent Investor Day, the Mouse House dropped the motherlode. TF unpacks all the details we can physically cram in…
1 STAR WARS
10 December 2020 will be a day long remembered… After the divisive sequels and The Mandalorian’s restorative successes, Disney’s Investor Day announced sundry new beginnings for matters Force-related, including a prequels reunion. Set 10 years post-Revenge Of The Sith, Obi-Wan Kenobi will see Ewan McGregor’s Old-ish Ben re-encountering Hayden Christensen’s Darth Vader, whose return comes with director Deborah Chow’s tease: the former buddies with braids will “get into it again”.
Diego Luna will also fight again in “spy thriller”-y (says Kathleen Kennedy) Rogue One spin-off Andor. Meanwhile, The Mando brings us two new babies in the much-wanted Ahsoka and Rangers of The New Republic, leading to a ‘climactic story event’. Elsewhere, Lando and High Republic-era “mystery thriller” The Acolyte are incoming, as are three animated shows: The Bad Batch, Visions and A Droid Story.
And theatricals? Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins brought the goosebumps with a teaser for her X-wing fighterpilot film Rogue Squadron. Taika Waititi has a “unique” project in development, which leaves Rian Johnson/J.D. Dillard’s projects uncertain. But we won’t be starved for Star Wars in the meantime, or other Lucasfilm titles: Indiana Jones 5, Willow, and an adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s Children Of Blood And Bone were confirmed.
2 MARVEL SHOWS
Aside from dropping trailers for WandaVision, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, What If…? and Loki, Disney confirmed Kate Bishop for Hawkeye. Playing Jennifer Walters in She-Hulk, Tatiana Maslany will be joined by guaranteed (Tim Roth, Mark Ruffalo) and rumoured (Charlie Cox) Marvel vets; Moon Knight was also teased. Iman Vellani looked pitch-perfect in Ms. Marvel’s series sizzler, while other titles include Ironheart, with Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams; Armor Wars, with Don Cheadle protecting Stark tech; Secret Invasion, reuniting Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn; shorts series I Am Groot; and James Gunn’s Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special.
3 MARVEL MOVIES
Looking beyond previous MCU announcements, Xochitl Gomez will play America Chavez in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, and Jonathan Majors’ Kang The Conqueror is confirmed for Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, while Christian Bale’s Thor: Love & Thunder role is confirmed to be the vengeful, multi-timeline trouble-causer Gorr the God Butcher. The MCU Spider-Man’s sure-handed Jon Watts will direct the Fantastic 4’s MCU debut, Candyman’s Nia DaCosta is confirmed for Captain Marvel 2, and Black Panther 2 will not recast T’Challa following the awful loss of Chadwick Boseman.
4 PIXAR
After Onward and Soul, Pixar is readying various fresh/familiar titles for screens small and big. On Disney+, Up’s talkative mutt visits suburbia for the Dug Days series; Lightning McQueen and Mater will reunite in a Cars series; and sundry Pixar characters will populate Pixar Popcorn’s mini-shorts. As for newer faces, original series Win Or Lose will plot the multi-perspective journey of a middle-school softball team. On the big screen, Domee Shi’s Turning Red will tell the story of a teenager who turns into a big red panda when she gets over-excited (relatable!). Finally, Chris Evans fronts Lightyear, described by Pete Docter as the film that birthed the Buzz toy.
5 NOAH HAWLEY’S ALIEN
We only need to know one thing. Where they are… Destination Earth is the pitch for Fargo show-runner Noah Hawley’s in development FX Alien series. In 2017, we laid out our own Alien revival pitch: “Nudge the Xeno to the shadows, [and] let him rip in a desperate scenario with earthy characters.” Hawley concurs, going by interviews and his Earthbound promise. With his Star Trek film in “stasis”, Hawley told Observer.com he wanted strong characters in Alien. “Then we drop the aliens back in and we go, ‘This is great. Not only is there great human drama, but there’s aliens!’” Game on, man.
6 DISNEY+ LIVE-ACTION MOVIES
The 300-year (OK, near-30…) wait is up: Disney+ has confirmed the sequel to witchy Halloween staple Hocus Pocus, with Adam Shankman directing. Other familiar titles include a Cheaper By The Dozen remake, featuring Gabrielle Union, and two sequels: Amy Adams’ Enchanted follow-up Disenchanted and the Whoopi Goldberg-fronted Sister Act 3. Robert Zemeckis’ Pinocchio (with Tom Hanks) will now debut on Disney+; ditto David Lowery’s Peter Pan & Wendy. Three sports movies will also (based on Keanon Lowe, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Chris Paul) hit Disney+, while Squirrel Girl fans might want to try Flora & Ulysses, the intriguing-looking tale of a female comic-book fan and her superpowered squirrel.
7 DISNEY ANIMATION
Disney+’s ani-wing brims with franchise revisits, including Simon Pegg-fronted movie The Ice Age Adventures Of Buck Wild and the previously announced Night At The Museum movie. A Diary Of A Wimpy Kid ani-movie also beckons, while liveaction/animated hybrid Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers movie will see Akiva Schaffer directing John Mulaney and Andy Samberg. Four ani-movies will bank Disney+ serial extensions (Baymax!, Tiana, Moana, Zootopia+), while new titles include Disney’s team-up with African company Kugali for original sci-fi series Iwájú. Raya And The Last Dragon will hit theatres and Disney+ premier access simultaneously, while Hamilton stans can look forward to Colombia-set fable Encanto, with songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
8 STAR
Time for bed, kids. Joining Disney+ in February 2021, this parentally controlled brand tile will host the more grown-up titles – mouthful billing: “general entertainment content brands” – from sundry Disney-owned studios, including FX, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight and Freeform. Alongside alongside catalogue titles, new headline draws include Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez in the comedy show Only Murders In The Building; plus Kate McKinnon in The Dropout, the story of con artist Elizabeth Holmes. Meanwhile, Michael Keaton, Peter Sarsgaard and Rosario Dawson will lead Dopesick, a “harrowing” series about the opioid epidemic rather than a solo vehicle for
Snow White’s pal Dopey. KH