For its second anniversary, Disney+ Day was announced to mark the occasion. Here are the key takeaways from the event.
Disney+ launched on 12th November 2019 and quickly set the streaming arena ablaze with the hit Star Wars tv series spin-off The Mandalorian. The streaming service has already surpassed its five-year subscriber goal and has quickly become Netflix’s greatest competition. There is an ever-increasing demand for new, original content to look forward to, so did Disney+ Day deliver? Yes…but also no.
What’s next for the MCU?
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Disney+ dominated social media discourse this year with WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki. The highly anticipated Hawkeye is set to premiere on 24th November; it is currently unknown which MCU series will follow afterwards.
Disney+ Day was coy with revealing precise release dates, Ms Marvel’s summer 2022 date being the most concrete of all. Alongside the hero origin story of Kamala Khan, we can expect She-Hulk, Secret Invasion, Moon Knight and Ironheart (all of which received official logos at the event) to premiere in 2022.
The event confirmed a second season for the animated series What If…?, the WandaVision spin-off Agatha: House of Harkness and a spin-off for the Hawkeye character Maya Lopez, titled Echo. Lastly, Disney also announced multiple animated series: I Am Groot, Spider-Man: Freshman Year, Marvel Zombies and new episodes for the classic X-Men’97.
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Speaking of animation…
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The event’s most delightful announcements were undoubtedly the animated series, including The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (premiering on 28th January), The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (premiering in February 2022) and a Big Hero 6 spin-off Baymax! (premiering in summer 2022), Zootopia+ and Cars on the Road (both also premiering in 2022). We finally got a first look at Tiana, a spin-off series of (the super underrated) The Princess and The Frog, which was my personal highlight of the event.
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An expansion to the movie catalogue:
Disney announced a slew of 2022 film releases. The new animated Diary of a Wimpy Kid film is set to premiere on 3rd December, with a sequel Rodrick Rules already greenlit. A modernised live-action adaptation of Cinderella, titled Sneakerella, is releasing on 18th February.
We can also expect a brand-new musical Better Nate Than Ever and a live-action adaptation of Pinocchio. Other announcements include Rosaline, a comedic retelling of Romeo + Juliet, The Princess, a fantasy action film starring Joey King and Prey, a new instalment in the Predator franchise.
Two surprise reboots, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers and Cheaper by the Dozen are also premiering in Spring.
Most excitingly, the sequels for the classics Hocus Pocus (Hocus Pocus 2) and Enchanted (Disenchanted) are finally arriving next Autumn. It appears that Disney is slowly foregoing theatre releases for smaller films, opting for straight to VOD (video on demand) releases on Disney+ instead.
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For fans of documentaries, Disney+ announced two projects with National Geographic. Welcome to Earth, hosted by Will Smith, is premiering on 8th December where he will explore the various corners of the world. Limitless with Chris Hemsworth is releasing in 2022, in which the actor will test the limits and capabilities of the human body.
There are also two upcoming music documentaries, The Making of Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles which is a look behind Billie Eilish’s creative process and The Beatles Get Back (premiering 25th November).
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To conclude…
Although the event had some pleasant surprises, it is a pity Disney+ Day failed to fully capitalise on the potential hype by completely ignoring highly anticipated projects like the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
The trailers for Moon Knight, Ms Marvel and She-Hulk were also unnecessarily kept exclusive to the Disney+ platform. The announcements did not feel grand enough considering the event was celebrating the streaming service’s anniversary.
Sure, we were bombarded with announcements but in the end, we were left with more questions than answers. While the event was not a complete disaster, the information did not feel substantial enough and my overall impression can be described in just one word, meh.