Over the weekend, Disney held their massive biennial “D23” fan event, this year in Brazil, and dropped a stack of new trailers, clips, news and announcements for various projects across their portfolio of Marvel, Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and more. Here is a round-up of all the news!
Star Wars Announcements
Andor: A Star Wars Story
The main bit of Star Wars news came from ‘Andor‘ Season 2. Firstly, a slight tweak to the title of the show, from being ‘Star Wars: Andor’ to ‘Andor: A Star Wars Story’, matching the branding for ‘Rogue One’, the film which inspired the series. It’s also expected that ‘Andor’ will dovetail into the movie in the same way that ‘Rogue One’ ran straight into the beginning of ‘A New Hope’. The bigger news though was a premiere date. The series will launch Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in the USA, and Wednesday, 23rd April 2025 in the UK (due to the time difference.) It was also confirmed that Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) and K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) from the film would be appearing in Season 2 of ‘Andor’.
The Mandalorian and Grogu
Moving onto ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’, the big screen outing for Din Djarin and his little green pal, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni confirmed the movie is in production and will be released May 22, 2026. They showed a “sizzle reel” in the hall which showcased all-new footage including Grogu and Din facing off with snowtroopers, massive Imperial AT-AT walkers in the snow, ‘Star Wars: Rebels’ Zeb Orrelios in action, and capping off with Grogu travelling with two tiny Anzellans. They also confirmed Sigourney Weaver would be taking a role in the film, which she had previously mentioned in an interview.
Marvel Announcements
Captain America: Brave New World
Marvel was out in force at D23 with trailers and clips for upcoming films, and news galore! First up, ‘Captain America: Brave New World’, which comes to cinemas on February 14, 2025, got a full official trailer:
Anthony Mackie makes his big-screen debut as Captain America, alongside Danny Ramirez as the Falcon, Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, Giancarlo Esposito as Seth Voelker / Sidewinder, and Harrison Ford as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross / Red Hulk. The cast also includes Liv Tyler as the president’s daughter, Betty Ross, and Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns, both reprising their roles in 2008’s ‘The Incredible Hulk’.
After meeting with newly elected US President Thaddeus Ross, Sam (Mackie) finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red… It seems Isaiah, who we last saw in the Disney+ series ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’, made an assassination attempt on “Thunderbolt” Ross, but it looks clear he’s being controlled, much like Bucky was in ‘The Winter Soldier’, but why and by whom?
Thunderbolts*
Next up was ‘Thunderbolts*’, which hits cinemas on May 2, 2025, got a “special look” clip:
The movie features Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, alongside Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, with Harrison Ford as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross… and Lewis Pullman as “Bob”…
Now… If you wondering who “Bob” is, (spoilers) it seems likely he is “Sentry”, Marvel’s sort of take on Superman, but with a rather dark, not exactly stable, twist. Without going into his full history, he was another attempt to recreate Steve Rogers’ super soldier serum which went awry. He’s been good and bad in the comics, with various retcons and versions, so it’s hard to say exactly how this will play out on screen, but he’s an interesting new addition to the MCU.
What If..? Season 3
Moving to TV, and we have the third and final season of ‘What If..?‘ which lands December 22, 2024, on Disney+. They dropped a new poster which revealed some interesting new additions for this final outing.
The 8 episode series will feature White Vision, Ice Giant Loki, Sam Wilson, Red Guardian, Arishem the Judge, Uatu the Watcher, Kahhori: Reshaper Of Worlds, Agatha Harkness, and interestingly, X-Men mutant Storm (seen in the “R” in the poster), and she appears to be wielding Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. They also announced Kate Bishop and Shang-Chi appear as cowboys in a Western-inspired episode. They have today also released the trailer online:
Other MCU News From Kevin Feige
Marvel overlord Kevin Feige took to the stage and dropped a number of little interesting bits and pieces about the future of the MCU. Whilst confirming that Miles Morales would be starring in Sony’s upcoming animated film ‘Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse’, he also hinted about the character moving into live-action. “Miles will appear in the third ‘Spider-Verse’ movie, which is in production. I hope that, shortly after that, he can enter the MCU in live-action,” said the MCU boss.
On Marvel Studios’ ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’, he confirmed there are only a few weeks of filming left, as the room got to see some clips of the movie which have yet to be released online (officially anyway…) The movie, starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, lands in July 2025.
Whilst ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ has inched us closer to mutants in the MCU, we’re still waiting on the ‘X-Men’ to properly appear in live-action at Marvel. Feige gave a new hint on that timeline, saying “When we were preparing for ‘Avengers: Endgame’ years ago, it was about reaching the big finale of our narrative, and after that, we had to start everything over again. This time, on the road to ‘Secret Wars,’ we already know very well what the story will be up to that point and beyond. The X-Men are an important part of that future.” So, ‘X-Men’ would seem to be the goal post-Secret Wars.
And if you’ve finished watching ‘Agatha All Along’, and have questions about the status of Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, Feige seems to hint that she definitely isn’t as dead as she may have appeared at the end of ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’. “All I can say is that we’re excited to find out when and how Scarlet Witch might return,” he commented.
Moving over to ‘Blade’, the film which has been in “development hell” for a while, and most recently being completely bumped from the MCU schedule. However, Feige says they are still committed to bringing the character into the MCU, they just haven’t worked out the details… “Whenever we change direction with a project or are still trying to figure out how it fits into our schedule, we let the public know,” he said about the beleaguered movie. “You’re up to date with what’s happening. But I can tell you that the character will indeed make it to the MCU.”
Lastly for Marvel, expect to see more ‘Deadpool and Wolverine‘. “The plans with Deadpool and Wolverine will always be the same: we’re always wondering where we can fit them in, and how fast,” said Feige. That doesn’t necessarily mean a new film, but there is a possibility the characters could pop up across MCU projects. When and where is anyone’s guess though.
Disney/Pixar
Mufasa: The Lion King
The “live-action” ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ movie got a final trailer before its release on December 20, 2024. Exploring the unlikely rise of the beloved king of the Pride Lands, “Mufasa: The Lion King” enlists Rafiki to relay the legend of Mufasa to young lion cub Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala, with Timon and Pumbaa lending their signature schtick. Told in flashbacks, the story introduces Mufasa as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka—the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destiny—their bonds will be tested as they work together to evade a threatening and deadly foe.
Ice Age 6
Disney revealed ‘Ice Age 6’ is coming in 2026! Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, and Simon Pegg are returning for an all-new big-screen adventure. This will be the first film in the series to be released in cinemas since Disney bought 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets back in 2019.
Toy Story 5
Whilst there was no footage, they did release a couple of bits of concept art for ‘Toy Story 5’, due to arrive in theatres on June 19, 2026. It’s Toy meets Tech. Buzz, Woody, Jessie, and the rest of the gang’s jobs get exponentially harder when they go head to head with this all-new threat to playtime…
That threat appears to be 50 commemorative Buzz Lightyear action figures who are stuck in toy mode and searching for Star Command! The movie is directed by Andrew Stanton, co-directed by McKenna Harris and produced by Jessica Choi.
Zootopia 2
Shakira will reprise her role as Gazelle in the upcoming ‘Zootopia 2’ film and brings with her a new song. The film, due November 2025, follows detectives Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde find themselves on the twisting trail of a mysterious reptile who arrives in Zootopia and turns the mammal metropolis upside down. To crack the case, Judy and Nick must go undercover to unexpected new parts of town, where their growing partnership is tested like never before.
Lilo & Stitch
Lastly, they released a new still of “Stitch” from the upcoming CGI remake of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ releasing on May 23, 2025. The film follows the bond formed between a lonely human girl named Lilo and a dog-like alien named Stitch, who is engineered to be a force of destruction. Pursuing aliens, social workers and the idea of the bond of family figure into the proceedings.
