Disney’s D23 Expo 2019: List of Everything Exciting Announced!

  1. All things Disney were announced and discussed over the weekend at the “largest Disney fan event in the world” in Disney’s sixth D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. With exciting announcements from Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and Disney, you’ll definitely want to check out all the juicy news from the weekend at D23.

Disney

Film announcements

  • Frozen 2 casts now include Evan Rachel Wood as Queen Iduna and Sterling K. Brown will play as Lieutenant Matthias.

  • A brand new Frozen 2 poster has also been unveiled. The film opens in theatres on 22 Nov.

  • Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil opens in theatres 18 Oct.
Emma Stone as Cruella de Vil in Cruella. Via IGN
  • Disney released a first look at Emma Stone who will play Cruella de Vil in an upcoming Cruella movie that will air sometime in 2020.

  • A live-action film of Lady and the Tramp premieres on Disney+ on 12 Nov.
The cast of Raya and The Last Dragon. Via Polygon.
  • Raya and The Last Dragon has been announced for a Thanksgiving 2020 release. Voice actors include Cassie Steele (Tammy from Rick and Morty) as Raya and Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians) as the Last Dragon Sisu.

  • If you’re a fan of High School Musical, it’s back. This time as a series. It streams 12 Nov 2019 on Disney+.
via wdwnt
  • The Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe is currently in production for Disney+. This will be the second movie of the franchise and set to premiere in 2020.

New Disneyland park rides and attractions

Artist impression via movier
  • Avenger Campus: Disneyland California and Paris will house a Spider-Man attraction and a new ride that will let visitors “step onboard a Quinjet and fly alongside the Avengers in an epic adventure to Wakanda and beyond”. The official “Phase 1” of the land will open in 2020 with Phase 2’s opening TBA.
Artist impression. Via Disneyparks
  • Hong Kong Disneyland: The park’s castle will be revamped to become the Castle of Magical Dreams. The park will also feature two new Frozen-themed attractions in 2021.
Artist impression via Variety
  • Shanghai Disneyland: The world’s first Zootopia themed land is in the works. Rumours have it that it will open in 2021 in celebration of Shanghai Disney Resort’s 5th anniversary.
Artist impression via slashfilm
  • Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. According to Disney: “With an original story and lovable theme song, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway uses state-of-the-art technologies and dazzling visual effects to transform the cartoon world into an incredible and immersive multi-dimensional experience.” Coming to California Disneyland (2022) and Disney Florida Hollywood Studio (2020).

Pixar

Film announcements

Pixar’s upcoming animated film, Soul. Via Polygon
  • Pixar released more info on its upcoming animated film, Soul. The plot reads: “Ever wonder where your passion, your dreams and your interests come from? What is it that makes you … you? Soul takes you on a journey from the streets of New York City to the cosmic realms to discover the answers to life’s most important questions.”

The film’s main character Joe Gardner is voiced by Jamie Foxx. Other voice actors include Phylicia Rashad as Joe’s mother Libba, Daveed Diggs as Joe’s neighbour, Questlove as Curley and 22 as Tina Fey. It will be directed by Pete Docter whose past films include Up, Inside Out and Monsters Inc. Soul is set to air on 19 June, 2020.

 

  • An official trailer was also released for an upcoming film Onward, which stars Tom Holland and Chris Pratt. They play as two brothers on a quest to bring their father back to life. Slated for a March 6, 2020 release.

Star Wars

Film & TV Series announcements

Pedro Pascal as The Mandalorian at D23. Screengrab via Youtube
  • A Star Wars live-action TV series The Mandalorian will stream on Disney+ on Nov 12 this year. It stars Pedro Pascal (who plays Oberyn in Game of Thrones) alongside Carl Weathers (Predator) and Gina Carano (Deadpool). 
Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Via wdwinfo
  • Official: Ewan McGregor returns as Obi-wan Kenobi as part of a Kenobi TV series on Disney+. Besides confirming the project, not much else was revealed except that filming begins next year.

via Star Wars
  • A teaser and poster for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker dropped and it will wrap up the current Star Wars trilogy. Apparently, an exclusive trailer (that hasn’t been made public yet) shown during the expo showed Rey wielding a red twin-bladed lightsaber. Has she turned to the Dark Side? We’ll only know when it airs on Dec 20 this year.

Marvel

Film announcements

The Cast of Eternals. Via gadgets.ndtv
  • Kit Harington (Jon Snow in Game of Thrones) has officially been announced to play Dane Whitman as the Black Knight in The Eternals. He joins an Eternals cast that includes Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Lauren Ridloff and Kumail Nanjiani just to name a few.
Black Panther sequel announced. Via Den of Geek
  • Black Panther sequel has been announced and all who survived the first movie and isn’t dead in Avengers: Endgame will most likely return. Ryan Coogler returns to direct the sequel. Black Panther 2 will air on 6 May, 2022.

  • Agents of Shield returns for 7th season for 13 episodes and set to air in mid-2020.
via Den of Geek
  • Created by Stan Lee and John Buscema, She-Hulk gets her own series. Other than the confirmation of the series, Marvel has yet to provide any other concrete information.
via Den of Geek
  • Confirmed: Marvel will be developing a live-action Ms.Marvel TV series on Disney+. Details are scarce but it will be tied directly in the MCU. No information on cast or release date have yet to be announced.

For more information on Marvel, check out our SGCC article!