Of all the numerous projects Disney has in the pipeline, nothing is more ambitious than their Disney+ streaming platform set to launch in November. As a result, the Disney+ panel at D23 Expo 2019 was one of the most anticipated events of the weekend dedicated to all things Disney.
The platform is already impressive enough considering all the previously-existing content it will have available upon launch: The entire Pixar lineup, Disney animated classics and current movies, thousands of hours of Disney Channel series and movies, as well as newly-acquired Fox properties such as The Simpsons and National Geographic series. That alone is worth a $6.99 monthly subscription to most. But it’s the Disney+ original content that’s really gotten people excited. You might be wondering what those new series and TV shows might be. Here it is, all the original content coming to Disney+ and highlighted at the D23 panel, sorted by brand.
Original Disney Channel Content
Courtesy: Disney Channel
Phineas & Ferb: Candace Against The Universe
Stepbrothers Phineas and Ferb are back for another adventure. This time, their much-teased older sister, Candace, is the center of the story when she gets abducted by aliens. It’s not so bad, however. Being on a distant planet without her annoying little brothers is pretty great, as far as Candace is concerned. It’s already in production so expect to see it early next year.
A Brand-New Lizzie McGuire Series
Original creator Terri Minsky is back to showrun and oversee a brand-new Lizzie McGuire series for Disney+. Even better, Hilary Duff is returning to reprise her role as an older Lizzie Maguire. The series will revolve around a 30-something Lizzie living in New York City and trying to make it as a millennial.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
The musical mockumentary is back, this time as a full series. The show revolves around the students of fictional East High (where the movies were filmed in that universe) putting on a production of High School Musical. It’s all very meta and musical and theater kids will love it. It will be hitting Disney+ on November 23.
Original Pixar Content
Courtesy: Pixar
Forky Asks A Question
Forky was undeniably the breakout star of Toy Story 4, and so he gets to star in the first animated series of shorts by Pixar with Tony Hale reprising his voice. The series is all about the brand-new Forky asking questions and learning about the world. Why is it always partly cloudy, not partly sunny? What is time? Why are there no B batteries? Is the word ‘dictionary’ in the dictionary? How does love work? What is money? These are the sorts of questions he’ll be asking his Toy Story buddies to help him answer. The 10-episode series will be available when Disney+ launches on November 12.
Monsters At Work
Monsters at Work is a workplace comedy set at Monsters, Inc. It follows the story of Tyler Tuskman (Ben Feldman) and his mom, Millie (Aisha Tyler). Tyler is a brand-new graduate from the School of Scares. He’s all set to collect the screams of terrified children to power the grid…and then on his first day of work on the scare floor, he discovers Monsters, Inc. has switched to laugh power. Tyler now has to find his new way through laughter instead of scares. Monsters at Work will debut by early next year.
Original Marvel Studios Content
Courtesy: Marvel
What If…?
Animated What If…? is based on the comic book series of the same name. The standalone episodes will explore how the Marvel universe might be different if one specific thing had been changed. For example, what if it had been Peggy Carter to take the Super Soldier Serum instead of Steve Rogers? What if Bucky Barnes had gotten Cap’s shield instead? Narrated by Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher, the series will see almost the entirety of the MCU cast lending their voices to their respective roles. It will be dropping Summer 2021.
Loki
This has the potential to be one of the most fun Marvel series coming to Disney+. When the alternate timeline Loki stole the Tesseract and then disappeared from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody in 2012 in Avengers: Endgame, where did he go? What chaos ensued? Can he ever make a friend? Will he ever be redeemed? It appears to be borrowing elements the Loki: Agent of Asgard comic book series in which Loki goes to Midgard (Earth) undercover and makes his first genuine friend. It will be releasing in Spring 2021.
The Falcon & The Winter Soldier
Ever since Captain America: Civil War, fans have wanted to see a buddy-action team-up with Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes. Lo and behold, their wish is coming true. Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Falcon) and Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier) will be reprising their roles, as will Daniel Brühl as villain Baron Zemo, and Emily Van Camp as Agent Sharon Carter. It will also be introducing Wyatt Russell as, John Walker, who in the comics is a superhero known as U.S. Agent. It will be hitting Disney+ in Fall 2020.
WandaVision
This is potentially the weirdest but coolest Marvel series heading our way. It was described by stars Paul Bettany (Vision) and Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch) as wacky and funny, but also something hugely epic. The teaser trailer had a very ’50s sitcom vibe but got distinctly darker and weirder as the trailer went on – fitting for a series that has already been said will set up the horror-tinged Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Along with Olsen and Bettany, Kat Dennings will be returning as Darcy Lewis and Randall Park will return as Agent Jimmy Woo. Newcomers to the MCU will be Teyonah Parris as adult Monica Rambeau and Kathryn Hahn as their nosy neighbor. It will hit Disney+ in Spring 2021.
Hawkeye
Jeremy Renner will reprise his role as Clint Barton, who will train Kate Bishop to take his place as Hawkeye. Clint and his young protégé get into all sorts of hijinks. Deadpan hilarity will ensue. It will drop Fal 2021.
Along with the aforementioned series, the panel also had an exciting announcement of three new Marvel series heading our way:
Ms. Marvel
Ms. Marvel follows the story of Pakistani-American teenager Kamala Khan. When she is accidentally hit with Terrigen Mist, it triggers her latent Inhuman DNA and she becomes the superhero Ms. Marvel, taking up the first codename used by her idol, Carol Danvers. As a super-stretchy superhero able to morph and contort, she fights crime as one of the youngest Avengers.
Moon Knight
Marc Spector is a former boxer and Marine who leaves the military to become a mercenary. A mission in Egypt goes wrong and he’s left to bleed out but is offered a second chance by the Egyptian deity Khonshu. He becomes a Batman-like nighttime vigilante, with one crucial difference: Moon Knight suffers from disassociative identity disorder, with three separate personalities living inside him.
She-Hulk
Bruce Banner’s cousin the comics, lawyer Jennifer Walters gains her superpowers when she’s given a blood transfusion by him after she’s the victim of a shooting. Unlike Bruce, however, Jennifer is fully articulate when in her She-Hulk form and is able to change back and forth at will (later, this became permanent). The high-powered lawyer is also far more comfortable and confident as the green meanie than Bruce Banner ever was, acting as legal counsel to superheroes and taking on high-profile cases as She-Hulk.
Aside from the above new content, Avengers: Endgame will be available to stream on Disney+ starting on December 11.
Original Non-Fiction Content
Courtesy: National Geographic
The World According to Jeff Goldblum
This is a show all about how Jeff Goldblum is so charming he basically got himself a show just by being Jeff Goldblum. The reality series will follow Goldblum as he explores all sorts of topics that fascinated him, including ice cream, tattoos, jewelry, denim, shoes, and more. It will be available upon the November 12 launch.
Encore!
Created by Frozen and The Good Place star Kristen Bell, Encore! celebrates former high school musical theater casts. From millennials to baby boomers, Encore! will reunite former high school theater kids who must pull off the impossible. They have one week to rehearse and then get back on stage for an encore performance. It will also be available on November 12.
Original Disney Studios Content
Credit: Disney Studios
First, the movies…
Stargirl
Based on the bestselling novel by Jerry Spinelli, Star Girl tells the story of Leo Borlock (Graham Verchere), a normal, shy kid who is afraid what others think of him. Enter Susan “Stargirl” Caraway (Grace VanderWaal), a free-spirited, homeschooled girl who teaches him it’s okay to be yourself when she enrolls in their school. Think a YA Manic Pixie Dream Girl, basically. Giancarlo Esposito plays Archie Brubaker, father figure to Leo. It’s set to drop sometime in 2020.
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made
Based on the children’s book series, Timmy Failure follows the adventures of 11-year-old Timmy. He runs Total Failures, a local kids’ detective agency in his neighborhood with his partner…an imaginary, 1,200 lb. polar bear. Directed by Tom McCarthy, the first footage shown at D23 was genuinely funny, with Timmy’s deadpan, overly adult observations about the world eliciting a bunch of laughs.
Lady and the Tramp
Disney’s first live-action remake of one of their animated classics, Tessa Thompson and Justin Thoreaux will lend their voices to the titular roles. Sam Elliott, Janelle Monae, Yvette Nicole Brown, Ken Jeong, Benedict Wong and Kiersey Clemons all star. It will be available on Disney+ at launch on November 12.
Togo: The Untold True Story
Based on a true story of the 1925 serum run to Nome, Willem Dafoe plays Leonhard; Julianne Nicholson his wife, Constance. When sled dog Togo is born, he’s considered too small and weak to be a real sled dog. But he surprises everyone, most of all his cantankerous owner, Leonhard. Lots of good doggos will be involved. It’s dropping sometime in 2020, likely early.
Noelle
Anna Kendrick stars as Noelle, daughter of Santa and sister to Nick (Bill Hader). When Kris Kringle passes the torch to his son, Nick freaks out about the responsibility and runs away. Noelle has to go into the big, wide world and track him down to bring him back to the North Pole. The Christmas comedy also stars Billy Eichner as their cousin, Dave, and Julie Haggerty as Mrs. Klaus. It will be hitting Disney+ at launch.
Magic Camp
Another family comedy for the platform, this one stars Adam Devine as Andy Tuckerman, a struggling magician. He returns to the magic camp he attended as a kid hoping to rekindle his career and instead finds himself mentoring a bunch of outcast, would-be magicians. The story comes from Steve Martin, and the cast also includes Jeffrey Tambor and Gillian Jacobs.
And now the series.
Muppets Now
Disney+ is launching the Muppets’ first-ever unscripted short-form series, Muppets Now. We don’t know much about it – not anything, really – other than that it’s coming in 2020.
Diary of a Female President
12-year-old Cuban-American Elena (Tess Romero) is just trying to get through sixth grade as a normal girl. Little doe she know, she’s on her way to one day becoming the President of the United States. Gina Rodriguez serves as EP and director, as well as playing the older version of Elena. It will be coming sometime next year.
Love, Simon
Based on the hit 2018 teen rom-com, the series will follow new student Victor (Michael Cimino), who is on his own journey of self-discovery and reaches out to Simon for help. Nick Robinson will reprise his role of Simon and act as narrator for the series. The half-hour dramedy will hit Disney+ next year.
Life and Deaf
Like Rodriguez, Oscar winner Marlee Matlin will serve as star and producer of the upcoming series created Switched at Birth creator Lizzy Weiss. The series is based on the life of Jack Jason, who has acted as the longtime interpreter for Matlin, who is deaf. Set in the ’70s, it will loosely follow his life as a kid growing up with deaf parents.
Original Star Wars Content
Courtesy: Lucasfilm
Clone Wars Series
Lucasfilm is bringing back a the animated Clone Wars series for a seventh and final season. Dave Filoni will once again oversee the wildly popular series. The final season is set to debut on Disney+ next February.
Untitled Obi-Wan Kenobi series
After a week of rumors flying, it was made official: Ewan McGregor is returning as Obi-Wan Kenobi to the Star Wars universe, this time in a series. No word yet on what the show will cover regarding the life of the Jedi Master, but all the scripts are written and it will begin shooting next year.
Untitled Cassian Andor & K-2SO series
Diego Luna (Cassian Andor) and Alan Tudyk (K-2SO) will reprise their roles in the prequel series, which doesn’t have an official title yet. Considering the fact it will cover Cassian’s sometimes shady work as an undercover operative prior to the events of Rogue One, we can hazard a guess this is what became of the long-rumored Star Wars Underworld series. It’s set to be released sometime in 2021.
The Mandalorian
The hugely-anticipated series will be the first series coming to Disney+ on November 12. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni serve as co-EPs, with Favreau also serving as writer and Filoni directing a few episodes along with other big names like Taika Waititi and Bryce Dallas Howard. The timeframe of The Mandalorian has only been covered in the Extended Universe, taking place between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. In the time after the fall of the Empire but before the rise of the First Order, the world at the outer reaches of the galaxy was lawless and chaotic. The story will follow the travels of a lone Mandalorian gunslinger who exists in those anarchic far reaches of the galaxy, far beyond the reach of the New Republic.
Pedro Pascal stars as the titular character, with a supporting cast of Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito, Taika Waititi, and Werner Herzog. Again, it will be Disney+’s flagship series, launching the same day the platform does.
