Though it may have seemed impossible, 2020 is ending and 2021 is right around the corner. With the new year comes all kinds of new entertainment to look forward to—including tons of highly anticipated movies.
Disney+ and Marvel are teasing fans with back to back announcements and releases.
Disney+’s exclusive content library has been branded as Disney+ Originals, and the company announced plans to premiere 10 Marvel series; 10 Star Wars series; and 15 live-action, Disney Animation Studios, and Pixar series under the Originals umbrella over the next several years. It will also release at least 15 live-action and animated original movies.
The goal is to offer new content to subscribers on a weekly basis, like Netflix.
Not impressed yet? Here are some exciting clips you might want to see.
Loki is in coming May
The series takes place after the events of the film Avengers: Endgame (2019), in which an alternate version of Loki created a new timeline. With Tom Hiddleston in the lead role, the series started production in January 2020 before being suspended in March due to coronavirus protocols. Production resumed in September. Loki will consist of six episodes.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier starts streaming March 19
Anthony Mackie reprises his MCU movie role as Sam Wilson/Falcon, with Sebastian Stan doing the same for his role as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier. After being handed the mantle of Captain America at the end of Avengers: Endgame, Sam Wilson team up with Bucky Barnes in a worldwide adventure that puts their abilities to the test. It will debut with a six-episode run, which closely follows the debut of WandaVision on January 15.
Peter Pan & Wendy will be flying soon
The film features Yara Shahid as Tinker Bell, Jude Law as Captain Hook, Alexander Molony as Peter Pan and Ever Anderson as Wendy Darling. The live-action film is an adaptation adaptation of the 1953 animated classic about the boy who wouldn’t age and the children who he whisks away to the magical world of Neverland. For both Molony and Anderson, the roles are the biggest of their young careers. Molony’s past credits include the Sky One series “The Reluctant Landlord” and the Disney Junior series “Claude.”
At this time, Disney has not announced a release date yet.
WandaVision streaming on January 15
WandaVision will see the return of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) from the MCU films in a classic, sitcom-inspired series. The series blends classic television with Wanda and Vision’s home life, which seems to dance around across different decades. Many scenes display 1950s or 1960s style scenes reminiscent of Bewitched or I Love Lucy — if you have superpowers, you can overrule the 1950s TV censors and push a married couple’s twin beds together, apparently. But other scenes are clearly 1970s, featuring Brady Bunch-style clothes and interiors and including Black characters.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch coming soon
The series follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch, which was first introduced in The Clone Wars, as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War. Members of the Bad Batch each possess a singular exceptional skill, which makes them extraordinary effective soldiers and formidable crew. They will be taking on daring missions as they struggle to stay afloat and find new purpose.
Disney+’s Star Wars library will keep growing.
In a report from Vox, Disney+ will launch a whole bunch more Star Wars materials over the next few years, which should come as no surprise after The Mandalorian’s success.
Disney has plans to expand upon the popular show’s story with two new companion shows by Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau and co-writer/director Dave Filoni: Rangers of the New Republic and Ahsoka. Both are set during the same timeline as The Mandalorian and will feature some of the same characters; those include the fan-favorite Ahsoka Tano (played by Rosario Dawson), who recently made her live-action debut on The Mandalorian.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy noted during the December 10 investor presentation that the three shows “will culminate in a cinematic story event.”
The Mandalorian’s next chapter — season three, and presumably the launch of these two spinoffs — will arrive around Christmas 2021.
There’s also a TV series in the works that is spun off from the Star Wars standalone film Rogue One.
Andor will star Diego Luna in the title role of Cassian Andor, whom he first played in Rogue One; it’s a thriller directed by Tony Gilroy, the co-writer of that film. Andor is due out in 2022.
And now for the less-fun part: Disney+’s monthly subscription cost is going up.
In the U.S., Disney+ currently costs $6.99 per month.
In 2021, Disney will increase the monthly subscription cost by $1, up to $7.99 per month. Might we suggest, you adjust your financial planning accordingly.
