D23 Studio Showcase Overview
Article by Kieran Burt.
The studio showcase for D23 revealed a significant amount of news for three of the major studios under Disney’s banner, and, it is mostly good news, with plenty of trailers and other confirmations. Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox all took turns to display their impressive line-up coming out over the next few years.
First to the stage was Lucasfilm. Their first bit of news was a new trailer for the upcoming Andor series, which will premiere in just over a week. The trailer didn’t have a lot of new footage, however it did double down on the spy-thriller tone of the show. Andor will premiere with three episodes on September 21.
After months of confusion, Star Wars: The Bad Batch finally got a release date, and unfortunately it’s much later than speculated. The second season will return January 4 2021, and will have a two episode premiere, and will run for 16 episodes. This now means that it will overlap with The Mandalorian instead of Andor, though the season will nearly be over at that point.
Speaking of The Mandalorian, the third season finally got an official teaser, after months of a leaked one being online. This teases a return to Mandalore, many more Mandalorians, and perhaps a villainous fall for Katee Sackoff’s Bo Katan. The third season will be released in February 2023.
Tales of the Jedi also got an official trailer, with six animated shorts, three on Ahsoka and three on Count Dooku. The three for Ahsoka will jump around the Star Wars timeline, with her as a child, during the early and late stages of the Clone Wars, and after Order 66. The series will debut all six episodes on October 26.
Willow got a second trailer ahead of its November 30 release date. This series will star Warwick Davis as the titular Willow and will serve as a sequel series to the original 1988 film.
Moving onto Marvel, there were two trailers released. One trailer was for Secret Invasion, the Samuel L. Jackson led series. It will follow Nick Fury as he tries to defend against the Skrull invasion, with allies such as Don Cheadle’s Colonel James Rhodes aka War Machine, and Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos. This will be released in Spring 2023.
The second was the announcement trailer for Werewolf By Night. This is a campy horror special, stars Gael García Bernal as the titular werewolf, and will be released as a Halloween special. The special will be released on October 7.
After San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel released their huge line-up of film and TV, audiences noticed that there was one key omission, Armor Wars. Fans were worried that it had been cancelled have nothing to worry about anymore. At D23, Marvel unveiled the logo for Armor Wars. Armor Wars will star Don Cheadle as Colonel James Rhodes, and will see Stark technology fall into the wrong hands.
Fantastic Four got an update with who will direct it. Marvel confirmed that Matt Shakman, who previously directed WandaVision will helm the project that will bring Marvel’s first family to the MCU on November 8 2024.
Marvel also released the team for their Thunderbolts film. Julia Louis-Dreyfus will return as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine to run Marvel’s team of anti-heros, which will consist of: Wyatt Russell’s U.S. Agent, Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster and Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier. One key omission from this line-up is Daniel Brühl’s Zemo, often featured as the leader of the team in the comics. Thunderbolts will be released on July 26, 2024.
There was also a little bit of news regarding Captain America: New World Order. Almost 16 years later, Tim Blake Nelson will return to the MCU to play The Leader. This villain was teased in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, and will now pay off. Captain America: New World Order will be released May 3, 2024.
20th Century Fox didn’t have a lot of news to release. Avatar: The Way of Water got an exclusive look, though nothing was released publicly. Stephen Lang’s character, Colonel Quaritch, will make a return for the film, even after he was killed in the first Avatar. Lang commented on this, saying “ You can’t keep a good marine down. He regrouped in hell.” Avatar: The Way of Water will be released on December 16.
Percy Jackson will get his own show, titled Pery Jackson and the Olympians, which will be released on the service in 2024. The trailer features Percy warning about the dangers of being a Half-Blood, a child who is born to a human parent and a Greek God. The series will star Walker Scolbell in the titular role.
While this panel didn’t give all the news fans were hoping for – many thought the full cast for Ahsoka and Fantastic Four would be revealed, alongside the public release of another Avatar: The Way of Water trailer – there is still plenty to be excited about. Fans will not have to wait long until they can watch these properties in full, and with the seven trailers that have been released, there is plenty to look forward to and talk about.
