Disney+ Day was full to capacity with announcements of films, series, documentaries and more.
We take a closer look at the announcements coming from Marvel and there is plenty you will not want to miss.
The streaming service celebrated their first birthday yesterday by displaying exactly why Disney is the mega giant in the entertainment industry that it is.
In addition to acquiring massive brands like Marvel, Star Wars, Fox and others over recent years, Disney has long established itself as the leading provider of films and shows for decades.
Over the coming days and weeks as we get closer to the release of some of the incredibly exciting projects they have lined up for 2022 and beyond, we will be closely following each and giving you all of the latest details.
But today, we wanted to jump right in with a quick round up of the projects coming from Marvel Studios and just a line or two about what we expect to see.
X-Men ‘97
Starting off strong with the revival of the incredibly popular 90s animated series, X-Men ‘97 is bringing back the classic show and we expect non-stop nostalgia hits for fans of the original show.
She-Hulk
She-Hulk has been on the books for a while now and we have all been anxiously awaiting more news from the series.
Starring Tatiana Maslany as Bruce Banner’s lawyer cousin, and with the now confirmed return of Mark Ruffalo’s Banner/Hulk, we cannot wait to see where this series.
And if you don’t already have a subscription to Disney+, go sign up now, because there is a very special 14-minute promo from Marvel highlighting the Marvel shows on the platform, past, present and future…
And tomorrow, the 14th November is the last day to grab their special discounted first month for only £1.99/$1.99, its a real bargain considering you can binge all of your favourite Marvel movies and shows, plus everything else they have to offer.
Ms Marvel
Another show that has been announced for some time now and unfortunately had to be pushed back due to Covid, we can finally say Ms Marvel is due exclusively on Disney+ Summer 2022.
The baby faced Iman Vellani will be playing the lead role as Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old Muslim Pakistani-American from Jersey City, as she struggles to find where she belongs.
She is also a mega fan of Captain Marvel, and as she develops her own super powers, we see how much she is influenced by her hero from her costume, to her name and beyond.
This look set to be a wonderful coming of age/growing up and fitting in story and we can’t wait to see her character on the big screen with big projects like The Marvels on the way!
What If…? Season 2
The Watcher is coming back and we need to know what has happened since the dramatic conclusion of season 1!
What If…? is the first animated series from Marvel Studios to be set in the MCU and it explored a variety of wild situations occurring from minor changes to the MCU.
We expect season 2 to deliver the same high stakes, wild adventures and perhaps even reveal more ways that the animated series crosses the bridge into the MCU…
Echo
The first brand new show announced at Disney Plus Day, if you are not an avid comic book reader, this may have meant very little to you.
Echo appears frequently in relation to Daredevil as she (at least in the comic books) is the adopted daughter of Kingpin!
A deaf, native American hero who has acted under both the name Echo and Ronin, Maya Lopez is entering the MCU at exactly the right time!
Alaqua Cox will be playing the title character and her debut in the MCU will be sooner than you might think, as she will appear in the Hawkeye series.
With her rich history in the comics and rumours swirling around the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home film and Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock being brought into the MCU proper, Echo has a huge potential to be a big player in the MCU.
Spider-Man: Freshman Year
In another animated series by Marvel studios, we can only hope to see an exploration of Holland’s Peter Parker in the early days of his super-powered career.
Whether or not Tom Holland himself will be voicing our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man is a guess and right now, an unlikely one with the uncertainty around Marvel-Sony relations.
But the title does lend itself to the pattern we have seen from the most recent trilogy with Spider-Man: Homecoming and the Freshman Year theme tieing them together.
Could we see Uncle Ben? Will any of the big-name villains appear as when we met Spidey in the MCU, he was still exploring his powers and taking on petty thieves before being thrown into a Universe saving adventure with the Avengers.
I Am Groot
We have all been waiting far too long to see the Guardians return and while the third instalment has just begun filming, let’s hope that this animated series will be with us before too long.
Ironheart
I am still not over Tony Stark, but I am excited to see his potential successor on-screen ‘coming soon’.
Dominique Thorne stars as Riri Williams, a genius who builds the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man, this series is sure to impress and introduce another, cough cough, young avenger into the MCU.
Agatha: House of Harkness
The rumours were out there and we can finally say for sure, Agatha Harkness from WandaVision is getting her own series!
Now, when we left Agatha at the end of WandaVision, she was, how should we put… subdued…
So this series is likely to go in one of two ways and honestly, that depends entirely on when it is released.
Agatha is an incredibly old character in the comics, despite Kathryn Hahn’s youthful looks, and a powerful witch who has extended her life dramatically.
So we could see some of the centuries she lived out before WandaVision, or, and we are crossing our fingers hoping for this outcome, she breaks free, maybe with the help of a special demon king of hell that we are anticipating makes his debut in the MCU very soon…
Marvel Zombies
Honestly, I’m not mad at all of the animated series coming from the MCU.
If it means we get to see bigger, more spectacular, wilder adventures for a fraction of the budget of a major motion picture, then I’m all for it. Especially with how well they did What If…? season 1.
The Marvel Zombies comics are some of the wildest around and considering how briefly they touched on the events in What If…?, I think it’s a good idea to dedicate at least 6 episodes to this dark and despairing series.
Secret Invasion
This is another comic storyline that you should definitely read for yourself. Don’t worry about spoilers because as we saw from the MCU’s handling of Civil War and the Infinity Gauntlet/Infinity War, Marvel Studios really takes these stories and makes them their own.
But the premise is wild!
Heroes, Villains, Agents of Shield, all replaced by Skrulls in a secret invasion, you might have seen people discussing whether or not Fury has really been Fury for a while now and that and more will be explored in this series!
Moon Knight
Finally, we got a good look at Oscar Isaac as the tortured Marc Spector.
If you want to see it, like we said, go sign up for Disney+.
The comics are often referred to as Marvel’s answer to Batman with a hard-line hero who often crosses the line.
This series looks to be one of the darkest from Marvel Studios yet and honestly, I can’t wait to see this character brought to life.
That’s All Folks…
We didn’t hear or see anything about the remaining Phase 4 films or upcoming Phase 5 projects like Fantastic Four and Blade, but with each of the above titles listed as ‘coming soon’, we can only hope Marvel gets these shows out quickly and to hear some more big announcements for films down the road.
But maybe Marvel is leaning more heavily into the TV series route because many of the fans are still anxious to sit in a theatre, and the longer form content allows us to dive deeper into the characters as they develop.
Overall, there is a ton to be excited about, and we look forward to giving you all of the updates as they appear.
What announcement are you most excited about?
By Ben Gibbons
Linktree: @benjaminblogs1