What is in store for the upcoming Studios?
Hey everyone!
Welcome back to the lab!
Now today's post was going to originally be a first thoughts post all about Cyberpunk 2077, however will all the latest news surrounding both Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios, we are going to talk all about everything that was announced for both of these huge Studios. Don't fret though, our Cyberpunk post will be out within the next week!
Today Disney had their annual Disney Investors Day. It is here they speak about how the company has done over the past year alongside revealing upcoming projects for the upcoming year. A lot of it focuses on Disney+. This year being no exception. They revealed plans for all of their studios such as Pixar, National Geographic and Hulu, however today we are going to focus on the two biggest studios. Marvel and Lucasfilm.
There is a hell of a lot to unpack here, so get ready and let's jump straight into it with Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm has been creating content since 1971, and the next few years will be no different. Going into today's disney presentation, fans expected an announcement or two to become rather excited about, however what they did not expect was 14 announcements. Eleven of which were Star Wars related, and 3 of them being other lucasfilm projects and then revealing a release date for The Mandalorian Season 3 (Next Christmas!).
The full list of announcements were as follows:
Rogue Squadron Movie - Directed by Patty Jenkins
Taika Waititi helmed film
Hayden Christensen returning for the Obi Wan limited series - Disney+
Ahsoka Tano Series starring Rosario Dawson - Disney+ Series
Rangers of the New Republic - Disney + Series
Lando Series - Disney +
Andor Series Premiering 2022 - Disney +
New Series The Acolyte - Disney+ Series
Star Wars The Bad Batch - Disney+ Series
Star Wars Visions - Anime Series - Disney +
A Droids Tale - Disney+ Series
Indiana Jones 5 - James Mangold Directing
Willow Series - Disney+
New Story adaptation - Children of Blood and Bone
Now this was a lot to wrap fans heads around, and it is just from one studio. Now we won’t be going into detail about all of these announcements, but let’s talk about a couple of our favourites.
Obi Wan Kenobi - Disney +
We start with my personal most exciting announcement from Lucasfilm, the Obi-Wan Series. Ever since Revenge of the Sith, fans have wanted to see the return of Ewan Mcgreggor as Jedi Master Obi-Wan to no luck, until last year when fans got their wish at D23. It was announced that Ewan was to return in a Disney + Limited series set 10 years after Episode 3. Fast forward one year later and the show is very close to filming with director Deborah Chow at the helm but there was one question everyone was now asking??
Will Hayden Christensen return? Today we got our answer. Yes he will!
This is HUGE news for fans, although he wasn’t loved when the films were first released, fans have grown to love his performance over the years so fans, including myself, are overjoyed to hear he will be back. Head of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy revealed that he will reprise his role of Darth Vader in “The rematch of the century”. I for one cannot wait, I hope to see some flashbacks to them in the clone wars, and I am so excited to see both Ewan and Hayden back in their respective roles.
The Obi Wan Kenobi series does not yet have a release date, however it is rumoured for Late 2021/ Early 2022
Ahsoka - Disney +
Ahsoka Tano has been a fan favourite in the star wars universe for years. Having only been seen in animated adventures such as The Clone Wars and also Rebels, Ashoka’s use of Wit, determination and courage soured its way into all of our hearts. The character was originally voiced by Ashely Eckstein. Fans always wanted to see her in live action, and this wish was granted two weeks ago thanks to the second season of The Mandalorian.
Ahsoka made her live action debut and was played by Rosario Dawson. Fans went ecstatic. Finally we got to see this character in live action and too see what happened to her after the fall of the empire yet she was only in the single episode. Fans have not seen her since. Well last night Lucasfilm also announced that she will be getting her own limited series on Disney+ with the makers of The Mandalorian on board once more. This is extremely exciting as we get to see now what she has been up to since the fall of the empire and - as mentioned in The Mandalorian - we may even get to see a live action Thrawn debut.
Rogue Squadron
Amongst the many announcements Lucasfilm made, they announced what is next to grace cinema screens for a galaxy far far away. It is none other than Rogue Squadrons, helmed by director Patty Jenkins. Patty is a well known director, most notably for directing both Wonder Woman Films starring Gal Gadot. She is the first female director of a star wars film.
The film's story will see a new generation of heroes in the forms of Starfighter Pilots as they battle an unknown evil that threatens the galaxy. The film will pave the way for the new future of the star wars universe. It will surely be a thrill seeking, adrenaline filled film that audiences will be on the edge of their seats for. We will have to wait a while however as the film does not debut until Christmas 2023.
Marvel Studios
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has been a cinema sensation since its debut, with the recent release of Avengers Endgame, fans wanted to know more about what's coming next. We got a few tibets at last year's Comic Con and then Just like Lucasfilm, fans only expected Marvel to announce a few new projects with the possibility of a few trailers and sizzle reels at this year's investors day. What fans did not expect however was 20. Yes 20 announcements/trailers to truly sink their teeth into. The full list of what they spoke about is as follows:
A New Trailer and Poster for WandaVision.
A New Trailer for The Falcon and Winter Soldier with a March Release Date.
A New Trailer for Loki with a May Release Date.
A New Trailer for Marvel's WhatIf...?.
Sam Raimi confirmed for Doctor Strange 2 with Additional Casting.
Shang Chi additional casting with Michelle Yeoh.
Ms Marvel unveils Iman Vallani as Kamala Khan.
Nia Decosta confirmed to Direct Captain Marvel 2.
Hailee Steinfeld was confirmed as Kate Bishop in Hawkeye.
Tatiana Maslany confirmed for She Hulk, Mark Ruffalo and Tim Roth Returning.
Marc Spector Moon Knight Series.
Secret Invasion Series with Samuel L Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn.
War Machine returns in the Armor Wars series.
New Ironheart series with casting announced.
Guardians holiday special with James Gunn returning.
I Am Groot mini series.
Christian Bale was confirmed as the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder.
Ant-Man 3 Quantamania - Kang the Conqueror confirmed.
Black Panther 2 will not Recast Chadwick Boseman.
Fantastic Four film confirmed with Jon Watts Directing.
Now, as you can see, Marvel announced quite a few things. It’s safe to say the amount of information they released was very unexpected. To talk about all of them now will take quite a long time, so like Lucasfilm let’s look at one or two shall we?
Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness
It’s been rumoured for a while that Sam Raimi will be directing the new Doctor Strange movie, which hits cinemas in 2022. Last night however it was confirmed alongside information that the main cast will be reprising their roles from the first film, Benedict Cumberbatch; Benedict Wong; Rachel McAdams and Chiwetel Ejiofor. We also got confirmation of the additional casting of Elisabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff and a new casting off Xochitl Gomez who will play America Chavez.
It was also confirmed, quite subtly too, that this film will directly link not only to the WandaVision series debuting next month, but also to the Upcoming Spider-Man 3. Now as Spidey didn't have a presentation yesterday (Due to it being a Sony Product), this could be a small confirmation of the rumours of there being a live action spider-verse movie happening. Especially with Raimi now in the MCU and tackling a Multiverse movie, it can only be a matter of time.
Black Panther 2
Earlier this year, the world truly lost someone remarkable. Chadwick Boseman was an incredible actor and to lose him so suddenly and so young has been devastating not only to fans around the world, but to his friends and family too.
Questions have been asked about how they would tackle his passing in the upcoming Black Panther 2, fans were hoping he would not be recast in order to honour the actors performance and memory. Last night we finally got confirmation. The role would not be recast, instead the film will focus on Wakanda itself and other characters we were introduced too in the first installment. This is by far the best decision. Recasting the role would have been disrespectful to Chadwick and his memory, so fans - Including myself - are happy they are taking this path.
WandaVision; The Falcon and Winter Soldier; Loki and Marvel’s WhatIf
We also got a new look at all of the above mentioned Marvel shows coming to Disney + in the new year alongside surprise release dates for them too! With most of them recently completed filming it's no surprise we will be getting them so soon.
WandaVision premieres January 2021
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Premieres March 2021
Loki Premieres May 2021
Marvels WhatIf premieres Summer 2021.
Having not released any material this year, we expected these particular shows to release next year, however with only a month or two between them it certainly will be a busy year for Marvel fans. You can catch trailers for all of them on Youtube now!
So there we have it, a huge amount of announcements, trailers and information regarding the future of two of Disney’s biggest studios. Whilst we couldn’t speak about them all today, we certainly are excited for everything they have coming up!
What announcement are you excited about? Let us know in the comments below.
Thanks for reading everyone, come back very soon for our first thoughts and opinions on Cyberpunk 2077 and other new posts!
Until then,
Stay Safe, look out for each other.
Harry x
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