D23 Expo 2022: The Disney, Marvel, Star Wars Updates to Count on This Weekend

Disney followers flocked to California on Friday for D23 Expo 2022, a conference celebrating all of the leisure behemoth has to supply.

It is the primary D23 conference since 2019 — the 12 months its Disney Plus streaming service launched, and also will mark the corporate’s one hundredth anniversary (which is subsequent 12 months, however corporations like to delay these celebrations) — so you’ll be able to count on some main bulletins from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and extra.

D23 2022 runs Friday, Sept. 9, to Sunday, Sept. 11, on the Anaheim Conference Heart, proper beside Disneyland. Tickets are offered out, however individuals who cannot make it will likely be in a position to livestream sure elements of the occasion.

Past the animated classics that Disney was constructed on, the corporate owns Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Avatar, Pixar and different beloved franchises. So you’ll be able to count on loads of updates about upcoming motion pictures, reveals, video video games and theme park rides set in these universes. It’s going to be a bit like Star Wars Celebration, which occurred on the similar location in Could, with a wider scope.

Disney created a pleasant D3 Expo poster that features 58 Easter eggs and hints for the present. It is powerful to know precisely what every image means, however superfan YouTuber Dave Lee Down Below ran via the whole thing in a helpful video.

CNET might be reporting reside from the conference present flooring, capturing the hype of panel reveals and reunions, and trying out the inventive cosplay. If you cannot make it to Anaheim or simply wish to plan out your conference, this is a fast have a look at the place and when large information is prone to drop.

Friday, Sept. 9

Disney kicked off the conference with bulletins that Disneyland’s Avengers Campus will develop with a brand new experience (extra particulars might be revealed Sunday) and that season 33 of The Simpsons will stream on Disney Plus beginning Oct. 5. Disney additionally revealed new particulars concerning the transformation of Disneyland’s Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Journey. The experience, primarily based on The Princess and The Frog, is about to open in late 2024. 

There are three main panels on the primary day of D23, however solely two are prone to yield main information.  The opening occasion was the Disney Legends Awards Ceremony (10:30 a.m. PT), the place CEO Bob Chapek honored a bunch of Disney’s main stars. That group contains the late Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman, in addition to Kristen Bell and Frozen’s Idina Menzel. This one was livestreamed.

The Disney & Marvel Sport Showcase noticed a bunch of reveals:

• Nintendo Swap co-op platformer Disney Phantasm Island, which helps you to play as Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy and is coming in 2023.
• Puzzle thriller recreation Tron: Identification, out 2023.
• Gargoyles Remastered, an up to date model of the traditional ’90s platformer — the discharge date is unclear.
• An untitled World Struggle II-set recreation starring Captain America and Black Panther, which did not get a launch date.
• AR cellular recreation Marvel World of Heroes from Pokemon Go developer Niantic, coming in 2023.

We additionally acquired first seems at cellular MMO shooter Avatar: Reckoning (which is coming quickly) and tactical squad-based motion recreation Aliens: Darkish Descent (coming to consoles and PC subsequent 12 months). Marvel’s Midnight Suns was delayed to Dec. 2, and prequel shorts will construct up the narrative after they begin hitting YouTube on Oct. 31.

The Disney and Pixar Studio Showcase (3:30 p.m. to five:30 p.m. PT) would be the day’s predominant occasion, since it will shine the highlight on upcoming motion pictures and Disney Plus reveals. It would embrace CGI-animated film Unusual World (which comes out in November), in addition to Pixar’s 2023 film Elemental and Disney Plus present Win or Lose. We’ll additionally study extra about Iwájú, a sci-fi collection set in Lagos, Nigeria, that is coming to Disney Plus subsequent 12 months. 

Given the panel’s size and scope, we may additionally get a peek at Enchanted sequel Disenchanted, Hocus Pocus 2 and Haunted Mansion, in addition to live-action remakes Peter Pan & Wendy and The Little Mermaid. This panel will not be livestreamed, so keep watch over CNET for all of the happenings.

Saturday, Sept. 10

Day two begins with one other large one: Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm and twentieth Century Studios Showcase (10 a.m. to midday PT).

On the Marvel entrance, we’ll doubtless get one other trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Endlessly and a have a look at the Guardians of the Galaxy Vacation Particular (since each are due out in 2022). If Marvel needs to construct hype for 2023, it may supply a style of films like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Marvels, or Disney Plus collection Secret Invasion. Improbable 4 is not out till 2024, however we’d hear about that as properly.

Lucasfilm will nearly actually have some Star Wars information, like additional particulars about upcoming Disney Plus collection Andor, in addition to premiere dates for The Mandalorian season 3 and The Unhealthy Batch season 2. It is attainable we’ll discover out about Boba Fett’s subsequent journey too. If Lucasfilm needs to carry us again to a galaxy nearer to dwelling, we nonetheless haven’t got a trailer or perhaps a title for the fifth Indiana Jones film.

Lastly, twentieth Century Studios has one main film coming this 12 months: Avatar: The Manner Of Water, James Cameron’s long-awaited sequel. D23 attendees will most likely see a brand new trailer or clips from the film forward of its Dec. 16 launch.

This panel will not be included in Saturday’s livestream, however CNET might be reporting from the occasion.

Sunday, Sept. 11

The spotlight of the present’s ultimate day would be the theme park-centric A Boundless Future: Disney Parks, Experiences and Merchandise presentation (10:30 a.m to midday PT). This can reveal plans for US parks like California’s Disneyland and Florida’s Disney World, together with worldwide areas Disneyland Paris, Shanghai Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and Tokyo Disney Resort.

We may get particulars about adjustments coming to Epcot. This panel might be livestreamed.

The right way to watch

A choice of panels might be livestreamed, supplying you with eight hours to look at from dwelling every day. Between panels, hosts like Ashley Eckstein (who performed Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the upcoming Tales of the Jedi) will interview stars, reveal merchandise and tour the present flooring.

We have embedded the livestreams for Friday, Saturday and Sunday above, so you’ll be able to watch the whole thing proper right here.