Disney D23, at the Expo has become a font of information for breaking Disney news, and this year's event, which took place over the weekend, is no exception.
In fact, D23 2019 could be one of the biggest ever in the company's history, as it brought us new trailers for Star Wars Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker, The Mandalorian and T-Marvel shows, plus new details about Disney Plus, the company streaming service that launches November 12th.
Want a quick overview of the highlights of Disney Weekend? Here's a handy guide to Disney D23, in 2019.
Disney plus details
The star at Disney's D23, the EXPO was definitely a Disney plus. The House of Mouse announced that members will be among the first to be able to sign up for the discounted service (if they don't mind signing a three-year contract) before giving us some details regarding the quality and quantity of streams on a dedicated panel. We now know that the service will support up to four simultaneous streams in 4K/Dolby Vision based on a monthly package price of $6.99.
In terms of timing, we've learned that Disney Plus releases new episodes of their show every week rather than in single season chunks like Netflix, which can give the service time to catch up with competitors who already have massive catalogs (cough, Netflix) and make users come back again and again.
In some less good news, Disney has confirmed that the service will be available in the US, Canada, Holland, and Australia on November 12, but still hasn't mentioned a UK release date - sorry.
The Mandalorian Trailer
That said, you can't talk about Disney Plus without talking about Star Wars' flagship title, The Mandalorian, which got its first trailer during this year's D23 event.
The series will be set after the fall of the empire after Return of the Jedi (Episode 6 a.k.a.) and stars the lone bounty hunter donning traditional Mandalorian armor while watching the color change of Boba Fett. The series was created by director/producer Jon Favreau (Iron Man director and chef), which bodes well for the intertwined star of TV Wars of the Universe, and star Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones' Oberyn Martell and Javier Peña on Narcos).
Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker trailer
Not only is The Mandalorian a slice of the star-studded Wars cast that came out this past weekend — we also have a new trailer for Star Wars Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker that's set to debut in December.
You can see the full trailer below, but in it we see a quick replay of Skywalker's storyline over the last eight episodes, which culminates with Rey battling alive Renon atop the remains of the Death Star II, which was destroyed in episode 6. This is a scene that goes back to the battle between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan in episode 3, and it will be cool.
Speaking of Old Ben, actor Ewan McGregor has confirmed that he will reprise his role in the Untitled Star Wars series, which will debut on Disney Plus when filming begins next year.
Marvel TV show
At the end of the latest Avengers movie, it could have wrapped everything up in a pretty ribbon, but don't worry, Disney Plus will be unraveling everything with new shows that will introduce new villains and heroes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Among those shows are The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, which will debut in 2020 and stars Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan, respectively, as well as WandaVision, Loki, and what if... that will all debut in 2021.
Disney has also announced a new series of She-Hulk, Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel that will debut on the service at some point in the future.
Marvel Movies
While Disney's slate of serialized content is growing in scale, it hasn't forgotten about its movie-goers. To that end, Disney has released new details about Black Panther 2 (it's now set to release on May 6, 2022) and a new movie called The Eternals in D23.
According to Disney, the cast of Marvel Studios the eternal includes "Richard Madden, who portrays the all-powerful Ikaris; Kumail Nanjiani, who plays space-powered Kingo; Lauren Ridloff, who portrays the super-fast Makkarat, the first deaf hero in MK; Brian Tyree Henry, who plays the smart inventor Phastos; Salma Hayek, who plays the wise and spiritual leader Ayake; Leah McHugh, who portrays the ever-young, old-soul Sprite; Don Lee, who plays the powerful Gilgamesh; and Angelina Jolie, who stars as the ferocious Tena warrior."
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed the artwork for each character before announcing three actors: Sersi, who will play Gemma Chan; aside loner Druig, will play Barry Phil; and the non-eternal Dane Whitman, who will play the King in the North, Kit Harington.
We'll get a full look at the film when it releases on November 6, 2020.
- Here's everything you need to know about Disney Plus