D23 New Stuff: Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and other new annos

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

So, new stuff at Disney's D23 fan expo: 

 

DISENCHANTED: being a part time practitioner of Magick myself, I would always tell you...

Spoiler

Be very, very careful what you wish for... but also, very, very specific.

 

I 100% loved the first Enchanted outing, so I wasn't sure where they were going to go with this. But it looks GREAT.

 

Moving from her happy place in NYC in an oddly Disneyesque burb, Giselle grows depressed, and wishes for "a fairytale life".

This, of course, is a terrible idea generally, but worse if you don't know that first rule of wishing.

Because if this is a fairy story, and Giselle's now a stepmother... them's the rules.

 

Adams should rock this - a split personality fight between the naturally sweet Giselle and the wicked woman the magic is changing her to be, with her now teenage daughter trying to set things right.  Should be an awful lot of fun...

 

HOCUS POCUS 2: almost an annual tradition, slightly mould-breaking in its day (wait, you hired that Sophie Tucker lady for a Disney flick?), the Sandersons return...

Spoiler

Unsuspecting teen witches unleash unspeakable evil on world. So far, so expected, but these two kids seem to be a lot smarter than the average. Not much else to see here other than the Roomba gag and the trio getting very much back into their groove. No sign of their Drag Race alter-egos yet either...

 

Other stuff:

• Probably for next Halloween: with the Eddie Murphy version dead on arrival, D takes another crack at a Haunted Mansion movie - and with Jamie Lee Curtis on board, maybe they think scaring the living s#!z out of kids is what Uncle Walt would have wanted. Because he damn well did.
• Mufasa: Lion King prequel movie set for 2024. No details available outside the room beyond the title - possibly another Favreau joint if he's not working on Mando.
• Snow White: the live action adaps continue, this time with Rachel Zegler in the title role and Gal Gadot typecast as Evil Queen.
  (Wait, did I say that out loud?)
• Little Mermaid: Halle Bailey takes the lead. Tiny Twitter teaser available and she's got the pipes for it.. 
• Peter Pan and Wendy: not much to see beyond the poster at this point.
• Pixar's next trick: Elemental, about two bickering co-workers who... well, that would be tricky, as one's a fire elemental and the other a water sprite. It'd certainly get steamy... briefly.
• Also coming up: as if you've not had enough emotional trauma off Pixar, how about traumatising your emotions? Inside Out 2 announced, though I'm really not seeing where they could go with that - and pulling off the same material twice is going to be tricky.
• Elio sounds like the flipside of Close Encounters or ET, in which a small boy is selected as an ambassador for humanity.
• Win Or Lose... every damn director, telly, film, even podcasts these days, wants to do a Rashomon. It's like an itch from the minute they leave film school. But it does sound interesting - the adventures of a school softball team in the week leading up to the championship, told from multiple different perspectives. 

 

Gaming annos so far:

• Slightly disconnected from D23, but a WW2-era Cap+Black Panther teamup looks fun.
• The retro Wonderful World Of Mickey Mouse styled platformer Illusion Island may not play like Cuphead's bullet hell, but shares a little of its style and sense of humour, and is designed around up to 4 co-op players on Switch.  

 

EDIT:

• Marvel stuff drops today (Sat 10th) from 10am Pacific / 6pm UK time.
• Star Wars and Indy 5 reveals expected across the weekend.
• While you're waiting for Indy 5 news, the legend that is John Williams already spoilered something: the theme for Phoebe Waller-Bridge's character Helena. He seems to like her a lot. That's old-school Hollywood glam-n-satin music right there, with a few little darker hints of sadness and mystery, with tantalising echoes of Indy's own leitmotifs and themes.

Edited September 10, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Day 2 brings new stuff - but no Scarlet Witch solo movie anno, which may upset the stans more than a little.

 

So far, we have the official Secret Invasion teaser:

 

...and a really funky intro for surprise drop Werewolf By Night - right down to the retro Friday-night-movie Special Presentation intro:

 

...aaand Mando Series 3:

...which looks very much like a second Mandalorian Civil War brewing.

 

Plus:

• Fantastic 4 take 3 (you do the math) with no confirmed casting details, though rumours that Cavill will code switch are possible.
• INDY MY FRIEND! 
  • Ford confirms this is his last go in the hat ("I'm NOT falling down for you again...")
  • More big love for Phoebe WB...
  • From the production details and concept art, rumours that this one involves... time travel? (I hate time travel. Gives me IBS).
  • Ford thinks this one "will kick your ass" and has a real story and heart behind it. 
• Ahsoka:
  • much praise for Dave's transition to live action... and there will be action.
  • Live action Ezra confirmed as Eman Esfandi.
  • Ahsoka also front and center in the Tales Of The Jedi shorts.
• And that one little surprise package, which looks very much like an antidote to the straight-laced fantasy that Amazon paid a billion bucks for.

Edited September 10, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Cancrusher]

So excited for Indy 5, Secret Invasion, Mando Season 3, and Ahsoka!   Wasn't really a fan of Willow (saw it in the theater, bitd), but the series looks surprisingly fun.  I'll give it a shot, at least.  Disney may be the new evil empire, but they sure do entertain!  😁

[Frostbiter]

It's about time someone did something with Willow. That was a great movie and equally great arcade game. Fantastic 4 keeps rising from the dead and falling on its face, I can't really get any hopes up about it.

[Mr. Vee]

About time? They just rebooted willow as Dr. Strange 2 this very year 😛

[Frostbiter]

1 hour ago, Mr. Vee said:

About time? They just rebooted willow as Dr. Strange 2 this very year 😛

 

Does that make Wong Willow? I'll show myself out.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

More small(ish) stuff from yesterday:

• DD-Born Again guest appearance from Charlie & Vinnie. Filming isn't starting till later this year.
• Also guest shot from the Echo crew - again, pre-production at this point.
• As well as Secret Invasion, Don Cheadle/Rhodey is back in Armour Wars. No filming details or release date.
• D23-only preview footage from The Marvels, with all 3 key cast members on stage.
• Minor update on Thunderbolts, with David Harbour's Red Guardian rounding out the crew. (Oddly disappointed, as I've always wanted a Thunderbolts movie, but taking it from the beginning as the fake-superteam - think Marvel's Usual Suspects. Not a counterpoint to The Suicide Squad: the copycat stuff is not something Marvel need to do.)
• Fun facts on the Werewolf By Night special: directorial debut of stellar composer and David Arnold's longtime nemesis Michael Giacchino. Runtime is about an hour and is a deliberate experiment in making a Friday night movie on a ludicrously tiny budget the best it can be. Expect mostly practical effects - some of them deliberately terrible - and some pretty genuine scares.
• More on the Haunted Mansion reboot, and clearly they're giving it all the beans this time. Lead is Rosario Dawson, who picks up a suspiciously cheap mansion in N'Awlins. Unwilling to be banished from her new abode by ghosts - including likely lead bad guy Jared Leto - she puts together a crew of a professor (Danny DeVito), a priest (Owen Wilson), a psychic medium (but given it's Tiffany Haddish, a psychic small), and a local tour guide (LaKeith Stanfield) to try and get it back. JLC is maybe on her side as Madame Leota: and a whole schmear of cameos including Winona Ryder, Dan Levy and a bunch more.
• If you're wondering why I'm frothing about that a bit, the HM reboot was kicked off by one Guillermo del Toro. I don't know much would have survived from that script (or who would have survived from that script...) but the focus on the Hat-Box Ghost and their backstory seems to have come from him. Yet another One That Got Away?
• Zootopia+ series sneak peek, which should go down well with the Tumblr crowd. Not that they're all lascivious furries over there who'll be furiously yiffing over every moment, you understand. Just most of them.
• Disney Juniors Young Jedi Adventures about a host of cute younglings, who go on a special adventure with Master Anaki... oh.
  (Too soon?)
• Final Andor trailer drop.
• Ho hooo nooo... first attempt at career rehab for Tim Allen with The Santa Clauses D+ series. Weakest teaser offering by a polar mile, guest starring Peyton Manning.
• Percy Jackson D+ series: cast reveal and interview with Rick Riordan.
• Toy reveals a-go-go, including official first appearance of the GOTG Holiday Special Lego Advent Calendar. Because of course there's one.
• Best unscripted moment of the day: Key Huy Quan (aka Short Round) asking if he's in the wrong panel room (for Loki S2) when he should be with Indy.
  And lo and behold:
  ...I don't think I've seen Harrison look that happy in years.

And yes, I have been scouring the interwebs for leaked footage, but clearly the Rodent Stormtroopers are doing a better job at rooting out Bothan spies this year. 

 

Sunday is unlikely to bring any new major annos (the fans are usually fairly hungover by that point, and it's not a good day for the old-school press), but has a major AHS panel (20C and FX are Disney too now, remember?), a TRON retrospective and a few other bits.

 

And there's always that chance of "oh... and one more thing..."

Edited September 11, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

No major annos on day 3 unless you're into the parks and cruise lines, which will have much more new stuff including new Avengers, Frozen, Moana and Princess & The Frog stuff.

 

But there is this little curiosity...

 

..and here's the EPK. There's at least one very familiar voice in there... and one hell of a theme tune.

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Coin]

Biggest takeaway for me from the Marvel announcements is that the ne Daredevil show is going to be 18 episodes!!

 

Must be a hell of a story they have to tell!

 

[biostem]

I don't understand the obsession with going backwards and creating shows/movies that "already happened", (prequels, interquels, etc) - is it a fear of trying something new?

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

1 hour ago, biostem said:

I don't understand the obsession with going backwards and creating shows/movies that "already happened", (prequels, interquels, etc) - is it a fear of trying something new?

I think that deserves a thread on its own.

 

Sometimes, it's someone wanting to have another try, a different or bigger take on a tale, or a new chapter that fills in the gaps.

As long as it tells a new story, I'm good with that.

 

But a lot of the time, yes. Yes it is. Taking chances is risky: and even with the improved maths of your own streaming platform, a dud will cost you more than money.

 

I think Andor qualifies for the first one, since they're all new characters bar three (Cassian, Mon and Saw), in a situation and a time we know very little about... and a style of story we've not really seen before in SW (gritty spy thriller). Almost wholly new tale within a universe we know, which saves on a lot of worldbuilding - goddess knows, sci-fi directors don't always know when to get on with it - and gets you right into the meat of a story. I dig.

 

The Haunted Mansion reboot is probably also fair enough because the first try wasn't very good, so that story deserves to be done better.

 

But the grim, relentless determination Disney has to live-action every. single. toon. they've. ever. made... does bother me. A lot.

Even the stellar cast they put into Dumbo didn't make that one fly. I'm not gonna be seeing Little Mermaid again, though Halle is going to nail it.

Guillermo del Toro is not tempting me to Pinocchio. Sorry, G.

And at this rate they'll need to dig up Song Of The South.

[biostem]

I'm still curious why they don't bring Sam Jackson back in and do a dark, gritty series about a now crippled Mace Windu making his way through Coruscant's grimy underbelly...

[El D]

31 minutes ago, biostem said:

I'm still curious why they don't bring Sam Jackson back in and do a dark, gritty series about a now crippled Mace Windu making his way through Coruscant's grimy underbelly...

 

If they do it, they should go all the way. Get Tarantino to direct it. Or David Fincher. Not like Disney doesn't have the money.

 

I wouldn't mind a completely new story either. Lots of angles to go with - Miami Vice-style Buddy Cop Rebels who infiltrate the criminal-side of a scenic, Empire-controlled planet. Band of Brothers-esque retelling of the Clone Wars, showcasing battles from the clones' perspectives. Star Wars Sopranos/Goodfellas, following a family of smugglers making deals and running drugs, going up against other syndicates/the Hutts. Captured Sith inquisitor being interrogated by a Jedi intending to hunt down other Sith, a la Silence of the Lambs.

 

Star Wars got its start by adopting the stylings of other types of cinema, so why not keep going?

[Frostbiter]

They should totally go full R with a Mace Windu movie. "I'm tired of these MFing Sith in my MFing temple!" Although Disney usually uses Touchstone to release R stuff.

[biostem]

52 minutes ago, El D said:

I wouldn't mind a completely new story either. Lots of angles to go with - Miami Vice-style Buddy Cop Rebels who infiltrate the criminal-side of a scenic, Empire-controlled planet. Band of Brothers-esque retelling of the Clone Wars, showcasing battles from the clones' perspectives. Star Wars Sopranos/Goodfellas, following a family of smugglers making deals and running drugs, going up against other syndicates/the Hutts. Captured Sith inquisitor being interrogated by a Jedi intending to hunt down other Sith, a la Silence of the Lambs.

I wouldn't go that far - I'd do what I thought Kenobi was gonna do - a Jedi keeping their head down, but still trying to make a difference.  Since, at least according to the EU stuff, Windu skirted the line between the light and dark sides, have him fighting not to stray too far into the dark, but at the same time, while trying to not whip out the lightsaber at every opportunity, uses mind tricks, telekinesis, and so on, much more than his blade.  Maybe have him relying on a cybernetic limb to compensate for the lack of the lightsaber, etc...

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

10 hours ago, biostem said:

wouldn't go that far - I'd do what I thought Kenobi was gonna do - a Jedi keeping their head down, but still trying to make a difference. 

 

That sounds like Kenobi S2. Ben is now fully confident in his abilities again, somewhat absolved of his guilt, and aware that the boy doesn't need him as much. (Having thought on't, I'd argue Reva's sudden change of heart was partly her traumatic memories, and partly a direct intervention by The Force itself - or maybe Qui-Gon who's been hanging around waiting for Ben to sort himself out?)

 

So he can do more for people again. Do a bit of quiet Jedi stuff on the side off-world. Quietly let people know he's around. And if the Empire DID pick up on it, well... the greater the legend is that Obi-Wan is alive, and anywhere else except a backwater desert planet... 

 

Similarly, Sam has definitely/repeatedly expressed interest in coming back. It'd be quite interesting to have him embittered and angry, falling into the dark side even as he took merciless revenge on the Empire. It's not always about sides. It's about what you do, and who you become doing it. Which is kinda where Andor's going.

 

Regarding powers: same thing with Gandalf (or other magic users when I was running MERP campaigns). Magic used unsubtly attracts attention. Gandalf veiled his epic power under the guise of a jolly old nutter who told stories, did small tricks and made really good fireworks.

[Glacier Peak]

Isn't Mace Windu canonically dead though??

[biostem]

32 minutes ago, Glacier Peak said:

Isn't Mace Windu canonically dead though??

When you say "canonically dead", what canon source are you referring to?  As far as I'm concerned, no body = not (permanently) dead...

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

As m'learned coll says, habeas corpus applies to writing too...

...though he did get maced by Palpatine, then thrown out a windu.

 

 

Force users can survive even grievous injuries if they're determined or angry enough (cf Anakin and Reva). But they're not immortals.

Mace got a full dark lightning strike from Palpatine - not toying with him, as he did later with Luke - then an epic Force push.

If he stayed conscious after that, he's then gotta figure out a way to featherfall through a multilayered city, get himself Bacta'd up.

Then survive Order 66.

Then vanish.

...

Piece of cake.

Edited September 15, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Glacier Peak]

1 hour ago, biostem said:

When you say "canonically dead", what canon source are you referring to?  As far as I'm concerned, no body = not (permanently) dead...

Show me a Jedi who survived the same injuries and being thrown out of the highest building in Coruscant as ol' Mace Windu and I'll wager you're on to something.

[Cancrusher]

With all the other crazy stuff in Star Wars, Mace Windu surviving Palpatines attack, requires hardly an suspension of disbelief at all.  Star Wars is drawn from pulp serials of the 30's, which share the same niche as comic books, so all the usual hokey tropes apply.

 

That's how it works in my brain, anyway.  Then again, my funny old brains is pretty strange.  😁🤷‍♂️

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Anakin/Vader survived being flame-grilled, but never lost consciousness or awareness.

The ultimate arbiters, of course, are the writers, but Mace is unlikely to be in top shape.

 

BTW, I regret to report one other casualty. Rogue Squadron had already been removed from the 2023 production schedule - apparently Patty Jenkins had some major scheduling issues and DC were being a pain in the ass about WW3 contract options. However, it's now been removed from the 2023 release schedule and may be entirely canned.

 

Honestly, given the way things are going, Rogue Squadron might be better off as an Andor-style longform series for D+.

Think Space:Above And Beyond, except they'd have to find a replacement for Sgt. Bougus (aka Gunny Hartman.)

Given Hamill took on that role in Knightfall and god knows how many Wing Commander/Star Citizen games...that'd be fun.

[Techwright]

So much to unpack here and not enough time.  I'll just say:

 

1. Secret Invasion really surprised me, and that's a good thing.  I thought for sure there'd be a lot of corny jokes and stuff.   Instead it looks very much in the vein of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and I'm down for that.  I'll also say: notice the eye.  Its a very different look from Captain America: the Winter Soldier.

2. Mando, as always looks amazing.  Death Watch vs. Bo Katan's folk, I'm thinking.  I rewound a few times just to watch that paratrooper-type drop.  The effects guys really did a good job with making that believable.  I'll also say: did you notice how solemn Grogu is in the trailer.  Sure he's hanging upside down but he doesn't seem to be having fun this time (though he did have a look of wonder on his face once).  I'm going to guess his time with Luke started sobering him and perhaps put him on the path to finally start growing up after 50+ years.

3. The choice for live-action Ezra Bridger visually looks very good, and I'm glad to hear the character is definitely in this.

4. Glad someone recognizes that Warwick Davis can act without significant costume or makeup over his face.  I still say he'd be perfect as Miguelito Loveless for a proper moderns adaptation of The Wild, Wild West.  (It's time to free the fantastic 1960s TV series from the wretched 1990's ...thing.)

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Secret Invasion has attracted some Proper Acting Names, so hopefully that means a pretty serious script. Particularly happy to see my hometown girl Liv Colman showing up. She's got form in the spy genre opposite Hiddlestone and a gleefully evil Hugh Laurie in The Night Manager (if you've not seen it, please go look it up).

 

Mando: yes, still looks fantastic and can't second guess which way it's going to go, though getting stuck in the middle of both factions and a bunch of ex-Imperials is pretty likely.

 

Ahsoka: if we've found Ezra... where's Thrawn? I have no Bothan spies on this, but there have been no leaks. Big Bad Blue is a big role so maybe they've snagged someone big.

 

Willow: yes, Warwick can act, also ran a UK gameshow (Tenable) and has done an awful lot of voice acting (he's Rukh in Rebels). He famously got so hacked off with being a (quote) novelty act (unquote) on agency books that he set up his own for short and extra-tall actors: unfortunately, Willow Management seems to have folded at some point in 2019.

 

 

[Techwright]

11 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Ahsoka: if we've found Ezra... where's Thrawn? I have no Bothan spies on this, but there have been no leaks. Big Bad Blue is a big role so maybe they've snagged someone big.

 

 

 

My guess is that the Thrawn role is Lars Mikkelsen's to lose.  He was highly complimented for his voice performance and seemed to understand the character very well.  There is a question that needs to be asked:  will Disney hold to the lore that Chiss, a near-human species, have somewhat shorter lifespans than actual humans.  The events of Rebels played out close to 15 years previous to  The Mandalorian with a certain former Jedi's quest to find a certain Chiss Grand Admiral.  Said Grand Admiral was supposedly born on or near 59 BBY, making him 58 at the end of Rebels.  add 15 years and he's in his mid-70s.  Chiss live "up to 80 years" per Wookiepedia, meaning Thrawn should be in the last years of his life at the time of Ahsoka.  If Disney holds to that lore, the Thrawn actor would have to either be old or skilled at playing old age and tough.  Think Clint Eastwood with the mind of Sherlock Holmes.  While makeup and prosthetics can do much to aid that portrayal, I think suggested candidates like Matt Smith might be too young for the role.  Even Benedict Cumberbatch, as awesome as he undoubtedly would be in the role, might be on the young side at age 46.  Lars, though, at 58 might be right for portraying aged with physical discipline.