This year’s D23 was absolutely crazy – here are my three highlights
This year’s D23 was a deluge of Disney announcements: new X-Men, Avengers, Star Wars, Pixar films and even Kingdom Hearts. I’ve worked my way through the chaos – and found my three highlights.
At D23, Disney’s own fan convention in Anaheim, California, the entertainment giant traditionally unveils trailers, news and surprises related to its biggest brands. From Marvel to Pixar, Star Wars to Disney Animation, games to streaming, the event gives every part of the Disney empire a moment in the limelight.
But I’ve rarely seen a D23 as packed with developments as this year’s event. So, let me spare you the drawn-out retelling of everything that went down. Instead, I’ll tell you about my three D23 highlights in detail, then give you a quick rundown of the other goings-on.
Let’s roll!
3. This Avengers: Doomsday trailer finally leaves us wanting more
Just recently, Marvel released the first full-length trailer for Avengers: Doomsday. My verdict upon first seeing it? Meh. It was alright.
It didn’t exactly knock my socks off. And judging by the comments under my article, many of you felt the same way. This new trailer lands closer to the mark. There are fewer big, flashy action sequences, but more of Doom himself. And, above all, there’s more interpersonal drama. A single line from Sue Storm conveys the sense of danger to me more effectively than ten seconds of CGI battle scenes ever could: «I knew he was lost.» Most importantly, Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom gets more screen time – and with him, the man on whose shoulders this whole crazy experiment presumably rests.
For nearly two decades, Downey Jr. was Tony Stark. Now, we’re supposed to look at that same man and see Doctor Doom, and not Iron Man with a green hood. Will that work? Your guess is as good as mine. But this is the first time I’ve genuinely felt keen to find out.
Fittingly, things came full circle that same weekend. While the original X-Men cast – Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Rebecca Romijn and others – will be making cameo appearances in Doomsday as echoes of the Multiverse, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige announced in practically the same breath that the upcoming X-Men film would feature an entirely new cast: Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor X, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue and Maya Boyd as Storm.
The event’s biggest shockwaves were generated by Adam Driver, despite the fact he wasn’t on the D23 stage. Apparently due to a minor misunderstanding, Driver appeared in a pre-recorded video explaining he’d assumed that «showing up for X-Men» meant showing up on set. The set, however, was pretty deserted – what with virtually the entire cast being on the D23 stage in California.
But seeing as he was there, he said, he might as well reveal who he’d be playing. Magneto, maybe? After all, he’d been a long-time contender for the role. But oops, that wasn’t it. Magneto was already taken. In fact, Driver is set to play Nathaniel Milbury, better known as Mister Sinister, one of the major villains in the X-Men comics. It was a brilliantly cheeky way to put an end to months of fan speculation, all while introducing the next big character in the new X-Men saga.
So who will actually play Magneto in the new X-Men film? Your guess is as good as mine. Disney kept schtum about it at D23.
2. VisionQuest poses a darn good question
WandaVision is still, in my opinion, one of the boldest, most innovative things Marvel has ever made for television. What started out as a bizarre, decades-long journey through US sitcom history eventually evolved into a heart-wrenching story about loss, grief and the desperate inability to let go.
«What is grief, if not love persevering?» Damn, Marvel. That line still gets me.
Even Agatha All Along, the indirect sequel, surprised me as a wonderfully offbeat, spooky treat. Which makes me all the more eager to see the conclusion of this loose trilogy, VisionQuest. Mainly because of one question: who the heck is Vision at this point?
A quick refresher: the original Vision died in Avengers: Infinity War when Thanos ripped the Mind Stone out of his forehead. In WandaVision, Wanda created a new Vision inside the Hex. However, rather than flesh, vibranium and cables, this Vision was made out of Wanda’s memories, her grief and magic.
At the same time, a secret government organisation named S.W.O.R.D. was reassembling the real Vision’s lifeless body. The result was an all-white Vision, initially used as a weapon against Wanda. In the end, Hex Vision transferred the memories of his former self to him. White Vision suddenly remembered Wanda, the Avengers, his death – his entire life up to that point.
Then he flew away. That was in 2021. Now, he’s back. And that’s exactly why I find VisionQuest so exciting. Yes, this Vision possesses the original’s body and memories, but does that automatically make him Vision again? Are memories enough to turn a copy back into the same person? Or is he simply a new personality who remembers someone else’s life?
Source: LucasBooks
This is gloriously philosophical material for a Marvel series. And then there’s Ultron. James Spader is actually returning as the AI that Vision once intended to create as a new, invincible body for himself. Before Tony Stark, Bruce Banner and J.A.R.V.I.S. turned that body into something else, anyway. The fact that Ultron, of all people, has returned to Vision’s story is unlikely to be a coincidence.
So maybe VisionQuest is less about who Vision is, and more about finding out who really controls his body.
1. Ahsoka takes on Star Wars’ sprawling mythology
Warning: if you haven’t seen the first season of Ahsoka yet, the trailer for the second season spoils a pretty big surprise from Season 1. So only keep reading if you’ve already seen it or if you don’t mind spoilers.
So, Hayden Christensen is back. As Anakin Skywalker, no less. Not as Darth Vader, as seen in Obi-Wan Kenobi. But as Anakin, Ahsoka’s former master, in the form of a Force ghost and in flashbacks to the Clone Wars. For fans like me, this is a real thrill. And maybe just a little gratifying.
After all, Christensen was mocked for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker for years after the prequel trilogy, sometimes even being treated with outright hostility. Today, the same man is welcomed with open arms every time he makes a comeback. This is obviously down to the generation that grew up with the prequels since becoming adults.
But even so, it’s nice to see. Personally, the thing I’m even more excited to see is where Dave Filoni apparently wants to take this story. As a fan of the old Star Wars novels and comics, I have a rough idea – and it’s seriously promising.
Disney is scrapping Legends, but still drawing from them
Let me back up a bit. Long before Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, the story of Star Wars was being told outside of the films. Over the decades, novels, comics and video games built up a vast «expanded universe». Then Disney came along. To avoid having to stick to decades of stories when creating new films and TV series, Lucasfilm simply reclassified large parts of this Expanded Universe as «Legends». They still exist, just not in the official canon anymore.
However, that doesn’t mean Disney is ignoring them. Quite the opposite, in fact. Time and again, Lucasfilm draws on this rich legacy of characters, ideas and stories and reimagines them. One of the most prominent examples is Grand Admiral Thrawn. The blue-skinned Chiss first appeared in Timothy Zahn’s 1991 novel Heir to the Empire. In it, Thrawn takes control of what remains of the Empire several years after the Emperor’s death and nearly brings down the fledgling New Republic.
Source: LucasBooks
The fascinating thing about Thrawn? He isn’t a Sith. He can’t zap anyone with bolts of lightning, manipulate minds or snatch spaceships out of the sky with a wave of his hand. He doesn’t need to. Thrawn’s superpower, you see, is his intellect. He studies his opponents’ culture, art and history, identifies mentalities and patterns within them and uses this insight to predict their next moves. A sort of intergalactic Sherlock Holmes, only with a massive Imperial fleet backing him up.
This was the very man Ahsoka brought back to the known galaxy, even though he’d been considered missing since the animated series Rebels, which begins a few years before A New Hope. Bringing him back could allow Filoni to actually tell his own version of the three-part Heir to the Empire series, which was once considered the unofficial Episodes 7, 8 and 9: Thrawn versus the fledgling New Republic. The resurgent Empire against the heroes who believed they’d won the war a long time ago. Maybe even with Luke, Han and Leia again.
That alone would really pique my interest.
But there’s something else.
What the hell are the Mortis gods?
At the end of the first season, Baylan Skoll stands atop a massive statue, gazing into the distance. Viewers who’d previously only ever watched the Star Wars films were probably thinking:
Lovely view.
Source: Lucasfilm/Disney
Those who’d seen The Clone Wars, on the other hand, were probably pretty amazed. After all, these statues depict three of the most mysterious beings in all of Star Wars mythology: the Father, the Son and the Daughter of Mortis.
The three appear in one of the strangest yet most fascinating story arcs in the animated series The Clone Wars. Simply put, they embody different aspects of the Force. The Daughter represents the light side, the Son represents the dark side and the Father keeps both sides in balance. And then Anakin Skywalker shows up.
The Father believes that Anakin, as the Chosen One, is destined to take his place one day and preserve this balance. Anakin decides against it. Like so many things in Anakin’s life, it doesn’t end particularly well. But the story leaves its mark, especially on Ahsoka. When she dies on Mortis, the Daughter transfers her remaining life force to her and saves her. Ever since then, a mysterious bird-like companion named Morai has been appearing time and again near Ahsoka, because the creature is closely connected to the Daughter.
Now, Baylan is standing right in front of their very statues. Filoni seems to be picking up a storyline here that delves deep into the mythology of the Force. Especially if it’s heading in the direction I suspect it is. In the old Legends stories, the three Mortis gods had a fourth family member: their mother, better known as Abeloth.
Source: Lucasfilm/Disney
Abeloth was a mortal who belonged to the family of the Father, the Son and the Daughter before, out of fear of death, she allied herself with the powers of both the light and dark sides. In doing so, she became a monstrous, unimaginably powerful being. Together, the Mortis gods eventually managed to imprison Abeloth deep in the unknown reaches of the galaxy, seal her in there and guard the gates of her prison.
But the Mortis gods are dead now.
This is exactly what makes Baylan Skoll interesting. Ever since the first season, he’s been following a mysterious calling on Peridea. He’s searching for power «such as you’ve never dreamed», which he hopes to use to break the eternal cycle of rise and fall, Jedi and Sith, light side and dark side. In the old novels, Abeloth possesses the ability to telepathically summon other beings from vast distances and influence their thoughts.
Coincidence?
Maybe. To this day, Abeloth has never been part of the new Star Wars canon, and the trailer makes no mention of her return. But if Dave Filoni really is opening that door now, Thrawn might not even be the biggest problem in Season 2.
Honourable mention: Kingdom Hearts IV at last!
Back to D23. Square Enix finally revealed some new information about Kingdom Hearts IV and confirmed it’ll be released in late 2027. One particularly nice piece of news? Sora ends up, among other places, in the world of Coco, where Miguel and Hector are waiting for him.
The thing I find even more surprising, though, is Disney’s other announcement: that Kingdom Hearts will «soon» get its own anime series on Disney+. It’ll reportedly be developed as part of a collaboration between Tetsuya Nomura and Square Enix. Rather than simply retelling the games, it’ll tell a new story within this already completely insane universe.
As someone who’s still trying to make sense of the plot of Kingdom Hearts, all I can say is: good luck.
But that’s not all
This would usually bring us to the end of a pretty substantial rundown. But Disney was far from done. For instance, it screened the first teaser trailer for the upcoming Star Wars film, Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling. The film takes place after Rise of Skywalker and is supposed to feel like Top Gun in space. There are even some wild rumours that Ryan Gosling is actually playing Luke Skywalker’s son.
Pixar also shared news about The Incredibles 3, which will be directed by Elemental director Peter Sohn. Disney also shared the first images from Coco 2, featuring an older Miguel who once again returns to the Land of the Dead. Then, there was Gatto, the new film by Luca director Enrico Casarosa. It tells the story of a black tomcat named Nero who has to deal with the cat mafia in Venice.
What’s more, Pixar is actually taking a chance on something completely new. Ghost Market is set in Hawaii and revolves around a mysterious restaurant for lost spirits. Amid all the sequels, the appearance of an entirely new story is practically a shock announcement these days.
Disney Animation has evidently been digging through its own treasure troves too. Screenings of the first teaser trailers for Frozen 3 and Zootopia 3 also took place at D23. Two lead actors starring in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Tangled made an appearance, revealing that the film was shot on location in Spain in very real places.
What else? The live-action Lilo & Stitch 2 was announced for 2028, as was an umpteenth Ice Age and a new-look Bluey Movie. Plus, The Mandalorian director and creator Jon Favreau unveiled a first teaser trailer for his new miniseries, which centres on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the cartoon rabbit that Walt Disney created even before Mickey Mouse.
Disney knows exactly what we love
When the D23 weekend drew to a close, I was left with slightly mixed feelings. On the one hand, it was exactly the kind of unapologetically nerdy event that keeps me endlessly entertained. Ahsoka. VisionQuest. Doomsday. Kingdom Hearts. Thrawn. Ultron. Anakin Skywalker. Pixar. Disney pushed a whole bunch of buttons that activated my excitable inner 12-year-old.
On the other hand, it’s noticeable which buttons Disney pushed. Mostly familiar buttons, barely any new ones. Disney has one of the most impressive treasure troves in pop culture. And this D23 event clearly showed how readily the corporation steps up whenever it needs attention.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sequels aren’t automatically unoriginal, just as new brands aren’t automatically original. After all, Andor proved what can be done with a decades-old brand when someone genuinely has a story to tell.
Even so, I can’t help wondering: amid all these sequels, where are the new stories? The ones we’ve yet to discover? The ones we’ll one day come to love? Maybe Ghost Market will be one of them. Until then, I’ll settle with Anakin, Thrawn and the Mortis gods.
After all, I’m just a nerd too.
I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.
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