While Warner Bros may have fired the first salvo a couple of days back, bringing coveted releases like Wonder Woman 1984, Godzilla vs Kong and Zack Snyder's Justice League to streaming on HBO Max, Disney Plus during its Investor Day meet launched a massive counterstrike. The massive slate announced by Disney across its platforms including Disney+ and subsidiaries like Hulu will keep us entertained for years to come. While listing all of them here will be exhausting (and boring!), we are going to break down the top 10 shows and movies to be excited about:
Tom Hiddleston's prankster God Loki has been a fan favourite in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) from the very beginning. After 10 years of hijinks, including lead villain billing in Avengers, he was eventually redeemed in Avengers Infinity War – taking on the mad Titan, Thanos. Now if the rather cryptic, but "glorious" trailer Disney released is any indication – the show will pick up right after the "mess-up" in Avengers: Endgame, where he escapes from the 'Avengers timeline'.
The rules of timelines and parallel universes are not very clear yet. However, with the Time Variance Authority (TVA) and Owen Wilson (Wow!) involved – and the time travelling Kang the Conqueror set to appear in the next Ant Man movie – I suspect we have an insane dimension-hopping escape caper on our hands. Our money is on our favourite evil God attempting to either escape or rule the new timeline he might have inadvertently created.
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader is returning – and Obi-Wan Kenobi is getting his own show, set 10 years after the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Enough Said. If that does not excite you in the least, maybe you need to get that soul of yours checked, SITH!
WandaVision will be one of the first from the MCU slate to hit the screens – possibly ending the 2020 MCU drought. While most of us would have loved to see Black Widow on the big screen first, I am personally more excited about what WandaVision is bringing to the table. From the trailers released so far, the story could be a hybrid of Bendis' Avengers Disassembled, Tom King's Vision (2015) series and maybe even carry aspects of the House of M storyline. WandaVision looks to be Marvel's most 'out-there' offering so far and may serve as a gateway to some newer, bolder and cooler storytelling (and tonality) in the next phase of the MCU.
This one going to be on Hulu and not Disney+ but I have a feeling it will make its way to Disney+ Hotstar here in India. While the last offering in the Alien canon, Aliens: Covenant failed to capture the popular imagination – despite being critically acclaimed – bringing the franchise to the smaller screen may be the franchise's smartest move yet. With Noah Hawley of Legion (one of the coolest X-men shows ever!) and Fargo fame at the helm, and the show being set in a near future on Earth, we may certainly be in for a thrilling ride that both reinvigorates and expands the Alien mythos.
Asoka Tano, has been an essential part of the Star Wars mythos through her solid storyline in the animated shows. With The Mandalorian bringing her onto the silver screen, faithfully played by Rosario Dawson, Asoka is the second show in the Star Wars we should be really excited about, after Obi-Wan Kenobi; and followed by Andor – Rogue One and A Droid Story.
Those of us who have read Ms Marvel comic books, with teenager Kamala Khan as the titular character, would know that there is great potential for some fantastic and diverse storytelling there. MCU has lacked significant south Asian representation so far – barring characters in Agents of Shield – and Ms Marvel will be great segue into storytelling that caters to audiences both in US and our side of the world.
In the comic books, Marvel's What if, like DC's Elseworlds, explores major characters set in alternate timelines or universes. The premise, if done well, has massive potential to entertainment across age groups, and that has me excited for the show. The fact that it is animated, means that the showrunners will have more freedom to explore the unconventional. And YES, it also means we may officially get the Marvel Multiverse, which Disney has been teasing for a while now.
Remember how Thor was a rather strait-laced MCU franchise till Thor: Rangnarok came around, and how quickly Thor became your favourite Avenger? Waititi's magic is perhaps exactly what the floundering Star Wars movie franchise needs, after the disasters that were The Last Jedi and The Rise of the Skywalker. In the last decade, Star Wars on the big screen has worked best when working away from the tried formula (ref: Rogue One) and in case you missed it, you have already seen Taika's vision and direction for the franchise in The Mandalorian's previous season. It is something to be certainly excited about.
Personally, I think the movie Big Hero 6 gets less love here in India than it deserves. Big Hero 6 remains one of the best mainstream animation movies from the last decade and the animated show was great too. Therefore, a Disney+ exclusive Baymax show is both a perfect, and necessary, follow up to Big Hero 6.
For many this would be higher up the list – and while I am excited to see how Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier adjusts to the post-Endgame MCU, along with Anthony Mackie's Falcon – I'm just having a hard time coming round to seeing anyone else with the shield, except Chris Evan's Steve Rogers. That's my fanboy bias, need not be yours! Oh! Baron Zemo is back – so hell yeah!
So that was our select round up of just the Top 10 and there are so many titles Disney's announced that I am sure some of them would have made your list. Which ones would be your top 10? Let us know in the comments!