Disney Plus Day 2020 was a day to remember. All new Marvel and Star Wars TV shows were announced, will sizzle reels and teasers to boot. Therefore, a year later, expectations were high for the anticipated day.
With shows expected to debut for both Star Wars and Marvel, it’s fair to say audiences had hopes that trailers and release dates would be forthcoming, but unfortunately they will be disappointed.
Star Wars
The lack of Star Wars content is perhaps the biggest disappointment of the day. Only two pieces of Star Wars media were released across the entire event, concept art for the upcoming Obi Wan Kenobi series, and a documentary on The Legacy of Boba Fett.
While the concept art for Obi Wan Kenobi was interesting enough – showing his older look – a member of the Inquisitorius, several planets, Stormtoopers in an unknown location. It also showed a couple of distinct newly revealed planets and what looks like a Rebel base.
However, it must be noted that concept art is unlikely to make it into the finished series, as it is just an artist’s ideas.
The other piece of media released was a documentary about Boba Fett. It went straight to Disney Plus, so audiences who can’t wait for The Book of Boba Fett can watch that right away.
However, with all the upcoming Star Wars projects slated for a 2022 release, this was a meager offering to fans. There was no news on Mandalorian Season Three, the Andor Series or The Bad Batch Season Two.
With 2022 fast approaching, not a word on these highly anticipated projects is dismaying. The fact that Kenobi got only concept art released is equally disheartening, with no release date or any accompanying information, except for an excited cast.
Marvel
Fans of Marvel can have a little more enjoyment of the day’s news. A fifteen minute special was released on Disney Plus, which included some new footage for Ms Marvel, Moon Knight and She-Hulk.
Title art was also shown on for multiple new series, and a picture for what Nick Fury will look like for Secret Invasion. There were also some new shows announced, such as Echo and an animated Marvel Zombies show – which will be exciting to see come to fruition.
The Guardians of the Galaxy will also be getting a holiday special, but that will be a hard sell to watch, especially with Christmas featuring heavily in Hawkeye.
What is quite horrifying is that Disney chose to lock this footage and pictures in a fifteen minute Marvel Disney Plus Day Special (the majority of it focusing on clips from previous Marvel shows like WandaVision and Loki), behind the paywall of a Disney Plus subscription.
While these trailers and pictures have now been put on the internet for everyone to enjoy, they should go straight there. Barring trailers behind a paywall and then putting them on the internet a few hours later is a very poor cash grab, and shows how little Disney executives care about the fans of their biggest franchises.
Ice Age
The final disappointment of the day is the upcoming Ice Age film. A trailer was released and the animation looks unfinished to put it kindly. And the voices, they just seem off.
Meanwhile, there has been no showing of Scrat, the only possible redeeming quality of this misadventure. Some franchises have run their course, and the Ice Age films certainly have.
Final thoughts
Overall, Disney Plus Day was a disappointing affair, especially compared to what it was last year. It seems that fans will have to wait a little longer to hear news about their favourite franchises, as unfortunately Disney did not show audiences a lot today
By Kieran Burt
Feature image: Disney