D23 Expo 2022 will reveal exciting footage and trailers from Disney's upcoming slate of movies and TV shows. The annual expo is branded as "The Ultimate Disney Fan Event" and is the ideal launching pad for upcoming projects from the ever-expanding list of Disney-owned franchises and studios. Alongside Marvel and Star Wars, audiences can expect to hear more about new movies and shows from Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Twentieth Century, and much more.
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Running from September 9th to 11th, D23 Expo 2022 is the first expo since the COVID-19 pandemic and is set to reveal information on everything from upcoming Disney and Marvel video games to new developments in Disney theme parks around the world. It's a huge corporate event that affirms the strength of the Disney brand going forward, as well as celebrating its rich history. For example, this year's D23 Expo will announce future MCU projects while also celebrating the 40th anniversary of the movie Tron.
Among the many projects announced three years ago, the last D23 expo in 2019 officially confirmed the Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries and announced the hugely popular Disney animated movie Raya and the Last Dragon. In the three years since the last D23 Expo, Disney's highly-publicized, and controversial, merger with 20th Century has ended the Fox brand and added even more potential projects to their upcoming slate of releases. With so many properties and franchises now held under the banner of the House of Mouse, here are all the movies and TV shows that audiences could see trailers for at D23 Expo 2022.
Werewolf By Night
With just over a month to go until Halloween, D23 Expo's Marvel panel is surely the place to share a trailer for Disney+'s long-rumored Werewolf by Night one-off special. The MCU's Moon Knight adjacent horror anthology was conspicuous by its absence at Marvel Studios' Comic-Con panel, and so D23 Expo will be the perfect place to debut a trailer. It would be the ideal way to shed more light on this most mysterious of MCU projects, which has, so far, only confirmed the involvement of Gael Garcia Bernal, Jaycob Maya, and Laura Donnelly.
Hocus Pocus 2
Another key Halloween title for Disney+ will be the long-awaited sequel to 1993's beloved family comedy, which will reunite Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the resurrected Sanderson sisters. Only a teaser trailer for Hocus Pocus 2 has been released so far, which introduces the next group of youngsters to inadvertently summon the Sandersons back to Salem. With the sequel due to be released on Disney+ on September 30th, a full trailer is sure to be revealed at D23 Expo.
Andor
Andor is the next big Star Wars show for Disney+ debuting on the streaming service with a three-episode premiere on September 21st. A full trailer for the show has already been released, but that doesn't mean it won't be a key part of the Star Wars presentation at D23 Expo 2022. Given the hype around the Star Wars: Rogue One prequel show, it's highly likely that an alternate Andor trailer will be screened at the expo, perhaps revealing more details on the plot of the first three episodes.
The Mandalorian Season 3
Another hotly-anticipated Star Wars series is The Mandalorian season 3, which has been confirmed to begin on Disney+ in February 2023. A trailer for The Mandalorian season 3 is said to have already been shown to industry insiders, so it would make sense for that footage to receive its first public airing at D23 Expo. Given recent teases about future Star Wars cameos in The Mandalorian season 3, the trailer could feature some very exciting footage for fans.
Strange World
Walt Disney Animation Studios' Strange World releases in theaters for Thanksgiving, and is clearly influenced by the same pulp sci-fi that inspired George Lucas' Star Wars. Starring Jake Gyllenhall, Lucy Liu, and Dennis Quaid, Strange World follows a family of intergalactic adventurers on a mission to a strange new world. A teaser trailer has previously been released for the project, but with D23 Expo promising to show new footage from Walt Disney Animation Studios, attendees will be highly likely to see a more in-depth trailer screened at the expo.
Elemental
Pixar will also be present alongside Walt Disney Animation Studios at D23 Expo. Following the poor performance of Pixar's Lightyear, the studio looks set to continue the winning streak of imaginative and creative movies they released on Disney+ during the pandemic. Not much is known about the next Pixar movie, Elemental, beyond its high-concept premise of a world where anthropomorphized elements like fire and water live alongside each other. With the movie not due to release in theaters until Summer 2023, it's hoped that D23 Expo will shed some more light on this intriguing new Pixar project by way of a teaser trailer.
Zootopia+
In November, Disney+ returns to the richly drawn anthropomorphic city of Zootopia for a spinoff series from the 2016 animated movie. The Disney+ animated series is billed as an anthology that expands upon the stories of many of Zootopia's most memorable characters. Zootopia+ was first announced back in 2020, but not much has been heard about the project since, until it presumably makes an appearance at Disney's animation panel.
Peter Pan & Wendy
While Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar continue to strive to create new classics, Walt Disney Studios continues to produce live-action remakes of their animated back-catalog. The latest of these movies, Pinocchio will be released on Disney+ ahead of D23 Expo on September 8th, meaning that the next remake on their slate is 2022's Peter Pan & Wendy, also bound for Disney+. Directed by David Lowery, who previously helmed the live-action remake of Pete's Dragon, the live-action telling of J.M. Barrie's classic fantasy is scheduled for a 2022 release, and a more concrete release date is likely to be confirmed by a trailer at D23 Expo.
Disenchanted
Disenchanted is the sequel to Enchanted, Amy Adams' star-making live-action fairytale released in theaters back in 2007 to great acclaim. However, the sequel will skip theaters altogether, releasing directly on Disney+ for November's Thanksgiving weekend. It will be a key title for the streaming service during the holiday, so D23 Expo is the perfect place to release the first trailer.
The Little Mermaid
The next live-action Disney remake to follow in the footsteps of The Lion King and Mulan with a theater release is Rob Marshall's The Little Mermaid, due for release in 2023. Starring Grown-ish's Halle Bailey as Ariel with updated songs from Lin Manuel Miranda, the movie is currently in post-production. The Little Mermaid remake is a tent pole title for Disney's 2023 slate, so it would be incredibly surprising not to see it featured at D23 Expo.
Avatar: The Way Of Water
One of the benefits of Disney's 2019 merger with Fox is that they stand to profit from one of winter 2022's biggest movies. No matter who wins the upcoming box office battle between Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Avatar: The Way of Water's real winner is the Disney corporation. Footage from Avatar 2 has already been released, but as the sequel to the highest-grossing movie of all time, and one of winter's biggest releases, a more in-depth trailer for James Cameron's sequel will likely be an integral part of D23 Expo.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Black Panther 2's stirringly poetic teaser trailer was the stand-out presentation of the MCU's Comic-Con 2022 panel. With the movie due to release two weeks before the crucial Thanksgiving weekend, D23 Expo feels like a golden opportunity to give audiences a fuller look at the Black Panther sequel. This will be the first D23 Expo since Chadwick Boseman sadly passed away in 2020, and it's hoped that his legacy will be honored with a focus on Wakanda Forever's tribute to Chadwick Boseman.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Wakanda Forever won't be the only MCU title to entertain audiences over the festive season. James Gunn's seasonal adventure for Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and his Guardians of the Galaxy is due on Disney+ in December. With just over three months until Christmas, D23 Expo attendees can surely expect a teaser trailer and a confirmation of the release date for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
The Santa Clauses
Also, this Christmas, Disney returns to The Santa Clause franchise with a special Disney+ miniseries starring Tim Allen as former toy company executive and real-life Santa Claus, Scott Calvin. The only details confirmed so far are that it will follow Calvin's attempts to recruit a replacement Santa so that he can retire. Filming for the seasonal miniseries wrapped earlier this summer, so the footage exists to construct a trailer that will confirm the release date and number of episodes.
Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
The MCU's Phase 5 slate kicks off 2023 with Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, due to be released in theaters on February 17th. Attendees of Marvel Studio's Comic-Con 2022 panel have already seen footage from the movie, including the apparent MCU debut of MODOK. With that footage having already debuted to the public, an official trailer at D23 Expo is inevitable.
Next Goal Wins
As fans eagerly await information on Taika Waititi's Star Wars project, a trailer for his next, non-franchise movie, is much more likely at D23 Expo, not least because it completed filming back in 2019. Based on the documentary of the same name, Next Goal Wins tells the story of the American Samoa soccer team who infamously let in 31 goals during a World Cup qualifier game. Distributed by Searchlight, Waititi's movie sounds like it will sit alongside those classic Disney sports movies of the 1990s, making it likely that a trailer may debut at D23 Expo.
Willow
Multiple Star Wars spinoffs and an Indiana Jones sequel were inevitable consequences of Disney buying Lucasfilm. However, a revival for George Lucas and Ron Howard's 1986 fantasy adventure movie is much more surprising. Directed by Jon M. Chu and executive-produced by Howard, the 2022 Willow miniseries marks Disney/Lucasfilm's first non-Star Wars collaboration since 2015's Strange Magic. Original Willow star Val Kilmer has had some involvement in the Disney+ sequel series, and Warwick Davies will reprise his titular role for a new adventure. A teaser trailer has already been released, but with a November release, a fuller trailer is likely to feature as part of Disney+'s D23 Expo presentation.
Indiana Jones 5
Currently still referred to as Untitled Indiana Jones Project on IMDb, Indiana Jones 5 isn't due to be released until June 2023. Releasing a trailer in September 2022 may seem impossibly early from a marketing perspective, but Harrison Ford's final movie in the Indiana Jones series feels too big for it not to be part of D23 Expo 2022. The likeliest scenario is that a short teaser trailer, with John Williams' iconic theme tune, and a glimpse of Indy's hat and whip will be the way that Disney finally reveals the title of the James Mangold-directed Indiana Jones sequel.