Every two years, Disney comes together as a company to showcase some of what fans can expect in the form of movies, television shows, and even theme park additions.
The conference, known as D23, has been going on for almost 20 years, and is back again this year. From August 14-16, Disney will showcase a ton of new offerings it has planned for the future across companies like Disney Animation, Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar, 20th Century, and much more. If Disney owns it, you can expect to see it in some capacity at D23.
Traditionally, D23 has served as the perfect stage for some big announcements in the past. While this year’s event is taking place right after San Diego Comic-Con, it’s unclear how much “big” news we’ll get. However, there’s still a lot of potentially major announcements that could happen, so let’s break down some of what we’re expecting to see at the upcoming show.
What we’re expecting at Disney’s D23 conference
Star Wars: Starfighter news
The world of Star Wars is in flux a bit right now. Following the mixed reception of The Mandalorian and Grogu, Disney is banking on its next project in the franchise to do well. We haven’t really seen much of anything about the mysterious Star Wars: Starfighter, outside of just a few images. Starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Shawn Levy, could it finally be time to show off a trailer or some sort of sizzle reel for the upcoming movie?
Starfighter will be the first movie set post-The Rise of Skywalker, and will also be the first time we’ve seen a Star Wars project not really about any of the previously established characters we know. The movie is expected to release on May 28, 2027, so we’re hoping for some information on the movie at the very least popping up soon.
Will the X-Men show up?
One of the biggest question marks surrounding the MCU is who will be in the film franchise’s upcoming X-Men movie. We know Sadie Sink will play the role of Jean Grey, Samara Weaving will play Emma Frost, and Kit Connor will play Cyclops, but aside from that, pretty much nothing is known about the movie. We thought we might get more information at SDCC, but that came and went with little fanfare regarding the iconic mutant team.
Now, all eyes turn to D23. Rumors have begun circulating that Disney plans to unveil its cast for the Jake Schreier-directed movie at the show. Whether or not that happens is unknown as of now, but it would be a great place to. If not an official cast announcement, then it would be nice to at least see a release date of some sort.
More Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars info
On the topic of the MCU, it would also be nice to see some more from both upcoming Avengers movies. Doomsday got a brand new trailer at SDCC that could potentially be released, but aside from that, it’d be nice to know more about Secret Wars. That movie is largely shrouded in mystery, and although we know it’ll take place after Doomsday, we don’t know much about it.
Marvel is likely keeping mostly everything about both movies close to the vest, but some new images or teasers would be welcome for a movie that comes out in December but seems to have gotten only one big trailer to date.
Ahsoka Season 2
Outside of Starfighter, there isn’t a ton of new Star Wars stuff we might expect to see at D23. That is, aside from Ahsoka’s second season. After premiering in 2023, Ahsoka Season 2 has mostly been kept in the dark. We know one is on the way, but haven’t heard of when the show will release outside of a broad 2027 date.
With that in mind, it’d be nice to see either a trailer or a concrete release date for the show. In typical Star Wars fashion, we could also be served up a nice surprise at the show, but for now even a new look at the highly anticipated second season will do.
Marvel TV
Marvel’s TV slate is another one that has gone under the radar for some time now. Marvel Studios elected to focus more on movies at SDCC, simply revealing that Visionquest would release on October 14. We still haven’t seen a single piece of footage from the show, though, so D23 seems like the perfect time to release a trailer for it.
Outside of Visionquest, Marvel could use D23 to focus on its large slate of TV projects. This includes potentially updates on shows like Daredevil: Born Again, the next seasons of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and X-Men ’97, and more.
Disney Animation’s upcoming slate
It’s not all Marvel and Star Wars at D23, so there’s a lot more to expect. Specifically, a lot of Disney Animation’s upcoming slate should be shown off here. This includes projects like Hexed, the newest and most upcoming movie from Disney, potentially getting a new trailer. However, there’s some big name movies that we know about that we haven’t heard too much about.
This includes the highly anticipated third entries in both the Frozen and Incredibles franchises. We know that Frozen 3 is coming out in November 2027, but haven’t gotten to see anything of the movie yet. Incredibles 3 is even further out, so it’s unlikely we’ll see much of it, but even a new piece of art or casting would be welcomed.
