Chain of Thoughts: Disney Investor Day 2020

Disney had their annual Investor Day a few days ago, and they dropped a lot of major updates regarding their projects in the coming weeks, months, and even years.  I have some thoughts.

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Didn’t care for the new live-action Disney remake announcements, nor the new animated TV shows.

By the way, if I don’t specifically mention by name something that was announced during Investor Day 2020, it means that, I may watch it when it comes out, but I’m currently not hyped for it.

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I loved Rogue One when I first saw it, and have grown to love it more with each re-watch, recognizing it as the only great Star Wars movie that Disney has made so far.  However, I’m really not that excited for a prequel series centered on Cassian Andor.  Still, due to the goodwill of Rogue One, I will check it out.

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Rosario Dawson’s live-action Ahsoka turned out being genuinely awesome when she showed up in The Mandalorian, so her having her own series isn’t really surprising.  What really excites me is the thought of this show potentially presenting the debut of a live-action Grand Admiral Thrawn (cast Benedict Cumberbatch please!)

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It appears to be a Star Wars version of The Animatrix. If so, GREAT!

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One of my favorite Star Wars novels is Rogue Squadron, the first novel in the X-wing book series.  Although I don’t think this movie is going to be based on that, I’m still looking forward to it since I’m presuming it would have the same premise and feel.

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Finally, an Obi-Wan Kenobi show, where Ewan McGregor will reprise playing the eponymous character, is officially happening!  Plus, Hayden Christensen is going to play Darth Vader in it.  If all goes well, if this show becomes as huge as The Mandalorian and if he succeeds in delivering a compelling performance in the process – especially in that scene where he will be maskless (of course, there will be such a scene) – this may what brings him back to stardom.  Nevertheless, when the mask is on, I still prefer James Earl Jones to dub the character.

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I love the Bad Batch in the last season of The Clone Wars.  But I’m not really sure they need to have a spin-off series.  I may give it a try when it arrives, though.

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Apathetic about the other Star Wars stuff.  But I will probably also check out the rest at some point.

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Indiana Jones 6.  I’m skeptical about 78-year-old Harrison Ford pulling this off.

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I’ve always wanted a Mighty Ducks sequel where the team, now adults, somehow reunite for one more game.  So, for a second, I was elated when I learned that there’s going to be a sequel series, with Emilio Estevez reprising his role as coach Gordon Bombay.  But, as it turns out, it will feature a new generation of young players.  Bummer.

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This movie is supposedly going to tell the story of the “real” Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Chris Evans, from which the toy in Toy Story is based from.  So, does this mean that there is a human Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story universe?  Besides, I thought toy Buzz Lightyear is based on the animated series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, which in the framing device of the pilot movie was revealed to be a fictional property in the Toy Story universe as well.

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I don’t really have anything to say about the trailers and updates for the upcoming MCU shows, since I’ve already been long set on watching all of them from the very start.   But if I need to enumerate the things I’m most excited about, they are:

• Everything about Falcon and Winter Soldier.
• Hawkeye looking to have a similar tone and aesthetics as Matt Fraction’s superb comic book run.
• Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop.  I have a strong feeling she’s going to delightfully capture the snarky, charismatic personality of the character.
• Tatiana Maslany, the greatest actress in the world, as She-Hulk.
• Moon Knight.  Because Marvel’s version of Batman is awesome, and I’m really rooting for the MCU’s take on him to become one of its best.  And with the casting of Oscar Isaacs, it seems this project is heading toward the right direction.
• Fantastic Four in the MCU!

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The third MCU Spider-Man film wasn’t necessarily a main topic during Investor’s Day.  But let me address here the recent reports of not only past Peter Parkers/Spider-Men Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield joining the project, but Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson), Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy), Alfred Molina (Otto Octavius a.k.a. Doctor Octopus), and Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock a.k.a. Daredevil) as well!  Adding this to the fact that Kevin Feige confirmed the obvious during Investor Day 2020 that this movie is going to tie up with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it’s pretty clear that the movie will depict a live-action Spider-Verse to some degree.
 
As someone who have fantasized this for a long, long time, I’m giddy with excitement.  However, at the same time, I’m also extremely fearful that this will end up being a disappointing cameo fest – similar to what the Arrowverse’s Crisis on Infinite Earths did – rather than a legit crossover.
 
Hopefully, it will actually be a proper team-up between the three cinematic Spider-Men.  I’m really hoping for the best.  Being a massive Spider-Man fan, if this movie actually turns out being how I envisioned a live-action Spider-Verse movie would be, I will – no joke –  probably cry from sheer joy.  Lol.