Galactic showdowns, new Marvel heroes, and… chipmunks?
Here's why 2022 is set to be a buck wild year for Disney+
Remember when Ice Age was 20th Century Fox's answer to the movies of Pixar and Dreamworks?
Well, now that Fox is owned by Disney, the studio's coolest animated franchise is making
its way to Disney+.
Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild is the next feature film in the Ice Age saga, following
possum brothers Crash and Eddie as they team up with Buck Wild, a rowdy weasel.
The unlikely trio must traverse the Lost World to save themselves from the dinosaurs now
roaming the land.
Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild will premiere on Disney+ on January 28.
Sneakerella is a musical modernization of the classic Cinderella fairy tale.
Disney infamously remade the story in live-action form in 2015, while in 2021, Amazon released
a jukebox musical version of the tale starring Camila Cabello.
Meanwhile, Sneakerella stars a predominantly Black and gender-swapped cast, while shifting
the story's time and place to modern day Queens, New York.
The movie finds aspiring shoe designer Zelly falling in love with Kira, the daughter of
basketball star and sneaker tycoon Darius King.
This mash-up of age-old love story and modern sneaker culture will likely appeal to all
kinds of viewers — and it's coming to Disney+ on February 18.
The original Proud Family series ran for two seasons, beginning in 2001 and wrapping up
its run in 2005.
The capstone on the series was a Disney Channel Original, The Proud Family Movie, which served
as a finale for the whole series.
Much of the original voice cast is returning to The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, including
up by a 2D animated series spinoff that ran from 2017 until 2021.
Now, though, Disney+ has been chosen as the home for the film and show's most popular
character: Baymax.
"Hairy baby!
Hairy… baby."
Returning to the 3D art style of the movie, the first trailer for Baymax!
Suggests that the inflatable white robot is up to his old hijinks.
The only difference here is that it appears that Hiro and the rest of the Big Hero 6 crew
might not be making an appearance.
Whether or not these characters do return, Baymax! is set to make his comeback on Disney+
in the summer of 2022.
Cheaper by the Dozen is a franchise that has been going for much longer than you might
think.
Take this new remake, for example, which is the second proper reboot of the original 1950
comedy.
Any decent Cheaper by the Dozen movie needs to nail down the perfect adult cast to take
on those kids, of course, and the latest movie seems to have pulled it off, with Zach Braff
and Gabrielle Union starring as the parents.
The reboot is being directed by Gail Lerner, who has served as a producer on such TV series
as Will and Grace and, more recently, Black-ish.
Cheaper by the Dozen will stream on Disney+ in March 2022.
Black Rock Shooter: Dawn Fall will be a first for Disney+.
This reboot of the popular anime is streaming exclusively on the service in the US at the
same time it will be airing on Japanese TV, starting in April 2022.
The series follows the Black Rock Shooter, an enigmatic blue-eyed, black-haired girl
who appears in wildly different worlds and scenarios across the franchise's media.
Dawn Fall is the latest take on the character, and will stream on Disney+ in an attempt to
move the service towards more Asia-Pacific original content.
Could it kick off a whole new era in Disney programming?
Only time will tell.
Featuring two mischievous yet lovable chipmunks, the original Rescue Rangers series aired in
1989 and 1990.
The show lived on through reruns on Disney channels in the 2000s, eventually leading
to the development of a live-action movie with CGI chipmunks.
The Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers movie has been in the works since 2014, but it looks
like it'll be well worth the wait.
With John Mulaney voicing Chip and Andy Samberg as Dale, the movie certainly has its talent
on lock.
Famed voice actor Corey Burton is also returning to reprise his role as Zipper, the starry-eyed
fly who acts as the third member of the Rangers.
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers will be released on Disney+ in the spring of 2022.
Better Nate Than Ever is an upcoming original musical based on the 2013 young adult novel
by Tim Federle.
The book is an empathetic exploration of the lives of theatre kids, including 13-year-old
Nate Foster, who escapes his midwestern life by sneaking off to New York City to audition
for a Broadway show.
In the novel, that show is E.T.
The Musical, a genuinely fun choice that the movie adaptation will hopefully follow.
Friends star Lisa Kudrow has also been cast as Nate's long-lost aunt Heidi.
Better Nate Than Ever is set for release on Disney+ in the spring of 2022.
Unlike many of Disney's other live-action remakes, the studio's latest so-called "reimagining"
is due to be a Disney+ exclusive.
Streaming at some point in 2022, a live-action remake of Pinocchio is next on the slate.
The project is being directed by Robert Zemeckis, who is best known for helming Forrest Gump,
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and Back to the Future.
"Great Scott!"
This retelling of the classic story comes courtesy of an all-star cast led by Tom Hanks
as Geppetto and Cynthia Erivo as the Blue Fairy.
Certain characters will still be animated, including Jiminy Cricket, who will be voiced
by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Meanwhile, The Haunting of Bly Manor's Benjamin Evan Ainsworth is playing the titular puppet.
Pinocchio will stream on Disney+ in the fall of 2022.
A modern classic in the Disney musical canon, Enchanted was well received as a parody of
classic princess stories and a pretty great movie in its own right — so the lack of
an immediate follow-up came as something of a surprise.
Well, Enchanted fans won't have to wait any longer, as the long-awaited sequel Disenchanted
is on its way to Disney+.
Most of the original cast are returning for Disenchanted, including Amy Adams as Giselle,
while acclaimed Disney musicians Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz will be providing the
compositions and lyrics respectively.
Disenchanted arrives on Disney+ in the fall of 2022.
Hocus Pocus is a Halloween classic now beloved by millennial Disney fans, but it wasn't a
huge hit during its box office run.
In the years since, however, the movie has gained a significant cult following.
Of course, this wouldn't be a proper Hocus Pocus sequel without Sarah Jessica Parker,
Kathy Najimy, and Bette Middler.
These three played the iconic witch sisters that were brought back from the dead to the
modern day in the original, and Disney is clearly happy to have them back.
It seems like a safe bet that this will be scheduled for release in October 2022, but
as of now, only a "Fall 2022" window has been announced.
Before the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2023, James Gunn is gracing the
world with even more Guardians content.
Announced for late 2022, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will serve as a
festive interlude between Thor: Love and Thunder and Guardians Vol. 3.
Of course, a Christmas special might bring to mind such glorious flops as the Star Wars
Holiday Special, and it probably won't put anyone at ease to hear that Gunn claims he
"unironically loved" that much-maligned program as a kid.
Still, considering Gunn's track record of spinning straw into gold, it's probably fair
to say that the Guardians Holiday Special is in good hands.
The Star Wars prequel series Andor is a spinoff of Rogue One, following Diego Luna's rebel
pilot Cassian Andor as he finds his calling in the fight against the Empire.
Star Wars: Andor will be set between Episodes III and IV, approximately five years before
the events of Rogue One.
The series has been touted as a spy thriller, taking Star Wars into genre territory it hasn't
explored much in the past.
Aside from Luna, the show is set to feature Genevieve O'Reilly, with an appearance from
Stellan Skarsgård promised for at least one episode.
Andor will hit Disney+ sometime in 2022.
In the current Marvel Comics universe, the hugely popular character Kamala Khan is better
known as Ms. Marvel — and while some know her as the protagonist of the 2020 Marvel's
Avengers video game, she has yet to appear in the MCU.
In her live-action debut, Kamala will be played by Iman Vellani, a relatively unknown Pakistani
actor.
Vellani has also been cast in the 2023 MCU feature film The Marvels, which will pair
up Kamala with Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau, serving as a sequel to both this series and
the original Captain Marvel.
Ms. Marvel is due out some time in 2022.
"Hello there."
If you are a Star Wars fan of any sort, you've probably been hearing rumors about an Obi-Wan
Kenobi series for a while.
Well, it looks like everyone's patience has finally paid off, because Obi-Wan Kenobi will
be premiering on Disney+ in 2022.
Ewan McGregor is set to reprise his role as the legendary Jedi, joined by Hayden Christensen
as Anakin Skywalker, as well as Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse as Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru.
Not a ton of details are known outside of the principal casting, but we do know that
Obi-Wan Kenobi will be set approximately a decade after the events of Revenge of the
Sith.
Perhaps most excitingly of all, however, is the show's promise to feature a long-awaited
rematch between Kenobi and Darth Vader.
If you thought the Cars franchise had reached the end of the road, think again.
While a potential fourth movie is still up in the air, Pixar's kid-friendly Cars franchise
is finally returning with a Disney+ series in 2022.
Cars on the Road takes Lightning McQueen on a brand new trip around the world of Cars.
The short description that Disney has offered suggests it's a kind of road trip story starring
Lightning and Mater, and one that will easily lend itself to any number of one-off stories
and fun side characters.
If nothing else, hopefully Cars on the Road can recapture the magic that turned Cars into
a major Pixar franchise.
Zootopia may have been a critical darling, but a sequel failed to materialize after its
2016 box office run.
Instead, Disney+ is taking this anthropomorphic series to a more experimental place with Zootopia+,
a series of animated shorts set in the world of the movie.
The series will revisit familiar characters from the film, as well as establish new ones.
The first look Disney shared on Twitter shows the first movie's lead characters Judy Hopps
and Nick Wilde joined by a cast of animals from throughout the Zootopia universe.
Unfortunately, Disney has been pretty pokey about nailing down a specific premiere date
for Zootopia+ — at this point, it's only known that it will debut on Disney+ at some
point in 2022.
Based on an original idea that director George Lucas dreamed up before Star Wars, the original
Willow movie was developed after he took a long break from that particular franchise.
Directed by Ron Howard and starring Warwick Davis as Willow, the movie was sadly met with
an apathetic response from critics and theatergoers alike.
Nevertheless, Willow attracted a sizable cult following over the decades following its release,
and now it's back — with some familiar faces attached.
Warwick Davis is returning as Willow, and Ron Howard is an executive producer on the
project.
The pilot is being helmed by In the Heights director John M. Chu and is set for release
in 2022.
Believe it or not, that's not all that you can expect to see on Disney+ in 2022.
You can also expect more MCU stories like "Moon Knight," "She-Hulk," and "Secret Invasion."
Meanwhile, "Star Wars" fans will likely see a third season of "The Mandalorian," a second
season of "The Bad Batch," and more.
No matter what you're into, it's an exciting time to be signed up for Disney+.
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