What If? Season 3 will be its last, concluding the story arc of The Watcher. Director Bryan Andrews says going into season 3 "we can take big swings." The season will include different genres like the Western. #D23pic.twitter.com/FFaXAVvA5T
In addition to a Western, another of those “big swings” will see a new team of Avengers–featuring Sam Wilson, Moon Knight and Monica Rambeau, take on gamma monsters.
‘WHAT IF…?’ Season 3 will include an episode featuring an Avengers team of Captain America, Moon Knight, Monica Rambeau & more facing off against gamma monsters. pic.twitter.com/PU0anIwrwc
While the first two seasons of What If…? bopped all over the multiverse, the episodes by and large featured Marvel Studio’s core Avengers. It’s been explained that there were good reasons for the limited roster of characters and the promise was made that Season 3 would expand on said roster. If a look at the series during Marvel Animation’s D23 presentation is anything to go on, the promise has been kept.
According to various outlets in attendance at the presentation, What If…? Season 3 will feature Shang-Chi, Moon Knight, Ironheart and the White Vision among its cast of characters.
Marvel Studios’ first streaming series, WandaVision, may ultimately be remembered more for what it was not than what it was. Each week, the MCU fanbase squabbled about short runtimes, concocted ridiculous theories and nitpicked its way right through a very good series carried by three incredible performances. Even in the weeks and months leading up to the series, social media was full of debates over how many episodes it would be despite evidence that it was set to be a 9-episode season. As the first of at least two WandaVision spinoffs creeps closer to its debut, Marvel has put out one of those potential fires before it spreads.
According to an official release sent out by Disney following Marvel Studios’ presentation at D23, Agatha All Along will consist of nine episodes.
In Marvel Studios’ Agatha All Along, the infamous Agatha Harkness finds herself down and out of power after a suspicious goth Teen helps break her free from a distorted spell. Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious Teen pull together a desperate coven, and set off down, down, down The Road…
-Official Synopsis, Agatha All Along
As ridiculous as it seems that the same confusion over episode count that occurred with WandaVision could resurface over Agatha All Along, there has been a lack of clarity on the matter. It is nearly impossible and definitely futile to attempt to dig back to the source of the confusion; however, most of it seems to stem from claims of a Witches’ Road special presentation spinning out of the spinoff. Further claims about the special–which was never discussed publicly by Marvel Studios–postulated that plans for it had changed and it had been rolled into the body of the streaming series. Whether any of the claims were ever true or not, message boards and Discord servers were certainly not certain about how many episodes of the Kathryn Hahn-led series they should prepare for this Fall.
According to the press release, the nine-episode series was directed by a trio of talent with each responsible for three episodes. In addition to series creator Jac Schaeffer, episodes of Agatha All Along will be directed by Rachel Goldberg (Mayans M.C. and Gen V) and Gandja Monteiro (Wednesday, The Witcher and The Walking Dead: Dead City).
Agatha All Along will debut with a 2-episode premiere on September 18th and stream on Disney Plus right through Spooky Season!
Kathryn Hahn‘s Agatha Harkness bewitched MCU fans in 2021’s WandaVision. Hahn’s scene-stealing performance alongside MCU vets Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany led to a quick green light on the development of her own spinoff series. Created by WandaVision‘s head writer, Jac Schaeffer, the series underwent a string of title changes before settling on Agatha All Along. A first look at the series debuted in early July but with just over a month until its streaming debut, Marvel Studios rolled out a new look at the series during their portion of D23’s Disney Entertainment Showcase.
The series stars Joe Locke as “Teen”/Billy Kaplan, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Maria Dizzia, PaulAdelstein, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Okwui Okpokwasili, with Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, and Aubrey Plaza as Rio Vidal, aka the Green Witch.
In Agatha All Along, the infamous Agatha Harkness finds herself down and out of power after a suspicious goth Teen helps break her free from a distorted spell. Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious Teen pull together a desperate coven, and set off down, down, down The Road…
-Official Synopsis, Agatha All Along
Agatha All Along debuts with two episodes on September 18th on Disney Plus.
Created by Marvel Studio’s Spider-Man trilogy director Jon Watts, Lucasfilm’s upcoming live-action Star Wars streaming series Skeleton Crew represents a new direction for the studio. Set during the same New Republic era as The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka, the big-budget adventure will feature four young characters who find themselves on a wild adventure in the galaxy far, far away. Skeleton Crew will introduce youngsters Ravi Cabot-Conyers (Wim), Kyriana Kratter (KB), Robert Timothy Smith (Neel) and Ryan Kiera Armstrong (Fern), who will star alongside Jude Law, who plays Jod Na Nawood. A first look at the streamer was expected as part of D23’s Disney Entertainment Showcase and Lucasfilm did not disappoint.
When four kids make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, they get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home, meeting unlikely allies and enemies will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.
-Official Synopsis, Skeleton Crew
Lucasfilm assembled an all-star team of directors for Skeleton Crew. In addition to Watts, Star Wars vet Bryce Dallas Howard, The Daniels, David Lowery, Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier and Lee Isaac Chung were all revealed to be helming episodes during Star Wars Celebration 2023.
Skeleton Crew will debut on Disney Plus on December 3rd.
Arguably the crown jewel in Disney’s Star Wars streaming efforts, Andor was always destined for a short run. The prequel to Rogue One–which itself is a prequel to A New Hope—Andor was designed by Tony Gilroy to cover the five years immediately leading up to the 2016 film.
Andor time! Diego Luna is here to tease the next season of the Rogue One prequel series. “Thank you for caring so much about Season 1,” he says. “I’ve lived with Cassian Andor for almost 10 years now.” The new season is “the final piece of the puzzle.” #D23Expopic.twitter.com/eaoCPgnRVE
The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, D23, is underway in Anaheim, California and while Disney’s major studios won’t be showcasing their upcoming projects until Friday evening, there’s still plenty to see for fans touring the convention center. Each year, studios set up impressive displays and this year is no different. Lucasfilm is expected to showcase at least a couple of Star Wars streaming series (Skeleton Crew and Season 2 of Andor) as part of their portion of the panel and ahead of that, they showed off an impressive first look at the villains of one of the series.
Footage shown during Star Wars Celebration 2023 revealed that the Nikto pirate Vane, who was a thorn in Din Djarin’s side during Season 3 of The Mandalorian, was set to return in Skeleton Crew. Following August 8th’s media preview night, amusement and theme park enthusiast Drew Smith (@DrewDisneyDude) shared a first look at Vane and the rest of his motley crew of pirates from the floor of the Anaheim Convention center.
Last seen fleeing following the death of his boss, Gorian Shard, the floor display reveals that Vane now has his own diverse gang of pirates. In addition to a peg-legged droid, Vane’s crew features a Shistavanen armed to his wolf teeth with pistols and a Gran with a patch covering one of his three eyes.
When four kids make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, they get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home, meeting unlikely allies and enemies will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.
On the heels of winning San Diego Comic-Con with the Avengers news that shook the fandom, and with a film at the box office in Deadpool and Wolverine which is breaking records, the MCU is riding high. And this weekend’s D23 event may provide an additional jolt of enthusiasm about the franchise. However, with only Agatha All Along on Disney Plus to sustain content appetites for the rest of the year, we can expect to see some loss of momentum, particularly when the next shoe drops with respect to the beleaguered Blade film.
2. Game of Thrones (WBD)
This weekend’s House of the Dragon finale will likely cap a season that undoubtedly restored the feeling for the television franchise that reigned over the monoculture like a Targaryen Dynasty. And with additional spinoffs in the works, all skepticism about sustainability has been melted away with dragon flame. Warner Brothers Discovery’s flagship franchise is flying high, and we continue to whistle that iconic theme.
3. Star Wars (Disney)
The mixed reaction to The Acolyte and the continuing Culture War noise surrounding this franchise have really left Star Wars vulnerable. A Skeleton Crew trailer release is imminent, and maybe an infusion of Stranger Things energy into the graying, embittered fandom will do it some good. This is a franchise built on childlike wonder, and much of the recent content has been lacking in that regard.
4. The Boys (Amazon)
Head-to-head against The Acolyte, the most recent season of The Boys held its own in terms of mindshare, and even though Season 4 didn’t hit the highs of previous seasons, that hasn’t stopped Amazon from greenlighting a prequel spinoff to go with the Mexico-set spinoff announced a while back. The fact that the next season will be its final one will center it even more firmly in the discourse, as fans and critics will wonder if it can “stick the landing.” If anything, The Boys’ biggest Achilles heel might be the extent to which real-life steals its absurdist thunder.
5. Dune (WBD)
With one of the most critically and commercially successful films of the year, a sequel expected to be fast-tracked, and the spinoff prequel Dune: Prophecy series set for November on HBO, 2024 has been quite the year for the Dune franchise. And that’s before the memes. However, it does still remain to be seen how far the franchise climbs in the pop cultural consciousness, or whether this year will be its apex, given that other franchises were hobbled by the pandemic and the strikes, and given that things get extra weird on Arrakis from here on out.
6. DC Elseworlds (WBD)
While James Gunn‘s DCU prepares to pull out of the station, fans of those characters will get to visit Gotham twice this fall, as the HBO series The Penguin returns us to the world of Matt Reeves’ The BatmanEpic Crime Saga. And although Robert Pattinson’s Batman is unlikely to feature heavily in the series, his shadow will likely loom over the story. And at the cinema, the highly anticipated sequel to the billion-dollar grossing Jokerwill offer us another glimpse into Todd Phillips’ Scorsese-tinged hyper-reality, as Lady Gaga‘s Harley Quinn enters the fray. Other alternate universe projects have yet to be announced, and details remain limited on the proper sequel to The Batman, but needless to say, the more successful these two projects are, the more likely that others will also see the light of day.
7. DCU (WBD)
Supermanhas recently wrapped, the first teaser trailer for Creature Commandos(dropping in December) has been released, and news items about upcoming projects continue to surface. Still, while anticipation for what James Gunn is cooking up remains high, excitement is muted. There was no SDCC panel, and it’s possible that audiences won’t get non-set leak Supermanfootage until 2025. So for the remainder of 2024, we could very well be in “wait and see” mode.
8. Star Trek (Paramount)
Although it’s been many years since the last Star Trek film (despite Quentin Tarantino‘s best efforts to give audiences “Hard R Trek”), the franchise has been flourishing on streaming, with a number of well-regarded series on Paramount Plus, and more on the way. And the recent announcement of the first live-action comedy in the franchise’s history could push Star Trek further into the mainstream than it’s been in years.
9. MonsterVerse (Legendary/WBD)
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was moderately successful at the box office, and the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters streaming series was well-received, albeit underappreciated, with a second season on the way. This franchise still has its drawing power, but its days at the top of the zeitgeist may be behind it.
10. Spider-Verse (Sony)
Tom Holland‘s MCU Spider-Man franchise is represented elsewhere, but through the power of the Spider-Verse franchise, every possible Spidey and Spidey-adjacent character — be they in the Amazon researching spiders before dying, bonding with goopy alien symbiotes in San Francisco, or…doing whatever Kraven is doing — is connected via multiversal web. And Beyond the Spider-Verse very well might connect these divergent threads. There’s still no word on when that movie will drop, but for now, fans of the Venom films can look forward to the conclusion of that trilogy in Venom: The Last Dance, which releases in October.
11. Transformers/GI Joe (Paramount)
Last year’s Transformers: Rise of the Beastsrevealed that the two franchises were being merged, and while there’s a degree of uncertainty as to when we’ll get that film, next month’s Transformers: One animated film will give longtime fans the robot-centric big screen adventure they’ve clamored for since they first discovered Stan Bush’s “The Touch.”
12. Lord of the Rings (WBD/Amazon)
While technically, the rights to the Tolkien books have been bifurcated, and the Rings of Power series will likely never cross over with the LOTR projects in the works at Warner Brothers, each is capable of elevating the overall excitement around the stories told on Middle Earth. But unfortunately, Season 1 of Rings of Power, despite its budget and the advertising blitz around it, never really hit the mainstream, and it’s hard to see Season 2 breaking through.
13. Jurassic Park/World (Universal)
Yes, they’re still making these, and yes, the films still have a billion-dollar upside. But with less than a year until the next film, directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali, is slated to hit theaters, it’s hard to see what new ground this franchise could stake out to fire up the fanbase.
14. Harry Potter (WBD)
Putting aside the toxic JK Rowling of it all, this franchise needs a cultural reset, and indeed, WBD is looking to introduce a new generation to the world of wizards and wands. They’re still a few years away from getting that project out, though, and who knows what nonsense JK could say or do to further sully the franchise’s legacy before then.
15. Anne Rice Immortal Universe (AMC)
Yes, The Walking Dead has been an AMC mainstay, but while that seems to be limping along, the series based on the Anne Rice novels seem to be gathering momentum. However, despite their highly engaged fan followings, particularly forInterview With the Vampire, the media landscape for these shows doesn’t seem favorable for a jump into the mainstream anytime soon.
Honorable Mention:
The Walking Dead (AMC), Mission: Impossible (Paramount), Fast &Furious (Universal), Mad Max (WBD), John Wick (Lionsgate), Ghostbusters (Sony), James Bond (EON)
With the Multiverse Saga in danger, Marvel Studios turned to its big guns to save it. To end its Hall H panel at SDCC ’24, the studio brought Anthony and Joe Russo on stage and announced that the brothers were returning to the fold to direct the next two Avengers film, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Then, as an intended cherry on top, the Russos revealed that Robert Downey Jr., the actor behind the greatest hero of the Infinity Saga, was set to join them in returning to the MCU, this time to play Victor Von Doom.
It remains to be seen how the move to bring Downey back as a villain will be received. It’s not yet entirely clear whether he’s playing Victor Von Doom or a Tony Stark Variant gone rogue. If it is the latter, however, it turns out Downey won’t be the only actor putting a new spin on his MCU character.
In an interview with Inverse, Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, confirmed that the studio is working with Star Trek: Picard show runner Terry Matlas to develop a Vision streaming series for star Paul Bettany.
Despite the trade reports over the years, the project had never been publicly discussed by Feige until recently when he confirmed Matlas was working on the series. In an interview with Inverse, Feige revealed he turned to Matlas to develop the series after having seen Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard.
“That’s how I got to know him,” said Feige of Matlas “It was from his amazing [work on Picard Season 3. I said: This is incredible. I don’t know how this exists. Let me find the person who made this.”
It’s no secret that Feige is a Star Trek fan; now, his love for that universe has brought the show runner of one of Star Trek’s most highly-acclaimed series to the MCU to help craft a new path forward for one of the Infinity Saga’s mightiest heroes.
Though no mention of the Vision series was made at SDCC, one might expect some information to be shared during D23.
As fans continue to digest Lucasfilm’s latest Star wars streaming series, The Acolyte, the studio has turned its attention to its next project. Via People Magazine and official Star Wars social media accounts, Lucasfilm has provided the first look at Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
Co-created by MCU Spider-Man trilogy director Jon Watts and and Spider-Man: Homecoming writer Christopher Ford, Skeleton Crew follows four kids on a journey through the galaxy far, far away. Child actors Ravi Cabot-Conyers (Wim), Kyriana Kratter (KB), Robert Timothy Smith (Neel) and Ryan Kiera Armstrong (Fern) will star alongside Jude Law, who plays Jod Na Nawood, in the new series which will make its streaming debut on December 3rd in Disney Plus.
“It is a fun place to be, the universe of Star Wars,” said Law, adding that “seeing children in that environment in a Star Wars environment is thrilling and very, very unique.”
When four kids make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, they get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home, meeting unlikely allies and enemies will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.
-Official Synopsis, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Being part of the Star wars universe means joining one of Hollywood’s longest running shared narratives in mid-stream. Skeleton Crew is set during New Republic era (home to The Mandalorian and Ashoka) and according to Law, “there are great references to old films and recent episodes and series. There’s a lot of originality and I hope that will bring the feeling of fun to those who watch it.“
The series has been compared to Richard Donner‘s 1985 classic, The Goonies, and based on Law’s comments, that seems like a fair comparison. all in constant state of confusion and jeopardy and challenge.” He adds that Skeleton Crew is “very much a piece about working together and overcoming fears and overcoming…perhaps [one’s] opinion of oneself or one’s own weaknesses in order to succeed.” Sounds like a bit of Jedi wisdom being shared by Law, though he’s not the only help the kids will have along the way.
In addition to Law’s Nawood, the kids will be added in their journey by “the first mate of a mysterious ship,” according to Watts. That first mate will be “a rusty old, cranky droid” known as SM-33. Voiced by Shaun of the Dead star Nick Frost, SM-33 “sort of reluctantly helps the kids along the way,” says Watts while nothing Frost’s voice work was “fun” and “perfect.” It’s not Star Wars without a droid!
With D23 just a week away, fans might expect a teaser trailer for the series to be right around the corner.
Skeleton Crew wil begin streaming on Disney Plus on December 3rd.
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