D23 Expo 2026 Recap: What’s Next for Disney Films and Television

Well folks, D23 Expo 2026 has come and gone. While the three-day event brought so much news with it (and believe me there’s more coming soon!) one of the biggest highlights of the convention was the nearly four-hour tentpole presentation on Friday, where Disney Studios unveiled its biggest and most exciting projects between now and 2029.

The biggest news of the D23 Expo Entertainment Showcase 2026 was of course what Marvel Studios brought with them: The casting and release date for their new X-Men film, which you can read about in full detail here. However, just because this was the biggest headline, does not mean the other projects they covered were any less exciting. Here’s a full breakdown of the good, the bad, and the incredible!

An ‘Incredible’ Showing for Pixar

Second to Marvel Studios, I’d have to say the studio that brought, arguably, the most exciting updates with them was Pixar. Pete Docter came out to showcase the incredible work he and the hardworking Pixar animators have been concocting on for the past several years. This has definitely been a challenging year for Pixar, in that, despite having one of the few $1 billion hits at the worldwide box office this year (and Disney’s highest grossing film of the year so far), with Toy Story 5, and a surprise sleeper hit in Hoppers, they were recently hit with a massive wave of layoffs. That being said, the Emeryville-based studio refuses to go down without a fight, as they showcased an incredibly strong assortment of films coming between 2027 and 2029.

After first teasing it in 2024’s D23 Expo, Docter unveiled more details about Incredibles III. While simply teased as “in the works” at the previous expo, we found out much more this year. Among some of the previously reported news, Brad Bird would return to write the film, with Peter Sohn (Elemental) directing this time. However at the convention, Docter revealed that the story, this time, would revolve around Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack Parr. It also will follow how Bob Parr, Mr. Incredible, will be constantly trying to grapple with the question about his own relevancy as a superhero in a changing world that just declared supers as legal. Docter also teased a very powerful supervillain that remains mysterious. As an Incredibles fan, it looked super exciting and was perhaps one of the most anticipated announcement to come out of their presentation.

They also brought out star Benjamin Bratt to reveal the first, very exciting plans, for Coco 2. Details were revealed for the long-awaited sequel to the 2017 smash hit, Oscar-winning masterpiece, which sees a teenage Miguel having to contend once more with Ernesto De La Cruz. The film will be directed by Pixar veteran Lee Unkrich (Coco, Toy Story 3) and Adrian Molina. Bratt also revealed details about the world of Coco being featured in Kingdom Hearts IV and plugged a Kingdom Hearts anime series for Disney+.

Thankfully, the sentiment was not only about Pixar’s sequels. Docter wanted to make sure a lot of focus was spent on next year’s Gatto from Luca director Enrico Casarosa and a brand-new film called Ghost Market, from directors Trevor Jimenez and Jesse Andrews. A teaser for Gatto was previously released, but they debuted a scene from the film, featuring a cat named Nero (Mark Ruffalo) working with a pigeon in Venice to steal a violin from a street performer. It was cute, but what makes the project unique is the animation style, inspired by classic Venetian artwork, with a bit of a watercolor palette look and feel to it.

Ghost Market, on the other hand, looked incredibly different from a tonal perspective. While still retaining the classic humorous Pixar quirks, the film looks to be diving into a bit more of a light horror/supernatural territory, as it centers on a young ghost hunter/content creator named Kyle, who stumbles onto a place in Hawaii called the Ono Market, which ultimately serves as a connecting location between the realm of the living and the dead. The trailer was charming, funny, and very different from most Pixar animated fare.

The one thing I felt the Pixar presentation had going for it that others didn’t was the diversity factor. Not only are films like Coco 2 and Ghost Market centering on POC protagonists, but they’re also being helmed by POCs as well. Molina, being a Mexican filmmaker, and Jimenez being a Filipino one, allow for their respective projects to retain a bit of authenticity and diversity in the mythology fueling their stories.

Star Wars Brings Ahsoka and Starfighter

Star Wars is also at a bit of a crossroads this year. Their first film in seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu, underperformed at the worldwide box office (even though I really liked that one!), which prompted folks to question whether or not the franchise could rebound. However newly appointed president and Chief Creative Officer, Dave Filoni has a lot of fun projects up his sleeve, and brought two of them with him to D23 Expo.

The first was the reveal of the re-release of the original 1977 version of Star Wars: A New Hope in theaters. Then they segued into the next season of Ahsoka. The previous season ended with a cliffhanger. Ezra Bridger, lost in another galaxy after the end of Star Wars: Rebels, was found by Ahsoka and Sabine Wren. And while the duo was able to send him home, they remained stranded themselves. The new season features the return of Anakin Skywalker as a Force ghost, with star Hayden Christensen reuniting with Rosario Dawson, to further impart lessons on his former Padawan. They debuted the trailer for the new season both at the convention and online.

The panel included a quick conversation with Dawson, Christensen, and Eman Esfandi live on stage to discuss what’s next for the coming season. The next adventure will debut in January of 2027.

The main event for Lucasfilm, however, was the debut of footage from Star Wars: Starfighter — the studio’s big tentpole release for next May 2027. To discuss the project further, Filoni brought out director Shawn Levy, who then brought out star, Ryan Gosling. After showing a fun reel of clips of Gosling from his start on The Mickey Mouse Club, and once they were done embarrassing the A-list Project Hail Mary star, Levy presented him with a jacket bearing the symbol of his character Kade Auberon; an upside-down Rebel Alliance symbol, with a crossbones made of two blasters.

Unfortunately, neither of the creatives spoke extensively about what the film was about. Merely that Kade’s fate was intertwined with the fastest starfighter in the galaxy. They showed a pretty cool trailer that showcased some of the action and really fun sequences from the film, with a look that seems actually quite different from any other Star Wars film before it. It does look quite exciting, and with a cast featuring Amy Adams, Aaron Pierre, Matt Smith, and Mia Goth, it’s shaping up to be an incredible epic.

Live-Action Disney Adaptations Live On

During the presentation, there was a huge bit of excitement, when the auditorium went dark and glowing lanterns floated down from the ceiling. With that, the audience understood the next major release to be covered was the live-action adaptation of Tangled. They showed a bit of footage from the live-action remake culminating in the reveal of Kathryn Hahn’s Mother Gothel. Hahn, who is absolutely pitch-perfect for the role, took to the stage revealing that her co-stars, Milo Manheim and Teagan Croft, were still in Girona, Spain shooting the film. The two stars sent in a video message and a sizzle reel revealing the hard work the production crew put into crafting the film.

Disney also revealed a bit about their upcoming sequel to last year’s $1 billion grossing hit, Lilo and Stitch. The adorable star, Maia Kealoha, came out to introduce a short bit in which Stitch messes up the live feed, with the help of the live-action Angel. It was their way of introducing that the character would be coming to life as part of the sequel. The movie was a bit of a mixed bag, but took risks enough to change some bits of the original movie, for better and worse. Having said that, with series creator, Chris Sanders, returning to write and, this time, direct the second film, I have a great feeling the second film, coming May 2028, will be even better.

The Studio That Started It All

While films like Lilo and Stitch 2 and Tangled might become huge hits, no one could ever dispute the fact that they came from the source that made Disney an indelible part of our lives: Walt Disney Animation Studios. The studio that started it all brought news about four different projects to D23 Expo 2026, beginning with the announcement that Zootopia 3 was officially in the works. This was definitely not a surprise to most there, given the second movie had a fun post-credits scene suggesting the next direction for the franchise would be going to the birds. Oh, and the film became the second highest grossing animated feature of all time, making close to $2 billion at the box office. The studio also confirmed at the expo that the casts of the original and Zootopia 2 would be returning for the third. While the film is officially coming, admittedly, it’s going to be a long time before any of it sees the light of day.

Therefore, Jared Bush, chief creative officer for Disney Animation Studios decided to focus on the films that were further along in production, starting with this November’s Hexed. To introduce audiences to the world of Hexed, Bush brought out star Hailee Steinfeld, who in turn, officially announced and brought out two of the film’s other stars, Walton Goggins and the legendary Jodie Foster. Goggins discussed his character — a three-eyed cat sidekick for Steinfeld’s character, Billie Doe. Foster, on the other hand, was announced to be playing the film’s antagonist Queen Celeste — the devious queen of the witches.

Following Hexed, Bush announced an original film coming Spring 2028, called Clay. The admittedly odd-sounding movie follows in the tradition of mentor/mentee films, like The Sword in the Stone and Pinocchio, presenting a mentor-esque protagonist named Flip, voiced by Succession‘s Kieran Culkin. Flip is said to be a terrible mentor, but is assigned to look over a character who is a literal ball of clay, named Mushy. Bush showed off some of the concept art from the film, which, admittedly, looks very Seussian in nature.

The panel concluded with a first glimpse at the highly anticipated Frozen III. Returning to the film is the core cast of the first two, for which Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, and Josh Gad were in attendance for the presentation. Menzel and Bell came out to sing a rendition of “Frozen Heart,” and then Gad came out on stage to sing a song from the forthcoming film, called “Samantha.” Apparently in this next chapter, Olaf will be getting a girlfriend. That being said, the main storyline is going to center on events following the wedding of Anna and Kristoff. The trio showed us a very brief glimpse of what to expect from the film, which will find the Frozen team up against a powerful new villain with cryokinetic powers similar to Elsa’s. The footage was equal parts funny and exciting, with barbs like Olaf calling Kristoff a terrible husband, to the almost reveal of the film’s antagonist.

We’ll see how this goes, but as Frozen is still incredibly popular among children and adults today, the expectations could not be higher.

Other Offerings Coming Soon

While Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and Disney Animation are absolutely the biggest brands in the House of Mouse, the Entertainment Showcase uncovered several really interesting or anticipated upcoming releases.

They showed a hilarious clip for 20th Century Studios’ The New Simpsons Movie, coming September 2027. The clip showed Homer and several of the beloved citizens of Springfield chasing after a foul ball from a baseball game as it bounced its way through town. The studio also covered the next Ice Age film coming Spring 2027, and even a long-awaited sequel to the cult comedy hit Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, entitled Romy and Michelle 2.

Disney+ brought a few projects as well, including an appearance by Percy Jackson himself, Walker Scobell, who unveiled a look at Season 3, and brought out Andra Day and Ming-Na Wen joining the cast this coming season. Jon Favreau also took to the stage to discuss — not one — but two upcoming projects: The charming and visually arresting Oswald, based on Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks’s Oswald the Lucky Rabbit — an original creation before Mickey Mouse, and National Geographic’s Lion documentary. The Disney+ segment also featured a live and impressive Camp Rock performance, to celebrate the release of the third movie, with an appearance by The Jonas Brothers as well.

Newly appointed Disney Legend, Anne Hathaway, also came out to inform the audience that Princess Diaries 3 is in production. And for the kids, the first teaser trailer for The Bluey Movie was revealed, giving Bingo and Bluey a CG makeover. It was all fairly cute, even if it was relatively inconsequential.

With the Marvel X-Men announcement really breaking the internet, it was easy to overlook some of the exciting works coming from Disney in the next few years. That said, the studio brought it, and we are definitely hyped for Incredibles III, Ahsoka, Starfighter, Coco 2, and Ghost Market, among others on their strong slate. However, my biggest complaint is that the studios are, in some ways, going back to a lack of diversity in their storytellers and the stories we’re seeing in the next four years. Of the 25 projects covered, only about six are being led or helmed by POC talent. Given how much DEI has suffered due to the current state of the nation, it’s not surprising that some studios are scaling back on diverse storytelling. We definitely want to see more of this from a studio as big as Disney. That said, despite the whirlwind nature of the presentation, what we saw was exciting, and honestly makes me continue to believe in the potential power of storytelling over profits. Way to go, Disney! Until next time!