D23

We’ve been on the edge of our seats waiting for another look at Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time since those photos of Oprah, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling in costume dropped earlier this week. You can’t just give us rhinestone-eyebrowed, glittery lip-glossed Oprah and expect us to not ask for more. Luckily the film’s first official trailer arrived today during Disney’s D23 Expo in Anaheim.

Sometimes I feel like we don’t appreciate Mark Hamill enough. Oh, sure, we trot him out for any Star Wars or Batman events and allow him to shoot off bemused one-liners about his place in nerd culture, but that’s only part of what makes his celebrity so fascinating. Hamill has spent the past 40+ years hearing about a series of movies he made at the beginning of his career, and somehow, he has avoided becoming either jaded or entitled about his celebrity. When you ask Hamill to talk about Luke Skywalker, he comes across as both blunt and self-effacing without ever doing a discredit to the character or his importance to many. Something tells me that isn’t as easy as he makes it look.

What happens when Disney throws a party for itself and everyone is invited? The answer is D23, this weekend’s trade show-slash-Disney party with new teasers, news, and footage from the company’s expanding lineup of Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar properties. We’ve already seen a few updates on Wreck-It Ralph 2 and The Incredibles 2, but for the sequel-phobic among you, there was also a pretty high-profile announcement of Pixar’s upcoming original feature.

We’ve seen more than a few sneak peeks of Marvel’s new animated Spider-Man, but Disney XD saved the best for D23. Not only do we have an August premiere, but a full cast including Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, Doc Ock, and Patton Oswalt as Uncle Ben!

A big part of every D23 convention is the Disney Legends Awards, where the company honors its own, celebrating artists and executives who have made major contributions to the Walt Disney Company. This year’s honorees include Oprah Winfrey, Mark Hamill, and the late Carrie Fisher. The Marvel portion of the event honored two of the comics company’s most important creators: Writer and editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Kirby passed away in 1994, so his son accepted his award on his behalf, but Stan “The Man” was on hand to accept his Disney Legends honor. He gave a great speech, and a very emotional one as well.

Dang, Thanos got shredded. Gone is the lazy titan who can’t be bothered to get his giant purple butt up off that excessively swanky space chair. As teased in the post-credits scene from Captain America: Civil War, the new Thanos means business, and thanks to a new statue unveiled at D23, you can see just how serious he is about obliterating the MCU in Avengers: Infinity War.

According to Disney Parks’ executive Bob Chapek they are “the most ambitious lands that we have ever built at Walt Disney Imagineering.” They’re Star Wars Land, coming to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World in the near future. And this weekend at the D23 convention, Disney gave fans a look at the massive model for their creation.

One of the coolest parts of Marvel’s Ant-Man was the final tease of a superheroic future for Evangeline Lilly’s Hope van Dyne as the Wasp. It was also one of the more frustrating parts of Ant-Man, since we waited the whole movie to see Hope cut loose only to see her costumed alter ego put on hold until a potential sequel. Now the sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, is less than a year away, and Hope’s moment in the sun is finally almost here.

Normally, you’d dread the fourth entry in any beloved film series, but it feels kind of okay to have positive thoughts about Toy Story 4. After all, its three predecessors are among the strongest films in Pixar’s mostly untouchable library. If anyone can make the fourth feature-length adventure of a cowboy doll and his friends sing, it’s these guys. So, without further ado, here’s what the film is about, straight from the mouth of Pixar founder and Disney chief creative officer John Lasseter,

Disney’s annual convention dedicated to itself, D23 (named, I assume, after the number of dollars you have left in your bank account after you go and buy lots of cool Disney swag), kicks off today, so expect plenty of news and announcements coming out of Anaheim all weekend...