In light of the enormous success of “The Mandalorian,” both Star Wars and Marvel have announced a plethora of new content to be released on Disney+. While a select few will focus on new storylines and characters, most of these new installments will expand the stories of former characters.
Second only to Netflix in subscriber counts, Disney+ has become a favorite in American living rooms since its establishment in November 2019. Much of the platform’s success can be attributed to large franchises, such as Marvel and Star Wars, with “The Mandalorian” and “The Clone Wars’’ both placing in the top five on the service’s most-watched shows in 2020.
On Dec. 10, 2020, Lucasfilm revealed 11 future projects, primarily Disney+ series, on starwars.com.
“Disney knows they’ve struck gold here, and they’re trying to do everything they can with it,” said freshman Caleb Dougherty. “While I somewhat respect that, I kind of wish they would take it a little slower.”
Similarly, Marvel announced their fourth phase, which will consist of 11 series and 10 films. While Marvel originally intended the Disney+ releases to begin with “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” delays due to the pandemic have led this phase to be spearheaded by “WandaVision,” an extremely bizarre, yet acclaimed, fusion of action and sitcom. The stars of these shows have previously been minor characters in numerous Marvel films.
“We don’t see a whole lot of the characters in the movies or other shows, but having their own TV show can give us more insight,” said junior Virginia Rice.
With characters such as Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Cassian Andor, Boba Fett and Loki receiving their own series, both franchises are attempting to bring back beloved characters to attract old viewers.
“When Disney came into control of Lucasfilm, they got rid of a lot of stuff that was canon before,” said Dougherty. “I kind of disliked that, but I think it’s great that they’re moving back towards that direction and bringing back old characters.”
Ahsoka’s return in “The Mandalorian” provides viewers with a glimpse of the life of the iconic “Clone Wars” character whose story never received much closure. Her story will be continued on Disney+ on an undetermined date.
Another expansion of the “Clone Wars” universe will be the animated show, “The Bad Batch.” Following an experimental group of clones first introduced in “The Clone Wars” as they navigate a post-war world, “The Bad Batch” will be one of the few animated shows in the group. It will be joined by its animated Marvel counterpart “What if?” and Star Wars’ “Visions” and “A Droid Story.”
“I’m just hoping that the dialogue is realistic,” said freshman Keaton Weld. “[‘Star Wars Rebels’] was so obviously a kids’ show with the way the dialogue and the plot worked. I’m just hoping that they don’t try too hard to make it a show that kids can watch because that ended up being a big disappointment for ‘Star Wars Rebels.’”
Along with these shows, Disney+ will be introducing new Marvel characters in “She-Hulk,” “Ms. Marvel” and many other series. While fans are excited about these new shows, some fear that the franchises may become oversaturated with content.
“If there’s opportunity for [making money], there’s always opportunity for oversaturation,” said Dougherty. “That is definitely a concern of mine.”
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