Learn about all the latest 2022 D23 Announcements in this live post!
—Updated September 12, 2022, 3:15 PM—
D23 Expo kicked off with some big announcements on Friday, September 9, 2022, and will continue through Sunday, September 11th. WDW Magazine is there, with our reporters on the ground, attending panels and snapping photos of all the big reveals.
We will keep this post updated with the latest news out of D23, so bookmark this page, keep scrolling, and stay tuned! For LIVE Updates, hop to our Instagram channel.
Quick D23 Highlights
Day 1 Need-to-Know
- New Disney Legends were honored in a star-studded ceremony
- The Wonderful World of Dreams exhibit had sneak peeks at Tiana’s Palace, Moana Journey of Water, and Mickey’s Toontown
- Disney and Pixar announced Inside Out 2, and offered new footage of Disenchanted, The Little Mermaid, and Hocus Pocus 2
Day 2 Need-to-Know
- Marvel Entertainment showed new footage of Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
- New Marvel film releases were teased for The Marvels, Captain America: New World Order, Thunderbolts, and Fantastic Four
- New Marvel series’ on Disney+ were announced including the second season of Loki. New shows will include Secret Invasion, Ironheart, Daredevil: Born Again, and Echo
- LucasFilm hyped new Star Wars features on Disney+
- Harrison Ford joined with new footage of the next Indiana Jones movie
- Willow was announced with a new trailer
Day 3 Need-to-Know
- Day 3 was all about Disney Parks updates… just keep scrolling to find out!
Disneyland Announcements
Lots of announcements were released at the Disney Parks panel led by Chairman Josh D’Amaro—let’s start with Avenger’s Campus today!
Hulk Meet-and-Greet at Avengers Campus
The Hulk himself busted in and after some confusion about where he had quantum-jumped to, he revealed he was on his way to Avenger’s Campus. That’s right a Hulk meet-and-greet is coming to Avengers Campus NEXT WEEK!
King Thanos Battle Experience Coming to Avengers Campus
The Avengers Campus will be updated with an all-new experience that lets guests fight alongside the Avengers against King Thanos… the Thanos that would have ruled if he had one. D23 offered first looks at King Thanos and some of the art surrounding this new experience.
Big Hero 6 Land Coming to California Adventure
We don’t have a lot of details yet, but Josh D’Amaro revealed that a NEW land is coming to Disney’s California Adventure, themed exclusively to Big Hero Six! New concept art of what San Fransokyo will look like was revealed. We can’t wait for those soft Baymax hugs!
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Update
Tiana’s Palace will have a presence in the parks, and a new 3D model was unveiled to show off the exterior of the ride. Get all the details here.
Photo by Danny Shuster
A brand new model was revealed on Thursday, September 7, 2022. This never-before-seen view of the ride offered a surprising new facade on the largely-unchanged mountain. Gone is the briar patch, and a crowned water tower has made its way into view. Take a look at our full post to see detailed photos of the model.
The panels around the model also offered a peek into the backstory of the ride—Tiana’s Palace has expanded into a community co-op to benefit everyone in the neighborhood. Disneyland will also be getting a new shop ahead of the ride opening, Eudora’s Chic Boutique Featuring Tiana’s Gourmet Secrets
New Concept Art for Mickey’s Toontown Update
D’Amaro revealed that Donald’s boat will indeed be staying at Mickey’s Toontown! He showed off concept art of the boat, as well as an interactive queue for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Pixar Place Hotel Coming to Disneyland Resort
The official name for the new resort at Disneyland was announced, along with new concept art depicting unique areas like a Finding Nemo splash pad.
SanfranSokyo Coming to Disney California Adventure
New Nighttime Spectaculars
Two new nighttime spectaculars will be coming to Disneyland to celebrate 100 Years of Disney!
World of Color – One and an all-new fireworks show, Wondrous Journeys will light up the night. World of Color – One will be at California Adventure, telling the story of 100 years of Disney magic. Wondrous Journeys at Disneyland Park will take guests through the wonder of Disney animation and storytelling.
Downtown Disney Updates
More than a dozen new retail locations are coming to Downtown Disney, including Din Thai Fun and Portos Bakery & Cafe!
RunDisney races are coming back to Disneyland Resort
We don’t have a lot of info yet, but guests will once again be able to run through the resort with runDisney!
Walt Disney World Announcements
“What I’m about to share with you might make a bunch of Disney folks nervous…” D’Amaro started this part of the panel with trepidation. There are some BIG announcements, and while some of it is definitely happening, D’Amaro and Imagineers also shared concepts that could change drastically before their opening date.
A New Land at Magic Kingdom
CoCo, Encanto, and Villains areas were teased as what would be the largest-ever expansion to Magic Kingdom. Concept art was shown for the new “Beyond Big Thunder Mountain” and D’Amaro emphasized that these concepts were still in the dreaming phase and that he really just wanted to share current ideas with fans. But we at WDW Magazine really hope to see this vision come true!
Zootopia Coming to Animal Kingdom
Zootopia and Moana may join Animal Kingdom in the near future, along with possible Moana areas. Imagineers shared an early sketch of what the new land could look like.
The Dreamer Statue Revealed for EPCOT
The new “Walt the Dreamer” statue was revealed before it goes home to EPCOT. This statue will be part of the reimagining of the center of EPCOT, formerly Future World.
A New Nighttime Spectacular at EPCOT
Replacing Harmonious, this new fireworks, lights, and projection show will feature all-new music.
From Disney, “A brand-new nighttime spectacular will come to the World Showcase Lagoon at EPCOT in late 2023 as part of the Disney100 celebration. Hong Kong Disneyland will also unveil a new statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse near Cinderella’s Golden Carousel as part of Disney 100 Years of Wonder.”
Hatbox Ghost Coming to Disney World’s Haunted Mansion
The crowd at D23 might have screamed the loudest when D’Amaro announced, “Next year the Hatbox Ghost will materialize at the Haunted Mansion in Disney World!” No word yet on where he will apparate!
Figment Will Return to EPCOT!
Figment is coming BACK to EPCOT for a meet-and-greet! No concept art or sculpts have been revealed yet. We aren’t sure what form he will be in, but we are hoping for a Dreamfinder and Figment puppet sort of experience.
Moana: Journey of Water Opening Date
Te Fiti protects the water in larger-than-life form. Photo by Danny Shuster
Until now, we didn’t have a solid opening timeframe for Moana: Journey of Water at EPCOT. D’Amaro announced that we can expect it to open in Late 2023! A 16-Foot statue of Te Fiti will be in Moana: Journey of Water at EPCOT. Check out the scale version that was shown off at D23.
Tron Lightcycle Run Opening Date
D’Amaro showed off his own test ride aboard Tron Lightcycle Run, then announced that it will definitely be opening in the Spring of 2023!
Disney Cruise Line Announcements
The Disney Treasure Ship
D’Amaro revealed Aladdin and Jasmine will be the atrium statue aboard the newest Disney Cruise Line ship. This ship will be all about adventure on the high seas. D’Amaro said that the decor “will draw from Asia, Africa as well as the far-off land of Agrabah.”
New Destinations for Disney Wonder
Disney Wonder is going to Australia and New Zealand! Repositioning cruises will be in the South Pacific. Destinations include Fiji and Samoa.
Lighthouse Point Update
Disney’s new private island port-of-call is still underway. At D23, D’Amara stressed Disney’s commitment to preserving the Bahamas environment and celebrating culture there. 90% of the power will come from solar energy. Bahamian-inspired structures were represented in all-new concept art, displaying plans for a recreation center, food and merch locations, and activity centers.
Shanghai Disneyland Updates
Zootopia Land Update
New concept art was shown of the streets and buildings that will occupy Zootopia at Shanghai Disneyland. They also showed off new footage of the Officer Clawhauser animatronic.
Hong Kong Disneyland News
Arendelle: World of Frozen Opening Date
World of Frozen was confirmed to open in 2023, and D’Amaro offered a new view of the current construction.
Hong Kong Disneyland Gets a New Statue
New statues of Walt and Mickey, hearkening back to that moment when Walt dreamed up a theme park while watching his daughters ride a carousel.
Disneyland Paris
A new promenade will run down the center of Disneyland Paris and will include gardens, one of the gardens will feature a Tangled-themed attraction.
Tokyo Disney Announcements
Arendelle: World of Frozen Update
D’Amaro showed off a sneak peek of the Elsa Audio-Animatronic singing “Let it Go” in Japanese.
New Space Mountain Concept Art
New concept art was revealed for the refresh of Space Mountain! This shows a totally new futuristic view of the attraction, stunning at night.
D23 Disney Film and Pixar Announcements
The Disney and Pixar showcase opened strong with a teaser for Hocus Pocus 2, with original witchy stars Bette Milder, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy making a magical entrance to reveal a trailer for the upcoming film. Check it out below- Hocus Pocus 2 is slated to debut exclusively on Disney+ this month, on September 30th!
Hocus Pocus 2 wasn’t the only highly anticipated sequel to get the spotlight; Disenchanted, the sequel to the 2007 live-action fairy tale hit Enchanted, wowed audiences with a brand-new trailer, teasing the upcoming film. Disenchanted will begin streaming on Disney+ beginning November 24th!
The Disney live-action train didn’t stop there, as the presentation continued with exclusive looks at three more live-action reimaginings of classic Disney movies. Attendees got exclusive looks at Peter Pan & Wendy, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid, with a teaser trailer for the latter dropping to much excitement.
A sneak peek to the upcoming prequel to 1994’s The Lion King was also shown, with D23 attendees getting an exclusive look at Mufasa: The Lion King, expected to release in 2024. Also shown was a presentation from former Disneyland-Cast-Member-turned-director Justin Simien, who wowed the D23 crowd with a sneak peek at his upcoming film Haunted Mansion, which will hit theaters next year in 2023.
Over on the Pixar side of things, there’s still a whole lot more for fans to get excited about. Peter Sohn, director of the new, original feature film, Elemental, discussed his inspiration for the characters in the film, which is set to release on June 16, 2023. After that, guests got a look at Pixar’s first long-form series, Win or Lose, which highlights the perspectives of different members of a middle school softball team in the week leading up to the big game, with each episode in it’s own unique visual style. Win or Lose will steam on Disney+ in the Fall of 2023.
The big announcement of the night came from surprise guest Amy Poehler, the voice of Joy in 2015’s Inside Out, informed the audience that Inside Out 2 is in development over at Pixar Animation Studios. Also revealed was the release date for the highly anticipated short-form series ZOOTOPIA+, which will debut streaming on Disney+ this November 9th.
D23 MCU Announcements
Big MCU news is on the way! On Saturday, September 10th, 2022, the D23 Expo announced NEW additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever footage was shown at D23, expanding on the previously-released trailer. In this much-awaited chapter, we see that things are not going well for Wakanda after the death of T’Challa. Find out what happens when this film hits theaters on November 11, 2022.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will continue the adventures of Scott Lang and Hope Pym along with her parents, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) They showed a new trailer (not yet on the interwebs), but big reveal here? Bill Murray’s in it. But seriously, we did find out that He Who Remains is in this movie, which will tie directly to a climax in another big team-up movie, The Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in 2025.
The Marvels will be released on July 28, 2023. This film will show what happens with stars collide. This film continues the teaser tags at the end of the WandaVision and Ms. Marvel series’. Miss Marvel (Kamala Khan), Captain Monica Rambeau (Akira Akbar), and Captain Marvel(Brie Larson)’s powers have been intertwined. They’ll have to figure out how to untangle it all while swapping places.
Captain America: New World Order will release in May 2024. This film will forward the story of Sam’s Captain America! Anthony Mackie was onstage at D23 to help hype the new project.
Thunderbolts will include Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Task Master, and Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier. This ragtag team is on a mission, and it might even explain a bit of what we already saw happen in She-Hulk. Scheduled to hit theaters on July 26, 2024.
A Fantastic Four film was also teased, but no cast or footage (since it hasn’t started shooting yet) was revealed at the D23 Expo. Will Jim Halpert be back to continue his secret superhero life?
Disney+ Marvel Series and Special Announcements
Werewolf by Night takes a step outside the usual Marvel movie hues to present a film noir-style horror flick just in time for Halloween. Who in the murderous hunting group is the monster? Surely it can’t be the sweet unsuspecting star, Laura Donnelly. The series will hit Disney+ on October 7, 2022.
Secret Invasion finally gives us the Nick Fury and Don Cheadle series that we have all been asking for! They’ll be fighting shapeshifting Skrulls that have come to Earth with nothing but bad intentions. So that’s what Fury’s been up to all this time? Look for it on Disney+ in Spring 2023.
Loki “No one bad is ever truly bad.” We always hope so, Loki! In the new Season 2 trailer, we see Loki once again grappling with time, space, and He Who Remains. This promises to pick up right where the last series left off. To be released in Summer 2023.
Echo will be a Disney+ series coming out in the Summer of 2023 that is sure to appeal to the Hawkeye series fans. This will feature Alaqua Cox reprising her role as Maya Lopez, a deaf female protagonist who must face off against King Pin.
Ironheart builds on the Wakanda storyline as Riri Williams creates her Ironheart armor and an upgraded version of Tony Stark’s Ironman armor. Scheduled to stream in late 2023.
Daredevil: Born Again will be a Disney+ series that finally delivers on what fans have been requesting for some years. Matthew Murdock is back as Daredevil, with Vincent D’Onofrio as King Pin. Watch for it in the Spring of 2024.
D23 Lucasfilm and Star Wars Announcements
Andor is coming up fast, with a three-episode premiere on September 21, 2022. This series will dive into the smaller stories that made up the earlier Rebel efforts to fight back against the evil Empire. If you enjoyed Rogue One, you are likely to love tuning into this prequel series.
The Mandalorian Season 3 will premiere in February of 2023. We’ll see Mando reunited with Grogu, dodging trouble as a clan of two.
Tales of the Jedi will premiere on October 26, 2022. These six shorts will give never-before-seen glimpses into the lives of the Jedi characters we know and love.
The Bad Batch Season Two will have a double-episode premiere on January 24, 2023. In case you missed the first season, this series followed a ragtag team of clones through their adventures during the last part of the Clone Wars. In Season Two, Anakin has already moved on to darker business and we will see how the Bad Batch crew reacts to the evil Emporer’s rule.
Ahsoka news included the casting of Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger. You may remember Ezra from the Star Wars Rebels series (and if not, catch up on Disney+!). No new trailer here, but it was said to still be on track for an early 2023 release.
Also from LucasFilm, it’s Willow! ’80s babies will remember the previous film, wherein Willow saves his fantasy world. This new epic series will star Warwick Davis as the titular character, out on another adventure.
And finally, next summer’s new Indiana Jones movie was hyped, with a new sizzle reel and Harrison Ford himself onstage who said of the movie, “Thank you for making these films such an incredible experience for all of us. I’m very proud to say that this one is fantastic, and [Waller-Bridge] is one of the reasons. “Indiana Jones movies are about fantasy and mystery, but they’re also about heart,” continued the actor. “I’m really, really happy that we have a really human story to tell, as well as a movie that will kick your ass.” Indiana Jones will premier in theaters on June 30, 2023.
Disney and Marvel Games Announcements
Screenshot: Marvel
On Friday, September 9th, over a dozen different games and expansions were either teased or fully announced, with a couple of exclusive world premiers for some highly anticipated upcoming titles. The showcase opened with a world premiere teaser for Tron: Identity, a thrilling new mystery visual novel coming in 2023 and now available to wishlist on Steam.
For Nintendo Switch players, a new Switch exclusive featuring Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald is sure to impress. A brand-new side-scrolling adventure platformer, Disney Illusion Island promises engaging solo and co-op gameplay in a stylized, animated world, reminiscent of titles such as Cuphead or Hollow Knight. Check out the trailer below!
Among the biggest announcements of the day were a pair of upcoming Marvel titles, the first being Marvel’s Midnight Suns from Firaxis Games, while the second was a teaser for the still-unnamed Marvel title from Amy Hennig’s Skydance New Media, set to feature Captain America and Black Panther.
While not much was revealed about the unnamed Marvel game, the cinematic teaser trailer is rife with all sorts of Easter eggs and hints- we can only guess what Skydance New Media has planned!
As for mobile games- the Disney and Marvel Games Showcase sure didn’t disappoint. Four different mobile titles were touched on, including a few you can download and play right now! Marvel Strike Force and Disney Mirrorverse are both available to download and play today, while Marvel SNAP launches on October 18th. Not only that, but Avatar Reckoning, an upcoming mobile MMO RPG with single-player missions and online co-op and PvP is expected to release “soon”.
Fans of the Avatar series have more than a mobile game to get excited about: Also touched on at the Disney and Marvel Games Showcase was the upcoming Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Promising a new look at Pandora’s never-before-seen Western Frontier, players can expect to experience a living and reactive world, and step into the role of a Na’vi warrior and defend their home from the RDA that threatens to destroy it in this open-world title.
We will be constantly updating this post, straight from the panels and show floors at the D23 Expo 2022.
Stay tuned to this post as we add the latest announcements from D23! To see where we are right now at D23, see our stories and posts on Instagram.
