D23 — Marvel Animation Sneak Peak
The panel showed a sizeable increase in current Marvel animation.
The panel showed a sizeable increase in current Marvel animation production.
After the success of recent Marvel animated series, particularly the smash hit X-Men ’97, the studio seems to be very confidently casting a wide net for properties to try out as cartoons.
At the Marvel Animation Sneak Peak panel on the second day of D23 — The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, the guests got a taste of what’s in store.
Returning series What If…?, it was announced, would be airing its third and final season and the show is pulling out all the stops. Picking up where season two ended with Captain Carter asking Uatu to show her more of what the multiverse had to offer, The Watcher seems inclined to do just that.
This season will bring in familiar faces from the MCU such as Riri Williams/Ironheart, Shang-Chi, Moon Knight, The Vision, and Warlock.
X-Men ’97 is returning after its much-lauded first season with provocative new costumes and an expanded team roster.
The costumes are taken directly from Grant Morrison’s now classic New X-Men run (which is also the source of Deadpool and Wolverine’s villain, Cassandra Nova) and indicate an intention to deal directly with the fallout of the destruction of Genosha from the first season.
“As with all costume changes, this decision was rooted in story for me and the themes Season 2 will explore. Obviously, these suits have strong ties to Genosha and E is for Extinction.” — Beau DeMayo
The team will now include Havok, Polaris, and Warlock amongst others. And the villain, Danger, will play some sort of role in the season.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is a show that’s been in development for some time as a way to tell the story of Peter Parker’s early years as the famous Web-Slinger.
Interestingly, for the footage screened at the event, Spidey’s origin story is very different from the one fans are familiar with. A fight between a Doctor Strange and a Venom from another universe spills through into Peter Parker’s world and, with it, one very special radioactive spider.
Hudson Thames, who voiced Pete/Spidey in What If…? will reprise the role here and Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead/Euphoria) will take on the voice of Norman Osborn.
Eyes of Wakanda is Ryan Coogler’s animated prequel series to the two Black Panther movies that he directed. At the expo panel, Brad Winderbaum (Marvel Studios’ Head of Streaming, Television and Animation) explained that this story of the people tasked to retrieve dangerous vibranium artifacts and thus protect the secrecy of Wakanda itself “fits right into our sacred MCU timeline continuity.”
“It’s about Wakandan history and mythology, and it’s really cool. It looks amazing. And it feels like, ‘Okay, I’m getting an animated look into the MCU.” — Brad Winderbaum
Deliberately styled to look like hand-drawn art, this may be the most visually arresting of the new Marvel animated series.
Designed to tell stories through many different time periods, the show has the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of MCU characters, including, as seen in the panel’s opening sizzle reel, an earlier incarnation of the Iron Fist.
Marvel Zombies is a sort of What If..? spin-off series.
It is a four-episode, mature, show featuring multiple Marvel characters in battle with the living dead.
The first footage showed Shang-Chi being bitten by a zombie and saved by the Ten Rings stopping the infection. Later episodes, it’s been confirmed by Iman Vellani, that will feature Kamela Khan.
Expect Marvel Zombies to be a violent and funny take on a very alternate Marvel continuity.
No air date for the series has been given yet.
Stay with Boardwalk Times as we report all the news coming out of Anaheim during D23 — The Ultimate Fan Event.
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Kelly McCubbin is a columnist for Boardwalk Times