The latest in Walt Disney Studios movie trends seems to be sequels of beloved past movies, and this year’s D23 announcements are a continuation. From Marvel to animated works, Disney announced many new projects for the next couple years. 

As most already know, there is a Moana 2 sequel set to release in theaters on November 27th of this year. However, they also announced a live-action remake of Moana, anticipated to come out sometime in 2026. I find that a curious choice since unlike many of the other Disney remakes of classic Disney animated films, Moana will only be 10 years old by the time the live-action comes out. Doubly curious because for how much of a smash hit Frozen was, it doesn’t have an accompanying live-action remake (yet) , and it’s older than Moana. Still, it’ll be an interesting film.

Among other live action movie announcements, the Snow White live action finally has an official release date after talks of it being in production for years. This live action adaptation of the very first Disney princess is set to premiere on March 21st, 2025. 

Another surprising additional live action is the announcement of a Lilo & Stitch live action, coming in summer 2025, just a few months after Snow White. I only hope they’ll honor the complicated but loving sister dynamic of Nani and Lilo. 

As far as sequels go, they announced Incredibles 3, which doesn’t surprise me too much after the blockbuster success the first sequel had when it was released in 2018. There’s no other news on this new movie besides that it may come out in 2026. 

They finally officially announced Frozen 3, slated to come out in 2027. However, given Frozen 2’s rough development and rushed story, I can only hope this sequel will be more cohesive and the people behind it won’t be as rushed. They also hinted at a Frozen 4 in the future, as well as a Frozen Broadway style musical coming to Disney+ next year. Now that I may actually watch. 

Continuing on the Disney sequel train, they announced a teaser trailer for a series they refuse to let die: Toy Story 5. They hinted that this movie will be competing for the attention of a kid against a tablet device. RIveting. This sequel is expected to release in summer of 2026.

Sometime during D23, we finally got something new and got the official release date for an original movie called Elio, set to come out June 13th, 2025. It’s a space movie where the protagonist, Elio, will go into space and interact with aliens. Considering how starved I personally am for new, original films, I’m excited for this one. 

However, we still have more sequels with Zootopia 2, coming on November 26th of 2025. 

With that, we finally take a break from animated sequels and pivot to Marvel, like the announcement of Agatha All Along, a sequel series to WandaVision, with two episodes dropping on Disney+ on September 18th.

They also announced Fantastic Four: First Steps film to hit theaters July 25th 2025, as well as Daredevil: Born Again to come out March 1st, 2025. Ironheart was announced, where we follow a character from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and it’s set to release next year.

Avatar: Fire and Ash was announced as well and expected to drop on December 19th, 2025, along with the sequel of Freaky Friday now called Freakier Friday, with Lindsay Lohan reprising her role, coming sometime next year. 

Don’t worry, we’re almost done with the announcements. 

D23 saw the announcement of a third Tron movie called Tron: Ares to come out October 10th, 2025, and a film called Monster Jam with Dwayne Johnson. However, there is not much else known about this project. 

There’s two interesting announcements for two Pixar Tv series. There’s Dream Productions, a spin-off series of the Inside Out movies, which will take place in between the two movies. There’s also Win or Lose, an animated show about a softball tournament. 

There’s some new original films to look out for, namely Hoppers, about a girl who can switch consciousness with a robot beaver and I assume hijinks ensues, which comes out sometime in 2026. 

I had heard about this one, but there’s a prequel to Lion King called Mufasa: The Lion King. It’s essentially Mufasa’s origin story and seems to point to how he meets Scar and how they drift apart. I do have my grievances that it’s another live action but maybe this will be a new take on Mufasa that we haven’t seen before. This movie is releasing December 20th. 

Finally, there’s some Star Wars content in the making, like Andor season 2 in 2025, and The Mandalorian & Grogu for May 22nd, 2026. Then there’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 coming sometime next year.

Whew. There were a lot of announcements. Some of them I’m genuinely excited for and others I just wish they would lay off of all the sequels and live action and give us more new ideas and stories to explore. I find it a bit exhausting and it feels like they’re losing the magic they had for years by going the easy route with movies for the next 3 or so years. Maybe I’ll be surprised by some of them but for now I remain cynical. 

Are there any movies or sequels you’re excited for?