Television December 10, 2020
Hayden Christensen Is Back as Darth Vader! Plus: More Disney, ‘Star Wars,’ and Marvel News
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Disney just made some major announcements, including the return of Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader in a new series!
Kareem Daniel, the brand’s distribution chief, dropped the news at Disney Investor Day, revealing 10 “Star Wars” series, 10 Marvel series, and 15 Disney and Pixar Animation projects are in the works.
Later, LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy teased what’s in store for “Star Wars.” There will be the “Rogue One” prequel “Andor,” focused on Diego Luna’s character Cassian Andor, which will premiere in 2022. Meanwhile, Ewan McGregor reprises his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden as Vader for “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” which takes place 10 years after “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith.”
“The Mandalorian,” which will also be back, will have two spin-offs, “The Rangers of the New Republic” and “Ahsoka.” There is also a Lando Calrissian spin-off coming called “Lando,” and a female-centric mystery-thriller series called “The Acolyte.”
R2-D2 and C-3PO will get their own animated show called “Droid Story,” and “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” will get a follow-up called “Star Wars: The Bad Batch.” Fans will also see a collection of 10 short films by Japanese animators.
Feature films coming down the pipeline include director Patty Jenkins’ “Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” and director Taika Waititi’s untitled “Star Wars” movie.
Meanwhile, Marvel is ready to debut “WandaVision,” which is set for January 15. “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “Loki” will follow. Other projects include “Secret Invasion,” “Ironheart,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Hawkeye,” “Moon Knight,” “She-Hulk,” an untitled Nick Fury project, and the animated series “What If…?” Fans can also look forward to a “Guardians of the Galaxy” holiday special in 2022, and an “I Am Groot” series of shorts.
Among the Disney projects are the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” movie and the new “Ice Age” installment, “The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild,” as well as a live-action/animated feature called “Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers.” There are also plans to turn the fan favorite “Willow” into a series with Warwick Davis among the cast.
Pixar will launch a series based on “Cars,” and one based on “Dug’s Special Mission.”
