Disney Unveils Marvel X-Men Film Release Details, New Avengers Campus Rides, and More
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The annual Disney fan event showed off the cast of Marvel’s X-Men movie, plus a new trailer for Avengers: Doomsday, and our first look at the VisionQuest TV show for Disney Plus. For Star Wars fans, there was a teaser trailer for season two of Ahsoka, plus a special look at Star Wars: Starfighter with an appearance from Ryan Gosling.
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Ars TechnicaIt was a busy first day at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, in Anaheim, California, with Marvel Studios releasing the first trailer for VisionQuest. We also got the first teaser for Ahsoka S2; the public release of the Avengers: Doomsday special footage featured last month for attendees only at San Diego Comic-Con; a special sneak peek (for attendees only) for Star Wars: Starfighter; casting news for the MCU’s X-Men movie; and a trailer for an animated special, LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian, coming to Disney+ next month.
GizmodoThe day is finally here. Tonight, Disney hosted its two-hour “Entertainment Showcase” at D23 2026, and io9 was there in the room. The event brought a slew of updates on everything in the wide world of Disney. That included new Avengers: Doomsday footage, the reveal of the new X-Men cast on hand, and a glimpse at the future of Star Wars—plus so, so much more.
CNETStarfighter Disney’s D23 event gave fans a peek at the new chapter in the Star Wars franchise during its entertainment presentation on Friday, revealing a trailer for Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Starfighter film. The movie was announced in early 2025 and is due to hit theaters on May 28, 2027. The film features Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray portraying the lead characters.
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New Marvel Rides in 2028 Disney doesn’t always like to put numbers on these updates until it’s good and ready, and now it’s good and ready with two new Avengers Campus rides coming to Disney’s California Adventure. Both Avengers: Infinity Defense and the Stark Flight Lab will open in 2028, and it was revealed that several actors from the films are along for the ride.
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CNETAvengers Campus rides Over at California Adventure on the West Coast, we got some news on the progress of Avengers Campus, which is doubling in size. The route between Cars Land and Avengers Campus will be reopening very soon, as Disney continues building our the compound beneath the Quinjet with the new rides.
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The pre-mission briefing will come from Ms Marvel (Iman Vellani), with Jeremy Renner also returning as Hawkeye, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. You’ll be a new recruit tasked with assembling the Avengers and stopping King Thanos.
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GizmodoIn Infinity Defense, Iman Vellani will reprise her role as Ms. Marvel, explaining to guests how they’ll travel around the world to assemble the Avengers to bring down King Thanos. Among those Avengers will be Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. We guess it’s not canon.
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Over at the Stark Flight Lab, Downey will be a part of it, joined by Mackie and Brie Larson as Captain Marvel. There are also some insane looking Marvel attractions coming to Hong Kong Disneyland, Shanghai Disney, and more. You can get more info about all of them here.
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CNETFor Stark Flight Lab, Mackie and Downey Jr. are back again, as is Brie Larson as Captain Marvel. You’ll be going through flight instruction as you train like an Avenger.
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A New Tomorrowland Tomorrowland has had some tweaks in recent years, but nothing major. Apparently, something major is on the way, we just don’t know what. According to Disney, that transformation will “honor the legacy of the original land while reimagining its future. Disneyland Resort will strive to preserve what guests cherish most, while also introducing new experiences and possibilities for the next generation of fans.”
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CNETTomorrowland overhaul at Disneyland The very last announcement of the night was unexpected, but much desired by fans of the park: Tomorrowland will be getting a full overhaul at Disneyland.
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The rides and story of Villain’s Land Last D23 had a big, final reveal of Disney adding a villain-focused area into the Magic Kingdom at Orlando’s Walt Disney World. This year, we learned that it’s officially called “Villain’s Land,” and it’ll have two rides.
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CNETHere’s the biggest news announced. Villains Land at Disney World The villains-themed expansion of Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World is “the most anticipated project we’ve ever worked on,” said President and Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Imagineering Bruce Vaughn.
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The first of the two attractions revealed will be a roller coaster that takes guests through Maleficent’s fortress, while the other will be a dark boat ride through the other side of the glass of the magic mirror.
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GizmodoOne is a major roller coaster based on Maleficent (not The Emperor’s New Groove coaster once rumored), as well as a dark ride themed around the Magic Mirror that will incorporate a ton of different villains.
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It’s “a bold new take on Space Mountain,” said Disney Imagineer Ali Rubenstein. “You’ll board a rocket that literally blasts into space … Earthrise is a celebration of what makes our planet so beautiful.” Spaceship Earth at Epcot will be brought “into the present day and beyond … A journey through time celebrating the progress made possible through human connection.” Imagineers are finally fixing Disco Yeti on Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, replacing him with a new animatronic. (Disney brought Gloria Gaynor, the queen of disco, out on stage to sing I Will Survive as a farewell to Disco Yeti.) At Disneyland Paris, the first-ever Lion King ride is being built. It’ll be a retelling of the original movie, and you’ll travel through Simba’s journey by boat.
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GizmodoDisney gives a long-overdue Spaceship Earth update When you think Disney Parks, the first thing that comes to mind might be that giant ball at the center of Epcot. It houses a ride called Spaceship Earth that takes guests on a journey across time, and for the first time in 20 years, it’s being updated. How exactly, and when? That’s unclear, but the vague description is that while “the ride currently tells the story of human communication, the team is reimagining that focus on a broader theme that is still classically EPCOT – human connection.” You can read more here.
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Whether that means mutants aren’t around because most of them are on an island (Krakoa or not), Schreier’s comments shed a bit more light on what to expect before X-Men comes to theaters on May 5, 2028. Like he said, there’s “so many stories that are still untold to honor and reach into.” Hopefully that means he’s fully serious about not just playing the hits and trying to get the Phoenix Saga right again.
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CNETThe X-Men film will hit the big screen on May 5, 2028. Avengers: Doomsday trailer
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Lilo and Stitch 2: live action Following the release of the live-action version of Lilo and Stitch, Disney has decided to continue by adapting the animated sequel into the live format. Lilo and Stitch 2 includes Angel, the pink, female version of the outer-space monster who debuted in the animated Lilo & Stitch: The Series.
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GizmodoLILO & STITCH 2 coming summer 2028… and will feature Stitch’s pink counterpart – and love interest – Angel. pic.twitter.com/UNUarUybUB
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And speaking of the games, Disney also used its presentation to release a new trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV. The new game sees Sora in the real world (or “Quadratum”) fighting Heartless that’ve invaded while Donald and Goofy try to rescue him. Like the earlier entries, players will travel to Disney worlds throughout the game, one of which will be Coco—which, as it happens, had a preview of its sequel play before this show was announced.
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The VergePerhaps we’ll finally get a Kingdom Hearts 4 release date?Join us for a journey through light and darkness as we commemorate 25 years of KINGDOM HEARTS . Discover how this saga united Disney, Pixar, and Square Enix, with insights from the creative minds, character voices, and more behind the magic. A different kind of Sora is back in the news. Square Enix just teased the long-awaited next entry in the Kingdom Hearts series, though there’s not much in the way of info just yet. It’s calledKingdom Hearts IV and it’s launching on the Switch 2, PS5, Xbox, and PC, but there’s no release date in sight. It’s the first all-new entry in the series sinceKH III in 2019. You can watch the brief new teaser trailer above.That’s not the only Read Article >KH -related news from the Nintendo Direct.
CNETThe Coco announcement also served as a segue into a trailer and release date for the fourth Kingdom Hearts game (late 2027), with Miguel’s world being added to the beloved franchise when it comes out.
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Welcome home, Vision. Loading….Marvel Television’s #VisionQuest, arriving October 14 only on Disney+. pic.twitter.com/wWTpyIsbVa
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The trailer opens with a shot of the northern lights where a snowflake falls and turns into a butterfly that flies to Arendelle Castle. It collides with Elsa during Anna and Kristoff’s wedding, and a portal opens. They step through it, finding an icy world filled with butterflies and an as yet faceless new villain with dark hair who has been looking for Elsa.
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GizmodoBelow, follow our live blog of everything we spotted at the event. Elsa gets a curious message in the form of a frozen butterfly in Arendelle. It’s Anna’s wedding night, and they are summoned away to investigate. Everyone goes with them, and they run into – someone. Someone who called them. She’s got thin fingers with black fingernails and says she’s been waiting to meet the sisters. Her whole cape is make of black ice.
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Oswald miniseries on Disney Plus Disney director and producer Jon Favreau introduced his passion project, Oswald — an original character created by Walt Disney 100 years ago — that will air as a three-part miniseries on Disney Plus next year.
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GizmodoAnd he actaully got cheered! (Sorry Jon, love you, not Mando and Grogu.) He’s announcing the 3-part Oswald miniseries coming to Disney+ in February 2027. It’s all hand-drawn 2D animation, lots of which is done by older Disney animators as well as new ones.
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Camp Rock 3 live performance The Jonas Brothers appeared on stage to talk about the old days and introduce the new, leading to a live performance featuring the new stars of the fresh new movie in the Camp Rock series. It premiered Aug. 14 on Disney Plus.
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GizmodoAfter a quick tease of Lilo and Stitch 2 (coming in May 2028), Romy and Michele 2 (including a hilarious intro with Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino), and Percy Jackson season three, the Jonas Brothers hit the stage to talk about Camp Rock 3.
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On Smugglers Gambit, you can play as a smuggler from the Outer Rim (the location represented by Galaxy’s Edge at the Disney Parks). You’ll be able to explore the new Star Wars locations of Ord Ryla and Mersa Veta Station on the new island.
5 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Gizmodo Warner Bros.’ The End of Oak Street is the weekend’s big movie, but folks are still showing up for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
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02 The Verge Other new announcements included a few updates about Pixar, The Simpsons, Bluey, and others you can find below.
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03 CNET Glenn Close appeared as Cruella de Vil to say that she should get her own ride, too, but Disney did not confirm whether this is a possibility.
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04 Engadget Plus, a dog game, a cat game, a sheep game and a Marathon-esque cyberpunk mystery.
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05 Ars Technica (Some spoilers below. One MAJOR spoiler for Spider-Man: Brand New Day; we’ll give you a heads-up when we get there.)
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Sources (5)
- gizmodo
- verge
- cnet
- engadget
- arstechnica