There’s so much streaming goodness coming to Disney Plus in 2021, from the first Marvel series and more Star Wars action to Pixar projects. It's a big time to be a subscriber to the streaming arm of the House of the Mouse.
Disney Plus launched over a year ago with a collection of classic movies and one hit TV show, The Mandalorian. In 2021, the streaming service is expanding with over a dozen high-profile titles from its most popular franchises.
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While Disney Plus is basically a necessity for families with kids, its 2021 lineup should be very appealing to adults, as well. WandaVision and Loki look like fresh, more comedic takes on the Marvel universe, while The Book of Boba Fett could be Star Wars’ version of the crime drama.
Check out our guide to the Disney Plus shows and movies coming to the service this year, along with their official (and estimated) release dates.
Top 8 shows and movies coming to Disney Plus in 2021
WandaVision (Jan. 15)
Honey, Marvel’s home! The MCU is moving into the TV neighborhood with its first Disney Plus series, which centers on the Avengers couple Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany). They seem to be living out the perfect life in some kind of surreal sitcom alternate existence, perhaps created by Wanda’s powers. But as the setting moves through different decades, the facade can’t last and they realize that whatever is happening is nothing to laugh about.
Raya and the Last Dragon (March 5)
Make way for a new Disney princess. In the newest entry from Walt Disney Animation, Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) is a fearless and passionate warrior princess. She lives in Kumandra, a land where humans and dragons once lived together. When sinister monsters return to take out the last dragon, Raya embarks on a mission to save Sisu (Awkwafina). The animated film is Disney’s next Premier Access title, which means you’ll have to pay extra to watch it.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (March 19)
The unlikeliest bromance blooms in this action-adventure series pairing the titular characters, Sam Wilson’s Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes’ Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). Their mutual friend, Captain America, is gone, leaving them to work together to uphold his legacy and fight off villains like Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl). The Falcon and the Winter Soldier kind of sounds like a buddy cop show, but with superheroes.
Loki (May 2021)
What happens when the scene stealer becomes the star? Loki (Tom Hiddleston) finally gets his time in the spotlight, instead of making mischief from the sidelines as Thor’s brother. Speaking of time, that’s what this crime thriller series is all about, since Loki is jumping around the decades with the Tesseract. Not everybody is thrilled, least of all a mysterious organization that counts Owen Wilson among its members.
Marvel’s What If … (Summer 2021)
The animated series is a playful, philosophical do-over of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each episode explores an alternate “what if” scenario — like “what if Peggy Carter was the one who became a super soldier?” Jeffrey Wright voices The Watcher, an extraterrestrial being who observes the multiverse and occasionally intervenes in events. He’ll be joined by MCU stars making voice cameos, including Hayley Atwell, Michael B Jordan, Josh Brolin, Samuel L. Jackson, Karen Gillan and the late Chadwick Boseman.
Hawkeye (Fall 2021)
The post-Avengers: Endgame MCU looks to be a lot of passing of torches. In this case, Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton may be passing the bow (and arrows) and the Hawkeye mantle to Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop. In the Avengers films, Clint has worked closely with Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow. The Hawkeye series is also featuring Florence Pugh as assassin Yelena Belova, who will be introduced in the Black Widow movie. Count us fans of this possible next-generation butt-kicking duo.
The Book of Boba Fett (Dec. 2021)
Before The Mandalorian was a glimmer in Disney’s eye, Boba Fett was the fan-favorite bounty hunter in the Star Wars universe. Luckily, there’s room for more than one in the galaxy far, far away. While we await the further adventures of Din Djarin, we can follow Boba (Temuera Morrison) after his takeover of Jabba the Hutt’s old palace on Tatooine. His motivations aren’t clear, but we’d like to think his noble actions to help rescue Baby Yoda indicate that he’s one of the, if not good, at least not evil guys now. With Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) at his side, Boba would do an amazing job of cleaning up Empire remnants on the Outer Rim.
Ms. Marvel (Late 2021)
Continuing with the theme of the next generation of Marvel heroes, this show centers on a 16-year-old Pakistani-American girl who lives in Jersey City. Kamala Khan is smart, loves gaming and writes fan-fiction, but struggles to fit in. She idolizes the Avengers before developing her own powers of shape-shifting and becoming Ms. Marvel. And as we’ve seen in the MCU, having superpowers doesn’t magically make life easier. All the Marvel series on Disney Plus will be tied to the big-screen films, so expect to see Ms. Marvel also appear in Captain Marvel 2.
More shows and movies coming to Disney Plus in 2021
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers (Early 2021)
Emilio Estevez reprises his role from the original movies in this sequel series, which finds the once-scrappy hockey team is now a powerhouse. When they cut 12-year-old Evan, he and his mom (Lauren Graham) decide to form their own team of misfits.
Big Shot (2021)
When a college basketball coach (John Stamos) gets fired, he takes a job at an all-girls private high school.
Doogie Kameāloha, M.D
It’s Doogie Howser for a new generation. This time, the genius young doc is a 16-year-old girl living in Hawaii.
The Mysterious Benedict Society (2021)
The adaptation of the popular YA book series follows four orphans who possess unique skills. They are summoned to a boarding school where an eccentric benefactor asks them to stop a world-threatening plot.
Turner and Hooch (2021)
The 1989 buddy cop movie gets a reboot/sequel. Tom Hanks isn’t involved, but his character’s son takes the lead. A U.S. marshal named Scott Turner (Josh Peck) also inherits an unruly dog he didn’t want, but soon realizes is the partner he needs.
