Disney unveiled the first footage from “Captain America: Civil War” and concept art from “Doctor Strange” at its D23 Fan Expo on Saturday in Anaheim.
Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn introduced Marvel’s Kevin Feige, who said that the company has completed Phase Two of its cinematic universe and thanked the crowd for making it such a success. Then Feige introduced the aforementioned comic book movies, which kick off the studio’s ambitious Phase Three.
“How many people slept over last night? I did too, but I was in a bed at the Disneyland Hotel,” joked Feige, warming up the audience before the big show.
Anthony Mackie, who plays The Falcon in “Captain America: Civil War,” flew into California late last night from Germany and introduced Captain America himself, Chris Evans.
In the “Civil War” trailer, we see the Falcon deploy his trusty Redwing and then team up with Captain America and Black Widow to fight Frank Grillo’s Crossbones, who tells Cap that “he remembered you. Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky.”
We hear William Hurt’s General Thunderbolt from “The Incredible Hulk” say, “the world owes you an unpayable debt” but soon after, he says that people are afraid of superheroes and questions whether they are actually vigilantes.
There’s a funeral glimpsed before Tony Stark shows up to throw down with Cap, and as Black Widow fights Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye, she asks, “we’re still friends, right?”
The footage ended with Ant-Man waking up from a nap to marvel over meeting Captain America. “I know you know a lot of super people so thinks for thanking of me. Er, thanks for thinking of me,” jokes Scott Lang.
With “Doctor Strange,” Feige said that Marvel “will continue to push the boundaries of its cinematic universe” following “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Ant-Man.” Feige didn’t have footage to show for “Doctor Strange,” which doesn’t start shooting until November, but he brought a video of concept art from the film as well as a videotaped message from star Benedict Cumberbatch, who apologized for being unable to attend D23.
In “Doctor Strange,” Stephen Strange is the top neurosurgeon in the world. He’s in a car accident that mangles his hands and takes away his life. He meets the Ancient One who helps him down the path of healing but it turns into much more. The sneak peek asks fans to “get ready to take a journey to a new dimension of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.” There were floating cars, candy-colored cosmic visuals and action on an epic scale.
Feige also confirmed that Tilda Swinton will be playing Stephen Strange’s mentor, The Ancient One, while Chiwetel Ejiofor will play Carl Amadeus Mordo. “You’re gonna get girls, cars, explosions, astral projections into alternate dimensions,” said Cumberbatch.
“It’s actually kind of shocking to visit Marvel. Everybody’s big, everybody’s good-looking, everybody’s named Chris,” said Horn of Marvel, which recently launched its 12th consecutive #1 hit with “Ant-Man.”
If there was any let down during Marvel’s panel, it’s that Tom Holland’s young Spider-Man did not make an appearance in the footage or onstage at D23, though in fairness, he is a Sony-based character.
Disney’s live-action panel, “Worlds, Galaxies, and Universes,” features films from Marvel, Lucasfilm and the main studio. Horn led the audience on a visual odyssey through the studio’s upcoming feature slate, which includes “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” “The Jungle Book,” Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” and Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
The panel opened with a highlight reel of recent and upcoming Disney films such as “Ant-Man,” “Inside Out,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” “The BFG,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Finding Dory,” “The Good Dinosaur,” “Toy Story 4,” “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” “The Finest Hours,” “Zootopia,” “Moana,” “Pete’s Dragon,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and Jon Favreau’s “The Jungle Book,” in which the crowd was treated to the first look of Mowgli.
The highlight reel trumpeted the fact that Disney’s “story starts with everything you can imagine.” And they certainly seem to have everything covered between comic book movies, animated movies and sci-fi sequels set in a galaxy far, far away.