D23 takes place next week, with the "Disney Entertainment Showcase" scheduled for 7 pm on Friday, August 14. Marvel Studios will be part of the two-hour presentation, and the hope is that the main cast of Jake Schreier's X-Men reboot is set to be officially unveiled.
Speculation that the mutant team will have a notable presence in Anaheim has increased today with the reveal of a new poster for the event.
As you can see below, many iconic Disney franchises and characters are spotlighted, including Avatar, Frozen, Moana, Star Wars, The Simpsons, and Toy Story. On the Marvel side, we have Spider-Man, Invisible Woman, and Storm.
Spider-Man remains one of Disney's biggest merchandise sellers and has a significant presence at its theme parks in California and Paris. Sue Storm's inclusion is certainly interesting, but the presence of an iconic X-Man has everyone talking.
Storm's being here could be a nod to X-Men '97 or an acknowledgement that mutants are about to become a huge part of the MCU. However, as rumours swirl that the X-Men reboot's cast is being announced at D23—The Hollywood Reporter has said fans should expect "a banger of a reveal at next week’s D23"—Ororo Munroe's appearance on this poster may be telling.
Here's the official description for the Disney Entertainment Showcase panel:
Friday night, the world-class storytellers of The Walt Disney Company will take center stage at the Honda Center for the Disney Entertainment Showcase. Guests can expect surprise celebrity appearances, exclusive first looks at upcoming films and series, exciting new announcements, and unforgettable musical performances. The star-studded presentation will celebrate the stories audiences love while offering an exclusive preview of what's coming next across Disney's movies, television, games, and live stage productions.
Interestingly, a popular theory among fans right now is that Storm won't be in X-Men. Instead, she'll be introduced in Black Panther 3, later joining the team in a sequel. That would be an effective reintroduction for the hero on a grand stage, and it makes sense if Marvel Studios has a multi-year plan for mutants and is in no rush to assemble them.
"I’d say there were actually more parameters on Thunderbolts* because it was plugging into an existing arc and existing characters," X-Men writer Lee Sung Jin previously revealed, "whereas with X-Men, Kevin [Feige] just wants to take a big swing and start anew, not be beholden to any of the movies that have come before."
"And Jake Schreier has such a clear vision in terms of wanting to get back to character first, and to what is exciting about those early [Chris] Claremont-run comics, which was all about team dynamics."
"There were a lot of soapy elements to those comics. We’ve been in the room every day together," the writer added. "Kevin and Louis [D’Esposito] are so dialled in, and they have such incredible instincts that it’s been fun to just blue-sky."
Check out this new D23 poster below and stay tuned for updates from the panel on Friday.