Disney's CCXP Panel Revelations: The Future of The MCU, Avatar, and More

This Thursday, the 2022 Brazilian Comic-Con Experience kicked off with a bang: Disney held a panel to talk about its biggest upcoming project. The company also took the opportunity to start a celebration of the studio’s 100-year anniversary, and the audience members were treated to a nostalgic and touching video recapping the studio’s biggest hits and emotional moments. And this was only the beginning.

After the tear-inducing start, local presenter Marcelo Forlani revealed a breakdown of the panel with each subdivision’s logo. So, from the start, the attendees knew they’d be getting news on Pixar’s Elementals, Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian and Indiana Jones 5, 20th Century Studios’ Avatar 2, and, of course, the next two entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - from the horse’s mouth, nonetheless: Marvel Studios mega-producer and boss Kevin Feige was at the event.

Elemental - Pixar

The lead characters of Elemental — Image via Walt Disney Pictures

The Elemental panel was hosted by Pixar producer Denise Ream, and since the movie is more than half a year away from the premiere, she stressed that the big screen would show some early concept art and scenes that were not fully rendered yet. However, she revealed that the upcoming movie has the Pixar trademark world-building aspects, and the city where the Elementals live reflects their personas.

We also got to see a game of airball, which Ream herself described as “basketball meets skydiving.” One of the players is Lutz, who needs a lot of cheering on after feeling discouraged at a match. This prompts Wade Ripple to start a wave of cheer at the stadium - but since most fans are water-based, they are able to conjure up a literal wave.

The Mandalorian - Lucasfilm and Disney+

the-mandalorian-season-3-trailer-social-featured — Image via Disney+

With The Mandalorian showrunners Jon Favreau and Dave Filloni present via video conference and series star Pedro Pascal in person, the panel revealed an extended version of the Season 3 trailer we had already seen. This time, however, the consequences of the title character removing his helmet are laid out a bit more sternly by Bo Katan (Katee Sackhoff). We also got some glimpses of Coruscant, Grogu using the Force, and a group of Mandalorians working together.

The trailer underscored a piece of information given by Favreau and Filloni: This season will be bigger in scale and in production values, and even though Filloni refrained from making revelations about possible cameos and guests, he guaranteed that he likes surprises and that they’ll be looking to get audiences off guard week to week. The trio also - finally - revealed the release date for Season 3: It will premiere on Disney+ on March 1st, 2023. So the series will definitely be one of next year’s early standouts.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

At the Indy panel, director James Mangold showed up through video to reveal the title of the franchise's fifth installment: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Mangold also underscored that this is the final film in the Indiana Jones franchise, so it will probably be a no holds barred adventure for our favorite archeologist. Even though this suggests that franchise star Harrison Ford will retire his whip and fedora, we can’t forget that a TV series is currently in production.

Mangold also unveiled the trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which confirms the final entry in the film series will be action-packed and also feature Indy’s characteristic humor as he finds himself confronted with some enemies who feel no longer threatened by his whip. The trailer also confirms that franchise newcomer Phoebe Waller-Bridge will participate in the action scenes. If indeed there is a passing of the torch element in the story, there’s a pretty good chance she’ll be the one taking over the reins of the legendary franchise. But it’s way too soon to speculate since Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny only premieres in June. So, for now, we can only kick back and watch the trailer several times.

Avatar: The Way of Water - 20th Century Studios

Image via Disney

In the Avatar: The Way of Water segment, franchise star Zoe Saldana and producer Jon Landau took the stage to say that the sequel will be bigger in every sense of the word. Not that we didn’t know it: The movie’s runtime is a whopping 3h12 minutes, and production members and cast had to learn to dive in order to film in huge water tanks. Saldana underscored that the environmental message of the franchise still bears repeating, now more urgent than ever.

The duo also unveiled 18 minutes of never-before-seen footage to the audience. The clips revealed that Avatar: The Way of Water will spend quite some time with the next generation of Na’vi. The story is set fourteen years after the original 2009 film, and Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Saldana) have three kids now. The clips also confirmed the fact that the movie will be a feast for our eyes when it comes to cinematography, visual effects, and production design.

Marvel Studios

The section everyone was waiting for, the Marvel panel didn’t disappoint. Right off the bat, the audience was treated with Feige unveiling the first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, which revealed that the intergalactic team is more in synch than ever - except for Gamora (Saldana), who, as Feige made sure he underscored, is a different Gamora than the previous 2 movies. Feige also reminded us that the threequel is a goodbye movie of sorts, since franchise director and screenwriter James Gunn is moving on to DC and this combination of Guardians will probably separate.

After that, it was Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania time. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, and director Peyton Reed took to the stage to reveal some new footage from the movie that will kick off Phase Five. The first two minutes of the movie were screened, and they revealed that Scott Lang (Rudd) remains the least-known Avenger. He’s even had time to write an autobiography, titled “Watch Out For The Little Guy”, and the movie starts with Scott reading the book's final passage to an audience. Then he gets a call from prison - and we’ll only know why when the movie premieres on February 17.

Collider is at the 2022 Comic-Con Experience in São Paulo. Stick with us to know every piece of information about your favorite movies and series as soon as they get revealed.