Disney Delivers a Star-Studded Look at What’s Next During D23 Entertainment Showcase

Stars, surprises and first looks take over the Honda Center as Disney unveils the future of its biggest franchises

Anaheim, CA (The Hollywood Times) 8/15/26 – Disney turned the Honda Center into the center of its entertainment universe Friday night as the Disney Entertainment Showcase brought a parade of stars, exclusive footage and major announcements to D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event.

Hosted by Zootopia stars Ginnifer Goodwin and Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan, the showcase offered fans a glimpse of what lies ahead across Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, television, streaming, games and live entertainment.

For Goodwin and Quan, hosting the evening came with an extra dose of genuine Disney enthusiasm.

“We are Disney super fans!” the pair declared.

Goodwin even brought her children along for the occasion, joking that they were supposed to be somewhere considerably less exciting.

“They’re supposed to be at, like, a mandatory school thing today,” she said.

Quan’s relationship with Disney stretches across several chapters of his career, including Indiana Jones, American Born Chinese, Marvel’s Loki and the Zootopia franchise.

“I love Disney,” Quan said while reflecting on that history.

One of the night’s crowd-pleasing announcements was confirmation that Zootopia 3 is officially in development at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

The third installment is expected to expand the animal metropolis in a new direction, with the world of birds entering the picture.

The news makes the hosting duties of Goodwin and Quan particularly fitting as Disney continues expanding a franchise that has become one of the studio’s modern animated successes.

Academy Award winner Jodie Foster was also part of the evening as Disney looked ahead to its animated feature Hexed.

For Foster, Disney is connected not only to her own childhood career but also to raising her sons.

“That was like the co-parents of my household as well,” Foster said.

She reflected on Disney films as a way of introducing children to people, cultures and places beyond their immediate surroundings, mentioning movies including Coco and Mulan.

“Disney took us places,” she said.

It was a fitting sentiment for an evening largely devoted to where Disney plans to take audiences next.

The Star Wars universe was represented in force as Rosario Dawson looked ahead to the continuing adventures of Ahsoka Tano.

Lucasfilm President and Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni presented new material from the second season of Ahsoka, along with footage from the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter.

I love that we get to keep doing her story,” Dawson said.

What particularly excites the actress is that the series isn’t limited to recreating familiar material from the character’s animated past.

“We’re actually continuing the adventure,” Dawson explained.

That distinction has helped make the live-action Ahsoka something more than a nostalgic return for longtime Star Wars viewers: it is an opportunity to move the character forward.

Pixar provided another emotional high point with Coco 2, which will bring audiences back to the colorful world introduced in the 2017 Academy Award-winning film.

Benjamin Bratt, who voiced Ernesto de la Cruz in the original Coco, will return for the sequel.

Bratt understandably couldn’t reveal much about the story, but he did offer fans one reassuring detail.

“The original team is back together,” Bratt said.

He added that the filmmakers intend to deliver another story carrying “the same heart and humor and spectacle as the first.”

And those announcements barely scratched the surface.

The showcase featured Anne Hathaway for The Princess Diaries 3, Joe, Kevin and Nick Jonas for Camp Rock 3, Kathryn Hahn for Disney’s live-action Tangled, and Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad for Frozen III. ⁠

Marvel Studios also made major news with the cast of its upcoming X-Men film. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed a lineup that includes Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor X, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Maya Boyd as Storm and Adam Driver as Mr. Sinister. ⁠

Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell were among the stars representing Avengers: Doomsday, while Paul Bettany and James Spader are returning to the Marvel universe for VisionQuest.

Lucasfilm offered another major tease with the first footage from Star Wars: Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling.

Pixar, meanwhile, has plenty more on its horizon, including Incredibles 3, while Disney’s upcoming slate also includes The Bluey Movie and Ice Age: Boiling Point.

The Entertainment Showcase was only the opening-night centerpiece of a packed D23 weekend.

D23 continues Saturday, August 15, with Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, offering fans a closer look at the future of Disney’s theme parks and experiences around the world.

On Sunday, August 16, Ryan Seacrest will host the Disney Legends Awards Ceremony, honoring a 2026 class that includes Anne Hathaway, Bob Iger, Dwayne Johnson, the Jonas Brothers, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jerry Bruckheimer and others.

For thousands of Disney devotees gathered in Anaheim, Friday night’s showcase was about more than trailers, casting announcements and release dates. It was a reminder of the unusual relationship Disney has cultivated with generations of audiences.

As Disney Chief Marketing and Brand Officer Asad Ayaz said in announcing this year’s event, D23 is “a powerful expression of the lasting connection Disney has with its fans.”

Judging by the cheers inside the Honda Center, that connection remains very much alive.

And with Zootopia 3, Coco 2, Frozen III, Ahsoka, X-Men, Avengers: Doomsday and a galaxy of additional projects on the horizon, Disney gave its fans plenty of reasons to keep watching.

The Hollywood Times will continue following the news and surprises coming out of D23 2026 in Anaheim

By Valerie Milano