D23: Star Wars will return to big screen alongside The Incredibles

Jon Favreau has teased a new Star Wars film titled The Mandalorian And Grogu starring Pedro Pascal and his sidekick.

The Chilean-American actor appeared on stage alongside The Mandalorian executive producer Dave Filoni in front of an estimated 12,000 fans at the Honda Centre in Anaheim for the first day of Disney’s fan convention, D23.

Favreau said the new film is in production, having started filming “a few weeks ago” ahead of its May 2026 debut.

“We are putting Star Wars back on the big screen,” Filoni said, while Favreau described it as “an all-new adventure following these two characters”.

Ireland’s abandoned past captured in incredible photos

Sponsored: Circus Extreme - the world famous show comes to Belfast

A teaser clip shown to the audience saw the masked bounty hunter (Pascal) and Grogu, a young Yoda-like character, touch fingers, while Babu Frik also makes an appearance flying a ship with Grogu.

The announcement came after Pixar’s chief creative officer Pete Docter announced The Incredibles 3 was in the works.

He confirmed Brad Bird, the writer and director behind the first two films, has returned for the next adventure from the beloved animated undercover super-family.

Meanwhile, Frozen director Jennifer Lee appeared to confirm there will be two more films added to that franchise.

“Coming out of Frozen 2, we still have some questions. A lot of questions actually… Now you see why it will take two films to answer them,” she teased.

Lee shared a first look at concept art for Frozen 3, which is tipped for release in 2027.

“If you look closely, it captures the seeds of the next epic adventure for Anna and Elsa, and some things might spark, we hope, a few questions for all of you,” she added.

Other reveals included a live-action Lilo And Stitch, set for release in summer 2025, and an original animated film starring Mad Men actor Jon Hamm titled Hoppers, which could debut in spring 2026.

It was also announced that Avatar star Zoe Saldana has joined the cast of Elio, slated for release on June 13 2025.

Saldana, who plays the aunt of Elio star Yonas Kibreab, said on stage: “I felt a real connection to the character and I wanted to see a representation of a how a real family works on screen.”

Other Hollywood stars that made surprise appearances included Ginnifer Goodwin, who appeared to announce a sequel to 2016 comedy Zootopia, starring Everything Everywhere All At Once Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan.

Quan will play a “slithering highly venomous viper” named Gary, alongside Goodwin’s rabbit character Judy Hopps and Jason Bateman’s fox Nick Wilde in the film, set for November 2025.

Meanwhile, another Star Wars announcement came from surprise guest, British actor Jude Law.

Law shared the first teaser for series Skeleton Crew, which he described as “a timeless adventure story in the spirit of the ambling coming-of-age films from the 80s like The Goonies and ET”

It follows four protagonists who accidentally blast off their home planet and “find themselves lost in the vastness of the galaxy in danger and trying to find their way home”.

“I fell in love with Star Wars when I was a 10-year-old boy and what I loved most about this series is that it is told through the perspective of the kids as they explore curious and dangerous worlds beyond their own, unsure who they can trust,” Law said.

He added it meant “a great deal” to be a part of the Star Wars galaxy, with the series arriving on Disney+ in December.

The Disney fan event also saw footage from Captain America: Brave New World slated for February 2025, with Harrison Ford starring as President Ross, who transforms into the Red Hulk behind the presidential lectern in front of the White House.

On stage, Captain America star Anthony Mackie joked: “You know what I love, they kept it real: Red Hulk has grey chest hair and the regular chest hair.

“You have to appreciate Harrison Ford going that far.”

The event also saw a virtual message from Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds, who said “overwhelmed doesn’t even cover it”, referencing the success of his latest film Deadpool & Wolverine co-starring Hugh Jackman.