Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm at D23 Expo: All the Trailers, Sneak Peeks, and Footage You Didn’t See

You know what makes a show like the D23 Expo worth all the lines, airfare, and hotel costs? The invaluable treasure of being among the first 7,000 people to see footage from all of your favorite franchises. This year’s Marvel and Lucasfilm studio showcase gave fans exactly what they wanted: a lot of exclusive sneak peeks that they can go back and brag about to everyone they know. Priceless! That’s what the crowd was there for upon entering the massive D23 Hall on Saturday morning, and even the prospect of hours of waiting outside on an uncharacteristically humid morning in Anaheim could dissuade people.

For Star Wars and Marvel fans across the globe, though, there were certain trailers that you were able to see even if you didn’t fly to Disneyland for the D23 Expo. You can find some of them — trailers for Andor, Tales of the Jedi, The Mandalorian Season 3, Willow, Werewolf By Night, and Secret Invasion — on YouTube right now. You don’t need to read my descriptions of them. Go see for yourself! There were, however, plenty of trailers and sneak peeks that did not make it out into the world. Here’s a breakdown of what you missed if you weren’t in the room where the Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios showcase happened.

Indiana Jones 5 (June 30, 2023): The trailer begins in a desert street with plenty of motorcycle and car chase scenes as the narration runs through a life of adventure lived (Indiana’s, obviously). Footage of underwater mummies and various exotic locales, and action scenes like a motorcycle chasing a plane down a runway, are intercut with scenes of Indiana teaching and visiting what looks like an academic archive (I’m imagining Indy saying “It belongs at my university!”). Indy says that his adventuring days have come and gone, but have they? “I’ve come to believe that it’s not so much what you believe,” says Indiana Jones, “but it’s how hard you believe it.” We see that yes, this is the early 1960s (possibly late 1950s, you know how decades bleed together). We see Jones’s hand grab his hat and a new adventure begins, with Old Man Indy involved in various chases and throwing lots of punches. He even rides a horse down a subway tunnel towards a train! The stinger at the end is Indy, in front of his partner in adventure played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, doing some whip tricks before dozens of criminals pull out their guns and open fire on him. He ducks out of the way!

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (November 11, 2022): The first part is what looks like a full sequence from the film, wherein Queen Ramonda of Wakanda is called to the UN to answer a lot of questions about vibranium and its dangers. She points out that they do not sell or trade vibranium with anyone, not because vibranium is dangerous, but because the other countries are dangerous. This tense exchange (Angela Bassett owns it) is intercut with a group of mercenaries or soldiers breaking into a Wakandan outreach center in Mali and demanding to be taken to the vibranium weaponry. When they unlock the vault, out steps the Dora Milaje, led by Okoye. Surprise, all of the scientists in the center are Dora Milaje as well, and they just absolutely wreck all of the mercs. Back in the UN, the Dora Milaje enter with all of the mercs in shackles. The trailer itself then starts, which is more or less what’s already been revealed but it includes more shots of Namor and Attuma.

Ironheart (2023): The audience got a sneak peek at the Disney+ series Ironheart after Wakanda Forever, fitting since the film introduces lead character Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne). The sizzle reel starts in a college dorm, M.I.T., with Riri speaking into a hidden microphone in her necklace. It’s very high-tech, but her advisor (or professor or dean) played by Jim Rash (reprising his role from Civil War) saying that she’s not the only genius at M.I.T. When Riri is told that what she’s building is important, she replies with, “No, it’s iconic.” She’s building her own suit of armor, “like his, but better.” The flipside of the trailer focuses on Anthony Ramos’ Parker Robbins, a street level villain who comes to possess a mystical, demonic hood. He’s amassing an army of criminals, recruiting them via money left in library books. The Hood is charismatic, as much as Riri Williams. The vibe is very cool. As Kevin Feige pointed out during the panel, Ironheart is going to be the biggest magic vs. tech battle we’ve seen so far in the MCU.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February 17, 2023): We catch up with Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne driving through the countryside with Lang’s now teenage — or is she a young adult now? — daughter Cassie (now played by Kathryn Newton). They’re listening to his book on tape, and a montage shows that Lang’s living large with a book and lots of public recognition. He’s even been named Employee of the Century at Baskin Robbins! Sure, some people still call him Spider-Man, but whatever. Then Lang finds out that Cassie has been hanging out with Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne (Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer) and doing lots of science stuff. Cassie’s even created a two-way radio that connects to the Quantum Realm which freaks Janet the hell out. But before Cassie can shut it down, all of the Pym and Van Dynes and Langs are sucked into the Quantum Realm. They encounter lots of wild critters, including Bill Murray (he seems to have been friendly with Jan during her time down there). And of course there’s Kang, played by Jonathan Majors. It turns out that he has something he wants stolen and he wants Lang to do that for him. Lang refuses and Kang does not take that well. Oh — and Young Avengers fans will love to know that Cassie has a super suit in the footage.

Echo (2023): The Echo preview was visually striking, starting off with Echo being … I want to say reborn in a surreal dirt pool filled with glowing liquid. No idea what that is! Other footage, black and white and set in the past, punctuated the preview. Maya Lopez gets a new prosthetic leg, this one made by her father with a symbol that means “warrior” on it. There’s a killer fight scene wherein Maya turns up the music on a sound system in order to pummel the eardrums a bunch of guys with guns, making them even easier for her to take out. There’s a brief flash of someone who looks like Daredevil, but is it? We do, however, definitely see Kingpin at the very end of the trailer, waiting for Maya outside of a residence. He’s very much alive, and very much has a bandage over one eye. Oh, and the entire preview has subtitles, appropriate for a show starring a deaf superhero.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s Daredevil scene: While there’s no trailer for the Daredevil: Born Again Disney+ series (it hasn’t started filming), Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio introduced an extended look at an upcoming episode of She-Hulk starring Cox and Tatiana Maslany. In the clip, Daredevil and She-Hulk are on a roof, looking in on some goons and determining their best plan of action. Daredevil has a plan that does not involve She-Hulk, which annoys Jen since She-Hulk is invincible. She’s also not impressed by his “powers” and doesn’t believe that he can hear an exact number of heartbeats. Then Matt Murdock says that he can hear her heartbeat and there is a pause, and it has lots of chemistry and tension! And then Jen snaps out of it and is annoyed again. It looks like Daredevil might be training Jen to be a superhero? She’s even wearing her She-Hulk suit! It is a great scene and seeing Charlie Cox play Daredevil again is wonderful, especially one who is confident and also kinda funny!

Loki: Season 2 (2023): The scenes from the next season of Loki start with the god of mischief stumbling through the TVA, his body pulling apart and reassembling via glitches in time. He’s blipping in and out like the desk lamps at the TVA. We see him everywhere, in the desert, in cities, and we see new corners of the TVA — like a collection room run by Ke Huy Quan. Loki is trying to convince these TVA officers, Mobius and B15, that Kang is the real threat — but they don’t remember him or Loki at all. There are tons of different setups for action scenes, including one where both Loki and Mobius are in tuxes that looks very 1970s spy movie. I mean, Loki’s wearing a retro ruffle tuxedo shirt. Season 2 looks just as bizarre as Season 1!

The Marvels (July 28, 2023): Kamala Khan’s big screen debut comes in The Marvels, and at the very beginning of the trailer. At the top of it, Monica Rambeau is out in space, investigating some anomaly for Nick Fury. Then, when she uses her powers, she’s suddenly swapped with Kamala. Kamala, now in Monica’s spacesuit, waves at Nick Fury. Hey, it’s Nick Fury! We see Monica (in a white uniform!) and Fury knock on the Khans’ door and ask to see Kamala. She is freaking out with excitement. When Kamala tries to show off her powers, though, she switches places with Carol Danvers. If she traded places with Carol, though, where is Kamala now? Fighting some alien commandos in outers pace and then freaking out when Goose eats all of them with his mouth tentacles. The rest of the trailer is madcap action as the three of them team up, riff with each other, and definitively declare that they are not a team (well, Kamala thinks they’re a team).