The Disney Streaming Service has a name and to the surprise of almost no one, it is Disney+, which follows the format of ESPN’s streaming service, ESPN+. This direct-to-consumer over-the-top platform will deliver Disney content, which includes popular Disney films as well as its family friendly other titles like Star Wars, Marvel, and surely some of the new content from 21st Century Fox (like National Geographic).
Disney already has a number of original series and movies in production that will skip television and theatrical distribution and go right to the streaming service. We’ve been keeping our eyes on The Mandelorian, which will be the first Star Wars series for Disney+, but today we learned a second series is in development.
The series will follow the adventures of Rebel spy Cassian Andor during the formative years of the Rebellion and prior to the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Diego Luna will reprise the role of Andor, which he originated in the 2016 film.
“Going back to the Star Wars universe is very special for me,” said Luna. “I have so many memories of the great work we did together and the relationships I made throughout the journey. We have a fantastic adventure ahead of us, and this new exciting format will give us the chance to explore this character more deeply.”
The rousing spy thriller will explore tales filled with espionage and daring missions to restore hope to a galaxy in the grip of a ruthless Empire. A release date for the series will be announced at a later date.
Disney+ is also assembling a live-action series centered around a fan-favorite character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Iger today confirmed that Marvel Studios is developing a series based on Loki, the god of mischief, to star Tom Hiddleston.
There was some confusion about the potential name for the service when a app icon for the Play Disney Parks app was confused for a leak of the streaming service. There’s also a bit of confusion about the name Disney+ since the ‘+’ symbol cannot be used in a domain or URL. It’s also a search operator, which means you can’t use it when searching on Google or even within many Disney owned apps. Looks like for those purposes, it will be spelled out as Disney Plus.
Disney+ is expected to debut in 2019 with a price Disney CEO Bob Iger promises will be reasonable. Visit DisneyPlus.com to register your email and be kept up to date on the service.