Inside the Disney Upfront: “Glen Powell, What Are You Doing Here?”

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As professional athletes mature, they tend to develop their public speaking skills more gracefully, much like how fine wines improve with age. However, it seems that Patrick Mahomes and Saquon Barkley could benefit from additional experience or practice before reaching peak eloquence.

Booking NFL stars for Tuesday’s Disney presentation seemed like a smart move initially, but it started off feeling quite subdued. (One might wonder if Barkley’s banter with Donald Trump on the golf course was as dull?) Fortunately, this pairing was an exception to the rule. Following Bob Iger, who entered dramatically to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” for his second consecutive presentation, the event picked up momentum with a series of previews, plenty of the Manning brothers, and the customary closing words from Jimmy Kimmel.

“Bob Iger has passionately led Disney for 20 years,” remarked Kimmel, “and reluctantly for three.”

The consistent theme at the North Javits event, which lasted less than 90 minutes, was the media-savvy (though somewhat cheesy) Peyton and Eli Manning. They initially made an appearance with a musical skit where they inserted themselves into various ABC and Hulu shows like “High Peytentional,” “Abbot Eli-mentary,” “Only Mannings in the Building,” etc., and later returned to promote their upcoming project on Hulu, the Glen Powell series named “Chad Powers.

“Glen Powell, what are you doing here?” asked Peyton.

“I can do anything,” he responded. “I’m Glen Powell.”

It appears that “anything” encompasses his once endearing persona being disguised by unattractive prosthetics, as portrayed in the Chad Powers trailer. The comedy revolves around a fallen quarterback who assumes a fresh identity to regain respect on another team. Essentially, he plans to emulate Mrs. Doubtfire, but with football, as his character stated.

Earth” on FX.

Earth. As menacing eggs were rolled around the room, and the franchise’s iconic Xenomorph startled the audience with a sudden on-stage appearance, the long-awaited sneak peek was met with rousing cheers.

It wasn’t straightforward to decide which trailer had the best reaction in the spacious auditorium, but from where I stood, it appeared that most of the excitement and, undoubtedly, a significant portion of the budget for the presentation went towards Alien: Earth. As ominous eggs were moved around the room, and the familiar Xenomorph surprised the crowd with an unexpected stage appearance, the highly-anticipated first look was greeted with applause.

During the Disney presentation, they strategically emphasized franchises and intellectual properties over numerical data. In fact, Rita Ferro, head of ad sales, didn’t mention numbers but instead assured media buyers about “flexibility” and “value” with Disney’s various advertising-friendly resources. The first figure was revealed midway through the presentation when Auli‘i Cravalho, voice actress for Moana, disclosed that the initial movie had been streamed for 1.4 billion hours on Disney+. Its sequel had already racked up 139 million hours in just two months.

Stephen A. Smith repeated ESPN’s news about their streaming service, expressing his eagerness but managing a dry humor prior to discussing its integration with the Disney bundle. Kim Kardashian greeted from afar before presenting a trailer for All’s Fair. Joe Buck took one of this week’s jabs at a specific former Patriots coach, saying, “The show concludes with Bill Belichick and his companion singing ‘My Endless Love.'” Lastly, the cast of The Bear emerged to promote the upcoming fourth season of the critically acclaimed series.

Instead of the whole ensemble, it was primarily Ayo Edebiri (voice of “Envy” in Inside Out 2), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (one of the leads in Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps) and Jeremy Allen White (who will star as Bruce Springsteen in the upcoming biopic Deliver Me from Nowhere) who were promoting other Disney projects.

Iger didn’t have a reason to stroll out to the boss during his usual entrance, but on Tuesday, there was definitely one.

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2025-05-14 15:24