It took five years for Disney Plus to become a formidable streaming platform. That’s a commendable accomplishment. Is it really that shocking, though? Where else can you find copious entries from the catalogs of Marvel and Star Wars? Do I even need to mention Bluey?
In true Disney fashion, the company’s TV streaming service has something for every family member: riveting comic book adventures, magical tales for young adults, educational docuseries and engaging unscripted shows. And though we’re still two years away from the recently announced Bluey movie, there are plenty of episodes featuring the Heeler family for you and your loved ones to enjoy.
Simply put, the Disney brand has power, and it’s on full display on Disney Plus.
With endless hours of entertainment at your disposal, it’s easy to get lost like Alice down the rabbit hole. That’s where we come in. Below is our curated guide to the best Disney Plus original TV shows. Any of these titles are worth a binge. Just click Play. You’ll be glad you did.
Justin Long led the first installment of Disney Plus’ YA series, and David Schwimmer takes up the mantle of creepy adult in the show’s second season. The gateway horror series takes inspiration from R.L. Stine’s iconic book series. Each season follows a group of teens wrapped up in a supernatural mystery.
Matt Kennedy/Lucafilm Ltd.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
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Marvel Television’s Agatha All Along, with. from left, Joe Locke as Teen, Aubrey Plaza as The Green Witch/Rio Vidal, Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness and Sasheer Zamata as Jennifer Kale.
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Marvel Television’s Agatha All Along, with. from left, Joe Locke as Teen, Aubrey Plaza as The Green Witch/Rio Vidal, Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness and Sasheer Zamata as Jennifer Kale.
Marvel Television’s Agatha All Along, with. from left, Joe Locke as Teen, Aubrey Plaza as The Green Witch/Rio Vidal, Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness and Sasheer Zamata as Jennifer Kale.
Agatha All Along isn’t a direct sequel to WandaVision, but the stories are definitely related. Kathryn Hahn reprises her deliciously devilish role in the spooky new series, which follows Agatha and a group of ragtag witches on a journey down the Witches Road to help Ms. Harkness get her powers back. Spoiler: It ain’t gonna be easy.
Doctor Who kicked off 60 years ago, and since then, the sci-fi series has been revamped multiple times. Actors like David Tennant and Matt Smith helped bring the iconic Time Lord into the present day with the program’s run of modern era seasons. Ncuti Gatwa is the latest actor to take the reins as the Doctor, marking the first time in the program’s history that a Black actor has stepped into the role. Doctor Who made the move to Disney Plus in 2023. New episodes (starting with season 14) will exclusively air on the streamer.
Ludo Studio
Bluey is a phenomenon, plain and simple. The kids’ show, which follows a family of anthropomorphic dogs — Bluey, her sister Bingo, dad Bandit and mom Chilli — was the most streamed series in 2023, and for good reason. Nearly all the episodes run at around 8 minutes in length, making it an easy binge. And while the tone remains light and playful, the series digs into relevant and poignant topics in a way that never talks down to its audience. Who knew a show about an Australian dog family would be so addictive? Disney Plus knew.
Disney Plus
Simply put, I think Andor is the best Star Wars series Disney Plus has made. The program ditches the flashy, and often clichéd, production values of its predecessors and goes all-in on some intense ground-level storytelling. Expanding the story of the characters featured in the one-off film Rogue One, Andor comes through with the emotional stakes thanks to its smart writing and the excellent performances of its cast. Phenomenal stuff, right here.
Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau took their love of Star Wars to new heights with The Mandalorian. It’s the first live-action Star Wars series to hit Disney Plus and it set the standard for everything that came after. Stylistically inspired by things like the Lone Wolf and Cub manga, Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo and Sergio Leone’s iconic Dollars trilogy (which starred Clint Eastwood as the Man With No Name), the series follows a lone bounty hunter who gets a second chance at life when he’s hired to protect a little green alien you may know simply as Baby Yoda.
X-Men: The Animated Series ended its five-season run in 1997. Almost three decades later, X-Men ’97 continues the story of everyone’s favorite mutant superhero crew. The pacing is quick, the writing is tight, and the 2D animation style acts as a nice bow tying together this lovely nostalgic gift for ’90s kids everywhere.
Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
Echo (Alaqua Cox) was first introduced in a three-episode arc in Hawkeye. Marvel’s Echo is centered on the hearing-impaired antihero. She’s also a member of the Choctaw Nation, which leads the series to wonderfully explore these aspects of her identity. Her association with Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) further connects the MCU shows on Disney Plus with those previously on Netflix — and sets up the arrival of Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and crew quite nicely.
Ms. Marvel is a breath of fresh air for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Disney Plus series flips the script on what we have grown to expect from Marvel shows on the streamer. Iman Vellani is a revelation as the titular hero. It’s a challenge for a show to balance the heavy responsibilities of being a superhero with the trials and tribulations of high school. The story pulls it off, and does so with a welcome helping of Muslim representation.
What happens when Captain America hangs up his shield? That’s the question going into Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Here, Sam Wilson (better known as Falcon) and Bucky Barnes (aka the Winter Soldier) buddy up in a surprisingly funny and heartfelt series that deals with trauma, grief and classism as the world picks up the pieces from the earth-shattering events of Avengers: Endgame.
Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem Band get top billing in Muppets Mayhem, Disney Plus’s latest series inspired by Jim Henson’s Muppets. Here, the Electric Mayhem Band struggles to record one more album. But record company politics and other past mistakes make things complicated for the crew — and boy do those complications lead to some hilarious on-screen antics! Of all the Muppets programs to hit TV in recent years, Muppets Mayhem comes closest to the wacky, fun vibe of the original.
