The best shows on Disney+ include Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Iwájú, Genius: MLK/X, and more.
Disney+ doesn’t have as much original programming as it used to, and consequently, there’s not as much incentive to stick around on a month-to-month basis. But fortunately, February does bring a handful of new and returning shows that should prove to be enticing for subscribers. Star Wars: The Bad Batch is coming back for its third and final season on February 21, and next month, Marvel’s X-Men ’97 will revive the world of X-Men: The Animated Series.
In the meantime, Disney+’s February premieres include National Geographic’s Genius: MLK/X and an ambitious new animated miniseries called Iwájú. Beyond those three series, keep reading for the rest of our picks for the best shows on Disney+ right now.
If you’re not already subscribed, the Disney Bundle is worth considering. With it, you get Disney+, ESPN, and the ad-supported Hulu plan, making it an impressive value for the price. You’ll enjoy new Disney content, live sports coverage, and Hulu’s various originals.
Looking for some more guidance on how to make the most of your streaming service subscriptions? We have also compiled guides on the best movies on Disney+, the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Amazon Prime, and the best shows on Hulu.
It might be a while before there’s another Star Wars animated show after The Bad Batch, but this show is going out on its own terms. Picking up where season 2 left off, one member of Clone Force 99 is dead, and their younger sister, Omega (Michelle Ang), has been captured by the Empire and taken to their hidden cloning facility.
Now, the team has to rally and figure out how they can rescue Omega and reunite their makeshift clone family. Meanwhile, Omega is trying to convince former Clone Force 99 member Crosshair (Dee Bradley Baker) to help her escape because she’s determined to save both of them. Getting out won’t be easy, and the full force of the Empire is hunting the remaining clones.
Iwájú is a departure from the standard Disney animated fare in that it not only embraces sci-fi over fantasy, but it’s also a collaboration with Kugali, an African entertainment company. The six-episode series takes place in an Afrofuturist vision of Nigeria, as a young girl named Tola (Simisola Gbadamosi) convinces her friend to go on a trip to the mainland away from their home.
What Tola doesn’t realize is that her father has enemies on the mainland, and by extension, so does she. Tola also has a protector in the form of a cybernetic lizard, who has been ordered by her father to protect Tola at all costs.
Each season of National Geographic’s anthology series Genius has focused on a different historical figure. The fourth season, which is also the only season currently streaming on Disney+, shakes up the formula by putting the spotlight on two civil rights icons: Martin Luther King Jr. (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and Malcolm X (Foe‘s Aaron Pierre).
Although King and Malcom X’s paths do intersect in certain ways, their stories are largely separate as the season follows their respective life stories from beginning to end. This duo didn’t share the same ideology, but the impact they collectively had on the nation was immeasurable.
Echo is the first live-action Marvel Studios show of 2024, and at only five episodes, it’s even shorter than most MCU series. Alaqua Cox reprises her role as Maya Lopez, the deaf antiheroine from Hawkeye. After discovering that her adoptive uncle, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), orchestrated the death of her father, William Lopez (Zahn McClarnon), Maya turned on Fisk and shot him in the face.
Unfortunately for Maya, Fisk survived his wounds and he’s willing to do anything to get her back into the fold, even if it means harming the family that she left behind two decades earlier.
Only two seasons of History’s Modern Marvels are on Disney+, but subscribers may be very interested in the two episodes that focus on toys and how they become collectibles. The rest of the episodes focus on more conventional Modern Marvels topics, like the most powerful trains and helicopters in the world. There’s also an exploration of “mad electricity,” and even a look into the technology behind car washes and coin-operated machines.
This is a science show for the whole family, but it’s also suitable for anyone who is just curious.
Behold the power of branding, as Disney brings together Pixar’s A Bug’s Life with National Geographics’ documentary team for a new series called A Real Bug’s Life. Awkwafina narrates the show, which offers an exploration of the real-life adventures and struggles of insects that operate on a miniature scale that isn’t often seen by human eyes.
These bugs may not be as cute and cuddly as their Pixar counterparts, but the series does give viewers plenty to think about when watching the insects on-screen.
For reasons that have yet to be adequately explained, Disney+ is burning through all nine episodes of What If…? season 2 on consecutive days. This animated series explores alternate timelines in the MCU where events unfolded in wildly different ways. Among this year’s new episodes is a Die Hard riff with Happy Hogan in Avengers Tower during a terrorist attack on Christmas Eve. Another episode will assemble a team of proto-Avengers in the past, including Hank Pym, the Winter Soldier, and Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel.
Additionally, Peggy Carter’s Captain Carter will return in a direct sequel to her spotlight episode from the first season, as she is reunited with the love of her life in the most unfortunate way.
Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians is getting a second chance in Hollywood, courtesy of Riordan himself. The Adam Project’s Walker Scobell stars as Percy Jackson, a 12-year-old kid who has no idea that he’s a demigod and the son of Poseidon.
After discovering his true heritage, Percy is sent to Camp Half-Blood with his friend, Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri), where they befriend Annabeth Chase (Leah Sava Jeffries). This trio is going to have to come together quickly, because Zeus (Lance Reddick) has accused Percy of stealing his thunderbolt. And if Percy can’t find the real thief, a war between the gods may be inevitable.
