Disney has been creating content for over a century, so it’s no wonder that its streaming service, Disney Plus, features an enormous library filled with shows and movies.
The dozens of Disney Plus shows come from the company’s many brands, most notably Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and ABC. Choosing a title to stream is the tricky part. We’re here to save you a some scrolling time by compiling our picks for the best Disney Plus shows to watch this month.
They range from dramas to comedies to documentaries, from newly released originals like Andor and She-Hulk to classic series like Alias and The Simpsons. You can settle in for a binge that speaks to your current vibe, whether it’s superhero action or easy laughs or a spooky thrill. The best Disney Plus shows have something for everyone.
Andor
Rogue One proved that the Star Wars universe had room for different genres, styles and tones. A grim, gritty war movie was about as far, far away as you could get from the pod racing of Phantom Menace. It also seemed to be a complete story, since (spoiler alert) all of the principal characters die at the end.
Yet, where there’s a Disney will, there is a way. The company seemingly could not ignore a pitch by Tony Gilroy, who directed the reshoots on Rogue One. He’s the mastermind behind Andor, a prequel focusing on the very early days of the Rebel Alliance that would eventually overthrow the Empire. Diego Luna reprises his role as Cassian Andor, a disaffected thief recruited to be a Rebel spy. As my colleague Henry T. Casey notes in his Andor review, this isn’t just a great Star Wars show — it’s a great show, period. – Kelly Woo
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She-Hulk
Marvel’s first comedy series centers on Jennifer Walters, a lawyer who is turned into a Hulk after her blood mingles with that of her cousin, Bruce Banner. The show is sort of like if Ally McBeal became a superhero and broke the fourth wall with witty asides, a la Fleabag. Tatiana Maslany applies the same transformation skills that earned her an Emmy for Orphan Black here, as she toggles between legal ace Jennifer and the taller, stronger, greener She-Hulk.
Getting used to her new powers is just the start, as Jennifer must also grapple with her changed status. She’s not just a low-level attorney anymore; she’s a fairly famous “enhanced individual.” Navigating dating apps just became so much more complicated. And now her work expands to dealing with other MCU figures, like Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong) and the Abomination (Tim Roth). – KW
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Werewolf by Night
The Marvel Cinematic Universe can get experimental! This 53-minute special/short film from director Michael Giacchino (best known as the composer for Lost and Up) pays homage to classic horror presentations with a gothic tale and black-and-white visuals. The monster mash stars Gael García Bernal as Jack Russell, a monster hunter afflicted with a curse that turns him into a werewolf. After the death of the renowned Ulysses Bloodstone, Jack is summoned to his castle. There, the world’s top hunters — including Ulysses’ daughter Elsa (Laura Donnelly) are set up to compete for a powerful relic by tracking a monster in the gardens. A violent, bloody night ensues. – KW
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The Mandalorian
The Mandalorian became the flagship Disney Plus show thanks to its grittier, Western-style take on the Star Wars universe — and the introduction of the adorable Grogu, a.k.a. Baby Yoda. The story follows Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), a Mandalorian bounty hunter who inadvertently takes on the protection of a little creature from the same species as Yoda who exhibits similar, nascent abilities with The Force. No wonder it is a highly valuable target for remnants of the Empire.
Adoptive father and child embark on a journey to discover more about its origins, leading them to visit new (and old) planets and cross paths with familiar faces from across the Star Wars franchise. – KW
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The Beatles: Get Back
Honestly, I didn’t think there was much else to say about The Beatles. It seemed like we’d heard and seen it all. Peter Jackson proved me wrong with his three-part, nearly eight-hour documentary miniseries that gives a new perspective to the 1969 making of Let It Be. It reframes the story of the Beatles’ break-up and puts a different spin on the footage shot by Michael Lindsay-Hogg for his doc. While John, Paul, George and Ringo occasionally clash, it doesn’t feel cataclysmic — it’s just what happens among longtime friends and colleagues. The absolute best part of the doc is the insight into the band’s creative process. I’m still blown away by the bit where Paul was noodling around on his guitar with a couple chords, which transformed into the core of the song “Get Back.” – KW
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X-Men (1992)
If you’re anything like me, the theme song from the 1992 X-Men series has been stuck in your head for almost three decades. But catchy music isn’t the only thing this groundbreaking Saturday morning series had going for it. There’s the unforgettable cast, from the stoic Cyclops, to the wise Storm, to the hotheaded Wolverine.
There’s the strong sense of continuity, which saw season-long battles against some of the X-Men’s deadliest villains, such as Dark Phoenix and Apocalypse. There’s also the fact that the showrunners adapted many X-Men comics with as few alterations as possible. X-Men asked tough questions about prejudice, civil rights and even religion, which is pretty cool in a show that’s perfectly suitable for seven-year-olds. – Marshall Honorof
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Alias
While Felicity is the first show J.J. Abrams (co)created, Alias is the one that really ignited his career. And then, of course, he went on to make Lost, two Star Wars movies and two Star Trek movies. With Alias, Abrams essentially took the college student protagonist of Felicity and turned her into a secret agent. But the show became a hit thanks to a star-making performance by Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow.
Sydney is a CIA agent who poses as an operative for SD-6, a criminal espionage organization. During her missions, she assumes various aliases, disguises and accents. In a way, though, her entire life is one big alias, as she has to hide her true career from her friends and family. – KW
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Ms. Marvel
High-school and Avengers superfan Kamala Khan was first Muslim-American Marvel hero with her own comic book, and this year she became the first with their own Disney Plus show. And, thankfully, the Ms. Marvel series deviates away from the MCU’s tendencies to add all the tie-ins possible. With barely any cameos throughout its six episodes, Ms. Marvel had time to tell (its own version of) Kamala Khan’s unique story, both as a teen in the world of superheroes and as a Muslim girl in New Jersey. And throughout, newcomer Iman Vellani has shined, as the most likable member of this new class of possible Avengers. – HTC
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Love, Victor
The acclaimed, groundbreaking 2018 film Love, Simon inspires this spinoff/sequel, which starts off by following Victor (Michael Cimino) as a new student at Creekwood High School. In the first season, as he adjusts to his new town and community, Victor is also undertaking his own journey of self-discovery as he struggles with his sexual orientation. For help and support, he reaches out to Simon (Nick Robinson, returning as narrator). – KW
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Obi-Wan Kenobi
There are definitely some issues with Obi-Wan. The writing feels a bit forced at times, and without getting into spoilers, there is a character that should be an emotional linchpin of the entire series that many viewers struggled to connect with. All that being said, this series is the perfect swansong for Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, and firmly makes the character his rather than the late, great Alec Guinness’s. Plus, you do get some awesome lightsaber duels, so there really is something for everyone. Hopefully, Disney does not force Obi-Wan to be more than a limited series, because it truly was the ending the character needed. – Malcolm McMillan
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Loki
Trick or treat? We won’t need to choose in the latest Marvel series, since the titular trickster is such a charming treat. Loki, the god of mischief, was last seen absconding with the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame. That was a past version of Loki, though, since the present-day one died at the hands of Thanos. Past Loki’s antics get him in trouble with the time cops at the Time Variance Authority. Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson) enlists Loki’s help to right his time-bending wrongs and save their reality from an even greater threat. Loki is one of the most entertaining characters in the MCU, constantly stealing scenes with his wit and verve. And he’s at his most dazzling in this timeline-hopping adventure. – KW
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The Simpsons
You don’t win friends with salad, but you do with a classic Simpsons marathon. The quintessential American sitcom is back – in streaming form! If you find The Simpsons intriguing and wish to subscribe to their newsletter, you’ll be able to stream all 30 seasons on Disney’s new service, thanks to the recent acquisition of 20th Century Fox. (Just remember: The Simpsons are an original creation, like Rickey Rouse or Monald Muck.)
This show follows the misadventures of the upper-lower-middle-class Simpson family as they get into all sorts of trouble in the geographically ambiguous town of Springfield. In theory, you could watch past Season 10 – but in theory, communism works. – MH
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Hawkeye
Marvel’s Disney Plus series have really run the gamut so far, from a sitcom-inspired dissection of grief to a time-traveling adventure/romance. Hawkeye is the first to center on an original Avenger and looks to be their first holiday buddy cop comedy — which should be right up your alley if you consider Die Hard a Christmas movie (as you should).
Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton is in New York City with his family to see the truly unbelievable Captain America musical. There, he runs into his biggest fan, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), who has learned archery and martial arts to be like him. When some gangsters try to target Barton for his Blip-era Ronin vigilantism, he and Bishop wind up working together. Arrows are fired, banter is exchanged. You get two Hawkeyes in one polished MCU package. – KW
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Star Wars: The Clone Wars
The Star Wars prequels had their ups and downs, but I think it’s fair to say that they had a big “tell, don’t show” problem. If Anakin and Obi-Wan loved each other like brothers, where were all of the friendship-forging adventures they shared? The answer is in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, an animated series that kicked off with a standalone movie of the same name.
The show starts off as a series of vignettes about various Jedi during titular conflict between Episodes II and III, but it grows into an intriguing character study with strong continuity from one episode to the next. Anakin in particular gets the character growth he sorely needed in the movies as he mentors fan-favorite Padawan Ahsoka Tano. – MH
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