Pixar used D23 to preview its release calendar, offering the first details on two of its biggest returning franchises. “Incredibles 3” will put Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack in the spotlight when the Parr family returns in summer 2028, while “Coco 2” jumps forward to follow Miguel as a teenager in November 2029.
Pixar’s first look revealed that superheroes are legal again, but their return comes with a corporate makeover. Sponsored heroes are being assembled into the “Super Hero League,” placing commercial interests around the newly legitimized profession. Against that backdrop, Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack will become the film’s central figures, shifting the franchise’s attention from their parents to the next generation of Parr superheroes.
The characters will not be substantially aged up, however. Franchise creator Brad Bird recently explained that their ages—and their powers—represent specific stages of family life.
“They were meant to represent parts of life that you go through,” Bird said. Jack-Jack’s unpredictable abilities reflect the unknowability of infancy, Dash’s speed mirrors a 10-year-old’s nervous energy, and Violet’s invisibility and force fields embody teenage insecurity and defensiveness.
“And so, those are family archetypes, and aging them up doesn’t help that at all,” Bird added.
Peter Sohn, the filmmaker behind “Elemental” and “The Good Dinosaur,” is directing “Incredibles 3,” taking over the franchise from Bird. The original filmmaker remains heavily involved as the sequel’s writer and executive producer, while Dana Murray, who won an Academy Award for producing “Soul,” produces.
Pixar first announced “Incredibles 3” at D23 in 2024, with Bird attached to develop it. Sohn subsequently took over as director while Bird turned his attention to his long-gestating animated feature “Ray Gunn.”
“The Incredibles” and its sequel have earned more than $1.8 billion combined worldwide, with the second film accounting for over $1.2 billion. Disney has scheduled “Incredibles 3” for June 16, 2028.
Pixar is also moving forward with “Coco 2,” which will open on November 21, 2029. The sequel will center on a now-teenage Miguel, providing the first substantial indication of how the studio plans to continue the original film’s story.
Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter also announced from the D23 stage that Benjamin Bratt will reprise his role as Ernesto de la Cruz, the celebrated musician whose true history was exposed during Miguel’s first journey through the Land of the Dead. His return indicates that the sequel will revisit at least some unresolved part of Ernesto’s afterlife, although Pixar did not reveal how he fits into the new story.
“Coco 2” reunites director Lee Unkrich, co-director Adrian Molina, and producer Mark Nielsen, the Oscar-winning creative team behind the 2017 film. No other returning cast members have been announced.
Disney announced the sequel in March 2025. Although it was then in its earliest stages, former Disney CEO Bob Iger said the film would be “full of humor, heart and adventure.”
The original “Coco” followed 12-year-old Miguel, an aspiring musician whose family had banned music, as he accidentally entered the Land of the Dead and uncovered the truth about his ancestors. The film earned nearly $815 million worldwide and won Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Remember Me.”
Centering the sequel on a teenage Miguel allows Pixar to explore how his musical ambitions and relationship with his family have developed since his journey. Bratt’s return also confirms that Miguel’s connection to the Land of the Dead—and the consequences of Ernesto’s stolen legacy—will remain part of the sequel.
“Incredibles 3” opens June 16, 2028. “Coco 2” follows on November 21, 2029.
