South African winters come with a massive temptation to hibernate at home on the couch. And the Disney+ July line-up is set to keep you entertained, with a combination of movies fresh off the cinema circuit, compelling series, and some historical documentary goodness. Below you’ll find our top picks for the month.
X-Men ’97 Season 2 (Animated Series)
Marvel Animation Studios’ X-Men ’97 returns this month for more epic mutant-powered action. We’re talking anime-level power-ups. Of course, that’s not only what this revival of the beloved Nineties’ X-Men animated series is about. There poetic dialogue, heartbreak and social commentary too. This is a mature-minded cartoon after all. Anyway, in Season 2, the X-Men are divided and thrown across different eras (past, present and future) as they struggle to find a way back to 1997. It’s urgent, though, as the only way they can successfully stand against all-powerful, eternal mutant Apocalypse is together.
Stream X-Men ’97 Season 2 from 1 July. With an initial three-episode drop, the remaining six episodes will release weekly, through to 12 August.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (Film)
Wickedly fun 2019 horror comedy Ready or Not gets a sequel that brings back its filmmaking duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and
Tyler Gillett (who went on to make Abigail, 2022’s Scream reboot and Scream VI) and leading lady Samara Weaving. Kicking off moments after the first movie, Grace (Weaving) finds herself roped into a new “double or nothing” game of survival, with her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) at her side. Hunting the siblings are four ultra-powerful rival families, with members played by the likes of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, Néstor Carbonell and Kevin Durand, with Elijah Wood around for good measure.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is ready to stream right now, having joined Disney+ on 2 July.
Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston (Documentary Series)
History fans, take note. A new National Geographic series about Pompei arrives on Disney+ this month. If you think there’s nothing more you can learn about the devastating volcanic eruption of the Ancient Rome era, think again. Loki star Tom Hiddleston hosts this fusion of cinematic scripted drama and investigative documentary storytelling – that sets out to explore how those caught up in the disaster actually had a chance to survive. The series reframes Pompeii not as a story of destruction but as a human tale of resilience, sacrifice and survival.
All episodes of the three-part documentary are available from 23 July.
Furious (Series)
New month, new serial killer crime series. This one definitely has our attention, though. From New Girl, The Dropout and Dying For Sex creator Elizabeth Meriwether, Furious is inspired by the 1987 film Black Widow, and follows FBI agent Alice Black (Shameless star Emmy Rossum) on the hunt for a calculating woman serial killer (Lola Petticrew). As their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur. And as the trailer reveals, there is something Epstein-esque to this one.
Eight-part series Furious premieres on 27 July with three episodes. Thereafter, episodes will drop one a week through to the end of August.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 (Film)
Capping the month is high-style comedy sequel The Devil Wears Prada 2. Twenty years after the original, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci are all back, with now seasoned journalist Andy (Hathaway) returning to Runway magazine as its Features Editor. With the media landscape changed, and editor-in-chief Miranda (Streep) struggling with modern trends like clickbait and puff pieces, the fate of the iconic fashion magazine means pleasing key advertiser Dior. The problem there, though, is that one of its senior decision-maker is Emily (Blunt), one of Miranda’s bitter former assistants.
Watch The Devil Wears Prada 2 from 29 July.