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Tom’s Guide

Technology

Josh Bell

New on Disney Plus in January 2025 — the must-watch movies and shows

Disney Plus Disney Marvel Peter Parker Nat Geo Pixar

January begins 2025 with some big franchises on Disney Plus, including the final two episodes of the latest “Star Wars” series, “Skeleton Crew,” featuring a crew of kids lost in the far reaches of the galaxy. As “Skeleton Crew” winds down its first season, a new animated series starring Marvel superhero Spider-Man gets started, and a documentary spin-off from one of Pixar’s lesser-known movies returns with new episodes.

This month also includes the debut of the Nat Geo series “My Best Friend’s an Animal,” featuring unlikely friendships between humans and wild animals, plus the second of two new specials from the animated series “Kiff,” titled “Lore of the Ring Light.” Read on for all of this month’s highlights on Disney Plus.

Top picks

‘Goosebumps: The Vanishing’

While this is the second season of the TV series based on author R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps” books, it’s not a continuation of the plot from the first season. Instead, “Goosebumps” is taking the “American Horror Story” approach, telling a new family-friendly scary story in its second season, incorporating elements from various “Goosebumps” books.

This time, two teenage siblings and their friends start investigating a group of teens who went missing in 1994. In the present, the siblings’ father (David Schwimmer) starts exhibiting strange behavior that may mark the continuation of some mysterious threat. Although director Rob Letterman, who made the 2015 “Goosebumps” movie, remains involved, the new series has been darker and more horrific than that comedic film, while maintaining its accessibility for younger audiences.

Premieres Jan. 10 on Disney Plus

‘A Real Bug’s Life’ season 2

The first season of this Nat Geo nature series took its inspiration from the 1998 Pixar film “A Bug’s Life,” grafting cute adventure narratives onto real (but stylized) footage of insects engaged in their typical everyday tasks. Narrator Awkwafina returns for a second season of insect antics, which may be enhanced with special effects but still offer an inviting introduction to the wonders of the natural world.

The new five-episode season promises to showcase bugs including a “femme fatale firefly, bachelor luna moth, a real-life assassin bug, the botany bay weevil” and more. There will also be a special behind-the-scenes episode demonstrating the mix of science and artistry that goes into creating the close-up looks at insect activity for the show.

Premieres Jan. 15 on Disney Plus

‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’

(Image credit: BrandonDavisBD/Twitter (X))

First announced back in 2021 under the title “Spider-Man: Freshman Year,” this animated series was originally assumed to be a prequel to the Tom Holland-starring Spider-Man movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s actually set in one of Marvel’s many alternate universes, though, featuring Hudson Thames as the voice of 15-year-old Peter Parker just after he gets his Spider-Man powers.

Thames also voiced Peter on an episode of “What If…?,” although “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” is set in a different branch of the multiverse, where young Peter’s mentor is ruthless industrialist Norman Osborn (Colman Domingo). With an animation style reminiscent of early Spider-Man comic books, the show has the freedom to explore its own version of Spider-Man’s early years, while still remaining part of the larger MCU tapestry.

Premieres Jan. 29 on Disney Plus