Disney+ in April certainly saw an array of series that was quite interesting from various perspectives. The premiere of an anime called Heavenly Delusion opened the binge-watch festivity last month. Then, there’s an entry for a genre always bound to be inspiring, a sports drama about basketball phenoms, The Crossover.
Despite the significant drop in viewership and reviews, The Mandalorian continues the epic tale of the lone hunter-slash-father, Din Djarin. Next was National Geographic doing what it does best: producing a documentary on the fascinating lives of animals, specifically elephants at that time, named Secrets of the Elephants.
And as May is fast approaching, Disney+ has prepared for the arrival of its new additions, which may very well go straight to your watchlist because the list of series the platform’s about to deliver is golden. This course is probably part of the measure the streaming giant took after losing 2.4 million subscribers in the last three months of 2022, as Variety reported in February.
Disney+ is coming back stronger, and we’re here to enjoy what it has to offer. Therefore, without further ado, here are the best TV series coming to Disney+ this May.
A Small Light (May 2)
Nat Geo may be proficient at handling its original specialty, which is creating candid, factual accounts of nature, science, and history. Yet its non-documentary productions are worth paying attention to as well, for instance, the upcoming limited biographical drama series titled A Small Light.
The premise will follow the story of Miep Gies (Bel Powley), a remarkable Dutch woman who risked her life to shelter the family of the fabled Anne Frank (Billie Boullet) from the Nazis for more than two years during World War II. Starring alongside Powley is Liev Schreiber as Otto Frank, Joe Cole as Jan Gies, Amira Casar as Edith Frank, and Ashley Brooke as Margot Frank.
Confirmed to course for eight episodes, A Small Light will premiere on May 1 on Nat Geo with two back-to-back episodes, with new episodes dropping every Monday. Each episode will be available to stream the following day on Disney+ and Hulu, presumably out of their acquisition deal.
Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All (May 3)
It may come as a surprise how a singer as phenomenal as Ed Sheeran has yet to have his story told in a documentary. But the good news is: he’s getting one now, following the steps of Lewis Capaldi, who had bared his soul and shared his personal struggles with fans in Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now, released this April.
Though in the form of a series instead of a film, Sheeran’s documentary shares a similarity with Capaldi’s in the sense of sincere and intimate talks, exploring “how an unlikely child with a stutter rose to fame to become one of the biggest global music superstars and how his chart-topping hits were born.”
Moreover, we get to see his famed mathematical discography (+, ×, ÷, =, and -) properly highlighted via the cleverly conceived title, The Sum of It All. The complete four episodes of the series will see a collective release on May 3 on Disney+.
Star Wars: Visions Vol. 2 (May 4)
Star Wars once again proved its prominence when yet another popular show made within its universe got renewed for a second season. Still donning a non-canonical status, Vol. 2 of Star Wars: Vision now allows talented animators from all over the world the creative freedom to take each story to greater heights, a fresh change from the first volume’s employment of all-Japanese animation studios.
The animated space opera anthology series will return with nine new shorts on the fateful date of May 4, Star Wars Day. Also, one extra thing to note is how wonderfully diverse the cast list is, starring prominent actors and rising stars such as Anjelica Huston, Cynthia Erivo, Anika Noni Rose, Daveed Diggs, Charithra Chandran, Ashley Park, and Daniel Dae Kim.
The Muppets Mayhem (May 10)
Following Star Wars, another Hollywood mega media franchise, The Muppets, presents a brand-new series, The Muppets Mayhem, adopting the genre of musical comedy, just like the franchise’s movie lineup.
Developed by The Goldbergs’ creator Adam F. Goldberg, The Muppets’ key performer Bill Barretta, and an adept editor Jeff Yorkes, the show follows The Electric Mayhem Band as they embark on an epic musical journey to record their first-ever studio album wished to attain platinum milestone while facing the formidable modern music scene.
All ten episodes of The Muppets Mayhem are set for a Disney+ premiere on May 10. Let’s also not forget the multitude of celebrities set to make a cameo, namely Lil Nas X, Paula Abdul, Kevin Smith, Tommy Chong, Kesha, Steve Aoki, Zedd, Rachel Bloom, Jack McBrayer, “Weird Al” Yankovic, James Hong, and Morgan Freeman among many others.
American Born Chinese (May 24)
Asian representation is finally getting the spotlight it deserves of late, and American Born Chinese is here to carry the initiative on, all set to premiere on May 24. The Disney+ original series tells the tale of Jin Wang (Ben Wang), an average teenager balancing high school and home life, who, upon meeting a new foreign student on the first day of school, got entangled in a sequence of events and, eventually, a battle with Chinese mythological gods.
Directed by Lucy Liu and Destin Daniel Cretton, American Born Chinese will run for eight episodes and star an ensemble of capable, well-established actors of Asian descent with the likes of Michelle Yeoh, Daniel Wu, Ke Huy Quan, Chin Han, Yann Yann Yeo, Stephanie Hsu, Leonard Wu, Ronny Chieng, Jimmy O. Yang, James Hong, and Lisa Lu. The show also serves as a mini Everything Everywhere All at Once reunion — on Hong, Yeoh, Quan, and Hsu’s part.