The 29 Biggest Movies and TV Series on Disney+ Hotstar in January

Bhuvan Bam-led Taaza Khabar, The Menu starring Anya Taylor-Joy, The Last of Us series with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, the second season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Tokyo Revengers season 2, the Koala Man animated series, Chasing Waves docuseries, Ramón Rodríguez-led will Trent, Extraordinary, and K-Pop docuseries Super Junior: The Last Man Standing — these ar...

Disney+ Hotstar has announced a list of 29 movies and web series for release on its streaming platform in January 2023. Well, to be precise, there’s only one film in the mix, which heads to streaming, following a brief stint in theatres — The Menu. In it, Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult travel to a coastal island to dine at an exclusive restaurant, where the acclaimed Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some horrifying surprises. The Menu releases January 4 on Disney+ Hotstar. Follow that up with a healthy serving of the live-action adaptation of the acclaimed PlayStation video game, The Last of Us, which sees Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey venturing into the infected, post-apocalyptic America, in search of answers. Episode one releases January 16 on the platform — reportedly 85 minutes long — after which the remaining eight episodes follow a weekly release cycle.

Popular YouTuber is another new addition to Disney+ Hotstar this month, which highlights the abandonment issues of the eponymous special agent (Ramón Rodríguez), as he navigates through life to earn the highest case clearance rate. The series premieres January 4, with the remaining six episodes coming in the following weeks. Those looking for some fresh American cartoons to watch — because The Simpsons did everything first — check out Koala Man, which seems to draw heavy inspiration from the likes of James Gunn’s Super, albeit not as grounded. In it, an Australian family man lives a not-so-secret identity as the Koala Man, snuffing out petty crimes as a vigilante, despite being incredibly bad at it. Michael Cusack (Smiling Friends) voices Kevin/ Koala Man, while Sarah Snook (Succession) breathes life into his tired wife Vicky. Koala Man premieres January 10 on the platform.

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Pedro Pascal in a still from The Last of Us series
Photo Credit: HBO

Beyond that, there’s Hulu’s Extraordinary, a world where everyone develops superpowers at the age of 18, except for our 25-year-old lead Jen (Máiréad Tyers). Her insecurities about being left behind are amplified by her dead-end job and her occasional hook-up, who has no plans of committing any time soon. Will the tiny bit of hope help Jen find her “maybe superpower”? Find out when all eight episodes of Extraordinary become available to stream on January 25, on Disney+ Hotstar. Meanwhile, thriller fanatics can tune into The Watchful Eye on January 31, in which a young woman, hired as a live-in nanny for a wealthy family, observes the deadly secrets of its members.

Seeing as there are no new specials from Disney or Marvel this month — besides Willow’s continued run — all that’s remaining are some Korean and Japanese dramas. Lovers turn into political enemies in Bloody Heart, a fictional Joseon Dynasty-set drama, where the emperor Lee Tae and queen Yoo Jeong are forced to abandon their affection for each other. New episodes drop every Wednesday and Thursday, starting January 18. There’s a treat for K-pop fans as well in Super Junior: The Last Man Standing, a docu-series that captures the boy bands’ story from their early days. All episodes stream on January 18.

In addition to the aforementioned two — Tokyo Revengers season 2 and The Files of Young Kindaichi — Japan has one more Disney+ offering. In Lost Man Found, Saturo Matsudo (Taiga Nakano), an aspiring actor moves to Tokyo hoping to fulfil his dream, struggling through poverty and trouble breaking into the show business. All that changes one day when he stumbles upon a flight ticket belonging to a talent agency CEO. New episodes stream every week, starting January 25.