D23 '26: Disney Publishing announces "Disney Cursed Love," a new romantasy initiative launching on WEBTOON

At D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event 2026, Disney Publishing and WEBTOON unveiled "Disney Cursed Love," an all-new romantasy line spun from some of Disney’s most beloved love stories. Expect dark magic, terrible curses, and epic romance rendered in seductive, action-packed fashion.

The initiative kicks off with The Curse of a Forsaken Heart, written by #1 NYT bestselling author Emily McIntire, with art by Samairu. The series debuts first as a webcomic on WEBTOON before expanding into print across multiple formats in 2027. 

Read the official synopsis below:

“Belle and the Beast (in its human form) get sucked into a magical world through an enchanted stained-glass window. Once trapped, they quickly realize the fate of the realm is tied to the kingdom’s princess, Emberlynne: a woman who didn’t yield to the marriage proposal of an evil sorcerer. As a result of her refusal, the entire kingdom is cursed to live without love and anyone who steps foot inside it is also cursed. Belle and the Beast will have to not only find their way back to their own love, but also help the princess find hers in order to lift the curse from the kingdom and return home.”

Speaking on the "Future of Digital Comics: Disney, Marvel, & WEBTOON" panel, McIntire framed the project as equal parts nostalgia and reinvention: fans get the comfort of seeing Belle and her prince living happily ever after — right before the story yanks them into unfamiliar territory. The author also noted, "I love putting in Easter eggs that give you that butterfly feeling from the first time you fell in love with these legendary Disney characters, and hopefully fans fall in love with these new characters just as much." 

Disney Cursed Love isn’t arriving alone. Seven additional titles are joining the more than 20 existing reformatted series already living in the dedicated Disney section of the English-language WEBTOON app:

• Star Wars: Visions — The Followers of Ankok (2023)

  
  
  
  

• Star Wars: Visions — The Ronin and the Droid (2024)

  
  
  
  

• Disney Villains: Hades (2023)

  
  
  
  

• Disney Villains: Maleficent (2023)

  
  
  
  

• Disney Villains: Ursula (2026)

  
  
  
  

• Gravity Falls: Lost Legends (2018)

  
  
  
  

• The Ultimates (2024)

  
  
  
  

The wave builds on Disney, Marvel, and WEBTOON’s ongoing partnership, which has already ported more than 20 fan-favorite comics into the platform’s vertical-scroll format.

Marvel’s CB Cebulski, Editor of Asia Originals, described the format as a way of rediscovering old stories with new tools, comparing WEBTOON’s control over pacing to the visceral feeling of watching Spider-Man: Brand New Day. "That's what WEBTOON does," he said on the panel, "taking what Marvel did traditionally and finding a new way to tell it, adding the most kinetic energy, controlling the pacing so you feel like the Vulture's flying and Spider-Man's falling, the same feelings you get watching a film like Brand New Day."

Meanwhile, WEBTOON Managing Producer Susan Cheng added that watching multigenerational fans — from grandparents to grandkids — recognize these characters in a new medium has been “surreal and awesome.”

Release timing and further details for Disney Cursed Love and the newly announced titles are still to come.

Source: WEBTOON