Once upon a time, watching the Star Wars saga was simple. Even in the early 2000s when the films were becoming smash-hit mainstream successes, there were still only six standalone movies to catch up on. But as all successful things do, Star Wars eventually outgrew its boots.
Those six initial movies spawned hundreds of tie-ins, from comics to TV shows, video games and beyond. When the franchise wound up in the hands of Disney, it absolutely exploded in popularity.
It’s why we’re currently staring down the barrel of a dozen new Star Wars projects, each wilder and more different than the last. We’ve got origin movies on the way, spin-offs, sequels, side-sequels — more Star Wars than you can shake a stick at! It’s a great time to be a Star Wars fan, and there’s plenty to look forward to in the near future.
Here’s every major Star Wars TV show and movie currently in development at Disney.
Star Wars: Visions
Star Wars: Visions is a collection of animated shorts created by a selection of Japanese studios — and it looks like a real treat. There’ll be nine episodes of this unique, art-driven series, with each focusing on an isolated tale set in the Star Wars universe.
It calls back to the Akira Kurosawa inspiration of the original film while telling brand new tales in flashy style.
It’s set to release on September 22, 2021 with all episodes hitting Disney+ at launch.
The Book of Boba Fett
The Book of Boba Fett spins directly out of The Mandalorian and will shine a light on the time period between Return of the Jedi and The Mandalorian season two. We can expect this series to flesh out Fett’s character and give us more of an insight into what his path forward looks like following the retrieval of his iconic armour.
In this series, which is set to premiere in December 2021, we’ll also see the return of Ming-Na Wen’s Fennec Shand — so expect a tale of Sci-Fi/Western filled with guns and badassery.
You can see the basis for this spin-off in The Mandalorian‘s second season streaming on Disney+.
Star Wars: A Droid Story
Star Wars: A Droid Story isn’t a project we know a lot about — but it was announced alongside new tales in the Star Wars universe in December 2020.
So far, what we know is it’s set to be an animated TV movie following a brand new character who’ll be joined by series veterans R2-D2 and C-3PO on an epic quest. Outside of this description, we don’t know what A Droid Story really looks like.
The Mandalorian: Season 3
The Mandalorian has been a raging success for Disney, and the Star Wars TV revolution wouldn’t have started without it. A third season for the show is basically guaranteed (although not ‘officially’ confirmed yet) and there’s plenty of reasons to be excited about what’s to come.
Two seasons into the show, it feels like Disney has barely scraped the surface of what The Mandalorian has to offer. There’s so many worlds for Din Djarin to explore, and so many questions in the wake of Grogu’s (Baby Yoda) exit.
While a third season will likely be delayed to give time for series star Pedro Pascal to wrap on The Last of Us, expect more news soon.
You can check out the rest of The Mandalorian streaming on Disney+.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi is perhaps the most exciting project in development at Disney currently. It’s set to follow the second Star Wars trilogy (the prequels) and explore what happened to Obi-Wan between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
Ewan McGregor will return to the role that launched his Hollywood career, and he’ll also be joined by Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker.
You can check out more about the show and its star-studded cast here:
It’s expected to air some time in 2022.
Andor
Andor is a direct spin-off TV series of Rogue One and is set to follow Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor in the five years preceding the events of the film.
Given we know Andor ultimately dies in Rogue One it likely won’t have a happy ending — but it’ll still be good to see more of Andor in Star Wars canon.
It’ll air sometime in 2022, which is looking a lot like The Year of Star Wars.
Ahsoka
Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano is set to return in Ahsoka, a solo TV series spinning out of the events of The Mandalorian. This show will explore Ahsoka’s future as a ‘lone ranger’ in a deadly world as she grapples with her status as a warrior.
It’s currently unknown whether the show will pick up the threads laid down in The Mandalorian, but if it does it may feature Ahsoka attempting to locate Jedi Ezra Bridger following the events of animated series Star Wars: Rebels.
Currently, there is no set release date for Ahsoka.
Rangers of the New Republic
Rangers of the New Republic was announced in December 2020 before Gina Carano was removed from The Mandalorian — and while it was never confirmed she was set to be part of the show, this Mandalorian spin-off was set to connect to the Disney+ universe somehow, and could have been impacted by her exit.
Popular rumour stated the show would follow Carano’s Cara Dune as she worked on the fringes of the galaxy, but it was reportedly switched to “not in active development” around her firing. Again, it’s important to state we don’t know if she was ever involved in this show, or if larger plans for it have changed.
We’ll have to stay tuned to see what’s to become of this project.
The Acolyte
The Acolyte is a new “mystery-thriller” TV series helmed by Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland and is set to follow the rise of the ‘dark side’ of the force in the final days of the High Republic.
Outside of this, there’s no meaty news for The Acolyte just yet.
Lando
Lando Calrisssian is set to get a new solo “event series” from Dear White People director and writer Justin Simien, but mysteries still surround the project. For one, we don’t know which Lando it’ll be about (or whether it’ll be both).
Atlanta star Donald Glover played a young version of the character in Solo: A Star Wars Story, but original actor Billy Dee Williams also returned to play Lando in The Rise of Skywalker. Both young and old Lando still have stories to tell, so it could be anyone’s game.
In a perfect universe both would return, but we don’t current know who’ll be at the reigns of the upcoming Lando solo show.
Rogue Squadron
Rogue Squadron is a feature film coming from director Patty Jenkins around Christmas 2023. But despite having a release date, all we really have to go on so far is the official description, per Disney:
“The story will introduce a new generation of Starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill-ride, and move the saga into the future era of the galaxy.”
It appears the story treatment is still being worked on, but it should be an exciting, space-faring adventure whenever it lands.
Taika Waititi’s Mystery Star Wars Film
Taika Waititi’s stratospheric rise to success owes a lot to 2014 mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows and Marvel film, Thor: Ragnarok. The comedy styling and success of these hits meant Waititi was handed the reigns to the future of the Thor franchise, and that he’ll also spare some of his talent and time for an upcoming Star Wars film for Disney.
He’ll be joined by screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns, but we don’t know much else about the film outside of it being one of the more exciting prospects on this list.
Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Trilogy
The Last Jedi was considered a ‘controversial’ film when it released due to choices like Luke Skywalker sipping blue boob milk from an alien and then dying on a dusty space rock. But despite fans being divided on the artistic merits of the film, it appears Disney has faith in director Rian Johnson — so much so that he’s getting his own Star Wars trilogy at some point in the future.
Like other projects on this list, we don’t know many details, but according to industry insiders it’s still considered to be on lock for the future.
Only time will tell how this planned trilogy shapes up — although you might not want to hold your breath. There’s plenty of Star Wars to come before Rian Johnson gets his time in the sun again.
Outside of these major projects we know about, there’s also rumours of further Star Wars TV shows and movies in the works from creators like J.D. Dillard and Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios president — but we don’t know much about these just yet. Still, Star Wars fans won’t be left wanting over the next few years.
Every new Star Wars project will eventually hit Disney+ but while we wait, you can already check out the entire Star Wars franchise on the platform.
Believe us when we say there’s plenty to keep you going.
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