Lucasfilm directly set up Emilia Clarke's return to Star Wars as Qi'ra in a recently released Disney+ show, while also teasing that one of the most mysterious plotlines in the galaxy far, far away could finally be explored on-screen. Clarke's Qi'ra was introduced in Solo: A Star Wars Story as the love interest for Alden Ehrenreich's Han Solo. Despite the film receiving a lot of criticism from both critics and fans, many agreed that Clarke gave a good performance in the film, and that her character, Qi'ra, was undoubtedly one of the most interesting aspects of the project, and that her story should have continued in a film or TV series.

Disney and Lucasfilm recently released the animated Disney+ series titled Maul - Shadow Lord in 2026. The show is set in the Rise of the Empire era, directly after the events of Revenge of the Sith, and partially focuses on Maul building his criminal enterprise, the Shadow Collective, back up again, after it fell apart near the end of the Clone Wars. However, the first season also included Crimson Dawn and Dryden Vos, an organization and a character who are very closely tied to Qi'ra.

Darth Vader, who is already likely the most overpowered character in Star Wars canon, was granted a completely unfair advantage against Maul, Devon Izara, and Jedi Master Eeko-Dio Daki in the Maul - Shadow Lord finale. Darth Vader has been one of cinema's most iconic and well-recognized villains since he debuted in 1977's A New Hope. A lot of Star Wars fans are critical of the way Disney has handled the franchise since it acquired Lucasfilm from George Lucas, but one aspect most can agree on is that Vader has become even more terrifying and ruthless.

Fans were excited and shocked to see Darth Vader show up in the finale of Disney+'s Maul - Shadow Lord, and the episode itself didn't disappoint, as it featured a massive lightsaber battle with the dark lord right at the center. Specifically, Darth Vader, Marrok, and the Crow (the latter two are both Inquisitors, for reference) faced off against Maul, Devon Izara, and Jedi Master Eeko-Dio Daki. Fans were most excited to see Maul and Vader finally lock blades, as that had never happened before in Star Wars canon, and it only occurred once, 25 years ago, in Legends.

Because Maul's leg was extremely injured, Devon was still a Jedi Padawan, and Eeko-Dio Daki wasn't an extremely notable lightsaber duelist, Vader already had the upper hand in a major way. Not to mention, Vader also had the two Inquisitors on his side, giving him even more of an advantage.

Ahsoka Season 2 will officially push one major Star Wars Rebels to the forefront (and it's a well-earned elevation). Ahsoka Season 1 was billed as a Star Wars Rebels reunion, as it featured the live-action debut of Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla, and Ezra Bridger. While a good chunk of the first half of the season focused on the dynamic between the trio of Ahsoka, Sabine, and Hera, Ezra only served as the late-season payoff and the emotional "MacGuffin" that drove the entire plot.

While appearing at his panel at SpaceCon San Antonio in June 2026 (via Star Wars Holocron), Eman Esfandi confirmed that Ezra Bridger will appear in the entirety of Ahsoka Season 2, giving the Star Wars Rebels fan-favorite a much more prominent role this time around. This serves as a major upgrade for the character, considering that he only appeared in the last three episodes of Season 1. 

Star Wars is officially remaking the franchise's worst Disney+ series, and many fans are hopeful it will make the show seem a little better in hindsight. Star Wars has had its fair share of ups and downs on Disney+ over the years, but there are only a handful of projects where nearly everyone agrees it was a hit or a miss.

Several projects have spanned different timeframes across the galaxy, such as The Acolyte in the High Republic era and Obi-Wan Kenobi between Episodes 3 and 4. However, the largest and most ambitious endeavor for Star Wars on Disney+ is the MandoVerse, a tapestry of storytelling that invites bigger thrills and excitement, as well as heightened scrutiny.

In the past, Star Wars has taken measures to retroactively fix poorly received projects, such as releasing The Clone Wars to improve the prequel trilogy or creating the Special Editions to adjust the visuals and storytelling of the original trilogy. This was even seen in The Mandalorian, with Palpatine's return teased through Project Necromancer to remedy mistakes made by The Rise of Skywalker. Now, Lucasfilm is doing so again with a full remake.

One of the biggest lingering questions surrounding The Mandalorian and Grogu and The Mandalorian’s canceled fourth season may have just been answered by one of the franchise's returning actors. Hemky Madera appeared in Season 3 of Lucasfilm’s Disney+ series as Commander Barro, an Imperial warlord aligned with Moff Gideon’s (Giancarlo Esposito) Shadow Council. The star has since confirmed that the reprisal of his role in The Mandalorian & Grogu, released in theaters on May 22, 2026, was originally designed for The Mandalorian Season 4.

The reveal offers fans one of the clearest behind-the-scenes looks yet at how co-writer/director Jon Favreau’s planned continuation of the series evolved after Lucasfilm pivoted away from another Disney+ season and toward a theatrical release instead. During a recent interview with lohud, Madera admitted "he never expected to make the jump to the big screen:"

"When they said there wasn’t going to be a Season 4 for The Mandalorian, but there was going to be a film, with all honesty, I was not expecting that I was going to be part of the film because there are bigger names and bigger characters that they could bring. And Jon said from the get-go when I booked for the show, that a Season 4 episode would be mine. So, I guess that episode became part of the film."

An official announcement for Ahsoka Season 2 highlighted a few unexpected characters from the show. Lucasfilm and Disney have held off on delivering new Ahsoka Tano stories for almost three years, since Season 1 of her solo series debuted on Disney+ in 2023. As the former Jedi's solo adventure inches toward its return, the studio behind its development hopes to start building up hype early.

Disney discussed Ahsoka Season 2 at the TV and streaming Upfront presentation in New York City, New York, in May 2026. The studio brought series star Rosario Dawson on stage to discuss Ahsoka Season 2's 2027 release, which celebrated the titular Ahsoka and also included a look at two supporting characters joining the titular: Chopper and an unnamed Loth-cat.

After a seven-year hiatus, Star Wars returned to the big screen in May 2026 with The Mandalorian and Grogu. While reviews were lukewarm, many were stoked to be able to visit a galaxy far, far away in theaters once again.

The plot of the film followed Din Djarin and Grogu as they took on a mission from the New Republic to help out the Hutt cartel. What started as simple turned into a far more complicated journey to uncover a secret Imperial Officer, save Rotta the Hutt's life, and potentially wipe out the entire crime family.

One major criticism the film faced was its lack of an important narrative within the Star Wars universe. One of the biggest plot points in the franchise at the moment is the return of Thrawn, which will be tackled in Ahsoka Season 2. But with Dave Filoni's big MandoVerse crossover movie announced a long time ago, many assumed that The Mandalorian and Grogu could set the stage for that massive film. However, The Mandalorian and Grogu missed a chance to introduce the wider audiences to Thrawn. 

The next major Star Wars game release has officially been delayed, causing the franchise's next new title to arrive a bit later than fans were expecting. Lucasfilm Games and its partners have a packed slate lined up for 2026, covering board game adaptations, arcade-style racing, and turn-based tactics. After a quieter stretch on the gaming front, the galaxy far, far away is heading into one of its busiest video game runs in years, starting at the end of the month.

That game is Monopoly Star Wars: Heroes vs. Villains, the upcoming Ubisoft and Hasbro collaboration that reworks the classic board game into a team-based digital experience. The game will now release on June 30, an almost three-week delay from its original launch date of June 11. The title will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, GeForce NOW, and PC through the Ubisoft Store, Steam, and the Epic Games Store. 

Darth Vader's appearance in Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord was carefully constructed with input from Lucasfilm's new CEO, Dave Filoni. The Disney+ series, which debuted in April 2026, made an indelible mark on Star Wars' animation slate. While much of Maul - Shadow Lord is focused on the titular character, Darth Maul, a late-season surprise saw two Sith Lords face off as Star Wars' most infamous villain returned. 

Darth Vader's appearance in Chapters 9 and 10 of Maul: Shadow Lord led to some of the most epic fight sequences in Star Wars history, but the character's role in the show was carefully crafted behind the scenes. For one thing, Vader doesn't speak in either episode (though his mechanical breathing is constant). He appears instead as an immovable force designed to intimidate his opponents, which Maul - Shadow Lord's head writer, Matt Michnovetz, said was an idea enforced by Dave Filoni, the creator of the show.

Michnovetz told Script Magazine that Darth Vader's non-speaking role was "purposeful," and was designed to show him as a "force of nature." It was a directive from Filoni that Vader doesn't speak, as the longtime Star Wars creative told his team there was "no need for dialogue." 

Anakin Skywalker is back in Star Wars, and it's much sooner than previously anticipated. The young Skywalker who goes on to become the infamous Darth Vader was portrayed by Hayden Christensen in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and the character has endured the test of time. Anakin has appeared a number of times since Christensen cemented his appearance in the prequels, but the character's next project came as a surprise.

The newest gameplay trailer for Bit Reactor's upcoming strategy game, Star Wars: Zero Company, ended with the unexpected appearance of Anakin Skywalker, confirming he'll have a role in the game. At the tail end of the trailer, a character can be heard saying "General Skywalker," before Anakin himself, featuring Christensen's likeness from Revenge of the Sith, appears bearing his blue lightsaber. 

The legendary Darth Revan showed up in an official Star Wars marketing piece, making fans double down on their pleas for Lucasfilm to feature him in canon on-screen projects, like a movie or TV show. Darth Revan is undoubtedly one of the most popular Star Wars characters of this century, as he was introduced in a 2003 video game called Knights of the Old Republic. When Disney acquired Lucasfilm, it made it clear that Knights of the Old Republic was not canon, so fans of the game have continuously asked Disney and Lucasfilm to create a canon project set in the Old Republic that centers around Revan. So far, those wishes haven't been granted.

Star Wars has since shared an official marketing graphic for May 4 (Star Wars Day) via X that included different characters from some of the biggest Star Wars video games. For example, characters like Cal Kestis, who is featured in the canon Jedi games, were on there, as were faces like Darth Vader and Maul. 

The main plot of The Mandalorian & Grogu could have set up a major MandoVerse character who has been absent for some time to make a full return to the franchise, just in time for Dave Filoni's Avengers: Endgame-like culminating project. The Mandalorian & Grogu is still fighting at the box office (it is currently getting beaten up by two horror flicks titled Obsession and Backrooms), and many Star Wars fans are hoping that it can dig down and find some hidden strength, if nothing else, for the fate of the MandoVerse. Disney and Lucasfilm are reportedly looking at the performance of the movie to decide what direction to take the franchise next, but no matter what, the film has at least set up something that could be explored down the line with a bit of a forgotten character.

The Mandalorian & Grogu had a few subplots going at all times, but the main conflict in the film was between Din Djarin (and his sidekick Grogu) and two Hutts known as the Twins. If fans thought the Twins sounded familiar when they saw them in the movie, that is because they already appeared in a MandoVerse project that was released on Disney+.

Specifically, the Twins made an appearance in The Book of Boba Fett, and their demise at the end of The Mandalorian & Grogu perfectly set up Boba Fett himself to make an epic return to Star Wars and the MandoVerse. If Star Wars played its cards right, what happened in The Mandalorian & Grogu could lead directly into a second season of The Book of Boba Fett, which could then set up Boba as a major character in Dave Filoni's MandoVerse project (whether that be a movie or a Disney+ series).

The Acolyte Season 2 would've included big plans for Manny Jacinto's the Stranger. The High Republic Sith Lord was one of the most intriguing characters in the Disney+ Star Wars series, but after The Acolyte was canceled after only one season, the futures of the Stranger/Qimir, Amandla Stenberg's twins Mae and Osha, and the Jedi Council were left up in the air.

The Acolyte's creator, Leslye Headland, revealed in the years since the show's axing that there were plans to do more with these characters, and that big things were in store for Jacinto's character in Season 2. Qimir/the Stranger was introduced in The Acolyte as a disillusioned ex-Jedi Padawan who became one of the early Sith Lords. He trained Mae in the way of the Dark Side and sent her out as his acolyte to kill other Jedi. In the end, Qimir is seen taking Osha as his new apprentice, who agrees to do so to protect her sister, Mae. 

In a June 2026 interview with Empire Magazine, Headland shared four major storylines that would've utilized the Stranger in another season. One of these would be "getting into who exactly Manny [Jacinto's] character is." While audiences gained some knowledge of the Stranger in The Acolyte, there was still a lot left unsaid about the character, including exact details about his past and how he left the Jedi Order and became a Sith Lord. 

Disney+ confirmed its third Star Wars movie and TV release, coming to the streamer later this year. Star Wars' 2026 Disney+ slate recently took a major blow as Ahsoka Season 2's delay left this year without a new live-action series. That marks a major change, as Lucasfilm is offering multiple blockbuster shows annually while keeping subscribers busy with animated projects and one much-anticipated movie debut.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is scheduled to start streaming on Disney+ later this year, according to Disney+ executive Karl Holmes. The news follows the Star Wars flick's struggles to take flight at the box office as it opened with a record-low for the Disney era, facing stiff competition from horror hits Obsession and Backrooms.

Lucasfilm hasn't released a galactic blockbuster in seven years since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker, which landed on Disney+ 136 days after theaters to align with 2020's Star Wars Day. However, the studio released Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on Disney+ in 2023, 154 days after its disappointing theatrical run.

Lucasfilm released an official statement addressing the ongoing struggle to maintain and grow its television audience. Since 2019, Star Wars has invested heavily in both animated and live-action series, though viewership across its ongoing seasons has trended downward. Despite this, Disney and Lucasfilm are on the defensive, presenting new data as a major win, which it is, but have little interest in painting a full picture.

A Lucasfilm statement from April 2026 is, at its core, a carefully curated piece of public relations. Announcing that Maul - Shadow Lord had claimed a rare perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, hit 4.1 million global views in its first seven days on Disney+, and was ranking as the #1 trending series in the United States, Lucasfilm was doing something it hadn't been able to do for quite some time: declaring victory. What the statement doesn't do, however, is provide comparative context, and in that omission lies the entire streaming story.

The Mandalorian & Grogu director Jon Favreau recently revealed why Lars Mikkelsen's Grand Admiral Thrawn wasn't in the film, and it wasn't because of a story issue. The Mandalorian & Grogu was recently released by Disney and Lucasfilm and marked the first Star Wars theatrical release since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. So far, the film has not performed well at the box office, especially considering it is a Star Wars movie, and has gotten mixed reactions from fans. One aspect of the film nearly everyone has criticized is how self-contained it is, as many felt that it should have connected with the rest of the MandoVerse.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jon Favreau (the creator and showrunner of Disney+'s The Mandalorian and the director of The Mandalorian & Grogu) revealed that there was one major reason Grand Admiral Thrawn did not show up in the recently released film. 

For reference, Thrawn was a major character in Ahsoka Season 1, which is connected to The Mandalorian within the MandoVerse, and it seemed as though Ahsoka Season 1 primed Thrawn to make an appearance in the next Mandalorian project due to him making it back to the regular Star Wars galaxy at the end of Ahsoka and waging war on the New Republic.

One of Disney+'s flagship shows bit the dust due to recent events. The Walt Disney Company's streaming service launched in 2019 with a lineup of new content designed to bolster the studios' key brands, including Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar. One of these foundational shows was Lucasfilm's The Mandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars series that was a selling point at Disney+'s launch. But now, The Mandalorian is no more.

The Mandalorian ran successfully for three seasons, telling the story of Pedro Pascal's helmeted bounty hunter, Din Djarin, and his adorable young companion, Grogu. Disney+ intended to make a fourth season of The Mandalorian until the studio approached the creator, Jon Favreau, about doing a movie instead, causing the streamer to shelve the series. 

The Mandalorian was an integral part of Disney+'s launch, serving as one of the few original series from Disney's iconic brands to debut alongside the streaming service. Now that it's become a movie franchise, The Mandalorian is no longer a part of building Disney's streaming ecosystem. Viewers can return to the streamer to view Seasons 1-3, but the future of The Mandalorian appears to be set on film, removing the chance of the foundational series continuing as it once was.

Star Wars officially revealed when to expect its upcoming anime series, Star Wars Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi, will premiere on Disney+ (and it's soon).  Under the new "Visions Presents" banner, The Ninth Jedi serves as a continuation of the story of Lah Kara, a Force-sensitive woman first introduced in the short of the same name from Visions Volume 1 in 2021 and had her journey expanded in The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope from Visions Volume 3 in October 2025. Star Wars Visions Presents: The Ninth Jedi is set to explore more of Kara's continued search for her father while exploring the state of the Jedi Order in the farthest point of the Star Wars timeline. 

According to a listing from Anime Expo on X, Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi is confirmed to be released on Disney+ later in Summer 2026, ramping up anticipation for the upcoming spinoff series. 

This wasn't the only big news about The Ninth Jedi that emerged online. Lucasfilm and Production I.G also revealed that a special screening event for the show's premiere episode will take place on July 2 (the opening day of Anime Expo 2026) at 6 p.m. in the JW Marriott Diamond Ballroom in Los Angeles. 

Jon Favreau revealed his honest thoughts on Star Wars' latest TV show release, Maul: Shadow Lord. The filmmaker, who launched the MCU with Iron Man, joined the galaxy far, far away with 2019's The Mandalorian, a Disney+ series that he developed with his longtime friend and Star Wars veteran Dave Filoni. He has led three seasons of the blockbuster show and carved out the MandoVerse with Filoni, now directing the franchise's next theatrical movie, The Mandalorian & Grogu.

During a recent interview clip from The Mandalorian & Grogu's press tour (shared on Instagram by @robsoutpost), Jon Favreau confirmed that, much like most of the Star Wars fandom, he has been watching Maul: Shadow Lord and thinks the team has done a "great job." In fact, Favreau even pondered why its creator and his fellow MandoVerse architect, Dave Filoni, didn't "show [him] this early:"

"I'm watching a show now, ['Maul: Shadow Lord'], that's animated. They're doing a great job. My friend, Dave Filoni, I said, 'Why didn't you show me this early?' I had to wait 'til it was on TV."

The MandoVerse's next Disney+ series release window was officially announced, and it will be a historic one, breaking a frustrating record. Charted by Iron Man director Jon Favreau and The Clone Wars creator Dave Filoni, the MandoVerse is an interconnected Star Wars story spanning multiple series (and now a movie) in the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Having launched with The Mandalorian in 2019, it has since spawned spin-offs in The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew, which vary in their level of connectivity.

At Disney's 2026 Upfronts presentation, Lucasfilm Ahsoka Season 2 received an updated premiere window of Early 2027. The iconic Jedi's second season will mark the seventh Disney+ chapter in the MandoVerse (eight when including this summer's The Mandalorian & Grogu movie), and its new release window confirms that it will break a major record for the multi-series saga.

Even if Ahsoka Season 2 was to launch on Disney+ on January 1, 2027 (which it almost certainly won't), it will have been 760 days since the premiere of the MandoVerse's last Disney+ show, Skeleton Crew. That massively exceeds the previous record gap between MandoVerse series premieres of 468 days, which fell between Ahsoka Season 1 and Skeleton Crew: