Mando's big-screen launch sputtered out at the box office with just $177.7 million domestically, but there's still a path for Star Wars to pull him out of the wreckage. The Pedro Pascal-led franchise finally returned to theaters earlier this year with its first new movie since 2019, and Lucasfilm did something it had never done before. Instead of building off a past film or doing something original, the studio spun off the Disney+ series The Mandalorian into a theatrical adventure, which is in line with the state of Star Wars in the 2020s. The Mandalorian & Grogu, of course, happened in place of the show's Season 4, which could still be on the table, but it's a rocky road after the movie finished as the lowest-grossing live-action Star Wars film ever.

The Mandalorian & Grogu set all the wrong records by earning less than $200 million at the domestic box office, ultimately totaling $345.6 million worldwide. In the U.S. and Canada, it's only the 11th-highest-grossing film of 2026 so far, outgrossed by lower-budget films like Obsession, Backrooms, and fellow Disney May release The Devil Wears Prada 2. 

Its ranking will only go down, too, with The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, Dune: Part Three, Avengers: Doomsday, and Jumanji: Open World all expected to outgross it after they release later this year.

Ezra Bridger actor Eman Esfandi confirmed that his Star Wars character is going to be changed in the upcoming second season of Disney+'s Ahsoka, which will likely disappoint some fans. Ahsoka is finally returning on January 20, 2027, continuing the story that was left off in Season 1, which premiered in 2023 and ended on a rather nail-biting cliffhanger.

In a recent interview with Brandon Davis on The Brandon Davis Show (as shared via YouTube), Ahsoka Season 2's Eman Esfandi (who played Ezra Bridger in Season 1 and will reprise that role in Season 2) teased what is to come for Ezra in the upcoming installment of the MandoVerse series. Specifically, the actor revealed that Lucasfilm is going to abandon one beloved part of Ezra's character in Season 2, which may upset a few fans.

Before stating exactly how Ezra is going to be different in Season 2, Esfandi talked about how effective Lars Mikkelsen's Grand Admiral Thrawn is as a villain, teasing that he will be back to full power in Ahsoka Season 2. The actor even stated that he recently had "a Rebels rewatch in preparation for (Ahsoka) Season 2," and that "it never ceases to amaze [him] how cunning and intelligent Thrawn is:"

Now that Ahsoka has reunited the Star Wars Rebels crew in live-action, Season 2 of the show is making use of the beloved squad, with one character in particular set to receive more screen time. The Disney+ series serves as a sequel to both Star Wars Rebels and The Clone Wars, uniting characters from both animated shows in live action for the first time. The Ghost Crew found themselves in different parts of the universe after the end of Star Wars Rebels, but Ahsoka Season 2 will have the gang back together again.

The end of Ahsoka's first season saw Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) escape his isolation on Peridea and reunite with Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and his wily droid companion Chopper. Meanwhile, Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) and Sabine (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) remained trapped on Peridea. While the Star Wars Rebels characters didn't all share equal screen time in Ahsoka Season 1, one character has been promised a larger role for Season 2.

While at LA Comic-Con 2026, Esfandi shared during an Ahsoka panel (via CineMovie) that Season 2 would spotlight Chopper even more than in the debut season. Esfandi said fans would get "a lot more time with a specific war criminal," referring to the Star Wars fandom's joke name for the sassy droid. Esfandi called working with Chopper (and his puppeteers) an "honor," adding that the character "sets a new path for droids who can be divas" on set.

A wave of new LEGO Star Wars sets for 2027 has surfaced online, headlined by long-awaited Luke Starkiller collectibles alongside minifigures of characters like Darth Vader, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and many more. The year 2027 marks 50 years since the original Star Wars premiered in 1977, and LEGO is celebrating the milestone in grand style with a wave of sets and posters running from January through October. The sets focus heavily on the original trilogy, but the collectible poster tiles span all nine Skywalker Saga films.

The most exciting detail about the wave is that its minifigures are based on Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie's original art for the trilogy's characters. McQuarrie's role in Star Wars history cannot be overstated. George Lucas hired him in 1975 to illustrate scenes from his script, and those paintings helped convince 20th Century Fox to back the film. McQuarrie designed the looks of Darth Vader, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO, and the Stormtroopers, and many shots in the finished film recreated his paintings almost exactly. These new figures pay tribute to that original vision, before the designs were finalized for the screen. 

McQuarrie's vision also included a radically different hero in Luke Starkiller, a name Star Wars fans know all too well. Seeing that design headline a LEGO wave is enough to make any original trilogy aficionado giddy at the prospect of the 2027 minifigures and posters. 

Dave Filoni's live-action Star Wars series, Ahsoka, is known for giving popular animated characters their live-action debut. Season 2 is gearing up to take that creative direction to the next level, with one of the show's stars seemingly revealing a larger lineup of fan favorites. After the original and prequel trilogies, animated shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars kept the franchise alive, and fans quickly grew attached to the characters they introduced. A handful have appeared in live-action decades after their debuts, and Ahsoka Season 2 looks ready to continue that trend with even more animated icons. 

Ahsoka star Eman Esfandi, who plays Ezra Bridger, joined Rosario Dawson and Natasha Liu Bordizzo for a cast panel at LA Comic-Con on October 30. While the actors could not reveal plot details, Esfandi teased that there are "a lot of other well-beloved characters that we get to spend more time with in live action," adding, "I think everyone's going to be really happy with them." The comments are not a total surprise, as the Ghost crew's return from Rebels had already been confirmed. Beyond them, though, even bigger surprises could be in store when Season 2 premieres on Disney+ on January 20, 2027. 

Animated Star Wars Characters Set to Play Bigger Roles in Ahsoka Season 2 

Star Wars' live-action TV output reinvigorated the franchise after Disney's divisive sequel trilogy failed to leave a lasting impression on the fandom. The future of those shows has, however, looked bleak in recent years, and Lucasfilm president Dave Filoni has now weighed in on where the franchise is headed on streaming. Filoni took over as Lucasfilm president and chief creative officer when Kathleen Kennedy stepped down in January, with Lynwen Brennan serving alongside him as co-president, so he now has the power to reshape that strategy. 

Filoni was recently quizzed on the future of Star Wars on TV beyond Ahsoka Season 2, which arrives on January 20, 2027. He struck an optimistic tone, sounding especially excited to be in the driver's seat and "part of orchestrating" the storytelling to come: 

"Yeah. It's interesting, isn't it? It makes you wonder. And we'll continue to wonder and speculate, which is all part of being a fan. Obviously, in this position, I get to be part of orchestrating that type of storytelling structure in the future and where we're going to go in the galaxy. Very excited about that." 

Ryan Gosling's Star Wars movie isn't even close to coming out yet, and there are already several spin-off books planned, including his character. Star Wars: Starfighter is Lucasfilm's next theatrical journey after The Mandalorian and Grogu brought the famous franchise back to the big screen (for the first time in seven years) earlier this year. But many fans left disappointed, while others weren't interested from the start and never made it out to a movie theater. Disney and Lucasfilm hope that all changes with director Shawn Levy's Starfighter, and part of its push into pop culture, could come from a set of spin-off books featuring Gosling's new hero.

Those spin-offs are three children's books from Penguin Random House, all starring Kade Auberon, the name of Gosling's new Star Wars character. 

What's exciting about these short stories is that they are expected to hit shelves on April 20, 2027, more than a month before Star Wars: Starfighter kicks off Memorial Day Weekend on May 28. This makes the upcoming slate of books the first real look fans will get at Kade's adventure ahead of the movie.

Fans may have recently received a first look at a fallen Jedi in the Ahsoka Season 2 official teaser, as evidenced by the character's crazy lightsaber design. Over three years after Ahsoka Season 1 ended in 2023, the Rosario Dawson-led Disney+ series is finally returning on January 20, 2027, to tell the next chapter in the character's story. While a lot of time is going to be spent on the present-day war between the New Republic and the remnants of the Galactic Empire, as well as on Ahsoka's isolation in a separate galaxy, it seems as though fans are also going to return to the Clone Wars era of the Star Wars timeline.

In the official teaser that was released for Ahsoka Season 2, one particular scene revealed that fans will get to see Clone Wars flashbacks yet again that feature Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker and Arian Greenblatt's younger version of Ahsoka. Specifically, in that scene, Ahsoka and Anakin can be seen crossing blades with a mysterious character who is wielding a cyan lightsaber, which has a never-before-seen design.

Ryan Gosling's Star Wars: Starfighter has officially made Star Wars history, though the record comes with a massive financial risk. The standalone film follows his character, Kade Auberon, on adventures across the galaxy at the controls of a decommissioned starfighter, the G17 Imperial Reaper, billed as the fastest ever built. Kade's journey pulls him into the orbit of his nephew, played by Flynn Gray, who joins him on the dangerous trek. Directed by Shawn Levy and shot at Pinewood Studios outside London, the film is scheduled to arrive May 28, 2027, set five years after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. 

A Star Wars movie packed with high-octane action comes at a cost, and a newly surfaced financial filing in the United Kingdom has revealed just how much it cost Starfighter. The filings, submitted by Blue Mist Productions, the Disney subsidiary set up for the picture, show that Disney spent $226.5 million on Starfighter from the start of production through January 31, 2026, just over a month after filming wrapped. 

The first plot details for Star Wars Episode X emerged online, including a surprising detail about Daisy Ridley's Rey. Following the success of the Skywalker Saga, Star Wars' focus has remained on the small screen on Disney+, but the strategy has shifted with the gradual arrival of big-screen entries, starting with The Mandalorian and Grogu in 2026 and Star Wars: Starfighter in 2027. The next major step in that theatrical push is a new trilogy continuing the saga after The Rise of Skywalker, with Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts attached to direct the first installment, based on a script by Simon Kinberg. 

A new report from entertainment insider Daniel Richtman (via Inverse) claimed that Star Wars Episode X's plot will bring Daisy Ridley's Rey back in a supporting mentor role to a pair of new leads. 

The duo is described as echoing the Finn-and-Rey dynamic from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but they will have a clearly defined romantic connection. The same report also shared that it's unclear if Rey has already founded her new Jedi Order by the time the events of the film take place. 

One of the most notable failures in Star Wars history is making a return in an unexpected way. Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm, it has invested heavily in mining content from the galaxy far, far away, producing new movies, streaming series, and video games, and integrating Star Wars into its theme parks. While Star Wars has a huge and dedicated worldwide fanbase, not all of these risks have paid off for Disney, and it's finally acknowledging one of these failures in 2026.

Disney has announced that one of its upcoming episodes of The Simpsons is titled "The Kosmic Kruiser" and will see Bart and Lisa break into the fictional theme park Krustyland and board the Kosmic Kruiser Hotel, described as its "most notorious and failed attraction." The attraction in question is a large, spacecraft-like hotel, a clear parody of Walt Disney World Resort's Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, an expensive, immersive hotel and attraction that shuttered in 2023 after less than two years in operation. 

The trailer for Ahsoka Season 2 has officially locked in a group of Force users for the Star Wars show's return. It's been a lengthy wait for fans, as the new episodes won't hit Disney+ until January 20, 2027, well over three years after Season 1. Unlike The Mandalorian and Grogu, this series will certainly bring the lightsabers back in Star Wars, with Force-wielders popping up at different points in the timeline, including more Clone Wars flashbacks with Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen). Hopefully, all those new Force-filled moments will be worth the wait.

The new Ahsoka trailer debuted at D23, and Rosario Dawson's Ahsoka Tano naturally leads the Force-wielding lineup of Season 2. Still stranded on Peridea, she and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) are seen using the Force together to smoothly open a door.

Ahsoka's biggest battle yet may be more of an internal one, though, with Anakin delivering the footage's best line: "Are you a Jedi... or not?" Dawson has admitted the season finale's script left her "in tears," so who knows what fans are about to endure over 18 years after the character was created.

The Force has always been a pivotal part of Star Wars mythology, but it's been given a new name in a recent official comic release. For decades, the two opposing sides of the Force–the mystical energy that binds all living things in the galaxy–have been referred to as the light side and the dark side, with Force users typically falling into two buckets, either the Jedi or the Sith. However, these aren't the names everyone in the Star Wars universe uses for the mystical Force.

The new limited comic series Star Wars: The Fall of Kylo Ren digs deeper into Adam Driver's character from the Sequel Trilogy and his history with the mysterious Knights of Ren. Taking place between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, the official comic follows Kylo Ren as he reunites with his fellow knights and their leader, Tava Ren. 

The untold chapter, written by Charles Soule, also reveals the names the Knights of Ren give to the Force and its conflicting sides. The Fall of Kylo Ren confirms that the Knights of Ren use the name "The Shine" when talking about the light side of the Force. An earlier installment of Soule's work had seen the Knights refer to the dark side, which they have the potential to harness, as "The Shadow". 

Disney has a Star Wars problem on its hands. Since the studio acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, it's been running hard at the iconic sci-fi franchise, commissioning new movies, animated and live-action shows, and building theme parks. The interest in Star Wars now appears to be reaching a peak, and a series of tough losses in the franchise suggests it might be time for Disney to take radical action to secure the franchise's future.

One of the first things Disney did after gaining control of Star Wars was to commission a new trilogy of films within the Skywalker Saga. The Sequel Trilogy featured original characters, including Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), and Han Solo (Harrison Ford), passing a baton onto a new generation of heroes. While divisive, the Sequel Trilogy made Disney a lot of money, with The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi becoming the two highest-grossing Star Wars films of all time.

Disney didn't stop at one trilogy. It also commissioned the first Star Wars spin-off film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which also became a massive success, earning over half a billion dollars. However, since 2017, the Lucasfilm franchise has seen a string of inconsistencies, leading to many misses. The Rise of Skywalker, while financially successful, was critically panned, and Solo: A Star Wars Story bombed at the box office. 

Star Wars fans who love Star Wars: The Clone Wars are in luck, because in 2027, Disney and Lucasfilm are going to release two sequels to the animated series, with both continuing the story told across the seven-season title. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is one of the most successful and beloved projects in Star Wars history. After getting off to a bit of a rocky start and being labeled a kids' show, The Clone Wars ended its run as one of the more mature entries in the galaxy far, far away. Even though the series technically ended in 2020, Star Wars is still finding ways to continue the story.

In 2027, Star Wars is going to release two projects that are sequels to The Clone Wars. First off, on January 20, fans will be treated to the premiere of Ahsoka Season 2. Then, a bit later in the year, Maul - Shadow Lord, which quickly became one of the highest-rated Star Wars titles of all time, will return for its second season.

Both of these Disney+ shows are sequels to The Clone Wars in their own ways. If The Clone Wars did not exist, those shows likely would not either. Even if they did still exist, their stories would be vastly different without The Clone Wars, and Star Wars fans may not even care that much about them. The Clone Wars directly impacted the directions of Ahsoka and Maul as characters, and events that took place in that series led to the events of both self-titled shows.

Ahsoka Season 2 is officially ignoring one of Star Wars' original tenets established by George Lucas, bringing an all-new approach to "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." The franchise has undergone various changes as it shifted from trilogies, explored new mediums, and introduced a whole host of now beloved characters that have led some projects to even supersede what Lucas was capable of. Some core aspects are set in stone, though. The throughline of the Force, the duality of Jedi and Sith, and the belief in never-ending hope have resonated with fans for generations. Now, Star Wars' next Disney+ series is set to shake up one of these rules by taking the galactic setting and flipping it on its head.

The latest issue of Empire Magazine put the spotlight on Ahsoka Season 2, including an interview with Lucasfilm President Dave Filoni (who also happens to be the Disney+ series' writer, director, and creator). The Star Wars veteran confirmed that the live-action Rebels sequel will be a game-changer for the galaxy far, far away, as the "weirdness" of Peridea spills into the familiar galaxy.

Filoni explained how Ahsoka Season 2's story is divided between the main galaxy (where Thrawn has just declared war on the New Republic) and Peridea to create a story with a "very classic war-centric Star Wars-feeling:"

Star Wars recently unveiled a new photo of Rosario Dawson's Ahsoka Tano from Ahsoka Season 2, giving fans a fresh look at the character ahead of the show's January 20, 2027 release. Ahsoka and the rest of the Ghost crew from Star Wars Rebels will be returning to the galaxy far, far away in the second installment of the Ahsoka series, which will put heavy focus on Ahsoka and Sabine's time on Peridea, as well as Grand Admiral Thrawn's return to power in the main galaxy.

Disney and Lucasfilm have already revealed some looks at Ahsoka Season 2 in various ways, but Variety just shared a brand-new look at the upcoming season, showcasing Rosario Dawson's titular character with her lightsaber drawn.

Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm are working on a new Marvel-Star Wars crossover, and fans have been given their first glimpse of the action. The first tease of the crossover shows Darth Vader wearing the Infinity Gauntlet that Thanos wore in the MCU's Infinity Saga films, while Iron Man finds himself in a world of trouble as he hunts for Princess Leia Organa. Marvel and Star Wars characters crossing paths is a development fans have dreamed of for years, and thanks to Disney owning both franchises, it is finally becoming a reality.

A new preview for the crossover, Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles, has surfaced, giving fans a look at the unprecedented comic from writer Kevin Smith and artist David Marquez. Announced earlier this month during Marvel's House of Ideas panel at New York Comic Con, the six-issue limited series launches in January 2027 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Wars, and its title riffs on both A New Hope and the Avengers' signature rallying cry. 

Ahsoka has been confirmed to now include eight characters who previously appeared in Lucasfilm Animation's Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, making the upcoming Disney+ series a spiritual sequel, in some ways, to George Lucas and Dave Filoni's 2008 creation. Fans have had to wait more than three years to receive the second season of Ahsoka (starring Rosario Dawson as the titular character), but that wait is finally about to end at the beginning of 2027 when Ahsoka Season 2 premieres on January 20. Series creator and showrunner Dave Filoni (who is also the president of Lucasfilm) is trying his best to keep story details and character appearances under wraps, but Lucasfilm has already confirmed that quite a few familiar faces will be popping up.

In an interview with Empire Magazine, Lucasfilm president and Ahsoka creator, showrunner, and writer Dave Filoni confirmed that Ahsoka Season 2 is going to feature the three Mortis gods in a major way. Unfortunately, the Lucasfilm boss didn't reveal much to fans about the extent of their roles in the upcoming installment, but he did mention that they are "definitely a thing" in Season 2, indicating that they will have important parts to play in Ahsoka's character arc and the show's story.

Star Wars recently confirmed that Anthony Daniels is being brought back to reprise his role as C-3PO in an upcoming project from the galaxy far, far away, adding yet another notch to the actor's belt of credits, but this time, he will be lending his talents to something that has never been done before. Of every actor who has played a role in the world of Star Wars, C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels is perhaps the most notable, as he is the only actor to be credited in every single Star Wars movie that has ever been released (even The Mandalorian & Grogu).

Star Wars, Disney, and ESPN recently announced that, in collaboration with the NFL, a Star Wars animated alternate telecast of Super Bowl LXI (which is officially titled Super Bowl LXI Funday Football) will be set in the Star Wars universe and bring The Big Game to life in a way it never has before. While fans will get to watch the Super Bowl taking place live in the galaxy far, far away, the telecast will also feature Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, as the actor has already recorded new voice lines for the Super Bowl telecast's teaser, which was recently released.