Star Wars fans hoping for a return to a Galaxy Far, Far Away on Disney+ are getting good news and bad news. Ahsoka Season 2 was recently pushed back to early 2027, stretching out a wait that's already dragged on since the show's first season wrapped in October 2023. But a new first look trailer has just confirmed that Disney+ isn't leaving the Star Wars slate empty until then, teasing another series set to arrive in 2026 before Ahsoka returns.
That confirmation comes from a new teaser for Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi, the Production I.G anime spinoff from director Kenji Kamiyama, set to land on Disney+ ahead of Ahsoka Season 2.
The 29-second clip cuts through a handful of new scenes from the series and confirms that the full trailer arrives Thursday, July 2, the same day Lucasfilm will be screening the show's first episode at Anime Expo 2026 in Los Angeles.
"Trust in the Force," serves as the teaser's tagline, a classic Star Wars phrase that doesn't give much away about the finished product on its own.
This summer is a solid slot on the 2026 calendar for a first-time spinoff, and it also explains why the next MandoVerse chapter has to wait its turn behind it.
That's also a reminder of how much Lucasfilm is currently leaning on side projects to bridge the gap between its flagship shows. Such as Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord, which was one of the most well-received animated Disney+ shows ever.
Again, in this instance, the more interesting story here isn't really The Ninth Jedi itself. It's what the show's placement says about Ahsoka Season 2, as the only Star Wars project releasing before it, and ends up sharing a surprising amount of narrative DNA, despite heading in different directions.
How Ahsoka Seasons 1 & 2 Compare To The Ninth Jedi
Female-Led Jedi Star Wars Shows
Both shows put a female Jedi at the center of the story, though they get there from very different starting points. Ahsoka has two established fan-favorites in Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), who now bring years of both animated and live-action history into Season 2 as they remain stranded together on Peridea.
Sabine's path into the Jedi arts came later in life, too, but she's spent the years since Rebels training under Ahsoka rather than starting that journey from nothing. The Ninth Jedi, on the other hand, is building its lead from scratch.
Kara is a leading female Jedi jumping from a Visions short into a starring role, traveling alongside Ethan and Homen as she works to rebuild the Jedi Order. Her story carries none of the decade-plus of continuity that Ahsoka and Sabine bring into Season 2.
Both Leads Are Being Hunted
The basic human instinct of survival is the throughline connecting both upcoming Star Wars Disney+ shows. In The Ninth Jedi, Kara will spend the series evading Jedi Hunters while Ahsoka and Sabine are in a similar bind on Peridea, where Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) is expected to keep pursuing them even after Baylan Skoll parted ways with her to chase his own goals.
Neither show will let its Jedi heroes operate from a position of strength or confidence in these early stretches, it seems, hopefully making for satisfying conclusions.
Different Missions
Where the two shows really split is in what their leads are actually chasing. Kara's mission is personal. She's searching for her father, a master sabersmith captured by the Sith. Ahsoka and Sabine's goal is a bit bigger picture, taking a step back from a bird's eye view of a Galaxy Far, Far Away.
Getting home is only half the fight. Once the duo is back in the main galaxy (assuming they do make it back), taking down Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) before he can fully work to take down the New Republic, something that was purposely kept out of The Mandalorian & Grogu.
In short, one show is going to be built around a rescue, while the other is building toward a war, even if a crossover movie is no longer expected.
Alternate Story Arcs & Stakes
Ahsoka Season 2 is set up to have payoff for storylines that stretch back through The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Mandalorian, bringing back the Force ghost of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and potentially tying a knot on the greater Thrawn storyline.
Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) is also set for a much bigger role this season after a limited appearance in Season 1, while Dave Filoni is reportedly building toward a clash between Thrawn and original trilogy character Admiral Ackbar.
The Ninth Jedi isn't carrying that kind of weight or retro Star Wars lore. It picks up directly from its own Visions shorts rather than being connected to the Skywalker Saga, giving it room to tell a self-contained story, which is the reason many fans loved the anime stories to begin with.
That makes it a lower-stakes entry point for Star Wars on Disney+, as Ahsoka remains the show carrying the franchise's biggest expectations into 2027. Unfortunately, between the large gap and the lackluster response to The Mandalorian & Grogu, general fan excitement has room to improve.
