Disney and Lucasfilm tested out a new strategy for Star Wars storytelling seven years ago, and now a streak that came from that experiment is officially coming to an end in 2026. Star Wars is one of the most successful and beloved franchises of all time, so the core fanbase will consume media no matter how it is presented. However, some release methods work better than others, especially when certain characters or storylines are involved, and it seems as though Disney and Lucasfilm have come to the conclusion that their current strategy for Star Wars needs to change.
On May 22, 2026, Lucasfilm will officially release The Mandalorian & Grogu in theaters. Notably, this will be the first Star Wars feature film to come out since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker, but it will also mark the end of the franchise's seven-year streak, during which it only released content on Disney+.
Because The Mandalorian & Grogu was not originally planned to be a film and The Mandalorian was going to continue on Disney+, Star Wars essentially admitted that its Disney+ strategy was not working for the franchise, and that movies needed to come back in the galaxy far, far away.
After the success of The Mandalorian's first two seasons, Disney and Lucasfilm were seemingly under the impression that Star Wars fans were content tuning into Disney+ for new Star Wars content instead of going to the theater. However, viewership and fan reception took a downward turn across multiple projects, including the third installment of The Mandalorian, causing the two companies to change course.
The seven-year Disney+ experiment, where new Star Wars projects were exclusively released in the form of Disney+ shows, had its share of successes, and it changed the future of the franchise forever. However, things likely weren't running as smoothly as Disney and Lucasfilm likely hoped they would, which is essentially what led to Star Wars making its way back into theaters.
How Star Wars' Disney+ Run Started
2019 was a major year for the galaxy far, far away. On November 19, 2019, The Mandalorian Season 1 premiered on Disney+ as the streaming service launched. Disney thought that a major live-action Star Wars series would give Disney+ the boost it needed to get its feet off the ground, and it overdelivered. The Mandalorian was way more successful than anyone thought it would be, and Disney had a smash hit on its hands thanks to Din Djarin and a character that, at the time, was simply referred to as Baby Yoda.
Just one month later, on December 20, 2019, The Rise of Skywalker premiered in theaters and brought an end to the long-running Skywalker Saga. However, it did not have as triumphant a run as The Mandalorian did, and it was clear that most Star Wars fans preferred The Mandalorian to The Rise of Skywalker.
Just a few months after The Rise of Skywalker's lackluster release, The Clone Wars Season 7 was then released on Disney+. To this day, the final four episodes of that series are the highest-rated content in franchise history on IMDb, which only made Disney and Lucasfilm take another step in the direction of releasing Star Wars projects exclusively on Disney+.
It is also important to remember that, at that time, The Book of Boba Fett was getting ready to come out the following year, and there was a lot of hype around that project.
So, in 2020, it seemed to only make sense for Star Wars to be a Disney+ franchise. The Mandalorian Season 2 was praised even more than Season 1 was. Fans were eagerly waiting for The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi since the latter was going to feature Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen's returns. Everything was great.
However, it didn't take long for the streaming side of Star Wars to take a downward turn. And, honestly, after it took that turn, it never really recovered.
The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi were disappointments, The Mandalorian Season 3 was a massive step down from its first two installments, and projects like The Acolyte were more than heavily criticized.
It got to a point where new Star Wars releases on Disney+ were like flipping a coin. Either the project was going to be really good or really bad, but viewership consistently dropped all around.
So, Disney and Star Wars pressed the red button. Instead of moving forward with The Mandalorian Season 4, it was announced that The Mandalorian & Grogu would take its place and be released as the first Star Wars movie in seven years.
It is also important to note that multiple Star Wars movies had been announced and then canceled or shelved within that seven-year gap, so Disney and Lucasfilm knew that a Mandalorian movie was a guarantee not only to actually get made but to be a box office hit. The first box on that list has been checked off, as the film will definitely be coming out in May 2026, but whether it is a box office success or not remains to be seen.
The Good and the Bad of Star Wars' Exclusive Disney+ Run
Even though Star Wars' seven-year Disney+ run didn't turn out as great as Disney and Lucasfilm likely hoped it would, a lot of good came out of the experiment. For example, The Mandalorian was the streamer's flagship series when it first launched in 2019. If it hadn't been as successful as it was, Disney+ as a whole might look a lot different than it does today. The House of Mouse really has a lot to thank The Mandalorian for, because, for a while, it really held down the fort and built the Disney+ platform up when it was just getting started.
It is also worth noting that, during this Disney+ run, fans were also treated to both seasons of Andor. From top to bottom, Andor is probably the greatest or second-greatest Star Wars project ever made, objectively, when looking at it from a critical point of view and fan reception. Both seasons of the show have been nominated for multiple prestigious awards. One of those awards is a category that Star Wars hasn't been nominated in since A New Hope was released in 1977.
Alongside the critical and viewership success of some of the projects, Star Wars' Disney+ projects proved that the franchise can survive without being in theaters. It is no secret that Star Wars ultimately belongs on the big screen (just look at the ticket sales for the 20th anniversary run of Revenge of the Sith), but certain titles can and do perform just as well streaming.
So, in the future, Disney and Lucasfilm know that they have built a library of projects on the platform and can release other shows to the service with confidence that they will perform well. As mentioned, The Mandalorian is largely to thank for that since it really got the ball rolling when this experiment first started.
The Disney+ experiment also proved that Star Wars has the capability to release non-canon projects that fans will still enjoy. For instance, three seasons of Star Wars: Visions have been released since 2021, and all have performed quite well, especially considering they are in no way connected to Star Wars canon. Fans will even be receiving the first Visions spin-off, Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi.
So, non-canon projects can be extremely successful for Star Wars, and they likely would never exist without Disney+. It is also worth mentioning that the LEGO Star Wars projects fall under that non-canon category as well. They have also done fairly well on the platform, and, once again, if it weren't for Disney+, there would really be no place for them.
Therefore, it is obvious that a lot of good has come from the Star Wars Disney+ experiment. Unfortunately, though, some bad has come as well.
There is a common phrase in the world that goes, "Too much of a good thing is bad." For a long time, Star Wars fans only wanted one thing, and that was more Star Wars. Well, fans got their wish from 2019-2026, because a ton of projects were released on Disney+, with multiple premieres every years.
At first, it was exciting. However, after a while, Star Wars began to lose that special feel that it had. Any Star Wars fan can tell you where they were and what feelings they experienced when the first trailer for The Force Awakens was released. A new Star Wars movie hadn't come out in 10 years, with the last title being Revenge of the Sith. That Force Awakens trailer was euphoric. It was special.
Other projects had been released between Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens, like The Clone Wars, but fans weren't receiving multiple projects a year. After Disney+ launched, a new Star Wars release started to lose its meaning. It was almost like a new release was more of a habit than an event.
Disney+ had become more of a crutch for Disney and Lucasfilm than a platform for storytelling. Instead of pouring more resources and focus into getting one of the announced feature films made, it almost seemed like it was just easier to greenlight the next Disney+ series.
Like most things in life, the seven-year Disney+ experiment for Star Wars has brought good and bad. If Disney and Lucasfilm are to understand the great streaming mystery, they must study all of Star Wars' aspects, not just the good or the bad. Then, the craft can be perfected, and Star Wars on Disney+ will only be made better.
Will Star Wars Projects Still Be Released on Disney+?
For the first time since 2019, Star Wars is returning to the big screen. With the release of The Mandalorian & Grogu, some may wonder if Star Wars will be pulling back from its Disney+ content, or if Disney and Lucasfilm will move Star Wars away from Disney+ altogether, especially since Shawn Levy's Starfighter movie will be released just a year later in 2027.
The short answer is no. There are still plans for Star Wars to continue being a driving force on the streaming platform. For example, in 2026, fans will get to see Ahsoka Season 2, Maul: Shadow Lord, and Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi.
It is also possible that another Tales of the... installment could be released on or around May 4 since Tales of the Underworld premiered on that day in 2025.
One interesting aspect of the upcoming Disney+ slate, though, is how few projects are on it. Beyond Ahsoka Season 2, there really aren't any other confirmed live-action Disney+ shows planned, and that is for one specific reason.
Recently, it was reported that the future of the entire MandoVerse depends on how well Ahsoka Season 2 does. At one time, the MandoVerse seemed like the most sure-fire thing in Star Wars. Everyone expected multiple seasons of The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew, but now that entire interconnected mini-universe is in jeopardy.
Star Wars will continue releasing projects on Disney+ for a long time. However, the future could look a lot dimmer if Ahsoka does not perform well in terms of viewership.
