Disney+'s 2026 Star Wars plans are missing a franchise staple of the 2020s. Ever since The Mandalorian took off in 2019, Lucasfilm has made Disney+ the franchise's primary home for Star Wars, unleashing a massive run of live-action and animated series over the past six years. Now, for the first time since Disney+ launched, the 2026 slate won't include a single new live-action show, catching plenty of fans off guard and leaving even more disappointed.
Lucasfilm confirmed at Disney's 2026 Upfronts presentation that Ahsoka Season 2 has been delayed from 2026 to early 2027, even though the season wrapped filming in October 2025. That's a rough wait for fans: Rosario Dawson won't return to continue the fight against Grand Admiral Thrawn until roughly three and a half years after Season 1 premiered in August 2023, by far the longest gap between seasons of any live-action Star Wars show to date.
That doesn't mean there aren't any Star Wars TV shows this year, as Maul – Shadow Lord debuted earlier this year and the Visions spin-off The Ninth Jedi is streaming this August on Disney+ and Hulu.
Even with these complementary projects for animation fans, after building Disney+ into Star Wars' primary home for the better part of seven years, Lucasfilm is steering the franchise back toward theaters.
The Mandalorian & Grogu made that pivot official when it premiered in May, but it didn't go too well. The latest Star Wars film only grossed $340.4 million globally to date, the worst performance of the Disney era. That said, Star Wars: Starfighter is set to follow it in May 2027, with Lucasfilm hoping audiences connect more with this Ryan Gosling-led film as the true return to the cinemas.
With Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan now running Lucasfilm following Kathleen Kennedy's exit, streaming has taken a back seat to the big screen.
Right now, Ahsoka is the only live-action Star Wars series that Lucasfilm confirmed and put into production. Even Marvel Studios has slowed down its Disney+ output, but not to that degree: VisionQuest is premiering in October, Daredevil: Born Again is filming its third season, and Wonder Man was renewed for a second season, keeping fans engaged with small-screen storytelling along with huge events like Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.
For fans hoping for more live-action Star Wars shows, there's still hope, but nothing is clear yet, with a mess of rumors and reports creating a fuzzy slate.
Possible Upcoming Star Wars Shows
Carlton and Nick Cuse Live-Action Series
In April 2025, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Lost showrunner Carlton Cuse and his son Nick Cuse, whose credits include Watchmen and The Leftovers, were in early development on a live-action Star Wars series for Lucasfilm.
Plot details were kept completely under wraps then, and they still are now more than a year later, with no cast, title, or timeline attached.
That silence could mean the project was quietly shelved, or that Lucasfilm is unsure of itself and has no new system in place to greenlight it.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2
Another rumor involves Ewan McGregor's return as Obi-Wan Kenobi for another set of episodes on Disney+. In June 2025, per insider Daniel Richtman, a second season is in development at Lucasfilm, nearly three years after Season 1 wrapped in 2022.
McGregor hinted at his openness in the past, saying, "there's got to be another few stories in there" between Kenobi's Season 1 ending and Alec Guinness' A New Hope appearance.
More than a year after that report, though, Lucasfilm still hasn't confirmed anything, and Season 1 of Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn't a beloved project; many fans see it as a missed opportunity.
The Mandalorian Season 4
Then there's Din Djarin's (Pedro Pascal) future in Star Wars. Director Jon Favreau reportedly already had a fourth season of The Mandalorian written before those plans were scrapped in favor of The Mandalorian & Grogu.
With no sequel announced and Din Djarin's on-screen future unconfirmed beyond a trading card game appearance, it's not hard to imagine Lucasfilm reviving the original series rather than risking another expensive theatrical outing.
Season 4 also seems to make more sense based on two main factors: The new film didn't offer a definitive ending to either character, and the Dave Filoni crossover film appears to be dead. The latest box office results have communicated loud and clear that the MandoVerse belongs on streaming.
Star Wars Horror Series
Finally, there's the long-rumored Star Wars horror series. Andor creator Tony Gilroy confirmed in April 2025 that a horror project was "in the works" at Lucasfilm, and a later report indicated it would be a Disney+ series, though Gilroy doesn't appear to be attached.
Ideas floated for what it could look like, ranging from an adaptation of the Legends zombie novel Death Troopers to something built around Darth Vader as a horror-movie villain. Whether it would go as far as a TV-MA rating is another question.
At this point, a horror TV show could be downgraded to an animated project or upgraded to a big-budget film, especially if Darth Vader becomes the focal point.
