Star Wars' next Disney+ series is right around the corner, and it will officially ignore existing canon. Unlike other major pop culture franchises like Marvel and DC, which often tell stories outside their main canon, Star Wars usually stays true to its own universe. The closest thing to an "Elseworlds" in the galaxy far, far away comes from the Legends expanded media, which was rendered non-canon when Disney acquired Lucasfilm and Star Wars. However, more recently, the studio ventured into the non-canon realm with the animated anthology series Visions, which features almost every episode telling its own narrative from different creatives and anime studios.
Disney+ and Lucasfilm dated Star Wars' next TV series, Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi, for release on Wednesday, August 5. Acting as a sequel to Visions Volume 1's "The Ninth Jedi" and Volume 3's "The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope," the series will follow in the footsteps of its anime anthology older brother in ignoring pre-existing Star Wars lore and existing in its own non-canon universe.
Visions executive producer James Waugh explained the decision to disregard Star Wars canon in July 2021. He revealed that they wanted to give the anime studios "wide creative berth to explore all the imaginative potential of the Star Wars galaxy through the unique lens of anime," and one can only imagine that same philosophy lingers into Production I.G's Ninth Jedi spin-off.
The non-canon show is landing in a 2026 Disney+ slate that is lacking a staple live-action Star Wars series to expand the MandoVerse or another era in the galaxy far, far away, following Ahsoka Season 2's delay to 2027. That said, Lucasfilm still offered two canon entries this year in the theatrical The Mandalorian & Grogu movie and the animated Maul — Shadow Lord Season 1.
With Disney+'s Ahsoka Season 2 and Ryan Gosling's Starfighter movie slated for 2027, Lucasfilm is as committed as ever to Star Wars canon. Yet, the studio seems open to telling more non-canon stories after The Ninth Jedi, as Visions Season 4 and "additional spinoffs" are reportedly in development.
But first, Lucasfilm and Production I.G will deliver The Ninth Jedi in a few weeks, which exists in the far future of its alternate Star Wars universe. The series will resume the tale of Lah Kara, a lightsaber-smith's daughter, where it left off in Volume 3; she is searching for her abducted father and evading deadly Jedi hunters, all while uniting with her Force-user friends to rebuild the Jedi Order.
The Ninth Jedi Is Abandoning Star Wars' Established Canon in 3 Major Ways
A Historic Timeline Placement
At the time of Visions Volume 3's release, Polygon declared that "The Ninth Jedi" stories take place roughly 1,000 years after The Rise of Skywalker. The furthest that Star Wars canon has ever ventured from the Skywalker Saga was through the High Republic, around 232 BBY. That distance from the Jedi's prime and other Star Wars stories will allow Production I.G to craft the galaxy far, far away as it sees fit.
The Ninth Jedi's timeline placement may be uncharted territory for Star Wars, but its narrative of rebuilding the Jedi Order at a time when the galaxy's peacekeepers have been extinct for some time is nothing new. That same premise will eventually be explored within canon if Rey's New Jedi Order movie happens, with Daisy Ridley's hero training a new generation after the sequel trilogy.
Lightsabers Get Some Changes
Vision Presents - The Ninth Jedi's first trailer brought a key revelation about how lightsabers work in Star Wars' next Disney+ series. In a major departure from established canon, lightsabers will now change color dependent on the wielder's emotions and alignment with the Force, shifting from green to red in one shot, something which has never been seen before in Star Wars.
While the rewritten lightsaber lore came from a "delightful misconception" that Supervising Director Kenji Kamiyama had as a child, the change could be justified through The Ninth Jedi's far future setting. Granted, the Visions offshoot has no need for any explanation due to its non-canon status, but regardless, it seems possible that the technology may have evolved through the centuries.
A New Kyber-Powered Weapon
The Ninth Jedi's trailer teases that the anime's evil forces are "using Kyber crystals to make a weapon" that has all the might of the Death Star and perhaps more, as it is shown decimating a planet with a beam through the stars.
Kyber crystal-powered weapons aren't new to Star Wars, as they have long fueled lightsabers and were partly used in the Death Star's planet-destroying laser, with energy from a hypermatter reactor channeled into the giant crystals. Still, The Ninth Jedi still marks a major departure from canon, introducing a non-lightsaber weapon powered solely by Kyber crystals.
