Disney+ finally announced when its longest-running Star Wars Disney+ series will premiere. While Lucasfilm has had more success than Marvel Studios in bringing multi-season content to Disney+, there haven't been many shows that have gotten a second go-round in the galaxy far, far away. From that exclusive club, The Mandalorian and The Bad Batch have already wrapped up after three seasons, as has Andor with two, and Ahsoka's fate beyond next year's Season 2 is unclear. However, one Star Wars Disney+ series stands tall as its longest-running by far, and its future continues to shine as bright as a lightsaber: Visions.
Visions began in September 2021 as an anthology series featuring episodes from some of Japan's best anime studios. Two years later, Season 2 expanded Visions with tales from studios around the world, like the U.K., Spain, Chile, France, India, and more, before last year's third season returned to its Japanese roots.
For many reasons, Visions has been declared one of Star Wars' best Disney+ series, in part because, unlike other shows, it is not bound by canon or existing stories and characters, instead simply focusing on using the IP in unique ways.
Next up, the chaotic corner of the Star Wars galaxy is expanding this year with Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi, a sequel/spin-off from Production I.G. The upcoming series is continuing the story that began in Volume 1's The Ninth Jedi and Volume 3's The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope as its own standalone project, which will launch a new era for Star Wars when it hits Disney+ and Hulu on August 5.
The Ninth Jedi follows Lah Kara, the daughter of a lightsaber-smith, in a time when the galaxy's protectors of peace have been gone for many years. Child of Hope concludes with "To Be Continued...", as Kara prepares to scour the galaxy for her kidnapped father with her Jedi allies, who are seeking to rebuild the order.
Lucasfilm is reportedly eager to keep Star Wars' longest-running Disney+ series going, with Visions Season 4 in development and "additional spin-offs" planned that could expand more of the best-received chapters into full shows. If the series clings to its bi-annual release schedule, despite adding the first Presents spin-off in the off-year, Season 4 could premiere as soon as next year.
Visions has already been running for five years and is showing no signs of slowing down as it expands into The Ninth Jedi spin-off and possibly more seasons. That makes it the longest Star Wars Disney+ show, with the next closest contender being The Mandalorian, which released three seasons across three and a half years, but ultimately canceled its fourth season in favor of a movie.
Unlike The Mandalorian, which often links into other Star Wars projects, Visions' influence is fairly contained due to its non-canon status. However, some of its tales have clear similarities and narrative overlap with other Star Wars projects...
Star Wars' New Movie & TV Slate Relates to 4 'Visions' Episodes
"The Smuggler" - The Mandalorian & Grogu
Season 3's "The Smuggler" delves into the galaxy far, far away's criminal underbelly, following Chita as she is hired to help an elderly Jedi and a prince escape the Empire. The trio manages to flee from the planet's cruel regime, linking up with the Rebel Base on Yavin IV.
Fans saw a very similar concept on the big screen just recently in The Mandalorian & Grogu, where Jeremy Allen White's Rotta the Hutt was held and forced to compete in a gladiator ring by an Imperial warlord. Meanwhile, in the same vein as the down-on-her-luck smuggler, Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin was hired to rescue him and eventually brings him back to the Republic.
"The Duel" - Maul: Shadow Lord Season 2
"The Duel: Payback" follows on from the initial episode seen in Season 1, seeing the Ronin create a flimsy alliance with a Twi'lek Sith Lord in order to face off against the Crusaders, a group of Jedi led by the Grand Master.
This is surprisingly similar to a Disney+ show that just aired: Maul: Shadow Lord. Not only is the show a Sith-led project like "Payback," but it also sees a Sith teaming up with a Twi'lek Force user, only this time it is Maul and Devon Izara. Unlike the Visions short, though, Shadow Lord ends with the two fully teaming up, teasing an evil alliance that could send shockwaves across the galaxy.
"BLACK" - Ahsoka Season 2
Star Wars Visions' most experimental episode thus far is certainly "BLACK," a trippy look at a Stormtrooper's final moments aboard the Death Star during the events of Return of the Jedi that would fit right alongside Pink Floyd's The Wall.
Star Wars will continue to bank on Imperial iconography in Ahsoka Season 2, which just recently caught a delay into 2027. The first season featured many remnants of the Empire, from Stormtroopers to Grand Admiral Thrawn, and Season 2 is expected to do the same when it finally arrives.
"The Ninth Jedi" - Untitled New Jedi Order Movie
The Ninth Jedi explores a post-Jedi era in the distant future, seemingly hundreds or thousands of years after the Skywalker Saga. The world may be without Jedi and Sith for the time being, but there are forces on both sides attempting to rebuild the force-wielding culture in this far-distant future.
That concept is rather reminiscent of the Rey-centric movie in the works, set after the events of Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, which has, sadly, been stuck in development hell. The untitled flick, if it happens, is expected to center on Daisy Ridley's Jedi hero attempting to rebuild the order after the sequel trilogy.
Find out how Visions Presents: The Ninth Jedi is rewriting lightsaber lore.
