Star Wars has found its next Luke Skywalker, kind of, and once again, that role belongs to a woman. Disney (on a much bigger scale) tried this before, setting up Daisy Ridley's Rey as the Sequel Trilogy's answer to Luke, a comparison that left much of the fanbase divided after The Rise of Skywalker. Now, years later, a new face is being compared directly to Mark Hamill's iconic young Jedi, this time headlining a far lower-risk Disney+ series coming soon.
That new face belongs to Lah Kara (voiced by Kimiko Glenn), the hero of Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi, an eight-episode series spinning off from the two related Visions shorts from 2021 and 2025.
Set in an era long after the Jedi and Sith have faded into legend, the story follows Kara as she trains under the mysterious Margrave Juro while trying to rescue her father, Lah Zhima (voiced by the MCU's Simu Liu), the galaxy's only known sabersmith, after Jedi Hunters capture him.
The Ninth Jedi is set to premiere August 5 on Disney+ and, notably, Hulu simultaneously, which would make it the first Star Wars series to launch day-one on both platforms.
The Luke Skywalker comparisons come straight from the filmmakers themselves. In an official Star Wars interview ahead of Anime Expo, director Shunsuke Tada laid out the parallel, highlighting that both "gradually" grow:
"Luke was also an unknown boy and not talented in the beginning, [and] he gradually becomes a true Jedi. We tried not to make Kara look like a Master from the beginning, but she's gradually growing."
Tada also flagged a difference in motivation: unlike Luke, who often sought approval from others like Obi-Wan, Han, or even his father Darth Vader, Kara wants to "win over herself and grow as a person:"
"In the original story of 'The Ninth Jedi,' Kara’s not trying to win over her father or somebody else. She’s trying to win over herself and grow as a person."
Supervising director Kenji Kamiyama added to how Kara is also very much her own person, highlighting her "natural talent" and teasing that her connection with "the Force is becoming stronger:"
"I feel like she's a very modern character. She already has a kind of natural talent in her. She doesn't know at the beginning, but she's naturally trained by Jedi. When she was chased by Jedi Hunters, the Jedi Hunters also saw something [in her] even though she didn't know. And [her connection with] the Force is becoming stronger, although she doesn't know how to use it."
Similar to Luke, Kara has the strength to be a powerful Jedi inside her; it just needs to be awakened.
While the new anime series will pay homage to George Lucas' original characters, it's also quietly rewriting a longstanding piece of lightsaber lore: blade color now shifts in real time based on a wielder's alignment with the Force, an idea Kamiyama says grew out of a "delightful misconception" after he assumed lightsabers automatically changed color.
On the villain side, Kara will face the masked General Nawaam, a new threat Kamiyama said draws loose inspiration from Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader.
Worth noting: The Ninth Jedi sits outside mainline Star Wars canon, so this won't rewrite Luke's story so much as be directly inspired by it. That said, Kara will be taking up the mantle of leading her own Star Wars story, followed by the rest of the upcoming characters.
Upcoming Lead Star Wars Characters
Maul
Sam Witwer's Darth Maul just led one of the best-reviewed seasons of TV in Star Wars animation history: Shadow Lord's 10-episode first run was instantly loved by fans, with the vast majority of viewers hoping for more episodes.
Luckily, Season 2 is already confirmed and will follow Maul as he rebuilds his criminal empire on the planet Janix this time with a surprising new apprentice in tow.
Devon
Gideon Adlon's Devon Izara spent Season 1 as a Jedi apprentice on the run after Order 66, only to ultimately shift towards the dark side and join Maul in the finale after Darth Vader kills Master Daki.
Per Adlon, the bond isn't romantic or even loyal so much as necessary. Maul is simply "the safest option" left after her master's death.
Many fans expect (or hope) her arc to eventually lead to the character Darth Talon, a Twi'lek Sith from the pre-Disney (non-canon) Star Wars: Legacy comic series in the 2000s.
Ryan Gosling's Character
Coming off his greatest box office achievement with the project Hail Mary, Ryan Gosling leads Star Wars: Starfighter, Shawn Levy's standalone film set roughly five years after The Rise of Skywalker.
His character is rumored to be the uncle of Flynn Gray's young co-star, and footage has already been privately screened for theater owners at CineEurope, getting exhibitors excited for what Star Wars has to offer in 2027 on the big screen.
Gosling's character is expected to be a retired pilot, but also may be Force-sensitive, so there's a lot to be excited about in Star Wars' second theatrical release of the 2020s.
Flynn Gray's Character
Newcomer Flynn Gray plays a mysterious boy (most likely Force-sensitive) under Gosling's protection in Starfighter.
A recent report suggested that Gosling's character is assigned to deliver him to a lush, green Jedi training world called Adaria, a detail that could tie the film to Rey's efforts to rebuild the Jedi Order.
Ahsoka
Rosario Dawson's Ahsoka Tano returns for Season 2, premiering in early 2027 alongside five other Jedi-connected characters: Sabine Wren, Ezra Bridger, a Force-ghost Anakin Skywalker, Baylan Skoll (recast with Rory McCann), and Shin Hati.
The new season picks up with Ahsoka and Sabine stranded on Peridea as Grand Admiral Thrawn plots his new takeover of the main galaxy. Because of the large gap between seasons, Star Wars fans are engaged, but excitement isn't currently at an all-time high.
Rey
Daisy Ridley's return as Rey in the still-untitled New Jedi Order film remains stuck in development, despite being initially announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023.
Former writer on the project Damon Lindelof recently detailed his scrapped pitch built around tension between the "Force of nostalgia" and the "Force of revision" following his 2023 firing. More writers have cycled through since; George Nolfi is now attached, but there's still no production or release date announced.
Lando
It wasn't exactly yesterday, but Donald Glover reportedly turned in a script to reprise a younger Lando Calrissian from Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Originally pitched as a Disney+ series before shifting to film, the project's status was summed up by outgoing Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy as "somewhat still alive," leaving its fate in the hands of new leadership, Dave Filoni as President and Chief Creative Officer alongside executive Lynwen Brennan.
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