With Star Wars: Visions' upcoming season just around the corner, should fans consider these new Disney+ episodes to be canon?
Besides its original anime concepts, one of the unique elements for Visions is how, despite being developed under Disney, the show's first season was non-canon.
While some stories considered the franchise's timelines and established characters, such as 'Tatooine Rhapsody's use of Boba Fett and Jabba the Hutt, they still remained noncanonical fun.
While season 2 will expand outside of using just the anime animation style, the structure of the stories looks to remain similar to what its debut installments brought to audiences.
But how will it all be considered in the franchise's timeline?
Will Star Wars Visions Remain Non-Canon?
In an interview with SFX Magazine, Star Wars: Visions executive producer James Waugh talked about the canon status of the show's second season.
Waugh admitted that "some of the stories could easily fit within a canonical perspective:"
“Some of the stories could easily fit within a canonical perspective... and if you think that story takes place within your head canon, great! Even then, we weren’t looking for expanded tales about known characters. What’s interesting about Visions is the opportunity to use the texture and richness of the galaxy to create new stories and new characters that are very clearly influenced by the elements of a galaxy.”
The producer went on to tease how UK studio Aardman's episode includes "a very special guest star" as well as a "[ton] of Easter eggs throughout:"
“I will say Aardman has a very special guest star, a known character from Star Wars, and there are tons of Easter eggs throughout that are instantly recognisable, and characters we’ve known throughout the trilogies and the shows.”
Previous footage shown at Star Wars Celebration revealed that this teased appearance is none other than Wedge Antilles.
Back in 2021, while speaking with Digital Spy, Waugh was much vaguer on the canonical status of the series.
Despite Disney previously stating that Visions would be noncanonical, Waugh skirted the question, firmly saying how he thinks "these shorts are all authentic Star Wars storytelling:"
“I think these shorts are all authentic Star Wars storytelling... But some are less on the timeline than others. Some could very much fit within our timeline. But 'Visions', as a whole, is more of a celebration of Star Wars through this unique perspective, this unique form, this medium, and culture. And that was really the intention.”
He called out episodes like "Tatooine Rhapsody" or "The Elder" as being stories that could "easily fit within certain canonical points:"
“Some stories like ‘Tatooine Rhapsody’ or ‘The Elder’ can very easily fit within certain canonical points... But that’s not really the point of the initiative. We needed this to be something different, and we needed it to be really from the hearts of all these creators, not to try and answer questions in Star Wars. Instead, you have Star Wars as an amazing palette to tell stories through.”
Season 2 of Visions Will Continue the Fun
Canon or not, the next set of episodes is already bowling away critics, so fans of the series should feel safe getting excited for what the project will give audiences.
When it comes to Star Wars, canonicity is always a big subject of debate. The biggest shift in this landscape was when Disney first purchased the franchise from George Lucas, which led to decades of official canon being scraped and chalked up as alternate 'Legends' stories.
After that, new canon was established, which is still going strong today.
But, Disney does have fun here and there, slowly bringing elements from Legends back into the core canon. This includes things like the fan-favorite Sith lord Darth Revan or even more minor things like including the existence of planets such as Balfron or Jonsior.
As for Visions, the creators probably really enjoyed the freedom that not worrying about canon gave them.
Working within the confines of years and years of established events and characters can be frustrating. Just ask Rogue One and Andor's Tony Gilroy, who previously expressed how the IP contains "four or five levels of canon, " all of which he navigated while bringing his stories to life.
Canon or not, one thing seems clear: Visions Season 2 will be a blast.
Star Wars Visions hits Disney+ on May 4, 2023/.
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