After seven years, Star Wars is finally launching a new sub-brand beyond the MandoVerse on Disney+. Star Wars' next Disney+ series is officially Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi, a sequel to two episodes from Visions Volumes 1 and 3. The series marks the first offshoot of the anime anthology series, expanding the story of a lightsaber-smith's daughter searching for her father and rebuilding the Jedi Order in the far future, launched by Production I.G.
The Ninth Jedi's August 5 premiere comes in something of a lull in Star Wars' Disney+ slate due to the MandoVerse's recent absence. The multi-show story began with 2019's The Mandalorian and continued in The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew, and the theatrical Mandalorian & Grogu movie. The MandoVerse won't deliver anything new until Ahsoka Season 2 next year, three years after the last show, Skeleton Crew, highlighting the dip in its momentum.
Fortunately, Lucasfilm and Disney+ finally have a new Star Wars TV brand to deviate from the MandoVerse in Visions Presents, launching with The Ninth Jedi. Upon dropping the first trailer for the spin-off, the official Star Wars site announced the series as "part of an all-new Star Wars: Visions Presents banner, which will be used to tell longer-form Star Wars: Visions stories."
The Star Wars franchise is no stranger to interconnected, multi-project sub-brands, namely through The High Republic. However, the three-phase initiative was limited to publishing in books and comics, while Disney+ stories like The Acolyte and Young Jedi Adventures stood largely separate from that larger plan.
Other than the projects that make up the MandoVerse and now Visions Presents, Star Wars' Disney+ series like Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Maul: Shadow Lord, The Bad Batch, and The Acolyte are standalone and not under any overarching label.
Daniel Richtman reported in February that, on top of "additional spinoffs" to the anime series, Lucasfilm is cooking up Visions Season 4. That would indicate that, despite expanding the Star Wars sub-brand with Visions Presents, Lucasfilm remains committed to the anthology format and more one-off tales.
Unlike the MandoVerse that tells an interconnected narrative in a previously unexplored period of Star Wars lore between the original and sequel trilogies, Visions is non-canon, and each episode is almost always standalone.
Find out Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi's unexpected MandoVerse connection.
Before The Ninth Jedi became the first entry under Disney+'s Visions Presents label, the original episode got a sequel in Season 3. Two other Season 1 stories also got that treatment: Kinema Citrus' "The Village Bride" (through "The Lost Ones) and Kamikaze Douga's "The Duel" (via "The Duel: Payback").
Looking at the options, Visions Presents - The Duel is the logical choice for the next Disney+ anime spin-off. The two-part tale blends traditional Japanese samurai stories with the Star Wars galaxy, exploring a former Sith-turned-wanderer, Ronin, embracing both the light and dark sides of the Force while protecting the innocent.
For now, the anime Visions Presents will exit alongside the live-action MandoVerse as Star Wars' two Disney+ TV brands, but many are convinced that Lucasfilm is planning to wrap up the initiative that began with The Mandalorian...
How The MandoVerse Will End Under Lucasfilm's New Regime
Next year's Ahsoka Season 2 is the only project on the docket for the MandoVerse after The Mandalorian & Grogu landed in theaters in May. The streaming performance of the Jedi-centric sophomore season, along with that of the theatrical disappointment, is bound to determine the fate of the multi-project narrative.
As The Mandalorian & Grogu grossed just $340 million to become the lowest-grossing Star Wars flick ever, it's unlikely that Dave Filoni's MandoVerse crossover movie will move forward in its current theatrical form. However, Lucasfilm could reportedly pivot the Heir to the Empire event into a limited series.
Now that Grand Admiral Thrawn has returned from Peridea to the main Star Wars galaxy after Ahsoka Season 1, the MandoVerse doesn't have much more narrative to unfold before the fight with the Imperial remnants comes to a head. The second season could act as a direct prequel and lead-in to that much-anticipated event.
Of course, Filoni has a lot on his plate right now, thanks to his new role as Lucasfilm President, but it's easy to imagine him taking on Heir to the Empire as his next directorial venture after Ahsoka Season 2. Unfortunately, unless the studio is cooking up another project in secret, that may be the end of the MandoVerse.
That said, if Ahsoka Season 2 becomes a massive hit when it premieres in early 2027, there is still a chance that Season 3 or other MandoVerse projects could receive a greenlight, especially as the power to make such calls now lies with Filoni, who has been a central architect of the connected narrative from Day 1.
Between Visions Presents and Maul: Shadow Lord, most of Star Wars' upcoming TV slate is currently leaning into animation, perhaps, in part, to save money. Still, even after Ahsoka Season 2, Star Wars' return to live-action TV is as inevitable as Thanos, and the Old Republic is the perfect vehicle to carry the franchise forward.
