Introduction

The Star Wars franchise has spawned multiple films and television series.

Two animated series were released in the mid-1980′ and further animated series began to be released in the 2000’s, the first two of which focused on the Clone Wars.

After Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, only the latter was kept in the canon of continuity of the episodic Star Wars films. Two additional half-hour animated series were ordered, one of which ties into the original trilogy, the other the sequel trilogy.

At least four original Star Wars series will be released on Disney+. The first live-action series in the franchise, The Mandalorian, premiered in November 2019. A live-action series will focus on Rogue One‘s Cassian Andor and another on Obi-Wan Kenobi. Additionally, a female-centric series is reportedly in development under Leslye Headland.

Outline

Star Wars: Droids and Ewoks (1985-1987) (Animated Series)

Nelvana, the animation studio that produced the animated segment of the Holiday Special, was hired to create two animated series which aired together on ABC:

• Star Wars: Droids (1985-1986) follows the adventures of C-3PO and R2-D2; and
• Its sister series Star Wars: Ewoks (1985-1987) features Wicket and other members of the titular species from Return of the Jedi (1983), both set before the events of the original trilogy.

One reviewer calls Droids “rudimentary” and Ewoks “unremarkable”, but writes that both “marked the first major effort to expand the Star Wars ‘brand’ beyond its original live-action film existence.”

Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003-2005) (Animated Micro-Series)

After the release of Attack of the Clones (2002), Cartoon Network produced and aired the micro-series Clone Wars from 2003 to weeks before the 2005 release of Revenge of the Sith (2005), as the series featured events set between those films. It won the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Programme in 2004 and 2005.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-2020) (Animated Series)

George Lucas created his own animation company, Lucasfilm Animation, and used it to produce his first in-house Star Wars CGI-animated series, using Cartoon Network’s 2003 Clone Wars micro-series as a “pilot”. The Clone Wars (2008-2014) was introduced through a 2008 animated film of the same name. The series is set between Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005) of the prequel trilogy. It focuses mainly on the Jedi characters of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as Anakin’s Padawan apprentice, Ahsoka Tano (an original character created by Lucas for the series), with other characters from the live-action films in supporting roles. The series marked the beginning of Dave Filoni’s involvement in Star Wars animation projects.

After Disney’s acquisition of the Star Wars franchise, The Clone Wars was cancelled in 2014 before its intended final episodes were completed. The remaining unaired episodes were released on Netflix as “The Lost Missions”. The chronological storyline order was released after the series had initially finished airing. The film and series were included in the canon established in 2014. The show was later revived for an additional final season that premiered on 21 February 2020, on the streaming service Disney+.

Star Wars: Rebels (2014-2018) (Animated Series)

In 2014, Disney XD began airing Star Wars Rebels, the first CGI-animated series produced following the Disney acquisition. It follows a band of rebels as they fight the Galactic Empire in the years leading up to A New Hope (1977). It closed some of the arcs introduced in The Clone Wars. Due to the film Rogue One (2016) being produced at the same time, the film and the series acknowledged each other. The series also included a canonical version of Grand Admiral Thrawn from the Legends Thrawn trilogy.

Star Wars: Blips (2017) (Animated Micro-series)

Star Wars Blips is an animated micro-series created to promote The Last Jedi (2017). It features droids such as BB-8 and R2-D2, in addition to porgs.

Star Wars: Forces of Destiny (2017-2018) (Animated Micro-series)

The animated micro-series Star Wars Forces of Destiny debuted in 2017; it focuses on the female characters of the franchise and is set in various eras.

Star Wars: Resistance (2018-2020) (Animated Series)

The animated series Star Wars Resistance debuted in late 2018, shifting the animation style towards anime-inspired cel-shading visuals, and focuses on a young Resistance pilot Kazuda Xiono before and during The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017), leading up to The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Sequel trilogy characters such as Captain Phasma, General Hux, and Kylo Ren appear. The second and final season premiered on 06 October 2019.

Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventures (2018 to Present) (Animated Micro-series)

Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures debuted on the “Star Wars Kids” YouTube channel and website in late 2018. Using stylised animation, the series of shorts re-imagine key scenes from the saga, initially leading up the release of Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019). The shorts feature audio from the original films (with narration by Dante Basco) and are animated by Titmouse, Inc.

Star Wars: Roll Out (2019 to Present) (Animated Micro-series)

Star Wars Roll Out debuted on the Star Wars Kids YouTube channel and website in August 2019. The shorts depict the main characters from the franchise as ball-shaped, similar to BB-8, and utilise a kid-friendly cutout animation style.

The Mandalorian (2019 to Present) (Live-action Series)

In March 2018, Jon Favreau was hired to write and produce a live-action Star Wars series for Disney+. The series follows “a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic” a few years after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983). In August 2018, it was reported that the series would cost about “$100 million for 10 episodes.” Pedro Pascal stars as the titular character, and is joined by supporting actors Gina Carano, Nick Nolte, Giancarlo Esposito, Emily Swallow, Carl Weathers, Omid Abtahi, and Werner Herzog. The series premiered on 12 November 2019, with the launch of Disney+ and was renewed for a second season ahead of its premiere. Has been renewed for a third season.

Spawned three spin-offs:

• Star Wars: Ashoka.
• Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic.
• The Book of Boba Fett.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021) (Animated Series)

Set after the events of season seven of The Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Bad Batch follows the titular squadron (Clone Force 99) making their way through the galaxy shortly after Order 66 and the rise of the Galactic Empire. Expected to take place just after the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) and is a spin-off of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (animated series).

The series was announced in July 2020, to debut on Disney+ in 2021. Dave Filoni, Athena Portillo, Brad Rau, and Jennifer Corbett serve as executive producers, with Carrie Beck as co-executive producer and Josh Rimes as producer. Rau also serves as supervising director with Corbett the head writer.

The first season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch premiered on 04 May 2021, and ran for 16 episodes until 13 August.

Future Projects/In Development

Star Wars: The Acolyte (Live-action Series)

Set two hundred years before Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) in the era of the High Republic. Will be further explored in books, comics, and video games.

Star Wars: Andor Series (?2021) (Live-action Series)

The series follows Rebel spy Cassian Andor, 5 years before the events of Rogue One (2016), during the formative years of the Rebellion.

In November 2018, a prequel series to the 2016 film Rogue One centred on Cassian Andor was confirmed to be in development, and described as a “rousing spy thriller”. Diego Luna will reprise his role for the series. Stephen Schiff was hired to serve as showrunner and executive producer of the series, which was developed by Jared Bush, who wrote a series bible and a draft of the pilot episode. In April 2019, Alan Tudyk was confirmed to be reprising his role of K-2SO. In April 2020, Tony Gilroy, who worked on the re-shoots of Rogue One, replaced Schiff as showrunner. Gilroy will also write and direct the pilot, and direct other episodes as well. It was also revealed during that month that Stellan Skarsgård, Kyle Soller, Denise Gough had joined the cast in undisclosed roles, along with Genevieve O’Reilly reprising her role of Mon Mothma from Rogue One. The series does not have an expected filming start date. The series is expected to debut within the second year of the streaming service.

Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi Series (?2022) (Live-action Series)

In August 2019, it was reported that a streaming series focused on Obi-Wan Kenobi was in development, with Ewan McGregor in talks to reprise his role from the prequel trilogy. The series was initially thought to have been developing as a standalone film, which was ultimately scrapped due to Solo (2018) bombing at the box office. During the 2019 D23 Expo, Lucasfilm officially announced that the series was in development, with McGregor confirmed to reprise his role as the titular character. It will take place eight years after Revenge of the Sith (2005) and prior to the events of A New Hope (1977), thus exploring the time during Kenobi’s exile on Tatooine. In September 2019, Deborah Chow and Hossein Amini were announced as the series’ director and writer, respectively, who will also serve as executive producers alongside McGregor. According to Amini, filming for the series was set to begin around July 2020, but after he departed from the series, it was reported in January 2020, that production had been pushed to January 2021. In April 2020, it was announced that Joby Harold would officially be taking over writing duties from Amini.

Both Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen will be reprising their roles as Obi-wan Kenobi and Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker respectively.

Star Wars: Lando (Live-action Series)

May star the young Lando (Danny Glover of Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) fame) or the original Lando (Billy Dee Williams), or both!

Untitled female-centric Series (TBA) (Live-action Series)

In April 2020, Variety reported that a female-centric live-action Star Wars series is in development for Disney+ with Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland serving as a writer and showrunner. According to Variety’s sources, it “takes place in a different part of the ‘Star Wars’ timeline than other projects.”

See Ashoka next.

Star Wars: Ashoka (Live-action Series)

Rosario Dawson reprises her role as Ashoka from the TV series The Mandalorian.

The plot reportedly revolves around her hunt for the Empire’s Grand Admiral Thrawn and the rescue of Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridges (Star Wars: Rebels (2014-2018)).

Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic (Live-action Series)

Set in the same timeline as The Mandalorian and Stars Wars: Ahsoka, it follows former rebels as they attempt to restore order to the galaxy after defeating The Empire in Star Wars Episode IV: Return of the Jedi (1983).

The Book of Boba Fett (Live-action Series)

Stars Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett and Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand.

Expected to air in December 2021.

Abandoned Projects

Star Wars: Underworld

In 2005, plans for a live-action television series set between the prequel and original trilogies were announced at Star Wars Celebration. In 2007, Lucas described the project as “one show that will split into four shows, focusing on different characters.” It entered development in early 2009. The series was described as “gritty and dark” and was expected to feature characters such as Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, Boba Fett, C-3PO, and Emperor Palpatine. Lucas described the series as “more talky. It’s more of what I would call a soap opera with a bunch of personal dramas in it. It’s not really based on action-adventure films from the ’30s—it’s actually more based on film noir movies from the ’40s!” Producer Rick McCallum revealed the working title, Star Wars: Underworld, in 2012, and that it would focus on criminal and political power struggles in the “period when the Empire is trying to take things over.”

Over 100 42-minute episodes were planned, with 50 scripts written. These were mostly second drafts, but due to their complex content, were too expensive to produce. Ronald D. Moore was one of the writers, and extensive artwork including character, costume, and set designs were developed at Skywalker Ranch under the close supervision of Lucas and McCallum. The project was still being considered after Lucasfilm was sold to Disney, including by ABC, with stories being reviewed as of December 2015. According to Kathleen Kennedy,

That’s an area we’ve spent a lot of time, reading through the material that he developed is something we very much would like to explore. … So our attitude is, we don’t want to throw any of that stuff away. It’s gold. And it’s something we’re spending a lot of time looking at, pouring through, discussing, and we may very well develop those things further. We definitely want to.

The plot of the anthology film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) was originally pitched as an episode of the series. The story of Han winning the Millennium Falcon from Lando was planned to be featured and later developed as Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) . In early 2020, Stargate Studios shared test footage made to promote the series to networks, as well as a Google Doc listing production details for the series.

Star Wars Detours

Star Wars Detours is an unaired animated parody series from the creators of Robot Chicken, which was postponed in 2013 and ultimately unaired. Production began in 2012 prior to the Disney acquisition, with 39 episodes completed and 62 additional scripts finished.

Star War TV Series

• Star Wars: Droids (1985-1986).
• Star Wars: Ewoks (1985-1986).
• Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003-2005).
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-2020).
• Star Wars: Rebels (2014-2017).
• Star Wars: Blips (2017).
• Star Wars: Forces of Destiny (2017-2018).
• Star Wars: Resistance (2018-2019).
• Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventures (2018-2020).
• Star Wars: Roll Out (2019).
• The Mandalorian (2019-Present).
• Untitled Cassian Andor Series (?2021).
• Untitled Obi-Wan Kenobi Series (?2022).
• Untitled female-centric Series (TBA).
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch (?2021).

Star Wars Series

• Overview of the Star Wars Franchise.
• Overview of Star Wars Films.
• Overview of Star Wars Parodies.
• Overview of Star Wars TV Series.
• Overview of Star Wars Documentary Series.
• Overview of LEGO Star Wars.

Production & Filming Details

• Creator(s): George Lucas.
• Release Date: 1977 to Present.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

Video Link