Get hyped about all of the new Star Wars-related series coming out on Disney+. That’s what Vanity Fair’s June cover is all about! Disney has already dealt with some hard truths about their need to milk the Star Wars universe in every way, shape and form. They hit pause on many of their films after Solo bombed (relatively speaking) and everything was a shambolic mess behind-the-scenes. But Disney found their groove with the Lucas properties by moving so much over to their streaming, and focusing on episodic storytelling. The Mandalorian is a huge hit. The Book of Boba Fett got less energy, but it was still considered a success. Obi Wan Kenobi is about to launch. And VF’s cover story talks about what else Disney has in the pipeline:
The streaming success: Now, with 130 million subscribers waiting, Disney has upped its demands to three separate Star Wars shows within a year. For this story, Lucasfilm has lifted the secrecy surrounding its TV universe and how it formed, as universes do, under immense pressure.
The Kenobi series: First up is Ewan McGregor’s return to his role as a weary Jedi master in exile. Obi-Wan Kenobi debuts May 27, tracking the character 10 years into his time on the desert world of Tatooine, where he serves as a distant guardian to young Luke Skywalker and is hunted by a dark side “Inquisitor” named Reva (played by The Queen’s Gambit’s Moses Ingram).
The Andor series & Ahsoka series: Diego Luna’s spy saga, Andor, hits screens late this summer. Season three of The Mandalorian, reuniting Pedro Pascal’s helmeted gunfighter with his little green ward (you know who), drops in late 2022 or early 2023. Next year, Rosario Dawson will lead the series Ahsoka, playing the live-action version of a fan-favorite Force wielder from animation who was once an apprentice to Anakin Skywalker. Slightly further off is The Acolyte, with a tale set about a century before the era of the Skywalkers.
Ewan McGregor on how Star Wars has taken over his life: “My partner, Mary, is doing that Star Wars series with Rosario and she’s about to start,” he says. Lucasfilm hadn’t previously confirmed rumors that Mary Elizabeth Winstead will be in Ahsoka, but…now they don’t have to. “Our little boy has been born into this massive Star Wars family,” says McGregor, whose son with Winstead was born last summer. “He will either embrace it or really go the other way. I don’t know. Maybe he’ll be a Trekkie!”
Diego Luna on Andor: When Luna was recruited for Andor, the actor remembers looking out the car window at the rooftops of the adjacent buildings, visualizing the tale about resistance-minded spies and near-death escapes. He was especially glad that Gilroy’s proposal included details that resonated personally. Luna describes Andor as a refugee story, with desperate people fleeing the Empire at the full force of its power. “It’s the journey of a migrant,” he says. “That feeling of having to move is behind this story, very profoundly and very strong. That shapes you as a person. It defines you in many ways, and what you are willing to do.”
I like the emphasis (within the VF piece) on Diego Luna coming back to tell the backstory of his Rogue One character. Spoiler: Cassian Andor sacrificed himself at the end of Rogue One. But he was a fan favorite, and people loved seeing a Mexican actor within the Star Wars universe. It sounds like his story will not just be the migrant’s story, but a full-on spy caper too, and a story of political power and how it affects migrants. Anyway, Disney is putting a lot of money into these series, but I’m actually really glad that they’ve shifted priorities away from films and into episodic television. It feels like creators are given much more time and space to tell the Star Wars stories they want to tell.
Cover & IG courtesy of Vanity Fair.
Loving that we have three Latinos leading the Star Wars universe right now!
my love for Star Wars… check
pride in my community… check
I may actually buy a magazine for the first time in a very (very!) long time. Great picture.
I think Andor is one of the better ideas I’ve heard for a Star Wars series (political spy thriller in a galaxy at war? Yes please). And my beloved Mandalorian, can’t wait to see where that goes.
I think Solo would have been so much better as a series than it was a movie – it would have had a clear end point, so it would have made sense for one season or something, and they could have gone more into his character and his relationship with Lando etc.
I am a big Star Wars fan but the series are hit or miss for me. I liked the Mandalorian but Boba Fett didn’t click for me (although my husband LOVED that one). I do think the series gives more time to tell the story and the writers/creators/producers have more room creatively. All these new ones coming up sound pretty interesting to me.
Huge Star Wars fan here. I’ve been in the Star Wars Galaxy most my life. My first movie memory is from a Star Wars movie. My mother passed her love of Star Wars to all her children and grandchildren.
I have to agree with you about The Book of Boba Fett. I didn’t like it. It was such a weak show -SPOILER-they had what seemed like the season 3 premiere of The Mandalorian in the middle of the series.
For me it was trying to make him into a hero. It’s Boba Fett. He’s a rogue. I know his time with the Tuscan Raiders supposedly changed him. But changes him into a good gangster! Cmon!
I’m a huge fan too! the original trilogy is probably my favorite set of movies ever. And I know what you mean about the season premiere of Mandalorian. It just felt like Disney wanted to remind us that even if we weren’t enjoying Boba Fett, Mandalorian was coming back out? IDK.
That switch to The Mandalorian was such a tonal shift from Boba Fett. It made you realize how weak Boba Fett was as a series. To me it seemed like there wasn’t enough story to Boba Fett to complete a six episode series so they just added in The Mandalorian.
My husband loved Boba Fett too. But I think it was really just the Rancor he loved.
I totally agree about Solo, I enjoyed the film but seeing what they’ve done with the series shows what it might have been and it definitely felt like it stopped mid story.
Loved The Mandalorian but not managed two episodes of Boba. I nearly held on for a sight of The Mandalorian but just never went back for it.
I’ve been telling every one that if the Boba Fett show didn’t work for you just skip to and watch Episodes 5,6 and 7. Fett is not in 5, shows up for two seconds in 6, and 7 is lots of fun. It’s like a Mandalorian miniseries and really you can follow just fine without seeing the rest. Weird…but super enjoyable.
More Pedro Pascal. Boba Fett was a disaster and the only good part was The Mandalorian 2.5. Did it belong there? Hell, no. But it saved the series. Boba Fett had no story.
The original Star Wars trilogy is a staple of my childhood so I am, and will always be, a SW super fan. The prequel & sequel trilogies may have paled in comparison but I still love them (the sequels more so), and I faithfully watched The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. I can’t wait for this new crop of series, especially Kenobi! I may be 47 years old but once a SW Geek, always a SW Geek 🙂
I feel so out of place…..I have not watched all of the Star Wars movies, though I have loved the originals, but I can’t get behind another bloody streaming platform! So many of those that already have channels on cable, but want more influx of cash.
If you want to watch the entire Skywalker saga, it’s on TNT. They air all the movies all the time. Now the Star Wars Tv shows are exclusive to Disney+. As of now, none of the Disney+ shows are available for purchase. No physical or digital copies. If you see any on eBay or some marketplace those are bootleg copies.
Disney+ is pretty lax with password sharing. Ask a friend or a relative to share. The Mandalorian is a great show. And the Obi Wan series starts next week!
I’m overwhelmingly excited for the Kenobi series. It’s part of the timeline I’ve always wanted to know more about, and Ewan is the perfect age now to do it! So exciting.
I’m in the minority though — while I love Mando and Grogu, I widely think The Mandalorian is made of filler episodes and wish they focused more on the overarching plot than a “monster of the week” format. Book of Boba Fett, however, I really enjoyed, particularly learning more about the Tuskens. I think those episodes forever changed how I view the way characters speak about them in the main saga. Really valuable addition to the story for me.
We are watching all the movies in story order with my 8 year old who hadn’t seen any until now. We just got to Empire Strikes Back and holy Harrison Ford is sexy. I agree the original trilogy still holds up as the best of the bunch.
I’m over Ewan McGregor – cheater
I look forward to these series – I agree with others who say Fett was a disaster. It didn’t live up to its promise (and it has/had a LOT of promise) – after the 3rd or so episode it suddenly switched from an interesting back story about about a beloved character to individual stories about other characters and the wider universe.
Its clear that that Star Wars is more than the Skywalkers and Solo’s, as much as we love them