List of Star Wars television 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: Droids (1985–1986) follows the adventures of C-3PO and R2-D2, and its sister series Ewoks (1985–1987) features Wicket and other members of the titular species from Return of the Jedi, both set before the events of the original trilogy.[3][4] 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."[5]

Dave Filoni served as supervising director for both The Clone Wars and the 1, 2 and 4 seasons of Rebels, before being promoted to oversee the development of all future Lucasfilm Animation projects in 2016.[6]

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".[7] The Clone Wars (2008–2014) was introduced through a 2008 animated film of the same name.[8] The series is set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith of the prequel trilogy.[9] 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.[10] The film and series were included in the canon established in 2014.[11][12] The show was later revived for an additional final season that premiered on February 21, 2020, on the streaming service Disney+.[13][14]

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.[9] It closed some of the arcs introduced in The Clone Wars.[15][16][17] Due to the film Rogue One being produced at the same time, the film and the series acknowledged each other.[18][19] The series also included a canonical version of Grand Admiral Thrawn from the Legends Thrawn trilogy.[20]

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 and The Last Jedi, leading up to The Rise of Skywalker.[21][22] Sequel trilogy characters such as Captain Phasma, General Hux, and Kylo Ren appear. The second and final season premiered on October 6, 2019.[23]

After the release of Attack of the Clones, Cartoon Network produced and aired the micro-series Clone Wars from 2003 to weeks before the 2005 release of Revenge of the Sith, as the series featured events set between those films.[29][30] It won the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program in 2004 and 2005.[31][32]

Star Wars Blips is an animated micro-series created to promote The Last Jedi. It features droids such as BB-8 and R2-D2, in addition to porgs.[33]

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.[34]

Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures debuted on the "Star Wars Kids" YouTube channel and website in late 2018. Using stylized animation, the series of shorts reimagine key scenes from the saga,[35] initially leading up the release of Episode IX.[36][37] The shorts feature audio from the original films (with narration by Dante Basco) and are animated by Titmouse, Inc.[36][38]

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 utilize a kid-friendly cutout animation style.[28] io9 calls the design of the series "adorable".[39]

In March 2018, Jon Favreau was hired to write and produce a live-action Star Wars series for Disney+.[49] The series follows "a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic"[50] a few years after the events of Return of the Jedi.[51] In August 2018, it was reported that the series would cost about "$100 million for 10 episodes."[52] Pedro Pascal stars as the titular character,[53] and is joined by supporting actors Gina Carano, Nick Nolte, Giancarlo Esposito, Emily Swallow, Carl Weathers, Omid Abtahi, and Werner Herzog.[54] The series premiered on November 12, 2019, with the launch of Disney+[55] and was renewed for a second season ahead of its premiere.[56]

The series follows Rebel spy Cassian Andor, 5 years before the events of Rogue One, during the formative years of the Rebellion.[57][58]

In November 2018, a prequel series to the 2016 film Rogue One centered 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.[57] 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.[59] In April 2019, Alan Tudyk was confirmed to be reprising his role of K-2SO.[60] In April 2020, Tony Gilroy, who worked on the reshoots of Rogue One, replaced Schiff as showrunner. Gilroy will also write and direct the pilot, and direct other episodes as well.[44] 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.[58][61] The series does not have an expected filming start date.[44] The series is expected to debut within the second year of the streaming service.[55]

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 bombing at the box office.[62] 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.[63] It will take place eight years after Revenge of the Sith and prior to the events of A New Hope, thus exploring the time during Kenobi's exile on Tatooine.[64] 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.[65] According to Amini, filming for the series was set to begin around July 2020,[66] but after he departed from the series, it was reported in January 2020, that production had been pushed to January 2021.[67] In April 2020, it was announced that Joby Harold would officially be taking over writing duties from Amini.[68]

In April 2020, Disney and Lucasfilm announced 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 on the series, which takes place in a different part of the timeline than other projects.[48]

Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge is a web-based children's game show developed by Lucasfilm. First announced in December 2019,[69][70] the series debuted on the Star Wars Kids website and YouTube channel on June 10, 2020.[71] The series features young contestants competing as Jedi Padawans in a series of obstacle courses and knowledge tests in the attempt to gain the rank of Jedi Knight. The show is hosted by Ahmed Best, who plays the character of Kelleran Beq, the Jedi Master mentor of the contestants who is joined by his droid companions, AD-3 (voiced by Mary Holland) and LX-R5. Sam Witwer provides the voice of an unknown character of the Dark Side of the Force during the final challenge of each episode.

In 2005, plans for a live-action television series set between the prequel and original trilogies were announced at Star Wars Celebration.[108] In 2007, Lucas described the project as "one show that will split into four shows, focusing on different characters."[109] It entered development in early 2009.[110] The series was described as "gritty and dark" and was expected to feature characters such as Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian,[111] Boba Fett,[112] 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!"[113] Producer Rick McCallum revealed the working title, Star Wars: Underworld, in 2012,[114] and that it would focus on criminal and political power struggles in the "period when the Empire is trying to take things over."[115]

Over 100 42-minute episodes were planned,[109] with 50 scripts written.[116] These were mostly second drafts, but due to their complex content, were too expensive to produce.[110] 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.[117] The project was still being considered after Lucasfilm was sold to Disney, including by ABC,[117] with stories being reviewed as of December 2015.[118] 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.[108]

The plot of the anthology film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was originally pitched as an episode of the series.[119] The story of Han winning the Millennium Falcon from Lando was planned to be featured[111] and later developed as Solo: A Star Wars Story. 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.[120][121]

Star Wars Detours is an unaired animated parody series from the creators of Robot Chicken, which was postponed in 2013 and ultimately unaired.[122] Production began in 2012 prior to the Disney acquisition,[123] with 39 episodes completed and 62 additional scripts finished.[124]