In November 2019, Disney launched their own streaming service, Disney+, with the premiere of the first-ever Star Wars live-action series available at launch. The Mandalorian became a mega hit, both on the platform and culturally, and it began a brand new era in the franchise’s storied history.
It’s an era that seems to be nearing an end.
It was announced this week that the second season of Ahsoka has been pushed back to early 2027, which leaves this calendar year without a live-action Star Wars series. That doesn’t mean there is no Star Wars content: There’s a live-action movie for the first time since 2019, with The Mandalorian and Grogu; there was an animated series, Maul – Shadow Lord, and another one coming later this year, with the Visions series The Ninth Jedi; and there are a few different Star Wars games releasing, including Galactic Racer and Zero Company. There is no shortage in new Star Wars stories, and in that regard we’re still living in the golden era of storytelling in the galaxy far, far away. But it’s undeniable that the push toward live-action shows on Disney+ is changing – and fast.
In 2019, The Mandalorian released.
In 2020, we got the second season of The Mandalorian – nearly a miracle to get it just a year after the first season, considering the timeline Ahsoka has followed.
In 2021, The Book of Boba Fett released… barely. It premiered at the end of December. So that’s kind of a technicality.
In 2022, Obi-Wan Kenobi released in the summer, followed by the first season of Andor in the fall.
In 2023, the third season of The Mandalorian aired in the spring, with Ahsoka debuting in the fall.
In 2024, The Acolyte premiered in the summer, with Skeleton Crew in December.
And then in 2025 came the second and final season of Andor.
All of that makes 2026 the first year to not see a single episode of live-action Star Wars in the Disney+ era, but this highlights an even bigger philosophical shift. Currently, the only live-action series we even know of to be coming is Ahsoka, with none others announced or known to be in active development. To go from getting two shows a year (in 2022, 2023, and 2024) to having none release this year and only one even known to be on the horizon is quite a shift.
It’s a shift that Disney has seemed to be making, but it leaves the entire Disney+ strategy a bit confusing. It’s hard to imagine these live-action shows actually turning a profit for Disney, but then again, Disney+ most certainly will not turn a profit if they don’t have brand new, exclusive content from their most marketable brands, with Star Wars and Marvel leading the way. I’m not sure it’s a coincidence that this lull in content comes as both the Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm have undergone changes in leadership, with Josh D’Amaro taking over as Disney CEO from Bob Iger and Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan taking over as co-Presidents of Lucasfilm from Kathleen Kennedy. Surely all three of these new leaders will have a significant say in the direction moving forward, but it sure does seem like Disney+ is at a crossroads.
Will the company continue to invest lots of energy and resources to developing new shows, or will they go in another direction?
I’m very curious about where they will land, but without question, the fact that this will represent the first year without any live-action episodes highlights the philosophical decisions hanging in the balance at Disney and Lucasfilm.
Star Wars Thoughts 