Star Wars Is Officially Entering A New Era After The Mandalorian & Grogu

Thanks to the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu, Star Wars is officially entering a new era. Though The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s box office performance has been very underwhelming — it’s on track to be the worst-earning live-action Star Wars movie ever released — it’s still an important movie for the franchise. It was the franchise’s first film in seven years following The Rise of Skywalker, and the first based on characters from a Star Wars television show.

Perhaps the biggest impact The Mandalorian and Grogu could have on Star Wars, however, isn’t by breaking new ground, it’s by returning to form. For seven years now, Star Wars has been putting all its on-screen efforts towards television shows. Once The Mandalorian began in 2019, six more live-action shows followed it, along with five new animated series, all while no new Star Wars movies were being released.

In a way, The Mandalorian and Grogu is a culmination of those years of focusing on television. As previously mentioned, it’s the franchise’s first film that focuses almost exclusively on characters that originated on television. With the uncertain fate of The Mandalorian season 4 and Dave Filoni’s untitled Mandoverse movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu may also end up being the end of the first live-action Star Wars show’s story. It could also be the end of live-action Star Wars television’s dominance over the franchise.

Ahsoka Season 2 Is The Only Upcoming Live-Action Star Wars Show

As previously mentioned, live-action television has dominated Star Wars for the past seven years. From The Mandalorian to Skeleton Crew, the franchise has put out dozens of hours of serialized content. Following The Mandalorian and Grogu, however, Star Wars only has one live-action show in the works: Ahsoka season 2, which is projected to premiere on Disney+ in early 2027.

Star Wars is still making new animated content, such as Star Wars: Visions volume 4, Maul – Shadow Lord season 2, and a Visions spinoff show titled The Ninth Sister, which is slated to premiere later this year. Animation has always been a focus for Lucasfilm, however, even during the release of the sequel trilogy. Nothing was going to impact the franchise’s plans for animated shows, especially now that Dave Filoni is co-president of Lucasfilm.

The fact that Ahsoka, a returning show rather than a new one, is the only live-action Star Wars show that’s even been confirmed, is much more telling. Star Wars is no longer anywhere near the heights of the live-action TV era it just went through, when seven separate shows were made in the same number of years. It seems that The Mandalorian and Grogu really was the first step in a concerted effort to change the franchise’s focus from television back to movies.

The Mandalorian and Grogu May Mark A Shift In Star Wars From Television To Movies

The Mandalorian and Grogu isn’t just signaling a decline in upcoming Star Wars television shows, it’s also the start of a new wave of upcoming Star Wars movies. Just next year, Ryan Gosling’s Star Wars: Starfighter is set to hit theaters on May 28. Alongside Starfighter are several other movies, including Rey’s New Jedi Order, James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi, and, most notably, Simon Kinberg’s trilogy, which is expected to be episodes X, XI, and XII in the Skywalker Saga.

Simply comparing the list of Disney and Lucasfilm’s upcoming movie efforts to the sole live-action television show on the horizon is fairly compelling proof that Star Wars is moving away from TV. While these movies are in varying stages of development, and there’s no telling how The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s underwhelming box office will change plans, Star Wars clearly has more faith in the future of film than television.

By every metric, it seems that The Mandalorian and Grogu has moved Star Wars as a whole away from television and back towards films. If Simon Kinberg’s trilogy turns out to be the next episodic installment in the Skywalker Saga, there will be no doubt that movies are the future of the franchise. It now seems that the television era of Star Wars is over, and that it was filled with just as many hits and misses as the rest of the franchise.

TV Show(s)

The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions

Cast

Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal

Movie(s)

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order