Disney+ is becoming The Star Wars Channel, by the looks of a new Vanity Fair cover story laying out the future of the rebellion. While the streamer has announced upcoming series like Andor, Ahsoka, and The Mandalorian Season 3, we’ve gotten little in the way of actual descriptions of these creations—until now.
The biggest news, by far, was the announcement of a previously unannounced show from Spider-Man: Homecoming’s Jon Watts. And, like Disney’s classic tales and the current Spider-Man saga, the show will be a coming-of-age romp. Right now, its code name is Grammar Rodeo—a reference which derives from a Season 7 episode of The Simpsons called “Bart on the Road,” in which Bart and his fourth grade pals go on a road trip with a stolen car they can’t drive. What’s next, the Millennium Falcon?
Grammar Rodeo will take place after the events of Return of the Jedi, similar to The Mandalorian, following the reconstruction of the Empire—but that’s pretty much all we’ve got, folks! We do know that it’s an ’80s-inspired coming-of-age adventure featuring some scrappy youngsters, since Lucasfilm has put out a casting call for four children around 11 to 12 years old.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming: The nearest release on the franchise’s radar is next week’s premiere of Obi-Wan Kenobi on May 27, two days after the 45th anniversary of Star Wars’ original release. Though you’ve only got a few more days in-waiting for this new series, the folks behind Star Wars (Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, and the series’ many, many stars) have gone ahead and introduced some tidbits to look forward to—namely, the tense connection between Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker, aka Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen).
The show’s director, Deborah Chow, was the one who thought of bringing back Anakin in the series, with the idea that Obi-Wan still cares “deeply” about his old student.
“For me, across the prequels, through the original trilogy, there’s a love-story dynamic with these two that goes through the whole thing,” Chow says. “I don’t think he ever will not care about him. What’s special about that relationship is that they loved each other.”
In other words: Bring back the Obikin warriors and antis; this fandom is about to get wild all over again.
Next up is Andor, which follows Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor in the events prior to Rogue One. The series, which will hit Disney+ sometime later this summer, is a spy saga getting to the roots of Cassian, a man who eventually risked his whole life for the fate of the galaxy.
“I mean, he consciously, soberly, without vanity or recognition, sacrificed himself. Who does that?” creator Tony Gilroy said of the series. “That’s what this first season is about. It’s about him being really revolution-averse, and cynical, and lost, and kind of a mess.”
Oh, Andor—we’ve all been there. But Andor is more than that, Luna and Gilroy have suggested, saying that it’s also a refugee story following the folks fleeing the Empire, with Andor’s adopted home at the center of the entire first season. The series also features Genevieve O’Reilly reprising her Rogue One role as Mon Mothma, whose story will take place alongside Andor’s.
Then, there’s that little show called The Mandalorian that you may or may not have heard about. The one with Baby Yoda? Yes, that one—though his name is actually Grogu, thank you very much. Season 2 aired way back in late 2020, with The Book of Boba Fett serving as an interlude a few months ago. For those unsatisfied by that jaunt, there are some updates as to when we can expect more Mando: Pedro Pascal’s gruff bounty hunter will return sometime in late 2022 or early 2023.
In case you forgot what happened during Season 2 of The Mandalorian, a fan-favorite face appeared: Ahsoka Tano from the animated Clone Wars series, also available on Disney+. Her live-action counterpart Rosario Dawson will star in her own spinoff series titled Ahsoka with a handful of question mark co-stars.
Hayden Christensen was rumored to be reprising his role as Darth Vader in the series, but that’s still up in the air. While plenty of publications reported that Christensen was a confirmed yes, after Dawson shared the news on her social media, she was told to remove the post. “I looked in my email, and Star Wars was like, ‘You might want to take that down,’” Dawson remembered. “I’m like, ‘Man, I can’t be trusted.’”
Rumors also swirled that Mary Elizabeth Winstead had a role in Ahsoka too, but her husband, Ewan McGregor, didn’t wait on Lucasfilm to confirm this time: “My partner, Mary, is doing that Star Wars series with Rosario and she’s about to start,” he told Vanity Fair, teasing that their son might become a Trekkie surrounded by Star Wars actors.
What else do you need to know about Ahsoka? Snips will be heading to Disney+ subscribers at some point in 2023, and it has a “continuous story,” as opposed to little adventures. The rest is being kept under tight, tight wraps.
