Star Wars Series Guide: Shows and Films Explained, Family by Family

The Skywalker Saga films (9 films, 1977-2019)

The saga is nine films across three trilogies. The original trilogy is George Lucas's A New Hope (1977), Irvin Kershner's The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Richard Marquand's Return of the Jedi (1983). The prequel trilogy is three Lucas films: The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). The sequel trilogy is J. J. Abrams's The Force Awakens (2015), Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi (2017) and Abrams's The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

The three trilogies cover different times. The prequels tell the earlier story, the original trilogy continues it, and the sequels begin about 30 years after Return of the Jedi. Release order is the way most new viewers approach them, because it follows the order in which audiences met the characters.

The saga is the center of the franchise, and it is also where most spinoffs begin: every series below is placed relative to one of these nine films.

Rogue One, Solo and The Mandalorian and Grogu

Rogue One (2016, Gareth Edwards) and Solo (2018, Ron Howard) are standalone films set outside the main saga. Rogue One leads into A New Hope; Andor, covered below, is the series that ends where Rogue One begins.

The Mandalorian and Grogu, directed by Jon Favreau, premiered on May 14, 2026, and opened in the United States on May 22. Favreau co-wrote it with Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor. Lucasfilm and Fairview Entertainment produced it, and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributed it. Its story is set in the aftermath of the Galactic Empire's collapse, and Favreau also created the television series The Mandalorian. Star Wars: Starfighter, directed by Shawn Levy and dated for May 28, 2027, is the next film on the schedule.

The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch and Rebels

The Clone Wars, created by George Lucas, is set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. A 2008 theatrical film served as the pilot, and the series premiered on Cartoon Network on October 3, 2008. It ran seven seasons and 133 episodes: 22 each for the first four seasons, 20, 13 and 12 for the last three. Lucasfilm announced the show would end after season 5 in March 2013, Netflix revived it with a sixth season in 2014, and season 7, the final one, ran on Disney+ from February 21 to May 4, 2020. The sixth season, titled The Lost Missions, sits between the fifth and the seventh, so broadcast order and story order match.

The Bad Batch is a Clone Wars spin-off, set in the aftermath of the war and following the events of Order 66. It ran three seasons and 47 episodes, with 16, 16 and 15 episodes in each season, from May 4, 2021, to May 1, 2024.

Rebels, from Lucasfilm Animation, begins 14 years after Revenge of the Sith and moves toward A New Hope. It follows the Spectres, a crew aboard the light freighter Ghost, and ran four seasons and 75 episodes on Disney XD from 2014 to 2018. The first season has 15 episodes, the second and third have 22 each, and the fourth has 16. Disney+ began streaming the series on November 12, 2019, so it is easy to find now.

These three are the best entry for viewers who like long serial stories. The Clone Wars is the longest commitment, and the early seasons are the usual place to start.

The Mandalorian era: live action after Return of the Jedi

The Mandalorian, created by Jon Favreau for Disney+, begins five years after Return of the Jedi. It ran three seasons of eight episodes each: November 12, 2019, October 30, 2020, and March 1, 2023. A fourth season was planned, but Lucasfilm changed course and made the film The Mandalorian and Grogu instead.

The Book of Boba Fett (December 29, 2021, to February 9, 2022) is seven episodes set on Tatooine in the same timeframe, with Boba Fett trying to take over territory once held by Jabba the Hutt. Ahsoka, created by Dave Filoni, ran eight episodes from August 22 to October 3, 2023, and follows Ahsoka Tano defending the New Republic against remnants of the Empire. Season 2 is dated for January 20, 2027.

Skeleton Crew, created by Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, ran eight episodes from December 2, 2024, to January 14, 2025. It follows four children lost in the galaxy, in the same period as The Mandalorian. The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew all share the period of The Mandalorian, so a viewer who starts with that series has a head start on the rest.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor and The Acolyte

Obi-Wan Kenobi is a six-episode limited series set ten years after Revenge of the Sith, starring Ewan McGregor, with Hayden Christensen returning as Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. Deborah Chow directed all six episodes, which ran from May 27 to June 22, 2022.

Andor, from Tony Gilroy, ran two seasons of 12 episodes each. Season 1 premiered on September 21, 2022, and season 2 on April 22, 2025, with episodes released in weekly batches of three. The first season begins five years before Rogue One, and the second covers the four years after it, ending where the film begins. Gilroy describes the last three episodes as covering the three days before the film starts. Stephen Schiff was the original showrunner until Gilroy replaced him in April 2020, so the series that reached screens is Gilroy's version.

The Acolyte, created by Leslye Headland, is set about 100 years before The Phantom Menace, at the end of the High Republic era. It ran eight episodes from June 4 to July 16, 2024, and Lucasfilm canceled it after one season.

Andor is the one with the clearest link to a film. Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Acolyte each tell one contained story and can be watched without much background.

Anthologies, Maul and the younger series

Star Wars: Visions is an animated anthology with three volumes and 27 episodes released between 2021 and 2025, and Visions Presents added eight episodes in 2026. The Tales anthologies, Tales of the Jedi (2022), Tales of the Empire (2024) and Tales of the Underworld (2025), have six episodes each. Maul: Shadow Lord, created by Dave Filoni, ran ten episodes from April 6 to May 4, 2026, and is set about a year after the Clone Wars. A second season is set for 2027.

Resistance ran two seasons and 40 episodes from 2018 to 2020. Young Jedi Adventures ran three seasons and 55 episodes from 2023 to 2025. Droids (13 episodes) and Ewoks (26 episodes) are 1980s animated series on ABC, the oldest Star Wars television.

The anthologies are short and self-contained, so they are the lowest-commitment way to sample Star Wars outside the films.