Will Disney’s Star Wars TV gamble survive another cancellation?

Cast your mind back, it's 2019 and Disney+ is about to launch with an exciting roster of TV shows set within the Star Wars universe ready to take George Lucas' vision further than it's ever been before.

It seemed like such a bright future for Disney+, The Mandalorian was set to make its debut and plans were in place for shows centred on Obi-Wan Kenobi, Cassian Andor, and Boba Fett. There were also new and exciting stories set apart from the Skywalker saga on the horizon, while little was shared about them the fact that Lucasfilm was willing to try something different held such promise.

Flash forward to 2024, and the streaming service paints an entirely different picture.

What is happening to the current Disney+ Star Wars shows?

While The Mandalorian proved a success and has had three seasons since its debut, and now a movie is set for cinemas in 2025. The same level of support cannot be found with other Disney+ Star Wars shows.

Andor, which was originally intended to have five seasons, has been cut down to just two in order to finish the story, while The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi have been quietly left at one season. Plans for a second season of The Acolyte have also now been axed.

Read more: The Acolyte cancellation proves it – the world is bored with Star Wars (The Telegraph, 7-min read)

It's not looking good for Skeleton Crew, the platform's upcoming release that debuts in November. The only thing that might work in its favour is that it's clearly aimed at kids so, unlike The Acolyte's more female-led fanbase, Lucasfilm might see that show as being more lucrative.

One show that is being given a chance to continue is Ahsoka, Dave Filoni's live-action follow-up to The Clone Wars and Rebels animated series. Starring Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, the show's first season was left at a cliffhanger with Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) returning as a threat while Ahsoka is stuck lightyears away with no means of escape.

Read more: The Acolyte defies the haters by celebrating the female gaze

Filoni —who co-created The Mandalorian alongside Jon Favreau— is largely seen as Lucas' spiritual successor in Star Wars, so it stands to reason that his work will get to continue. But for all intents and purposes it seems that only stories he and Favreau curate are being supported, The Book of Boba Fett being an exception because of how poorly received it was.

Where is the chance for other creatives to share their stories in the Star Wars universe? Where is the originality and creativity? If The Acolyte's cancellation has proved, stories by writers like Leslye Headland are less appealing to Lucasfilm than the nostalgic, fan-service heavy fare that Filoni and Favreau deal in.

Which Star Wars live-action shows are still to come?

As of right now, there aren't many live-action Star Wars TV shows to come. As mentioned, Skeleton Crew is the next release in November but whether the show will become yet another victim to the streaming machine and get cancelled after one season is anyone's guess.

Read more: Temuera Morrison wants to take over The Mandalorian after Pedro Pascal 'stole' episode

Andor's second, and final, season will be released in 2025. A set date has not yet been announced for the series, but there will be twelve episodes in total that chart the four years leading up to the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

While it's sad the show is coming to an end so soon, the silver lining is that it's undoubtedly the gold standard for the Star Wars TV shows thanks to the quality of its writing and execution. If the second season continues to do what the first achieved, and the cast certainly think so, then it will be a worthy send off to Luna's Cassian Andor.

Once that show is over, and Skeleton Crew is released, that leaves Ahsoka and The Mandalorian as the only live-action series in production. In 2022, Favreau confirmed that The Mandalorian would be getting a fourth season, whether the story has been repurposed for The Mandalorian & Grogu movie is unclear.

What about the animated Disney+ Star Wars shows?

The only hope left for Lucasfilm, it seems, is the animated Star Wars shows. The Clone Wars and Rebels began a long-held tradition of continuing Lucas' world.

Unfortunately, it seems to be a similar case to the state of the live-action shows. Disney+ animated series like The Bad Batch have concluded, The Clone Wars' final season aired on the streamer in 2020 shortly after Disney+'s launch.

There is of course Visions, the animated anthology series that allowed different studios to tell individual stories within the Star Wars universe. A second season was released in 2023, and there is always the chance that it could return — but Lucasfilm has not yet confirmed either way what its future is.

Elsewhere, Filoni has launched animated series like Tales of the Jedi and Tales of the Empire which have both been released, and could return in some form in future. Young Jedi Adventures is the most recent animated series in production, with the second series launching on Disney+ on 14 August.

At D23 a panel for the franchise's animated series surprised fans because Lucasfilm did not announce any new animated shows in production. Whether this means there won't be anymore in the future is unclear, but for now there is nothing new to come — which says it all, really.

Back in 2019 things seemed so hopeful for Lucasfilm on Disney+, this was a franchise that inspired and brought delight to viewers. Now? Not so much.

This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/star-wars-disney-plus-shows-103442991.html