Ever since the debut of A New Hope in 1977, the world has been enamored with Star Wars, the epic space western/wuxia/war franchise with a stirring tale of good versus evil, all fought with very pretty glowy swords.
Since Disney’s acquisition of the franchise in 2012, Star Wars has expanded its brand. No longer is Star Wars the domain of just movies and books; rather, there are several award-winning Star Wars television shows out now. In this list, we’ll be showcasing our three favorites for those who want small-screen adventures in a galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
Set in between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, this beloved animated series follows the adventures of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin’s new Padawan Ahsoka Tano as they defeat the “evil” Separatists and work to restore “peace” to the galaxy.
Though constrained by its place in the timeline (you know Anakin and Obi-Wan aren’t going to die), the show still punches far, far above its weight. Star Wars: The Clone Wars isn’t afraid to go to darker places than most other Western animated shows go, and as the timeline inches closer to Revenge of the Sith, the storylines get steadily more and more complex, culminating in a tragic overlap with Anakin’s fall to the dark side. Originally canceled by the new Disney overlords, The Clone Wars returned to much fan rejoicing, a testament to the series’ remarkable quality. This is one show you won’t regret watching.
Star Wars: Visions
It’s a well-known fact that George Lucas was inspired by samurai lore, Akira Kurosawa’s movies, and Buddhism when making his iconic Jedi Order. So you might expect anime and Star Wars to go together like white on rice.
Surprisingly, that hasn’t been the case – until now. Star Wars: Visions is what happens when you give seven anime studios free reign to make a series of short Star Wars stories – non-canonical, of course, so they can do absolutely whatever they want.
And the results are spectacular.
Move over, Revenge of the Sith – Visions has the best lightsaber fights in the entire franchise, natch, with impeccable choreography and dynamic animation that makes the fight come alive (yes, even on a cell phone screen). There’s no set animation style; instead, it changes from episode to episode, from cartoony and cute to something out of an Edo-era woodblock painting (though always decisively different than either Clone Wars or Rebels). Populated with a cast of lovable, interesting characters, Star Wars: Visions has to be one of the most inventive Star Wars works in decades.
Andor
There’s always been a substantial portion of the population (including Lucas himself, some of the time) that thinks Star Wars is a franchise for children. There’s an even bigger segment of the population that says those people are wrong, and, with its WWII- and Vietnam-inspired setting, Star Wars has plenty for adults as well. Andor falls squarely into the latter camp – and neatly proves them right.
Starring Rogue One’s Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), this is a fresh, shiny, new take on the franchise. The series takes you on a brooding and dark journey to Cassian’s origins and explains how he became the fervent Rebel we see in Rogue One.
Perhaps the highest praise we can give Andor, though, is that it makes you care. Spoiler alert here – if you haven’t watched Rogue One, stop reading now! – but Cassian dies in the arms of his quasi-love interest Jyn Erso after the Death Star attacks Scarif. With prequels surrounding doomed characters, it’s always a challenge to get the audience invested, but Andor is more than up to the challenge. Not only does it get you invested in Cassian’s story, but it also retroactively makes Rogue One all the more tragic.
Each of these Star Wars series is streaming now on Disney+.
