Who doesn’t love a good story about good, pure Jedi Knights fighting absolute evil? Obviously everyone loves it. And who doesn’t also like some slightly grayer stories (in terms of their morality) in the same universe? Obviously everyone, and even more. Disney continues to produce a huge amount of content for “Star Wars” fans: movies, computer games and yes, even TV series. So it’s true, for years there were animated series for “Star Wars” that were mainly intended for children, but since the expansion of the universe in the last decade, we see a lot of other content (some of it is still cartoons) and we are here to rate them – in case you want to fill in gaps for the third season of “Mandalorian”, which will be released later this week (1.3).
8. Obi Wan Kenobi (2022)
Everyone knows the master who trained Darth Vader and maybe even too much. The Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series insists on expanding the story and the confrontation between the two with a series that puts Ewan McGregor back in Obi-Wan’s shoes, but the story itself fails to surpass the original – because, after all, we already know everything we want to know about him, and it’s not like the confrontation His versus Anakin Skywalker is so complex. In another galaxy, it might have been possible to take the story in the direction of a whole year, lead it to Andor, produce a more complex story or in general – save us time on this series.
7. Star Wars: The Jedi Chronicles (2022)
A six-part animated anthology that tells the story of a different Jedi from the prequel era in each episode. The series uses familiar animation from the previous animated series in the “Star Wars” universe and brings a particularly exciting cast – among others Liam Neeson, Michael Richardson and Ashley Eckstein – but it is not enough to bring familiar voices and present animation we have already seen, something must also be innovated. If each episode had a different animation style or if they deviated a bit from the prequels, the result might have been more interesting. At least throughout the episodes we also get the story of the fall of Count Dooku (Christopher Lee played him in the film series) to the forces of evil.
6. The Book of Boba Fett (2021)
For a long time, “Star Wars” fans have been asking for a series or movie that would focus on the Mandalorian assassin Boba Fett. Boba Fett, who first appeared in “The Empire Strikes Back”, quickly became one of the favorite characters in the series, but never got the stage he deserved. A film starring him was supposed to be the third in a trilogy of independent films (the first two were “Rogue 1” and “Solo”), but Pat was instead rolled out for television. The first part of the series, the way he takes over the crime world of Tatooine is full of fun moments – a crime series in the “Star Wars” universe, what’s wrong? But towards the end of the season the series lost direction and it was hard to understand what exactly Boba Fett was doing as the boss of a galactic crime family. So much more could have been done with such a good character, but instead the creators of the series chose to focus on the marketing of other characters from the franchise – and at this point it is not clear if the series will get a second season.
5. The Clone Wars (2008)
Perhaps the most iconic animated series from “Star Wars”, which tells the story of the war between the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic (which takes place between the prequel trilogy films “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith”). Although the war itself lasted only three years, the series spanned seven seasons and 133 episodes and although it was mainly intended for children, it contains quite a few political plots and a depth that is not expected in an animated series that is not really aimed at adults. Lots of good action scenes, lightsabers and most of all, nostalgic fun.
4. Bad Batch (2021)
“Bad Batch” (“The Bad Harvest”), the animated series from 2021, quickly became one of the favorite “Star Wars” series, and not by chance: it is an unusual story in the Star Wars universe, this time on the side of the bad guys – a unit of clone troopers who become a gang of mercenaries and go on adventures against the empire, which of course wants to take revenge on them. The second season was released just a moment ago, in January, so if you want a bit more mature animation – now is the time.
3. Andor (2022)
Endor is a prequel series to Star Wars: Rogue One, the first film in the series that abandoned the story of the Skywalker family and was basically a classic World War II pilot movie, only in spaceships and with lasers. Not all reviews of it were uniform (although it’s great written and great photography), but it was a great success – and it’s also the basis of this series, which follows Cassian Andor (Diego Luna, who does an excellent job), a bit of a Han Solo type in spirit – a former space pirate turned Rebel in the Empire. Unlike most content in the “Star Wars” universe, this is a series with blurred boundaries between good and evil, with characters that are a little hard to like and especially cases where the hard choice is also the right choice. “Andor” is also perhaps the most mature story done in this franchise.
2. Star Wars: Visions (2021)
Another animated anthology from Disney. This time: seven animation studios receive the difficult task of producing different and unique stories in the “Star Wars” universe. The result? Simply great: spectacular animation, excellent dubbing (in Japanese or English) and new, interesting and refreshing stories in a way that was never seen before in the “Star Wars” cinematic universe. Disney’s attempt to do something new with one of the franchises brings a combination between the familiar Japanese animation style and the rich universe created by George Lucas, which on the one hand is not obvious and on the other hand it is not clear how it was not done before. After all, if “The Matrix” has an anime series, why not “Star Wars”?
1. The Mandalorian (2019)
And in the first place, the series that started the current incarnation of the television universe of “Star Wars” and along the way created one of the most sought-after merchandises ever – because everyone wants Baby Yoda at home. “The Mandalorian”, starring Pedro Pascal, brings a well-made story about an intergalactic journey of a Mandalorian (son of the same tribe as Boba Fett) and also… a small, green baby with superpowers. “The Mandalorian” is simply a succession of highlights: whether it’s giant monsters or gunfights, this intergalactic western just gets the job done and feels like everything I wanted from Star Wars on TV. “The Mandalorian” is also the most exciting series on the list, and still manages to maintain a certain lightness alongside deep questions about fatherhood, responsibility and friendship. The third season of “The Mandalorian” is coming very soon (Wednesday, 1.3) on Disney+.