The latest production by Lucasfilm Ltd. and Dave Filoni, Star Wars: Ahsoka, was released in major theaters worldwide on September 12th, making it the first major TV show to have a limited release in cinemas. This episode has been the only one to be aired presently, though this might change if the final episode follows the same trend. It may not seem like much at face value for the average viewer, but for the die-hard Star Wars fan, it’s the start of a new era for the franchise.
Despite remaining one of the most iconic series in pop culture, Star Wars has been going through a rough patch ever since Walt Disney Studios acquired Lucasfilm Ltd. in 2012. They’ve made many controversial decisions, but the worst was the Sequel Trilogy. While the newer films have all made good money (excluding Solo: A Star Wars Story), a majority of them have been criticized, even hated by older fans, myself included, for their failure to tell meaningful stories that resonate with their audience.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was the last piece of content shown on the big screens, only a month after the franchise’s first live-action TV show premiered. Critics and fans hated the film’s story for its lack of direction and absurd inclusion of the Emperor Palpatine, who died in previous titles. Luckily, the quality of Star Wars content would improve over the coming years: the Mandalorian and the recontinued Clone Wars show would tell their stories soon after, showing fans that Star Wars could come back from Disney’s previous failures.
Both shows sprouted more content with additional seasons of The Mandalorian, Season 1 of The Book of Boba Fett, and finally Ahsoka. In this show, director Dave Filoni (who also created Ahsoka Tano) picks up from the epilogue of Star Wars: Rebels, an animated show which spanned from 2014 to 2018. The show stars Rosario Dawson and Natasha Liu Bordizzo as fan favorites Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren respectively, among other actors such as Mary Elizabeth Winstead, David Tennant, and the late Ray Stevenson.
The show has been well-received so far, and it just gets better as the story unfolds. Without diving into any spoilers, this episode is one of the most important pieces of content in the whole Star Wars franchise, not just the show. To celebrate the midseason episode, Disney only premiered the episode in 10 US theaters (and more theaters across the globe) and released the episode on Disney Plus at 9 PM EST on Tuesday the 12th as they had for previous episodes. This has been the first time that Star Wars was on the big screens since 2019, and it marks a new chapter in Star Wars, one for the better.
With Filoni continuing to use fan-favorite characters and bringing back Legends (non-canon/extended universe) content, he is shaping his vision of Star Wars into one beloved by fans. He started back in 2008 with Star Wars: The Clone Wars, introducing characters like Ahsoka Tano to younger fans. As the show continued to grow, and Rebels released, so did his audiences. The Ahsoka show includes many returning characters, such as the once-abandoned Grand Admiral Thrawn, and continues their stories amongst dire stakes.
Star Wars will continue to grow, improve, and reach the magic audiences found with George Lucas’ A New Hope back in 1978, and in my opinion, surpass what everyone could’ve ever believed possible from that original space opera.
