Every Star Wars movie and TV show Disney has made, ranked worst to best

Like any good Star Wars junkie, I was both concerned and elated when I learned that Disney had purchased LucasFilm. On the one hand, my favorite franchise of all time was being revisited, and there would be new stories to enjoy set in a galaxy far far away. On the other hand, Disney was in charge, and I do not always trust the mouse when it comes to handling franchises, especially ones started by someone else. George Lucas and his collaborators had crafted a unique world full of political intrigue, mystical forces, and rich history. Disney planned to expand that universe in a way that stayed true to the themes Star Wars fans had come to know and love. It was a tall order.

So far, Disney has released 14 movies and TV series set in the Star Wars universe, with varying degrees of success. Let’s take a look at what they’ve done so far. What hit, what missed, and has the changeover been worth it?

15. The Book of Boba Fett

It's hard to know who Disney was trying to please with this show. We have Boba Fett, a classic character from the original trilogy, resurrected, which will make some fans happy. But much of what made Boba Fett a beloved character — the mystery, the unflappability in the face of danger, the gig as a mercenary willing to do any job for the highest bidder — is gone. Boba now spends most of his time with his helmet off, trying to reshape Jabba the Hutt's old crime empire into a legitimate business. As we get to know Boba better, he loses some of his mystique, and there isn't enough new stuff there to replace it.

It's also odd that Boba Fett's show is completely and utterly stolen by Din Djarin and Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian, who take over the narrative partway through. After being separated in the second season of The Mandalorian, their big resolution happens on The Book of Boba Fett, which undercuts whatever it was Disney was trying to do with this show, and feels like a cynical ploy to get people to watch.

There are some cool things about The Book of Boba Fett, including flashbacks where we see Boba spending time with the Tusken Raiders on Tatooine. It's fun learning more about their culture. But mostly, this show never quite comes up with a compelling reason for its own existence. — Dan S

14. The Acolyte

The Acolyte takes place many years before even the Star Wars prequel trilogy, when there was peace in the galaxy and the Jedi were at the height of their power. A mysterious assassin starts picking off Jedi one by one, which leads our characters down a rabbit hole involving a pair of sisters named Osha and Mae, a mysterious master of the Dark Side, and the revelation that the Jedi aren't as pious and pure as they claim.

There are some interesting ideas at play in The Acolyte, but the whole thing never gels. Osha and Mae seem to change motivations every other episode, a couple of lengthy flashback episodes kill any momentum the series hopes to build, and the whole thing ends with a fan service-y tease for a second season that may never come. This might have made a good movie, but it's thouroughly overstayed its welcome by the end of its eighth and final episode.

To be fair, the finale is an order of magnitude more exciting that what came before, but it's not enough to make up for the loose, slack storytelling. We're putting it above The Book of Boba Fett because at least a tangential character doesn't sweep into the show partway through and highjack the whole thing. — Dan S.

13. Solo: A Star Wars Story

There was really only one thing about this movie that I had no problems with whatsoever: Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. That casting choice was perfect. I would have rather had an entire movie about him, or at least about Han Solo’s relationship with him.

Instead, the movie tries to add too much and ends up doing the character of Han Solo a disservice. Going into this movie, I thought to myself: “Gosh, I really hope they don’t give Han some sort of tragic love story to explain why he’s jaded towards Leia.” And then…UGH! Han was cool because he was cool, that’s all we needed. To give him this sad, complicated backstory takes away from the character Lucas and Harrison Ford created. They showed a man who was equal parts hero and villain, a pirate smuggler with a heart of gold. He didn’t need a sad backstory to explain why he was too cool to admit he was in love with Leia. Their relationship is more nuanced than that, but Solo turns it into a boring old trope.

It might have helped if the movie took place a long time before the original trilogy, making it remote, but the movie finishes with Han winning the Millenium Falcon from Lando and flying off. The next time these two see each other is in The Empire Strikes Back, where Lando jokes about the Falcon being his ship and then turning over Han and the gang to the Empire. I appreciate them including the origins of the Falcon and showing us the relationship between Lando and Han, but the way that Solo ends, I don’t get the idea that Han would ever trust Lando enough to seek refuge with him during Empire. Watching that movie with Solo in mind, it kind of plays as though Lando betrayed Han solely to get his ship back, which cheapens the story.

Seeing Darth Maul at the end was cool, and I enjoyed the movie’s vision of a galaxy fully under the Empire’s control, but the good bits were too few and far between. Solo is a mess. If I could retcon one Disney Star Wars movie out of existence, this would be it.

12. The Rise of Skywalker

When I first saw the final film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, I loved it. It was midnight on opening weekend and I was with a group of friends (full disclosure: we were all fairly drunk). But on rewatch, it turned.

Visually speaking, this movie is amazing. The effects are brilliant, there are some really wonderful fight scenes, and Palpatine’s Sith cave is gorgeously malicious. But every time I think about the plot, I want to sue J.J. Abrams. It makes me so sad and angry that this is now the final movie in the Skywalker saga.

My main issue here is that Abrams seemingly tried to retcon everything that he didn’t like about the previous film, The Last Jedi. He tries to squeeze his own idea for a sequel trilogy into one movie and derails everything the last film set up. While there’s much to debate about The Last Jedi — and don’t worry, we’ll talk about it all later — at the very least, it brought in some original ideas. Abrams bulldozes over those, destroying (or at best, ignoring) themes that are central to the saga.

First of all, there’s the reveal that Palpatine is alive and been pulling the strings. In all of 15 minutes, we learn that the Emperor has secretly been controlling every evil thing that’s happened over the past couple movies, Snoke was a clone, and that he plans to conquer the galaxy with an army that he raises out of the sea.

So does this mean that happened in the original movies mattered? Anakin Skywalker was supposed to be the Chosen One who brought balance to the force, and did so by killing the Emperor and leaving only his son, Luke, to reestablish the Jedi Order. The Last Jedi shows us that in order for there to be true balance in the Force, the Jedi must die out. The Force is not something to be wielded as a tool on a quest for power. It’s all around us, and we must seek balance through understanding how it affects all ways of life. I guess Abrams just thought that was dumb; let’s give the people Palpatine instead.

Was Anakin’s whole tragic story a waste? Anakin showed that anyone could be in touch with the Force, not just people related to Force users. None of the Jedi from the prequels came from some sort of long line of Force wielders, so why does Rey have to? Fans wanted her to be related to somebody, but the other movies asked us to think deeper.

In almost every hero story — Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc — the orphan becomes a hero because it is their destiny. They are related to someone important, and are therefore meant for something greater. Making Rey “nobody” is a wonderful, egalitarian subversion of that idea, completed ruined by Abrams making her Palpatine’s granddaughter.

And why does Rey have to call herself a Skywalker at the end? It’s more powerful for her to accept that she is who she is but that doesn’t define her. Her actions are what define her, and they’re capable of standing alone. Her family blood line shouldn’t have to matter.

Also, who did Palpatine sleep with to have grandkids? And when? And why have we never heard of his kids? How many kids did he have? Just the one? There are so many stupid questions that now have to be asked because of the dumb decisions in this movie! It just makes me angry. There should be a tenth movie to clear things up. Watch the prequels instead, and think of the sequel trilogy as just really fun fanfiction.

11. Star Wars: Resistance

Full disclosure: Resistance is the Disney Star Wars creation I am the least familiar with. I apologize for anything I’m about to get wrong and would love to know more about the show.

Based on what I’ve seen and read of the series, I appreciate that Resistance — an animated Star Wars series that ran for two seasons — tries to answer a lot of the questions I had about the sequel trilogy. Mainly, where did the First Order come from and what happened to the New Republic? But while the show gets at these questions, it still leaves a lot unanswered. Because it’s mainly marketed towards kids, the series doesn’t have the gravitas that I’m looking for from a Star Wars show. The animation isn’t of the same caliber as on shows like Rebels or The Clone Wars, and as fun as the space pilot fight scenes are, I really miss lightsabers.

Maybe it’s just that the First Order doesn’t interest me and this show doesn’t do much to change that. It’s a fun ride for kids but not much else.

10. Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi features the return of Ewan McGregor as the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, a role he hadn't played since 2005's Revenge of the Sith. Hayden Christensen also returns as Anakin Skywalker, aka Darth Vader, then at the peak of his Dark Side indulgence.

McGregor and Christensen are the highlights of this nostalgia baiting show, which is fun but feels stretched thin. The parts with Obi-Wan and Vader are interesting, but the show adds in a lot around the margins, including a head-scratching buddy cop mission where Obi-Wan must escort a young Princess Leia across the galaxy. Obi-Wan Kenobi began life as a movie script and eventually got turned into a TV show, and sometimes you get the idea it would have been better if vastly compressed.

Still, it's fun to see Star Wars icons back in action. It's just a shame the show didn't have more substance. — Dan S

9. The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special

I didn’t have the time or the energy to sit down and watch every single Lego Star Wars special on Disney+, but the recent Holiday Special is worth mentioning. Not only is this special a cute, funny, adventure for kids, it’s also an enjoyable field trip through the Star Wars saga that can be enjoyed by most any fan.

I’m a huge fun of the hilariously bad original Star Wars Christmas special. If you’re able to find a version to watch online, I highly suggest a viewing party with friends if you’re looking for some holiday laughs. The LEGO special builds off of the core idea of that original, centering everything around the Wookie Holiday “Life Day.”

Rey is attempting to train Finn in the ways of the Force but finding it difficult. She leaves the Life Day party and uses a time portal to see the relationships between other Jedi masters and their apprentices in the hopes of learning how to become a better teacher.

The special succeeds because it’s self-aware and willing to make fun of itself. Kylo Ren dances shirtless, a pair of Han Solos ask who should shoot first, Palpatine is mocked for “Death Star 2,” and Obi-Wan mutters his famous “Hello There.” We even get a joke about Jar-Jar Binks’ infamous senate speech! The movie mocks things that people hated about the sequel trilogy: using old plot devices, Palpatine coming back to life, etc. And the comedic duo of LEGO Palpatine and LEGO Vader is absolutely legendary. They have a Laurel-and-Hardy kind of rapport, and the actor who plays lego Palpatine had me in stitches multiple times.

It’s also a thrill to see old favorites: Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan and Anakin, Luke and Yoda. In the end, the movie had a powerful message about friendship. Rey learns that the secret to any successful master/apprentice relationship is love, trust and joy. Jedis and apprentices were more than teachers and students; they were friends. That comes first, everything else follows.

I definitely suggest this special for any Star Wars fan looking for a new Holiday tradition this season.

8. Ahsoka

Ahsoka doesn't have the bloat of Obi-Wan Kenobi or The Book of Boba Fett, although it's not quite as tight and compelling as a few of the other shows on this list. Ahsoka continues the story started by Dave Filoni in Star Wars Rebels, which itself continues the story he started in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, both shows we'll talk about in a minute. This means that the barrier to entry for Ahsoka is relatively high; you don't have to know who characters like Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn are before watching this, but it definitely helps.

The show itself follows ex-Jedi Ahsoka Tano (played by Rosario Dawson in live-action) as she tries to stop Grand Admiral Thrawn from returning to the galaxy and reconstituting the Empire, which has broken apart at this point in the timeline. It's a simple plot and it serves, even if it doesn't thrill.

The end of Ahsoka's first season clearly sets it up for a second, and there's a sense that these first eight episodes were prelude to something else. That's fun because it means there's a lot ahead of us, but also a little frustrating, because why not just skip to the good stuff? — Dan S

7. The Force Awakens

As a stand-alone movie, The Force Awakens is one of my favorites. Abrams gets a lot of criticism for writing this movie in a way that basically makes it a remake of A New Hope. I actually think that’s a strength. The movie feels familiar without feeling cliché; it’s just a genuine, fun space adventure. Audiences immediately fell in love with new characters like Poe Dameron, Kylo Ren, Rey and Finn. We also got to see old favorites like Han, Leia, Chewbacca and R2D2 while exploring new planets across a changing galaxy. It’s hard to go wrong here.

The fight sequences towards the end are up there as some of the best in the saga, and Han Solo gets a very moving death scene. If it weren’t for the rest of the trilogy, this movie would rank much higher, but The Force Awakens poses a lot of questions that it wasn’t really ready to answer. Who is Rey? What’s the Resistance? Why is there a Sith lord back in charge? Who is Snoke? Where did the First Order come from? The fact that we don’t really get answers to these questions (or if we do, it feels like someone choosing the easiest and quickest way out) makes The Force Awakens weaker in retrospect.

So the problems with The Force Awakens aren’t there because it resembles A New Hope, which is a great movie. The problem is that we understand the galaxy much better than we did with A New Hope and deserve a denser, more thought-out story. It’s not enough to just trot out old tropes and trust that we’ll enjoy them without asking questions about the wider universe this movie is supposed to be a part of. Lucas made his original and prequel trilogy with a clear vision for what he wanted them to be, whether you agree with it or not. Disney’s sequel trilogy never had a clear vision, and as much as I hate what Abrams did with The Rise of Skywalker, it would have been had he been in charge of the whole trilogy, rather than making one movie, skipping town, and getting called back later.

After all, I have no problem with The Force Awakens on its own, and enjoy it every time I watch it. I’d gladly watch a whole trilogy like this…a shame it didn’t work out that way.

6. Star Wars Rebels

Rebels is another show I’m only partially familiar with; I’ve seen more of Rebels than I have of Resistance, and what I’ve seen I’ve really enjoyed. The animation style still feels somewhat underdeveloped at times, but the story packs a punch and takes place at a very interesting moment in time for the galaxy.

The show is great for kids because it doesn’t shy away from the extremely high stakes that the characters face. The story follows a group of renegade Rebels as they engage in various conflicts with the Empire. Along the way, we catch up with fan-favorite Star Wars characters like Darth Vader, Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Maul, Saw Gerrera, Emperor Palpatine, Mon Mothma, Lando Calrissian, Captain Rex and more. The show also pulls from the (now largely invalidated by Disney) Star Wars: Legends books to introduce us to characters like Grand Admiral Thrawn, and takes a more in-depth look at villains from the original trilogy like Grand Moff Tarkin.

Rebels bridges an important gap in the Star Wars canon, between the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire. And it does this while telling original stories that put on display the vastness of the galaxy as it engages in civil war.

5. Star Wars: The Clone Wars

The Clone Wars was already a successful series on Cartoon Network before Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012. Because this article is just about the Star Wars stuff produced by Disney, I only want to talk about the final season. The rest is incredible and certainly worth watching, although it’s not necessary to enjoy the last one so long as you have a basic understanding of the conflict and/or seen the prequel movies. And that’s the first of many impressive things about it.

The Clone Wars does a brilliant job of putting you on the front lines with clone soldiers and Jedi generals as they unknowingly fall into Chancellor Palpatine’s trap. The final season focuses mainly on the end of the war from the perspective of the clones, Ahsoka Tano’s relationship with the Jedi, and her hunt to capture Darth Maul on Mandalore.

It’s exactly what fans of the saga wanted to see. Did you like Darth Maul and wanted to see more of him? Well, here we get to see him not only use his famous double-edged lightsaber, but we get a better idea of his personality than at any time in The Phantom Menace. He’s gone rogue, no longer a part of his Sith master’s plans; his appeal to Ahsoka to work together as discarded members of the Sith and Jedi makes sense.

Ahsoka Tano is one of the best Star Wars characters ever created. She’s smart, capable, brave and independent. It’s truly refreshing to see a character reject the Jedi order yet not turn to the Dark Side, showing us that the force is not as black and white as we were led to believe. Through her, we understand just how tragic Anakin’s fall into darkness is. Ahsoka cannot believe that her master would betray the Jedi in this way, but he does.

Meanwhile, spending time with the clones lets us see the brutality of war on both sides and to gain a better understanding of the inevitability of Palpatine’s master plan. In the final episode, he initiates Order 66, and we watch as the clones turn on Ahsoka as she’s bringing a captured Maul to justice. It’s one of the greatest sequences in all of Star Wars.

Ahsoka is able to remove the inhibitor chip from Rex’s brain, freeing him from Palpatine’s control, and the two of them find a way to escape without killing the other clones. It’s a beautiful set up for the rest of the saga and makes you truly feel for the characters who are crushed under the Empire’s boots. The Clone Wars teaches us that friendship and love always win out in the end, and that even when it seems like hatred has won, there are always people fighting for justice, even if you may not notice them.

4. Rogue One

An entire movie based off of one sentence. The opening title cards in A New Hope explain that “Rebel Spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the galactic evil Empire.” This is their story.

Rogue One follows a group of renegade Rebels who take on the impossible task of stealing the plans for the Death Star in the hope that they can free the galaxy from the crushing grip of the Empire. It’s a fun story full of smart characters. Moreover, the tone is different than what we’re used to for Star Wars. What I appreciate most about this story is that we know that all these characters must meet a terrible fate since we don’t see them in the original trilogy, and the movie doesn’t shy away from it. It shows us their sacrifice, which isn’t any less heartbreaking because it was inevitable.

We also get treated to some really juicy, scary Darth Vader moments that feel like something out of a horror movie, not a science fiction epic. Finding a new way to make one of film’s most iconic villains even more intimidating is a feat worth talking about. I also really appreciate the way this movie expands the concept of the Force. One of the characters is a blind monk who uses the Force to help him in battle. He doesn’t wield a lightsaber or move objects with his mind, but he’s still in touch with the greater cosmic energy of the universe and is able to use it to his advantage. For many, the Force is something to laugh off, but for those in touch with it, it’s everything.

This is a beautiful way to look at the Force that is directly connected to George Lucas’ vision for the saga. The Force is an ever-present part of nature that certain people can wield for constructive or destructive purposes. Yet the Force is also the very heart of goodness and heroism itself, and in the end, the forces of good prevail. The Rebels are successful in their mission and we, as an audience, understand that their sacrifice is worth it, since we know it leads to the eventual destruction of the Death Star. Rogue One shows how when people band together, there’s nothing that they cannot overcome.

3. Andor

Rogue One was an excellent movie, but it had a definitive ending, so the prospect of returning to the story of Rebel freedom fighter Cassian Andor in a prequel series didn't seem intitutive at first. "Is this necessary?" fans asked. Then the show came out on Disney+ in October of 2022, and immediately everyone saw that it was.

In fact, Andor is still one of the best Star Wars TV shows Disney has produced, and completely different from anything else in the franchise. For once, there's nary a Jedi nor lightsaber in sight. Andor is about ordinary people, starting with Cassian Andor himself, who get swept up in the fight against the ascendent Empire. It moves slowly and deliberately. There are no action scenes just because, and no one can get themselves out of a sticky situation for Force-pushing someone out of the way. The show can take a minute to get going, but by the end it's fully earned Cassian's transformation from a selfish man trying to stay under the radar into someone willing to lay down his life for freedom.

Along the way, Cassian will sabotage a Imperial base, lose his loved ones, and spend time in prison, a bracing arc that examines the iniquities of the prison system with a precision we never expected out of a Star Wars show. Andor is a series with a lot on its mind, and for that it deserves to be high on this list. — Dan S

2. The Last Jedi

I’m really asking for a fight by putting this movie so high on this list. The Last Jedi is probably the most polarizing topic in all of Star Wars. I’ll admit that when I first saw it, I wasn’t completely on board. Again, I was disappointed at the lack of answers, and I just wanted more in general. But now that I’ve watched it a few times, I see that the answers Rian Johnson was giving us in this movie are far more satisfying than anything else we get from the sequel trilogy.

First of all, Mark Hamill deserved some awards recognition for his performance as Luke Skywalker here. It makes perfect sense that after failing to establish a new Jedi order and losing his own nephew to the Dark Side that Luke would go into exile. His journey is the beating heart of the story. Luke has to learn to let go of the old ways and understand that the Jedi were never meant to be guardians of the Force. The Force is a natural part of life and we cannot seek to control it or use it to predict what may happen. When Yoda returns as a Force ghost and burns the sacred Jedi texts, he’s sending a message to look at the bigger picture, beyond the Jedi and Sith to the teeming masses in the galaxy all trying to find balance in their lives.

The movie also features stellar performances from Adam Driver as Kylo Ren and Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron. Kylo Ren is on the knife’s edge of madness the entire movie, unsure of himself, wanting a friend, hating his family, and eventually killing his own master and kind of losing his mind after failing to kill Luke. I’ve never cheered harder in a movie than the moment of Luke’s death when he fades away, becoming one with the Force as two suns set in the horizon just as they did at the beginning of his journey on Tatooine in A New Hope. Everything in this movie ties back to the originals in a respectful way while also managing to forge its own path.

The movie has some but notes, like Benicio Del Toro’s forgettable swindler character, but the main melody is strong. Poe’s relationship with Leia brings in themes of leadership, sacrifice and trust, all essential to the Star Wars ethos. Between Leia with Poe and Luke with Rey, we get to see how the galaxy has changed, and how the legacy characters have learned from their mistakes to become better people with more understanding of how to fight for what they believe.

1. The Mandalorian

There’s not much left to say about The Mandalorian that hasn’t already been said. Mandalorians are now the coolest thing in the Star Wars universe rivaled only by Jedi. Baby Yoda has become a cultural icon. The show is on the cutting edge of both special effects and peak TV storytelling. We’re finally getting some answers about what the galaxy was like after the Empire was overthrown, and the show doesn’t shy away from difficult themes like colonization, imperialism, police brutality, fanaticism, ecoterrorism and more.

The Mandalorian is influenced by all the things that influenced George Lucas, but it doesn’t feel like a retread. It feels at times like a Western, a samurai movie, melodrama, and a family comedy, all played out with original (or at least newer) characters. We explore familiar places in new depth, and see characters enact change on unexplored planets across the outer rim.

The Mandalorian features brilliant performances from its eclectic cast, and nearly every episode is an edge-of-your-seat, heart-pounding delight where the stakes are always high. Production design, special effects, costuming, music, writing…all the boxes are checked, and it comes together beautifully.

One thing that I really appreciate is the show’s use of practical effects and puppetry as opposed to overusing CGI. This feels very true to Star Wars and is partially responsible for how beloved Baby Yoda has become. It’s Disney’s greatest Star Wars achievement to date because it’s the most original and well thought-out story, and also the one that is most connected to the central themes that have kept Star Wars popular for decades.

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