Every ‘Star Wars’ Movie and Show From the Disney Era Ranked
When it comes to Star Wars, everyone has an opinion.
Before Disney purchased the rights to the franchise, it really felt like fans might never see live-action offerings again. But the House of Mouse swooped in, for better or worse, and now we’re all swimming in an ocean of new content from a galaxy far, far away.
Whether it’s the Disney+ shows that are your bread and butter, or you’re one of the fans who think Disney has murdered the very fabric of Star Wars with every new addition, we all love to fit our opinions in a concise ranking. This is how the Disney-era of Star Wars shakes out for me.
12. Star Wars Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker
“Star Wars Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” represents a bleak turning point for the franchise – and one it’s still trying to right. After the reaction to “The Last Jedi,” the powers that be cowered to the supposed masses crying out about the story’s direction by bringing JJ Abrams back onboard to direct and spending a majority of the runtime erasing the work and beats Rian Johnson set up in the previous film.
The final product is a scared and creatively void mass gurgling for a reason to exist. “The Last Jedi” opened up the galaxy in the “galaxy far, far away” we’re always reading about but “The Rise of Skywalker” shot those hopes out of the air blandly proclaiming that this story might only ever be about three families and roughly ten important people.
The somehow in “Somehow Palpatine returned” was corporate fear and creative assassination all along.
11. The Book of Boba Fett
Spinning out of the acclaimed second season of “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett” was the first real dud for Star Wars content on Disney+. The show had a very herky-jerky nature to it as it bounced from present-day Boba (Temuera Morrison) and Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) tried to get a foothold in Mos Eisley, and flashbacks to how Boba survived his encounter with the Sarlacc everyone thought killed him in “Return of the Jedi.”
Neither past Boba’s time with the Tusken Raiders nor present Boba’s hunt for power in Mos Eisley are given the time they need to make viewers care. Couple that with many low-budget and ultimately memeable moments (the 5 MPH scooter chase will stay with me until my dying days) and less-than-stellar dialogue cemented the show’s fate. When the best part of a series is the two episodes where the titular character either is barely featured or never shows up once, it’s usually not a great sign.
Silver lining: seeing live-action Cad Bane was a thrill for me and me alone.
10. Obi-Wan Kenobi
Disney really wanted (and realy needed) “Obi-Wan Kenobi” to do well. All the pieces seemed to be there: Ewan McGregor was back as Obi-Wan, Hayden Christensen also returned as Darth Vader, giving him more than a blink-and -you’ll-miss-it moment in the iconic suit. All of it steered by director Deborah Chow who had already put out two fan-favorite episodes of “The Mandalorian.” The pieces were in place.
And the show landed with a resounding thud.
When the show wasn’t downright dull or placing a ton of focus on the baffling choice to include Princess Leia as a child (Vivien Lyra Blair), it was pulling its best moments wholesale from storylines that happened in the animated series years before. The final battle between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader – down to Vader’s mask being damaged and Anakin’s eye being visible beneath – is a lesser recreation of Ahsoka and Vader’s first reunion in the Season 2 finale of “Star Wars: Rebels.” Attempts to bring in elements of the animated series to live-action can be pulled of (see: Ahsoka) but “Obi-Wan Kenobi” proved some characters should be left in cartoon form – looking at you Grand Inquisitor/Rupert Friend.
The show also brought out the incredibly toxic elements of the fandom again – a toxicity that has only grown in the Disney era. Actress Moses Ingram received relentless undeserved attacks online when the show debuted that the hate earned more headlines than the show itself. That alone is enough to leave a sour taste on any potential rewatches.
9. The Acolyte
“The Acolyte” was a fun and ultimately engaging look at a period of “Star Wars” history that many have never experienced. The show takes place in the High Republic era – hundreds of years before the name Skywalker will be said – and depicts both the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order at the height of their power and influence. The story follows a Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) and a team – including a former Padawan (Amandla Stenberg) – tasked with investigating a string of murdered Jedi across the galaxy.
“The Acolyte” still had its fair share of clunky dialogue the live-action shows have unfortunately become known for, but the smaller scope of the series and the mystery do it more favors than the “galaxy threatened” scope the franchise usually features. The show’s choice to forego shooting in the Volume and instead film on practical sets and locations provides a tactile nature than many of the Disney+ shows lack.
8. Ahsoka
It’s nothing new to say that Ahsoka is Dave Filoni’s favorite character (he created her after all), but that love really shines through in her live-action series. The story of “Ahsoka” picks up – for better and worse – primarily after the events of the animated series “Star Wars: Rebels” with the hunt for Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) and Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). For better because “Star Wars: Rebels” remains the single best Disney-era entry into the franchise, and for worse because not all elements of the animated series translate to live-action.
But when it works, it works. Rosario Dawson is unsurprisingly great as Ahsoka – a fact we already knew through her appearances in “The Mandalorian” and “Book of Boba Fett.” Esfandi brings Ezra’s charm to life while also adding a maturity that being lost in space for years would no doubt create. The real jewel of the season came in the form of the late Ray Stevenson’s Baylan Skoll. He and Ahsoka are very much reflections of their paths not taken and whether they were crossing blades or comparing philosophies, the show was rarely better than when Dawson and Stevenson shared the screen.
7. Star Wars Episode VII – The Force Awakens
The hype around “Star Wars Episode VII -The Force Awakens” is hard to put into writing. Despite the franchise’s enduring popularity, it really felt like we may never get another major film entry – and then Disney swooped in and everything changed.
Is the film a pretty beat-for-beat rehash of “A New Hope?” It is. Did that harm the overall experience of returning to the galaxy that had a vice grip on my imagination since I was a kid? Not in the slightest. Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Adam Driver breathed new life into the world and the nostalgia plays in the opening film of the sequel trilogy felt like they were done with love rather than in a pandering way in “The Rise of Skywalker.”
Being sat in a theater on opening night and watching the reveal of the “piece of junk” ship being the Millenium Falcon during Rey and Finn’s escape from Jakku remains one of my favorite moviegoing experiences of my life.
6. Solo: A Star Wars Story
I will NEVER understand the hate for “Solo.” It might have busied itself with “over-origining” every aspect of Han Solo’s young life – I did not need the explanation why he used the DL-44 Heavy Blaster or the fact that his very cool last name was really just him being shamed for traveling alone – but it was so fun to see a new corner of “a galaxy far, far away.”
Diving into the smuggler world and the various crime organizations that may or may not be calling a lot of the shots around the galaxy was a fun diversion from the lightsabers, and Jedi, and Force of it all. “Solo” felt like sitting down with one of the old legacy Star Wars novels that soaked up too much of my free time as a kid – and that’s one of the highest compliments I can give it.
5. Skeleton Crew
“Star Wars” went full Amblin, sun-soaked cul-de-sacs, kids on bikes energy with “Skeleton Crew” and that feeling helped to breath some fresh life into the franchise. The series didn’t allow itself to get bogged down in the increasingly dense lore of a galaxy far, far away or an over-focus on the Jedi – though there was some of that. What we got instead was a swashbuckling adventure of a bunch of kids coming of age in a galaxy they aren’t quite prepared for. Sprinkle in a dash of pirates and Jude Law playing a sometimes good, sometimes bad loner and the series struck paydirt.
The four kids – Wim, Fern, KB, and sweet sweet Neel – steal the show and their banter with each other and an increasingly weary “babysitter” Jod (Law) are what make the series sing. There will certainly be arguments made down the road as to whether “Skeleton Crew” actually stands above “The Mandalorian” but already that race is closer than you’d think.
4. The Mandalorian
Disney+ struck pay dirt right out of the gate when “The Mandalorian” debuted shortly after the launch of the streaming service in 2019. Few enjoyed a more meteoric rise to cultural stardom than Grogu – then known by the much more adorable Baby Yoda. But on top of Baby Yoda love, the show was good! It brought a spaghetti western sensibility to a galaxy far, far away along with an unexpected but not unwelcome blend of serialized and procedural storytelling.
Then Season 2 came out and it got better! Ahsoka appeared in live-action for the first time, planting the seeds for her own series. Boba Fett returned from the dead. And that Season 2 finale with Luke Skywalker getting his own “hallway fight” to rival his dad’s had fans buzzing for what was to come.
Season 3 was less than stellar as it got a bit lost in the minutiae of Mandalorian customs, and the immediate take-back of Grogu from his training with Luke left more than a few “what was the point of all this?” thoughts percolating. But even a lesser season still included plenty of thrilling moments, and the OG stands as the second-best series from the Disney era.
3. Star Wars Episode VIII – The Last Jedi
“The Last Jedi” is the biggest swing “Star Wars” has every made while confronting both its characters and the franchise as a whole by examining the dangers of legacy. Rian Johnson crafted something truly beautiful with the film as it deconstructed Luke (Mark Hamill) and made moves to expand the world beyond the small corner fans had seen for the last 40 years.
Whether or not he himself loved the direction his character went, Hamill puts on a heartbreaking performance as a hero struggling with decisions made after becoming that hero – and whether or not he should have been in charge at all. Adam Driver once again proves to be one of the modern greats as Kylo Ren slips more into his uncertainty and paranoia.
“The Last Jedi” is the boldest, richest and most beautiful Star Wars has ever been. I’ll see you all in my mentions.
2. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
For a franchise that was built on the backbone of a rebellion fighting an evil empire, said rebellion always felt held at a distance by all the Force hoopla happening around it. “Rogue One” changed that.
The film stops looking at things in the macro and zooms in on the micro, the everyday soldiers and spies who kept the Rebellion humming and let Luke and his crew eventually get the job done. It’s brutal, it’s gritty, and the ending will have you crying your eyes out. If Disney wants to keep finding ways to tell new stories but still keep it connected to the core trilogies, make “Rogue One” the blueprint.
1. Andor
The good shows on this list are examples of Star Wars done right. “Andor” is a great show regardless of the Star Wars moniker. The Tony Gilroy-steered and Diego Luna-starring series really came out of nowhere in 2022. People expected the show to be good – Luna and Gilroy teamed up to great effect in “Rogue One” – but the results were one of the best “Star Wars” stories ever told.
Set five years before the events of “Rogue One,” the series began showing how Cassian Andor (Luna) first fell into the Rebellion. Along the way we also see the machinations of the Empire and the lackeys it was prepared to bury to wrest even more control of the galaxy.
“Star Wars” creator George Lucas has always insisted that the franchise should be made with kids in mind. Gilroy said “no” and put together a show that is decidedly adult and deeply serious, tackling socio-political issues as it chronicles the literal origin story of a rebel — Andor goes from uninterested bystander to devout believer.
The show’s choice to zoom in on the regular folks of the galaxy and see how the Empire affects their day-to-day lives was a brilliant one, resulting in an exhilarating and harrowing story from start to finish.
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