Few franchises are as unstoppable as the Star Wars one. George Lucas' phenomenon has been enriching the lives of the fans since Star Wars: A New Hope made its presence felt in movie theaters back in 1977. It would then achieve even greater heights a few years later with sequel The Empire Strikes Back, which is widely considered one of the greatest sequels ever made.
Since then, it has completed its original trilogy, launched a divisive prequel trilogy, and finished the story of the Skywalker Saga (for now) with a new trilogy that brought in new and old faces. In between, there have been battles with Darth Vader, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, Darth Maul, and more. There have been the acclaimed special effects, the Empire showdowns, and even the Jar Jar Binks of it all. And through all of those highs and lows, the franchise is still going strong today.
The Star Wars Universe has always been expansive, crossing over into comics, video games, novels, and more, but in recent years, it has made the jump into live-action television as well. The Disney Plus streaming service has allowed the saga to continue those stories on the small screen and tell some new ones too.
It all kicked off with the critically acclaimed The Mandalorian (which introduced the iconic Mando and Grogu) and took things further with two spinoff series The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka. But it also brought back some legendary characters for their own sequel shows, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi (which starred Ewan McGregor in the iconic role once again).
That being said, over the past few months, a number of Star Wars projects have met a bit of an untimely end. Some were cancelled due to their underperformances, while some never saw the light of day. One has reportedly decided against proceeding forward with the already-renewed next season in favor of making a movie continuation instead.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the Star Wars projects that either won't return or make it to the screen at all.
Continued on the next slide...
The Acolyte
Sadly, the most recent Star Wars project of them all is also one of the most recent to get cancelled. The Acolyte premiered this summer to positive reviews and a strong opening of 11 million viewers, but the longer it went on, the more mixed its reception became and the lower the numbers got. While that was still more than enough to warrant a second season, its huge budget (which reportedly came in at $230 million) ultimately worked against it, as Disney Plus decided another season wasn't worth it.
It's a real shame that the series wasn't given a chance to grow as it offered something new and different to the Star Wars universe. Amandla Stenberg stars as the main character of the show, which has been described as a bit of a murder mystery set within the world of the Star Wars franchise. It's set just after the High Republic era before the events of the Skywalker Saga, which also made it pretty unique as it steered clear from the aspects of the franchise that the movies were known for exploring.
The Acolyte had a lot more to give, but unfortunately it wasn't given a chance to grow its audience. Once again, the problem with streaming shows is that the window of time its success is judged on is so narrow that any struggling show just doesn't have time to build up a core audience. That build up has allowed broadcast TV shows to carve out loyal fanbases over the years, but that's down to the fact that its year-round broadcast gives it much more time to do so.
There were unbelievably high expectations placed on The Acolyte due to the franchise it was a part of, and the streaming format prevented it from ever building up an audience of its own to help tackle those high expectations.
Kevin Feige's Star Wars movie
We mentioned that Star Wars is one of the most popular movie franchises in existence. One of the few that can actually compete with it - and has multiple times - is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Overseen by its president, Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios' MCU has grossed over $30 billion since its inception in 2008. It has produced 34 movies thus far (with many more on the way) and, like Star Wars, it has expanded into the Disney Plus streaming TV field over the past few years.
The two franchises almost crossed paths in a rather cool way, as Kevin Feige himself was set to direct a Star Wars movie. It was announced back in 2019, with The Hollywood Reporter confirming that Feige was developing the film. In 2021, it was revealed that Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron would write the script for it. Feige told THR that he loved the Star Wars universe and loved "the notion of exploring new people and new places in that universe".
Unfortunately, he revealed much more recently that the project was no longer happening. The announcement came in an interview with Entertainment Tonight during the premiere of The Marvels in the final quarter of last year when he simply responded to a question about whether it was happening with a "No."
Kevin Feige has done a wonderful job bringing the vivid world of the MCU to life, so it's unfortunate that he will no longer be taking on a project within the Star Wars universe. Though there haven't been any specific details revealed about why it didn't come to fruition, Disney's approach to both the Marvel and Star Wars franchises have significantly changed in the years since its announcement. Both have now adopted a less-is-more strategy, and after Marvel had some uncharacteristic underperformances last year, Feige may have just opted to focus on his own franchise for now.
Here's hoping that, at some point in the future, the stars can align for this crossover again.
Continued on the next slide...
The Mandalorian
No, you have not read that wrong. The Mandalorian reportedly won't be returning for a fourth season. After months of speculation about whether the show would return, respected industry insider Daniel Richtman now reports that season 4 will no longer happen (even though it was once on the cards). But the reason for its apparent cancellation isn't down to a lack of popularity; quite the opposite in fact, as the show is so popular that Lucasfilm has decided to move Mando and Grogu's story to the big screen instead.
The moment that The Mandalorian and Grogu was announced as a movie, concerns for the Disney Plus series grew. Heck, the concept art released for the movie was actually labelled as "The Mandalorian season 4", which indicated that somewhere along the lines, the decision was made to pivot from doing another season. And fans thought as much too, as the show had already been renewed for a fourth season.
But Richtman says that, even after the film comes out, there won't be a fourth season. The Mandalorian and Grogu is the beginning of these characters' journey on the cinema screen now, so they will likely pop up again in future Star Wars movies. While that is certainly a testament to the popularity of Din Djarin and "Baby Yoda", it's still disappointing for fans who were hoping for The Mandalorian season 4.
Lucasfilm and Disney likely won't confirm this until after the movie's release, so that the majority of audiences don't disregard the film if the show has officially ended. But it is an interesting pivot for sure given that The Mandalorian was both the first Disney Plus original series and one the streamer's most successful ever. Perhaps it's down to star Pedro Pascal's busy schedule, or maybe Lucasfilm thought the movie would serve the story more, but more Mandalorian and Grogu is a good thing - one way or the other.
It's still good to know that the stories of these beloved characters will continue in the near-future.
Continued on the next slide...
In danger: Taika Waititi's Star Wars movie
Another Marvel alumni who has been attached to the Star Wars franchise for years is Taika Waititi. The visionary director has already dabbled in that galaxy so far, far away when he directed an episode of The Mandalorian, but fans have been waiting to see what he might bring to a whole movie of his own. However, it's been four years since the project has been announced and there have still been no significant updates on what it even is.
A recent report from Daniel Richtman claims that the movie is now on indefinite hold. That doesn't necessarily mean that it won't happen, but given that the report has made its way onto the internet in the aftermath of The Acolyte's cancellation (and at a time when the Star Wars franchise seems a bit more uncertain of itself than usual), fans are starting to worry that the project will just be quietly cancelled.
Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy joked last year that the director is a bit slow, while Waititi himself has acknowledged that too, and that he was "developing something" but that it would likely be pushed back due to the busy schedule he had at that moment in time. The report of it being on indefinite hold could very well be that prediction that he made simply coming to life, but with everything else happening in the world of Star Wars right now, you can understand why fans are nervous that this film might not happen.
Here's hoping that it does come to fruition in the near future.