What’s Next for Star Wars After Maul: Shadow Lord? 5 Movies and Shows You Need to See

Maul - Shadow Lord just wrapped its first season, and Lucasfilm is already loading the next slate. Disney has been nudging its strategy back toward movie theaters and away from flooding streaming, which honestly feels like the right call. But if you thought that meant fewer trips to a galaxy far, far away, not so much. With Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan now co-running Lucasfilm, a handful of projects are locked, more are circling the runway, and a few are stuck in development limbo. Here is what is actually coming after Maul - Shadow Lord, plus what is cooking behind the scenes.

The Mandalorian and Grogu (May 22, 2026 )

Seven years after Star Wars last hit theaters, the franchise is heading back to the big screen by scaling up the Disney+ flagship. Kicking off with a Mandalorian movie is a slightly odd swing on paper, but Grogu sells lunchboxes, so here we are.

Early marketing was cagey (and a little weird), but the gist is clear now: Din Djarin and Grogu are working for the New Republic, hunting down scattered Imperial warlords to keep another galactic war from sparking. We all know where the future lands — the First Order rises anyway — but this still looks like a classic, warm-and-wiry Star Wars adventure.

Star Wars: Ahsoka Season 2 (2026)

On the live-action TV side, only one show is officially up next: Ahsoka Season 2, expected to drop later this year. Jon Favreau has said he has seen the whole season, which quietly suggests post-production went smoothly and the episodes are locked in nicely.

Story-wise, we pick up right where Season 1 left off: Grand Admiral Thrawn made it back to the main galaxy, while Ahsoka and Sabine are still stuck on Peridia. Originally, The Mandalorian Season 4 was supposed to set up a bunch of this, but plans shifted once The Mandalorian and Grogu took that runway. I am curious to see how the writers rerouted everything without losing momentum.

Star Wars: A New Hope 50th Anniversary Re-Release ( February 19, 2027 )

Star Wars turns 50 in 2027, and Lucasfilm is starting the party by putting A New Hope back in theaters. The surprise twist: it is the restored, unaltered 1977 theatrical cut. If you have spent years grumbling about changes in the Special Editions, this is the screening you have been waiting for. Outside of those 2006 DVDs that tucked the originals in as bonus features, the unaltered cuts have basically been missing in action. Seeing the original film as it played in 1977 is a legit event.

Star Wars: Starfighter ( May 28, 2027)

A few months after the nostalgia blast, we jump forward with Star Wars: Starfighter from director Shawn Levy. Plot specifics are locked down, but it is set a few years after The Rise of Skywalker and, despite rumors, it is an all-new story with no legacy characters popping in to wave.

The head-turner here is the cast: Ryan Gosling ( fresh off the blockbuster run of Project Hail Mary) leads an ensemble that includes Amy Adams, Mia Goth, and Matt Smith. Star Wars does not usually pack this many A-listers into a new corner of the canon. It is a different look — and an intriguing one.

Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord Season 2 (Undated)

Lucasfilm called its shot early and renewed Shadow Lord before Season 1 even premiered, and now that the full season is out, that confidence makes sense. The show fits right into Lucasfilm Animation 's sweet spot: smart canon work, sharp character arcs, plenty of texture.

When do we get Season 2? No date yet. Star Sam Witwer has said the gap will not be too long, and the team has been actively working on it. For reference, The Bad Batch Season 2 landed two years after Season 1. If Shadow Lord follows a similar track, 2028 is a fair bet — but if things are farther along than we think, 2027 is not impossible.

What is in development (but not dated)

Kathleen Kennedy, in her exit interview earlier this year, ran through the state of several films that are in the pipeline. It is a mix of promising, paused, and we-will-see. The deep-behind-the-scenes version:

• Simon Kinberg's trilogy: Lucasfilm 'upended' the story, but Filoni and Brennan are 'very much onboard with what Simon is doing.' If the scripts click, this could be the next movie to move.
• Taika Waititi 's film: After years in development, the script is in. Kennedy called it 'hilarious and great,' though the greenlight is no longer her call.
• James Mangold's 'Dawn of the Jedi': Pitched as a biblical-scale origin story about the Force and the founding of the Jedi Order. It is on hold right now, but the script is 'definitely breaking the mold.'
• 'New Jedi Order': Announced at Celebration 2023 as Daisy Ridley 's return, with Rey training a new generation of Jedi. It has cycled through multiple writers, which suggests the story has been tough to crack.
• Donald Glover's Lando movie: Glover turned in a script for a full-on Lando spinoff after his turn in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
• Dave Filoni's New Republic movie: Envisioned as a culmination of threads from the New Republic-era shows. It has been quiet for a while; how The Mandalorian and Grogu performs could decide its fate.

'Taika's script is hilarious and great,' Kennedy said, while stressing the decision to make it now sits with the new leadership.

Big picture

Officially, Starfighter is the last dated film on the calendar. Unofficially, there is plenty in motion — and with Lucasfilm pivoting to fewer, bigger swings, the line between what gets announced and what actually shoots is tighter than it used to be. Short version: expect a steady drip of updates, a couple of genuine surprises, and at least one release-date shuffle. It is Star Wars. That comes with the territory.