The Bad Batch

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord slammed the door with a two-episode May 4 finale—and with season 2 already locked, the franchise’s newest series is already reshaping the rankings of Star Wars TV.

He’s the Empire’s deadliest enforcer—and its ultimate misfit. From boardroom sneers at his sorcerer’s ways to a shadow corps of Inquisitors beyond any chain of command, Darth Vader has always ruled the galaxy from the margins.

Season one of Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord just wrapped, but the galaxy far, far away isn’t hitting pause. Even as Disney pivots back to theaters and trims the streaming pipeline in favor of quality over quantity, Lucasfilm has a loaded slate on deck.

As Star Wars readies its big-screen comeback this summer with The Mandalorian and Grogu, Disney+ is already buzzing thanks to Maul – Shadow Lord, a gorgeously animated plunge into the galactic underworld that makes lightsabers blaze like never before.

After a social media firestorm and a review-bombed 19% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, Lucasfilm pulled the plug on Leslye Headland’s Star Wars series The Acolyte in August 2024—despite a cliffhanger that teased Yoda and Darth Plagueis.

After Creature Commandos lit the fuse on Chapter One: Gods and Monsters in late 2024 and Superman reset the brand in 2025—with Peacemaker Season 2 keeping the momentum on HBO—James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe is barreling toward a stacked 2026 slate.

Two decades into its TV era, Star Wars has launched a galaxy’s worth of series—some stellar, others forgettable—and the heavy hitters aren’t always live-action. The animated adventures often carry the franchise’s sharpest storytelling; here’s what works and what doesn’t.

The Bad Batch’s decision to keep Tech’s fate final has sparked intense discussion among Star Wars fans, with many praising the show’s commitment to real consequences and emotional storytelling.

One of the weirdest movies of the last decade has been rediscovered by Netflix users.