Star Wars: Visions will extend beyond Season 3 as The Ninth Jedi sets to return

In the three-day Star Wars celebration in Tokyo, Lucasfilm announced a new chapter for Star Wars: Visions, leading the franchise in a new direction.

The upcoming chapter will explore new formats of short and long-form series. Known for collaborating with different Japanese animation studios, The Ninth Jedi will be a limited series scheduled to release in 2026.

The news was unveiled at the Star Wars event by Lucasfilm’s senior VP of franchise content and strategy, James Waugh. During the panel, he invited Kenji Kamiyama, the writer and director of The Ninth Jedi, on stage.

The installment will deeply explore the alternate timeline introduced in the first volume of Visions, which debuted on Disney+ in September 2021 and was critically acclaimed. The storyline will be continued from the three shorts of the first volume: “The Duel”, “Village Bride”, and “The Ninth Jedi”. That version of the galaxy explored the idea that the Jedi order had been extinct for generations, with the Sith actively trying to stop their revival.

The second volume of Visions was released in May 2023 on Disney+. It had a lineup of global animation talents from studios across the world. It was also successful and earned widespread acclaim like Volume 1.

Originally, the Ninth Jedi episode revolved around Margave Juro, a ruler who started mining kyber crystals to forge new lightsabers with the hope of rebuilding the order of the Jedi. His expedition attracted several Jedi hopefuls to his Aerial Temple, but many were Sith in disguise. After her father, Lah Zhima, is kidnapped by the Jedi Hunters, Lah Kara, his daughter, becomes an important figure. Making it to the temple with a young Jedi named Ethan, she joins Juro in his mission to revive the Jedi and rescue her father.

In the teaser of "The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope, we see a glimpse of the long-standing war before Kara was born. Talking about the inspirations behind the idea, Waugh says,

“In general, Visions is a concept that came from a passion for the animated medium. I think we’ve always deeply admired the craftsmen that bring such great storytelling through animation."

"And so, as we were talking about how we could celebrate that, we ended up coming up with a concept really focused on anime and really focused on celebrating Star Wars through the anime perspective, through the idea of really giving Japanese culture a spotlight within Star Wars and its influence on Star Wars in general”.

Star Wars fans celebrated the return of The Ninth Jedi

The announcement was followed by significant excitement among the fans, with many of them appreciating the idea of continuing with the storyline.

The Ninth Jedi had garnered critical acclaim for its nuanced narrative and animation. Fans were eager to see how the story unfolded and explore the tension between Jedi and Sith.

One user on X commented on the post, saying:

"Okay this might be good"

Another user said:

"The way you've fed us animation fans.....oh my goodness. You know we love you, right, @starwars?

One of the X users couldn't hide their excitement, saying:

Trending

"Best one out of Volume 3 so far !!"

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