Star Wars Quietly Forgot One Of Its Best Shows

Published Sep 22, 2026, 8:12 AM EDT

Sean is a senior writer for ScreenRant and has been writing about new TV releases since December 2023. He has received multiple advance screenings of popular shows and ideated his own coverage read by hundreds of thousands of readers.

Sean is a self-published author of a Western novel. Sean has also written award-winning opinion pieces related to local politics while getting his Bachelor's degree in journalism.

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Disney and Lucasfilm have quietly forgotten about one of the best Star Wars shows the franchise has ever produced, but there's still hope for it. In the past seven years, Disney and Lucasfilm have made seven live-action and six animated Star Wars shows. Most of those shows have gotten proper endings, such as The Bad Batch and Andor, while others were designed as limited series from the start, like Skeleton Crew and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Some Star Wars shows, however, haven't had as much luck. Some have been canceled after a single divisive season, like The Acolyte and The Book of Boba Fett. Some are still awaiting their returns for new seasons, like Ahsoka season 2, which is set to premiere on January 20, and Maul - Shadow Lord season 2. Others still, like The Mandalorian, didn't get official cancelations, but given the lack of news about The Mandalorian season 4 and box office failure of The Mandalorian and Grogu, its future doesn't look bright.

Regardless of how they ended, almost every Star Wars show has had some fanfare attached to it. For example, though The Acolyte was canceled a month after its first season ended, Disney and Lucasfilm issued an official confirmation that it was ending. Only one Star Wars show has been forgotten entirely. The Star Wars Tales anthology series, which has three installments in Tales of the Jedi, Tales of the Empire, and Tales of the Underworld, has quietly been pushed out of the spotlight.

Star Wars’ Tales Anthology Series Didn’t Return In 2026

The Tales anthology series has, in recent years, been a staple of Star Wars Day, May 4. Tales of the Jedi was released in its entirety on Disney+ in October 2022, but Tales of the Empire earned the May 4 spot in 2024 and Tales of the Underworld premiered on the same day in 2025. For 2026, however, the Tales anthology series was replaced by Maul - Shadow Lord season 1's finale, which premiered on May 4.

Maul - Shadow Lord taking the Tales anthology's place on May 4 alone is just part of the problem, however. After all, Star Wars: Visions volume 2 was the franchise's May 4 release in 2023, and there was over a year separating Jedi from Empire. This year may be different, however, as the Tales anthology probably isn't going to return next year, at least not for Star Wars Day.

Next year, 2027, is the 50th anniversary of the original Star Wars, which premiered on May 25, 1977. Disney and Lucasfilm almost certainly have something more special than another Tales installment in store for May 4, 2027, to commemorate such a massive milestone. Even if they don't have a surprise release, Maul - Shadow Lord season 2's development is reportedly well underway, so there's a chance it gets the May 4 release date for a second year in a row.

Yet another reason Maul - Shadow Lord season 2 may be replacing a new Tales series in 2027 is the show itself. Both Tales of the Empire and Tales of the Underworld were developed and released at a time when Star Wars didn't have any other 3D animated shows in the works. The Bad Batch ended on May 1, 2024, and Shadow Lord didn't begin until 2026. Star Wars may not make another Tales series simply because Lucasfilm Animation may be tied up with Shadow Lord season 2, a full 10-episode season that would require much more work than six approximately 15-minute episodes.

Star Wars’ Tales Anthology Still Has Room To Return In The Future

Even though the immediate future of the Tales anthology doesn't look great thanks to Maul - Shadow Lord and the 50th anniversary of Star Wars, there is still hope for the series. While it probably won't return in 2027, Tales is a special show that can come back whenever it has another story to tell. As an anthology, there's no pressure for it to return every year or lingering plot threads to wrap up. Disney and Lucasfilm could simply bring it back for 2028's Star Wars Day.

Upcoming Star Wars Movies & Shows
Title	Release Date
Ahsoka Season 2	January 20, 2027
Star Wars: Starfighter	May 28, 2027
Maul - Shadow Lord Season 2	TBA
New Jedi Order	TBA
Simon Kinberg's Trilogy	TBA
Dawn of the Jedi	TBA
Star Wars: Visions Season 4	TBA

In addition to its scheduling flexibility, the Tales series is also very narratively flexible. The show's premise, of focusing on two different characters who fit into the same broad category like Jedi or criminals, is evergreen. There are a thousand different areas of Star Wars that the Tales anthology has yet to explore. A new season could focus on anything from the Resistance to the Clones to the Rebellion, or a thousand other things. Tales is basically only limited by what Dave Filoni can dream up.

Dave Filoni himself is also a huge reason why Tales probably isn't done yet. Filoni recently took over as President and Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm following Kathleen Kennedy's departure from the company. He calls all the creative shots for Star Wars now, and given his penchant for both 3D Clone Wars-style animation and the Tales series itself, he can easily bring it back. Star Wars may have forgotten about the Tales anthology for now, but it doesn't have to remain forgotten.