Star Wars is officially the biggest hit on Disney+, but it will be difficult for Lucasfilm to maintain this momentum. Over the last few years, Disney has successfully transformed Star Wars into a trailblazing transmedia franchise. This has involved a range of successful Disney+ TV shows, featuring the return of actors from both the original trilogy and the prequels, as well as several original characters such as Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin and the delightful Grogu.
Star Wars has been a hit for Disney+. That fact has been perfectly demonstrated by IMDb’s top 10 shows of 2023, with Ahsoka scoring second place and The Mandalorian season 3 coming fifth. More surprising, though, is the fact only one other Disney+ TV show appeared on their list, and the MCU is entirely absent in spite of success with the likes of Loki. It’s becoming clear that Star Wars is in fact the biggest thing on Disney+ – but it’s unclear whether Lucasfilm can keep this going in 2024.
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There are plenty more Star Wars TV shows due for release on Disney+, both live-action and animated, including The Mandalorian season 4.
The Mandalorian Was Disney Plus’ Flagship TV Show
There’s a sense in which Star Wars was always at the center of the Disney+ strategy. The Mandalorian season 1 premiere released alongside the launch of the streaming platform, and a smart – but potentially expensive – strategic decision ensured it became a pop culture sensation. The decision to hide Baby Yoda caused massive losses in merchandising, with one estimate being that it cost Disney up to $2.7 million worth of toy sales in the short term. But it was the right decision, because it meant Baby Yoda (now officially named Grogu) exploded on the scene as a surprise, and he went viral. Just the fact Baby Yoda caught on as a name is proof how significant he was, because that was the name used by fans on social media.
In conventional wisdom, streaming services stand or fall by the quality of their originals. The Mandalorian gave Disney+ an instant hit, ensuring the streaming service felt like a must-have for potential subscribers. This success is all the more remarkable given The Mandalorian season 1 didn’t feature any cameos from established Star Wars characters; Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano and Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker wouldn’t appear until season 2.
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The first Star Wars TV show released back in the 1980s – so how do they all compare, from live-action to animation, from Clone Wars to Ahsoka?
Star Wars & The MCU Have Always Been The Biggest Disney+ Brands
From the outset, Disney stressed that Disney+ would be the natural home of five major brands: Star Wars, Marvel, Disney, Pixar, and National Geographic. But it was always clear Marvel and Star Wars were at the forefront, usually appearing first in lists of the brands, and with a lot more prominence given in the marketing budgets. This naturally ensured Star Wars and the MCU felt like the streaming service’s premium content.
What has generally been forgotten, though, is that the MCU wasn’t actually ready for Disney+ when the streaming service launched on November 12, 2019. WandaVision, the first MCU TV show, wouldn’t actually come out until January 15, 2021, over a year later. By that time, Lucasfilm had released The Mandalorian seasons 1 and 2 and Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7, all of which were popular and critical hits. Lucasfilm was simply ahead of the game.
The MCU Has Stumbled In 2023, But Star Wars Continues To Succeed
It’s a matter of record that 2023 has been a disappoiinting year for Disney, with many expensive movies stumbling in the box office. The problems have been visible on Disney+ as well, with the MCU in particular stumbling. This is reflected in the staggering fact that not a single MCU TV series made its way into IMDb’s top 10 shows of 2023 – not even Loki, which was at least spared the heavy criticism given to Secret Invasion. The MCU’s star seems to have lost its luster; it increasingly feels as though popular culture has moved on, and the mere mention of the Marvel brand is no longer a guarantee of success in its own right.
In contrast, Star Wars is in a very strong position. The return of Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen made Obi-Wan Kenobi feel like true event television, Andor is Lucasfilm’s critical darling, and Ahsoka has literally dared to push the boundaries of Star Wars beyond the galaxy – setting up potentially infinite new stories. While there have been stumbles, none have felt fatal. There’s a real sense of momentum to Star Wars right now, and this was amplified by announcements at Star Wars Celebration. Star Wars will working to return to the big screen at last, and one of the three upcoming Star Wars movies will spin right out of The Mandalorian and Ahsoka.
Can Star Wars Maintain This Momentum In 2024?
Marvel’s struggles mean the continued success of Disney+ really does feel as though it depends on Star Wars in the short-term. That’s a lot of pressure for Lucasfilm, not least because the studio has been seriously disrupted by the writers’ and actors’ strikes. Only two live-action Star Wars TV shows have been confirmed for 2024, The Acolyte and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, while there have been reports Andor season 2 could actually be pushed back to 2025.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has openly admitted he feels Marvel’s brand has been diluted due to the sheer amount of content released by Marvel Studios in recent years; the MCU has felt more like an assembly line than a well-thought-through shared universe. Given that’s the case, the possibility of only two live-action Star Wars releases next year may be a help rather than a hindrance, ensuring the same doesn’t happen to Star Wars. But in this scenario, Lucasfilm will need to tread with a great deal of care. There can be no more stumbles, and the sense of momentum building with The Mandalorian season 3 and Ahsoka must not be lost. Star Wars is the most important thing on Disney+ right now, and everything rides on its continued success.
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