A Disney+ subscription is your ticket to the complete Star Wars franchise. This includes the original trilogy, prequel movies, sequels, and standalone films. Want even more from the galaxy far, far away? Try original series like The Mandalorian and Andor, as well as Maul – Shadow Lord, which debuts on April 6.
Star Wars: Visions, a collection of Star Wars-inspired shorts, has reportedly been renewed for a fourth season. Disney also has The Mandalorian and Grogu coming in 2026 and Starfighter out in 2027. So, it’s never been easier to marathon the whole franchise, but before you dive into the first chapter, you’ll need to decide your preferred viewing order. Do you start with the original trilogy or the prequel movies? What about the standalone films and the television shows? Whichever order you choose, here’s how to watch.
Theatrical Release Order
The most obvious answer is theatrical release order, since this was what George Lucas originally intended. It starts with the original trilogy, then takes us back to the prequel movies, before finishing with Disney’s sequel films. Following this order, you get Luke overcoming Darth Vader, Vader’s origin story, and then Rey picking up the legacy Luke left behind. It can get a bit awkward if you add the standalone Star Wars films, since Rogue One and Solo would interrupt the sequel trilogy.
If you’re rewatching and want to preserve the core movies’ storylines, just skip those two films. They have no impact on the overarching narrative, anyway. First-timers who want the full experience can certainly watch them in release order, or place the standalone films before or after the sequel trilogy. If you want to go by release order, your marathon should look like this:
Chronological Order
George Lucas had always intended for the original film to be a small part in a larger narrative. So just because it was the first to be released doesn’t mean it’s the start of the story. Instead of going with release order, you can also try chronological order, based on when the movies are supposed to take place. This would mean watching Episodes I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX in numerical order. If you’re adding the standalone films, Rogue One and Solo can fit between Episodes III and IV, and it should work fine.
However, since this order completely ruins the Darth Vader reveal in the original films, it’s not advisable to watch these movies for the first time in this order. Watching Star Wars in chronological order is more of a fun experiment for longtime fans, allowing them to see the series from a new perspective. If you were to watch the Star Wars films in chronological order, it would look like this:
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Machete Order
If you’ve already experienced release and chronological order, there’s another option to try: Machete Order. This order splits the difference and has you watch Episodes II and III between Episodes V and VI. You start with A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, but then things get wonky. Just after Luke discovers the truth about Darth Vader, turn to the prequels as a flashback sequence. Watch Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith to witness how Anakin Skywalker was consumed by the Dark Side, before finishing with Return of the Jedi.
The Machete Order cuts out Phantom Menace entirely, since almost everything in the movie is self-contained and has no effect on the other prequels. Qui-Gon Jinn plays no importance to the greater story. Midi-chlorians are barely mentioned again. You also basically avoid Jar Jar Binks entirely. It isn’t perfect, though, so watch at your own risk. If you’re not happy about removing Episode I and are also wondering where the sequel movies fit in here, the original creator of the Machete Order, Rod Hilton, suggests watching Episodes VII, VIII, and IX after the other movies. You can then treat Episode I as an anthology, like Rogue One and Solo. So if you go by the Machete Order, you would watch the movies as follows:
Disney’s Narrative Timeline
But what about the television shows? Star Wars has become more than just movies, with The Clone Wars, Rebels, Andor, and The Mandalorian taking over the conversation in recent years. While there’s no specific watch order for all these different pieces of the Star Wars universe, Disney has released an official timeline. You probably assumed that The Clone Wars animated series takes place between Episodes II and III, but what about the others? According to Disney, Star Wars: Rebels is set before the events of A New Hope. The Mandalorian takes place after Return of the Jedi but before the Star Wars: Resistance animated series. If you happen to be crazy enough to watch every movie and show in chronological order, here’s what that would look like:
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Star Wars Vintage
Disney may be pushing Star Wars TV hard, but it’s not the first time the franchise has been on the small screen. Old TV movies and animated series were hard to find, until they were added to Disney+ under the Star Wars Vintage banner. While you still can’t stream the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special in its entirety, a few classics have been made available to watch:
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The Story of the Faithful Wookiee – The animated portion from the 1978 Holiday Special that introduced Boba Fett.
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Caravan of Courage – A 1984 made-for-TV film about two children who meet a band of Ewoks while searching for their missing parents.
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Ewoks: The Battle For Endor – The 1985 sequel to the first Ewok film, which sees a young child and her Ewok companions fight a group of invading marauders.
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Ewoks – A spin-off animated series centered on a group of Ewoks that ran for two seasons between 1985 and 1986.
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Star Wars: Droids – An animated series starring R2-D2 and C-3PO that ran for one season in 1985.
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Star Wars: Clone Wars – An animated micro-series about the Clone Wars, created by Genndy Tartakovsky and lasting for three seasons between 2003 and 2005.
Everything Still to Come
This promises to be a big year for Star Wars. The Maul TV series that debuts on April 6 follows the former Sith apprentice as he consolidates his power in the galaxy’s underworld. Meanwhile, Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian & Grogu film, which continues the story of The Mandalorian, is expected to release on May 22, 2026. Shawn Levy will also direct Ryan Gosling in Star Wars: Starfighter, set five years after The Rise of Skywalker. It’s due to hit theaters on May 28, 2027.
Beyond what’s on the schedule, Disney has announced many different Star Wars projects, but most have yet to surface. Simon Kinberg, Taika Waititi, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Donald Glover, and James Mangold are all still attached to films (or full trilogies) that have not been announced. Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi, another spin-off series, and Ahsoka Season 2 are still expected to be released this year.
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