Disney’s ‘Star Wars’ Future Set: Bob Iger Reveals New Movie Lineup After ‘The Acolyte’ Cancellation

Disney and Lucasfilm’s next Star Wars chapter has been confirmed.

During The Walt Disney Company’s latest earnings call for Q3, House of Mouse Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger addressed the slew of successful Intellectual Properties (IP) that would be gaining new additions in the coming years. As Disney’s graphic on page five of their Q3 presentation reveals, the big four franchise focuses are Toy Story, Avengers, Star Wars, and Avatar.

For Disney Pixar’s Toy Story, the studios will hope to prove that 2022’s Lightyear was just a blip in the road and aim to target the billion-dollar success of Toy Story 3 (2010) and Toy Story 4 (2019).

With the Avengers and Avatar, the duo have both topped the highest-grossing movies of all time list at various points since 2009; in fact, the top three spots are currently held by Avatar (2009), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).

James Cameron will return to helm Avatar 3 (2025), which was filmed semi-concurrently with The Way of Water, and the future Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 installments slated for 2029 and 2031, respectively.

In the world of Marvel Studios’ Avengers franchise, Kevin Feige’s blockbuster Marvel Cinematic Universe will gain Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027) from directing duo the Russo Brothers in its upcoming Phase Six.

The surprise announcement of Doomsday replacing Avengers: The Kang Dynasty came with the reveal that Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man) would return to the field as the antagonist Doctor Doom.

When it comes to Star Wars, the future is perhaps clearer than it has been for quite some time. Disney and Lucasfilm, which was acquired by the Mouse House in 2012 from George Lucas, has not had a solid run since it began in 2015 with Star Wars: Episode VII–The Force Awakens.

Directed by J.J. Abrams and starring Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren/Ben Solo), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (General Leia Organa), and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), the film grossed $2.07 billion worldwide and was generally well-received for its return to the original trilogy’s style and introduction of new characters, though it faced some criticism for being too similar to Lucas’s first entry, Star Wars: Episode IV–A New Hope (1977).

Disney followed The Force Awakens with Star Wars: Episode VIII–The Last Jedi (2017) from Rian Johnson and Star Wars: Episode IX–The Rise of Skywalker (2019) from a returning J.J. Abrams.

The former featured the same main cast and grossed $1.33 billion. It was praised for its bold storytelling and visuals but divided fans over its treatment of legacy characters and subversion of expectations.

The trilogy conclusion in The Rise of Skywalker received mixed reactions. Some applauded the action and character resolutions, while others criticized it for fan service and lack of coherence. The main contention points were the surprise return of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), the confirmation of Rey’s (Ridley) Palpatine heritage, and the lack of story for its supporting characters.

With the official Disney sequel trilogy well and truly over, Lucasfilm will release another trilogy of sorts—three related Star Wars feature films—between 2026 and 2027.

The Future of Disney’s Star Wars 

Alongside Toy Story, the Avengers, and Avatar, Disney listed Star Wars as one of its top priorities. As the company shared, Star Wars holds a global box office tally of $6 billion from its 2015-2019 movie haul, which, of course, includes the “standalone” Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).

Disney also shares that The Mandalorian is the most-viewed Disney+ Original series to date when examining total streamed hours. And this bodes well for Disney’s future.

The Q3 earnings call confirmed that Star Wars would definitely be returning to the big screen for the first time since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. At the start of the year, Lucasfilm surprisingly revealed that Jon Favreau would be taking Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu (AKA The Child, “Baby Yoda”) into theaters.

The Mandalorian & Grogu, Lucasfilm said, would “lead” the Star Wars movie slate and will debut in two years’ time. 2026 is already looking stacked for Disney, with the Star Wars movie joining Avengers: Doomsday, Toy Story 5, and most likely Frozen III. It will also see another Star Wars film drop at the end of the year in December.

While it is not known which Star Wars movie will fill the December 18, 2026, and December 17, 2027 slots, there are a slew of likely candidates.

While there may be a handful of movies like Taika Waititi and Shawn Levy‘s efforts coming down the pipeline, the more tangible projects announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023 are surely the top choices for the 2026 and 2027 slots.

At the event in London, United Kingdom, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy announced that James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy would direct new Star Wars films.

Related: Confirmed: The ‘Star Wars’ Show That Riled Traditionalists Will Be Replaced in December

Little is known about the trio, colloquially titled Dawn of the Jedi, Heir to the Empire, and New Jedi Order. Judging by production updates, Filoni’s Heir to the Empire/Mando-Verse and Obaid-Chinoy’s New Jedi Order are likely contenders for 2026 and 2027.

The former is expected to see the culmination of events seen across The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Filoni’s own Ahsoka series, and the upcoming Skeleton Crew, while New Jedi Order will feature Daisy Ridley’s Rey Skywalker as she attempts to continue the Jedi legacy Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) intended to build.

The latter has been rumored to be called The New Beginning, which makes sense considering the direction it will seemingly be venturing down. That said, it could also be an indication that Lucasfilm will once again follow a similar trajectory set by A New Hope and The Force Awakens.

Disney’s confirmation of this new trilogy of movies, which will be released in 2026 and 2027, comes as the company once again faces claims of pushing a “woke agenda.”

The Acolyte Canceled By Star Wars Fans

Lucasfilm’s latest streaming event, The Acolyte, received the most intense backlash since Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi. Creator Leslye Headland’s show, which follows twin sisters and Force users Osha and Mae Aniseya (Amandla Stenberg) during the end of the High Republic era and rise of the Sith, caused uproar for its diverse cast, expansion of the lore, and sexual-leaning content.

The Acolyte currently has the worst Rotten Tomatoes audience score for a Star Wars project, with 17%, and is being canceled by many so-called fans of the Star Wars universe.

Headland spoke to Collider earlier this year and, when asked about the review bombing, said, “Does anybody take that seriously anymore?” The Russian Doll co-creator added that Star Wars fans were still likely to interact with the show even with such a low score.

With the companionship of Osha (Stenberg) and Qimir/The Stranger (Manny Jacinto), the reveal of Darth Plagueis, and that meeting between Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) and Yoda in the final moments, Headland’s show set up everything it needed for a second season. But will it ever see the light of day?

Related: Kathleen Kennedy’s ‘Star Wars’ No Longer Includes ‘First Jedi’ Movie, Creatives Speak Out on Cancelation

The audience backlash says no, but many other fans saw and appreciated what The Acolyte was: a journey into the unknown reaches of the galaxy far, far away, and a chance for a new wave of fans to join the four-decade-old franchise.

Many may have hated the budding romance between Osha and Qimir, but others were fueled with excitement over seeing Star Wars explore the enemies to friends (to maybe even lovers) territory once again–and maybe this time with a little more passion and heat.

Do you think Star Wars‘ return to return to movie theaters will be a hit or a miss? Let us know in the comments down below!