The question of what is and isn't canon in Star Wars is a murky one, simply because there's much content out there. For years, of course, all the licensed Star Wars TV shows, spinoff movies, comic books, video games and novels outside of The Skywalker Saga films, the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie and subsequent series encompassed what was known as the Expanded Universe. However, everything changed after Disney brought Lucasfilm in 2012.
Two years later, on April 25, 2014, Disney announced the Expanded Universe was no longer canon and would now be published under the Star Wars Legends banner. The company has since released a whole lot of new content as part of the modern continuity, with plans to produce even more in the forms of upcoming projects like their Disney+ series, spinoff films and The High Republic initiative. As such, now is as good a time as any to put together a comprehensive list of what the modern Star Wars canon includes.
Skywalker Saga Films
Released from 1977-2019, The Skywalker Saga encompasses nine movies and three trilogies covering major events in Star Wars history like the Clone Wars, the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Galactic Civil War and the First Order/Resistance War. Ultimately, however, these events serve as the backdrop to the personal saga of the Skywalker family, beginning with Anakin Skywalker's journey to becoming a Jedi Knight and following through to his fall to the Dark Side, the birth of his children Luke and Leia, Anakin being redeemed by Luke, Leia's son Ben Solo's own fall to the Dark Side and salvation at the hands of the Jedi Rey.
The Skywalker Saga can be broken down into the Original Trilogy (released from 1977-1983), the Prequel Trilogy (1999-2005) and Sequel Trilogy (2015-2019). Here are the release dates for the individual films within each trilogy:
- Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983)
- Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999)
- Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002)
- Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Other Canonical Star Wars Films
A handful of canon Star Wars movies were released between The Skywalker Saga films. The list includes 2008's animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a film that served as a prologue to the Clone Wars TV show, 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a live-action movie that acted as a direct prequel to A New Hope and 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, a film set between Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One that explored the early life of the smuggler-turned Rebel Alliance hero Han Solo.
Disney also plans to release director Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron movie in 2023, followed by two untitled Star Wars films being developed by writer/director Taika Waititi and producer Kevin Feige, respectively. Furthermore, in 2017, the studio announced The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson would be plotting out a trilogy arc separate from the Skywalker Saga, in addition to helming the first installment. However, although it hasn't been formally canceled, there haven't been any major updates on Johnson's trilogy since that point.
Animated TV & Streaming Series
So far, there are three animated Star Wars shows considered canon by Disney. The first of these series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, aired for seven seasons from 2008-2020 and covered the events of the Clone Wars. It was followed by Star Wars Rebels, a show that aired for four seasons from 2014-2018 and explored the formation of the Rebel Alliance and subsequent beginning of the Galactic Civil War. The third series, Star Wars Resistance, aired for two seasons from 2018-2020 and centered on the New Republic's efforts to battle the growing threat of the First Order in the lead-up to the First Order/Resistance War.
Up next, Disney will release The Bad Batch, a quasi-sequel series to Clone Wars that follows the adventures of Clone Force 99 as they become mercenaries following the rise of the Galactic Empire. The studio has also announced A Droid Story, an upcoming animated show that will revolve around a mysterious new hero guided by the droids C-3PO and R2-D2, and Star Wars: Visions, an anthology series animated by different Japanese anime studios and composed of stories that may or may not be considered canon.
Live-Action Streaming Series
Disney+ released its first live-action streaming series, The Mandalorian, in 2019. Picking up five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the show follows the titular bounty hunter as he finds and comes to care for "The Child," a Force-sensitive youngling being pursued by the remnants of the Galactic Empire. Season 2 of The Mandalorian also re-introduced the bounty hunter Boba Fett and brought Clone Wars and Rebels character Ahsoka Tano over to the live-acton side of the Star Wars Universe. Both characters are now set to star in their own spinoff series titled The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka, respectively.
At Disney's Investors Day 2020, the company announced several other live-action Star Wars series for its streaming platform. The list of developing shows includes Andor, a prequel series to Rogue One centered on the Rebel spy Cassian Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, a show that picks up with the titular Jedi ten years after Revenge of the Sith, Rangers of the New Republic, a Mandalorian spinoff series about the New Republic's efforts to bring stability to the galaxy following the fall of the Galactic Empire, Lando, a show that revolves around Rebel Alliance hero Lando Calrissian and The Acolyte, a series about emerging Dark Side powers near the end of the High Republic era.
Comic Books
All of the canon Star Wars comic books have been published by Marvel, with most of them revolving around characters from the movies and TV shows. So far, there have been comic book storylines devoted to Skywalker Saga protagonists Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and Poe Dameron, along with the antagonists Darth Maul, Darth Vader, Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma. Star Wars Rebels' Kanan Jarrus and Grand Admiral Thrawn have also been featured in comic book arcs, as has the archaeologist Chelli "Doctor" Lona Aphra.
Disney has also announced the comic book series Star Wars: The High Republic and Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures. Those two titles will release as part of Disney's High Republic Initiative, a multimedia project that aims to tell a cohesive overarching story two centuries prior to the Prequel Trilogy in the High Republic Era. Here are the other canon comic book series published or announced so far in chronological order, not including tie-in comic adaptations, magazine stories, one-shots or the Star Wars comics series spanning both the Prequel and Original Trilogies:
- The High Republic: The Edge of Balance (2021)
- The High Republic: The Monster of Temple (Publication Date TBA)
- Jedi Fallen Order - Dark Temple (2019)
- Age of Republic (2018-2019)
- Darth Maul (2017)
- Obi-Wan and Anakin (2016)
- Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars - Battle Tales (2020)
- Jedi of the Republic - Mace Windu (2017)
- Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir (2014)
- Kanan (2015-2016)
- Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith (2017-2018)
- Han Solo: Imperial Cadet (2018-2019)
- Lando - Double or Nothing (2018)
- Thrawn (2018)
- Star Wars Adventures: Tales from Vader's Castle (2018)
- Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle (2019)
- Vader: Dark Visions (2019)
- Princess Leia (2015)
- Chewbacca (2015)
- Han Solo (2016)
- Darth Vader (2015-2016)
- Doctor Aphra (2016-2019)
- Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020-present)
- Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2020-present)
- Bounty Hunters (2020-present)
- TIE Fighter (2019)
- The Rise of Kylo Ren (2019-2020)
- Poe Dameron (2016-2018)
- Captain Phasma (2017)
- Allegiance (2019)
- Galaxy's Edge (2019)
- Star Wars Adventures (2020-present)
Novels
The canon Star Wars novels published or announced so far span as far back as the High Republic era on through to the Sequel Trilogy. These books have focused on the backstories for antagonistic and/or morally-ambiguous characters like Count Dooku, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Moff Tarkin, Doctor Aphra and Captain Phasma, in addition to the New Republic's heroic Alphabet Squadron. They've also covered periods like Leia Skywalker's time serving in the Galactic Senate and explored locations like The Last Jedi's gambling world Canto Bight in greater depth.
Here are the canon Young Adult Star Wars novels:
- The High Republic: Into the Dark (2021)
- The High Republic: Out of the Shadows (2021)
- Queen's Peril (2020)
- Queen's Shadow (2019)
- Most Wanted (2018)
- Ahsoka (2016)
- Lost Stars (2015)
- Rebel Rising (2017)
- Leia, Princess of Alderaan (2017)
- Poe Dameron: Free Fall (2020)
- Force Collector (2019)
- A Crash of Fate (2019)
Next, here are the canon Star Wars novels in chronological order, not including magazine short stories:
- The High Republic: Light of the Jedi (2021)
- The High Republic: The Rising Storm (2021)
- The High Republic: A Test of Courage (2021)
- The High Republic: Race to Crashpoint Tower (2021)
- The High Republic: The Great Jedi Rescue (2021)
- Dooku: Jedi Lost (2019)
- Master & Apprentice (2019)
- Thrawn Ascendency: Chaos Rising (2020)
- Dark Disciple: A Clone Wars Novel (2015)
- Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel (2016)
- Lords of the Sith (2015)
- Tarkin (2014)
- Thrawn (2017)
- A New Dawn: A Rebels Novel (2014)
- Thrawn: Alliances (2018)
- Thrawn: Treason (2019)
- Battlefront II: Inferno Squad (2017)
- Heir to the Jedi (2015)
- Doctor Aphra (2021)
- Battlefront: Twilight Company (2015)
- The Alphabet Squadron Trilogy (2019-Present)
- The Aftermath Trilogy (2015-2017)
- Last Shot (2018)
- Bloodline (2016)
- Phasma (2017)
- Canto Bight (2017)
- Resistance Reborn (2019)
- Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire (2019)
Video Games
Disney's canon Star Wars video games include those based on the Skywalker Saga film The Phantom Menace and the Star Wars: Battlefront series focusing on battles from throughout the Saga. Other canon titles include the various Star Wars Rebels online games developed by Disney Interactive, the virtual reality Darth Vader series and the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order single-player game centered on the Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis. 2020's Star Wars: Squadrons is similarly canon and primarily follows a pair of New Republic fighter squadrons four years after Emperor Palpatine's death in Return of the Jedi.
Here's every Star Wars video game from the modern canon, in chronological order:
- Star Wars Journeys: The Phantom Menace (2014)
- Star Wars Journeys: Beginnings (2014)
- Star Wars Battlefront II (2017)
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019)
- Star Wars Rebels: Ghost Raid (2014)
- Star Wars Rebels: Rebel Strike (2014)
- Star Wars Rebels: Recon Missions (2015)
- Star Wars Rebels: Team Tactics (2015)
- Star Wars Rebels: Strike Missions (2015)
- Star Wars Rebels: Special Ops (2016)
- Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire (2017)
- Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series - Episodes I-III (2019)
- Star Wars: Boots on the Ground (2017)
- Star Wars: Heroes Path (2015)
- Star Wars Battlefront (2015)
- Star Wars: Commander (2014)
- Star Wars: Yoda's Jedi Training (2016)
- Star Wars: Uprising Kabam (2015)
- Star Wars: Rise to Power (Release Date TBA)
- Star Wars: Squadrons (2020)
- Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay (2017)
- Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge (2020)