How connected should the Star Wars TV universe be?

As the Star Wars TV universe grows larger, fans are debating how connected the TV universe should be.

Movies are no longer the face of Star Wars. With The Mandalorian becoming a worldwide phenomenon and with no new Star Wars movies releasing until December of 2023, television is becoming more important than ever in a galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars began to feel like it had its own rich and immersive TV universe with The Clone Wars series helmed by Dave Filoni. The universe expanded further when Filoni helmed Star Wars Rebels, especially when Clone Wars characters like Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, and Maul appeared in Rebels and played a major role. The TV universe grew even more with Star Wars Resistance, an animated series that takes place during the sequel trilogy era, but it didn’t have anywhere near the level of connectivity that The Clone Wars and Rebels shared.

When the first Star Wars live-action series The Mandalorian premiered in 2019, it was praised for feeling like a fresh breath of air and doing its own thing. The level of connectivity to other shows seems poised to increase, though, with Moff Gideon wielding the Darksaber in the season 1 finale and the massive list of familiar characters rumored to appear in season 2.

These completed animated shows and future seasons of The Mandalorian are only the tips of the iceberg when it comes to Star Wars TV. An animated Bad Batch series, a live-action Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and a live-action Cassian Andor have all been confirmed for 2021 and beyond. Meanwhile, every day seems to bring new rumors of yet another character receiving their own Disney+ show.

When it comes to connectivity between these shows, Lucasfilm needs to find balance. Bringing Clone Wars characters like Ahsoka, Rex, and Maul into Rebels helped the show reach its stride and feel like a more integral part of the universe. The key to this was that these characters didn’t take over the show, allowing Ezra, Kanan, and the rest of the Ghost crew to still drive the series.

This is the balance that The Mandalorian needs to strike as it enters its second season. While rumors of Ahsoka, Rex, Boba Fett, Bo-Katan, and lesser-known characters like Cobb Vanth coming into the show are exciting, many fans are understandably concerned that these characters will take over the show and ruin the unique sense of what made The Mandalorian so special in the first place.

Even though Ahsoka and Rex are wonderful characters, they don’t need to appear in every Star Wars TV show. Too much connectivity can be a bad thing as it can make the galaxy feel small and constrained even though the galaxy should feel expansive and limitless.

There are so many stories to tell and so many characters to meet in this galaxy. While some of these stories and characters should cross paths, others should remain separate. It’s all about finding the connections that make sense and enrich one another instead of feeling contrived.