As the countless failed attempts to mimic the Marvel Cinematic Universe formula over the years has shown, crafting a shared mythology isn’t as easy as deciding you’re going to do it and then forging ahead. Star Wars has been around since 1977, but only recently have the various arms of the expanded universe started to tie together, and it’s all thanks to The Mandalorian.
For the first season at least, Jon Favreau’s smash hit Disney Plus series took place in a familiar world, but featured an original narrative and plenty of brand new characters. That all changed with the second run of episodes, though, which brought in animated fan favorites Ahsoka Tano and Bo-Katan, while referencing events from The Clone Wars and Rebels, followed by Luke Skywalker appearing in the finale to provide direct connective tissue between The Mandalorian and the two-decade gap in the timeline leading to The Force Awakens, something which Favreau admitted could be explored further in the future.
Insider Daniel Richtman is now claiming that The Mandalorian universe, which involves Ahsoka, Rangers of the New Republic and The Book of Boba Fett, will be the first of several Star Wars cinematic universes. It’s not quite clear how this is all supposed to unfold, however, and you could easily go insane trying to deduce how it’s going to happen.
Lando is expected to feature both Billy Dee Williams and Donald Glover, which ties it to the Original Trilogy and the Anthology movies, Andor is set before Rogue One, meaning it’s almost guaranteed to fit into the overarching narrative from Episodes I to IV in at least a handful of ways, while Obi-Wan Kenobi takes place between Episodes III and IV, so all three of those shows technically take place in the same world as The Mandalorian, just during different time periods.
Disney Plus’ The Acolyte and the next three feature films haven’t been placed yet, meanwhile, which means it’s conceivable that they could build their own pocket universes, but we’ll just have to wait and see how the Star Wars tapestry weaves itself together.
