Longtime Star Wars fans have no doubt seen the movies far too many times to count, with the braver souls even revisiting the Prequel Trilogy on multiple occasions. Along with Anthology entries Rogue One and Solo, as well as The Mandalorian expanding the universe onto the small screen and co-existing as canon alongside the likes of The Clone Wars and Rebels, bingeing the franchise’s entire canon from start to finish is a massive undertaking.
However, for those interested in experiencing Star Wars in an entirely different way that don’t have the patience to work through it chronologically, a few new viewing orders have emerged. Similar to the six different methods of enjoying the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a brand new light, The Direct have once again come up with some new ways to see one of the cinema’s most popular and beloved franchises from a different perspective, and you can check them out in the gallery below along with brief descriptions of each one.
Ultimate Chronological Order: This one is pretty self-explanatory and follows the timeline directly from start to finish, and involves adding The Clone Wars, Rebels and The Mandalorian to your watch-list to become fully immersed in the lore of a galaxy far, far away.
Anakin Skywalker Cut: Again, pretty much what it says on the tin, even though it starts with Rogue One where Darth Vader’s appearance was limited to a brief cameo, and involves jumping between the movies and certain episodes of the TV shows to get a better understanding of Anakin’s journey towards the Dark Side.
Mandalorian Cut: Obviously, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s Disney Plus hit factors heavily into this one, but widens the scope to focus on both the planet of Mandalore and the citizens that dwell there, telling the story of Star Wars entirely from the perspective of the Mandalorians themselves.
Alternate Machete Order: The so-called ‘Machete Order’ is a fan favorite method of watching Star Wars that jumps between the Original and Prequel Trilogy while ignoring The Phantom Menace entirely, and this updated version kicks off with Rogue One and involves every live-action movie with the exception of Solo.
Luke Skywalker Cut: The most straightforward and linear of the six new viewing methods that focuses solely on Luke’s arc, it also avoids the Prequel Trilogy for those that can’t bear the thought of dealing with trade hearings and Jar-Jar Binks ever again.
Ahsoka Cut: Before she makes her long-awaited live-action debut in The Mandalorian, the Ahsoka Cut puts the focus squarely on one of the expanded universe’s biggest breakout characters, and is the only one that doesn’t involve any of the movies at all.
There’s no doubt a lot of people that have already re-watched Star Wars from start to finish during the Coronavirus pandemic, but this just goes to show that there are still plenty of new ways to enjoy a franchise that’s been around for over 40 years.
