Check out the varied ways to watch all of Star Wars in order
Check out the varied ways to watch all of Star Wars in order
Whether you’re a release-order purist, believe in going numerically, or want to factor the Star Wars TV shows into your marathon, our definitive guide will help set you on the right path.
The Star Wars franchise will turn 50 years old in 2027. In those five decades, Star Wars has churned out more than a dozen theatrical releases and numerous animated and live-action TV series, not to mention a mountain of merchandise, hundreds of novels (both Canon and Legends), theme park rides, and much more.
Ever since Disney purchased Star Wars, along with the rest of Lucasfilm, in 2012, the company has been determined to make the most out of the beloved intellectual property. That has led to some hits and many misses in the eyes of fans, but the excitement conjured by the name Star Wars remains buried deep in the hearts of fans.
The Star Wars fandom is one of the most diverse in cinema, and as such, there are varying opinions on what the best order to watch the large Star Wars canon in really is. As with all fandom debates, these conversations can get needlessly toxic, and it can help to see all the options laid out in one place.
With that in mind, The Streamable wanted to offer new and long-time Star Wars fans an inclusive guide to watching the franchise in multiple ways. We’ll lay out some of the most popular watch-order methods, and you can decide the format you want to watch in; whether you want to skip all TV shows, watch in chronological order, order of release, etc. Let us help you travel to a galaxy far, far away at lightspeed!
How to watch Star Wars in order
Where to stream Star Wars shows and movies
If you want to stream the Star Wars franchise, a Disney+ subscription is an absolute must-have. It’s the exclusive on-demand home of Star Wars TV shows and movies, so if you don’t have physical media copies of the movies and shows you want to watch, Disney+ is your only option to watch with a subscription. It starts at $12 per month for an ad-supported plan, or you can add Hulu for $1 per month more.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”
How many Star Wars movies are there?
As of 2026, there have been 12 theatrically released Star Wars movies, with “The Mandalorian and Grogu” due to arrive in theaters on May 22, 2026. The film that started it all was, of course, “Star Wars,” which was released in 1977, and quickly augmented with the “A New Hope” tag. “The Empire Strikes Back” followed in 1980, and “Return of the Jedi” finished the story of the Skywalker family in 1983 — or so fans thought.
For more than a decade, Star Wars fans were forced to wonder if that was the final word on the Skywalker saga. But in the 1990s, franchise creator George Lucas delighted audiences by announcing that he was at work on a new trilogy, this time telling the story of Luke’s father, Anakin Skywalker, and his fall to the dark side of the Force. The result was “Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace,” “Star Wars: Episode 2 — Attack of the Clones,” and “Star Wars: Episode 3 — Revenge of the Sith,” released between 1999 and 2005.
The prequel trilogy divided fans, but has come to be more passionately embraced by fans over the past decades. Then, less than 10 years after the release of “Revenge of the Sith,” Lucasfilm was sold to Disney in a whirlwind deal, with the 2008 animated “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” movie serving as the only theatrical release from the studio between the release and the sale.
A few years after Disney’s takeover, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” kicked off what is known as the sequel trilogy. Fans were mostly positive on the film upon its release, and remain so today, but its follow-ups “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” exposed more rifts in the fandom. In between sequel trilogy releases, Disney elected to tell the story of the theft of the Death Star plans in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” and the early days of Han Solo in “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”
Since then, there has been a step back from theatrical releases, as Disney tries to recalibrate the future of the Star Wars franchise, focusing in recent years on streaming TV series. The company has dismissed former president of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy, and replaced her with “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” supervising director Dave Filoni. “The Mandalorian and Grogu” will be the first Star Wars movie released under the Filoni regime.
How many animated Star Wars TV shows are there?
Star Wars has spawned nearly 20 live-action and animated series, stretching back to 1985, when “Star Wars: Droids” was released. Things were quiet on the TV front for the Star Wars franchise for a long time, until 2003’s “Star Wars: Clone Wars” from visionary animator Genndy Tartakovsky was released. This so-called “microseries” tied Episodes 2 and 3 together, but was essentially replaced by a new show set during the Clone Wars period.
The 2008 animated “Clone Wars” movie gave rise to the TV series of the same name. The show eventually got seven seasons’ worth of episodes, but the release of these seasons was far from linear, as its run was interrupted by Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm. Nevertheless, “Clone Wars” developed a rabid pool of fans, some of whom have declared it the best part of the entire Star Wars franchise.
In 2014, Disney released a new animated series set in the days of the Empire called “Star Wars Rebels,” which soon built a fanbase every bit as passionate as that of “The Clone Wars.” The next series, “Star Wars: Resistance,” which was intended to tie the original trilogy to the sequels, was not as well-received.
Since then, Disney has focused on telling stories from different periods of the Star Wars universe with its animated shows. “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” and anthology shows such as “Star Wars: Tales of the Empire,” “Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi,” and “Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld” use the same animation style as “Clone Wars,” and tell stories in and around that time period.
The latest in this family of shows is “Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord,” a 2026 release. Disney has also partnered with animation studios around the world to create the “Star Wars: Visions” series, but these tales are not considered part of the larger canon.
How do live-action Star Wars shows fit into the universe?
George Lucas spoke of his desire to create live-action Star Wars shows when he was still in control of the franchise, but nothing ever materialized from those desires. Disney, on the other hand, has developed numerous live-action Star Wars titles, beginning with “The Mandalorian,” which helped launch Disney+ in 2019.
Since then, Disney has used its live-action shows to spotlight beloved characters from across the live action and animated past, like Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Boba Fett. These shows have largely brought back actors from the original films, including Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan, Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett, and even Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker (with the aid of some visual effects).
Disney has also used live-action series to try to expand the Star Wars universe to new stories, especially with recent shows like “The Acolyte” and “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.” The most unique Star Wars live-action series to date has been “Andor,” a story that fits into the Star Wars universe, but is much more an intense political spy thriller than it is a sweeping space opera.
Critically, Disney has also used many of its live-action shows to bring characters that previously existed only in animated Star Wars works — such as Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, etc. — into the “real” Star Wars universe. So, even though some Star Wars fans may consider animated titles from the franchise as juvenile, they can be crucial to understanding the characters and settings from live-action Star Wars shows, “Ahsoka,” in particular.
What about Star Wars specials?
There have been a few ill-fated Star Wars specials over the years — all live action. The two Ewok Adventure movies “The Ewok Adventure” and “Ewoks: The Battle for Endor” were strictly for kids, but the special that started them all was 1978’s “The Star Wars Holiday Special.” George Lucas was famously so ashamed of the “Holiday Special” that he has expressed a desire to destroy each copy he can get his hands on.
How to watch Star Wars in various orders
The question has been bandied about the fandom for years: “In what order should you watch the Star Wars movies and shows?” Well, the short answer is you can watch in whatever order you want. However, if you are still trying to figure out the best method, we have compiled some of the most tried and true methods, thrown in our own expertise, mixed and matched genres, and given you a number of options to start your binge in a galaxy far, far away.
All Star Wars in order of release
Many fans will argue that watching the films in order of release is the only way to go, since first-time viewers will be exposed to the best of the franchise (the original trilogy) first. Additionally, while all Star Wars titles call back to events in the past (both seen and unseen), since they were written and filmed in this order, you are never going to find yourself ahead or behind the artists who made them at the time.
So, to watch all of Star Wars — including all live-action and animated series — this is the order to do it in.
- Star Wars: A New Hope: A New Hope
- The Empire Strikes Back
- Return of the Jedi
- Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
- Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
- Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars (animated film)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars (animated series)
- Star Wars Rebels
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
All Star Wars movies in chronological order
We’ll go into more detail about how to watch Star Wars in chronological order, including all TV seasons below, but if you just want to concentrate on the movies, starting at the in-universe beginning of the franchise, and finishing at the latest on-screen date, check the list below. When “The Mandalorian and Grogu” is released in 2026, it will slot in between “Return of the Jedi” and “The Force Awakens.”
All live-action Star Wars in chronological order
Here, we’ll show you how to watch Star Wars in chronological order with only live-action Star Wars titles included. This will add the TV shows to the list of films, with the animated titles removed for now.
All Star Wars in chronological order
Now this is the list for dedicated fans. It includes all titles from the Star Wars universe — animated and live-action, series and movies — organized into when they take place in the Star Wars timeline. Since it’s chronological order, we will start with the pre-“Phantom Menace” era, and conclude with “The Rise of Skywalker”!
- The Acolyte
- Tales of the Jedi
- Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld
- Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
- Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi
- Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch
- Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord
- Tales of the Empire
- Star Wars: Droids
- Solo: A Star Wars Story
- Obi-Wan Kenobi
All Star Wars animated series in chronological order
Some fans are of the staunch opinion that the best Star Wars work since the original trilogy has been animated. If you’d rather stick to the animated works from the Star Wars universe and skip live-action titles, see the chronological list of titles to watch below.
One note, we did not include “Young Jedi Adventures” in this list, since it is a show aimed at preschool viewers. However, if you are a completist, it takes place roughly 200 years before “The Phantom Menace,” so it would be the first entry on your chronological animated viewing list.
Machete Order
For a long time, chronological order or release order were the only ways that Star Wars fans argued about how to watch the movies. But in 2011, software engineer Rod Hilton introduced what he called “Machete Order,” which is intended to focus on Luke’s tale at the expense of Anakin’s. Note that the original Machete Order did not include “The Phantom Menace,” but as the prequel films have become more widely accepted in the fandom, it has commonly found a place in this method.
So, if you want to watch the films in Machete Order as Hilton originally envisioned, it skips “The Phantom Menace,” and slots in Episodes II and III as a sort of flashback to explain the rise of the Empire, and Anakin’s transformation into Darth Vader. However, if you want all six of the first films to be included, Episode I will be third.
- Star Wars: A New Hope
- The Empire Strikes Back
- Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
- Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
- Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
- Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Movies
An epic space-opera theatrical film series, which depicts the adventures of various characters “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”