Star Wars television has become an empire that would make Palpatine jealous. After The Clone Wars and Rebels kept the franchise’s TV side going with animation, The Mandalorian shifted the focus to live-action, spawning spinoffs like The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka. But the animated side has still been churning along, with The Bad Batch continuing the legacy of The Clone Wars and Young Jedi Adventures offering something for the youngest Star Wars fans.
Most intriguing, though, is Star Wars Visions, an animated anthology series telling standalone stories set throughout the Star Wars timeline. Season 1, released in 2021, featured episodes created by a variety of Japanese animation studios, giving fans an anime-influenced take on Star Wars that echoed old samurai stories and Studio Ghibli movies. In Season 2, the international focus spread across the entire world, featuring work from Aardman in the United Kingdom, Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon, and Studio Mir in South Korea.
Now, Visions is back for Season 3, and while the anthology is getting back to basics, it’s also attracted some even bigger names.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney announced that Star Wars Visions was renewed for a third season during a content showcase in Singapore. The series will return to Japan for its collaborators, and is slated to release next year. David Production, Kamikaze Douga+ ANIMA, Kinema Citrus, Polygon Pictures, Production I.G, Project Studio Q, TRIGGER, and WIT Studio will all lend their talents to the anthology.
It’s an exciting mix of new and returning studios. The former include David Production, which is behind the cult anime sensation Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Wit Studio, the animators for the first three seasons of Attack on Titan and the Max original anime series Suicide Squad Isekai, set in the world of DC Comics.
Returnees include Kamikaze Douga, Kinema Citrus, Production I.G, and TRIGGER, giving them the opportunity to introduce sequels to prior shorts. Kamikaze Douga is probably the most likely to revisit its first short, “The Duel,” as its protagonist, known only as The Ronin, became a fan favorite and even sparked a spinoff novel.
Star Wars Visions may not be the most cohesive part of the Star Wars universe, but it offers fans glimpses at different parts of the galaxy while highlighting how well the sci-fi story can be translated to a different medium. We’ll see even more of that in Season 3, and maybe we’ll see some familiar faces, too.
