Star Wars Visions Episode The Ninth Jedi Avoids Skywalker Saga Focus

The scope and scale of Star Wars is virtually unlimited. Using the concept of the Force, along with lightsabers, Jedi, Sith, and the binary of Light and Dark established by George Lucas, storytellers have free rein to explore any era in the history or future of the galaxy, and beyond. Every new story set in that galaxy, far, far away seems to be focused on just a few generations of Star Wars history until now.

Ever since A New Hope, Star Wars has been synonymous with the Skywalker Saga. Every new movie and show feeds into that story in some way, and even unrelated spinoffs like The Mandalorian eventually circle back to the Skywalkers. When Star Wars tries to do something different, it either gets rejected by fans like The Acolyte or stuck in development hell like James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi movie. Lucasfilm keeps teasing a return to Rey’s story while finding new ways to retell the original trilogy.

The Ninth Jedi is different. Officially titled Star Wars: Visions Presents — The Ninth Jedi, the new animated series is based on a standout episode from the first season of the anthology series Star Wars: Visions. That standalone story imagined a distant Star Wars future where the Jedi were virtually extinct and one man still crafted lightsabers to keep the tradition alive. A few years later, a follow-up entry in Visions season 3 moved the story forward slightly. Creator Kenji Kamiyama is now expanding the narrative while staying true to the original concept.

The opening exposition for the first episode of The Ninth Jedi mixes the narration of The Clone Wars with the stakes of a Star Wars movie text crawl. Kenji Kamiyama sets the stakes in less than sixty seconds:

The era of the Jedi and the Sith has ended. They have all but disappeared, and with them, the ancient art of crafting their sacred weapon, the lightsaber. A terrible age of conflict now mires the galaxy in chaos as warlords rise. Among them, the fierce masked general, Nawaam has emerged spreading terror as planets fall under his control at an alarming rate. Amid this, Margrave Juro works to bring back the Jedi Order in hope that they can restore peace and justice to the galaxy.

The opening narration places the story in the distant future compared to A New Hope and The Rise of Skywalker. Characters like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader are completely forgotten in this era.

This allows Kenji Kamiyama and his collaborators to tell a fresh story. Without being bogged down in Skywalker canon, they explore the basic framework of George Lucas’ sci-fi fantasy world with complete freedom, resulting in a spinoff that charts a path forward for the franchise.

Kenji Kamiyama told Polygon that he was heavily influenced by A New Hope to tell a story that feels both original and nostalgic. He remixes classic Star Wars tropes into the show. These moments gain impact thanks to the narrative distance from the rest of the franchise, serving as subtle nods that certain things are inevitable in this galaxy far, far away.

The Ninth Jedi proves that the future of Star Wars should move past the Skywalker bloodline. Disney can renew The Acolyte, fast-track Dawn of the Jedi, and greenlight more Visions spinoffs, but fans will always have The Ninth Jedi.

The Ninth Jedi is streaming now on Disney Plus.

Source: Polygon