D23 2024 just concluded, and Star Wars had surprisingly few announcements, leaving me wondering why the franchise didn’t take better advantage of this massive opportunity. Star Wars has a number of upcoming movies and upcoming TV shows, but many of these pending projects have very little information attached to them. For this reason, many (myself included) expected D23 to be absolutely full of trailers, updates, release dates, and perhaps even a few surprise announcements.
In other areas of D23, this was the case. Several major Disney movie announcements were made, from sequels to brand-new movies. However, Star Wars movies and TV shows didn’t receive nearly the same attention. Although there were a few updates for Star Wars during D23, it was much less than what many expected, and I’m still confused about why.
Several Star Wars D23 Announcements Were Expected
Expectations were very high for Star Wars announcements at D23 because of how much the franchise has coming down the line. In 2024, LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew are both being released. Upcoming shows with unspecified release dates include Andor season 2, although that is set to premiere at some point in 2025, and Ahsoka season 2, the date for which (including the year) is entirely unknown. However, speculation remains about a possible Mandalorian season 4, and Star Wars has confirmed that Asajj Ventress will return in an unidentified future project.
The Mandalorian & Grogu is confirmed to be released on May 22, 2026.
In terms of movies, The Mandalorian & Grogu is confirmed to be releasing on May 22, 2026, and Rey’s upcoming Star Wars movie is expected not long after. However, Star Wars also has several mystery movies in the works, from Taika Waititi’s movie to Shawn Levy’s. In addition to those, a movie about the very origins of the Jedi, rumored to be titled Dawn of the Jedi, is also confirmed to be in the franchise’s future.
There are also a number of expected projects, even if Star Wars has yet to address whether they are truly going to happen. One of the most highly anticipated is The Acolyte season 2. The franchise hasn’t announced that a second season is happening, yet many were expecting both that season 2 is coming and that it would be announced at D23.
D23 Didn’t Have Any Major Star Wars Reveals
Despite all the projects, known and unknown, that are coming in Star Wars, very little was revealed at D23. The biggest Star Wars update throughout the weekend was the trailer for Skeleton Crew. While that was thrilling, though, this was perhaps the most expected update for Star Wars. The show was already confirmed to be releasing on December 3, 2024, so a trailer was imminent. D23 also saw the release of a new trailer for Rebuild the Galaxy, which was exciting to see. Yet again, though, with that show debuting in September of this year, it wasn’t a shocking announcement.
Beyond those two trailer drops, Star Wars announced that The Mandalorian & Grogu is currently in production and confirmed that Orson Krennic and K-2SO will make appearances in Andor season 2. Given how much time and attention Star Wars had available to them at D23, these sparse updates truly shocked me. In fact, one of the most surprising aspects of the limited Star Wars reveals at D23 was that no animated TV show announcements were made whatsoever.
This would have been an ideal time for the franchise to gain a bit more interest.
What makes this lack of announcements and updates at D23 all the more confusing is that this would have been an ideal time for the franchise to gain a bit more interest. The Acolyte only just concluded, and with the end of that show came a natural lull in interest in the franchise. Although two shows are coming later this year, neither Rebuild the Galaxy nor Skeleton Crew has a particularly high amount of attention. Moreover, with the next movie release a few years out, this would have been a good time to stir up excitement about the future.
Why Didn’t Star Wars Take Advantage Of This Massive Event?
It remains unclear why Star Wars didn’t want to take advantage of the excitement and attention surrounding D23 by including any truly major announcements. The most glaring absence, in my view, was the lack of confirmation that The Acolyte season 2 is coming. In fact, with Manny Jacinto having his own Q&A, many were fully expecting this to be a D23 reveal. Now, this raises questions about whether The Acolyte season 2 is happening at all.
Whether it is or isn’t, though, surely Star Wars has a number of shows and movies in the works that the franchise has yet to announce. It may remain a mystery why nothing more significant was announced this weekend. However, perhaps with time, Star Wars will reveal the tricks the franchise has up its sleeve, making clear why these announcements weren’t made at D23.