Star Wars Timeline: Every Film and Series in Story Order

Every Star Wars film and TV series fits somewhere on one timeline, from The Acolyte, a century before The Phantom Menace, to The Rise of Skywalker and beyond. My timeline below puts all 28 that have been released so far in story order, with the year each one came out, plus Starfighter, which arrives in May 2027.

The order comes from the official StarWars.com viewing guide. I’ve updated it to include The Mandalorian and Grogu and Maul: Shadow Lord, both released in 2026.

The Star Wars timeline

Films sit above the line and TV series below it. The coloured brackets along the top show the six eras StarWars.com uses to divide up the saga, and the year under each logo is when it was released, not when it’s set.

Every Star Wars film and series in story order

The High Republic

• The Acolyte (2024). Set about 100 years before The Phantom Menace, at the end of the High Republic, when the Jedi were at the height of their power. It’s the earliest point in the timeline that has been shown on screen so far.

Fall of the Jedi

• Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
• Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002). Ten years later, and the start of the Clone Wars
• The Clone Wars (film, 2008) and The Clone Wars (series, 2008 to 2020). The animated series covers the three years of war between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, and its final season runs alongside Revenge of the Sith
• Tales of the Jedi (2022). Short animated stories about Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku, spread across several decades
• Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). The end of the Clone Wars, Order 66 and the birth of the Empire

Reign of the Empire

• Tales of the Empire (2024) and Tales of the Underworld (2025). Two more animated anthologies. Like Tales of the Jedi, their stories jump around in time, so they sit here as a group
• The Bad Batch (2021 to 2024). Starts straight after Order 66 and follows Clone Force 99 through the early years of the Empire
• Maul: Shadow Lord (2026). Set a year after the Clone Wars, as Maul builds a new criminal empire on the planet Janix
• Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). A young Han Solo meets Chewbacca and Lando, about ten years before A New Hope
• Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022). Ten years after Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan is drawn out of hiding on Tatooine and hunted by the Inquisitors
• Andor (2022 to 2025) and Star Wars Rebels (2014 to 2018). These two run over the same years, which is why they share a fork on the timeline. Andor covers the five years leading up to Rogue One, and Rebels follows the crew of the Ghost in the same period

Age of Rebellion

• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016). The mission to steal the Death Star plans, which leads straight into A New Hope
• Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
• Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Three years later
• Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983). One year after that

The New Republic

• The Mandalorian (2019 to 2023). Five years after Return of the Jedi, Din Djarin takes on a bounty that turns out to be Grogu
• The Book of Boba Fett (2021 to 2022). Set in the same period, as Boba Fett takes over Jabba’s old territory on Tatooine
• Ahsoka (2023). Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren hunt for Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger
• Skeleton Crew (2024 to 2025). Four children from a quiet planet get lost in the galaxy
• The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026). The film that carries on from The Mandalorian season 3

Rise of the First Order

• Star Wars Resistance (2018 to 2020). An animated series set in the build-up to The Force Awakens and running alongside it
• Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015). About 30 years after Return of the Jedi
• Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
• Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). The furthest point in the timeline that has been released so far

What’s coming next

• Ahsoka season 2 arrives on Disney+ on 20 January 2027. It will sit in the same place as the first season, in the New Republic era
• Star Wars: Starfighter opens in cinemas on 28 May 2027, 50 years after the original Star Wars came out. It’s a standalone film directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Gosling, and it’s set five years after The Rise of Skywalker. That will make it the latest point in the timeline, and the first film set after the sequel trilogy. With a title like that, expect plenty of flying, so here are the best pilots in Star Wars it has to live up to

I’ll add both to the timeline once they’re out.

Series outside the main timeline

Some Star Wars series aren’t on the official viewing order, so they have their own row at the bottom of the timeline:

• Star Wars: Visions (2021 onwards). Anime-inspired short films from different studios, each telling its own story. Most of them aren’t part of the official canon
• Young Jedi Adventures (2023 onwards). A series for young children, set during the High Republic
• Forces of Destiny (2017) and Galaxy of Adventures (2018). Short animated episodes made for younger fans
• LEGO Star Wars series, from The Freemaker Adventures to Rebuild the Galaxy, which tell their own LEGO versions of the story

What happened to the 2020 announcements?

When I first published this page in December 2020, Disney had just announced ten new Star Wars projects at its Investor Day. Most of them have now been released: Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Bad Batch, Ahsoka, The Acolyte and The Mandalorian season 3.

A few have gone quiet. Rangers of the New Republic was shelved, and Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron film was taken off the release schedule. Lando, A Droid Story and Taika Waititi’s film haven’t been released, and Lucasfilm hasn’t given a date for any of them. If any of them come back, they’ll go on the timeline.

Star Wars timeline FAQs

What is the first Star Wars in the timeline?

The Acolyte, set about 100 years before The Phantom Menace. If you only want the films, Episode I: The Phantom Menace comes first.

What is the latest Star Wars in the timeline?

The Rise of Skywalker is the furthest point released so far. Starfighter will take that place when it comes out in May 2027, because it’s set five years later.

Where does The Mandalorian and Grogu fit in the timeline?

After The Mandalorian season 3 and Skeleton Crew, in the New Republic era, between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.

Does Andor come before Rebels?

They overlap. Andor starts five years before Rogue One, and Rebels covers roughly the same years, so you can watch them in either order before Rogue One.

Should I watch Star Wars in release order or story order?

For a first watch, release order keeps the big surprises in The Empire Strikes Back intact. Story order, as in the timeline above, works best once you know the saga and want to see how everything links together.