NOTE: Scroll the bottom if you want to just see the order without any context.
DISCLAIMER: I might come back and update this post as more canon films and shows are released (I’m defining “canon” as stuff present on Disney Plus’s “Timeline” playlist).
Since 1999, a debate that has run rampant in the Star Wars fandom is what order all the movies (and now shows) should be watched in, particularly if you’re a newcomer.
Most fans fall into one of two schools of thought; chronological order (as in the order in which the films and shows take place) and release order (as in the order which they were made in). I’ve never been a fan of chronological order, as I feel the prequel trilogy, despite whatever franchise-creator George Lucas thinks, is not a good starting point, and I think even most fans of those particular three films these days would agree. That said, with the sequel trilogy now being a thing, I feel release order no longer works either, as the transition from Revenge of the Sith to The Force Awakens is pretty jarring (I saw so for myself on TV just the other day, in fact). The prequels, both for better and for worse, are very whacky, which makes Awakens feel very “dry” by comparison. I’ve seen all the films in chronological order as well, and Awakens feels much “nicer” when you watch it right after Return of the Jedi.
There’s also a small branch of the fandom that advocates for something called machete order, which basically means sticking the prequel trilogy in the middle of the original trilogy. While I understand the appeal, I’ve never been a fan of this order either, as I think “breaking up” any of the trilogies is a bad idea, and would just make things too confusing for newbies. Furthermore, most “machete-ists” these days insist on starting with the spin-off film Rogue One, since it leads directly into A New Hope, but I personally feel Rogue is a bad place to start as well, considering how tonally different it is from pretty much everything else.
With that all being said, it’s now my belief that all three of these popular orderings might now be outdated, and that it may be time to start thinking about the franchise in a completely different way. For that reason, I’d like to take this opportunity to outline what I like to call the full-circle order (I promise that name will make sense soon). So without further ado, let’s get started:
Like at least half the fandom (if not more), I still feel the original trilogy is the best place to start. After that, I suggest going straight to the sequel trilogy. Yes, it’s true that the sequel trilogy is indeed very derivative of the original trilogy (and I’m saying that as someone who’s mostly a fan of the sequels). However, my hypothesis is that all the aforementioned repetition becomes less jarring when all you have to go off of beforehand is the original trilogy itself. I imagine a newbie watching the originals, and then going to the sequels and noticing all the repeats but thinking “Oh, well this is all Star Wars is anyways, so it’s fine.” Bearing witness first to all the weirdness of the prequels, good and bad, ruins this effect.
In addition, I’m willing to bet that a newcomer might actually enjoy seeing the same story twice in a row, with the second iteration having just enough subversion (mainly thanks to The Last Jedi) to feel at least somewhat unique. I’d also like to remind everyone that Luke, Han, and Leia are still arguably the most “appealing” characters of the entire franchise. Therefore, it still makes sense to start with those three heroes, and then immediately see how their stories continue (and end). I know most people who grew up with the original trilogy (or both the originals and prequels) think The Last Jedi “ruined” Luke, but I imagine a lot of people who didn’t grow up with the franchise won’t really feel that way. Similarly, I know most people who grew up with the prequels specifically feel that the sequels didn’t respect their Star Wars, but again, I don’t think newcomers will care, and watching the sequels first counters that argument anyways…
So after the sequels, I suggest doubling-back and seeing “how it all began” with the prequel trilogy, to bring things full-circle (told you the name would make sense eventually). Now that we’ve seen the same story play out twice (the second time with some subversion), we can go backwards and see the origins of everything, and embrace the weirdness of it all (again, good and bad). In fact, I’d imagine the weirdness of the prequels might be more welcome after seeing two similar stories in a row. It’s also kinda interesting to watch the prequels with the foresight that all of Palpatine’s schemes will eventually be undone by his own descendant…
After this, I think the next best place to go is the Obi-Wan Kenobi show, since it showcases Obi-Wan himself dealing with the immediate fallout of Revenge of the Sith. I know Obi-Wan mentions Quinlan from The Clone Wars in his own show, but I’m not sure if that’s enough to need to watch Clone Wars beforehand…. Anyways, after Obi-Wan, we go to the other live-action content that takes place during the “rise of the empire” era: Solo, Rogue One, and Andor. I know Andor takes place before Rogue One, but I think it’s better to see Cassian’s sacrifice before seeing his backstory. I also know watching Andor before The Clone Wars might ruin the impact of seeing Yularin go from good to bad, but he’s such a minor character that most casual viewers would likely miss that…
Many fans would probably tell you to then go to the “mandoverse” shows, but I respectfully disagree, as everything there after Season 1 of The Mandalorian requires you to be familiar with various characters who were introduced beforehand in the world of animation. Because of this, after Rogue One, I recommend showing a newbie the animated shows The Clone Wars (for this show specifically, I prefer chronological order) and Rebels, as they both provide valuable context for characters who become important later in live-action. After this, you can go to the mandoverse, which is also best watched in chronological order (The Mandalorian Seasons 1-2, The Book of Boba Fett, The Mandalorian Season 3, and Ahsoka). As of this writing, the show Skeleton Crew is not out yet, but we already know enough about it to know that it should be seen after Ahsoka.
Admittedly, the remaining bits of long-form canon, The Bad Batch and Resistance, are not all that important, hence why they’re here at the bottom. I think they’re all fine, personally, but that’s not the point of this list. For this particular group, I put The Bad Batch on top cause it has better story, animation, characters, etc.
As we wrap up here, I’d like to highlight the fact that this list is NOT a ranking. I hesitate to rank this franchise, as each installment has things I like and things I don’t. Thinking about the right ordering is a lot less stressful/toxic than trying to think of the right ranking, anyways. That said, if someone does indeed ask me to try to rank everything, I’ll probably just tell them release order, or send them this very post that you’re reading right now (EDIT: or this one instead).
So all in all, we have:
Skywalker Saga
Original Trilogy
Sequel Trilogy
Prequel Trilogy
Rise of the Empire
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Solo
Rogue One
Andor
Important Cartoons
The Clone Wars (in chronological order)
Rebels
Mandoverse
The Mandalorian Seasons 1-2
The Book of Boba Fett
The Mandalorian Season 3
Ahsoka
Skeleton Crew
Miscellaneous
The Bad Batch
Resistance
Peace!
UPDATE: Just so it’s clear, I’m not saying this order is the absolutely most “correct” way to watch the franchise. Just merely trying to propose a new possibility here that I haven’t seen explored elsewhere, is all.
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