10Lucasfilm is gearing up to celebrate 50 years of Star Wars in 2027, but there are still many projects releasing this year. From video games to the first new theatrical release in nearly a decade, there’s a lot to look forward to as a Star Wars fan in 2026.
March: Smart LEGO Bricks Release
Following their reveal at CES earlier this year, LEGO’s Smart Play system sets have been met with lots of criticism. Released on March 1st, The LEGO Smart Play system centers around a small LEGO brick full of sensors, speakers and lights that can interact with other specialized LEGO pieces equipped with electrical components. You could have an X-Wing that makes sounds as you swoosh it or a duel between minifigures with lightsaber noises. The sets range from $40-$160, but in order to get a Smart Brick that the entire Smart Play System revolves around, you need an All-In-One set, the cheapest of which being $70.
April: Maul Shadow Lord Premieres
All hope is not lost for Star Wars though, as Lucasfilm’s next animated Star Wars TV show, Maul Shadow Lord, premiering on Disney+ on April 6th, appears to be very promising. Sam Witwer, who is a very vocal performer in the Star Wars community, serves as the voice of Darth Maul in various other animated Star Wars TV shows including Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and he will be reprising his role in Maul Shadow Lord. The premier will consist of the first two episodes, with the following ones likely releasing every Monday, one at a time.
Taking place after Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the Star Wars website explains how the show follows “Maul [as he] plots to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire,” while also hinting at him meeting a potential apprentice. The trailer and other images from the show reveal that the animators are using a more stylized form of 3D animation, a trend seen across the industry with DreamWorks’ and Sony’s animation projects. As someone who grew up watching The Clone Wars and Rebels TV shows which Dave Filoni was heavily involved in, I’m very excited for what this show has to offer.
May: The Mandalorian and Grogu Come to Theatres
Unlike Maul Shadow Lord, Star Wars fans are a bit more skeptical of the Mandalorian and Grogu movie releasing on May 22nd in theatres. Although The Mandalorian TV show on Disney+ had been a major fan-favorite, even with non-hardcore fans, the characters have lost some of their appeal following what some believe to be a disappointing third season. On top of this, some fans were baffled by how Disney decided to spend millions of dollars on a Super Bowl commercial that was a parody and not a traditional trailer. While some hype is beginning to build up following the recent release of a new trailer, a level of skepticism remains. Personally, I feel as though the movie will be good, but I do understand people’s concern with this movie being the way that Star Wars returns to theatres.
The trailer suggests that the Mandalorian will be hunting down some of the last-remaining Imperial warlords with fan-favorite characters like Zeb from Star Wars: Rebels helping along the way. Many scenes of the trailer also depict various Hutts and the bounty hunter Embo from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
In addition to The Mandalorian and Grogu’s release, other celebratory events will likely take place to celebrate Star Wars Day on May 4th. For instance, another Fortnite event seems to be very likely given the amount of Star Wars content in the game already.
Unknown: Galactic Racer, Zero Company, & More
At the 2025 Game Awards, a teaser trailer for Star Wars: Galactic Racer was unveiled. Earlier this year, a gameplay trailer for the game released. The game appears to me as a spiritual successor to Star Wars: Racer, a pod-racing game based on Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. However, the trailer features other vehicles in addition to pod racers. Featuring both single-player and online multi-player, it will be interesting to see if this game can attract racing game fans who may not necessarily be the biggest of Star Wars fans. The game currently has no release date but instead has a 2026 release window for PC, PS5, and XBOX Series X|S.
Another Star Wars game yet to receive an exact release date is Star Wars: Zero Company. Launching on the PC, PS5, and XBOX Series X|S, this game will be strategy game set in the time of the Clone Wars with original characters. As someone who’s not into the turn-based strategy game genre, this game is definitely not for me, but it does look relatively interesting.
Final Thoughts
This is by no means a comprehensive list of all things Star Wars happening this year but instead a collection of releases I find particularly interesting or relevant. I have the highest expectations for Maul Shadow Lord out of any of these, but it will be a real treat to go back to theatres for a brand-new Star Wars movie for the first time since 2019, regardless of the drama associated with The Mandalorian and Grogu. Although neither Galactic Racer nor Zero Company are my cup of tea when it comes to videogames because I prefer more story-driven games like Jedi: Fallen Order or 3rd person multiplayer games like Battlefront II, both of these releases do have me intrigued. As for the LEGO Smart Play sets, I feel as though they don’t capture the spirit of play very well because instead of kids creatively making their own sounds, they’re restricted to specific sound effects, which I feel as though are quite gimmicky.
All in all, this year is pretty promising for Star Wars fans with a theatrical release, TV show, multiple videogames releasing, as well as smaller projects throughout the year. On top of this, next year promises to be even better with the theatrical premier of Star Wars: Starfighter starring Ryan Gosling as well as the return of the elusive original cut of Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope returning to theatres.
Stay tuned into The Roundup for more Student Viewpoints!
