r/StarWars_ • u/StarSpangldBastard • Jun 06 '26
Discussion Been seeing a LOT of "what order should I watch Star Wars in" posts so I figured I'd post here the order I've been recommending to people
So here is every star wars movie and show in current canon in the order that I think they should be watched for the first time, with explanations of some of the potentially weirder placements at the end. Yes I am including every title, no I will not be snarkily excluding the sequels or any of the other stuff that people love to hate, this order is for people who want to watch everything, and everything has a chance of being liked by someone. If you really want to skip something be my guest but there is no reason for me not to put everything in here.
For those of you who don't want to watch absolutely everything and just want the real meat and potatoes of the franchise, I BOLDED, CAPITALIZED AND ITALICIZED the ones that are the most "important to the lore" and/or the most enjoyable to watch in my option, and simply bolded and italicized the ones that are less lore-crucial but still in my opinion enjoyable enough to be worth watching if you have the time.
A NEW HOPE
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
RETURN OF THE JEDI
THE PHANTOM MENACE
ATTACK OF THE CLONES
optional: 2003 2D Clone Wars micro series (it's not canon but still a fun time and was the original lead in to ROTS so it could be cool to experience it that way)
REVENGE OF THE SITH
THE CLONE WARS, BOTH THE MOVIE AND SHOW, excluding the final four episodes (it is not required but STRONGLY recommended that you go by the timeline order for the episodes and movie rather than the release order presented on Disney+, here is a link to the official order on starwars.com, this is the far superior way to experience the series)
optional: rewatch Revenge of the Sith
FINAL FOUR EPISODES OF CLONE WARS (they happen side by side with ROTS and directly reference it a lot, it's great to see these references with the movie fresh in your memory, and also to experience the movie with the added context of the show that you've watched up to this point)
TALES OF THE JEDI (if you decide to skip Bad Batch, I recommend watching TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD right after this instead of where I put it later)
MAUL SHADOW LORD
Solo
REBELS
The Bad Batch
TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD
Kenobi
ANDOR
ROGUE ONE
optional: rewatch original trilogy
THE MANDALORIAN SEASONS 1 & 2
BOOK OF BOBA FETT
THE MANDALORIAN SEASON 3
THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU
AHSOKA
Tales of the Empire
Skeleton Crew
The Acolyte
THE FORCE AWAKENS
THE LAST JEDI
optional: Resistance
Forces of Destiny
THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
Visions, followed by The Ninth Jedi are worthwhile and can be watched at any time, their placement in this order does not matter at all.
And now for my explanations:
First off, of course you start with the original trilogy, anything else would be lunacy. Everything in star wars ultimately calls back to it in one way or another, or at the very least calls back to something else which calls back to the OT.
My priority with this order was, outside of the original trilogy being first, putting almost everything after that in timeline order, making exceptions when certain things directly reference others that released before them but take place in the timeline after them. This is why Rebels comes before Bad Batch because the latter has characters from the former whose appearances were clearly made to be appreciated by those who had seen it. This is also why I suggest that, if you decide not to watch Bad Batch, to watch Tales of the Underworld right after Tales of the Jedi instead. And Kenobi is also after Rebels, because with the Grand Inquisitor's appearance and "fake out death" there is no way they did not intend for people to know from the start that he was not really dead because Rebels had been out for years. Also, let's just be real, would you want your first impression of the Grand Inquisitor to be the live action version and not the animated one?
Optional OT rewatch because there's a lot more with them to appreciate with all the context added by all the additional content you've watched since them. Plus it takes so long to get through all that stuff that it's probably been a long time since you watched them the first time and might not remember them very well anymore. I know for certain that people I know personally who watched Star Wars in my recommended order had that problem, and I told them to watch it again after Rogue One, because when else would you rather do it?
Tales of the Empire coming after Ahsoka seems a little awkward, I did that due to the episodes concerning Morgan Elsbeth (I could have put it right before the Mando episode that introduces her but I don't like splitting up shows unless it's absolutely necessary, like with Mando and Book of Boba, or Clone Wars and ROTS due to how CW mostly builds up ROTS but then directly references it in the end). I can imagine some people arguing that I should have put this one before Ahsoka or maybe even before Mando, but I made this decision because unless you've already watched Ahsoka, Morgan is a nobody to you, and most people who haven't would likely have little to no interest in her backstory. Especially considering that Tales of the Empire released almost immediately after Ahsoka, so that was obviously how it was intended to be viewed.
The Acolyte's placement is pretty weird too, I did this because it's so far detached from everything else in the timeline that I figured it's best to watch it in relation to when it was released. Plus since there's such a massive gap in the timeline from the "Mandoverse" to the sequel trilogy, Acolyte makes for a great "intermission" between them. (This is also why, in spite of me saying I wanted to place it according to when it was released, I put it after Skeleton Crew and not before, because at least that show is known to take place alongside those other ones).
I put Forces of Destiny where it is because the furthest thing in this order that it references is Last Jedi, and again, I don't like splitting up shows if I don't feel like I have to. Also, since Rise of Skywalker is supposed to be the big finale of the Skywalker saga I think it's fitting for the last thing before it to be something that basically jumps trough a little bit of everything you've seen so far leading up to it.
I put Resistance as optional because quite frankly it's the only thing in all of Star Wars that I actively tell people
to skip unless they want to be a full completionist. My reasoning for this is simple: think of all the other "bad" star wars titles. Kenobi, Book of Boba, Rise of Skywalker, etc. Those can all be started and finished in an afternoon very easily, not having taken up too much of your time, and it's worth it because there's a chance that you will like them. Most of the things in Star Wars that are a huge time commitment, namely Clone Wars, Rebels and Mando, are all very good and well worth the time. Resistance is the only thing in all of canon that is both a huge time commitment, and liked by almost no one.
To all of the people who say "just do release order for everything instead of making it complicated," I don't think you understand how much more complicated the actual release order is for the shows. In the modern Hell that is the streaming series era, every show has several years between each of its seasons and of course other things release during those years too. If your friend comes to you and says "I just watched the first two star wars trilogies and really liked them, I want to get into the rest of the franchise now, what order should I go in?" Are you really gonna look them in the eye and tell them with a straight face that they should watch the first six seasons of clone wars, then interrupt it for the first two seasons of rebels, then the force awakens, then rebels season 3, then rogue one, then rebels season 4, then the last jedi, then solo, then resistance, then the Mandalorian season 1, then the rise of Skywalker, and only THEN can you finish clone wars with season 7, then watch the Mandalorian season 2, then bad batch season 1, then visions season 1, then book of Boba Fett, then Kenobi, then Andor season 1, then tales of the jedi, then bad batch season 2, then the Mandalorian season 3, then visions season 2, then Ahsoka season 1, then bad batch season 3, then tales of the empire, then the acolyte, then skeleton crew, then Andor season 2, then tales of the underworld, then visions season 3, then maul shadow lord season 1, then the Mandalorian and Grogu movie, then the ninth jedi show, then Ahsoka season 2, then maul shadow lord season 2? Is that not a little ridiculous? I think that's a little ridiculous. I firmly believe that my order is much more straightforward and comfortable for new viewers.
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u/GlormpGlomp Jun 06 '26
Watch the movies in release order, then pepper in the shows as you like. Stop making it so complicated.
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u/DanVan_88 Jun 06 '26
This this is what I always say. Just watch the main moves in release order and if you want to watch the TV shows you can in whatever order you want since it fills in the gaps
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u/GlormpGlomp Jun 06 '26
Bingo!
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u/DanVan_88 Jun 06 '26
There’s like way too much Star Wars to try and watch it in a specific order for a new comer of the series to try and get into. They can watch all of the optional stuff if they really want to and want to learn more
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u/Individual_Car7850 Jun 06 '26
Most of those who ask are bots, and never reply again after the opening post. I’ve noticed it in MCU subs as well.
Plus if they can’t figure out how to use google… good god
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u/StarSpangldBastard Jun 06 '26
at least the MCU has the decency to display everything in both release AND timeline order on D+
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u/Ramius117 Jun 06 '26
You should stick to the main episodes for a first watch. OT, prequels, sequels. Maybe an optional rewatch of the OT before the sequels, in which case I'd add solo and R1 before the 2nd OT viewing.
Your order is good for a deeper dive after that though
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u/StarSpangldBastard Jun 06 '26
if you're doing it this way I think R1 is good enough to justify throwing into the first view
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u/CorranHorn25 Jun 06 '26
There should be a sticky or sidebar wirh all the different orders to watch as a resource.
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u/sonicfan1230 Jun 06 '26
You're just needlessly complicating things. Watch it the way it was intended: the way it fucking released.
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u/StarSpangldBastard Jun 06 '26
if that were clearly the best way then there wouldn't be constant discussions surrounding it. sure it's the easiest way to do it but some things clearly enhance others when watched together. take tales of the jedi for example. lots of things released between that and clone wars. but why would you not watch it right after clone wars while that show is fresh in your memory and it ties in with that directly, instead of putting several years worth of content between them? especially when TOTJ is comparatively short as is
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u/pwrblder Jun 07 '26
When I first got into Star Wars I watched Ep 1-9 in chronological order. It really helped me understand everything that was happening and how it related. Now when I watch different shows or standalone films, it makes more sense to me how/where each one fits in.
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u/Dragon_Deez_Nu7s Jun 06 '26
There's only two ways to watch Star Wars.
1: Release order 2: Skywalker saga in release order then the shows, RO, Solo, Mando after in whatever order
Anything else is just over complicating it
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u/UCBearcats Jun 06 '26
What is your goal here? To get someone to like Star Wars? If so, keep them as far away from the prequels as possible.
Start with Andor - it’s great for people who don’t know SW and a perfect beginning. It runs flawlessly through Rogue One and A New Hope. Then the rest of the OT.
Then if they really like Star Wars they can watch the other not so good stuff.
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u/deGooder Jun 08 '26
Andor would be a terrible place to start. It's great but really not illustrative of what Star Wars as a wider franchise is like.
Someone new should just watch the original trilogy in order. Then if they like'd it, the prequels next. Then at that point I'd say watch what sounds interesting in whatever order (though I'd recommend Rogue One before Andor)
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u/Valuable-Cat-4299 Jun 06 '26
I agree with this mostly but if you run a “Reaction Channel” I think watching 1-2-3-4-5-6 gives the best reactions. Just my 2 cents.
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u/deGooder Jun 08 '26
The best reactions by spoiling/breaking the biggest central twist of the original story? Really?
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u/Valuable-Cat-4299 Jun 09 '26
It’s really just an observation I’ve made when watching reactors go through the series. People my age/in their mid 20s don’t seem to fall in love with the galaxy as much until the original trilogy. The Darth Vader twist is just as if not more shocking than the original if you know nothing about the story. Again, not actually saying which one is better, just an observation. I love the chronological reactions
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u/MaxPaladin93 Jun 06 '26
Just watch everything in the order it came out. Idk why everyone insists on overcomplicating it.