George Lucas attends a photocall as he has been awarded an Honorary Palme d'Or during the 77th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, FranceCredit: Aurore Marechal/Abaca Press/INSTARimages
By
Matthew Rudoy
Published Feb 9, 2026, 9:15 PM EST
Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025.
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As time goes on, George Lucas' 10/10 Star Wars show continues to get better. While the franchise began with the original Star Wars movie released in 1977, the television shows have become increasingly important, especially after Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. Before The Force Awakens in 2015, the animated Star Wars Rebels helped kick off the Disney-era stories in 2014.
Another animated series, Star Wars Resistance, helped flesh out the sequel trilogy movies. The launch of Disney+ then led to the franchise's first live-action show, The Mandalorian, and its success opened the door for more live-action series on the streaming platform, including Andor, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, and Skeleton Crew. However, one of the franchise's best shows began before Rebels, Resistance, and The Mandalorian.
The Clone Wars Is A 10/10 Star Wars Show
One of the all-time best Star Wars shows is The Clone Wars, created and produced by George Lucas. Set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, the animated series uses multi-episode arcs to explore different characters and planets throughout the galactic war. It features familiar characters like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Darth Sidious, but also introduces individuals such as Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex who have become integral to the franchise.
While jumping between arcs can feel disorienting at first for those more used to linear storytelling, this narrative style allows the show to more fully showcase the effects of the Clone Wars and the impact it has on various characters and worlds. The show is accessible to younger and older audiences and entertaining in its own right, but also enhances the prequel trilogy films and the entire saga. From Anakin's fall to the dark side to the execution of Order 66, invaluable context and clarity is provided for pivotal storylines and events.
Every season of The Clone Wars is compelling, but both the storytelling and the quality of the animation continue to improve as the series progresses, with the Mortis, Umbara, and Siege of Mandalore arcs being some of the best stories in all of Star Wars. This understandably contributed to many fans feeling frustrated when the series was canceled after five seasons and following Disney's acquisition. A shortened season 6 was released, and then years later, a seventh and final season came out that concluded the story.
Many Of The Best Disney-Era Star Wars Stories Wouldn’t Exist Without The Clone Wars
Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) in The Mandalorian
The Clone Wars has always been great, but it only continues to get better because of the way it has shaped many of the best new Star Wars stories that have come out since the Disney acquisition. Dave Filoni, who was the showrunner of The Clone Wars, helmed Star Wars Rebels, which continues the journeys of Ahsoka, Rex, Maul, and other key characters.
The group of clones known as the Bad Batch were intended to be part of The Clone Wars before its cancellation. Not only do they play important roles in season 7 that came out on Disney+, but they got their own series, which ran for three seasons, and is a fascinating exploration of what happens to the Republic clones after the war and during the early days of the Empire's reign.
On the live-action side, The Clone Wars dives deeply into the Mandalorians, which helped pave the way for The Mandalorian show. After originally being introduced in Lucas and Filoni's animated series, Ahsoka and Bo-Katan Kryze make their live-action debuts in The Mandalorian season 2, and Ahsoka even got her own show. In the movies, The Clone Wars character Saw Gerrera is a standout character in Rogue One, and later has a memorable return in Andor.
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Dive into the world of movies and TV shows with Screen Rant, your source for news, reviews, and exclusive content. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.Much of the upcoming slate for Star Wars in 2026 and beyond also wouldn't exist without The Clone Wars. Maul — Shadow Lord is the next animated series, The Mandalorian and Grogu is the franchise's first movie since 2019, and Ahsoka season 2 is on the way. The Mandalorian and Grogu is even going to feature the long-awaited return of Rotta the Hutt, a character introduced in The Clone Wars movie that essentially acted as a pilot for the show.
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Star Wars: The Clone Wars
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-PG Animation Science Fiction Action Adventure Release Date 2008 - 2020-00-00 Network Cartoon Network, Netflix, Disney+ Showrunner Dave Filoni Directors Brian Kalin O'Connell, Steward Lee, Giancarlo Volpe, Bosco Ng, Danny Keller, Rob Coleman, Justin Ridge, Nathaniel Villanueva, Saul Ruiz, Jesse Yeh, Duwayne Dunham, Atsushi Takeuchi, Robert Dalva, Walter Murch Writers Katie Lucas, Christian Taylor, Brent V. Friedman, Matt Michnovetz, Drew Z. Greenberg, Steven Melching, Chris Collins, Charles Murray, Eoghan Mahony, Bonnie Mark, Craig W. Van Sickle, Daniel Arkin, Jose Molina, Steven Long Mitchell, Cameron Litvack, George Krstic, Carl Ellsworth, Craig Titley, Julie Siege, Jonathan W. Rinzler, Ben Edlund, Douglas Petrie, Kevin D. Campbell, Kevin RubioCast
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Tom Kane
Narrator / Yoda / Medical Droid / Yularen / Kraken (voice)
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Matt Lanter
Anakin Skywalker (voice)
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Star Wars: The Clone Wars
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