Jon Watts to Helm a New Star Wars Series — Plus, the Latest on Ahsoka, Andor and Mandalorian Season 3

Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts, with Spider-Man: Homecoming writer Chris Ford, is set to executive-produce a new Star Wars series for Disney+ — and the details, while few, are tantalizing.

As confirmed in a must-read Vanity Fair deep-dive into the future of Star Wars TV and film projects, Watts and Ford are creating a series under the code name “Grammar Rodeo” (a nod to a Simpsons episode in which Bart and his pals lie to their folks about attending a made-up educational event). Casting is underway now for a set of tweenage kids, and the series — set during the post–Return of the Jedi reconstruction, same as The Mandalorian — is described as “a galactic version of classic Amblin coming-of-age adventure films of the ’80s.”

The same, meaty Vanity Fair piece sprinkled in the current timetables for known Star Wars series — Andor, starring Rogue One‘s Diego Luna, is earmarked for a late summer debut; The Mandalorian Season 3 will hit screens in late 2022 or early 2023; and Ahsoka, led by Mando’s Rosario Dawson, is on track for a 2023 release.

It is also noted that casting is currently underway for the previously announced The Acolyte, from Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland and reportedly starring Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give). That mystery thriller, set about 100 years prior to Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, will ask such questions as, “How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong?”

All of this news comes ahead of Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s highly anticipated Disney+ premiere, next Friday, May 27 (to be followed by weekly Wednesday releases).

Which upcoming Star Wars series are you most anticipating?