CinemaBlend participates in affiliate programs with various companies. We may earn a commission when you click on or make purchases via links.
Star Wars has plenty of exciting projects arriving over the next few years, but one of the most intriguing will actually be with us before the end of the year. I’m talking about Star Wars: Visions, an anthology series that imagines the galaxy far, far away through an anime lens. Although we’d only gotten a peek at the project up to this point, we now have both a new look at the show and an official list for the A+ cast, which includes Star Trek legend George Takei, Stranger Things’ David Harbour, Shazam! 2’s Lucy Liu and much more.
Star Wars: Visions will be made up of nine short films, all crafted by different anime studios. The confirmed titles for shorts are: “The Duel,” “Tatooine Rhapsody,” “The Twins,” “The Village Bride,” “The Ninth Jedi,” “T0-B1,” The Elder,” “Lop & Ocho” and “Akakiri.” George Takei will be lending his talents to “Akakiri,” in which he’ll voice a character known as Senshuu. Meanwhile, David Harbour will voice Tajin in “The Elder,” while Lucy Liu joins “The Duel” as Bandit Leader.
As mentioned, these three stars are far from the only top-tier talent to be joining Star Wars: Visions. Other notable cast members include Henry Golding, Bobby Moynihan, Jamie Chung, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Allsion Brie, Neil Patrick Harris and Kyle Chandler. The show will also see Star Wars vet Temuera Morrison reprise his iconic role as bounty hunter Boba Fett for “Tatooine Rhapsody.”
Many of the show’s cast members are newcomers to the franchise, but you may be surprised to know that some of these big names have had roles in the franchise before. SNL alum Bobby Moynihan previously voiced Orka on Star Wars: Resistance. George Takei also has a previous credit, as he served as the voice of General Lok Durd on Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Takei may have a preference for Star Trek, but he seems to be very comfortable in George Lucas’ galactic playground.
And fans will be pleased to know that a number of the short films won’t be “Elseworlds” (I know that’s a DC Comics term) stories. Instead, several will actually take place during significant periods in the Star Wars timeline. “The Elder,” for example, will take place at some point before the events of The Phantom Menace. And interestingly enough, “The Ninth Jedi” is set after The Rise of Skywalker and will focus on what became of the Jedi after that film. Those films and the others in the Skywalker Saga are available to stream on Disney+, which you can sign up for using this link.
Star Wars has been trying to branch out in different ways over the past few years and, to me, Visions is a natural extension of that strategy. Sure, the show is poised to bring in new characters and show off different corners of the galaxy, but it’ll also allow a diverse array of creators to put their own spin on things. It’s honestly poetic that Star Wars would be getting a Japanese project when you consider that George Lucas’ vision for the franchise was originally inspired by legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
The footage we’ve seen so far is nothing short of incredible and, hopefully, Visions should provide a fresh take on the Star Wars mythology. And if the series proves to be a hit, maybe there’s a chance we’ll get another set of stories at some point in the future.
You can see all of Star Wars: Visions' shorts when they simultaneously hit Disney+ on September 22.
