‘Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi’ Sets Its Story Deep In The Galaxy’s Distant Future

‘Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi’ has finally arrived, and with it comes a clearer picture of exactly where this story sits within the broader Star Wars saga. The eight episode limited series is an American anime anthology spinoff of ‘Star Wars: Visions’ that premiered at the Anime Expo on July 1, 2026, and released in its entirety on Disney+ and Hulu on August 5.

For longtime fans of the anthology format, the timeline question has been a point of curiosity since the original short first aired. The new series answers that question directly, placing its events far beyond anything audiences have seen in live action Star Wars storytelling.

The Ninth Jedi Timeline Explained

According to Wookieepedia, the events of ‘The Ninth Jedi’ and its sequel series must take place long after the 35 ABY setting of ‘The Rise of Skywalker,’ since lightsabers had become lost to the galaxy by the time of this story. That detail alone signals a massive time jump from anything mainline Star Wars media has depicted before.

Reporting from Comic Basics puts a more specific number on that gap, noting that the series is set roughly 1,000 years after the events of ‘The Rise of Skywalker,’ following Lah Kara, the Force sensitive daughter of legendary lightsaber smith Lah Zhima. In that distant future, the outlet adds, the Jedi Order has nearly vanished from the galaxy entirely.

StarWars.com’s own character guide echoes this framing, describing the saga as one that takes place in a future long after the fall of the Sith, where the Jedi Order is gone but hope remains for its eventual return to a galaxy torn apart by war. That premise gives the series room to build its own mythology without being tethered to the Skywalker family or the familiar factions of the sequel trilogy.

Screen Rant’s breakdown of the source material adds useful context on how the story began, noting that viewers are introduced to a far flung part of the Star Wars timeline where the Jedi have all but disappeared and are hunted by Sith acolytes and their Jedi hunters. In that original short, Jedi Master Margrave Juro sets out to unite the galaxy’s remaining masterless Jedi and reform the Jedi Order, enlisting sabersmith Lah Zhima to forge new lightsabers for his allies.

Lah Kara’s Journey Continues In The New Series

The new series picks up directly from where the earlier shorts left off. Per CBR, ‘The Ninth Jedi’ will pick up shortly after the events of the fan favorite ‘Star Wars: Visions’ shorts ‘The Ninth Jedi’ and ‘The Ninth Jedi, Child of Hope,’ continuing Lah Kara’s story as she takes on greater challenges than ever before.

StarWars.com’s official series description frames the stakes plainly, stating that Kara and her ragtag Jedi crew set out to find worthy Jedi to fight against an increasingly powerful warlord. That threat gives the season a clear antagonist while keeping the focus on Kara’s growth as a central figure in this new corner of Jedi history.

The character work traces back to 2021, when ‘The Ninth Jedi’ premiered on Disney+ on September 22 as part of the first volume of ‘Star Wars: Visions,’ written and directed by Kenji Kamiyama and produced by Japan based animation studio Production I.G. A direct sequel followed years later, with ‘The Ninth Jedi, Child of Hope’ premiering on October 29, 2025 as part of ‘Star Wars: Visions’ Volume 3.

The full length series was formally announced well before that sequel arrived. Variety reported that Lucasfilm revealed the project at Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo, where senior vice president James Waugh called writer director Kenji Kamiyama to the stage, who thanked the audience for its enthusiasm about Kara and Juro’s adventures and the then upcoming ‘Child of Hope’. Waugh then confirmed that Kara’s journey would continue in an all new spinoff titled ‘Star Wars: Visions Presents, The Ninth Jedi’.

How Production I.G Shaped This Story’s Future

The studio behind the project carries significant weight among anime fans. Production I.G, the acclaimed studio behind ‘Ghost in the Shell,’ brings this chapter of Kara’s story to the screen in collaboration with Lucasfilm, and the series marks a notable step for the franchise as a whole.

Wikipedia notes that the concept for standalone spinoff series was first announced by James Waugh during the April 2025 Star Wars Celebration, with ‘The Ninth Jedi’ chosen as the first project to receive this longer form treatment. The voice cast was confirmed shortly before release, with Chinatsu Akasaki, Tetsuo Kanao, Hiromu Mineta, Hinata Tadokoro, Chō, and Shin-ichiro Miki all attached to the series.

CBR’s coverage adds that this show represents new territory for the franchise structurally as well, since it marks the debut of a whole new banner devoted to telling longer form franchise narratives beyond the anthology shorts format. That shift matters for how future Visions stories might be developed going forward, since it suggests Lucasfilm sees value in expanding standout anthology entries into fuller seasons.

What Fans And Critics Are Saying

Early previews suggest cautious enthusiasm rather than outsized hype. Comic Basics noted that all eight episodes were released simultaneously on Disney+ and Hulu rather than on a weekly schedule, giving fans the option to watch the story unfold in one sitting.

The outlet also pointed to broader industry sentiment heading into launch, observing that recent Star Wars film releases had been met with a more muted response, while suggesting that the franchise’s more offbeat animated projects still carry creative promise, with this new anime series positioned as a strong example of that.

Given how far removed this story is from anything resembling the Skywalker saga, the series offers a genuinely different entry point into the galaxy. Whether that thousand year time jump and its near extinction of the Jedi Order will resonate with longtime fans as much as it clearly resonated with the creative team remains to be seen.

For those who have already made their way through Kara’s latest chapter, what do you make of a Star Wars story willing to leap this far into an uncertain future for its heroes.