From the moment Star Wars creator George Lucas sold the franchise to Disney in 2012, there was outcry about Star Wars being “ruined.” While there are undoubtedly some Disney Star Wars projects that are difficult to defend—yes, that means Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker—it isn’t universally true that Disney Star Wars has produced poorer movies and TV shows across the board compared to Lucas-led Star Wars movies and shows. Arguably, Andor is the single best piece of Star Wars media that has come out since at least the prequel trilogy, and that was a Disney-backed project.
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Similarly, there have been numerous characters who were introduced when George Lucas was still at the helm but have been considerably more fleshed out or otherwise improved throughout their appearances in Disney Star Wars movies and/or shows. Of all the Star Wars characters who were created under Lucas but have only improved since Disney’s acquisition, these 10 represent the most improved overall.
10) Bail Organa
Bail Organa was already a great character before Disney took over the galaxy far, far away. Bail, as well as his wife, Breha, had been characters in concept since the very first installment in the Star Wars franchise, as they were Leia Organa’s parents. However, very little was known about the Organas other than their tragic deaths until the prequel trilogy era. Bail in particular was fleshed out in those movies, and he became instrumental in the survival of the Jedi and the fight against the budding Empire, especially in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
Those changes came before Disney’s acquisition, though. Since then, Bail has appeared in multiple Star Wars projects, including Obi-Wan Kenobi (when Jimmy Smits reprised his prequel trilogy role) and Andor (when Benjamin Bratt took on the role). In both, Bail’s strength, courage, and sense of morals were reinforced. Yet, in Obi-Wan Kenobi, Bail was also shown to be an incredible father—something that hadn’t really been shown before. Offering audiences a look at Bail’s reassurance of Leia, such as by telling her that she is “an Organa in every way,” made Bail an even better character than he already was.
9) Lando Calrissian
Like Bail Organa, Lando Calrissian was already a beloved character before Disney Star Wars brought him back. Sure, there was that little issue of Lando betraying Leia, Chewie, and Han in The Empire Strikes Back, but he didn’t really have much choice, and he more than made up for it by putting his life on the line for them in Return of the Jedi. Even when he was making deals with Darth Vader, though, Lando had a charm to him that made him very popular—and that’s exactly what Disney built upon.
Lando’s first Disney appearance came in the 2018 movie Solo: A Star Wars Story, in which Donald Glover stepped into original Lando actor Billy Dee Williams’ shoes and gave the character new life and a lot more screen time. Yet, perhaps the most celebrated Lando Disney moment actually came in Star Wars’ most hated movie, The Rise of Skywalker, when Williams reprised his role and had a heroic return, helping to take down the Final Order. If that wasn’t enough, Lando also appeared in the animated show Star Wars Rebels, which gave audiences a host of brand-new hilarious Lando quips.
8) The Clone Troopers
Although the clone troopers aren’t just one character but an entire population, there’s no denying that Disney improved them considerably. In fairness, this progress started under Lucas, as Star Wars: The Clone Wars began the work of humanizing them (and only the final season of Clone Wars, season 7, was created by Disney). When the clones were introduced in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, they felt only slightly more human than the droids. With Order 66 in Revenge of the Sith, their depiction didn’t get much better—honestly, it got worse, especially because their motivation was unknown.
Thankfully, The Clone Wars introduced the inhibitor chip, revealing that the clones had been forced to kill the Jedi against their will, and the series finale demonstrated just how painful and brutal that massacre was for all involved. Since The Clone Wars, Disney has continued to make the clones more and more human and respected. In Rebels, there is an entire arc dedicated to Jedi survivor Kanan Jarrus confronting his resentment of the clones, and Star Wars: The Bad Batch not only centered the clones as main characters but also gave them an incredibly rare (mostly) happy ending.
7) Darth Vader
While the suggestion will no doubt ruffle feathers, Darth Vader is also among the characters who have been improved by Disney, even if he was already a beloved, iconic character by the time Lucas sold Star Wars. Vader is, in many ways, the ultimate villain, not just in Star Wars but in movie history more broadly. Disney has taken that legacy and given Vader some of his greatest moments of all time, though. Most notably, Darth Vader’s now-famous hallway scene in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is easily one of his coolest moments.
In addition to his Rogue One cameos, Vader has had many live-action and animated returns in Disney movies and shows. While it might not be as widely celebrated as Vader’s Rogue One scenes, his return in Obi-Wan Kenobi is yet another great example. For one, it meant Hayden Christensen getting to play full-fledged, suited-up Vader for significantly more time, but it also led to an epic showdown between former master and apprentice once more. Most impactful in that show was arguably the scene in which Vader’s mask is broken, and, briefly, it’s clear that Anakin is speaking to Obi-Wan again.
6) Darth Maul
Similar to Vader, Darth Maul was already a great villain before Disney brought him back in several additional (and upcoming) projects. In fact, it was Lucas’ Star Wars that decided to resurrect him. Although he had seemed definitively dead following his lightsaber battle with Obi-Wan in The Phantom Menace, The Clone Wars revealed that he had actually survived and was back for revenge on Obi-Wan Kenobi. Maul has since returned in multiple Disney shows and movies, including Rebels and Solo, and he has his own show, Maul: Shadow Lord, upcoming.
With those appearances, Maul has become so much more fleshed out as a character, going from a terrifying but mostly silent apprentice in The Phantom Menace to an interesting villain in his own right, complete with a vendetta against Palpatine himself. This new show, Shadow Lord, also promises to offer a brand-new depth to Maul’s narrative, with him now acting as a syndicate leader living under the Empire.
5) Twi’leks
As with the clone troopers, Twi’leks are not one single character; in this case, Twi’leks are a specific Star Wars species, and one that unfortunately didn’t have the best depiction under George Lucas. Fans of the original trilogy will remember Oola, Jabba’s dancer in Return of the Jedi who was first highly sexualized and forced to dance provocatively for him and his entourage and then devoured by the Rancor, effectively just for sport. Even when Aayla Secura, a Twi’lek Jedi, was introduced in the prequel trilogy, her Jedi attire comprised not traditional robes but, once again, very sexualizing clothing.
Disney has thankfully completely flipped the script when it comes to Twi’leks. Although she is not the only one, a key example is Hera Syndulla, an ace pilot and a Twi’lek who was most prominently shown in Rebels and has now had a live-action debut in Ahsoka as well. Unlike her predecessors, Hera not only isn’t sexualized but also has agency over her own life and choices and consistently is positioned as the hero of various story arcs.
4) The Tusken Raiders
The Tusken Raiders are another Star Wars group that has been made better by Disney, and they have benefitted the most by far. The Tuskens were first seen in the original trilogy. In fact, they appeared early in A New Hope, making them among the first concepts introduced in the Star Wars franchise. In that movie, they were little more than faceless villains, seemingly willing to attack anyone at any time. The prequels actually made this worse, with the Tuskens taking Anakin’s mother, Shmi, and torturing her to death, leading Anakin to “slaughter them like animals” (with absolutely no remorse).
However, Disney has entirely undone this dehumanizing representation of the Tuskens, particularly in The Mandalorian. In that show, Din Djarin revealed that he could communicate with the Tusken Raiders using a type of sign language, and he made a point of saying that, from their point of view, other people are trespassing on their land. The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett both went on to show that the Tuskens could actually be reasoned with and had their own motivations, offering a completely different, humanizing side to them.
3) Ahsoka Tano
Ahsoka has perhaps become the most strongly associated with Disney Star Wars of any character on this list, but she is actually a product of George Lucas’ own creation, along with quite a bit of help from current Lucasfilm Co-President Dave Filoni. While Filoni was behind many style and character choices for Ahsoka, it was Lucas who wanted Anakin to have a Padawan. Following her Lucas-led introduction in The Clone Wars, however, Ahsoka has gone on to appear in Rebels, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Tales of the Jedi, along with her own show, Ahsoka.
These shows, controversial though some of them may be, have deepened Ahsoka’s character considerably, particularly in terms of having her become a Jedi once again and confront her grief and guilt over what happened with Anakin and the downfall of the Jedi. With Ahsoka season 2 currently in the works, it seems likely she will only be fleshed out all the more. Even before that, though, Ahsoka has become one of the most beloved and important current Star Wars characters, and much of that happened under Disney.
2) Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru
Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru have been Star Wars staples from the very beginning, although their time in the original trilogy was sadly short-lived because they were murdered by the Empire early in A New Hope. The couple also had an appearance in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, although both were brief. It wasn’t really until Obi-Wan Kenobi that Owen and Beru were fully represented, and this depiction ended up entirely reframing their characters in an incredible way.
Namely, when Imperial Inquisitor Reva comes to attack Luke, both Owen and Beru prove how much they love Luke, putting themselves at risk of death to protect him. There is even an emotional moment in which Reva expresses surprise that Owen protects him like Luke is his own, as she knows he is Vader’s biological son. In response, Owen says, “He is my own.”
1) Mon Mothma
Finally, the Star Wars character that Disney has most improved is Mon Mothma. Mon has actually been part of Star Wars for decades, beginning with her role in the Rebellion in the original trilogy, and she has continued to appear in a staggering number of movies and shows. Most recently, Mon has appeared in both Ahsoka season 1 and Andor, proving just how much she matters across the Star Wars timeline. With Andor in particular, Mon’s importance was also made clearer than ever.
Most notably, Mon delivered her now iconic speech addressing the Ghorman Massacre before the Senate in Andor season 2, cementing just how critical a role she played in the fight to bring down the Empire. While Mon’s importance had long been clear, her more recent Star Wars appearances have centered her in an entirely new way, making her the most improved character under Disney.
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