Multiple Star Wars TV Series In Development at Disney

After shocking fans with the announcement that the Game of Thrones showrunners would be coming to the Star Wars universe, a Disney investor asked why they were making a series of films instead of a new TV show.

Disney CEO Bob Iger weighed in on that question and in doing so revealed that they were currently in the process of developing a few different series based on the Star Wars franchise, and that an announcement on one would be made soon.

"We are close to reveal one of the entities that's developing [a Star Wars series] for us but we can't at this point in time because the deal isn't done," Iger said.

This was surprising for some fans, who haven't heard much since Disney first said they were going to create a live-action series set in the Star Wars galaxy for their forthcoming streaming service.

That streaming service is expected to launch in late 2019, but Iger added a new wrinkle to the Star Wars side of things when he revealed that multiple series were in the works.

While news of one series could be expected soon, it's not clear if Iger is referring to more animated series, as Star Wars Rebels is set to wrap up in a couple of months. Executive producer Dave Filoni has already teased that he is hard at work on a follow, though it's unclear if he will transition to live-action or remain in the animated space.

Another mystery is what channel or platform the series will exist on. It seems likely that Disney's upcoming streaming service would be the odds-on favorite, but Hulu could also be a viable candidate. If their purchase of 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets goes through, Disney will take on a majority ownership stake of the streaming platform.

And then there's the possibility that Disney prefers to only move forward with one or two different programs: a live-action series and an animated series, so as not to saturate the brand or dilute their offerings. Keeping multiple projects in development and only executing one of them is not out of the ordinary, especially for intellectual properties as promising as Star Wars.

With so many different eras and characters to explore in the Star Wars galaxy, we wouldn't be shocked if Lucasfilm had a few different options up their sleeves. Hopefully we learn more about them sooner than later as Disney gears up to launch their new streaming service.