Star Wars‘ most overlooked episode isn’t getting a sequel after all.
Even fans who haven’t been overly impressed with Disney Star Wars can’t deny that there’s never a shortage of content — even if it might be a case of quantity over quality.
Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, there has been an abundance of Star Wars material spanning movies, animated shows, novels, comic books, video games, theme parks, and more. Sure, they haven’t all hit the mark, but the likes of projects such as The Clone Wars, Rebels, Rogue One, The Mandalorian, and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney World have helped reinvigorate the franchise for many fans, while bringing in new ones.
Upcoming Star Wars Content
There’s no shortage of new content from the faraway galaxy on the horizon, either.
On May 22 next year, The Mandalorian & Grogu will arrive in theaters. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film adaptation of the beloved Disney+ television series will see Pedro Pascal reprise his role as the iconic bounty hunter, Din Djarin, alongside “Baby Yoda”.
Set to follow on May 28, 2027 is the post-sequel era film Star Wars: Starfighter, which has Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) director Shawn Levy at the helm and Ryan Gosling (Blade Runner 2049) in the cockpit.
Other Star Wars movies are also reportedly in development, including the untitled Rey sequel starring Daisy Ridley. But for now, The Mandalorian & Grogu and Starfighter are the only ones with release dates.
As for the Disney+ side of things, arriving later this month is LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy — Pieces of the Past, the four-parter follow-up to last year’s miniseries. And then, in October, we’ll be getting the third season of the anime anthology series, Star Wars: Visions.
Related: Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Reborn in Orlando, Florida
The Success of Star Wars: Visions
Star Wars: Visions Volume One premiered on Disney+ in 2021 to wide acclaim. Made up of nine episodes (produced by seven Japanese animation studios) — each of them independent and unrelated to one another or to the wider Star Wars franchise canon — Visions was praised for its striking visuals, darker storytelling, and overall ambition.
Volume 2 was released on Star Wars Day (May 4) in 2023, giving us another set of nine individual stories, each of them totally untethered to anything that came before. The second series also received critical acclaim, leaving no mystery as to why Volume 3 was greenlit.
Star Wars: Visions Volume 3 will break away from the usual format by featuring three sequels among its lineup. “The Duel: Payback”, “The Lost Ones”, and “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope”, which are official follow-ups to Volume 1‘s “The Duel”, “The Village Bride”, and “The Ninth Jedi”, respectively.
One of the Best Star Wars Episodes Is Being Ignored
While this is exciting news for fans who loved those Visions originals, unfortunately, a sequel to “Lop and Ocho” — a fan-favorite episode — isn’t part of the Volume 3 slate.
“Lop and Ocho” takes place some time during the reign of the Empire, and follows a young Lepi (a humanoid rabbit) named Lop on the planet Tao, which has been enslaved by the evil galactic regime. The episode is a back-to-basics tale with an instantly memorable lead that has you rooting for her within the first few frames.
It’s also worth noting how extremely merchandisable the character of Lop is; the combination of her flying umbrella, companion hover droid TD-4, single-lens visor, Samurai attire, unique lightsaber, and the fact that she’s a Lepi, make her the perfect candidate for a broad range of goodies. Yet nothing has been rolled out since.
We also can’t ignore the fact that “Lop and Ocho” ends on a pretty major cliffhanger (which we won’t spoil just in case you haven’t seen it). “The Duel”, on the other hand, has already received a tie-in book titled “Ronin: A Visions Novel” (2021), and a comic book published in 2022. And soon, as revealed at this year’s Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo, “The Ninth Jedi” will be getting its own full anime series spinoff, set for release in 2026.
However, the episode has yet to receive any sort of follow-up, and it doesn’t look like one will happen anytime soon, either.
Star Wars Visions Presents Brings a New Hope
The good news is that the “The Ninth Jedi” spinoff will be the first of many as part of Star Wars Visions Presents — so here’s hoping that a “Lop and Ocho” follow-up will be included.
If not, Lop may reappear in another corner of the faraway galaxy in the near future.
With shows like Rebuild the Galaxy giving the likes of Cal Kestis (Cameron Monaghan) from the video game side of things a second chance, it may eventually give the beloved Lepi Jedi the same treatment. After all, it already stars the male Lepi Jaxxon (voiced by Ben Schwartz), who originated in a Star Wars comic book “a long time ago” (1977).
Star Wars: Visions Volume 3 will be released on October 29, 2025.
Are you a fan of “Lop and Ocho”? Do you think it deserves more attention? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!
