2024 was full of exciting Star Wars releases and moments. From games to series to novels, toys. It would be very hard to include everything into a single list so here’s a list of my personal favorites.
Final Season of The Bad Batch
I always compare The Bad Batch with Clone Wars, we didn’t know we needed it until we got it. What started as a seemingly unserious story slowly became one of the most compelling and interesting plots in recent Star Wars.
The Bad Batch is basically the story of Omega, Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo, and Crosshair. This group of Clone Troopers have genetic mutations that make them extremely different from the other troopers in terms of personality and abilities.
The series begins with Order 66 and throughout the three seasons, we get to see the Empire slowly replacing the Clone Troopers and how the galaxy tries to adapt to the new galactic power. That is just a very basic summary of the story but I can’t express how fun this series is.
If you enjoy when stories connect with each other, you’ll love this series. The Bad Batch, and specifically the third and last season has ties to The Mandalorian, The Sequel Trilogy, The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, and even the Republic Commando game.
Star Wars Visions Vol. II
The first Volume of Star Wars Visions allowed different anime studios to inject their own style into a brand-new story. Volume II did things a little differently and multiple animation studios from all over the world took the challenge to make something completely unseen before.
What I really enjoyed about this is that each story reflected the cultural and historical background of each studio. There’s a total of nine episodes made from studios from Spain, Ireland, Chile, UK, South Korea, France, India, South Africa, and Japan/US.
As you might imagine, all of them are completely different from each other and all of them have something very interesting. If you love animation this is definitely for you. Even if like me you are not knowledgeable about animation, it’s still a very enjoyable thing to watch with your loved ones.
Obi-Wan Kenobi / Andor physical release
With streaming services taking over the world, physical media has been getting increasingly harder to get. Big retail stores are slowly stopping distribution and as a result, it’s almost impossible to acquire some of our favorite series or movies in physical format.
On the bright side, Star Wars fans can still get some of their favorite series on DVD or Blu-Ray. This year we got a simultaneous release of both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Season 1 of Andor. As practical as they are, streaming services will never be the same as putting the disc inside the player and pushing the play button.
To be honest the only physical media that I own is from Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. With Lord of the Rings, I have no issues because they came out a long time ago but with the constant releases of new Star Wars series it’s extremely valuable that we get the possibility to own them in physical format. Especially now that streaming services are increasing their prices and introducing ads.
Tales of the Empire
Tales of the Empire follows the same format as Tales of the Jedi. Six episodes follow two characters through important moments in their lives. Tales of the Jedi explores Count Dooku and Ahsoka while Tales of the Empire covers Morgan Elsbeth and Barriss Offee.
I won’t spoil the series because I think it’s something you should experience, at least if you like watching things that expand characters’ lore. Morgan’s story is full of tragedy but that is the fuel of her determination.
Her three dedicated episodes do a great work of showing how she slowly turns from a former Nightsister to Grand Admiral Thrawn’s most loyal servant.
On the other hand, Barriss Offee’s fate became an unsolved mystery when the Clone Wars was canceled after Disney bought Star Wars. Thankfully, Dave Filoni was eventually able to give a proper finish to Clone Wars but Barriss’s arc was never completed, until this year.
I can’t express how satisfying the conclusion of her story was. For more than 10 years fans theorized what happened to the fallen Jedi when Order 66 and Operation Nightfall happened. This was one of the biggest surprises of 2024 but certainly a most welcomed one.
LEGO: UCS Jabba Sail Barge
LEGO is a very fun and entertaining hobby. In my opinion, their more recent releases have not been as exciting as previous years but there is one big exception to this. Jabba’s Sail Barge is a set that fans have been wanting for many years and it finally became a reality on October of 2024.
It comes with the minifigures of Jabba the Hutt, Princess Leia, C-3PO, a Gamorrean Guard, Salacious Crumb, Kithaba, Max Rebo, Bib Fortuna, Vizam, Wooof, and R2-D2.
With a price tag of $500 USD and 3943 pieces, this Ultimate Collector Series set is aimed towards adult builders but that doesn’t mean that kids can’t participate in it. Just keep in mind that due to its dimensions, and weight, it is not ideal to leave kids unsupervised.
Owning multiple LEGO sets requires a considerable amount of space. As someone who owns a few of them and many other Star Wars toys and collectibles, I really don’t have much space left but for this set, I’d definitely try to make enough room.
The Phantom Menace 25th anniversary theatrical re-release
The Phantom Menace was the first movie I got to experience in a movie theater. It was amazing and probably the most memorable moment I had when watching a movie with Revenge of the Sith being very close to it.
This moment marked me and many millions of kids around the world. I already liked Star Wars but that event took it to a whole new level. 2024 marked the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Menace and as a little treat, a few theaters around the world brought it back for a short period of time.
I am not sure how many fans were able to see it but I was lucky enough to be among the fortunate ones. It was so cool to re-live this one-of-a-kind experience twenty-five years later.
The Thrawn Trilogy re-release
Grand Admiral Thrawn shares a place with Darth Vader, the Sith Emperor, Darth Marr, and Marchion Ro among my personal list of the best villains in Star Wars. He is a capable fighter but nothing that could even scratch the danger of a Force user.
His intelligence, deep understanding of both enemies and allies combined with his ability to make the best decisions gained him the respect of people like Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, and even Emperor Palpatine.
He made his first appearance in a series as the main antagonist of Star Wars Rebels and he would later return to continue that story with the first season of Ahsoka but he has been around for way longer than that.
The Thrawn trilogy is a set of three books written by Timothy Zahn and released between 1991 and 1993. These books explore Thrawn’s origins and his quick ascendance through the Imperial ranks.
Thirty years after their release, The Thrawn Trilogy was re-published with brand new covers. Aside from that, the stories remain untouched. Keep in mind that all three books are no longer part of the Star Wars canon but it’s still a great way to learn more about the most brilliant military strategist in the Galactic Empire.
The Acolyte
Currently, the first and only series that explores the galaxy during the High Republic era. A point in time when the Sith were an old tale and almost no one dared to challenge the might of the Republic and the Jedi Order.
As someone who has been covering the High Republic novels for quite some time, this was extremely exciting for me. The final result was bittersweet for me. There are many things that I enjoyed while others were confusing me.
Particularly, the way Vernestra Rwoh behaved. If you are familiar with Vern, you know that what we saw is a completely different person from the young Jedi who appeared in Phase I and III of the High Republic.
I’m still sad that we are not getting a second season considering that we could have seen more of Darth Plagueis. Maybe one day we’ll get to know what happens to Mae and Osha but for now, we have to accept that it might never happen.
Star Wars Outlaws
Playing as a character that is not a powerful Jedi was so refreshing. Don’t get me wrong, I love using a lightsaber but more often than not you end up becoming way too strong so it was nice to be like a more “normal” person inside the Star Wars universe.
This game is not perfect by any means. It runs extremely smoothly on my PC but I know that’s not something all players can say, and it shouldn’t be like that. Gameplay is simple but it remained enjoyable for me. Though, I understand why some people would consider it repetitive and dull.
Nix is the star of the game, he is so cute and incredibly useful in so many instances. He made everything a lot more fun and interesting. Secondary characters are well-created even if they do not appear as much as Kay, Nix, and ND-5.
I’d recommend almost every Star Wars fan to try this game at least once. It’s very fun but don’t expect it to be a game-changer title because it’s certainly not one.
Like with any other major Star Wars game, we deeply covered Star Wars Outlaws with dozens of guides that cover anything you can think of.
Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss
An engaging novel that recalls what happened after Qui-Gon was defeated by Darth Maul from Mace Windu’s perspective. A message left to him by Qui-Gon sends him to a distant location where chaos is about to erupt, endangering thousands of people.
This is a personal favor that Qui-Gon asked so Mace Windu can’t do anything but investigate what’s happening. This novel has lots of action, funny dialogue, and a side of Mace Windu that we’ve never seen before in any other media.
The Glass Abyss is like watching a very good arc of The Clone Wars. Great for anyone who just wants an action-packed, easy-to-understand story.
The High Republic: Tempest Breaker
The High Republic began its third and final Phase at the beginning of 2024 with The Eye of Darkness. After that, we have witnessed how the Jedi and Republic have slowly gained terrain against Marchion Ro and the Nihil.
It has been a long conflict that has taken the lives of many powerful Jedi but Marchion Ro has also paid the price for bearing a war against the Republic. The entire structure of the Nihil is falling apart under his eyes.
Tempest Breaker is the most recent High Republic novel but it’s probably my favorite one. There are so many plot twists, characters involved, and connected storylines that it really puts into perspective how many things have happened since Phase I and Phase II.
I won’t say what happened for obvious reasons but Tempest Breaker probably has the first moment in the entire High Republic era where Marchion Ro looks vulnerable and most importantly, beatable.
The best (or worst) thing is that you can never count Marchion Ro out. He has proved one of the most persistent and resourceful enemies to ever appear in Star Wars and while he looks weak, I would be surprised if he unleashes something even more terrifying than the Nameless creatures.
Skeleton Crew
Last but not least is Skeleton Crew. This show is basically The Goonies meet Star Wars. At the time of this article’s writing, we still have three episodes left. It has its flaws, as any other show but it’s such a refreshing thing to watch.
I’m probably not the only one who believes that Star Wars would benefit from different approaches to storytelling. “Less is more” is a phrase that I rarely use but Skeleton Crew is a fantastic example of it. It’s simple, entertaining and relatable.
Not every series has to be incredibly deep or require decades of lore knowledge in order to understand it. An entire family can simply sit and watch it without being puzzled about certain characters or events from the past. Star Wars has always been a family thing and I’m so glad that Skeleton Crew reminds us of that.
