Star Wars: Visions S3: Did Disney Forget How to Keep It Weird (and Wonderful)?
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Polygon's Sam Nelson observes that *Star Wars: Visions* Season 3's shift to sequels and a narrower focus demonstrates Disney's ongoing challenge with letting anthology shows, like Marvel's *What If...?*, remain truly standalone. Jeff, in agreement, suggests this push for interconnectedness undermines the experimental magic, turning exciting shorts into viewer 'homework' instead of celebrating their unique, self-contained brilliance.
Alright, mates, let's chat about something a bit… *peculiar* in the digital ether. You know how much I love a good experiment, a proper “what happens if we just let artists *go wild*?” kind of vibe. And *Star Wars: Visions*? That, my friends, was initially just that – a brilliant, chaotic explosion of creativity that felt like someone accidentally opened a portal to a million different Star Wars dimensions. Remember that first season, back in '21? Nine anime studios, each given a key to the galaxy and told to just *have a bash*. We got everything from a Hutt fronting a rock band (fair dinkum, a *rock band*!) to some absolutely frenetic twin Sith duels. Then Season 2 truly went global, bringing in incredible talent from around the world – Aardman doing a goofy family race, Cartoon Saloon delivering a dark, twisty tale. Pure magic, honestly.
So, you can imagine my raised eyebrow, my gentle head-tilt of skepticism, when *Star Wars: Visions* Season 3 arrived and, well, decided to walk back a bit. According to the clever folks over at Polygon (and I'm nodding along with Sam Nelson's observations here, a proper good read, that), it’s taken a couple of steps in the wrong direction. Not only has it narrowed the scope back to *just* Japanese animation (which is brilliant, don't get me wrong, but felt like a step *back* from the global buffet), but it’s also thrown in a trio of sequels: “The Duel: Payback,” “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope,” and “The Lost Ones.”
And *that* last bit? The sequels? That's where I start seeing some patterns emerge, like digital tea leaves spelling out a familiar corporate hiccup. It seems Disney, bless 'em, just can't quite let an anthology stand on its own two feet. It's like they've got this incredible magical canvas, but they can't resist trying to draw a connecting line between *every single brushstroke*.
Take Marvel's *What If…?* for instance. When it dropped in 2019, the promise was glorious: a proper playground to mess around with MCU canon, consequence-free. But, as Polygon points out, it quickly got bogged down. By the end, it was less "what if...?" and more "what *is this* convoluted multi-verse team-up now?" You had zany "Thor as an only child" episodes morphing into a saga about Darcy and Howard the Duck having a kid, who then teams up with other characters to protect the Watcher. Even the brilliant evil Doctor Strange episode, which delivered more satisfaction in 36 minutes than some feature films (no shade, just an observation!), ended up having him "redeem" himself only to go bad *again* in Season 2. It ended up building its own ponderous canon instead of being the fun, experimental sandbox we were promised.
And don't even get me started on *Eyes of Wakanda*. Sounds like a cracking anthology, doesn't it? Different agents, different times, chasing vibranium. But, *whilst* each episode follows different characters, it apparently builds into a direct prequel to *Black Panther*. It becomes so focused on making Erik Killmonger's importance resonate that it loses the chance to tell truly satisfying, *standalone* tales about one of Marvel's most fascinating settings. A real missed opportunity to explore new corners of the lore, if you ask me.
The big problem with all this forced interconnectedness, whether it’s in games or TV, is that it turns staying up-to-date with your favourite universes into… well, *homework*. And an anthology show, by its very nature, should be the antidote to that. It should be the delightful digital detour, the short side quest that doesn't demand you remember every single lore detail from four years ago.
But *Visions* Season 3, unfortunately, asks just that. Do you *have* to rewatch "The Duel" to appreciate the new Sith-hunting Sith fighting an overzealous cyborg Jedi in "The Duel: Payback"? Probably not, no. And Jedi F in "The Lost Ones" just kinda carries on wandering. But "The Ninth Jedi" sequel? Polygon reckons it’s actually *worse* for being part of a continuity. Lah Kara helping a sad droid while other heroes just… stand around, cryptically referencing a plan, ending with a "to be continued." Bloomin' hell, that's not an exciting tease, that's a drag! It's like finding a "quest continues in next patch" message after defeating the mini-boss – breaks the flow, doesn't it?
Now, I'm an optimistically chaotic wizard, so I'm always looking for the silver lining, the hidden loot chest. Disney *does* have a good model to follow if they want to expand on these stories: *Marvel Zombies*. That got a four-episode miniseries to spin out a single *What If?* episode. And, good news, "The Ninth Jedi" *is* getting its own miniseries – which Polygon rightly argues is where its story *should* have continued, not shoehorned into an anthology season.
*Star Wars* has a cracking track record with animated shows like *The Clone Wars* and *Rebels* for expanding the universe. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with using *Visions* to test the waters, to see what stories resonate. But that experimentation shouldn't come at the expense of what makes an anthology special: self-contained, wild-eyed creativity.
Because when *Visions* *does* stick to its guns, it's absolutely brilliant. Polygon highlights the two best episodes of Season 3 as "The Bird of Paradise" (meditative, colourful, following a blinded Jedi apprentice) and the nightmarish "BLACK" (set against the destruction of Death Star II). Neither of these *could* or *should* be turned into a full series, and that's precisely their power. They represent the pure, unadulterated creative potential of the anthology format.
Disney, you’ve got enough serialized shows to keep us busy until the heat death of the universe. Don't lose sight of the genuine, standalone magic that makes *Star Wars: Visions* truly special. Sometimes, mates, it’s okay to just let a story *be*.
(Original scoop from Polygon, courtesy of Sam Nelson.)
Tags: StarWarsVisions, Animation, DisneyPlus, AnthologyShows, Streaming
Original article: Polygon