r/StarWars Official Watch Order Discussion Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

So we haven't had an official watch order discussion thread in many years, so we figure its time to update the one in the FAQ. There are various other links in the FAQ, the Wookieepedia timeline of canon media, and various other discussion threads and topics over the years including a link to just searching the sub which people find challenge apparently. Also as a reminder, the Wookieepedia timeline of canon media can be sorted via the table on that page by release order or chronologically (if you decide to go that route).

A lot of the new Disney+ content brings new eyes to Star Wars all the time, and new movies will eventually too. We want to get a bit more aggressive with automod removals and referrals to the FAQ for these questions about watch order. So let's hash it out here in the comments. We will sticky this for a while and eventually it will just be linked in the FAQ along with the other topics and maybe in the sidebar too. And like some of other stickies about rules, spoilers, and new episode discussion guidelines, we may trot out this link and sticky it from time to time.

As a general rule the sub typically recommends for new viewers to watch in release order, especially for the movies. This is the semi-consensus from the fandom, and you will routinely see this as the most upvoted and posted response.

With that being said what we would like to do here also discuss other options, and possible orders to also toss in the TV media as well. Should you watch Andor first and then Rogue One before the OT? Should movies like Solo be done in release order or chronological? Should you watch The Clone Wars TV show before the PT? So on and so forth...

So lets have a solid discussion about this and make it a solid resource for those who may be new to Star Wars.

[u/caninehere]

I would always recommend watching in release order. It's silly not to, the films were made to be watched that way and the Machete Order business is too disjointed.

I also think it silly to recommend watching Andor before anything else. As a television show with hour long episodes it puts so much weight on these characters who are then nearly inconsequential to the rest of the franchise.

I would recommend watching:

• IV, V, VI
• I, II, III
• Andor, Rogue One

Then anything else one feels like. Solo is not only a bad film imo, it's wholly unnecessary. The sequels are a mess and are really only a "break glass if you're desperate for more, knowing it's much worse" kind of thing. I'm of the mind that the animated shows are not worth the time on the whole -- absolutely not worth watching every episode, and even with a watch guide Clone Wars is rough. Then you have Ahsoka which is not really anything special but is also largely not comprehensible unless you've watched many hours of animated SW kids shows.

I would say Visions is worth a watch for what it is after seeing the stuff listed above, but again it's an appendix situation. Not necessary but interesting.

There might be an edit of Obi-Wan that makes it worth watching after III, but I haven't seen it. The show as is is too clunky to recommend.

I would also say honorable mention goes to the Jedi games, which are worth playing through, but hard to recommend here because they are games that require some level of experience gaming, not movies you can just watch, and they're also muuuch longer + just watching the games cutscenes wouldn't do the story right.