The Mandalorian announces an Ahsoka Tano spin-off series

Disney revealed two spin-off projects from The Mandalorian on Thursday.

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced a series titled The Rangers of the New Republic and a second centered on fan-favorite Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) titled Ahsoka. Both are being developed by The Mandalorian showrunner Jon Favreau and producer-director Dave Filoni.

Kennedy also teased that the shows will all tie into each other and then their stories will come together, like Marvel's strategy leading up to The Avengers.

"Set within the timeline of The Mandalorian, these interconnected shows, along with future stories, will excite new audiences and embrace our most passionate fans and will culminate in a climactic story event," Kennedy said.

As for The Mandalorian, the flagship series is expected to return for season 3 at Christmas, 2021.

The news was revealed during an investor conference on Thursday, just one part of a massive surge of Star Wars news in the presentation. Kennedy also revealed the title of their Cassian Andor series starring Diego Luna — Andor — the development of a series centered around Lando Calrissian, the casting of Hayden Christensen reprising his role as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series, the title of Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland's series – The Acolyte ("a mystery-thriller that will take the audience into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era" – and that Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins will helm a new Star Wars feature film titled Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

The company added that it's planning a whopping 10 Star Wars series over the next few years, along with an equal number of Marvel series.

Emphasizing the quality of Disney+'s programming, Walt Disney Company Executive Chairman Bob Iger told investors, "The only difference between [our TV series] and our feature films is length."

The Mandalorian launched in October 2019 to immediate acclaim and has helped drive Disney's streaming service to 74 million subscribers.

Recent Nielsen reports have ranked The Mandalorian's second season among the top 10 weekly shows, followed by Netflix's hit miniseries The Queen's Gambit and ever-popular repeats of The Office.

Related content:

• Disney plans to expand the Star Wars universe with 10 shows
• Rogue One prequel series gets title: Andor
• Patty Jenkins to direct the next Star Wars movie: Rogue Squadron