First time watchers should watch in release order.

Original Trilogy: A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983)

If you like it continue with the prequels: The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002), Revenge of the Sith (2005)

If you still like it move on to the Disney era:The Force Awakens (2015), Rogue One (2016), The Last Jedi (2017), Solo (2018), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

If you've gotten through all the mainstream movies and still want more, you can fill in the blanks with the TV shows, comics, novels, etc.

Watch the movies in order of release. Prequels are best appreciated enriched by the OT, sequels will make no sense if you haven't seen the prior two trilogies. Solo and R1 you need at least the OT to see their significance.

That said, some folks are having Andor as their entry point into Star Wars, but if you're expecting Andor from the rest of the franchise that's going to be diminishing returns. Also think Andor is better if you've seen Rogue One which itself sort of leans on OT and the Prequels.

Almost everything else I'd say requires some background from the movies to fully appreciate.

With any broad interwoven narrative it's almost always better to consume them in order of production than than some "timeline" filled in after the original productions. It's fiction, not real history, so the sense is made very differently.

Start with movies in release order. 4,5,6, 1,2,3, 7,8,9. You can then watch the other two outside of the trilogies - rogue one and solo. After that, can start in the shows. I’d begin with the clone wars. Is a gateway that kinda opens everything up for the other shows afterwards

You really don’t have to watch everything, and you’ll probably enjoy yourself more if you don’t go in with the intention of watching everything. Watch the original trilogy. If you enjoy that watch Andor. Boom. You’ve watched the truly great Star Wars stuff. If you want to keep watching go from there.

• Release order is always a good starting point (4,5,6,1,2,3). If I could rewatch it for most impact however, I would have loved to watch it like this: Episode 4 and 5 first to give you an introduction to everything and set up a big reveal, then Episode 1,2 and 3 to further explain certain aspects, then finish with 6. Lore-wise it just makes sense to build up certain characters and finish the series with the most emotional impact. I’d say watch the Sequel Trilogy (Ep 7,8,9) at least once just because the Special Effects look really awesome and it has some cool concepts but has a lacking story (the Crossguard Lightsaber will always be one of my favourite additions).
• Watch Andor Season 1 and 2 BEFORE watching Rogue One. It is absolutely worth a watch and Andor just won an Emmy for outstanding story so it’s incredibly well-received (Rogue One was made first so it might be slightly jarring to come from Andor to Rogue One, but I can assure you, it is very much worthwhile).
• Don’t skip out on SOLO: A Star Wars Story. It is an underrated gem. I definitely consider it to be one of the more interesting movies. That saying, watch it after the Original Trilogy (Ep 4,5 and 6) to learn more about the character it’s about first.
• I’d recommend watching Clone Wars (Movie first, then show), then Rebels after the main series of movies. Both are great in their own rights but they both add more to the Lore.
• The shows all give their own perspective on certain aspects of the story which make it more in-depth. A decent amount of them are good, some more than others. For the best experience however, watch Ahsoka after the Clone Wars and Rebels series for more context on Ahsoka’s journey and to get more backstory on the other characters.
• The Mandalorian is meant to be watched Season 1, Season 2 then break off to Book of Boba Fett and then Mando Season 3 to avoid any Lore confusion. You can watch Mando without having watched Clone Wars and Rebels but it’s definitely more interesting to do so.
• If you’re looking for more outside of just watching Series, there’s always the Jedi Fallen Order, Jedi Survivor and Star Wars The Force Unleashed game/s (depending if you want to play the second Force Unleashed game, it’s not necessary but it’s still fun nonetheless). The Fallen Order and Survivor games are both part of the current Canon and The Force Unleashed is just incredibly fun.
• If you want to watch something randomly fun that I wish certain aspects were part of the Canon, I definitely recommend the 2003 Clone Wars Mini-Series. It’s set between Episode 2 and 3 of the Prequel Trilogy. General Grievous is at his absolute best in this show and everything about it is just really awesome. It also introduces one of the villains before they even got introduced into Canon, Asajj Ventress, which is really awesome and she’s a definite badass in her own right.

Release order is the correct order.

4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9

Any other order introduces the universe in a weird way and messes up the storytelling.

Release order is the best way if you haven't seen them before. It's the way most of us saw them and the assumed/intended viewing order as they were made.

Go in release order 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 and skip any shows for now. Definitely go and watch some of them, but for now just watch the movies. Also, I'm sure your girlfriend would love to watch them with you :)

4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 is how I watched them

7 and 8 have their merits. 9 was so souless and petty that it is the only SW media that actively made the rest of the universe worse for me.

On that note, I would absolutely not recommend 1 or 2 to anyone.

Just go by the order they were released, which you can find here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars#Films

But you can talk to her about it, maybe she'd enjoying going on this journey with you?

You can sort them all by chronological order on Disney+ and I don't think you have to have a subscription to just view what's available on the platform.

Here is th list :

- Upcoming "Dawn of The Jedi" Movie

- Young Jedi Adventure

- Upcoming : The Acolyte

- Tales of the Jedi (Season 1 Episode 2,3 &1)

- Episode I : The Phantom Menace

- Tales of the Jedi (Season 1 Episode 4)

- Episode II : Attack of the Clones

- The Clone Wars Movie

- The Clone Wars series (All 7 seasons except last 4 episodes)

- Episode III : Revenge of the Sith

- The Clone Wars (last 4 episodes)

- Tales of the Jedi (Season 1 Episode 5&6)

- The Bad Batch

- Jedi Fallen Order (Video Game)

- Solo : A Star Wars Story

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

- Jedi Survivor (Video Game)

- Rebels

- Andor (Andor and Rebels take place simultaneously but it is better to watch Rebels and then Andor directly before Rogue One and A New Hope)

- Vader Immortal (Video Game)

- Rogue One : A Star Wars Story

- Episode IV : A New Hope

- Episode V : The Empire Strikes Back

- Episode VI : Return Of the Jedi

- Battlefront 2 (Video Game)

- Squadrons (Video Game)

- The Mandalorian (Season 1&2)

- The Book of Boba Fett (Must be watched between season 2 and 3 of The Mandalorian)

- The Mandalorian (Season 3)

- Upcoming Ahsoka Serie

-Upcoming Skeleton Crew Serie

- Upcoming "Heir to the Empire" Movie

- Resistance (Season 1 except last 2 episodes)

- Battlefront 2, Resurrection DLC (video game)

- Episode VII : The Force Awakens

- Resistance (Last 2 episodes of Season 1)

- Episode VIII : The Last Jedi

- Resistance (Season 2)

- Episode IX : Rise of Skywalker

- Upcoming : "New Jedi Order" Movie

​

Keys :

Live Action Movies

Live Action Series

Animated and Video Games

"Temporary Titles"

The Phantom Menace

Attack of the Clones

The Clone Wars

The Clone Wars

Revenge of the Sith

Solo

Kenobi

Andor

Rebels

Rogue One

A New Hope

The Empire Strikes Back

Return of the Jedi

The Mandalorian

Resistance

The Force Awakens

The Last Jedi

Rise of Skywalker

Don't watch the Force awakens, the last Jedi and the Rise of Skywalker. The sequel trilogy is garbage.

I use the Acronym Order:

Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
Attack of the Clones
Rogue One

Witches of the Mist (Clone Wars Episode)
Andor (TV Show)
Return of the Jedi
Solo

Chronological order would be 1, 2, 3, Solo, Rogue One, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

Release order would mean you see episodes 4-6 before 1-3 which is recommended for first viewing. Rogue one happens just before a new hope in the story but was released much later.

Release Order is 456-123-789, with R1 and Solo either after 3 or after 9.

IF you wanted to do chronological, just go up the numbers and put Solo and then Rogue One between 3 and 4 or after 9, however you want to handle those.

>I want to understand the entire story

Then watch in release order. Every new addition assumes you have the information given in the previous installments. To get the best understanding with the least confusion, always watch in release order. And includes the 2003 Clone Wars in between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

Watch Andor, then Rogue One, then Episodes 4, 5, and 6. This will help you understand the original storyline.

Then go episodes 1, 2, watch The Clone Wars series, then episode 3, then watch the Rebels series.

The rest of the shows you can probably watch in any order if you’re into it enough by then.

The force awakes, a new hope, the bad batch, the clone wars, the rise of skywalker, Andor, the attack of the clones, return of the Jedi, rouge one, the last Jedi, revenge of the Sith, empire strikes back, rebels, acolyte, and the phantom menace, this is the best order (trust)

OP, everyone is giving way to complex of answers.

The proper release order is on Star Wars dot com:

https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-movies-and-series-guide

For your first watch I would suggest release order. For subsequent watches timeline is best

Just watch the in 1-9 order and save yourself massive fucking hassle. That’s the story order. Everyone’s got a massive hard on for nostalgia but 1 is way more accessible than 4.

Always release order imo!

Even for shows and stuff.

View them as it was intended and presented to the audience of the day it was released.

Release order.

Release order makes the most sense as that was the order people originally watched them in

so you’d do the original trilogy: Episodes 4, 5, 6 prequels: Episodes 1, 2, 3 and then the sequels: Episodes 7, 8, 9

Chronological order is also an option that some people would suggest which would just be watching the prequels first and then the original trilogy, but I think release order is definitely better for a first time watching

Sam Witwer’s order to watch the Star Wars movies for maximum impact:

First, get to know the universe and characters, watch The Clone Wars series.

Love Anakin. 🥰

Then you see A New Hope and learn Anakin was killed by Vader! 😱

After, you watch The Empire Strikes Back, and find out who Vader really is. 🤯

Then you backtrack to the prequels, all of them, to understand Vader. 🫢

Finally, now that you know all the backstory, you watch the great finale, Return of the Jedi. 😢

The two biggest moments in Star Wars receive maximum power in this order.

I always say Release Order for first time viewing all the way through, anything after is fair game. For me, since i’d be on rewatch 10,000, i go chronological.

It all depends on what you remember tbh. If you watched it once and don’t have a lot of memory of it, my opinion is go release order 456 123

You should watch them in alphabetical order

Release date is much better.

We just did a Star Wars marathon this week and this is what we watched and the order we watched it in (This is how we like to watch the saga, if someone disagrees, well too bad, make your own list hehe)

1. Phantom Menace
2. Attack of the Clones
3. The Clone Wars
4. Revenge of the Sith
5. Rogue One
6. Star Wars (A New Hope)
7. Empire Strikes Back
8. Return of the Jedi

If haven’t seen in years or first viewing, I say disregard list and go with order of release date as that’s always a great way to watch them

You shouldn’t keep going… trust me…

Star wars.com has official viewing orders for both chronological and release viewing orders.

Any order you feel works best should be fine. It’ll become even more exciting with the TV shows following Clone Wars like Bad Batch and Rebels. The Tales Of the Jedi/Empire/Underworld are more like in-betweeners for those who finished the Clone Wars show. Either way, I’m sure your viewing experience will be exciting. May the force be with you handsome🖤

Any order you feel works best should be fine. It’ll become even more exciting with the TV shows following Clone Wars like Bad Batch and Rebels. The Tales Of the Jedi/Empire/Underworld are more like in-betweeners for those who finished the Clone Wars show. Either way, I’m sure your viewing experience will be exciting. May the force be with you handsome🖤

It’s perfectly fine to watch the movies before moving on to TCW. That’s how us oldheads did it back in the 2000s! 

Also, because some of the episodes jump around the timeline — a character that dies in an early episode might appear alive in a later one, for example — some people will tell you to watch TCW in the chronological order available on the official Star Wars website. I don’t think this is necessary for a first watch-through, unless you really think you’ll be lost if you don’t see the events in chronological order. 

Getting into Star Wars is almost like getting into lord of the rings, but easier people say “read the original books first before you dive into the others.” So with that I’m going to recommend a similar set up.

Start with the movies either release order or canonical. Your preference. 456,123,789 or 123,456,789 feel free to sprinkle in solo or rogue one where you want, canonically or whenever you want to fit them in. The shows I’ll do canonically below.

Then get into the shows, start with clone wars. It’s gona be long and this is the best method to fully understand it follow this guide below. Why you may ask? Lucas wanted to do his seasons by character story arcs, but it went all over the place in the timeline and got confusing. It’s tedious but this method will make so much more sense and you’ll notice by season 4 it gets back on track.

https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-the-clone-wars-chronological-episodeorder

Feel free to do Bad Batch now or later. It’s a great show but you can take this at your own pace. Others may disagree.

Obi-Wan Kenobi show, 6 episodes and imo is a great post revenge of the Sith watch. Some flaws but I still very much enjoy it.

Then watch Rebels. The shift in animation can be an acquired taste, but the story is worth it I promise you.

Andor season 1, Andor season 2 is currently on and has 1 more episode bundle next week, watching these before or after rogue one is fine. Whatever you prefer.

Then Mandalorian seasons 1-2

Book of boba fett

Mandalorian season 3

Ahsoka

And I think that covers it. 😁 feel free to ask any questions!!! Remember to Enjoy what you enjoy and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Have fun and may the force be with you!

Here’s a whole list of The Clone Wars essential episodes. Also Clone Wars movie isnt great and mid season 3 onwards the show is peak Star Wars. Also I think you should watch 1-6 films first before other stuff, starting with 4-6 and then 1-3. 

Ok here goes it. If you want bare minimum of essentials for other stuff. Tbh would recommend a last double this length but I’ll give you a shorter version. 

Let’s start with a three episode Mandalorian arc

S2e12 

S2e13 

S2e14 

Now get to know the main clones of the show.  

S3e1

S1e5

S3e2

It’s mysterious, it’s magical. Betrayal. Revenge, a monster, cunning plans, awesome action and a shocking reveal at the end. The nightsisters episodes are a great watch.

S3e12

S3e13

S3e14

You’ll get more questions than answers from the next three!

S3e15

S3e16

S3e17

Space Vietnam now. Many peoples favourite episodes of the whole show. Clone centric.

S4e5

S4e6

S4e7

S4e8

Now watch this fun action packed episode that develops Ahsoka a bit more and catches up with some of the people you want to know for lie action shows. (Ive had to leave a lot of her development out of this list but this should be good)

S4e14

Next is the best Bounty Hunter episodes ever. Obi Wan centric.  The vibes are just so good and I love rewatching them. 

S4e15

S4e16

S4e17

S4e18

Ok let’s continue that third arc and bring back one of Star Ward’s most iconic characters of all time. These are dark, these are deep, these are awesome.

S4e19

S4e20

S4e21

S4e22

Now we’ll continue those 4 with these next 4. Absolutely essential. The final two in this arc are maybe even my favourite two episodes. These episodes will take you from pirates to Hutts to Mandalore and it’s all about the Villains.

S5e1

S5e14

S5e15

S5e16

And now let’s go back to the Jedi as Ahsoka faces a shocking accusation. These episodes start like a normal arc but you’re tearing up by the end. The most essential of the whole show bar the Finale.

S5e17

S5e18

S5e19

S5e20

Conspiracy and Clones. Who’s behind it? Also get some tissues. You might need them.

S6e1

S6e2

S6e3

S6e4

Conspiracies and Conomdrums.

S6e10

And now the final four episodes. Im not going to say anything bar that this is peak Star Wars for A LOT of people. 

S7e9

S7e10

S7e11

S7e12

This is what you’re looking for. Early seasons can be a bit daunting for some but when you finish this list you’ll probably want more.

These episodes (particularly the second half of this list) are what many call peak Star Wars. 

You won’t have regrets at the end. 

Happy Watching

And May the Force be With You. You are about to make your first step into a larger world.

See the problem is if you want to watch it chronologically, you inherently have to skip around. Someone else has posted in here a list of shows you can watch through to absorb everything, but even that wouldn't be chronologically. What I would recommend is this:

1. The Clone Wars Animated Film

(It's not amazing, but it's the basis for the entire series so it's a must watch)

2. The Clone Wars TV show

(This is technically an anthology, so while there are some arcs that take place chronologically it does also tend to jump around the timeline. You can either look up a chronologically watch order or honestly I'd just recommend seeing it in release order for the first time around cause you don't lose anything from it. It ends at the same time as Episode III just to give some perspective.)

3. Tales of the Jedi

(This is a set of shorts animated in the Clone Wars style focusing on the characters of Count Dooku & Ahsoka. At this point you should have all the context for all the shorts so include it here).

4. The Bad Batch

(The group of clones that are the stars of this show first appear in the last season of the Clone Wars and their journey continues shortly after Order 66 so best to start it here)

5. Tales of the Underworld

(Similar to Tales of the Jedi, but instead of focusing on Jedi it focuses on two characters that were introduced in Clone Wars as underworld criminals. Both of their stories continue in the Bad Batch so this is the best spot to watch this).

6. Obi-Wan Kenobi

(All of the shows up to this point have been animated & interconnected, this will be the first live action and stand alone. It has some character overlap and subtle continuations, but it honestly acts more like an epilogue to Episode III of the main series of films just from Obi-Wan's perspective)

7. Star Wars Rebels

(This show takes place primarily during the reign of the empire basically all the way up until the Battle of Yavin. It both continues plot lines from the Clone Wars as well as being vital to the stories of later shows so tho it's a bit more childish I wouldn't skip out on it)

8. Andor

(This takes place across the entirety of the Empires reign, but has basically nothing to do with the past few shows except for the fact that it kinda ties into one episode of Rebels. It's more adult and live action, so it presents a more realistic and griddy depiction of the rebellion that I think Rebels lacks. It ties into Rogue One so just make sure you watch that, if you haven't already it may benefit from watching afterwards.

9. The Mandalorian [Seasons 1& 2]

(This show takes place after the Empire has fallen and tho it may seem like it stands on its own at first, it quickly pivots to basically being a full continuation of many of the animated characters and plot lines that were building up over these many series. It's important to note that I'd watch the next two series I'm listing BEFORE going to Season 3 of the show as an important character moment happens in at least one of them)

10. Tales of the Empire

(This series doesn't matter as much placement wise as you just need to watch at least season 2 of the Mandalorian to understand the context of one episode, so if you really want to get through the story you can hold off until after season 3. Tho it does help you space out your time better)

11. The Book of Boba Fett

(This series IS ESSENTIALLY to watch after Mandalorian Season 2. It continues both the story of characters from season 2 and also bridges the plot of the show between seasons, so tho it may just seem like a spin-off it more acts as an interlude to the Mandalorian)

Mandalorian [Season 3]

12. Ahsoka

(This once again both continues the storyline that was set up in The Mandalorian while also carrying over plot points from both the Clone Wars & Rebels, so to date this is pretty much the culmination of all the interconnected series that you've been watching so far. With the release of the Mandalorian & Grogu movie as well as season 2 of this series that should soon change)

13. Skeleton Crew

(While taking place during the same time as The Mandalorian & it's related series, this show is pretty much stand alone and doesn't require any previous knowledge. I place it here for chronology sack, but as of right now it has no connection to the other series outside of a side character or two appearing)

14. Resistance

(Another animated series, but unlike the rest it also has no interconnecting tissue with the rest of the animated series that have been mentioned. It takes place during the sequel trilogy of main movies and again can pretty much be totally watched on its own).

15. The Acolyte

(This is my one outlier here cause technically this show takes place before any other show or series that Star Wars has released. It takes place in the High Republic Era which was basically when the Jedi were at the top of their game. It's a really good show with a lot of action and interest characters, but due to the fact that it doesn't take place during the Skywalker Saga at all and barely has any recognizable characters, just save it for the end or whenever you get bored with all the Empire stuff)

And that should be everything, sorry for such a long post, but I wanted to get my reasoning behind everything as well as just listing it out so you can understand why they are important to watch where they are. I hope you enjoy the ever expansive Star Wars universe!

With the movies and TV shows outside the Skywalker Saga (aka Episodes 1-9), they do a lot of overlapping that it makes it hard to go in chronological order without breaking everything and making it harder to get through.

Though, I do have a marathon viewing order that is mainly in chronological order, but does deviate at times, with a purpose. Like, a couple shows have an epilogue that jump forward on the timeline. Instead of breaking the TV shows up, I kept the TV series as a whole together.

This will lead to revisiting parts of the timeline, but from a different point of view. (Like going through the prequels and then revisiting The Clone Wars).

I'm still going over the material again to make sure the flow works, but feel this is the ideal route.

[ ] The Phantom Menace (Movie)

[ ] Attack of the Clones (Movie)

[ ] Revenge of the Sith (Movie)

[ ] The Clones Wars (Animated Series - Movie and 7 Seasons in Total)

[ ] The Acolyte (Live Action Series - Only 1 Season)

[ ] Tales of the Jedi (Limited Animation Series)

[ ] A New Hope (Movie)

[X] Maul: Shadow Lord (Animated Series - Unknown)*

[ ] Obi-Wan Kenobi (Live Action Series - Only 1 Season)

[ ] Tales of the Underworld (Limited Animation Series)

[ ] Solo: A Star Wars Story (Movie)

[ ] Andor (Live Action Series - 2 Seasons in Total)

[ ] Rogue One (Movie)

[ ] The Bad Batch (Animated Series - 3 Seasons in Total)

[ ] The Empire Strikes Back (Movie)

[ ] Return of the Jedi (Movie)

[ ] Rebels (Animated Series - 4 Seasons in Total)

[ ] The Mandalorian (Live Action Series - Just Season 1-2)

[ ] Tales of the Empire (Limited Animation Series)

[ ] Book of Boba Fett (Live Action Series - Only 1 Season)

[ ] The Mandalorian (Live Action Series - Just Season 3)

[ ] Ahsoka (Live Action Series - Just Season 1)

[ ] The Skeleton Crew (Live Action Series - Only 1 Season)

[X] The Mandalorian and Grogu (Movie)*

[X] Ahsoka (Live Action Series - Just Season 2)*

[ ] The Force Awakens (Movie)

[ ] The Last Jedi (Movie)

[ ] Resistance (Animated Series - 2 Seasons in Total)

[ ] The Rise of Skywalker (Movie)

[X] Star Wars: Starfighter (Movie)*

*Placement only a guess as they haven't released yet.

Shows only if you're going chronological I'd go:
The Acolyte
The Clone Wars
The Bad Batch

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Rebels

Andor

Tales of the Jedi/Empire/Underworld (These are all placed around the timeline but this is a good spot to fit them)

The Mandalorian Season 1-2

The Book of Boba Fett (This is the only one where you really need to split it)

The Mandalorian Season 3

Ahsoka

Skeleton Crew

Resistance

Just make sure to start with The Clone Wars, almost everything else branches from that.

Do you need to watch chronological? I’d do release personally