Last week was host to Star Wars Celebration 2022, and with it came a whole slew of new information on both existing and brand-new Star Wars content. From release dates and teasers for both The Mandalorian season 3 and Ahsoka to brand-new trailers for the upcoming Andor, The Bad Batch season 2, and Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, to the reveal of a new Disney+ show, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, it certainly does feel like a good time to be a Star Wars fan.

With all of these upcoming shows and games, however, and knowing how Disney seems to be working in recent years, one cannot help but wonder if a larger game is being played here. After all, even before the MCU, Star Wars was setting up its own expanded universe of characters, and thanks to the success of those Marvel movies, perhaps Disney is applying some of that continuity magic to the galaxy of Star Wars. It would not be unreasonable to assume that is the case, given how other Star Wars shows have done in the past.

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If there is a larger plan at work here, then one cannot help but wonder exactly where it is leading towards, and more importantly, what, if anything, is tying all of these Disney+ shows together. Of course, there is plenty of room for speculation as far as where all of this is leading, and time will certainly tell how it does in the end. But as far as what connects these Disney+ shows, that has already been revealed if one knows where to look.

While all the current and upcoming Disney+ shows take place in their own corners of the galaxy and follow very different groups of characters, the threads that connect them are all there, even in Obi-Wan Kenobi. If one wants to speculate what sort of Avengers-style crossover is inevitably in the works for Star Wars, the threads that connect them may provide the best, if only, an explanation that we will get for now.

A Shared Universe: The Hero

     Disney+

One of the first things that a shared universe needs is a central main character that it can be built around. The audience will follow that character’s journey through the world they inhabit. In the case of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that character was Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, as he was the character that the MCU began with and subsequently ended with (The Infinity Saga, at least). Within the galaxy of Disney+’s shared Star Wars universe, that character appears to be Din Djarin, aka The Mandalorian.

Like Tony Stark, it began with him. More important than Din Djarin, however, is the series’ secondary main character, the freakishly adorable Grogu, who, despite being so young for his age, possesses a lifespan that stretches back before the Skywalker Saga began and will no doubt continue until long, long after all the other characters have died. As The Book of Boba Fett showed (much to the dismay of many), Disney is not against featuring Grogu’s continuing story in series that are not The Mandalorian. Whether it be in Ahsoka or even Andor, it is very likely fans have not seen the last of Grogu.

A Shared Universe: The Villain

     Lucasfilm

The second and perhaps most important thing that a shared universe of characters needs to work on is a central villain or threat that the characters can unite to fight against. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that threat was Thanos, as his existence threatened literally half of the entire universe. However, within the galaxy of Star Wars, while most casual fans would be quick to assume that the main threat is the Galactic Empire, it is important to remember that during the time in which The Mandalorian and most of these Disney+ shows take place. The Galactic Empire has already been defeated and is now a shadow of its former self, and most importantly has no centralized leadership. Or does it?

In season 2, episode 5 of The Mandalorian, the same episode in which Ahsoka Tano was introduced, Ahsoka dropped the name “Grand Admiral Thrawn,” which undoubtedly caused chills to run down the spine of every Star Wars fan. If Grand Admiral Thrawn is still alive after his defeat at the end of Star Wars: Rebels, he is almost certainly the type of villain that would unite all of these different characters.

Fans of Star Wars: Rebels and the original Star Wars Legends can confirm that aside from Darth Vader and Emperor Palatine themselves, Grand Admiral Thrawn is the most dangerous villain ever to exist within the galaxy of Star Wars. It could even be said that his presence in the original Star Wars trilogy would have resulted in a very different ending. Thrawn is so well versed in the art of war (and art in general) that he almost destroyed the Rebellion before it even began. He was only barely defeated by Ezra Bridger and the other characters from Star Wars: Rebels at the end. In the absence of Vader, Palpatine, and even Kylo Ren, if Star Wars needs a villain, Grand Admiral Thrawn is almost certainly the one to fill that role.