Disney Faces “Sequel Erasure” Claims From STAR WARS Fans After New Merch Drop Ignores Sequel Trilogy
There’s a fresh wave of debate in the Star Wars franchise, and this time it isn’t about canon or timelines. It’s about clothes. A new batch of Star Wars Spirit Jerseys has landed, and fans quickly noticed something missing. Actually, three somethings.
The collection celebrates the six films that kicked off the saga, covering the original trilogy and the prequels. That means gear inspired by A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and the prequel trio.
But when it comes to the sequel era, the jerseys skip right over The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker.
Fans didn’t take long to call it out. "Sequel erasure is crazy," one fan wrote. Another added: "no sequels? definitely skipping this"
"I want some sequel trilogy ones" says someone else. "Maybe if there were 3 more movies you coincidentally forgot then I'd consider it," points out another person. "Six episodes? No sequels?" questions another account. "Hey so the sequels exist" says another person.
"Damn… I'd consider buying the box if the sequels were included in the line-up," says another fan.
The set also leaves out Solo: A Star Wars Story and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, though that part hasn’t stirred as much noise since the jerseys seem focused on the numbered saga films.
Not everyone is upset, though. As someone who didn’t care for the sequel trilogy, I don’t really care. I’m more surprised by the fact that people are upset over this.
Some fans in the replies seem perfectly fine with the lineup as is, which just goes to show how split the fandom still is when it comes to the sequel trilogy.
Meanwhile, the future of the franchise is moving forward on screen. The Mandalorian and Grogu is next up, continuing the story that spun out of the hit Disney+ series, and according to Jon Favreau, the connective tissue between timelines is still being built.
"Anybody who saw the sequels knows that there's a First Order coming in, like, 20 years from where we are now in the storyline," Favreau explained. "And then Ahsoka season 2 is coming out – which I've seen all of – and that's definitely more dealing with the larger [picture], a higher level.
"That's about the officers and we're the enlisted men – this is more of a ground-level experience of what's going on. You're seeing the backdrop – which, by the way, is what the first Star Wars started off as."
So while the merch might be skipping a chunk of the saga, the storytelling side isn’t ignoring it. Projects like Ahsoka Season 2 are expected to tie the timelines together more clearly, bridging the gap between the original films and the sequels.
On the streaming side, Maul – Shadow Lord is also rolling out weekly, adding even more layers to the expanding universe.
Star Wars fans are always watching closely, and they aren’t shy about calling things out when something feels off in the galaxy.