The final trailer for Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi has arrived, giving Star Wars fans a closer look at the limited anime series before its premiere later this week. The project expands the original The Ninth Jedi short from the first volume of Star Wars: Visions into a longer narrative and will debut on Disney+ and Hulu on Wednesday.
Both an English dub version and a Japanese-language version with English subtitles of the trailer are available on the official Star Wars and Disney+ YouTube channels. The footage highlights the continued story of Lah Kara and the world introduced in the 2021 short, while showcasing the increased scale that comes with a multi-episode format.
English trailer:
Japanese trailer:
Kenji Kamiyama, who directed the original short, returns in a supervising role as supervising director and series script supervisor. Shunsuke Tada serves as the series director. Hitoshi Itō is producing, with Lucasfilm’s Jacqui Lopez and Josh Rimes acting as executive producers. The combination keeps creative continuity with the short while bringing in additional experience for a longer production.
Star Wars: Visions Presents is a new extension of the Visions anthology. Announced at Star Wars Celebration Japan in 2025, the banner was created to give select short stories more room to develop. The Ninth Jedi is the first short chosen for this treatment. The original seven-minute film, produced for Star Wars: Visions Volume 1, introduced a Jedi-less era and a young woman named Kara who discovers her connection to the Force while protecting a special lightsaber.
The original short of The Ninth Jedi stood out for its distinct tone and world-building, presenting a corner of the Star Wars galaxy that felt self-contained yet connected to larger themes of Jedi legacy and survival. Giving that setting multiple episodes with this new anime series allows the story to explore Kara’s development, the political situation around her, and the lingering presence of Force users in a time when Jedi are believed to be gone.
Visions itself has grown across three anthology volumes. The first, released in 2021, featured exclusively Japanese anime studios. Volume 2 in 2023 broadened the field to international animation houses. Volume 3, which arrived in October 2025, revisited and continued several stories from the first volume, including further material related to The Ninth Jedi. A separate short titled "The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope" also expanded the timeline by depicting events from before Kara’s birth. The new limited series builds on that foundation rather than starting from scratch.
By moving to a limited series instead of a short film, the production gains time for character moments, additional action sequences, and deeper exploration of the rules and dangers of this particular era. It also gives us fans more of that juicy content to enjoy. The final trailer appears to emphasize both the personal stakes for Kara and the larger conflicts surrounding the lightsabers and those who seek them.
With the final trailer now public, the last days before release will focus on building anticipation for the expanded story. Viewers who have not seen the original The Ninth Jedi short which isStar Wars Visions Episode 5, may want to revisit it before starting the series, as the new project assumes familiarity with Kara and the premise established in 2021. Here is some of the action from the episode in Japanese.
The series arrives at a time where Lucasfilm continues to use animation to experiment and test new storytelling approaches with tones that might not fit the main live-action slate. Visions has consistently given anime creators room to interpret Star Wars through their own visual and narrative styles. Elevating one of those interpretations into a dedicated series signals confidence in the original short’s potential.
Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi premieres on Disney+ and Hulu on Wednesday. The final trailer offers the clearest look yet at how the short film’s world and characters have been developed for a longer format, while the returning creative voices and cast provide continuity for fans who have followed the story since its first appearance in the Visions anthology.
What are your thoughts on the trailer? Will you be watching the anime when it premieres this week? What other Star Wars stories should get the anime treatment? Let us know your answers in the usual box down below!