The Star Wars franchise is currently in what can only be described as its television era. Several shows set in a galaxy far, far away have aired on Disney+ since the dawn of the streaming service two and a half years ago. The Mandalorian has had two seasons thus far, with a third already filmed and currently in the editing process, as well as a spin-off in the form of The Book of Boba Fett. There is also the recently concluded Obi-Wan Kenobi, which had Ewan McGregor return to the role as a Jedi master as well as Hayden Christensen as the villainous Darth Vader.
All of this has come after the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga with The Rise of Skywalker in December 2019. The third and, for now, final trilogy in the main saga consisted of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi before the threequel. Although there have been some references and hints to the era of the sequel trilogy era since then (in The Mandalorian in particular), Star Wars seems to have shifted focus to the prequel trilogy era. This has allowed for some amazing stories that contribute to the franchise considerably, with Obi-Wan Kenobi adding another layer to the Jedi’s relationship with Luke and Leia that makes A New Hope all the more memorable. Still, multiple eras can be explored at once. Given the vast potential that the sequel trilogy holds even after its conclusion, it’s clear that there’s a lot of room to explore the lore of that time period even further.
The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as the animated series The Bad Batch, all occupy their own unique places within the timeline of the franchise. Obi-Wan explored the aftermath of Revenge of the Sith, with The Bad Batch occupying a similar position (albeit much closer in proximity to the prequels). Meanwhile, The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett almost feel like a canon take on the expanded universe that some fans are so attached to, as the period after the original trilogy was the era that much of the legends material was set in and around. Luke Skywalker was portrayed as the most powerful Force user ever in Legends, and his iconic entrance in the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian seems to portray a similar version of the character.
The approach from Lucasfilm when it comes to the eras of these shows is clearly successful, as this new era of the franchise is arguably more acclaimed than the sequel trilogy and its divisive nature. Still, there’s more than enough room and potential to go back to the sequel trilogy era, despite the split in the fandom that still exists today. The debates surrounding the creative choices of the sequels remain, but there are clearly stories to be told there.
Doing this would be in line with what has been done with the prequel. Several seasons of The Clone Wars dove into that era more deeply. In doing so, George Lucas, Dave Filoni, and the rest of the creative team expanded upon the lore of the franchise in the acclaimed animated series, as well as improving the character arcs of the main characters like Anakin and Obi-Wan. The introduction of Ahsoka Tano is also another high point of the series, and the (former) Jedi is now a fan favorite to such an extent that she was not only introduced in live action, but now has her own solo show.
The sequel trilogy explored the world and the galaxy much less than the prequels did, and focused more on individual characters like Rey and Kylo Ren. This in itself is something to explore, and it's interestingly almost like a reversal of the prequels. The prequels were arguably more fixated on world building than developing characters (at least, that’s what the critics of the time said). The sequels, meanwhile, spent more time with the characters than exploring the larger galaxy.
For the prequels, The Clone Wars came and shifted the focus back to the characters. An animated series set during the sequel trilogy could be a great way to do what The Clone Wars did for the prequels, and expand on an aspect it lacked. For the sequels, this means exploring the world and the galaxy at hand.
There’s also the small matter of the many questions fans have after the sequels that arose after The Rise of Skywalker in particular. That movie’s introduction of Palpatine left many questions, such as how the Emperor lived, the extent to which he was controlling Snoke, whether Snoke was ever a sentient and individual being, the story surrounding Rey’s parents, and more. Some of these have already been answered, with the excellent novel Shadow of the Sith giving some much-needed backstory to Rey’s parentage. In doing so, that book greatly improves the sequels and The Rise of Skywalker in particular, which is similar to the praise that The Clone Wars got for bettering the prequels. The sequels are divisive in some circles, so along with the story potential, going back to that era could also improve many fans’ opinions on the films.