Don't Expect a Big Star Wars Event at D23

For several months now, D23 2026 has looked like an obvious place for Lucasfilm to make its presence known.

Ahsoka's second season is coming soon. The premiere of the filmStar Wars: Starfighteris scheduled for 2027.Disney has thousands of fans in Anaheim eager to welcome the moment someone turns off the lights and displays the Star Wars logo on the giant screen.

Back in March, we argued that D23 could be a big event for Ahsoka Season 2 and the Star Wars movie. Starfighter.

It is quite possible.

But Lucasfilm has finally released its schedule of Star Wars events at D23, and as of now there is nodedicated starfighter presentation or panel dedicated to season two Ahsoka, nor the announced premiere of a major Star Wars trailer.

This does not mean that nothing will happen.

This means you should probably lower your expectations a bit.

Lots of Star Wars stuff, but not a huge announcement event.

Lucasfilm is unlikely to remain without participation in D23.

On Friday there will be a discussion of LEGO Star Wars and a column dedicated to Ahsoka with the participation of Eman Esfandi, who plays Ezra Bridger.

The most interesting thing is what this discussion is actually about.

Esfandi plans to discuss themaking of the first season.

Not the second season.

This is striking because Ahsoka Season 2 is now expected in 2027, so D23 is a perfectly reasonable place to start showing footage.

Lucasfilm will even present costumes and props from the second season of Ahsoka.

So the second season will literally take place in this building.

His trailer may be different.

Where is the Starfighter?

The absence of a Star Wars: Starfighter game is even more conspicuous.

There will be no discussion with Shawn Levy. There will be no appearance by Ryan Gosling.There will be no first look presentation of the film.

This is noticeable because Lucasfilm has spent the last few months gradually defining what this film should be.

Gosling spoke about why Starfighter's standalone story is important, and screenwriter Jonathan Tropper recently emphasized that Starfighter is being developed "without any barriers to entry".

Eventually, Lucasfilm has to show us this.

D23 seemed like an obvious candidate.

But at this time, Lucasfilm's published schedule gives no indication that Starfighter will be a major part of this weekend's lineup.

We had a warning.

This is not entirely unexpected.

When Disney unveiled its broader D23 program in July, we noted that Star Wars fans might want to take note of the gaps in the program.

Lucasfilm has now unveiled its own soundstage program.

And these gaps still exist.

The program includes panel discussions with Doug Chiang, representatives of Legacy Effects, Hasbro and Matt Michnovets, head writer of Maul - Lord of Shadows.

It was all worth it.

Doug Chiang talking about Star Wars design is exactly what we'd love to listen to while everyone else slowly leaves the room.

But this is not the grand reveal of the future of Star Wars that many fans imagined.

Friday evening continues to be unpredictable.

However, there is one very important note.

The Disney Entertainment Showcasewill take place Friday night at the Honda Center, separate from the Lucasfilm Pavilion.

This is where surprises can happen.

A Starfighter teaser may appear there. There may be footage from the second season of Ahsoka.Lucasfilm could announce something completely unexpected, and then this article will look like blue milk in direct sunlight.

Excellent.

But there is a difference between something being likely to happen andsomething having already been announced.

Judging by the schedule, D23 2026 will be more of aStar Wars celebration than a large-scale event to present new projects.

What if Lucasfilm proves us wrong next weekend?

We will survive this period of correction.