The logo for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television program
The Star Wars: The Clone Wars franchise represents a collaborative effort spearheaded by Lucasfilm Ltd., working in partnership with Del Rey, Dark Horse Comics, Cartoon Network, and LucasArts. The central piece of this franchise is the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, which initially aired in 2008 and reached its conclusion in 2020 with its final season.
The project details the three years of the Clone Wars that occur between the motion pictures Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), and it includes a wide range of novels, comics, games, and other forms of media.
A 3D animated feature film, helmed by Dave Filoni, preceded the television show. The movie premiered in theaters on August 14, 2008 and followed Jedi characters Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano as they thwarted a plot by Count Dooku to abduct Rotta, the son of the powerful crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure.
The television program debuted on Cartoon Network on October 3, 2008 with the episode "Ambush" and concluded its run on the channel with "The Wrong Jedi," which was the final episode of the fifth season. After the series was canceled, a sixth season called The Lost Missions was broadcast on the Netflix streaming platform.
Dave Filoni revealed at San Diego Comic-Con 2018 that the show would be returning for a seventh and final season. The twelve episodes were released on Disney's streaming service, Disney+, between February 21 and May 4, 2020.
While the series primarily focused on the adventures of Skywalker, Kenobi, Tano, and Captain Rex during the Clone Wars, it also featured a sizable ensemble of characters, with entire episodes dedicated to other Jedi, clone troopers, politicians, and a variety of other people impacted by the conflict.
As part of The Clone Wars Legacy project, eight unfinished episodes were made available on StarWars.com in story-reel format between 2014 and 2015.
Between 2008 and 2010, five tie-in novels were published, written by Karen Traviss and Karen Miller.
- The Clone Wars film novelization / audiobook
- The Clone Wars: Wild Space / audiobook
- The Clone Wars: No Prisoners / audiobook
- Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth / audiobook
- Clone Wars Gambit: Siege / audiobook
From 2009 to 2012, a series of young adult novels by Ryder Windham were released.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Secret Missions The Clone Wars: Secret Missions 1: Breakout Squad The Clone Wars: Secret Missions 2: Curse of the Black Hole Pirates The Clone Wars: Secret Missions 3: Duel at Shattered Rock The Clone Wars: Secret Missions 4: Guardians of the Chiss Key
In addition, a number of books for young readers were released, along with a selection of reference books.
- Dark Disciple
- Dark Disciple audiobook
A monthly comic series consisting of twelve issues across three arcs was published from 2008 to 2010.
- Arc 1: Slaves of the Republic The Clone Wars 1 The Clone Wars 2 The Clone Wars 3 The Clone Wars 4 The Clone Wars 5 The Clone Wars 6
- Arc 2: In Service of the Republic The Clone Wars 7 The Clone Wars 8 The Clone Wars 9
- Arc 3: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Hero of the Confederacy The Clone Wars 10 The Clone Wars 11 The Clone Wars 12
A series of ten digest sized graphic novels was also released.
- The Clone Wars: Shipyards of Doom
- The Clone Wars: Crash Course
- The Clone Wars: The Wind Raiders of Taloraan
- The Clone Wars: The Colossus of Destiny
- The Clone Wars: Deadly Hands of Shon-Ju
- The Clone Wars: The Starcrusher Trap
- The Clone Wars: Strange Allies
- The Clone Wars: The Enemy Within
- The Clone Wars: The Sith Hunters
- The Clone Wars: Defenders of the Lost Temple
- The Clone Wars: The Smuggler's Code
Furthermore, several other related series and standalone comics have been published.
- Star Wars: Darth Maul—Death Sentence
- The Clone Wars: The Gauntlet of Death
- The Clone Wars: Opress Unleashed
- The Clone Wars Comic UK featured comic strips based on the TV series, totaling 54 issues.
- A weekly webcomic series was available on StarWars.com for the first three seasons of the show.
Several tie-in video games have been launched.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars , a game for mobile devices.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance , a 2008 title for the Nintendo DS .
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels , a 2008 fighting title for the Wii .
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes , a 2009 action title available on multiple platforms.
- Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures , an MMO game that ran from 2010 to 2014.
- LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars , a non-canon video game within the LEGO Star Wars franchise.
A Holonet News online outlet existed briefly in 2008 and was revived in 2009 to coincide with the Republic Heroes video game. Each episode of the series is accompanied by an episode guide, which is published online.
On April 25, 2014, Lucasfilm Ltd. declared that the majority of previously existing Expanded Universe content was no longer canon, although the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series and the 2008 film were still considered canon.
Wookieepedia considers the 2008 feature film and seasons one through six to be a part of both the "Legends" and canon continuities. Tie-in media released before LucasFilm's announcement on April 25, 2014 is classified as "Legends" only, whereas television episodes and tie-in content published after that date are exclusively canon.