A new rumor has emerged that suggests fans of Star Wars animation will have much to look forward to in the future. Animation has been a big part of the franchise for a long time but it became a true pillar once Star Wars: The Clone Wars hit the airwaves in 2008. Now, if this fancy new rumor is to be believed, Lucasfilm is getting ready to branch out into the world of animated features, with multiple projects currently in development.

We must caution that this is simply a rumor timed to Star Wars Day, and should be treated as such. That having been said, Cinelix Editor-In-Chief Jordan Maison recently took to Twitter to share a mini-review of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, the new animated series that just debuted on Disney+. The series premiere was a whopping 70 minutes, essentially making it a short movie. At the end of his thread, Maison decided to drop an alleged knowledge bomb on his followers, saying the following.

"*Looks around* As far as I know, they are doing more and actively working on a couple animated 'films'"

If we are to assume this is true for a moment, it would make an awful lot of sense. Lucasfilm's first foray into animated Star Wars movies, admittedly, didn't go well. The Clone Wars kicked off its run with a theatrically released movie in 2008, as fans may recall. It was widely panned critically and made just $68 million at the box office in total, by far the lowest total for any movie in the franchise. Be that as it may, it served as a springboard for the show, which lasted seven seasons and went on to provide some of the most beloved storytelling in this universe to date. Plus, it paved the way for Star Wars Rebels, which is also held in very high regard within the fanbase.

Star Wars: A Droid Story was announced by Disney and is an animated movie being produced by Industrial Light & Magic as well as Lucasfilm Animation exclusively for Disney+. At the time of the announcement, they stated, "As Lucasfilm continues to develop new stories, the intersection of animation and visual effects offers new opportunities for us to explore. This epic journey will introduce us to a new hero guided by our most iconic duo on a secret mission known only to them. What could possibly go wrong?" The movie will introduce a new character that is guided by R2-D2 and C-3PO. No other animated Star Wars movies have been announced for Disney+ at this time. Presumably, the animated flms referred to in this new rumor are meant for theatrical distribution and will play on the big screen at the local cineplex.

With animation, Lucasfilm could explore ideas that might be too risky, or just simply not feasible, in live-action. Warner Bros. regularly explores ideas within the DC universe via animated movies that do quite well for them. There is no reason Disney couldn't do the same with Star Wars. Though, if this is true, a great many questions are left to be answered.

For one, what stories will these alleged animated movies take? Are they going to be spin-offs with already familiar characters? Or will they venture into completely uncharted territory? It also isn't clear how they would be released, be it on Disney+ or theatrically. Though Vegas odds would likely favor a streaming release as The Mandalorian gave Star Wars new life and helped make Disney+ a huge success at launch. Another question that lingers is why Jordan Maison put the word "films" in quotes in his original post. If this is true, we should hopefully hear something official sooner rather than later. We'll be sure to keep you posted as any further details are made available. You can check out the post for yourself from Jordan Maison's Twitter.