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Star Wars: The Clone Wars is leaving Netflix next month

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is leaving Netflix next month

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Time to catch up

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Image: Lucasfilm

If you haven’t caught up on The Clone Wars on Netflix, your time to do so is running short. According to Entertainment Weekly (via Club Jade), the animated Star Wars show is departing the streaming service on April 7th.

The show likely isn’t going away for long. Disney is expected to unveil its streaming service, Disney +, on April 11th, which will host a range of original programming, including a new season of the series, which was announced as an exclusive to the streaming service at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

When it launched in 2007, The Clone Wars was something of a novel experiment for the Star Wars franchise, and looking back, a precursor to Disney’s acquisition of the franchise in 2012. The series kicked off with a maligned theatrical release of its pilot episode, but later gained a huge fan base when it debuted in 2008 on Cartoon Network. The series told the story of the galactic civil war between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, over the course of five seasons, and not only introduced a number of fan-favorite characters, like padawan Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex, but brought a much-needed depth and nuance to the characters from the film.

After its abrupt cancellation in 2013 following the Disney acquisition, Netflix became a ready partner for Disney. The streaming service began streaming the entire show in 2014, and debuted a completed 13-episode 6th season “The Lost Missions” which had been in production when Disney cancelled the series. Other animated shows like Star Wars: Rebels and Star Wars: Resistance never made it onto Netflix.

With the impending launch of Disney+, the company has begun to pull its content off of Netflix. Its five Marvel superhero shows were abruptly canceled in recent months, with the hint that it isn’t the last that we’ll see of the characters, while films like The Force Awakens and Rogue One have also left. Those migrations are designed to steer fans to sign up for the service, along with a host of new exclusives. The new season of The Clone Wars is a good carrot for fans: it’ll tie up loose ends that were left hanging when the series was cancelled. There are other incentives in the pipeline as well: a pair of live-action Star Wars shows are in the works, and it wouldn’t be surprising if we see additional animated projects appearing on the service down the road. In the meantime, if you’ve been meaning to catch up on The Clone Wars, the clock is ticking.