Lucasfilm Faces Plagiarism Accusations Over New Star Wars Disney+ Series

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As a huge Star Wars fan, I was really excited about the latest season of Star Wars: Visions on Disney+. It’s awesome how the show brings in different animation studios from around the world to tell fresh, non-canon stories within the Star Wars universe. But I was surprised to hear about some plagiarism claims leveled against Lucasfilm regarding the new season. Season 3 didn’t just give us new stories, either – they even followed up on some episodes from the first two seasons with direct sequels, which was a cool way to build on what they’d already created and expand the whole Star Wars collection.

The Visions anthology gave creators a chance to explore existing Star Wars ideas with more creative freedom, while still staying true to the franchise’s central themes—like the Force and lightsabers. However, a recent claim has created some concern and could affect the future of the series.

As a huge cinema fan, I was surprised to see Lorenz Hideyoshi – he did stunt work on Dune and also directs – claim that an episode of Star Wars: Visions Season 2, specifically “The Bandits of Golak,” borrowed heavily from his 2019 fan film, Dark Jedi: A Star Wars Story. He posted on Instagram, saying the fight choreography and camera work were strikingly similar to what he created in his film.

Hideyoshi shared a video on social media explaining that a recent episode of Visions surprisingly and impressively replicated his dance moves without altering the original camera work.

The first clip is from my 2019 Star Wars fan film, ‘Dark Jedi’. The second is from Season 2, Episode 7 of ‘Star Wars Visions’ (2023). While they had different weapons, they essentially copied my fight choreography without changing anything, even keeping the same camera angles.

Hideyoshi criticized Disney, urging them to either increase animators’ pay or employ an action designer.

Disney, why are you taking ideas from a fan film we created as a non-profit tribute? It seems like you’re using our creative work without compensation. Perhaps you should focus on fairly paying your animators or hiring more action designers instead.

The seventh episode of Star Wars Visions Season 2, titled “The Bandits of Golak,” was created by the Indian animation studio 88 Pictures and directed by Ishan Shukla. The story follows a young boy and his sister, who can use the Force, as they are chased by the cruel Imperial army.

Hideyoshi’s fan film is a labor of love, but the choreography is strikingly similar to an episode from Visions Season 2. It’s unfortunate that these plagiarism claims are only surfacing now, two years after the original episode aired on May 4, 2023.

The third season of Star Wars: Visions launched on Disney+ on October 28, 2025. It features a talented voice cast including Anna Sawai (from Shogun), Emma Myers and Steve Buscemi (known from Wednesday), Simu Liu, and Jodie Turner-Smith.

This Latest Accusation Places Star Wars: Visions in Danger 

The recent allegations have put Lucasfilm and Disney in a difficult position. However, it’s important to remember that the Visions episode in question was made by Studio 88, a separate creative group. Disney and Lucasfilm may respond with an official statement and take appropriate action against those accused.

This claim created a problem for Star Wars: Visions because it made some viewers question whether familiar scenes in the episodes were actually borrowed from other works.

Lorenz Hideyoshi’s strong reaction to this situation should be a clear warning to any future creative teams working with Visions. This public statement highlights that plagiarism is a serious issue and shouldn’t be dismissed.

It’s unclear how Disney and Lucasfilm will handle this situation, but many believe simply acknowledging Hideyoshi’s work isn’t sufficient. While Visions aims to showcase diverse talent by including new creative teams, directly copying a fan’s dedicated personal project doesn’t fit with that goal.

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2025-11-22 22:35