'Star Wars: Visions' returns for a unique trip to a galaxy far, far away

The first season of 'Star Wars: Visions' was a unique experiment in one of the most enduring franchises, and perhaps one of the most conformist. Each episode was animated by a new studio with a new spin on 'Star Wars', some were dark anime thrillers, some were out-and-out screwball comedies, and so it goes with the second season. This time around, studios like England's Aardman Animations, South Korea's Studio Mir, and Kilkenny's very own Cartoon Saloon were invited to the galaxy far, far away to take a crack at fresh, original stories.

What's intriguing about this season, however, is how each episode is able to fold in cultural details and references so neatly. For example, 'Screecher's Reach', directed by Paul Young and written by Will Collins and Jason Tammemagi, features not one but two references to 'Father Ted', but is steeped also in our dark history and folklore. The story follows a group of small children who escape a workhouse and make their way into the woods where one of them confronts a terrifying spirit that wails and screams like a banshee. 'I Am Your Mother', from Aardman Animations, sees a mother/daughter duo get involved in a madcap race for a flight academy that's officiated by none other than Wedge Antilles, voiced by Denis Lawson. The whole thing plays like the best moments of 'Wallace & Gromit' or 'Chicken Run', with Maxine Peake giving it full Northern lass in her voice performance as Kalina Kalfus, a former X-Wing pilot who's now a single mum trying her best.

Beyond this, what makes 'Visions' such an intriguing proposition is that while none of them are considered "canon", it doesn't really matter all that much. Each episode is so wholly contained that they can just as easily slot in anywhere, or even act as a backdoor pilot for a whole new series based on the episode. In the case of 'Screecher's Reach', you could easily follow the story for another five or six episodes because there's such richness in the script and how it's constructed. 'I Am Your Mother' has such convincing and appealing characterisation that you'd love to visit them again in another story. El Gurio's animation, 'Sith', features globs of paint flinging together through the Force with a Spaghetti Western-style face-off between a group of warriors on a desert planet. Again, you can take it as a one-off excursion, but there's such potential in this and in all of them that they could make for a whole series unto themselves.

Compared to Marvel's 'What If...?' animated series, 'Visions' is much more artistically driven and courageous in its propositions. It's not as one-note as merely imagining a galaxy where Luke Skywalker turns to the Dark Side. Instead, it takes inspiration from the vast galaxy of possibilities and charts a new course with new characters and new visuals. As orthodox and beholden to the notion of canon as 'Star Wars' often is, it's thrilling to see it take such jumps and chances like this. The hope is that the freewheeling spirit of 'Visions' is channelled more in the blockbusters and the prestige series, not just in experiments like this.