In Wake of Disney Purchase, 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Likely to Leave Cartoon Network After Season 5

While the big news surrounding Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm was that a new Star Wars trilogy was on its way, some of us were left wondering what would happen to Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The cartoon, now in its fifth season on Cartoon Network, has become the public face of the franchise since Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith ended the Prequel Trilogy in 2005. What started off as a kids' show quickly matured into a darker program over its pass few seasons, touching on terrorism, suicide and massacres — pretty heavy dark side stuff. The end of Season 4 even brought Darth Maul back to life, resurrecting a character that most fans agree saw his end way too soon. In a lot of ways, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is everything the Prequel Trilogy should have been.

Now that Disney owns Star Wars, fans should expect to see The Clone Wars jump from Cartoon Network to Disney XD, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Cartoon Network, a Turner Entertainment company, has a year-to-year licensing deal with Lucasfilm, so once that's up after the current season, Disney will be free to move the show to its own cartoon property.