Disney+ is turning Monday Night Football into a Star Wars runway for Darth Vader

A new Disney and ESPN crossover is about to put one of Star Wars' most recognizable villains into Monday Night Football. The first visible change arrives this month on Disney+, with a larger Star Wars themed Super Bowl plan already on the schedule for 2027.

What changes on Disney+ this month

ESPN says an animated Darth Vader will begin interviewing a player from that night’s Monday Night Football matchup starting October 26. Those segments will air every Monday on SC+, the daily SportsCenter show available on Disney+.

Another Star Wars element starts sooner. Beginning October 20, SC+ will also run “Hyperspace Highlights,” which presents Monday Night Football plays with a Star Wars visual style.

ESPN has not said which players will take part in the Vader interviews, and it also has not identified who will voice the character.

The additions are part of a broader collaboration involving ESPN, Lucasfilm, Disney and the NFL. For Disney and Star Wars fans, that means the football tie-in is not a one-off bit, but an expanding package of themed programming tied to a much bigger event.

The bigger target is a Star Wars Super Bowl broadcast

The Monday Night Football segments are designed to lead into a special Star Wars presentation of Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027. The alternate telecast is called Star Wars Funday Football.

ESPN says that version of the championship game will recreate every play in real time while replacing the athletes on the field with animated versions of themselves. Star Wars characters will appear throughout the broadcast, and some will step in for players during key moments.

One returning franchise voice is already confirmed. Anthony Daniels, who first played C-3PO in the original 1977 film, will voice the character for the Super Bowl presentation.

When that event arrives, viewers will be able to watch it on Disney+, Disney Channel and Disney XD, alongside the standard Super Bowl coverage.