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This year, the original Star Wars (aka A New Hope) turned 40. It’s amazing that four decades after the original, the Star Wars Saga remains as popular as ever. The middle installment of the third trilogy, The Last Jedi, will make this Christmas bright. On top of that, we have spin off movies, like Rogue One and Solo to fill the gaps between films.
The original Star Wars trilogy were three movies that shaped a generation. I know, I was one of those who got to see the originals in the theater when they were first released. What amazed me was that they never lost their popularity.
As a kid, I couldn’t get enough Star Wars, the action figures, the (at the time few) spin-off books, the comics and all the other merchandise George Lucas was smart enough to throw at us.
Star Wars excitement may have died down in the late 80s, but in 1991, Timothy Zahn released the novel Heir to the Empire. That seemed to trigger an explosion of new Star Wars books and comics, establishing the Star Wars expanded universe. 1990s Star Wars fever boiled to the top with the 1997 theatrical releases of the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Editions.
That was just a primer for what would come next, the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. Three new Star Wars movies showing us how it all began took us into the new century. Yes, the debate about the quality of this films rages to this day, but in the big scheme of things, we were happy to have more Star Wars.
From that came more books, comics, toys. Lego sets and TV shows. It seemed like the Star Wars phenomena would never end, so that’s why it was such a surprise that Lucas sold his Empire to Disney.
And Disney knocked it out of the park, kicking off a new trilogy with The Force Awakens. It gave us new, engaging characters, and we can’t wait to see where The Last Jedi and Episode IV takes them.
Meanwhile, check out our collection of Star Wars shirts. We cover all three trilogies, the spin-off movies and the video games.
