When the first Star Wars was released in 1977, few could have imagined what it would have turned into, least of all George Lucas himself. Indeed, he only added the subtitle Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981, after The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980 and the series’ popularity had been cemented. George Lucas had intended to make Star Wars into a series of films, but made A New Hope purposefully self-enclosed in case it didn’t pan out as expected!
Now that the franchise is pretty much guaranteed to put bums in cinema seats, here’s three things you can expect to see in Star Wars’s future …
The Competition with Harry Potter Heats Up … Expect Spin-Offs!
J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, despite being a relative newcomer on the scene, has overtaken the Star Wars franchise with regard to total worldwide gross. Sure, beating the Marvel Cinematic Universe for number 1 spot might be impossible due to the sheer amount of films they can pump out thanks to the number of superheroes they can make a movie out of, but this one is sure to stick in the craw at least a little bit for the creators of the Star Wars franchise.
In order to match and beat out Harry Potter’s spot at number 2, you can bet that there will be lots of spin-off films. Just like we’ve been treated with Fantastic Beasts and Rogue One, you can bet that there will be lots of films based on other events and characters in the Star Wars world. Want to know more about Yoda’s or Obi-Wan Kenobi’s life? Then there will probably be a few films focussing on these characters to add onto the “original 9”. The Harry Potter world will no doubt try to keep up!
Arguments About Order Will Rage On…
One classic question for Star Wars newbies is “What order should I watch Star Wars in?” (Forgive them, Simon Pegg - they are young.) Hardcore fans will probably say “The order they were released in”, although a few black sheep will say “in ascending order.” There are various reasons for both views.
The hardcore fans will say that watching the first three Star Wars films from the franchise first will likely turn off newcomer’s enthusiasm for the rest of the saga, as they are considered to be lesser quality films. Watching the middle three films (Episodes IV - VI) first will also help give the viewer a better idea of the background of the epilogue and prologue sections of the saga.
Others will say that watching Episodes I-III first means you get to watch the worst of the saga right away, and then save up the best for later. The most hardcore fans may even argue that you should skip out Episodes I-III entirely, but we think that’s a little harsh! And yes, Jar Jar Binks does make the Ewoks look like Shaft!
Will Star Wars Ever End?
Star Wars’ appeal has lasted four decades now. We’ve already mentioned that we expect to see the Star Wars universe to expand way beyond the 9 films. We want Han Solo stories, Princess Leia stories and yes, Chewbacca stories! We want to see how the Ewoks survived under the Galactic Empire as well as what happened to Lando Calrissian when he was working with the Galactic Empire. Oh, and more about how the New Galactic Order comes into being!
This means that Star Wars will probably take another four decades before it ends. In fact, it might not even end in our lifetimes, and you should expect Star Wars in augmented and virtual reality, in computer games and of course, in books. Some of the new films may even be based on some of the better books!
We don’t know what the future holds for Star Wars precisely, but we know for a fact that its legacy will last several years yet. So yes, that classic
Luke Skywalker,
Princess Leia,
Chewbacca or
Rey costume will likely last you many years to come!
