The Star Wars saga has been around since 1977, and it has inspired people of all ages. Games, TV shows, books and songs have been made, and because of this, people devote their time and life to Star Wars. 

Since its creation in 1977, over 32 percent of men and 18 percent of women around the world consider themselves to be Star Wars fans, according to statista.com. The Star Wars fan base continues to grow to this day, and will most liely continue to grow for years to come. 

What George Lucas created was not just a story, it was a community, and our society would be much different if not for Star Wars; however, Star Wars fans are now in a pickle. The final film in the Star Wars Skywalker Saga has been released. With no new news of future installments to come, we’re all left wondering what Star Wars and George Lucas will do next.

In 1977, the world was enlightened with the first film in an everlasting fantasy. Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Chewbacca were introduced to the world. Only three years after the first film, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back became the second film in the to be released. After the second installment, Star Wars became known worldwide and the Star Wars community was born. Fans did have to wait another three years for the next film; however,  it was worth the wait. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi was the big finale in the original trilogy.

After the first trilogy, Lucas waited 22 years to continue his saga. In 1999, Lucas came out with the beginning of a new trilogy, a prequel to the first trilogy. Lucas split each movie apart by three years as he did with the original trilogy. Three new films with entirely new casts of different heroes and different villains (all except Obi-Wan of course). The films told the story of Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader in the original trilogy) and the rise of Chancellor Palpatine and the Sith. The films immediately rose to the top of the box office and put a smile on all of the “OG” Star Wars fans. These new films introduced Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi Council, and Padmé Amidala. Along with the heroes, a new slate of villains were introduced. Naming themselves the Separatists, Count Dooku and General Grievous led the droid army to liberate and control the galaxy. 

 After the prequel trilogy came out, Star Wars: The Clone Wars – an animated television series debuted on the Cartoon Network in 2008. The series delved deeper into the story of Star Wars before Order 66 (Palpatines plan to kill all the Jedi). This show was the big thing all Star Wars fans were asking for and it lived up to its potential. After The Clone Wars, another animated series followed in 2014 on Disney XD, Star Wars: Rebels, which told the story of a group of rebels including a rogue Jedi and his padawan who do whatever they can to fight against the Empire. 

After having the Golden Age of Star Wars, it had a sort of downfall. Disney bought Star Wars in 2012. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first film in the sequel trilogy was released in 2015, directed by J.J. Abrams. It began the story of a scavenger named Rey, who is on the path of a Jedi. This film was not received very well by the Star Wars community. In fact, it was the recipient of much criticism. The second film in the sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Last Jedi” was released in 2017. Directed by Rian Johnson, the film was awful. It had so many plot holes that the film was rendered virtually unnecessary, except as a money making vehicle. For the final film in the sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Disney brought back J.J. Abrams to direct, and he executed it almost perfectly. 

 So what’s next for the Skywalker Saga? Well, on February 21, the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars is being resurrected after being dormant for almost six years. The last thing we saw from this show was Ahsoka Tano leaving the Jedi Order and Yoda learning new things about the force that he hadn’t previously known. Star Wars: The Clone Wars disappeared from TV because Disney believed it was too violent for kids. They cancelled the show in 2012 after Lucasfilm was sold to Disney. The show’s revival is a very big plus for Star Wars fans, but the one season can only last so long. 

 Disney and Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan) announced that in 2021 a new show will be released which tells the story of Obi-Wan. The Obi-Wan Series will expand our knowledge of his past that we learned from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and will be live action instead of animated. Unfortunately,  Disney has put the show on hold until further notice so that they can write new scripts. So, there is currently no anticipated release date for the series. When the Obi-Wan series does come out, it will be released on Disney+.

 Speaking of Disney+, another show that’s first season has recently come to an end is The Mandalorian. The show has only just begun its story and hopefully will last for a while. As long as an IG-11 is there to protect the Mandalorian, we will have a show. Disney has announced the show will return in the fall ofl 2020. The Mandalorian is most definitely something the Star Wars community can look forward to. 

However, the big news is that Disney has announced that three new Star Wars films are forthcoming. We have no knowledge what they will be about, but we do know that they will be released in 2022, 2024, and 2026. They will most likely be spin-offs to the Skywalker Saga instead of a new trilogy. Maybe we’ll see a film about the story of Yoda, or maybe about what happened to Boba Fett after he fell into the Sarlacc Pit. Many ideas and theories of what these movies can sound very interesting, but nothing is known for sure. Whatever the plot lines may entail, the hopes of the Star Wars fan base are very high for the coming films as it is now certain that the force will be with them.