Cans[edit]

Main article: biscuit tin

These tinplate cans[2] are often used to package breath mints, throat lozenges, instant coffee, biscuits and holiday treats. Highly decorated "holiday tins" are sold during the holiday season and are popular gifts,[3] and often contain cookies, candy, or popcorn. Similar festive containers are used in Europe for sweets, biscuits, cakes and chocolates, mainly during Christmas, rather than in the summer holidays and in countries with British associations, they are usually called "biscuit tins". In Denmark, butter cookies in tins are produced and sold there, and are also exported to other countries.[4] These types of smaller tin boxes are sometimes reused to store items, or to create kits, such as a survival kit.[5] A hobby involves modifying tin boxes with decorations and embellishments.[6]

A cigar tin box

 

A bouillon cube tin can

 

A gingerbread container

 

A coffee or tea container

 

Display box with tinplate cans of mooncakes

Construction[edit]

Some types of metal tins or cans have hinged covers; Others cans have removable interference fit covers or lids.[7] The lid, which sometimes is hinged to the body of the container, is often held in place when closed by friction. In other cases, two protruding lugs can pass each other only when the lid and the rest of the box are deformed slightly: pressure from the user's hands is sufficient to produce this deformation, while the parts resist this somewhat, and are flexible enough to recover their normal shape when released.

Collecting[edit]

Some people collect these types of tin boxes. For example, Yvette Dardenne in Belgium has amassed a collection of approximately 56,800 tin boxes over two decades.[8]

Boxes[edit]

Several types of tinplate metal boxes are produced.

A metal toolbox

 

A tinplate ammunition box

 

A painted tinplate box used in construction as a Junction box

 

lunchbox

Gift Boxes[edit]

Some companies also use tinplate to make gift cans and boxes, like Candle tin, Coin bank, Christmas tin box, Easter egg tin etc." (wikipedia.)

"Captain Phasma is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed by English actress Gwendoline Christie. Introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), the first film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Phasma is the commander of the First Order's force of stormtroopers. Christie returned to the role in the next of the trilogy's films, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), and in the animated television series Star Wars Resistance (2018) and several video games. The character also made an additional appearance in Before the Awakening, an anthology book set before the events of The Force Awakens.

J. J. Abrams created Phasma from an armor design originally developed for Kylo Ren and named her after the 1979 horror film Phantasm. The character was originally conceived as male. Phasma appeared prominently in promotion and marketing for The Force Awakens, but the character's ultimately minor role in the film was the subject of criticism, a complaint repeated for her appearance in The Last Jedi. Nonetheless, merchandise featuring the character found success, and her figure was the best-selling of all The Force Awakens action figures on...

Concept and creation
Gwendoline Christie portrays Captain Phasma.

The character's creation was inspired by a rejected design for Kylo Ren.[4] Costume designer Michael Kaplan came up with the concept of Kylo being "the Lord of the Stormtroopers, in bright shining silver armor".[5] Kaplan had a strong image in his head of what this concept should look like, which concept artist Dermot Power turned into an illustration.[5] This image, however, was immediately rejected by director J. J. Abrams. Later, producer Kathleen Kennedy found the design, reacting positively and calling it "fantastic".[5] Abrams then used the design to create a new character, Phasma.[5] He named Phasma after the 1979 horror film Phantasm because her armor reminded him of the film's spheres.[4][6] Kaplan intended for the visuals of the First Order to contrast with that of the Resistance, appearing in colors like "black, teal blue, and steel gray", with stormtroopers being updated to be more simplified and modernized. Kaplan designed the character believing it would be "extremely cool" to have a silver armored character in the film.[7]

The character was not originally conceived as a woman, but rather was changed from male to female during casting, less than three weeks before principal shooting began.[8] Phasma thereby became the second on-screen female Star Wars villain,[9] after Zam Wesell.[10] With Captain Phasma, the filmmakers wished to "push the boundaries" of traditional roles for female characters.[9]

Actress Gwendoline Christie, who had previously played Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones, was first officially confirmed as Captain Phasma in a Vanity Fair spread released May 4, 2015,[11] following its leak.[12] Christie fought heavily to appear in the film, continually insisting her agent get her a part in it.[13] Christie was not aware that the character was originally a man.[8] Christie took inspiration from her armor—"it's very high-functioning, it's very imposing and it's not malleable at all"—in how to play the character. In playing Phasma, Christie felt encouraged to experiment more with the gesture of a character.[9][14]

Her initial costume, used in The Force Awakens, had to be created over a period of "four or five days"; co-costume designer Dave Crossman described its physical creation as "a complete panic".[15] It took Christie roughly forty-five minutes to put on.[16] A new suit was created for The Last Jedi, with various tweaks. Its helmet was re-chromed, the fit was altered, and the armor was made "much cleaner and shinier."[15]
Character

The commander of the First Order's stormtroopers, Captain Phasma is described as a "tough veteran commander" and one of a "commanding triumvirate" of the First Order alongside Kylo Ren and General Hux.[17] Christie compared Phasma to Boba Fett in the sense of being a character who, while not "at the forefront of the action all the time", still has "a lot of impact".[9][18] The actress called the character "a malevolent force" who takes pleasure in her cruelty, something she attributed to a perceived difficult journey to becoming the only female stormtrooper of rank.[16] To contrast with other stormtroopers in the franchise, Christie portrayed Phasma with both some femininity and sassiness.[16] Glen Robert Gill, writing for Bright Lights Film Journal, saw Phasma as "the demonic or negative emanation of the maidenly anima".[19]

Phasma is depicted wearing salvaged chromium armor,[17] which in The Force Awakens' visual dictionary is established as coming from a Naboo yacht once owned by Palpatine.[20] It is said to serve "primarily as a symbol of past power".[20] Christie recognised the character's helmet as both being futuristic and having medieval elements.[16] Chris Laverty, creator of costume analysis site Clothes on Film, called her armor "probably the most regal costume" in The Force Awakens, and noted it as a reflection of her status. He also felt her cloak, "elegantly slung over one shoulder", was a method of humanizing the character.[21] In-universe, the cloak is the "traditional cape of First Order command".[20] Gill felt her armor called to mind mirrors, symbols of "self-reflection and self-examination", the feelings she brings in Finn when she inadvertently helps inspire him to defect.[19]
Appearances
Film
The Force Awakens (2015)

The second trailer for the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens introduced the character. As the film opens, Phasma is leading an attack at Tuanul, a settlement village on the desert planet Jakku, in search of a galaxy map that leads to the last Jedi, Luke Skywalker. After the battle is won, Phasma and the other stormtroopers execute the remaining villagers. Back on the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Finalizer, she meets with stormtrooper FN-2187, and reprimands him for having removed his helmet without permission. FN-2187 later flees and frees Poe Dameron (who renames him Finn). Phasma is present when Finn's defection is discovered; she mentions that Finn had never committed any infractions in the past. Later, when Finn, Han Solo, and Chewbacca infiltrate Starkiller Base, they take Phasma hostage and pressure her to deactivate the base's shields, intending to drop her in the trash compactor. However, she escapes during the destruction of the base.
The Last Jedi (2017)

Phasma appears in Star Wars: The Last Jedi when Finn, mechanic Rose Tico, and computer hacker DJ infiltrate the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy, a 37.5 miles (60.4 km)-wide flagship, in an attempt to disable the ship's tracking device. They are captured and brought before Phasma and her stormtroopers. Phasma taunts Finn, and orders his execution with Rose in a "slow and painful" way. Before this can occur, Vice Admiral Holdo rams her MC85 Star Cruiser Raddus into the Supremacy at lightspeed. In the ensuing chaos, Phasma and Finn fight. At first, Phasma gets the upper hand, knocking Finn into a pit. Finn emerges unharmed from the pit, riding its elevator; he knocks Phasma down, breaking the visor of her helmet, and exposing part of her face around the left eye. The floor crumbles beneath Phasma, and she falls into the flames below.

In a deleted scene, the battle with Phasma and her fate are significantly different: She and four stormtroopers manage to surround Finn, who taunts Phasma about her compliance to his demands in The Force Awakens. Before the stormtroopers can turn on her, Phasma kills all of them and then prepares to attack Finn, but he manages to cut her hand off and blasts her into the ship's wreckage.

The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson said that Phasma's limited supporting role in the film was due to time constraints and an already large cast of characters, and indicated that there were no other plans for Phasma in the films.[22] Though Phasma's fate was left unknown and the possibility of her returning in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was hinted, John Boyega officially confirmed at the Episode IX panel, during Celebration Chicago, that Phasma had indeed died in The Last Jedi.[23]
Television

Phasma appears in the 2018 animated series Star Wars Resistance, voiced by Gwendoline Christie.[24][25]
Literature

Before the Awakening, a prequel anthology, features the character in a short story centered around Finn. In it, she monitors Finn's performance in combat simulation and, although praising his skill, she criticizes his rescuing of a weaker soldier. Additionally, Phasma is featured in both the adult and junior novelizations of The Force Awakens.

In the lead-up to The Last Jedi's release, Phasma's backstory was explored in Star Wars: Phasma, a novel by Delilah S. Dawson. Though Phasma's origins and character are discussed, the novel is not told from Phasma's perspective.[26][27]
Comics

A four-part comic miniseries, Star Wars: Captain Phasma, was announced in April 2017 as part of the Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi initiative.[28] The series was written by Kelly Thompson with art by Marco Checchetto, and published by Marvel Comics between September 6 and October 18, 2017.[29] It explains Phasma's escape from Starkiller Base during the climax of The Force Awakens, and subsequent events.[27][30] She pursues loose ends while framing Lieutenant Sol Rivas for lowering the shields to the First Order's superweapon. Her pursuit takes her to the planet Luprora after she requisitions a TIE fighter, its pilot, and an astromech droid. In a flashback in issue #3, Phasma mentions Siv, a character from the 2017 novel Phasma.[31] Reviewing for IGN, Jesse Schedeen wrote that Thompson's "efficient approach to storytelling, coupled with the gorgeous tag-team combo that is Marco Checchetto and Andres Mossa, makes this a Star Wars comic every Phasma fan should read."[32]
Other media

The Lego Star Wars version of Phasma also appears in the 2016 short form animated series Lego Star Wars: The Resistance Rises.[33][34][35][36] She is also a playable character and boss in the Lego adaptations of The Force Awakens and The Skywalker Saga.
Merchandise

As part of the lead-up to the film, Disney released a wave of Star Wars toys on 2015's "Force Friday". One such toy was a Phasma voice-changing mask, which contained the first dialogue heard by the public.[37] Other items included a costume for children as well as action figures.[38]
Reception

Phasma received attention before release. Before her name was confirmed, Phasma had been dubbed "the Chrometrooper" by fans.[11][39] The trademarking of "Captain Phasma" led to speculation that it was the name of Christie's rumored character, said to be an Imperial officer pursuing Finn.[40] Phasma had been the name of a character in one Star Wars fanfic, Tarkin's Fist, leading to MovieWeb wondering if it was an intentional homage.[40] IGN's "Keepin' It Reel" podcast discussed the possibility of Phasma being "the next breakout baddie" in the vein of Boba Fett and Darth Maul. They responded positively to the character's name, despite some initial misgivings, for fitting in with the franchise's Flash Gordon roots. They also praised her armor design, stating that character design had been important in the success of Fett and Maul. They similarly had high hopes for Christie's acting.[41] During the lead-up to the film, Phasma became a fan favorite.[42] Polygon's Susana Polo considered The Force Awakens a great achievement for Hollywood for its diversity regardless of its quality, though she used Phasma as an example of how the film was not perfect, noting rumors of Phasma's minor role despite her being the first on-screen female stormtrooper.[10]

Upon The Force Awakens' release, criticism fell on the character's minimal role in the film. The Telegraph's Jonathan McAloon called his "one criticism" of The Force Awakens the underuse of Phasma, and wondered if her face would ever be revealed in the films.[43] Jason Guerrasio of Business Insider echoed the sentiment, noting her lack of screen time despite her great potential.[44] Scott Meslow, writing for The Week, criticized the film's lack of nuance in its villains, calling her "a total cipher" in the film despite her heavy appearance in its promotion. He pointed to her appearance in Before the Awakening as a way to expand her character, noting her cold yet logical pragmatism in it.[45] Jesse Schedeen of IGN called Phasma "something of a disappointment in The Force Awakens", negatively contrasting her against Fett in that "even Fett had the distinction of outsmarting Han Solo before meeting an ignominious end". Schedeen hoped Phasma would be revisited in Marvel's Star Wars comics, to help flesh out her character and build her into a better villain.[46] Max Nicholson, writing for Collider, noted the amount of hype for the character, as well as her minimal role in the story. Nicholson suggested that Hux and Phasma should have been merged into one character, as they were too similar, or Phasma should have been given the melee fight scene given to a trooper nicknamed "TR-8R" by fans.[47] Bill Keveney of USA Today negatively compared Phasma's skill as a warrior to Christie's character Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones. He further criticized Phasma's role in The Force Awakens by attributing the First Order's defeat to being largely her fault, as well as her "recycled" appearance in The Last Jedi.[48]

Merchandise featuring the character proved popular. David Betancourt of The Washington Post called Phasma's role in the film "little more than a shiny new prop", viewing her as a victim of the film's need to introduce all its new characters, yet noted the popularity and rarity of the merchandise surrounding the character.[38] Captain Phasma's figure was the bestselling of The Force Awakens' action figures on" (wikipedia.)

"Star Wars is an American epic space opera[1] multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film[b] and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various films and other media, including television series, video games, novels, comic books, theme park attractions, and themed areas, comprising an all-encompassing fictional universe.[c] Star Wars is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

The original film (Star Wars), retroactively subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), was followed by the sequels Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), forming the original Star Wars trilogy. Lucas later returned to the series to direct a prequel trilogy, consisting of Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). In 2012, Lucas sold his production company to Disney, relinquishing his ownership of the franchise. This led to a sequel trilogy, consisting of Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

All nine films of the "Skywalker Saga" were nominated for Academy Awards, with wins going to the first two releases. Together with the theatrical live action "anthology" films Rogue One (2016) and Solo (2018), the combined box office revenue of the films equated to over US$10 billion, which makes it the second-highest-grossing film franchise of all time.[3][4] Additional upcoming films are in the works, including an untitled movie from Taika Waititi and Rogue Squadron directed by Patty Jenkins, both currently without release dates....

Premise

The Star Wars franchise depicts the adventures of characters "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away",[6] in which humans and many species of aliens (often humanoid) co-exist with robots (typically referred to in the films as 'droids'), who may assist them in their daily routines; space travel between planets is common due to lightspeed hyperspace technology.[7][8][9] The planets range from wealthy, planet-wide cities to deserts scarcely populated by primitive tribes. Virtually any Earth biome, along with many fictional ones, has its counterpart as a Star Wars planet which, in most cases, teem with sentient and non-sentient alien life.[10] The franchise also makes use of other astronomical objects such as asteroid fields and nebulae.[11][12] Spacecraft range from small starfighters, to huge capital ships such as the Star Destroyers, to space stations such as the moon-sized Death Stars. Telecommunication includes two-way audio and audiovisual screens, holographic projections, and HoloNet (internet counterpart).

The universe of Star Wars is generally similar to ours but its laws of physics are less strict allowing for more imaginative stories.[13] One result of that is a mystical power known as the Force which is described in the original film as "an energy field created by all living things ... [that] binds the galaxy together".[14] The field is depicted as a kind of pantheistic god.[15] Through training and meditation, those whom "the Force is strong with" exhibit various superpowers (such as telekinesis, precognition, telepathy, and manipulation of physical energy).[16] It is believed nothing is impossible for the Force.[17] The mentioned powers are wielded by two major knightly orders at conflict with each other: the Jedi, peacekeepers of the Galactic Republic who act on the light side of the Force through non-attachment and arbitration, and the Sith, who use the dark side by manipulating fear and aggression. While Jedi Knights can be numerous, the Dark Lords of the Sith (or 'Darths') are intended to be limited to two: a master and their apprentice.[18] Another notable fictional element of Star Wars is hyperspace, an alternate dimension that allows faster-than-light travel.

Force-wielders are very limited in numbers in comparison to the population. The Jedi and Sith prefer the use of a weapon called a lightsaber, a blade of plasma that can cut through virtually any surface and deflect energy bolts. The rest of the population, as well as renegades and soldiers, use plasma-powered blaster firearms. As a result of galaxy-scaled politics (involving republics, empires, kingdoms, alliances, etc.), all this weaponry is made use of in various military conflicts during which most Star Wars material takes place. In the outer reaches of the galaxy, crime syndicates such as the Hutt cartel are dominant. Bounty hunters are often employed by both gangsters and governments. Illicit activities include smuggling and slavery.

The combination of science fiction and fantasy elements makes Star Wars a very universal franchise, capable of telling stories of various genres.[19]
Films
Main article: List of Star Wars films
The Skywalker Saga
Film     U.S. release date     Directed by     Screenplay by     Story by     Produced by     Refs
Original trilogy: Episodes IV–VI
Star Wars     May 25, 1977     George Lucas     George Lucas     Gary Kurtz     [20][21]
The Empire Strikes Back     May 21, 1980     Irvin Kershner     Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan     [22][23]
Return of the Jedi     May 25, 1983     Richard Marquand     Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas     Howard Kazanjian     [24][25]
Prequel trilogy: Episodes I–III
The Phantom Menace     May 19, 1999     George Lucas     George Lucas     George Lucas     Rick McCallum     [26]
Attack of the Clones     May 16, 2002     George Lucas and Jonathan Hales     [27][28]
Revenge of the Sith     May 19, 2005     George Lucas     [29][30]
Sequel trilogy: Episodes VII–IX
The Force Awakens     December 18, 2015     J. J. Abrams     Lawrence Kasdan & J. J. Abrams and Michael Arndt     Kathleen Kennedy, J. J. Abrams and Bryan Burk     [24][31]
The Last Jedi     December 15, 2017     Rian Johnson     Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman     [32][33]
The Rise of Skywalker     December 20, 2019     J. J. Abrams     Chris Terrio & J. J. Abrams     Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow and J. J. Abrams & Chris Terrio     Kathleen Kennedy, J. J. Abrams and Michelle Rejwan     [34][35]
Spin-off films
Film     U.S. release date     Directed by     Screenplay by     Story by     Produced by     Refs
Star Wars: The Clone Wars     August 10, 2008     Dave Filoni     Henry Gilroy, Steven Melching and Scott Murphy     Catherine Winder     [36]
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story     December 16, 2016     Gareth Edwards     Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy     John Knoll and Gary Whitta     Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel     [37]
Solo: A Star Wars Story     May 25, 2018     Ron Howard     Jonathan Kasdan & Lawrence Kasdan     [38]
Upcoming films
Film     U.S. release date     Directed by     Screenplay by     Story by     Produced by     Status     Refs
Untitled Star Wars film     TBA     Taika Waititi     Taika Waititi and Krysty Wilson-Cairns     Kathleen Kennedy     In development     [39]
Rogue Squadron     Patty Jenkins     Matthew Robinson     [40]
Untitled Star Wars film     Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy     Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson     [41]
Untitled Star Wars film     Shawn Levy     TBA     TBA     [42]

The Star Wars film series centers around three sets of trilogies, the nine films of which are collectively referred to as the "Skywalker Saga".[43] They were produced non-chronologically, with Episodes IV–VI (the original trilogy) being released between 1977 and 1983, Episodes I–III (the prequel trilogy) being released between 1999 and 2005, and Episodes VII–IX (the sequel trilogy), being released between 2015 and 2019. Each trilogy focuses on a generation of the Force-sensitive Skywalker family. The original trilogy depicts the heroic development of Luke Skywalker, the prequels tell the backstory of his father Anakin, while the sequels feature Luke's nephew, Ben Solo, and Luke's protegé Rey.

An anthology series set between the main episodes entered development in parallel to the production of the sequel trilogy,[44] described by Disney chief financial officer Jay Rasulo as origin stories.[45] The first entry, Rogue One (2016), tells the story of the rebels who steal the Death Star plans just before Episode IV.[46][47] Solo (2018) focuses on Han Solo's backstory, also featuring original trilogy co-protagonists Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian and involving prequel trilogy villain Darth Maul.

Lucasfilm has a number of Star Wars films in development, two of which were confirmed during Disney Investor Day 2020. The first will be an unspecified film from Taika Waititi, who in May 2020 was announced to be directing a Star Wars film he was co-writing with Krysty Wilson-Cairns.[48] The second is a film titled Rogue Squadron, which is being directed by Patty Jenkins.[49] Additionally, a trilogy independent from the Skywalker Saga is being written by The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson.[50][51] In September 2019, it was announced that Kathleen Kennedy and Kevin Feige would collaborate to develop a Star Wars film,[52] however the film was no longer in active development as of 2022.[53] In February 2020, a film was announced to be in development from director J. D. Dillard and writer Matt Owens,[54] however, Dillard announced he was no longer attatched to direct that film in November 2022.[55] In May 2022, the Waititi film was expected to be the next Star Wars film to be produced, ahead of the previously announced Rogue Squadron, with Kennedy stating that they were aiming for a late 2023 release date but had not yet officially scheduled one.[53][56] As of September 2022, untitled films are scheduled for release on December 19, 2025, and December 17, 2027.[5]
The Skywalker Saga
Original trilogy
Main article: Star Wars original trilogy
The original trilogy's main cast includes (from left to right) Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), and James Earl Jones (Darth Vader's voice).

In 1971, George Lucas wanted to film an adaptation of the Flash Gordon serial, but could not obtain the rights, so he began developing his own space opera.[57][d] After directing American Graffiti (1973), he wrote a two-page synopsis, which 20th Century Fox decided to invest in.[58][59] By 1974, he had expanded the story into the first draft of a screenplay.[60] Fox expected the film would be of limited financial success, and so it was given a relatively low budget, with production being moved to Elstree Studios in England to help save on cost.[61] Many of the scenes were shot in England, and so featured a number of British actors. The Star Wars robots were built by the small English company Peteric Engineering. A 2019 BBC documentary revealed how the parts required to create these machines and other now iconic film props, including the light sabres (Originally called 'laser guns'), were ingeniously recycled from items scavenged in junk shops, ever conscious of the need to spend as little money as possible.[62] The 1977 movie's success led Lucas to make it the basis of an elaborate film serial.[63] With the backstory he created for the sequel, Lucas decided that the series would be a trilogy of trilogies.[64] Most of the main cast would return for the two additional installments of the original trilogy, which were self-financed by Lucasfilm.

Star Wars was released on May 25, 1977, and first subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in the 1979 book The Art of Star Wars.[65] Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21, 1980, also achieving wide financial and critical success. The final film in the trilogy, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi was released on May 25, 1983. The story of the original trilogy focuses on Luke Skywalker's quest to become a Jedi, his struggle with the evil Imperial agent Darth Vader, and the struggle of the Rebel Alliance to free the galaxy from the clutches of the Galactic Empire.
Prequel trilogy
Main article: Star Wars prequel trilogy
The prequel trilogy's main cast includes (from left to right) Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Natalie Portman (Padmé Amidala), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker),[e] and Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine).

According to producer Gary Kurtz, loose plans for a prequel trilogy were developed during the outlining of the original two films.[66] In 1980, Lucas confirmed that he had the nine-film series plotted,[67] but due to the stress of producing the original trilogy, he had decided to cancel further sequels by 1981.[68] In 1983, Lucas explained that "There was never a script completed that had the entire story as it exists now ... As the stories unfolded, I would take certain ideas and save them ... I kept taking out all the good parts, and I just kept telling myself I would make other movies someday."[69]

Technical advances in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the ability to create computer-generated imagery (CGI), inspired Lucas to consider that it might be possible to revisit his saga. In 1989, Lucas stated that the prequels would be "unbelievably expensive."[70] In 1992, he acknowledged that he had plans to create the prequel trilogy.[71] A theatrical rerelease of the original trilogy in 1997 "updated" the 20-year-old films with the style of CGI envisioned for the new trilogy.

Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released on May 19, 1999, and Episode II: Attack of the Clones on May 16, 2002. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the first PG-13 film in the franchise, was released on May 19, 2005.[72] The first two movies were met with mixed reviews, with the third being received somewhat more positively. The trilogy begins 32 years before Episode IV and follows the Jedi training of Anakin Skywalker, Luke's father, and his eventual fall from grace and transformation into the Sith lord Darth Vader, as well as the corruption of the Galactic Republic and rise of the Empire led by Darth Sidious. Together with the original trilogy, Lucas has collectively referred to the first six episodic films of the franchise as "the tragedy of Darth Vader".[73]
Sequel trilogy
Main article: Star Wars sequel trilogy
The sequel trilogy's main cast includes (from left to right) Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron).

Prior to releasing the original film, and made possible by its success, Lucas planned "three trilogies of nine films."[64][74] However, he announced to Time in 1978 that he planned "10 sequels."[75] He confirmed that he had outlined the prequels and sequels in 1981.[76] At various stages of development, the sequel trilogy was to focus on the rebuilding of the Republic,[77] the return of Luke in a role similar to that of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original trilogy,[74] Luke's sister (not yet determined to be Leia),[66] Han, Leia,[78] R2-D2 and C-3PO.[64][79] However, after beginning work on the prequel trilogy, Lucas insisted that Star Wars was meant to be a six-part series and that there would be no sequel trilogy.[80][81]

Lucas decided to leave the franchise in the hands of other filmmakers, announcing in January 2012 that he would make no more Star Wars films.[82] That October, the Walt Disney Company agreed to buy Lucasfilm and announced that Episode VII would be released in 2015.[83] The co-chairman of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, became president and served as executive producer of new Star Wars feature films.[84] Lucas provided Kennedy his story treatments for the sequels during the 2012 sale,[85] but in 2015 it was revealed Lucas's sequel outline had been discarded.[86][87] The sequel trilogy also meant the end of the existing Star Wars Expanded Universe, which was discarded from canon to give "maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience."[2]

Episode VII: The Force Awakens was released on December 16, 2015, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi on December 13, 2017, and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker on December 18, 2019, in many countries.[f] The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi were both critical and box office successes.[88][89] Episode IX received a mixed reception from critics and audiences.[90] The sequel trilogy starts 30 years after Episode VI and focuses on the journey of the Force-sensitive orphan Rey, guided by Luke Skywalker. Along with ex-stormtrooper Finn and ace X-Wing pilot Poe Dameron, Rey helps the Resistance, led by Leia, fight the First Order, commanded by Han and Leia's son (and Luke's nephew), Kylo Ren.
Anthology films
The anthology films' main casts include (from left to right) Felicity Jones (Jyn Erso) and Diego Luna (Cassian Andor) from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Alden Ehrenreich (Han Solo) and Woody Harrelson (Tobias Beckett) from Solo: A Star Wars Story .

Lucasfilm and Kennedy have stated that the standalone films would be referred to as the Star Wars anthology series[46] (though the word anthology has not been used in any of the titles, instead carrying the promotional "A Star Wars Story" subtitle). Focused on how the Rebels obtained the Death Star plans introduced in the 1977 film, the first anthology film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, was released on December 16, 2016, to favorable reviews and box office success. The second, Solo: A Star Wars Story, centered on a young Han Solo with Chewbacca and Lando as supporting characters, was released on May 25, 2018, to generally favorable reviews and underperformance at the box office. The television series Obi-Wan Kenobi was originally going to be a film instead but changed to a limited series due to Solo underperforming.[91] Despite this, more anthology films are expected to be released,[92] following a hiatus after 2019's The Rise of Skywalker.[93]
Television

The Star Wars franchise has been spun off to various television productions, including two animated series released in the mid-1980s. Further animated series began to be released in the 2000s, the first two of which focused on the Clone Wars. After Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, only the later CGI series remained canon. Eight live-action Star Wars series will be released on Disney+. The first, The Mandalorian, premiered on November 12, 2019 and won the 2020 Webby Award for Television & Film in the category Social.[94] Disney+ later released the Ewoks movies and animated series, along with the animated first appearance of Boba Fett from the Star Wars Holiday Special, and the Clone Wars animated micro-series in a section called "Star Wars Vintage", which also includes the Droids animated series.[95][96] Certain aspects of the original Clone Wars micro-series are considered to not contradict the canon, while others do.[97]
Series
Main article: List of Star Wars television series

Many Star Wars series have been produced, both animated and live-action, the first being Droids and Ewoks in 1985. The Mandalorian, the first live-action series to take place in the Star Wars universe, has spawned multiple spinoffs and inspired other live-action series to be created. Confirmed upcoming animated series include Young Jedi Adventures, as well as upcoming live-action series Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew, The Acolyte, and Lando.
Series    Seasons    Episodes    Originally released    Network
Animated series
Droids    1    13    September 7, 1985 – June 7, 1986    ABC
Ewoks    2    26    September 7, 1985 – December 13, 1986
The Clone Wars    7    133    October 3, 2008 – May 4, 2020    Cartoon Network / Netflix / Disney+
Rebels    4    75    October 3, 2014 – March 5, 2018    Disney XD
Resistance    2    40    October 7, 2018 – January 26, 2020    Disney Channel
The Bad Batch    1    16    May 4, 2021 – present    Disney+
Visions    1    9    September 22, 2021 – present
Tales of the Jedi    1    6    October 26, 2022
Animated micro-series and shorts
Clone Wars    3    25    November 7, 2003 – March 25, 2005    Cartoon Network
Blips    1    8    May 3 – September 4, 2017    YouTube
Forces of Destiny    2    32    July 3, 2017 – May 25, 2018
Galaxy of Adventures    2    55    November 30, 2018 – October 2, 2020
Roll Out    1    16    August 9, 2019 – April 1, 2020
Galaxy of Creatures    1    12    October 14 – November 18, 2021    StarWarsKids.com
Galactic Pals    1    12    April 12 – November 1, 2022
"Zen – Grogu and Dust Bunnies"    1    1    November 12, 2022    Disney+
Live-action series
The Mandalorian    2    16    November 12, 2019 – present    Disney+
The Book of Boba Fett    1    7    December 29, 2021 – present
Obi-Wan Kenobi    1    6    May 27 – June 22, 2022
Andor    1    12    September 21, 2022 – present
Game shows
Jedi Temple Challenge    1    10    June 10 – August 5, 2020    StarWarsKids.com
Films and specials
Film     U.S. release date     Director(s)     Teleplay by     Story by     Producer(s)     Network
Star Wars Holiday Special     November 17, 1978     Steve Binder     Pat Proft, Leonard Ripps, Bruce Vilanch, Rod Warren, and Mitzie Welch     Joe Layton, Jeff Starsh, Ken Welch, and Mitzie Welch     CBS
The Ewok Adventure     November 25, 1984     John Korty     Bob Carrau     George Lucas     Thomas G. Smith and Patricia Rose Duignan     ABC
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor     November 24, 1985     Jim Wheat and Ken Wheat     Thomas G. Smith and Ian Bryce
Fictional timeline
See also: Star Wars in other media § Legends fictional timeline

The Star Wars canon fictional universe spans multiple eras, of which three are focused around each of the film trilogies. The following eras were defined in January 2021:[98]

    The High Republic: The era of the "High Republic", set 200 years before the prequel trilogy. It includes the media released in The High Republic and the upcoming Young Jedi Adventures and The Acolyte.[98]
    Fall of the Jedi: The era of the prequel trilogy,[g] in which the democratic Galactic Republic is corrupted by the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who is secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. After orchestrating the Clone Wars between the Republic and a Separatist confederation, Palpatine exterminates the Jedi Order, overthrows the Republic, and establishes the totalitarian Galactic Empire.[100][101] It includes the prequel trilogy films and the animated The Clone Wars and Tales of the Jedi.[98]
    Reign of the Empire: The era after the prequel trilogy, exploring the reign of the Empire. It includes the animated The Bad Batch, Solo: A Star Wars Story[98] and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
    Age of Rebellion: The era of the original trilogy,[h] in which the Empire is fought by the Rebel Alliance in a Galactic Civil War that spans several years, climaxing with the death of the Emperor and fall of the Empire.[103][104] It includes the animated Star Wars Rebels, Andor, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the original trilogy films.[98]
    The New Republic: The era after the original trilogy, set during the formative years of the New Republic following the fall of the Empire. It includes The Mandalorian and its spin-off series, The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka, as well as the upcoming Skeleton Crew.[98]
    Rise of the First Order: The era of the sequel trilogy,[i] in which the remnants of the Empire have reformed as the First Order.[106] Heroes of the former Rebellion, aided by the New Republic, lead the Resistance against the oppressive regime and its rulers—the mysterious being known as Snoke and the revived Palpatine.[107] It includes the animated Star Wars Resistance and the sequel trilogy films.[98]

The Expanded Universe of spin-off media depicts different levels of continuity, which were deemed non-canonical and rebranded as Legends on April 25, 2014, to make most subsequent works align to the episodic films, The Clone Wars film, and television series.[2]
Other media
Main article: Star Wars expanded to other media

From 1976 to 2014, the term Expanded Universe (EU) was an umbrella term for all officially licensed Star Wars storytelling material set outside the events depicted within the theatrical films, including novels, comics, and video games.[108] Lucasfilm maintained internal continuity between the films and television content and the EU material until April 25, 2014, when the company announced all of the EU works would cease production. Existing works would no longer be considered canon to the franchise and subsequent reprints would be rebranded under the Star Wars Legends label,[108] with downloadable content for the massively multiplayer online game The Old Republic the only Legends material to still be produced. The Star Wars canon was subsequently restructured to only include the existing six feature films, the animated film The Clone Wars (2008), and its companion animated series. All future projects and creative developments across all types of media would be overseen and coordinated by the story group, announced as a division of Lucasfilm created to maintain continuity and a cohesive vision on the storytelling of the franchise.[2] Multiple comics series from Marvel and novels published by Del Rey were produced after the announcement.
Print media

Star Wars in print predates the release of the first film, with the November 1976 novelization of Star Wars, initially subtitled "From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker". Credited to Lucas, it was ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster.[109] The first "Expanded Universe" story appeared in Marvel Comics' Star Wars #7 in January 1978 (the first six issues being an adaptation of the film), followed by Foster's sequel novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye the following month.
Novels
Further information: List of Star Wars books
Timothy Zahn authored the Thrawn trilogy, which was widely credited with revitalizing the dormant Star Wars franchise in the early 1990s.

After penning the novelization of the original film, Foster followed it with the sequel Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978). The novelizations of The Empire Strikes Back (1980) by Donald F. Glut and Return of the Jedi (1983) by James Kahn followed, as well as The Han Solo Adventures trilogy (1979–1980) by Brian Daley,[110] and The Adventures of Lando Calrissian trilogy (1983) by L. Neil Smith.[111][112]

Timothy Zahn's bestselling Thrawn trilogy (1991–1993) reignited interest in the franchise and introduced the popular characters Grand Admiral Thrawn, Mara Jade, Talon Karrde, and Gilad Pellaeon.[113][114][115][116] The first novel, Heir to the Empire, reached #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list,[117] and the series finds Luke, Leia, and Han facing off against tactical genius Thrawn, who is plotting to retake the galaxy for the Empire.[118] In The Courtship of Princess Leia (1994) by Dave Wolverton, set immediately before the Thrawn trilogy, Leia considers an advantageous political marriage to Prince Isolder of the planet Hapes, but she and Han ultimately marry.[119][120] Steve Perry's Shadows of the Empire (1996), set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, was part of a multimedia campaign that included a comic book series and video game.[121][122] The novel introduced the crime lord Prince Xizor, another popular character who would appear in multiple other works.[121][123] Other notable series from Bantam include the Jedi Academy trilogy (1994) by Kevin J. Anderson,[124][125] the 14-book Young Jedi Knights series (1995–1998) by Anderson and Rebecca Moesta,[125][126] and the X-wing series (1996–2012) by Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston.[127][128][129]

Del Rey took over Star Wars book publishing in 1999, releasing what would become a 19-installment novel series called The New Jedi Order (1999–2003). Written by multiple authors, the series was set 25 to 30 years after the original films and introduced the Yuuzhan Vong, a powerful alien race attempting to invade and conquer the entire galaxy.[130][131] The bestselling multi-author series Legacy of the Force (2006–2008) chronicles the crossover of Han and Leia's son Jacen Solo to the dark side of the Force; among his evil deeds, he kills Luke's wife Mara Jade as a sacrifice to join the Sith. Although no longer canon, the story is paralleled in The Force Awakens with Han and Leia's son Ben Solo, who becomes the evil Kylo Ren.[132][133][134][135]

Three series set in the prequel era were published by Scholastic for younger audiences: the 18-book Jedi Apprentice (1999–2002) chronicles the adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his master Qui-Gon Jinn in the years before The Phantom Menace; the 11-book Jedi Quest (2001–2004) follows Obi-Wan and his own apprentice, Anakin Skywalker in between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones; and the 10-book The Last of the Jedi (2005–2008), set almost immediately after Revenge of the Sith, features Obi-Wan and the last few surviving Jedi. In 2019, a new prequel era novel, starring Qui-Gon and the young Obi-Wan, was published by Del Rey under the title Star Wars: Master and Apprentice.[136]

Although Thrawn had been designated a Legends character in 2014, he was reintroduced into the canon in 2016 for the third season of the Rebels animated series, with Zahn returning to write more novels based on the character and set in the new canon.[137][138]
Comics
Main articles: Star Wars comics and List of Star Wars comic books

Marvel Comics published a Star Wars comic book series from 1977 to 1986.[139][140][141][142] Original Star Wars comics were serialized in the Marvel magazine Pizzazz between 1977 and 1979. The 1977 installments were the first original Star Wars stories not directly adapted from the films to appear in print form, as they preceded those of the Star Wars comic series.[143] From 1985 to 1987, the animated children's series Ewoks and Droids inspired comic series from Marvel's Star Comics line.[144][145][146] According to Marvel comics former Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, the strong sales of Star Wars comics saved Marvel financially in 1977 and 1978.[147] Marvel's Star Wars series was one of the industry's top selling titles in 1979 and 1980.[148] The only downside for Marvel was that the 100,000 copy sales quota was surpassed quickly, allowing Lippincott to renegotiate the royalty arrangements from a position of strength.[149]

In the late 1980s, Marvel dropped a new Star Wars comic it had in development, which was picked up by Dark Horse Comics and published as the popular Dark Empire series (1991–1995).[150] Dark Horse subsequently launched dozens of series set after the original film trilogy, including Tales of the Jedi (1993–1998), X-wing Rogue Squadron (1995–1998), Star Wars: Republic (1998–2006), Star Wars Tales (1999–2005), Star Wars: Empire (2002–2006), and Knights of the Old Republic (2006–2010).[151][152]

After Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, it was announced in January 2014 that in 2015 the Star Wars comics license would return to Marvel Comics,[153] whose parent company, Marvel Entertainment, Disney had purchased in 2009.[154] Launched in 2015, the first three publications were titled Star Wars, Darth Vader, and the limited series Princess Leia.[155][156][157]

First announced as Project Luminous at Star Wars Celebration in April 2019, the Star Wars: The High Republic publishing initiative were revealed in a press conference in February 2020. Involving the majority of the then current officially licensed publishers, a new era set 200 years before the Skywalker Saga was explored in various books and comics. Including ongoing titles by Marvel and IDW Publishing, written by Cavan Scott and Daniel José Older respectively.[158]
Audio
Soundtracks and singles
Further information: Music of Star Wars

John Williams composed the soundtracks for the nine episodic films; he has stated that he will retire from the franchise with The Rise of Skywalker.[159] He also composed Han Solo's theme for Solo: A Star Wars Story; John Powell adapted and composed the rest of the score.[160] Michael Giacchino composed the score of Rogue One.[160] Ludwig Göransson scored and composed the music of The Mandalorian.[161] Williams also created the main theme for Galaxy's Edge.[162]
Audio novels
Further information: The Story of Star Wars and List of Star Wars books

The first Star Wars audio work is The Story of Star Wars, an LP using audio samples from the original film and a new narration to retell the story, released in 1977. Most later printed novels were adapted into audio novels, usually released on cassette tape and re-released on CD. As of 2019, audio-only novels have been released not directly based on printed media.[163]
Radio
Further information: Star Wars (radio)

Radio adaptations of the films were also produced. Lucas, a fan of the NPR-affiliated campus radio station of his alma mater the University of Southern California, licensed the Star Wars radio rights to KUSC-FM for US$1. The production used John Williams's original film score, along with Ben Burtt's sound effects.[164][165]

The first was written by science-fiction author Brian Daley and directed by John Madden. It was broadcast on National Public Radio in 1981, adapting the original 1977 film into 13 episodes.[166][164][165] Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels reprised their film roles.[166][164]

The overwhelming success, led to a 10-episode adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back debuted in 1983.[167] Billy Dee Williams joined the other two stars, reprising his role as Lando Calrissian.[citation needed]

In 1983, Buena Vista Records released an original, 30-minute Star Wars audio drama titled Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell, written by Daley.[165][168] In the 1990s, Time Warner Audio Publishing adapted several Star Wars series from Dark Horse Comics into audio dramas: the three-part Dark Empire saga, Tales of the Jedi, Dark Lords of the Sith, the Dark Forces trilogy, and Crimson Empire (1998).[168] Return of the Jedi was adapted into 6-episodes in 1996, featuring Daniels.[164][168]
Video games
Further information: Star Wars video games and List of Star Wars video games

The Star Wars franchise has spawned over one hundred[169] computer, video, and board games, dating back to some of the earliest home consoles. Some are based directly on the movie material, while others rely heavily on the non-canonical Expanded Universe (rebranded as Star Wars Legends and removed from the canon in 2014). Star Wars games have gone through three significant development eras, marked by a change in leadership among the developers: the early licensed games, those developed after the creation of LucasArts, and those created after the closure of the Lucasfilm division by Disney and the transfer of the license to Electronic Arts.
Early licensed games (1979–1993)

The first officially licensed electronic Star Wars game was Kenner's 1979 table-top Star Wars Electronic Battle Command.[170][171] In 1982, Parker Brothers published the first Star Wars video game for the Atari 2600, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back,[172] followed soon the year later by Star Wars: Jedi Arena, the first video game to depict lightsaber combat. They were followed in 1983 by Atari's rail shooter arcade game Star Wars, with vector graphics to replicate the Death Star trench run scene from the 1977 film.[173] The next game, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1984), has more traditional raster graphics,[174] while the following Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1985) has vector graphics.[175]

Platform games were made for the Nintendo Entertainment System, including the Japan-exclusive Star Wars (1987), an international Star Wars (1991), and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1992). Super Star Wars (1992) was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, with two sequels over the next two years.
LucasArts and modern self-published games (1993–2014)
Main article: LucasArts

Lucasfilm founded its own video game company in 1982, becoming best known for adventure games and World War II flight combat games, but as George Lucas took more interest in the increasing success of the video game market, he wanted to have more creative control over the games and founded his own development company, LucasArts. Improved graphics allowed games to tell complex narratives, which allowed for the retelling of the films, and eventually original narratives set in the same continuity, with voice-overs and CGI cutscenes. In 1993, LucasArts released Star Wars: X-Wing, the first self-published Star Wars video game and the first space flight simulator based on the franchise.[176] It was one of the best-selling video games of 1993 and established its own series of games.[176] The Rogue Squadron series was released between 1998 and 2003, also focusing on space battles set during the films.

Dark Forces (1995), a hybrid adventure game incorporating puzzles and strategy,[177] was the first Star Wars first-person shooter.[178] It featured gameplay and graphical features not then common in other games, made possible by LucasArts' custom-designed game engine, the Jedi.[178][177][179][180] The game was well received,[181][182][183] and it was followed by four sequels.[184][185] The series introduced Kyle Katarn, who would appear in multiple games, novels, and comics.[186] Katarn is a former stormtrooper who joins the Rebellion and becomes a Jedi,[178][187][188] a plot arc similar to that of Finn in the sequel trilogy films.[132] A massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Star Wars Galaxies, was in operation from 2003 until 2011. After Disney bought Lucasfilm, LucasArts ceased its role as a developer in 2013, although it still operates as a licensor.[189]
EA Star Wars (2014–present)

Following its acquisition of the franchise, Disney reassigned video game rights to Electronic Arts. Games made during this era are considered canonical, and feature more influence from the Star Wars filmmakers. Disney partnered with Lenovo to create the augmented reality video game Jedi Challenges, released in November 2017.[190][191] In August 2018, it was announced that Zynga would publish free-to-play Star Wars mobile games.[192] The Battlefront games received a canonical reboot with Star Wars: Battlefront in November 2015, which was followed by a sequel, Battlefront II, in November 2017. A single-player action-adventure game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, with an original story and cast of characters, was released in November 2019. A space combat game titled Star Wars: Squadrons, which builds upon the space battles from Battlefront, was released in October 2020.
Theme park attractions
Main article: List of Star Wars theme parks attractions

In addition to the Disneyland ride Star Tours (1987) and its successor, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (2011), many live attractions have been held at Disney parks, including the travelling exhibition Where Science Meets Imagination, the Space Mountain spin-off Hyperspace Mountain, a walkthrough Launch Bay, and the night-time A Galactic Spectacular. An immersive themed area called Galaxy's Edge (2019) opened at Disneyland and opened at Walt Disney World in mid-2019.[193] A themed hotel, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, is currently under construction at Walt Disney World.[194]
   
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Title     Park(s)     Opening date     Closing date
Star Tours     Disneyland     January 9, 1987     July 27, 2010
Tokyo Disneyland     July 12, 1989     April 2, 2012
Disney's Hollywood Studios     December 15, 1989     September 7, 2010
Disneyland Paris     April 12, 1992     March 16, 2016
Star Wars Weekends     Disney's Hollywood Studios     1997     November 2015
Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination     Multiple locations     October 19, 2005     March 23, 2014
Jedi Training Academy     Disneyland     July 1, 2006     November 15, 2015
Disney's Hollywood Studios     October 9, 2007     October 5, 2015
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue     Disney's Hollywood Studios     May 20, 2011     N/A (Operating)
Disneyland     June 3, 2011
Tokyo Disneyland     May 7, 2013
Disneyland Paris     March 26, 2017
Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain     Disneyland     November 14, 2015     May 31, 2017
Hong Kong Disneyland     June 11, 2016     N/A (Operating)
Disneyland Paris     May 7, 2017
Star Wars Launch Bay     Disneyland     November 16, 2015
Disney's Hollywood Studios     December 4, 2015
Shanghai Disneyland Park     June 16, 2016
Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple     Disney's Hollywood Studios     December 1, 2015
Disneyland     December 8, 2015
Disneyland Paris     July 11, 2015
Hong Kong Disneyland     June 25, 2016
Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular     Disney's Hollywood Studios     June 17, 2016
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge     Disneyland     May 31, 2019
Disney's Hollywood Studios     August 29, 2019
Star Wars: Millennium Falcon - Smugglers Run     Disneyland     May 31, 2019
Disney's Hollywood Studios     August 29, 2019
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance     Disney's Hollywood Studios     December 5, 2019
Disneyland     January 17, 2020
Multimedia projects

A multimedia project involves works released across multiple types of media. Shadows of the Empire (1996) was a multimedia project set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi that included a novel by Steve Perry, a comic book series, a video game, and action figures.[121][122] The Force Unleashed (2008–2010) was a similar project set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope that included a novel, a 2008 video game and its 2010 sequel, a graphic novel, a role-playing game supplement, and toys.[195][196]
Merchandising
Main articles: Kenner Star Wars action figures, List of Kenner Star Wars action figures, Star Wars: The Vintage Collection, Lego Star Wars, Star Wars trading card, and Star Wars role-playing games
George Lucas made much of his fortune by retaining his rights to the franchise's merchandising.

The success of the Star Wars films led the franchise to become one of the most merchandised franchises in the world. While filming the original 1977 film, George Lucas decided to take a $500,000 pay cut to his salary as director in exchange for full ownership of the franchise's merchandising rights. By 1987, the first three films have made US$2.6 billion in merchandising revenue.[197] By 2012, the first six films produced approximately US$20 billion in merchandising revenue.[198]

Kenner made the first Star Wars action figures to coincide with the release of the original film, and today the original figures are highly valuable. Since the 1990s, Hasbro holds the rights to create action figures based on the saga. Pez dispensers began to be produced in 1997.[199] Star Wars was the first intellectual property to be licensed in Lego history.[200] Lego has produced animated parody short films and mini-series to promote their Star Wars sets.[201] The Lego Star Wars video games are critically acclaimed bestsellers.[202][203]

In 1977, the board game Star Wars: Escape from the Death Star was released.[204][j] A Star Wars Monopoly and themed versions of Trivial Pursuit and Battleship were released in 1997, with updated versions released in subsequent years. The board game Risk has been adapted in two editions by Hasbro: The Clone Wars Edition (2005)[206] and the Original Trilogy Edition (2006).[207] Three Star Wars tabletop role-playing games have been developed: a version by West End Games in the 1980s and 1990s, one by Wizards of the Coast in the 2000s, and one by Fantasy Flight Games in the 2010s.

Star Wars Trading Cards have been published since the first "blue" series, by Topps, in 1977.[208] Dozens of series have been produced, with Topps being the licensed creator in the United States. Each card series are of film stills or original art. Many of the cards have become highly collectible with some very rare "promos", such as the 1993 Galaxy Series II "floating Yoda" P3 card often commanding US$1,000 or more. While most "base" or "common card" sets are plentiful, many "insert" or "chase cards" are very rare.[209] From 1995 until 2001, Decipher, Inc. had the license for, created, and produced the Star Wars Customizable Card Game.
Themes
See also: Star Wars sources and analogues

Star Wars features elements such as knighthood, chivalry, and Jungian archetypes such as "the shadow".[210] There are also many references to Christianity, such as in the appearance of Darth Maul, whose design draws heavily from traditional depictions of the devil.[211] Anakin was conceived of a virgin birth, and is assumed to be the "Chosen One", a messianic individual. However, unlike Jesus, Anakin falls from grace, remaining evil as Darth Vader until Return of the Jedi. According to Adam Driver, sequel trilogy villain Kylo Ren, who idolizes Vader, believes he is "doing what he thinks is right".[212] George Lucas has said that the theme of the saga is redemption.[213]

The saga draws heavily from the hero's journey, an archetypical template developed by comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell.[211] Each character—primarily Anakin, Luke, and Rey—follows the steps of the cycle or undergoes its reversal, becoming the villain.[214] A defining step of the journey is "Atonement with the Father".[215] Obi-Wan's loss of a father figure could have impacted his relationship with Anakin,[216] whom both Obi-Wan and Palpatine are fatherlike mentors to.[217] Luke's discovery that Vader is his father has strong repercussions on the saga and is regarded as one of the most influential plot twists in cinema.[218] Supreme Leader Snoke encourages Kylo Ren to kill his father, Han Solo.[212] Kylo uses the fact that Rey is an orphan to tempt her into joining the dark side.[219] According to Inverse, the final scene in The Last Jedi, which depicts servant children playing with a toy of Luke and one boy using the Force, symbolizes that "the Force can be found in people with humble beginnings."[220]
Historical influences

Political science has been an important element of Star Wars since the franchise launched in 1977, focusing on a struggle between democracy and dictatorship. Battles featuring the Ewoks and Gungans against the Empire and Trade Federation, respectively, represent the clash between a primitive society and a more advanced one, similar to the Vietnam-American War.[221][222] Darth Vader's design was initially inspired by Samurai armor, and also incorporated a German military helmet.[223][224] Originally, Lucas conceived of the Sith as a group that served the Emperor in the same way that the Schutzstaffel served Adolf Hitler; this was condensed into one character in the form of Vader.[225] Stormtroopers borrow the name of World War I German "shock" troopers. Imperial officers wear uniforms resembling those of German forces during World War II,[226] and political and security officers resemble the black-clad SS down to the stylized silver death's head on their caps. World War II terms were used for names in the films; e.g. the planets Kessel (a term that refers to a group of encircled forces) and Hoth (after a German general who served on the snow-laden Eastern Front).[227] Shots of the commanders looking through AT-AT walker viewscreens in The Empire Strikes Back resemble tank interiors,[228] and space battles in the original film were based on World War I and World War II dogfights.[229]

Palpatine being a chancellor before becoming the Emperor in the prequel trilogy alludes to Hitler's role before appointing himself Führer.[226] Lucas has also drawn parallels to historical dictators such as Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and politicians like Richard Nixon.[230][231][k] The Great Jedi Purge mirrors the events of the Night of the Long Knives.[233] The corruption of the Galactic Republic is modeled after the fall of the democratic Roman Republic and the formation of an empire.[234][235]

On the inspiration for the First Order formed "from the ashes of the Empire", The Force Awakens director J. J. Abrams spoke of conversations the writers had about how the Nazis could have escaped to Argentina after WWII and "started working together again."[106]

    The aerial warfare of WWII inspired the space fights.

    The aerial warfare of WWII inspired the space fights.
    The flag and iconography of the Empire resembles those of the Nazi Party and Germany during its rule.

    The flag and iconography of the Empire resembles those of the Nazi Party and Germany during its rule.

Cultural impact
Main article: Cultural impact of Star Wars
The lightsaber and the blaster are iconic elements of the franchise.

The Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on popular culture,[236] with references to its fictional universe deeply embedded in everyday life.[237] Phrases like "evil empire" and "May the Force be with you" have become part of the popular lexicon.[238] The first Star Wars film in 1977 was a cultural unifier,[239] enjoyed by a wide spectrum of people.[240] The film can be said to have helped launch the science-fiction boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s, making science-fiction films a mainstream genre.[241] The widespread impact made it a prime target for parody works and homages, with popular examples including Hardware Wars, Spaceballs, The Family Guy Trilogy and Robot Chicken: Star Wars.

In 1989, the Library of Congress selected the original Star Wars film for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry, as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[242] The Empire Strikes Back was selected in 2010,[243][244] and Return of the Jedi was selected in 2021.[245] 35mm reels of the 1997 Special Editions were the versions initially presented for preservation because of the difficulty of transferring from the original prints,[246][247] but it was later revealed that the Library possesses a copyright deposit print of the original theatrical releases.[248]
Industry

The original Star Wars film was a huge success for 20th Century Fox, and was credited for reinvigorating the company. Within three weeks of the film's release, the studio's stock price doubled to a record high. Prior to 1977, 20th Century Fox's greatest annual profits were $37 million, while in 1977, the company broke that record by posting a profit of $79 million.[229] The franchise helped Fox to change from an almost bankrupt production company to a thriving media conglomerate.[249]

Star Wars fundamentally changed the aesthetics and narratives of Hollywood films, switching the focus of Hollywood-made films from deep, meaningful stories based on dramatic conflict, themes and irony to sprawling special-effects-laden blockbusters, as well as changing the Hollywood film industry in fundamental ways. Before Star Wars, special effects in films had not appreciably advanced since the 1950s.[250] The commercial success of Star Wars created a boom in state-of-the-art special effects in the late 1970s.[249] Along with Jaws, Star Wars started the tradition of the summer blockbuster film in the entertainment industry, where films open on many screens at the same time and profitable franchises are important.[251][240] It created the model for the major film trilogy and showed that merchandising rights on a film could generate more money than the film itself did.[239]

Film critic Roger Ebert wrote in his book The Great Movies, "Like The Birth of a Nation and Citizen Kane, Star Wars was a technical watershed that influenced many of the movies that came after." It began a new generation of special effects and high-energy motion pictures. The film was one of the first films to link genres together to invent a new, high-concept genre for filmmakers to build upon.[252] Finally, along with Steven Spielberg's Jaws, it shifted the film industry's focus away from personal filmmaking of the 1970s and towards fast-paced, big-budget blockbusters for younger audiences.[229][253][254]

Some critics have blamed Star Wars and Jaws for "ruining" Hollywood by shifting its focus from "sophisticated" films such as The Godfather, Taxi Driver, and Annie Hall to films about spectacle and juvenile fantasy, and for the industry shift from stand-alone, one and done films, towards blockbuster franchises with multiple sequels and prequels.[255] One such critic, Peter Biskind, complained, "When all was said and done, Lucas and Spielberg returned the 1970s audience, grown sophisticated on a diet of European and New Hollywood films, to the simplicities of the pre-1960s Golden Age of movies... They marched backward through the looking-glass."[255][256] In an opposing view, Tom Shone wrote that through Star Wars and Jaws, Lucas and Spielberg "didn't betray cinema at all: they plugged it back into the grid, returning the medium to its roots as a carnival sideshow, a magic act, one big special effect", which was "a kind of rebirth".[254]

The original Star Wars trilogy is widely considered one of the best film trilogies in history.[257] Numerous filmmakers have been influenced by Star Wars, including Damon Lindelof, Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich, John Lasseter,[258] David Fincher, Joss Whedon, John Singleton, Kevin Smith,[252] and later Star Wars directors J. J. Abrams and Gareth Edwards.[259] Lucas's concept of a "used universe" particularly influenced Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) and Alien (1979), James Cameron's Aliens (1986) as well as The Terminator (1984), George Miller's Mad Max 2 (1981), and Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003).[252] Christopher Nolan cited Star Wars as an influence when making the 2010 blockbuster film Inception.[260]
Fan works
Main article: Star Wars fan films

The Star Wars saga has inspired many fans to create their own non-canon material set in the Star Wars galaxy. In recent years, this has ranged from writing fan fiction to creating fan films. In 2002, Lucasfilm sponsored the first annual Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards, officially recognizing filmmakers and the genre. Because of concerns over potential copyright and trademark issues, however, the contest was initially open only to parodies, mockumentaries, and documentaries. Fan fiction films set in the Star Wars universe were originally ineligible, but in 2007, Lucasfilm changed the submission standards to allow in-universe fiction entries.[261] Lucasfilm has allowed but not endorsed the creation of fan fiction, as long as it does not attempt to make a profit.[262]
Academia

As the characters and the storyline of the original trilogy are so well known, educators have used the films in the classroom as a learning resource. For example, a project in Western Australia honed elementary school students storytelling skills by role-playing action scenes from the movies and later creating props and audio/visual scenery to enhance their performance.[263] Others have used the films to encourage second-level students to integrate technology in the science classroom by making prototype lightsabers.[264] Similarly, psychiatrists in New Zealand and the US have advocated their use in the university classroom to explain different types of psychopathology." (wikipedia.)

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens (also known as Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens) is a 2015 American epic space opera film produced, co-written, and directed by J. J. Abrams. The sequel to Return of the Jedi (1983), it is the seventh film in the "Skywalker Saga". Set thirty years after Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens follows Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, and Han Solo's search for Luke Skywalker and their fight in the Resistance, led by General Leia Organa and veterans of the Rebel Alliance, against Kylo Ren and the First Order, a successor to the Galactic Empire. The ensemble cast includes Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Max von Sydow.

The film was announced after The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012. The film is the first Star Wars film to not extensively involve franchise creator George Lucas, who only served as a creative consultant in the early stages of production. The Force Awakens was produced by Abrams, his longtime collaborator Bryan Burk, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer of the original trilogy films The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi, rewrote an initial script by Michael Arndt. John Williams, composer for the previous episodic films, returned to compose the score. Principal photography began in April 2014 on a $259–306 million budget and concluded the following November. Filming took place on sets at Pinewood Studios in England, and on location mainly in Abu Dhabi, Iceland, and Ireland.

The Force Awakens premiered in Los Angeles on December 14, 2015, and was released in the United States on December 18. It was positively received by critics, who found it an action-packed film with the mix of new and familiar actors capturing the nostalgia of the original trilogy and giving the franchise new energy.[6] The film grossed $2 billion worldwide, breaking various box office records and becoming the highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada, the highest-grossing film of 2015, and the third-highest-grossing film at the time of its release. It was nominated for five awards at the 88th Academy Awards, and received numerous other accolades. The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019) followed The Force Awakens, rounding out the Star Wars sequel trilogy....

Plot

Thirty years after the Galactic Civil War,[a] the First Order has risen from the fallen Galactic Empire and seeks to end the New Republic. The Resistance, backed by the Republic and led by General Leia Organa, opposes the First Order. Leia searches for her brother, Luke Skywalker, who has gone missing.

On the desert planet Jakku, Resistance pilot Poe Dameron receives a map to Luke's location from Lor San Tekka. Stormtroopers commanded by Kylo Ren raid the village and capture Poe, ultimately killing San Tekka and slaughtering the villagers. Poe's droid, BB-8, escapes with the map and encounters a scavenger named Rey. Kylo tortures Poe using the Force and learns of BB-8. Stormtrooper FN-2187, disillusioned by the First Order, frees Poe, and they escape in a stolen TIE fighter. Upon learning that FN-2187 has no other name, Poe gives him the name "Finn". As they head to Jakku to retrieve BB-8, a First Order Star Destroyer shoots them, and they crash-land. Finn survives and finds only Poe's jacket in the wreck, leading to the assumption of his death. Finn encounters Rey and BB-8, but the First Order tracks them and launches an airstrike. Rey, Finn, and BB-8 steal the Millennium Falcon and escape the planet.

The Falcon is discovered and boarded by Han Solo and Chewbacca. Gangs seeking to settle debts with Han attack, but the group escape in the Falcon. At the First Order's Starkiller Base, a planet converted into a superweapon, Supreme Leader Snoke approves General Hux's request to use the weapon for the first time on the New Republic. Snoke questions Kylo's ability to deal with emotions surrounding his father, Han Solo, whom Kylo states means nothing to him.

Aboard the Falcon, Han determines that BB-8's map is incomplete. He then explains that Luke attempted to rebuild the Jedi Order, but exiled himself when an apprentice turned to the dark side, destroyed the temple, and slaughtered the other apprentices. The crew travels to the planet Takodana and meets with cantina owner Maz Kanata, who offers help getting BB-8 to the Resistance. The Force draws Rey to a secluded vault, where she finds the lightsaber once belonging to Luke and his father, Anakin Skywalker. She experiences disturbing visions, denies the lightsaber at Maz's offering, and flees into the woods, confused and terrified. Maz gives Finn the lightsaber for safekeeping.

Starkiller Base demonstrates its power by simultaneously destroying the New Republic capital of Hosnian Prime and four of its neighboring planets, leaving the Resistance on their own. The First Order attacks Takodana in search of BB-8. Han, Chewbacca, and Finn are saved by Resistance X-wing fighters led by Poe, who survived the crash. Leia arrives at Takodana with C-3PO and reunites with Han. Meanwhile, Kylo captures Rey and takes her to Starkiller Base, but she resists his mind-reading attempts. Snoke orders Kylo to bring Rey to him. Discovering she can use the Force, Rey escapes using a Jedi mind trick on a Stormtrooper guard.

At the Resistance base on D'Qar, BB-8 finds R2-D2, who had been inactive since Luke's disappearance. As Starkiller Base prepares to fire once more, the Resistance devises a plan to destroy it by attacking its thermal oscillator. Using the Falcon, Han, Chewbacca, and Finn infiltrate the facility, find Rey, and plant explosives. Han confronts Kylo, calling him by his birth name Ben, and implores him to abandon the dark side. Kylo seems to consider this, but ultimately kills Han instead. Devastated, Chewbacca shoots Kylo and sets off the explosives, allowing Poe to attack and destroy the base's thermal oscillator.

The injured Kylo pursues Finn and Rey into the woods. Kylo incapacitates Rey, and Finn uses the lightsaber to duel Kylo, but is overcome due to his lack of experience. Rey awakens, takes the lightsaber, and channels the Force to defeat Kylo in a duel; they are then separated by a fissure as the planet's surface begins to splinter. Snoke orders Hux to evacuate and bring Kylo to him to complete his training. Chewbacca rescues Rey and the unconscious Finn, and they escape aboard the Falcon. As the Resistance forces flee, Starkiller Base implodes. R2-D2 awakens and reveals the rest of the map, which points to the oceanic planet Ahch-To.

Rey, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 travel to Ahch-To on the Falcon. Rey finds Luke atop a cliff on a remote island. Without a word, she presents him with his father's lightsaber.
Cast
See also: List of Star Wars characters and List of Star Wars cast members
The cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con International

    Harrison Ford as Han Solo: A smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falcon[7][8]
    Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker: The last Jedi, who has gone into hiding[9][10]
    Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa: A leader of the Resistance[11][12]
    Adam Driver as Kylo Ren: A leader of the Knights of Ren and the commander of the First Order, who is the son of Han and Leia[13][14][15]
    Daisy Ridley as Rey: A Force-sensitive scavenger[16]
        Cailey Fleming as young Rey[17]
    John Boyega as Finn: A reformed First Order stormtrooper[16]
    Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron: A high-ranking X-wing fighter pilot of the Resistance[16][18]
    Lupita Nyong'o as Maz Kanata: A centuries-old and perceptive alien who owns a castle on the peaceful forest planet Takodana[19][20]
    Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke: A enigmatic, artificially genetic leader of the First Order[16][21]
    Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux: The commander of the First Order's Starkiller Base[16]
    Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: A humanoid protocol droid[22]
    Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca: Han's loyal Wookiee friend and co-pilot[23][24]
        Joonas Suotamo and Ian Whyte served as body doubles for Mayhew as he suffered from health problems[25][26]
    Max von Sydow as Lor San Tekka: A galactic explorer searching for Luke Skywalker[27][28]

Tim Rose and Mike Quinn reprise their respective roles as Admiral Ackbar and Nien Nunb from Return of the Jedi, with Erik Bauersfeld and Kipsang Rotich returning their respective voices.[17] Kenny Baker, originally announced as part of the cast, was credited as "consultant" for R2-D2,[29][17] with Jimmy Vee performing some of the work for R2-D2.[30] Ewan McGregor has an uncredited vocal cameo as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Rey's vision sequence, while archival audio of Frank Oz and Alec Guinness as Yoda and Kenobi, respectively, are also used in the same scene; Oz recorded new dialogue for the film, but it was replaced with preexisting audio from The Empire Strikes Back.[31] Star Wars: The Clone Wars voice actor James Arnold Taylor, who has voiced Obi-Wan Kenobi in different Star Wars media, originally recorded Kenobi's dialogue, but his recordings were replaced with McGregor's.[32]

Gwendoline Christie portrays Captain Phasma, the commander of the First Order's legions of stormtroopers.[33][34] Dave Chapman and Brian Herring served as puppeteers for BB-8,[35] with Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz credited as "Vocal Consultants".[36] Ken Leung appears as Statura, an admiral in the Resistance.[37] Simon Pegg appears as Unkar Plutt, the Junk parts dealer on Jakku.[38][39] Greg Grunberg plays Temmin "Snap" Wexley, an X-wing pilot.[40][41] Kiran Shah plays Teedo, a scavenger on Jakku who rides a semi-mechanical Luggabeast.[17][42] Jessica Henwick appears as Jess "Testor" Pava or Jess Testor, an X-wing pilot.[43][44][45] Brian Vernel appears as Bala-Tik, the leader of the Guavian Death Gang.[46] Yayan Ruhian and Iko Uwais appear as Tasu Leech and Razoo Qin-Fee, members of the Kanjiklub Gang, a criminal organization.[17] Warwick Davis appears as Wollivan, a tavern-dweller in Maz Kanata's castle.[47][48] Anna Brewster appears as Bazine Netal, a First Order spy, also at Maz Kanata's castle.[17] Hannah John-Kamen appears as a First Order officer.[17] Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Kate Fleetwood play First Order Petty Officers, Thanisson and Unamo, respectively.[49][50] Billie Lourd, daughter of Carrie Fisher, appears as Connix, a lieutenant in the Resistance.[51][52] Members of the Resistance include Emun Elliott as Brance[53] and Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Korr Sella[54] while Harriet Walter appears as Kalonia, the doctor who tends to Chewbacca.[55][56] Mark Stanley appears as a Knight of Ren.[56] Sebastian Armesto portrays Lieutenant Mitaka and Pip Torrens portrays Colonel Kaplan, both serving the First Order.[17]

Daniel Craig, Michael Giacchino, and Nigel Godrich cameo as stormtroopers.[57][58] Abrams' assistant, Morgan Dameron, appears as a Resistance officer,[59] while his father, Gerald W. Abrams, appears as Captain Cypress.[60] Dialect coach Andrew Jack portrays Resistance Major Caluan Ematt.[61] Additionally, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen,[62] Christina Chong,[63] Miltos Yerolemou,[64] Amybeth Hargreaves,[65] Leanne Best,[66] Judah Friedlander,[67] and Kevin Smith appear in minor roles.[68] Riot control stormtrooper FN-2199, who calls Finn a traitor during the battle on Takodana, was portrayed by stunt performer Liang Yang and voiced by sound editor David Acord.[69]
Production
Development

Star Wars creator George Lucas discussed ideas for a sequel trilogy several times after the conclusion of the original trilogy, but denied any intent to make it.[70] In October 2012, he sold his production company Lucasfilm to The Walt Disney Company.[71] Speaking alongside Lucasfilm's new president, Kathleen Kennedy, Lucas said: "I always said I wasn't going to do any more and that's true, because I'm not going to do any more, but that doesn't mean I'm unwilling to turn it over to Kathy to do more."[72]

As creative consultant on the film, Lucas attended early story meetings and advised on the details of the Star Wars universe.[71] Among the materials he turned over to the production team were his rough story treatments for Episodes VII–IX, which Lucas requested be read only by Kennedy, Bob Iger, Alan F. Horn, and Kevin A. Mayer.[71] Lucas later said Disney had discarded his story ideas and that he had no further involvement with the film.[73][74][75] Lucas' son Jett told The Guardian that his father was "very torn" about having sold the rights to the franchise and that his father was "there to guide" but that "he wants to let it go and become its new generation".[76]
From left to right: producer Kathleen Kennedy, writer and director J. J. Abrams, and writer Lawrence Kasdan speaking at 2015 San Diego Comic-Con

The Force Awakens' first screenplay was written by Michael Arndt.[77] At the time of his hiring, Arndt was also tapped to pen story treatments for the following installments.[78] Arndt took part in a writers room with Simon Kinberg, Lawrence Kasdan, Pablo Hidalgo, and Kiri Hart to discuss and plan the overall trilogy.[79] Early drafts had Luke Skywalker appear midway through the film, but Arndt found that "every time Luke came in and entered the movie, he just took it over. Suddenly you didn't care about your main character anymore."[80] The writers decided to use Luke as the film's MacGuffin and, as something that the protagonists needed to find, would not appear in person until the final scene.[80] Arndt also developed some backstory elements for the returning characters from the original trilogy, such as how Leia was instrumental in rebuilding the Republic after the fall of the Empire before being discredited when it was publicly revealed that her biological father was Darth Vader (this would go on to become a central plot point in the canonical novel Star Wars: Bloodline).[81]

Several directors were considered, including David Fincher,[82] Brad Bird,[83] Jon Favreau,[84] and Guillermo del Toro.[85] Bird was reportedly "top choice" to helm the film, but his commitments to Tomorrowland forced him to withdraw.[86] Matthew Vaughn was an early candidate for the job, even dropping out of X-Men: Days of Future Past in favor for the film.[87] Colin Trevorrow was also under consideration by the studio, while Ben Affleck and Neill Blomkamp passed on the project.[88][89][90][91] After a suggestion by Steven Spielberg to Kennedy,[92] J. J. Abrams was named director in January 2013,[93] with Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg as project consultants.[94] Kasdan worked to convince Abrams to direct the film after the filmmaker initially rejected the offer.[95][96] Arndt worked on the script for eight months, but said he needed 18 more, which was more time than Disney or Abrams could give him.[97] The production announced Arndt's exit from the project on October 24, 2013. That same day, Kasdan and Abrams took over script duties,[98] both of whom planned the story while walking in Santa Monica, California, New York City, Paris, and London. The first draft was completed in six weeks.[99] Abrams said the key to the film was [returned] to the roots of the first Star Wars films and be based more on emotion than explanation.[100] In January 2014, Abrams confirmed that the script was complete.[101] In April 2014, Lucasfilm clarified that Episodes VII–IX would not feature storylines from the Star Wars expanded universe, though other elements could be included, as with the TV series Star Wars Rebels.[102]

Abrams stated that he purposely withheld some plot elements from The Force Awakens, such as Rey and Finn's last names and backgrounds. Kennedy admitted that "we haven't mapped out every single detail [of the sequel trilogy] yet", but said that Abrams was collaborating with The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, and that Johnson would work with The Rise of Skywalker's then-director Colin Trevorrow to ensure a smooth transition and that "everybody's got a say in how we move forward with this".[103] Daisy Ridley later recounted that J. J. Abrams had written drafts for episodes 8 and 9.[104]

A fictional language was developed for use in the film by YouTube star Sara Forsberg, who created the viral video series "What Languages Sound Like To Foreigners"; Forsberg developed the language by studying various languages, such as Hindi and Gujarati.[105]

In November 2015, Lucas recorded an hour-long interview with CBS News reporter Charlie Rose in which he said Disney had not been "keen" to involve him and conceded: "If I get in there, I'm just going to cause trouble because they're not going to do what I want them to do, and I don't have the control to do that any more, and all it would do is just muck everything up."[106] He also said, "They wanted to do a retro movie. I don't like that. Every movie, I worked very hard to make them different [...] I made them completely different—different planets, different spaceships to make it new."[107][108] In early December 2015, Kathleen Kennedy told The Hollywood Reporter that Lucas had seen the movie and "liked it".[109] In the same month, at the Kennedy Center Honors, Lucas stated, "I think the fans are going to love it, It's very much the kind of movie they've been looking for."[110] Abrams felt that, as the first in a new trilogy, the film "needed to take a couple of steps backwards into very familiar terrain" and use plot elements from previous Star Wars films.[111]
Pre-production

In May 2013, it was confirmed that The Force Awakens would be filmed in the United Kingdom. Representatives from Lucasfilm met with Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to agree to produce The Force Awakens in the UK.[112] Osborne committed £25 million of public money towards the film, claiming it was a boost for British culture and its film industry.[113] According to production company account filings in the United Kingdom, The Force Awakens ultimately received a total of £31.6 million ($47.4 million) from the government.[114][115]

Beginning in September 2013, production spaces at the Bad Robot facility were converted for shooting of The Force Awakens for the benefit of shooting a minor portion of the film in the United States.[116] The film's costume designer was Michael Kaplan, who had previously worked with Abrams on the films Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).[117] Film editors Mary Jo Markey and Maryann Brandon, long-term collaborators with Abrams, were also signed.[118] In August 2013, it was announced that cinematographer Daniel Mindel would be shooting the film on 35 mm film (specifically Kodak 5219).[119] In October 2013, other crew members were confirmed, including sound designer Ben Burtt, director of photography Mindel, production designers Rick Carter and Darren Gilford, costume designer Michael Kaplan, special effects supervisor Chris Corbould, re-recording mixer Gary Rydstrom, supervising sound editor Matthew Wood, visual effects supervisors Roger Guyett, and executive producer Jason McGatlin.[120]
Casting

Open auditions were held in the United Kingdom and the United States in November 2013 for the roles of "Rachel" and "Thomas".[121] Casting began in earnest in January 2014, because of changes to the script by Kasdan and Abrams.[122] Screen tests with actors continued until at least three weeks before the official announcement in April 2014, with final casting decisions made only a few weeks earlier. Actors testing had strict nondisclosure agreements, preventing them, their agents or their publicists from commenting on their involvement.[123] Though Lucas intimated that previous cast members Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill would return for the new film as early as March 2013,[71] their casting was not confirmed until over a year later.[29]

Abrams set out to have a more diverse cast than previous installments.[124] A very early report claimed the studio wanted Ryan Gosling, Leonardo DiCaprio, Zac Efron for a role.[125][126] In September 2013, Michael B. Jordan, Saoirse Ronan, and David Oyelowo were among the first to meet with the director.[127] In January 2014, The Hollywood Reporter revealed Benedict Cumberbatch, Jack O'Connell, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alex Pettyfer. Jesse Plemons, Sullivan Stapleton, Tye Sheridan, Hugo Weaving, Michael Fassbender, and Adam Driver all met with Abrams for the film. The role Sheridan met for was ultimately rewritten to be played by a 40 year old actor, while Weaving was in talks for an "Imperial commander".[128] Ronan, Jordan, Frida Gustavsson, and later Miles Teller would go on to confirm their auditions for the film.[129][130][131][132] Industry publications speculated that Plemons could possibly be playing Luke Skywalker's son.[133] In February, Driver was in final negotiations for an unnamed villain, while Gary Oldman revealed he was approached for an undisclosed role.[134][135] In March, John Boyega, Plemons, Ray Fisher, Matthew James Thomas and Ed Speleers were Abrams' top choice for the lead role.[124] Boyega began talks after dropping out of the Jesse Owens biopic Race.[123] That same month, Lupita Nyong'o was said to have met also met with Abrams for the female lead.[136] In April 2014, Plemons and Thomas were no longer in contention for the film.[137] That same month, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, an "unknown Oxford actress", and Dev Patel were up for unknown roles.[138][139] Ronan, Richardson-Sellers, Eiza Gonzalez, Elizabeth Olsen and Jessica Henwick auditioned for Rey.[140][141][142][143] Joseph David-Jones, Tom Holland, and Daryl McCormack were later reported to have auditioned for Finn while McCormack made it to the final round of auditions for the part.[144][145][146] Eddie Redmayne and Joel Kinnaman tested for Kylo Ren.[147][148]

Daisy Ridley was cast by February 2014, and by the end of that month a deal had been worked out with Driver, who was able to work around his Girls schedule. Talks with Andy Serkis and Oscar Isaac began by March and continued into April.[123] Denis Lawson, who played Wedge Antilles in the original trilogy, declined to reprise his role, saying it would have "bored" him.[149]

In April, Ridley, Boyega, Isaac, Driver, Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow were announced as part of the cast; while Ford, Hamill, Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Baker reprised their roles from the original trilogy.[29] In June, cast additions Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie were announced.[33] To prepare for his role, Hamill was assigned a personal trainer and a nutritionist at the request of the producers, who wanted him to resemble an older Luke.[150] Fisher was also assigned a personal trainer and a nutritionist.[150] Abrams initially considered using Daniels only in a voice role for C-3PO,[151] but Daniels opted to reprise the role physically as well; the production team built a new C-3PO costume to accommodate him.[152] A flashback scene was cut from Rey's vision (following her discovery of Luke's lightsaber), which would have featured Robert Boulter standing in for Luke as he appeared in his duel with Vader in The Empire Strikes Back.[153]

In May, Abrams announced a donation contest for UNICEF from the Star Wars set in Abu Dhabi; the winner was allowed to visit the set, meet members of the cast and appear in the film.[154] In October, Warwick Davis, who played Wicket in Return of the Jedi, as well as Wald and Weazle in The Phantom Menace (1999), announced that he would appear in The Force Awakens, but did not reveal his role.[155] In November, Debbie Reynolds confirmed that her granddaughter (Fisher's daughter), Billie Lourd, was in the film.[51] Lourd first auditioned for the role of Rey prior to her casting.[156]
Filming
The Rub' Al Khali desert around Liwa Oasis in the United Arab Emirates was used as filming location for planet Jakku.

In February 2014, Abrams said filming would begin in May and last about three months.[100] The official announcement came in March, when Disney and Lucasfilm announced that principal photography would commence in May and be based at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England.[157] That month, it was revealed that pre-production filming would take place in Iceland prior to the start of official filming in May, consisting of landscape shots that would be used for scenery in the film.[158] In April, Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn confirmed that filming had begun,[159] filming in secret in the United Arab Emirates around Liwa Oasis, part of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, by a second unit.[160] Later that month, it was revealed that in addition to 35 mm film, segments of the film were being shot in the 65 mm IMAX format.[161] In July, Bad Robot reported via Twitter that the film would be at least partially shot on IMAX cameras.[162]

Principal photography began in Abu Dhabi on May 16, 2014.[163] The budget was reported to be between $259 million and $306 million.[114][164] Abrams and the cast members went to Abu Dhabi in early May, where large sets were built on location—including a shuttle-like spacecraft, a large tower, and a big market—and where explosives were used to create a "blast crater". Cast members were spotted practicing driving vehicles that would be used during filming.[165] Production moved to Pinewood Studios in June.[166]
view over Skellig Michael showing stone beehive structures and Small Skellig island in the distance
concrete missile silo covered in grass
Skellig Michael in Ireland (top) and former RAF Greenham Common in England served as filming locations.

That same month, Harrison Ford fractured his leg while filming at Pinewood after a hydraulic door on the Millennium Falcon set fell on him, and was taken to a hospital. According to Abrams, Ford's ankle "went to a 90-degree angle".[97] Production was suspended for two weeks because of Ford's injury.[167] Ford's son Ben said the ankle would likely need a plate and screws and that filming could be altered slightly, with the crew needing to shoot Ford from the waist up for a short time until he recovered.[168] A month later, Jake Steinfeld, Ford's personal trainer, said Ford was recovering rapidly.[169] Abrams also suffered a fractured vertebra in his back when he was trying to help lift the door after Ford's accident,[97] but he kept this to himself for over a month.[170] In February 2016, it was reported that the Health and Safety Executive brought four criminal charges against Disney subsidiary Foodles Production (UK), Ltd. for alleged health and safety breaches relating to Ford's accident.[171] Foodles Production (UK) Ltd was subsequently fined $1.95 million in October 2016 for two health and safety breaches, after admitting the counts at an earlier hearing.[172]

On July 28, 2014 filming took place over three days at Skellig Michael, an island off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland, with a cast including Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley.[173] Landscape shots for the planet Takodana were shot in July in the Lake District in the northwest of England.[174] Production was halted for two weeks in early August 2014 so Abrams could rework shooting in Ford's absence and resumed with a fully healed Ford in mid-August.[175][176] In September, the former RAF Greenham Common military base in Berkshire was used and featured set constructions of several spaceships.[177][178] Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean Gloucestershire England was used for some scenes.[179] Principal photography ended on November 3, 2014.[180]
Post-production
Bad Robot Productions headquarters in Santa Monica, where Abrams supervised post-production of the film

Kennedy said The Force Awakens would use real locations and models over computer-generated imagery.[181] Johnson reiterated that Abrams would use little CGI and more practical, traditional special effects, saying: "I think people are coming back around to [practical effects]. It feels like there is sort of that gravity pulling us back toward it. I think that more and more people are hitting kind of a critical mass in terms of the CG-driven action scene lending itself to a very specific type of action scene, where physics go out the window and it becomes so big so quick."[182] Abrams' intention in prioritizing practical special effects was to recreate the visual realism and authenticity of the original Star Wars.[183] To that end, the droid BB-8 was a physical prop developed by Disney Research,[184] created by special effects artist Neal Scanlan and operated live on set with the actors.[185][186] The Holochess sequence was created using stop-motion, which was supervised by Tippett Studio and overseen by Phil Tippett, who also worked on the stop-motion sequence in the original Star Wars film.[187][188]

In February 2014, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) announced plans to open a facility in London, citing Disney's Star Wars films as a catalyst for the expansion. ILM's Vancouver branch also worked on the special effects for the film.[189] Abrams supervised post-production and editing of the film at Bad Robot Productions' headquarters in Santa Monica.[97] In August 2015, he gave the film's estimated running time of 124 minutes.[190] Abrams made changes to the film's plot in the editing process to simplify the film, by removing some sequences shown in trailers: "At one point, Maz used to continue along with the characters back to the Resistance base, but we realised that she really had nothing to do there of value [...] So we ended up leaving those things out."[191] The final cut of the film runs for 138 minutes.[192]

On November 6, 2014, the film's title was announced as Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[193] In December 2015, Pablo Hidalgo, the creative executive at the Lucasfilm Story Group which handles all the canonical continuity for the Star Wars universe, revealed that the working title for the film was Shadow of the Empire "for the longest time".[194]
Music
Main article: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (soundtrack)

In July 2013, John Williams was confirmed to return to compose the sequel trilogy, beginning with The Force Awakens.[195] He began working on the film in December 2014, and by June 2015 had been through most of the film reels, working on a daily basis.[196][197] In May 2015, Williams said he would return to themes from the previous films, such as those for Luke, Leia, and Han, in ways that "there are a few that I think are important and will seem very much a part of the fabric of the piece in a positive and constructive way." He said that working with Abrams was similar to the process he went through with Lucas in the earlier films.[198]

Recording sessions for The Force Awakens began in June 2015 at the Sony Pictures Studios' Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage in Culver City, with William Ross conducting most of the music.[199] The first day of recording was June 1, 2015.[200] Williams attended the sessions and conducted the remainder of the recordings in Los Angeles.[201]

The score was recorded in 12 sessions within a five-month period between June and mid-November. The 90-piece orchestra recorded 175 minutes of music; however, Abrams reedited the film, which discarded, modified, or rerecorded the score's part for nearly an hour. Williams' theme for Snoke was recorded by a 24-voice men's chorus.[202] Gustavo Dudamel conducted the opening and end title music for the film at Williams' behest.[203] Recording of the score was completed on November 14, 2015.[204] The film's soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on December 18, 2015.[205] Williams' score is more than two hours long.[197]

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Abrams contributed music to the film's cantina scene. Abrams met Miranda at a performance of his Broadway musical Hamilton, where Miranda jokingly offered to compose cantina music, should it be needed. Unknown to Miranda, Williams had previously told Abrams that he did not want to compose the music for that scene, wanting to focus on the orchestral score. Abrams then contacted Miranda, and the two collaborated on the music for the scene over a period of two months.[206]
Marketing
Promotion

Disney backed The Force Awakens with extensive marketing campaigns.[207][208] Deadline Hollywood estimated the media value was $175 million;[209] its costs alongside home media revenues had later risen to $423 million by The Guardian.[210] On November 28, 2014, Lucasfilm released an 88-second teaser trailer. It was screened in selected cinemas across the United States and Canada and in theaters worldwide in December 2014. It was also released on YouTube and the iTunes Store,[211] generating 58.2 million views on YouTube in its first week.[212] Critics compared the brief footage favorably to the production values of the original trilogy. The Hollywood Reporter called the trailer "perfectly potent nostalgia", praising its mix of old and new.[213] Empire was impressed by the continuity with the first films—"the feel of classic Star Wars"—but noted the absence of Hamill, Ford, and Fisher and speculated about the significance of the new characters.[214] The Guardian wrote that the use of the Star Wars fanfare by John Williams reinforced brand loyalty among fans.[215]
Large-scale outdoor advertising for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the city center of Nuremberg, Germany

On December 11, 2014, Abrams and Kennedy released a series of eight mock Topps trading cards revealing the names of several characters.[216] On April 16, 2015, a second teaser trailer, this one lasting two minutes, was shown at the opening panel at the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said the reaction to the trailer was "staggering [...] the entire room of almost eight thousand people just leapt to their feet and roared, I mean I can't think of anything I've ever been to—other than a rock concert—that felt quite like that".[217] The trailer was viewed over 88 million times within the first 24 hours of release.[218] The trailer shows many of the new characters and the first footage of Chewbacca and Han Solo. The Huffington Post's Graham Milne wrote that the trailer "was an affirmation of something that we'd long been told was never going to happen. This was a gift. This was faith rewarded. About damn time."[219]

Vanity Fair was the first magazine to release an exclusive cover issue devoted to The Force Awakens. The magazine, released on May 7, 2015, featured exclusive interviews and photos of the cast photographed by Annie Leibovitz.[220] At the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International, in addition to a panel with many of the actors, a behind-the-scenes look at the film demonstrated the film's use of practical sets and effects. It was positively received, with Nigel M. Smith of The Guardian writing: "The featurette's angle is a strong one and connects with fans of the original trilogy in an incredibly poignant way. It also does a sly job of teasing Fisher's new look as Leia and Simon Pegg's mysterious involvement as a rumored alien in the movie, without actually showing the actors in action." Smith compared the marketing strategy for the film to that of a previous Abrams film, Super 8, saying "the promos [...] are notable for what they tease, not what they give away."[221]

Walt Disney Studios and Lucasfilm presented a look at The Force Awakens at Disney's D23 Expo in August 2015.[222] Drew Struzan—who designed the poster artwork for the previous Star Wars films—produced a commemorative poster given to the event's attendees.[223] In October 2015, Lucasfilm unveiled the theatrical release poster and a third trailer. The poster omitted Luke Skywalker and revealed a Death Star-like "orb".[224] The trailer debuted during the halftime break of Monday Night Football, before being released online.[225] The reaction to the trailer by fans on social media was "frenzied", with Lizo Mzimba of the BBC writing that "perhaps the most significant thing about the final trailer before the film's release is how little of the story it reveals."[226] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph felt the trailer was "a perfect blend of old and new, in keeping with the old-fashioned Star Wars aesthetic".[227] The trailer received 128 million views in 24 hours. 16 million of the views came from its airing on Monday Night Football.[228] At the end of October, Air France announced a "Flight and Cinema" package, providing customers who book select flights to Paris transportation to a theater to see the film, since France was one of the first countries to release the film.[229] On November 23, a partnership with Google was announced, in which Google users could choose to affiliate themselves with either the Dark or Light Side, which would change the appearance of their Google websites. Additionally, Disney teamed up with Verizon to create a virtual-reality experience for Google Cardboard.[230]

On December 17, 2015, select theaters across the United States and Canada aired a Star Wars marathon, airing the six previous Star Wars episode films in 2D, followed by The Force Awakens in 3D. Attendees received a special lanyard featuring exclusive marathon art.[231]
Tie-in literature and merchandise

Disney Publishing Worldwide and Lucasfilm announced a series of at least 20 books and comics, "Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens", which were released by multiple publishers starting in late 2015, prior to the film's premiere. The series includes books by Del Rey and Disney-Lucasfilm publishers and comic books from Marvel Comics. All titles under the program are canonical to the Star Wars universe.[232] Alan Dean Foster wrote a novelization of The Force Awakens which was released in e-book form on December 18.[233] In an effort to avoid revealing plot details before the film's release, the print release of the novelization was delayed until January 2016.[233] Marvel Comics published a six-issue comic book adaptation of The Force Awakens between June and November 2016.[234]

Disney Consumer Products and Lucasfilm announced that September 4, 2015 would be deemed "Force Friday" and would be the official launch of all the merchandise for The Force Awakens. Beginning at 12:01 am, fans could buy toys, books, clothing and various other products at Disney Stores and other retailers throughout the world.[235] Disney and Maker Studios hosted an 18-hour live-streaming presentation on YouTube, showcasing multiple merchandise products beginning on September 3, 2015.[236][237] Among these products were a remote-controlled BB-8 developed by Sphero.[184] Sphero had participated in a Disney-run startup accelerator in July 2014, where they were invited into a private meeting with Disney CEO Bob Iger, in which they were shown on-set photos and imagery of BB-8 before its public unveiling.[238][239] Many retailers, such as Toys "R" Us, were unable to meet demand for Star Wars products due to the event.[240]
Video games

The Force Awakens is the first Star Wars film to not have a direct tie-in game to accompany it.[241] Instead, select characters, scenes and/or locations from the film became part of other Star Wars video games: Characters from the film were added to an update to the mobile game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, available for iOS and Android and released by Electronic Arts;[242] free downloadable content for Electronic Arts' Star Wars Battlefront reboot allowed players to battle on the planet Jakku;[243] an update to the mobile game Star Wars Commander, released by Disney Mobile for iOS, Android and the Windows Store, allowed players to battle on the planet Takodana during the Galactic Civil War era;[244] and a condensed version of the film's plot becomes an add-on "playset" in the toys-to-life game Disney Infinity 3.0, with Finn, Rey, Poe Dameron, and Kylo Ren as playable characters.[245] Eventually, the film got a full Lego video game adaptation, titled Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was released by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on June 28, 2016.[246]
Release
Theatrical
The premiere tent, with the film's poster above

Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiered in Los Angeles at the TCL Chinese Theatre, El Capitan Theatre, and Dolby Theatre on December 14, 2015.[247] A white tent stretched along Hollywood Boulevard from Orange Drive to Highland Avenue, covering the "massive" premiere event that hosted more than five thousand guests.[248] The film was originally scheduled for a mid-2015 release, but in November 2013, it was pushed back to December 18, 2015.[249] It was also released in 3D and IMAX 3D formats.[250]

In the United States and Canada, it had the widest release of December across 4,134 theaters,[251] of which 3,300 were 3D locations, a record 392 IMAX screens (13 of which were 70mm), 451 premium large format screens, 146 D-Box locations,[252][253] as well as releasing in the Dolby Vision format (high-dynamic range, Rec. 2020 color) in Dolby Cinema.[254] Worldwide, it was released across 940 IMAX theaters, a new record.[253] On December 18, 2015, the film began playing on every IMAX screen in the United States and Canada for four straight weeks up to January 14, 2016. This made it the first film since Warner Bros.' The Hobbit trilogy to receive such a release.[255] The film finally shed some of its IMAX screens with the release of The Revenant (2015) and The Finest Hours (2016) in mid-January 2016.[256]

Advance ticket sales for the film began on October 19, 2015,[257] and were in strong demand, resulting in online movie ticket sites crashing.[258][259] Vue Cinemas, the United Kingdom's third-largest theater chain, sold 45,000 tickets in 24 hours, 10,000 of which were sold in 90 minutes, a record for the theater.[260] In the United States, the film pre-sold a record-breaking $6.5 million worth of IMAX ticket sales on a single day. IMAX has never previously registered more than $1 million in pre-sales on a single day.[261] In total, it sold over $50 million in pre-sales, breaking the record.[262][263] This number was raised to $100 million including $50–60 million in advance ticket sales by December 14.[263][264] However, not all tickets that were pre-sold were for the film's opening weekend, with Fandango President Paul Yanover saying "people have set aside tickets for screenings in January, weeks after the big opening [...] We have people buying Star Wars [The Force Awakens] into 2016. It's not just an opening-weekend phenomenon."[262] Similarly, the film broke pre-sales records in the UK,[265] Canada,[266] and Germany.[267]

The Force Awakens is the first live-action Star Wars film not to be released theatrically by 20th Century Fox; accordingly the film is not introduced with either that company's logo, or its signature fanfare composed by Alfred Newman.[268] Instead, the film is the first in the series to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures,[5] and the film is presented with only Lucasfilm's production logo shown silently before the main titles.[269] Disney chairman Bob Iger explained that the decision not to place Disney branding on the film was "for the fans".[270]

A poster from mainland China was criticized for being racist due to shrinking the size of the Black character Finn compared to non-Chinese posters.[271][272][273]
Home media

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released Star Wars: The Force Awakens through digital download and Disney Movies Anywhere on April 1, 2016, and on Blu-ray and DVD on April 5. Physical copies include behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, interviews,[274] and additional footage with eight bonus features.[275] In its first week, The Force Awakens sold 669,318 DVDs and 3.4 million Blu-rays as the most sold film on both formats in the United States.[276] That same week, The Force Awakens topped the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks overall disc sales, as well as the dedicated Blu-ray sales chart with 83% of unit sales coming from Blu-ray.[277] Overall, The Force Awakens sold 2.1 million DVDs and 5.9 million Blu-rays, adding them up to get a total of 8 million copies, and made $191 million through home media releases.[276]

A Blu-ray 3D "collector's edition" of the film was released on November 15, including all the features of the original home releases, as well as several new bonus features, including new deleted scenes and audio commentary by director J. J. Abrams.[278] The package includes a Blu-ray 3D, regular Blu-ray, DVD, and digital copy of the film, as well as an additional Blu-ray disc for the bonus features.[278] In 2020, a 27-disc Skywalker Saga box set was released, containing the nine films in the series, with each film on three discs, a Blu-ray version, a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, and special features found on the 2011 release for the first six episodic films.[279]
Broadcast syndication

The premium cable network Starz had U.S. broadcast syndication rights for The Force Awakens in January 2016,[280] just before the end of Starz's output deal covering most Disney films through 2015.[281] That September, The Force Awakens began broadcasting on all Starz networks.[282]
Reception
Box office
Main article: List of box office records set by Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens grossed $936.7 million in the United States and Canada and $1.132 billion in other countries for a worldwide total of $2.068 billion,[5] making it the highest-grossing film of 2015[283] and the third highest-grossing film of all time.[284] Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold close to 110 million tickets in the United States and Canada.[285] The Force Awakens earned 8.6% of the total 2015 releases in the United States and Canada, second only to the 8.8% of the box office earned by Titanic in 1997.[286] It was the 24th film in cinematic history to gross $1 billion worldwide, standing as the fastest film to surpass the mark at the time, doing so in 12 days.[287] It was also the third film in history to surpass $2 billion worldwide, doing so on its 53rd day of release.[288] Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $780.1 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it first on their list of 2015's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".[164]
Commercial analysis

Analysts said that the box office receipts of the film, when compared to predecessors, must be adjusted for inflation, and that the first Star Wars film made more when this adjustment is made.[289] It has further been observed that each of the first three films in the series was more profitable in calculating revenue against production costs.[289]

While The Force Awakens was very successful in the United States and Canada, the same success was not witnessed in many overseas individual markets such as India, other certain parts of Asia and Latin America. This was attributed to it being "a retro film" and how overseas audiences do not have the same nostalgia or affinity for the film as those in North America.[290][291][292] The Star Wars franchise has traditionally lacked resonance with filmgoers in China, and marketing for The Force Awakens heavily focused on appealing to that market.[291][293]

Nancy Tartaglione of Deadline Hollywood argued that, if accounting for its 40/60 domestic to international split, The Force Awakens did well overseas.[292] While the film had special effects, analysts felt that it lacked the novelty factor; they also stated that its gross was stilted due to markets making way for new films sooner than was previously done.[291] Dergarabedian stated, "No matter what, [The Force Awakens] is an absolute, all-out blockbuster without peer in terms of the sheer speed at which it has crossed all of these major box-office milestones."[290] Moreover, Mike Fleming Jr. of Deadline Hollywood argued that the movie was the "most valuable movie" of the year, with "the net profit to Disney was an astounding $780.11M, and the Cash on Cash Return was twice that of any other film [released in 2016], at 2.00".[294]
United States and Canada

In the United States and Canada, The Force Awakens was released on December 18, 2015. It made a record-breaking $57 million from Thursday night previews,[b] of which IMAX screenings generated a record-breaking $5.7 million from 391 screens.[298] On its opening day, the film grossed $119.1 million, marking the biggest single- and opening-day record[299] and the first time a film has earned more than $100 million in a single day.[300] Without Thursday-night grosses, the film earned the second-largest opening-day gross[301] and a record of $247.9 million for its opening weekend.[276] The debut was 19% bigger than the previous record holders The Avengers (2012) ($207 million) and Jurassic World (2015) ($208 million).[302] The opening weekend figure included an IMAX opening-weekend record of $30.1 million (12.65%) from 391 IMAX theaters,[303][304] which nearly amounts to the $252.5 million total earned by Return of the Jedi—the second-lowest-grossing film in the series—in its original run.[305] 2D screenings accounted for 53% of the total opening gross while 3D accounted for 47%. RealD 3D comprised $78 million of the opening gross, setting a new record.[303] At that time, the film had the biggest December opening weekend, breaking the previous record held by The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012).[306] It would hold this record until it was surpassed by Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) six years later.[307] Revenues in the film's second weekend decreased by only 39.8% in the United States and Canada, earning $149.2 million, to remain in first place at the box office[308] and recording the biggest second weekend of all time.[309]

On January 2, after just 16 days of release, it became the second film (following Avatar) to gross over $700 million in the United States and Canada,[310] and on January 6 became the highest-grossing film of all time domestically, doing so in 20 days.[311] On January 9, it became the first film in cinematic history to cross $800 million domestically unadjusted for inflation.[312] On February 5, The Force Awakens became the first film to earn over $900 million, unadjusted for inflation, in the United States and Canada.[313][314] The film fell outside of the top ten for the first time in its eleventh weekend during the weekend February 26–28, 2016,[315][316] and did not achieve $1 million in ticket sales for the first time in its fourteenth weekend.[317]
Other territories

Internationally, the film was released in over 30,000 screens.[318] It opened on December 16, 2015, in 12 international markets and earned $14.1 million on its opening day, debuting at first place in all of them.[319] It expanded in an additional 42 countries on December 17, generating $58.6 million for a two-day international total of $72.7 million, reaching first place in all 44 markets.[320] It grossed a total of $129.5 million in three days after adding $56.8 million on its third day,[320] and set a new midnight record in the United Kingdom with $3.6 million.[321] It broke opening-day records in the United Kingdom ($14.4 million), Germany ($7.1 million), Australia ($6.8 million),[298] Sweden ($1.7 million), Norway ($1.1 million),[319] and in 12 other countries.[321] Other markets which generated large opening days were Spain ($3.5 million) and Japan ($3 million).[320] After the five days, The Force Awakens had a total international opening gross of $281 million from 30,000 screens, a new record for December opening[318][322] and the third-biggest international opening of all time.[323] International markets generating opening-weekend tallies of at least $10 million were the United Kingdom ($50.6 million), Germany ($27.5 million), France ($22.5 million), Australia ($19.6 million), Japan ($13.4 million), and Russia ($12.3 million). The film had the biggest opening of all time in 18 countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Russia, and Sweden.[318][324]

After five days, the film had a total worldwide opening record of $529 million from 74 territories, which was the biggest worldwide opening at that time, making it only the second time in cinematic history—after Jurassic World—that a film had opened to more than $500 million globally.[322][325] This included an IMAX opening record of $48 million.[325] Revenues from IMAX dipped slightly, generating $19 million in its second weekend, for a record total of over $70 million in 11 days.[326] IMAX generated $17.9 million from 276 IMAX theaters.[304] The film had a steeper decline in its second weekend, falling 51% to $136.9 million.[327] The film had an unsuccessful opening in India where it opened third against two local blockbusters with a mere $1.51 million.[328] As of February 2016, the highest-grossing markets outside of the United States and Canada were the United Kingdom ($180.7 million), China ($124.5 million), Germany ($109.7 million), Japan ($92.6 million), and France ($88.2 million).[329] On January 17, 2016, it passed the $1 billion mark overseas becoming the first film of Disney, the third film of 2015 and the fifth film overall to achieve this feat.[330] It topped the international box office chart for five consecutive weekends, becoming the first film since Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) to have five straight wins, before being dethroned by The Revenant in its sixth weekend.[331] In Japan, it topped the box office for six straight weekends.[331]
Critical response

Star Wars: The Force Awakens received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics.[332] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 447 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's consensus reads, "Packed with action and populated by both familiar faces and fresh blood, The Force Awakens successfully recalls the series' former glory while injecting it with renewed energy".[6] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 80 out of 100, based on 55 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[333] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale; women, and people under the ages of 25 and 18 gave it an "A+", while 98% of audiences gave it either an "A" or a "B". Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film an 88% "definite recommend" while 96% said it met or exceeded their expectations.[334]

Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph said the film "sets out to shake Star Wars from its slumber, and reconnect the series with its much-pined-for past", and "it achieves this both immediately and joyously is perhaps the single greatest relief of the movie-going year."[335] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said that it was "both a narrative progression from the earlier three films and a shrewdly affectionate next-gen reboot", and it was "ridiculous and melodramatic and sentimental, but exciting and brimming with energy and its own kind of generosity."[336] Variety's Justin Chang wrote that the film has "sufficient style, momentum, love, and care to prove irresistible to any who have ever considered themselves fans."[337] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times described it as "a beautiful, thrilling, joyous, surprising, and heart-thumping adventure".[338] Ann Hornaday, writing for The Washington Post, thought the film had "enough novelty to create yet another cohort of die-hard fans", and the film struck "all the right chords, emotional, and narrative, to feel both familiar and exhilaratingly new."[339] The Charlotte Observer's Lawrence Toppman said Abrams had "pulled off a delicate balancing act, paying clever homage to the past."[340] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film his highest rating and called it "the best Star Wars sequel yet and one of the best films of 2015".[341] Frank Pallotta, reviewing the film for CNN Business, found it was the best Star Wars film since the original trilogy and that it "is bound to be a film experience long remembered by fans and non-fans alike".[342]

Tom Long of The Detroit News wrote that though some may find the film too similar to the original Star Wars, it leaves "the ungainly and unneeded clumsiness of the subsequent prequels far behind", with "the energy, humor, and simplicity of direction [has] been recaptured".[343] The Tribune-Star called it "basically the same" as the original film but "isn't that what we all wanted anyway?"[344] Stephanie Zacharek of Time wrote that Abrams had delivered "everything we expect, as opposed to those nebulous wonders we didn't know we wanted".[345] Reviewing for Forbes, Scott Mendelson cited the film's "top-tier production values and a strong sense of scale and scope", but felt it was so much "an exercise in fan service [that] it is only due to the charisma and talent of our newbies and J. J. Abrams' undeniable skill as a visual storyteller that the Mad Libs narrative doesn't outright destroy the picture."[346] Brian Merchant of Motherboard said that the film "is supposed to be all about exploring the unexplored, not rehashing the well-trod", and that "one of the most unabashedly creative enterprises of the 20th century has been rendered another largely enjoyable, but mostly forgettable Hollywood reboot."[347] RogerEbert.com's Gerardo Valero said the movie "plagiarized" A New Hope and resorting to nostalgia. He felt that it "didn't [justify] a return to the universe" from not having an original story of its own to tell in the plot, characters, and musical score, negatively comparing it to George Lucas' prequel trilogy, and that some of its climactic moments felt unearned.[348]
From Star Wars filmmakers

In an interview with journalist Charlie Rose that aired on December 24, 2015, Lucas likened his decision to sell Lucasfilm to Disney to a "divorce" and outlined the creative differences between him and the producers of The Force Awakens. Lucas described the previous Star Wars films as his "children" and criticized the "retro feel" of The Force Awakens, saying: "I worked very hard to make [my films] completely different, with different planets, with different spaceships—you know, to make it new." Lucas also likened Disney to "white slavers", which drew some criticism; he subsequently apologized.[349][350] In a 2019 memoir, Disney chairman Bob Iger said that George Lucas "couldn't even hide his disappointment" towards J. J. Abrams' interpretation. According to Iger, Lucas said, "there's nothing new" after seeing the film, and that "there weren't enough visual or technical leaps forward".[351][352] Lucas preferred Rian Johnson's sequel The Last Jedi and the anthology film Rogue One (2016).[353][354]

In 2016, when directly confronted about Lucas' complaints of The Force Awakens being too derivative of previous films, Abrams said, "What was important for me was introducing brand new characters using relationships that were embracing the history that we know to tell a story that is new – to go backwards to go forwards".[355][c] In 2019, Abrams apologized for how he handled Chewbacca and Leia's meeting after Han Solo's death, noting that Han Solo's best friend and widow ignore each other, with Leia instead hugging Rey (whom Leia is meeting for the first time).[357] Johnson's sequel included Leia hugging Chewbacca at the end of The Last Jedi as a way to apologize for the previous film's oversight.[358][359] After being confronted about The Force Awakens, Abrams further apologized about it, saying he "wished it would have been Lucas' favorite movie", and that he was "grateful for Lucas", while understanding his complaints about the film being highly derivative of A New Hope. Abrams also said the scene of Starkiller Base destroying a solar system would have had a similar emotional impact to the Death Star destroying planet Alderaan in the original film, had he not chosen to delete scenes of a character who Leia interacted with, prior to the deleted character dying on one of the exploding planets.[360]

Johnson's initial response to the script of The Force Awakens included the suggestion of minor adjustments to the ending. According to Abrams, these improved the movie and made it line up more with The Last Jedi. Abrams intended for BB-8 to help Rey search for Luke, which Johnson changed to R2-D2 (due to being Luke's droid, as well as BB-8 belonging to Poe and not knowing Luke).[361][362] Additionally, Abrams' ending featured Rey finding Luke lifting rocks with the Force, which was changed due to Johnson's plot of Luke having disconnected himself from the Force.[363] In 2019, in another response to the criticisms towards The Force Awakens, Abrams stated that Rian Johnson advised him "not to just do something that you've seen before." In the same interview, Abrams said that he liked Snoke's death in the sequel. He also said that Johnson's boldness of The Last Jedi, mainly in his choice of Snoke's death, inspired him to be more original when returning for The Rise of Skywalker.[364] Abrams also has affirmed his dedication not to retroactively release alternate versions of the films, saying, "I feel like [when] you're done with a thing, ... that's what it is."[365]
Accolades
Main article: List of accolades received by Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Several awards held their nominations before the December release of The Force Awakens, making the film ineligible for the 73rd Golden Globe Awards and some other awards ceremonies.[366] However, the film was added to the 21st Critics' Choice Awards' slate of best picture nominees after a special vote by the board of directors,[367] and the announcement of the 2015 American Film Institute Awards was delayed until after the release of The Force Awakens,[366] where it was named one of Top Ten Films of the year.[368]

At the 88th Academy Awards, The Force Awakens received nominations for Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects.[369] The film's other nominations include four British Academy Film Awards (winning one) and a Critics' Choice Movie Award.[370][371]
Sequels
Main articles: Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

The Force Awakens was followed by The Last Jedi in 2017.[372] The film's plot follows the Resistance escaping from the First Order.[373] Like the previous film, The Last Jedi was a financial success and fared well with critics.[374]

A sequel to The Last Jedi was released in 2019, titled The Rise of Skywalker.[375] As the conclusion to the Skywalker narrative,[376] it focuses on the Resistance assault on the Final Order, a reorganized First Order.[373] Critics' reactions to The Rise of Skywalker were mixed." (wikipedia.)

"The First Order is a fictional military movement and rump state[1] in the Star Wars franchise, introduced in the 2015 film The Force Awakens. Formed following the fall of the Galactic Empire after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983), the First Order seeks to destroy the New Republic and rule the galaxy as an autocratic military dictatorship. It is the central antagonistic faction of the sequel trilogy. Aside from the films, the First Order appears in various related Star Wars media.

In The Force Awakens, the First Order is commanded by Supreme Leader Snoke and is fought by the Resistance. Snoke's apprentice, Kylo Ren, is the master of the Knights of Ren, a group of elite warriors who work with the First Order. In the 2017 sequel The Last Jedi, Ren kills Snoke and becomes the new Supreme Leader. In the 2019 film The Rise of Skywalker, the First Order allies with the Sith Eternal, a cult led by the Sith Lord, Emperor Palpatine, who is revealed to have been secretly controlling the First Order via his puppet ruler, Snoke, prior to the latter being usurped by Ren....

Depiction
Origins

According to Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary (2015) and the novel Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy by Chuck Wendig, after the Galactic Empire was defeated in Return of the Jedi at the climactic Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, thousands of worlds rose up to join the Rebel Alliance and destroy the disorganized Empire, which fell victim to warlordism. The Alliance formally reorganized itself as the New Republic, and retook the Core Worlds, including the galactic capital Coruscant. One year after Endor, the remaining Imperial fleet made a final, massive attempt at a counter-offensive which came to a climax at the planet Jakku, the biggest battle in the war since Endor. The Imperial counter-offensive was decisively defeated. The remaining Imperial forces were pushed back to a handful of sectors on the fringe of the Outer Rim, containing only a small fraction of the galaxy's population and industrial base. These sectors were a heavily fortified final redoubt, and the New Republic deemed that they posed too small a threat to justify the high cost in life that liberating them would require. The New Republic forced the Empire to settle for the Galactic Concordance, a humiliating armistice agreement which imposed strict disarmament plans and punishing reparations on the remaining Imperials.[5][6][7] The Aftermath trilogy establishes Imperial Admiral Rae Sloane, introduced as a captain in John Jackson Miller's 2014 novel A New Dawn,[8] as well as Commandant Brendol Hux as the de facto founders of the First Order, with Sloane, after achieving the rank of Grand Admiral, coining the term "First Order" as she establishes the reborn empire that will eventually take that name.[9][10] She is additionally inferred as a future mentor figure for General Hux, who appears as a child in Empire's End.[9]

Over time, elements of the Imperial Remnant reorganized themselves, becoming a firmly entrenched and isolationist hermit kingdom, which spent the next three decades instigating a "cold war" against the New Republic, gradually rebuilding its military strength and secretly re-arming in violation of its armistice agreements. The vestigial Empire secretly expanded from its original few sectors (in the galactic north), aggressively pushing into the Unknown Regions (the unexplored swaths of territory in the galactic west) to seize new undeveloped worlds in order to supplement their resource base, as well as build new shipyards and industrial infrastructure far from the eyes of the New Republic.

The 2016 novel Star Wars: Bloodline explained how this faction officially reorganized into the "First Order", and that this final transition only occurred about six years before The Force Awakens. By that time, the New Republic Senate had become divided into two parties: the Populists led by Leia Organa, who wanted to decentralize authority, and the Centrists, who wanted power to remain concentrated in a strong central government. Many of the Centrists were former Imperials who admired the old Empire for bringing order to the galaxy, and who feared that without strong central control the New Republic would become as weak and ineffectual as the Old Republic. Ultimately, many Centrist worlds seceded from the New Republic to reunite with the holdout Imperial remnants on the fringe of the galaxy, and formally combined into a new government called "the First Order". First Order conspirators publicly revealed that Leia was in fact the daughter of Darth Vader, severely harming her political standing among the remaining Populists.[11]

The vast majority of the New Republic's worlds remained intact, but with the exodus of the Centrists its Senate became dominated by the remaining Populists, who favored decentralization and demilitarization, not confrontation. Even after these events, most in the remaining Senate were happy to see the Centrists go, feeling that the new First Order still controlled far too few sectors of the galaxy to ever pose a serious threat to galactic peace. In their view, it was easier to just let the Centrist worlds peacefully leave of their own volition and rejoin the Imperial worlds rather than fight a war to keep them by force.

The new "First Order" came to be ruled by the mysterious Force-wielder known as Supreme Leader Snoke, who was secretly created by the resurrected Emperor Palpatine to control the First Order after purging its previous leadership.[4] Through Snoke, Palpatine seduced Leia's own son Ben Solo to the dark side of the Force, who renamed himself "Kylo Ren".[4] On his turn to the dark side, Ben/Kylo slaughtered most of his uncle Luke Skywalker's other Jedi apprentices (with the rest joining him) and destroyed his new academy. Blaming himself, Luke fled into self-imposed exile to search for the ancient first Jedi Temple. Kylo Ren, meanwhile, took on a position as Snoke's right hand within the First Order's military.

With her political standing severely weakened, and the New Republic Senate gridlocked and unwilling to recognize the First Order's military buildup, Leia Organa decides to withdraw and form her own small private army, known as the Resistance, to fight the First Order within its own borders. She is joined by other members of the former Rebel Alliance such as Admiral Ackbar. Publicly the New Republic continues to disavow direct association with the Resistance to maintain plausible deniability, and though the majority of the Senate does not want to intervene against the First Order, several Senators privately channel funds and resources to the Resistance. This state of affairs continued on for the next six years until the events of The Force Awakens.[5][6] Comic book writer Charles Soule, creator of the 2015 Marvel Comics series Star Wars: Poe Dameron, explained that immediately prior to the events of The Force Awakens, "The New Republic and the First Order are in a position of detente, and while there have been a few small skirmishes between the Resistance and the First Order, it's very much a sort of cold war."[12]
Military

The First Order's handful of sectors simply do not possess the galaxy-wide resources the old Empire used to be able to draw upon, and in addition the armistice treaties with the New Republic put strict limitations on how many ships it could physically build. Therefore, unlike the old Galactic Empire's swarm tactics, the First Order's military has had to adapt to a more "quality over quantity" philosophy, making efficient use of what few resources it has. Culturally, the Galactic Empire's Sith-influenced philosophies have been incorporated and streamlined. Its military is built upon "survival of the fittest"; if one soldier cannot fulfill their duty and dies serving the First Order, then so be it. The Order can only become stronger by culling the weak from their ranks.[13]

A major plot point in The Last Jedi is that the First Order has developed new "hyperspace tracking" technology, allowing them to continue to chase enemy vessels through hyperspace from one jump to the next (until one or the other runs out of fuel). This technology was first mentioned in passing in Rogue One as another research project the Empire was starting to develop almost forty years before. However, it appears that such technology existed at the time of A New Hope, as Darth Vader was able to track the Tantive IV from Scarif to Tatooine even through hyperspace.
Starfleet
Main articles: Star Destroyer and TIE fighter

Star Destroyers

The First Order lacked the resources to build and crew thousands of Star Destroyers. While its fleet is a fraction of the size of the Imperial fleet at its height, on a one-for-one basis its new ships are much more powerful. In addition, they boast thirty years' worth of advances in military technologies compared to the old Empire. As a result, the First Order now deploys starships such as the new Resurgent-class Star Destroyer, nearly twice as large as the old Imperial-class Star Destroyer which it replaced as the mainstay of the First Order fleet. With a naval doctrine that accepted the renewed importance of starfighters within their overall strategy, the Resurgent-class adopted the carrier-centric designs of the Galactic Republic's Venator-class Star Destroyer.

TIE pilot corps

The First Order's TIE fighters, designated TIE/fo, are more advanced than the old Empire's TIE/ln model, and show greater concern for unit stamina and survivability. The First Order's Special Forces use a more heavily armed two-man TIE/sf variant. Visually, their color scheme is reversed from the old Imperial design: the Empire's TIE fighters have black solar panels on a light grey metal body frame, while the First Order TIE fighters have white solar panels on a dark metal frame.[5]

The Last Jedi also introduces a new starfighter element to the First Order fleet, the TIE silencer superiority fighter. Much as TIE interceptors were the next generation fighter starting to phase out the original Imperial TIE fighters, TIE silencers are a next-generation fighter given only to the most elite units. Visually they somewhat resemble a cross between a TIE interceptor and Darth Vader's TIE Advanced x1 prototype, being wider and more elongated, while boasting heavier weapons and shields to be able to face X-wings head-on. Their technical designation is "TIE/vn" (because in earlier drafts, the ship was called "TIE vendetta"). Kylo Ren pilots his own personal TIE silencer in The Last Jedi, which he uses to assault the Resistance ship, the MC85 Star Cruiser Raddus.

In The Rise of Skywalker, another new TIE is introduced, the TIE whisper. This fighter is similar to the TIE silencer but has a spherical hull more in line with typical TIE lines. Kylo Ren uses the TIE whisper as his personal craft in The Rise of Skywalker, using two ships in his pursuit of both Palpatine and Rey; both ships used are destroyed by Rey.

Troop Transports

For space to surface delivery, the First Order is also seen deploying several standard troop transports. Elite units and high value command personnel such as Kylo Ren use the Upsilon-class command shuttle, a stylistic evolution of the old Imperial Lambda-class T-4a shuttle (but without the third fin on top, and now sporting large wings that retract upon themselves on landing).

Dreadnoughts

The Last Jedi introduces several more ships of the First Order. Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnoughts are larger but rarer than Resurgent-class Star Destroyers, used as orbital bombardment platforms which can functionally wipe out entire planets' population centers (albeit through conventional weapons, just short of being considered superweapons). Dwarfing even these other vessels are Supreme Leader Snoke's personal flagship and mobile capital, the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy: a wing-shaped vessel wider than it is long, the size of a small country. The Supremacy measures 60 kilometers at its greatest width—equal to about 18 Resurgent-class Star Destroyers lined up end to end.
Ground forces
Main article: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

The First Order employs a quality-over-quantity philosophy with its soldiers and personnel. Unable to conscript quadrillions of soldiers to fill its stormtrooper ranks yet unwilling to invest huge resources in breeding a rapidly produced clone army, First Order stormtroopers are kidnapped from their home worlds and trained from birth, raised their entire lives for no other purpose. First Order soldiers and crews have constantly trained for combat in war games and simulations, making them much more effective one-on-one than the endless waves of stormtrooper conscripts fielded by the old Empire. First Order stormtroopers are regularly put through mental indoctrination and propaganda programs, to make sure that they remain fanatically loyal and never hesitate or question orders. Soldiers are not even given individual names for themselves but merely serial numbers, such as "FN-2187".[5]

First Order stormtroopers are formally deployed in squads of ten, with the tenth spot reserved for a heavy weapons specialist as the needs of the mission require: usually a heavy gunner, but sometimes also flamethrower troops, or riot troops equipped with energy batons (which are incidentally capable of blocking a lightsaber).[5] The design of the armor of regular and heavy gunner stormtroopers bears significant resemblances to the design used by the Galactic Empire, such as the helmet visor, nasal filters, and overall shape. However, the filter was extended, among other practical features. According to First Order officer Captain Phasma, not even a Wookiee could crush the said armor. Some stormtroopers held high ranks—a significant improvement from the one-rank system of the Empire. These were indicated by the color of shoulder pauldrons: white for squad leaders, black for sergeants, and red for officers. In the rare instance of a stormtrooper earning the rank of captain, they often earned a blaster proof cape. Occasionally, they modify their outfit even further—Captain Phasma made blaster proof chrome copies of all her equipment and greatly improved vision modes of her helmet's visor. Captain Cardinal, the bodyguard of a First Order founding father, received almost all-red armor from his superior as a sign of trust. Introduced in The Rise of Skywalker, a new variant of troopers was introduced in the form of jet troopers, equipped with G125 projectile launchers and jet packs.

The First Order also fields its own evolution of the old AT-series of armored transports, the AT-M6, used as a heavy siege weapon. Dwarfing the older AT-AT, the AT-M6 has numerous design improvements including heavy serrated cable-cutters mounted on its legs—to avoid being tripped up again like AT-ATs were at the Battle of Hoth. These cutters are positioned in such a way that the AT-M6 walks on its "knuckles" instead of the pads of its feet, which—combined with a heavy siege cannon which gives it a hunched-over appearance—gives the AT-M6 an almost gorilla-like profile compared to the more elephant-like AT-AT.
Depictions in film
The Force Awakens (2015)

In the film, the First Order is led by a mysterious figure named Snoke, who has assumed the title of Supreme Leader.[7] Like the Empire before them, the Order commands a vast force of stormtroopers.[14][15] The First Order uses regular and Special Forces versions of the Empire's venerable TIE fighter.[16] Its primary base of operations is Starkiller Base,[17] a mobile ice planet which converted into a superweapon capable of destroying entire star systems across the galaxy by firing through hyperspace.[14] The base commander of Starkiller is General Hux, a ruthless young officer dedicated to the First Order.[18]

Snoke is a powerful figure in the dark side of the Force and has corrupted Ben, the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa who had been an apprentice to his uncle, the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Masked and using the name Kylo Ren, he is one of Snoke's enforcers, much like his grandfather Darth Vader had been the enforcer of Emperor Palpatine during the days of the Empire decades earlier. Kylo is the master of the Knights of Ren, a mysterious group of elite warriors who work with the First Order.[19][20] Kylo and Hux are rivals for Snoke's approval,[21] and the third member of the "commanding triumvirate" of the First Order is the formidable Captain Phasma, the commander of the stormtroopers.[22]

Kylo is searching for Luke, who vanished some years earlier. Snoke believes that as long as Luke lives, a new generation of Jedi Knights can rise again. The First Order launches a preemptive strike on Hosnian Prime, the New Republic's current capital world (as well as Hosnian Prime's Sun and the other planets in the 'Hosnian system' (Hosnian Prime's solar system), as well as the New Republic starships there), by demonstrating the Starkiller's firepower. This devastating first strike takes the New Republic completely by surprise, not only killing most of its leadership in the Galactic Senate but wiping out a substantial portion of the New Republic's core military fleets. This paves the way for a resulting Blitzkrieg of the rest of the galaxy by the First Order, using the disproportionately powerful military it has rebuilt over the past three decades.

Kylo fails to retrieve the map fragment that would lead him to Luke, and the Resistance manages to destroy Starkiller Base moments before it is able to fire on the Resistance base on D'Qar, though Kylo and General Hux are able to escape the explosion, as well as Captain Phasma offscreen.
The Last Jedi (2017)

At the start of The Last Jedi, the First Order's fleet attacks the Resistance base on the planet D'Qar. Poe Dameron rashly leads an assault against a Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought – one of only a handful of heavy orbital bombardment platforms in the First Order fleet – and manages to destroy it, but at the cost of the entire bomber wing of the Resistance. Kylo Ren leads an assault in his TIE silencer, destroying several Resistance fighters. First Order TIEs destroy the Resistance carrier ship, wiping out the Resistance leadership. General Leia survives but is incapacitated. Vice Admiral Holdo assumes control of the Resistance fleet while Leia recovers.

The First Order tracks the small Resistance fleet via a hyperspace jump using new "hyperspace tracking" technology. Running low on fuel, the remaining Resistance fleet is pursued by the First Order. This devolves into a siege-like battle of attrition, as one by one the smaller Resistance ships run out of fuel and are destroyed by the pursuing First Order fleet. Finn and a Resistance mechanic, Rose, embark on a mission to disable the First Order's tracking device in the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy.

Meanwhile, Kylo Ren kills Snoke, replacing him as Supreme Leader of the First Order. Poe Dameron stages a mutiny against Holdo, believing her inept and without a plan. Holdo reveals, however, that she didn't trust Poe with her plan due to his reckless assault on the dreadnought. The plan is for the Resistance to flee in cloaked shuttles to an old Rebel Alliance base on the planet Crait, while Holdo remains on the Resistance command ship, the MC85 Star Cruiser Raddus. The First Order discover the ruse, however, destroying most of the shuttlecraft. Finn and Rose locate the tracking device but are captured by Captain Phasma. Holdo sacrifices herself by directing the Raddus to lightspeed jump directly into the Mega-Destroyer, destroying much of the First Order fleet in the process. Finn manages to kill Captain Phasma and escape with Rose to Crait.

The First Order blast the door of the Rebel base with miniaturized Death Star technology. Leia sends out transmissions to allies "in the Outer Rim" requesting for aid, but they inexplicably do not appear. Just as the First Order breaches the base, Luke Skywalker appears to challenge them. A full barrage by their artillery has no effect on Luke, so Kylo Ren descends to duel him in person. Ren realizes that Luke is a Force projection; while Ren is distracted, the surviving Resistance escape the planet.[23]
The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

The Rise of Skywalker takes place a year after The Last Jedi. The First Order is now led by Supreme Leader Kylo Ren after Snoke's death. Allegiant General Pryde, who served Palpatine in the Empire,[24] has now joined General Hux at the top of the military hierarchy. Kylo Ren discovers a physically impaired[25] Palpatine in exile on the Sith world Exegol. Palpatine reveals he created Snoke as a puppet to control the First Order and has built the Sith Eternal's fleet of Xyston-class Star Destroyers, the Final Order. In a bid to form a new Sith Empire, Palpatine promises Kylo control over the fleet on the condition that he find and kill Rey, who is revealed to be Palpatine's granddaughter.[26]

Kylo begins to scour the galaxy for Rey. The Resistance acquires information on Palpatine's location and embarks on a quest to find Exegol. Hux is revealed to have been a spy inside the First Order, due to his contempt for Kylo Ren. He is found out by Pryde and executed for treason. Rey confronts Kylo Ren on Kef Bir at the wreckage of the second Death Star. She impales Kylo after he is distracted by Leia calling out to him through the Force. Rey heals Kylo and flees. Afterward, Kylo sees a vision of his father, Han Solo, through a memory. This causes Kylo to abandon the dark side and reclaim his identity as Ben Solo. Palpatine orders Pryde to send a Sith Star Destroyer to obliterate Kijimi as a show of force and tells him to come to Exegol, effectively making Pryde de facto leader of the First Order and a commanding officer of the Sith fleet.

After encouragement from the spirit of Luke Skywalker, Rey uses his old T-65B X-wing, Red Five, to travel to Exegol and leads the Resistance there too. Finn and Poe engage the Sith Eternal forces while Rey confronts Palpatine. Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca arrive with reinforcements from across the galaxy, and they destroy the remaining Sith forces. With help from Ben and the spirits of past Jedi, Rey finally destroys Palpatine.[26] The galaxy rises up against the First Order, ultimately destroying it." (wikipedia.)

"Stormtrooper are soldiers in the fictional Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. Introduced in Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), the stormtroopers are the shock troops/space marines of the autocratic Galactic Empire, under the leadership of Emperor Palpatine and his commanders, most notably Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin, during the original film trilogy (1977–1983). The prequel trilogy (1999–2005) establishes their origin as the Galactic Republic's clone troopers, clones of the bounty hunter Jango Fett, used by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to "win" the Clone Wars and later to take over the government and exterminate the Jedi. Despite this, later stormtroopers are established as recruits; at the time of the original trilogy, only a few stormtroopers are clones, with the only known legion to still contain a significant number of clones being the 501st Legion, aka "Vader's Fist". In the sequel trilogy (2015–2019), the First Order employs stormtroopers under the leadership of Supreme Leader Snoke and his commanders, most notably Kylo Ren, General Hux, and Captain Phasma.

The order of battle of the Stormtrooper Corps is unspecified in the Star Wars universe. Accompanying the Imperial Navy, stormtroopers are able to be deployed swiftly and respond to states of civil unrest or insurrection, act as a planetary garrison, and police areas within the Galactic Empire. They are shown in collective groups of varying organizational sizes ranging from squads to legions and for some, their armor and training are modified for special operations and environments....

Development

Stormtroopers' designs were intended to look "terrifying, but also supercool, super clean", with the helmets being "very stylized skulls".[1] In early drafts of Star Wars and Ralph McQuarrie's concept designs, stormtroopers were to wield lightsabers and hand-held shields as common weapons not limited to the Jedi or Sith. George Lucas, when composing background information in 1977, stated that females did exist in the Stormtrooper Corps, although there were few stationed on the Death Star. He suggested that there were numerous in other units.[2][3]
Performers

While stormtrooper performers like Michael Leader (Episode IV),[4] Laurie Goode (Episode IV),[4] Peter Diamond (Episode IV-VI), Stephen Bayley (Episode IV), and Bill Weston (Episode IV) have generally been uncredited in the film series,[citation needed] there have been a few exceptions.

In Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005), the clone troopers, which serve as the basis of what would become the Empire's stormtrooper force, were computer-generated images and voiced by Temuera Morrison, who played the bounty hunter Jango Fett, the template of the clone army.[5] The child clone troopers were played by Daniel Logan, who also played Jango's clone son Boba Fett, and the clone troopers as young men were played by Bodie Taylor, who was cast for his resemblance to a younger Morrison. In Revenge of the Sith, Morrison also played Commander Cody, the only named clone trooper who is seen unmasked in the prequel trilogy.

In The Force Awakens (2015), John Boyega stars as Finn, the former Stormtrooper FN-2187 who defects from the First Order and joins the Resistance,[6] and Gwendoline Christie portrays Captain Phasma, commander of the First Order's stormtroopers.[7] Daniel Craig has a small uncredited role as a stormtrooper whom Rey compels using the Jedi mind trick to let her escape from captivity,[8][9] and director J. J. Abrams also cast Alias and Lost composer Michael Giacchino as FN-3181, and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich as FN-9330.[8] A riot control stormtrooper who calls Finn a traitor during the battle on Takodana, portrayed by stunt performer Liang Yang and voiced by sound editor David Acord, is identified as FN-2199 "Nines" in the anthology book Star Wars: Before the Awakening (2015) by Greg Rucka.[10][11] The trooper, armed with a "Z6 baton" and dubbed "TR-8R" by fans, quickly inspired multiple memes and fan art.[10][12][13] Actor/director Kevin Smith also voiced a stormtrooper in the Takodana sequence.[14]

In Star Wars Rebels, different voice actors have provided the voices of the stormtroopers, including David Acord, Dee Bradley Baker, Steven Blum, Clancy Brown, Robin Atkin Downes, Greg Ellis, Dave Fennoy, Dave Filoni, Tom Kane, Andrew Kishino, Phil LaMarr, Liam O'Brien, Freddie Prinze, Jr., André Sogliuzzo, Stephen Stanton, Greg Weisman, Gary Anthony Williams, and Matthew Wood.[15]

In Ralph Breaks the Internet, the stormtroopers in the "Oh My Disney" website are voiced by Jesse Averna, Kevin Deters, Jeremy Milton, and Rich Moore.[16]

Jason Sudeikis and Adam Pally play scout troopers in "Chapter 8: Redemption", the 2019 first-season finale episode of The Mandalorian.[17]
Background
Skywalker saga

Introduced in Star Wars (1977), the Imperial stormtroopers serve as the army of the Galactic Empire, establishing Imperial authority and putting down any revolts.

In the prequel film Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), the first clone troopers are cloned from bounty hunter Jango Fett, to be the Army of the Republic in the Clone Wars.[5] In Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), Chancellor Palpatine orders them to slay their Jedi generals in the Great Jedi Purge.[18] After the change in regimes from the Galactic Republic to the Galactic Empire, the clone troopers who had served the Republic became the first generation of stormtroopers, enforcing the Emperor's will as military units, and law enforcement, policing the Emperor's ever increasingly oppressive laws.[19]

The Imperial Stormtrooper Corps swell in size after Palpatine almost completely replaces the clones with recruits and conscripts of the Empire,[20] though the replacement of clones with natural beings lowered the effectiveness of the Empire's soldiers. With the Empire firmly stabilized and an Imperial Army and Navy established, the stormtroopers are integrated into Palpatine's personal army and stationed on Imperial bases and cruisers, as well as on the Death Star.

As established in The Force Awakens (2015), after Palpatine's death, stormtroopers continue to serve under the factions that broke apart from the Empire. With redesigned armor, they eventually serve under the leadership of the First Order.[21] In the First Order, an undisclosed number of stormtroopers are abducted as young children, given serial numbers for names and mentally conditioned for loyal service.[22] Stormtrooper FN-2187, later known as Finn, plans his escape when his resistance to this conditioning puts him in line to be reprogrammed.[22] Additionally, Rey's goggles were based on scavenged stormtrooper lenses.[23]
Other appearances

The streaming series The Mandalorian, which is set after the fall of the Empire, portrays stormtroopers as freelance mercenaries in the service of Moff Gideon, a former officer of the Imperial Security Bureau.[24]

Star Wars Legends media such as games and comics feature a number of specialized stormtrooper units. The Marvel-produced comics of the late 1970s and early 1980s featured Shadow Troopers. Other specialists have included commandos and troopers equipped to work in the vacuum of outer space, such as the zero gravity Spacetroopers depicted engaging in extra vehicular battle in the 1991 novel Star Wars: Heir to the Empire, and its 1995 Dark Horse Comics adaptation.

A distinct variant known as "Shadowtroopers" appear in Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, wearing black armour that incorporates a lightsaber-resistant mineral called cortosis. As a project of the Dark Jedi named Desann aligned with a Remnant of the Empire, the Shadowtroopers themselves had been immersed in a Force nexus on Ruusan, temporarily empowering them with Force sensitivity. This armour has a green synthetic gem set into the breastplate which sustained the otherwise temporary effect of their Force empowerment and combines with their abilities to render them near-invisible, with only a faint area of blue discoloration giving them away. In conjunction with their Force-granted telekinesis, reflexes, and agility, the Shadowtroopers are armed and trained in the use of mass-produced red lightsabers. Their combination of abilities allow them to lie in wait and ambush the enemy, representing formidable opponents even for trained Jedi, most often the game's Jedi protagonist, Kyle Katarn. Shadow stormtroopers appear in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and wear exactly the same type of Phase III armor[clarification needed] as normal stormtroopers but not white in color, but rather a mixture of silver, grey and red detailing. These troopers also possess the invisible feature and use this tactic to ambush their enemies, but only if stormtrooper officers call out for support.

In Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, Speedo-clad and stormtrooper-helmet-wearing "Beach Troopers" appear relaxing at the beach. In Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, they also wear life jackets.
Description
Evolution of clone trooper & stormtrooper armour, illustrated by cosplayers. Left to right:

    Modern Mandalorian (Jango Fett)
    Phase I clone trooper (RC-1140 "Fixer")
    Phase II clone trooper (Commander Gree)
    Imperial stormtrooper
    First Order stormtrooper

Cosplay of Imperial stormtrooper at the Helsinki Exhibition & Convention Centre in September 2018
Cosplay of First Order stormtrooper

According to Star Wars lore, Imperial stormtroopers are men and women who have been recruited (or conscripted) at a young age to serve as expendable foot soldiers of the Empire, gradually replacing clone troopers as their accelerated aging forces them to retire. These recruits are trained at Imperial Academies spread out across the galaxy where they undergo intense conditioning that instills fierce loyalty, strict discipline and ruthless efficiency while removing any sense of individualism or empathy. As the backbone of the Imperial Army, stormtroopers are dreaded for their brutality, carrying out atrocities in the name of Emperor Palpatine, and their fanaticism, engaging the enemy with no regard to casualties. Inevitably, some use their position for personal gain against a civilian population too terrified to resist.[25][26] However, inconsistencies in academy standards led to stormtroopers of varying combat skill and ability compared to the superior clone troopers,[27] which, among other things, can be seen in the stormtroopers' mainly variable, sometimes even weak, ability to hit the target in firefights.[28][29] After subduing any remaining Separatist holdouts left over from the Clone Wars, stormtroopers primarily serve as an internal security and peacekeeping force until the Galactic Civil War where they start to engage the Rebel Alliance in large-scale battles.[25][26]

Unable to conscript millions of soldiers to fill its stormtrooper ranks, yet unwilling to switch back to using rapidly produced clone troopers, First Order stormtroopers are bred, trained and indoctrinated from birth, raised their entire lives for no other purpose. First Order soldiers and crews have constantly trained for combat in war games and simulations, making them much more effective one-on-one than the endless waves of stormtrooper conscripts fielded by the Galactic Empire. First Order stormtroopers are regularly put through mental indoctrination and propaganda programs, to make sure that they remain fanatically loyal and never hesitate or question orders. Being taken from their families at birth, these soldiers are not even given individual names for themselves but merely serial numbers, such as "FN-2187".[30]
Equipment

Standard Imperial stormtrooper armor is white and has a utility belt and helmet.
Vehicles
Main articles: List of Star Wars air, aquatic, and ground vehicles; List of Star Wars spacecraft; and List of Star Wars starfighters
Weapons
Main article: List of Star Wars weapons

The standard firearm for Imperial stormtroopers is the BlasTech E-11 blaster rifle, described in Star Wars sources as combining excellent range and firepower in a compact and rugged design. Features include a telescopic range-finding sight, accessory mounting rail, power setting adjuster, three-point folding stock, magnatomic adhesive pistol grip, and advanced cooling system. Plasma cartridges provide enough gas for 500 shots, though a standard power cell which energizes the gas to produce blaster bolts will last for approximately 100 shots.[26][31] In addition to the E-11, stormtroopers employ a variety of different weapons as seen in the Star Wars films and other media. Examples include thermal detonators, sniper rifles, crew-served heavy repeating blasters, and mortars.[26][31][32]

Both firing and non-firing prop models of the E-11 were based on the Mk 4 Sterling submachine gun, with approximately 20 models built for the first Star Wars movie A New Hope. External modifications to the Sterlings to transform them into blaster rifles varied based on the parts available but most were similar in design. This included an American Mk38 azimuth tank scope and a Hengstler industrial counter box affixed to the top and left side of the receiver respectively. The Sterling would continue to serve as the basis for or inspire other blaster rifle designs in the rest of the Star Wars films.[33]

Background literature explains how the First Order's stormtroopers were armed in secret by the Sonn-Blas Corporation, a subsidiary of BlasTech Industries and Merr-Sonn Munitions created to circumvent the New Republic's disarmament treaties. Building on classic design templates, they are meant to possess greater battlefield accuracy, ammunition yields and operational lifespans. Examples include the F-11D blaster rifle, SE-44C blaster pistol, and FWMB-10 repeating blaster cannon. For subduing civilian populations, First Order stormtroopers will also carry ballistic riot shields and riot control batons.[27][34]
Armor

As established in the original Star Wars trilogy of films, the troopers' most distinctive equipment is their white battle armor, which completely encases the body and typically has no individually distinguishing markings. According to in-universe reference material, this armor was developed and manufactured by the Imperial Department of Military Research, and consists of 18 white plastoid armor plates magnatomically attached to a black body glove. These plates are generally impervious to most projectile weapons and blast shrapnel, and will protect against glancing hits by other blaster rifles though a direct hit will penetrate. The armor also provides protection against inhospitable environments, including the vacuum of space for a short period of time. Their helmets are fitted with filtration systems for polluted environments, with hookups for incorporating an external atmospheric tank while operating in space or to filter potent toxins. The helmets also include built-in communication system and multi-frequency targeting and acquisition system linked to in-lens displays that provide tactical information, protection from excessive brightness, and vision modes for seeing through smoke, fire and darkness.[26][31]

Based on conceptual drawings by Ralph McQuarrie, Liz Moore and Nick Pemberton sculpted designs for the helmet, Brian Muir sculpted armor pieces for the stormtrooper costume. Muir, who was also responsible for sculpting the Darth Vader costume, worked out of the Art Department at Elstree Studios. The suit was molded and initially cast in plaster, with Muir sharpening the detail at the plaster stage. The plaster casts were then remolded and cast in fiberglass to use as the "tools" for the vacuum forming process. The suits were produced in house by Tashy Baines, the resident vacuum former, but then a problem developed with the machine. As Shepperton Design Studios had already been used to vacuum form the helmets, the fiberglass molds for the armor were then sent to them for vacuum forming the suits. By the end of production, two different helmets were produced; one for the common stunt trooper and a second design for close-ups. Fifty stunt helmets were produced in white-painted HDPE and six hero helmets were produced in white ABS plastic. Besides the material used, the two designs can be differentiated by differences in the eyes, the ears, and the mouth area.[citation needed]

The copyright status of the armor design has undergone legal challenges.[35] A 2004 lawsuit by Lucasfilm against one of the original prop designers, Andrew Ainsworth, who had been selling helmet replicas, confirmed the design to be under copyright in the US.[35] However, a 2011 UK court decision in Ainsworth's favor deemed the costume to be industrial design, which is protected there only for 15 years.[35] This puts the armor design in the public domain in the UK, and likely throughout the European Union.[35]

To differentiate the First Order stormtroopers from their earlier Imperial counterparts, the helmet and armor were redesigned for the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens by costume designer Michael Kaplan with input from director J. J. Abrams.[36] Within the Star Wars setting, this armor is described as being an improvement over the previous iteration, including better joint design for greater flexibility, stronger betaplast armor plating, and upgraded helmet communication and targeting systems.[26][31]
501st Legion
Further information: Clone trooper § 501st Legion

The 501st Legion Elite Stormtrooper Unit, or "Vader's Fist", is a stormtrooper unit from the Star Wars movies and Star Wars Legends continuity. Commanded by the ruthlessly cunning General Maximilian Veers and composed of the best trained soldiers in the Star Wars galaxy, the legion earned a fierce reputation for completing missions considered unwinnable or suicidal. The 501st serves as Darth Vader's personal death squadron, whom he leads in the Jedi extermination. The 501st spearhead the assault upon the Tantive IV consular ship, and capture Princess Leia. During the Battle of Hoth, the 501st is instrumental in the destruction of the Rebel Alliance base, and nearly succeeds in capturing the Millennium Falcon. Most of the background story linked to the 501st comes from Star Wars novels, the games Star Wars: Battlefront II and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed,[37] and the TV show Star Wars: The Clone Wars.[citation needed]

The elite 501st designation is resurrected by Grand Admiral Thrawn, who in the Thrawn trilogy is charged with the defense of the "Empire of the Hand" Imperial Remnant forces. Thrawn's 501st is composed of aliens and humans.

The Legion's name is based on a fan organization of the same name; their inclusion in the official continuity was based on the worldwide organization's dedication to Star Wars fandom.[38]
Specialists

Within the Star Wars franchise, several types of "military occupation specialist" stormtrooper units are seen. These include:
Imperial variants

    Sandtroopers are first seen on the desert world of Tatooine during Star Wars (1977). They are trained to serve in arid environments and their armor is equipped with cooling units, anti-glare lenses, extra rations, and water supplies. Sandtroopers can be distinguished by their colored pauldrons which indicate rank: black for enlisted, white for sergeants, and orange for unit leaders.[39][40] Sandtroopers that ride Dewbacks are known as Dewback riders.
    Snowtroopers, also known as cold weather assault stormtroopers, are first seen during the battle of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Their armor is insulated against cold weather and modified with polarized snow goggles, a heated breather mask, insulated belt cape and ice boots. Battery packs can keep their systems powered for up to two weeks, while additional cold-weather gear is carried including grappling hooks, ion flares and homing beacons.[39][41]

Cosplay of scout trooper

    Scout Troopers are first seen on Endor in Return of the Jedi (1983). They are trained in advanced reconnaissance and with an unusual degree of independence so they can serve as scouts and snipers far from Imperial support. Their armor is lighter than standard stormtrooper suits, with protection only covering the upper body and head, while their helmets incorporate a boosted communication system and enhanced macrobinocular viewplate for spotting targets at long range. On Endor, scout troopers piloted swift 74-Z speeder bikes to patrol the area around the Death Star II's shield generator.[39][42]
    Shock Troopers are an upgraded variant of the Clone Shock Troopers, the red-armored clone troopers, who first appeared in Revenge of the Sith (2005). They patrol government facilities and serve as bodyguards for Emperor Palpatine and those closest to him.[43]
    Death Troopers are elite soldiers of Imperial Intelligence who make their first appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016). Undergoing rigorous training and receiving top-secret augmentations which boost their performance beyond human limitations, death troopers are assigned to defend VIPs such as Director Orson Krennic, Grand Admiral Thrawn and Moff Gideon, and take part in operations involving stealth and espionage.[44][45] Their black, classified armor monitors biofeedback implants in their bodies and can stimulate sensory organs for increased performance, features targeting systems far superior to standard stormtrooper versions, and is sprayed with a polymer called "reflec" that warps electromagnetic waves to defeat enemy sensors. The in-universe origin for their name is that it was specially chosen by Emperor Palpatine to play on rumors of an Imperial project to reanimate dead tissue.[39][46][47] The Star Wars novel Death Troopers, part of the non-canon Legends continuity, revolves around the outbreak of a zombie virus aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer.
    Shoretroopers, also known as coastal defender stormtroopers, are introduced in Rogue One, where they are seen patrolling the beaches and bunkers of Scarif. They are described as uncommon stormtrooper specialists trained for combat in coastal environments on tropical worlds. Their armor is flexible and lightweight, designed to withstand corrosive aquatic environments and repel excess moisture, and can be modified to operate underwater. Shoretroopers are generally of sergeant rank or higher and command squads of other stormtroopers during instances of seaside combat.[39][48][49] Shoretroopers returned in "Chapter 15: The Believer" of The Mandalorian, in which they serve in an Imperial remnant stationed at a mining facility on Morak.[50][51]
    Combat assault tank pilots and commanders, also known as tank troopers, operate the Empire's arsenal of armored repulsorlift vehicles, from troop transports to heavily armored hovertanks. Combat drivers are lightly armored, relying instead on the thick skin of their vehicles to protect them in battle. The commander stays in contact with his crew and with headquarters to keep updated on changing combat conditions.[52] This type of troopers were introduced in the 2016 Han Solo comic book series and made their on-screen debut in Rogue One.
    Patrol Troopers are enforcement-based stormtroopers, commonly found in large cities with particular strategic importance where they take the place of local security forces. The urban counterpart to scout troopers, they ride speeder bikes much like them. Patrol troopers are first seen in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), where one such trooper briefly pursues Han Solo and Qi'ra on Corellia.[53]
    Swamp Troopers, also known informally as mudtroopers, are Imperial Army troopers assigned to fight on swampy, war-torn worlds. Army troopers are regular infantry who fight alongside stormtroopers; many were members of planetary forces before being conscripted into Imperial service. Mudtroopers wear water-resistant clothing, partial armor with respirator masks, and polarized goggles. Swamp troopers are first seen on the planet Mimban in Solo, with Han Solo having been one such trooper during his service for the Empire.[54]
    Wet-weather gear stormtroopers, also known as Mimban stormtroopers (for those stationed on Mimban), are trained to serve in swampy environments. Their armor is that of a standard stormtrooper but heavily customized to allow for optimal operation in the areas where they are dispatched. They can be distinguished by their grey, muddy armor, and waterproof capes. This type of stormtroopers is featured in Solo.
    Range Troopers are first seen on Vandor in Solo. Considered to be one of the toughest branches of the Imperial Army, this type of troopers are selected from the ranks of the most skilled Imperial soldiers and usually assigned to protect valuable cargo, but sometimes can also be deployed to combat zones. Range troopers are outfitted with snowtrooper-like armor, including heavy fur-lined armor for protection against cold environments, and magnetic boots.[55][56] In Solo, a group of range troopers guard a cargo train transporting coaxium which is raided by Tobias Beckett, Han Solo and Chewbacca.[44][56]
    Jumptroopers, also known as rocket troopers, are outfitted with jetpacks. They are trained to act in unison, often swarming and overwhelming their targets.[57] There are multiple variants of jumptroopers, such as the Arctic Jumptrooper, deployed in cold environments, the Desert Jumptrooper, deployed in arid environments, and the Forest Jumptrooper, deployed in forested areas. Jumptroopers are featured in various Star Wars media, both Legends and canon, with varying designs.
    Dark Troopers have made various appearances in Star Wars Legends material, often with varying designs. They are commonly depicted as dark-armored cybernetically enhanced humans, or in some variations droids, and are used in small numbers by the Empire. Dark Troopers were reintroduced in the current Star Wars canon through the mobile game Star Wars: Commander (2015), and made their live-action debut in the second season of The Mandalorian (2020).
    Shadow Troopers, also known as black hole troopers, are elite special-ops troopers featured mostly in Star Wars Legends material. Assigned to the Empire's mysterious Shadow Guard, one of their most prominent appearances is in the video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, where they have shiny, reflective black armor that allows them to become invisible. Shadow Troopers returned in Star Wars Battlefront, which reintroduced them in the Star Wars canon.
    Purge Troopers are a specialized class of stormtroopers trained and equipped to assist Darth Vader and his Imperial Inquisitors in hunting down surviving Jedi and other Force-sensitive beings who threaten the Empire.[58][59] Many Purge Troopers are former clone troopers. They appear in the comic series Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith (2018) and the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019).[45][59][60] Purge troopers appear also in the 4th and 5th episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022).
    Lava Troopers are an elite class of stormtroopers stationed at Fortress Vader on Mustafar. They are outfitted with heat-resistant black armor. Lava Troopers are featured in the comic book series Tales from Vader's Castle.
    Forest Troopers are trained to serve in forested environments. They are distinguished by their camouflaged armor. Forest Troopers have featured in the novel Aftermath: Life Debt.
    Seatroopers specialize in underwater operations. They are outfitted with breathing tubes attached to a scuba backpack and underwater propulsion jets. Seatroopers were originally introduced in Star Wars Legends in Marvel Comics' Star Wars comic book series, before being later reintroduced in the current Star Wars canon.
    Spacetroopers are stormtroopers trained to operate in Zero-G environments. They resemble the standard stormtroopers, but are outfitted with a rebreather pack to survive the harsh conditions of space. Two spacetroopers can be seen outside the Death Star in Star Wars (1977). They have since made appearances in a few other pieces of Star Wars media. In Star Wars Legends material, a different variation of space troopers with a bulkier appearance called Zero-G assault stormtroopers, are featured.
    Flametroopers specialize in the use of flamethrowers. They have appeared in various Star Wars media, with varying designs.
    Incinerator Troopers are outfitted with flamethrowers and heat-resistant armor. They are distinguished by their red pauldrons and the red markings on their armor. They are likely an improved variant of the flametroopers. An Incinerator trooper is seen in the season one finale of The Mandalorian (2019).
    Artillery Stormtroopers, also known as mortar stormtroopers, are outfitted with mortars and heavy armor. They are distinguished by their yellow pauldrons and the yellow markings on their armor, similar to the markings of the Incinerator Troopers. A Mortar Stormtrooper is seen in "Chapter 14: The Tragedy" of The Mandalorian.
    Special Commando Advanced Recon Troopers, or SCAR troopers, are an elite class of stormtroopers in the Imperial Special Forces division. Most of these stormtroopers are unique in terms of armor design, equipment, and specialization, and are deployed in small groups by the Empire, to complete tasks that require their talents. One notable SCAR trooper squad is Task Force 99, featured in the 2016 Star Wars comic book series.
    Elite Squad Troopers are specially selected soldiers from across the galaxy after the Clone Wars to allow the Empire to not be entirely reliant on clones.[61] They are first seen in Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021), which features a particular Elite Squad of recruited soldiers led by former Bad Batch member Crosshair.[62][63]
    Storm Commandos, also known as shadow scouts, are elite stormtroopers, trained to perform tasks that regular troopers are incapable of accomplishing. They operate in small groups and are outfitted with silver scout trooper armor to make them less visible to the enemy. Storm commandos are featured in various Star Wars Legends material, and were reintroduced in the current Star Wars canon through the mobile game Star Wars: Galactic Defense.
    Heavy Troopers are an elite class of stormtroopers that specialize in melee combat. They carry electrostaffs and are outfitted with special combat armor. Heavy Troopers are featured in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and were reintroduced in the current Star Wars canon through Star Wars: Galactic Defense.
    Riot control stormtroopers specialize in melee combat. They are outfitted with batons and sometimes a shield. Most riot control stormtroopers are used as a security force tasked with the dispersion and arrest of insurgents taking part in disruptive activities. A different variation appears in the Legends game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, where they are outfitted with electro staffs and sport unique armor rather than standard stormtrooper armor.
    Rocket stormtroopers are stormtroopers outfitted with rocket launchers. They are usually tasked with destroying armored vehicles or buildings. Rocket stormtroopers have appeared in several Star Wars games.
    Demolition Troopers are stormtroopers that specialize in the use of explosive weapons, such as smart rockets. They are featured in the video games Star Wars: Battlefront (2015) and Star Wars: Battlefront II (2017).
    Heavy Weapons Stormtroopers, also known as heavy assault stormtroopers, heavy troopers, or heavy gunners, are stormtroopers that specialize in the use of large rapid-fire blasters. Heavy troopers have appeared in various Star Wars media, with varying designs.
    Stormtrooper snipers are outfitted with sniper rifles. They can be distinguished by their visor and blue pauldron. A variant of the stormtrooper sniper, known as Imperial sharpshooters, appears in Star Wars: Commander; this type of sharpshooters are drawn from the ranks of elite scout troopers and outfitted with E-11s sniper rifles and a grey variant of the scout trooper armor.
    Magma Troopers are stormtroopers used by the Empire to crush revolts on volcanic mining worlds, such as Sullust and Mustafar. They are outfitted with heat-resistant armor and a respirator connected to a backpack via a tube to protect them from volcanic ash and gasses. They can be distinguished by their black pauldrons (colored for the officers) and extra armor on their legs. Magma troopers first appeared in Star Wars: Battlefront (2015).

First Order variants

    Flametroopers are first seen during the attack on the Tuanul village on Jakku in The Force Awakens (2015). Often deployed alongside standard First Order infantry, these specialized units flush out entrenched enemies with roaring sheets of flame from their flamethrowers. They wear backpack-style propellant tanks, special helmets with slit-like lenses that reduce glare, and temperature-control body gloves beneath their armor.[64]
    Megablaster heavy assault troopers, more commonly known as heavy troopers, are introduced in The Force Awakens. They carry large FWMB-10 repeating blasters and web gear loaded with extra ammunition.
    Riot Control Troopers are first seen during the battle of Takodana in The Force Awakens. While they resemble the standard First Order stormtroopers, these specialized units excel in riot control and are outfitted with non-lethal betaplast shields and Z6 batons.[11][65] One such trooper, FN-2199, calls Finn a traitor and fights him with a baton in the aforementioned battle before being killed by Han Solo.[10][12]
    Snowtroopers are first seen on Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens. They wear specialized armor and gear that let them operate effectively in icy conditions. Snowtroopers carry a backpack-style personal environment unit and wear insulated helmets with glare-reducing slit lenses, gloves, a kama, and a heat-resistant body glove beneath an oversuit of wind-resistant fabric. Snowtrooper teams scouted the planet that once housed Starkiller Base, eliminating native life forms that posed a potential threat.[66]
    Executioner Troopers, introduced in The Last Jedi (2017), are a branch of military police specialists specifically founded to dispense final justice toward stormtroopers who are found guilty of treason. They are outfitted with BL-155 Laser axes used for execution and are distinguished by the black markings on their armor.[67] In The Last Jedi, a pair of executioner troopers attempt to execute Finn and Rose Tico.[68]
    Jet Troopers are first seen on Pasaana in The Rise of Skywalker (2019). They are equipped with agile rocket packs that they use to soar into battle.[69] Jet troopers specialize in aerial and space operations.
    Treadspeeder drivers are seen on Pasaana in The Rise of Skywalker. Reminiscent of the Imperial scout troopers, they are outfitted with lighter armor and specialize in riding speeder bikes; in this case, the 125-Z treadspeeder bike, from which they take their name.[70]
    Electropod troopers are featured in The Rise of Skywalker. They are outfitted with electrical staffs called "electropods", but are otherwise identical to the standard First Order stormtroopers. They are primarily used to guard prisoners.
    Raiders, featured in Star Wars Resistance, are an elite variant of First Order stormtroopers that specialize in hunting, especially relic hunting. They are mainly used by Supreme Leader Kylo Ren in his search for Sith relics.[71]
    SCUBA troopers, featured in Star Wars Resistance, specialize in underwater operations. They are outfitted with underwater blasters, flippers, and a breathing apparatus.[72]
    Tech stormtroopers, featured in Star Wars Resistance, specialize in extracting, decrypting, and analyzing data from droid memory cores or other sources.[73]
    Walker Drivers are stormtroopers trained to operate the First Order's walker vehicles, including the All-Terrain Armoured Transport, All-Terrain MegaCalibre Six, and All-Terrain Heavy Hauler. They wear armour akin to that of the regular First Order stormtrooper or snowtrooper, with a grey jumpsuit and grey marking on their helmets.

Sith Eternal variants

    Sith Troopers are introduced in The Rise of Skywalker. Loyal only to the Sith Eternal, the resurrected Emperor Palpatine's secret Sith cult, these elite stormtroopers make up most of the Sith Eternal's military. As the next evolution of stormtroopers, Sith Troopers were raised by the Sith Eternal on Exegol to be the perfect soldiers, and outfitted with highly impact-resistant armor and better equipment than the First Order stormtroopers. They are distinguished by their bright red armor, which feature a slightly more textured pattern, although the overall design is reminiscent of past clone troopers.[1] Sith Troopers draw their power and inspiration from the ancient Sith Order, with their armor's color meant to be reminiscent of the Sith's red lightsaber and strike fear into the hearts of their enemies.
    Sith Trooper Officers are trained to command squads of Sith Troopers. Their armor is outfitted with advanced sensor technology.
    Sith Jet Troopers are outfitted with jet packs. They closely resemble the First Order jet troopers, but are outfitted with red armor like the standard Sith Troopers.
    Sovereign Protectors serve as the resurrected Emperor Palpatine's elite bodyguards on Exegol. Outfitted with red armor and full-body capes, they are reminiscent of the old Emperor's Royal Guard, but carry two-pronged blaster rifles instead of force pikes. Within Star Wars Legends material, Sovereign Protectors are the most elite variant of Imperial Guards.

Cultural impact
See also: Cultural impact of Star Wars

Stormtroopers have become cultural icons, and a widely recognized element of the Star Wars franchise.[74] In 2015, an Imperial stormtrooper helmet from The Empire Strikes Back that was expected to sell at auction for $92,000[75] sold for $120,000.[76] In 2019, a team of biologists named a new genus of Colombian spiders, Stormtropis, after the stormtroopers,[77] noting the spiders, like the fictional soldiers, are "very similar to each other, with some capacity for camouflage but with unskillful movements".[78] Stormtroopers also appear as cosmetic outfits in Fortnite." (wikipedia.)

"George Lucas's science fiction multi-film Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on modern popular culture. Star Wars references are deeply embedded in popular culture;[1] references to the main characters and themes of Star Wars are casually made in many English-speaking countries with the assumption that others will understand the reference. Darth Vader has become an iconic villain, while characters such as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 have all become widely recognized characters around the world. Phrases such as "evil empire", "May the Force be with you", Jedi mind trick and "I am your father" have become part of the popular lexicon.[2] The first Star Wars film in 1977 was a cultural unifier,[3] enjoyed by a wide spectrum of people.[4]

Many efforts produced in the science fiction genre (particularly in filming) can now be seen to draw heavy influence and inspiration from the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the magnitude of sequels, spin-offs, series, games, and texts that it spawned. Sounds, visuals, and even the iconic score of the films have become integral components in American society. The film helped launch the science fiction boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s, making science fiction films a blockbuster genre.[5] This impact also made it a prime target for parody works and homages, with popular examples including Spaceballs, Family Guy's "Blue Harvest" special, Seth Green's "Robot Chicken: Star Wars", Steve Oedekerk's "Thumb Wars", and Lucas's self-proclaimed favorite parody, Hardware Wars by Ernie Fosselius....

Arts
Filmmaking history
Financial impact on Fox

20th Century Fox optioned Star Wars. When it unexpectedly became the decade's blockbuster, grossing $100 million in three months, Fox's stock soared from $6 to $25 per share and generated revenues of $1.2 million a day for the studio. Fox purchased the Aspen skiing and Pebble Beach golf corporations with the increased cash flow and still declared excess profits in 1977. Income from Star Wars re-releases, sequels, and merchandising enriched the studio in the following decades. Star Wars helped Fox to change from an almost bankrupt production company to a thriving media conglomerate.[5]
Impact on filmmaking
Main article: Star Wars sources and analogues

Star Wars fundamentally changed the aesthetics and narratives of Hollywood films,[6] switching the focus of Hollywood-made films from deep, meaningful stories based on dramatic conflict, themes and irony to sprawling special-effects-laden blockbusters, as well as changing the Hollywood film industry in fundamental ways. Before Star Wars, special effects in films had not appreciably advanced since the 1950s.[6] Star Wars was also important in the movement towards the use of computer-generated imagery in films.[2] The commercial success of Star Wars created a boom in state-of-the-art special effects in the late 1970s. There was increased investment in special effects. Companies like Industrial Light & Magic and Digital Productions were created to provide them. The 1977 Star Wars pioneered the genre pastiche, where several classic film genres are combined in one film. In Star Wars, the genres were science fiction, the Western, the war film, and the quasi-mystical epic.[5] Along with Jaws, Star Wars started the tradition of the summer blockbuster film in the entertainment industry, where films open on many screens at the same time and profitable franchises are important.[2][4] It created the model for the major film trilogy and showed that merchandising rights on a film could generate more money than the film itself.[3]

Another impact Star Wars made on film making was its use of the "Monomyth" or Hero's journey" found in Joseph Campbell's book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. While George Lucas wrote through 4 drafts of the film, between the first and second drafts, he read Joseph Campbell's book titled The Hero with a Thousand Faces. He was surprised to find that his first draft followed many of its principles.[7] This epic structure at the deepest roots of the films was a major factor in its success. Many future films successfully adopted the monomyth, such as The Matrix trilogy, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and The Hobbit trilogy to name a few.[8]

The plot of a second-season episode of The CW television series Legends of Tomorrow (2017), entitled "Raiders of the Lost Art", centered on the impact of George Lucas's films on the titular heroes.
Lucasfilm-produced mockumentaries

    Return of the Ewok (1982): a 24-minute fictional mockumentary, focusing on the decision of Warwick Davis to become an actor and act as Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi.[9]
    R2-D2: Beneath the Dome (2002): a 20-minute mockumentary, focusing on the "true" story of R2-D2's life. It was made as a side-project by some of the crew of Attack of the Clones, released on television in three installments, and later on DVD.[10]

Parodies

The Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on modern American popular culture, both the films and characters have received official parodies in numerous films and television productions.

    The Simpsons animated TV series:
        "Mayored to the Mob", a 1998 episode of the features multiple references to Star Wars, most centrally a plot in which Homer Simpson and Star Wars actor Mark Hamill face the threat of being trampled at a fan convention.[11]
        The Force Awakens from Its Nap. A parody short.[12]
        Plusaversary. A 2021 celebration of Disney+ Day featuring characters from The Simpsons and other The Walt Disney Company owned assets including Star Wars Characters.[13]
    Robot Chicken has produced three television specials satirizing the Star Wars films ("Robot Chicken: Star Wars", "Episode II" and "Episode III"). The success of the specials led to the development animated parody series Star Wars Detours.[14]
    Family Guy has also produced three parody episodes, each of which satirized the first three films in the series. The September 2007 sixth-season premiere, titled "Blue Harvest", was produced in dedication of the saga's 30th anniversary.[15] This was followed by "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side", which parodies The Empire Strikes Back, and "It's a Trap!", which parodies Return of the Jedi. They originally were released direct-to-video on December 22, 2009, and December 21, 2010, then later aired on Fox May 23, 2010 (season eight, episode 20) and May 22, 2011 (season nine, episode 18) respectively.[16][17]
    "Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars", also titled "Episode IV: May the Ferb Be with You", is an episode of the TV series Phineas and Ferb that aired in mid-2014, soon after Disney's acquisition of the franchise.[18]
    "Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri", the fourth season finale of the animated television series Rick and Morty premiered on May 31, 2020.[19]
    Hardware Wars, a 13-minute 1978 spoof which Lucas has called his favorite Star Wars parody.[20]
    Spaceballs, a feature film by Mel Brooks, parodies the first Star Wars film, and features special effects by Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic.[21]
    The films and television series of Kevin Smith reference Star Wars numerous times.
        A scene in Smith's debut film Clerks centers upon the politics and ethics of the destruction of the two Death Stars in the first trilogy,[22] which Lucas later addressed in his commentary track for Attack of the Clones.[23]
        A courtroom sequence in the series premiere of Clerks: The Animated Series sees Randal Graves intensely cross-examining George Lucas about the plot holes in Phantom Menace, and demanding a refund. After successfully attaining one, Randall does the same to directors Steven Spielberg, Joel Schumacher, Woody Allen, and Spike Lee.[24]
        In Smith's film Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008), Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) decide to pay off their debts by producing and starring in a Star Wars-themed pornographic film[25] titled Star Whores[26] before changing it to a coffee house-themed film.[27]
        Trooper Clerks - In this parody of both Star Wars and the Clerks series by Studio Creations, convenience store clerks Dante Hicks and Randall Graves are stormtroopers depicted in locations such as the first Death Star and the planet Tatooine, discussing topics like whether Mallrats or Chasing Amy is the Smith film with the better story.[28]
    Star Wars has been the subject of several parodies in the humorous magazine Mad, a publication that frequently publishes cartoon spoofs of Hollywood films. A parody called Star Roars was published in January 1978, featuring the magazine's mascot, Alfred E. Neuman, wearing a Darth Vader helmet.[29][30]
    Pinky and the Brain - "Star Warners"
    Fanboys (film) about a group of friends anticipating the release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

Fandom and fan films
   
It has been suggested that this section be split out into another article titled Star Wars fandom. (Discuss) (July 2022)
Main category: Fan films based on Star Wars

Star Wars fandom comprises the community of fans of the Star Wars film series and related media. In some cases, there have been instances of "toxic fandom" within fan community.[31][32] Authors Steve Perry and K. W. Jeter have both said they began receiving death threats after contributing works to the franchise.[33] According to Daisy Ridley, when she was being cast for the sequel trilogy, J. J. Abrams warned her that the franchise "is a religion for people."[34] Fan backlash has evidently increased since the release of the Disney films.[31][32]

The franchise inspired many fan edits, which have gained a notable presence on the internet thanks to the advancement of social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.[35][36] like Harmy's Despecialized Edition, there have been various memes related to specific moments in the movies themselves, like a mistranslated Chinese bootleg of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith[37][38][39] and 'TR-8R' from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[40][41]

The Star Wars saga has inspired many fans to create their own non-canon material set in the Star Wars galaxy, ranging from writing fan-fiction to creating fan films. In 2002, Lucasfilm sponsored the first annual Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards, officially recognizing filmmakers and the genre. Because of concerns over potential copyright and trademark issues, however, the contest was initially open only to parodies, mockumentaries, and documentaries. Fan-fiction films set in the Star Wars universe were originally ineligible, but in 2007 Lucasfilm changed the submission standards to allow in-universe fiction entries.[42] Lucasfilm, for the most part, has allowed but not endorsed the creation of these derivative fan-fiction works, so long as no such work attempts to make a profit from or tarnish the Star Wars franchise in any way.[43]

Star Wars parodies include:

    Star Wars Kid
    The Force (advertisement)
    Chewbacca Mask Lady
    Broken Allegiance
    Chad Vader
    Crazy Watto
    The Dark Redemption
    Dark Resurrection
    Darth Maul: Apprentice
    Darth Vader's Psychic Hotline
    Duality
    The Formula
    George Lucas in Love
    Han Solo: A Smuggler's Trade
    Hardware Wars
    How the Sith Stole Christmas
    The Jedi Hunter
    Knightquest
    Pink Five, Pink Five Strikes Back, Return of Pink Five: While many fan films have used elements from the licensed Expanded Universe to tell their story, they are not considered an official part of the Star Wars canon. However, the lead character from the Pink Five series was incorporated into Timothy Zahn's 2007 novel Allegiance, marking the first time a fan-created Star Wars character has ever crossed into the official canon.[44]
    Rebel Scum
    Ryan vs. Dorkman
    Saving Star Wars
    Sith Apprentice
    Star Dudes
    Star Wars: Revelations
    Star Wars: The Emperor's New Clones
    Star Wars: Threads of Destiny
    Star Wars Uncut
    Thumb Wars
    TIE Fighter
    Troops
    Vader Episode I: Shards of the Past

Fan edits/restorations
See also: Star Wars: Duel of the Fates § Adaptations, and Fan edit § History

The franchise has inspired many fan edits, such as Harmy's Despecialized Edition and The Phantom Edit, which circulated on the Internet thanks to the advance of social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.[35][36] Like Harmy's Despecialized Edition, there have been various memes related to specific moments in the movies themselves, like a mistranslated Chinese bootleg of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith[37][38][39] and 'TR-8R' from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[40][41] A fan-edit to visually incorporate the ghosts of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan, Luke and Yoda, into a scene from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was positively received for its technical execution.[45][46][47] In contrast, a 46-minute fan-edits of the previous film Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which removed all the female characters, was criticized for sexism.[48][49] A YouTuber who attempted to improve the original VFX effects of Luke Skywalker's de-aged appearance on The Mandalorian Season 2 finale was later hired by Lucasfilm.[50] Other The Mandalorian fan-edits that were made included Baby Yoda fighting against Darth Sidious in Revenge of the Sith,[51][52][53][54] while Tommy Wisseau's character, Johnny, from The Room was edited in a crossover set within the entire saga.[55][56][57]
Cosplay
Fans cosplaying as Twi'leks during WonderCon in 2017

    501st Legion
    Rebel Legion
    Princess Leia's bikini

Websites

    Wookieepedia
    TheForce.Net

Theatre

In December 1978, an onstage Star Wars parody appeared in the form of a Broadway musical, The Force and I—the Mad Star Wars Musical.[58] A similar fan-made musical of the original 1977 film was made in 1999 in anticipation of the release of The Phantom Menace[59] and another parody musical was announced for a March 2020 Off-Broadway production.[60]

During the winter of 2015, Chicago based theater company, Under the Gun Theater developed a parody revue which recapped all six of the Star Wars films as a lead up to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[61]

In November 2019, Ichikawa Ebizō XI supervised production of and played Kylo Ren in a kabuki adaptation of scenes from the sequel trilogy, which was entitled Star Wars Kabuki: Kairennosuke and the Three Shining Swords (スター・ウォーズ歌舞伎〜煉之介光刃三本〜, Sutā Uōzu Kabuki ~Rennosuke Kōjin San-pon~).[62] In addition, his son Kangen Horikoshi portrayed a younger version of Ren in the play's third act.[63]
Music

In 1993, Mexican pop singer Paulina Rubio said that for the concept of her second studio album, 24 Kilates, she has been inspired by the Star Wars movies.[64]

Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin said that the band's ninth studio album Music of the Spheres had been inspired by the alien Mos Eisley cantina band from the first Star Wars film.[65]
Parody songs

    "Weird Al" Yankovic recorded two parodies: "Yoda", a parody of "Lola" by The Kinks; and "The Saga Begins", a parody of Don McLean's song "American Pie" that retells the events of The Phantom Menace from Obi-Wan Kenobi's perspective.[66]
    Dan Amrich recorded Princess Leia's Stolen Death Star Plans, an adaptation of the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band which retells the story of the original Star Wars film.[67][68][69]
    Natalie's Rap 2.0
    Star Wars Gangsta Rap

Documentaries
Main article: Star Wars documentaries

    The Making of Star Wars
    SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back
    Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi
    From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga
    Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy
    Star Wars Tech
    Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed
    Science of Star Wars

Fan documentaries

    Elstree 1976
    I Am Your Father
    The People vs. George Lucas
    Plastic Galaxy
    The Prequels Strike Back: A Fan's Journey

Video games
[icon]   
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2022)
Main article: Star Wars video games

Darth Vader, as well as Yoda and Starkiller, appear as playable characters in the 2008 fighting game Soulcalibur IV.
Science
Further information: Technology in Star Wars and Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination
Impact on aeronautics
Expedition 45 Return of the Jedi crew poster

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum had an exhibition called Star Wars: The Magic of Myth. It was an exhibition of original production models, props, costumes, and characters from the first three Star Wars films.[70][71] In October 2007, NASA launched a Space Shuttle carrying an original lightsaber into orbit. The prop handle had been used as Luke Skywalker's lightsaber in Return of the Jedi. After spending two weeks in orbit, it was brought back to Earth on November 7, 2007, to be returned to its owner, George Lucas.[72]

The first successfully launched space-rocket, to be sent by the private spaceflight company SpaceX, was named the Falcon 1. Elon Musk used the word "falcon" within the name of the space-rocket, as a reference to the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars. The Falcon 1's success led to the fabrication of updated versions of the space rocket, in what became known as the Falcon family of space-rockets. The Falcon 1 has since been retired, in favor of the Falcon 9.[73]

The spacecraft LICIACube, a part of DART mission, is equipped with two optical cameras, dubbed LUKE and LEIA.[74]
Organisms named after Star Wars characters
Main article: List of organisms named after the Star Wars series
Politics and religion
Political impact

When Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a system of lasers and missiles meant to intercept incoming ICBMs, the plan was quickly labeled "Star Wars", implying that it was science fiction and linking it to Reagan's acting career. According to Frances FitzGerald, Reagan was annoyed by this, but Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle told colleagues that he "thought the name was not so bad."; "'Why not?' he said. 'It's a good movie. Besides, the good guys won.'"[75] This gained further resonance when Reagan described the Soviet Union as an "evil empire".

In television commercials, public interest group critics of the Reagan administration's Strategic Defense Initiative program deridingly referred to the orbital missile defense project as "Star Wars". Lucasfilm originally sued to try to enjoin this usage of its trademark, and lost.[76] Explaining its decision, the court said,

    When politicians, newspapers, and the public generally use the phrase star wars for their convenience, in parody or descriptively to further a communication of their views on SDI, plaintiff has no rights as owner of the mark to prevent this use of STAR WARS. ... Since Jonathan Swift's time, creators of fictional worlds have seen their vocabulary for fantasy appropriated to describe reality. Trademark laws regulate unfair competition, not the parallel development of new dictionary meanings in the everyday give and take of human discourse.[76]

When Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 United Kingdom general election held on May 3, the Tories took out a newspaper ad that read "May the Fourth Be with You Maggie. Congratulations."[77]

On May 4, 1995, during a defence debate in the UK parliament, MP Harry Cohen related the Star Wars Day joke: "May 4 be with you".[78]

In England and Wales, 390,127 people (almost 0.8%) stated their religion as Jedi on their 2001 Census forms, surpassing Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism, and making it the fourth largest reported religion in the country.

The holographic video effect associated with Star Wars served as a technological tool for CNN during its 2008 Election Night coverage. CNN reporter Jessica Yellin and musician will.i.am looked as though they were in the network's New York City studios talking face-to-face with hosts Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer, when in reality, they were in Chicago at Barack Obama's rally. The process involved Yellin and will.i.am standing in front of a blue screen in a special tent, while being shot by 35 HD cameras.[79]

On March 1, 2013, American President Barack Obama spoke on the sequestration debate. He said that some people expect him to do a "Jedi mind meld" on the Republicans who refuse to deal.[80]

In the 2014 Ukrainian presidential elections, the Internet Party of Ukraine tried to nominate a man named Darth Vader;[81][82] but his registration was refused because his real identity could not be verified.[83] A man named Darth Vader was a candidate at May 25 2014 Kyiv mayoral election and the Odessa mayoral election of the same day for the same party.[84][85] In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election the Internet Party let Darth Vader along other Star Wars characters such as Chewbacca, Padmé Amidala, and Yoda run for seats in the Ukrainian parliament.[86] In the election the party failed to clear the 5% election threshold (it got 0.36% of the votes) and also did not win a constituency seat and thus no parliamentary seats.[87][88][89]

In 2015, as a part of the decommunization process in Ukraine, a statue of a Vladimir Lenin was modified into a monument to Darth Vader at the territory of Pressmash plant in Odessa.[90][91]

In the 2020 Odessa local election, a person called Darth Vader was again a candidate for mayor of Odessa (nominated by Darth Vader Bloc).[92] He scored 0.48% of the total votes cast.[93]
Religion (Jediism)
Main articles: Jediism and Jedi census phenomenon

A real-life religion based on Star Wars called Jediism follows a modified version of the Jedi Code, and they believe in the concept of The Force as an energy field of all living things, which "surrounds us... penetrates us" and "binds the galaxy together", as is depicted within Star Wars movies, although without the fictional elements such as telekinesis.[94][95] Many citizens around the world answer list their religion as Jedi during their countries respective Census, among them Australia and New Zealand getting high percentages.[96][97] A petition in Turkey to build a Jedi Temple within a university, also got international media attention.[98]
Other

Between 2002 and 2004, museums in Japan, Singapore, Scotland and England showcased the Art of Star Wars, an exhibit describing the process of making the original Star Wars trilogy.[99]

In 2013, Star Wars became the first major motion picture translated into the Navajo language.[100][101][102]
Two Omaha Storm Chasers Minor League Baseball players wearing uniforms featuring Darth Maul's face on front (left) and lightsaber on back (right) during their Star Wars Night in 2022

Professional sports teams in the United States and Canada regularly hold Star Wars-themed promotional nights. In 2015, Star Wars-themed Major League Baseball (MLB) games had average higher attendance than typical MLB games. Star Wars promotional nights in minor league sports events often feature teams wearing Star Wars-inspired uniform designs. Outside of Star Wars-themed games, North American sports teams often play "The Imperial March" over their public address systems while opposing teams are being introduced.[103]

Several organizations worldwide teach lightsaber combat as a competitive sport, instructing on techniques interpreted from the films, and using life-size replica weapons composed of highly durable plastic that emit lights and sounds.[104][105][106][107]

During the 2012 Emerald City Comicon in Seattle, Washington, several prominent cartoon voice actors, consisting of Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Tara Strong and Kevin Conroy, performed a parody reading of A New Hope as a radio play in each of their signature voice roles; i.e. Paulsen and Harnell as Yakko and Wakko Warner from Animaniacs, Strong as Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls and Timmy Turner from The Fairly OddParents, LaMarche and DiMaggio as Kif Kroker and Bender from Futurama, and Conroy narrating as Batman.
Millennium Falcon in Star Wars Galaxy's Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

After Disney's acquisition of Star Wars, they proceeded to open Galaxy's Edge. Star Wars themed parks in both Disney World and Disneyland that opened in December 2019 in Disney World and January 2020 in Disneyland. In the theme parks fans will be transported to a Galaxy Far Far Away and live their own Star Wars experience, through flying the Millennium Falcon, or stopping at Oga's Cantina for some food and drinks.[108]

"Star Wars bar" has entered the English language vernacular meaning a less than desirable bar or pub. This is because the "Mos Eisley Cantina", and the events depicted therein during the original Star Wars film, is a sufficiently well known cultural reference for the term to have become useful in every day conversation.

Bare Squadron is a fanfiction about a division of Rebel Alliance made of nudists from different races in Star Wars who are the Original Characters belonging to members of DeviantArt." (wikipedia.)

"The Death Star is a fictional space station and superweapon featured in the Star Wars space-opera franchise. Constructed by the autocratic Galactic Empire, the Death Star is capable of annihilating entire planets into rubble, and serves to enforce the Empire's reign of terror. Appearing in the original 1977 film Star Wars, the Death Star serves as a central plot point and setting for the movie, and is destroyed in an assault by the Rebel Alliance in the climax of the film. A larger Second Death Star is constructed in the events of the film Return of the Jedi featuring substantially improved capabilities compared to its predecessor, however it too is destroyed by the Rebel Alliance while under construction.

Since its first appearance, the Death Star has become a cultural icon and a widely recognized element of the Star Wars franchise. It inspired numerous similar superweapons in fiction, as well as in other Star Wars works. The 2015 film The Force Awakens introduces Starkiller Base, a planet converted by the First Order into a Death Star-like weapon. While more powerful and technologically advanced than both Death Stars, it is also destroyed by the Resistance. ...

Origin and design

According to franchise creator George Lucas, his initial outline for the Star Wars saga did not feature the Death Star in the portion that would be adapted as the first film. When he set to creating the first act of this outline as a feature, he borrowed the Death Star concept from the third act.[1]

Although details, such as the superlaser's location, shifted between different concept models during the production of Star Wars (1977),[a] the notion of the Death Star being a large, spherical space station over 100 kilometers in diameter was consistent in all of them.[2] George Lucas gave the original task of designing a "Death Star" to concept artist and spaceship modeler Colin Cantwell,[3] who had collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.[4] In Empire of Dreams, a documentary about the filming and production of Star Wars, Cantwell revealed that the Death Star was originally supposed to be a perfect sphere. However, the model was constructed in two separate pieces and wasn't fitting together as planned. It was then decided that there could be a trench going around the equator of the space station. Lucas liked the idea,[3][4] and the Death Star model was created by John Stears.[5][6] The buzzing sound counting down to the Death Star firing its superlaser comes from the Flash Gordon serials.[7] Portraying an incomplete yet powerful space station posed a problem for Industrial Light & Magic's modelmakers for Return of the Jedi.[8] Only the front side of the 137-centimeter model was completed, and the image was flipped horizontally for the final film.[8] Both Death Stars were depicted by a combination of complete and sectional models and matte paintings.[2][8]
Special effects
The explosion special effect depicted in the 2004 Special Edition of A New Hope

The grid plan animations shown during the Rebel briefing for the attack on the Death Star late in A New Hope were an actual computer-graphics simulation from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory made by Larry Cuba and Gary Imhoff as part of a CalArts project, and had been included during filming.[9]

After filming was complete, the original model, as well as one of the surface setpieces, were to be thrown out; however, they were salvaged.[10][11][12]

The Death Star explosions featured in the Special Edition of A New Hope and in Return of the Jedi are rendered with a Praxis Effect, wherein a flat ring of matter erupts from the explosion.[13]
Depiction

The original Death Star was introduced in the original Star Wars film,[a] which later had elements of its backstory explored in the prequel films Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, the animated series The Clone Wars and Rebels, and the 2016 anthology film Rogue One. The second Death Star appears in Return of the Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, and a similar superweapon, Starkiller Base, appears in The Force Awakens. Both the original and second Death Star were moon-sized and designed for massive power-projection capabilities, capable of destroying an entire planet with a 6.2x1032 J/s power output blast from their superlasers.[14]
Original Death Star
Darth Sidious (left) and Darth Vader (right) oversee the first Death Star construction in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

The original Death Star's completed form appears in the original Star Wars film, known as the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station, or Project Stardust in Rogue One; before learning the true name of the weapon, the Rebel Alliance referred to it as the "Planet Killer".[15] Commanded by Governor Tarkin, it is the Galactic Empire's "ultimate weapon",[b] a huge spherical battle station 160 kilometers in diameter capable of destroying a planet with one shot of its superlaser.

The film opens with Princess Leia transporting the station's schematics to the Rebel Alliance to aid them in destroying the Death Star.[16] To mark the Death Star being fully operational, Tarkin orders the Death Star to destroy Leia's home world of Alderaan in an attempt to press her into giving him the location of the secret Rebel headquarters; she gives them the location of Dantooine which housed a now-deserted Rebel base, but Tarkin has Alderaan destroyed anyway as a demonstration of the Empire's resolve. Later, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO, and R2-D2 are pulled aboard the station by a tractor beam, where they discover and manage to rescue Princess Leia. As they make their escape, Obi-Wan sacrifices himself whilst dueling Darth Vader, enabling the others to flee the station. Later, Luke returns as part of a fighter force to attack its only weak point: a ray-shielded particle exhaust vent leading straight from the surface directly into its reactor core, discovered previously from the stolen schematics. Luke is able to successfully launch his X-wing fighter's torpedoes into the vent, impacting the core and triggering a catastrophic explosion, which destroys the station before it can annihilate the Rebel base on Yavin 4.[17]

The Death Star's schematics are visible in the scenes on Geonosis in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, evidently designed by Geonosians led by Archduke Poggle the Lesser, a member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems,[18] and is shown early in construction at the end of Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.[19] The Clone Wars Legacy story reel from the unfinished Crystal Crisis on Utapau episodes reveals that General Grievous went to Utapau prior to Revenge of the Sith in order to acquire an enormous kyber crystal to power the Death Star's superlaser.[20]

As depicted in Rogue One and Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel (2016), the Death Star was worked on by a team of scientists sequestered on the rainswept world of Eadu, overseen by Orson Krennic, the Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial Military. Under Krennic's supervision, the project was beset by constant delays, and he forcibly recruited weapons designer Galen Erso (the father of Jyn Erso, the film's protagonist) to complete the design. The Death Star scientists sought to fuse kyber crystal shards into larger structures and used those crystals to amplify energy into a stable beam powerful enough to destroy an entire planet.[15][21][pages needed] In the Disney+ series, Andor, set after the novel but before the film, prisoners of the Imperial Prison Complex in Narkina 5, including Cassian Andor, who got sent to the prison during his time as Keef Girgo, worked on Imperial equipment during their shifts, which was revealed in the post-credits scene of the series' final episode, Rix Road, to be parts built for the superlaser.

The 2014 book Star Wars: Tarkin details the life of Grand Moff Tarkin, and prominently featured the Death Star. Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel tells the story of the development of the Death Star's superweapon by Galen Erso and Krennic's deception of him. It also reveals how Poggle worked with Krennic on the project but then turned on him.[22] In the animated series Star Wars Rebels, the two-part episode "Ghosts of Geonosis" hints that the Geonosians were nearly wiped out to extinction out of the Empire's need for secrecy. Saw Gerrera, having been sent to Geonosis to investigate, deduces that the Empire possesses a superweapon and resolves to discover the Death Star as depicted in the two-part episode "In the Name of the Rebellion". Though it is a dead end, Saw learns that the weapon is powered by kyber crystals taken from the Jedha system. Rogue One focuses on a band of Rebels stealing the Death Star plans just prior to the events of A New Hope. The Death Star is first used to destroy Jedha City, both as a response to a violent insurgency on the planet and as a display of the Death Star's operational status. Tarkin assumes control over the Death Star while Krennic investigates security breaches in the design project. It is subsequently revealed that Galen discreetly sabotaged the design by building a vulnerability into the reactor. After the Death Star plans are stolen from the Scarif vault, Tarkin fires the Death Star's superlaser on the base, killing Krennic, as well as Jyn Erso and her small band of rebels.[15] Rogue One also reveals that the Death Star's superlaser is powered by multiple reactors, allowing it to vary its destructive power depending on the target; both the attack on Jedha City and the Scarif base used a single reactor.

According to Star Wars reference books, the population of the Death Star was 1.7 million military personnel, 400,000 maintenance droids, and 250,000 civilians, associated contractors and catering staff.[23][24] The Death Star was defended by thousands of turbolasers, ion cannons and laser cannons, plus a complement of seven to nine thousand TIE fighters, along with tens of thousands of support craft. It also had several massive docking bays, including dry docks capable of accommodating Star Destroyers.[25]

A hologram of the original Death Star is briefly visible in a scene at the Resistance base in The Force Awakens and used as a means of comparison with one from the First Order's own superweapon, Starkiller Base.[26]
Second Death Star
The second Death Star
The second Death Star

The 1983 film Return of the Jedi features the DS-2 Orbital Battle Station under construction as it orbits the forest moon Endor, which houses a shield generator protecting the station. The second Death Star is substantially larger and more capable than its predecessor, and the critical weakness found in the first Death Star has been removed—the Rebel Alliance's only hope is to destroy it prior to its completion. The Emperor and Darth Vader send the Rebels false information that the station's weapons systems are not yet complete in order to lure the Alliance fleet into a trap, resulting in the decisive Battle of Endor. In fact, the station's superlaser is fully operational, and it begins firing on and destroying Rebel capital ships during the battle.

A ground assault team led by Han Solo with the help of the Endor-native Ewoks successfully manages to disable the shield generator, allowing Rebel pilots Wedge Antilles and Lando Calrissian to fly into the station (using Han's Millennium Falcon) and fire on its reactor, destroying the station in another catastrophic explosion.[27]

An early draft of Return of the Jedi features two Death Stars at various stages of completion.[28] According to the Star Wars Encyclopedia, the second Death Star had at its "north pole ... a heavily armored 100-story tower topped by the Emperor's private observation chamber."[29]

The second Death Star is featured on the cover of the book Star Wars: Aftermath (2015), which also features many flashbacks to the destruction of the second Death Star, as well as the events directly after its destruction. One of the main characters in the story personally escaped the explosion of the Death Star. The destruction of the second Death Star was also shown in holograms in the book.[citation needed] The 2015 comic book Star Wars: Shattered Empire also explores the days following the destruction of the second Death Star from the perspective of Poe Dameron's parents, who were pilots during the event. The video game Star Wars: Uprising also takes place during the aftermath of the second Death Star's destruction, and features a hologram of its description on multiple occasions in and out of cutscenes.[citation needed]

Part of the wreckage of the second Death Star appears in The Rise of Skywalker (2019), on the ocean moon Kef Bir.[30] Rey visits the wreckage to obtain the Emperor's wayfinder, a device that points the way to his hidden lair on Exegol.[31]
Similar superweapons

The 2019 comic Star Wars #68 reveals that the Rebels considered creating their own version of a Death Star by luring Star Destroyers to a tectonically unstable planet and setting it off with proton detonators.[32]
Starkiller Base

The Force Awakens features Starkiller Base, a Death Star-like superweapon built by the First Order, an autocratic regime considered to be the successor of the Empire. Significantly larger than both previous Death Stars, the superweapon was constructed out of an existing planet instead of being assembled in deep space.[c] The base draws its raw firepower by harnessing energy directly from a nearby star. Unlike its predecessors, Starkiller Base is capable of firing on and destroying multiple planets at once from extreme range—in the film, the First Order obliterates the five planets in the Hosnian Prime system, at that time the capital of the New Republic.[34]

The Starkiller is protected by a defensive shield that blocks all objects traveling at slower-than-light speeds; Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Finn exploits a vulnerability by bypassing the shield at faster-than-light speeds, successfully infiltrating the base and sabotaging its shields. Subsequently, an X-wing assault led by Poe Dameron and Nien Nunb destroys the superweapon; as Resistance forces flee, the Starkiller implodes and forms a star.[35]

The name Starkiller Base pays homage to the early drafts of the original Star Wars film, referring to Luke Skywalker's original surname.[36][37] Coincidentally, the name "Starkiller" is an alias given to Galen Marek by Darth Vader in the 2008 game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. During early concept development, artist Doug Chiang envisioned the superweapon's gun as set inside a volcano, which X-wings would have to enter in a maneuver similar to the trench run on the Death Star in the original film.[38]
Sith Star Destroyers

In The Rise of Skywalker, the ninth installment in the series, the resurrected Darth Sidious is revealed to have constructed the Sith Eternal's fleet of Xyston-class Star Destroyers, the Final Order, over the Sith planet Exegol. Each warship is armed with an axial superlaser capable of destroying planets; Sidious uses one of the warships to destroy the planet Kijimi as a show of force. At the end of the film, the Resistance launches an offensive against the Sith Eternal forces, including the Sith fleet. Aided by reinforcements from across the galaxy, the Resistance defeats the remaining Sith forces by destroying the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Steadfast and the navigation signal.[31]
Legends

Both Death Stars and similar superweapons appear throughout the non-canonical Star Wars Legends continuity. National Public Radio's Star Wars adaptation (1981) portrays Leia (Ann Sachs) and Bail Organa's (Stephen Elliott) discovery of the Death Star's existence and how Leia obtained its schematics. The 1983 Star Wars arcade game and numerous LucasArts titles recreate the movies' attacks on the Death Stars.

Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy trilogy (1994) introduces the Maw Cluster of black holes that protect a laboratory where the Death Star prototype was built (consisting of the superstructure, power core, and superlaser).[citation needed] The first level of LucasArts' Dark Forces (1995) gives mercenary Kyle Katarn the role of stealing the plans which are subsequently given to Leia. Steve Perry's novel Shadows of the Empire (1996) describes a mission that leads to the Rebels learning of the second Death Star's existence, and that mission is playable in LucasArts' X-Wing Alliance space flight simulator (1999). The Death Star itself is a controllable weapon for the Empire in the Rebellion (1998) and Empire at War (2006) strategy game.[d] In Battlefront II (2005), the player participates in a mission to secure crystals used in the Death Star's superlaser.[39] Another mission in the game tasks the player with acting as a stormtrooper or Darth Vader in an attempt to recover the plans and capture Leia.[40] The first Death Star under construction acts as the final stage in the video game The Force Unleashed (2008).[41]

The first Death Star's construction is the subject of Michael Reaves and Steve Perry's novel Death Star (2007),[42] which depicts the many politics and hidden agendas behind the massive project, from its construction up until its final destruction.

The first Death Star is depicted in various sources of having 1,206,293 crews and troops, 2 officers, as well as 40,000 gunners, 25,984 stormtroopers and 180,216 TIE fighter pilots and support crew.[43] Its hangars contain assault shuttles, blastboats, Strike cruisers, land vehicles, support ships, and 7,293 TIE fighters.[44] It is also protected by 10,000 turbolaser batteries, 2,600 ion cannons, and at least 768 tractor beam projectors.[44] Various sources state that the first Death Star has a diameter of between 140 and 160 kilometers.[43][45][46] There is a broader range of figures for the second Death Star's diameter, ranging from 160 to 900 kilometers.[47][48]
DS-X Prototype Battle Station

In the Legends works Death Star (2007), Dark Empire II, Jedi Search and Champions of the Force, an experimental Death Star prototype, DS-X (a durasteel frame surrounding a reactor core, superlaser, engines and a control room) was conceived by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin as a test bed for the first Death Star. It was constructed by Bevel Lemelisk and his engineers at the Empire's secret Maw Installation. The prototype measured 120 kilometers in diameter. Its superlaser was only powerful enough to destroy a planet's core, rendering it an uninhabitable "dead planet". The targeting system on the prototype was never calibrated and the superlaser was inefficient, leaving the weapon's batteries drained. The prototype had no interior except a slave-linked control room, hyperdrive engines and other components; the station operated with skeleton-crew of 75 personnel.[citation needed]
Death Star III

In the Disney attraction Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, guests can travel inside an incomplete Death Star during one of the randomized ride sequences. In the original Star Tours, a Death Star III is seen and destroyed during the ride sequence by the New Republic. Leland Chee originally created the third Death Star to explain why a Death Star is present on the Star Tours ride when both of the stations in the movies were destroyed.[49] The station being built near the Forest Moon of Endor like the second Death Star before. It is similar to an original concept for Return of the Jedi, where two Death Stars would have been built near Had Abbadon (then the Imperial capital world). The Habitation spheres, based on the Imperials' suspicious claims that they were designed strictly for peaceful purposes, were suggested by some fans to have been the origin for the Death Star III. This was later revealed to be the case in Part 2 of the StarWars.com Blog series The Imperial Warlords: Despoilers of an Empire. In the Legends game Star Wars: Tiny Death Star, a random HoloNet entry states that one of the residents of the Death Star is simply staying there until he can afford to stay at the third Death Star.[citation needed]
Other superweapons

A prototype version of the Death Star can be found in Kevin J. Anderson's novel Jedi Search (1994).[50] It was kept at the Maw Installation, an Imperial research institute in a cluster of black holes, and later deployed by Tol Sivron after the Maw Installation was invaded by the New Republic. The prototype was ineffective, missing its target and instead destroying an Imperial garrison moon the sole time it was fired in combat. After this, the prototype was later destroyed when it was led into the black holes of the cluster.

In the original Marvel Star Wars comic series (1977–1986), a superweapon called "The Tarkin" is built. It is described as being similar to the Death Star but with more energy. Darth Vader commands it and Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2 sabotage it with Lando's help. It is finally destroyed by an Imperial officer attempting to use an ionic weapon to both attack the escaping Rebels and assassinate Vader. Later in the series, a nihilistic group attempts to use a weapon to dislodge a planet from its orbit and cause others to do the same in a chain reaction, thereby destroying the entire universe.[51]

In the Dark Empire comic series (1991–95), the reborn Emperor Palpatine's flagships Eclipse and Eclipse II Super Star Destroyers (Star Dreadnoughts) have a miniaturized version of the Death Star superlaser.[52] The first Eclipse was under construction at the time of the Emperor's death at Endor; shortly thereafter, it was briefly captured by pirates, who quickly abandoned it as an obvious target for the Rebels. The vessel was retrieved by remnants of the Empire and completed, and later served as the flagship of the resurrected Palpatine. It was destroyed by a Force storm enhanced by Luke and Leia, who had been brought aboard by the Emperor in hopes that they could be converted to the dark side. The Eclipse II was mostly identical to its predecessor save for a handful of visual changes, and fulfilled the same purpose. It was later destroyed when an errant projectile from the destroyed Galaxy Gun, another superweapon developed under the returned Palpatine, fell onto the ship and caused a massive explosion that destroyed not only the ship and its accompanying fleet, but also the nearby Imperial citadel of Byss.

In Kevin J. Anderson's novel Darksaber (1995), Death Star designer Bevel Lemelisk is recruited by the Hutts to build a superlaser weapon. Due to their refusal to sufficiently fund and supply the project, the resultant 'superweapon' is quickly destroyed by a combination of the tumultuous Hoth asteroid field in which it was built and the efforts of the New Republic. Lemelisk is captured and incarcerated by the Republic, and is later executed for his hand in the design and construction of Imperial superweapons.[53]

The novel Children of the Jedi (1995) involves the return of Eye of Palpatine, a "colossal, asteroid-shaped" super dreadnaught constructed at the behest of Emperor Palpatine during the second year of the Galactic Civil War. The Imperials lose control of the Eye when a Jedi uses the Force to hijack the main computer with their spirits.
Cultural influence
Main article: Cultural impact of Star Wars

The Death Star placed ninth in a 2008 20th Century Fox poll of the most popular movie weapons.[54]

It has been referred to outside of the Star Wars context in such examples as:

    AT&T Corporation's logo, designed by Saul Bass and introduced in 1982, is informally referred to as the "Death Star".[55] Ars Technica referred to "the AT&T Death Star" in an article criticizing a company data policy.[56] Competitor T-Mobile mocked AT&T's "Death Star" logo and "Empire-like reputation" in a press release.[57]
    In Kevin Smith's first feature film, Clerks (1994), one of the main characters points out that many independent contractors would have been killed in the second Death Star's destruction.[58] In the DVD audio commentary for Attack of the Clones, George Lucas says that the inclusion of the holographic Death Star in the film implies that the Geonosians were the contractors discussed by "Jay and Silent Bob".[59]
    KTCK (SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket) in Dallas were the first to use the term "Death Star" to describe the new mammoth Cowboys Stadium, now AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. The term has since spread to local media and is generally accepted as a nickname for the stadium.[60]
    The Death Star strategy was the name Enron gave to one of their fraudulent business practices for manipulating California's energy market.[61]
    In the novels of the Bridge Trilogy, the San Francisco Police Department admonishes its officers to stop referring to their surveillance satellite as the "Death Star".
    In the 1987 Star Wars parody film Spaceballs, the Spaceballs use a spacecraft called "Spaceball I", which can change shape into "Mega Maid", resembling a woman with a vacuum cleaner. A reference to the Death Star destroying Alderaan, the Mega Maid is used to drain Druidia's atmosphere of fresh air.[62]
    While mostly ground based, the Technodrome from the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon and 1988 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comics is based on the Death Star.[63]
    The Sonic the Hedgehog video game series features a parody of the Death Star known as the "Death Egg", a battle station created by Dr. Eggman that serves as a level in multiple games.
    Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign was nicknamed the "Death Star" by some of its members.[64]
    Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis dubbed the nickname of the team's new Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada as the "Death Star".[65]
    The Social Sciences and Humanities Building at the University of California, Davis is referred to by students as the "Death Star", due to its shiny metallic exterior and maze-like architecture.[66]

The large crater Herschel on the Saturnian moon Mimas gives it a resemblance to the Death Star.
Astronomy

In 1981, following the Voyager spacecraft's flight past Saturn, scientists noticed a resemblance between one of the planet's moons, Mimas, and the Death Star.[67] Additionally, a few astronomers[who?] sometimes use the term "Death Star" to describe Nemesis, a hypothetical star postulated in 1984 to be responsible for gravitationally forcing comets and asteroids from the Oort cloud toward Earth.[68]
Merchandise

Kenner and AMT created a playset and a model, respectively, of the first Death Star.[69][70] In 2005 and 2008, Lego released models of Death Star II and Death Star I, respectively.[71][72][73][74] In 1979, Palitoy created a heavy card version of the Death Star as a playset for the vintage range of action figures in the UK, Australia and Canada. Both Death Stars are part of different Micro Machines three-packs.[75][76] The Death Stars and locations in them are cards in Decipher, Inc.'s and Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars Customizable Card Game and Star Wars Trading Card Game, respectively.[77] Hasbro released a Death Star model that transforms into a Darth Vader mech.[78] Estes Industries released a flying model rocket version.[79]

A Death Star trinket box was also released by Royal Selangor in 2015, in conjunction with the December screening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens that year,[80] and in 2016, Plox released the official levitating Death Star Speaker[81] in anticipation of that year's screening of Rogue One.
Political campaigns

In 2012–13, a proposal on the White House's website urging the United States government to build a real Death Star as an economic stimulus and job creation measure gained more than 30,000 signatures, enough to qualify for an official response. The official (tongue-in-cheek) response was released in January 2013:[82] the cost of building a real Death Star has been estimated in 2012 by a Centives economics blog of Lehigh University to $850 quadrillion, or about 13,000 times the gross domestic product on Earth, as well as at current rates of steel production, the Death Star would not be ready for more than 833,000 years.[83][84] The White House response also stated that "the Administration does not support blowing up planets," and questioned funding a weapon "with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship" as reasons for denying the petition.[82][85][86]

The Luxembourgish magician Christian Lavey (born as Christian Kies) submitted a petition for the construction of a Death Star to the Luxemburgish parliament.[87] However, in an interview with a local radio station Lavey admitted that this petition was just a joke and some kind of protest against the space plans of the government." (wikipedia.)