Star Wars Day has come and gone, and as we look ahead at what's to come from the franchise on the 2026 Movie schedule and beyond, one thing is clear. The sequel trilogy didn't get the same love as other films and shows that day, unless you're me, who made a point to fire it up and rewatch with a Disney+ subscription.

I loved two-thirds of the sequel trilogy back when it came out, and revisiting it years later, I agree with the opinion that it should never be retconned. I will say, however, that one thing has aged really poorly, and the millennial-coded attempts at humor have aged poorly and feel super dated.

There's A Lot Of Millennial-Coded Dialogue That's Aged Terribly

Say what you will about the Emperor's return, the fact that Disney used Fortnite to add a key story detail of the movie, or Rian Johnson's vision, nothing in this trilogy is as bad as the millennial-era attempts at humor. For those who don't know what that means, it'd be all the moments from Episodes 7-9 in which it feels like Star Wars is trying to be The Office.

I'm a millennial, and listen, that style of humor wouldn't be iconic if shows like The Office didn't connect with audiences. That said, there's a time and a place, and when those moments happen in Star Wars, it doesn't feel like I'm in a "Galaxy Far Far Away." It feels like I'm in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and I want to crawl out of my skin watching moments like this:

To be clear, I cringed at that scene when I first watched it back in 2017. It felt dated then, and while I still love Star Wars: The Last Jedi, man, it's really painful to watch now.

It's not the only instance, either. There's the "who talks first" part between Poe and Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens, and the general bullying of C-3PO all throughout The Rise of Skywalker. Then again, 3PO gets roasted across all nine movies, so I can't act like that was so off-brand. It's more like the trend of slowly looking at him like he's some kind of idiot, again, a trope of millennial humor that has aged poorly. There's no punchline; it's just mean.

Hopefully Future Star Wars Movies Are More Timeless

The first thing I'll say is that Star Wars, as a franchise, is not known for its humor. I also find it painfully unfunny when Jar Jar steps in feces and says, "Ooh, icky, icky poo."

Even so, that's more of a timeless physical gag. It's not the most mature joke, but there's never an era in which stepping in animal poop won't appeal to at least someone sitting in a theater. Even if that person is a seven-year-old child, they're gonna laugh every time.

The biggest issue with the millennial humor is that it is very much of the era, and as such, heavily dates Star Wars Episodes VII-IX in a way the other Skywalker Movies weren't. I liken it to watching Saturday Night Live in the mid-70s, and seeing all the surrealist humor. I get that it's supposed to be funny, but it just doesn't appeal to people these days.

As such, I wasn't surprised the films weren't on the top ten list of most-streamed Star Wars stuff on May 4th, and I won't be surprised if that continues to be the case going forward. There are things to like about the movies, but the dialogue and dated humor are pretty hard to get past.

The Star Wars sequel trilogy occupies a strange space in modern film discourse. The movies were all, by the primary metric of performance, box office receipts, incredibly successful. Yet, opinions regarding whether or not the films are actually, you know, good, vary wildly. There’s a decent chance that if you’ve seen all three, you really dislike at least one of them, and many seem to have been disappointed by all of them.

Other people really love the sequels, or at least parts of them. People feel all sorts of different ways about the sequel trilogy; however, the one constant among them all is that they tend to feel very strongly about whatever opinion they hold. Brian Herring, one of the actors and puppeteers behind BB-8, the droid most seemed to like, recently told GameReactor that, while the sequels are certainly polarizing, it’s nothing we haven’t seen in Star Wars before. He explained…

Please give me a moment to pause and recover from the realization that it’s been more than 20 years since the release of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, and thus it is actually true that there are adults in this world who were not alive when the prequels came out. I'm too old.

To be fair, the internet did exist when the prequel trilogy came out, though it certainly wasn’t as widely used as it is today, and that was where the initial backlash to the prequel trilogy happened. That trilogy did have a very similar experience, as all three movies were massively successful, but so many fans seemed to hate them. The backlash was so bad that it really hurt some people. Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best admitted a few years ago that he contemplated suicide due to the hate he received.

But a funny thing happened as time passed. The prequel trilogy has since been reevaluated by critics and fans alike. And while nobody is necessarily arguing that the prequels are masterpieces, there does seem to be a general feeling that the movies are, at the very least, fine. Herring seems sure that ultimately the same thing will happen to the sequel trilogy. He said…

While we’ll have to wait 10 years to know for sure, there’s a pretty decent chance that Brian Herring is correct and the sequel trilogy will get its own reevaluation. The people who tended to be against the prequels are the people who grew up with the original trilogy, and it’s the group that grew up with the prequels that has grown up defending them. It’s a safe bet the same will happen with the sequel trilogy. And by then, there will likely be a whole new batch of Star Wars movies for everybody to focus their opinions on.

Star Wars is one of the biggest franchises of all time, as generations have been brought up on the galaxy far, far away. After years the Star Wars movies returned to theaters with The Force Awakens (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription). The first entry in the sequel trilogy introduced John Boyega's Finn to the world, and the actor thought he knew where his character and Rey were headed. It turns out he was mistaken.

While fans not-so-patiently wait for upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows, more information about the last three movies is still trickling out. John Boyega has been open about his disappointments related Finn, specifically related to his use of The Force. During a panel appearance at Fan Expo Boston (via ScreenRant), the 33 year-old actor shared where he thought the story was originally going. In his words:

Well, my FOMO is through the roof. This is a huge departure from the story we saw in the sequel trilogy, but it seems like a pretty thrilling (albeit hypothetical) idea. While Adam Driver's Kylo Ren was set up to be the main antagonist of those movies, seeing Finn and Rey come to blows with a lightsaber duel would have been pretty awesome. Instead, Boyega never picked up a lightsaber after his two battles in The Force Awakens.

Throughout the trilogy it was hinted a number of times that Finn could use The Force. He took to a lightsaber quickly, and could sense where Rey was. But he never actually got trained, with Daisy Ridley's Rey being the main hero and next Jedi of the franchise. And she and Finn never turned against each other the way that Boyega assumed they would.

Personally I'm hoping that Ridley's Rey movie brings back Finn as well, and we get to finally see him starting his Jedi training. The movie is expected to follow her as she started a new Jedi Order, years after The Rise of Skywalker's ending. This seems like a great way to finally give that storyline a big payoff, as well as include another key connection to the previous movies.

Right now not much is know about what that developing project will contain, but Star Wars: New Jedi Order is currently expected to arrive sometime in the 2026 movie release list. But filming will have to start soon if that's going to happen.

Adam Driver is one of the most versatile actors out there. Whether his best movie performances can make you laugh, like in What If?, or break your heart, like in Marriage Story, Driver knows how to win over an audience. Even if fans love seeing him onscreen, Driver still vowed not to watch himself in his movies until he had the chance to do so with Star Wars co-stars Carrie Fisher and Daisy Ridley. On the other hand, it doesn’t mean he still doesn’t have regrets about that.

With the help of Star Wars, House of Gucci and BlacKkKlansman, Adam Driver’s movies have grossed over $2 billion. Fans may be lining up to see the American actor, but it doesn’t mean Driver is doing the same. The Girls actor explained on The Howard Stern Show why he can’t watch his own movies, and his reasoning makes sense:

I feel like I would be my own critic as well, constantly seeing all of the flaws in my performance that I wish I could change. But like Adam Driver said, what’s in the final product is out there with no way to call for a do-over. Maybe that’s why a lot of great actors become great directors of their own movies; to have that control of doing multiple takes of their own performance.

The Hollywood leading man wouldn’t be the only actor to stay away from their own films. Keira Knightley only watches her movies once for the same reason as Adam Driver, in that she only sees the bad in her performance and doesn't like to hear the sound of her voice. Denzel Washington also doesn’t rewatch his old movies, feeling he’d rather look forward than back. Driver got real about what movies made him break his vow not to watch himself and see if you can guess which movie:

The Star Wars movies truly were a standout time for Adam Driver. His performance as Kylo Ren was so haunting with uncertainty and longing in his eyes. Compared to the “angry bad guy” stereotype we see in a lot of villains, Driver was able to show that Kylo Ren was a confused and misdirected guy trying to live up to the impossible legacy of Darth Vader. Even with each drastic choice the Sequel Trilogy’s antagonist makes, you can’t help but feel sorry for him.

Even though Adam Driver was dead set on staying away from seeing his movies, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was clearly the exception. The talented actor said the heartwarming reason he gave the movie a chance was due to seeing it with Carrie Fisher and Daisy Ridley. However, it doesn’t mean he still wasn’t his own critic. Since Driver’s vow is broken, does that mean he’ll continue watching his movies? Here’s his honest answer to Howard Stern on why he won’t:

That’s understandable, not to continue watching your own movies due to knowing you have no control over the outcome. Previously, Adam Driver said he’s changed the way he watches his own movies by defending his acting choices compared of criticizing them. I feel like that would be the only way to view your movies in trusting that a director knows what works well for their film.

It may have been painful for Adam Driver to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens after vowing not to watch his own works, but at least it’s nice he had Carrie Fisher and Daisy Ridley there to take in the awkward experience. Even if Driver continues to stay away from his films, the legacy he left behind as Kylo Ren will continue to resonate with fans.

Being the new kid on the block is always stressful, and the same can be said for the entertainment industry. Sitting in a room with a lot of talent and experience, as well as being the new generation to a long-standing franchise can be daunting. On that note, actress Daisy Ridley shared her story about the first read through for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and it’s quite relatable.

Prior to the release of The Force Awakens, the first of the Star Wars movies in order from the Disney era, actress Daisy Ridley had only played a small handful of roles. So understandably, she was nervous walking into the first read where her costars were Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, among other big names. In an interview with Empire (via ScreenRant), Ridley told the story of her first read-through, which, in her words, was made worse because of the seating arrangement:

Ridley went on to talk about how she thought her first read wasn’t close to her best. She then shared that director J.J. Abrams brought her to the side after the reading to go through it personally with her. At the time, she thought they hated her, though seeing as we saw her reprise her role two more times, clearly that was wrong.

Daisy Ridley herself has mentioned that after the release of The Force Awakens, she was unable to sleep because of the backlash and comments about her role as Rey. For Star Wars fans, Rey being a liked character goes on a person-to-person basis, and it’s not just Ridley whose character is up for heavy scrutiny. Co-star John Boyega, who played Finn, has a history with fighting back against toxic and rude fans on social media. Kelly Marie Tran, who played Rose, was so heavily bullied on social media, that she removed her accounts, and fans of Rose were disappointed to see she had little screen time in The Rise of Skywalker as a result.

While there are plenty of negative interactions Ridley has had since taking on Rey, she has also shared the good. As intimidating as it was, Ridley noted that everyone was kind, and that kindness is something that stuck with her. In the past Ridley had shared advice that Carrie Fisher gave her before her passing, and how that has helped her navigate her new fame.

Currently, Daisy Ridley is going to reprise her role as Rey in an upcoming Star Wars movie, though there’s some debate on how that will shake out. There are not many details about that new movie as of right now, so be sure to check in with us while we wait for more info. As for now, you can binge her trilogy with a Disney+ subscription.

At present, there are a lot of upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows on the way from Lucasfilm. However, perhaps the most exciting of them all is the return of Daisy Ridley’s Rey in her spinoff film, which is currently in active development. As Ridley gets ready to tell a new story in the beloved universe, she recently reflected on dealing with "overwhelming" fame when The Force Awakens launched the prequel trilogy nearly a decade ago.

While the release of Episode VII was just another walk around the block for actors like Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher at the time, it was Daisy Ridley’s first time leading a movie ever. She recalled some of her earliest experiences with the fanfare, and they truly drove home how her life was changing:

Daisy Ridley shared these memories when she spoke to French film magazine Premiere about her upcoming return to the galaxy far, far away. It's definitely fair to say that the Star Wars movies bolstered her celebrity status. Back in 2015, she became one of the most highly covered stars in Hollywood, in what seemed to be just the blink of an eye. She continued to explain those early lessons in fame and how she feels she'll handle the Rey-related buzz this time around:

Amid the interview, the Young Woman and the Sea star also clarified that she “wasn’t forced to come back” and certainly could have turned down Lucasfilm offer to do a another movie. However, when she was pitched the idea, she ultimately liked the concept. Not only that, but she also recalled how she “had a great time” working on the sequel trilogy, which made her decision to return to the fold that much easier.

Daisy Ridley also remembered that in the same week she was approached by Lucasfilm, two people had serendipitously pointed out it would be interesting to see what her Star Wars character was doing now. She previously said that she wanted to return as Rey, because the franchise brings a “lot of love and joy” to people. Of course, there’s been some sexism in Star Wars, but the actress also previously said that element of the fandom has been “blown out of proportion.”

Eventually, audiences will get to catch up with Rey in a movie that will take place 15 years after the release of Rise of Skywalker. The movie will see Rey reforming the Jedi Order, which means she'll possibly be serving as a mentor to a new generation of Force-wielders. Director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has said that Rey will be the “heart” of the movie, and that definitely makes sense.

Filming has yet to kick off on the new film, but the chances are the production will get started sometime next year. Overall, it sounds Daisy Ridley is more than ready to jump back in and get to work. I'm glad that she now has perspective on the fame she experienced so many years ago and wish her well as she prepares to experience a new wave of buzz with this upcoming feature.

While you wait for the new film to open on May 20, 2026, stream the Star Wars movies in order using a Disney+ subscription.

Without George Lucas, there would be no Luke Skywalker, no Death Star, no Boba Fett, no Baby Yoda, and the collection of great movies on Disney+ would look vastly different. However, while Lucas is responsible for creating the massively popular franchise set in a galaxy far, far away, there are a handful of others whose names are listed as director for some of the best Star Wars movies.

With the property being as popular as ever, and a few high-profile upcoming Star Wars movies on the way, we decided to take a step back and look at all of the directors who have helped shape the franchise into what we know it as today. With all three sequels from the “Skywalker Saga” and every released standalone movie included, we’ve put together a rather robust list sorted by release date.

George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)

When he sat behind the camera for Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, George Lucas was a talented yet relatively unknown director who only had two credits to his name: THX 1138 and American Graffiti. That would soon change upon the May 1977 release of the franchise starter, which propelled Lucas and the film’s cast into superstardom and made him a household name, a distinction that has remained true for nearly 50 years.

Irvin Kershner, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Though very much involved with the story, production, and everything else surrounding Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas passed on the opportunity to direct the film due to not wanting to relive the stress from the first film, per the New York Times. He took a risk and selected Irvin Kershner, best known for films like The Hoodlum Priest, Up the Sandbox, and S*P*Y*S, and it ultimately paid off and gave us one of the best sequels of all time. However, it wasn’t all pleasant for everyone, as Mark Hamill butted heads with Kershner during his first and only Star Wars movie.

Richard Marquand, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return Of The Jedi (1983)

When it came to closing the Star Wars trilogy, Lucas selected Richard Marquand to direct Return of the Jedi, who beat out names like Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, and David Cronenberg, per Collider. Marquand would close out the first phase of the franchise with a divisive finale that seems to get much more praise as the years go on.

George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode I – Phantom Menace (1999)

When it came time for Star Wars to return to the big screen with the long-awaited prequels, George Lucas returned to the director’s chair 20 years after taking a more behind-the-scenes role with The Empire Strikes Back. The result of his return was 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menance, a movie that is not without its shortcomings but also one that gave us the iconic “Duel of the Fates” lightsaber battle.

George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones (2002)

The filmmaker stuck around for the second installment in the “Prequel Trilogy” Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Though fans have started to appreciate the prequels, including the middle chapter, in recent years, this 2002 movie remains a low point for the franchise.

George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode III -  Revenge Of The Sith (2005)

The “Prequel Trilogy” came to an end in 2005 with Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, which was once again directed by Lucas. Conversations surrounding the film’s legacy have gone in every direction in the nearly 20 years since its release, but there’s no denying that Lucas directed the hell out of the Mustafar duel.

Dave Filoni, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

Dave Filoni has gone on to be one of the driving forces behind the brand over the years, and it all started with him directing the 2008 animated movie, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The beloved film, which would lead into the the TV series of the same name, took place not long after the events of Attack of the Clones and further expanded the story of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, while also introducing fan-favorites like Ahsoka Tano.

J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)

In December 2015, three years after Disney acquired Lucasfilm, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens was released into theaters around the world and became a massive box office hit. J.J. Abrams, who became one of the major stakeholders in the property following the acquisition, directed the first live-action Star Wars movie in a decade and kicked off the “Sequel Trilogy” in the process.

Gareth Edwards, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

One year after The Force Awakens made beaucoup money at the box office, Disney released its first anthology film with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Directed by Gareth Edwards, who was hot off of the release of Godzilla two years earlier, told the story of the rebel spies who secured the secret Death Star plans and chronicled the sacrifices they made to save the galaxy.

Rian Johnson, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)

Either the most daring or divisive Star Wars movie depending on who you ask, Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi broke from the status quo and offered a fresh take for the galaxy far, far away. There has been talk of Johnson returning to the franchise at some point in the future, but he has been rather busy the past few years with the Knives Out series, including his upcoming Wake Up Dead Man.

Ron Howard, Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

More than 40 years after working with Lucas in American Graffiti, Ron Howard joined the franchise with 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, replacing Phil Lord and Chris Miller in the process. The movie, which saw Alden Ehrenreich take on the role of a young Han Solo, wasn’t well received and is currently the final Star Wars anthology film. 

J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

Colin Trevorrow was supposed to direct the final installment of the “Sequel Trilogy,” which at one point had the working title of Duel of the Fates, but J.J. Abrams ultimately returned to wrap up the Skywalker Saga with The Rise of Skywalker. Though the lowest-ranked live-action Star Wars movie on Rotten Tomatoes, TROS still made a ton of cash at the box office, though there hasn’t been a new theatrical release since its December 2019 debut.

Though there aren’t any Star Wars movies on the 2024 movie schedule, there are some promising series set in the galaxy on the 2024 TV calendar that should hold fans’ attention while we wait. 

When you make your way through the Star Wars movies in order, obviously there are certain characters who stand out above the others, including Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, Leia Organa, Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, the list goes on. And then there are characters who may have supporting roles in these movies or only briefly appear, which is fine since not everyone can have the exact same level of importance. Still, you may find yourself wanting more from them.

That’s why we’ve compiled this list of 32 Star Wars characters who appeared in the movies, but have shined in other media tied to the franchise. This list primarily covers content from the official Star Wars canon, but there will also be some talk about the old Legends continuity, which became defunct in 2014.

Boba Fett

Although Boba Fett collected a lot of fans from his appearances in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and was later featured as a child in Attack of the Clones, frankly, he barely functions as a character in those movies. Fortunately, both the Legends-era material and the official canon have given him a lot to do, with the former largely consisting of roles in novels and comic books, and the latter putting him in the spotlight during some episodes of the TV shows The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian Season 2, as well as his own limited series, The Book of Boba Fett.

Count Dooku

Count Dooku was certainly presented as a capable threat in the latter half of Attack of the Clones, but he was quickly taken off the board by Anakin Skywalker at the beginning of Revenge of the Sith. So if you’re looking to enjoy more of the former Jedi master-turned-Sith Lord, start with watching various The Clone Wars episodes and the three episodes focused on him in Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, and and then reading the book Dooku: Jedi Lost. If you’re a Legends fan, Dark Rendezvous is also worth a read.

Lobot

To most people who’ve seen the Star Wars movies, Lobot is just the silent guy with the weird mechanical apparatus around his head who was by Lando Calrissian’s side in The Empire Strikes Back. Well, you should know that he’s one of Lando’s closest allies, and that’s demonstrated in various Marvel Comics series, like the main title and the Lando miniseries. He also briefly appears in the Last Shot novel.

Sabé

You may not know her by name, but anyone who’s seen The Phantom Menace knows Sabé, as she’s the handmaiden who impersonated Queen Amidala for the majority of that movie. For those interested in learning what happened to her after the first Prequel Trilogy entry, check out Marvel Comics’ Darth Vader comic book series set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, as she plays a key role in its story.

Phasma

Like Boba Fett, Captain Phasma was really only around to look cool during her two Sequel Trilogy appearances, although at least she proved herself more capable in The Last Jedi than Boba did in Return of the Jedi. In any case, pick up the Phasma novel if you want to learn about how she joined The First Order, and the Star Wars: Captain Phasma miniseries to learn what happened to her between The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. She was also a supporting antagonist in Star Wars Resistance.

General Grievous

Although General Grievous was certainly no pushover in Revenge of the Sith, the movie also didn’t do the commander of the Separatists’ droid army justice for just how dangerous he is. The original Clone Wars micro series did that properly when it introduced him to the world, but even if we’re just limiting ourselves to the official canon, The Clone Wars and the Tales of the Empire miniseries do tremendous jobs of showing off of Grievous’ ruthlessness and skills that allowed him to kill countless Jedi, clones, the list goes on.

Darth Maul

There’s no question that Darth Maul came out of The Phantom Menace looking like a boss with his double-bladed lightsaber, but he only served as a weapon carrying out Darth Sidious’ will. If you want to really get to know Maul the character, then the latter half of The Clone Wars and a good chunk of Star Wars Rebels are must-watches. The former in particular adds context for why he cameoed in Solo. Maul’s also frequently appeared in books and comic book series from both the official canon and Legends.

Jango Fett

Jango Fett will always be important to the franchise as the genetic template for the clone troopers, which includes raising Boba, an unaltered clone, as his son. We also got a sense of how ruthless a bounty hunter he was when he killed Zam Wessell to cover his tracks and when he put up a decent fight against Obi-Wan Kenobi. But if you’re craving more action featuring Jango, track down the Legends-set video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter so you can play as him going on various missions.

Wedge Antilles

Wedge Antilles is the only non-core Original Trilogy character to appear in all three of those movies, as he was seen participating in the Battle of Yavin, the Battle of Hoth and the space portion of the Battle of Endor. An older Wedge also cameoed in The Rise of Skywalker, and his younger self appeared in a few Rebels episodes. Book-wise, though, he’s done quite well for himself, appearing in the canon Aftermath trilogy and Star Wars: Resistance Reborn, and leading the X-Wing novels from the Legends era.

Plo Koon

Like the next several entries on this list, Plo Koon was just one of the many silent Jedi who appeared during the Prequel Trilogy, and we saw his ship shot down when Order 66 was executed in Revenge of the Sith. Watch The Clone Wars to learn how he sounds and see him properly in action. Need extra incentive? He’s the one who discovered Ahsoka Tano.

Kit Fisto

Kit Fisto got a slightly bigger platform than your average, silent Prequel-era Jedi when he accompanied Mace Windu to arrest Chancellor Palpatine with Agen Kolar and Sassee Tiin. He barely lasted longer against the Sith Lord than those last two, so if you’d like a better idea of how capable Kit actually was, check out his prominent appearances in The Clone Wars. There’s also the Legends novel The Cetus Deception if you’re craving more from the character.

Luminara Unduli

All you’ll really see of Luminara Unduli in the Star Wars movies is a few brief shots of her with her lightsaber in Attack of the Clones, and then making a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo on Kashyyyk in Revenge of the Sith. So watch The Clone Wars to see her being put to good use, and then head over to the Rebels episode “Rise of the Old Masters” to witness how she was horrifically used long after dying.

Barriss Offee

Barriss Offee was Luminara Unduli’s Pawadan when the Clone Wars broke out, so you’ll see her by her master’s side a little bit during Attack of the Clones. But it was The Clone Wars where she really shined, albeit not always as a hero, as the final episodes of Season 5 took her down a dark path. Then over a decade later, three of Tales of the Empire’s episodes showed what happened to her during the Empire’s reign.

Shaak Ti

It may sound like a broken record at this point, but once again, here’s another Jedi from the final days of the Old Republic who was followed a decent amount in The Clone Wars, and she also appeared in the Dark Disciple book. Additionally though, over in the Legends role, Shaak Ti played a prominent role in the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game, having survived Order 66 in this continuity.

Yaddle

Until Grogu became The Mandalorian’s breakout character, the only other member of Yoda’s species ever show was Yaddle, who was a Jedi Council member during The Phantom Menace. But Yaddle was nowhere to be seen in Attack of the Clones. Well, check out Tales of the Jedi if you want to learn what happened to her. This also cleared up that Yoda’s peculiar way of speaking is unique to him alone, not something done by others in his and Yaddle’s species.

Jar Jar Binks

There’s no question that Jar Jar Binks has one of the worst reputations of the Star Wars characters, and certainly no one is obligated to pretend they like him. That being said, The Clone Wars does do a decent job of giving the Gungan a handful of opportunities to come off looking a little better. It’s also worth reading the novel Aftermath: Empire’s End to learn what happened to Jar Jar after the events of Return of the Jedi.

Wilhuff Tarkin

Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin functioned as a compelling secondary villain next to Darth Vader in A New Hope, even though he was actually the one calling the shots in this movie. Alas, his overconfidence in the first Death Star proved to be his undoing. Not to worry, though because along with him cameoing in Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One giving him a key supporting role, the TV shows The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch and Rebels gave him a lot to do. If you really want to dig into Tarkin’s psyche, read the novel about him published in 2014.

Commander Cody

Commander Cody offhandedly mentioned in Revenge of the Sith that he and Obi-Wan Kenobi had been on many missions together, Well, you can see some of those missions in The Clone Wars and see what their dynamic was like before Cody ordered the Jedi Master to be executed as part of Order 66. Cody also appears in The Bad Batch episode “The Solitary Clone,” where we learn how he’s handling working for the Empire.

Mon Mothma

Mon Mothma briefly appeared in Return of the Jedi as one of the Rebellion’s high-ranking leaders, and she was also supposed to appear in Revenge of the Sith, but her scenes were deleted. Fortunately, not only did Genevieve O’Reilly, who played the character in the latter, not only get to make a proper cinematic appearance as Mothma in Rogue One, but she’s also portrayed her in Rebels, Andor and Ahsoka.

Bossk

Like the next two entries on this list, Bossk cameoed in The Empire Strikes Back as one of the bounty hunters Darth Vader hired alongside Boba Fett to track down the Millennium Falcon. Make your way through The Clone Wars and the tie-in novel Dark Disciple to see what Bossk was up to during the title conflict, then jump over to Marvel Comics’ Bounty Hunters series to follow along with him post-Empire, pre-Return of the Jedi.

Dengar

Like Bossk and the following entry, Dengar was spotlighted in the Legends continuity through one of the short stories in Tales of the Bounty Hunters, amidst other appearances. Canon-wise, though, his list of appearances includes a couple of episodes of The Clone Wars, Marvel’s Darth Vader series that began publication in 2015, Target Vader, the aforementioned Bounty Hunters and the first two Aftermath books.

Zuckuss And 4-LOM

The bizarre-looking Zuckuss and his droid companion 4-LOM make for an extremely effective bounty hunting duo. They also play significant roles in the Bounty Hunters comic book series and the Dark Droids crossover event, and you can see them among other bounty hunters from the Empire Strikes Back era in “Wait for It,” one of the short stories from From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back.

Maz Kanata

Although Maz Kanata played an important role in The Force Awakens by bringing back Luke Skywalker’s original lightsaber, she barely had anything to do in both The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. So if you’re looking to see more of the character, read material like The High Republic Adventures, the Han Solo & Chewbacca comic book series, Aftermath: Life Debt and Last Shot.

Cassian Andor

There’s no question that Cassian Andor was key to Rogue One’s story, and one could certainly make a strong argument for him being the movie’s second most important character behind Jyn Erso. But fans of the character got lucky, as the Andor series wound the clock back to show what Diego Luna’s character was doing in the five years ahead of him meeting Jyn and perishing on Scarif. This series also has the benefit of being one of the more grounded and grittier Star Wars projects.

Qi’ra

When we left off with Qi’ra at the end of Solo, she’d contacted Maul, leader of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate, to inform him of Dryden Vos’ death and blame Tobias Beckett for their mission’s failure. While we never got to see Qi’ra meet up with Maul on Dathomir, she returned to prominence in the pages of Marvel’s Crimson Trilogy which comprised the Star Wars crossover events War of the Bounty Hunters, Crimson Reign and Hidden Empire.

Knights Of Ren

Following the Knights of Ren being teased in The Force Awakens, they didn’t resurface until The Rise of Skywalker, and even then they only served the function of nameless heavies, barely any more important than stormtroopers or the Praetorian Guard in The Last Jedi. So read Marvel’s Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren to learn how he joined this group, or read the Crimson Trilogy to see what these characters were up to before Return of the Jedi.

Rose Tico

Despite Rose Tico being an important character in The Last Jedi, she only had a couple of minutes of screen time in The Rise of Skywalker, and many fans were disappointed with her being sidelined. The good news, though, is that Rose’s fans can see what she was doing prior to Episode VIII in her Age of Resistance one-shot, then follow her between that movie and Episode XI in the Resistance Reborn and Spark of the Resistance books, and the Allegiance comic book miniseries.

Bail Organa

We met Bail Organa, Leia’s adoptive father, in Attack of the Clones, and then he played a bigger role in Revenge of the Sith, followed by a minor appearance in Rogue One. Once you’re done watching those movies, head over to The Clone Wars to see his activities during the Republic’s war with the Separatist, then watch Obi-Wan Kenobi to see him reunite with the title Jedi Master and finally get to see what kind of a parent he was to Leia.

Greedo

When the name Greedo pops up in Star Wars fans’ conversations, it’s almost always in reference to the “Han shot first” debate. But don’t let your opinion of the character rest only on his untimely demise: read Han Solo & Chewbacca and a handful of From a Certain Point of View: A New Hope’s short stories to learn more about him. Also, fun fact, that little Rodian kid who makes fun of Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace is Greedo.

Snap Wexley

Poe Dameron was the X-Wing pilot extraordinaire in the Sequel Trilogy, but Snap Wexley was pretty good in the seat of one of these starfighters too. We saw him in action during The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker, but you can also follow along with him in the Aftermath trilogy, the Bloodline book and the Poe Dameron comic book series to learn more about this member of the Resistance.

Amilyn Holdo

Amilyn Holdo will arguably always be best known for jumping into hyperspace through Supreme Leader Snoke’s ship in The Last Jedi, a suicide attack that was later called “The Holdo Maneuver.” Fortunately, there are plenty of stories from her past that have been told in Star Wars media, including the book Leia: Princess of Alderaan, where we learn how those two became close, and various appearances in Marvel’s comic books.

Ochi Of Bestoon

Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t remember Ochi of Bestoon in The Rise of Skywalker, as he was only briefly seen in a hologram and flashbacks as the assassin/Jedi hunter who was being pursued by Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian on Pasaana, where he died. If you really want to know what this character’s deal is, read Shadow of the Sith to learn the specifics of his death and how he’s connected to Rey and her parents, as well as the Darth Vader comic book series set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, as he’s one of the Sith Lord’s main minions during this period.

So if any of these characters appealed to you in any way, check out those recommended stories and feel free to do more research into the character. 

There are many reasons why the Star Wars franchise is iconic. The characters are iconic. The costumes are iconic. The props are iconic. The special and visual effects are iconic. And, right up there alongside all of those other qualities is the dialogue. The full run of the series on the big screen from 1977 up to the present is packed with quotable quotes that are both part of memorable cinematic moments and applicable to everyday life.

It’s in celebration of those great Star Wars lines that we’ve put together this feature – highlighting all of the best bits from A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return Of The Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Attack Of The Clones, Revenge Of The Sith, The Force Awakens, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars Story and The Rise Of Skywalker.

“I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

This is one of the lines on the list that is all about delivery. “Disturbing” is a weak adjective in the context of the scene (Darth Vader confronted with doubt about the existence of the Force), but James Earl Jones’ gravitas makes Vader’s understated word choice terrifying.

“These aren't the droids you're looking for.”

Obi-wan Kenobi unleashing the first-ever Jedi mind trick is an exceptionally badass move. To create a pun with a Star Wars line that you won’t find later in this week, it’s wizard.

“If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”

In the full context of the Skywalker saga, this line has two standout readings. On the one hand, Obi-wan becomes a Force Ghost, able to aid Luke Skywalker on his journey to become a Jedi. On the other hand, Darth Vader is aiming to kill the man who treated him like a son, and Obi-wan knows that will haunt him no matter how hard he embraces the Dark Side.

“Boring conversation anyway.”

Not only is this an excellent example of classic Han Solo snark, it’s a fun line to drop in real life when someone you’re talking to gets disconnected from a call.

“Use the Force, Luke.”

In Star Wars, this is the urging from Obi-wan that sees Luke Skywalker unlock his true potential, but it’s also a potent line of encouragement to trust one’s instincts at moments of extreme stress.

“The Force is strong with this one.”

The journey of Darth Vader’s relationship with Luke Skywalker is a long one – and it’s really with this line that their connection begins in earnest. Simply tailing behind a X-Wing in his personal TIE fighter, the father sees his son’s potential.

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

Some iteration of this line is uttered in every Star Wars movie, and there’s nothing not to love. Trouble being ahead is the essence of every narrative (everything develops through conflict), and everything about this franchise is deeply rooted in traditional storytelling.

“May the Force be with you.”

This is a line so great that it practically exists beyond Star Wars in the public consciousness. It’s a message of “good luck” that unites geeks everywhere.

“Do or do not. There is no try.”

Is this line from Yoda in Empire Strikes Back somewhat undercut by Obi-wan saying, “Only a Sith deals in absolutes” in Revenge Of The Sith? Unfortunately, yes. But by itself, it is an excellent piece of motivation suggesting that you focus on your goals over the efforts to attain them.

“I love you.”“I know.”

Pure Han Solo goodness here. It’s kind of a jerk thing for Han to say as his potential last words to Princess Leia, but it’s so befitting his character that you just have to love it.

“This deal is getting worse all the time.”

Here is another great line that can easily be used in real life – particularly in moments of frustration. One can’t help but feel a bit of schadenfreude when Lando Calrissian expresses this sentiment regarding his agreement to betray Han & Co. to the Empire… but credit where credit is due, Lando does redeem himself in Return Of The Jedi.

“Obi-Wan has taught you well. You have controlled your fear. Now, release your anger. Only your hatred can destroy me.”

Darth Vader is well-aware how hatred and anger can erode one’s soul, and in The Empire Strikes Back, he gets Luke on the precipice of following the same path.

“No – I am your father.”

I mean… would anyone have accepted this list as legitimate if I didn’t include this classic line? It’s constantly misquoted, but it’s an iconic moment in the history of cinema.

“It’s a trap!”

This line from Admiral Akbar in Return Of The Jedi has taken on a life of its own in the internet age… but it’s great independent of its history as a meme. Once again, it’s all about the delivery.

“You can't stop change any more than you can stop the suns from setting.”

There aren’t a lot of great lines in The Phantom Menace (there are far, far more terrible ones), but this line from Shmi Skywalker as she is saying goodbye to her son is profound in its acceptance of how life is always about moving forward.

“This party's over.”

This is another line that gets all of its weight from the way its delivered. Samuel L. Jackson is the cinematic incarnation of the word “badass,” and while Mace Windu ultimately suffers what is a pretty lame fate, the actor gets to express his greatest gift with this spotlight moment in Attack Of The Clones.

“So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause.”

The slip into totalitarianism is often aided with populism, and it doesn’t matter if it’s here or in a galaxy far, far away. Science-fiction is designed to reflect our own world, and Revenge Of The Sith does so in stark fashion with this line.

“You were the chosen one!”

Obi-wan Kenobi did everything in his power to train Anakin Skywalker as a proper Jedi knight, but everything falls apart when the Padawan is manipulated into embracing the Dark Side. These five words are all pain.

“Chewie... we're home.”

Han and Chewie forever belong on the Millennium Falcon, and it’s shocking that they were separated from their ship for an extended period of time after Return Of The Jedi – but at least fans get to witness their return home in The Force Awakens.

“Crazy thing is... it's true. The Force, the Jedi. All of it. It's all true.”

One of the first things we learn about the Force and the Jedi in the original Star Wars is that their existence was relegated to being fantastical myth… but Han Solo witnessed the magic first hand, and Harrison Ford’s heavy reflection with this line in The Force Awakens is amazing.

“I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?”

Controversial as this scene may be, this is a terrific bait-and-switch line. You think Kylo Ren is going to try and fight the darkness within him, but whoops! Instead, he stabs his father in the chest.

“That's one hell of a pilot!”

One of the best parts of the Sequel Trilogy is the budding friendship between Finn and Poe Dameron, and their bond is made particularly palpable with the enthusiasm with which this particular line is delivered in The Force Awakens.

“I'm one with the Force, and the Force is with me.”

There are a number of memorable characters introduced (and subsequently killed) in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Donnie Yen’s Chirrut Îmwe is a contender for the title best of the best – in part because of his kick-ass mantra delivered before unleashing devastation.

“Save the Rebellion! Save the dream!”

There are a number of great battle cries in the Star Wars canon, but this one from Saw Gerrera is particularly great – delivered with intense and passionate conviction by Forrest Whitaker in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

“Amazing. Every word of what you just said was wrong. The Rebellion is reborn today. The war is just beginning. And I will not be the last Jedi.”

Kylo Ren failed out of Luke’s Jedi Academy, but that doesn’t stop the Master from taking his nephew to school in The Last Jedi – with Mark Hamill perfectly delivering the blockbuster’s eponymous line.

“Hope is like the sun. If you only believe it when you see it you'll never make it through the night.”

Hope is an influential presence in the Star Wars universe, as it’s what pushes rebel forces to constantly fight against the oppressive authoritarians despite the overwhelming odds stacked against them. Leia Organa spends decades in the canon fighting that fight, and this line in The Last Jedi is a wonderful expression of how hope keeps her going.

“They were filthy junk traders. Sold you off for drinking money. They're dead in a pauper's grave in the Jakku desert. You come from nothing. You're nothing. But not to me.”

This is another line that is undercut by material in subsequent stories, but I don’t care: it’s a powerful idea that Rey could come from nothing and nobody to become an exceptionally gifted Jedi knight, and Kylo Ren ripping off the Band-aid in The Last Jedi is shocking in the moment.

“I'm gonna be a pilot. Best in the galaxy.”

Han Solo is the dictionary definition of a cocksure pilot, and that spirit is very much present in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Alden Ehrenreich delivers this line with the perfect level of conviction and determination.

“It's not a navy, sir. It's just... people.”

In the last stand against the First Order in The Rise Of Skywalker, it’s not just the Jedi’s final battle with the Sith – it’s about ordinary people from around the universe fighting back against a fascist regime.

You can witness all of these lines in their original context by streaming all of the Star Wars films with a Disney+ subscription – and you can learn about all of the franchise-related projects in the works with our upcoming Star Wars movies and TV guide.

When The Rise of Skywalker ended the Skywalker Saga era of the Star Wars movies in order in 2019, it seemed as though that’d be the last we’d see of characters like Daisy Ridley’s Rey, John Boyega’s Finn and Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron. Well, not so in Rey’s case, as it was announced last year that Ridley will return to a galaxy far, far away in an upcoming Star Wars movie centered on her character 15 years after Episode IX. Ridley knew this new Star Wars movie was something she “wanted to do” right away, but it will also entail her taking a “different” approach compared to when she started on the Sequel Trilogy.

In the midst of drawing attention in recent months for her roles in The Marsh King’s Daughter and the 2024 movie release Sometimes I Think About Dying, as well as soon being seen in Young Woman and the Sea, Ridley has been giving a lot of thought to how she’ll be performing Rey this time around, and this time she’s “coming in a bit more eyes wide open.” As the actress told Empire:

You have to remember that when Daisy Ridley was cast as Rey for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, she’d only been acting for a few years, with her credits being comprised of minor roles in British TV shows like Mr. Selfridge and Casualty, short films and the movie Scrawl, although that wasn’t even released to the public until 2019. So Episode VII essentially marked her feature film debut, and at just 22 years old when it began filming, it’s no wonder she didn’t feel like an adult then. But since then, along with shooting two other Star Wars movies, Ridley has expanded her resume with fare like Murder on the Orient Express, Ophelia and Chaos Walking.

So it’s understandable that being in a much different place in her professional life now will require Ridley to approach playing Rey different, and that’s not even accounting for how this Star Wars movie will follow the character constructing the new Jedi Order (although that doesn’t sound like it’s a plot point 100% set in stone). But as we approach the 10-year anniversary of the actress’ Star Wars debut, she still has a lot of affection for the franchise, saying:

Aside from Daisy Ridley’s involvement, all we officially know about this still-to-be-titled Star Wars movie is that it’s being directed by Ms. Marvel’s Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and written by Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight. In January, Ridley said she didn’t know if any other Sequel Trilogy characters will appear in the flick, and we also have no idea when it will even be released. Currently the only Star Wars movie on the theatrical calendar is The Mandalorian & Grogu slated for May 22, 2026, so it may be a while until more concrete updates on this project’s status come rolling in.

For now though, a Disney+ subscription is required for streaming the released Star Wars movies and staying current on the franchise’s TV offerings. Next up on the franchise’s lineup is Tales of The Empire, which dropped its first trailer and premieres May 4.

2024 will be a year long remembered in Star Wars history… well, kind of. For one thing, the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Menace’s release being celebrated by the first Prequel Trilogy installment returning for a limited theatrical run. But now it’s also been announced that all of the Skywalker Saga Star Wars movies in order are returning to theaters too. And for those of you looking forward to the upcoming Star Wars TV show The Acolyte, there’s some extra incentive to head to your theater to revisit a galaxy far, far away.

Starting off, for fans with the drive undertake watching all nine of the Skywalker Saga movies, from The Phantom Menace to The Rise of Skywalker, in chronological order in one sitting, Lucasfilm has announced that the marathon will play in theaters on May 4th, a.k.a. Star Wars Day. For those of you who either go to this marathon or decide to check out The Phantom Menace on its own, with those screenings kicking off May 3rd, an exclusive sneak peek of The Acolyte will be attached to Episode I. Additionally, marathon attendees will received a limited edition poster. Tickets for both events go on sale tomorrow, March 22, at 9 a.m PT/12 p.m. ET.

While some may be content to watch the Star Wars movies in the comfort of their own home on May 4th, whether it be their own copies or streaming them with your Disney+ subscription, at least now there’s also the option of viewing them on the big screen. For those of you who decide to sit through all of the Skywalker Saga marathon, which will require being in the theater for roughly a day, my hat goes off to you. Also, keep in mind that 2008’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars, 2016’s Rogue One and 2018’s Solo are not part of the Skywalker Saga, so you’ll still need to hang around your home if you’d rather watch those on Star Wars Day.

On the other hand, if you’re someone who’d rather just get another peek at The Acolyte, then going to see The Phantom Menace in theaters will be worth your time. This is the first Star Wars TV show to be set during the High Republic era, with the events specifically unfolding approximately 100 years before Episode I. Among the things we know about The Acolyte is it will follow a Jedi Master investigating a series of crimes that bring him into conflict with a dangerous warrior from his past, and from there the two will embark down a dark path filled with sinister forces. The Acolyte’s cast includes Amanda Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Carrie-Anne Moss, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett and Jodie Truner-Smith, among others.

The first trailer for The Acolyte premiered yesterday, and if you missed it, feel free to watch the preview below:

The Acolyte will premiere its first two episodes June 4th on Disney+, and the other six episodes will be released weekly. If you’re game to watch The Phantom Menace on its own in theaters or take part in the Skywalker Saga marathon, snag your tickets as soon as possible starting tomorrow. Otherwise, look through the 2024 release schedule to learn what movies are coming out later this year.

One of the perks of being in a major movie franchise like Star Wars is coming out of filming with some seriously cool souvenirs. Case in point, the legendary loot actress Daisy Ridley was able to score after her time playing Rey in The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

Over four years after capping off the sequel trilogy with The Rise of Skywalker, and thus concluding the Skywalker Saga, Ridley and Rey are back making headlines with the news that one of the highly-anticipated upcoming Star Wars projects will be a movie centered on Ridley's Jakku scavenger–turned–Jedi Master (though Lucasfilm has some updates on those rumored Rey movie titles).

It seems like the 31-year-old Brit is more than ready to reprise the role given that she has a legitimate lightsaber at home. And there's even more where that came from, as the actress recently divulged to People: 

Rey actually utilizes three different lightsabers throughout the Skywalker Saga: Anakin and Luke's saber, Leia's saber and then her own. Hers is, notably, a yellow-bladed lightsaber that the character built following the First Order-Resistance War. Ridley doesn't specify ,but we're thinking it's the latter one that she took home as a wrap gift on the Sequel Trilogy. 

Daisy shared what her initial reaction was after holding a lightsaber for the first time during a 2019 interview with British Vogue, calling the energy swords "heavy" and "cumbersome":

Along with iconic memento, Ridley previously revealed to Empire that she also made off with her regular Rey costume—which consisted of a flow-y, neutral tunic, leather belt and brown boots—at the end of production. She also swiped some of Dark Rey’s jewelry, specifically a "red and chunky" ring worn by one of the character's visions in The Rise of Skywalker, a warning sign of what would happen if she followed Kylo Ren into the darkness.

Daisy Ridley's return to the Star Wars universe will no doubt have even cooler gear and gadgets for the star to get her hands on after filming wraps. Though we don't yet have word on when we can next see Rey Skywalker back onscreen wielding a lightsaber—we'll keep our 2024 movie schedule updated with all of the latest intel, naturally—we do know that Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is working on the script, which will reportedly take place 15 years after Episode IX, and Ms. Marvel's Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is directing the feature.

In the meantime, you can catch Daisy Ridley acting in some decidedly lightsaber-free films like the romantic dramedy Sometimes I Think About Dying and the upcoming Sam Yates-directed neo-noir Magpie. Or you can revisit her time in a galaxy far, far away by streaming the Star Wars movies in order with a Disney+ subscription. 

When Star Wars finally came back to the big screen with Star Wars: The Force Awakens it was a big deal for fans, but it was an even bigger deal for Daisy Ridley. The largely unknown actress had taken a massive step into the spotlight as part of what was virtually guaranteed to be one of the biggest movie releases ever. It’s not surprising that Ridley had an emotional reaction to seeing herself on the big screen as Rey, but the reason seeing the film made her cry is a bit more surprising.

Speaking with French-language Clique, Ridley admits that when she first saw The Force Awakens she broke down in tears because initially she thought she was terrible in the movie. Ridley said (translated from French)…

It’s certainly not too shocking that Ridley was overwhelmed by the experience to the point that her emotions got the better of her. As she says, she’d never been in a leading role like that before, so she had nothing to compare to what she was seeing. On top of that, her first leading role was in a Star Wars movie. The seventh Star Wars film ever, or the eighth now if you watch the Star Wars movies in order, Ridley knew the eyes of the world would be on her, so she was overly critical of her performance. 

And while there have certainly been those that have been critical of Ridley’s performance, most of that has been relegated to sexists on social media. Whatever people think of the new trilogy in general, a lot of fans love Daisy Ridley and they love Rey as a character. Once Daisy Ridley realized most people didn’t believe she was the worst thing to happen to Star Wars she was hopefully able to come to terms with her feelings and see her performance differently. 

Lucasfilm doesn’t have a problem with Daisy Ridley, as the Star Wars franchise is bridging her back in a new movie. And the fact that Ridley is willing to return indicates she is at peace with her performance. The as-yet-untitled movie will see Ridley as an older Jedi training a new generation. The movie was expected to be the next of the upcoming Star Wars movies until yesterday when we learned that The Mandalorian & Grogu, a new movie based on The Mandalorian Disney+ series, and directed by Jon Favreau, is slated to go into production later this year and thus will likely be the expected 2025 Star Wars release. 

Watch the Star Wars movies in order and the accompanying TV shows, and you’ll find a handful of dead characters who’ve later returned, whether it’s because they were resurrected, their deaths never actually happened or, in the case of a few lucky Force users, they’ve popped back up as Force users. In that third category, one wouldn’t be faulted for thinking Kylo Ren might fall into it following his demise in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. However, Adam Driver has confirmed that he’s finished with the Star Wars franchise and also explained why playing Kylo, a.k.a. Ben Solo, in the Sequel Trilogy was “exhausting” for him.

During his visit to the SmartLess podcast, Driver was asked by Sean Hayes, who hosts the podcast will Will Arnett and Jason Bateman, about if the actor has had any more talk about “Star Wars stuff.” Driver made it clear that he’s “not doing any more” in a galaxy far, far away because of Kylo Ren’s ultimate fate. Later on in the interview, Bateman inquired about what the momentum of working on The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker was like for him, which Arnett followed with a more general question about his approach to momentum in a movie set, and here’s what Driver had to say:

For those who haven’t viewed Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in a while, be it with a Disney+ subscription or their own copy of the movie, the redeemed Ben Solo transferred his life essence to Rey to revive her following her showdown with Palpatine, her grandfather. After they shared a kiss, Ben’s body faded away, a tell tale sign that someone could return as a Force Ghost, just like his mother, Leia Organa, and his uncle, Luke Skywalker, did at the end of the Skywalker Saga’s final chapter. 

And yet, per this interview, we won’t be seeing Force Ghost Ben appear in the coming years. Part of me wonders if Adam Driver might be convinced to change his mind given that Daisy Ridley has the Rey movie coming up, which will catch fans back up with her 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker as she’s building the new Jedi Order. For now though, Driver sounds content leaving this chapter of his career behind him.

Besides, given all the people who still mention to him that Kylo Ren killed Han Solo, it’s not Driver will ever that far away from Star Wars. The actor also recently talked about the original arc for Kylo Ren across the Sequel Trilogy was much different than how things ultimately capped off for the character in The Rise of Skywalker. Regardless, if you’d like to see more of Driver onscreen, his latest movie, Ferrari, is still playing in theaters. And as always, keep visiting CinemaBlend for the biggest news about upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows.

While Adam Driver was hardly an unknown name in Hollywood prior to 2015 thanks to appearances in movies like Lincoln and Inside Llewyn Davis, plus his role as Adam Sackler in the TV show Girls, there’s no question that Star Wars: The Force Awakens significantly boosted his profile. As one sees when they go through the Star Wars movies in order, Driver played Kylo Ren in all three of the Sequel Trilogy’s entries, and we’re just a few years away from The Force Awakens celebrating its 10th anniversary. Yet all this time later, Driver continues to be reminded by Star Wars fans of one of Kylo’s biggest moments in that movie, with it even feeling to him sometimes like this is mentioned “every day.”

Driver stopped by Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? (which can be streamed with a Max subscription) to talk about his career with the title host ahead of the arrival of his latest cinematic endeavor, Ferrari, one of the final 2023 movie releases. On the topic of Star Wars, Wallace brought up how Kylo Ren killed Harrison Ford’s Han Solo, the character’s own father, in The Force Awakens, lead the actor to say (via CNN):

The Force Awakens opened to the masses on December 18, 2015, so we’re coming up on eight full years of Adam Driver being continuously reminded of how Kylo fatally stabbed Han Solo, one of the most popular characters in the Star Wars franchise, if not all of cinema. I can imagine this gets annoying after a while, though at least this is something that Driver only has to deal with once a month now. Still, should you run into the man out in public, maybe mention a different Star Wars reference instead since Han Solo’s death has clearly been overdone.

Mike Wallace then asked Driver if it was “tough” dealing with the idea that he was going to “off Harrison Ford,” and Driver explained how the experience of shooting that Force Awakens scene went for him as follows:

It is important to mention that while Harrison Ford wanted Han Solo to die going as far back as Return of the Jedi, it wasn’t as though he mandated the character’s ultimate fate as a condition for reprising the role. Rather, director J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy made that decision, though Disney CEO Bob Iger also had a say. In any case, the final chapter of Han’s story unfolded in The Force Awakens, although Star Wars fans did get to see Adam Driver and Ford together one last time in The Rise of Skywalker when Kylo Ren saw a vision of his father, which led to him reclaiming his Ben Solo identity.

You can stream The Force Awakens with your Disney+ subscription, and keep visiting CinemaBlend for news about the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows. Adam Driver’s performance as Enzo Ferrari can be seen on the big screen starting December 25.

While all forms of art require imagination, the genre of science-fiction is one in which it is especially crucial. Films in this category envision entire worlds of a bright (or dark) future or one inhabited by lifeforms of a greater intelligence — much like the filmmakers who created some of the following films that earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of more than 90%. The following are some of the all-time greatest sci-fi movies that won over most critics, according to the review aggregator site.

Aliens (1986) - 98%

The debate over which of the first two (and arguably best) Alien movies is the greater installment only gets hairier when you see that they both have a 98% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. Regardless, writer and director James Cameron’s Aliens — featuring Sigourney Weaver’s Oscar-nominated return as Ellen Ripley — is the best to watch for fans of action movies.

Arrival (2016) - 94%

To call Arrival one of the greatest alien invasion movies of all time is major oversimplification, and not just because it has a staggering 94% score on RT. Director Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-winning adaptation of Ted Chiang’s short story, “Story of Your Life,” is an astonishingly inventive and hopeful meditation on how human beings interact disguised as a story about struggling to understand our extra-terrestrial visitors.

Back To The Future (1985) - 97%

All it takes is a look at Back to the Future’s 97% RT score (out of 89 critic reviews) and 94% audience score (out of more than 250,000 user reviews) to understand why it is considered one of the best time travel movies of all time. However, if you want specifics, director Robert Zemeckis’ iconic ‘80s classic boasts brilliantly charming performances from Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, a remarkably clever plot involving Marty McFly meeting his parents as teens in the 1950s, and Alan Silvestri’s rousing score, to name a few highlights.

Brazil (1985) - 98%

Monty Python member Terry Gilliam went on to become known as one of cinema’s most audacious and unique visionary filmmakers, and Brazil is, perhaps, his most audacious and unique film (which is really saying something). The 98% of critics who praised this bizarre Oscar-winner about a disillusioned bureaucrat whose wild daydreams begin to come true especially admired its cheekily comic twist on more dour, Orwellian themes.

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1997) - 94%

In Steven Spielberg movies, you may find aliens that are kind (E.T.) or volatile (War of the Worlds), but the visitors from Close Encounters of the Third Kind lie somewhere in the middle. As its 94% RT score will show, this fantastic tale — with timeless special effects and one of John Williams’ best Spielberg movie scores —  “is important” and really “means something.”

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) - 95%

At its best, science-fiction is used as a valuable tool for reflecting on our current society or delivering a much-needed message, and one of the smartest and most influential examples to come out the 1950s’ B-movie era is The Day the Earth Stood Still. Even modern critics that contributed to its 95% score on RT regard this story of an alien (Michael Rennie) and a robot addressing the human race with an urgency for peace as a timeless classic of great importance, perhaps now more than ever.

The Endless (2017) - 92%

At 92% on RT, The Endless remains the highest-rated film yet by the inventive filmmaking duo of Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson, who also lead the cast as brothers revisiting the cult they escaped from years ago. Without giving too much away, if you are a fan of time loop movies, you do not want to miss this one.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - 99%

While most films about aliens involve human beings suffering a tragic fate at the hands of malevolent creatures, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is an entirely different breed (even if the original idea for it was much darker). Steven Spielberg’s story of a lonely boy befriending a lost creature from another planet captured the hearts of critics (99% on RT) and audiences alike, and still inspires people of all ages to this day.

The Fly (1986) - 93%

The key to a great movie remake is to take the original concept and twist it in a way that makes it stand firmly on its own, and David Cronenberg’s reimagining of the 1958 sci-fi classic, The Fly, is a quintessential examples. With a 93% critic score and an 83% audience score on RT, this terrifying romantic tragedy about a scientist (Jeff Goldblum) slowly transforming into a fusion of man and insect will surely leave you afraid, very afraid.

Forbidden Planet (1956) - 96%

Not many people realize this, but Forbidden Planet is actually an epic, high-concept, sci-fi retelling of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Perhaps that is why this story about a crew of space travelers who find a world inhabited by only a doctor and his daughter is still so highly acclaimed to this day, boasting a 96% on RT, currently.

Ghost In The Shell (1995) - 95%

At 95% on RT, Ghost in the Shell is one of the most acclaimed Japanese anime films of all time. The story of a cyborg who begins to ponder her own humanity while tracking a man who hacks the brains of part-human, part-machine hybrids is an astonishing visual treat and may be more relevant today than ever.

Godzilla (1954) - 93%

Truly the king of the monsters, Godzilla is the face of countless classics — only a few of which have exceeded 90% on RT, including the one that started it all. Originally called Gojira, what has earned Ishirô Honda’s seminal blockbuster a 93% on RT is not just its hair-raising, larger-than-life thrills, but its post-war social commentary.

Gravity (2013) - 96%

Alfonso Cuarón won his first Best Director Oscar for this intense Sandra Bullock movie that proves you do not necessarily need nefarious otherworldly creatures to make outer space terrifying. Yet, it was mostly its immersive cinematography and seamless special effects that earned Gravity a 96% on RT out of 362 reviews.

Her (2013) - 94%

It barely seems fair to call Her a science-fiction movie, because humans have become so attached to technology that the idea of falling in love with an AI is not so far-fetched. Perhaps that is why 94% of critics on RT found themselves so moved by the romance between Joaquin Phoenix’s divorced love letter writer and Scarlett Johansson as his digital personal assistant, in writer and director Spike Jonze’s not-too-futuristic, Oscar-winning dramedy.

The Host (2007) - 93%

Not to be confused with 2020’s Host — which is actually one of a few horror movies above 90% on RT — this creature feature would also count as one of the best Korean horror movies in recent memory, let alone of all time. Boasting an impressive 93% on RT, The Host proves that Academy Award-winning Parasite director Bong Joon-ho is, among many other genres, also a master of sci-fi.

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978) - 92%

While the first (out of many) cinematic retellings of Jack Finney’s seminal, paranoia-fueled novel remains the highest-rated adaptation so far, this 92% rated version is one of the most celebrated thrillers of the 1970s. Also one of Jeff Goldblum’s best movies, if there is anything that Phillip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers specifically has over the original 1956 classic it's a bolder approach to its bleak concept and hopelessly eerie tone.

The Iron Giant (1999) - 96%

One of the most underrated animated movies of its time — with underwhelming box office returns to prove it — The Iron Giant is, luckily, remembered today as a smart, heartwarming, and thrilling classic, with an impressive 96% RT score and 90% audience rating to show for it. Vin Diesel gives one of his best performances as the voice of the titular, gargantuan extra-terrestrial robot in the film that paved the way for director Brad Bird to become one of Pixar’s greatest icons.

Looper (2012) - 93%

Rian Johnson is a master of subversion — not just in how he crafts stories that keep audiences on their toes, but in the way he turns a certain genre on its head (such as film noir) by fusing it with an entirely different genre (such as sci-fi), like he does with Looper. Most of the 93% of positive critic reviews on RT agree that its already amusing concept — a mafia hitman (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) wrapped in a cat-and-mouse game with his future self (Bruce Willis) — is elevated by its top-notch performances.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - 97%

It is rare when the fourth installment of a decades-old franchise ends up being its most acclaimed chapter among both critics and audiences, but with a 97% critics score and 86% audience rating, that is the case for Mad Max: Fury Road. This dazzling, non-stop trek through a surreal desert landscape sees Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron at their best, and fully realizes George Miller’s maddening post-apocalyptic vision, making it the best of the Mad Max movies, easily.

Metropolis (1927) - 97%

If you have ever been curious about getting into silent films, a good choice to start would be Fritz Lang’s visually stunning, highly influential utopian drama. Even though H.G. Wells himself did not seem to care for it in his New York Times review, Metropolis has a fresh 97% rating out of 138 critic reviews and a 92% audience score that solidifies it as one of sci-fi cinema’s finest, nearly a century later.

Repo Man (1984) - 98%

While Repo Man was certainly not a hit when it was first released — it only made $129,000, according to Box Office Mojo — it is now regarded as one of the most underrated films of 1984. Certified fresh on RT with a 98% score, the bizarre satire stars Emilio Estevez as a punk-turned-repossession agent pursuing a Chevrolet Malibu that he discovers is carrying something truly out-of-this-world.

The Road Warrior (1981) - 95%

While the original Mad Max had some amusing sequences and served as a fitting backstory for the titular anti-hero, the sequel is the film that would come to visually and tonally define the franchise and most post-apocalyptic thrillers to follow. Critics like Roger Ebert recognized that The Road Warrior is relatively thin on plot, but grand in magnetic, high-energy action, resulting in 95% on RT — making it the second highest-rated in the franchise below Fury Road.

Snowpiercer (2013) - 94%

Rarely has the post-apocalyptic genre ever been so brutal, so claustrophobic, so imaginative, and thought-provoking than with Bong Joon-ho’s electrifying adaptation of Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette’s graphic novel. Chris Evans gives one of his best performances as a caboose passenger leading a revolt against the wealthy inhabitants of a self-sustaining bullet train in an uninhabitable Earth in the 94% rated Snowpiercer.

Stalker (1979) - 100%

Andrei Tarkovsky was an artist of extraordinary talent, from the stunning scope of his films’ visual aesthetic to the depth of their highly audacious stories. The movie considered his magnum opus — backed by a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes — is Stalker, which is a transfixing odyssey through maddening darkness in pursuit of one’s greatest desires. 

Star Trek (2009) - 94%

The highest rated installment of the Star Trek movies on Rotten Tomatoes is not the one you might have assumed. J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot, starring Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock, has a stellar 94% rating and is one of just two to fall within the 90% - 100% range.

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) - 93%

With the release of an ambitious, wide-scale, interplanetary adventure unlike anything the world had seen before, George Lucas changed the world of cinema as we know it forever. The very first chapter of the Star Wars saga (in order of release, that is), sits at a 93% critics score and a 96% rating among audiences on RT, only further proving its stunning appeal.

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - 94%

Critics and audiences are in pretty close agreement over what is the best Star Wars movie. Certified fresh at 94% with 97% of fans showing their love on RT, The Empire Strikes Back remains one of the quintessential examples of how well a sequel can surpass its predecessor.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) - 93%

Continuing a saga as revolutionary and widely worshipped as the Star Wars franchise is no easy task, but director J.J. Abrams pulled it off in the eyes of critics and most fans. Star Wars: The Force Awakens — which brings back fan favorite characters and introduces new ones — may only have an 85% audience score, but with a 93% critic rating, is tied with A New Hope as the series’ second-highest rated film on RT.

The Terminator (1984) - 100%

Some fans of James Cameron’s time-spanning, technophobic franchise may agree that Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the best of the series, but that is not what the stats say. The terrifying cat-and-mouse game that started it all and made Arnold Schwarzenegger a massive star, The Terminator, earns a rare 100% on RT.

Wall-E (2008) - 95%

There are so many great Pixar movies, that it is hard to choose which one deserves to be called the best, but there is a strong case to be made for the 95% rated Wall-E. One-part dialogue-free one-man show, one-part heartwarming romance, and another part bold, foreboding satire, this story of a cute little robot tasked with cleaning up a desolate earth gives you a lot to think about and even more to feel.

Do you agree with the critics that these are the best sci-fi movies cinema has offered yet?

Star Wars is one of the biggest movie franchises in the galaxy and has grown considerably since A New Hope back in 1978. Each movie, both pre and post-Disney, has its moments that stand out amongst the best these stories have to offer, but there are also some low points. I'm here to talk about both, and maybe share some controversial takes on the best and worst parts of every major movie Star Wars has ever made, after a recent binge with my Disney+ subscription.

Some of these takes tackle the biggest complaints and high points of the franchise, and some capture the moments we don't talk about enough. Surprisingly, Jar Jar Binks did not make the list, but there are a lot of other things we need to talk about from each movie. 

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Best Thing: Luke's Destruction Of The Death Star - When it comes to all-time moments in blockbuster cinema, there are few scenes as thrilling as Luke's run in the X-wing to destroy the Death Star. Despite impossible odds, he is able to channel the Force and destroy the Empire's greatest weapon in its arsenal. This might be the top moment in all of Star Wars, period, hence why it's a highlight. 

Worst Thing: Han Stepping On Jabba's Tail - The special edition cuts are controversial for how they altered the originals, but this scene is without question the worst of them all. Han disrespecting Jabba in their meeting and going so far as to step on his tail and injure him is absolutely bonkers, given what we know about Jabba. He kept Han frozen in carbonite for months in his bar for owing him money. I believe Jabba would've thought nothing of having Han killed right then and there for this, money be damned. As such, it's a real lowlight of this movie. 

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Best Thing: Vader's Reveal To Luke - It's one of the most mind-blowing reveals in movies, to the point that it's been parodied to death. While the impact of Vader revealing he's Luke Skywalker's father isn't felt quite as strongly now as when it first happened in theaters, the scene itself is still so awesome and definitely the high point of one of Star Wars strongest films. 

Worst Thing: Leia Kissing Luke On The Lips - Of course, one of the best Star Wars movies also features the most painful scene in the franchise's history. Leia plants a big kiss on Luke in an effort to make Han jealous early in the movie, and Luke kicks back in an effort to brag. Of course, we find out in Return of the Jedi that they're brother and sister, which makes the whole scene just painfully awkward and not even Mark Hamill joking about it can shake the ick. Of all the things that have been done to change the movie over the years, why hasn't this been removed?

Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi

Best Thing: Everything In Jabba's Palace - Jabba The Hutt's palace is, quite possibly, one of the coolest sets in sci-fi history. Some fans might complain about the movie spending around a half-hour in the gangster's palace, but you won't see me doing that. Luke's Rancor fight is great, and Leia killing Jabba is one of Carrie Fisher's best Star Wars scenes. All of this happens in the Jabba scenes, and I think without it, the movie wouldn't have been nearly as good.

Worst Thing: The Ewoks - Stormtroopers are incompetent, and the Empire made plenty of mistakes during the Galactic Civil War. With that said, I've always struggled to suspend my belief enough to buy that a trained army with modern weapons could possibly lose to a bunch of small fuzzy Ewoks using primitive technology. 

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Best Thing: The Introduction Of Darth Maul - If you're someone who has watched Star Wars Rebels or read the expanded materials, you already know that Darth Maul is a gift to the universe. Even then, this villain kicked off the prequel trilogy in an awesome way with his unique lightsaber and look that was so frightening I can't help but think he inspired that demon from Insidious. Plus, he killed the immensely powerful Qui-Gon Jinn and set up an arc with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Those who haven't checked out other works with Maul that feature some of his best moments definitely should. 

Worst Thing: Anakin And Padme's Dynamic - I won't go so far as to say that Anakin and Padme's scenes in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace are unrealistic, but they are certainly uncomfortable. Trying to lay the framework for an eventual romance when the characters are 9 and 14 was a weird choice, and I still question why it even had to be established in the first place. Is it so hard to believe this romance waited to blossom until they were both adults? 

Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones

Best Thing: Seeing The Jedi Council In Action - Star Wars: The Phantom Menace introduced the Jedi Council, and then we went the entire movie without seeing them in action. Attack Of The Clones rectifies that with a massive battle between most of the members and Count Dooku's Separatist droids. We also get the first-ever Yoda lightsaber duel, which still holds up even in these days of modern CGI. 

Worst Thing: Anakin And Padme's Romance Scenes Are Bland - One thing this movie would never be accused of being is a romance film, despite any attempt to make one. The romantic chemistry between Anakin and Padme is minimal and almost painful at times. The best thing I can say about these scenes is that they led to Anakin's iconic rant about hating sand, which has lived on well past the praise for this movie. 

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith

Best Thing: Battle On Mustafar - I've had a theory for a long time that when people say they like the sequel trilogy, what they really mean is they love the Battle on Mustafar. Let's be honest, it's the greatest lightsaber duel in the history of Star Wars cinema, and it will be very hard for any future film to outshine it. It's pretty hard to top any duel in which the loser bursts into flames. 

Worst Thing: The Slaughter Of The Younglings - As Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker would go on to commit plenty of atrocious acts that far outweigh anything he did in Revenge Of The Sith. The exception, I'd argue, is the slaughter of a multitude of Younglings in the Jedi temple. That alone should've kept him from any redemption he allegedly got down the line, and is a rare display of the true evil of this Skywalker in the movies. 

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Best Thing: It Led To The Acclaimed Television Series - The television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars might be the best Star Wars show/movie ever made. Dave Filoni's fleshing out of the Clone Wars era led to wonderful characters like Ahsoka Tano, as well as a greater appreciation for the prequel trilogy from fans who craved more information about that time. None of it would exist without the movie, which, as we'll get into, wasn't quite as well respected. 

Worst Thing: It's Not The Quality Of The Acclaimed Television Series - Many people tend to forget The Clone Wars started with a movie, and with good reason. It's one of the most panned movies in the franchise and found widespread criticism for being a movie that relied on knowledge of deep franchise lore, but also had a lame plot geared primarily toward children. The series would find a way to balance that tone in its series run, but the first attempt clearly missed the mark. 

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Best Thing: The Fresh Cast Of Characters - Star Wars: The Force Awakens needed a cast of fresh faces to lead the sequel trilogy, and damn, did they hit the jackpot. Daisy Ridley alone would've been enough to put this cast over the top, but Adam Driver, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac? That's a solid group to lead a sequel trilogy, regardless of anyone's thoughts on how it all turned out. 

Worst Thing: It Feels Like A Reskinned Version Of A New Hope - The Force Awakens is a good film, but it gets that reputation primarily by being A New Hope with a new cast of characters and many of the original legacy characters. It doesn't do anything to shake up the formula of the original movie, which might be the biggest crime, seeing as it didn't give much for the movies after to build on. 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Best Thing: Vader's Hallway Scene - If there's one thing the original trilogy could be faulted for, it was how it failed to make Darth Vader look like more than a stiff robot. I mean, yeah, that's what he is, but as more movies went on there was a great disparity between the amazing duelist Anakin Skywalker and the stiff saber-using Darth Vader. This one scene bridged that gap considerably and showed in a very simply scene why Vader was one of the most feared people in the galaxy. 

Worst Thing: CGI Grand Moff Tarkin And Leia - De-aging and digitizing actors is still a controversial process in 2023, and we've gotten better in executing it than when Rogue One: A Star Wars Story came out. Grand Moff Tarkin's scenes are hard to watch, and he almost looks like a caricature of Peter Cushing at times. The Leia scene is easier to overlook since it's so short, but even then, it's far from perfect. I see them as two unfortunate missteps in an otherwise perfect movie. 

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

Best Thing: Rey and Kylo Ren Fighting Off The Elite Praetorian Guards - If the duel on Mustafar is the best duel in Star Wars history, I would say this scene from Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a close second. Rey and Kylo Ren coming together to defeat the elite praetorian guards minutes after he killed Snoke is an incredible sequence and some of the best fight choreography in the entire franchise. 

Worst Thing: The Canto Bight Story - Whether you love or hate this movie, there is no denying the Canto Bight adventure that Finn and Rose go on is overly long and a bit unnecessary. After all, they go there looking for a master codebreaker and end up returning with someone completely different. The scene was meant to be like a "cold water" reset, except I felt soggy and without a towel after. 

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Best Thing: The Train Heist - There aren't many exciting moments in Star Wars you can point to that take place without a single lightsaber. The train heist is definitely one of Solo's coolest scenes that bucks that trend and delivers high-flying action for the entire sequence. It also accomplishes this while being relatively low-stakes in relation to all that happens in the universe, and I think we need more of that in the franchise in general. 

Worst Thing: The Necessity To Shoehorn In Han Solo Explanations - Solo: A Star Wars Story wanted to tell the tale of Han Solo and how the famous galactic smuggler came to be. Weirdly enough, it seems like literally every key moment of his life came together in this one adventure. This movie worked a little too hard to explain the key moments of Han's past, and it hurts the movie. 

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker

Best Thing: The Reveal That Rey Was A Palpatine - The reveal that Rey is a Palpatine is the absolute mic drop moment of the sequel trilogy. To find out the hero is the descendant of the galaxy's most evil character was incredible and set up Rey in a big way for future Star Wars stories. 

Worst Thing: We Don't Get Much Time With That Reveal - Unfortunately, Star Wars sat on the Rey Palpatine reveal far too long. Fans needed more time to sit with it, and I think if we could go back in time, we'd make this come out in The Last Jedi. Instead, we got it toward the end of the sequel trilogy and the Skywalker saga. The twist was kneecapped and should get more acknowledgment in stories going forward. 

Disney+ is the home for all things Star Wars, be it movies or television. While there's still quite a gap between now and the next movie, this might be a great time to do a rewatch and find the things people like or dislike about each movie. 

Did you happen to catch Daniel Craig the last time you were watching the Star Wars movies in order? Don’t be disheartened if you didn’t, because the James Bond star’s face hasn’t actually popped up in a galaxy far, far away. Instead, Craig cameoed in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as a stormtrooper, and the actor recently dropped an F-bomb while sharing what it was like for him to wear the stormtrooper armor.

For those who need a refresher, Daniel Craig’s character, designated FN-1824, was the stormtrooper who was assigned to guard Daisy Ridley’s Rey, who’d been captured by Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren. However, after a few failed attempts, the young woman successfully used a Jedi mind trick to force FN-1824 to unlock her restraints, exit the room and leave his blaster behind. After Josh Horowitz jokingly inquired if FN-1824 would get a spinoff while he was interviewing Craig, the actor said the following about how he came aboard Star Wars: The Force Awakens and how uncomfortable it was to be stuck in the stormtrooper armor for a day:

Daniel Craig only had to wear stormtrooper armor for one day, so yes, he should consider himself fortunate that he wasn’t one of these extras who had to sweat it out for days on end in the deserts of countries like Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. Even John Boyega, who debuted in The Force Awakens as renegade stormtrooper Finn, had to wear that armor for a long amount of time, including during the scene when Finn emerges from the TIE Fighter wreckage on Jakku. Had Craig scored a main role in one of the Star Wars movies, he likely wouldn’t have been on board for playing one of those characters who keeps their helmet and armor on most of the time, or else a lot more f-bombs surely would have been dropped.

The good news for Daniel Craig is that because he was covered in stormtrooper armor for those hours, there could come a day when he’s cast in a leading role for a Star Wars project where people see his face. After all, Andy Serkis played Supreme Leader Snoke in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi through motion capture, and earlier this year he appeared in three episodes of Andor (which can be watched with a Disney+ subscription) as Kino Loy. With his time as James Bond over, in the periods when he’s not busy playing investigator Benoit Blanc in the Knives Out movies, taking part in another Star Wars movie or a Star Wars TV show would be a great way to expand his blockbuster franchise presence.

Netflix subscribers will be able to watch Daniel Craig reprise Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery starting tomorrow, December 23. Star Wars fans can look forward to The Bad Batch Season 2 premiering on January 4, followed by The Mandalorian Season 3 on March 1.

When Disney first concluded its sequel trilogy with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, there seemed to be a growing consensus amongst the fandom. Episodes VII through IX had their highs and lows, and regardless of what any one individual considered those highs and lows (Star Wars' original editor did not like the Sequel Trilogy at all), everyone seemed to agree it was best to take a step back from that era for a bit. Evidently Lucasfilm concurred, as each successive project it announced seemed to focus on other eras in the saga. Now there are rumors the franchise is ready to revisit that era with Damon Lindelof’s upcoming Star Wars movie, and if that’s true, there’s one easy way to boost its relevance. 

Star Wars has landed on Disney+ in a big way with a number of shows that fans have tuned into and many more on the way. I believe that if the franchise knows what’s good for it, it'll work toward ensuring that a couple, if not many of the characters from those shows make some appearance in this Lindelof project, assuming it's actually a follow-up to the Sequel Trilogy. There’s obviously some sound logic to talk out on why this is a good idea, so let’s get into it and hope the powers-that-be are already two steps ahead on this idea. 

Fan Opinion On Star Wars Television Is More Universal Than The Movies

I wouldn’t say that every Star Wars television project is beloved, but I’d argue the approval rating of most of them is far higher than the movies as of late. Additionally, fan opinions on the shows are more universal compared to the Sequel Trilogy. This is completely understandable in some regard considering that the sequel movies had less time to win audiences over than some of the shows, and this trilogy really split the fandom when it went in decidedly different directions between The Last Jedi and The Rise Of Skywalker. 

To be fair to both of those movies, they dealt with higher stakes and were forced to take bigger swings than ones that The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the other shows have had to take thus far. Those decisions wouldn’t be effective if they weren’t divisive with the fandom on some level, especially with a fandom as broad and diverse for a franchise like Star Wars. Even so, I think one key to The Mandalorian's specific approval rating is that it’s telling a lower-stakes Star Wars story, and because it’s a television series, audiences are accepting and completely on board with that. 

The main point, however, is that people love The Mandalorian, so it seems like an easy choice to put a character like Grogu into this rumored movie in some way. There are, of course, more people than “The Child” that can be thrown into the mix from the shows, though admittedly, quite a few that are off the table. Then again, if Emperor Palpatine can survive being thrown from an upper ledge on the Death Star that later exploded, surely we can make a case for Cassian Andor surviving the destruction of that Scarif base!

Marvel Showed That Marrying Television And Film Is The Right Call

The Marvel Cinematic Universe certainly has its differences from Star Wars, but considering it’s another franchise that is mindful of its content to ensure it all stays in line with the canon of the shared universe, Star Wars could take some notes for how the MCU treats its latest batch of shows. Specifically, Star Wars should look at how the stories Marvel is telling on television is actively impacting its film universe and adds relevance to both mediums. 

Think back to how hyped people were when Daredevil first appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home? They were thrilled to learn Matt Murdock is back in the MCU, and later on, it was announced he was getting his own television show. Almost a year later, people are loving She-Hulk and wondering if and when she’ll pop up in a movie. Oh, and when we’re going to learn the story of where Hulk was at and why he has a son. 

So far, Star Wars treats most of its television shows as supplemental to the films. Sure, occasionally a movie will feature a brief reference to a character from an animated series, but beyond that, everything made so far hasn’t notably impacted or changed the universe on a scale the movies have to address it. In fairness, that’s partially because there are no plans to remake or further change the Prequel and Original Trilogies, but that can change with this rumored plan to build on the Sequel Trilogy. 

The Mandalorian seems like the most obvious series for Lucasfilm to incorporate into any successor to the Sequel Trilogy, mainly because Grogu has a long lifespan. With that said, there are plenty of human characters who could appear in that type of project as well from Ahsoka, though they’d be much older. Even so, Luke, Han and Leia were still able to aid the Rebels even in their advanced age, so there’s no reason to think Ezra and others couldn’t as well. 

Whether they’re from The Mandalorian, Star Wars Rebels or one of the other shows, there’s no shortage of beloved characters of the franchise who could help increase interest in an upcoming movie. Like Marvel, Star Wars can and should use that to help set up what it has on the way on television, and then use that TV content to pave the way for movies. It’s worked well for Marvel so far, so why not Star Wars?

Star Wars Loves Connecting Things

If there’s one thing the Star Wars franchise loves, it’s making its massive universe feel really small by connecting all the characters within it. Seriously, this galaxy is absolutely massive with tons of planets and people, and yet all the relevant people in movies and shows always seem to know each other? This trend has been a part of Star Wars for a while, so I’ve come to embrace it. As such, the franchise should also embrace it by connecting its original characters to prominent movie characters. 

There’s already a playbook to make this happen, of course, as many characters in the Sequel Trilogy knew the OG characters in Star Wars, who are linked to the many of the characters featured in Star Wars shows thus far. Assuming some of these characters are still around in the timeline of the Sequel Trilogy, all they’d have to do is name drop Luke Skywalker, and boom, connection made. Perhaps the strongest argument for adding TV characters to the movies is the fact that it wouldn’t be weird at all given how the franchise connects its universe elsewhere. So hopefully that’s in the works, and each of our favorite characters we keep our Disney+ subscription for will turn up in a future Star Wars movie before too long. 

It will likely be a while before we get confirmation or firm details on a Sequel Trilogy follow-up in the Star Wars universe, but there’s plenty of content available to stream on Disney+ in the meantime. I’d recommend checking out Tales of the Jedi, which has already impressed some folks with its stories about beloved Star Wars characters. 

There are actors who play protagonists we just can’t help but root for, and there are others who are so effective as villains we just can’t help but root against. And then there those like Domhnall Gleeson, who can, at one moment, portray characters like a hopelessly romantic time-traveler in About Time and then go on to take on the role of the ruthless First Order officer, General Hux, in the Star Wars universe. 

Gleeson has proven time and time again that he is capable of giving dynamic performances in a variety of roles. And, since we love exploring actors and their best screen appearances, this seems like a golden opportunity to look at some of the Domhnall Gleeson’s best movies. 

About Time (2013)

On his 21st birthday, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) learns of a life-changing secret: the men in his family can travel back in time and relive major moments from their past. But, it isn't all fun and games, as there are some major rules as well as consequences if they are broken.

What makes Richard Curtis’ 2013 romantic comedy About Time such a gem of a movie is Domhnall Gleeson’s approach to the everyman character. He is charming, believable, and just easy to root for in his quest to find the secret to love, life, and happiness. It also helps this movie play out like an emotional thrill ride.

Stream About Time on Starz.
Rent/Buy About Time on Amazon.
Get it on Blu-ray on Amazon.

Ex Machina (2015)

After winning a contest to spend a weekend at the estate of eccentric CEO Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac), programmer Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) realizes that things aren’t as they seem with his boss' latest experiment.

Alex Garland, who previously worked as a screenwriter, made his directorial debut with the 2015 sci-fi thriller, Ex Machina. Gleeson, once again playing the everyman, is absolutely brilliant in his conversations with Ava (Alicia Vikander in one of her best roles), an advanced android whose capabilities defy logic and reason.

Stream Ex Machina on HBO Max.
Rent/Buy Ex Machina on Amazon.
Get it on Blu-ray on Amazon.

Brooklyn (2015)

After coming to America seeking a better life, Irish immigrant Ellis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan) is forced to return home, resulting in a life-changing decision where there are no real winners or losers.

One of four critically-acclaimed movies starring Domhnall Gleeson to come out in 2015, John Crowley’s Brooklyn is right up there with any of Gleeson’s other roles. His portrayal of Jim Farrell, the warm, soft, and charming suitor waiting for Ellis back home is often overlooked but should be near the top of the list.

Rent/Buy Brooklyn on Amazon.
Get it on Blu-ray on Amazon.

The Revenant (2015)

Frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is attacked by a grizzly bear in the Dakotas and left for dead by trapper John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), setting off an emotional and painful rebirth story where the hero is motivated by revenge.

Alejandro Iñárritu’s 2015 epic, The Revenant, is mostly remembered for the tremendous performances by DiCaprio (who won his first Oscar) and Hardy, but the supporting cast is just as remarkable. Such is the case for Domhnall Gleeson, who is absolutely perfect in the role of the group's leader, Andrew Henry.

Rent/Buy The Revenant on Amazon.
Get it on Blu-ray on Amazon.

Frank (2014)

After essentially lying his way into an up-and-coming band on the cusp of fame and fortune, Jon Burroughs (Domhnall Gleeson) finds himself forming an unusual bond with the group’s lead singer, a mysterious man by the name of Frank (Michael Fassbender) who is never seen without a large papier-mâché mask covering his head.

One of the A24 movies streaming for free on Plex, Lenny Abrahamson’s 2014 comedy, Frank, is also one of the most interesting of the bunch, and of Gleeson’s career. The way in which Gleeson carries himself in this quirky feature is something else and again shows the complexity of his range as an actor.

Stream Frank on Plex.
Rent/Buy Frank on Amazon.
Get it on Blu-ray on Amazon.

True Grit (2010)

Following her father's death, 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) decides to pursue his killer, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin).

The Coen Brothers’ 2010 remake of True Grit is one of the best westerns of the modern era, and like the great westerns of yesteryear, it has an incredible cast. Domhnall Gleeson is among the greats with his portrayal of an ill-fated outlaw who has a change of heart a little too late, and steals the show whenever on screen.

Stream True Grit on Hoopla.
Rent/Buy True Grit on Amazon.
Get it on DVD/Blu-ray on Amazon.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows — Parts 1 And 2 (2010 - 2011)

The final two installments in the Harry Potter movie franchise go out with a bang as “The Boy Who Lived” (Daniel Radcliffe) takes on Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) to protect Hogwarts (and the world) from utter destruction, no matter the cost.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was split into two movies, sees heroes and villains of the Wizarding World in a final showdown, including the eldest Weasley brother, Will (Domhnall Gleeson). Though not one one of main players in the story, it’s always nice to see Gleeson’s character swoop in with a helping hand.

Stream Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 on HBO Max.
Stream Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 on HBO Max.

Rent/Buy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 on Amazon.
Rent/Buy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 on Amazon.
Get the Harry Potter 8-Movie Collection on Blu-ray on Amazon.

Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens (2015)

Years after the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Empire’s successor — the First Order — makes its presence known just as a new hope rises from the wastelands of a desert planet, starting her own hero’s journey.

People like to harp on Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens, but one thing that can’t be denied is Domhnall Gleeson’s portrayal of the iron-fisted First Order officer, General Hux, with his terrifying yet commanding speech on Starkiller Base being nothing short of brilliant.

Stream Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens on Disney+.
Rent/Buy Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens on Amazon.
Get it on Blu-ray on Amazon.

American Made (2017)

Renegade pilot Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) gets the job of a lifetime when he is recruited by the CIA to fly in a dangerous mission that leads to a whole mess of trouble.

Doug Liman’s 2017 biographical action drama, American Made, features one of the most unhinged Tom Cruise characters while also one of the more dangerous performances by Domhnall Gleeson. The actor is astounding as Seal’s CIA handler, who will do anything to help the agency and the country.

Rent/Buy American Made on Amazon.
Get it on Blu-ray on Amazon.

Calvary (2014)

After receiving the confession of an unknown man who says he will kill him in seven days, Father James (Brendan Gleeson) spends what could be the final week of his life contemplating his life and the threat while also going about his normal business.

One of the most startling scenes in John Michael McDonagh’s 2014 drama, Calvary, comes when the priest meets with Freddie Joyce (Domhnall Gleeson), a killer who cannot recall where he left his last victim. The younger Gleeson is remarkable in his portrayal of an unhinged cannibal, so much so he feels like a three-dimensional human being as opposed to a character on screen.

Rent/Buy Calvary on Amazon.
Get it on Blu-ray on Amazon.

Even though we’ve talked about 10 great movies, this barely scratches the surface of Domhnall Gleeson’s body of work, and doesn’t include some of his great shows like Black Mirror, Run, or Catastrophe. And, then there’s the 2022 TV schedule entry, The Patient, that looks incredibly promising.

There are some actors who don’t particularly enjoy social media. There are other actors who seem completely primed for it. Such was the case for Simon Pegg, who joined Instagram a little over a year ago. He’s been fond on social of reminding his fanbase he is, in fact, in a lot of really great franchises, including being a part of both the Star Trek and Star Wars universes. During an interview earlier this year he spoke about working on both the Millennium Falcon and the starship Enterprise and how that always helps him when he needs a pick me up. 

Speaking to Audible’s Dermot O’Leary earlier this year, Simon Pegg and the host talked about their personal experiences with the iconic franchises, in particular Star Wars, though the actor gleefully noted he uses these experiences when he needs “an attaboy.” He told Audible UK:

Although Simon Pegg is a lead in the Star Trek universe, playing original franchise character Scotty (in a role that wasn’t so easy to say “yes” to right away), it’s extremely clear that Star Wars is, in some ways, a series that connects to the child inside of him. Perhaps it’s simply because Star Wars is the subject O’Leary brought up, but Pegg also talked about being on the set to play Unkar Plutt -- a much smaller role than he inhabits in the Trek world -- and what that was like, including detailing the Stormtroopers just wandering around. 

It’s interesting that Simon Pegg is at this point in his career. A few years back he admitted to being at a point earlier in his career where he was having mind-blowing experiences, including working with Tom Cruise. However, issues with depression and alcohol kept him from being really happy with where he was at. Now, a few years later, it seems like he’s able to harness fond memories from some of these huge experiences and use them for good. 

Pegg really does crush it in memorable roles. He has a slew of upcoming roles, including in the upcoming Mission: Impossible 7 and 8;  he was in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, and then, of course, the three big screen Star Trek movies that Paramount made. (So far, obviously, but let’s not get off topic and talk about Star Trek 4). That’s not even mentioning The Cornetto trilogy, starting with Shaun of the Dead, a set of movies so notable they have infiltrated other parts of pop culture.By far though, the experience of “owning” the Millennium Falcon seems to be the one that takes the cake, however. That’s probably about right. Now, if Simon Pegg were actually hanging out on the wings of airplanes with Tom Cruise, perhaps things would be different... 

As far as fantastical science-fiction weapons go, there are few greater in cinematic history than the lightsaber. It was specifically inspiration from samurai movies that moved George Lucas to have the greatest heroes and villains in the Star Wars universe wield bladed weapons, and when that concept mixed together with some brilliant-yet-simple construction involving old camera equipment and various hardware, the result was the creation of one of film history’s most iconic props.

Fans have now been celebrating the existence of lightsabers in all their variations for more than 40 years, and we've built this guide to highlight some of the most iconic examples of the weapon from the live-action franchise. To start, let's begin with the most iconic version of the laser sword.

The Skywalker Lightsaber

When the lightsaber is first introduced in the Star Wars franchise, it's the Skywalker Lightsaber that is put front and center – which is ultimately appropriate given its incredibly important history. Anakin created it during the Clone Wars, and he used it up until his turn to the Dark Side, after which it was taken in a duel with Obi-wan Kenobi. Eventually Kenobi bestowed it upon Anakin’s son, Luke, who used it in both Star Wars: A New Hope and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, but it was presumed lost when Darth Vader cut off the hand Luke was using to hold it during a battle on Cloud City. We don’t really know exactly what happened to it after that point, but it eventually wound up in the possession of Maz Kanata, who gave it to Rey when it called to her in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Yoda

Like many Jedi Masters, Yoda built his own lightsaber, which goes a long way in explaining why it’s so very much a reflection of him. In addition to having a green blade – a shade a bit brighter than Yoda’s skin – it also has a hilt that is much shorter than most (which is an extension of the fact that Yoda is much shorter than most Jedi). As depicted in the only sequence where the diminutive alien does battle (versus Count Dooku in Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of the Clones), having a smaller weapon is advantageous for the way he fights, which involves a lot of leaping and jumping around.

Mace Windu

As you’ll see reflected as you continue reading this feature, there isn’t a ton of color diversity when it comes to lightsabers, with most of them being either blue, green, or red, but that’s what makes Mace Windu’s weapon so special. Though it has the same Kyber crystal construction as most, it emits an amethyst plasma blade that allows it to stand out in a field of Jedi doing battle. Sadly, though, the special laser sword has seemingly been lost in the Star Wars universe ever since Anakin betrayed the Jedi Order by pledging his allegiance to Senator Palpatine and letting the future emperor kill Mace Windu with Force lightning. (As for why the lightsaber is purple, the answer is simple: Samuel L. Jackson wanted it that way, and George Lucas acquiesced).

Qui Gon Jinn

The lightsaber wielded by Qui Gon Jinn wasn’t particularly notable in its construction, with a normal-sized hilt and a green blade, but what certainly does help make it stand out are the circumstances in which it was used. Specifically, Qui Gon carried the weapon during the Battle of Naboo when he and Obi-wan Kenobi faced off against the insidious Darth Maul. Sadly the Jedi’s skills with the weapon proved insufficient in one-on-one battle, with Maul killing Qui Gon Jinn, but at least the lightsaber got some revenge, as Obi-wan used his master’s weapon to slice Darth Maul in half.

Darth Maul

There are many elements of the Darth Maul design – as first introduced in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – that are intensely cool, but arguably nothing trumps his badass double-bladed lightsaber. Keeping with Sith tradition, the lasers are red, but the weapon is beautifully memorable because nothing like it had ever shown up in a Star Wars movie prior to its debut. The user of the lightsaber could activate one blade at a time or both simultaneously, and it helped Maul stand as a force to be reckoned with during the aforementioned Battle of Naboo. The double-bladed sword was used to kill Qui Gon Jinn, but then suffered the same fate as its wielder: bifurcated and thrown down a pit.

Count Dooku

Count Dooku’s lightsaber has only been featured in one Star Wars movie to date (Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones), but its design is still notable. While most lightsabers are constructed with primarily straight, parallel lines, the same cannot be said about the laser sword built by Dooku. Instead, there is a particular curve in the hilt of the weapon, which the Sith Lord felt allowed for greater finesse. As with most of those doing their business powered by the Dark Side of the force, his blade is red.

Luke Skywalker

After having used his father’s lightsaber for most of his adult life, Luke Skywalker built his own, complete with a green blade, while finishing his Jedi knight training and going to rescue Han Solo from Jabba The Hutt in Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi. Because the last lightsaber was built long before Luke got his Jedi training, he was forced to use a synthetic crystal in the construction instead of the standard kyber crystal – but the only real difference between the two ultimately is the sound that is made when the weapon is turned on.

Darth Vader

Following his turn to the Dark Side and becoming Darth Vader instead of Anakin Skywalker, the notorious villain built himself a new lightsaber complete with a red blade. While it functions in most ways like your typical example of the weapon, part of what makes Vader’s particularly special is a dual-phase function that allows him to control the length of the emitted laser. Of course, this is also famously the lightsaber that killed Obi-wan Kenobi and cut off Luke Skywalker’s hand.

Kylo Ren

The kyber crystal is the magical key that allows lightsabers to work the way that they do, and the reason why Kylo Ren’s weapon looks different than most is because it contains a damaged kyber crystal. Because there is a risk of overloading the cracked element, lateral vents are required – which is what accounts for the unstable energy that both takes the appearance of, and works like a crossguard when the lightsaber is activated. It has been used to fight and/or kill some very important characters, including Kylo Ren’s own father, Han Solo, who is stabbed through the chest with it in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Leia Organa

One of the big revelations in Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi is that Princess Leia Organa has some very special blood running through her veins – but it still took a hell of a long time after that for audiences to finally see the character wielding a lightsaber. Leia utilizes the Force in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but the first time we see her carrying the official weapon of the Jedi Knights is in Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker during a flashback sequence. Like the classic Skywalker Lightsaber, it has a blue blade, and at the end of the final film in the Saga it is buried in the sands of Tatooine next to Luke's.

Rey

As mentioned above, Rey made use of the Skywalker Lightsaber through both Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but at the very end of Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker she finally made a weapon to call her own. It's not made wholly clear where she gets a kyber crystal from, but the custom laser sword is revealed immediately after the heroine buries Luke and Leia's lightsabers in the sands of Tatooine. It holds a special place in the history of the Star Wars franchise by being the only one in a live-action movie that is colored yellow.

Of course, this is not the end of the legacy of lightsabers in the Star Wars universe, as we will surely see many more of them invented and introduced on the big screen in the coming years. To learn about all of the projects that the franchise currently has in the works, be sure to check out our Upcoming Star Wars guide.

This December will mark the second anniversary of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s release, the movie that concluded both the Sequel Trilogy that launched in 2015, as well as the Skywalker Saga as a whole. As with a lot of things in the Star Wars franchise, opinions range on the quality of the Sequel Trilogy, but it looks like we can count Marcia Lucas, one of the editors on Star Wars: A New Hope and ex-wife of creator George Lucas, among its detractors. In fact, she went so far as to call The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker “terrible.”

Marica Lucas’ opinions about the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy came to light when she was interviewed for Howard Kazanjian: A Producer’s Life (via Indiewire), a book by the late J.W. Rinzler focusing on the producer who worked The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, among other things. But during the interview, which took place between the releases of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, current Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and director JJ Abrams, who helmed Episodes VII and IX, came up, and Lucas subsequently revealed why she doesn’t like the Sequel Trilogy. In her words:

Marcia Lucas was an integral contributor to the original Star Wars trilogy, having shared editing duties on A New Hope with Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew, as well as editing Return of the Jedi with Sean Barton and Duwayne Dunham (she also did uncredited work on The Empire Strikes Back). Furthermore, it was her idea for Obi-Wan Kenobi to die in his duel with Darth Vader and continue mentoring Luke Skywalker as a spirit, as opposed to survive the conflict with the Sith Lord. Fast-forward several decades, Lucas isn’t pleased with what Disney has done with the Star Wars property, and takes particular umbrage with Han Solo being killed off.

For what it’s worth, Harrison Ford did have the idea of having Han Solo die in Return of the Jedi, and while that obviously didn’t come to pass, Kathleen Kennedy and JJ Abrams (along with some assistance from then-Disney CEO Bob Iger) decided for the character to meet such a fate in The Force Awakens. But it wasn’t just Han’s death that bothered Marcia Lucas; she also took issue with the Sequel Trilogy did with Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, among other things. As she put it:

While Marcia Lucas certainly isn’t the only one who was bothered by Luke Skywalker dying in The Last Jedi, let’s not forget that it was Rian Johnson who delivered that narrative beat, not JJ Abrams. And as far as Lucas’ comments on Rey go, we did ultimately learn that Daisy Ridley’s character was the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine, but even if that hadn’t happened, there are countless Jedi/Sith/Force-sensitive characters who are powerful regardless of familial ties. Still, I suspect even if Lucas were to be asked about her thoughts on the Sequel Trilogy now, nearly two years separated from The Rise of Skywalker, she’d feel the same way.

The film side of the Star Wars franchise is still on a break, but fans can look forward to Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron hitting theaters on December 22, 2023. In the meantime, there’s plenty of Star Wars TV shows to keep us occupied, including the anime series Visions arriving this week and The Book of Boba Fett coming in December.

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Whether he's earthbound or in a galaxy far, far away, Oscar Isaac brings out the humane core of each of his characters. Through varying genres and a wide range of personalities, the performer has demonstrated his talents on several occasions, and that won't stop anytime soon. Currently, Isaac stars in The Card Counter and HBO's Scenes from a Marriage. Soon enough, Isaac will be seen in Dune and heard in The Addams Family 2. It's a very active time for the animated actor, and it's well-deserved, too. Certainly, if you've followed Isaac throughout the years, you're probably well-aware of his skills, and if you're not, then you have some homework to do. If you love the Star Wars actor, here's what you should stream next.

Inside Llewyn Davis (Amazon Prime)

A week in the life of a sorrowful singer (Oscar Isaac) navigating poverty and rejection in Greenwich Village's 1961 folk scene.

Why You Should Stream If You Love Oscar Isaac: As our forlorn folk singer who can't catch a break, due to his rotten luck, his inflated pride, or his stubbornness, trying to make his way in a competitive market following years of grief and disdain, Inside Llewyn Davis is a textured and enveloping film that provides Oscar Isaac with the opportunity to give what might very well be his finest performance. Through each dispirited sigh and crooning tune, Isaac portrays the fine talent and unstable resentment that bubbles throughout this man's wayward core. He brings so much depth and life to this man, even with all the weight provided by another excellent screenplay from writers-directors Joel and Ethan Coen. As moving as it's melancholy, Inside Llewyn Davis is a smart, profound movie about trying to move forward when you're stuck at a creative crossroad.

Stream Inside Llewyn Davis on Amazon Prime.

Rent Inside Llewyn Davis on Amazon.

Ex Machina (Showtime/Hoopla/Kanopy)

A programmer (Domhnall Gleeson) is selected to participate in a ground-breaking experiment with a reclusive genius (Oscar Isaac) and a highly advanced humanoid A.I. (Alicia Vikander).

Why You Should Stream If You Love Oscar Isaac: As a hard-drinking, secret-wielding, machine-making, dancing-loving tech whiz on the verge of changing the known world for eons to come, Oscar Isaac absolutely tears it up in Ex Machina, writer-director Alex Garland's beguiling and profound sci-fi character drama that also serves as a wonderful showcase for Domhnall Gleeson, Sonoya Mizuno, and especially Alicia Vikander, only a few short months away from winning her Oscar. A sneering, tactful genre film filled with lofty ideas and even grander ambitions, Ex Machina is intelligent enough to let the talky characters captivate us, assuring that the nifty little movie keeps itself focused on their budding dynamics as well as their growing resentment for that which they create and destroy — even if it's themselves. Of course, Isaac's stunning turn remains sensational.

Stream Ex Machina on Showtime.

Stream Ex Machina on Hoopla.

Stream Ex Machina on Kanopy.

Rent Ex Machina on Amazon.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens & Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Disney+)

Follows the continuing intergalactic adventures of a galaxy far, far away.

Why You Should Stream If You Love Oscar Isaac: For many mainstream audiences, especially younger viewers, the new Star Wars trilogy was their formal introduction to Oscar Isaac. Though the actor has been quick to impress in a number of recent movies, his affable-yet-hot-headed portrayal of Poe Dameron remains an ever-popular favorite, showcasing his machismo and magnetism in equal measure. Particularly in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, the proven talent is quick to showcase his star potential (if you can pardon the pun) as a captivating and venturous actor who brings a wealth of wit and gravitas to his characters. Even in the recesses of space, Isaac is quite a bright figure. As for The Rise of Skywalker... the less said about it, the better.

The Star Wars sequels are available to stream on Disney+

Rent Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Amazon.

Rent Star Wars: The Last Jedi on Amazon.

Triple Frontier (Netflix)

When five former special forces operatives reunite to take down a South American drug lord, loyalties are tested.

Why You Should Stream If You Love Oscar Isaac: Reuniting with A Most Violent Year director J.C. Chandor, Triple Frontier isn't quite as strong as Oscar Isaac's previous film with the acclaimed filmmaker, but the expensive Netflix drama is also elevated by the assured performances at its center. While Ben Affleck gets the most time to shine in his hefty, hard-lucked lead role, Isaac does solid work in his prominent supporting part, bringing the weighted pathos that you can readily expect from the dependable actor. Particularly by the movie's emotionally taxing third act, Isaac conveys the long-suffering troubles of his burdened character well, resulting in a moody finale that conveys a wealth of sorrow that's made bearable through the dedicated dependency of its creditable ensemble. It might not ultimately be Isaac's best or more memorable movie, but it's certainly worth watching — not merely for his performance but the commendable work of its high-profile cast.

Stream Triple Frontier on Netflix.

Show Me A Hero (HBO Max)

Mayor Nick Wasicsko (Oscar Isaac) deals with the building of public housing in the white, middle-class side of town upon taking office in 1987.

Why You Should Stream If You Love Oscar Isaac: Under the firm guidance of acclaimed writer David Simon (The Wire) and award-winning director Paul Haggis (Crash), HBO's Show Me A Hero allowed Oscar Isaac to play a well-drawn character, one who could be fleshed out in ways that his big-screen counterparts often couldn't. Though the material threatens to be too uncommercial or, dare one say, unbecoming, Isaac's intelligent and simmering performance (even under a dorky haircut and a trimmed mustache) keeps it captivating, allowing the acclaimed actor to really sink his teeth in this political persona. The result is one of Isaac's most celebrated performances, even in a career filled with highlights, and yet another great demonstration of his expanding star power — notably at a time when Hollywood was taking notice of the performer's powerhouse promise.

Stream Show Me A Hero on HBO Max.

Buy Show Me A Hero on Amazon.

Annihilation (Paramount+)

A biologist (Natalie Portman) signs up for a dangerous expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature do not apply.

Why You Should Stream If You Love Oscar Isaac: Though he's strictly in supporting character mode opposite Natalie Portman and the rest of the female-led ensemble, Oscar Isaac does a dutiful job playing the emotional rock at the festering core of our lead's internal struggle in Annihilation. Given the opportunity to reunite with writer-director Alex Garland, Isaac makes a meal out of every moment, providing depth and pathos to even the most seemingly banal interaction. The actor's care and attention to detail are especially highlighted, as he brings some sensitive perspective to each key scene and gives meaning to each interaction he shares with his Oscar-winning co-star. The result isn't Isaac's all-time best performance but a fine display of his dependable talents, no matter how much screentime he gets, and another reminder that Isaac can plant a seed and build a vast, vibrant forest out of seemingly any character he's given.

Stream Annihilation on Paramount+.

Rent Annihilation on Amazon.

Drive (Peacock)

A mysterious Hollywood stuntman (Ryan Gosling) moonlighting as a getaway driver gets himself in trouble when he forms a connection with his neighbor (Carey Mulligan).

Why You Should Stream It If You Love Oscar Isaac: Though Nicholas Winding Refn's Drive is ultimately Ryan Gosling's showcase, it's one of several movies from the past decade that proves that Oscar Isaac can leave a deep impression, even when he's only given a few select scenes. In the role of Standard, Isaac's innate charisma seeps out, providing a transfixing supporting turn that doesn't steal the show but certainly wins over your attention. While the actor's better work would come in the years to follow, this early standout performance is a good early indicator of what he can bring to the fold. This movie remains one of his finest (which is saying something), even if he only plays a minor role, and it's made better knowing that he'll shine ever brighter as the actor gets more plump parts and several more opportunities to prove his commanding versatility.

Stream Drive on Peacock.

Rent Drive on Amazon.

A Most Violent Year (Showtime/Hoopla/Kanopy)

An ambitious immigrant (Oscar Isaac) fights to protect his business and family in New York City 1981 — the most dangerous year in the city's history.

Why It's Worth Streaming If You Love Oscar Isaac: Before they took on the lead roles in HBO's Scenes from a Marriage, Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain starred in 2014's A Most Violent Year, a gritty, gripping character drama with a thoughtful narrative and tight formal control. With its tempered pacing and its classy presentation, this period piece is well-crafted and commanding with each beat, and it's elevated quite nicely by the well-assured performances from its central stars. Isaac, in particular, is impressive in his restrained control, conveying the depths of his changeling character with dignity and grace. With even one passing glance, he can convey magnitudes. That quiet captivation proves exceptionally gratifying here, particularly as this movie fares subtle nuances that give it more life.

Stream A Most Violent Year on Showtime.

Stream A Most Violent Year on Hoopla.

Stream A Most Violent Year on Kanopy.

Rent A Most Violent Year on Amazon.

X-Men: Apocalypse (Disney+)

In their most perilous adventure, the X-Men must defeat an ancient, all-powerful mutant (Oscar Isaac) who intends to bring destruction to the world.

Why It's Worth Streaming If You Love Oscar Isaac: One would be hard-pressed to consider X-Men: Apocalypse to be Oscar Isaac's best, most accomplished, or most dignified performance. Wearing a permanent scowl and buried under mountains of blue make-up, this melancholic menace is often considered a career-low for the prestigious actor, earning more comparisons to Power Rangers villains than his other, more acclaimed performances. And yet, despite all the movie's clunky failures, there's something charmingly quaint about X-Men: Apocalypse. For all its assortment of blunders, there's a schlocky appeal to this would-be trilogy capper that's absent in most serious-minded superhero movies today. It makes no bones about being slapdash and silly, often owning up to its inherent goofiness. It's reminiscent of the sort of comic book movies that once paraded on the big screen, which might not be nostalgic for some but earns some of my affections.

Stream X-Men: Apocalypse on Disney+.

Rent X-Men: Apocalypse on Amazon.

At Eternity’s Gate (Netflix)

Explores the wayward life of Vincent van Gogh (Willem Dafoe) during his French travels.

Why You Should Stream If You Love Oscar Isaac: While Willem Dafoe's warmly soulful portrayal of the little painter fellow understandably got the lion's share of the praise during At Eternity's Gate award season rollout, Oscar Isaac's spirited performance as Paul Gauguin shouldn't have been overlooked. While Dafoe is the movie's emotionally tormented centerpiece, Isaac's take on the French post-impressionist artist carries the actor's signature flair for playing wily characters with a fire in their belly and a roaring desire to take the world by storm — whether the world wants him to or not. He only gets a handful of scenes throughout the film, but Isaac provides a splashy turn, filled with wry humor and a boisterous heart. It serves as a fine counterpoint to Dafoe's anguished characterization, providing flickers of flare and fury that bolsters a broad-reaching film that can be held down by its tiring pondering and its occasional heavy-handedness.

Stream At Eternity's Gate on Netflix.

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If you listen to enough Star Wars fans, you’ll learn that many of them HATE the Star Wars sequels. It's no secret that there's been significant backlash about the movies. Sure, a lot of fans will say that they enjoyed Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens. But when it comes to Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, and especially Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, a lot of them will tell you that the film franchise has definitely lost the force.

Now personally, I don’t care. I like Star Wars and all, but I don’t find any specific film to be better than another. I don’t rank the Star Wars movies, and to me, they’re all pretty okay, I guess. I mean, I personally prefer the prequels to the sequels, but I do think that the sequels have their merits. That said, I remember when not too long ago, people were happy that Disney was taking over Star Wars because they thought that George Lucas (Yes, that George Lucas) “killed” Star Wars with the much-maligned Episodes I, II, and III.

So, keep that in mind. I like Star Wars, but I’m not a capital F fan of the franchise. Still, I’ve been reading the tea leaves, and I have five reasons why I think Star Wars fans will not only accept the sequels in the future, but will also love them. And if you don’t believe me, well, then “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

The Sequels Are The Last Time That We Will Ever See Han, Luke, and Leia, And Fans Will Appreciate That In Time

Remember when people saw that first trailer for Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens? Well, I do, and the scene that I recall every Star Wars fan going ga-ga over was when Han Solo stood beside Chewbacca, and said, “Chewie, we’re home.” Now, when I saw this, I thought, wait. We’re still dealing with these characters? But Disney knew that this would appeal to the old-time fans, and The Force Awakens debuted domestically at a staggering $247,966,675. I mean, jeez. Just jeez.

And while yes, a lot of people were very upset by how Luke Skywalker was handled in Episode VIII (Even though that’s the best movie in the trilogy as far as I'm concerned) I also think that when the new movies come along, which will not feature the Skywalker bloodline, that a lot of fans will mentally gloss over Rey, Finn, and Poe, and say, you know what? It was kind of nice seeing Princess Leia and Han Solo back together again. It was nice seeing Lando Calrissian (the original Lando, not the one getting his own spin-off) again. And they’ll look back fondly on these sequels, because they, too, represent a time in a Star Wars fan’s life.

It Provides A Conclusive Ending To The Skywalker Saga

Remember when I said that I don’t view any Star Wars films as being better than another? Well, that’s true, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t dislike some Star Wars films more than others, and The Rise of Skywalker, in my mind anyway, is the very WORST Star Wars movie ever made. It’s even worse that Attack of the Clones, and that movie sucks. Even so, would you believe that I am a Star Wars fan who doesn’t care much for the Jedi? That said, I do know that a lot of fans do care about the Jedi, and for those fans, The Rise of Skywalker is a definitive ending to the Skywalker saga.

I guess this is a spoiler, but Rey takes on the last name of Skywalker after disavowing being a Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker. Ben Solo/Kylo Ren sacrifices himself, and Princess Leia also passes on. So, the Skywalker name, outside of Rey, who isn’t even technically a Skywalker, really lives on with her since the rest of the family has passed on. This makes it a definitive ending to the Skywalker saga, as the name will live on in spirit. And again, while I kind of just shrug this off, I believe that true fans will come back and appreciate the saga AS A WHOLE. Because whether you like it or not, the sequels ARE canon. And I think fans will accept that and cherish it in time.

There Are Some Scenes In Each Movie That Are Truly Iconic

I know a lot of fans say they hate the sequels, but come on now. There are some scenes that are really cool in each movie. Who didn’t love the Episode VII “traitor” scene with that badass storm trooper? Or Luke Skywalker’s amazing final stand in Episode VIII. I mean Episode IX even had that badass scene where Rey takes down Kylo Ren’s ship.

The fact is, while all of the movies might have left much to be desired, there are still some super iconic scenes in each movie. And when people look back upon this trilogy, I think a lot of those negative memories will get wiped away when they remember Finn fighting Kylo Ren in the forest. Or that awesome moment when Kylo Ren fought side-by-side with Rey against the Praetorian Guards. Those scenes were epic.

For A Certain Generation, This Is Their Star Wars

I know this might be hard for some fans to hear, but to this generation, THIS is their Star Wars. When I’m not writing, I teach, and a bunch of my students who grew up with the prequels will tell me that they think the original trilogy is boring. And yes, you just heard that right. My students find your favorite movie, The Empire Strikes Back, to be a boring slog.

But that’s just how generations are, and if I teach long enough, I bet you that my future students will say that they love the sequels, and that The Last Jedi is their The Empire Strikes Back. Because it’s what they grew up with. Strangely enough, I think those feelings will trickle up, because Star Wars fans, if anything, love Star Wars, even if they do seem to love to hate it. In that way, I think this new generation will turn the haters into lovers, which brings me to my final point.

Star Wars Fans Hated The Prequels When Those Were Out, And Now Fans Love Them

This one just boggles my mind, but apparently, many Star Wars fans now like the prequels. And I’m just going to stop you right there, because I was there, man. Star Wars fans used to HATE the prequels. They always made fun of Jar Jar Binks, or mocked the awful dialogue in Attack of the Clones. But now, Star Wars fans LOVE the prequels? Are you kidding me? How?

Personally, I think the prequels are pretty bad. Episode III is fine, but the other two are bottom of the barrel. And a lot of fans used to agree with me. But now, there’s almost a sort of nostalgia for those films. I think a lot of that has to do with the last generation coming up with the prequels and saying how much they loved them. I’ll talk to younger fans today who had no idea that people didn’t like the prequels, and I think the same will happen with the sequels. They’ll look at The Last Jedi and see it as a great movie rather than the train wreck that many fans see it as today. Just you watch. In time, fans will love Episode VIII and the whole trilogy. You’ll see.

And those are my reasons. But what do you think? Will fans ever love the sequels? Sound off in the poll below. And for upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows and how to view the Star Wars movies in order, make sure to stop by here often.

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Over the years, Harrison Ford has cemented his legacy in cinema with iconic performances in the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, but those movies and their leading man have another storied history as well: on-set injuries. Ford’s attempts to bring his most notable characters to life have sometimes resulted in some fairly serious injuries that impacted each respective production in one way or another.

With the news of Harrison Ford having sustained a shoulder injury on the set of the upcoming Indiana Jones 5, now seems like a good time as any to look at the actor’s long history of being injured while making some of most beloved movies. From various injuries and illnesses from the making of Raiders of the Lost Ark to a torn ACL on the set of The Fugitive, here are all the ways Harrison Ford has found himself in a doctor’s office while filming his different movies.

Indiana Jones 5 - Shoulder

Harrison Ford’s latest on-set injury occurred in June 2021 when the actor was preparing for a fight scene while shooting Indiana Jones 5 in London. According to a Deadline report, Ford hurt his shoulder rehearsing for one of the upcoming movie’s fight scenes, though the extent of the injury was not revealed. Despite not providing a great deal of details pertaining to the seriousness of the injury, Disney did release a statement shortly after news broke stating:

It remains to be seen how much of an impact Harrison Ford’s injury will have on the ongoing production of the James Mangold-directed action film, but don’t count the 78-year-old out especially after he survived a plane crash a few years back.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Broken Leg

Prior to Indiana Jones 5, Harrison Ford’s most recent on-set injury occurred in June 2014 while the actor was filming Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Initial reports at the time, specifically one from The Hollywood Reporter, explained that the injury involved the Millennium Falcon, and even included a statement from Disney regarding the situation:

Following the initial statement from Disney, it was revealed that Harrison Ford broke his leg while on the Pinewood Studios lot in London when a large door crashed down on him and put the actor out of action for a period of time. The situation became no laughing matter especially after the UK’s Health and Safety Executive announced in February 2016 that the production company responsible for the Millennium Falcon, Foodles Production, would be prosecuted after discovering at least four violations of health and safety laws. But on the bright side, the injury did lead to Ben Schwartz getting a chance to voice BB-8.

The Fugitive - Torn ACL In Left Knee

The 1993 thriller The Fugitive not only features one of the best Harrison Ford characters in Richard Kimble, but it also saw one of the actor’s worst on-set injuries. Shortly before the film was released, the Orlando Sentinel newspaper published a report stating Ford injured his knee while running in one of the movie’s chase scenes through the woods and that he underwent surgery once the production wrapped up soon after. The injury, which left Ford out of commission for six weeks, resulted in his next production, Clear and Present Danger, being delayed until that October.

Harrison Ford addressed the injury during a 2006 interview with the Taipei Times in which he revealed he tore the ACL in his left leg while shooting a trailer for The Fugitive. Surprisingly, this wasn’t the first time Ford tore an ACL while filming a movie.

Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom - Ruptured Discs

While filming Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Harrison Ford sustained one of his worst on-set injuries when he ruptured two disks in his back after riding atop an elephant during what sounds like a difficult shoot. In a sprawling Grantland profile of the making of the 1984 adventure film, it was revealed that after production had shifted from Sri Lanka to Elstree Studios in London, George Lucas sent Ford home for treatment after the actor let out a wail of pain during a fight scene. Once he visited a doctor, Ford was diagnosed with two ruptured discs in his back and put out of action for five weeks.

With the film’s star out of action for more than a month and the production already a mess, Steven Spielberg called upon Harrison Ford’s stunt double Vic Armstrong to step in so cameras could continue rolling. Ford had papaya enzymes injected into his spine while he was out of action, and the controversial procedure worked, allowing him to return to action six weeks after being sidelined.

Raiders Of The Lost Ark - Torn ACL, Punched, Dysentery

Harrison Ford’s history of getting hurt on the set of Indiana Jones movies ends at the beginning of his time playing the dashing archaeologist with a nasty leg injury. During a 2014 Reddit AMA, Ford was asked to describe any on-set injuries to which replied by telling the story of how he tore his ACL during Raiders of the Lost Ark:

The torn ACL wasn’t the only injury Harrison Ford experienced on the set of Raiders of the Lost Ark as co-star Karen Allen actually clocked in him the face while filming the scene in which the audience is first introduced to her character. During a 2021 interview with Uproxx, Allen asked how she made it look so real, to which she replied by saying she actually hit him a couple of times. And then there’s the business about how Ford’s bad case of dysentery led to one of the franchise’s most iconic moments.

Even though Harrison Ford has sustained more than his fair share of on-set injuries, more times than not, it’s a result of the legendary actor pushing himself to his limits in order to give the best performance possible. And it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down anytime soon…

In early 2013, mere months after Disney officially purchased Lucasfilm from George Lucas, it was announced that J.J. Abrams had been hired to direct the first movie in a new Star Wars trilogy, what we now know as The Force Awakens. In the immediate years afterwards, the Mouse House brought aboard Rian Johnson and Colin Trevorrow to helm what would eventually be titled The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, respectively, but when Trevorrow departed the latter project, Abrams came back to wrap up the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. But it wasn’t just a matter of him sitting back in the director’s chair; he also had to rewrite the script with Chris Terrio to end this trilogy in a matter he saw fit. Abrams took away a big lesson from that experience.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ended up being met with mixed reception from fans and professional critics alike, with one of the main criticisms being that it didn’t feel like it meshed well with what Rian Johnson set up in The Last Jedi. While speaking with Collider about the 10th anniversary of his movie Super 8, J.J. Abrams was asked if he thought the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy would have benefitted from having a plan from the very beginning. Here’s how the filmmaker responded:

Looking at J.J. Abrams’ resume, from the first two Star Trek reboot movies to TV shows like Alias and Lost, the man has been involved with planning plenty of stories over the years. While Abrams mentioned earlier in the interview that he’s learned that you have to plan things out as best as you can and “always need to be able to respond to the unexpected,” he also acknowledged that sometimes, he’s been in situations where following the plan ends up causing problems down the road. Sticking closely to something you hashed out at the beginning of the creative process might lead to not being flexible enough to adjust certain elements of a story later on.

However, overall J.J. Abrams has learned planning out a story as much as possible in the beginning is integral, rather than moving forward without anything in place, and it sounds like his time in the Star Wars franchise strengthened that belief. In his words:

J.J. Abrams didn’t outright say that he feels the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy should have been handled this way, but one would imagine that the saga these three movies chronicled might have been better received overall had that been the case. Even if Lucasfilm had still been determined to use a different filmmaker for each movie, at least having a more concrete, three-part storyline structure would have helped things flow better, even if it meant each director was more restricted with the ways they could make unique changes. On the other hand, perhaps The Rise of Skywalker would have fared better on the critical front had Abrams more closely coordinated with Rian Johnson to ensure that Episode IX more seamlessly built off the groundwork The Last Jedi laid, as opposed to feeling weirdly distanced from it.

In any case, J.J. Abrams’ time in the Star Wars universe is now over, and he’s keeping busy nowadays with his projects as WarnerMedia, including a Justice League Dark series and new Superman movie. For those who can’t get enough of the Star Wars franchise, the next movie on the way is the Patty Jenkins-directed Rogue Squadron, which is slated for December 22, 2023. Learn what other projects set in a galaxy far, far away are coming up with our upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows guide.

I feel bad. Here I go, writing an article about how I think the Star Wars movie prequels are better than the sequels, thinking I would get a 50/50 split from the poll I left at the bottom of the article, only to find that (at the time of this writing) 91% agree with me. I mean, damn. Doesn’t anybody like the sequels?

It got me to thinking about reasons why I actually do think the sequels are pretty good. Now, if I was in the Mos Eisley cantina, and Han Solo, that brutal murderer, had his legs crossed up on a table and a gun pointed at me saying, “Do you think the sequels, or the prequels are better?” I would pick the prequels in a heartbeat. That being said, I actually admire the Star Wars sequels quite a bit, and I have five things that I think the sequels did much better than the prequels.

The Force Awakens Got People Excited About Star Wars Again In A Way That The Prequels Didn’t

I’m an old man. Not old enough to have seen any of the original trilogy in the theater, (Return of the Jedi came out the year I was born), but old enough to remember when both Star Wars Episode I and Episode VII came out for the first time. And let me tell you. While there was a lot of fanfare when Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace came out, the discussion quickly turned sour. Instead of podracing and Darth Maul, the conversation quickly turned to Jar Jar Binks and the creepy relationship that a kid Anakin had with a then-18-year-old Natalie Portman.

But plenty of people LOVED Episode VII. Loved, loved, loved it! People were calling it a return to form. And the only complaint I really heard about it at the time was that it was too much of a retread of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. But a lot of people LIKED that about the movie. They felt really burned by the prequels and were happy to just get something that actually felt like Star Wars again. Seriously, people couldn’t wait for the next movie to come out. And then…

The Last Jedi Is The Boldest Star Wars Movie Whether You Liked It Or Not

And then, The Last Jedi happened. Oh, man. I remember this, too. The backlash was swift and immediate, which was really strange to me because I remember walking out of the theater thinking it was really good. And critics seemed to really like it, too. But man, oh, man. The fans went off on this one, criticizing everything from purple hair to Princess Leia flying in space.

And look, I get it, okay? The Last Jedi is SUPER divisive. Fans had been waiting literally decades to see Mark Hamill return as Luke Skywalker, and what they got was a grumpy old man who chucks his own lightsaber over his shoulder and almost murders Kylo Ren. The narrative threads set forth in The Force Awakens were completely defenestrated. And for some reason, Finn and a new character named Rose Tico went to a casino. I don’t even remember why they went. They just did. And yet… I really liked it? Maybe it’s because it felt so different. Star Wars usually has the tendency to feel same-y to me. But The Last Jedi was such an F-U to some fans' expectations that I couldn’t help but be impressed. Love it or hate it, The Last Jedi definitely made people FEEL something. And any movie that does that gets an A+ in my book.

The Sequels Made A Timeline For Stories After Return Of The Jedi, Paving The Way For The Mandalorian

This can’t be stated enough, but without the sequels, we likely wouldn’t have had a timeline to fit in the greatness that is The Mandalorian. Nor would we have the wiggle room for all the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows slated on the horizon.

Sure, we got some cool cartoons with the Star Wars prequels, but by placing events before the original trilogy, it was kind of limiting. Like, you could only go so far without butting into Episode IV. Whereas, having a timeline after the original trilogy just opened up so much more space. Pun not intended. So, without the sequels, we likely wouldn’t have that.

The Sequels Included Fan Favorites Like Luke, Han, And Leia. Again, Whether You Liked It Or Not

OK, so I kind of hate this, but I know a lot of Star Wars fans really wanted to know what happened to Luke, Han, and Leia (and I guess Lando Calrissian) following the events of the original trilogy, and the sequels gave fans that story. Now, most fans weren’t happy with what they got with Luke and Leia (especially with Carrie Fisher’s untimely demise). But this is a continuation of the story that a lot of the fans wanted to see, and the sequels gave us that story, while the prequels didn't. 

Now, this is actually one of the biggest detriments to the sequels if you ask me. The old characters took away from the importance of the new characters. But I’m not like, a mega Star Wars fan or anything like that. I don’t go ka ka cuckoo when Luke Skywalker appears on The Mandalorian. Like, I just don’t care. Those characters were great for the old trilogy, but I wanted a new, fresh cast. And Rey, Poe, and Finn weren’t cutting it. But…

Kylo Ren Had A Complete Story Arc Through All Three Movies, While The Villains In The Prequels Didn’t Stick Around For Too Long

I hated everything about The Rise Of Skywalker, okay? It was terrible and makes all the great stuff that was in The Last Jedi look like a pile of puke. It kind of reminds me of how Matrix Revolutions was so bad that it made me wonder how I could even like the first two movies. It was that awful. But if there’s any one good thing about The Rise of Skywalker, it’s that Kylo Ren got a complete story arc throughout the three movies.

I’m not saying it was a good story arc, but one area where I think the prequels faltered is that they got rid of their best antagonists and made way for new ones in each movie. I wanted to see so much more of Darth Maul and Count Dooku, but they had to make way for emo Hayden Christensen (who was supposed to be the chosen one!). Yeah. If there’s any one area where the sequels were better than the prequels, it’s that the heel had a chance to turn face. And that’s some wrestling parlance for you, by the way. Because why not?

In the end, the prequels are still better than the sequels, but there’s definitely some stuff that the sequels did much better than the prequels. But what do you think? Are there any positives to the sequels, or they just hot Rancor droppings to you? Let me know in the poll down below!

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I’ve said it once, and I’ve said it a thousand times. Rogue One is my favorite Star Wars movie. And guess what! I also don’t much like the Jedi or even the Skywalkers for that matter. So, with that said, you might think that I’m the last person who should be writing an article about the Star Wars prequels being better than the sequels. But think about that. Maybe I’m the best person to write this article, since I’m not beholden to any specific era of Star Wars. When it comes to the trilogies, I hold Star Wars: A New Hope to the same standard as Star Wars: The Force Awakens. They’re all apples to oranges, or rather, Anikins to Obi-Wans, to me.

That said, I do enjoy Star Wars, and sometimes even love it (Thanks, Disney+!). But it’s not like it’s my whole life or anything like that. I don’t rank the Star Wars movies or look upon Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back as the golden standard that every Star Wars movie has to live up to. Because at the end of the day, I view all the Star Wars movies as light popcorn fare, and that’s about it. But I have seen every single one of them, and after deep consideration, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Star Wars prequels are better than the sequels, and I have 5 reasons why.

The Prequels Are A Singular Vision

Now, let me just start this off by saying that I think the prequels are pretty lousy. So, I hope you didn’t come into this article thinking I was going to die on some Tatooine hill for the them or anything like that. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is kind of a mess. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a contender for the worst Star Wars movie ever, and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith… well, that one’s pretty good. I also think that if I were to judge any movie in both Star Wars trilogies, my favorite might be Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which is in the sequels, not the prequels.

But therein lies the problem. With the sequels, you can clearly, painfully, see that there are different visions at play. J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens is pretty much just a weaker version of A New Hope. Then, you have Rian Johnson’s deconstruction of Star Wars with the widely-hated The Last Jedi. And finally, you have that abomination The Rise of Skywalker, also by Abrams, which tried to retcon everything that happened in The Last Jedi, creating an underwhelming, total blah of a conclusion. But at least the prequels, bad as they are, tell one, complete narrative, and that’s because George Lucas was behind all of them. Maybe his vision was corny and even awful at times, but at least you don’t completely feel like you wasted your time by the end of it. If anything, you feel rewarded since Episode III is so good, while Episode IX is hot garbage.

The Prequels Don’t Rely On Nostalgia

You know one reason why I really don’t like the sequels? They lean too heavily on nostalgia. As soon as I saw Harrison Ford in that first trailer for The Force Awakens, I thought, wait. We’re sticking with those characters? Because while we did get some fresh faces in the sequels, the fact that we were still also getting narrative threads from Han, Luke, Leia, and even freaking Palpatine (WHY?) just reeked of pandering to the old fans. At least The Last Jedi had Luke Skywalker chucking his lightsaber over his shoulder and Kylo Ren saying, “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.” The Last Jedi had some Midi-chlorians! (Midi-chlorians are balls, right?)

But the prequels don’t rely on nostalgia at all. Yes, we’re learning about the rise of Darth Vader, but the rest of the story is all new stuff. We’re not paying homage to the original trilogy. Instead, we have pod racing, new villains, and even an annoying new alien race called Gungans with its leading spokesperson, Jar Jar Binks. Say what you will about the prequels. At least those films felt fresh at the time.

The New Characters Introduced In The Prequels Are Better Than Rey, Poe, And Finn

I’m sorry, but Rey, Poe, and Finn suck. And they didn’t have to! The problem again goes back to The Rise of Skywalker. All the narrative threads set up in Episodes VII and VIII feel pointless by Episode IX. The story sputtered out and none of the characters had satisfying conclusions. Especially Finn. What was his point again?

But let’s talk about the prequels. Mace Windu? Dope. Qui-Gon Jinn? Dope. Padme Amidala… well, I mean, I didn’t dislike her, which is more I can say for Rey, Poe, and Finn. And the villains were the best! Count Dooku? General Grievous? Darth freaking Maul?! Are you kidding me? Every single one of them makes me ask, Snoke who?

The Star Wars Prequels Take More Risks Than The Sequels

Again, I can’t stress enough that The Last Jedi takes tons of risks! In fact, it’s definitely the riskiest Star Wars movie out of both trilogies. And that’s why I love it, and why most fans probably hate it. But The Rise of Skywalker is such a spineless movie that I can’t truly say that the sequels are risky, since it was such an obvious knee-jerk reaction to the fans’ vitriol for The Last Jedi.

The prequels on the other hand fully committed to their risks. What’s that you say? Anakin is a child and Padme is a teenager in one movie? Well, let’s put them in a relationship in the next movie like that’s totally not weird or anything. You said Anakin is a wuss who hates sand in one movie? Well, let’s have him killing kids in the next. Hell, as boring as Episode II is with its trade and economy, at least it commits to it, dammit! Interest levels be damned! And I can respect the prequels for that. What I can’t respect is when the powers that be kowtow to the fans. That’s some nerf herder nonsense.

The Prequels Helped Expand Into Animation, And It’s Really Good

And lastly, the prequels gave us the excellent Clone Wars cartoons. The prequels also expanded Star Wars animation in general. So, without the prequels, we likely wouldn’t have as much great Star Wars content like Rebels and even Resistance, which covers the world of the sequels.

And not only that, but we might not have Dave Filoni, either. He’s one of the Star Wars’ universe’s MVPs as he worked on the Clone Wars TV show, and also that famous Ahsoka Tano episode, The Jedi, on The Mandalorian. So, poo poo the prequels all you like. Without them, Star Wars wouldn’t have animation like it does today.

So, again, I genuinely believe that the prequels are better than the sequels. But what do you think? Sound off in the poll which trilogy you think is superior.

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Two of the most popular film franchises currently in production are Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe-- both of which are owned by Disney. Landing a role in either massive property is a dream for many actors, and a number of them have managed to appear in both. It turns out that Spider-Man star Tom Holland actually auditioned for a role in The Force Awakens, and failed for a funny reason.

Tom Holland is the third actor to play Peter Parker in live-action, and audiences immediately responded to his characterization. While he's clearly a bankable actor that would thrive in a Star Wars flick, his time auditioning for the role of Finn (John Boyega) was less than successful. As he put it,

Honestly, can you blame him? Auditioning for film/TV roles is already an inorganic experience, and it seems all the more silly when the person reading with you is making weird droid sounds. In the end, Tom Holland's giggles cost him the role, allowing John Boyega to become a household name overnight as the ex-Stormtrooper.

Tom Holland's comments to Backstage highlights the 24 year-old actor's signature personality and naivety. In addition to his on screen performances, Holland has managed to capture the public's hearts thanks to that personality. That, and his difficulty guarding the various spoilers of the MCU.

Both the MCU and Star Wars are currently on Disney+. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.

Since Tom Holland made his Marvel debut in Captain America: Civil War, he's had a few notable struggles with spoilers. For instance, he went into a showing of Avengers: Infinity War and accidentally revealed that Spidey got dusted. There's also a compilation video of Benedict Cumberbatch attempting to stop him from giving away vital information during that movie's press tour. One can only imagine what he might have let slip if he landed the role of Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

In the end everything probably worked out the best for Tom Holland. Not getting to play Finn freed up his schedule for Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the MCU, instantly becoming a fan favorite upon his entrance. Meanwhile John Boyega brought a ton of spirit to his Star Wars role, which should also open countless doors in the future of his career.

Tom Holland is currently filming Spider-Man 3, which is expected to hit theaters December 17th. In the meantime, check out our 2021 release list to plan your next movie experience.

The Star Wars sequel trilogy, while it was a massive hit at the box office, has become one of the most divisive topics in entertainment. While most would probably agree that parts of it were good, most would probably also agree that parts of it were not, but it seems nobody can agree on which parts were which. We'll probably be talking about the various elements of the trilogy, what worked and what didn't for as long as Star Wars is relevant to pop culture. but recently a specific part of those movies, John Boyega's Finn, began to trend on social media, be cause a lot of people think Finn was done dirty.

While Finn had an important part to play in the newest Star Wars trilogy, the focus of the movies certainly shifted from Rey and Finn, to Rey and Kylo Ren, and a lot of people are upset by that fact. In the end, Adam Driver was really the male lead character of the trilogy as a whole, and fans feel like John Boyega should have had that spot.

Certainly, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens Finn was a much more important character. The movie is his story as much as it is Rey's. We meet Finn as a character long before we meet Rey. And yet, it's difficult to argue that things don't change significantly over the course of the trilogy. While Finn has his own story and character arc in The Last Jedi, it's separate from the "main story." In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, he's little more than sidekick to Rey.

The disparate way that the sequel trilogy was put together certainly ended up in creating a patchwork sort of story and Finn got lost in the shuffle. John Boyega himself has been outspoken about the way his character was treated, as well as the reasons that he felt it happened.

And of course, there are the people who were really hoping that Finn was a character who could break new ground in the galaxy far, far away. Many were hoping that we might see an actual relationship bloom between Finn and Poe. That never happened. Instead, it was perhaps teased that Finn was in love with Rey. Of course, really, there's no reason Finn couldn't have both.

Some fans loved Star Wars: The Last Jedi and others did not. The same was the case with The Rise of Skywalker. Whatever elements fans liked in one were almost certainly lacking in the other, and that's going to include the way that Finn was handled as a character. We'll always wonder what could have been if the new trilogy was handled differently. Certainly there were highpoints as well, and the fact that John Boyega was even in the trilogy was one of them.

With some significant time having passed since the release of The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams' first Star Wars film was an even more highly ambitious undertaking than we probably realize. With the movie having the massive weight of passing the torch of the Skywalker Saga, it had to bring in a mixture of nostalgia and newness to the series. There were a whole lot of storylines that were set up, though Star Wars novelist Alan Dean Foster is speaking up about one that didn't make the cut.

Alan Dean Foster was a ghost writer on the original novelization of Star Wars, which was initially credited solely to George Lucas. Foster also wrote the first Star Wars novel to not be based on a movie in 1978, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, a prequel-era novel called The Approaching Storm and the novelization for The Force Awakens. While discussing his involvement with a galaxy far, far away on Midnight’s Edge, Foster spoke about the Force Awakens novelization and confirmed a scrapped storyline:

As we know, The Last Jedi changed the course of much of the ideas established in Force Awakens, some of which were explored again (and once again retconned) in J.J. Abrams’ The Rise of Skywalker. In Force Awakens, we certainly sensed some chemistry between Finn and Rey and perhaps expected some development in their relationship as the films progressed but, by the end of the sequel trilogy, it didn’t amount to much.

Alan Dean Foster certainly sounded a bit frustrated about how the sequel trilogy played out, also throwing some shade at The Last Jedi during the conversation, calling it a “terrible Star Wars movie.” The author actually wrote a treatment for Episode IX that involved the realization that Rey had a partial droid brain to explain how quickly she could pick up things, such as flying the Millennium Falcon. His version was never placed under consideration.

By the time Rise of Skywalker ended, there was a looming question about Finn that was left to the imagination and pertains to the life or death confession he wanted to make to Rey. As Abrams confirmed at a panel, he was going to tell her he was Force-sensitive, but this being left out of the film robbed the character of a big moment. Finn’s diminished role in Star Wars has certainly been a huge topic of discussion since the release of Rise of Skywalker and one that John Boyega spoke out about candidly this year:

Finn’s relationships with many of the other characters in the films was left quite open-ended, with Boyega teasing he was involved in a “love pentagon” prior to the release. Many were hoping for Poe/Finn, but there were all sorts of pairings within the sequel trilogy that were simply thrown out by the time the Skywalker Saga ended.

The sequel trilogy may never live down heated debates of what could have been, but Disney does have a massive line-up that will give fans an espresso dose of Star Wars, including Patty Jenkins’ exciting Rogue Squadron movie coming in 2023.

The following contains major spoilers for the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian.

The final episode of the second season of Disney+'s The Mandalorian gives us a lot to unpack. There's quite a lot that happens, and even more that hints at where the future of this series, and potentially several others, could go. However, if there was one major question that I was struck by while watching the new episode, titled "The Rescue," it has to do with something in Star Wars' past, at least from our perspective. The place that The Mandalorian leaves The Child at the end of that episode potentially teases a pretty horrific fate for everybody's favorite Baby Yoda. The question has to be asked. Does Kylo Ren kill Grogu?

The Star Wars sequel trilogy ultimately gave Kylo Ren a redemptive arc that a lot of fans appreciated (I wasn't one of them for the record). In the end, Kylo Ren remembered that he was Ben Solo and stood by Rey to take down the Emperor. While Ben may have ultimately chosen to do good, that doesn't completely erase the bad he had done in his past, and that includes the destruction of Luke Skywalker's Jedi school, and possibly the death of everybody's favorite little green alien.

Baby Yoda's New Jedi Master

Two episodes before the finale it seemed that little Grogu, before being kidnapped by Moff Gideon, is successfully able to reach out with the Force and make a connection with another Jedi. Who that Jedi might be was a topic of much debate, but in the end, it turned out to be both the most, and the least, obvious choice. Luke Skywalker made his first live-action appearance outside of the films thanks to Mark Hamill and some slightly wonky CGI. He's the most obvious choice in that he's the one Jedi the whole world knows is alive and out there at this point in the Star Wars timeline. At the same time, most people probably didn't expect it to actually be Luke. He was almost too big a name.

And yet, it really was Luke and so now it appears that Luke Skywalker will be the new Jedi Master for little Grogu. The two went off together and while The Mandalorian promised he would see The Child again, at this point it appears the road splits and The Child will go one way and The Mandalorian another. At this point, we don't even know for sure how we're getting more episodes of The Mandalorian. However, we do know how things will turn out for the students of Luke Skywalker. Not well.

Grogu's Fate

We learn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens that Luke opened a training facility following the events of Return of the Jedi, and there he tried to instruct a new generation in the use of the Force. We also learned that ended in fire. Ben Solo turned on Luke, destroyed the school, and, as far as we know, Luke was the only one to survive the onslaught, which then makes one wonder what Grogu's ultimate fate will be.

We know that Grogu is approximately 50-years-old in The Mandalorian, and that he has already received some amount of Jedi training. Considering his maturity level, it seems that, despite his age, he probably would be considered a Youngling. There's no mention of him having had a Master before, so he likely was nobody's Padawan yet.

Considering the limited number of Jedi that exist in the galaxy in this time, things may have worked very differently at Luke Skywalker's school, but prior to the Clone Wars, a young Jedi would spend, on average, a decade training under a Jedi Master as a Padawan before becoming Jedi Knight. There are approximately 18 years between the events we witness in the newest episode of The Mandalorian and the destruction of Luke's school. That may be a little long to believe that Grogu was still a student, but there are still some reasons to believe he could have been there.

To start, given Grogu's development, we don't really know how long he would need to keep training under his master. He's 50-years-old, and while it seems he may not be quite as young as he appears from the outside, it's possible that he simply doesn't mature fast enough to be done with his training in a decade or two.

Secondly, even if Grogu had learned enough from Luke to be a full-fledged Jedi Knight before the events we see in the flashbacks from Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it's possible (even likely) that Grogu would have stayed at the school, transitioning from a student to a teacher, to help the new generation that has been brought in. Either way, Grogu would have been there that fateful night, and it would appear that if he was, he died at the hands of Kylo Ren.

While it's possible that Grogu was there the night Kylo Ren was born, it's also certainly possible that he wasn't. Without knowing for sure, anything is possible. Of course, if he wasn't there, then leads to the obvious question of where was he? Did he find Luke after the temple fell? Did he know where Luke was after he went into hiding? Why didn't he come to the aid of the Resistance after the rise of the First Order? When the evidence, such as it is, is put together, Grogu's death certainly isn't the only possibility but it's one that fits the evidence we have.

Does This Change The View On Kylo Ren?

While I didn't love the decision to redeem Ben Solo (mostly because it was just a story we'd seen before) a lot of people wanted to see the son of Han and Leia find his good side again. But if Ben Solo killed the most popular (and merchandisable) Star Wars character in years, does that change things?

The prequel trilogy did something potentially similar. It's one thing to see Darth Vader get redeemed throughout the original trilogy. But that whole arc has to be reconsidered when you see him on the verge of slaughtering children and strangling his wife. The idea that Ren killed Grogu might not change everybody's mind, but it may give more than one person pause. It's one thing to know, in the abstract, that Luke Skywalker's students were all killed, but it's potentially another now that we discover we knew one of them quite well.

To relive the highs and lows of the Star Wars saga so far, be sure to check out Disney+.

It should have been Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni from Day One.

This was my “controversial” Hot Take while watching the most recent episode of Disney+’s The Mandalorian -- specifics of which I will leave out in case you landed in here having not seen the episode. Go watch it. Right now.

But with each passing episode of the second season of The Mandalorian, building off of the foundation that was laid in season one of the episodic program, convinces me that Lucasfilm made a mistake handing the baton to J.J. Abrams for the relaunch of the Star Wars movie franchise. It should have been Favreau and Filoni. Star Wars films, as a franchise, would be in a much more stable place.

This is not meant as a complete and total slam at J.J. Abrams, or even at Rian Johnson. Both made wonderful, different, exciting, provocative and successful Star Wars films in their own right. It’s unusual that there seem to be two camps with regards to the Sequel Trilogy of Star Wars films, and the people who liked Abrams’ work don’t like Johnson’s, and vice versa. But the two, by all reports, didn’t collaborate, and were left by Lucasfilm to create the Star Wars movie they WANTED to make, with no regard for an overarching story. By the time we, as a collective audience, reached The Rise of Skywalker, that point was made abundantly clear.

Watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens demonstrates that J.J. Abrams understands, appreciates and adores the visual motif of Star Wars. The Millennium Falcon racing through a canyon to avoid tie fighters looks cool. It IS cool. But The Force Awakens gets a lot of heat (and deservedly so) for mimicking A New Hope instead of branching off and establishing any real Star Wars lore of its own. Perhaps it’s because The Force Awakens was too important to fail. Lucasfilm was gambling by bringing Star Wars back to the big screen, and it needed to connect with mainstream audiences who weren’t following The Clone Wars in animation. How do you do that? Give them more of what they’ve already said that they love.

And it worked… until Lucasfilm and Disney needed to connect the threads of the story. They didn’t. Rian Johnson broke off and contradicted a lot of what J.J. Abrams established in The Force Awakens with regards to Rey (Daisy Ridley), Kylo (Adam Driver) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Their individual ideas might have sounded cool on paper, but without a deeper commitment to big-picture storytelling, these concepts were left in limbo.

The Mandalorian applies the passion and understanding of Star Wars mythology to a larger story. Granted, the television show has more “real estate” on which to explore, getting multiple episodes of longer seasons. But the way that it has tapped into an underutilized concept from the Star Wars lore -- the Mandalore culture -- and used it to both discover new worlds and ALSO please nostalgia-seekers shows how deft Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are at weaving new Star Wars out of “old” Star Wars.

Filoni has been doing this for some time, albeit in the realm of animation. Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels blew out historical passages of Star Wars mythology into living, breathing playgrounds for beloved characters (Obi-wan, Anakin) and new players (Ahsoka Tano, Ezra Bridger). The Star Wars movies, so far, haven’t given themselves that freedom, and instead are too tied to the Original Trilogy. Han Solo gets a prequel. Rogue One acts as a prequel TO A New Hope. Where is the originality?

On Disney+, on a weekly basis, where Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are taking their shot at expanding the world created by Star Wars, honoring it without being enslaved to it. And The Mandalorian has convinced me that these two should have been doing it much sooner… and on a much bigger screen.

In the world of Star Wars, there’s always room for exotic-looking characters from various walks of life. One of the more interesting additions to the modern canon of that galaxy far, far away is that of bar proprietor/adventure seeker Maz Kanata, played by Lupita Nyong’o. However, as you’ll see in the unused design for the Star Wars: The Force Awakens character below, we almost saw a very wild departure from her now known visage. Here’s what Maz originally could have looked like:

This comes from Christian Alzmann, a concept artist/art director at Lucasfilm who shared this very special look at what Maz Kanata could have looked like in Star Wars: The Force Awakens on his Instagram page. And while it’s very similar to the final look that we got, both in concept and in execution, it’s also totally wild. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Alzmann’s commentary regarding his Star Wars: The Force Awakens design is the fact that Maz Kanata was always meant to be a nearsighted creature.

With a note of aiming for a look that invoked a character with heavy glasses, but without using those glasses, the eyes are the greatest difference in this Star Wars: The Force Awakens player. In her original design, Maz’s facial structure has a crucial variance that sees her eyes protruding out further, accompanied by a squint that definitely shows the need for some facial furniture.

However, through the process that has seen everything from character designs to entire stories discarded from the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Maz Kanata’s face became the more streamlined. humanoid presence we see today. The finished product sees Maz’s eyes slightly recessed into her face, which keeps the nearsighted nature of the character present. This also allowed the Star Wars: The Force Awakens character to literally acquire some thick glasses, as she gained her memorable accessory, a pair of goggles, out of the deal.

This wasn’t the only change we’d see to Maz Kanata in the Star Wars story, as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker saw her character go from a CGI creation to a puppet-based presence for the final Skywalker Saga entry. Were that shift to have been made with the original design, there would have been bound to have been difficulties in scaling such a wild look into an animatronic likeness. Sometimes, things just work out the way they do for a reason.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the rest of the Star Wars universe of films and series, can now be seen on Disney+. Who knows? We might even see Maz Kanata pop up in a younger incarnation throughout the shows and projects slated for the streaming service, and her character design might be all the more interesting to see in that particular context.

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The Star Wars franchise has been captivating audiences for decades, with entire generations of moviegoers brought up on the galaxy far, far away. Because of this, fans feel a very deeply personal connection with the property, including the cast/crew that has been able to work on Star Wars themselves. Actor Simon Pegg is no exception, as he was thrilled to join the space opera playing Jakku's Unkar Plutt. And he recently shared an amazing story about spending time with the late Carrie Fisher on the set.

As far as Star Wars icons go, there are few quite as prolific as Carrie Fisher's Leia. Fisher was able to film both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi before her unexpected death in 2016, in addition to her work on the original trilogy. Simon Pegg was lucky enough to meet her on the set of The Force Awakens, and shared a hilarious and sweet exchange he shared with the actress/writer. As he put it,

What a legend. Carrie Fisher was known for her quick wit and sense of humor, and this memory by Simon Pegg definitely highlights that. And not only did the Star Trek actor get the chance to profess his love to Princess Leia herself, he also share a laugh with the late actress. Talk about goals.

Simon Pegg shared this story about Carrie Fisher with Vanity Fair, while reminiscing about his various film roles. Pegg played has a small part in The Force Awakens as Unkar Plutt, but helped to set the stage for Rey and her eventual rise to power. And aside from joining the franchise for a brief role, this gig offered Pegg the chance to meet his first celebrity crush, and bond with Fisher in a way he'd never forget.

Star Wars fans can re-watch The Force Awakens on Disney+. You can use this link for a free 7-day trial to the streaming service.

Obviously Simon Pegg isn't the first person to tell Carrie Fisher that he grew up in love with her. Fisher's Princess Leia was many Star Wars fans' first crush, with Fisher becoming a sex symbol shortly after the franchise became a sensation. Then there's the gold bikini that will life in infamy, a costume that seems inappropriate in a modern context.

Carrie Fisher was known for her fiery personality and sense of humor, going viral various times throughout the press tour for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This type of energy and spirit was shown in the public eye, as well as private moments like her tour of the movie's set with Simon Pegg. Fisher has a presence and legacy that will never be forgotten, apart from her professional work.

The entirety of the Skywalker Saga is currently streaming on Disney+, and Simon Pegg will reprise his Mission: Impossible role for the upcoming sequels. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Darth Vader was one of the biggest villains of the original Star Wars trilogy, overshadowed only by Emperor Palpatine. Now imagine Vader, complete with dark robes and helmet, sitting behind a desk hosting a talk show comedy, rather than Force-choking underlings. It’s perhaps hard to envision, but it sounds pretty fun. Comedian and The League vet Paul Scheer recently explained just how much work was completed for a Darth Vader talk show comedy, only for Disney to ultimately scrap the whole shebang.

That’s right, Paul Scheer hosted a Disney-official Darth Vader talk show set to be called After Darth. The comedian actually played Darth Vader conducting interviews and doing other late night shenanigans. The premise sounds great, though Disney shuttered the talk show before it could ever see the light (or dark) of day. Speaking on Gary Whitta’s Animal Crossing talk show Animal Talking, Scheer laid out the details for After Darth, the Star Wars project we never knew we needed so badly. Here’s what he said:

A Vader talk show that took place on the actual Death Star? I would’ve been here for it. It sounds rather silly, but also comical enough that it might have drawn in an audience of self-aware fans. Who wouldn’t want to be interviewed by a banter-loving Darth Vader while Palpatine rocked out with the band? The premise sounds incredible.

Paul Scheer went on to say that the After Darth talk show filmed a total of eight episodes ahead of the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. That’s a pretty amazing chunk of footage, but the actor is adamant that the parody will never, ever be released, and that’s a damn shame, considering everything that Star Wars did end up releasing after Episode VII.

Plus, it sounds like Disney and Lucasfilm gave the creative team full use of whatever they wanted. Paul Scheer also revealed some of the many Star Wars guests who appeared on the talk show, some of which were surprising. In his words:

Paul Scheer enjoyed making the show, but thought it was maybe “for the best” that After Darth never got a proper release on TV or DVD. I don’t know about you, but the Star Wars universe could always use a bit more comedy and this Vader talk show sounds wild enough to be watchable. I can’t get over the fact that the talk show even included Yaddle!

Perhaps the folks at Disney will cave one day and release it, perhaps alongside the produced-but-also-scrapped project Star Wars Detours from the Robot Chicken team, but only time will tell. Until then, I'll just imagine Vader sipping his coffee while discussing with Lando's security guard about how hard life in the galaxy has been for a Sith.

With The Mandalorian Season 2 set to bring the Star Wars universe back to fans in October, stay tuned to CinemaBlend for updates, and be sure to check out our 2020 summer TV premiere guide to find out what’s coming soon.

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Rey Skywalker. Anyone else already miss her? The nine-episode Skywalker Saga concluded at the end of 2019 and yes, we’re still thinking about it. Not only did Rise of Skywalker wrap up an over 40-year storyline that began with A New Hope, it also gave audiences closer about the new characters we were introduced to in A Force Awakens. Daisy Ridley’s Rey was at the center of the new Star Wars sequel trilogy from beginning to end and now it’s time to reflect on her best moments.

The Introduction Of Rey On Jakku

Rey has to have one of the best character introductions in all the Star Wars movies. We first meet her scavenging on Jakku in a quiet sequence that includes John Williams’ “Rey’s Theme” as it first swells. The moment toward the beginning of The Force Awakens allows the audience to get to know Daisy Ridley’s iconic character in the desolate and lonely world she lives in a way that gets us on her side immediately. When we see her etch another day on her wall and pull on a Resistance helmet, before meeting her droid friend BB-8, we were all in.

“The Garbage Will Do”

An especially exhilarating moment featuring Rey is when she meets John Boyega’s Finn and the pair must run from the First Order in order to preserve the map to Luke Skywalker BB-8 is carrying. Rey and Finn magnetically exchange zany lines with one another as they try to find a way out. The moment is revealing of Rey’s strong-willed character as her eyes light up about the mission and she refuses to take his hand. They find a way out when they board the Millennium Falcon and Rey beautifully flies it into space.

Rey Escapes Capture From The First Order

Later in The Force Awakens, Rey is captured by the First Order momentarily where she meets Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren for the first time and the pair’s chemistry first shows itself. After Kylo tries and fails to get Resistance information from her, she also plays with her Force abilities with a Stormtrooper. Her Jedi mind tricks allow her to get out of her restraints and find a way off the First Order ship. Finn and Han Solo are already on their way to save her, but she’s already two steps ahead of them.

The Lightsaber Calls To Rey In Force Awakens

Yep. Another one from The Force Awakens. The 2015 movie is packed with awesome moments for Rey. At the end of the film once Kylo Ren has murdered Han Solo, Finn faces Kylo in an epic saber battle while Rey lies on the floor injured. Kylo is able to get Luke’s saber out of his hand and is about to grab it using the Force when it swings right past him and goes into the hand of Rey. It’s an incredible moment many of us didn’t see coming (theorizing perhaps Finn or Luke would come to rescue). Rey is still a timid hero in this fight but she’s able to become a well-matched adversary to Kylo and take him down.

Luke Trains Rey About The Ways Of The Force

Moving on to The Last Jedi, a particular standout moment featuring Rey in the 2017 release is her time with Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker as he teaches her about the Force. Luke is initially not interested in training her but once he gives in, he sits her down by the cliff and has “the talk” with her about what the Force is. There’s some funny back and forth between the characters as she reaches out and he waves a leaf at her as a joke. The two end up getting to business and reach an unsettling conclusion. But Ridley’s ability to charm even a Star Wars legend is why she’s such a great addition to the franchise.

Rey And Kylo Fight Off Snoke’s Praetorian Guard

At the end of the second act of The Last Jedi, Rey finds herself on Supreme Leader Snoke’s ship in a confrontation. After some intense back and forth with Kylo Ren for much of Rian Johnson’s 2017 flick, Kylo surprisingly decides to kill off Snoke instead of Rey and the pair fight off the Praetorian Guard together in straight up one of the coolest fight sequences in Star Wars. The fight choreography here is relentless and Ridley gets to show off her fighting chops. The scene concludes with another challenge to the dark by Kylo.

Rey Uses Force Lightning In Rise Of Skywalker

On to Rise of Skywalker, the first great Rey moment comes via a scene where audiences were teased about the movie from the beginning with the film’s first Star Wars Celebration teaser. After Rey flips over Kylo’s ship, the pair confront each other again in a ship where Chewie is thought to be in. Rey’s powers unpredictably have her using Force Lightning and exploding the ship. It’s a shocking moment for Rey that made us realize she might not be who we think she is.

Rey And Kylo’s Restless Battle On The Death Star

Another notable moment for Rey once again features a confrontation with her dyad, Kylo Ren. On a destroyed Death Star, Rey seeks a wayfinder when she sees herself turn into Dark Rey and is caught up with Kylo again. At this point, the pair are exhausted with their opposition and fight restlessly among the ruins in another awesome battle between them. The saber fight sequence ends in Rey stabbing Kylo just as they feel Leia die over at the Resistance camp. Rey uses her powers to heal Kylo and inspire him to become Ben Solo again.

Rey Hears The Jedi And Faces Emperor Palpatine In Rise Of Skywalker

As Rise of Skywalker reaches its finale, Rey confronts Palpatine where he reveals he wants her to kill him and take up the throne as the leader of the Sith. At first she gets some help from Kylo, but when he’s knocked away it’s all up to her. She watches the skies as the Resistance begins to fall, but she taps into the Force. She hears the voices of Jedis before her such as Obi-Wan, Anakin, Yoda and Mace Windu and rises up. She fights for “all the Jedi” in a final fight that leaves Palpatine helpless and nearly kills her. Kylo saves her this time from death, sacrificing himself, but allowing her to live on with her victory.

Rey Returns On Tatooine For A Binary Sunset As A Skywalker

In the last moments of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Rey ventures to Tatooine where everything once started to pay tribute to Luke and Leia Skywalker. It’s an awesome callback for fans of the series and emotional ending to the Skywalker Saga. She now wields a yellow saber and declares herself Rey Skywalker as the memory of Luke and Leia show up in the background and BB-8 follows her into the binary sunset.

Daisy Ridley’s Rey had a ton of memorable moments throughout the Skywalker trilogy and will go down in history as one of the best characters in Star Wars. All nine films are now available with a Disney+ subscription (sign up for a free 7-day trial here) and stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more news on Star Wars.

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Last year marked the end of an era for many franchises, including Star Wars. After 42 years, the Skywalker Saga came to an end with Episode IX, a.k.a. The Rise of Skywalker. Now that this movie is available on home media, and will premiere on Disney+ soon in a few days, a poster representing this nine-movie epic tale has been released, and it looks all kinds of awesome.

Take a look at the Skywalker Saga poster below.

Here we have many of the major Skywalker Saga players gathered together on one Star Wars poster, separated, of course, by the light and dark sides. Well, except for Padme Amidala and Yoda, both of whom straddle both factions. I mean, these two characters fall firmly into the good guy camps in the Star Wars movies, so I’d be interested to learn why they were placed in those positions beyond there being only so much space to work with on the artwork.

In any case, the two faces on this Star Wars poster that immediately draw the eyes are Luke Skywalker, hero of the Original Trilogy and mentor to Rey in the latter two Sequel Trilogy movies; and Darth Vader, whose journey as Anakin Skywalker we witnessed in the Prequel Trilogy, and then watched as he terrorized the Rebel Alliance as a cybernetic Sith Lord in the Original Trilogy.

Looking through the comments on this Twitter post, there are some folks who aren’t pleased that the Hayden Christensen-portrayed Anakin Skywalker isn’t included on this Skywalker Saga poster. Granted, anyone familiar with the main beats of the Star Wars movies knows that Anakin and Darth Vader are one and the same, so he clearly is well-represented here. Still, considering how prominent Christensen’s Anakin was in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, the annoyance is at least understandable.

Rey and Kylo Ren also get a solid amount of poster space towards the bottom of the Skywalker Saga poster, which is appropriate since they served as the main hero and villain, respectively, of the Sequel Trilogy. I don’t need to name off all the other high-profile characters who appear on the poster, but suffice it to say that each trilogy is well represented… although I might have thrown in Mace Windu and Rose Tico too.

Of course, this poster is centered on the Skywalker Saga, hence why no original characters from Rogue One and Solo are present. And needless to say that the franchise has expanded over the years with TV shows like The Clone Wars, Rebels, Resistance and The Mandalorian. Quite frankly, if you wanted to represent all of the Star Wars franchise, both on screen and in other canon material, you’d need to draw each character extremely small or stretch out to a banner, and even that would be tricky.

More Star Wars movies are on the way, but they’ll be exploring new characters and new corners of a galaxy far, far away. So The Rise of Skywalker very much served as a goodbye to many of this franchise’s iconic characters. But hey, there was a time when we didn’t think we’d see Luke, Han and Leia again, and look how that turned out. Perhaps several decades down the line, there’ll be an opportunity to see what Rey, Finn and Poe are up to on the big screen.

For now though, you’ll be able to watch the Skywalker Saga from start to finish on Disney+ (which is offering a free seven-day trial) when The Rise of Skywalker drops on the streaming service May 4th, a.k.a. Star Wars Day. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for news on what’s happening in Star Wars’ movie and TV realms.

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Star Wars is known for having a vast and diverse set of characters with rich backstories and adventures of their own. Seriously, you can just pick a random alien from The Skywalker Saga, and there's a good chance they have at least one interesting story that happened outside of the Star Wars movies.

Many of these characters are super cool because of their stories, or simply super cool-looking enough that they inspired writers to give them stories. In either case, here are some of the more intriguing characters from the Star Wars films who got very little screen time, but are still awesome via their contribution to the franchise in other tales.

Ponda Baba

Ponda Baba is best known as the alien who gets his arm lopped off by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Mos Eisley Cantina, but his history runs far deeper than that. He and his pig-faced companion Cornelius Evazan were spice runners for Jabba The Hutt, and successful ones at that. Most of Baba and Evazan's Legends adventures have been retconned post-Disney acquisition, though the two did appear in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and showed up new Star Wars material. Baba did eventually get his severed arm back and expressed remorse over bullying Luke Skywalker.

Shaak Ti

Shaak Ti was one of the prequel era's strongest Jedi, and a key character in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. This is despite that the fact she was given very little screen time in the movies, and her death in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith was cut from the film. Though Star Wars later confirmed her death via The Clone Wars, it was a pretty disrespectful ending for a character that was deemed one of the strongest combatants in the Jedi Council. Oh well, at least she got plenty of shine elsewhere!

Sidon Ithano

Seen only briefly in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Sidon Ithano is a famous pirate who lived along the Outer Rim in the decades following the Galactic Civil War. He and his crew searched out the treasure of Count Dooku (a collection of kyber crystals), and he later came into a number of antique Super Battle Droids that he sold to Kragan Gorr in Star Wars Resistance. Though he may not have been the most noble character, Ithano did fight against the Sith in the Battle of Exegol and survived the fight to have future adventures in the Star Wars universe.

Nien Nunb

Though he's appeared in the Star Wars franchise a good deal and is well-loved, Nien Nunb didn't have a ton of screen time in the Skywalker Saga. Over the course of four films, I'd be shocked if he's been on screen for over two to three minutes, though I'll add that he's always a standout in all those scenes. While the character died in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, he lives on as a pilot in the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge ride Rise of the Resistance, so I can't really say the franchise did him that dirty.

Greedo

Greedo had a notoriously short scene in Star Wars: A New Hope, but that scene was so iconic that it justified prequel stories about the character. Had Greedo survived his encounter with Han Solo (regardless of whom shot first), it's hard to say whether or not people would've cared to see any more adventures that predated his infamous last mission in the Mos Eisley cantina. In this case, perhaps it was for the best Greedo didn't get a lot of screen time in the Original Trilogy.

Yarael Poof

Another forgotten Jedi Master on the council, Yarael Poof (they guy with the long neck above), was shown in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and was noted for his ability to create illusions and perform impressive combat moves thanks to his spineless physique. Unfortunately, he was killed during the Battle of Genosis, at least according to canon. In reality, George Lucas feared Poof's species too closely resembled the Kaminoans of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, so he was replaced by another Jedi, Coleman Trebor. Though his character was short-lived in Star Wars, he'll be remembered fondly for the Robot Chicken sketch he inspired.

Wicket W. Warrick

The iconic Ewok Wicket W. Warrick is another well-known and beloved character of Star Wars, yet he doesn't have a lot of screen time. His appearance in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi was rather brief overall, and he cameoed in The Rise Of Skywalker, but Wicket was a vital part to the upbringing of many Star Wars fans thanks to the animated series Ewoks. Not everyone loves the Ewoks, but I would wager most all who do immediately think of Wicket when they remember the furry little creatures.

Paige Tico

The older sister of Rose Tico, Paige Tico's heroic sacrifice is one of the first major moments of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Though we only see her final act as part of the Resistance, Paige completed several missions before that, and originally tried taking on the First Order with just Rose until Leia Organa stepped in and advised they'd be more effective being a part of the bigger picture. It's hard to dispute that considering the impact of Paige's final action, and how it inspired her sister Rose to be a greater hero in her own regard.

Bossk

Bossk was one of the bounty hunters hired by Darth Vader in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, but he ultimately falls short of the goal of tracking down the Millennium Falcon. He's beaten to the punch by his rival Boba Fett, who Bossk had quite a history with leading to that moment. Bossk accompanied a young Boba Fett in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and attempted to help him track down the murderer of Fett's father, Mace Windu. Bossk was last seen in Jabba's palace and aboard the Hutt's sail barge during the events of Return of the Jedi, though there is some chance he may have escaped before the barge exploded.

Do you have a favorite minor Star Wars character that didn't make the list? Sound off in the comments below, and be sure to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest news regarding Star Wars and other goings on in the world of movies and television.

Is there such a thing as too much Star Wars? Clearly, somebody out there doesn't think so, because they've completed the insane experiment of split screening all nine episodes of the Skywalker Saga together, so that they all play simultaneously. Is it impressive? Absolutely. Is it strangely mesmerizing? Totally. Can you understand a single word? Not at all.

The video, which is clearly part of an experiment to drive people with ADD completely 'round the bend, was completed by Lucas Hammer on YouTube. It's an impressive feat that needs to be seen to be believed, so check it out.

If you're a serious Star Wars junkie then there's actually a lot of potentially interesting information to glean by watching all nine movies side by side. While you'd expect the timing of the opening sequence to be a little off between the sequel trilogy and the other six movies, because they don't include the 20th Century Fox fanfare if nothing else, there's a lot of more minuscule differences here. Did anybody else know that the Star Wars logo recedes into the background faster in A New Hope than it does in the rest of that trilogy?

Watching all the movies side-by-side all reveals the pacing of all of them, which, at least to me, makes some of the movies feel slower than I thought and others seem faster, at least as far as the speed the plot progresses. The rebels leave Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back at virtually the exact same time that they escape Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi. Which is also the same point that Rey and Finn leave Jakku. By the same point in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker the heroes have already discovered the ship of the Jedi hunter.

The versions of the original trilogy being used are the Special Edition versions, of course, which makes all three of them slightly longer than they would otherwise be. Still, you discover just how long Star Wars: The Last Jedi is when you see that the other eight movies have completed rolling their credits before that movie even begins its credits.

The video is actually slightly shorter than it would be because it doesn't show the last few seconds of The Last Jedi or the credits. This is probably done to avoid the copyright bots, as the unaltered music of the credits would likely set off a YouTube copyright strike. The video's creator mentions that making this video took several tries before the copyright system would let him upload it.

If you love Star Wars, there's a lot of Star Wars to love here. Sure, you might want to just watch the movies one at a time, but this is so much more efficient.

The Skywalker Saga is over. The movies have been made, they've been released, they're all out on Blu-ray. The story is done, but talking about the story will likely never be done, and it looks like part of that conversation will always include controversy regarding the sequel trilogy. There are some pretty strong opinions about the most recent films, and now the editors of Star Wars: The Force Awakens have made their feeling on Star Wars: The Last Jedi public. Let's just say they're not big fans.

Mary Jo Markey and Maryann Brandon were both editors on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Brandon returned to edit The Rise of Skywalker as well. On a recent episode of the Light the Fuse podcast, (because the duo also edited J.J. Abrams' Mission Impossible III) they both admit they were not fans of the way Star Wars: The Last Jedi tried to "undo" the story of the first film. In Markey's words...

Star Wars: The Last Jedi was certainly a controversial film. While many fans loved the fresh take on the material that it brought, others took serious issue with some of the plot and character decisions made by Rian Johnson's film. Most of the people actually responsible with making the Star Wars movies have remained quiet on the topic, but the Force Awakens editors are now admitting they are firmly in the camp of people who didn't care for the sequel.

One of the major criticisms of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is that it undid the events of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but the argument here is basically that The Last Jedi is the real culprit. For her part, Mary Jo Markey disputes the idea that Rise of Skywalker undid the previous film...

If there's one thing most people can probably agree on, and both Brandon and Markey do agree with this, it's that the trilogy as a whole was weaker because it didn't seem to have a single vision. The Last Jedi, being a single Rian Johnson story in the middle of a pair of J.J. Abrams films, does feel out of place, even if it's a movie that you love.

For better or worse, the trilogy is what it is and it's now over. People are going to have different opinions over it and while the fact that people feel so strongly about Star Wars, is, on the whole, not a bad thing, there is clearly never going to be a single answer or easy solution to all of this. We'll be debating this for as long as Star Wars is relevant, which will probably be many years to come.

Actor and longtime dialect coach Andrew Jack died at the age of 76, just days after being diagnosed with COVID-19. Jack will be remembered for his roles as General Ematt in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, and the voice of Moloch in Solo: A Star Wars Story. He worked with the cast of the Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Marvel movies as a dialect coach as well.

Andrew Jack died in a hospital in Surrey, England on Tuesday while his wife, Gabrielle Rogers, was in quarantine in Australia, per NBC News. Rogers said he was in no pain at the time of his death and “slipped away peacefully knowing that his family were all ‘with’ him.” Jack was signed on to be a dialect coach for Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which recently stalled production in London.

Most cases of coronavirus involve a fever and cough, and the Hollywood talent was most at risk for COVID-19 due to his age. People aged 65 years and older and/or those with underlying medical conditions tend to be more likely to contract a severe illness from COVID-19. Jack’s wife said he was diagnosed with coronavirus just two days before his passing.

Upon hearing the news, quite a few of his colleagues took to social media to share their memories with Andrew Jack. Lord of the Rings’ star Elijah Wood said this on his Twitter:

The Samwise to Elijah Wood’s Frodo, Sean Astin also paid tribute to Andrew Jack, who was the supervising dialect coach on all three original Lord of the Rings films. In Astin’s words:

The Star Wars community also showed a strong presence in remembering him as well. Former co-director and executive producer on Solo: A Star Wars Story Christopher Miller wrote a sweet message about Andrew Jack, saying:

It sounds like Andrew Jack was instrumental behind the scenes in Alden Ehrenreich’s Han Solo nailing an alien language too. Star Wars’ Snap Wexley, Greg Grunberg, decided to share a picture of himself with Jack:

And finally, here’s C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels' reaction to the news:

Along with his work on these franchises, Andrew Jack also recently worked with Robert Downey Jr. on his Welsh accent for Dolittle. Jack worked closely with Chris Hemsworth as the actor played Thor in movies such as Ragnarok and Infinity War, as well as his recent role in Men In Black: International. Jack left a permanent mark on movies with over 100 dialect coaching credits and over a dozen acting roles. We here at CinemaBlend offer our condolences to his family and friends.

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There are few film franchises quite as beloved as Star Wars, as the galaxy far, far away continues to dominate popular culture. George Lucas' colorful space opera has been entertaining moviegoers for decades, resulting in generations of hardcore fans. And while every frame is dissected and discussed by the fandom, there are still many lingering questions and fan theories. Luckily for us, one such question has recently be answered. Namely, how did Rey manage to best Kylo Ren in a lightsaber duel during The Force Awakens?

J.J. Abrams kickstarted Star Wars back up with The Force Awakens, creating a set of new characters to interact with franchise favorites. The third act saw Kylo Ren engage both Finn and Rey in lightsaber combat, eventually losing to the latter Force amateur. This was a series of events that bothered some fans, as Ben Solo had years of training over Daisy Ridley's character. Answers have come thanks to the novelization of The Rise of Skywalker, which has been expanding the story of Episode IX. It turns out that Chewbacca was once again an unsung hero, as shooting Kylo Ren after he killed Han greatly hindered his performance. The book has a scene with Kylo and Chewie, which reads:

Finally some answers! While Kylo Ren can be seen bleeding during his lightsaber duels on Starkiller Base, it looks like Chewbacca's blow to the villain took more of a toll than we realized. Combine that with Rey's legacy as a Palpatine, and she was able to use The Force and win her very first battle with the ancient Jedi weapon.

Star Wars fans can re-watch the Skywalker Saga on Disney+. You can use this link for a free 7-day trial to the streaming service.

This scene is from the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's novel (via ScreenRant), and is one of the many plot lines that are clarified in the book adaptation of J.J. Abrams' blockbuster. The book has been answering questions left and right, most notably revealing exactly how Palpatine was resurrected prior to his return to the franchise. But it turns out that these clarifying tidbits also date back to The Force Awakens.

As a reminder, you can check out Han Solo's death scene below, which features Chewbacca nailing Kylo Ren with a blast from his bowcaster.

The Force Awakens previously showed that destructive power of Chewbacca's primary weapon, with Han Solo taking it up and enjoying blasting Stormtroopers to bits. Kylo Ren took a direct hit from the bowcaster, so it makes sense that he would be wounded later on in the film. Finn even lands a hit on him during their brief battle, before Rey takes Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber and bests the villain.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is available on video on demand now, and will arrive on DVD and Blu-ray on March 31st. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

The Skywalker Saga began with Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi who fell and became Darth Vader. While the sequel trilogy was the first to not specifically include some version of Anakin Skywalker as a character, outside of cameos, the character still casts a long shadow over the entire story. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens we see that Kylo Ren is in possession of Vader's melted helmet, as he tries to commune with it, and it appears that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker almost called back to that moment with a similar scene.

We do see Vader's helmet in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Ray comes across it while traversing the Star Destroyer, and it's the room she finds herself in when she and Kylo Ren have a Force connected lightsaber battle. However, images recently posted to Imgur show a scene with Kylo Ren alone with the helmet, possibly trying to connect to it as he had tried before.

"

With only a few still frames, it's impossible to know exactly what we're seeing. The only thing we can know for sure is that this scene would have taken place prior to the time Rey finds the helmet, as the pedestal the helmet is on is destroyed during the fight, and seeing it is what reveals Rey's location to him. Really, the most interesting thing about it is that the helmet being on the ship reveals that Kylo Ren literally brings the thing with him wherever he goes. Whatever ship he happens to be on, he finds a special place for it.

Between confirmed deleted scenes, and concept art there is a fair amount of Star Wars; The Rise of Skywalker that was once an idea, but didn't end up in the final version of the film. This, along with other rumors, have led to many believing there's a mysterious "J.J., Cut" of the film, a previous, significantly different, version, that is sitting in a vault somewhere never to see the light of day. While we know that some of these early ideas did survive simply the idea the phase, it's far from clear how much was actually filmed.

Every movie has ideas that don't make it past concept art or scenes that end up not being used. While Star Wars; The Rise of Skywalker may have had a lot of ideas that ended up not being used, this one looks like a simple scene that was just decided to be unnecessary. The Rise of Skywalker is a long enough movie as it is and there's, quite honestly, a lot of plot that the move barrels through in that time, you get the impression that anything that was filmed that didn't directly serve that plot had to be cut.

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It's almost hard to believe, but the Skywalker Saga has been over for a number of months. J.J. Abrams' The Rise of Skywalker arrived back in December, and wrapped up the nine-film narrative that began back with A New Hope. Abrams also kickstarted the franchise back up with The Force Awakens, so he's seen plenty of concepts come and go over the years. In fact, a new concept art shows Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker reunited with Darth Vader's signature mask.

Luke Skywalker played an interesting role in the sequel trilogy. After appearing in a brief cameo in The Force Awakens, Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi revealed a jaded recluse version of the hero. Most recently The Rise of Skywalker brought back Luke as a particularly powerful Force Ghost. But it looks like there might have been plans to include Mark Hamill's character more in the first movie, and even reunite him with his father's mask. Check out the concept art below.

Well, I've got chills. This new image shows us a scene that never came to fruition, one that would have made the hardcore Star Wars fans very happy. So cue the FOMO for all those who grew up loving the galaxy far, far away.

This image comes to us from the social media of Christian Alzmann, who is a concept artist that works on the Star Wars franchise for Lucasfilm. The beloved property might arrive in theaters as a shiny finished product, but plenty of concepts end up on the cutting room floor for each blockbuster. And given the particular pressure that comes with producing a new Star Wars flick, and there's bound to be even more options that never came to fruition.

Luke Skywalker was noticeably absent throughout Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which the fandom took umbrage with when it arrived in theaters in 2015. J.J. Abrams held the franchise hero's appearance until the very final moments of the blockbuster, with Rey finding him on Ach-To in a massive cliffhanger. This gave Rian Johnson the ability to make bold creative choices with the character in The Last Jedi, although it looks like Abrams tossed around the idea of Luke reuniting with his late father's villainous mask.

Star Wars fans can re-watch the Skywalker Saga on Disney+. You can use this link for a free 7-day trial to the streaming service.

In the end, Darth Vader's mask did make it into The Force Awakens, albeit owned by a different member of the Skywalker clan. Adam Driver's Kylo Ren somehow tracked down the burned up mask before the events of Episode VII, after it was used in Anakin Skywalker's funeral in Return of the Jedi. Vader was his inspiration in villainy, with Ben Solo crafting his very own mask and alter ego. But Luke never got to have another moment with the iconic helmet, mostly because his character's story was primarily located on Ach-To.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is available on video on demand now, and will arrive on DVD and Blu-ray on March 31st. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

For many actors, appearing in a Star Wars film has to feel a bit like a dream come true, but appearing in a Star Wars film and instantly befriending one of its most legendary stars? That’s almost too good to be true. It happened for one of The Force Awakens stars, though, when Carrie Fisher introduced herself to him in a way that was truly, quintessentially Carrie.

Greg Grunberg first played Temmin “Snap” Wexley in The Force Awakens and then reprised the role in The Rise of Skywalker after longtime friend and collaborator J.J. Abrams came on board to direct the film. While the pilot doesn’t have an enormous role in the franchise, the actor still made the most of his screen time.

In a conversation with THR, Greg Grunberg revealed that he and Carrie Fisher bonded quickly on the set of The Force Awakens. Like, really, really quickly:

Well, it’s safe to say that’s one way to break the ice. And it was definitely a memorable initiation into the franchise for Greg Grunberg, who says that moment was the beginning of more than one lasting Star Wars friendships:

He also shared a story about how he once upset Carrie Fisher when he neglected to come to her impromptu house party -- so much so that she made J.J. Abrams send him a video clip of her chewing him out. Greg Grunberg clearly cherishes these memories:

Because Greg Grunberg wasn’t in The Last Jedi, The Force Awakens was the only film he got to make with Carrie Fisher. Still, he praised J.J. Abrams for finding a tasteful way to incorporate Princess Leia into The Rise of Skywalker following the actress’ death. In the interview, he also defended the director against accusations that the final film in the franchise was meant as a rebuke to Rian Johnson. With the fond way Greg Grunberg speaks about his co-stars and his loyalty to his boss, it’s easy to see why Carrie Fisher was quick to befriend him.

Pretty much every dedicated movie-goer has their own ranking of the live-action Star Wars films. Every title in the franchise has arrested public attention upon release, and with knowledge of every chapter it makes all the sense in the world that people would rank them all stacked up against each other. It’s a subject that is regularly a source of very divisive debate on the internet, and that’s been especially true following the release of Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker – the final chapter in the Skywalker Saga.

With the full slate of upcoming Star Wars movies fully in development, we thought that we would take a crack at our own ranking of the titles. So going from worst to best, here is every live-action Star Wars movie ranked, including JJ Abrams's Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker.

11. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones (2002)

For its time, George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones was certainly ambitious… but it’s a cinematic case of reach exceeding grasp. While part of the magic from the original trilogy came from its impressive practicality and special effects -- particularly when it came to the best ships in the franchise -- the second movie in the prequel trilogy is an eyesore due to its garish and overused digital elements. And certainly not helping anything is a convoluted plot filled with bland character arcs.

The lone real bright spot in the film is Ewan McGregor’s Obi-wan Kenobi, who sets out like a detective on a case to track down the source of an assassination plot, but not only does even that story get caught up in pointlessness (who was asking to see Boba Fett as a child?), but it doesn’t even get any kind of satisfying conclusion. It would be great if we could legitimately celebrate the coolness of Yoda fighting with a lightsaber, but it’s a memory drowned out by the visual of a bunch of random Jedi swinging theirs around, and Hayden Christensen’s Anakin complaining about sand.

10. Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

Being the final film in the Skywalker Saga, J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker was always going to be viewed with an extra layer of scrutiny next to all of the other episodes – but the problem is that it invites itself to extra criticism by nature of being a poorly put together blockbuster. In many ways it feels like an attempted (an unnecessary) apology to fans who were upset by the surprising choices made in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and its attempt to backtrack and change things makes it operate like two movies smashed together as one. It’s all plot and no story, and delivers zero satisfying conclusions for any of its characters.

Instead of trying to utilize the various plot threads left open by The Last Jedi, The Rise Of Skywalker essentially abandons them in favor of being more like the original trilogy capper: Star Wars: The Return Of The Jedi. Thus, Emperor Palpatine is brought back for no real explicable reason, collapsing anything interesting in Kylo Ren’s arc, and from there it’s a cascading array of issues propelled by fan service – from Chewbacca being killed and then brought back, to Rey being Palpatine’s granddaughter, to the incredibly forced “Reylo” kiss. It tries so hard to be the Star Wars movie that everybody will love, but is ultimately a disaster because of that approach.

9. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)

At the end of the day, the biggest problem from which George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace suffers is that it has absolutely no idea who its audience is. On the one hand, you have a plot that centers on intergalactic politics and stuff like trade embargoes and senate hearings; while on the other you have characters that are essentially living cartoons, and a disruptive child protagonist. When those two sides clash, what’s left is a confusing mess of a movie that will forever hold a strange place in pop culture history.

There are definitely elements to love in the film, as Darth Maul’s design is inarguably cool (and makes him one of the coolest characters in Star Wars), the podrace scene is fun, and “Duel of the Fates” is one of the best pieces of music that John Williams has ever created… but everything else? Criticizing Jar Jar Binks or young Anakin is just beating a dead horse at this point, and they are also just small elements of the much larger problems – like uneven plot structure, unengaging storytelling, and unclear perspective.

8. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith (2005)

Being the best movie in the Star Wars prequel trilogy isn’t exactly a high distinction, but it’s one that George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith can cling to for the sake of its legacy in pop culture (and it’s worth noting that not many trilogies conclude with their best chapter). It still possesses many of the problems of its immediate predecessors, such as featuring underwhelming performances and unfortunate visual effects, but it does at least kind of stick the landing in some areas.

This was always set up to be the movie where Anakin Skywalker was seduced by the dark side, and while there is a fair bit of dumbness thrown in (she dies of a broken heart? Really?), it also gets really gripping in moments – such as when the Sith apprentice is instructed to slaughter the younglings, and Order 66 is carried out. Revenge of the Sith definitely isn’t a good movie, but it is the best of the bad Star Wars films.

7. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

Ron Howard’s Solo: A Star Wars Story is just about as middle-of-the-road as you can get with a Star Wars movie. Going in, there was a lot of questioning as to why audiences really needed a Han Solo origin story, and going out there was a lot of the same question still being asked, but in the grand scheme of things it’s a “fine” diversion that has some entertaining elements and cool sequences to pair with blah story and mediocre ensemble of characters.

There is a lot to appreciate in the casting, as Donald Glover makes for a great young Lando Calrissian, Phoebe Waller-Bridge is wonderful as activist droid L3-37, and Alden Ehrenreich is an adequate Harrison Ford substitute. It’s also a bummer, however, that it feels the need to hone so close to details that we know (like performing the Kessel Run) and over-explain elements (like where the hero’s name comes from). In the grand scheme of things it’s a fairly harmless blockbuster, and arguably the most forgettable of the live-action Star Wars titles.

6. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

After the disappointing prequel trilogy, Star Wars fans were immensely excited to dive back into the universe they were familiar with from the original films – and in that capacity, Star Wars: The Force Awakens absolutely delivered. The movie is really a loving tribute to everything that made us fall in love with in the franchise to begin with, and while that strength also happens to be one of its biggest flaws, it deserves tremendous credit for successfully launching a whole new era for the franchise.

Truth be told, it’s unfortunate that the film essentially operates as an echo of Star Wars: A New Hope, telling the story of an orphaned hero who travels away from a desert planet to become ensconced in an intergalactic battle between good and evil, but it succeeds because of its excellent character development. You can’t help but immediately fall in love with Rey, Finn, Poe, and BB-8 (each of them filled with their own individual quirks, engaging personalities, and eccentricities), Kylo Ren makes for an exciting and emotional villain, and once the end credits start rolling you are excited to see where the saga is going to take them all next.

5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

As far as being a Star Wars prequel goes, Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has the narrowest path to walk, needing to craft events that perfectly dovetail with the opening of Star Wars: A New Hope – and it’s actually pretty special to watch it operate. Unlike the worst examples of fan-service in the franchise, it effectively and smartly answers legitimate questions while also putting together a rousing story with a neat ensemble.

Not only is Rogue One strong from a story perspective, it also has the distinction of being the first Star Wars movie that was made to specifically have its own aesthetic flavor – and the way it takes the audience into the literal nitty-gritty of ground warfare is both beautiful and exciting. Being a “Star Wars Story,” it has kind of a strange place in the legacy of the big screen brand, but it’s definitely categorized as one of the successes of the modern era.

4. Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi (1983)

Remember when Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi was considered the most controversial Star Wars movie? Ahh, simpler times. Now, with the added perspective of eight more titles from the franchise, we can look back on the film as truly one of the best chapters the saga… which also happens to be a bit marred by the presence of the overly-cutesy Ewoks.

From the invasion of Jabba’s palace and the rescue of Han Solo, to the final battle between good and evil as Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader cross lightsaber blades in front of the Emperor, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is an immensely satisfying adventure in and of itself, but also a really amazing story-capper – delivering real closure, providing some satisfying surprises, and capitalizing on the deeper themes of the storytelling. It’s the movie that cements the original trilogy as one of the greatest in cinema history.

3. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

In retrospect, the legacy of Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi is tarnished by The Rise of Skywalker’s stubborn refusal to engage with any of its story choices and character arcs, but putting that aside and looking at the film more in a vacuum, it’s just really an impressive piece of filmmaking. Not only is it absolutely gorgeous, featuring some of the most beautiful sequences that have been included in Star Wars movies (thinking about the throne room showdown, the battle on Crete, and the burning of the tree library specifically), but it also dares to take its heroes and plot in unexpected and exhilarating directions.

While J.J. Abrams saw his job with the new Star Wars movies as recapturing the feeling of the original trilogy, Rian Johnson met his backwards-looking gaze with a vision that looked forward and considered where the classic hero/villain dynamic of the franchise could go without the road map of George Lucas’ original films. It’s thrilling to watch Kylo Ren carve out a whole new future for the Dark Side, see Rey tempted away from the light, and have Luke caught in the middle struggling with his connection to the Force. By the end of the movie there is an excellent set up for a perfect next chapter, with goodness reignited in the universe and the use of the Force spreading, and it’s a shame that we never got it.

2. Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)

It goes without saying that the Star Wars franchise wouldn’t be what it is today without the incredible impact that George Lucas’ Star Wars: A New Hope made when it was first released in 1977 – but 43 years later it still needs to be stressed just how remarkable it is. It’s a perfect composite of the great serials that the director loved growing up, and beautifully elegant in its creation of the hero’s journey within an entirely new mythos. It’s an incredible work of imagination, and iconic through and through.

It’s not grandiose or even all that epic, featuring a very A-to-B-to-C-to-D story, but it’s effortlessly impactful in the way that it sucks you into its reality and gets you to fall for its characters. You instantly emphasize with Luke Skywalker’s ambition to live a life of importance and adventure; you’re captivated by rogue charms of Han Solo; you’re impressed with the forcefulness of Princess Leia; and frightened at the simple sight of Darth Vader. There’s truly nothing like it, and the fact that it led to the creation of an incredible empire is not surprising in the least in retrospect.

1. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

It’s been pointed out numerous times by detractors that Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back isn’t really an independently functioning movie, as its ending is a cliffhanger that demands conclusion by its design – but you know what? It really doesn’t matter, because when you are simply comparing the individual chapters of this franchise and comparing them to each other, there is simply no segment that is better than the two hours and seven minutes delivered by director Irvin Kershner.

It’s not exactly an example of complex storytelling, as the entire film has five basic settings (Hoth, Dagobah, the Millennium Falcon, the Imperial Star Destroyer, and Cloud City), but what its able to orchestrate with its characters through its few narrative chess moves is phenomenal. The audience falls ever more deeply in love with Han and Leia as they fall in love with each other, and every step of the way you’re fully with Luke as he toils through his Jedi training with Yoda. It’s a magical blockbuster experience and the best live-action Star Wars movie to date.

How do you stack the live-action films of the Star Wars franchise against each other? Hit the comments section with your own rankings, and stay tuned for more of our Star Wars-related coverage here on CinemaBlend!

It's almost hard to believe, but the Skywalker Saga has finally come to an end. J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker completed the current trilogy, as well as the entire nine-film franchise as we knew it. Abrams was also the visionary who helped to kick the property back up with The Force Awakens, creating the new set of heroes to join franchise favorites. And it turns out that John Boyega wasn't happy with the filmmaker for making his future co-star Oscar Isaac audition to play Poe Dameron. Talk about an instant friendship.

J.J. Abrams and company went on a wide casting search for the leads of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as they'd be tasked with continuing George Lucas' legacy and starring in three separate blockbusters. We've seen clips of Daisy Ridley's fantastic audition to play Rey, but it turns out that John Boyega took umbrage with having to work with Oscar Isaac for his own audition. Namely, because he thought Isaac was the perfect person to bring life to Poe Dameron. Refusing to even call it an audition at all, Boyega explained his feelings saying:

John Boyega and Oscar Isaac have palpable chemistry on screen. And it turns out that this dynamic was there from the very beginning of their working relationship. So much so that Boyega thought having to read together was unnecessary altogether. But J.J. Abrams insisted, and it all worked out in the end.

John Boyega's comment come from the upcoming documentary The Skywalker Legacy (via ET), and are sure to excite Star Wars fans, especially those Poe/Finn shippers out there. The type of chemistry that John Boyega described was noticeable to moviegoers when The Force Awakens hit theaters back in 2015. So much so that a popular fan theory indicated they might actually have a romantic connection. And when Oscar Isaac fueled the fires of this rumor, there was a cloud of mystery over their connection for the following two movies.

In fact, Oscar Isaac even tried to press for the rumored plot line to become a reality, but recently revealed that the higher ups in the studio nixed the idea. Still, he has great chemistry with John Boyega, and their characters' dynamic is definitely something fans will miss as we head into a Star Wars big screen hiatus. Luckily, we can get more content coming from Poe and Finn in The Rise of Skywalker's accompanying comic books and novelization.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is currently available via video on demand, and will arrive on DVD and Blu-ray on March 31st. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trio to the movies.

The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker novelization is out, and has caused quite a stir since fans caught wind of what it has to offer. Many are shocked at the wild explanations behind stuff unexplained by the movies, but they really shouldn't be because this has been a common trend for these kinds of works over the years.

In fact, if one travels back through the past Skywalker Saga novelizations, some crazy things will be revealed. Here are some of the wilder things I dug up, be it simply because it was impressive, hard to imagine or just flat out bizarre.

Luke Was Totally Into Leia After A New Hope

In a galaxy where passionate kisses can only be seen as platonic, it's worth noting that the novelization of Star Wars: A New Hope said that Luke certainly had eyes for Leia after their first adventure. Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker describes Luke being unconcerned about the future of the Rebellion or future adventures with Han Solo and Chewbacca, as his mind is only occupied by the "radiant" Leia Organa.

Of course, Star Wars fans can understand how this bit of story gets written. Luke is the hero of Star Wars, and the twist that the two were siblings was not conceived by George Lucas until he was writing Return of the Jedi. Unfortunately, it doesn't make that whole kiss the two shared in The Empire Strikes Back any less awkward, and I can totally understand if the discomfort from all that was the real reason Luke was off in seclusion at the beginning of the Sequel Trilogy.

Palpatine Unnecessarily Dissed Yoda In His Encounter With Luke

Emperor Palpatine is one of Star Wars' most evil villains. As such, he's often portrayed as serious, menacing and uncompromising in his ability to be an asshole every time he gets the opportunity. As such, one wouldn't expect to hear some humorous banter from the Emperor, and yet, the novelization of Return of the Jedi does exactly that.

When Palpatine learns that Luke was trained by Yoda prior to their encounter, he begins to mockingly imitate Yoda's pattern of speech. It's a hilarious moment to imagine, especially given the meeting precedes one of the most dramatic scenes of the franchise. Personally, I'd love to at least hear Ian McDiarmid attempt to imitate Yoda as Palpatine, though the thought alone is enough to forever taint any future re-watches of Return of the Jedi.

Rey's Father Was A Failed Palpatine Clone

This reveal has received a good deal of attention already, but it's too wild to leave off the list. Not only did readers of the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker novelization learn that Palpatine's essence possessed a clone of himself, but that Rey's father was an entirely separate failed Palpatine clone. According to the story, this clone had no Force sensitivity, but beyond that, he was completely normal.

It's a confusing bit to add to the story, especially given that the complete lack of Force sensitivity by Rey's father does little to explain her powers. Of course, Jedi can come from non-Force sensitive families, but is the same true of a lab-created clone that was dismissed on those exact grounds? To be frank, a lot of things about midi-chlorians don't exist, and I'd be surprised if they start making sense in regards to how Rey amassed her strong connection to the Force.

Little Anakin Skywalker Beat Up A Young Greedo

The Rodian Greedo lives on in infamy as the unlucky bounty hunter who Han may or may not have killed in cold blood, but this was not his first appearance in The Skywalker Saga. The novelization of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace features Greedo in the story on the wrong side of a beating by the young Anakin Skywalker. The moment was actually a deleted scene from The Phantom Menace, but was obviously cut from the final edit.

The intention of the scene was originally to show what Anakin was capable of, and the mistake that Qui-Gon Jinn was making in taking him in as an apprentice. It's a moment that didn't translate to film, but it apparently worked well enough to stay in the novelization. Personally, I just love the fact that these two stories including Greedo are the two times he got taken down by another Star Wars character.

Jabba The Hutt Kissed Leia On The Lips

It's truly undervalued just how much work went into bringing Jabba the Hutt to life in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. It took three puppeteers to make the creature move on screen, but even with all that manpower, only so much can realistically be brought to the big screen. This may be why in the movie, Jabba is seen licking his lips as opposed to leaning in and lip locking Leia like he did in the novelization.

The idea of Jabba the Hutt kissing Leia on the lips is pretty wild, especially given the huge difference between mouth width. I can't even begin to imagine how that could be accomplished, and how much more disgusting that would be for Leia to get up close and personal with that massive creature-gobbling mouth. It also probably would've looked hokey compared to what Return of the Jedi ultimately went with, so I can respect the direction the movies actually went.

Leia's Force Ability Was On Par With That Of Obi-Wan Kenobi

Audiences were really shocked to see Leia Organa show such a command of the Force when she flew through space in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but they may not have had they read the novelization of Star Wars: The Force Awakens ahead of time. In the novel, it was confirmed that Leia felt the destruction of the Hosnian system through the Force, much like how Obi-Wan felt the destruction of Alderaan.

Now that Star Wars has revealed Leia's Jedi training via Luke, it isn't crazy to believe she developed her Force abilities to a level akin to Obi-Wan. That's not to say she was able to match his skills of combat, but I think being able to fly through space by Force pulling on a ship-attached object certainly qualifies for a sizable amount of Force mastery. Still, to see confirmation Leia accomplished something Obi-Wan did is pretty impressive, and a testament to just how powerful both Skywalker children were throughout their lives.

The next Star Wars saga for the silver screen has yet to be revealed, but CinemaBlend will keep an eye out for updates as they come. Continue to check in for more on that and the latest news happening in movies and television.