Star Wars
Heroes and Villains of Hollywood's Greatest Space Opera
The Star Wars films of GEORGE LUCAS have grown into one of the longest-running serials in movie history.
The original space adventure Star Wars (1977) was a such a sensation that plans for sequels began immediately. Lucas has always said he imagined nine separate episodes to the saga, and that the 1977 film was really episode four (subtitled "A New Hope").
Subsequent films have been known by their episode titles: the sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and The Return of the Jedi (1983), and the prequels The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). The disconnect between the episode numbers and order of release can be confusing: episode four was the first film released, and vice-versa.
It's not clear whether Lucas will ever make episodes seven, eight and nine. But a delay would be nothing new: 16 years passed between the release of The Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace.
Here are some of the primary characters and actors in the Star Wars saga.