Star Wars is an epic American space opera franchise initially conceived by filmmaker George Lucas. The Star Wars series tells a science fiction and fantasy story set in a fictional universe. The saga began officially with the release of the first film in the series during May 1977 (although a novel adaptation by Alan Dean Foster was released several months before in late 1976).
Because of its huge success across the world during the late 70s, several Japanese anime and manga from that era were heavily inspired by it.
One of the most recognizable weapons in the Star Wars universe, is a fictional type of sword that has a beam of light for a blade: the lightsaber.
Two additional films in the "original trilogy" movie series were released in 1980 and 1983. An official Star Wars Manga adaptation of these films was released in 1998.
A "prequel trilogy" of films (set chronologically before the plot of the "original trilogy") were released in 1999, 2002 and 2005.
Two spin-off "Star Wars Anthology" films were released between each sequel film. The first Anthology film is called Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and is set in the period of the Galactic Civil War of the original films. This new film premiered in late 2016. A film focusing on Han Solo called Solo: A Star Wars Story was released in 2018.
