Star Wars: The Force Awakens is one of the most anticipated movies of all time. Following the less than stellar prequel trilogy, which ended in 2005, fans of the franchise have been left wanting more from George Lucas, the creator of the series. Since the purchase of Lucasfilms Ltd. by Disney for $4 billion, many people have been calling for a new addition to the beloved franchise, and the recent release of the Star Wars Battlefront game in November has simply sharpened people’s desire for more. But there is also some controversy on whether the series will be the same as before.

For starters, this is the first Star Wars film that is entirely out of George Lucas’ hands. The movie is being directed, produced, and co-written by J. J. Abrams, who directed the last two Star Trek  movies, as well as popular TV shows like Lost, Alias, and Fringe. Abrams is known for his action-packed, mysterious stories with numerous subplots, and there is a lot of potential for him to do great things with the franchise.

As Star Wars is like his own child, George Lucas was reluctant to let it go. In an interview with the Washington Post, Lucas said: “There is no such thing as working over someone’s shoulder,” Lucas said. “I knew that I couldn’t be involved. All I’d do is make them miserable. I’d make myself miserable. It would probably ruin a vision — J.J. has a vision, and it’s his vision.” Despite his writing and direction of the first six Star Wars movies, Lucas said that Disney “decided they didn’t like” his ideas for future installments in the series, and so he understood the need for a clean break between him and his brainchild.

Disney certainly has very different plans for the franchise than Lucas did. Disney recently stated that they will be releasing a Star Wars movie every year until no one will buy tickets. Most of these planned movies are anthology movies, like Han Solo’s backstory or the story of “Red Squadron,” the group that Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star with. Disney plans on utilizing the Star Wars brand a major creator of revenue, and there are rumors of a Star Wars themed park in Disney World, similar to the Pirates of the Caribbean.

So what can fans expect from this all-new Star Wars movie? J. J. Abrams is notoriously secretive about his movies, and the short teaser trailers that have been released do almost nothing to tell us about the story, but they do an excellent job of keeping the hype-train rolling. However, what we do know is that The Force Awakens takes place thirty years after the Battle of Endor in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The film has a strong female protagonist, who seems to have a similar backstory to Luke Skywalker, a dark, evil, crossguard lightsaber-wielding villain named Kylo Ren, and nostalgic characters and places like Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon. As J. J. Abrams has not allowed even the press so view the movie before its release date on December 18, only he and the producers know the epic journey that awaits fans.

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Will you be seeing The Force Awakens? Which is your favorite Star Wars movie? Let us know in the comments below.