What Ties Previous STAR WARS Movies to EPISODE VII?

It’s pants-tighteningly exciting to think that Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens is just 3 months away from release. Let that sink in for a minute. Pretty amazing, right? Well now some details have emerged on just how this new film will tie to the original holy trilogy and the later prequel trilogy.

Kathleen Kennedy has been overseeing all things Star Wars for Disney and Lucasfilm, and she has recently spoken to Costco Connection about the upcoming new trilogy of movies. On what connects these new “saga” films to the existing six movies, she teased, “The saga films focus on the Skywalker family. The stories follow a linear narrative that connects to the previous six films. The Force Awakens follows Return of the Jedi and continues that generational story. The Anthology films offer opportunities to explore fresh characters, new storylines and a variety of genres inside the Star Wars universe.”

So with that said, expect to see some continuation of the Skywalker family tree in Episode VII. Many have suggested that Domhnall Gleeson’s character could very well end up being the son of Mark Hamill’s Luke, although speculation on that front is rampant and plentiful so we’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.

Of course, with the three saga films and three Anthology films on the way, us Star Wars fans have essentially got a new movie each year for the foreseeable future.

On the horizon we’ve got Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story set for December 16th, 2016, Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII set for May 26th, 2017, a Han Solo-focussed effort for May 25th, 2018, Colin Trevorrow’s Star Wars: Episode IX for 2019, and then a third Anthology film for 2020. Before all of those, however, we’ve got J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens hitting cinemas on December 18th.