Star Wars Celebrates The Force Awakens Fifth Anniversary

The Force Awakens turns five today and Star Wars is in the mood to celebrate. The Sequel Trilogy has been over for almost a year now, but fans are still in the mood to look back on the first step in Rey's journey. The Force Awakens dropped on December 18th 2015. Everything old was new again as J.J. Abrams tried to remind audiences what they loved about the original trilogy with his effort there. Series fans now love Finn, Rey, and Poe a ton, although the end to the Sequel Trilogy may complicate that for some viewers. There's no question that the movies will continue to be hotly debated for years to come. One of the dominant conversations on social media in the wake of The Force Awakens was how fans should feel about all those thematic callbacks and allusions to A New Hope. Well, by the end of these last three movies, a lot of people have been kinder to the film that kicked it all off.

There has been an awakening! Join us in celebrating the 5th anniversary of #TheForceAwakens. pic.twitter.com/XnTX0KFDz1

— Star Wars (@starwars) December 18, 2020

Abrams told Peter Travers about his reasoning for the structure, "There are a number of things that we obviously intentionally did in a kind of 'history repeats itself' mold, to say we are introducing this brand new cast of characters. This Stormtrooper (John Boyega) who runs from the First Order. This scavenger (Daisy Ridley) who is living, literally, in the wreckage of the history of the movies that we know. And this hotshot pilot (Oscar Isaac), we don't know his history, but he's joined the Resistance to find Leia (Carrie Fisher), years later, sort of unable to give up the fight because she can smell smoke from miles away. Where's Han (Harrison Ford) at this point, what is he up to?"

"And look, is there a big, giant, planet-sized weapon in Force Awakens? Yes. And does it blow up? It does blow up," Abrams said. "And so there are undeniable parallels, but in a way, because there had not been a Star Wars movie in a long time — the prequels were the ones that preceded it — I very purposefully wanted to sort of revisit the old in order to start and tell the new. And that was the challenge…. For those who hate it, I could not respect your opinion more. And for those who love it, I question your sanity. It just felt right to us at the time, as does this one [The Rise of Skywalker] now."

What's your favorite moment in The Force Awakens? Let us know down in the comments!