Galactic Empire (Star Wars) Galactic Empire (Star Wars) The Galactic Empire is a fictional autocracy featured in the "Star Wars" franchise. It was first introduced in the 1977 film "Star Wars" and also appears in its two sequels: "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) and "Return of the Jedi" (1983) and is the main antagonist faction of the original trilogy. By the time of the sequel trilogy, which starts three decades following the events of the original trilogy, the government has since collapsed and has been succeeded by the First Order. The Empire's origins are depicted in the prequel "" (2005), where it replaces the
Star Wars expanded to other media considered canonical within the franchise would be the primary episodic films, and and . The announcement called these works "the immovable objects of "Star Wars" history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align." It was also made clear that a planned "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, and subsequent works developed within the restructured canon, would not be based on "Legends" material but could possibly draw from it. There was some fan backlash against this decision, with one group successfully campaigning to buy a billboard pleading for Lucasfilm to continue the original "Expanded Universe" separately from the new