Solo: A Star Wars Story: What is the Star Wars movie Timeline?

The following Star Wars timeline focuses on the major motion pictures only, not the animated series.

But it’s worth noting certain characters were up to devious things in the interim between films, and we’ll be sure to point them out to you.

The Phantom Menace: Episode I – 1999

The first of the prequels, as their known, The Phantom Menace introduced audiences to Aniken Skywalker.

As it was released about twenty years after the original trilogy, most viewers already knew Aniken was poised for a downfall.

Phantom Menace brought together Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, as well as everyone’s favourite droid pairing C-3PO and R2-D2 for the first time chronologically.

Darth Maul is killed by Obi-Wan in the Battle of Naboo. Or was he?

Attack of the Clones: Episode II – 2002

Anakin all grown up was portrayed by Hayden Christensen, with Padmé still played by Natalie Portman.

Attack of the Clones serves mostly as a long plot device, setting up a war which will eventually morph Anakin into Darth Vader.

It is also the film in which Anakin weds Padmé, and where we are introduced to Boba Fett, which really didn’t matter until Boba Fett’s solo movie was announced.

Revenge of the Sith: Episode III – 2005

Revenge of the Sith is the final step in creating Darth Vader, which is what all of these prequels seem to be building up to.

The disdain Star Wars fans feel for them means they are all relegated to the role of very long plot devices.

Anakin is seduced by the Dark Side, thanks to Palpatine’s masterful manipulation, Obi-Wan’s near-execution of his former student, and Padmé dies in childbirth but not before naming her twins: Luke and Leia.

Luke is taken to his step-uncle on Tattooine, and Leia is adopted by Bail Organa, and the Sith begin production on the Death Star.

Solo: A Star Wars Story – 2018

Now playing in cinemas, Solo: A Star Wars story is the most recent film added to the movie canon.

Solo sees the shock return of Maul, presumed dead during Phantom Menace (the first chronologically) who actually survived and regained his power during the intervening years covered by the animated Clone Wars series.

This is our first chronological appearance of Han Solo, and it is where he meets both Lando (Donald Glover) and Chewy.

There are plenty of years between Solo and the next instalment, leaving a gap for more Solo sequels.

Solo also featured the first woman of colour on film in the entire Star Wars movie franchise and introduces us to Enfys Nest – the rumoured seed of the rebellion.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – 2016

Rogue One introduces the heroes that allowed Leia to become who she was meant to be, a hero in her own right, including one Jyn Erso who leads a band of rebels on a mission to capture the Death Star plans.

Rogue One fills in the gaps of the opening crawl to A New Hope and was well received by fans, and though it acted as a plot device similar to the prequels, was well acted and moving.

There isn’t a chance of Jyn cropping up in later films, as she and her fellow rebels are all blown up by the Death Star, but not before secreting the plans to Leia.

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A New Hope: Episode IV – 1977

Enter Leia Organa and the stolen blueprint of the Death Star, Obi-Wan Kenobi in exile, and Luke stuck with an aunt and uncle who just don’t get him.

Originally simply titled: Star Wars, A New Hope as it was later called was a small, strange sci-fi movie no one expected to gain the stratospheric fame it did.

Fans across generations have fallen in love with Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy, C3P0, and R2D2 in this movie in their original iteration, and mourned the death of Obi-Wan at the robotic hand of Darth Vader.

A New Hope sees the Death Star destroyed, and (re)introduces us to Darth Vader. Fans at the time wouldn’t have known the now ubiquitous movie reveal that would come later in the trilogy.

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The Empire Strikes Back: Episode V – 1980

Containing the biggest reveal in cinematic history, The Empire Strikes Back makes the case for not watching the Star Wars movies chronologically.

Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) arrives for the first time on screens, alongside Yoda who becomes Luke’s mentor.

Its a far darker film, more a war movie than anything else, complete with Han cutting open the Tauntaun he rode to rescue Luke so they could shelter inside (a scene The Revenant blatantly copied).

In an eerie bit of foreshadowing (or cyclical fate, depending on the order in which you watch the movies), Darth Vader cuts off Luke’s hand before uttering the most famous phrase in movie history: I am your father.

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Return of the Jedi: Episode VI – 1983

At the outset of Return of the Jedi, it’s Han who needs rescuing, so Luke, Lando, Leia, Chewy, C3P0 and R2D2 go on a mission to save him Jabba the Hutt.

The famous gold bikini moment comes from Return of the Jedi, though Fisher commented in her memoir that “Women know that Leia meant more than just a metal bikini.”

Luke also reveals to Leia that they’re twins, Vader is their father, and that he wants to go back and confront him.

Luke does, and he, in turn, cuts off Vader’s right hand, which is still robotic, before refusing Emperor Palpatine’s instruction to kill his father and join the dark side.

One of cinemas greatest redemption scenes happens, when Palpatine tries to kill Luke, Vader interrupts and rescues his son, but dies in the process.

They all live happily ever after. Or do they?

The Force Awakens: Episode VII – 2015

In the gulf of years after the prequels, when all hope for the Star Wars galaxy was lost, a new Jedi hero was brewing on Jakku.

Rey, a scavenger and so far unconnected to any of the aforementioned families and tribes, meets stormtrooper defector Finn, who escaped with the help of the resistance’s best pilot, Poe (presumed dead, which you apparently cannot presume anymore about anyone in Star Wars).

They steal the Millennium Falcon which has been rotting on Jakku but are intercepted by Han Solo and Chewy who are there to take their ship back, but instead they all reunite with Leia and the resistance.

Rey and Finn discover Poe is actually alive, and stage a fight against Starkiller Base, essentially the Death Star on steroids, and Rey then heads to find Luke, with the rest of the map they’ve assembled with the help of new droid BB-8.

The Force Awakens introduces us to the newest villains, Snoke and his apprentice Kylo Ren, aka Ben Solo, the son of Han and Leia.

The Last Jedi: Episode VIII – 2017

The Last Jedi picks up almost exactly where The Force Awakens left off – with Rey handing Luke his lightsaber, which Luke takes, before throwing it over his shoulder into the sea.

The Last Jedi received backlash from a certain set of fans who were incapable of appreciating the value of having a woman at the centre of the main star wars saga, as well as for Rian Jonson’s interpretation of Luke’s character arc.

Regardless, The Last Jedi was a success and critically acclaimed, and in the end, saw Rey reunited with fellow resistance members for the most epic battle on the salt planet Crait, in which Luke force projects himself to annoy Kylo Ren into submission.

The final scene is not of Rey and the rebels, but of a small child using the force to grab a broom as he stares out into space, with renewed hope of a better future.

Phew.

What order should you watch them in? We recommend this order: IV, V, VI, (I, II and III if you want), Solo, Rogue One, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is in cinemas now.