Star Wars fans discover A New Hope wasn’t the series’ first official release

Star Wars: A New Hope was actually not our first introduction to the galaxy far, far away.

I’m sure the hardcore Star Wars nerds out there will know exactly what I’m talking about, but for those who only have a basic knowledge of the blockbuster franchise, allow me to clue you in.

And if you fancy a hit of nostalgia, do check out the trailer for Star Wars: A New Hope below.

You may have assumed that Star Wars kicked off with the film A New Hope, which saw a farm boy called Luke Skywalker set out on a journey to become a Jedi Master and save the galaxy from a tyrannical empire.

It was a runaway success which is why you can’t move for Star Wars content nowadays, but the film was actually our second trip into George Lucas’ masterpiece, as a novel came first.

Star Wars: From The Adventures Of Luke Skywalker, also written by George Lucas, was published in 1976, with the film following in 1977.

Like I said before, this will likely be common knowledge for those that live, eat and breathe Star Wars content, but I’m sure many out there didn’t even know a novel existed.

It’s been brought up a lot in the various Star Wars Reddit communities, with fans providing a bit of context on why the novel was produced and why it came before the films.

Apparently, it’s main purpose was “a way to build hype for the film, as the film would have otherwise been a completely unknown property” at the time of its release.

It also sold out during its limited print run too, and many fans recommend giving it a read as some characters feel like completely different people, like Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader for instance.

The more you know, eh?