“May the Fourth be with you!” is a common statement to hear every year on May Fourth. But why do people say that? Well, May the Fourth is similar to the saying “May the force be with you” in the popular movie franchise Star Wars. Every year, fans dress up, have parties, and watch the movies to celebrate a galaxy far, far away. But how did it all start? Who was the first to realize the similarities between the saying and the date? How do people celebrate it? And what is Star Wars, exactly?
Let’s start with a little history… George Lucas was the original creator of Star Wars. After graduating from University of Southern California George Lucas started his film making career co-creating THX 1138 (1971). Which did not yield much financial success. Then he wrote and directed the film American Graffiti (1973) which was made shortly after the creation of Lucasfilm. The movie was a successful film and received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Director & Best Picture. Afterwards he created the infamous New Hope Star Wars Movie 1977 and later he co wrote and produced the sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). With director Steven Spielberg, he co wrote, created, and produced the Indiana Jones franchise Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Temple of Doom (1984), The Last Crusade (1989) and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). After these successes he would return to direct the Star Wars prequel trilogy Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005). Afterward he would collaborate with other creative people to create the Star Wars Clone Wars tv show. The most recent works and collaborations from George Lucas are his work on Red Tails (2012) and Strange Magic (2015).
Star Wars, a popular movie franchise that launched in 1977 with Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (at the time, it wasn’t called episode four). It tells the story of Luke Skywalker, and how he left his home on the desert planet of Tatooine to train with the Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he and his friends Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca the Wookie, R2-D2 and C-3PO the droids team up with the Rebel Alliance to destroy the Death Star, a moon-sized space station capable of destroying a whole planet, built by Darth Vader and the evil Galactic Empire.
It was a hit. Audiences fell in love with the characters and went to see it over and over. The franchise continued to get bigger with the release of Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, which some consider to be one of the greatest movies of all time, and Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi in 1983. People fell in love with iconic characters like Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Darth Vader. In 1999, Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released, but didn’t get as much love as the original trilogy, and the same went for Episode II: Attack Of The Clones. Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, however, was more well liked, because we got to see Anakin’s transformation into Darth Vader.
In 2015, Episode VII: The Force Awakens, kicked off the sequel trilogy strongly, and was followed by Episode VIII: The Last Jedi in 2017 and Episode XI: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. There have also been standalone movies called Star Wars Stories, such as Rogue One and Solo. There are even TV shows such as The Clone Wars, Rebels, Resistance, and The Mandalorian. All of these stories culminate into new traditions celebrated every year on May 4th.
The phenomenon started 10 years ago in 2011. It originated from Luke Skywalker day, which was celebrated by many Facebook Groups starting in 2008. In Toronto, people gathered together for trivia, a costume contest, and web tributes. People have continued to celebrate the day on television and social media. In 2013, it became an official fandom holiday and celebrations at Disneyland and Disney World always take place. Disney+ tends to release Star Wars related content on this day, and fans are expecting the new series The Bad Batch to be released this year. Some minor league baseball teams wear Star Wars themed outfits, and astronauts on the ISS held a viewing of Star Wars in 2015. Also that year, the Peace Tower in Canada played their bells to the tune of The Imperial March.
Some fans also celebrate Revenge of the Fifth on May 5th as a day to celebrate Sith lords and other evil characters. Some even celebrate it on May 6th, which is also referred to as Return of the 6th. And, on May 25th, people will celebrate the 44th anniversary of Star Wars this year, as the original was released on May 25th, 1977.
As for what you can do to celebrate, you can watch any of the movies or TV shows, or even read some of the comic books. You can dress up as your favorite character, or wear other merchandise to show your appreciation for the fandom. Whatever you do to celebrate this year, may the force be with you always!