2020 was another year packed with so much excitement for Star Wars fans. Let’s take a look back at the top 10 moments of 2020.
Looking back, 2020 may not have been the year that everyone expected it to be. But in more ways than one, people pulled through, there were breakthroughs, and we’ve held out hope that the best is yet to come. In terms of Star Wars, regardless of the events of this year, the best was promised none the less, and the fandom saw an amazing amount of Star Wars content put out this year.
So just what were some of the best Star Wars moments this year? This was the first year in a long time where no Star Wars movies came out. But make no mistake, there was plenty there to fill the void in the meantime, including these 10 events.
10 most memorable Star Wars events in 2020
10. Empire Strikes Back 40th anniversary
2020 marked the 40th (yes, 40th) anniversary of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. The movie was first released in theaters on May 21, 1980, and Lucasfilm saw it fit to celebrate the 40th anniversary for the entire year with various events and specials, including this special mini-documentary about the making of the film.
9. The Mandalorian wins big at the Emmys
In September of this year, The Mandalorian season 1 swept up lots of awards at the Emmys this year. The series won a total of seven Emmys out of a whopping 15 nominations, which was both huge and history-making news for Lucasfilm.
8. Star Wars Resistance finale
While the second season of Star Wars Resistance began airing on Disney networks in 2019, the series ultimately concluded at the beginning of 2020 — making it one of two Star Wars shows to have a finale in 2020.
7. LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special
Star Wars made up for an old failure this year with the release of the LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special. While this wasn’t necessarily a live-action special like the original, this one did give a much better name to Star Wars holiday specials. And it may be one that families enjoy watching every year around the holidays.
6. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance officially opens at Disneyland
A new ride was added to the Disney park Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance officially opening at Disneyland on Jan. 17. The trackless ride is one of the most immersive rides in all of Disneyland history, and hopefully, it will entertain Star Wars fans for many years to come.
5. The High Republic announced
A brand new era of Star Wars was announced through the secret Project Luminous initiative. Earlier this year, it was revealed that The High Republic will be a literary series that will come out in 2021. This series will take place 200 years before the events of Episode I and will reveal a lot about the Jedi Order in its heyday.
4. Rogue Squadrons comes out
Star Wars didn’t necessarily have a huge flagship video game come out this year, but it did have a couple of good video game entries — Star Wars: Rogue Squadrons being one of them. The game didn’t make a gigantic splash with casual gamers, but the novelty of having a Star Wars flight simulator game is something for the books.
3. The Clone Wars finale drops
It’s been quite the journey, but 2020 marked the end of Star Wars: The Clone Wars as we know it. The adventures between Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano came to a sweeping close in the season 7 series finale that aired on Disney+ this year, but it wasn’t the last we’d be seeing of these characters…
2. Disney Investor Day announcements
This December, Disney dropped a huge amount of announcements during its Investor Day presentation, which lasted roughly 4 hours long. During the Lucasfilm portion of the presentation, a handful of Star Wars series and news were announced, including the Ahsoka series, the news that Hayden Christensen will return as Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker in the Kenobi series, the reveal of Patty Jenkins’ Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and so much more.
1. The Mandalorian season 2 drops
The long-awaited second season of The Mandalorian dropped on Disney+ this October and ran through mid-December. The season was filled with lots of new characters, tons of new Star Wars lore, and even the return of many well-beloved Star Wars characters.
What was your favorite Star Wars moment of 2020? Let us know in the comments!