Thanks to the decades of lore that have crafted Star Wars, even the smallest details are given an explanation of how they connect larger events in the galaxy. However, at the end of the day, there are more answers than ever about why, and how, certain events unfolded the way they did. One of the biggest questions fans have had is why 1977's Star Wars was called Episode IV, despite being the first film in what would become a blockbuster franchise.
The logical explanation is that the prequel trilogy was (naturally) set before the original; hence, the numbering. However, the reasoni behind the numerical choice is far more layered than that. According to Looper, Michael Kaminski's 2008 book The Secret History of Star Wars attributed the unique numbering to "technical and storytelling reasons." However, a more expansive understanding revealed that George Lucas had multiple big ideas, and only a particular way he could get them to audiences.
Starting Star Wars with Episode 4 Was Always Part of the Plan
The original Star Wars was a surprise hit, both for moviegoers and for Lucas, who was convinced the film would flop.But Episode IV, later subtitled A New Hope introduced a sprawling setting filled with narrative holes for world-building. For example, terms tans have taken for granted now, like the Clone Wars and Jedi Council, were name-dropped in A New Hope without any context. As a result, the film's world felt more lived-in, but it also left fans feeling they may have missed something. Dropping audiences into this galaxy was a huge risk that wouldn't begin to pay off until 1999.
More films were always part of Lucas' vision. He originally planned for a six-part epic that would chronicle the fall of the Jedi Council and the hard-fought Clone Wars. Its conclusion would have been the plot of A New Hope, as it would be revealed that the 1977 epic was merely an epilogue. However, as history has shown, this didn't go according to plan once Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace hit theaters. In fact, what ended up being the prequels were also a part of the four drafts Lucas had written for Star Wars in the hope he would be able to craft the perfect singular story.
The Prequels Proved Why Episode 4 Was Crucial to Star Wars’ Success
When Episode I was announced, many fans were thrown for a loop at the out-of-order storytelling technique. Even more so was the promise that these prequels would change how fans viewed the original trilogy. But what may not have sat well with fans in the past made the most sense only to Lucas, as he had crafted this detailed epic decades earlier. With the dust finally settled, it's even more clear what the initial vision was going to be and how it had enhanced and redefined what fans who grew up during the original films thought and felt.
The original Star Wars was a runaway hit that took a narrative gamble, as it dropped its viewers into a futuristic world with little context or backstory. However, the hero's journey and the characters that inhabited the world more than made up for the missing bits of information. As a result, it became the perfect backdoor opportunity for Lucas to continue his vision and tell more of his story with events that predated the original trilogy. In the end, making the first film. Episode IV, was symbolic of the opportunity Lucas needed to give fans even more stories that could potentially evolve beyond even that.