The Star Wars saga is over. How to get over that Rise of Skywalker letdown – CNET

What will we Star Wars fans do without the steady drip of Star Wars trailers? The hopeful belief that the next Skywalker saga movie will fix the missteps of earlier films? The chill we get from watching the opening crawl accompanied by John Williams’ score?

Over nine movies and 42 years, Star Wars saw us through seven presidents, several oil crises, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the rise of the internet, smartphones, the Red Sox winning the World Series, the Great Recession and the Impossible Burger.

So if you’re understandably starting to freak out about the end of the one constant in your life, here are 13 ideas to help you honor, mourn and move on from the end of the Skywalker saga.

Go deeper into the Star Wars galaxy on Disney Plus

Getting a Disney Plus subscription ($6.99 or AU$8.99 a month) is the least you can do to keep your Star Wars lamp lit. You can watch seven of the nine Skywalker saga movies on Disney’s streaming service right now — with The Last Jedi coming Dec. 26. 

In February, the seventh season of the popular animated Clone Wars series comes to the service after a six-year gap, and the movie Solo: A Star Wars Story lands a few months later in July. The first season of The Mandalorian (with the adorable Baby Yoda) wraps up by year’s end, and an as-yet-unnamed Cassian Andor Rogue One spin-off series is in the works.

What’s more, you don’t have to pay full price. From a free one-year deal from Verizon to a discount bundle with Hulu, you can save some money on your Disney Plus subscription.

Visit Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge

For an immersive post-saga recovery, visit Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge Star Wars theme parks, either in California or Florida. Discuss the trilogies over drinks — for adults and children — in Oga’s Cantina; pilot the Millennium Falcon; build a droid; craft your own lightsaber; and go adventuring in the new Rise of the Resistance ride that opened in Florida this month and comes to the California park in January.

Attend a Star Wars convention

If you feel the need to be around Star Wars lovers, attend a fan event, such as next summer’s Star Wars Celebration Convention. The semiannual four-day Star Wars event in August will include screenings, celebrities, panels and autograph sessions. And you can strike a pose with other conventioneers by donning your finest Star Wars cosplay apparel.

Wear your fandom loud and proud with merch

Not quite ready to be a cosplayer? You can still wear your fandom. The Adidas Star Wars collection, for example, puts Yoda, Princess Leia and other Star Wars-inspired sneakers on your feet. 

Or wear Star Wars T-shirts, hoodies or socks highlighting Darth Vader, Wookies, droids and other characters, including merchandise for cute little Baby Yoda, the Mandalorian character the entire galaxy seems magnetically attracted to. 

Deck the walls with Star Wars art

If a piece of Star Wars art is a better choice for you than clothing, you can buy a poster — or a collection representing all nine movies — that’s good enough for framing. Etsy is a good starting place. For something more practical, Star Wars-themed drinking glasses might be a welcome addition at your next viewing party. Or, you know, breakfast.

Make Star Wars viewing parties an event

Create your own Trilogy Time tradition, where you and some friends periodically get together to watch Star Wars films — just like the main characters do in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother. We suggest starting with the original trio of Star Wars movies and making it special with themed food and drinks. Discuss where you’ll all be the next time you watch them, schedule your viewing party in a few years and repeat.

Read Star Wars books

Would a Skywalker book group be too much? Never! You could read one of the recent Star Wars books, like the novels Star Wars Resistance Reborn and Star Wars: Thrawn: Alliances. Or consider a book on the making of Star Wars, such as The Making of Star Wars or The Star Wars Archives.

Be one with the merch

From Lego and Hasbro toys to Funko Pop figures, you have plenty of nonwearable Star Wars merch to put on the top of your dresser this winter. If you’re willing to wait, preorder a Baby Yoda figurine or plush toy for delivery this spring. We’re holding out for our own lifesize knob off the dashboard of The Mandalorian’s ship, the Razor Crest.

Immerse yourself in a Star Wars game

To fill in some of the story between the movies, check out one of the new Star Wars games. CNET’s Scott Stein calls the recent Oculus Vader Immortal a “perfect virtual midnight snack,” and our friends at GameSpot say the new Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is one of the most compelling additions to the Star Wars franchise in years.

Find other movies and TV series with that Star Wars feel

If you’re looking for other stories of sci-fi adventure to fill the Skywalker void, the critically acclaimed 2004 version of Battlestar Galactica is a binge-worthy option that reimagines the original 1978 TV series as a darker story of war, religion and politics. 

You can also jump into Star Trek (either the original series or the recent addition, Discovery). 

For ancestors of Star Wars, check out The Searchers (with John Wayne), The Adventures of Robin Hood (with Erroll Flynn), the 1930s sci-fi Flash Gordon series, Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress, the silent masterpiece Metropolis and Casablanca (with Humphrey Bogart as the jaded but noble hero).

Follow J.J. Abrams and Mark Hamill on Twitter

Just in case the director or Twitter-loving actor let drop that Disney is changing its mind on ending the series.

Take a walk

Go outside, take a deep breath and think about your life outside of the saga. You might be surprised, like Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens: “I didn’t know there was so much green in the whole galaxy.”

Mark your calendar

Christmas 2022 seems like the right time for the start of the next Star Wars trilogy, because there is no way Disney is going to let this cash cow die.

For more on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, see our spoiler-free review, why we shouldn’t be jerks about The Rise of Skywalker and how well Star Wars: The Force Awakens has held up, years later.

Originally published Dec. 21.