From 1985 to 1991, Star Wars fans found themselves trapped inside a Twilight Zone-esque limbo in which no content was being released, threatening to destroy the grip that the space opera had on pop culture at the time. With the release of the original Star Wars in theaters (later subtitled as A New Hope), George Lucas had tapped into the cultural zeitgeist, jumpstarting a property that would take off almost immediately. Indeed, A New Hope earned over $220 million during its initial run in theaters, making it one of the most successful movies of all time adjusted for inflation, and directly leading to two sequels that would inevitably spiral into the sprawling legacy of the Star Wars franchise.

But back in the '70s and '80s as the property was taking off, Lucas already had plans to turn it into much more than just a film series. Part of A New Hope's massive success came in the form of tie-in material, such as an official novelization as well as tie-in comics. And when The Empire Strikes Back rolled around, the merchandising empire only grew bigger, solidifying Lucas as one of the most integral creators of the New Hollywood era and one of the most lucrative businessmen in Hollywood.

Related: Star Wars: How Old Ben Solo Was When He Became Kylo Ren

However, things screeched to a halt in the aftermath of the release of Return of the Jedi. With the cinematic side of the franchise seemingly coming to an end, fans everywhere were desperate for more Star Wars content, and it would be a while before they got any.

How Star Wars Changed After Return of the Jedi

Emperor Palpatine in Return of the Jedi.

Return of the Jedi finally hit theaters on May 25, 1983, a full six years to the day after the release of the original Star Wars. It was met with both critical and commercial success, grossing $374 million worldwide at the time of its initial release, and it provided a satisfying "ending" to the story told by the Original Trilogy (something that Disney has struggled to do recently). For all intents and purposes, it was George Lucas' swan song to the Star Wars cinematic experience.

In the aftermath of the film's release, Lucas began to turn his creative vision elsewhere, taking a backseat from directing to work as a story writer and executive producer on the legendary Indiana Jones films with Steven Spielberg. This led to many other projects featuring Lucas as a producer and occasional writer: some celebrated, like Jim Henson's Labyrinth, and others not so fondly remembered, such as 1986's Howard the Duck film. The technical divisions of Lucasfilm were also finding new work, as Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light and Magic began doing contracted work for other studios and other projects unrelated to Star Wars at the time. During this period of creative reshuffling, several well-known artistic companies would come to life under Lucasfilm, including Pixar as well as the audio company THX.

Related: Star Wars: Who Is Tank, Luke's Mysterious Childhood Friend?

Despite Lucas' massive success directly coming from his flagship property, Star Wars seemed to be going lukewarm at the time. While there were a few other mediums still pumping out Star Wars content for a while, including Marvel's Return of the Jedi tie-in comic, Hollywood and the general audience seemed to be holding its breath to see what would come next. Although Lucas had been extensively outlining and teasing the idea of a sequel trilogy while working on the original, after the release of Return of the Jedi, it seemed as if those plans had been permanently quieted. Star Wars was about to run into a content drought, one that would stretch on for longer than fans could have anticipated.

Star Wars Darkest Age: 1985-1991

Only a few short years after the release of Return of the Jedi, in the year 1985, the downward spiral of the Star Wars property really kicked into gear. While the summers before had seen a surge of releases such as the Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure spinoff, as well as the release of short-lived animated series' such as Droids and Ewoks, 1985 distinctly marked the beginning of the pop culture transition away from Star Wars. New novels were no longer being published, and the most recent ones were a series of adventure novels starring Lando Calrissian released in 1983. Both of Marvel's Star Wars comics at the time (Return of the Jedi and the eponymous Star Wars) were cancelled, and shortly afterwards, their license on Star Wars comics lapsed out of exclusivity. Even Palitoy, a toy company responsible for a huge swath of Star Wars figurines and playsets, was closed down by its parent company CPG, effectively pulling the vast majority of Star Wars merchandising from stores.

Despite all this, however, nothing was a bigger blow to Star Wars fans than the official retirement of Bantha Tracks. Bantha Tracks was the more popular evolution of The Official Star Wars Fan Club Newsletter, a subscription-based newsletter that began in 1978. Throughout the release of the films, Bantha Tracks kept audiences up to date on story details and behind-the-scenes features, as well as discussing new Star Wars merchandise and local fan club organizations. It was a web of inter-connectivity for Star Wars fans before the internet became as accessible as it is now, and when it was cancelled in 1987 to make way for a broader, less Star Wars-centric Lucasfilm magazine, fans took it as a sign that the Star Wars property was officially coming to a close.

Things stagnated like this for about 6 years within the Star Wars fandom, with barely any new content. Occasionally fans would be treated to new events, such as Lucas opening Star Tours in 1987 and then celebrating the first Star Wars convention later that year. But the biggest medium that kept Star Wars alive during the time was Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, a series of books, rules, scenarios and expansions published by West End Games and written by Bill Slavicsek. Roleplaying games were a very niche interest in the 80s, but the Star Wars brand was so popular that the game was a relative success, and was almost singlehandedly responsible for continuing to expand the universe and keep fans engaged during the content drought of the late 80s.

How The EU Saved Star Wars

Coming into the 90s, there was still no cinematic content on the horizon for Star Wars, leading fans to assume that the decade would be more of the same. This, of course, was not the case, thanks to the combined efforts of Bantam Books and Dark Horse Comics. In 1991, with the approval of Lucasfilm, both companies released licensed continuations of the Star Wars franchise, an unprecedented decision that was a complete shock to fans everywhere. With Bantam, audiences got Heir to the Empire, written by Timothy Zahn. It was the first installment of the legendary Thrawn trilogy, which follows Luke, Han, and Leia's struggles against the last vestiges of the Empire, led by the iconic Grand Admiral Thrawn. The story would lead straight into other novels published later in the Expanded Universe, creating a web of literary content that would go on to inspire modern Star Wars creators such as Dave Filoni himself.

Related: Star Wars: How Darth Vader Got His Red Lightsaber (In Canon)

From Dark Horse, fans were treated to Star Wars: Dark Empire, a six issue bi-monthly series written by Tom Leitch and illustrated by Cam Kennedy. The story of Dark Empire was reportedly pitched directly to George Lucas himself, who gave the creative team his blessing, as well as the idea to resurrect Palpatine through cloning technology. The result was so successful that it received two sequels, Dark Empire 2 and Empire's End, as well as establishing the context of the rest of Dark Horse's Star Wars mythos.

Without the irreplaceable contribution of both of these projects, fans might never have been given the opportunity to revisit a galaxy far, far away. It wasn't until the unmitigated success of the EU that George Lucas decided to return to his abandoned ideas for more cinematic installments, leading directly to the release of The Phantom Menace in 1999. The success of the EU and its role in the resurrection of the Star Wars property is irreconcilable proof that Star Wars has always been a story driven by the fans who love it, and their unwavering dedication to one of the most unique and varied universes in pop culture.

More: The Rise Of Skywalker Really Doesn't Matter To Star Wars' Future