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The very first thing we saw in 1977 at the beginning of a New Hope was "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." It tells us that Star Wars of course takes place in the past. How long ago in the past does it take place though? At what stage of development were we on Earth during the time that Star Wars takes place?

Moreover, do we even exist during the time of Star Wars? Is there any mention of how long ago in our time Star Wars took place?

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  • In real life, the Local Group of galaxies is ten million light-years across, so on the scale of galaxies, "far, far away" would probably mean tens of millions of light years at minimum. I always assumed that "a long time ago" was of a similar scale, i.e. perhaps tens of millions of years ago.
    – Molag Bal
    Apr 22, 2016 at 6:01
  • @anaranjada In the original 1977 trailer for ANH, our friend the Disembodied Narrator describes Star Wars as "Coming soon to your galaxy... A story one billion years in the making," or some such. Bear in mind that this value may or may not have derived from Lucas, or it could just be colorful hyperbole. Later on, George tended shy away from ever providing concrete figures relating the SW Galaxy to ours, but 1 billion years ago is probably a good default guess.
    – David H
    Apr 22, 2016 at 7:09
  • As well as the linked dupe, see also When did Star Wars take place?
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Jun 6, 2016 at 0:56

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