After the original “Star Wars” trilogy (1977-1983), the most successful and impactful franchise in history basically sat dormant for almost 20 years.

Sure, there were a couple of terrible Ewok TV movies and there were games from LucasArts. Yet this astonishing popular culture achievement didn’t really go anywhere for a long time, and when it finally did, it was eviscerated by critics and fans alike (although “Revenge of the Sith” was pretty good).

The franchise is all about individual freedom and exceptionalism.

When George Lucas decided to sell Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, it set the stage for the franchise to expand for at least the next generation, if not beyond. Disney has jumped in wholeheartedly — not the least because it must justify spending $4 billion of shareholder funds.

“Star Wars” Phase 2 has begun.

Disney has wisely followed the same approach to the franchise that it has permitted Marvel Studios to follow (also a $4 billion purchase). That is, it is working closely with — but not impinging upon — the creative minds behind Lucasfilm. The early signs are that “Star Wars” will influence a whole new generation of popular culture fanatics with stories whose values are, by their very nature, conservative.

The basic structure of every “Star Wars” property is essentially the same. It’s the mythological hero’s journey, made famous by Joseph Campbell in his book “Hero with a Thousand Faces”,  that Lucas incorporated into the original film.

All is not right with the universe, a hero is called to action, he is unprepared, he is assisted by a mentor and a cast of archetypal figures, he works hard and calls on an inner strength he didn’t know he had, he defeats the antagonist, and things get better.

Even better, “Star Wars” is about individuals fighting against the state, which seeks to suppress freedom.

The franchise is all about individual freedom and exceptionalism, itself drawn from thousands of years of mythology, itself derived from Natural Law. These are all the things conservatives are aligned with, and that liberal audiences cheer about in the theater. Yet try to apply them to liberals in reality, and they side with the Empire every time.

There’s a lot at stake now for Disney and the franchise. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” last year’s re-entry into the franchise, was good, if not great, but ultimately delivered — with a $2 billion worldwide box office take — and set the stage for future chapters.

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We have a new heroine, new characters, a few holdovers from the original trilogy to help audiences transition, and audiences can now explore the mythology from the perspective of the heroine. Trailer footage leaked last week suggests Darth Vader is a part of the next film, the first of the “anthology” films, called “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” It it set to open Dec. 16.

Again focusing on a young female, played by Felicity Jones, and again taking us to new planets with new looks and new characters, this is probably a bigger gamble than “The Force Awakens.”

There are some familiar elements, as the story is about stealing the Death Star plans — which allows the Rebel Alliance to blow up the armored space station in the original film. The hope is that audiences all over the world will flock to the film because it takes place in the same universe, but with different characters.

It’s a balancing act, and director Gareth Edwards acknowledged as much as the recent Lucasfilm festival in London.

“It’s a fine line and what we found really quickly is that if you go just a hair’s breadth over here, it’s not ‘Star Wars’ — it’s a sci-fi movie that’s not ‘Star Wars’ — and you go slightly over here you’re just copying what George did,” he told CNN. “How to make it feel different but familiar and accepted as part of ‘Star Wars’ was probably the hardest task we had.”

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Add to that rumors that the film was undergoing significant re-shoots. Entertainment Weekly reported there were five weeks of re-shoots and some additional dialogue polishes by screenwriter Tony Gilroy. Edwards stated that it was to fine-tune some emotional and action elements.

Re-shoots aren’t unusual, and polishing a diamond to perfection is not a bad strategy when that diamond is as precious as this is. There is no indication that the film has story problems.

The next big gamble is the introduction of Alden Ehrenrich as a young Han Solo, for another spin-off film. He is not a star. He is not well-known. He’s a fine actor, though, and showed his comedic chops in the Coen brothers’ “Hail, Caesar!”

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Lucasfilm television properties from the new franchise have been terrific, with the animated “Star Wars: Rebels” delivering on every level. Books and comics have received a complete overhaul, effectively rebooting the “Expanded Universe” that had some thirty years of content already published.

One other big reason is behind Phase 2’s success, which is likely to continue. Disney assembled the Lucasfilm Story Group — a group of individuals with a deep knowledge of canon that create a unified approach to all new content.

So far, so good. The Force is clearly with them.