Star Wars is more than a movie. It’s more than a series of movies and more than an extended franchise of television shows, comic books, expanded universe novels, trading cards, costumes, toys and other merchandise, both cool and strange.

In its 40 years of existence as an entertainment property it has also become a cultural entity unlike any other, a phenomenon that has probably influenced pop culture more than anything else in our time.

With the imminent arrival of Force Friday II, kicking off on Friday, September 1, and the launch of new products inspired by Star Wars: The Last Jedi, due in theaters on December 15, here's a look at just the basics of what Star Wars has inspired over the decades.

Copycats

Following the success of the first Star Wars movie, Hollywood quickly sought to cash in on the popularity with more outer-space adventure movies, many of them similarly paying homage to the sci-fi serials of the 1930s and 1940s.

You can clearly see Star Wars envy in the movies Flash Gordon, Battle Beyond the Stars, Dune, The Last Starfighter, Starchaser: The Legend of Orin and many others, and the influence has continued through the years, most recently in Guardians of the Galaxy and even the non-sci-fi Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Of course, it wasn’t just the movies that copied Star Wars. Television has been impacted, too, visible with all the versions of Battlestar Galactica, plus Firefly and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

Parodies

In addition to all the movies and TV shows that ripped off Star Wars, there have been plenty that more respectfully poked fun at the franchise. First was the 1978 short Hardware Wars, followed more famously by Mel Brooks’s Spaceballs plus parts of the broadly spoofing Austin Powers, Hot Shots, Airplane and Naked Gun movies.

On the small screen, Star Wars has been parodied with Family Guy’s trilogy of “Laugh It Up, Fuzzball” specials and regularly on Robot Chicken. The franchise has also been lampooned in episodes of Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Muppet Babies, Friends and South Park.

Fan Films

The franchise has also lovingly been lampooned in fan films, a whole extra phenomenon that Star Wars helped popularize. Some of the first and most famous examples include George Lucas in Love, which also spoofed Shakespeare in Love, and Troops, which also parodies the show Cops.

Thanks to cheaper means of producing movies and special effects in particular plus new platforms for release via Internet video sites, Star Wars fan films have increased in numbers and quality over the last 15 years, so a lot of the more serious fanfic examples, such as the Italian short film Dark Resurrection, are cherished alongside the official movies themselves.

Filmmaker Fans

A lot of today’s most popular filmmakers grew up on the original Star Wars trilogy and were highly influenced by those movies in particular. Some, such as Kevin Smith and Edgar Wright, have made direct references in their work, such as the former’s movies Clerks and Zack and Miri Make a Porno and the latter’s TV series Spaced.

Others are less obvious, like Christopher Nolan, who cites Star Wars as an inspiration for Interstellar, and admits to making fan films as a kid. There are also directors who started out working on the original Star Wars movies, such as Captain America: The First Avenger’s Joe Johnston and Fight Club’s David Fincher, both of whom have been in talks to helm Star Wars installments of their own.

Music

In addition to having its own hits with John Williams’s Star Wars theme and a disco version of that theme, the franchise has inspired plenty of parody tunes, a few by “Weird” Al Yankovic, like “Yoda” and “The Saga Begins,” which also spoof well-known songs by the Kinks and Don McLean.

Others have paid homage in less comical lyrics. You can find allusions to Star Wars in the songs of such varied artists as the Beastie Boys, Good Charlotte, the Wu Tang Clan, Kanye West, Blink-182, Justin Bieber, Barenaked Ladies and Sarah Brightman.

And let’s not forget all the bands who’ve named themselves after references to the Star Wars franchise. The most famous include pop-punk group and Buffy the Vampire Slayer theme song performers Nerd Herder, based on an insult spewed in The Empire Strikes Back, and indie rockers Eisley, named for the spaceport in the first movie, Mos Eisley.

Art

There is plenty of Star Wars fan art, as well as alternate posters and prints by professional illustrators. But the movies have also been a heavy inspiration for pop and street art, including works by Banksy (below).

Of course the art of Star Wars has also influenced other movie art, especially movie posters as obvious as National Lampoon’s Vacation and European Vacation. Illustrator Drew Struzan’s work for the Star Wars movies has also had a tremendous influence on poster design in general.  

Sports

Many Major League Baseball stadiums take part in the celebration of Star Wars Day every May the Fourth, with memorabilia giveaways and costumes welcome. Also, the New York Yankees are known as the MLB’s “Evil Empire” and play the “Imperial March” at their home games.

Toys and Games

Not only are there tons of toys and games specifically derived from the Star Wars movies, but in more recent years the franchise has infiltrated other popular toy brands. There’s a Darth Vader Mr. Potato Head, Star Wars versions of Monopoly and other board games, a Star Wars version of the Angry Birds video game, Star Wars Hot Wheels cars, Star Wars Play-Doh and of course Stars Wars brand Lego sets.

Food

Unfortunately, fans can’t get their hands on Jabba the Hutt’s favorite snack, the Klatooine paddy frog, but a lot of human food we have here on Earth has had Star Wars brand crossovers. Mostly it’s candy, such as the Dark Side-inspired dark chocolate M&M’s and the Star Wars Galaxy Mix of Jelly Belly jellybeans. Best (or worst) of all was the black-bun Darth Vader burger from the French fast food restaurant Quick.

The Real World

The influence of Star Wars on pop culture doesn’t only extend to other entertainment and commercial enterprises. One of the things that showed just how famous the franchise was in the 1980s was President Ronald Reagan’s choice to nickname his newly proposed U.S. missile defense system “Star Wars.” Reagan also took the term “Evil Empire” from the franchise and used it to label the Soviet Union.

The movies have also inspired an actual religion based on its concept of the Jedi Order and the belief system of its Jedi characters. Mostly based in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, the movement first became noticed during 2001 censuses in which citizens labeled Jedi as their religious affiliation.