Star Wars fans love a good sequel. Heck, most of the movies are sequels (let’s ignore the prequels). It’s a rare thing that a sequel is better than its original. I can’t think of many, except for maybe Shrek 2 and High School Musical 2. Usually, sequels are (to use internet parlance), an attempt to re-heat the nachos of the first one, only for them to come back rubbery, burnt, and completely inedible. You can’t usually improve on something that is already great. 

You had the alchemy of it being the first, and all the excitement and beginner’s luck that comes with it. Also, when a sequel comes out, the world is already primed for your work. They come to it with expectations, hopes, and dreams. It’s much more likely that you will disappoint them than it is that you will succeed. Star Wars, though, manages to circumvent all of these classic sequel pitfalls.