The cultural phenomenon that is “Star Wars” returns to Brookhaven Thursday at 7 p.m. with the highly anticipated sequel to the original trilogy that started back in 1977.

“It’s your classic fantasy tale, and it just strikes so many nerves of the geek core,” Jason Reeves of Brookhaven’s new comic and hobby shop Hero’s Haven said. “It just strikes a lot of chords.”

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” has attracted a lot of attention, despite initial hesitance from fans.

“There was a lot of fanfare going up to the prequels,” Reeves said. “People camped out in lines. A lot of times, especially nowadays, because of the bad taste in your mouth about the prequels, people are a bit more cautious with anything Star Wars, but this has everything going for it. It’s got JJ Abrams. It’s got the original cast back. It’s got secrets that haven’t been leaked yet. The trailers have been well done.”

There was a lot of disappointment among fans with the prequels, starting with “Star Wars: A Phantom Menace” released in 1999.

“They were nine hours of commercials for selling toys,” Reeves said. “It was what it was. Was it the cinematic tour de force that the original ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ was? No. By no means.”

Notable in the new movie is the new director. George Lucas was the visionary behind “Star Wars,” but he sold his company Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012. JJ Abrams also directed the remake of another sci-fi phenomenon, “Star Trek”, released in 2009, and again with its sequel, “Star Trek Into Darkness” from 2013.

Reeves said he’s hyped to see “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” with his family Thursday.

“I’m expecting a huge crowd Thursday,” Reeves said. “I’m just going with my wife and my son. He’s 11. I’m sad to say he hasn’t seen the originals yet, but he will before Thursday.”